The Champion's Return
My dear Brothers and Sisters, today we come together in celebration of our greatest triumph.
Soon, Equestria shall be ushered into a new age, an age of Paradise, and we shall know Peace at last.
On this day, this eve of a new beginning for ponykind, I want to reflect on the past, to remember why our community was created.
I know, I know, you've all heard this account a thousand times already.
But it's important for us to know how important our work is, so that none of us falter when the time comes. Besides, this time, we're going to get a happy ending.
Is everyone seated? Good. Now we can start.
This is the true account of The Serpent, The Princess, and The Hero.
In the beginning, there was Harmony.
Far above the Land of Ponies, Our Radiant Majesty, Princess Celestia, ruled over her subjects alongside her sister. By her benevolent hoof were ponies blessed with the light of the Sun, so that they would flourish in her love and warmth.
The ponies lived simply under her reign, happily unburdened by the weight of knowledge. They played and grazed and worshipped at the hoof of their Divine Mistress, and all was well.
But into every Garden must come a Serpent.
His name was Discord, and he sowed Chaos wherever he trod. From beyond the veil of reality he intruded, and with him he brought into our realm the sickness of Disharmony in the guise of Salvation.
In the Court of the Heavens he first approached the Princess, bringing with him a flower of turquoise blue. "A beauty such as thee deserves no less than a flower that reflects the brilliance of your skies," he said unto her.
The Princess accepted the gift, and welcomed Discord into her Court. The next day, he presented unto her a mirror so that she might "behold the most glorious mare who ever did live."
And so did he begin the temptation of his prey. Each day for a year, he plied The Princess with gifts and flattery, spreading his poison into her mind and weakening her with the sickness of love.
A year and a day after his arrival, he appeared before her clutching a lyre. "For one turning of the cycle of the seasons have I basked in your majesty," said the Serpent. "Let me sing to you the song of my love." From his twisted mind did he bring forth a song of captivating desire to steal the Princess' heart. He used no written score, for, being the Spirit of Chaos, he could do naught but improvise, his claws sliding across the lyre in a dizzying cacophony of motion to woo the Princess.
So enamored by his performance was Her Majesty that her reason was overthrown and, dazzled by his lies, she took him to her bed, and thus were they joined in a sick union of passion that endured from the setting of the Sun to the dawn of the next day. Exhausted by their coupling, the Princess slept soundly beyond her normal hours, and thus did Discord use her quiescence to enact his foul plan.
Stealing out from his lover's bed, he snuck into the heart of the Court of the Heavens, where the Sun resided. Reaching in with his claw, he took from It a sliver of Its power.
As the Princess slumbered, he descended into the Land of Ponies. "I have taken the Fire of the Sun from the Heavens," he said to them. "From it, I shall give unto you the power of the Alicorns. No longer shall you have to endure the cold of Winter or pray for the bounties of the Earth. With the power of Celestia herself, you shall become masters of the land, the skies, and even the Heavens themselves. And I shall teach you the way."
For three days and three nights, he passed on all the knowledge he had gained in his residency at the Court of the Heavens, secrets forbidden to all but the Alicorns and those they favored.
On the first day, he taught the ponies to tend the land, to till the Earth and plant seeds and water their fruits, until they could reap what they had sown. As night fell, he gave unto them the Warmth of the Sun, so that they might nurture their crops even as darkness ruled the skies.
And thus were they bound to the soil, doomed to toil away their waking hours, no longer free to roam the lands and wander as they desired, for they were no longer free, but owned by the land they worked.
On the second day, he taught the ponies to mold the clouds, to call down rain and snow and thunder, so that they might banish the cold or summon relief from the Princess' wrath. As night fell, he gave unto them the Motion of the Sun, so that they might bring water to the most barren of deserts.
And thus were they cursed to roam the Earth, never to find contentment, for they knew that they could gain dominion over the entire world, and would not be satisfied with the Paradise that the Princess had given them. No longer would there be a place for them to call Home, for their eyes would ever be drawn to that distant, beckoning horizon, to follow that cloud just glimpsed in the far distance.
