Equestrian Origins: A Bedtime Story
It was seven in the morning when Twinkleshine finally walked through her door. She blinked a few times and shook her head in an attempt to stay awake. The princess had sent a new project which had dictated she spend her whole night looking over papers. She threw down her packed saddlebags and stumbled into the bathroom.
As she prepared for bed, she idly went over what she would have to do when she got up in the evening. The equations she had painstakingly put together all night long would go to Twilight Sparkle. But first she needed to hit the market before all the stalls closed. It was a little irritating to be awake at opposite times from every other pony in town, but she loved her work with Princess Luna enough that it was worth the scheduling nightmare.
Twinkleshine finished in the bathroom and proceeded to lower the blinds in her room before slipping into bed. She gave a relieved sigh as her muscles relaxed and the comforting weight of the blankets settled over her. Moments later she was fast asleep, blissfully unaware of the rising activity in the town around her.
=/\/\/\/\=
Ditzy Doo arrive with the mail right after lunchtime, which served as her wakeup call. After a short, groggy chat with the bubbly pegasus she closed the door and set the mail down on her kitchen table. She poured herself some orange juice and began making toast before she sat down to go through the modest pile on the table.
Bills and ads made up the usual assortment, but there were also three letters. One was the usual check up letter from Princess Luna, she liked to keep an eye on Twinkleshine’s astronomical research. Another was an invitation to a community dinner hosted by the mayor, but that was quickly discarded, those kinds of dinners were hosted all the time. At the last one, however, Twinkleshine raised an eyebrow. It was a letter from her brother who lived all the way in Las Pegasus.
Twinkleshine eagerly sliced the letter open with her magic and floated the letter out.
Hello Twinkle!
This letter is supposed to be one of those really nice invitations inviting you to come join us for our Hearth’s Warming holiday dinner!
But, I just couldn’t let you have one of those. After all, what kind of brother would I be if I couldn’t even take time to write you personally? (It’s not like I have much to do anyway) So, I would like to invite you out for a few days, you can stay at our place if you like. The girls love it when you spend the night, you always had a knack for those bedtime stories.
Mom and dad should be arriving the day of the dinner, they don’t plan to stay. If you have anypony you want to bring, we can accommodate one more without much trouble. If you can make it let me know! Two weeks from tomorrow is when I hope to see you!
Your brother,
Solar Breeze
She smiled as she set the letter down. A trip to see her brother and his family sounded like a good idea. The nice thing about her job was that she was at liberty to set her own hours. So long as she produced results in a reasonable amount of time she could do what she wanted.
Twinkleshine yawned and got up to catch her toast. She contemplated her response to Breeze as she planned out the rest of her day. A letter to the Princess must be written and she needed to see about finishing up her current project in two weeks, if she could. She smiled, already anticipating a good holiday.
/\/\/Two Weeks Later\/\/\
Twinkleshine sighed in exhaustion as she leaned back against the train seat. Getting ready for the trip had been rough, but she had finished her work and sent it to Princess Luna just in time. It had taken several sleepless nights, or days in her case, to complete the project. As she looked out the window at the passing scenery, she decided the lack of sleep was worth it.
It was going to be a wonderful treat to see her two nieces again. They were always wonderful angels when she was there. Although, she had received letters from her brother saying they acted like that only for her. It made her feel special even though it was laughably wrong of the fillies.
She looked out the window as the scenery whizzed by. There was not much to see really; the White Tail Woods were certainly pleasant to take a walk in but the trees did not allow one to see far while on a train. What you could see was so close it passed by before one could get a good look at it. Twinkleshine turned away before she got a headache and settled into reading a dream diary she had acquired.
Soon, her head began to droop. Her eyes kept traveling up to the top of the current page as her mind tried fruitlessly to process the words. Oblivious that the surrounding trees had disappeared in favor of rolling hills. Before she was fully asleep, her head drifted into the book; but her soft snores were inaudible over the clattering of the train.
"Miss? Hello Miss?" Twinkleshine jerked up and wiped a strand of drool from her cheek. "We will be arriving at Las Pegasus in fifteen minutes.” The suited pony retreated from the door of her cabin. Twinkle looked down at her book in surprise, not remembering she had dozed off.
