The Yard

by Garnot

Rating: teen
Tags: Mystery, Science Fiction, Adventure, Random, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 39136

Where ideas lie to be salvaged or scrapped

Sometimes, the desire is present, but things don't always work out. Be it time, loss of a path, or just plain idiocy, some stories were just not meant to be completed anytime soon. Or at all.

Welcome to the yard, a place where the incomplete and abandoned lie. Come on in, have a look. See if you find anything interesting to salvage.

Or just come see what could have been once upon a time.

After much consideration, I decided to make my scraps visible to all. If nothing else, to prove to a certain few people that I am indeed not always twiddling my thumbs in between my long hours of work. You are more than welcome to read my stuff, just don't expect anything to be that finished… or polished, for that matter. Maybe I'll return to some of these ideas in the future.

In the meantime, if you think you can make my idea work, you're welcome to try. Just make sure you give me a head's up, and maybe toss a bit of credit at this starving idiot.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2017-02-10 03:17:29 UTC

Fallout Equestria: Oblivion — Notes

Produced by ToixStory

Written by Garnot

I: To You, 200 Years in the Future - Cirrus POV

-Cirrus is woken up by sirens

-She is on the Cloudship Stratus

-They are under attack

-Her battle station is running ammo to gunners

-Sees gunners get torn apart by monstrous beasts

-Flees away, but is stopped by commander in the bowels of the Stratus

-He is eaten by a beast that comes from beneath the ship, and she desperately flies away, escapes

-Ends her story to the Enclave Council

-They don’t believe her and want to have her killed for incompetence

-Since her father was the commander of the Stratus, she is spared and instead banished

-The night before she is banished, once of the council members comes to her

-He says that if she wants to find out what happened, she needs to go to Elysium

-He uploads the coordinates to her Enclave Pip Buck and leaves her

-The next morning she sets off and makes it to Elysium after a couple days, set within a valley surrounded by tall mountains on all sides

-Once she makes it in, a machine fries her

II: To This Day - Cirrus POV

-Cirrus wakes up dazed and confused in what looks like a hospital

-Her head hurts a lot and the door is locked

-She panics and breaks open the window to fly away

-Finds out the room was completely fake

-Tries to flee from robots who fly after her, but fails

-Is caught and dragged before floating robots with brains in jars

-They greet her warmly and thank her for surviving

-She is confused, but the robots assure her that it’s just the lack of a brain

-This confuses her further

-The robots engage exposition.exe to fill her in on where she is

-As it turns out, Cirrus made it to Elysium...by dying

-They saved her life but harvested most of her organs

-When she asks for what, a stallion bursts into the room

-He has captured a robot and brandishes it as a weapon

-After they stun him, the robots introduce Cirrus to Lt. Crack Shot

-He struggles and demands to talk to someone in the Ministries

-Cirrus, confused, questions him

-He fills her in on the “present”

-Still confused, Cirrus informs him that it’s been 200 years

-Reeling in horror, Crack Shot passes out

III: Old World Blues - Crack Shot POV

-Crack Shot wakes up a few hours later in a cell with Cirrus

-She says that they are to wait there until the robots return

-He questions her about who she is, evidently not remembering

-She responds by having him tell her who he is

-He tells her that he is a pony soldier part of a classified program

-The last thing he remembers is a failed test run

-The robots come back before Cirrus says anything

-They are brought to a larger chamber in the facility

-While there, they are informed, officially, what is going on

-Crack Shot doesn’t believe until shown recordings of the megaspells

IV: Wrench Against the Machine - Cirrus POV

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Future Sister Part 1

Shining Armor smiled as he opened the tri-fold page in the Playcolt magazine. The magazine was a gift from Shining Armor’s father, one of the many hand-me-downs he had received, along with a razor blade and cologne, all to get him started on ‘the road to stallionhood.’

For all the virtue his mother claimed he had, Shining armor had been looking forward to enjoying the magazine for a few days now—more so since it was the first time he had to himself all week.

He looked around his dark room, making sure that he really was the only pony around. Who knew what would happen if his mother walked in on him? Worse yet, his younger sister. Boy, that would be an awkward conversation to have. He turned and used his horn to shut off his lamp, grabbing his flashlight and retreating under the sheets of his bed, much like Twilight did when she had a very good book she wanted to read in secret.

He flipped through the first pages of the magazine, staring at suggestive poses and explicit pictures of models in skimpy lingerie. He paid none of the articles any real mind, his full attention set on the beautifully alluring mares. A blush spread across his cheeks as he felt his body warm up. Wow, dad was right. This stuff is hot!

He moved his left hoof from under the sheets toward the nightstand. He felt past the lamp and the alarm clock, searching for the box of tissues he usually kept there. He furrowed his brow as his hoof met nothing. Huh, that’s weird. He poked his head out and looked at the stand. No tissues. I could have sworn I had some tissue earlier today. he shrugged. Oh well. Not like they’re that important anyway

The grin returned to his face as he slithered the bottom half of his body back under the sheets, he spat on his hoof and reached under the sheet, bringing the magazine up to his eyes. He flipped the page to a particularly attractive mare, the corners of his mouth rising.

Suddenly, the door to his room flew open. “Shiny!” the diminutive voice of a filly no older than ten called out.

Instinctively, Shining Armor covered himself with his blanket. “TWILY!” He fired his horn and tossed the dirty magazine aside in a pink flash. “H-haven’t I told you before to knock before entering my room!”

Twilight took a meek step back. “I-I’m sorry, big brother!”

Shining Armor sighed, keeping quiet as he glared at his younger sibling. Whatever excitement he had built up over the magazine quickly faded, along with it’s more noticeable aspects.

Shining Armor noticed the saddened eyes of his sister. He sighed and stood from his bed, but not before making sure he was as calm as possible. “Twily, I-I—” he exhaled. “Look, I’m sorry for yelling at you okay? It’s just that, you can’t just knock my door open like that, okay?”

A single sniff left Twilight’s nose. “Big Brother… it’s just that, I… I had a bad dream and Smarty Pants was not strong enough to fight it off.” She moved closer to her brother. “I was so afraid Big Brother. You’re the first pony th-that came to mind, and I… and I…”

Even though Shining Armor wanted to nothing more than to turn his little sister around and send her back to her room, he knew better than that. as if this night wasn’t already awkward enough. “Twily, I just… well, maybe if you just….” Oh hayfeathers. He sighed in defeat. “Okay, you can stay here for the night.” He snapped a hard look to Twilight. “But don’t go making a habit out of this, okay?”

At her brother’s words, a wide beam formed on Twilight’s lips. Before Shining Armor had a chance to register it, she had wrapped herself around his left foreleg as tight as her hooves would allow, essentially turning the filly into an adorable lavender tick.

Shining Armor patted his sister’s back and sighed. “It’s alright now. Big bro’s here to keep you safe and sound.” He pulled his foreleg close and wrapped his other around her, holding on tight and gently rocking back and forth. “Safe, and sound,” he said, giving an extra tight squeeze.

“Thank you Shiny!” Twilight squeaked.

Shining Armor couldn’t help but feel the corners of his lips rising at the little nickname Twilight had come up for him. He released his grip, and his sister fell off his foreleg and collapsed onto the bed. He moved to tuck her in, but Twilight stood up and crawled onto her brother’s back. She yawned and circled around, curling up into a ball, almost like she was a cat.

“Shiny, why were you looking at those mares in that magazine?” Twilight suddenly asked.

Shining Armor’s eyes opened wide. Ugh, I am not giving her the talk!

“Because they, er—” Shining Armor struggled to find the proper way to describe them. Many adjectives came to mind, but none were appropriate for Twilight. Finally, he settled on the simplest terminology he could think of. “—pretty”! Shining Armor once again  ruffled Twilight’s mane. “They were pretty ponies. Very pretty ponies. They get to play, uh—” he had to pause again to find the proper way to describe it. “—dress-up! Yeah, Dress up. Other ponies get to look at them and… uh… m-make them feel appreciated! Yeah, that’s it—very appreciated!”

“Oh,” Twilight said, allowing Shining Armor to relax a bit. She shifted her front hooves and rubbed her cheek with her hooves. “Am I a pretty pony?”

Shining bit his lip as her pupils grew wide. His spine shivered as a few thoughts flitted through his mind. Oh hayfeathers! I can’t just say she isn’t pretty, but this is going into a place I don’t like! “O-of course you’re pretty, Twily!” he finally said. “You’re the prettiest little pony I know!”

“Yay!” Twilight struck her hooves together, a wide beam forming on her face. “Maybe someday, I’ll be be on one of those magazines!”

Shining Armor’s eyes widened at his sister’s words. His blood turned cold as several unpleasant images crossed his mind. He took a deep sigh and ground his teeth together. “I don’t doubt that one bit,” he barely managed to say. Oh dear Celestia… what have I done?

Twilight yawned and closed her eyes “One day, I’ll make you proud Shiny. One… day….” Twilight slurred her last few words as she finally fell asleep.

Shining Armor smiled. “Goodnight, Twily.” He whispered as he used his magic to shut off the light. As he did, a light snore escaped Twilight’s lips, followed by the barely intelligible words “I love you…”

After a few minutes, Shining Armor heard nothing but snoring. At last, he allowed himself a sigh of relief. Finally. He lay next to his sister and closed his eyes allowing his mind to slip away. As he did, he smiled to himself guess I’ll have to wait a little more to enjoy dad’s mag…

The alarm clock blared. Shining Armor groaned as he stretched his right hoof to shut it off. He stopped when he felt a weight over his chest keeping him from stretching fully. He looked down and saw a small purple mass. Oh right, forgot about her. He lit his horn and wrapped Twilight in a veil of purple energy. Gently, he placed his sister down next to him. You would think the blaring alarm would wake her up.

With Twilight moved, Shining Armor moved to shut off the alarm. Another yawn and set of stretches later, he was up. First thing he did was head for his restroom to brush his teeth. Next came a wash of this face. He considered showering. Nah. It’s the weekend. I can shower later.

By the time Shining Armor had exited his restroom, Twilight was wide awake and waiting for him. He didn’t get a chance to say anything as his sister pounced on him, knocking him to the floor.

“Good morning!” Twilight wrapped her brother in a tight embrace.

Shining Armor couldn’t help but laugh. “Morning, Twily.”

“Last night was amazing!” Twilight said.

Shining Armor coughed, eyes widening at what his little sister had just said. “Uh…. yeah…” He quickly wrapped her in his magic grasp, allowing him to stand up. “Honestly though, I don’t think you should make a habit of coming to me when you have nightmares.”

“Are you kidding? From now on, you’re my go-to pony when nightmares come around!” Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Shining Armor’s foreleg. “You’re strong and brave. You’ll never let anything bad happen to me.”

“Uh… sure.” Shining Armor rubbed the back of his head. you won’t be singing that tune in a couple of years. He felt the corners of his mouth dropping at the thought.

Twilight tilted her. “Something wrong, big brother?”

Shining armor’s cheek flushed. “Nothing wrong!” He wrapped Twilight in his magical grasp and placed her on his back. “Say, why don’t we go say morning to mom and dad? I’m sure they’re expecting us by now.”

Twilight beamed. “Okay!”

Shining Armor softly sighed. Little sisters are going to be the death of me one day.

It took the pair less than a minute to head down the stairs and enter the kitchen. There, Twilight Velvet and Night Light were already waiting for their children to show up.

“Ah, about time you two came downstairs,” Velvet said. Twilight hopped off from Shining Armor’s back and took her seat on the table.

“So, champ, how did last night go?” Night Light nudged his son as he took his seat.

Shining Armor’s felt his cheeks growing warm. “Uh, what?” He quickly glanced to his mother, he was, thankfully, facing the kitchen.

“You know,” Night Light gave his son a wing of his left eye. “Your little release session?”

Shining armor turned away from his father. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Night Light laughed. “Of course you don’t.” He grabbed his son’s neck and rubbed his mane.

“Dad! Stop it!”

“My colt’s becoming a stallion! What father wouldn’t be proud of that?”

“Enough of the male bonding you two,” Velvet said, turning around and emptying some fried hay and eggs on all the plates on the table. “You’ll have plenty of time that for that later. Right now, it’s breakfast time.”

As the family sat down to eat, they talked about many things. Naturally, the biggest subject was Twilight’s studies with the Princess. That subject took up most of the conversation. However, that changed when Night Light cleared his throat.

“Everypony, I have an announcement to make.” Night Light turned to face Shining Armor and Twilight. “Your mother and I have been invited to a ball this evening. It’s kind of last-minute, which is why we didn’t get a chance to tell you both earlier.”

at the words, Shinning Armor almost spat out his orange juice. He caught himself before that, swallowed the drink, and turned to his father. “But dad! I can’t babysit Twily tonight. You know I’m going to hanging out with my bros all night!”

Night Light laughed. “Yeah, I know. You’ve got a campaign to finish, and I definitely wouldn’t want your friends going out to a risky dungeon raid without their tank.”

Shining Armor laughed. “You know me well dad.”

“But if Big Brother isn’t going to watch me tonight, then who is?” Twilight asked.

“Well, we’ve hired a babysitter for that,” Velvet said. “She’s a very nice filly, has an impeccable record, and came recommended by the princess  herself.” Velvet turned to her son. “Her name is Mi Amore Cadenza.”

Again, Shining Armor almost spat out his orange juice. “C-cadence, h-here!?”

Velvet and Night Light looked at the each other other, grins forming on their lips. “You know the princess?”

Shining Armor gulped. “K-kinda. She’s a classmate at Canterlot High.” at his own words, his cheeks started to get rosy. “She’s… something else.”

Velvet and Night Light could only giggle at their son’s sudden bashfulness.

Twilight fiddled with her spoon before setting it down and looking over at Shining Armor. “Aw, but I like big brother foalsitting me.” She stuck out her bottom lip and flopped her ears to the side. “Shining… can I come with you? I wanna play!”

Brief thoughts on the monsters his dungeon party fought on a nightly basis flashed through his mind. Big, scary monsters. Scary monsters that might give Twilight nightmares. “No. Twilight, you won’t like it, trust me.” he patted Twilight’s head. “Big scary monsters and nerdy boys—nothing a pretty filly would like.”

“What does ‘nerdy’ mean?” Twilight said, batting Shining’s hoof away.

Night Light chuckled. “A nerd is somepony who likes reading lots of books!”

“I love books!” Twilight exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with her earlier enthusiasm. “That means I’m nerdy too! Come on, Shining, you gotta let me go now!” She grabbed onto his foreleg and dug her muzzle into his side, rubbing her cheek against him and trying to nuzzle him into submission.

Shining Armor shot a glare at his father, who merely winked and chuckled. He sighed as he detached Twilight from his side with careful, yet forceful magic. It’s going to be a long day, isn’t it?

“Big brother! You promised to read me Arcane Secrets, Mumbo Jumbo, and Other Zebra Mysteries!”

Shining Armor rolled his eyes. Yep, it sure is.

The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” Twilight said as she galloped down the hall, beating her parents to the door. She bounced up and down, reaching for the doorknob. Her horn sparked, but her grasp of telekinesis wasn’t strong enough to pull on the door yet. Night Light adjusted his tie as he escorted Twilight Velvet down the hall, following their daughter in hot, albeit slow, pursuit.

Twilight Velvet pulled her daughter away from the door with a spell and clicked her tongue. “Now now, Twilight. What have we said about answering the door when we aren’t there?”

Twilight looked down at her hooves and pouted, drooping her ears and sticking out her bottom lip. “Don’t answer the door for strangers.” Velvet sighed as her husband caved, patting his daughter on the head and moving toward the door.

Velvet smiled at her daugher and squeezed her close. Twilight pushed against her mother and purred, waiting for Night Light to answer the door and invite the stranger inside. She couldn’t help but bounce at her mother’s side, trying to see past her father as the tall teenager walked inside.

“Come here, Twilight,” Night Light said as he led the foalsitter behind him. “This is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, your foalsitter for the night. Say hello!” He stepped aside, revealing Princess Cadence herself. She smiled and gave a confident wave.

Twilight cocked her head and flicked her eyes up and down, giving Cadence a once-over. Other than Princess Celestia, she had never met another alicorn. Will she let me touch her wings?

Twilight crept forward, her belly brushing against the floor, stalking Cadence like a lion cub. She approached Cadence’s hoof, and gave it a tentative touch, almost as if testing if the alicorn was, in fact, real. She backed away, holding up a single cautious hoof, and her mind whirred with calculations. Her parents held their breath, unsure if their antisocial daughter would accept the foalsitter.

Twilight leaped up and wrapped her forelegs around Cadence’s neck, squealing in delight and nuzzling her new foalsitter. Night Light and Twilight Velvet sighed, their shoulders’ tension melting away.

Cadence giggled and lifted Twilight up to her eyes with magic, her eyes dazzling in wonder. “Oh my, aren’t you the cutest filly ever!” she pushed her nose onto Twilight’s and nuzzled her. Twilight squealed and rubbed her cheek against Cadence, to her parents’ joy.

“Remember,” Velvet said as she opened her bit-purse. “Bedtime at nine, and make sure she doesn’t sneak in a book to bed. Lock the bookcase and study if you have to.” She levitated a hoof-full of bits and placed it on the table next to Cadence. “Here’s a few bits if you two decide to go out or order something. Make sure Twilight eats her vegetables, and that Shining isn’t late to his party.”

“Shining?” Cadence asked, scratching her chin. “That names seems oddly familiar.”

Night Light nodded. “That’s our son, and one to be proud of! I’m sure you’ll get along, but he should be out of your mane soon enough. Speaking of which,” he said, turning to his wife and taking her hoof in his, “we should probably get going. Goodnight, princess, and take care.” The two adults waved goodbye and hopped through the open door.

“Bye daddy! Bye momma!” Twilight shouted.

“Bye Mister and Missus!” Cadence shouted, waving as well. “Don’t worry, Twilight will be just fine!” Using her magic, Cadence creaked the door shut. Then she kneeled down to eye-level and stared at her ward.

“Hey Twilight!” Cadence said, wagging her tail like a cat. She waited until Twilight mirrored her, as most tend to do. “I hear you like books. I like books too! Want to read something fun?”

“Yeah! Yeah!” Twilight bounced ahead, toward the stairs. Cadence followed, chuckling. Twilight waited at the first step, buzzing with anticipation. Cadence rolled her eyes, remembering the first time her aunt introduced her to the royal library. Not so different, are we? The princess is a real chooser.

Cadence placed a hoof on the first step, intending to lead the filly rather than the other way around. A subtle way to assert leadership, and keep the filly under control. Otherwise she would bounce all over the place, making it impossible to study for her chem test. Or at least she would, if somepony hadn’t arrived.

The tell-tale sound of hooves descended the stair caused Cadence to freeze. A familiar stallion came into sight, and stood before them on top of the stairs. The geeky, yet well-built unicorn gave a sheepish smile, his cheeks reddening at the sight of the princess.

“Uh, hi Cadence. Fancy seeing you here,” he said, backing up a step. “Glad to see you—I-I mean, nice of you to babysit m-my sister.” he rubbed the back of this neck. “So, uh, yeah…. Hi.”

Cadence’s wings shuffled as her mind processed what stood before her. Shining Armor, from school. The Shining Armor.

Twilight looked up to her, a confused frown on her otherwise cheerful face.

“Oh my,” Cadence said, before her cheeks fired up like a furnace.

Twilight wasn’t sure why, but as she alternated her stare between her foalsitter and brother. As she did, she felt a stone drop in her stomach. She shivered, and then proceeded to bounce up the stairs, chasing after her retreating brother.

“What’s wrong, big brother?” Twilight asked as she latched onto Shining Armor’s foreleg.

“N-nothing, Twily. I’m just…” he sighed, used his magic to teach her little sister, and crouched so the two were at eye level. “I’ve known Cadence for some time now, and I-I’ve never had the courage to talk to her directly. I’m just a… little nervous, I guess.”

“Nervous?” Twilight repeated, glancing down the stairs at the princess. Something tugged at her chest, and she felt her eyes narrowing. Something… something wasn’t right.

Cadence… is making Shiny uncomfortable? She frowned, unable to comprehend the feelings rushing through her. Is Cadence a… bully?

Her eyes narrowed and she grimaced. I don’t like bullies.

Not. At. All.

For the next two hours, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadence enjoyed their small game night. The princess suggested several board games, all age appropriate for Twilight, of course.

In the end, it didn’t matter what game the trio ended up playing, because Twilight won without any problem. She won on Clouds and Pegasi, always pinned the tail on the Earth Pony’s flank, had no issue mopping the floor in Chutes and Stables, and had more than driven Shining Armor and Cadence to bankruptcy in Consortium. All she needed was a bushy mustache, a monocle, and top hat and she’d be ready to take over the world.

Shining Armor noticed something strange though. No matter what game was played, Twilight seemed to be antagonizing Cadence, to the point that she had deliberately raised her taxes while playing Consortium. He had never seen his sister act so… viciously. It was a bit unnerving really. It was like she was a high schooler already, and competing with another mare for a higher social class. Not that Shining thought he had figured it out, considering he was currently a level twelve paladin questing with his friends every weekend.

Cadence didn’t seem to mind, or didn’t care. In fact, the princess bore a wide beam on her lips for the duration of the games.

Twilight moved her piece to big red ‘GO’ block and collected her four-hundred bits. She placed the money on her frighteningly large pile of bills and grinned at Cadence. The princess moved next, her roll having her land on a triple-owned property in the palace grounds, literally the most expensive part of the board. Twilight took disturbing delight in taking the last of Cadence’s money. She even asked for interest. Since the princess had no more bits on hand, she had to sell off her last patches of property, officially forcing her to claim full bankruptcy.

Twilight cackled. “Sorry princess, but if you have no money or properties, then you lose!” She pointed her hoof at her. “You loooooosssseeeee~”

Cadence smiled and rolled her eyes. “Oh well. You win some, and you lose some.” She turned to look at Shining Armor, her eyes growing soft. This in turn made his cheeks grow rosy for what must have been the dozenth time that night.

Noticing this, Twilight shoved the Consortium game aside and brought forward a game of chess. “Princess, how about a little game of chess?” She grinned. By the looks of the princess, she’s never played chess. If she’s having trouble playing Consortium, she’s so going to lose in chess!  She giggled. This will teach her not to make big brother feel uncomfortable!

Cadence looked down at the chessboard before her and smiled. “Okay!” she lit her horn and turned the board around. “I call the dark pieces. I always play with the dark pieces.”

As soon as Cadence finished her words, her expression changed. Gone was the carefree, almost goofy, smile she had wore. Her eyes sharpened and her face steeled as she made the first move. Moving the pawn in front of her king.

Ha! she’s already left her king exposed. This is going to make winning to easy. Twilight moved the pawn in front of her rightmost bishop. “Your move, princess.”

Cadence grinned. She moved her queen all the way to Twilight’s side of the board. “Checkmate.”

Twilight bit her lip and stared at the board, seeking some sort of escape. Her mind whirred, analyzing every detail and possible outcome. None existed. She bit down bit harder, her tongue tasting copper. Defeat was difficult in the face of the enemy. There was no way to win. Alas, there was only one option for Twilight. She flipped the board, smacking Cadence’s face.

