Long ago, before Equestria existed, the three groups of Ponies lived in another land. While the Earth Ponies worked the fields and grew food, the Unicorns raised and lowered the sun and moon, while the Pegasi regulated the weather. But despite their mutual dependence, the groups were constantly at odds. Each group thought themselves the most important. The Earth Ponies resented the Unicorns, who lived in relative luxury, and were nervous of the Pegasi, who had the only substantial military force. The Unicorns considered the other two types inferior, while fearing that they would take action against the Unicorns, while the Pegasi felt their contributions were under-appreciated and made aggressive gestures.
There then came a time when the land they had inhabited turned cold, and not just in winter. With no spring or summer, the Earth Ponies could grow little food, and what efforts the Pegasi and Unicorns made to correct the situation were ineffective. It was later determined that the cold was unnatural, caused by creatures called Wendigo, who had been drawn by the strife, but at the time none knew this. After a tense meeting that ended in disaster, the three groups each independently determined to relocate to other lands, in hopes of building a new nation with their kind alone.
In advance of the main migration, the leaders and their assistants from each nation scouted the new land in advance. These were, for the Earth Ponies, Chancellor Puddinghead and her Secretary Smart Cookie, for the Pegasi, Commander Hurricane and her staff attendant, Private Pansy, and for the Unicorns, Princess Platinum and acting court wizard Clover the Clever.
Arriving by different paths, all three groups arrived in the same land, as yet unaware of the others. Chancellor Puddinghead named the land “Dirtville”, changed to “Earth” at Smart Cookie's insistence, while Hurricane declared it Pegasopolis and Platinum called it “Unicornia”.
All three groups soon discovered the presence of the others. Despite their assistants' calls for calm, the leaders declared war over possession of the new land. But they had barely begun tussling among themselves when a blizzard sprang up seemingly out of nowhere.
Seeking shelter together in a cave, Clover the Clever identified the source of the storm as Windigo, storm spirits in the shapes of a ponies. They are drawn to, and feed on, conflict, and bring snowstorms with them. The Windigo had been drawn by the leaders' bickering, and fed on it until the leaders froze solid. The assistants, on the other hand, proclaimed their desire to cooperate. This reminded Clover the Clever of a particular spell, referred to as the Fire of Friendship, which could be fueled by a pony of each tribe who shared a strong bond. This spell either drove the Windigo away or destroyed them, and restored the leaders to normal. Inspired by their assistants, the leaders agreed to cooperate and found a united nation.
However, each tribe wished to maintain their own form of government, and none were willing to give up too much power to the other. Initially, a council of 6 governed the new nation of Equestria, consisting of the leaders and their former assistants. But, their duties to their individual tribes often led to difficulties in meeting and reaching decisions in a timely fashion, so they sought another solution. It was Clover the Clever's old teacher, Starswirl the Bearded, who provided it. For around that time he finally returned from his travels, or else perhaps found the new nation in the course of them. He was at this time accompanied by two adolescents of a tribe that had not been seen by anyone living in Equestria. They were alicorns, possessing traits of both tribes. These alicorns, the sisters Celestia and Luna, were declared Princesses of Equestria, with the two of them holding rule jointly, advised when possible by the former ruling council. Many things befell between this event and the rise of Nightmare Moon, but those are stories for another time.
Analysis:
I hesitated to include this chapter, as I could not easily link it to any of the “hard” sciences. Instead, the reader will find below an analysis in terms of sociology and political science. I do realize this may upset some of my colleagues in these fields, as they may see me as “stealing their thunder”, so to speak. However, these events culminate in the coronation of the alicorn sisters, and as will be seen are, as I hope to show, intimately linked to the transformation of Luna into Nightmare Moon. The legend of Nightmare Moon being my original impetus for writing this volume, I ultimately decided that this chapter merited inclusion.
To begin with, most pre-Equestrian records were lost to the blizzards and the forced emergency abandonment of their previous settlements, so this is essentially the earliest point that is considered solid “history”. History, in the formal context, means the sequence of events deduced from recorded accounts. If written accounts do not exist, it is not technically history in this sense. There are a few scattered records from pre-Equestrian times, but a coherent narrative is difficult to assemble. At any rate, that Is beyond the scope of this book.
This is all to say that we do not even really know precisely where the pre-Equestria settlements were. Rumor has it they may have been in the now-frozen north, but unless some intrepid archaeologist uncovers ruins (ideally of a library), there is little more that can be said that is not in the tale.
