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// [Prologue] 
// Story: Conclave of the Clairetti 
// by Talidin1337 
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[Prologue]
The Sun finally set, leaving little light save for what remained on the horizon, a thin, calming orange glow out in the distance. But this isn’t what calmed the hearts of the ponies; it was the growing night, and birth of that moment’s moonlight. The night, the true source of safety, of peace, was approaching to take it’s rightful spot in fate, and all could sense it. Here, in this time, the sub-conscious mind can relax. Here, in the night, you finally have the will to sleep, after all that you have suffered through the day.
The day is an irritant, a lie. It clouds the mind of feelings from the body, replacing truth with logical thought, which is and has always been flawed in some form. The day is the realm of the conscious mind, allowing one to take full control of your bodies. What ponies do not realize, is that they are only half a pony. All that you do, say, and know is owned and negotionized by your conscious mind, and your sub-conscious mind. The sub-conscious mind speaks to you through feelings, and knows far more than you do. The sub-conscious mind is connected to fate, to nature, and is home to truth. For centuries, it has guided the lives of ponies, and caused much harmony, and peace throughout the land, even though occasionally bad times roll in. It is our sub-conscious mind that allows us to feel emotion. Love, Peace, Friendship, are all emotions that come from your sub-conscious mind. Hate, Jealousy, and Greed where once good emotions, until your conscious mind twisted them into evil things. 
The Night, the Moon, the Stars, are the true sources of peace. The Day, the Sun,  and the Blue Sky, all nullify your ability to be influenced by your sub-conscious mind, and allow complete superiority over your sub-conscious mind. By living through the day, you murder half of yourself, in the name of science. A piece of you that wants to live just as much as you do, is continuously smothered and destroyed with almost little effort, every day you wake up to the sun.
You feel the pain of this, but you feel it so often you forget what the alternative feels like, until you cease to feel it entirely. Why can you sleep better during the night after a long hard day? Why do foals find it hard to sleep long though the night? Why is there an imminent sense of peace that you feel during the night? This is all because of one truth, the day is a lie. The sky was made to block the stars, the sun to outshine the moon, and it’s princess to be more loved than the former.
The Solar Kingdom, a land of “light” and “love”, is the realm of Celestia, the princess of the Day. In her kingdom, she knows of the truth, of War, Contentions, and Heart Breaks. She also knows how much these hurt, and wants to protect all of pony kind from such horrible feelings. She created a haven, a counterfeit land meant to hide all of the bad of this world, and let the ponies grow up in forever goodness and light. But this noble kingdom in which she has built has a dark side. It’s simply wrong. Even Celestia herself goes crazy from all the light, and she herself finds it painful to live in her Day.
The Lunar Republic, a land of true Light, of true Love, is the realm of Luna, the princess of the Night. She is the younger sister of Celestia, and has seen the rise and fall of her beloved sister into the realm of Day that she had created for herself. Luna knows the truth, about the pain of her world, but she does not hide it because she knows that it is the truth, and the sub-conscious mind rejoices at the truth. In her realm, the conscious and sub-conscious minds live together in harmony, living as a single being, and experiencing the true meanings of Life. The citizens of the Lunar Republic exist in a state of happiness. Even though they may face hard times, and see the darker side of life, they have so much more to live for than the citizens of the day. Their world, is more real.
In the Solar Kingdom, ponies live blindly to the worship of the sun. True, there are those that have found Nightlike peace within the Solar Kingdom, but only if they have discovered the Magic of Friendship. Luna allows the Elements of Harmony to reside in the Solar Kingdom, because she knows that without it, the ponies that live there would truly be lost. The Everfree Forest, once a long time ago being the territory of the Lunar Republic, was a gift to the Solar Kingdom because the Tree of Harmony grew there. This great act of selflessness was a gift from the Night, to the Day. Because of that gift, both kingdoms have lived in relative peace, but war is approaching again. Will the Lunar Republic finally be able to liberate the citizens of the Day, or will the truth be lost forever? Subjugated to a world of lies, where the sub-conscious mind is dead?

***

Meanwhile within the Lunar Republic, a race called the Clairetti live in secret and service. This race of pony has all grey coats, and blond manes and tails. They also have wings, which is why they are commonly mistaken as Pegasi. The Clairetti are a cursed race, burdened with the power to destroy all that they touch. Through generations of learning and honing, the Clairetti have discovered how to control this power, and become fierce warriors. The Clairetti have taken the mantle as Equestria’s silent guardians; even the princesses’ knowledge of their existence is very limited. Through a complex line of different Branches, they exist far and wide, but are very few in numbers. Alone, they can stop invasions, but together, they can accomplish feats only an Alicorn could otherwise do. This race is hurt, in pain. They live with the burden of solitude, and can never grow attached to others, or else they too would become destroyed. The Clairetti could have easily become evil, owners of their own Empire that would be dreaded by all that sought to destroy them, and they were for a time. It was one very special Alicorn who showed them the way of light, the Alicorn known as Queen Galaxia, the mother of Celestia and Luna, and the creator of the land known today as Equestria. She had told them that their power was to be a gift, a way to protect the land in ways only they could accomplish. With the great power and courage of the Clairetti, turned to good, they continue till this day to protect the land, working in such secretiveness that not even the Clairetti themselves know all that they have done.

***

Double meanwhile within the Solar Kingdom (and a bit within the Clairetti ranks), a member of the Clairetti has lost her way. She had stumbled into the Solar Republic as a young filly, but never found her way back. The Clairetti had found her though, but refused to venture into the Solar Republic, of fear of not only being discovered, but of falling into the Day Light trap known to be set for those coming out of the Everfree Forest. An effort to retrieve their lost filly was abandoned, but much regretted. This filly’s name was Derpy, and may she one day find her way back to the Night. Much sorrow and regret, for the one whom they had all loved.