Cadence yelped, more out of surprise than pain, as Twilight stomped off. Shining Armor shook his head, unable to believe his sister had acted out so abruptly. He stood up and caught up to the scampering filly in two steps.

“Twily!” Shining Armor shot a stern glare at his sister, blocking her path with his foreleg. “Why did you do that!?”

“Because Cadence cheated!” Twilight replied, stomping her hoof and averting her gaze. She glared at the floor, refusing to speak any further.

Shining Armor tried to lift her chin, but the filly kept turning away. He growled.“I don’t care! That’s no excuse to flip stuff into pony’s faces!” He turned to the princess. “Cadence, are you alright?”

Despite having every right to be mad, Cadence gave Shining Armor a wide smile. “Oh, I’m fine. I’m just glad it was a board game, and not a plate of food like last time. They can be quite finicky; you know how foals can be.”

Shining Armor’s eyes widened. Cadence had sure dealt with some rowdy children. He turned back to Twilight. “Twily, apologize to the princess. Now.”

“Actually,” Cadence started, “That’s no—”

“No!” Twilight shouted , turning away from her brother and flicking her tail in dismissal. “The princess cheated!”

“Twilight!”

“Well, I don’t thin—”

“I don’t play with cheaters.” Twilight said, sneaking a glance behind her.

Shining Armor furrowed his brow. “Twilight Sparkle,” he commanded, speaking deep from his chest. “Apologize. Now.”

Twilight flinched, having never seen this side of her brother. Her nerdy, bookworm brother suddenly became an alpha male. A jarring and sudden transformation.

Something’s wrong, Twilight mused. Why’s big brother defending the pony that made him feel uncomfortable? She had never read about it in her books before. Twilight trusted nothing more than her books, and Shining Armor. Even so, her muscles were locked in frozen fear.

Cadence rested a hoof on Shining Armor’s shoulder and gazed down at the trembling filly. “Maybe you’re being a little hard on her? She didn’t do any harm, she’s just confused and scared.” Shining blushed, but refused to let his posture slacken. Twilight wasn’t going to grow up to be a spoiled brat under his watch.

Shining Armor turned to the princess. “I don’t think so. She has to—”

The doorbell rang.

Cadence, Twilight, and Shining Armor all turned to face the door. At first, the trio seemed confused as to who would it could possibly be, especially since it was getting late. It only took Shining Armor a second to remember his plans for the evening.

He rushed to the door and opened it. Three uber-nerds stood outside, all wearing what looked like makeshift homemade armor made of pots and pans.

“Hey bro, we’ve been waiting for fifteen minutes. We were start—is that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza in your house?”

Shining Armor glanced back at the princess. “Yes. She’s foalsitting my little sister.”

One of the nerds, the one wearing a makeshift viking cap made out of a soup pot, nudged him on the shoulder. “No wonder you forgot about our campaign tonight.” He looked to his two companions and cleared his throat. “Still, we have a quest to accomplish!” He placed a hoof on his chest. “For the glory of the Sunlari!”

Shining Armor laughed, his cheeks once again turning rossy. He turned back to Cadence and Twilight, giving the pair a wide smile. “Okay gals, I’m off to my, er,” he paused to think of the correct word.

“Glorious quest to defeat the evil overlord known as Lord Duskblack and his army of zombies, vampires, and daemo—”

Shining Armor jammed a hoof into his friend’s mouth. “We’re going for a nice little, you know, boring game. Certainly nothing exciting going on here.” He turned to face his friend. “Keep it down, or my sister will not stop begging to come along!” he whispered.

“You know, we are in need of a second healer,” one of the other ponies, the one with the add-on sharp ears and a robe that seemed to have been made of a towel, said. Shining Armor snapped a glare at him.

Before any more words could be said, he walked out the door, dragging his three friends using his telekinesis. The door closed behind him, leaving Cadence and Twilight to look at each other with confusion.

That didn’t last long, however. Cadence’s face turned to one of joy as she slowly walked towards the living room, her every move more of a dance than a hoofstep. Twilight could only stare, nonplussed. If big brother is gone, then why is she happy if she can’t torment him? Is she going to torment me?

Cadence hummed a cheerful tune, skipping back to the living room. Twilight stared at the door, then at her foalsitter. Her prodigious brain could handle books three times her grade level, but nothing Cadence did made sense to her. Deciding this was one particular puzzle she had to solve, she walked up to the princess and stood in her way, eyes narrowed.

Cadence’s reply was expected. She smiled and patted Twilight on the head. Twilight replied with a scoff. “Don’t think I’m not on to you, princess. Don’t think I haven’t noticed it yet.”

Cadence’s smile faded. “Is it that obvious?”

“You’re hurting my brother, aren’t you?!”

Cadence held a hoof to her mouth, her eyes open wide and her wings fidgeting at her sides. “No, of course not!” A moment of silence passed between the two, until Cadence’s eyes sparkled and her muscles relaxed. She smirked and looked down to the foal. “I see, you were just being protective.”

“Of course,” Twilight said, taking a step back. “I like my big brother!”

“I, uh,” Cadence leaned closer to Twilight and whispered, “I do too.” she nodded, cheeks growing rosy.

Twilight wasn’t sure what happened, but something changed in her. A strange feeling, like a dragon’s energy grasping her heart and squeezing it. Cadence’s words reverberated in her mind, and each echo pounded into her skull. Invisible fire licked Twilight’s coat as she began to gasp for breath.

Cadence had turned and skipped back to the remaining mess of their game, humming a merry tune. Something clicked in Twilight’s mind. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the princess.

She… she has got to go!

Future Sister Part 2

-Shining Armor visits the toolbox in the basement to help dad out with a random project (never really mentioned), only to find Princess Cadence bound and gagged. Before he can release her, Twilight attacks.

-The story jumps back to show what happened a day earlier.

-Shining wakes up the next morning (Saturday) to an extremely clingy Twilight. She makes him breakfast (and fails), forces him to read to her for the duration of the day, and ends the with an evening picnic. It all seemingly goes well, until Cadence arrives and  interrupts their moment by being very nice and. Except, she’s not coming on a bit strong to Shining Armor.

-Twilight replies by playing the ‘cute little sister’ card. Eventually, Twilight comes up with the excuse that she left Smarty Pants out in the field, forcing SA to go get her.

-While SA is out looking for the felt doll, an enraged Twilight turns to Cadence and asks what she is doing. Cadence replies that she’s done trying to keep her feelings locked up and says she’s going to follow her heart.

-Twi still does not understand this too well, and takes this as Cadence’s acceptance that she enjoys making SA’s life miserable. Twilight swears to protect her BBBFF at all cost. Cadence takes the challenge smiling and says she’s not going to stop trying to win Shining Armor’s heart. The two enter into a bit of a rivalry just as SA returns, prompting the two to act as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

-despite trying to act more or less normal, it soon becomes obvious by their attempts to make SA happy that something is up, especially since the two girls start to freak him out. SA nervously decides he’s had enough for one day and runs away.

-He hides at his home… only for the girls to seek him out, scaring him further. It’s bad enough that both Twi and Cadence have started to develop some rather stalker-ish personalities. It’s worse that he can’t just call the two out on their actions. He really likes Cadence and Twi is his sister.

-The next day, Shining tries to tell his parents about the girls’ behavior, but they aren’t hearing it. The chock it up to his sister being jealous and Cadence just having a crush on him. As the day wears on, he finds himself being assaulted on both ends by his sister’s little antics, and Cadence’s attempts to get him to love her.

-Shining runs into a dark room and sees a small figure. He thinks it's Twilight until he casts a light spell. He sighs in relief and says, "Oh thank Celestia, it's just Smartie Pants." The doll's head rotates like in the Exorcist. This freaks him out and he runs into another room, to find Cadence waiting for him. She tries to seduce him, only for him to run out as well.

-SA, understandably, turns to desperate measures. He calls his friends and tells them of the situation.

-Skilled in the nerd arts, his friends help him take measures to protect his virginity (from Cadence) and his sanity (from Twilight). It doesn’t end well, as their ideas of protection don’t quite mesh with reality (Armor does not protect you from the ailments of love).

-SA ends the scene by stating “I’m doomed…”

-The intro scene plays out again, ending with Twilight jumping him, and SA screaming like a little filly.

“Now, where are they?” Shining Armor muttered under his breath as he stepped down the stairs. He trotted, careful not to step through the cracks on the stairs, and finally felt cool, solid concrete under his hooves.

The basement was darker than usual, which made some of the hairs on the back of his mane stand. Still, he had trudged through enough dark and damp dungeons during his many adventures to know how to best move about in the dark.

Of course, as soon as he tried to walk, he tripped over his own hooves and onto his face. After standing up and rubbing his sore snout, he decided to cast a basic light spell.

Ah, dad’s basement, Shining thought as he scanned his surroundings. Rope, boxes, and oil littered the ground and walls of the basement. Now, where is the tool box?

Shining Armor moved ahead, heading straight for the workbench. If the tools were somewhere, they would certainly be in there. He made sure to avoid any type of loose clutter. He certainly didn’t remember his basement being so messy. It almost looked as if there had been a bit of a struggle. He chuckled to himself. It had probably been another of his dad’s messy little ‘projects’ that he never really completed.

Still, as he walked towards the workbench, he felt as if a pair of eyes watched him from the shadows. It sent a few shivers up his spine. Stop freaking out. It’s just the basement. There is nothing to be afraid of down here.

No sooner had he thought that when Shining Armor heard what sounded like muffled screaming. He felt his heart skip a beat as the thoughts of what could have caused the sound ricocheted all over his brain. Nope! he thought to himself. Nopenopenope!

Shining Armor turned away from the workbench and cantered towards the stairs. Then another muffled scream caught his hears, this one originating not too far from his position. He turned to the darkness ahead and started to hyperventilate.

Keep it together. You’re a paladin for Celestia’s sake. You’ve faced mighty daemons and corrupt sorcerers from day one. You can do this! It’s just going to be a mouse. You’ll see!

Shining Armor deeply gulped and levitated the nearby broom. Carefully, he inched his way forward. As the light from his horn illuminated the murk, he noticed more and more signs of a struggle, including what looked like haphazard hoofprints all over. Another grunt, this one clearly feminine in nature, and the light from his horn half-illuminated the shape of a slender young mare.

A slender young mare with a horn and wings, sitting on a chair.

No… not sitting. The light from his horn finally illuminated the young mare completely. She’s tied to the chair! His eyes met those of the young alicorn. He dropped the broomstick “Cadence!” He trotted up to her, flabbergasted by what he was seeing. “W-w-what’s going on here!?”

“HHhmmhMHHMHHMMHH!” Cadence replied through her gagged snout.

Shining Armor dropped the broom he had been levitating and swiftly started undoing Cadence’s bindings. The ropes held tight, and not even his strongest magic could cut into the bonds.

“HHmmmHHMMHMJMMMmmmm!” Cadence said, flailing and shaking her head. Her mumblings were completely incomprehensible; not a single word got through.

Shining ceased his rescue attempt and placed his hooves on her shoulders, reluctantly as a blush brightened his cheeks. He stared into her eyes and gave her a smile filled with compassion.

“Look, it’s going to be okay. I’m here to rescue you, princess! I can’t untie you if you’re moving too much, okay? So, please, stay still.” Cadence nodded, slowly, but her eyes were still wide and her pupils continued to dilate. Shining Armor wanted to look away, but something froze him to the spot.

“Llhmmmbehmmmjyomph!” the princess mumbled through her gag, her legs shifting about as she struggled to suppress her frantic urges to pull against the ropes. “Llmmphbemphyomph!”

“What?” Shining struggled with her foreleg, trying to free it from its rope. The knot was strong, but he was stronger. He reached down, foregoing all manners, and took the rope in his mouth.

Shining’s teeth finally cut clear through the rope Yes! I got it!. As his reward for success, he immediately got a slap to the snout.

“Ow!” Shining said as he backed away. Cadence took her hoof to her gag, lit up her horn, and tore it out.

“Look behind you!” Cadence sat, panting, her fear too strong to continue struggling.

The hairs on the back of Shining’s neck stood on end as he shifted. He turned his head and peered through the darkness. The tools? Nothing. The corners? Nothing. The door? No—

The door creaked open, the lights of the home completely extinguished by the shadows that drifted through the cracks. Shining unconsciously backed away, as if the creeping shadows were alive. The door widened until there was nothing but darkness at the top of the stairs.

Through the darkness, he could see a shape. A shape and a flash reflecting off the dim lights of the basement. Shining gulped, the sheen of a blade evident to a trained (imaginary) explorer as he. There was a pony in his home, and he wasn’t here to play.

The invader took a single step onto the creaking stairs, and the silhouette cast a shadow across the entire basement. It defied all logic, but Shining’s brain was frozen with ice and didn’t care. The silhouette, alongside its shadows, had a domineering atmosphere to it. A bright white, crescendo smile widened, contrasting against the dark form of the invader. Shining Armor, his hooves concrete,  felt a warm trickle down his hind leg.

“Shining… Armor…” the invader whispered as he placed his second hoof on the step—where he tripped.

Bang!

“Ouch!”

Bam!

“Ow!”

Clang!

“Owie!”

Crash!

“It hurts!”

Meow!

“Ouchie… I have a booboo…” the now-miniature invader whined as she examined her bruised foreleg. The knife lay next to her, seemingly forgotten.

Shining Armor facehoofed. “Twilight… what are you doing?” he asked his sister as she stood up from her fallen spot. “Are you playing a ga—”

“Nope!” Twilight smiled, cheerful and bright as always. She picked up the knife with magic and placed it in her hoof. “I’m just going to cut the cheater!”

“Say wha?”

“I’m just going to cut the cheese!” Twilight whined as Shining Armor snatched the butter knife away. He chuckled as he cut a slice of cheddar for her sandwich, relishing in the general naivety of his little sister.

“You know, maybe you should let Twilight learn how to properly cut the cheese,” Cadence said, her soft smile never wavering.

“And give Twily here a reason to experiment with all kinds of cutlery? Not a chance.” He patted Twilight on the head, who crossed her hooves and fumed. She snapped a glared towards Cadence, one both the princess and Shining Armor noticed.

After a few more sandwiches were made, Twilight decided to read a book under the shade of nearby tree. While she busied herself with the reading, Shining Armor turned to Cadence, who was calmly packing up.

“I really have to admire your patience Cadence. My sister’s being more stubborn and hostile than I have ever seen her.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Truth be told, I have never seen her act like this with anypony.”

Cadence smiled at Shining Armor’s words. “That’s because she’s being overprotective of her big brother.” She closed the basket stood up. “I’ve seen this dozens of time. Smaller siblings suddenly feel like they are losing the interest of the big sibling when a new factor moves into their lives. Sometimes, it’s unexpected additions to the family, and sometimes its just us foalsitters.” She giggled and turned to face Twilight, who was so engrossed in her book she did not notice Cadence’s gaze. “Your sister is just acting out because she’s afraid she’s going to lose your affection to me. Classic jealousy, really.” At her own words, Cadence’s cheeks reddened. “Not that I’m planning to do that, or something like that.” she giggled and looked away from Shining Armor, face growing even rossier.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s not not like… you know...” Shining Armor started, his own cheeks reddening at his words. He swallowed a lump in his throat and tried to smile as wide as he could. Whatever words he had, faded as sweat started to form in his brow.

Common! Now’s your chance! You’re literally never going to get another chance like this! The princess is literally standing in front of you without her bothersome entourage of alpha-females! Say something!

Shining Armor opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, only a low gurgling sound started to form. Soon as the sound caught his own ears, he shut his mouth and turned away from the princess. “sorrygottousebathroomberightback!” He didn’t even notice his butchery of the common tongue as he took off in a canter.

Cadence looked on at Shining Armor, and couldn’t help but giggle. Dear Celestia, he’s shier than I thought he’d be. Here I am setting myself up for him to just woo me over, and he keeps tripping. She sighed. Still, that’s what makes him so adorable… She bent over to pick up the picnic basket. She wrapped it in her magic, humming a merry tune. When she looked up again, she found herself facing Twilight, who had somehow moved from her reading position, to stand right in front of her, eyes locked in deep glower.

Cadence took a step back out of shock, putting a hoof to her chest. “Twilight! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Twilight’s eyes softened as she smiled. “I’m sorry, princess.” Her expression then changed, her eyes growing steely, and her smile turning into a grin. “I guess I have to try harder next time.”

Equestria Noir World Guide (old)

World Guide

Send a heartbeat to

The void that cries through you

Relive the pictures that have come to pass

For now we stand alone

The world is lost and blown

And we are flesh and blood disintegrate

With no more to hate

-Bill Corgan

Index

The world

I. Overview

II. History

-The Rise of Equestria

-The Age of Discord

-The Setting Sun

-The Feudal Age

-Celestibusque Regime

-Return of the Princess

-Birth of a Republic

Races, Technology, and Magick

I. Races

-Equine Race-

-Earthen Equine (Earth Pony)

-Winged Equine (Pegasus)

-Horned Equine (Unicorn)

-Alicorns (Winged Unicorn)

-Zeborites (Zebra)

-Donkey

-Griffon Race-

-Hippogriff

-Dragon Race-

-Kirin

-Minor Races-

-Diamond Dogs

-Sea Serpents

-Hydras

-Timberwolves

-Ents

-Lycans

-Bovines

-Minotaurs

-Parasprites

-Windigos

-Buffalo

-Ursae

-Cockatrices

-Draconequi

-Phoenixes

-Quarry Eels

-Ahuitzotls

-Changelings

Technology

I. Overview

II. Magemicite

III. THE AIRSHIP

IV. AUTO CARRIAGE

IIV. FIREARMS

-Unicorn

-Pegasus

-Earthen

-Universal

Magick

I. Overview

II. Schools of Magick

-Elemental magick

-Blood magick

-Time magick

-Deviation magick

-Weather magick

-Chaos magick

-Warlockry

-Thaumaturgy

-Summoning magick

THE WORLD

I. Overview

Earth, Opsola, Homeworld, Voormithia, Enki: the planet has many names, just as it bears many different species, each one more wondrous than the last. The world’s not only a land of wonder, but also a land of legend, where anything is possible given enough perseverance and a very vigorous dose of luck and magick.

The planet is composed of two massive landmasses divided to the north and east by a vast body of water: The Emerald Ocean. To the far west lies a small continent, unreachable due to its immense cloud cover and electromagnetic anomalies. Rumors abound as to who—or what—lives there, as no sentient creature has ever once left it. The tales range from a long lost civilization of equines, to the legendary Deer, who are mentioned in various ancient epics as being a wise and powerful culture. To the north lies the Crystal Pony Empire and the Frozen North, a land once known as Thule, former home of the Equine races. It was abandoned when it fell to a massive climate shift, freezing the isle and whatever inhabitants were unfortunate enough to be present during the sudden climate change. This change, according to Equestrian legend, was brought on by Windigos, who feed on the hatred and misery of all sentient life, in turn creating frigid weather capable of freezing and killing. Explorers occasionally travel to the Frozen North in search of artifacts from ages long past, but most return empty hooved, unable to penetrate deep into the frigid wastes that span thousands of miles.

The central mainland is split into two powerful sister regions, the grand majority of the races either living within these lands, or inhabiting any of the “unclaimed” pockets of land remaining to the frigid northern tundra, the harsh and savage swamps to the south, or the overbearingly harsh deserts to the northeast. Legend speaks of a continent to the far, far south, where “once a year, the sun never sets.” This land was once much closer to the mainland, and it is believed to have once been inhabited by a drake-like culture that thrived long before any of the modern races. Little is known about this race other than that Dragons decend from them. Today, this continent is unofficially known as “Hyperborea.” It is a widely explored location, though its weather prevents habitation. Some elder Dragons are said to still slumber deep in the caverns and mountains of this region.

Separating the northern portions of the main landmass from the southern portions is a massive expanse of fetid marshes nearly one thousand miles wide and five thousand miles across. This place is known as “The Fetid Lands,” which according to legend, was the result of a great cataclysm said to have been perpetrated by a vile creature called “S’muz.” Few equines have dared explore this inhospitable land of toxic fungi, where the very air one breathes is death.

The gates of Tartarus are located somewhere there; the gate’s exact location known only to a select few. Nopony knows who created this gateway to the nether realms, but whoever did was incredibly powerful. No one creature has ever ventured into Tartarus and returned to tell the tale.

II.   History of Equestria

The rise of Equestria

Equestria is the homeland of the Equine race and is by far the oldest thriving nation on the face of the planet. While it can be argued that Dragons are a far older society, they are disqualified due to their nomadic lifestyle. Dragons have no set capital or any type of record-keeping structure that can be used to accurately gauge their history or age. Combine this with fanciful tales of their longevity, and it becomes nearly impossible to determine an exact timeline for Dragons outside of their oral tales. Their form of existence as nomads also makes their current distinction as a “nation” highly doubtful.

Equestria’s origins lie in the northernmost portions of the mainland, the Frozen North, which in the past was known as Thule. Thule was the original equine homeland during the time period most scholars have dubbed “Pre-History.” During the largest part of the Equine’s Pre-History, the four races, or tribes, lived divided and separate from each other, keeping to their respective groups for protection and comfort, and rarely getting mixed up with other groups. The very earliest part of Pre-History is a time estimated to be between 150,000 to 200,000 years ago. During this time, the four tribes fought one another for resources and land using crude instruments of rock and wood—the first known use of tools. This lifestyle changed at around 100,000 years ago, when the species developed a new type of “technology.” It’s not entirely clear when or even how equines managed to uncover magick, but within a few short centuries, the three races were granted respective powers; powers that made them unique and—quite ironically—important to the opposite tribes.

Earthen ponies (who took their name from the land they inhabited, and indeed named the planet as such) became masters of the land, developing the ability to grow anything on even the harshest of soils. This made them the growers of all food, putting the other tribes at their mercy. Earth ponies also gained incredible physical strength that made them nigh invulnerable while on land, which helped them in much the same way as a plant is healed by the soil. Earth ponies, like Zebra, could tap into willpower, allowing them to harness energy borne of their own beings, as well as the energy of those who had lived before them.

In the early days, there were a few Earthen pony necromancers (though the skill was not known as such then), but this skill was quickly forgotten by most earth ponies, who chose to favor their raw physical prowess over spiritual and metaphysical energies. It would be the Zebra who would perfect this art of energy manipulation.

Unicorns developed ‘magick’ to its fullest capacity, allowing them to alter the world around them to great extents. This power permitted them to shape the land to their needs, all within the realm of physics. This is because magick hails from the astral plane, borne on some foreign dimensions. This energy thus has the capability to change the land around it, for its power is unlike anything that exists in this world. Unicorns contributed to the development of the land, allowing for greater expansion and survivability, but their claim to power was their control over mystical elements. It was through this that unicorns gained their token of true power: control over the sun and the moon, accelerating and decelerating the planet’s rotation and position of its axis, which to the other races seemed to grant unicorns control over the movement of the heavens. Unicorns took control over the rising and setting of the two celestial bodies. Unicorns would unanimously decide that such a power should not be abused, but strictly regulated. Thus, a council of mages was appointed to oversee the movement of the planet, forming the Caelestibusque.