This much can be determined. In the pre-Equestrian era, the three pony races lived in an uneasy peace driven by mutual dependence. Without the unicorns to raise and lower the sun, or the pegasi to control the weather, the earth ponies would not have been able to grow the food needed by all three races. Versions of the tale differ on their respective views of which race was the most reasonable (presumably depending on which race originated that version), but the basic result is that their cooperation was constantly on the verge of collapse. When this conflict drew the windigo that apparently nested nearby, they were unable to form a united front to deal with the problem. The lands were abandoned, along with much culture and history.
As an aside allow me to note here that, strictly speaking, Platinum's father, the King, was the technical leader of the Unicorn. For some reason, perhaps an illness, he was unable to directly lead his people at this time and Platinum was ruling as regent. His real name is no longer known with certainty, though based on Celestia's recollections it was something like “Gold” or possibly “Bullion”, or maybe some combination thereof.
It is unclear why the leaders of the three groups would choose to scout ahead with only a single assistant. Some versions of the tale say that the rulers did not want to put their people at risk, others that they wanted as much glory for themselves as possible, and others that they were separated from their respective groups. Some analysts [see, for instance, Bad Prop's “Morphology of the Folktale”] propose that there were actually more ponies in their group that were just not mentioned in the early oral retellings. Given that no version mentions others, I am inclined to think some combination of the first three explanations is behind it, but this is not exactly my field.
I do tend to agree with Bad Prop that the unreasonableness of the leaders contrasted to the reasonableness of the assistants smacks of poetic embellishment. But again, even the earliest versions are consistent on this, so it is difficult to say what the truth was. I is known that nopony can survive being literally frozen solid, so either this detail is a poetic exaggeration, or the windigo possess a magical means of freezing their victims. The latter options seems most probable, as it would give them a means of 'preserving' their prey for later: presumably, sufficiently argumentative ponies would, on defrosting, resume bickering, this time on whose fault it was that they had been captured. One last point on the topic of potential embellishments, the “Fire of Friendship” spell IS documented in the Royal Canterlot Archives, as I have verified for myself, and as near as anyone can figure, the description is spot-on. It seems to specifically be a warmth spell, which explains why it does not seem to have been considered as a counter-measure to Discord or Nightmare Moon.
The rest of this chapter will focus on what is given only one paragraph in the preceding tale: the organization of the new nation and the coronation of the alicorn sisters. On the origin of the alicorns, it is unclear where they came from. When Starswirl the Bearded appeared in the new lands, having been absent from pony society for many years, he simply knew where the sisters were living. He was a bit reticent to recount the full story, saying only that he had come across them in the course of his journeys.
Beyond that we have only speculation, as Celestia herself seems to have only the vaguest of memories of the time before that: she and her sister were living in Canterlot, which at that time was abandoned save for them, after having been raised there by another Alicorn (or possible more than one: she has not been entirely clear on this). Or so she claims: some theorize that she knows a bit more than she is letting on. But besides those conspiracy theories, we are left with only hypotheses. The oldest of these is that they were born to some waning Alicorn kingdom that had once existed in the area around Canterlot. Reasons for why the other Alicorn(s) left vary. To give a brief list: they left to explore the world, or to make way for new ponies, or they ascended to some higher plane of existence, their kingdom was destroyed by some magical accident, or an invasion, or by some great foe (possibly Lord of Chaos Discord: see Chapter 4: The Elements of Harmony and the Great Threats), or they had been rendered sterile, or they had always been nearly sterile and had been going slowly extinct since their creation (whatever that was). Celestia has never had a foal, but to my knowledge, she has never actually tried, so this is not a great indication. Though such matters ARE rather private, so perhaps Celestia knows more about that than she is letting on. Other theories are that there are never more than three alicorns at any one time, and Celestia, Luna, and their mysterious caregiver were made into alicorns by magical means, or perhaps their caregiver was actually their mother who was made an alicorn and gave birth to them, possibly with Starswirl as their father. In those models, Canterlot was not an Alicorn kingdom but a kingdom of some other race. In recent years, the emergence of a new Princess has made these once-fringe theories seem more plausible.
This new Princess, Mi Amore Cadenza, seems to have not been born an alicorn but became one sometime after birth. The details are fuzzy, but in her case she remembers clearly that she became an alicorn via magic of some sort, and Celestia found her soon after. For more on her, see chapter 7, “Brief Tales of Rare Magic”. In the aftermath, the 'acension hypothesis' mentioned above has gained credence: that is, they were some other sort of pony who became alicorns in a similar manner to Mi Amore Cadenza, though at a younger age. The most common version holds that they were once unicorns, though pegasi and earth pony models have naturally been proposed. Still others suggest that they were two different types, forming a trinity with some other alicorn, perhaps their caregiver, perhaps the predecessor to King Sombra of the Crystal Empire (see Chapter 4), or perhaps first the one and then the other, with one of each type among the trinity. Siblings having different races is rare but by no means unknown, and given the fractious climate of the time, such a birth would likely have been viewed with suspicion, perhaps leading to their parents abandoning them to be found by their Alicorn caregiver. Without further evidence, we cannot say any more on this.
