//------------------------------//
// The Truth 
// Story: Why We Are 
// by The Read Later List 
//------------------------------//

I knew it wouldn’t be long before I had to explain things.

Your research has only left you with questions, of which I find difficult to answer.

Come, come.  Take a seat.  Perhaps it’s best if I start with a story of your ancestor.

It was a long time ago, when my land was lush, and my subjects obedient.

At this time, ponies were not divided into the three tribes, but instead, they were all the same breed.

One day, a young mare by the name of Avid grew tired of tending to her fields.

“Why must we till the crops and sow the seeds day after day?”  She had asked.

“What law, written in stone proclaims us lesser ponies than the Sisters?”

“Are we not entitled to become more than simple growers of food?”

Avid’s brother, however, spoke against her.

“Why do you wish for more?”  He asked.  “Are you not happy with what the Goddesses have gifted us?”

“No,” she stomped, “and I will not stand idle any longer.”

With that, she began her campaign.  

She traveled from settlement to settlement, gathering support for her cause.

Her brother, fearful of his sister’s machinations, began his own voyage, preaching homilies of tradition.

In time, each sibling gained substantial followers.

From what was once a loving relationship, sprouted a loathing rivalry.

Neither side was willing to falter.

A conflict loomed, and with no solution in sight, the brother returned home.

There lived the oldest sibling; a strong, working mare.

“Please sister, you must speak with Avid,” he pleaded.  “You must tell her that she’s blind with power.” 

The eldest knew not what to think.

She loved both her brother and sister equally.

Instead, she chose a path that wouldn’t force her hoof in the affair.

“I love you brother, but I do not wish to help you.” 

“It is you and sister who have started this feud, and it is you who will have to end it.”

Upon hearing this, her tender hearted brother became furious.

“Hear my words sister!  Let it be known that it could’ve been you who prevented a war.”

“You may say you wash your hooves clean of this debacle, but you share just as much blame.”

The brother left the farm and began his campaign against Avid’s army.

For twenty years, the two fought for the right to govern Equestria by their own ideology.

The brother, fighting for my Monarchy, and Avid for her vision of Democracy.

The fighting was bloody and the effects devastating.

Sides were chosen, lines were drawn.

Brother fought brother.

Sister killed sister.

My little ponies became cogs in a machine that taught them to despise one another.

Battles scarred the land and left it barren of everything but blood.

Eventually, it became a senseless war of scorched earth, rather than honor.

The war festered a quagmire of lost souls, each searching through the discordant ruins of their lives.

Fighting turned merciless and the line of ethics was smeared with the loser’s blood.

Numbers were decimated, and villages were burned for their allegiance.

Eventually one day, amid the usual gnashing of bones and skewering of flesh, a light shone down.

My sister and I had had enough.  We descended upon our flock to cease the war.

We called for the attention of our disciples, and the attention of their apostates.

“My children, why do you fight?  Why must you make us cry for you?”  I asked.

A stern voice interrupted me and I witnessed a single pony emerge from the crowd.

“We do this,” spoke Avid, “because we wish to be more than what we were born to be.”

“We wish to have ambition.  We wish to live in the world that we create for ourselves.”

My sister broke in.  “Was your life so terrible as to cause this grueling conflict?”

We began to approach her, ready to wield the elements, but we were stopped by another voice.

“Do not deliver revenge where it is due, my Goddesses,” called Avid’s brother.

“Instead place the blame upon my head.  Allow me to correct this wrong with my life.”

“But why do you wish to place her life above yours?”  I asked.  “Do you not hate each other?”

“I do so because it is my brotherly duty to remain faithful, even when it is her own undoing.”

This stallion looked towards me, adamant in his decision.  Through his eyes, I found something I had forgotten even existed.

Unwavering loyalty.

“Do not fear, my son.  We will not harm your sister.”  I called.

“You have forgiven her trespasses, so we forgive yours.”

I turned my attention to Avid who bowed before me, tears in her eyes.

“This war has ravaged our land, and left our numbers meager.”

“You, my child, will repopulate our kingdom and bring about a new generation of ponies.”

“For your repentance, Avid, you will be granted the thing of which you desire most.”

“You and your children will grow horns to bend the world around you, and mold your own path.”

“And your brother, for his allegiance, we grant wings to live in the sky.”

“From now on, his children will fly my chariot across the land so I may watch over my foals.”

And then, those who followed Avid grew horns, and those who followed the brother grew wings.

But from the crowd came another voice.

“What of me?”  Asked the eldest sister.  “What do I receive for choosing neither side?”

With a look of disgust, I answered her.

“You… you could have prevented this conflict with your voice, my daughter.”

“For you, we gift nothing.”

“And for all of those who stood by idly, we award the same.”

“Let it be known that if you bear neither wing nor horn, then you are marked because of laziness.”

“And the best way to cure lazy, is growing crops and sowing fields.”

Does that answer your question, Twilight?

Are you satisfied with the truth, or do you prefer the lies.