Pegasi gained the power to not only interact with all types of weather patterns, but to actively control them at will. This was demonstrated by the their hold over rain, dictating where and when it fell. This in turn made them masters of the environment, creating hospitable conditions for pony life regardless of the hostility of the environment. Another strength of the pegasi was their ability to fly far and fast. While never quite reaching the same level of endurance and speed as griffons, pegasi are renowned for their agility.

There was a fourth tribe, zebra, but they were considered for the most part to be earth ponies. There would be no defining line between them and earth ponies until the zebra left to the far reaches of the south.

The four tribes, each holding distinct powers over different aspects of nature, thus entered a partnership: each tribe would provide their abilities in exchange for the other’s aid.

When earth ponies needed to grow crops in a certain amount of time or faced a devastating drought, they called on the pegasi to bring rain, who in exchange received food and other supplies, though never taking more than needed, as the tribe adhered to a strict code of honor.

When pegasi needed a bothersome anomaly (often magickal in nature) removed from the skies, they called on the unicorns. Unicorns would receive guaranteed rain and clear weather in return.

When unicorns required extra food and supplies, they called on the earth ponies and zebra to provide in a relatively short time, the unicorns providing magickal services in return.

This was the way equines lived for the next 3,000 years. But this started to change with the advent of government. Each tribe took on a form of government, one that fitted their lifestyles.

Unicorns, whose magick was based in strict rules and mandates, naturally gravitated towards a monarchy, with a queen as the head of state chosen for her wisdom and magickal power, and a powerful council to carry out the laws. In the case of the unicorns, this council was none other than the Caelestibusque.

Earth ponies and zebra, being of a more communal mindset, as well as more accepting of the idea of equality and coexistence, gravitated towards a socialist government, with the head of state being a chancellor elected for his/her skills in negotiation and commerce.

Pegasi—already believing that the strong should rule—yet do so honorably—adopted a stratocratic system, with the head of state being a military commander elected by the masses for his/her commanding skills and bravery.

Despite being fundamentally different in a governmental sense, the four races shared one common trait: they all practiced a very early form of democracy, each race’s citizens choosing who would lead them and how.

As the centuries passed, conflict began to rise among the four kingdoms. Food became short and dissent grew with each passing year. Eventually, three representatives from each kingdom—Princess Platinum of the unicorns, Commander Hurricane of the pegasi, and Chancellor Puddinghead of the earthen ponies—came together to discuss how to best act in the current crisis. However, negotiations quickly went sour; the three small nations blamed each other for the great calamity before them, and no reasonable agreement could be drawn up. The three kingdoms eventually broke ties with each other and departed to seek better lands to inhabit.

While this occurred, the equine homeland slowly froze over, the frosts destroying all crops and killing thousands. The situation grew so dire that the three kingdoms were eventually forced to come together in the interest of survival; thus, the chapter of Equine History known as the “exodus” began.

It was during the period that the zebra broke off from the other races, forming a separate nation all their own. To that end, they headed further south than their pony brethren. They would end up in the jungles and marshes of the far south, a land that bordered The Black Marshes. It was here they settled and started their own civilization, forming the nation of Zeborite.

Meanwhile, in Thule, the survivors of the initial famines and blizzards, realizing that the land could no longer sustain them, bid their home farewell and crossed the mountains. A group of unicorns chose to stay near their former home and formed the Crystal Pony Kingdom, which would thrive after they learned to harness the abundant crystals near their new homeland. Their kingdom would see a decline soon after, and would soon after be absorbed into the future kingdom of Equestria.

The three remaining tribes would eventually arrive in a virgin land full of possibilities. Each race claimed a stake, only to find the other race had already claimed the same territory. Conflict soon followed, and with it, the revelation of the true culprits behind the destruction of Thule: Windigos.

Fortunately, the three leaders (and their attendants) quickly realized that only by living in harmony and unity could they not only survive, but thrive. This quickly led to the union of the three tribes into one race, and with it, the apparent defeat of the Windigos.

This victory came too late for the grand majority of the equine race and their leaders, for most perished in the frigid cold, leaving only a few thousand ponies of each race to begin colonization. Realizing that only unity would allow them to survive, the three races squared off their shoulders and  formed one united civilization—the first step that would one day lead to the formation of the kingdom of Equestria.

Flash-forward 3,000 years into the future, to an age known to most historians as “The Age of Legend.” It is in this age that the next major chapter of equine history unfolds. For it is during this epoch that both the Elements of Harmony and the Element of Discord were discovered, but in very different forms.

The Elements of Harmony—as was discovered—had existed for eons beyond remembrance, always present but never truly a physical part of the world. Harmony, in many ways, was the representation of order, and the only way for it to manifest in the physical world was for it to be carried by a “bearer” or, in the case it was too powerful for any one individual, a group of bearers.

In the same vein existed the Element of Discord, which itself was present to counteract the Element of Harmony in order to maintain balance. Unlike Harmony—which was mostly a metaphysical concept—Discord was a physical power capable of altering the world around it, always bound to a physical entity, often known as a ‘Chaos Lord.’

The two powers more or less existed in absolute balance for nearly 2,000 years after their discovery. However, this changed when a corrupted entity arose from the depths of Tartarus. This being, described as Oblivion Incarnate, simply came to be known “S’muz.”

The S’muz threatened to consume and corrupt all it came in contact with, destroying life and leaving only a void of depravity at best—absolutely nothing at worst. To combat the S’muz, both the powers of Harmony and Discord were needed, as the S’muz was aligned to neither, and thus would be susceptible to the combined effects of both.

The battle against the S’muz was long and difficult, causing much destruction in the process. In the end, not even the powers of Harmony and Discord combined could stop the S’muz’s advance—something else was missing from the equation.

In a move of desperation, the bearer of Harmony—a unicorn-turned-alicorn of unknown name, gave up her power—and her life—to give the bearer of Discord, who at the time was a dragon mage, the needed power to push the S’muz back. The bearer of Discord did just that, destroying nearly all of the S’muz and tossing what remained back into the depths of Tartarus.

When at last victory was achieved, six wisps of power, each of which represented a quality of Harmony, were all that was left of the former bearer of Harmony. The bearer of Discord, the rightful Lord of Chaos, took it upon himself to guard the Elements, eventually giving them to the equine race for safekeeping. He then continued his charge as keeper of balance, protecting both Elements of Harmony and the power of chaos that coursed through him.

The defeat of the S’muz would herald an age of peace that would last five-thousand years. This epoch would come to be known as “The Classical Age.”

That is, until ponydom grew greedy and hungry for power.

The Age of Discord

To quench their thirst for power (a thirst that was, for all intents and purposes, unquenchable by normal means) the inhabitants of Equestria turned to forbidden magick, directly tapping into the Elements of Harmony to not only alter the land to their needs, but to gain dominance over all life.

Needless to say, this did not sit well with the Chaos Lord Hyperion—a unicorn born as the new Chaos Lord when the previous one finally succumbed to age. He warned the equine race about the power they were abusing, a warning that fell on deaf ears.

Because of this, Hyperion was forced to act against the equines—his own race. By the time he acted, however, ponies had already tapped into powerful magicks, quite literally making the race invincible. He was defeated in combat, captured, and promptly executed for the world to see.

Hyperion, before his public execution, swore retribution against the world.

Five years passed before a new Chaos Lord was identified. He was the son of two unicorns, and even at his young age, showed incredible magical capabilities. The foal was taken from his parents and raised under the careful watch of the Caelestibusque, who trained the young foal—now named Prometheus—into a tool for the kingdom of Equestria to use as they saw fit.

During his childhood and teen years, Prometheus—who would later become Discord—lived a peaceful life as a promising mage-in-training, not once informed of who he was or what happened to his past self. Growing up, Prometheus had two very close friends, the eldest of which was his sweetheart. These two alicorns—princesses and heirs to the throne—were Celestia and Luna. They were special, for they seemed to share a close connection to the Elements of Harmony, and many had felt they had been chosen to be its bearers.

As the years passed, Prometheus became more and more powerful. Celestia and Luna—who were actively being groomed for the throne—grew powerful as well. Prometheus was trained to be the sister’s future head battlemage and advisor, but the more powerful Prometheus became, the more he started to recall his past life as Hyperion. In time, Prometheus grew curious about his visions and dreams that showed a previous life, one that ended violently and with the promise of retribution. With the aid of Celestia and Luna, Prometheus searched the archives, eventually finding an ancient tome that revealed to him the truth behind Hyperion, the previous Chaos Lord. The tome spoke of the treachery against the kingdom by Hyperion, his capture, execution, promise, and the identity of the one who would carry the title of Chaos Lord. It was at that point that the dreams became clear; they were visions of his past life, showing him his real identity as the world’s one true Chaos Lord.

With the final revelation achieved, Prometheus, filled with conflicting emotions, confronted the Caelestibusque—the only family he had ever known—with the desire to know the truth. The Caelestibusque, fearing they had lost control of Prometheus, instantly turned on the unicorn, charging him with conspiracy to overthrow the kingdom—a crime that carried the death sentence.

When Celestia and Luna discovered Prometheus’ fate, they instantly realized the kind of lengths their parents were willing to go to maintain power. Disgusted by the prospect of ruling such a nation, the pair decided to leave Equestria. However, they would only do so with Prometheus. This led to the pair devising a plan to break the young Chaos Lord out of prison before he could be executed. After a trying escape, the trio managed to elude capture by traveling into the wilderness, the dangerous Everfree Forest, a nexus of “chaotic” power serving as their new home.

Five years pass by, a period in which Prometheus gained contact with his past lives through meditation and several dreams, all of which allowed him to fully learn of his heritage and powers. Eventually, he was informed by his past lives that the world was near a state of total unbalance. If let unchecked, the entropy created by the dominance of “order” would lead to the destruction of all life—including those he loved.

Prometheus, terrified by the visions, asks what he must do to prevent the catastrophe. His past lives replied: “only by harboring chaos can the world be set straight once again. You must do what no other can or will ever do; become chaos and misery. You’ll be hated and persecuted, but that is what must happen if you are to save those you love. It’s your fate to be chaos; it’s your fate…”

With a heavy heart, Prometheus decides to abandon his name, instead taking on a new identity and adopting a title that would show all who oppose him just what they were truly up against: Discord.

He looked at the resting Celestia one last time. Gently, he spoke to her sleeping form. Here, he told the young princess a legend.

“A very long time ago, there lived a mare whose land was consumed by hatred. Everywhere she turned, she saw it, growing, and tainting. Her land was world was cruel and devoid of a future.

Determined to stop the hate once and for all, she sought out a way to forever banish the hate. In her quest, she not only partook in my adventures, but met many allies, who like her also sought out a way to end the hatred.

When finally, they group faced the source of the hate, they fought, and though the battle was hard, they rose victorious.

However, the hate remained. It had poisoned the land, and it would continue to grow till peace was but a distant memory.

Knowing full well what had to be done, the mare offered herself to the hatred, using her body to forever seal the corruption, so it would never spread again. She knew well that in doing so, she herself would be corrupted. She knew well that she would be seen not as a hero, but a monster—hated, shunned, reviled.

And so, the mare shouldered her land’s hatred. Her allies could only watch as the mare they had grown to love morphed into a monster. Reluctantly, they sealed her away, never to see the daylight again.

In sacrificing herself, the mare saved her land, and gave her kind a future…”

Prometheus, upon concluding his tale, gave Celestia a kiss on the forehead and departed. Like the mare form his legend, he was ready to do what was necessary.

Over the next year, Prometheus, now Discord, waged a savage war against Equestria itself, bringing forth chaos and destruction everywhere he went. Discord put on a show, feigning a blissful attitude over his actions. In truth, Prometheus did not enjoy destroying his homeland—destruction he himself sowed—but he continued, knowing well that it was necessary. In the end, Discord managed to eliminate those in power, establishing himself as the new ruler, but by this point, he was changed. He originally acted to fix the damage done to the world, never once breaking his facade, as well using the very power of Harmony to repair what was damaged.

Over the next three hundred years, an uneasy ‘peace’ fell over Equestria under the rule of Prometheus, who gave equines all the freedom of choice they desired with the condition they not meddle with powers beyond their control. This age came to be known as “The Age of Discord.”

However, somewhere in his false display of madness, Prometheus crossed a line. Perhaps he was made to cross it by one of his past lives—particularly Hyperion—who still swore revenge against the world. Perhaps Prometheus really did go mad with power; whatever the case, his act ceases to be a façade and becomes very much real. Soon enough, he loses sight of his true goal of balance, succumbing instead to his desires for total control and dominance, must like those he destroyed. His stance changes to a tyrannical one, using his powers of chaos to turn ponies’ life absolutely miserable.

Truly convinced that Prometheus had gone mad with power, or that perhaps he had been driven mad by his past life’s desire to extract vengeance on all, Celestia and Luna decided that they had to stop Prometheus before he plunged the world into everlasting chaos. At first, the sisters attempt to converse with Prometheus in the hopes of talking sense into him, but the unicorn wouldn’t listen, even though his inner self—that which was still sane—wished to do so. In response, Prometheus tried to seduce Celestia with the promise of power, tempting her to be his queen. This temptation almost worked, but Luna snapped Celsetia out of her trance. The conversation suddenly escalated, at which point Celestia, driven by the horror she’d witnessed on her homeland, spoke three words that would tear Prometheus apart and seal the trio’s fate:

“I Hate You.”

Heartbroken, Prometheus released what little control he had over his now powerful alter ego. At that point, Prometheus ceased to be, entirely consumed by Discord. This is demonstrated when, in a horrifying show, Prometheus’ unicorn body warped, giving him the mismatched parts of other creatures, turning him into the first ever draconequus.

Celestia, determined to end the threat to her world, challenged Discord to a duel for the fate of Equestria, but Discord refused the challenge. Celestia then attacked Discord, who despite being more than capable of subjugating and “discarding” the alicorn and her sister, instead opted to teleport the pair out of his throne room.

It is said that Discord did so with a hearty, crazed laugh at first—which slowly decayed into a mournful wail…

The two princesses, realizing that the fate of their land now rested with them, decided to use the most powerful source of magick in the land, the Elements of Harmony, to defeat Discord.

The search took them close to a year, time in which Discord only grew more powerful and mad. Eventually, the two sisters confronted the Chaos Lord once again—now turned into a mad king of chaotic destruction.

The sisters used the elements to battle Discord, and with one mighty blast of magick, the pair imprisoned the Chaos Lord in stone. The procedure was emotionally harrowing for Celestia, as the elements actively striped away Discord’s true madness, revealing the young unicorn underneath, if only temporarily. Prometheus managed to utter the words “forgive me” before being fully petrified. Luna then drew her blade and attempted to smash Discord’s petrified form, but was blocked by Celestia’s own blade. Celestia was said to have bore a face of pain that was ‘beyond tears.’

Despite the sisters’ grand victory over chaos, the celebration was short and bitter, for they had to lose much in the process.

Celestia and Luna would go on to rule Equestria, as the power of the elements granted them greater magical power, as well as near-immortality.

But as fate would have it, the madness that had taken hold of Discord’s heart survived, and sought a new host…

The Setting Sun

Equestria, under the fair rule of its two princesses, quickly recovered and prospered, the Elements of Harmony he nation’s guiding light.

This peace was not to last, however, as Discord’s corrupting influence ingrained itself within the younger princess’ heart.

Thus Luna, who prior to this had supported and loved her sister, was stricken with great jealousy over her sister status as the “preferred” ruler, while her subjects shrunk in fear of her, shunning the night she worked so hard to ensure was safe and secure for all.

So great was the young regent’s desire for acceptance and love, that she harnessed forbidden magick to achieve those ends, as well as harness leftover powers from Discord. It poisoned the young alicorn’s mind, slowly turning her into a vengeful being.

Celestia noticed the change in her sister—and through some quick investigating—discovered the ill power affecting her sister. The malice within Luna would have consumed her whole had Celestia not intervened. It was an act of sisterly love, as Celestia knew what the terrible magick would to do to her. Yet, she still resolved to absorb it, convinced she could keep the power at bay long enough to find some way of disposing of it. However, the power proved too great to contain, and it soon consumed Celestia.

Celestia, tainted by the malicious influence Luna unknowingly unleashed, quickly became a tyrant whose sole purpose was to bring about the complete subjugation of all life. The once fair princess became a depraved warlord, willing to kill to achieve her ends. She soon abandoned the name of Celestia and adopted a new name—one to represent her power and overbearing will: Solaris. She soon set about ushering an empire where she would rule as a physical goddess without equal.

Luna attempted to reason with her sibling, but both the desire for power and the nature of the corruption had turned Celestia into an intractable monster. Luna was left with little choice but to harness the Elements of Harmony in the hope of cleansing her sister of evil.

As fate would have it, the Elements of Harmony performed well; too well. They not only separated Celestia from her alter ego Solaris—reverting the two mares to powerless unicorn fillies—but also tore open a rift to the one location that would be able to contain the power of the two regents: the sun itself.

The now young Celestia, fully aware of what was to happen to her, begged and screamed for her sister to save her, all the while asking for forgiveness. Luna—driven by fear and unable to tell if the young Celestia before her was indeed her sister, or another trick created by Solaris—did nothing, her fear winning over her reason.

Luna watched in horror as her sister was sucked into the vortex. Celestia could only look on, shedding tears of pain and sorrow as she’s drawn towards the gaping rift in space-time. Then, and only then did Luna realize what she had done.

But by then, it was too late...

Luna, being weaker than Celestia ever was, fell into a deep state of despair. The guilt of her jealousy, her rash actions dictated by fear, her inability to save her own sister, and the undeniable fact that the tragedy that befell the pair started because of her—all of these events weighed so heavily on the broken princess’ heart that it destroyed her, rendering the lunar regent little more than a weeping mess.

With no one to oversee the kingdom, the nation of Equestria quickly fell into anarchy. Hundreds of ponies suffer in turn, adding further guilt to Luna’s conscience. Within a year of the tragedy, Luna formerly announced her resignation from the throne, citing that she no longer deserved the crown.

She abandoned all of her powers—including the supervision of the sun and moon—and entered into self-imposed exile.

With Luna gone, Equestria is left leaderless.

The Feudal Age

With Celestia and Luna gone, the Caelestibusque took control of Equestria. The council’s hold of power is stated to be ‘temporary’, and would relinquished as soon as a worthy ruler was appointed to fill the throne. To that end, they grant unprecedented powers to the military to quell any possible civil disorder bound to arise from the news of the absent princesses. They appoint a selective few members of the former Royal Guard to ensure absolute order and peace, stomping out corruption and vice whenever it may be found. This group of guards soon shed their original titles in order to adopt a new name, one that will drive fear in the hearts of the wicked for centuries to come: The Regulators.

To oversee all matters dealing with magick and the movements of both the sun and moon, the council formed a powerful sect of mages, among which is the wise and powerful Starswirl the Bearded.

Fortunately, the mages need not worry much about the celestial bodies, as Luna ensured the planet’s axis would be so balanced in its rotation. The moon and sun would rise and set in accordance to a 26 hour time frame. Because of this, the sect of mages was able to take on other responsibilities, including developing a way to free Celestia from her prison while keeping Solaris forever bound in it.

Success on this task is never fully disclosed.

Despite these precautionary movements, the nation quickly fell into disarray as Lords, unable to reach a compromise through peaceful methods, opt instead to fight over the right to rule. This leads to what history now calls “The Age of Feudalism,” a time when lords split the land according to their needs, fighting over territory, influence, and right to rule Equestria.

Growing tired of the constant fighting, the Caelestibusque appointed the Regulators to track down the last known descendant of Celestia and Luna, a unicorn by the name of Zeus, a nephew of the sisters and by all means rightful heir to the throne.

Prince Zeus, however, hadn’t been seen or heard from in many years, prompting the Celestisbusque to fear the prince had suffered an ill fate before his time. If Zeus wasn’t found, Equestria would be doomed to be embroiled in perpetual conflict.

The Regulators chose their ten best members and quested for the prince.

For five years, the Regulators searched all of Equestria for this lost prince, finding only rumors of his presence, but never any concrete evidence. Finally, near the end of the fifth year of search, the group caught wind of the prince’s location from a wise zebra shaman who, like the Caelestisbuque, wished to see an end to the feudal bickering in Equestria.

The shaman led the regulators through a safe road past The Black Marshes and into the Zeborite homeland, where they found the young prince not only under the tutelage of the nation’s best seers, shamans and necromancers, but betrothed to the princess of Zeborite: Princess Monokamy.

Once informed of the state of his homeland, Prince Zeus wished to return to his fractured homeland, but knew he couldn’t—not until he completed his tutelage. The last test would  prove to be the most difficult, for it required he look beyond his own skills—beyond the plane of mortality—and straight into the face of “eternity.”

Zeus entered the test little more than a colt. But when he came out, he did so as a stallion, understanding of the finer intricacies of life at his disposal. He and Princess Monokamy accompanied the ten Regulators back to Equestria, joined in turn by a band of elite Zeborite warriors known as the Nasfsi Mlaji, or “Soul Eaters”: powerful necromatic warriors with unbreakable wills and incorruptible souls.

It was with the aid of these warriors, as well as the full support of the Regulators and the Caelestibusque, that Zeus would successfully launch his campaign, defeating any opponent that dared stand in the way of unity.

Within ten years, Zeus had done what was once believed impossible: he brought Equestria together again, reforming the once mighty nation. His marriage to princess Monokamy also forged a powerful alliance with the Zeborite kingdom, one that would last to the present day.

Zeus’s victory heralded a time period known as “The Classical Age,” when the arts flourished and new and more powerful magicks were discovered. Technology, once stifled by conflict, saw a boom in development unseen since the Age of Discord. Peace reigned over the land for the next 500 years.

Unknown to all, the Caelestibusque had manipulated everything. The unity of Equestria was but their first step. Soon, they would set their true plans into motion…

Caelestibusque Regime

Historically speaking, the Equestrian Monarchy, reinstated by Zeus and his wife Monokamy, successfully ruled Equestria for nearly five generations, always fairly and with great wisdom. Under the laws enacted by Zeusand and Monokamy—laws set in stone and unchangeable—the system of lords was abolished; property was returned to the citizen, who now had the right to own said property without paying tribute to a lord. Each city and town was allowed to choose its own governor or mayor to oversee the town’s infrastructure, and matters of succession would be resolved using democratic means, the populace choosing which member of the royal family deserved to rule. This went in the other direction as well, as the citizens had the right to vote a prince or princess out of power if they felt said royal member was leading the nation astray. To further avert conflict from ever breaking out within Equestria, Zeus greatly reduced the power of the military, relegating them to “formal” duties, leaving the true peacekeeping to the Regulators, who now accepted members of all races to further encourage diversity.

For 500 years, Zeus’ laws kept Equestria safe and prosperous, but this changed when the griffon nation of Gryphos, once a very close ally of Equestria, suddenly and inexplicably broke its diplomatic ties and launched a surprise attack. It was here that the nation saw for the first time just how woefully inadequate its military might was in comparison to Gryphos. The griffons were held at bay only when Zeborite sent in its own military forces to supplement the Regulator corps defending the borders, but by then, it was too late. The populace had witnessed its armies fall, its border towns destroyed, and the inhabitants of said town captured, or worse.