She closed the book, grateful that she had not soaked it. She got up and stumbled around the cabin, her mind hazy with denied sleep. Blinking rapidly and shaking her head, she tried to pull her luggage off the racks. It proved difficult as her body was unwilling to give up the opportunity of slumber.
As the train came to a stop she realized she still was not ready to disembark. She scrambled to organize her things as the conductor ushered people out of the cabins in orderly fashion. Moments later, she headed out of her cabin awkwardly toting her things; not trusting them to magic while this tired.
Las Pegasus, a truly inspirational city if Twinkleshine ever saw one. It had foregone the traditional “pegasus only” cloud usage like Cloudsdale. Instead, buildings made from earth materials were infused with, what would be, physically impossible addons had they had not been made of the soft, spongy material. True, many places in the city were only accessible by pegasi, but the bulk of the attractions, casinos and stores, were open to all races.
Twinkleshine took a deep breath as she walked off the train, the air carried a faint salty tinge from the distant coast. The scent was not strong, as far inland as they were, but it was refreshing all the same. She felt her head clearing as she continued to breathe in the air.
Her excitement grew as she strode from the busy boarding platform. Her eyes darted about and she quickly spotted her brother standing a little apart from the crowd which was moving in and out of the station. He had not seen her yet. As she moved towards him, Twinkleshine felt her cheeks begin to pull upwards the closer she got undetected.
He suddenly spotted her just before she crashed into him. He laughed and caught her up in a bear hug.
“Woah, I didn’t expect you to not be carrying your things without magic... How’re you doing?”
“Exhausted! I’ve gotten hardly any sleep trying to prepare for this trip. See what I go through for you Breeze?” She grumbled, yet unable to wipe the grin from her face.
He scoffed. “Yea yea, whatever Twinkle. You wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
Laughing, they both trotted away from the busy hub, Breeze now carrying her suitcase in his magic.
Twinkleshine paid no attention of their walk to his home. She lost herself in chatting about everything she could with her brother. As they approached the house Breeze pulled a key out from under a nearby window sill and let them into the house.
“Oh! We are home!” Twinkleshine exclaimed, surprised. “Thank Celestia! I’m wasted!” Groaning, she threw herself down on a couch inside the door and closed her eyes.
Breeze chuckled. “I’m going to take your things up to the spare bedroom, I’ll be right back.”
Twinkleshine heart his footsteps on the stairs and distant shuffling. Moments later he was tromping back, but did not stop next to the couch. Twinkle cracked an eye and saw him heading across the hall into the kitchen.
He called back over his shoulder.“Hey, I’ve got to get dinner going Twinkle. Why don’t you just relax there for a few minutes.”
She smiled and snuggled into a pillow that had been so thoughtfully placed at the end of the couch. It was certainly nice not having to cook for herself, she intended to enjoy every bit of it.
Dozing off was not a problem even with the clattering coming from the kitchen for somepony as tired as Twinkleshine. So, she did just that. The next thing Twinkleshine knew was that two unidentified objects were squealing and jumping all over her.
“Auntie Twinkle!” The two objects chorused. A grin spread across her face as she came awake enough to realize that the two objects were her nieces.
“Kids! What are you doing? Get off your aunt, let her sit up!” Solar Breeze’s wife, Bezel, flew across the room and swiped them both up, one in each hoof.
She gave each of them a stern glare and somehow managed to hang on to each of them until they wilted under her glare. Twinkleshine had no idea how the pegasus was able to grapple, let alone fly with, two fillies whose combined size was as big as her. But then, being a top weather mare for a large city was not achieved by weak pegasi.
Twinkle thought that Bezel’s attitude was much like their own head weather mare, Rainbow Dash. The only thing that was different was the brazen tomboyish attitude. The pegasus would take flack from nopony and was extremely confident, but she had a motherly demeanor that must have come from bearing children. At least, that was what Twinkleshine guessed; she did not know Bezel as well as she would have liked..
“Hello Bezel.” Yawning, Twinkleshine got up and smiled.
