//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: The Birth of Terramundus 
// by Jubilee Bloom 
//------------------------------//

Long ago, before time had any name, there was a great mass of earth.

This mass was the smaller of two planets that orbited each other, while both planets orbited a distant star. The larger planet had the potential to nurture life, but these planets were too cold, too distant from the star, for life to be born. The lesser planet had plenty of soil and strong rock, but no atmosphere and no chance of life. And so the planets spun, circling the star, circling each other, each planet lifeless and empty.

Until something changed.

The forces of magic are not something that can be readily explained. They are simply to be accepted and explored. One can learn to understand components of it, one may learn how to harness it, but is it fruitless to worry with the question of where it came from, and how. Some say it came after the universe was created, some say it came before, some say that they appeared together. But that answer is not important, and it may never be found. So instead, turn to where magic causes change in the world, and follow the paths that open from there.

This lesser planet changed one day. It gained magic.

Still the planets spun around each other, but now the lesser planet was shifting, remaking itself. Not alive, but animated. The magic spread itself all throughout the rock of the planet and became stronger. It swelled, and spilled over, until a spark emerged from the lesser planet and was absorbed by the greater one. The spark became a stream, the magic of the lesser planet flowing into the greater. Still, the lesser planet became no less magical.

Though the planets grew closer together in this time, drawn to each other by magic, their union came to an end. For the magical planet felt a call. There was other magic out in the universe, and they were to be united. Then came the pull.

The lesser planet, the magic planet, was pulled away from its system. The greater planet, still only with traces of magic, followed the lesser. The two planets drew closer to their star, becoming warm. And their star began to pull harder on its planets, and they came closer, becoming warmer. But the pull of the magic was stronger. The lesser planet separated, and was pulled away from its star until it was no longer that star’s planet.

The greater planet stayed in orbit of its star, now alone. The magic it had received settled within the land, the newly-melted oceans, some carried in the atmosphere. It was not enough for the planet to be truly magical. But the power that the spark had carried over, combined with the new warmth from the star, allowed life to begin.

And the magical planet continued to be pulled through the universe.

Elsewhere, there had been a comet. This comet was one of the largest and fastest there was, and it never went around one star very long. It had some rock, but was mostly ice and gasses. Its cloud of gas and dust swirled around the ice as it soared through the depths of space. It would spin around one star, and then leave for another, and so it saw many stars of the universe, and its cloud became rich with dust and gas collected along the way.

Then, something changed.

Perhaps it had been caught up in the cloud as it traveled. Perhaps it simply appeared. Whatever the manner, this comet gained magic.

This magic spread through the gasses and dust and ice, becoming stronger. It swirled and it swelled, and the comet gained speed. But it never lost its cloud. The magic only kept its cloud closer to the ice and rock at its center, and collected more gasses as the comets passed through them. Even other comets would pass through the tail of this comet and become entangled, their ice and their clouds pulled in by magic and made one with this great comet.

More stars were visited, more matter collected, until this free travel came to an end. For the comet felt a call. There was other magic out in the universe, and they were to be united. Then came the pull.

Its trajectory shifted, and its travel became even faster. Still, the magic bound together everything that was of the comet, so none was lost to space. This magic also repelled any star or massive object that could slow the comet’s journey, and so it deftly wove between stars, following the call.

Elsewhere, there had been a tiny star and a planet with it. They orbited each other, far from any other stars or planets. This star was bright, and strong, though it was small. It shone with a white and yellow glow. This planet, though smaller than the star, was not so by much. It was lifeless, and dense, holding no atmosphere and little variation in its rock. These heavenly bodies spun around each other, and as their orbit continued, they grew closer together. This star and this planet were also quite old, and the star was nearing the end of its days.

As the star grew old, it drew closer to the planet, and the planet drew closer to the star, until they almost became one. The star and the planet were both on the brink of their death.

Then, something changed.

Before the star or the planet could die, they gained magic. And for a moment, they were one.