The populace rose up and demanded better protection against other enemies, but because of the laws enacted by Zeus, increasing the strength of the military was impossible.

It was at this point that the Caelestibusque made its move. They convinced the military leaders of Equestria that they had to take matters into their own hooves.

Soon after, the generals began to gather popular support, and within months, had enough forces to storm the palace and dispose of the monarchy in a military coup that saw the grand majority of the royal family executed.

Within days of this event, the mastermind behind the coup, the Caelestibusque, changed the laws set forth by Zeus and Monokamy, allowing Equestria to raise its own army without restrain. Thousands either willingly joined or were drafted in the campaign against the Xerxian armada.

What followed was a savage twenty-year war. During this time, the military seized more and more power, while at the same time they took away more and more liberties from the populace, which was too preoccupied with the war effort to notice their freedoms being stripped away. The Regulators did see the grave threat posed by the Military, but their numbers were so reduced from the war effort, that by the time they had enough proof to act against the Caelestibusque’s treachery, it was far too late. In a single night, most senior members of the Regulator were assassinated. The few that remained fled the nation, taken in by Zeborite, who thereafter broke all ties with Equestria. A year later, Equestria would march into the capital of Gryphos, dispose of the emperor, and annex the once proud nation.

With the war over, the military turned their eyes on Zeborite; the last great nation that stood in their way for total dominance of the continent.

Having claimed victory over the griffons, and now bearing military and economic power great enough to virtually rule the northernmost part of the continent, the Caelestibusque officially claimed themselves as the new leaders of Equestria, taking away from the populace whatever freedoms they already hadn’t. It was this move, coupled with twenty years of tyrannical rule, that led to the formation of small groups of revolutionaries that combatted the tyranny of the government. The groups were small at first—barely large enough to pose any kind of threat to even the most simple of patrols. However, as the government’s tyranny grew, so did the numbers of the rebellion. It only took months for the revolutionaries to unite under one banner. Yet, for all their ideas of liberation, they lacked something important: something—or somepony—to stand behind and lead them into actual combat.

The rebellion would soon gain the aid they needed when the Regulators—who had once fled for the sake of their survival—and several thousand Zeborite troops returned to bolster the revolutionary movements. Suddenly, these small groups of rag-tag revolutionaries became a viable treat to the government, who suddenly diverted all of their military might to destroying the young yet potentially dangerous rebel forces. However, this proved difficult for the government to accomplish, as the rebels fought using asymmetrical warfare, hitting and running when possible, and always in small groups, harassing supply lines and taking out high value targets like officers.

Yet, once again, the revolution lacked something very important: a general. This became painfully obvious when the rebel forces were caught unprepared and were compelled to fend off the military forces in open warfare in the Battle of Fillydelphia. The rebels lost almost three thousand lives.

Without a general to lead them, the rebels had little to no chance of defeating the Equestrian military.

Just when things seemed bleakest for the rebels, a new player entered the field, one determined to take the nation back from those who had perverted it beyond recognition.

It was none other than Princess Luna.

The Return of the Princess

Princess Luna swiftly took command of the remainder of the rebel forces, and with the aid of more Zeborite troops, launched a counter offensive to take back Fillydelphia.

Morally and militaristically bolstered, the rebels managed a decisive victory over the military forces of the now renamed Caelestis Regimen—or ‘heavenly regime’—expelling them from Fillydelphia. It was the first major victory of the revolutionary war.

The victory served a much higher purpose, as it rekindled the fighting spirit of the otherwise demoralized nation, filling every last equine still defiant of the Caelestibusque with the will to stand and fight for their freedom. Soon enough, the rebel’s ranks swelled up with new recruits willing and ready to fight not only for their country, but their newly returned princess.

The Caelestis Regimen, however, was far from defeated. They bolstered their forces and used every resource available to their cause, conscripting thousands of ponies and griffons to fight in the bloody war. Most of the forces conscripted had little to no idea what the true enemy they faced would be, nor the true extent of the Caelestibusque’s treachery. Rumors swam about as to what the Caelestis really had in store for the rebels. One thing was clear: the Caelestibusque tossed every single resource at their disposal towards crushing the rebellion: new weapons and magick were unleashed during this time, many of them clearly crossing a line never meant to be crossed. One such weapon was the feared “Bellum Magus”; filly or colt unicorns trained in the forbidden arts of Warlockry and Blood magick, stripped away of “lesser” emotions and conditioned to be absolutely loyal to the regime. A single Bellum Magus was enough to decimate entire ranks of lesser soldiers.

Yet, even among the Bellum Magus existed one unicorn in particular whose power seemed completely limitless. She led her squadrons into combat without fear, for no enemy force, physical or magickal, could touch her. She fought without showing an ounce of mercy or regret, and to the present remains responsible for the single largest body count of any conflict.

The identity of this individual was never uncovered, for she disappeared shortly before the fall of the regime; an enigma wrapped in bandages and covered by a cowl—eyes shining with an unnatural fire; that of a the sun itself…

The Caelestis, after nearly ten years of warfare, met its end during the Battle of Canterlot, when rebel Zeborite griffin, and—to almost everypony’s surprise—dragon forces, directly stormed the capital city of the Caelestibusque. Though the magick shielding prevented the bulk of the forces from directly marching onto the city, small covert units skillfully sneaked past the tight security prior to the main force’s arrival. When the time came, they launched their sabotage missions, crippling the capital’s defenses and allowing the main forces to breach the shielding with minimal casualties. Luna then led the charge towards the castle, her forces utterly determined to claim victory.

It was a sight to behold—members of all races, working together towards one singular goal: the defeat of tyrants.

The siege of Canterlot lasted just five days, but on the dawn of the sixth day, the Caelestis forces lay routed. When Luna and her forces charged the Caelestibusque’s council chamber, they faced against one final general, who donned a massive exo-suit—the pinnacle of scientific and magitechnical research. Though the battle was long and difficult, Luna achieved victory, defeating the general, who rather than surrendering, chose to take his own life. When Luna stormed the council chamber where the twenty members of the Caelestibusque resided, she found no one. They had escaped.

The war was finally over; liberty had won the day. But the twenty senior members of the Caelestibusque still remained, hidden, and they would no doubt seek retribution...

The Birth of a Republic

The Caelestis’ defeat painted a new age of unity for the three great nations of the world. A month of celebration was held all across the globe as the old age of tyranny and fascism gave way to an age of peace and democracy.

In Equestria, many expected Luna to take her place as rightful ruler of the land, restoring the monarchy and its old values. Instead, Luna refused to be crowned princess, citing that despite her role in the revolution as its general, she was still responsible for the tragedies that befell the nation. In the mind of the now older and wiser alicorn, she had no right to rule.

Regardless of her reasons for refusing the throne, ponies all over the nation begged the princess to take her rightful place as leader, as they couldn’t imagine a country where they weren’t led by a wise and noble ruler. To this, the princess responded with a speech, one that would forever go down in the annals of history as “the greatest speech ever recited.”

“Friends, griffons, zebras, dragons, and every other race that threads this land: I stand before you unable to form words, for I’ve no right speaking to any of you; not after what I’ve done. My words today are pilfered—taken from the mouth of a great equine that lived many centuries ago. The words I speak today are pilfered, but they are true; every single one.

“Many of you wish that I become ruler, just as I was so long ago, but I do not wish to be your ruler, empress, or queen. I do not wish to subjugate or control any of you; I want to help everyone find their own liberty and their own freedom.

“Over the centuries, our races have witnessed the rise and fall of kingdoms, empires and nations, always with a head of state that fashioned laws into whatever they wished, rarely—if at all—asking you, the citizens of their fair nations, for input. While wise and noble rulers can bring peace and harmony to their subjects, this is not always the case, for there will always be those who seek power above all else. There will always be tyrants and despots waiting in the shadows to strike when we all least expect it. There will always be those who, despite bearing noble agendas, will fall to the corrupting sway of greed and dominance.

“I know because I once felt these same desires, wishing above anything else to have unquestioning love and respect; to rule not as a wise and caring monarch, but a cruel and heartless god.

“It was wrong of me to believe that I could simply force love to exist where it didn’t, and it was that failure to see the error of my path that led to losing my dear sister, to leaving the nation to fall into chaos and strife and all of the misery that preceded the fall of my sister.

“If anypony needs to be blamed for hundreds of years of misery, you need look no further than the mare that stands before you all today…

“I’m sorry... but I don’t want to be princess, queen or empress; that’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer. I would like to help everyone if possible, for we all want to help one another; we are all naturally like that. We want to live by each others’ happiness, not by each others’ misery. We don’t want to hate and despise, for in this world there is room for all races. The earth is rich and can provide for all; the way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way.

“Greed; greed’s poisoned our souls; has barricaded the world with hate; goose-stepped us all into misery and unnecessary bloodshed. Our civilizations have developed speed, but in turn, we have shut ourselves in. We’ve developed machinery that gives abundance, but leaves us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We’ve come to think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need harmony. More than cleverness, we need kindness and love, for without these qualities, life is violent and horrible.

“The Airship and the Sympathetic Network have brought us closer together than ever before; the very nature of these inventions cries out for the kindness and willingness in all of our races to unite. Even now, my voice, caught by this receiver and transferred via magick, I cannot fathom is reaching millions throughout the world; millions of despairing souls, all of whom are victims of a lifestyle that makes us torture and imprison the innocent, turn against our neighbors and hate without reason.

“To those who can hear my voice this day, I say ‘do not despair!’ The misery that is now upon us all is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of those who fear the way of progress. The hatred will pass, dictators and despots die, and the power they took from you, the citizen, will return to you, the citizen, for so long as we are willing to fight for it, liberty will never perish.

“Soldiers! I plead to you: don’t give yourselves to brutes; tyrants who despise you and enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel. Who drill you, diet you, treat you like tools, and use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural monsters—machine beings with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines, you are not cattle! You have love and kindness in your hearts, for you don’t hate; only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery, fight for liberty!

“And to you, you the citizens of every single nation, you have the power! The power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You citizens have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure! You the citizen has the capability to forge a new world where the young can play without fear of pain and suffering; the old can live without misery and gloom and the weak can walk shoulder to shoulder with the strong; you the citizen has this power and far more!

“So, in the name of liberty, let us use those powers. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give all a chance to live; that will give youth a future, will give old age security. Let us fight to fulfill these promises! Let us fight to free the world, to do away with petty and trivial barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason and kindness, a world where science and progress will lead to happiness and salvation, not death and suffering; a world where harmony can once again lead our lives to peace! Let us fight for these things, together as one!”

Thunderous cheers rang all across the world on that day, for with the princess’ words, all races of the world, once bitterly divided over ideals and beliefs, came together in a new age of harmony.

A few months later, the princess would oversee the drafting of a document that would become crucial to the creating of a new government, one whose values stemmed from the belief that sovereignty rested not with the rulers of a nation, but its citizens. The constitution was signed by the new council, the representatives of each of the nation’s provinces, and the princess herself, finally accepts her destiny and assumed the role of princess, not to rule as she had once done, but to serve as the nation’s pillar of hope and support, protecting the constitution and ensuring it would never be breached.

This constitution set forth guidelines that would become the foundation for a new nation, born of the ashes of conflict, a nation that would be ruled by ponies, for ponies.

After 300 years of subjugation, Equestria was free once more; free to choose its own path—its destiny. Thus, the United Equestrian Republic was created, a beacon of liberty and democracy for the world.

Unfortunately, as expected of all governments, greed wasn’t too far behind…

RACES, TECHNOLOGY, AND MAGICK

I. Races

Equine Race

Equines—universally referred to as ‘ponies’—are a small to medium sized sentient civilization with heads of varying shape—the most common being rounded and long—slightly short necks with a mane, short to long limbs that end in a single, unguligrade toe composed of either a thorny bone-like structure or a hardy gelatinous-like material capable of hardening and softening in accordance to blood pressure, which in turn allows equines to have grasping capabilities—albeit not as complex as griffon’s or dragon’s grasping capabilities. The soft hoof is far more common than the tough, bony one, as the ability to grasp, albeit in it limited form, is a great evolutionary advantage.

Equines have long, slender tails, either ending in a tuft or entirely covered in flowing hair. Despite being split into four distinct races—earth pony, unicorn, pegasus, and zebra—the race as a whole share these traits, and are considered a singular entity rather than separate species.

Most equines are adapted to generally open terrain such as plains and savannas, to mountains or deserts, to (in the case of pegasi) the very skies. Equines have been known to inhabit many different locations, such as jungles and snowy plains.

Equines’ vision is perceptive to color, a trait often reserved for predators, but one that evolved in equines due to their higher-functioning brains. Their eyes are in front of their heads, giving them binocular vision—again, a trait often seen in predators, not herbivores.

Equines can be classified as ‘herbivores’, for they do not feed on meat; however, they come close to being omnivores, for they consume milk, eggs, fruits, and grains. Legend has it that a cult of ponies partake in the consumption of meat. Such ponies are often labeled as “vampires” or “children of The Mares,” which references the legend of ‘The Mares of Diomedes’: four flesh-eating equines from equestrian pre-history, who were likely hippogriff half-breeds.

Unlike ruminants, which bear complex stomachs for digestion, equines break down cellulose in the ‘hindgut’, a part of the colon. Their dentition is almost complete, with cutting incisors to crop food, and grinding molars. Changelings bear fangs, which imply a carnivorous diet in the past, though in modern times, changelings consume energy—mostly in the form of love—as nourishment rather than a physical food source.

Equines are social beings, living in towns or cities, working together to achieve common goals such as survival. Females—usually called mares in horses and zebra, or in the case of donkeys, Jennies—usually bear a single foal after a gestation period of approximately 11 months. Young equines are able to walk or fly within a day of birth, and are more or less fully developed by the time they hit one year of age. Depending on race, living conditions, and other factors, mares may give birth every year to only a few times in their lives. Mares that are not in foal generally have a seasonal estrous cycle, from early spring into autumn. Most mares enter an anestrus period during the winter and thus do not cycle in this period. The reproductive cycle is controlled by the photoperiod (length of the day), with estrus triggered when the days begin to lengthen. Anestrus prevents the female from conceiving in the winter months, though the mare’s libido remains intact.

For reasons that are not clear, yet chalked up to evolution, about 60% of modern mares will cycle year round.

Equines can interbreed with any member of its race, including zebra and donkeys. Griffons can mate with Ponies to conceive Hippogriffs, though the requirements are a male griffon and a female mare. Dragons have also been known to mate with equines, though the only pairing that will allow reproduction is a unicorn and a dragon, the offspring being a Kirin. It is believed that the unicorn’s and dragon’s magick allows for reproduction to take place.

Each equine race has access to a powerful source of power often dubbed “magick,” the exact nature of which has never been fully understood. However, this hasn’t stopped equine culture from mastering it, each race of equine developing its own brand of magick.

Earthen Equine (earth pony)

Earth ponies are the average equine race, bearing no real differential attribute such as wings or horns. They are average on the outside, but on the inside lies their true potential. Earth ponies hold a very deep connection to the land and animals, which manifests in various ways. Chiefly, the most obvious form of connection to the land is through farming. In pony pre-history, only earth ponies could properly cultivate. Unicorns eventually found ways to grow food via magic, but the produce grown in this way was often bitter and feeble.

Earth ponies are closely tied to manual labor, such as scoring ice, pulling rickshaws, carriages, and—before a viable method of combustion—even trains. This is because earth ponies bear the highest stamina and physical prowess of the four equine races, traits that no doubt stem from the magick within them. One very special earth pony talent is animal taming, a skill that most earth ponies bear to some degree, but can be mastered to its fullest with training. Often, this skill overlaps with Geomancy and Shamanism, two skills that earth ponies—most prominently the zebra—developed in the pre-historic age, but gradually abandoned in favor of raw, physical force. Zebra, however, had no problem taking these abilities and fully mastering them.

Winged Equine (Pegasus)

Winged equines, commonly known as pegasi, are unique for they possess wings, allowing them flight, a trait no other equine aside from alicorns has naturally. Pegasi are capable of great speed in the air, though are not always as fast as Earth ponies on foot. Pegasus ponies have the capability to manipulate the weather, moving clouds to either create storms or clear the skies. To further manipulate the weather, pegasi construct massive factory complexes in the clouds from which clouds, liquefied rainbow (which is little more than concentrated magick-made-physical), and snowflakes (though not as perfect as natural snowflakes).

Pegasi possess a unique advantage over the other equine races: the ability to naturally walk on clouds. This ability is not limited to Pegasus ponies, as most avian entities seem to bear this trait as well. Yet another show of subtle magick in the world.

While not the strongest of equine races, pegasi bear considerable physical prowess, particularly in and around their wings, which aside from being very nimble in flight, are highly dexterous to the point of acting as “hands.” Some pegasi can use their wings to lift great weights, though the exact level of wing strength varies from individual to individual. Nonetheless, pegasus power—measured in Wing Power—is well capable of creating vortexes powerful enough to defy gravity. Pegasi have also the ability to fly at speeds of up to mach three, and have been known to propel unicorns faster than the speed of sound.

Horned Equine (Unicorn)

As the name suggests, all unicorns have a long horn protruding from their forehead which glows when their magical powers are used. Although horns are associated with magick, a unicorn's horn is strong and sharp enough to have mundane uses, such as self-defense, use in everyday activities, and yet another object of vanity. Most unicorn magick revolves only around natural talents (e.g. jobs, hobbies, etc). Unicorns whose specialization is magick was at one point considered rare, but selective breeding and specialized training have increased the number of unicorns talented in the magick arts. The other equine races generally have difficulty competing with a unicorn's magical talent. Though this has historically caused friction between the two races, unicorns are valued for their ability to adapt their magickal talents to achieve just about any endeavor.

Unicorns have made their greatest impacts on the sciences, the arcane arts, and of course, the battlefields. Their greatest (and darkest) moment was when the Equestrian fascist regime trained elite unicorn battle mages, conditioning and otherwise shaping them into engines of unrivaled destruction called “bellum magi.” Physically, unicorns are the weakest equine race, though they are by no means pushovers.

Alicorns (Winged Unicorn/Horned Pegasus)

Though they are called alicorns, “winged unicorn” or “pegasus unicorn” is the correct term for this race of equine. Their name is derived from the alicorn that composes their horns, a substance which, in an attempt to explain their inherent magick, was in olden times believed to constitute their entire body.

Alicorns are distinguished by their magnificent wings, flowing manes, and lustrous horns. Genetically, they bear the same traits of all four races, which implies that alicorns are the next step in the evolution of the equine, a future where all four races become one. An alicorn’s power is directly tied to their magick levels. This power level is shown via wingspan, horn size, age, body size, and mane form. Weaker alicorns bear small wingspans and standard manes, while more powerful specimens bear large wingspans, large horns, and most importantly, radiant manes often made of magick itself.

When stripped of their power, an alicorn will revert back to a state of childhood, and said child will gradually grow in accordance to its power recuperation. It is entirely possible to block an alicorn’s power, rendering said alicorn as child-like mortal being. Fully powered alicorns are virtually immortal, but weaker forms, while not physically growing old, are affected by age, and will eventually perish.

Zeborites (Zebra)

The zebra were once considered part of the equine race, the so called “fourth tribe.” However, as the end of “Pre-History” dawned, and the equine race was forced to relocate or perish, the zebra chose to split away from their brother race, heading further south than any species had done before.

It’s not entirely clear why the zebra race chose this path. Historians speculate the choice was to escape certain prejudices, including the belief that the zebra were considered just another form of earth pony. It is possible it had to do with a strong desire for independence and growth. Regardless of the reasons, the zebra united and swore to create their own nation.

While the main equine race settled in the heartland of the main continent, the zebra wandered to the south, directly into the great jungles, marshes and savannas, lands that bordered the ‘Black Marshes.’ It was here the zebra found a new home, one of lush tropical forest and untapped natural resources. However, this land was one of many dangers, where wild creatures roamed, and the very wrath of nature was unhindered by magick. The land the zebra would come to inhabit would be named “Green Tartarus” due to its incredible dangers. Soon enough, the zebra learned how to tame the land by harnessing the “true” magick inherit to all equines. The zebra would further refine their brand of magick through meditation, physical training, and connection with the spirits of nature. The zebra developed three distinct disciplines of magick: Shamanism, the art of spiritual contact; Necromancy, the art of life-force manipulation; and Geomancy, the art of nature manipulation.

In time, the harsh jungles were made habitable by use of these three skills, and zebra civilization thrived. In the coming centuries, the zebra would pass their knowledge to three other neighboring young cultures, that of the Ibex, the Giraffe, and the Gazelle, all of which were eventually absorbed into zebra civilization.

With their borders expanding, and their nation at its apex, the zebra decided the time for unification had arrived. In less than twenty years, the zebra would create a new nation, just as powerful as the equine nation to the north. This new country would come to be known as Zeborite

The Zeborite nation played a very large role during the Age of Feudalism, as well as the subsequent reign of militarism that followed the fall of the monarchy. Both times, the Zeborite provided troops and support, aiding Prince Zeus to reclaim his rightful throne and harboring refuges from the militant Caelestis regime. When the time for revolution came, the Zeborite nation provided their full military and economic support to the rebels. Had it not been for their aid, Luna’s rebellion against the Celestis Regimen would have failed. One class of soldier, the feared Nasfsi Mlaji or “soul eaters”; Necromancers and Geomancers who helped defeat the then untouchable Bellum Magi.

After the revolutionary war came to its end, the Zeborites willingly joined forces with the newly established United Equestrian Republic as a commonwealth, thus uniting the four equine races once again.

Though they are diplomatically shunned for it, the Zeborites continue to stand as a bastion of morality and sanity in the quickly degenerating political fields of Equestria.

Donkey

Known for their stubbornness and prudence, which has been attributed to a strong sense of “self preservation,” donkeys are the final equine race, one that like the zebra, gets put into the “earthen equine” camp very often. They have neither nation nor specialized living groups, choosing to live either among pony society as equals, or as loners on the outskirts of towns and cities. They don’t vary much in size from ponies, though their coloring is far more rigid, likely due to their evolution in desert and mountain regions. The grand majority of donkeys have large ears, which help them detect distant sounds as well as aid in heat dissipation. Young donkeys can interbreed with other members of the equine family. Donkeys are quite intelligent, cautious, and friendly—but they’ve build up a reputation as being cranky and stubborn to the bone.

-Griffon Race-

Gryphos: land of the eagle, where harsh desert meets cold tundra. On this land lies the massive and majestic mountain ranges of the great north, which kiss the very skies, and where pillars extending to the heavens are born from the earth’s bosom. It is a place of myth and legend, where griffons rule both sky and land.

The origins of the griffon race are shrouded in mystery. Science has yet to fully explain how a race of half-avian, half-feline could have developed without some type of direct genetic influence. Therefore, the race of griffons as a whole serves as an argument for the existence of ancient cultures far more advanced than those who inhabit the planet today.