“Good to see you Twinkleshine. Sorry about--”
“Bezel! You’re home!” Breeze grinned and moved to embrace his wife. The children wormed out of their mother’s grip and ran to hug Twinkle, pointedly ignoring their parents affections.
Eventually they all made it to the kitchen. It did not take long for dinner to be placed on the table with all the ponies helping. Twinkleshine tried to help herself, but her brother would have none of it, insisting that she take a seat and wait to be served. She nearly nodded off once more while waiting, but the two fillies made sure that did not happen. Soon enough, everything was prepared and they began eating.
Twinkleshine ate mechanically, not paying attention to what went in her mouth. Bezel’s voice cut across Twinkleshine’s blank mind. “So Twinkle, Breeze hasn’t told me anything about your plans for this weekend. Have you two come up with anything... interesting?”
“Er, well, we don’t really have anything planned, no.” Twinkleshine mumbled in between bites.
“Was there something you wanted to do Bezel?” Breeze asked.
“Well, not really. But if Twinkleshine is staying past tomorrow’s dinner then we should probably find something to do. How many days are you staying?” Bezel turned, addressing Twinkleshine.
“Breeze didn’t tell you?” She raised an eyebrow at her brother who put on a nervous grin at his wife’s glare. “I told him I would stay through the whole weekend, if that’s okay?”
“Of course!” Bezel gave her a big smile. “Not like I could do anything about it now, huh dear?” She gave Breeze another glare.
As dinner continued the children began to pick up the conversational slack as Twinkleshine talked less and less. They told her about all the things underneath the sun that they knew until Bezel told them to finish their food. They migrated to the living room where Twinkleshine eventually dozed off again while the others performed various activities. As they would be hosting a dinner the following day, there was plenty of work to keep them busy.
Twinkleshine didn’t know how long she slept on the couch, but eventually Breeze was shaking her awake.
“Hey Twinkle, it’s almost nine. You should head to bed, you will sleep much better there.”
She came awake, feeling oddly rested. “Hmm, oh it’s alright Breeze, I really should have been helping you a bit though.” She covered her mouth as she yawned.
“Ha, not a chance Twinkle, you were dead on your feet when you got here. I think-”
“Auntie Twinkle!” The two fillies bounced into the room and ran up to the unicorns. “Momma said we could ask you to tell us a bedtime story if you weren’t too tired.”
Twinkleshine gave a smile and helped her brother scoop them up.
“Well I think I can manage that, I think I have just the story for you two.” She intoned mystically.
“Well what is it?”
“Ah, we need to get your teeth brushed and you in bed first; No spoilers!” Twinkleshine laughed as the fillies squealed and bounced off to get ready.
Breeze snorted. “Huh, wish they’d do that for me.”
“Well, you never did have mom’s charm, it’s actually a little surprising they don’t run screaming in fear from you.”
“You know, I wasn’t the one who ever had that problem... I distinctly recall--”
“Shut up Breeze or I’ll put spiders in your bed! I have a reputation to keep up for your children.” She glared, but was unable to hold back a grin.
He spluttered, but she slipped past him before he could think of a response. They waited for the girls to prepare for bed then walked them to their room. Breeze pushed their beds together and laid down in the center with a filly on each side. Bezel wished them good night, giving her children each a kiss before heading to bed.
Twinkleshine settled herself on the end of the beds, adopting a storytelling pose. She cleared her throat, deciding where to begin. This story was long and complicated, but if told right it would be a fantastic tale. Princess Luna had recounted these events to her, she had been dying for a chance to repeat her newfound knowledge.
“This is the story of how Equestria was made,” she began, “It’s history is an amazing story that dates all the way back to the beginning of the world.” She glanced at her audience, amused that it took so little to entrance children.
=/\/\/\/\=
“The very beginning of our world, let me see now. There are many different facets in this creation story. I’m sure you fillies know our Hearths Warming tales by heart now right?”
The girls nodded their heads vigorously. “Daddy got us a book that tells--”
“Of course, hush girls.” Twinkle insisted quietly. “The Hearths Warming stories play only one part in this story, there is much more to cover. This story begins back with the earliest memories of both princesses.”
