Eight tribes codex

by gvozdengrom

Legends of Beginnings

Legends Of Beginnings

Based upon researches conducted by
Prof. Dr. Life Lesson (Hippology Ph.D), chair of social sciences Royal Canterlot University;
Dr. Twilight Velvet (History Ph.D), visiting lecturer to RCU, Manehetten City Colege, Cambridle outside Hoofington, Phillydelphia University, Stallbronne, Lopemonsov Stalliongrad City University;
Doc. Dr. Bold Venture (Archeology Ph.D), research professor at PU, visiting lecturer to RCU, MCC.

At first before anything was sapient on Equestria, there were Titans - the personifications of natural concepts who were so wast that nothing since them, not the mightiest of beasts, nor the tallest of mountains could ever come close to comparison. There were six of them.

While their names and temperaments vary slightly in various fragments upon which the legends are based, their domains are neigh universal. Also of note is that while some have speculated that they might have been gender divided, the majority of material refer to titans strictly in neutrum.

The names of the titans as used further in this text are the best estimation of how the most common ones used would be spelled in modern Equestrian. For usages as rendered in other languages, the reader is directed to consult 'Great Lexicanum” chapters 41 through 47.

The titans were:

Sol the radiant titan of energy

Phoebe the thoughtful titan of celestial cycle

Veridian the steadfast titan of natural balance

Chronos the crafty titan of time

Tethys the inexorable titan of change

Aura the dynamic titan of Force

One of the fragmentary remnants of “Trot mound tablets” refers to the titans as children (born) of Harmony and a hieroglyph in the recently rediscovered tomb located upon the inhospitable western crevasses of Kiima Kyeu in Zebrica further refer to them as incarnations of the (harmonious) power.

When the intelligent beings developed they were seen as no more than an interesting anomaly by the titans – that is until they started affecting the world, changing it to suit themselves and their needs. This behavior is said to have disturbed greatly Veridian whom saw it as challenge, or even insult to itself to the point that it rose to wipe all thinking life from the face of the world. The other Titans rose to oppose it, and preserve the nascent races.

The “apocryphal etchings” passage that states “Old tales tell us that when nature fights itself even those protecting life cause destruction incomprehensible” is postulated to also refer to this conflict, but at this point the validity of such supposition cannot be validated or disproved as the case might be.

War of titans is stated quite emphatically, in almost all of available materials, to have almost destroyed the world. Such vast amounts of power were released in the clashes that it caused rampant mutations.

Myths and legends of multiple races and cultures tie in with tales of some sort of event that caused the genesis of multiple, highly magical species and creatures from earlier, nonmagical organisms, including, but not limited to: Dragons, Chimeras, Hydras, Timberwolves, Windingoes, Phoenixie, etc, but also thinking species such as Gryphons, Diamond Dogs and Breezies.

Finally Phoebe was struck down, but in the counter-stroke managed to put Veridian into deep coma.
Witnessing what their struggles did to the world, and knowing that they could never restore it, even were all six of them working in concert, much less only the remaining four, the Titans fashioned the remains of their fallen sibling into the Moon, and entombed the sleeping Veridian deep into earth, though the leakage of it's power made sure nature above it's sleeping form will never be manageable again, and then convened to decide what to do next. Finally they concluded that with two of them down, they were too unbalanced and should not remain upon the world for fear that they would cause further harm. To complicate the issue they also knew that they could not remove their will from the power they commanded without the same power destroying the world in it's wild form, so they decided to imbue one of the races, and after long deliberations decided to offer it to the Equines. Some refused and their descendants went on to become non magical or baseline equines - donkeys and mules. Those who accepted became what our prehistorical ancestors arrogantly decried as the higher equines.

The term 'higher equine' is directly transcribed from the only remnant of early Shetland monolith pictography.

Thus Sol retreated itself into the sun, Tethys merged with the waters of the world, Aura submerged itself into the winds and the waves and the tremors that were the hearth-beet of the world. But wily Chronos it is said decided to take another path.

What this 'other path' might be is left unknown and unfortunately unknowable. What is known is that it somehow concerns the “chosen thirteen”, which can be reasonably extrapolated to be the earliest mention of the cult of Galopfrey yet encountered.

Since it is a rather controversial subject, I want to now state very clearly that this in no form constitutes as any sort of proof to the ludicrous ideas of Time ponies.

