Diaries of an Equestrian Overlord

by KitsuneRisu

3rd October, 3483 -- Letter to Twilight Sparkle #2

3rd October, 3483

To Twilight Sparkle,

This is the second of the scrolls that contain the truth that you are destined to know. By perchance you have picked these up in the wrong order, you should begin with the first.

And so our history continues.

By the time we had come to terms with our new appearances, we had already started to understand, quite deeply, the machinations of the Human-run world. It took us years, and it was a task in frustration all the while through. Most of the things they had built, as mentioned before, were suited only for their appendages, known as 'hands', and therefore we could not use their inventions save the ones that we could grip firmly in our mouths. We had also learnt, from listening to the speech of the Humans, that we were not the only 'horses' who had come across this new growth. Some 'horses' had grown wings, some had grown horns, but all had one thing in common. We had, now, the intelligence over a hundredfold, equalling that of an average Human. Some other animals in the world had also achieved intelligence and speech, but not to the degree that we had.

We learnt that we lived on a farm. But rather than being the owners and caretakers, we were only used to pull ploughs and carry things that the Humans were too lazy to. We were not paid for our work, and we were kept locked up in a fenced area. After our changes, though, our Human 'owners', for lack of a better word, decided to free us into the forests beyond. It appeared that after the magic, no seed would sprout and no cloud would form to bring the rain, and the farmers could not support their livelihood.

You might have wondered, with our wings, why not simply just fly away? I will come to that later.

As we are all, in this present day, frightful of the Everfree Forest for its ability to flourish by itself without Pony help, it was in fact, the manner of the entire world then, and the Everfree Forest was named by us such as it was one of the few places that escaped the magic of the orbs, 'ever free' from the dark magic. Of course, it has simply become one of the things that we take for granted, and present belief would have us all think that the Everfree Forest works in a strange way rather than the other way around.

And it was in this forest where most of us collected and banded.

For the first time since we could comprehend, we were free.

It was liberating, but yet, confining as we knew that we still lived in a world not meant for us.

It would be another ten or so years from that point.

We had been living in the forest, away from the Humans, trying to make do with what we had. Our lives were basic, but our needs were met, and that is all we could have hoped for.

All over the world, us 'horses' slowly trickled into the Everfree Forest, and soon we had become a community. Since we all then had the gift of vocal correspondence, we used it to communicate with each other in a clearer and more concise way than we could have ever done before. This greatly aided in our progress and evolution. Over the course of the time we lived there, Luna and I had also noticed a very interesting detail. While every other 'horse' either had a fine pair of wings, or a gallant horn, or none, only Luna and I had both together.

No other beside us bore both signs at once.

Quite early into our stay in the forest, the other 'horses' began to take our visage as a sign.

They felt that we were the ones destined to lead them into the future. They felt that we were the ones who were chosen by the magic for this reason, given the two gifts representing leadership and freedom, and that we were to reign over them.

From that point on we had decided to shed our name of 'horse', and we had adopted what the Humans used to call the young of our species - the Pony. It was a name of rebirth, a name of what is now anew. It was a name which would mark the beginning of our new species.

Our Ponykind travelled across the world throughout the next hundred years. A further sign of our royalty was maintained as a new gift was exposed to us, only viewable through the passage of time itself.

We did not age.

As you know now, an average Pony's life is about a hundred and fifty years, but in those days it was fortuitous if we ever reached forty. Luna and I were nearly two hundred, but we never bothered to keep count. All we could see were generations being born, Ponies leaving the forest to travel to the lands beyond, and our friends and compatriots pass on as we remained as youthful as ever.

It was heart-crushing every time a friend had to move away or worse, move on. But yet, we knew our place, and by that time, our small kingdom was firmly established.

The presence and location of the kingdom within the Everfree Forest was known throughout the world to both Ponykind and Humans alike. At the start, the Humans were content to leave us alone in peace. But that was not to last.

Another countless number of years had flown by and our kind had spread and propagated throughout all the land. We were in such great a number that no longer could we afford to stay in a single area; we required food, resources, and we were led by a desire to expand and explore. Some of us moved into old Human cities, abandoned and left to waste after their fighting. Some of us decided to try our luck far and away, across the oceans and deserts.

Most reports that came back showed resistance from the Humans. Although we could talk, they feared and hated us, and would one day come to decide that we must be destroyed.