The magic spread throughout the burning gasses of the sun and the steady rock of the planet, and became stronger. The star and the planet were pulled apart after their union, and once again they orbited each other. The star shone brighter than before, becoming like new, like young. And the planet, though made of stone, began to shine as well. For this stone was magic. And the star could shine without wasting away. For it, too, was magic. The magic became stronger until the very essence of this star and this planet were nearly more magic than matter.

The star and the planet, united and then reunited, spun around each other as they had before. They orbited each other in an empty expanse, far from any other planets or stars. But this isolation came to an end. For these two heavenly bodies felt a call. There was other magic out in the universe, and they were to be united. Then came the pull.

Guided by magic, this star and this planet began to move. Still spinning around each other, they came nearer to other bodies and then passed by them. As they traveled, they grew apart from each other, an expanse of magic swirling between them in the space they made. Though they grew apart, the magic that united them was strong, and growing stronger. Magic ensured that they were never separate. So they moved through space, pulled by the call.

Magic works in mysterious ways. Any of these heavenly bodies—the planet, the comet, the bound planet and star—could have been the first to give the call. Or perhaps, they all came to be at the same time, and so called to each other all at once. But as destiny would have it, if such a thing exists, they all came to find each other.

When the bound planet and star were about to find the others, they had created such a massive expanse between them that they could hold a system of their own within. Though farther apart than ever before, their magical bond was only stronger.

Into this expanse came the other magical planet. It did not shine like the planet bound to the star, but it trembled with power.

And as this planet came into the center of the bound expanse, so too did the comet. At such a great speed, it collided with the planet, and so this planet was burst open. And so its magic activated.

The planet became like a disc. Its edges curled away from its core from the force of the impact, and the rest of its rock and all the ice of the comet settled into the planet’s expanse, and it became like a basin. The gaseous cloud of the comet settled over the planet and became a hemisphere atop it, covering the rock and the ice. And the bound star shone at one end, and the bound planet shone at the other.

At the center of the flattened planet, an anchor formed. This, too, was magic. It commanded that the rock of this planet would be kept together and held open, defying the globes that gravity made of other planets. It commanded that the gasses of the comet would become air for the planet, settling in among the loose rock and ice held within. It commanded that the bound planet and star, still orbiting, would now traverse around this center.

Though most of the rock from the planet stayed close as the rest of it took this new form, some scattered. Some rock from the planet and comet was flung out into the expanse, and also began to orbit this anchor. And some rock came together, and by chance, struck the bound planet and merged with it. Though all of the bound planet was still magic, only one half now shone, and as it continued to spin, its light went to and away from the planet it orbited. For this bound planet was no longer a planet, but a moon. And the star it was bound to was no longer just a star, but a sun. An unusual sun, for it orbited its planet, rather than having planets orbit it, but a sun all the same.

The sun and the moon orbited the planet. As the sun shone down upon the earth, the ice of the comet melted and became oceans, filling the basin of the planet and swirling around the rest of the rock, which became land. And as this planet aged, it would grow life. And one day, this life would grow to take partial command of the earth and the atmosphere and even the sun and moon. And one day this life would name the planet they lived upon Terramundus.

And so this system came to be, and magic flourished within this new world. Even in the distant planet that once accompanied Terramundus, now merely called Earth by some of its life, magic lay dormant within it. And Terramundus and Earth, though now quite distant and long past when they had orbited each other, remained connected. This connection would stay dormant for quite some time, until the life of Terramundus discovered and strengthened it.

And now, after all this has passed, you are here.








Sunset Shimmer paused to grab the glass of water in front of her and chugged half of it in one go.

“You okay, Sunset?” Applejack asked, absentmindedly playing with her geode.

“Yeah, just been talking for a while. I probably should have taken a few water breaks in there, but I guess I got caught up in the reading.” She set down the letter and took a chance to stretch her back and neck, her eyes wandering the room for a little break from the paper. Twilight—this world’s Twilight, the human world’s Twilight—was on the edge of her seat, drinking in every word that Sunset read off the scroll.

“So the pony world is actually geocentric?” Fluttershy piped up from the cozy armchair where she was curled up with Pinkie’s stuffed gator Gummy and a cat plushie.

