An epilogue of sorts…
Long before the eventual tranquilization of Discord, the three types of ponies (horses): earth, pegasus, and unicorn (a little bit of a power imbalance but whatever), lived in hate and disharmony.
Then, everything changed when six horses—an ambassador and assistant of each type—got caught in a blizzard. The ambassadors discovered the true power of hate, while the assistants discovered that talking exists.
They talked for a while, somehow not starving to death. Then the ambassadors stopped using the power of hate. Then Equestria.
Eventually, the unicorns secretly discovered that they were superior in every way, and this guy named Star Swirl (he had a pretty epic beard) decided to beat up this demon guy. Then he decided that ruling was lame and wrote a letter to Alicorona, the kingdom of alicorns. The letter was delivered by a legally blind Pegasus, so it ended up with two alicorn children living in the woods, who decided to take up the beard dude's offer.
Satisfied, Star Swirl left Equestria to these two sisters who didn't understand things like mortality, familial bonding, or sleep.
And so it begins…
The Everfree Forest was not very dark. No, it was very bright in the daytime.
But it wasn't to Cloud Treefire. The whole world was a haze to her. To be honest, she had no idea why she'd been hired as a mailmare.
But hired she was, so she tried to deliver her letter. But there was one problem.
Where the foal is Alicorona?
No one had told her where it was, and she was foalin’ lost.
Clop, clop
She heard the sudden clop of hooves. She gasped in delight.
Oh, thank goodness! Hopefully, they know the way.
"Hey, are you lost?" a feminine voice said.
Luna was bored. Her sister, Celestia, had agreed to play tag with her but was sure taking her sweet sweet time to come outside.
She heard a familiar clop nearby and turned around to see her sister.
"Celestia!" Luna cried and hugged her. She let go. "You ready to play tag?"
Celestia smiled. "Alright, who's it?"
"You are!" Luna tagged Celestia and cantered away, giggling.
Celestia looked down, sighed, and looked up. Why does she have so much energy? It's so annoying. Reading would be so much more fun. She sighed again and started slowly walking in Luna's direction.
As she was walking, she heard her sister's hooves and saw Luna trotting over to her.
"Why aren't you chasing me?" Luna asked her, a tilt to her head.
"I am," Celestia told her.
"You're just walking."
"Yeah."
"But it's tag."
Celestia was about to respond to that when she heard an unfamiliar set of hooves nearby. The two of them turned to see a pegasus, looking very confused.
"Hey," Celestia asked her. "Are you lost?"
"Oh yes," the mailmare said, staring blankly. "Do you know the way to Alicorona?"
"Uh, no, I don't, sorry," said Celestia.
"Oh," the mailmare sighed, clearly disappointed. "Well, Star Swirl wanted me to send a letter to someone in Alicorona."
Celestia smiled at that.
“What for?” Luna asked the mailmare.
“Apparently he’s looking for a couple of powerful alicorns to do the rulering for him,” Celestia’s smile grew wider. “He’s the king of Equestria, you see. I hear he has an awesome beard.”
Luna raised an eyebrow, or the horse equivalent to that. “Have you not actually met him?”
“Nah, I have. He’s a chill stallion. I just can't hardly see a thing. That’s why I’m having a hard time finding the foaling place,” the mailmare said. Luna gasped at such strong language as the mailmare plopped down on the ground and folded her front legs in front of her.
“Would you like some help?” Luna asked her. “We haven’t been there in a while, but we know the way!”
“Yes,” Celestia smirked. “We can take it there for you if you’d like.”
Luna look at her, confused. Wouldn’t that be illegal?
“Oh, would you?” the mailmare said, getting up and jumping up and down. “That would be great!”
“Here” she continued, reaching into the saddlebag on her right with her mouth, selecting an envelope, and giving it to Celestia, who took it with her magic. “Take it directly to the Alicorona capital by 9:00 tonight. Thank you so much!”
With that, she gave her wings one strong flap to fling herself off the ground, gave them a quick salute, and flew back to wherever she came from. Probably to Equestria.
Luna’s mouth was gaping, she punched her sister on the shoulder with her hoof. “What in Everfree was that!? Isn’t it international law that only mailmares can deliver mail?”
