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// Princess Luna's History Lesson (Shadow Play Tie-In) 
// Story: PONY POV SERIES SEASON 8: FINALE! 
// by Alex Warlorn 
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My Little Pony, Shadow Play Tie-In. Spoilers, duh.

In light of having to face Discord once again, and a Nightmare at the same time, I, Princess Luna Nyx Equestria, have chosen to write down some honest revelations about Equestria's past heroes. My sister would prefer ponies learn the truth in their own way at their own pace, but I feel these revelations do nothing to lessen the actions of these ponies.

If Celly and I corrected every mistake in the history books, we'd be left with no time to rule Equestria (maybe when Celly retires she can do that between writing her mystery novels). 

Ponies as a rule generalize events, it’s their nature. It's how mortals keep sane in an infinitely complex world. They invent tales for that which they do not understand. (Sadly, the counterpart to this is that as ponies understand more and more, they grow to think 'If I do not understand this, then it does not exist.' So it was with my sister's student.) And unlike myself and my sister, neither their lives nor memories are infinite, and stories survive by being passed on, allowing them to mutate over time.

As such, ponies who lived decades and thousands of miles apart are crammed together into neat little locations and periods, because it makes for a better story. Perhaps that is why 'a thousand years ago' has become such an overwhelmingly popular term for ponies to use for anything that happened before our banishment.

I shall reveal this to you: There has been more than one Starswirl the Bearded, as there was in fact more than one Merlin, Man of the Woods, on Megan's Earth.

The one who was the tutor of Clover the Clever was stern and pragmatic. The one who once traveled to other shadows of Equus with my sister was lively and imaginative. 

Another well known story holds that Mist Mane showed me the plight of the innocent animals of Everfree, who wished only to prevent their homes from being taken away by the building of the Castle of the Two Sisters, and taught me how I might keep spaces open for them, so that ponies and wildlife could share the forest in harmony.

First and foremost, Mist Mane lived in Neighpon. There is more to Equus than Equestria. And the animals in Everfree are wild. They are not known for engaging in coordinated commando strikes.

I believe this tale came about from realistic concerns that if Everfree was gone, Equestria's monster population would seek out new habitats. Ponies, by their very nature, seek to preserve the natural world whenever they can, modern Equestrians having grown up and matured in a land where nature needs them to function. Why do you think Everfree is so terrifying to them? If the entire planet was so except for Equestria, ponies would not be so terrified of just being near the place. The idea of traveling abroad would leave ponies paralyzed in fear.

For the record, I did meet with Mist Mane after her sacrifice, but that meeting took place somewhere else entirely, and for very different reasons. If I had known her better, mayhap I would have appreciated those who could see the beauty in my night. Perhaps I would have become less vain myself, knowing one who would sacrifice beauty for which most mares would give anything, for the sake of one who did not deserve it. Is it any wonder Miss Rarity loves her legend?

Also, contrary to popular belief, Mage Meadowbrook was a unicorn, but during an age of unification, it was deemed 'politically incorrect' for half of the 'six pillars' to be from a tribe that, at the time, many stereotyped as considering themselves 'superior' to the other tribes. While a 'balanced' team of heroes sent a message of unity. 

And Mage Meadowbrook was actually from Neighpon. She was a magical crafts pony, not an alchemist. But history muddled this, as a masked Earth Pony doctor who was an incredibly brilliant alchemist used her name. Both are worthy of great praise and responsible for great good, but they are not the same, their legends merely faded into one as time passed.

Let this be known, Somnambula the Pegasus came after the infamous human witch Somnambula, long after the wicked witch had met her demise. The two never met. I think it was done explicitly on purpose to muddle events and wipe the witch from history, as humans became less than myths. While I do not believe evil should be rewarded, I feel that this accidentally covers-up the bravery of the ponies who were preyed upon by the witch and freed her abused familiar.  After all, the Ponies of Paradise estate would never fight with the pegasus wise mare, so that story 'obviously' must be false.

