The Ponytail of Ancient Equestria
Once upon a time in a beautiful land home to ponies, there was a grand city and within the grandest parts of the royal city, lived the rare and noble ponies known as alicorns.
All alicorns were of noble blood and blessed with powerful magic and unique abilities, however it was the royal line that that held the greatest of all.
But power was not everything, the alicorns were also very well read and the little filly who would be the next queen was always eager to prove that was true for her too as she trotted through the library like she did almost daily.
Her name was Princess Harmony, a tiny little filly with a coat of bright lavender pink and hair of many colours.
Like many little foals, she was eager to learn new things, but unlike many little foals, she loved studying even when it wasn’t study time.
This was not to say she didn’t like playing with her toys and with the other little fillies, no she was just very eager to prove she was super smart like her father and could understand magic quickly like any self respecting alicorn could, especially direct royalty.
And though she, like all alicorns also possessed magic at an early age, it seemed not quite enough as the magic she used to levitated a heavy book off the shelf fizzled and the book fell to the floor with a loud thump.
The thump was loud enough to bring one of the fiery guards accompanying the little foal quickly to her side.
“Princess! Are you alright?” Exclaimed the guard, and for a pony with no pupils, there was quite a lot of expression in those eyes as well as his glowing mane. Harmony often wondered how fiery ponies could keep their bright, fire like manes cool when she had seen them get hot especially when they lost their tempers.
“Yep! But I’d like ta read this book now mister guard!” The little princess chirped “I found the one I want but it’s really, really heavy!”
The guard looked at the book and then to Princess Harmony “A Complete Guide to The Sky and the known solar system beyond? Forgive me my princess, but isn’t that a little complicated for somepony your age? ”
Harmony pouted “Nope! I gotta read this book! Mother and Father have been saying the sky’s been doing weird stuff especially when they see the stars, so I wanna help them since they’ve been so busy checking it lately”
It was true, the sky had been acting very strangely, some days the sun held no light even when it was clearly there and it was only because of the stars, the light of both the fiery ponies and the castle as well as magic from the alicorns that the city did not plunge in total darkness on those days.
And yet the sun still lit up some areas, as if nothing was happening at all. What was puzzling everypony was that it only got dark in the royal city and some nearby towns, and sometimes there were reports of horrible things happening in those towns and even places where the sun only lost it’s light for just a few moments.
However Harmony wasn’t told of what exactly was happening. No they said it was too scary to tell a little filly much to her irritation.
Because of these strange events, the King and Queen were very busy as they investigated it all, and of course this was causing them to spend less and less time with their daughter Harmony until there were days when the young princess didn’t see them at all.
It was because of this that Princess Harmony hoped the fiery guard understood why she was so eager herself to look up how the sky worked, even if it was a little more difficult than what she usually studied.
The fiery sighed as he took the book to a nearby table “Well ask for help then if you want a book like this moved somewhere, you are still very small Princess, and dropping something like this on your hooves could really hurt.” He never took his eyes of Princess Harmony as she followed him and pulled out a chair “Do not attempt to take a large book out again, get the librarian or one of the guards like me.”
Harmony pouted once again “I always keep big things a distance from me in case that happens, and I knew I would never be able to levitate a book this big. I was just pulling it out.” She took a seat somewhat struggling to get her tiny wings to lift her onto the chair.
“Peach Blossom already knows I know better than to lift more than I can.” She sighed in irritation missing the much less stern nature of her favourite flutter pony nursemaid “When is she going to look after me again?”
The fiery sighed again “Lady Peach Blossom can not look after you until the events in the sky and the darkened areas are resolved. Until then, the King and queen have requested you to be watched by guards.” Harmony could tell at this point the fiery guard was tiring of her, so she just nodded. Yet another reason she wanted Peach Blossom back.
Perhaps she would ask her mother and father to consider letting Peach Blossom watch her as well as the guards or something like that.
As Harmony opened the book with her magic the fiery gave her another glance and then resumed to his post near the window.