At this time of their first appearance, they were in late adolescence, but lacked cutie marks. This is suggested by legend, and has been confirmed by Celestia [see Punchy Headline's interview in the Canterlot Times of June 21 of Solar Year 902]. Whether this is due to their nature as Alicorns or merely due to what some of this age would call “misfortune” is not known for certain. When interviewed, Celestia thought it was the latter. The caveat there is that the original interview's transcript no longer exists. It was conducted soon after the sisters' coronation, and was apparently lost when the Castle of the Two Sisters was abandoned. A complete copy may still reside in the ruins thereof, locatable from the air in the Everfree Forest, but wards on the castle have prevented study of more than the outer courtyard and ramparts. Celestia has forbidden any further attempts to force the wards, as a previous attempt seriously wounded the wizards who attempted it. The castle will come up again in Chapter 4.
Initially, Equestria could be described as a loose confederation of states with a united central government existing primarily for coordination and international affairs. This was most clear during the brief era when the Council ruled, as they came together only occasionally and its members mostly dealt with affairs in its own land. After they had deadlocked a dozen or so times on what to serve at meetings, they began to see the need for impartial arbitrators. For the interested reader, Chancellor Puddinghead preferred cake, despite her name, Commander Hurricane preferred apples, and Platinum preferred tarts [Bead: “The History of Equestria”, though many more recent volumes report it as well. This applies to most historical notes in the rest of this chapter.]. When the Starswirl mentioned the Alicorn sisters, they were soon accepted as a solution. Initially, the intent was to add them to the council, effectively acting as a tie-breaker in the event of a deadlock. However, they soon realized that meetings would come down to whatever the sisters chose, and as the individual leaders were often busy in their own lands, and before the sister had even been approached, the council decided to move to an advisory role, though the new leaders' powers were to be strictly circumscribed. Mind you, the “Lesser Unifiers,” were in favor of a strongly unified state. However, the Unicorn King and Commander Hurricane were loathe to give up any authority. Chancellor Puddinghead's opinion is reported as being “Let the blind lead the deaf!”, but no one is sure what, if anything, she meant by this.
Before the sisters were contacted, there was much debate over what their title would be, at least among the senior leaders. It is perhaps worth noting that Platinum was not present at these meetings, ruling over the Unicorns while her father attended the Council. However, he seems not to have been markedly different from his daughter in temperament. They could not have titles that seemed less than the leaders of the respective groups, but none of the leaders wanted them to have titles greater than them. The sisters were not military leaders, so Commander was inappropriate, and they would not face elections after appointment, so Chancellor was similarly out. Queen was proposed, but rejected for two reasons. First, Queen would imply more power than the Council intended to bestow on them. Second, it was thought that there being two Queens would lead foreign leaders to assume that there was some sort of polygamous arrangement involved. So, it was decided that they would have the title of Princess. This did cause a debate that the title seemed 'lesser' than the King, so it was agreed that upon the then-current Unicorn King's retirement or death, the Unicorn leaders would henceforth be “Prince” or “Princess”. Hence, in history, he is commonly known as The Last Unicorn King. It is said that as a result of this, Platinum's relationship with the new royalty had a rocky start, both as it meant she would not be called “Queen” and because it meant sharing the title she already had.
The existence of Princesses (and to some extent Princes) of the Unicorn royal line have caused great confusion in elementary Social Studies classes, confusion which often persists even into University. Especially as Celestia, post Nightmare Moon, adopted the line as honorary family. The current head of the family is Prince Blueblood, legally Celestia's nephew. The family now has little political power, and anyway Blueblood has little interest in governance, so it is unclear if this title will persist much longer. Readers familiar with international affairs may also know that some of our neighbors still have Kings and Queens, and thus Princes and Princesses, furthering the confusion of some foals. The lost Crystal Empire had a Queen, and a King as usurper, and the Griffons have a King (though of late he has been largely symbolic).
Worth noting here, for convenience, is that Alicorns possess traits of all 3 tribes. Actually, exactly what traits of Earth Ponies Alicorns possess was a subject of some debate at the time. Legend has it that Chancellor Puddinghead threw a large rock at Celestia's head, and when Celestia shattered the rock with her hooves she proved she had an Earth Pony's strength. Celestia herself has refused to confirm or deny this report, but she does say that there was some sort of testing. The tri-partite traits are not especially important here, but will come up occasionally later.