On the third day, he taught the ponies to create, to craft from the trees and the rocks tools to build and bind, to dominate and destroy. As night fell, he gave unto them the Light of the Sun, so that they might understand the nature of reality and bend it to their will.
And thus were they damned to never know peace, for they would forever desire to build bigger and better tools to exert their control over the land, and to take from their neighbors that which they could not create. As the Light shined from their eyes, so did they turn green with Envy.
His curse upon the ponies begun, Discord ascended into the Heavens and returned to the Princess' side as she awakened. "Good morrow, my love," he said with his silver tongue. "I trust you have slept well?"
"I have," the Princess replied. "But now I must tend to my ponies."
"I looked upon them shortly before your awakening. They live as you intended, and have no need of your guidance on this morn. Shall we instead retire to your gardens? My gifts to you have flourished under your gentle guiding hoof, and fain would I dwell in such a symbol of our union."
And so, deceived by the original Deceiver, the Princess was made to turn away from her ponies as they suffered under the Sun's burden. Serpent and Princess shared the day in the Garden of the Heavens, and as the Sun set, Discord spoke unto the Princess.
"You have toiled and suffered so long for your ponies. Surely you can grant yourself the boon of a respite from your duties."
The Princess balked. "I cannot leave. My ponies need my guidance and my oversight. I cannot leave them at the mercy of the elements and the predators and the harshness of the Earth."
"Allow me to offer my service. In your slumber, I sought to ensure that you were not disturbed, and performed your duties for a time. Though I am but a humble apprentice to your mastery of the world, my powers were adequate in maintaining your rule. Please, allow me the honor of granting you the rest you have earned a thousand times over." With that lie, Discord placated the Princess, and she took her reprieve from her kingdom with her traitorous lover.
They spent the Nights together in passion, and during the Days, the Princess enjoyed her sabbatical as Discord continued to torment her ponies without her knowledge.
To the ponies who had poured their blood and sweat into the Earth, he taught unto them the way to use Celestia's power to gain dominion over animals as well, to tame the wild beasts and use them for their own ends. Pigs to find truffles, sheep for shearing, chicken for eggs. From all kingdoms of the wilderness Discord brought them under the control of ponies, adding to the Princess' ponies' burdens as their need to control compelled them to care for more than their own.
The ponies who worked the clouds were taught to change the seasons, to turn rain to snow and back into rain once again, to shape the winds to bring the birds back from their journey at Winter's end. Thus were the ponies bound by the cycle of the year, forced to make their own weather instead of basking in the Princess' blessings.
Finally, to the seekers of Knowledge, Discord gave unto them knowledge of the arts and the sciences, and taught them to record their works on stone and paper. Thus did the ponies gain a history, and become proud, and ambitious, and selfish in their quest to discover.
Not all were seduced by the lies of the Spirit of Chaos, however.
In the Land of Ponies, a Hero rose up to defend Celestia's will. He saw the corruption that Discord had spread, and the Disharmony that he had sown, and sought to restore the balance of power that Harmony intended.
He wandered across the land, taking back the Fire of the Sun that had been stolen from the Heavens. The ponies resisted, however, as Discord's poison had already infected their minds, and they desired to become as Alicorns.
The Hero sought to show them the joys of returning to their state of freedom. On and on he traveled, from the shores of the oceans most vast to the top of the highest mountains, seeking out ponies with stolen power and taking back what was rightfully Celestia's.
In time, he collected it all, and prepared to ascend to the Court of the Heavens to return the power to its rightful place.
But it was not to be.
The Hero was betrayed by his own brother, who struck him down from behind. His brother's mind had been twisted by Discord, who worked with a scholar known as Star Swirl to fool him into imprisoning the Hero.
And as they ripped the Fire of the Sun from the Hero and spread it back to the ponies, something terrible happened. The ponies, who had never been made to wield such power, became twisted in form as the Fire consumed them fully and molded them to be alike its true wielder. Though they could not become Alicorns, they gained a pale aspect of their masters.
To the ponies who had ravaged the Earth to build their cities and their farms, the Fire coursed through their hearts, making them one with the ground on which they tread. Forever would they live and die and suffer with the land they laid claim to, completing the ultimate pact that forced them to toil until the end of their days.