Though their empire did not form until after that of the equines, the griffons of Gryphos are a civilization of tradition that dates back to the pre-history. With claw, iron, and blood, the griffons have carved a massive empire that stretches from the edges of the desert, to the shores of the sea of glaciers, to the very lowest bowels of the earth, wherein lie ancient secrets known only to the griffons.

Culturally, Gryphos is often reluctant to accept change, only doing so when it is absolutely beneficial to their cause. Griffon society is more or less based on a system of castes made up of workers and miners, artisans and scribes, soldiers and officers, and the monarchy.

The monarchy rules with absolute control; their word is law. While rigid at first glance, the caste system allows for easy movement between the classes. A worker or miner who shows aptitude for scribe work may choose to move to that caste. Likewise, a scribe who wishes to fight for his nation may join the military caste, and so on.

Culturally speaking, Gryphos reveres its warriors to the point of worship, viewing battle as the ultimate proving ground of a griffon’s true skills. It is common to hear epics about warriors of myth and the great emperors of old being chosen for their aptitude in battle. Modern day Gryphians still respect their warrior heritage, willing to return to it should the situation ever calls for it.

The nation of Gryphos is ruled by an empero who, upon taking the throne, is named “Xerxes” after the first emperor of legend, who led the griffon race from barbaric desert tribes into a mighty empire. This name also extends to the nation’s armed forces, which are named “The Xerxian Armada,” and are made up predominately of airships and battalions of griffon shock troopers.

On the matter of democracy, Gryphos is rather picky as to what they assimilate, and what they rejected. Voting of the average citizen was implemented into the governor process. Voting also takes place to elect a senate, which is primarily in charge of foreign affairs.

During the Feudal age of Equestria, they kept to their own borders, massing forces in preparation for an all-out invasion. However, no such military plan came to fruition, for the sudden union of the Zeborite nation with the fractured nation of Equestria would have resulted in far too costly a war. Nonetheless, Gryphos maintained its state of readiness.

When the monarchy was fully established and the Classical Age began, Gryphos opened up its borders, allowing commerce and migration to take place. It was during this time that a new race of beings, hippogriffs, would become a dominant socio-political force in both Gryphos and Equestria. Secretly, the Gryphos military wished to breed individuals capable of using innate magick. To this end, they initiated a secretive breeding project that would have allowed them to cross-breed griffons or hippogriffs with unicorns. Most of these breeding projects failed, producing standard Hippogriff offspring rather than the wanted Magi-Hippogriffs desired. There were, however, a few exceptional cases where a subject would develop innate magickal capabilities similar to those used by zebras. These magi-hippogriffs often suffered debilitating side effects, such as dementia and schizophrenia. The project was eventually discontinued by the Gryphos military, who found it far easier to hire unicorn mercenaries than attempt to breed their own magick users.

Unfortunately, when Gryphos was conquered by the Caelestisbusque, this project was once again instated, this time with the aid of newer technologies and an early form of bio-necromatic engineering. The results were far more favorable, for instead of using unicorn subjects in hopes of breeding magi-griffons, the natural yet passive magick inherit to every griffin was augmented. These specialized griffons, capable of even more direct weather control than even the most adept pegasus, came to be known as “Stormbringers” for their terrifying ability to create ferocious storms capable or razing entire cities in mere seconds.

When the Caelestis was toppled, the nation of Gryphos once again returned to its old ways, closing its borders. In the present day, the nation is in conflict with Equestria over territory and resources.

Hippogriff

The hippogriff is the offspring of a male griffon and a mare of any race. The result is a creature with the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of an equine.

Hippogriffs are fast, durable, and tend to have a calmer demeanor than griffons, generally more accepting of civility and reason over brute force. That isn’t to say hippogriffs are pacifist; on the contrary, hippogriffs are known for their ferocity as warriors and their speed, which makes them formidable airborne as well land-based fighters. Hippogriffs can easily break mach three speeds.

Hippogriffs are omnivores, eating both plant and meat alike, though they will not hunt anything that is sentient. They also find griffon’s—their cousins—willingness to hunt and kill equines an abomination, and are more than ready to hunt and exterminate those who perform the act.

-Dragon Race-

Dragons are by far the most mysterious and reclusive of the dominant races on the face of the planet. The race possesses no governmental structure outside of a tribe or clan system and holds no actual territory, instead moving from location to location as nomads. They seem to bear no active military forces nor enforce any type of law system. However, looks are very deceiving, for the dragon culture is perhaps one of the most advanced on the face of the planet.

Said to hail from the furthest reaches of the planet, the viciously savage Glacier Isle—which in pre-historic times was far closer to the main landmass—the dragons are a race of beings whose time as a civilization has long come and gone. At one point, before the rise of mammalian life, dragons ruled the land unhindered, forging an empire that covered the entire globe. They built massive cities and developed technology unlike any imaginable in the present. Yet, it was this very power that drove the dragons into a decline, as the dragons fought savage war after savage war for dominance.

Then came the cataclysm, “the great death”: a massive eruption of one of the planet’s many mega-volcanoes. It blanketed the sky with a thick layer of ash, driving most species to extinction. Dragons, for all their technology and magickal dominance, barely survived the decades-long darkness. By the time the sun shone once again, almost 90% of all life had perished. Unable to increase their numbers, the dragons entered a great decline, their culture forgotten in favor of survival. A few drakes preserved various aspects of dragon mythology and culture, either through the written word or through oral tradition, but thousands of year’s worth of knowledge perished in the wake of the eruption.

The dragon race would survive, but new generations would grow unaware of their once mighty power. They would grow knowing nothing of civilization until the rise of the equines and griffons millennia later. By then, the dragons were little more than nomadic beings, barely clinging to what few specks of civilization they still bore. Legends persist of a city where the ravages of the great death were never felt. A city where dragons still exist, preserving the knowledge of old, chronicling history as it unfolds; a hidden city that still bears marvelous technology and, most importantly of all, the real truth about the world and those who came before the dragons.

Dragons only played an important role during the revolutionary war of Equestria when they came to the aid of the rebellion, well aware that if not defeated, the Equestrian regime would continue to expand, conquering all without check.

Kirins

The Kirin is the offspring of a dragon and a unicorn mare. Physically, they resemble a mix of equine and drake, bearing the body shape of their mothers but many characteristics of their fathers. These characteristics include scaly skin over which a fine coat covers all save the underbelly. The mane is that of an equine, while ears are of a dragon. They bear dragon eyes, dragon teeth, and often dragon tails, with a few sporting dragon wings. Kirin’s limbs, while shaped similarly to a pony’s limbs, end in claws rather than hooves, giving them the same grasping capability of their fathers. As they are offspring to unicorns, all Kirins bear a horn made of alicorn, and possess all the magickal powers of their father and mothers, though Kirins have no elemental breath capabilities. Kirins often grow considerably, reaching heights of at least seven feet in adulthood, though their actual growth is dictated by many factors, such as generosity and greed. Kirins who are greedy grow incredibly fast, but never mature emotionally, the result being that when their greed is negated, they revert back to a child-like state. Kirins who grow via generosity tend to mature slower, but their growth—both emotional and physical—is permanent.

Kirins are mostly known to inhabit the equine province of Neighpon, to the south of Gryphos, where they have considerable numbers and influence. Many do live in other locations, but their population center lies in Neighpon.

-Minor Races-

Diamond Dogs

This canine race of miners, diggers, jewel-makers and hoarders bears no set nation of their own. They are not nomadic in nature, but rather choose to live in separate city-states that allow them to grow, each small “nation” being autonomous in nature, expanding their own territory and amassing their own wealth. However, all diamond dogs still hold some level of allegiance to their leader, a democratically chosen king or queen often called “the grand chief.”

Physically, diamond dogs are bipedal canines, though their roots are clearly that of a quadruped. It is unknown just when the race of canines first stood up and walked on two legs, but doing so not only vastly improved their mental capacities, but also allowed their paws to evolve into hands with opposable thumbs, which in turn prompted the development of tools.

Diamond dogs are highly territorial, protecting their mines with great vigor. However, they aren’t as vicious as they are often portrayed. More often than not, all it takes is the most basic knowledge of speech to change a diamond dog’s disposition. Though when enraged, they will fight quite effectively.

Diamond dogs are excellent miners but only fair crafters. They do have one specialty, however: they excel at the creation of jewelry and vast, stable, and complex tunnels, some of which serve as highways. Indeed their most profitable work is the construction of sewer systems and tunnels for other species.

Sea Serpents

The distant cousins of the dragon—these draken beings call the vast seas and lakes of the world their homes. They are highly intelligent and put quite the emphasis on appearance. They are often amicable towards all races, though in ages past, they developed a reputation for sinking ships, likely because sea serpents viewed ships as inanimate pieces of “junk.” It wasn’t until later (and when they found themselves being hunted by crazed sailors) that the sea serpents came forth to proclaim their intentions of peace.

In today’s world, most sea serpents keep to themselves, traveling the vast seas alone. The rest choose to live near lake towns such as Manehattan, working as living ferries or construction workers for water-based projects.

Hydras

Hydras are another cousin of the drake, albeit one of considerably lesser intelligence and far higher viciousness. Hydras are highly territorial, attacking anything that trespasses into their territory, though they will retreat if they feel threatened or grow bored with the chase. The beasts make their homes in the vast (and mostly uncharted) wilds of the Everfree, the rather quaint yet deceptively dangerous Froggy Bottom Bog, the extremely dangerous Black Marshes, and even the Badlands.

Hydras are incapable of speech, instead relying on roars and subtle eye movements to communicate. Talented beast masters may be able to converse with Hydras, but more often than not, hydras will remain a very dangerous creature to tame. Extreme caution is recommended when dealing with feral hydras.

Timberwolves

The timberwolf is a unique creature, for it isn’t an animal per se, but rather a ‘plantimal’: a being born of the forest and given life by elder magick that has so far eluded explanation. Timberwolves are otherwise canis lupus-like entities who behave similarly save for their desire to protect the forest they call home. They bear limited intelligence, and are very vicious. However, when compared to other creatures of the forests, timberwolves are the easiest to tame and befriend, as they bear the same pack mentality as standard wolves (who should be mentioned are intelligent enough to speak). Often, a tamer’s first ally is a timberwolf, who, once tamed, remains a close ally until death. Timberwolves are closely tied to the harvest of Zap Apples.

Ents

Ents are large ape-like figures that stand at least fourteen feet high, are very sturdy, often sport tall heads and hardly any necks, and tend to wear overgrown ‘beards’ composed of plants. A creature that, much like the timberwolf, is a type of ‘plantimal.’

Much like timberwolves, ents appear to be animated plant life, appearing not only as giant, olden trees, but also as sentient bushes and massive bodies of vines. Unlike timberwolves, ents are docile and extremely wise, for they have lived countless ages, sharing the same life expectancy as the very plant life that makes up their bodies. Ents seek only to live in peace with civilization, a task that has been made increasingly difficult with technological advances. Rather than fight, the ents merely retreat deeper and deeper into the Everfree, seeking seclusion.

Lycans

These beings are what comes to mind when the word “wolf” is uttered. Indeed, these beings are wolves, though they are far smarter than any timberwolf could ever be, living in civilized towns and cities as guards and bouncers. This is due to their natural predatory instinct, which in ages long past, was turned against equines, but changed when their prey learned to use firearms. In turn, lycans taught themselves the use of firearms, and the conflict escalated to war, at which point the lycans came to the realization they weren’t even fighting for food anymore (as they could now harvest their own via farms and ranches). So, the lycans made a deal with equinkind: they would live in society as productive citizens in exchange for lands where they could maintain livestock for their own consumption. The terms were agreeable, and both races found a somewhat lukewarm peace.

Many lycans, knowing nothing but conflict, signed up as mercenaries. Others left to join the griffons, who unlike ponies, actively hunted for food, and a few settled down and became scholars, penning down lycan legends that have since become popular fairytales.

One thing remains certain: even the most seemingly relaxed lycan bears a fierce flame in their heart, forever longing for the hunt.

Bovines

Bovines, while indeed intelligent enough to speak, they are treated as little more than a resource, their milk harvested for consumption by all races, and their flesh consumed by carnivores. Yet, despite their rather rotten destinies, they don’t seem to mind too much, choosing instead to live their lives in a lax, almost uncaring manner. Cows often procreate and accept their fates as a “resource,” a role further perpetuated by the males of the bovine species, bulls, who unlike cows, aren’t considered resources, but intelligent and productive members of society. Bulls are fierce workers, and even fiercer soldiers, taking on jobs that no other would even dare consider. The only real drawback to bulls is their rather short fuses, which tend to blow at a moment’s notice.

Minotaurs

These bipedal bovines are the evolved siblings of the average bovine. They are extremely powerful, both physically and magically, though these magick is harnessed by indirect means(like unicorns). Minotaurs are a rather secretive race, living among all societies, yet never quite willing to share their secrets with anyone other than those they trust. A great misconception is that all minotaurs are brutes. This is false; minotaurs are very intelligent, as well as capable of using many different tools due to their digits and opposable thumbs (which still end in hooves, as is to be expected). Minotaurs often seek high employment, and as such, work as high-class bouncers for VIPs, Elite Guards, or motivational speakers (as one very famous minotaur is proof of).

It is very unwise to anger a minotaur; very, very unwise.

Parasprites

These insect-like creatures come in two types: the average parasprite that looks cute on the outside but is capable of not only rapid asexual reproduction but also of some higher mental functions—and the vicious, sharp-toothed, red-eyed, and acid-dripping parasprites of the Black Marshes, which, aside from the ability to consume most food sources, are quite delighted in the consumption of flesh.

Regardless of what species of parasprite is being dealt with, all of them are round, berry-like creatures that often come in a multitude of colors, bear big, expressive eyes, achieve flight with insect wings, and emit a rather soothing chirping sound that is solely designed to lull anything larger than them into a sense of ease. The only known method of controlling parasprites is to use music, the most effective of which appears to be polka (which in theory possesses a unique rhythm that seems to interact with a parasprites’ mental functions that are associated with pleasure).

Windigos

These corporeal creatures are more spirit than actual physical entities, but as they seem to have some influence on the physical realm around them, they are often put in the same listing as other creatures.

Windigos hold a special place in equine lore, for it is believed they are responsible for the freezing over of Thule, as well as the near-destruction of the young Equestria. To this day, they remain a very real threat, bringing death and misery wherever they go, feeding off the hatred of those around them and freezing the surroundings over until nothing living is left. Was it not for beastmasters and monster-hunters, all of Equestria would be frozen over and dead.

Windigos seem to bear no higher mental capabilities other than the desire to consume hatred and bring about everlasting winter. There is no known record as to how Windigos reproduce or where they reside when not feeding on hate. Some mages, scientist, and magitechnicians speculate windigos may in fact be the souls of the dammed that never made it into neither Tartarus nor Hades. These creatures are damned.

Buffalo

The buffalo are a race that can only be found in the great plains of the southwestern territories, near Appleloosa and Dodge City. Though big, hefty, and massively powerful, buffalo are a peaceful race that believes that harmony can only be achieved by being one with nature and the spiritual world. Because of these qualities, they are often the best shamans, geomancers, necromancers, and beast tamers outside of Zeborite.

Buffalo are well respected by equines, though to the griffons, they are little more than another source of food.

Ursae

These massive bears are made of nebula-like material. Legend has it that these beasts are fallen constellations, and are but one of many other fallen constellion beasts that inhabit the world, and may make their permanent home in the famed “lost continent” to the far west of Equestria.

Whatever the case, ursae are rather hostile towards all life, and bear enough power to take on a dragon and emerge victorious. Intelligence wise, ursae are quite clever, though they are not capable of any form of speech. What make ursae so dangerous is that they are untamable, especially when raging. When this happens, the only option for a tamer is to flee, though more often than not, this will prove to be ineffective. Due to their otherwordly nature, ursae are impossible to kill, and it is unknown if they succumb to natural death.

Cockatrices

These half-avian, half-serpent creatures are known for one rather terrifying capability above all others: petrification. Often resembling some type of chicken, cockatrices appear to be non-threatening until it is far too late. The power to petrify resides within their sight, very much in the same vein as a gorgon’s stare. The main difference is that while a gorgon’s stare is lethal in nature, a cockatrice’s isn’t. The right potion or spell can reverse the effect, and while petrified, a victim is rendered nearly indestructible. Nonetheless, most travelers aren’t prepared to face a cockatrice, so extreme caution is recommended when dealing with these beasts.

Draconequi

Draconequi are beings borne of chaos and strife. Their exact origin is mostly shrouded in mystery, though there is very little doubt as to the identity of the original draconequus: Prometheus, later known as Discord.

Draconequi are often mish-mashes of various bodyparts, though the head is always equine in nature. Powerful in the arts of chaos magick (known today as “Paries Trasnmuto”), draconequi are a rare breed in today’s world, as monster hunters have driven them nearly to the brink of extinction, and unlike the average sentient race, draconequi do not appear concerned with spreading their numbers. On the contrary, they appear to be quite content with their dwindling population, a possible sign that in some ways, they feel responsible for their “father’s” actions.

Most modern draconequi live deep within the Everfree Forest, the only place in all of Equestria where the laws imposed by equinekind are null and void. A few choose to live in the Black Marshes to the far south, though these draconequi have been driven mad by the marshes’ influence, which has turned them violent and destructive.

Phoenixes

These fiery birds are unique in that their cellular structure—combined with their incredible reserves of magic—make them virtually immortal. Each time they perish (in a blaze of fire no less) their cells quickly begin reconstruction. This, alonside their innate magic, allows the phoenix to be “reborn” mere seconds after death.

Because of their incredible ability, phoenix essence is highly sought after, which has resulted in many years of unrestrained hunting of the bird. Most phoenixes in equestrian territories have been driven to extinction, the remain population found in the jealous care of the griffon race, who, being avian themselves, find the act of harming such a magnificent creature a capital crime.

Quarry Eels

These beasts are found nesting in cliffs and canyons, shooting out of their holes to catch any airborne pray that passes nearby. They are large red eel-like creatures (thus their name) and indeed possess some capability to generate electricity, but this skill is mostly reserved for the subjugating of larger pray and self-defense. Quarry eels are highly territorial, and will attack anything that flies too close to their territory.

Ahuitzotls

These simian-like creatures reside in the southern jungles, living side by side with the Zerborites. They are highly intelligent, if very primal in nature. While they possess the skills to develop very highly advanced technology, their culture is dictated by tradition, most of which forbids the use and development of technology. It is unclear as to why they would refuse such valuable tools of progress, but if modern trends are anything to go by, it most likely had to do with the fear of self-destruction and separation from nature.

Ahuizotls, being simians in nature, possess hands with digits that allow them very diverse grasping capabilities, the most important of which is climbing. Most move around in a quadruped form, though they are very much capable of upright movement if necessary. Their tails end in a hand that is fully clenchable.

There are actually two types of ahuitzotls: Money-like and Ape-like. Monkey ahuizotls are restless, unpredictable, and somewhat prone to violence. Ape-like ahuitzoltls are bulkier and stronger, but also far more docile than their cousins. All ahuizotls are highly intelligent and capable of speech.

Changelings

Legend has it that in the feudal age, there lived an earth-pony prince who longed for the heart of a princess alicorn. The princess loved another, and not the prince. To ensure he had his beloved’s heart, the prince used a very powerful love potion to gain the princess’ affection, one he drank himself as well. The two fell madly in love.

However, their love was unnatural, and as such, had great repercussions, for the two monarchs became so enthralled with one another, they utterly neglected their duties as rulers, which resulted in their kingdoms falling into disrepair. All it took was one rampaging dragon to bring both reigns down to the ground. The prince was killed during this event, leaving the princess without the love of her life. by the time this happened, the potion’s effect had become permanent, and its power overwhelmed the princess. Slowly, it changed the pony, turning the alicorn’s own magick against her and quickly transforming the beautiful princess into a being whose only desire was the consumption of love, which now powered her. By the time her mutation was complete, she had become an insect-like entity with the power to take whatever form she most desired, thus giving birth to the first hive queen, who in turn would go and change her and her beloved subject’ss into beings much like herself, giving birth to the first hive.

How much of this legend being true is up for debate. One thing is clear: Changelings were once equines, but mutated due to unknown magicks, which granted them the ability to change shape, gender, and even biology. Their actual form is that of a black insect-like equine with light blue eyes, fangs, and various holes in their limbs.

In ages past, changelings were a very real threat to civilization, as they would siphon love from the land, leaving behind only strife. However, as ponies became more and more cynical, the changelings were left without a viable food source, which has driven the species to the brink of extinction. It was because of this that the last queen of the changelings, Queen Chrysalis, attempted to violently take over Equestria, a plot that failed and resulted in her death. What followed was the near total genocide of the changelings as all three major races—Zeborite, Griffon, and Equine—came together to hunt down and exterminate the changelings.

Today, only a few changelings still survive, hiding among the populace and living in fear of discovery and execution by monster hunters and Regulators, a sight that isn’t at all uncommon.

TECHNOLOGY

I. Overview

Over the centuries, many inventions have come to dominate Equestrian life, ranging in complexity from the humble yet infinitely useful can opener, to magi-computers. Technology and Equestria have long histories that date back, surprisingly, to The Age of Discord. It was in this time of chaos that many mages and wizards—soon to be known as engineers—started looking into viable machinery and tools that would to improve the general quality of life, as magick was no longer as reliable as it once had been thanks to Discord’s chaos.

Among the first major inventions was the aforementioned can opener, though in a rather ironic twist, cans had yet to be invited. Instead, the can openers found use as a reliable tool for shearing right through metal armor. During The Age of Discord, conflict was common, and so was the use of full body plate armor. Soldiers getting stuck in their armors after a significant blow was quite common. Before the humble can opener came around, the only way to aid the trapped soldiers was via amputation. The can opener negated this.

Eventually, the can was developed, and the can opener proved to be an indispensable tool for the average equine, especially in the brutal winter days when Discord would joyously send massive blizzards to bury entire towns under snow. Canned food and the can opener became a staple in every household, dramatically increasing survival rates during those horrid winters.

It was the savage winters that led engineers to desperately try and developed a method of indoor heating without the use of a bonfire, as creating a fire in the middle of an enclosed home buried under several feet of snow wasn’t a reliable method of generating heat in the dead of winter. Instead, the fire often ate up precious oxygen, causing many families to die overnight because their homes ran out of oxygen and filled up with carbon dioxide. A type of heat generator that could reliably heat up water—the most heat-absorbent and retaining material available anywhere on the planet—was needed. Engineers eventually developed a viable design that used a low flame to heat up the water gradually, reducing the amount of CO₂ emitted in the process and guaranteeing maximum warmth over longer periods of time. Thus, the water heater was created.