“Oooh, how old is Princess Celestia auntie Twinkle?” Twinkleshine gave the interrupting filly a glare and she cowered. Breeze grinned and hugged his daughter.
“I’ll get to that.” Twinkle huffed. “Now be quiet and listen. We need to start at the beginning. That means, like I said, at both of the princesses earliest memories.”
Twinkle repositioned herself on the bed as she continued. “They were not the alicorns we all know and love back then. Technically they did not physically exist. All that existed were the sun and moon. I am told that the planet was shaped from some random mass that just appeared one day.” Twinkleshine paused with a thoughtful expression. “Actually,” she continued, “there really wasn’t anything like day or night back then, but lets just go with it.
Anyway, this planet was given shape along with land, water, air, and everything else on it. Ponies were created and placed in a place what could be referred to as Ancient Equestria.”
“Hey Twinkle,” her brother interjected. Twinkleshine arched an eyebrow. “Heh, sorry. But, you are saying created and shaped...” he paused, frowning in thought. “Who is doing this exactly?”
“I asked our Princess Luna the same question, but she couldn’t tell me. She said that the memories were unclear.”
“So, where does--” Breeze was cut off as one of his daughters put a small hoof over his mouth.
“Shh daddy! Let her tell the story!”
Twinkleshine laughed as Breeze grimaced at his daugher. “Whose side are you on huh?”
“She does have a point, ask your questions once I finish the story. Who knows, maybe they will be answered before then.” Twinkled grinned at her brother who rolled his eyes, but he remained silent.
“Anyway, continuing... Ponies were given the Elements of Harmony and instructed on their use. They were also given control of the sun and moon. Remember, they were already there, just now ponies were instructed on their use.” Twinkleshine glanced at the other ponies on the bed. “Before you ask, no, the princesses were not created with the other ponies. But before I explain where, and when, they came into Equestria I need to go over some history.
Realize that the Elements of Harmony were meant to combat disharmony and chaos. Mostly in magical and extremely powerful forms, things that ponies could not fix on their own. The reason for their creation was that Discord already existed in this world.”
The girls collectively gasped. Breeze absently hugged them closer, but his attention remained riveted on his sister.
“However, Discord must have understood what the elements were supposed to do because he never showed himself for hundreds of years. Thus, ponies prospered in Ancient Equestria. They soon forgot what the Elements were for since they never had to use them. I would go so far as to say that the definition of “harmony” was never even fully understood.”
Breeze raised an eyebrow and frowned. Twinkleshine noticed. “Um, what I mean is, how can you truly appreciate love, tolerance, harmony and all things good unless you have something bad to compare them to? One cannot fully appreciate the good things he has if he always had them. It takes loss, pain and hard work to understand what luxuries are. Ponies back then never had Discord or any other power that tried to ruin their livelihoods. That helps yes?”
“Yea, thanks.” Breeze murmured. He looked down at both his daughters. They were fast asleep, one was using his forehoof as a pillow. He maneuvered himself out from around his now snoozing daughters and motioned for Twinkleshine to follow him downstairs.
He walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator while magicking down two glasses from the cupboard. Twinkleshine sat down and leaned her head against the table. All she could think about was that there was a bed upstairs with her name on it.
Breeze set a down one of the glasses in front of Twinkleshine, it was filled with orange juice.
As Twinkleshine took a sip from the glass, Breeze sat down in a chair across from the table and leaned forward. “So, what happened next Twinkle?” He asked, swiveling his ears towards her and leaning in.
“Well,” Twinkleshine mumbled, “Ponies split, the races basically went their separate ways. The Elements were lost and things festered for a number of years. This is where the Hearths Warming tales come into play. All the ponies relied on each other to survive, but they would have nothing to do with other races outside of their needed negotiations.”
“So, the Windigos came and fed off the ponies.” Breeze concluded.
“Not immediately.” Twinkleshine perked up and became animated in her explanation. “You see, Discord created the Windigos, but he knew that he had to wait for quite a few more years until the Elements were completely forgotten. He was certainly patient, making sure ponies had no means with which to fight him. I guess this is also a testament to how powerful the Elements are, given that Discord makes sure not to fight them in any way.”