There were guards stationed at every possible entrance and others watching a crystal ball that showed where Harmony was when she wasn’t in her room… this was getting so over the top, she wasn’t even allowed to frolic in the gardens or play with the other foals anymore.
As Harmony stared longingly out the window she decided she was definitely going to talk to her mother and father when she saw them next.
The only problem was with all the commotion about the sky, when WAS she going to see them next?
Harmony was getting so tired and frustrated of all this that she almost tore a page of the book with her magic.
No she needed to study. At least that was still normal.
And all the better if it could help her parents.
After being told it was closing time for the library and for little princesses to go to bed, a sleepy eyed Princess Harmony was escorted to her room by yet another fiery guard who was carrying her heavy book in a rather large saddle bag.
Though she was tiring of the guards constantly looking after her, she admitted it was convenient to have ponies who could easily carry heavy things and have the glow of the fiery guard’s flames lighting the way.
And it was pretty. A pretty glow was so relaxing for a sleepy princess.
Harmony was so tired she barely heard the guard say something and didn’t even notice him stop until she bumped into him.
Was she ever happy that a fiery pony’s flames where only hot when they wanted them to be.
Harmony looked up to see why the guard had stopped. Certainly they weren’t at her room yet.
“Oh Harmony dearie are you alright?” Came a voice the princess hadn’t heard in a while. Harmony suddenly felt more awake “Mother!” Harmony squealed as she trotted over to the elegant white queen
“I didn’t know you were still up dear” The queen smiled as she nuzzled her daughter. She then looked to the fiery. “Take my daughter to her room… with that big book she probably picked out and then gather the other guards. I need to discuss some findings of my husband and I”
Harmony frowned “But Mother, I wanna talk with you!” The queen shook her head “I’m sorry dear, but Mother’s very busy and it is way past your bed time” Harmony knew what the next four words were going to be “Tomorrow we can talk”
That was ALWAYS what her mother and father said to her whenever she had the chance of seeing them lately, and that was what Harmony was tiring of most of all.
Harmony felt like something broke inside as all her frustrations seemed to just spill over.
Desperate to be able to finally have some time with just one parent, she hugged he mother’s front leg, and started to cry “No! I wanna help! I wanna have Peach Blossom look after me again! I wanna play outside with the other foals and most of all I want my mother and father back!”
The queen tried to comfort her young daughter as she stroked her hair “I’m sorry dear, but things are very complicated right now” She lifted her daughter’s chin so she could look into her eyes. “and you are far too young to get mixed up in this.”
She sighed sadly as Harmony just held tighter onto her leg. “No, no, NO! Please mother! I’ve been studying so hard to help you and father! Please!” Harmony’s mother frowned, longing to spend more time with her daughter and soothe her like any mother would for their distressed foal. She hesitated for a while before pushing her daughter away. “You’re a princess Harmony, you need to understand these things and know you can’t always get what you want”
The queen motioned the guard to get Harmony “Please take her to bed, she’s very tired” The guard nodded “Right away my Queen” the guard replied as he gently pulled the sobbing princess away from her mother.
Harmony couldn’t keep the tears from leaking out her eyes as she watched her mother walk away as the guard took her to her room.
Why was all this happening?
Author's Note
Harmony’s very young here, but she will age as the story progresses. Right now she’s about 5-ish so she is still quite childish, but as a princess she is also quite formal. As you can guess she is the ancestor of Celestia’s and Luna’s nieces and nephews and unlike Celestia and Luna, she is as mortal as any pony
And about fiery ponies. They are based off of ‘fiery steeds’ of many myths like Helios’ horses and so on.
My variation have bright manes with a slight glow they can make glow brighter and turn into a magic fire the same colour of their manes, much like how a unicorn can turn on and off their magic.
They also have abilities I will explain in later chapters
The Ponytail of Ancient Equestria
A crack of thunder woke Harmony up from her slumber.
The young princess had been forced to sleep by an alicorn’s spell after she refused to do so herself, so thunder loud enough to wake her must mean there was quite the storm happening.
