//------------------------------// // In the Beginning // Story: Prince of the Earth // by Lightning Flicker //------------------------------// Equestria... Everypony knows the origins of Equestria, the three tribes, the two royal sisters coming together to unite the tribes. Even the fact that it was the tribes themselves whom praised the two sisters as Princesses. But, nopony can go further back, nopony remembers the beginning of Equestria, the land that lay beneath the hooves of earth pony and unicorn, diamond dog or dragon. Today, today we shall go to the far beginning, and find out that there is more to this tale. In the beginning, there was Faust. This deity was born upon the winds of time, from the beginning, She saw to the initial creation of the land. Vast, plentiful fields of grass, the clear sky, and, of course, the trees that provided the shade for her. But, lo, all was still not well with Faust. Her loneliness, born from a desire to have others, lead her to the creation of her first foal. The young colt whimpered after his 'birth', coddled to his mother as quickly as he had been formed. She gently stroked the child's fiery red mane, his steel grey coat, and she smiled softly. "Terran." She whispered softly, the colts whimpering having toned down after he had been soothed by Faust, "Your name shall be Terran, my child. The first of my children...but not the last." She commented quietly, though the young colt could not have understood the words that were spoken to him. In time, the colt grew, and as the years passed, he was blessed by first one sibling, Celestia, and then the other, Luna. Faust raised the sun, and she lowered it for her small foals. She ushered the new days in, allowing them to play, explore, and have fun as long as they did not venture from her sight. She ushered the nights in to call her children back to her, nestling the three bodies of her children to herself, warding their dreams from nightmares and caring for the young foals that were her own. The children never wondered why they had no father, they simply knew of their mother, whom loved them as much as she loved her darling sky or the solid earth below. Terran himself, being the oldest of the siblings, had at first worried Faust, she worried that he would play too roughly with his sisters when they were old enough. Day by day, she watched them, and him, grow, unable to help but smile quietly as the siblings, for the most part, appeared to simply enjoy one another's company. She knew that the colt grew restless however, with no other ponies to play with, it was easy to succumb to boredom, and so, on a particular day where she allowed the moon to stay in the sky for longer than usual, she created the three tribes of Ponies. The earth ponies, modest and hard working workers of the fields and naturally attuned to the subtle magics of the earth itself. The Pegasi, strong, swift, but prideful ponies who tended to the skies and kept the weather temperate. And finally, the magical, knowledgeable Unicorns whom could entertain and amaze the other two tribes with their own forms of magic. What she had not foreseen, however, was the way that the three tribes grew to resent one another, but that is a tale for a different tale. Faust watched young Terran as he played in the fields, smiling quietly as the young alicorn rolled upon the grass, frowned at the earth before finally moving on to the next spot, repeating the actions over and over. "Terran," Faust called to her young colt, "What are you doing over there?" "Trying to find a place for a nap mama, the ground isn't very comfy here..." The sheepish alicorn called back to his mom, trotting over to her before settling in quietly against his mother, his two smaller, sleeping sisters stirring only slightly as the colt flopped down beside his mother, earning him a small frown with which he could only return a soft, sheepish grin. "I am sorry that the earth around here is not up to your standards." Faust commented softly, giggling quietly once more as her child turned slightly away, moving to cover his slightly reddened cheeks froom his mother. "It's not so much that." Terran tried to explain away, earning only a cocked brow from the amused alicorn that was his mother. "It's just that...well, I've also got an itch on my back and I didn't wanna bother you." He blushed quietly, the honest answer earning yet another soft chuckle from Faust. "Is that all that the rolling was for?" She commented softly, still fighting off soft giggles at her highly unamused young colt. "All you would have had to do was ask, and I would have gotten it for you." "But I'm a big colt!" Terran complained, his wings flaring out to try and make him appear bigger than he really was. He saw his mother look to consider what he had said before grinning, reaching out with her forehooves before dragging him over to herself. He dared not whine or try and get away from her, his sisters rested nearby and he had no wish to harm them. In fact, he was still surprised that his young sisters could have slept through all of that noise...then again, they were little more than foals, hardly big enough to trot about on their own. "You may be a big colt, but you'll always be my little foal Terran." Faust commented quietly, a small smile coming to her as she moved one wing up to scratch at Terran's back, at first a quiet squeak escaping the colt before he settled into it, if slowly. He would have much preferred being able to take care of the silly little itch himself, but it appeared that the older alicorn had different plans...at least for now. After all, the trees, what ones there were, were fairly sparse. "I could have gotten it myself..." Grumbled the colt as he sighed contentedly once she had stopped, settling himself against her chest carefully as he rested his fore hooves in front of himself. "Yes, you could have, but it's far easier to ask for help when you need it than to try and do everything yourself...after all, I will not be able to do this for you forever, my young one." She giggled softly once more. "What do you mean by that momma?" The young colt asked, yawning quietly as he rested more firmly against his mother. "It's nothing to worry about, young Terran." She commented softly, a quiet smile gracing her features, "Now, go to sleep. I am sure that you are very tired since your nap took so long to get around to." The young colt gave a response, mumbled though it was against his hooves before the sound of deeper breathing came from the small colt. Slowly, quietly drifting away into his own little dreamland.