At journey's end, amongst the infinite garden
looking out across the valley green,
tired eyes witness their future burden,
a twisted fate gone unforeseen.
The pegasus stepped back from the microphone, wings unfurling at her side. The feathered appendages began to work, sending the pegasus slowly into the air, rising towards the roof of the stage. As the musicians below began to play another melody, the yellow pegasus began a strange mid-air dance that captivated the watching audience.
The picture at the back of the stage had changed. The two ponies from the first picture were stood at the lip of wide open expanse of land, high mountains lay to their right and a vast forest to their left. More importantly, settled between these two opposing forces was a small collection of crude houses, the burgeoning signs of civilisation.
The pegasus continued her dance, swooping around the stage, twirling and swirling with the music, her lithe body cutting through the air with a magnificent agility. On the stage below, the music hadn't dropped a beat, the unicorn was using her magic to manipulate the various buttons, sliders and dials on the turntables. The Cellist had her eyes screwed up in concentration, but her hooves were a blur on the instrument, the fierce melody strangely soft and hopeful to the ear.
Slowly but surely, the pegasus descended to the stage floor and a rousing murmur of approval sounded quietly and respectfully from the audience. The yellow pegasus allowed herself a smile before standing in front of the microphone again, her voice strangely ethereal, as if there were two separate sounds vying for control of her words.
The sight of others in Nature's maw,
tears of joy and hope and awe.
Was this a land to call their own,
or was their solitude set in stone?
The unicorn had her microphone to her mouth again and her control on the turntables lessened, pulling the music back so the Cellist and the small orchestra could take control. The pegasus still had a hold of the microphone, providing eerie backing vocals and harmonic support.
'The two ponies had found others at last, these new ponies were smart enough to construct shelters for themselves and had even perfected a means of growing food. The pony from the west turned to the pony from the East, turquoise eyes meeting regal purple. “Doth thou believe thine eyes?” she spoke, the pony's bright and cheerful demeanour belied her dark appearance.
The older pony merely smiled and took the first steps towards the village, descending into town as though riding the rays of the sun themselves.'
As if by magic, the picture on the back wall faded away, being replaced with one matching perfectly with the scene currently being described. The two ponies looked alarmed amidst a crowd of smaller ponies, three of which stood out.
'It wasn't long before the differences between the two ponies and the ponies of the village became apparent. The villagers were almost half the size of the newcomers, and most only possessed either a horn or wings and some possessed neither. But whilst these differences were enough to cause the two ponies to step back, the similarities between them were enough to steel their resolve and extend a hoof in friendship.
The appearance of the two ponies, standing taller than anypony and possessing both wings and a horn, had caused quite a stir in the village. It wasn't long before three older ponies emerged from the crowd.
“Representative of pegasus affairs, Commander Hurricane.” one said. The pony was winged and wore chipped and battered armour that looked merely decorative.
“Representative of unicorn affairs, Princess Platinum.” the next said. This pony had a horn atop her head and wore flowing silken robes.
“Representative of earth pony affairs, Chancellor Puddinghead.” the last said. This pony seemed the least afraid of the newcomers and wore a welcoming smile.
“Thou speakest in thy tongue?” the younger of the two ponies asked.
The utterance caused a murmur to spread across the gathered ponies. Princess Platinum silenced the crowd with a quick swirl of magic from her horn. “You speak in archaic terms, but it is the same tongue, yes. I, at least, can understand you perfectly.”'
In the royal box, Rarity found herself being nudged in the side. Unwillingly tearing her eyes away from the performance, she saw that Pinkie Pie was looking directly at her and wearing a silly grin. “It's us!” she hissed, following it with a giggle.
Rarity could understand the pink pony's meaning, but she merely answered with a humoured smile and turned back. Of course, she was referring to the Hearth's Warming play they had been a part of. The three ponies mentioned; Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead, along with a few others, were vital in founding what would become modern Equestria under the banner of harmony.
'This must be set some time after that point in history then,' Rarity surmised, 'It was mentioned that the three ponies were older, so that would certainly make sense. Not to mention that they're working together.'
The unicorn was no historian, except when it came to ancient fashions of course, but in scholarly terms, she wasn't very well versed. Everypony knew the Hearth's Warming story, it's told in schools across Equestria, the plays are held in town halls everywhere, there's no escaping it. What happened after that fateful encounter however, Rarity had no idea. 'Twilight would be able to tell me... if she were here of course.' With a sigh, Rarity tried to focus on the performance again, following that train of thought would only lead to a mental derailment.
She was aware that the performance was somewhat fiction, but that didn't mean the actual facts were any less right.
Annoyingly, Rarity came to realise that her introspection had made her miss some of the story. She immediately left the worrisome nest of hornets that was her mind and focused on the performance once more.
'-shocked to learn that the two newcomers had lived for far longer than deemed possible by the simple ponyfolk. Having had no comparison before, the two ponies were equally shocked to learn this as well.
Nopony knew what this meant, nopony except a certain unicorn by the name of Starswirl the Bearded. He had heard stories of ancient beings, older than recorded time itself, eternal ponies who never aged, merely remaining resolute through the ages. These beings possessed both the wings of a pegasus, the horn of a unicorn and the innate nurturing skills of an earth pony. They were known only as the alicorns, but their whereabouts and motives were unknown.
The two ponies, remnants of this ancient race, were looked upon with a new found respect from that point on. They were given positions of power in the village and became advisors in all types of local problems. Neither of the two ponies complained, they had gotten what they wanted, the company of other ponies at harmony with each other. It was like their time in the garden, only this time it was being shared by the smiling faces of others.
After witnessing the everyday lives of the ponies; the pegasus ponies would control the weather, the earth ponies would grow the food and the unicorns would magically bring forth day and night, the two alicorns decided that they should help. They started with the unicorns, they had noticed that it took every unicorn in the village to draw the power necessary to bring forth day and night, the rest of day was used to recuperate from the magic use. One day, the older alicorn asked each unicorn to step down and watch, her horn glowed with a fierce golden light, in no time at all, the sun had fallen behind the horizon. The younger alicorn began to cast her spell, her horn glowing with a dark light and before the unicorns eyes, the moon had taken its place in the sky.
With their daily duty taken care of, the unicorns were free to pursue their own goals, help the others in town and generally live their lives to the fullest.
For the pegasi and the earth ponies, who were content with the jobs that they had taken on, instead, they were merely given advice on how to streamline their efforts and more effectively perform their jobs.
Soon, the two ponies had taken full responsibility for both sun and moon, the earth ponies had become more adept at growing food and the pegasus ponies had become better at controlling and creating the weather. The unicorns however, they didn't know what they could do with the time they now had. Some tried to pursue artistic endeavours, others used their magic to help in the preparation of food or clothes, but one unicorn had dedicated his time to study.
Starswirl the Bearded, already famed for his magical ability, had taken his time to study the very depths of magic, the source of the alicorns power. He became so steeped in magical lore that his very aspect began to change, as his knowledge of the arcane grew, so did his desire for more power.
One fateful day, when his desire for power became too great, he shed his simple form and took on a new mantle, one with power that could rival even that of the alicorns.
His lust for power unquenchable, he became a spirit of pure chaos, one that would shroud the world in discordant rule.
Not even the alicorns had the power to stop him now.'