Curious, Harmony looked out her window to see a cloudless and rainless thunderstorm outside.
This wasn’t uncommon during the night. Often certain alicorns of the royal city had to be sent off to shield villages that would be blown away without the help of magic.
And if it wasn’t for the fiery ponies, both civilian and guard, they would probably also have to combat the flames the lightning sometimes brought.
But it was always the royal city itself that was hit the hardest.
Harmony shivered nervously under her blankets. She knew that the castle and pretty much anything in the royal city were very well built and could handle the storms, but they still frightened her like they would any young filly.
Only any other filly would run off to a parent in their fear.
And by this point, Harmony was tired of not being any other filly.
She decided right there under her blankets that she would run right to her parents, not only to be near them which she desperately wanted, but to demand they tell her EXACTLY what was going on.
Because how was she really supposed to understand this chaos if the only information she had was that the sky was acting weird.
Carefully, and as quietly as she could manage, Harmony climbed out of her bed and opened her door a crack with her magic.
There was no guard by her door that was strange, but then again Harmony had never left her room at this hour before.
Suddenly she remembered what her mother had said just before her little breakdown.
Her mother wanted to discuss something to the guards. That must mean they were all in the throne room.
Galloping at full speed, Harmony headed to her destination, only slowing down around doorways to be sure she wasn’t caught and put back to bed.
But the castle was awfully quiet. Harmony wondered how long she had been asleep and if her mother was still talking to the guards.
She frowned, no they still had to be there. Why else was nopony by her door? They had guards on night shifts after all.
Before Harmony knew it, she was facing the doors to the throne room.
Harmony could hear the voices of guards, her mother and her father behind those doors. She wasn’t expecting her father to be there. As rare as seeing her mother was these days, her father was even harder to come across.
Another sudden crack of thunder nearly made Harmony shout out in fear, but she quickly covered her mouth. Part of her wanted to have her cry heard by her parents, but the princess in her knew she would have to wait for them to finish talking.
Opening the heavy doors a crack, Harmony peaked into the throne room, both to see her parents faces and to listen to what they were talking about.
Harmony wanted to know what was happening after all.
There was her mother, Majesty and her father, Starry Knight on their thrones, but the queen looked so sad, and most of the guards had their heads down.
What was everyone sad about?
“Forgive me my King… but is that the only way?” a guard said in a tone that sounded kind of sad
“I assure you all that through the research I have found, that the only way to protect our kingdom is through the great cosmos” The king replied
“But still isn’t it a little extreme? Our ancestors have fought centaurs before and succeeded. If we just send more ponies, perhaps we can beat him and stop this curse on the sky” another guard said
Centaur? Harmony hadn’t heard anything about a centaur… in fact all she knew about them is that they had been a threat to her country years back, but any hostility towards pony and centaur was just history now.
It was rare for there even ever to be talk about a centaur these days.
“No, that would be impossible.” The king spoke again “His power is not completely his own, somehow he has gained the power of the cosmos and altered the way the sun lights our sky, and as you can see this night, caused instability in the atmosphere.”
Harmony was learning more about the events this night than she had in the weeks since it started, and as such, was completely absorbed in the conversation.
But still, the sadness in the air worried her.
“It’s only truly affecting our land now,” her father continued “but I fear that already the sun may not be bringing true day to other lands too. This isn’t a threat on our country alone.”
Harmony was starting to get a little angry that no one had told her how severe things were.
“Through our research, if the centaur completes the curse on the sky worldwide, it will be nothing short of complete and utter destruction, and I am not talking about the storms that have been following the sky’s fragile state.” Harmony was stunned at this new information, but she still wanted to know more.
Harmony’s father looked to her mother who spoke next “I know it may be hard for all of you to accept, I couldn’t even tell my own daughter this evening, even though she will have to be made aware of this sacrifice.”
By now Harmony wasn’t sure she wanted to know what was going on… but if her mother said she was eventually going to hear in anyway, it was best she hear it now.