“And their planet is shaped like a giant pasta bowl?” Pinkie Pie said, sitting on the back of the armchair that Fluttershy was in.

“I… guess you could describe it like that,” Sunset said with a shrug.

“Don’t let the flat-earthers of our world hear about this,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “We’ll never hear the end of it from them.”

Rarity shuddered. “I can only begin to imagine the arguments that would ensue…”

Sunset laughed. “Maybe we should send all the flat-earthers to Terramundus slash Equestria so they can be right in peace, as long as they’re willing to adjust to a fantasy life. After Starswirl basically used our world as a trash can for all his big magic problems? I think it would be a fair trade.”

The rest of the room started laughing as Sunset finished off the rest of her water.

“Is there more to the letter?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, yeah, there’s a little more.” Sunset began reading again where she had left off.

“And now, after all this has passed, you are here.”

“In truth, we can only form theories about how Terramundus came to be this way. But we know how it is now, and from the research of your world we know more about how the entities within space work. We do know that there is an innate magic that springs forth from the land beneath our hooves, an innate magic that swirls through the air that we breathe, and an innate magic that radiates upon us from the Sun and the Moon. As you may be able to guess, ancient ponies grew connected to this magic and became Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns respectively. And so we learned to shape the world we were born into, and so we eventually formed Equestria.”

“We know that divination is an unreliable practice, but divination guided by scientific theory or even just sound observations often comes closer to accuracy. As the practice has grown, some who practice the art also learned to look to the past, not just the future. Unlike the future, the past is set and certain, even if our attempts to divine it are not as much so. But we have hope that even if this is not a perfect story, it is a close enough approximation of the truth that it can sate curiosity and provide a framework to better understand our world.”

“There is much more we could put into this letter, but we thought it best to conclude the story here for now, only going into detail until Terramundus was formed. We have observations about the Sun and the Moon and their elliptical orbits, observations about your world and our world, their connection, and the space between them, but we will not go into them here. We do not wish to overwhelm you, or any of your companions that you may be sharing this with.”

“Good,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “This is really cool, but I can also feel my brain turning into sludge.”

“Same here!” Pinkie added.

“Yeah, I’m gonna need a nice long break of not thinking after this,” Sunset said with a chuckle, before finishing the letter.

“Once you have had time to ponder this letter, we would love to hear your thoughts and any questions you have. We all wish you well.”

The letter ended with several signatures, some that Sunset recognized as notable scientists and “seers” from Equestria, along with Princess Twilight’s signature, Starlight Glimmer’s name just beneath, and a sloppy scrawl that she just barely made out to be Starswirl’s signature.

She set down the letter on the coffee table in front of her and slumped down into her chair, her pajama shirt bunching up against the hard back. “Okay. I’m all done reading, thinking, or being conscious now.”

“Do we need Applejack to carry you to your sleeping bag?” Rarity asked, standing up from her spot and walking over to check on Sunset.

“Maybe. Or I could just sleep here.” She closed her eyes.

“You’ll hurt your spine, sugarcube.” Applejack joined Rarity at Sunset’s side.

“Maybe next time we get a letter from Equestria at this time of night,” Twilight said, “we should wait until the next morning to read it. I don’t think—holy auroras, how is it already 11 PM?”

“Since when do you say ‘holy auroras?’ Is that even a saying?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It is now, I guess,” Twilight responded through a yawn.

“I’m stealing that! That’s a fun phrase!” Pinkie said.

“All right Sunset,” Applejack said, looking over her. Sunset opened one eye. “Do you actually need to be carried to your sleeping bag?”

“Maybe just help me stand up,” Sunset groaned, extending a hand. Applejack took it and helped her get herself vertical. Pinkie helped Fluttershy off the armchair in a similar manner, and everyone slowly oozed over to Pinkie’s bedroom, where everyone’s sleeping bags were sprawled out.

“I’m probably gonna have weird dreams tonight…” Fluttershy mumbled.

“I’d be surprised if any of us didn’t,” Rarity mused. “After a story like that…”

“It was cool, though,” Sunset said, all but collapsing onto her sleeping bag. “Yeah, magic is… really fun to learn about.”