With the invention of the water heater, there came the question of how to best achieve an efficient heating method. It wasn’t long before another group of engineers discovered that the same principle for heating water to keep a home warm could be used to create steam, which in turn could be used to power other machinery. Soon enough, the water heater evolved into an early type of steam engine, which was refined over a period of ten years until it became prominent enough for incorporation into every aspect of industrial work, eventually leading to the advent of the locomotive and the first type of auto-carriage. More importantly, it was discovered that by using steam to rotate an electromagnet within a positive and negatively charged coil, stable electricity could be generated with relative ease. Soon enough, most homes rigged their heating systems to divert some of its waste steam to spinning these early electric generators. The result was that within a few scant years, electricity became common, which meant the eventual development of light bulbs and other appliances that harnessed electricity. In addition to the developing of more efficient engines, electricity allowed for the creation of the radio and telephone, two inventions that connected the world and allowed the transfer of information within minutes, further speeding-up the development of technology from all corners of the globe.

In time, technology and magick came together to create the branch known as Magiteck. Magiteck allowed for the creation of technologies that took advantage of the most advanced scientific developments.

The radio was the first technology to evolve thanks to magiteck. Research and development eventually turned the system into one that was capable of harnessing Sympathetic magick, which more or less uses the “law of contact or contagion” to spread its message on a deeper level than any average radio is capable of. This forms the basis for the Sympathetic Network which functions according to the idea that things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed. Whatever is done to a material object will equally affect the being with whom the object was once in contact, whether it formed part of his body or not. Since the network functions by tapping into the emotions of its users, whatever is felt on one side is equally felt on the other. This allows more than just words to be passed on, but entire ideas and mental images complete with actual physical emotion.

The next invention to benefit from magiteck was the internal combustion engine, as it was made to be capable of running not just on the standard fuel sources—coal, wood, petroleum—but was also adapted to directly harness magick as its power source.      

Strangely enough, Discord never once attempted to stop ponydom from developing technology. Historians aren’t entirely sure why. Many theories have been put forward, including the idea that Discord, confident in his rule over the land, did not see technology as a viable threat. Some even go so far as to claim that by enacting chaotic laws of nature, pushing ponydom to the brink of destruction and constantly keeping ponies on edge, Discord encouraged the development of technology, which in turn led to a more independent civilization. If this theory proves accurate, then it would give Discord’s original name, Prometheus, a whole new meaning.

After The Age of Discord, technology would see widespread stagnation as Equetria entered the Feudal Age. Most technology was banned, as the feudal lords feared it could be used by the lower classes to revolt against them. Many technologies, including magiteck, fell dormant in this time, neither regressing nor progressing.

Once the Feudal age came to an end and the Classical age began, technology would see another boom as scientists, now free from the restrain of feudal lords, could once again research new technologies. It was during this time that all classes of magick were categorized, research into the very origins of the species started, and the sciences and arcane arts became not just a matter of academia, but of everyday life. This trend would continue up until the rise of the Caelestisbusque into power. Suddenly the sciences and arcane arts turned from something to aid the nation, to tools for world domination. Under the idea that superior technology was the road to supreme dominance, the regime further expanded research to include advanced aviation, rocketry, physics, genetics, medicine, robotics, and even an early form of a space program. It was also during the reign of the Caelestis that Technomancy was created. It was technomancy that opened up the doors for many forbidden arcane arts that could now be tamed with the use of magiteck. Suddenly, the Caelestis had a way for “growing” super soldiers from gifted unicorns. These poor equines would be conditioned from a young age to be nothing more than biological weapons capable of using not only the most advanced of Elemental magicks, but Blood magick and even Warlockry. By the time their “training” is complete, the unicorn is little more than a willing puppet of the regime, carrying out orders and bearing little to no form of higher emotion outside of pleasure. These specialized troops came to be known as Bellum Magi.

In modern times, technology has once again reached a seeming standstill, as the next steps in technological advancement involve Transponyism, or P+: the direct alteration of a pony’s natural physiology with artificial components. Many fear that if allowed to proceed, society, already cynical and apathetic, could become more so, perhaps even reaching a point where ponies are no longer ponies.

II. Magemicite

Magemicite: the all powerful source of energy for Equestrians everywhere. It was created as an alternate power source by the unicorn Twilight Sparkle—protégée to Princess Luna. She did so because she realized the world could very well face destruction via pollution created by the fossil fuels, which were commonly employed by all industries the world over to create electricity and power.

The development of magemicite is often quoted as the single most important scientific achievement in the history of the world, for it changed the very technological path of all civilizations and solved many of the world’s pollution issues in the process. Magemicite is cheap, very reliable, and incredibly stable when properly developed—as well as very abundant where magick can be used. It is virtually non-toxic and can power machinery fuel sources such as petroleum and coal cannot.

Magemicite is magickal essence refined and turned into a physical crystalline form from which direct magick energy can be accessed by anyone capable of harnessing magick. This means that any individual capable of using magick can use magemicite to augment his or her natural magickal capabilities. Magemicite is also more than capable of granting those who possess no obvious arcane powers the gift of the arcane arts. There is a risk to magemicite however, and that risk is exposure to hazardous magicks.

Hazardous magicks exist naturally in the environment, usually unreachable to most magick users. Since magemicite allows any magickally inclined individual to augment their powers, it’s only natural that such dangerous powers could become available as well. Exposure to this magick has the same lasting effects as radiation poisoning, only instead of cells being slowly destroyed, it causes cell degradation. This is particularly dangerous for unicorns, who focus all of their magick powers at their horns. Exposure to hazardous magicks can lead to the dreaded condition known as “horn decay,” a very harowing situation where the unicorn’s horn literally rots away like a tooth with a festering cavity. Unless treated at its early stage, the only possible remedy is the removal of the horn from its root: the unicorn’s brain. Magemicite has also been known to interfere with delicate machinery such as precision clocks and certain unshielded computers. It is for this reason that raw magemicite isn’t allowed on airships and naval vessels.

While the raw form of magemicite can provide sufficient power for various machines, the crystalline form can be further refined into amulets and rings that grant extra powers to virtually any type of magick such as:

-Elemental magick

-Geomancy

-Blood magick

-Time magick

-Shadow magick

-Weather magick

-Chaos magick

-Warlockry

-Divination magick

-Thaumaturgy

Psionics, Shamanism, Fortitude, Necromancy, Technomancy, Alchemy, and Animalism are all directly unaffected by the presence of magemicite, as it is derived from the individuals’ willpower rather than arcane forces found in the environment or within a physical body. However, magemicite can still empower an individual, who can then turn arcane power into power of the will and the mind. This act is often considered a type of ‘buffer.’

Magemicite, while very stable if properly refined, can in fact be developed into a type of weapon. However, great care is required when weaponizing magemicite. Most often, magemicite is used in conjunction with alchemical runes to create truly terrible weapons. One such example are Balefire Bombs: unstable fire or electricity magemicite crystals further charged with blast runes, all packed into a shell under great pressure that upon detonation creates not only a considerable blast, but also a rain of liquid fire or a massive burst of electricity. Depending on the bomb’s size, these explosives can devastate anywhere from a fifteen meter area (grenades and mines) to a roughly fifteen thousand meter area (airship bombs and artillery shells).

III. The Airship

The airship was originally created early in pony history, sometime between pony pre-history and the Age of Legend. In the early days of the technology, the airship was little more than a hot air balloon with a basket and simple flight controls. As technology improved, so did the airship, becoming more a viable method of long-distance travel than a mere recreational tool.

Airship tech saw stagnation during the Feudal Age, but then blossomed during The Age of Discord, when the steam engine suddenly allowed airships to not only grow ins size, but also become faster and more resilient. Soon enough magemicite came into the picture, and airship technology once again skyrocketed, leading up to the aeroplane.

Modern airships are powered by internal combustion engines. More advanced models incorporate anti-gravitational magick as part of their construction, allowing for more bulk in the design while still being relatively flyable.

IV. Auto-Carriage

Auto-carriages are the standard motorized vehicle in the country of Equestria. Used mostly by earth ponies and unicorns, they provide reliable transportation for a somewhat affordable price. Auto-carriages see the biggest use in the countryside. Such vehicles are also present in most cities and towns even though they are mostly unused; the average equine seems very content to either “hoof-it,” fly, or “Jaunt,” slang for long distance teleportation, an art that requires years of practice lest failure befall the user—failures that are often right out of horror stories.

Auto-carriages often have a unique aesthetic that seems to hearken back to the Classical Age of grandeur, all while mixing in certain “carriage” qualities. Newer models do take after what comes to mind when one thinks of “motorized vehicle.”

There are two types of auto-carriage: those designed for unicorn use and transportation, and those designed for earthen ponies. Unicorn-based vehicles do not possess “steering” apparatuses, as the unicorn takes direct controls via telekinetic interaction. Vehicles designed for earthen ponies—and by extension, any other race—possess steering apparatuses designed to be used by equine hoofs.

The engines of all auto-carriages are internal combustion engines powered by fossil fuels. Engine power ranges from a hooffull of pony power to hundreds of pony power. The faster vehicle in recorded equestrian history managed to reach the rather astounding speed of 300 miles per hour all while only using a staggeringly low 8% of its overall fuel supplies. The actual pony power of the vehicle remains a closely guarded secret by its manufacturer.

IIV. Firearms

Firearms are an ever-present reality in the land of Equestria and beyond, used by almost all species for the purposes of self-defense and offensive action. While the grand majority of firearms are used to hold back natural threats, such as the ones found in the Everfree Forest, the great southern desert, the northernmost tundra and evergreens, and the frozen wastes of the north and south, firearms have had their use in warfare through the ages. Ponies and griffons each bear unique firearms, equines possessing more advanced models while griffons offering more destructive ones. Zeborite culture uses a mix of firearms and direct physical attacks, having developed a fighting style that allows them to literally teleport in front of their target, launch several quick swipes of a blade, and retreat just as rapidly to finish off the target from a distance. Dragons do not use any type of firearms, relying instead on their elemental breaths.

The first firearms in recorded history were developed early in pony pre-history by the earth pony tribe for the purposes of self defense. Unicorns and pegasi instead chose to use close-range weapons such as blades and lances, which were no match for the range a firearm could provide. When the three tribes came together, the technology of firearms was shared with unicorns and pegasi, leading to further refinements, which perfected the firearm over the coming centuries. By the time he Feudal Age rolled around, firearms had become staples of equine military might—even if they weren’t always accurate or rapid.

The very first types of firearms were often nothing more than hollowed-out pieces of wood stuffed with black powder and a projectile, often a type of metallic or stone sphere. In time, these early weapon designs would evolve to become all metal in construction, tighter-fitted barrels for more power, and sturdier in design. Eventually, blasting caps were developed, allowing ponies to use firearms even in wet conditions. Rifling was originally designed as a method for decreasing pressure in the barrel but proved to greatly increase the precision and range of all firearms, thus allowing for accurate long-distance engagements. Up to the Classical age, all firearms were fairly standard save for the physical operation, as each race of pony had to have specialized methods for firing their weapons accurately and comfortably. That changed during the reign of the Caelestibusque, who set about to further diversifying firearm technology, thus forcing each race to fill very specific roles in the battlefield. The result was the birth of the four class system of firearms: Unicorn, Pegasus, Earthen, and Universal.

-Unicorn-

The unicorn class of firearms is designed to be handled via direct magick energy and telekinesis. This allows the firearm to be bulkier and heavier than the universal firearm design, increasing its “punch” as well as its recoil, though for unicorns, recoil is mostly a non-issue.

Firearms of the unicorn make are regarded as the middle ground when it comes to frame types and are often considered to be a good starting point for conversions. Physically, the firearms possess no triggers and no hoof grips, just a barrel and magazine along with any other weapon accessory necessary for proper function (scope, silencer, muzzle breach, recoil dampener, etc.). As is to be expected, due to their initial design, unicorn firearms are usable only by those possessing mastery of telekinetic abilities.

Unicorn firearms possess the special capability to fire magickally enhanced projectiles at will. Other classes of firearms must rely on ammo type to achieve this effect; unicorn firearms do not. This makes unicorn firearms extremely versatile. This is also the weapon class’ big weakness, as repeated use of this skill causes rapid weapon degradation, which can result in weapon failure. Unicorn firearms that are built to exclusively fire magickal projectiles are known as “casters,” and are often constructed of adamantine-type materials such as the bronze-like Orichalcum and the platinum-like Mythril.

-Pegasus-

Pegasus firearms are the next class of weapon, and by far the most common. Their great quantity can be attributed to their weight and overall design. Of the four classes of weapons, pegasus firearms are the lightest weapons thank to a formerly secretive technique of forging metals.

Pegasus-made firearms are designed to be worn on saddles or strapped around forehooves. On a pegasus, this grants weapon functionality while in flight. However, it is this design that allows pegasus-class firearms to be wielded by anypony, not just pegasi. Due to its light weight, it is also the only firearm type that can be used akimbo without incurring drawbacks in accuracy. Unicorn-class firearms can also be used akimbo, but proficient use takes practice to achieve, whereas pegasus weapons can be used in this style from the get-go. Because of their weight, pegasus firearms lack the punch found in unicorn and universal firearms. It is this light weight, however, that grants pegasus-class weapons significant reduction of recoil, to the point there is almost none present. This in turn makes pegasus weaponry extremely accurate, making them the preferred weapon type for sniper rifles.

Physically, pegasus weapons are quite abstract, often looking more like pieces of armor than firearms. Rifles are designed to be fitted to saddles or to hooves while smaller firearms are designed around bracelet frames. Scatterguns, sub-machine guns, and assault rifles are all designed to be worn strapped to the forehooves, the trigger mechanism activated with the squeezing of the “trigger,” which is itself designed for soft hooves. For ponies who have hard hooves (or wear horseshoes) there is a specialized mechanism that fires the weapon when the fetlock is snapped downwards. Because of this design, akimbo style is a viable method of combat for pegasi. There are even stories of pegasus soldiers strapping four weapons to each of their hooves to fire in flight. Neighponians actually developed a martial art based on this named “Pegkata,” which more or less involves a pegasus using all four limbs to attack groups of foes, employing muscle memorization to fire their weapons without the need to aim.

Pegasus firearms have a special attribute to their ammunition, one that counteracts low firepower; a type of air control that allows ammunition to be enhanced by a gust of wind that turns the otherwise average bullet into an armor-piercing round capable of penetrating multiple targets. This ability is only usable by pegasi and griffon Stormbringers. In the hands of an experienced pegasus markspony, a pegasus rifle is capable of taking out opponents wearing Clockwork Exoskeleton armor. Another trait, one inherent to the weapon’s very design, is its quietness and superb recoil reduction, making the class of firearm ideal for use with rapid fire weapons such as SMGs and machineguns.

-Earthen-

Earthen-class weaponry—the heaviest of all weapon types—is mostly exclusive to earth ponies, all of whom use these firearms as parts of “war saddles.” These weapons pack the heaviest punch (albeit not as heavy as griffon-class firearms) as well as the heaviest recoil of any firearm class, for they use ammunition more fitting to be fired from a tank than a rifle. That said, Earth Ponies are the tanks of the Equestrian military, serving as mobile infantry capable of fighting in land and sea. Because earth-pony firearms use large caliber ammunition, they are the least accurate and most unwieldy of the four classes, though a good shot can hit its mark every time.

Out of the four classes of firearms, the earthen class can be considered the only ‘heavy weaponry’ class, boasting such powerhouses as rockets, heavy machine guns, mortars, and flamethrowers, for earth ponies are the only equines strong enough to lug around not only gatling guns, but the ammunition required to fire such a weapon. Earth ponies are also the only equine race that can actively wear Clockwork Exoskeletons—yet another development from the Caelestis. The suits consist of full-plate armor which is bolstered by hydraulics, clockwork mechanisms, and servos, all powered by a steam engine either using nuclear power—or more recently, magemicite. The suit’s servos actively increase the user’s strength by several degrees, allowing said user to carry more equipment than would be normal, even for an earth pony, which is arguably the strongest and hardiest class of equine. The magemicite also allows the suit to project an extra shield, further increasing an earth pony’s survivability in the heat of battle. More advanced models allow the automatic use of healing spells, as well as a devastating self-destruct spell. All models of Clockwork Exoskeletons carry a low-level telekinetic magick spell for item sorting as well easier weapon handling. It isn’t strong enough to handle a unicorn-class firearm, at least not without further enhancements.

It goes without saying, but only earth ponies can use clockwork exoskeletons, for the weight of the suit is far too bulky for a unicorn to bear and downright impossible for a pegasus to even handle (unless said pegasus has had physical training). However, newer models are being developed for use by all equines, as well as griffons.

Physically, earth pony weaponry appears bulky and unwieldy, somewhat resembling pegasus weaponry but much beefier in design. This isn’t always the case however, as some earthen-class weapons are very simple in style. Smaller caliber weapons are made to be fired using an equine’s mandible. As such, these firearms have mouthpieces that can be manipulated using variable bite pressure. However, other equines cannot hope to fire an earthen pistol, as the heavy recoil from such a gun would undoubtedly cause spinal damage. It’s also of interest to note that earth-pony weaponry does possess triggers designed to be used with hooves. Such weapons are often limited to either small caliber firearms (such as battle rifles and combat scatterguns) to large powerful weapons, such as the massively powerful anti-dragon rifle, which was originally designed to fight off dragons, hydras, and sea serpents. In the present, this firearm is used as a very powerful sniper rifle capable of easily destroying structures.

Earth-pony weaponry has the special attribute of being “one shot, one kill” type of weapon. This is because most ammunition types are made using magick shells. It should also be mentioned that some shells use blizzard runes as well, freezing opponents in place rather than turning them to cinders.

-Universal-

Universal firearms are the second most common type of weapon seen in the hooves of ponies. These weapons are often designed to be usable by all species and races. This means universal firearms are standardized in style, bearing stocks, grips, and triggers. A unicorn may be able to use a universal rifle just as a pegasus would be able to use it. Each race has its own method of using the weapons: unicorns use telekinesis, earth ponies grip the firearms in both hooves, pegasi may use their wings to grasp the trigger while they hold the weapon by its grip, griffons may just hold the weapon in their digits, zebra may need to use psionics, kirins same as griffons, etc. Universal firearms therefore carry no benefits nor disadvantages to its users. All races and species can use them, and can modify them as necessary.

MAGICK

I. Overview

Magick is in many ways the lifeblood of Equestria and its neighboring nations. It is an invisible yet extremely powerful energy force that exists in all living and non-living things, influencing nature and evolution alike. In order to fuel magick, anima is required. Anima is magick that has yet to be categorized into one specific discipline; it is magick at its rawest form.

By its nature, magick is a passive force. It can be directly tapped into and harnessed, the most common method simply being the augmentation of natural abilities, as most of these evolved due to direct magickal contact. Magick grants powers that most species take for granted, such as avians’ ability to tread on clouds or a plantimal’s source of life and sentience.

Equines, griffons, and dragons are the three major species that have found ways of tapping magick directly, using it for their needs. Equines first evolved into unicorns, who are likely the most adept at directly tapping into magickal forces in and around them, thus allowing them to further influence the land they inhabit. Earth ponies bear a natural connection to the land is due to magick, which grants them the ability to grow just about anything anywhere. Last are pegasi, whose magick is subtle yet present in the form of weather manipulation. Griffons’ magickal capabilities are found in their discipline of animalism and a unique form of geomancy. Dragons’ magickal capabilities stem from their ability to use elemental breaths, as well as their overall capability to live any other species.

Magick is divided into two forms: active magick, which requires preparation either through scholarly means or concentration and raw talent, and passive magick, which is already found within an individual, and requires no preparation or concentration, for it is always active and present for the user. Active magick can only be cast by following a very special sequence of events dubbed “techniques of magick”: banishing, invocation and evocation.

Banishing is the professed purpose of eliminating forces that might interfere with magickal operation. As such, it is the first and most important step for any type of direct spell-casting effort. The banishing step is most often recognized by a period of preparation in which the caster clears his mind (and the surroundings) of anything that could potentially interfere with the spell. This is often the “prep time” mages and wizards speak about, and often, it’s the longest phase of spell-casting, for if neglected, could result in unexpected and dangerous consequences. While banishing is considered an integral step for all spell-casting, it can also serve as an arcane function all its own, one that, if done correctly, can actively cleanse an area of unwanted magickal energy, such as “waste magick” or “poison anima.”

The general theory of magick proposes that there are various forces which are represented by the classical elements (air, earth, fire, and water), the planets, the signs of the Zodiac, and adjacent spaces in the astral world, including the ‘prime realm’ from which all magick originates from. Theory also proposes that various spirits and non-corporeal intelligences can be harnessed. Unfortunately, this method is very dangerous, as it bears a very high probability of otherworldly corruption. Those who practice necromancy, geomancy, and psionics argue that magick, in the hooves or claws of inexperienced magicians, is just as dangerous as if it was in the hooves or claws of a magician with ill intentions.

The next step is invocation, which is bringing in, or identifying the particular anima forces now present to the magician. What follows is more or less the understanding of what said anima forces are capable of doing, and then, through further concentration, arranging the often chaotic energies into coherent forms of magick that can then be used to perform whatever task the magician has in mind. This step, while not as crucial as the banishing step, is nonetheless the most dangerous, for it is in this step that rogue, waste, or poison magick and anima can come about. A wizard or mage must be absolutely certain of what type of magick he is working with. The arrangement must be precise and coherent, and the anima levels strickly regulated. Only when the magician is certain of just what kind of magick is about to be brought about, can he move on to the next step.

The final, perhaps easiest step in the process of magick usage is evocation, which in simple terms, is the release of anima energy, now formed into physical magick with mostly physical properties, into the world. While the magician at this point is acting solely as an antenna for the magickal energies formed in the invocation stage, there still exists great potential for disaster. If the evocation process is disrupted either by another form of magickal interference or by physical means, the result could be that the anima build-up is released in a burst of uncontrollable energy, which then instantly becomes waste and poison anima. Lesser magick may pose little risk of such disastrous consequences, but the damage done to the spell-caster can be quite severe, sometimes even fatal. Expert magicians and wizards have measures to prevent such disasters, as well as speed when casting spells that more or less leaves little room for disruption. Novices of the magickal arts must still exercise extreme caution until properly licensed and trained.

There are several ways to explain how the processes of magick function in the physical realm, the most common (and simple) method is to divide magick into classes. Magick, at its most broad, is defined as any willed action leading to an intended change. It can also be seen as the general set of methods used to accomplish said change. Changes occur in accordance to the various schools of magick, of which there are ten known and widely used by magicians, mages, wizards, battlemages, and priests.

II. Schools of Magick

-Elemental magick

-Blood magick

-Time magick

-Weather magick

-Chaos magick

-Devination magick

-Warlockry

-Thaumaturgy

-Summoning Magick

The Chaos Lord

Time Taken: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Premise: Discord’s a magnificent trickster and a monster whose sole drive seems to cause chaos. What if his chaos had some larger purpose? What if Discord’s goals go beyond his outward appearance?

This small ‘freewrite’ is but the beginning of something larger.

What you see here has not been altered in any way. Expect grammatical, punctuation, and story errors, for it has not been edited in any way, shape, or form.

Update: Thanks to Nick, I now have some work to be done. Just waiting on you Ion. Also, I probably should have said this earlier. This Discord isn’t exactly ‘canon’. Think of him as an alternate universe Discord, because that’s what he is (he’s from ‘Equestria Noir’ to be a tad more precise).

That is all. Story remains unedited.

