Afflicted

Few ponies now know of the conditions many suffered before and after my sister and I freed this land from the chaotic rule of Discord. Equestria was bleak and bitter, then; the expanding Everfree Forest had forced many ponies into Canterlot, nopony trusted one another, and my sister and I had no idea how to rule. Celestia thought it logical to first fix the nature of things, which Discord had all but destroyed. My sister took responsibility for the sun, and I the moon. We deemed that the pegasi would be responsible for the weather, and Cloudsdale was built. The earth ponies were tasked with rejuvenating and fertilizing the land for crops, and they spread out across Equestria as the unicorns used their magic to push back the dark forces of the Everfree Forest.

Nature was not the only thing harmed by Discord, however; his magic had caused disorders to emerge in all races of ponies. I believed that they could be helped with magical attention, but Celestia argued otherwise, saying that there was nothing we could do but wait, for Discord’s magic would one day fade. While she rose as the Princess of the Day, I—Luna, the Princess of the Night—took upon myself the burden of giving aid to those in need.

Initially, I only confronted the impaired ponies in their dreams and attempted to comfort them with promises of relief, but in the dreamscape, their pain was extremely raw and unrestrained. It wasn’t long before I took on more drastic measures; I hunted relentlessly for a mage adept in all fields of magic, for I could not succeed with my magic alone. Eventually, I found a young unicorn by the name of Star Swirl. He was a demure, passive stallion, then, but I could easily see his magical potential and compassionate heart. I recruited Star Swirl as my protégé, and we collaborated in perfecting spells of restoration, as well as learning the medical knowledge of the time. Together, we set out to heal every pony that had been harmed by Discord.

My sister disapproved with disdain, warning that the consequences of more magical tampering would be great, and no good would come from our mission. In a way, she was right; by the end, steep sacrifices had been made for the sake of the future of all ponies in Equestria. Celestia and I regret that it had to be so, but we know now that the effects of Discord’s chaotic powers would have rippled and worsened had I not intervened. What was done had to be done.

My involvement, along with Star Swirl’s, in these events is not uncommon knowledge. Every history scholar in Equestria and beyond has read about it in one book or another. The two of us have been portrayed as the heroes, yet we would never have succeeded were it not for a small group of unfortunate, chaos-afflicted ponies who gave up everything for our cause. I would not see their tale forgotten, lest I sentence myself to another thousand years on my moon.