To the ponies who bent the will of the elements to manufacture their own weather, the Fire raced through their bodies, making them empty like air and forcing two new wings to grow from their sides. And when these ponies tasted flight, they were stricken with wanderlust, and would forever be doomed to travel, always seeking a contentment that they would never be able to find.
Finally, to those ponies that had dared to challenge Celestia by unraveling the secrets of her Creation, the Fire burned their minds and their souls, causing horns to grow from their heads, reaching up towards the sky just as their ambition had led them to try and reach Celestia. Blind as they were compared to the Alicorns, they could only glimpse into the infinite madness of creation, could only trip and falter and stumble around the fabric of reality, driven to despair by the endless beauty of that which they could not have. A void formed in their hearts, and from it were the seeds of Greed planted.
When the Princess returned from her solstice, she was aghast at what she beheld. Instead of living simply in the open plains under her Sun, the ponies had locked themselves into prisons of stone and wood that they had built between rows and rows of captured animals and plants in what they called "towns."
The seasons passed as the ponies saw fit, clear skies and thunderstorms coming to pass not as pleasant surprises or warnings, but as the spoils of victory for those who could impose their wills on it.
But the greatest abomination was this, that the ponies had gained the secrets of magic and of Creation, and had used them to build weapons to turn against their fellow neighbors in their conquest for riches. As chaos reigned and ponies fought and toiled and suffered, the Princess saw a people whose innocence had been wrenched from them.
In her righteous anger, she confronted Discord. "What evils have you inflicted upon my ponies?" she demanded, the fury of the Sun burning within her soul.
"I have given them freedom," Discord said, "for it is my nature. Now your ponies can soar to new heights and achieve wonders even you could not conceive of. And we can be together forevermore in our love."
"You fool," the Princess raged. "You have condemned them to a life of burden and emptiness. Already, they begin to fracture into three tribes according to the curse that magic has inflicted on them. You have doomed my ponies, all because of your selfish desires." Her anger calmed as she let out a great sigh. "And mine as well."
With a heart filled with regret, she struck down the Spirit of Chaos, locking him into stone. A fitting punishment for one so mercurial.
But it was too late.
Magic had suffused the ponies so completely that the Princess knew not how to retrieve what was hers without destroying those that she loved. Only the Hero knew the way to take magic safely, but Discord and Star Swirl had stricken his name from history and hidden the location of his imprisonment.
The Princess wept for the fate her ponies had been condemned to, and as her penance, she brought the Court of the Heavens down to the Land of Ponies, so that she might never be separated from them again. She bound herself to her ponies as Discord had bound them to the soil, and took up the burden of direct rule over her ponies, understanding that her refusal to do aught but serve as a mentor and a guide had led to such ruin.
And so it has been for millennia. Ponies toil away in their cities and their farms and their weather factories, endlessly searching for the fulfillment that is denied to them, for they are not Alicorns. But we are a resilient kind, and we have learned to live in the chaos that Discord forced unto us, to eke out some measure of comfort in this cold world.
I see tears among you, my Brothers and Sisters. Do not weep, for today, we have hope for the first time since Discord cursed us with the Fire of the Sun.
We have discovered the name of the Hero, the one who can rid us of our magic and bring back the ways of old. We have also learned the location of his prison — in his cruel irony, Discord locked the Hero away with the worst villains in the land. The records have been altered, the history corrupted, and Princess Celestia has been fooled into believing that he truly is a menace to ponykind. Her mind has been clouded by Discord, but we know the truth, and we have begun our plans to free him.
Time works against us. Discord's escape has shown us just how chaotic we have become, that we could once again release the Spirit of Disharmony from his bonds. In time, he will rise again, unless we can return to what we once were, and what we were meant to be.
But today, our agents reached Tartarus, and as we speak they are leading Cerberus astray so that the Hero might escape from his captivity.
Because of us who have kept the faith, Lord Tirek will once again serve as the Champion of Celestia, the Hero who shall do Her Will.
Rejoice, my Brothers and Sisters, for Salvation draws near. Soon, we shall all live as Celestia intended, free from the burden of magic and chaos.
Long live the Princess.