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Who cares about that? We live in the forest, no one has come to visit us since our parents died, and no one will be able to argue against us when we’re the rulers of Equestria!”
Luna closed her mouth and cocked her head to the side. “What? But she said that Star Swirl is looking for someone in Alicorona. We haven’t lived there in years.”
“Yes,” Celestia said slowly, bowing her head to her sister’s shorter level. “And that’s exactly what we’ll say that we are. Besides, we’re alicorns and used to live in Alicorona. No one will be the wiser.”
“So we’re just... gonna LIE!?"
"Well sure!" Celestia said. "You don't just wanna live here the rest of our lives, do you?" She gestured back at their castle behind them. It was old, dilapidated, and generally overgrown. Luna shuddered.
"I mean, that'll be a pretty long time." Celestia continued. “Don’t you want to explore more of the world? Finally get our cutie marks? Who knows, maybe ruling will be our talent!”
"Well…" Luna looked down at her hooves for a moment, mulling it over. I mean, if she’s sure we won’t get in trouble. What’s the harm, really? Maybe we’ll already be settled in by the time anyone notices. "Fine," she said, looking back up at her sister. "So what's the letter say?"
The Beard Bro's Test…
It came to pass that, on the thirtieth year of the reign of Star Swirl the Bearded, he found himself in need of rest and new rulers. With the help of the Pillars of Equestria, he had raised the Sun and the Moon every day, and it was laborious work. It used to be the charge of the demon dude to do so, but upon his defeat—after he had revealed his true evil nature—the duty had fallen upon the shoulders of the king and his advisors.
And so, after he sent a letter to Alicorona, two sisters were chosen and had arrived.
Star Swirl the Bearded sat upon his throne in his large, spacious throne room, with three Pillars to his left, and three to his right. Before him stood two sisters who would be chosen as the next rulers should they pass his test.
"My most sincerest thanks to thee, young alicorns, for accepting mine request," Star Swirl greeted them.
"Of course, my Lord," Celestia said dramatically, bowing low.
Luna seemed to glance over at her sister before imitating the same, though much faster and less elegantly.
"Before thou shalt inherit mine throne," the King announced, "I have but one test for both of thee." He gestured to a light blue pegasus guard who was stationed next to a rather tall curtain. The pegasus flew up and flung the curtain open, revealing the full moon framed by a sky full of stars.
"I would that each of thee should attempt to move it. Should you succeed, the throne is yours." He smiled, this should be easy for alicorns.
"Celestia, thou art the eldest, so thou mayest go first," he nodded to her.
Celestia nodded in return. She lit up the tip of her horn as her face wrinkled in concentration. The yellow light of her horn increased in brightness as the moon began to move across the sky. A little bit. A barely perceptible slight amount.
She snuffed out the light, let out the breath she had been holding, and started breathing heavily.
"I thank-" the King started before Celestia cut him off.
"Wait!" she cried, "I'm sure I can raise the sun!" She used her magic to open the curtains opposite the already exposed window. She gathered magic on the tip of her wand again, and the room exploded with a burst of golden light. The light almost immediately disappeared as the sun made a full rotation around the land. The side of her flank also shown brightly for a moment, before the white coat was replaced by a stylized depiction of the sun.
Everyone sat speechless and wide-eyed for a moment until Star Swirl finally cleared his throat and spoke up. "Well, your performance was incredible indeed. Truthfully I had intended to bequeath the position to you regardless. It takes much practice to even barely move celestial bodies, so what you did accomplish impressed me."
At that, everyone began stomping their hooves, a pony version of clapping.
"Now, Luna," the King said, smiling. "Thine sister is a prodigy in the manner of raising the Sun. I should like to know whether thou art the same in manners of the Moon. It is thy turn."
Luna nodded slowly, still seemingly in awe at her sister's performance. She looked at the Moon and furrowed her brow. Her horn ignited, and the Moon shot across the sky, making two full rotations around the land before Luna realized and stopped it in its tracks.
Luna gasped and began to jump around excitedly. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" she shouted, a massive grin stretched across her face. She looked over at her flank and saw a cutie mark of a stylized moon. She gasped. "YAY!" she shouted again, jumping in the air.
