Preamble
The ways of Equestria have been so for all of eternity. Everypony knows how the sun sets, the rivers flow, the trees groan, and the mountains stand. Everypony knows the joy of the birth of foals, and the heartache of the death of old mares. Just as these truths hold eternal and ever-present, the roots of this world shall forever be known to all.
Know these words which are given to all ponies, and bind them to your heart; let them be a light to you when none exists outside of it. Learn these stories and fasten them in your head; let them be a gift to your young. Become the righteous pony that all seek to be, and you may wrap your triumph around you as a cloak when you lay to die.
These are the ways of Equestria. This is the way of the pony. Thus it has been for a thousand years, and shall be forevermore.