Breeze frowned. “You know, from what I heard about Discord’s return a few months ago, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Where did you come up with this conclusion?”
Twinkleshine snorted. “I didn’t make it up Breeze. You fail to recall I’ve had the unique opportunity to spend time with Princess Luna. She has told me a lot of things.” She glared at him across the table. “Discord was desperate when he escaped a few months ago. He probably knew Princess Celestia wouldn’t just sit still, letting him go into hiding and work from the shadows. So, he tried to take the initiative and sabotage her plan to use the Elements on him again.” She stared at Breeze, daring him to contradict her, and in extension, the princess.
The stallion wore a thoughtful expression. He said nothing and the silence stretched into awkwardness. He cleared his throat nervously. “Yes, well, so that happened. What came next?”
Twinkleshine blinked and shrugged. “Obviously the Windigos were defeated, but I won’t go into that. What was important is that it made Discord very angry. Angry enough that he decided that working on the sidelines wasn’t enough anymore. You saw what he did to Equestria in just a day? Imagine ponies having to deal with that for months.” Twinkleshine shivered.
“Except, it wasn’t all cotton candy and soapy roads from what I’ve learned. Things got really bad. You see, Discord didn’t want to kill ponies, he wanted to make their lives miserable...” Twinkleshine trailed off, lost in thought and staring at the table.
Breeze watched her intently, waiting for her to continue. But, once again, the silence stretched to uncomfortable lengths.
“So, then what?” He insisted.
“Oh!” Twinkleshine jerked. “Right, well...” She paused, tapping a hoof to her chin. “Ponies obviously realized they were unable to defeat Discord on their own. Evidently theology became very important at this time. Ponies were in terror every day of their lives and were looking for something beyond themselves to come and save them from Discord.” Twinkleshine stopped and looked at Breeze.
“Now this part is a little unclear. Princess Luna was very vague on what was done or said that triggered what happened to... Well, summon her and Celestia. All they know is how and when they were created.
“But, from what I could gather, they were created with bodies first. But then they were given what makes them special: They were imbued with direct access to the sun and moon, respectively. This also caused the princesses to “remember” everything that had happened since the beginning of time for ponies since the sun and moon had always been there.”
Twinkleshine leaned back in her chair. “And that is it.”
Breeze blinked in surprise. “What? That can’t be it... What happened next? Equestria isn’t still in the clutches of a nasty chaos demon, something else must have happened.”
Twinkleshine sighed. “Ugh, yes yes, Equestria wasn’t left raining chocolate milk and coughing up rainbows. But the creation story is ended. I guess I can finish your history lesson though.
“Celestia and Luna knew about the Elements and how to use them. They focused on finding them and suitable bearers. They avoided direct contact with Discord, but wherever they went, they did their best to comfort and encourage ponies. They had too. How else would bearers be found? Qualities that ponies had lost needed to be unburied, harmony had to be reestablished, hope had to be rekindled.”
As Twinkleshine continued, she became less detailed and began mumbling again. “It was tough. Discord knew what the sisters were trying to do and he got violent try to stop them. Things got messy, or so I’m told. I didn’t get many details from that time period. I guess it was a pretty nasty war.”
Twinkleshine stopped to yawn. “Well, long story short, harmony was restored. Civilization was in the dumps though. Children without parents, a stagnant economy, disease everywhere... Princess Luna had a lot to say about how bad it was.” Twinkleshine’s head began to nod forward, but she kept rambling. “From the references she made, I think that this was when a rift began to form between her and her sister. But I can’t say for certain, I might find out in the future though.”
Twinkleshine was barely aware of Breeze leading her up to a bed. As he pulled the blankets up to her chin with his teeth, he heard her mumble one last thing.
“That is how Equestria was made Breeze, don’t let anypony tell you different.”
He smiled. It seemed like she had left out a number of important parts. But he figured those could be cleared up later the next day with a few comments and discussions with her. Quietly shutting the door, he sneaked up the hall into his room. He quietly slipped in beside his slumbering wife and drifted off to sleep.