The Chaos Lord

Discord knew his defeat was near. He had long foreseen it and had long planned for it accordingly. He knew well that even in his moment of triumph—his moment of so called ‘victory’—his time was short, and no amount of self-imposed hubris, gloating over the finer details or even god-like powers would change the fact that his accomplishments were as fleeting as  a summer rainfall.

He stood near his throne of wood, stone, and iron beholding the very chaos he had brought forth to the otherwise peaceful world, his chaos more than clear against the backdrop of the normally quaint town of Ponyville—just the first of many more towns to fall under his chaos.

Yet, for all he had done, he couldn’t help but look on with weary eyes. “Theatrics,” he neutrally commented, looking around at his handiwork with conflicting feelings. “It’s all nothing more than pure theatrics…” he proved his point by waving his eagle claw, which caused one particular patch of land to glow. The chaotic mish-mash of soil, grass, and what looked like glass receded away to reveal lush green grass, morning dew still glistening on its leaves.

At this, the powerful Draconequus smiled, almost as if he was reminiscing. He closed his claw, causing the patch to be consumed by the chaotic environment again, yet the chaos didn’t consume the grass, but merely overtook it. It was at this point that he sighed in a tired manner, his mind torn by conflicting emotions. He still had the power to shape the world as he saw fit; such is the skill of a Chaos Lord. Yet, deep down, he knew it was a moot power when compared to his real role, one he could not escape from no matter how hard he tried.He faced his ‘labor’ with a somewhat sickened outlook. He felt the need to do chaos, yet he didn’t wish it on a land that had once been his home. How could he feel so conflicted over such a simple concept? He was a chaos lord, he had to enact chaos! Yet, doing so felt empty and devoid of actual feeling and emotion, so much so that he might as well have been sleepwalking. Had he freed himself only to feel guilt over his actions? Had he grown soft during his time as Celestia’s personal statue?

Ah yes, Celestia…just thinking of her name filled him with mixed emotions of rage, sorrow, and longing. Celestia was she who had stood against him, fought against him, and imprisoned him in stone, never to rise again. She was the one who had taken the young chaos lord’s heart and shattered into a zillion pieces, growing to hate him for what he had become; what he had to become to save all. She, who had sworn to stand beside him till the end of time, yet had turned her back when he had needed her most. The betrayer…Celestia was a betrayer…

Yet deep down, he still loved her.

As he stood over his creation, time slowly ticking down to oblivion, he smiled; smiled widely and with madness. He had the power to tear this world apart; change water to acid, turn rain into fiery hail, cause earthquakes and volcanoes to rise and consume the land with cleansing flames, turn the winds into toxic clouds of vile, boil every single living being’s blood by altering the atmospheric pressure, move the sun far enough to cause everything to freeze, and bring the sun close enough to cause all to burn. He even had the power to tear the very planet into pieces and set those pieces adrift into the vast cold cosmos, dooming whatever life was unfortunate enough to survive the splitting to a fate far worse than any death could bring. He had the power of the cosmos as the tip of his fingers…but he lacked the will to use that power; he feared and loathed it it just as much as he feared and loathed himself.

Oh, he lacked the will. Despite his cheery and almost blissful façade, Discord—who was the bearer of chaos and equal to the elder gods—nay, their superior in every way—was tired. He was so very tired…

Yes, he knew his time was short; he wanted it to be short. He had lived too long now, witnessed the land change around him. Over a thousand years to ponder his path; to ponder his failing and weaknesses. He deserved far worse than imprisonment.

And that was exactly what he would do.

He sat on his throne, face neutral, but eyes filled with longing. “My dear Celestia; I won’t that you were right. I won’t deny that I succumbed to madness and vice. I won’t even deny that you and your sister did the right thing by imprisoning me in stone because, you did; oh you did. You took my trust and used it against me. Granted, I had earned your wrath by then, but your original betrayal…that hurt the most.

“As much as we like to think of ourselves as free agents of life with fates that we ourselves create, the sad truth is that we’re all bound by invisible strings that tug and pull and guide us towards inescapable and unchangeable ends. You were destined to defeat and betray me, and I was destined to fall by your hoof; simple as that my dear; simple as that.” He snapped his finger, summoning a pink cloud to the left side of his throne. He looked at the little cloud, which seemed almost unnerved at being in the presence of a chaos lord. He waved his left claw, at which point an empty glass appeared with a whimsical pop of sound and light, gently resting between Discord’s index and thumb. “Fate…what a terrible joke fate is.” He placed the empty glass underneath the pink cloud as he thought of these words. He gave another snap of his fingers, and the cloud empties its contents onto the glass: liquid creamy chocolate. “Here I am, acting like a monster, all because fate has told me to do so. Here I am, waiting to be defeated by your agents; all because fate mandates that it must be so. Oh, I’m not the real monster here Celestia, Fate is the real monster here; for fate ensnares us all with invisible strings—puppeteer’s strings that control our every move. I can’t see the hands or hooves or claws or whatever moves the strings, but I can see the moves, see the outcomes. You think of me as the puppeteer of all these events when in truth, I’m merely a puppet myself.” With one mighty swig, he down the chocolate drink and tossed the glass aside, face twisted into a scowl. “My dear Celestia, just know that what happens today isn’t my doing. I know it sounds stupid, I might just be making all of it up as well, but truly, I know that you and I can’t be held accountable for our paths. You and I, we’ve played our roles as mandated by fate. But I’ve one more role to play, one I can’t escape no matter how hard I try. Fate mandates that it happens, and in the end, I’m but a puppet of fate.” He once again snapped his fingers, causing his throne to vanish, leaving him floating in mid-air. He crossed both his legs and closed his eyes, letting his tail drop to the ground to serve as a stand for his body. He put his claws together and deeply exhaled, almost as if he was about to mediate. Suddenly, a great power surrounded him; a fiery aura that seemed to bend the very space around it. “Control: control imposed over nature, over sentience—control that leads to dominance; dominance that leads to tyranny. Control over the land and its inhabitants; that was what drove me to act. Your—our—kind; we imposed so much control over the land, that the very unpredictability of being was stripped away, everything coming to a standstill. The past, the future; none of those things held meaning anymore. Life, for all its intricacies, had become predictable and malleable to the will of a few. It was this treachery against life and nature that convinced me that I couldn’t just stand by and let life degenerate any further.” His face grew grim as the memories flooded him, brow furrowing and upper lip somewhat twisting. “Your—our—kind, tried to subjugate me, turn me into their weapon, one with which they could dominate order and chaos alike. When I refused, they tried to end me, just as they had done my ancestor. They imprisoned me and condemned me to death.

“That’s when you saved me. You of all ponies, who had once shown doubt and fear of my power, went up against your own kingdom just so you could save me. You faced death and torture because you knew of my importance, of my purpose. You and your sister understood…

“Which is what made your betrayal all the more painful, for you joined those who would have subjugated you in a heartbeat had you been a chaos lord; those who were willing to destroy balance all in the name of dominance. You joined them, and you grew to hate me so, all because you believed me to be your foe when the real foe was behind you all along...

“Even now, when there are no more shadowy figures behind the scenes, you still stand against me; painting me a monster when you yourself have become the monster, for you inherited our kind’s foolish desire for order. Even now, you try so hard to keep your precious ponies happy and sheltered by controlling the world as you see fit. You’re not only damming yourself Princess, but all of our kind as well.” He deeply sighed, grimacing as memories of his failures at getting the sun regent to see reason flashed before his closed eyes. “My dear Celestia, you should have known better than to mess with the natural equilibrium. I was always meant to stand for two very different ideas, something our kind never quite understood. Of course, I knew well what I had to do to save our world…” He suddenlyput his two forelimbs palm to palm. Soon as he did this, his eyes shot wide opened, glowing bright red with vast magic. Underneath his body, a circle of red flames formed, etching an intricate symbol into the glassy ground that made up Discord’s changed Equestria. After a thousand years of waiting, he would finally conclude his magnum opus, which was strange, considering he knew well that his plan would meet catastrophic failure. In truth, he expected failure;

Suddenly, a great power rose in the east. Instantly, he knew to whom that power belonged, and what it meant for him. He wasn’t afraid; he was expectant. He had tried to stall them, yes, but not out of fear but as preparation; he had known the elements would recover, and in doing so become stronger than before. He was no fool; he knew stopping the elements of harmony was like stopping a force of nature. By ‘breaking’ them, he had made them tougher, brought them closer together. A real monster would have destroyed them, scattered their beings to the cosmos—something he wouldn’t put above Celestia—but he, he was no monster. At this, he smiled. “All part of the plan.”

Against all sane logic, he expected his scheme to fail; he was nothing compared to the raw power of the elements of harmony, for the bearers demonstrated great aptitude against his truths, tricks, and influence. He had to commend Celestia for finding such able-minded ponies to bear the elements, especially the one known as Twilight Sparkle, who led the group against him. She reminded him so much of a young Celestia: headstrong and tenacious to a fault. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Celestia was grooming Twilight to take her place as ruler of the nation, or at least to take some type of council or steward position.

Yes, everything was done according to plan.

The six elements of harmony drew nearer, power enough to start changing the draconequus’ morphed surroundings back to normal. He was shocked at just how much raw energy emanated from the six ponies, but his shock was a pleasant shock; the more power the elements had backing them up, the better the chances of his plan succeeding. By the time the six were within sight of him, it was already too little too late to stop that which he had prepared: he had gathered all the power he would need for his plan.

The last of the preparations was complete; the pieces had moved into place; now all he had to do was allow fate to take its course.

“Yes,” Discord said as he placed his claws together, “today’s the day...”

Here’s to You…. Eighty Years Later

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

(WIP. 0% completed)

Chapter 4

(WIP. 0% completed)

Chapter 5

(WIP. Embryo stage. 0% completed)

Chapter 6

(WIP. ‘Your parents meet in a bar’ Stage. -50% completed)

Chapter 7

(WIP. ‘Your soul still probably somewhere in the great cycle of rebirth waiting for your parents to meet at the bar mentioned above’ Stage. -100% completed)

Chapter 1

She lit her horn and lifted yet another box of her old things and placed it to the side. With a long exhale and a wide grin, Luna wiped her brow and released her magic.

Two hundred years since this place got a proper cleaning. Where has the time gone? She was certainly regretting the choice of turning the once heavily lived upon room into a dumping ground. Then again, moving elsewhere had been a good choice, strategically and emotionally. I still can’t believe there’s so much junk here though. Was I really that much of a hoarder back in the day? She ran a hoof over her already aching horn and rubbed her forehead. Maybe I should not have told the maids to take the day off after all.

She snarled and shook her head. No. This is my duty. No pony else’s! She lit her horn again and moved another of the stacked boxes aside. A cloud of dust formed and covered most of the room in reply.

After coughing and wiping the dust away from her nose with a spell, her eyes fell on the now empty spot. Huh... So thatis the room’s actual color. Unlike the rest of the room, the spot was a pure dark blue tone compared to the off color the rest of the floors and walls.

With her hooves, she pushed the box next to the others, and with her horn and magic, she levitated a small contraption with a long hose at its front and a bag at its rear. With a flick of a barely visible switch, the machine whirred to life, sucking up all the loose dust and dirt.

Things had changed for everypony ever since the formation of the United Equestrian Democratic and Socialist Republic. Dear me. Still a mouthful. Even if I don’t even speak it outloud. The monarchy had been utterly abolished, the royal guard disbanded and merged into the main military force, three main ‘boards’—senate, house of representatives, and a supreme court—had been formed, a brand new constitution that now had more amendments that could be counted off the top of anypony’s head was drafted, signed, and made into law, and rather than having monarchs ruling over ponies, ponies had elections every eight years to choose a Chairmare (or Chairstallion) of state.

Luna scoffed. Sure, I could have chosen to take up a Chairmare role like Tia did eighty years ago—even got re-elected for four terms! Not that I think that Chairstallion Marx is doing a bad job. Her brows creased. Still don’t like some of his most recent policies. Especially those involving powers abroad. She shook her head and derailed her train of thought. As time had proven not too long ago, she was better off helping from her current position in the republic. After all, she really couldn’t recall a single time she had taken the leading role in anything after she renounced her title of princess.

A head popped into the room. With a cough, the younger colt butler of dark brown mane and beige coat caught the attention of the former princess. “M’lady. Are you absolutely sure you don’t need any help? This room is awfully filthy. It can’t be good for your health to be inhaling so much dust all at once, especially two-hundred year old stale dust. At least wear some kind of hoofkerchief. Or a hazmat suit.”

Luna rolled her eyes and turned to face the doorway. “For the last time Pennyworth, No. I gave the maids the day off specifically because I wanted—no. Needed—to do this by myself.” She felt the corners of her lips rise. “Also, I think you’re exaggerating. Sure, it is dusty, but I do not need a hazmat suit to do this work.” She waved her right forehoof from her head down to her chest. “I’m kind of… immortal, you know.”

Pennyworth stepped into the room. He only had to take one look around to realize just how over her head Luna was. “M’lady. Not that I don’t think you incapable of this task—on the contrary! I believe you more than capable. It’s just that… well.” He cleared his throat. “As former princess of the nation of Equestria and the Eternal Advisor of Nocturnal and Dream Affairs, you should not have to soil your hooves with something that is clearly way below your—”

“Don’t say it,” Luna snapped before Pennyworth could finish his words.

“All I am saying is that we have citizens that get paid—and get paid rather well, mind you—for work such as this. Hay, sometimes I think they even get paid more than I do.”

Luna stomped her left forehoof on the floor. The snap was audible through the empty halls. Had the mannor been fully staffed, every individual would have likely stopped in their tracks and taken cover in fear of some kind of gas explosion. Despite being at the epicenter of the event, Pennyworth did not flinch or wince at the former princess’ gesture. He only stood tall and resolute as ever.

“The days when ponies tossed themselves at my hooves in adoration... is long over. It went away the day my sisters and I decided to put all trust in our citizens and started our cultural revolution. I’m not above or below anypony else now, Penny. Keep that in mind.” She turned back to face the boxes. “And like I said. This is something I have to do on my own. A challenge, if you will.”

Pennyworth sighed and relaxed his stance. “Now Miss Luna, I completely understand the sentiment. We all need our personal challenges after all. But that doesn’t change the fact that I do not approve of this. And I highly doubt Miss Celestia would approve of it as well.”

Luna gave Pennyworth a mischievous grin.

Pennyworth chuckled and shook his head. “Point taken. Very well then, what shall I tell the other former princesses? Miss Twilight would no doubt offer to help you regardless of what I told her, and Miss Cadence would likely give you a long—and probably boring—lecture about ‘letting citizens do the work they are getting paid for’. She is very much a pony that upholds the tenets of the new state, after all.”

“And let’s not even start talking about her daughter! She probably would do the whole thing by herself without me even asking me for permission!” Luna laughed, placing a hoof on her chin. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing Twilight outside of work. It’s been a good year since we had time to talk outside of politics. I imagine being the advisor of the Intelligence Ministry can’t be that much fun.”

“‘Eternal advisor’,” Pennyworth added. “I can understand the idea behind the titles, seeing as you and the other former princesses are essentially gods. But if you ask me, the name makes it sound like the citizens of Equestria really want to have cults of personalities for all of you.” His face turned sour. “Or want to form a total communist nation. We’re close enough to one as is, you know.”

Luna furrowed her brow. “Believe me, Penny, we have tried to petition for a change of those stupid titles. It is a miracle we got away with just being labeled as ‘advisors’ instead of something else,” Luna closed her eyes and sighed. “As for the threat of communism taking over… Not much we can do about it. If that’s what the citizens want, who are we to stop them?”

Pennyworth clicked his tongue and shook his head. “It is a shame that many citizens have no idea how impossible a truly communistic nation would be run. It’s almost as if they didn’t have Stalliongrad and its spectacular collapse as an example. So much corruption and misery right before the fall” He gave a faint smile. “At least the idea of the citizens wanting their five former rulers back as monarchs isn’t so bad a thing. I hear Equestria was quite peaceful two hundred years ago.”

“Seven monarchs, if you count Chrysalis and Sombra,” Luna flatly corrected Pennyworth. And we should be very thankful of that. Took a lot to get those two to agree and drop their ‘royalty’ status. Even if they were already ruling over nothing but dirt by the time we found them.

Pennyworth gave Luna a nod. “I hear there used to be this massive Royal Guard where every member wore gold armor. And of course, there was the former Canterlot palace before it got repurposed as the new capitol, with all the tapestries and treasures befitting a nation as great as ours!” There was a glow in his eyes. “I hear you and your sister used to really run a tight ship too. No pussyhooving and manouvering needed. Things just got done.”

Luna gave Pennyworth a wink and a grin. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Penny~”

Pennyworth closed his eyes and put his hoof over his mouth as he let out a loud cough. “Well then, enough of my gushing. What do you wish me to tell your sisters should they drop unannounced?”

Luna stood back up. “If it is Twilight, Tia, or even Discord—though I have no idea why he would show up—let them in and inform me immediately.”

“What about the others?” Pennyworth asked.

Luna only gave the young stallion a knowing nod. Pennyworth grinned. “Same thing as always it is then. I will leave you to your work then. If you need anything, I’ll be in the foyer. Hope M’lady doesn’t mind if I borrow the Tele-Vision for a bit. Got some catching up do with my shows.”

“Now, now,” Luna started, turning back to face Pennyworth, her expression growing graver. “I think you are getting ahead of yourself here.” There was silence for a few seconds. A pin could be heard dropping in the next room over. “Don’t forget your job here.” Luna placed a hoof on the young colt’s shoulder. “You have to record my shows as well. I cannot afford to miss another episode of ‘Abode’!”

Pennyworth gave the former princess a nod and smile before leaving the room. Luna followed after him, hanging her head just outside the door. “I-I mean it, Penny! Also, DO NOT unplug my Entertainment System! It was such Tartarus to get it working properly and running at a stable sixty frames per second!”

“Only because a certain pony neglected to read the manual, M’lady” Pennyworth said as he walked further away from the former princess’ old quarters. Before Luna could even think of a retort, Pennyworth had turned the corner and vanished, leaving her once again in the company of old dusty boxes and countless colonies of dust bunnies.

Luna once again got to her task. Moving boxes, wiping up small dust storms with her wings, and using the vacuum to suck up said dust storms. It took her almost five hours, but by the time she was at the last box, she had all but exacted genocide on nearly all traces of dust and dust bunnies. The former princess could not help but feel a sense of incredible accomplishment at the sight. See, I can clean my own messes. You were wrong Tia!

As she lifted the final box off the floor and passed the vacuum, something fell out from on top of it. Luna’s attention fell away from the vacuuming as she diverted some of her magic to pick up the object. As she quickly discovered, the item was an old journal. Brown vegetable leather cover slightly faded from years of neglect and dust build-up.

Why, hello there. Who might you be?

She kept the book levitated as she finished the final pass of the vacuum. She set the box on top of the others after making sure to get the last bit of loose dust with the machine, and then set her full attention back to the small book.

At first, she considered merely putting it back into the box and resuming what little work she had left. It is probably just another old accounting list, she told herself. Still, something about the old tome felt strangely familiar. Like an old friend you never quite forgot but put in the background for a few hundred years in order to focus on more pressing matters. You know, on second thought. That may not be the best way to describe it.

In the end, her curiosity got the better of her. She carefully flipped the book open and inspected it for a title. She found none. Instead, the book went directly into what was obviously some kind of journal entry. The writing was a bit sloppy, and she even spotted a few grammatical errors just by scanning her eyes over the text. Still, it wasn’t the errors nor the writing that really caught her attention, but rather the contents. She almost felt herself gasping once the realization of just what she was holding in her telekinetic grasp fully hit her.

Alright. Forget cleaning. This is more important. She found the nearest dusted couch and took a seat. She set her full attention on the old journal and began reading its contents for the first time in nearly two hundred years.

64th Day of Cheimon

Well, I buckled. Decided to keep this journal. And all because of my commanding officer. Got a nice rude gesture for ya right here.

“Oh my...” Luna couldn’t help but say out loud as she read that. She had a good idea just what kind of ‘gesture’ the pony had in mind. It was a blessing that equines didn’t have the necessary extremities to do it. Not like gryphons or minotarus or gargoyles. She couldn’t help but feel her cheeks get hot as those thoughts passed her mind.

She shook the thoughts out of her head and continued reading.

Guess I can’t be that mad. Fact that this train ride’s so boring I’ve started talking to myself was the breaking point. Seriously, I think I’ve just about finished reading every magazine aboard and there is still at least a whole day’s worth of travel left to endure. By writing on this here journal, it at least looks like I’m not going insane—not that I need any more help in that particular department.

Crap. This all sucks. Not the fact that I’m keeping a journal—actually looking forward to that—It’s just that I’ve never been a pony to have his crap written down outside of shopping lists and the occasional curse word tagged on some asshole’s wall. Always have been one to just do things as they pop into my head. Never been one to worship the quill like some others I know.

After my tour of duty in the badlands, though… sometimes it feels as if my mind’s slowly going down south. How the ponies in those parts manage to stay sane is beyond me.

Damn. Not since I was a cadet have I had so many sore spots at the same time. Whoever said the badlands tour would be uneventful needs to have his head shoved up his own ass. Maybe have some excrement shoved up along with it while they are at it.

At least the tour’s now over. Survived two years of all that bull. That makes six years total as a guard now. On my way to Canterlot now to finish my last two years of my current four year assignment. Probably should be more excited than I am right now, especially since after my tour in Canterlot, I’m eligible for an officer’s position. As if being a Sergeant wasn’t enough as is.

Screw it. I’m dead tired and sore as all Tartrus. For now, I guess this is a good start.

With the last words of the entry read, Luna took the chance to ponder on the words that now buzzed into her mind like a swarm of agitated parasprites. The sensation of familiarity was overwhelming, but it was almost eclipsed by a feeling of guilt. Guilt not only over forgetting just how things looked two hundred years ago, but guilt over forgetting the face of the one who had penned the words down. Why can I not remember what he looked like? I remember everything else about him so clearly, yet his visage draws a blank. Maybe if she kept reading, a face would come back to her. It had to. He had been too important to completely forget.

Determined to remember, Luna once again set her eyes on the journal and its next entry.

65th Day of Cheimon

Buck it. I’m bored, and I feel the itch to write. Nothing left to read, and all the others talk about is how rough the badlands were, as well as the notches on their lances. Might as well talk a bit about the place we are going to be living in for the next two years, no?

If you don’t know by know, the city’s named Canterlot. It is the shining jewel of the Equestrian nation, and possibly the envy of all the other nations that surround us. It is home to princess Celestia and the seat of power of the principality. It’s also home to far too many nobles to count off the top of my head. Not that I care about their names. Not because I’m bad at them—though I wouldn’t be lying if I said I was—I just couldn’t give two damns about those pampered wastes of flesh. Far as I’m concerned, they’re all filth I have the displeasure to serve. If it was up to me, I would have them all rounded up and put to work until they dropped dead.

Eh, getting pissed isn’t helping my nerves. Back on track.

