It is unknown exactly what was here before the beginning. Perhaps void? Perhaps some other universe? It is lost in the unknowable reaches of time. What we do know, however, is that when the Princesses were born, much of the world had already been created.
It can be deduced from the small hints that the Princesses have dropped over the years that many of the animals and all of the terrain we know today were here when they were born. It has been remarked by Princess Celestia herself that the mountains remind her of her father. However, when asked about this, the Princess grew sullen and refused to speak more on the matter.
Further deductions and careful questions have led us to believe that, when the Princesses were born, there were none of the sentient races that are present today. No humans, pegasi, unicorns, harpies, dragonkin, or wyrmlings roamed the land, sea, or sky and many animals that now have rudimentary sentience were unaware at the time. Though this leads many to believe that the Princesses themselves are the sole creators or sentient species, they have only taken credit for the creation of humans, pegasi, and unicorns, and refuse to answer questions about other species except a rather cryptic remark from Princess Luna along the lines of, "Sometimes We wondered what they were thinking, teaching us to make such things." This after hearing news that a creature had been found in the Everfree forest that showed signs of intelligence, but would attack any researchers that approached it.
From this evidence it can be believed that... (Further pages are damaged beyond legibility by smoke and water)
...has been proven several times that the Princess does, indeed raise the sun and moon, regardless of the newest "sciences" claiming that the world is round and spins to face either side toward the sun and would do so regardless of the Princesses involvement. This author finds this attitude to be insulting and ignorant towards the feelings of the Princess.
Do they even understand what she does for us? Not only does she raise the sun and the moon, but she negotiates trade and peace with the dragonkin and harpy nations and has had a personal hand in several peacekeeping missions into the desert tribes' lands to stop conflict from erupting along our borders. Truly, she is more deserving of the title Queen than Princess. But I digress. This book is not the forum for such a discussion, and paper is limited, thus we must begin the next topic.
The History of our Great Land
The history of our country is the history or the world itself. Long before the Princesses ruled over us, it was the job of the unicorns to raise the sun and moon...
... have stated that, after the creation of humans, unicorns, and pegasi, their magic was severely depleted and they stayed in an unknown location for many centuries to restore their power. This leads me to believe that the Princesses are slowly losing their power...
...which brings us to the current and previous millennium.
Much has happened in the past thousand years or so, and if I were to write it all down here there wouldn't be room for anything else, which is why I recommend the further reading in Appendix C. The most important thing, at least to this author, is the battle and imprisonment of Nightmare Moon. This, like all things, requires a bit of background knowledge. After the recent (to them at least) challenges with Chaos, Dark Magic, and several wars among the dragonkin and harpy nations, the Princesses were obviously tired, as seen by a decade of long twilight hours as one sister would waken the other to raise the sun or moon. It is this weariness, I believe, which allowed the poisoning of the younger Princess, Luna.
As remarked in a letter from the dragonkin ambassador to the Dragon Lord, "The Sun rises each day as if afraid to see what the light will reveal and The Moon wakens wearied and disparaging for the deeds that would be carried out in the night."
This author believes that the younger Princess gazed upon the waking world with envy, seeing not her sister's toil but only the cheer and play of the creatures basking in Her light. This envy grew and twisted, becoming anger, hatred, and despair. The dawn started to recede and the night began to come earlier each day as The Moon's envy grew. Her sister, tired of the burden she carried, allowed he sister to grow in power for far longer than she should have. Before the fateful day arrived. The Sun did not rise with the wakening of the people. It did not glow upon their skin or warm their faces. The moon stayed in the sky.
This became known as the Month of Darkness. Four weeks of purest night passed. The dark guard refused to stand down and the day guard, bereft of their Princess and her power, were helpless to force them. None entered the palace during that month, and the people began to despair.
Then, The Sun arose. Rested and rejuvenated from her long slumber, The Sun confronted her sister and saw, with clear eyes, the creature she had become. Horrified, The Sun sought to reason with her errant kin, but to no avail. The Moon attacked, he scream of anger and sadness echoing across the lands.
Thousands died that day. The old castle was destroyed in the fighting. The dark and day guards were decimated as they tried to help or calm the combatants. Forests burned and the capital crumbled. The Sun was rested, but The Moon was driven to madness.
Perhaps it was unavoidable. Perhaps one had to be sacrificed that the other could rest. Perhaps, had things gone differently, They would not have been needed... But They were.
The Elements of Power. The most powerful magical artifacts in the entirety of the world, locked beneath the castle since time immemorial. The Sun used them on her sister, broke her defences and crippled her magic. The Sun won that day, but at a cost.
Unable to eradicate her sister, The Sun chose another path, banishment. Nightmare Moon (as she was called at this time) would spend an eternity as a consciousness trapped within the moon's body, to rage until the end of time.
But this author predicts another outcome, another path. Her magic was crippled, not destroyed. Nightmare moon lives, and her power grows by the day. It is this authors prediction that when one thousand years have elapsed from her banishment, Nightmare Moon shall once again descend upon the world, to take the endless night that she so long ago lost.
-From the remains of the text, "Your World and You" by S. S. B.