Herald of the Night

by Commentaholic

Interlude: A Treatise on the Lunar Kingdom, Part One, By Twilight Sparkle

Herald of the Night

Interlude: A Treatise on the Lunar Kingdom; Part One, by Twilight Sparkle

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The Lunar Kingdom is all we, as Lunar Ponies, have ever known. Most of us don't even consider where we came from, where our ancestors came from. But when we boil things down to the pure facts, none of us are true 'Lunar Ponies'. It is a misnomer given to those that have been born here upon Princess Luna's moon since she brought our ancestors here from Equus to 'escape Solar tyranny'. A phrase that may or may not have been accurate, if one is to believe the wide varieties of speculation. However, we will approach that subject with the proper consideration at a later point in this presentation.

Regardless of the motive, the fact remains that, since then, the majority of ponies from the Lunar Kingdom have little to no knowledge of their Equestrian origins. A sad oversight in our educational system, if I may say so myself, though I find myself uniquely privileged to hear stories of Equestria's distant past from our luminous ruler Herself. I have, over time, acquired this chance through years of service to Her Majesty and, by her permission, am being allowed to use her accounts, as spoken by her, for evidence in this dissertation. I would not use it without her permission, nor shall I, which brings us to our first point.

Princess Luna.

Our ruler for many thousands of years. It is no mystery that she is one of two alicorn* sisters, one of which is herself and the other rules over Equestria on the planet Equus, which anypony can see looming above us in our sky. She has never lied to us on this fact. It would have proved pointless to do so even if she had such a desire to keep us in the dark. The planet is within easy sight of our telescopes and we would have, at some point, witnessed the Solar Alicorn, Celestia, going forth across the world at some point.

Furthermore, it is possible that she could not lie even if she wanted to. Through recently-gained knowledge, I have discovered that the Elements of Harmony, known as the traits all ponies should live by, are more than just an old mare's tale, if you will pardon the phrase. Princess Luna has assured me that they were very real, and at some point in the past millennia, banished a chaotic beast by the name of Discord. During this time, Luna and Celestia wielded the Elements of Harmony: Celestia wielding Kindness, Generosity and Loyalty, while Luna held Honesty, Laughter and Magic**.

The fact that our ruler had been selected to wield the Element of Honesty goes to imply that she would not lie, given a choice between obscuring the truth and revealing it. As such, we are to infer, she has not doctored any of our history directly since the establishment of the Lunar Kingdom. We can only hope that our Princess has not hidden things of great importance from her subjects, but with all due respect to Her Highness, we cannot assume that She hasn't. Even with the Element of Honesty deeming her a worthy bearer at some point in the distant past, nobody can prove that it still considers her a bearer.

Now, back on topic. With enough observation and the proper equipment, one can observe Equestria far above, or below, as it may be the case, and attempt to fathom Equestrian society. As far as we know, through means both mundane and magical, their society evolved much the same as ours, given the exceptions made by the altered environments and scientific advancements.

Whereas they are free to build anywhere they find feasible, with their oxygenated atmosphere and rolling plains, their cities are sprawled out over the landscape, as opposed to ours, which often take form in craters and lunar valleys, all within the range of the Princess' magic. For without her powers to keep us alive on this barren sphere, we would likely not survive until technology caught up to the function of keeping us alive. And earliest projections for that do not slate it for another fifty to one hundred years, at the earliest, though some have heard rumors about ponies that live on the dark side of the moon, beyond Luna's beneficial influence. To that, I can only offer speculation and assumption, as these rumors have yet to be confirmed. But if they possess such magic or technology, one can only assume that it may become widespread, given time. After that... Who knows what may happen to the solidarity of the Princess' rule? It may come to pass that her rule may be overthrown or encouraged to cease in favour of some new form of government.

At this point, I would like to state quite clearly that this is not seditious or treasonous and I would beg Princess Luna not to banish me in any way because I support her rule wholeheartedly, as well as respect her as a colleague, albeit a royal one. Please don't banish me... I still haven't read all the books in the library!

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* = It is unsure where alicorns come from, much less the reason for their affinity for heavenly bodies, for according to our knowledge, there are only two, and they are both female. Possible indications of a third have arisen, but these observations were made under odd circumstances and still have yet to be confirmed. The source of alicorns and where they come from is a mystery. Even due to my close association with the Princess, I still have yet to be informed about their origins. She refuses to discuss such things when asked and, when pressured, gets irritable. At that point, I usually take shelter under the nearest table and begin begging forgiveness, but that's beside the point. Is it possible that this irritation indicates an unpleasant or painful memory? Only time will tell, I suppose.

** = Not sure where Magic fits into Harmony, but then again, they are unfathomable powers, from the accounts I've read and the books I have perused from the vast library archive under castle. Is it possible that this Magic is the cohesive agent between the others? Providing a sort of catalyzing effect? I don't believe my questions will ever be answered in my lifetime because, according to last accounts, the Elements of Harmony did not come with Princess Luna to the Moon, but remained back in Equestria. Alas, another mystery that will elude my attempts to solve it, unless I can get Her Highness to answer that question. But once again, like with the Alicorn origins question, I am better off trying to find out for myself rather than risk banishment.

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Author's Note:

And there's the first interlude. Having received no questions, I figured I'd just go about it in my own way. It was enjoyable to write this. I like laying out things in a narrative factual explanation.

Anyway, see you next time for a continuation of Twilight's adventures.

Comments

[SeventhBrony]

Please don't banish me... I still haven't read all the books in the library!

classic Twilight

[Commentaholic]

2089623

But of course Can't have a story featuring Twilight without tossing in a little book obsession. :P

[Iron Nebula]

Great update! Very scholarly of our dear Twilight. I can't wait until she meets Celestia! (Hint: I really can't. Update again please)