“So understand that for the good of our country, for all life, that my husband must leave this plane for good and become one with the cosmos.” The queen’s words shook Harmony to her core and tears began to run down her cheeks.
Harmony couldn’t stand this. Her father was leaving? All eyes were upon her as she swung the doors open but she didn’t care anymore. She didn’t even care if her parents were still talking to the guards.
She just ran towards them, ignoring any surprised mutterings.
“Father!” Harmony gasped, stricken by grief. “What does mother mean?! Where are you going?! Why are you going forever?!” The king and queen just looked to their daughter, shock in their eyes.
“Harmony, why aren’t you in bed?” The king said softly as his daughter rushed to his side.
“ANSWER MY QUESTIONS!! BOTH OF YOU!!!” Harmony shouted in a way she had never dared to before.
Especially to her parents, and they were both very surprised their daughter had raised her voice.
“Harmony, please understand this is the only way” the queen soothed, but Harmony’s tears and rage only grew.
“WHAT IS THE ONLY WAY?!!” Harmony screamed as a guard approached her.
“Shall I take the princess to her room, my King?” Harmony’s father just sighed and shook his head. “No leave her be. Her frustrations are just.”
The king looked to Harmony and then to the guards “You are all dismissed. Let my wife and I speak to our daughter alone.”
Harmony sniffled as the guards began to leave, but her anger was still there.
She understood why they wouldn’t tell a little filly about frightening things.
She understood they were keeping her feeling safe by not telling her of danger.
But Harmony could NOT forgive them for not telling her that she would never be seeing her father again.
“Harmony, my dear daughter. Please listen to us.” Harmony looked to her father, trying her best not to spill even more tears from her eyes.
“I’m listening father” Harmony replied. Her throat felt hoarse. She had never really screamed like that before. “I just want to know what is going on.”
The king and queen both nodded “And we will tell you” The queen said gently as she stroked her daughter’s pastel mane. “But how much did you hear?”
Harmony sighed “The first thing I heard was that the only way to protect our kingdom was through the great cosmos… and I also heard that it is a centaur that is causing all this.”
The king nodded “Did you hear what it was that your mother and I were going to do?” Harmony shook her head “All I heard was that you are going to leave forever and become part of the cosmos. But I don’t understand. What does that mean?”
The queen continued to stroke her daughter’s mane “The power that centaur is using is something from the cosmos itself, and your father was able to communicate a little with the cosmic guardians and discover this was never supposed to happen but there was nothing they could do unless your father made a sacrifice”
Harmony looked to her father “Are you going to… to?” The king shook his head, knowing what his daughter was trying to say “No Harmony. What I have to do is loose my physical self and become something new. I will still live and I will still be able to talk to you from time to time” He hugged his daughter and wife.
“But I will never be able to embrace you or your mother again” Harmony nuzzled into her fathers warm hold, still trying not to cry.
“Will doing this fix the sky?” Harmony asked, but her mother shook her head “No, but it will stop the centaur’s magic and seal him away for quite some time. The greatest reason for your father’s cosmic form is to allow me to receive something special from a very unique magic.”
Harmony pulled out of her father’s hold to see his face “You are giving something to mother?” The king smiled and nodded “Yes my dear daughter. You see the light of the sun is damaged beyond repair from this strange curse. Soon the sun’s light will no longer light the sky of our land and even when I seal away the centaur, it is not permanent”
The queen smiled “But we have found a way both to defeat the centaur and bring light back to the sun.”
Harmony was curious. Even more so for why her parents were smiling. “How?” she simply asked
“Through a child” The king said softly “ A child?” Harmony repeated, not quite sure she heard correctly.
“The great cosmos has unimaginable power, and the cosmic guardians are very limited to how much they can communicate to everything outside their plane.” The king explained “The have agreed to help save our world by changing me, and I will then allow your mother to have a child with some of the power of the cosmos and the ability to protect our sky and our world.”