The King cleared his throat rather loudly. After Luna stopped and he had everyone's attention, he said, "My sincerest apologies, dear Luna, but it is unbecoming for thee to have such displays of excitement. Excitement must be announced with a booming voice, not shouting. Especially for a princess."
"I'm sor- my apologies, Star- my Lord," Luna stumbled out, bowing. "Wait," her head shot up. "Princess? Yay!" She shouted, jumping again. "Sorry, YAY," she announced.
The Coronation…
Star Swirl nodded. “I would that you should come forth to me, Celestia. Thou as well, Luna,” he said, gesturing at the two sisters.
“BY THE POWER VESTED IN ME,” the King announced, “I DUB CELESTIA, AND HER SISTER LUNA, THE PRINCESSES OF EQUESTRIA. CELESTIA SHALL RULE THE DAY, WHILE LUNA SHALL RULE THE NIGHT.”
With that, all six Pillars began stomping their hooves as Star Swirl conjured two tiaras which he floated onto the two's heads. Then he released two laser blasts of light green magic from his horn.
“NOW GO,” Star Swirl the Bearded, the once but not future king announced. “SHOW UNTO THE PEOPLE THAT EQUESTRIA HAS NEW LEADERSHIP.” He gestured toward two unicorn guards at the rather large front door, who used their magic to open it.
The two guards escorted the two princesses down the hallway, around a couple of corners, and finally to the balcony that overlooked the kingdom. Two unicorn trumpeters stood there and played their long brass horns to announce their presence. A crowd had formed, and many shouts and cheers of acclimation rose up.
A slight pop was heard, and Star Swirl appeared in front of them. Luna stepped back in surprise, as Star Swirl waved to the crowd to silence. He ignited his horn.
“HEAR YE, HEAR YE,” Star Swirl announced in a magically amplified voice. “ALL PONIES OF EQUESTRIA. EARTH PONY, PEGASUS, AND UNICORN. I PRESENT TO YOU, YOUR NEW PRINCESSES. PRINCESS CELESTIA AND PRINCESS LUNA.” With that, he gestured to them as he stepped behind them.
“I would that ye shouldst speak to your subjects,” he quietly said from behind them. Princess Luna turned to look at him, open-mouthed, as Princess Celestia stepped forward and ignited her horn.
“My dear subjects,” Princess Celestia said calmly in a clearly practiced and magically amplified voice. “Thank you so much for welcoming me as your princess. I will do all that is in my power to keep Equestria safe, prosperous, and welcoming…”
She continued speaking to the enraptured audience. They seemed to hang on her every word, reacting with awe to every promise she made, entranced by her soothing voice. Luna stared in awe at how the crowd responded to her. She eagerly looked forward to the same.
After a few minutes of speaking, her sister, Princess Celestia, stepped back and motioned for Luna to step forward. Suddenly brought to the center of attention, she hesitated for a second, so Celestia motioned her more forcefully with her head.
Luna stepped forward and activated the voice amplification spell. "My dear subjects," Luna began, imitating her sister. "Um, thank you for welcoming us as your princesses." She looked over at Celestia, who used a hoof to motion her on. She looked back at the crowd that was much more silent than it was for Celestia.
"I promise to do all that is in my power-"
SCREEEEEECH
She looked away and winced from the feedback as the crowd did the same. How did it even have feedback? It was magic!
She looked back at the crowd. "Uh, sorry about that. I promise to do everything in my power to keep you safe and prosperous. Thank you." She stepped back and a couple of ponies in the crowd began to stomp their hooves, then a few more, then a few more. Less than half the crowd was stomping.
Star Swirl gestured them inside, and they followed him back to the throne room. He stood to the side of the throne and spoke to them. "Your speech was excellent, Princess Celestia. Luna, please have something prepared next time."
"Thank you, my Lord," Princess Celestia said, bowing.
"There shall be none of that, princess," Star Swirl said. "I should be the one bowing to you." All seven of the Pillars then bowed to the two princesses, though they faced Princess Celestia most of all.
Author's Note
A link to an Academia article on Shakespearean pronouns: Here