All we wished to do was work with them. All we wanted to do was live in peace.

The final surprise, I believe, that will now shock you, is one of the most basic things that escapes consideration due to its most basic of function.

Pegasus Ponies fly, and Unicorns perform magic. It is something that everypony knows from the time they grow up and ask questions about the world.

It was not always so.

We indeed had the symbols of the horn and the wing, but they were quite useless for anything but form. They had no function save to grant us the belief of our royal heritage. But ultimately, we were still 'horses'. We could not rise above the ground; we could not move things with magic; we could barely accomplish things by ourselves. It was only fortune that the Everfree Forest was able to grow crops and plants with no assistance whatsoever.

It is because of this that I have always taught you that magic is a skill that must never be overlooked, and never be underestimated. It is the only tool that we have, be it the raw power of the horn, or the Pegasus Ponies' gift of flight and cloud-trotting, or the flexibility and ingenuity of the Earth Pony; they are all gifts that we must use to aid each other in our continued survival.

If only we had these gifts back then.

For soon came news that would shake our foundation and disrupt our solitude and safety. The Humans had started killing us Ponies on a gross scale.

The news came in thick and fast, from multiple sources.

Small villages were being burnt to the ground. Ponies were being put to slaughter, and the ones who survived were being forced back into labour against their will. We had no defence, we had no ability, and we could not match up to the Human inventions that tore through us.

It soon became that the Everfree Forest was the last bastion of safety against the Human attack. Many Ponies returned back, all seeking refuge and asylum. Little did we realise that it was what the Humans had planned for.

We soldiered on, maintaining a constant vigil against invading Humans. They sent small pockets of attackers against us, raiding our food stores and killing our friends. They came both day and night, always at unpredictable times, but we always managed to chase them off, if not always with some casualties. It was then when we decided, Luna and I, to split our forces in order to keep up a complete watch, and never be caught unawares.

I monitored the lands by day. Luna patrolled them by night. We took shifts, and it only made sense as Luna's black coat and sharp eyes suited her better in the dusk.

It might be merely coincidence, but our names, bestowed upon us by our Human 'owners', were apt in that situation. In their tongue, 'Celestia' refers to a heavenly body of the cosmos, such as the sun, and 'Luna' is their old name for the moon. We were probably named as such due to my striking white coat and Luna's beautiful black sheen, but it was the ironic sense of the universe that caused our roles to turn out this way.

Yet another few years had passed in this manner as the remaining ponies on earth all trickled back into the forest. There were no more ponies left beyond our borders, but our borders were finally secure. It was long, trying, and draining. We felt that we were hoofing the line between life and death, and I barely had the time to see my sister any longer than a few fleeting words in between shifts. It caused us to estrange, and drift apart slowly; something that I wish could have been avoided.

I, the Queen of the Day, and Luna, the Queen of the Night, were now known by our appearances with the rising of the sun and the setting of the moon.

Over the course of these years, the Human attacks had dwindled. While they were repetitious and strong at the start, they never really launched a full-scale assault. In fact, they never seemed to have any other purpose than to merely annoy and keep us all huddled together within the Forest, hiding from their constant peppering.

We should have known. We should have seen it coming.

One day, when there was nothing much else to do but live in misery the same way that every other day gave, a loud noise could be heard overhead. It was one of the Human's flying contraptions, a machine made not by magic, but by engineering, that was puttering over the dense canopy of our sanction.

We watched in slow realisation and horror as it released an orb. But it was not as the orbs were like before.

It was something new.

It was larger; more terrifying. It spoke of fear and death, and I cannot imagine any other purpose for it than the specific annihilation of the Pony race once and for all.

Encased in a glowing blue shell, it hurtled down, leaving a streak of magic in its wake, like a solid beam of azure light. Were its purpose not for what it was, it might be even considered beautiful to observe, like a falling comet trailing a blazing beacon of hope and life.

As it landed we all closed our eyes and waited for the inevitable. Everything seemed to be taking its time to occur; I could count off a thousand numbers in my head before I opened my eyes again to see the devastation around me.

But that was just it, wasn't it, my precious Twilight?

I could open my eyes. Before I had realised it, the others around me were too, opening their eyes, and stamping around to be sure that it was not a dream.