Harmony was stunned “That means… I will?” The queen nodded “Yes my dear, you will be the child’s elder sister.” Harmony almost couldn’t believe it. “But although the child will physically be an alicorn, they will be very different. The child will have more magic than any normal alicorn, and although we are not certain, because it’s creation is aided by the cosmos, the child may live forever, to always protect the sky from harm.”
Harmony could only nod at this point as her father once again hugged her “So please understand my dear daughter, although I may be gone in body, I will still be there watching over you, and you must promise me to watch over the foal that will come.”
Harmony nodded as her tears finally broke loose “I promise father! I promise I will be the perfect elder sister!” Harmony just allowed her tears to flow freely now as she cried into her father’s warm embrace while the thunder still echoed outside.
Author's Note
Celestia next chapter!
And also a timeskip and less sadness for a while
The Ponytail of Ancient Equestria
Chapter 3 - Child of the Sun
Ever since her father’s departure into the cosmos just a few short years ago, Princess Harmony had matured a lot, both in body and in mind.
Many ponies complimented the young princess on what a beautiful young filly she was and how she was getting to be as graceful as her mother.
Despite this, Harmony’s true passion was not on her appearance, but on her studies, and on her little sister.
The birth of the younger princess had brought a ray of hope across the kingdom. Yes King Starry Knight’s departure had sealed up the horrors that plagued them, but it couldn’t last forever.
The tiny princess however, did possess magic that could last forever and though the sun’s light was altered and the sky changed, Harmony’s sister could brighten the sky and bring forth the light that the sun once held as though it was the simplest of magics to her.
Even as a newborn she had held the power of the sun’s light.
The little princess had even been born with her cutie mark showing her ability was there right from the start.
However the queen did have to help the infant princess bring out her magic with her own magic at that age.
Since the younger princess was to be the guardian of the sky as well as the bringer of the sun’s true light, the queen had named her Celestia.
And Harmony simply adored her.
Harmony smiled at the memories of first meeting Celestia as she wrote notes while reading from a rather advanced book
But she couldn’t help but hear a rather annoyed whine echo through the library.
“Oh little sister whatever is the matter?” Harmony questioned a much tinier filly with a pale coat
“The palace tutors left hours and hours ago big sister, why we still here when both our lessons are over?” Harmony couldn’t help but giggle at her precious little sister. She was such a child, despite her responsibilities and connection to the cosmos.
“Homework is best done in a quiet library, and I’m pretty sure you had your own homework to do.” Harmony smiled as she looked over to a teal coloured flutter pony “Peach Blossom, I doubt my sister has finished her homework already, do you know where it is?”
The flutter pony smiled as she pointed towards a nearby table with a few papers on it “Young Princess Celestia has not even started her homework yet.” This comment made Harmony raise an eyebrow at her sister.
“Is that true little sister?” Harmony said in mock irritation.
Princess Celestia just frowned “We have all week to do our homework big sister, and our tutors only JUST left. Why can’t we go now with Peach Blossom? You said we were going to see Flutterbye Village later today.”
Harmony smiled as she got up and walked closer to her sister “I thought you said the tutors left hours and hours ago”
Celestia pouted “Well it feels like it, and it’s boring here big sister”
Harmony sighed, trying to mask her giggling at Celestia’s childishness “Now, now. That’s not sending a very good example as a princess, little sister. Princesses must always be diligent” Harmony smiled as she levitated a quill and one of Celestia’s papers of her “And at least start their homework before they take a royal visit to Flutterbye Villiage”
Celestia looked at Harmony “So I only need to answer one question and we can go?”
Harmony nodded as Celestia took the paper with her own magic “That’s right little sister”
As soon as those words were spoken, Princess Celestia dashed over to the table that had her papers on it to write with her quill.
Peach Blossom was definitely impressed at Princess Harmony’s way of dealing with Celestia, and getting her to start her homework. “My, my. I thought I would never see the day when young Princess Celestia did even the tiniest bit of her homework on the first day”
Harmony giggled “It’s because she knows it doesn’t take long. My sister is still very young so her homework is not that complicated”
Peach Blossom nodded “Indeed your highness, although she does pout sometimes , I can never understand how you can always resolve things without conflict”
Harmony just looked to her flank where her cutie mark had appeared about a year ago “My talent is keeping things serene after all.”