As time passed, the so called higher equines evolved further down the line into Zebras, Arabians, Shetlands and Dales. And, as species changed, so did their magics, with Zebras and Arabians coming to manipulate the extant magics of the world whereas Shetlands and Dales used inborn powers to affect the world without. This wider versatility of Shetlands and Dales caused them to eventually find a way to increase their inborn powers manifold, the side-effect of that being that the power mutated them. The list of mutations included antlers; batlike wings; dolphinlike lower half of body; manes becoming crackling, dancing flames for Shetlands. Dales on the other hoof exhibited such traits as becoming larger; sprouting feathery wings; spiral, magic conducting, single horns out of the centers of their foreheads; manes and tails becoming flowing multi-hued representations of their inner natures. Both races also came to be neigh immortal. Soon enough the two ascended tribes joined together and intermixed. With their great powers and extreme lifespans they came to rule most of the world.

Whether factual or not, these legends clearly display that at lest the concepts of Alicorns and Quilen existed long before the foundation of premodern tribes did.

They ruled well, but as titans before them, they were unbalanced and before too long started imposing order upon the world, until they went to far and disturbed the Harmony that lay at the hearth of reality. Thus to magic of the world tried to restore the balance, but lacking the sentience of the titans to guide it, resulted in manifesting the embodiment of Chaos to oppose the order of the so called 'Elder race'.

The first age of Discord is the earliest point of the history of our world that can be reliably determined, it is worth noting. The manuscripts from Boreal archive allow us to place it to approximately twelve centuries before his second coming.

As the civilization fell before him, and the elder race was unable to resist him, he even began to affect Viridian's slumber. And the thirteen came together in Chronos' failsafe. The reassembled Titan for all his wast power could neither destroy nor change the nature of Discord, but could banish him into the rapids of time, to reappear sometime down the line. And then he turned to the elder race. It was their irresponsibility and hubris that lay at the hearth of the disaster caused. At first Chronos tried to reverse what remained of the elder race back to Shetlands and Dales, but by that point the magic was so ingrained into their very bloodlines that it was not possible. So Chronos attempted to downgrade them into new race, and it worked - sort of. At first look it seemed that there were actually eight new races, each distinct in both appearance and magic, two each for every natural element, one nocturnal, one diurnal. Beneath the wide differences, however, lay a core, a quintessence that marked them as simply variations upon the same race.

The tribes separated and went their own ways, each to obey the tasks given to their tribe - for between the elders and Discord the natural order was irrecoverably lost.

How much of the legend is based upon real, solid facts, and how much was superstition given form is yet subject to debate and research, and as such is not subject of this text. What is factual is that the cult somehow did cause the end of the first age of Discord, and that the eight pony tribes appeared only after that.

Thus feathered Pegasi and leather-winged Thestrals rose to the air – Pegasi of fickle winds and stormy temperaments to manage weather patterns via cloud manipulation, while Thestrals, of the sure, tireless night winds became the nomads who herded wild winds and rogue tempests, incapable of settling in any one place; Feri with the strength and stolidity of earth itself spread around to work it acting as natural catalysts of the growing energies, while crystal-natured unicorns congregated to the mountains from where they used their single horns to focus magic and ensure the raising of the moon and coming of the night cycle; Dolphin-tailed Hippocampi descended to the sea-floor and managed the tides and currents, while the antlered, empatical Kelpies maintained and protected riverbeds; The fire tribes separately migrated to the far north since the warmer climates were uncomfortable to their natures - fire maned, tailed and tempered Aethon* expended their magic to raise the sun, while stoic and serene Lampae** of the flowing manes maintain the inspiring fires of mind by dreamwalking.

The conclusively disproven fables that unicorns controlled both the sun and the moon before the coming of princess Celestia and the end of second Discordian era can be reliably traced to king Strontium some forty eight decades before the founding of Equestria. Any reasonable scholar, even before the re-establishment of contact with the Ponylaris federation could tell you that the only result of unicorns trying to establish contact with sun is a debilitating migraine that lasts most of a day.
It is worth noting though that Ponylaris unicorns did externally supplement aethon when the fireponies population went into dangerous decline.

Special thanks go to lampae of Boreal mountain, which is the oldest pony habitation in existence, dating almost as far back as the first coming of Discord, and thus, arguably a far back as ponykind itself.

* singular and plural are the same
** singular Lampa

Compiled and annotated by V.V.W.B.B. Blueblood (S.Sc.B)
For Equestrian Principality Historical Society Almanac

Comments

[Alex Warlorn]

Eight tribes?

Earth Pony.
Pegasus.
Unicorn.

Breezie.
Seapony.
Merepony.

Crystal pony.
And the night ponies?

[gvozdengrom]

4150991
You did read the story, right? All eight tribes are named (and briefly described) there.
So, in answer to you, 5/8 right guesses.

[Frankie2]

I'm sorry. All this information is way over my head for me to comprehend. You lost me after titans.

[gvozdengrom]

4151572
Umn... I'm sorry for you?