As has been said, the Princesses were initially given strictly limited powers. According to Celestia, they actually rejected the notion of having supreme governing authority before the terms had even been put to them. They only found out later that their response had convinced the skeptical members of the Council that they had chosen the right candidates. This changed a great deal after the Reign of Discord, but that will wait until the next chapter.
It was determined that a new castle would be built for the Sisters, to serve as neutral ground for the governing of the combined kingdom. Now, Canterlot would have been appropriate, but the Unicorns found it ideally positioned for manipulating the Sun and Moon (or rather, the Moon and Earth), and so their claimed the abandoned city. The sisters ultimately settled on a place deep within the Everfree Forest. Then as now it was a very dangerous place, but they chose a small clearing (that some say was magical) to start from, and with the power of two alicorns and a small cadre of guards of each of the three races, the workers were well protected. There was some difficulty in transporting the materials, but nothing insurmountable. Surviving records, and Celestia's recollections, mention that the sisters designed many traps into the castle. Apparently, they were intended primarily for pranks, but could double as defense in a pinch.
This brings us around to the connection to Nightmare Moon. By setting themselves apart, the sisters necessarily isolated themselves. While in these early days, the involvement of the Council and the relative decentralization of power ameliorated the effect, in the days to come as Council members died and were replaced, while the sisters continued on, they would gain more and more power. This was solidified post-Discord. Despite their initial protestations that they did not want that much power, it was virtually inevitable that they would accumulate in these circumstances. Besides their critical role in defeating Discord and their long life, there was, I believe, a factor at least equal to the effect of Discord's defeat. The sister had been set up from the beginning as symbols. They were thus set on a pedestal, made to be “more” than ponies, and their status as alicorns reinforced this. Even if lacking traditional monarch powers at first, the royal titles had a powerful association in the psyche of pony-kind, and indeed continue to do so [see Young's “The Structure of the Unconscious” for more]. Thus, as those who limited their power died, then so long as they did not make any moves bad enough to make the populace turn on them, they were elevated in prestige even more. And with the increase in prestige, ponies by and large felt that they could be trusted with more power. This faith does not, on the whole, seem to have been entirely misplaced, but it did contribute to a gradual, continuous separation of the sisters from the public in the public's mind. While there were certainly exceptions [see for instance “Rebellions and Protests of the Celestial Era” by Long Tale], this held for the most part. The result, then, caused the sisters to became increasingly isolated from everyone but each other. Once they got their cutie marks, the sisters took dominion over the Sun and Moon and thus were necessarily isolated from each other by their schedules.
As ponies are diurnal by nature, Luna almost never interacted with citizens. And since Celestia was the one they saw, the ponies showered her with adulations while largely ignoring Luna. I suspect, though I have little evidence for this other than Celestia's recollections of ancient conversations, that they did not despise or ignore her in their hearts and minds, but rather viewed her as a shadowy guardian of the night, to be respected and admired, but only from afar. Possibly the general mood was that Luna preferred isolation. She may have, but even the most anti-social of ponies generally like to have someone to converse with every now and then.
In other words, had Celestia and Luna not been set up so high above everyone else, both by title and eventually by power, things may have been different. Celestia would likely have received fewer accolades, reducing Luna's reasons for jealousy, but also Luna might have been seen as a pony, with a pony's need for companionship, and treated as such. That latter conclusion may be a bit hasty: there are normal ponies all the time who are not separated by title or power but nonetheless are isolated even in a crowd, but those aspects certainly do not help. To be fair, such ponies generally do not have the power to blanket the nation in darkness.
The nocturnal/diurnal issue would have stood, but even then there were astronomers (though they did not use telescopes, which had not been invented yet). It was also not uncommon to wake up at night and spend an hour or so reading or whatnot. Besides, had she not been set up as unapproachable, she would have had more freedom to pursue friendships and/or romances, or be approached regarding the same. If nothing else, without the burdens, expectations, and setting of them on pedestals, Celestia at least would have been more likely to have noticed and tried to help her sister, rather than keeping her distance until Luna could take no more.
After Luna became Nightmare Moon and was banished to the Moon, Celestia took some steps to reverse her own isolation. Adopting the royal Unicorn line was one such step, and another was opening her School for Gifted Unicorns. Besides her interactions with her proteges, she tried to see that the teachers at that school viewed her as more of an equal, at least within the confines of the school. I can verify that this has had mixed success: some of the teachers hold her in awe, others see her much the same as the principal at any school. She has also at least made attempts to reduce the near-worship she enjoys in the general populace, but this has met with by far the least success of any of her initiatives. But, she has not snapped yet, so some of her more successful initiatives have presumably had an adequate effect.
Having exhausted that line of logic, it is now time to turn to our next chapter and the legendary Elements of Harmony.