There was no cloud like the first orbs. There was no heat, no light. All that was left was the smouldering encasement of the orb releasing the last of its blue light.

All around us, the forest turned dark and foreboding. The animals began to instantly deform themselves into strange ways, most of them fusing together to create some kind of evil paradox of existence. The trees were bent out of shape and warped along themselves, dancing a macabre dance. The soil turned green, and the sky became enshrouded in a constant fog.

Since then, the Everfree Forest has remained, having taken the shape that you are most familiar, the warped Human magic constantly keeping it in the manner that you perceive it today.

But yet, we were fine. All of us Ponies, nothing happened. Try as I might, although a thousand years since, if you were to ask me what it felt like, I could not describe, because there was nothing to feel.

But that is when we gained some unexpected results.

Those of us who had horns found that the power of magic had gathered within them, allowing us to use magic as the Humans could. Those with wings found themselves lighter than air, and could take to the skies with no effort at all. The ones without horn nor wing were not lacking in gifts either; they became more agile and strong than the others, and had themselves the natural inclination for industry and invention.

Luna and I were not only given all three of these gifts, but in quantities far exceeding everypony else.

All of us also developed signs upon our flanks. These symbols, I cannot explain what they are meant to indicate even until today, nor can I logically explain the reason for their existence. I have tried to understand, to no avail, the cause of these marks, and perhaps you yourself, Twilight, will be successful where I was not.

Regardless, this was the time when they first appeared.

As you know, these marks represent an aspect of ourselves. Sometimes they are clear. Sometimes they are hard to understand. But with any good amount of interpretation and analysis, they are all marginally fathomable. What I have come to believe them to be are outward signs of inward intent. They are the showing of what we are meant to be, but not necessarily what we are. I shall explain further in a separate scroll. We must finish our tale, but I bring this up for a specific reason.

The Humans' plans had failed. The orb was likely an attempt to warp us in the same way that the forest around us twisted and deformed, in an attempt to return us to the level of beast that the Humans were familiar with hundreds of years ago.

They thought us dead, and they did not know of our advancements, but it was difficult to keep it secret for long.

My next decision was something that I was not proud of, but cemented me in my place as ruler of Equestria for all time. It was a decision that no other Pony wanted to make, nor wanted to be the one to suggest. But I knew, ruminating within the ranks of the subjects, the idea was there but simply not spoken.

We had to take the fight to the Humans, and we had to make sure that once and for all we would be left alone in peace.

It was not a simple consideration. No. We, in fact, owed the Humans much. They gave us language, invention, and our very lives, albeit by mistake. Now they clamoured to take it back, but after this length of time, would it be right? Would our lives not be something that could be considered ours by right?

We deliberated for many weeks. To my own torment and chagrin, my own sister, dearest Luna, was the loudest of the voices calling for peace. She insisted that we should move, and we should escape to a place where the Humans would not be attempting such vulgarities against Ponykind.

I, and few others, thought the world not to be so forgiving. No matter where we would run, they would find us and still persecute us the same as it has ever been, all those years ago. It would never end, not while we lived on a planet that was owned by these Humans.

This was the gist of the two sides of the argument. I am grossly over-simplifying, but I feel there is no need to elaborate on what is past.

Many fermented thoughts ran through my head, but I could not stand my own sister, with whom we have led our kind for generations, to suffer me this indignation. Between her and myself, we were splitting our society in half, and we would do unto ourselves what the Humans had way back at the start of our beginnings.

I reminded the Ponies of this one day.

And it was also then when I realised there was no other choice. My sister was vehement about her stand. She would not listen to reason. And I realised the folly of my ideals.

Just as the Humans did, we too, had more than one ruler. I could not believe I could have been so blind. The exact same mistakes they committed threatened us because of this one fact. I felt that our rule had been synonymous. I felt, from start to end, that we would be able to think as one. Work as one. Be as one.

She was not as one. She did not agree with me about the most important choice to shape our very future.

One night, during a heated argument, she made claims to keep me from the light of day. My mark, as you know, is that of a sun shining brightly. Not only is this a symbol of my being in the light for many long years, but also caused me to grow an affinity to the sun. Along with our magic, all of the Ponies alive then became retroactively tied to the symbols they bore on their legs, although this is no longer the case in the present day.

I was stronger during the day, and Luna; during the night.