Peach Blossom smiled “Of course your highness, however I am still quite impressed, especially since an alicorn’s talent is usually most noticeable in their magic. However I was simply referring to the way you can influence others with peace even without your spell.”
Harmony giggled again as her sister trotted to her side “I remember you telling me a few years ago that not all magic needs to be physically cast, Peach Blossom”
“So are we leaving now, big sister?” Celestia interrupted, almost jumping up and down in excitement. Harmony smiled, she could understand her sister’s impatience. Flutterbye Village had the most beautiful gardens in the country, and this was Celestia’s first time seeing it.
Harmony looked to her desk and began levitating a few of the books she had stacked there. “Yes little sister, however we may have to wait in the carriage for a while, the guards may not be expecting us yet.” She grinned as she found the book she wanted “And remember, this is another lesson for you” She showed her little sister the book titled ‘A Guide to the World of Flowers’
Celestia just nodded “Yup, I know it’s a lesson, but I really like flowers” She nuzzled up against Harmony “And I know you will tell me all about the flowers we are going to see while we wait”
Harmony nuzzled her sister back “Of course, and Peach Blossom will too. After all, Flutterbye Village is the home of the flutter ponies.”
Flutterbye village wasn’t really all that far from the royal city and so it did not take long at all for the princesses to arrive by carriage, especially since the speedy fieries pulled it.
Harmony turned to her sister “Now remember, behave yourself and stay by my side.” Celestia nodded with a smile as Peach Blossom helped her out of the carriage
“Yes big sister, I promise” the younger princess chirped as she tried to see all she could while staying in one place.
“Hmm, it appears that the instructor for young Princess Celestia’s lessons has already arrived” Peach Blossom said as she pointed to another royal carriage close by where the fiery guard has stopped.
Harmony looked to Celestia as she exited their carriage “Well lets find him then little sister.”
Celestia nodded “Yep! I bet he’s in the prettiest garden, because that’s where I’d like to be”
Peach Blossom fluttered above the young princesses “Not so fast your highnesses, you must first have your presence announced to the citizens of Flutterbye Village.”
Both princesses looked to their flying nursemaid “Aww come on Peach Blossom. I wanna see more of the flowers first” Celestia whined
“Yes Peach Blossom, can’t we play around for just a while?” Harmony added
Peach Blossom frowned “Young princesses, you simply cannot just wander into a village without having yourselves announced first, even if the citizens were already told of your visit beforehand”
Peach Blossom then started a long lecture to Harmony about how she should already know all this already. Harmony sighed, as much as she loved Peach Blossom as a nursemaid, the flutter pony did tend to talk too much sometimes.
But after Harmony’s lecture, Peach Blossom laughed “But I can understand your eagerness to explore the gardens here. Flutterbye Village is one of the most beautiful places in the country after all, and it does have a habit of making ponies just want to relax or play”
Harmony giggled “Indeed, it does.”
Peach Blossom smiled “So is everyone all ready to go to the town hall then?”
Both princesses nodded “The sooner we get announced, the sooner we can see the prettiest flowers” Celestia chirped
Peach Blossom nodded as she looked to the guards who had stayed silent. Harmony could never understand how guards always did that, regardless of the discussions that went on around them.
The flutter pony flew up to the fiery guards “The princesses and I are ready to be escorted to the town hall, good sirs. Please take care of us”
Celestia smiled “I wonder if they have flowers in the town hall”
Harmony laughed, her little sister was such a kid.
Author's Note
Lil Celestia. Cuteness.
Peach Blossom is based off of g1 Peach Blossom, a flutter pony.
In the show, she was very intellectual and used complicated words, however she was also very polite.
I can think of no other flutter pony to look after two little princesses.
Well that and there were only six before the show ended and one never got any lines!