“Now, normally I would suggest that we all teleport to Ponyville, however, I do not think we should, for three reasons. One, Thunderclap may not remember what the town looks like, as well as the fact it has probably changed dramatically. Two, the flight from here in Canterlot to there will give us time to formulate a plan. And three, it will give me time to explain to Twilight. Are we agreed?”

Luna made a small noise through the last of her tea in agreement, Twilight nodded, and Thunderclap replied with a “Sure.”

A bit later…

“So, Twilight. Allow me to explain. In old, old times, I was not ruler of most of Equestria like now. In fact, the only race I had any power over were unicorns. In those times, each tribe of ponies had a single ruler. I had unicorns, Luna batponies, Thunderclap dracorns, and so on.”

“So who ruled the pegasi and earth ponies?” Her lavender student asked.

“I’m getting to that. Now, a very, very long time ago, it was discovered that the earth pony leader had a crush on the pegasi one. I wish I could remember their names, but it was so long ago… Anyway, rather than try to hide it, he-“

“He?” Twilight butted in.

“Yes, he. They are incredibly rare, but male alicorns do exist. Anyway, he publicly announced it, at the same time asking her if she wanted to go on an adventure together. She said yes, and he passed on rulership of earth ponies to me, in case something happened to him. She did the same with the pegasi and Thunderclap.”

“How long ago was this?” Twilight asked her. In response, Thunderclap flew over, somehow staying aloft despite being upside down in midair.

“Oooo, well, if I left a thousand five hundred years ago, and I had rulership of pegasi as long as I did… That would make it… Somewhere between two and three thousand years ago.” She looked over at Luna, who was watching with a slightly disapproving look. “What? I can do basic math!”

“Then, why do you rule pegasi as well, Celestia?” The youngest of the four alicorns asked.

“When I abdicated, I passed them on to her.” The grey horse explained.

“It was that that first started my jealous descent into Nightmare Moon. My sister got to rule over three pony races, while I still only had one.” Luna muttered.

“You do know it was a vote, right?” Thunderclap asked, to the surprise of the two sisters. “Guess not. I put it up to a vote. Every single pegasus, no matter their age, got their say. Celestia won… By a single point.”

“Wha…” Was the only sound the other three could make.

“Oh hey, we’re nearly there!” Thunderclap exclaimed, causing the others to look ahead, at a town shrouded in darkness.

“That doesn’t look good.” Twilight remarked.

“No, it doesn’t. Shall we see what’s up?” Thunderclap replied.

“Yes, let’s.” Celestia said, flying down to the only visible gap in the cloud.

“That’s odd.” She stated, staring through. “I can see ponies. But they don’t look like they should…”

Author's Note

Chaptah 2! Sorry there isn't as much comedy here. This is my actual headcanon btw. And hey, Luna's personal pronoun game!