Luna threatened to never allow me to be exposed to the sun ever again, and cause eternal darkness upon the world. It was such a ludicrous claim at the time; I never even considered it to be a genuine attempt. It seemed like the sort of thing one says in the heat of a fight; an empty threat; a wordless whisper of foul deeds.

She hastened to make true her plan. As was I, she was blessed with an incredible amount of raw magic, but unlike me, she was attuned to the night and not the day. It was night at the time of our confrontation, and clearly, she had the upper ground. Turning her horn toward the moon, she began to chant the incantations that would halt its movements and cast me into shadow forever.

I did what had to be done.

Using the last of my daily reserve of power, I wished her away. I wished beyond all wishes for her to be kept out of harm; to be put in a place where she could not hurt me, but she would not perish. I did not want for her to come to trouble, but I did not want her to trouble me.

I had banished her to the moon. She would stay there, for a thousand years. Unable to move, unable to truly live. But with her connection to the moon, she would not falter. She would merely be able to watch from a distance far away. It was a bittersweet judgement by the fates, and my wish had come true in the most acrid way.

In my finality, my daze, of having been the one who removed the only other Pony I truly loved from the world, I forged ahead with my plan.

I, along with some of the bravest Pegasus Ponies you will ever know, ventured forth into the heart of the Human Lands to wage our own battle.

With our new tools and abilities, the fight was finally even, and we had been able to slowly take ground.

It was from a Human research lab that I managed to find the item with which I would eventually extinguish the Human race. They were six prisms of crystal, of a material that I could not exactly identify. Together, they amplified magic, and the Humans were using them to conduct new tests on how to build a better orb with which to destroy us.

I used them together, along with my grant of magic, to erase the Humans from the world.

The prisms gave off a multi-coloured beam of light at each use and dyed my hair a multitude of colours permanently. I dubbed them the Elements of Harmony; I felt an ironic name befitting a celestial weapon of such intensity was necessary.

It took me years to travel the globe, tracking down the largest pockets of resistance, but finally, all were long gone. During these years our kind had once again spread out of the forest and into the surrounding areas - the forests were no longer truly habitable due to the landing of the second orb, and it had become too dreary and dangerous to live in for an extended period of time. This time, however, there was no longer a single Pony left inhabiting the Forest.

To commemorate the day that we set off, some Ponies built a small shrine in the forest - a mock castle - to mark the day that we would escape our shackles and leave our jail forever.

I do not know if what I had done was harsh. I do not know if perhaps Luna was right, and I do not know if I should have gone through such extremes. This is my confession to you, Twilight, as well, as now you are the only one who knows of this terrible thing that I had done.

But I never once ever feel regret for what I had to do. For without having done it, none of us would be here today.

Once the deed was finished I returned to the Everfree Forest, exhausted from the long journey that brought me here. I entombed the weapon in the shrine that the Ponies had built to make sure that none will ever use its powers again.

Of course, you and I both know that it was not meant to be, for a thousand years later, the one I personally chose to be by my side and follow in my hoofsteps would be the very one to find them again.

Yes, it would be none other than you, Twilight.

I then moved to the mountains to oversee the construction of Canterlot, our new capital city. I had a palace built in a cliff which offered me the best vantage point around, overlooking the place where you one day would be born.

With our new gifts of magic, we Ponies no longer had to contend with requiring help. We were now self-sufficient, and picking up from the ruins of the Human world, we were finally created anew.

And so from Canterlot, I watched. I observed and saw as how fact became story and story became legend. Tales of this history were lost to Ponies as a thousand years of remembrance passed, and we were left with no more than the one single Pony to have lived through it firsthoof.

And I will never

ever

forget.

Yours,
Princess Celestia.

Comments

[Dashie04]

Well, this is also really cool.

[kitsune_shadow]

All over the world, us 'horses' slowly trickled into the Everfree Forest, and soon we had become a community. Since we all then had the gift of vocal correspondence, we used it to communicate with each other in a clearer and more concise way than we could have ever done before. This greatly aided in our progress and evolution. Over the course of the time we lived there, Luna and I had also noticed a very interesting detail. While every other 'horse' either had a fine pair of wings, or a gallant horn, or none, only Luna and I had both together.

that ... explains why you had a castle and kingdom in the ever-free forest.