Also, that sphinx kept her word and didn't return, but asked her relatives to take revenge in blood in her stead. The resulting battle has been buried by the history books. The truth that Somnambula the Pegasus was a mare who would, even reluctantly, take the lives of other creatures in defense of her homeland does not mesh well with modern ponies' definitions of 'good' and 'evil'. Her scythe sword with Sphinx blood upon it has been called one of the few causalities of that conflict (their losses being so minimal due to Somnambula's suggestions, the myth is correct that she was brilliant despite her eccentricities).

The tale of Rockhoof is mostly accurate, except he also did not live in Equestria. The caribou who were his honorable comrades have been forgotten by ponies, even though they made up a good chunk of the population of Rockhoof's home, including the very guard he sought to join, with ponies as the MINORITY. At least, the tale of his incredible strength was no exaggeration. He may very well be the single mightiest Earth Pony to ever live. It is difficult to tell, as he is not around to test his strength with Pinkie Pie's sister Maud... and she may not be exactly normal either. 

Pegasi are known for exaggerating their accomplishments, and Flash Magnus' accounts suffered for this. Of all ironies of ironies, Flash Magnus' tales, if anything, has been watered down by historians! Ponies were more willing to say 'I have no idea what happened!' than accept Flash Magnus' version.

And... many ponies like to pretend that the long-ago days when griffons hunted ponies for food never happened.

First and foremost remember: Flash Magnus was a soldier in the most elite of Pegasi forces. That meant he was trained to kill, and could do so effectively. Flash Magnus was no Rockhoof. Rockhoof in fact was actually the one among the six heroes of legend who was the most against killing.

Flash Magnus HAD killed griffons, but he never hated them. I said Flash Magnus was a capable and accomplished killer, I never said he enjoyed it. And that made him a far greater soldier than any blood loving psychopath. He understood the griffons weren't evil, and he went through blood, sweat and tears to establish a precious safe zone of trust between griffons and pegasi.

Flash Magnus is one of the few ponies to have killed a dragon, something that was brushed off as impossible by later ponies. And something that to this day earns him and his blood line the ire of the Dragonlands. The dragon hoard he claimed was spread out among the families of comrades he had not been able to save, and towards ironically enough, helping the pegasi move away from a purely military economy. I said Flash Magnus was a soldier, I never said he was a war monger.

Heh, he even once dared to take on the Sirens single-hoofedly, using stuffing in his ears. I truly believe he would have been able to destroy at least one if they had not been immortal. He roadblocked them for as long as he endured, however. 

One falsehood of legend is that his shield was only fireproof. It was primarily fireproof, but as mighty as they were even the Sirens could not harm him through it and he knew how to wield it like an expert. The only thing that might have been able to pierce it isn't from this plane of reality. 

Thankfully his friends (also with stuffing in their ears) were able to carry him away from the battle over the desert he chose to face them where none would be harmed... the desert sands buried his shield after that battle and he never recovered it (somepony else might have, however). But this did NOTHING to deter his courage. He had chosen the desert explicitly so nopony would be harmed, knowing full well it would lessen his own pegasi magic with less moisture in the air to work with.

And at last, Stygian the unicorn, so easily forgotten, the lone survivor of the land where the sirens began their campaign in earnest and began sweeping across Equestria. The one who recorded so many of the deeds of the six heroes, and had so much of his word dismissed or distorted by later generations. He was the pony with no power, no strength, no chosen status, no magical unique object. He was no warrior, no alchemist, in spite of his burning desire to be a hero. All he could do was record the heroics of others and be a strategist gathering whatever information he could for his allies. Some insist he divided up his own soul to create a race of dark ponies, but I personally find this idea absurd, as it was not in his nature nor desires. Whatever became of him, at least he did not have to live to see his life's work trivialized.

And so you have it... The six were heroes to be sure, but history has a way of distorting things, all generations try to superimpose the beliefs of the present on the ponies of the past. They were brave, they were selfless, they did their hardest to change the world for the better. And that is something to be admired, but please remember the world was a very different place back then, and do not judge them by today's standards and today's culture... I speak from experience.