To this day, I still wonder if Canterlot was built by mere mortals, or if it was a gift from either the old gods, or Celestia herself. After all, it’s certainly far too high up to have been built by conventional means, and it never seems to lose its radiance. The only thing I know for sure is that those pissant nobles had nothing to do with building it.

Luna couldn’t help but pause reading at the end of the paragraph. Based on what she had been told by her sister not long after having sense knocked back into her in the form of a rainbow beam of energy—that by all rights should have vaporized me!—Celestia set her eyes on the mountain that would one day become Canterlot after their old palace in the now aptly named ‘Everfree forest’ got destroyed during…

Luna took a hard gulp. My misguided war against the very sun. She could feel a chill run up her spine at the thought.

The sensation only got worse when Luna recalled how Celestia, battered and broken after the war, spent nearly fifty years of lonesome work building the city brick by brick. The city only expanded when ponies the world over came to help her in the construction after hearing rumors of their goddess undertaking such a labor. The mountain was partially hollowed, mines were set up to extract the magic rich crystals, caves became living spaces, and the capital slowly but surely took its shape.

Luna set her eyes back on the journal. I better not dwell too much on what has already transpired. I’ve paid my dues for my past sins, even if it doesn’t feel like I have half the time. Luna cracked a grim grin at the thought. You and your forgiving nature, Tia. It’s going to get you killed one day.

Somehow, that line of thought did not comfort her. At all. She decided to continue reading before she made herself feel any more awkward.

Crap. Thought about those prissy bastards again. It isn’t helping my blood pressure.

Whatever. I still can’t wait to set hoof there. Even if it means I will be assigned a ‘sentry’ position. Not the most exciting of assignments for somepony of my rank, but not that different from the old post, all things considered.

Well, save the fact that I won’t have to deal with all sorts of crazy crap constantly making life miserable. And I’m certainly not going to miss all the monsters. I am going to miss the saloons and the pretty mares though.

...Crap. Just realized that I didn’t get the name of that last filly I was with. I also didn’t even get to third base.

Crap…

Luna could not help but stifle a chuckle. She still recalled how he would always moan and groan about that particular event. He would not even accept her dream manipulation to get some closure.

Though, in hindsight, it made sense why he refused my idea...

Luna could feel her cheeks start to burn as a mischievous grin spread over her lips. Nothing came of it because of his constant vigilance. Well, at least not until copious amounts of alcohol got into the mix. I wonder if he wrote about that particular incident? Guess I’ll find out if I keep reading.

And continue reading she did, with a giddy grin and a mind full of naughty thoughts.

Gah, not going to get nostalgic over a dustbowl. I think I should probably get some rest now. I can see the mountain not too far away now. Probably another day’s worth of travel. Would be faster if this gods damned train would stop making stops at every cursed waystation.

“Fastest way to travel,” my ass!

Could be worse, I guess. We could have been ordered to march back to the capital.

Screw that crap.

Luna turned the page over and started on the next entry. She made a mental note to not interrupt the reading process with idle thoughts. Easier said than done though.

66th Day of Cheimon

Crap. Overslept. Damn. Gods damn! Must have been more tired than I thought I was. Had to wipe some drool off this thing. Well, at least I didn’t smear the ink too much.

Okay. She broke her own mental note. Two hundred years later, and it still looked as if there was some fresh drool on the page. At least, I hoped it is drool, and not some other kind of bodily fluid.

She paused and blinked a few times at that thought. Of course it is drool! Why would I think it is some other fluid? She tried to force a laugh out of herself, but only a stifled giggle that could barely be considered a laugh came out. That thought, only brought up another question: why was two-hundred year old drool still partially fresh?

She chalked it up to magic. It wasn’t uncommon for books written by unicorns to pick up magical properties. Especially if the book was of a personal nature.

Luna shook her head.Moving on.

Woke up just as the train was making its way up the mountainside. Opened the window and got a good look at the scenery, as well as what felt like a good sunburn to my eyes.

*Note: never open a window and stare straight at the sun.

**Note, NOTE: What am I, a freagin’ foal? Of course that should be obvious! Crap. I’m getting off point.

I never realized just how high up Canterlot is compared to the rest of Equestria. Well, except for Cloudsdale, on account of the place being made of clouds and whatnot. Maybe the spires of Los Pegasus count too, though the rest of the city was more along the lines of a desert.

It must have taken three hours for the train to reach the station. I swore my ears popped more than a few hundred times along the way. Why is it that whenever there is a lack of oxygen, you see stars in your eyes? I bet pegasus don’t have to deal with that kind of crap, and if they do, they hide it damn well. Why couldn’t I inherit pegasus genes from my grandpa?

Man, the city gates were such a magnificent sight that my jaw is still sore as I write this. The air was crisp and pure—none of that nasty sand constantly forcing you to use a scarf for protection. Hate sand; gets everywhere and makes things so freaging itchy. The temperature was also very mild compared the dust bowl. Could not have been warmer than seventy fahrenheit. I actually could wear my armor without feeling like I was being roasted alive.

***Note note NOTE (I really have to find a more efficient way of saying this kindo crap): find out what I would taste like. Probably good, considering how many monsters wanted a piece of my ass back in the badlands.

About the only real problem I had, at least at first, was vertigo. Probably had to do with the fact that I was as high as Cloudsdale itself. I’m no pegasus, so I’m not exactly a fan of heights.

Sad to say that after the arrival, things sort of fell into their natural order. The commander barked his orders, and everypony got their crap together and marched out of the train. Ended up taking the scenic route. It almost—almost—felt like a returning party of warriors from the tales of old. Minus the cheering crowds and raining petals. Because screw that, we weren’t big enough ‘heroes’ for high and mighty assholes of the upper classes.

One day, I swear...

After more orders and a short introduction to the barracks, we got dismissed. Everypony pretty much lined up to use the showers and other facilities. I had already known that such a thing would be like trying to suck water out of a rock. I had instead opted to take a long walk around the barracks and training yard. Decided to take a few swings of the training dummies while I was at it. I was going to shower anyway, might as well go all stinky and sticky.

That didn’t come out right.

Nothing much to say after that. Another speech by our commanding officer (soon to be our ex-commanding officer), introductions to our new superior officer, Captain Shining Armor (who we would all directly serve under from now on), a trip to the mess hall (about freagingtime), and relieving of duties until the next morning. All in all, pretty boring day.

Writing all this down before sleeping. I know I’m going to forget about it all in the morning. Hoping tomorrow’s got something more exciting line up.

A stallion can only hope. Right?

[“M’lady Luna, you have a visitor.”]

Pennyworth’s voice echoed in her head as clear as if he had said it into her ear. It momentarily startled her. Really have to get accustomed to this.

She concentrated, a faint glow emitting from her horn. [“Who is it, Penny?”]

[“Ms. Twilight Sparkle and Major Spike of the People’s Defence Force.”]

Luna’s expression brightened. Twilight was just the pony she had been wanting to chat with for a while now. And Spike… She could only feel her chest burn at the thought of him being present. [“Penny, inform Twilight that I will be down there momentarily. Also, while you are at it, could you provide Spike with some of our finest gemstones? Actually, could you make Twilight and I some refreshments while you are at it?”]

Luna could hear Pennyworth’s disembodied chuckle. [“As if you even need to ask, M’lady. I had refreshments made before the maids left on their day off. I also prepared the study just in case of a visit.”]

Luna beamed. [“Always the prepared one, I see. What would I do without you, Penny?”]

There was a short pause. [“Probably run things the same way you run them now?”] Pennyworth unsurely said. [“Might I remind you that you are a physical god, and as such you certainly need no help from any lowly mortal such as myself?”]

Luna shook her head. [“That humbleness of yours will be your downfall. Regardless, I will be down there in a moment. Just have to do something up here.”]

[“Very well then.”] Luna could practically see Pennyworth’s bow despite being dozens of meters away in a whole other room.

Luna eased her concentration and set her eyes back on her old quarters, now far more organized that it had been when she walked in earlier that day. And certainly a lot cleaner than it had been in the last two centuries. She couldn’t help but feel proud of her accomplishment, even if it was simple in hindsight. Doing something with her own two hooves gave her a feeling of catharsis that, up to that point, she hadn’t really realized she had wanted so badly. She found it hard to believe that at one point in history, she had looked forward to having servants and being waited upon like a spoiled brat.In retrospect I'm glad we all grew out of that phase. Then again… She looked down at the old journal still in her telekinetic grip.I did have some help from him.

Carefully, she set the old journals down on top of the nearest box and started to make her way towards the main study.

Chapter 2

Right before her hooves crossed the entryway threshold between her quarters and the hallway, former princess of Equestria Luna glanced back at the little journal that had more than caught her attention.

She bit her lower lip, realizing just how much of a grip it was starting to have on her. Maybe just… one more entry. I’ll make it quick.

She reached out with her magic and grabbed the journal, opening its pages and setting her eyes on the next entry faster than the legendary Rainbow Dash was said to be able to do a whole day’s worth of work. When she wasn’t being lazy.

71th Day of Cheimon

Crap. Five days since I had time to properly write anything. One of the busiest weeks I’ve ever had, for certain. At least it’s over now.

Gotta admit, writing on this thing sort of gives me some catharsis. Not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. Maybe in case there’s some kind of world-ending disaster, this journal of mine will be among the few things left. Maybe some adventurous wasteland pony in a jumpsuit will get to it and see just how mundane the past really was.

Now I’m just writing crazy.

Freaging Tartarus man. Talk about a shot of depression to the gonads. Equestria hasn’t even seen a war in a thousand years. Can’t speak for other places ‘round Equus though. I hear those griffons in the east had themselves some kind of fight not that long ago; something about a cup and it getting stolen or some such nonsense. Haven’t heard ‘nothing from Zebrica for a while now either. Wonder if those striped lance chuckers and curved sword fanatics went at it without anypony noticing.

...Crap. Did I just call zebras ‘lance chuckers’? Gods damn, I’m such a racist~ Too bad you can’t be a racist if half of your blood is from the race you are trying to be racist towards; then you’re just self-loathing. The horn on my head doesn’t mean I’m a full-fledged unicorn.

I wonder if I would have stripes if I was of a closer generation to the mixing? Ah, buck. Getting off topic again.

So, the morning after I got to the city (or, more like night. It was already late, though I could be remembering wrong. Maybe I am), Cap’ Shining Armor burst into the barracks with a trumpet and wasted no time in breaking us in.

“Nothing gets the blood pumping like morning drills!” I would have decked him had he not been my superior. And probably not as big an asshole as half the other officers. Hay, compared to our old commanding officer, Shining Armor was like that one awesome brother we all wanted growing up.

Anyway. After what felt like hours of running, push-ups (or, wing-ups for the pegasi in our squad), squats, and the equivalent of shadowboxing, we got dismissed for breakfast. After that, we got surprised with a mandatory hike of about ten miles around the city. This was the cap’ way to ‘show us ‘round town’.

Couldn’t we have hailed a cab or something? At least no one puked all their innards. Would have felt sorry for whoever had to clean that crap up later.

In the afternoon, we had—surprise—more drills! The cap’ wanted to know what our combat skills were; said it would let him see what position would fit us best in the long run. Wasn’t entirely sure what he had meant by that, seeing as we were all just going to be sentries. Not like he wanted us to go into direct combat or something. I mean, who would we fight anyway? Parasprites?

Still, it did make some sense at the time. Celestia forbid the city came under attack, we were the first (and possibly only) line of defense. Not that anypony was ever going to attack the capital—not when you had a goddess watching over it and several hundred gold-plated fanatics itching to sink their hooves down some criminal scum’s face. The invaders would have to be absolutely insane. Or carry some kind of death wish.

“Oh, I miss those days when ponies didn’t even know what war was.” Luna put a hoof over her mouth and looked around to make sure no one had heard that. Once she was sure there was not a pony in sight, she turned her attention back to the journal.

No wonder there are so many ponies here that go around parading their finest crap. I wonder if that’s also the reason ponies have such multicolored coats? I’d imagine ‘blending in’ isn’t a top priority when you are both at the top of the evolutionary pyramid and have a god watching your ass. Wonder if the more blendy-in colors got selected out over generations of not giving a damn about surviving, or if magic was somehow involved. Honestly, either answer isn’t exactly welcoming in my opinion.

Bah. I’m no egghead. Let the scholars worry about that bull. I’ve got my sword and spear to do the thinking and talking for me. Quick, simple, and certainly not clean. Just how I like it.

After the afternoon drill, we turned in for the night and expected to see results the next morning. The night’s rest actually felt better than expected, even if it was only six hours. The beds were paradoxically comfortable.

I wager they are enchanted. Makes sense. An energetic guard equals better security. If only we could have had beds like these during my two-year tour in the badlands.

As a matter of fact, why in Tartarus didn’t we have crap like this over there? Who was in charge of our equipment, some backwater hick high off his ass on salt? Probably wasted all our resources on booze, strippers, and blackjack too. Freagin bastard…

Screw it. Getting off topic. Again.

The next morning, we all gathered around the captain as he announced the results. I’m still shocked that I somehow made it to the top twenty candidates. That discovery earned me a few glares from a few of the others. Can’t blame them. Many tried their damndest yet didn’t even make the top fifteen.

Maybe my name got mixed up or something?

At any rate, My job—or ‘honor’ according to some—was donning the gray armor. That meant I wasn’t assigned to any one particular location. Instead, I was to jump back and forth between assignments as needed.

Buck me up the arse; It was a substitutional position! ‘easy’ my ass!

Then again, compared to the top ten guards, who were allowed to don the gold armor and serve directly under Princess Celestia as her personal guard, I guess I did have it easy. Sure, the job was probably as high an honor was one would get without marrying the princess herself, but in a land that didn’t see conflict outside of keeping monster populations in check, the gilded armor came off more as decoration.

*Note: turns out that the gold armor really is decoration! It’s not well insulated so it is susceptible to overheating, the thing is made up of a copper and tin mix (what did they call that mix again… Tartarus if I know...), the plating is far too thick, adding almost ten pounds of uselessness, and the ornaments around the chest and legs make anything other than standing in one spot a very painful experience.

Feel sorry for those poor bastards who had to wear that for more than twelve hours a day.

To top it all off, those stallions and mares were going to be keeping an eye on a goddess. A goddess that had lived for over a thousand yearsand certainly had no necessity for anypony to even keep her protected. Nopony in their right minds would want to harm her—not that they probably even could.

Luna couldn’t help but snort at the words she had read. You really gave us too much credit. Just because we move the sun and moon and live forever doesn’t make us any more powerful than a well-versed and well-studied magician. Immortality is overrated anyway. Makes life dull.

After the assigning of jobs for the foreseeable future, we dispersed for lunch. Afterwards, we went right into our new assignments.

Not much to say about that, actually. Got the run-down on what the post entailed and the expected ‘do’s and dont’s’.

As an added note here, I found it odd they had to outline the strict ‘no screwing while on duty’ rule. What, did guards go around screwing each other to fight off the boredom?

Actually, nevermind. I forgot I was in Canterlot for a second.

Luna looked up from the journal. Once again, she could feel her cheeks burning. So he did know prior to that— Good thing I swore off alcohol soon after. Cannot imagine how bad things could have gotten had more of that stuff passed through my lips at the time. She almost felt a smile creeping on her lips.

Almost.

At any rate, there was no job assigned that night, but there should as hay would be one assigned the next day. Got to take the rest of the day, so I used it to vent my rage on the nearest training dummy. Ended up breaking the thing. Got a few dozen bits deducted from my pay because of that.

Aren’t we encouraged to destroy those things?

Next day, I had to watch over the royal library. Not much to describe. Lots of books, and the smell of egghead was almost unbearable. Aside from seeing the captain’s younger sibling (what’s her name again? Twilight Shimmer? No... Sparkle!) going to the library far more than anypony else.

Twilight Sparkle. Now that’s somepony I have to write about. She had a very strong egghead aroma to her. It wasn’t a bad one though. It was very much bearable. That first day, she probably spent more time inside than she did breathing. Everytime she left, she always was lugging stacks of books.

Well, actually, that Twilight gal hadn’t been carrying the books, but rather her ‘assistant’ had been. He was some purple dragon whose name I can’t remember right now.

Luna’s brow furrowed. “His name is Spike, you stup—” she again caught herself before her tone could have risen any higher. Get a grip on yourself. You’re just reading a journal.

She returned to her reading, but kept the annoyance.

Poor kid looked less like an assistant, and more like a slave. Didn’t help that he’s a dragon. Don’t even know if he can even speak, now that I think about it.

If I see the little guy again, I’ll be sure to ask him if he can talk.

The next day, I got assigned to watch the train station. Another boring day. Not much to report.

Finally, yesterday, something rather interesting happened. I was given a spear and shield and told to report to the dungeons. When I asked why the long-abandoned prison now used as a rent-a-storage for the guard, they told me I was going on a ‘bug hunt’. Next thing I knew, me and a group of ten others traveled down from the already deep dungeons into the city sewers via an old passage. On the way, we passed by a chute with a pole and a lit-up (though cobweb-ridden) the sign that read “Starswirl’s private entrance to secret laboratory. Do not enter!”

Whoever this “Starswirl” guy or gal was, they needed to have the meaning of the word ‘secret’ pounded back into their cranium. Preferably with a mallet. Add some nails to it for good measure while we are at it.

Luna’s anger faded with her chuckle. Sorry, but you’re a thousand years too late for that idea. Besides, I get the feeling that Starswirl would have agreed with your assessment on his… lack of subtlely.

Past that little affront, the sewers gradually became cavernous as masonry gave way to cold damp stone. The dampness went away soon after as the walls gradually started taking on crystalline properties. Eventually, we got to what looked like an elevator shaft. Unlike the rest of the place, it looked well maintained.

An elevator ride later, and we entered what must have been an old mine from some gods forsaken bygone age. From there, our commanding officer finally revealed the mission: we were to clear the old crystal mines under the city of various vermin that had started coming out into the sewers.

Said ‘verming’ turned out to be oversized roaches and rats. Probably been crawling down there longer than I had been alive. Worse part was that they had started evolving. Critters had gotten smart enough to organize into small groups of very determined raiders that loved to steal socks and other trivial nicknacks to use as items of worship. What exactly they worship was up in the air, though by the look of it, it was the socks themselves that were the item of most desire.

Oh sure, give the death sentence to critters just getting by with their limited intelligence and a desire to worship clothing. Gods forbid they turned that love for hoofwear into their rallying cry for a pint-sized crusade!

I swear, next thing we’ll be going after kobolds for lacking proper hygiene.

Luna tried to think of something, but couldn’t. She was very ashamed that what he had written down nearly two hundred years ago eventually came true. Well, at least it wasn’t over just hygiene that was the issue. And they got better too. I think…

She made a mental note to check over and see how the Kobold population was doing.

Needless to say, the rats and roaches didn’t take well to our intrusion into their… holy grounds. We actually got a few injuries in the process of instigating genocide.It took hours, but we managed to drive the vermin deeper into the mines. Where they no doubt have shrines set up to worship hats. Or something.

Surprisingly, no one seemed to care about the fact that we had just gone into a hole in the ground, fought a group of semi-sentient rats and roaches, and essentially started a war with beings whose only crime had been to steal our socks and use them as items of worship.

...Truly, Equestria is the greatest nation on the face of Equus.

*Note: it wasn’t til later that same evening that I found out that the critters were killing homeless foals and using their bones as construction material. On top of stealing and worshiping our socks, of course.

Could have used the info up front...

Got back just in time for dinner, but I hadn’t had much of an appetite for obvious reasons. Had a field day telling some of the others of the odd mission. Only a few actually believed the roach and rat part, and just about no one believed the whole ‘worshiping socks’ part. Can’t blame them. Still wonder if I just had a very vivid dream or got some kind of experimental drug slipped into my morning coffee.

I seem to be lacking a way to close this entry. I’ll think of something after I close my eyes for a bit. Kinda tired.

Luna didn’t even stop to think it over. She just plowed right on to the the next entry in the journal.

72th Day of Cheimon

Apparently, I didn’t. You can’t hear it, but I’m laughing.

Fell asleep pretty quickly. Did I actually just wake up to write this? I honestly don’t know. If the spots of spit aren’t already obvious on this page, I can’t stop laughing. Some of the others are looking at me funny.

Screw them.

Well, the day’s just started, so there’s nothing to write about.

Yet.

Can’t even remember my dream last night to booth. Still glad our beds are so comfortable. And yes, they’re enchanted to provide better energy recovery than a standard bed. Guess there’s that bit of news.

I’ll write something later. Assuming anything interesting happens to begin with.

[“M’lady, is everything alright? It has been almost half an hour since you said you would be coming down. Miss Twilight is almost done drinking her fifth cup of tea.”] Pennyworth’s voice ran inside Luna’s head. [“Also, my show’s about to start. I would really like to see the episode live this time.”]

Luna snapped her eyes away from the journal and sighed. She really had spent far too long reading. She had gotten so engrossed that the whole world just slipped by her without notice. She hadn’t been that into something of the written language since being introduced to Daring Doo by Twilight. She still hoped to herself that the movie series about to premiere in theaters was a faithful adaptation.

Luna smiled at that thought. Of course it will be! Not only is Daring’s great granddaughter directing and writing, but Rainbow Dash’s own great granddaughter is playing the part of Daring Doo. Still have no idea how they got Ahuizotl’s great grandson to play the part of his ancestor though. At least they’re going for authenticity.

[“Sorry Penny. This took longer than expected. I’ll be down there in a minute. And this time, I mean it.”]

Luna forced herself to close the journal, but not before putting in a piece of scrap paper as bookmark. She set it down on the spot she had been using as a sit and tapped it with her hoof, almost like she was petting a child.

She stretched her legs and back, cleared her throat, and set out of the room, levitating a comb and brush to get her mane into a more or less presentable state. She didn’t bother with makeup since Twilight wasn’t one to judge, and she wasn’t about to deal with any dignitary.

She slowed down. Spike is present... She instinctively swallowed air to try and ease the burning in her chest.

In two hundred years, Spike had done a lot of growing up. If she had to estimate, his age would be hovering somewhere around sixteen or seventeen, at least by pony standards anyway. Truth be told, he had grown into quite the handsome drake. Perhaps more so after his training as a soldier. Hard to believe he’s been single all this time.

She considered what to do for a second. It was odd she was having such thoughts now of all times. Then again, the thoughts weren’t exactly foreign. Such feelings had been simmering in the backburner for a couple decades now, especially after she found out what happened between Spike and Rarity nearly two centuries ago.

In the end, she decided to re-apply some eyeshadow and lip balm. Who knows. Maybe I’llbe the the first mare he courts since that backstabbing wench. She placed a hoof on her chin.I hope it isn’t too weird though. I mean, I would be like his aunt, considering the whole ‘Celestia is my mother’ thing. Still, he isn’t actually related by blood. Hay, he isn’t even the same species as us. It should be okay. Besides, he needs the companionship.

More thoughts passed through Luna’s mind as she raced down to meet her old friend and her now mature and attractive assistant. Still, the old journal remained at the forefront of her mind. She would catch up with Twilight, subtly flirt with Spike, and then go back to finishing the journal. She would lock herself up if she had to. She just had to finish that book.

Soon my pretty. Soon…