Following the final battle between Princess Celestia and the corrupted Princess Luna, the sovereign ruler of Equestria finds herself overwhelmed emotionally by the event. To deal with this, Celestia journeys to the horizon, the ancient juncture between the Sun and the Earth, to meet her friend and cousin Princess Circadia, the embodiment of nature and all life that lives beneath Celestia's star.

The two go on to discuss Luna's fall and transformation into Night Mare Moon, and the realities of their existences as immortal alicorns.

I'll try to complete this story as soon as possible. I was inspired to write it tonight, and stayed up late pounding out the prologue.

Also, giving credit where credit is due, the cover picture is used with permission from Br0ny at DeviantArt. Check him out here: http://br0ny.deviantart.com/

April 22: Made a slight edit to the Prologue, replacing instances of the first-person pronoun with the royal "we." It occurred to me that the next chapter flowed better were that the case.

May 5: I changed my mind about the above! Heh heh. New update.

Electric Wave and Palm Spring (briefly glimpsed in "Putting Your Hoof Down") are from Las Pegasus, a cozy little suburb nestled in Dawn Valley, just south of Manehattan. They are what many would call "valley mares"—they're super-hot, super-perfect, and, like, so totally super-excited for this. Together, they're ready to take on the world. With only the clothes on their backs and saddlebags full of their parents' money, these best friends will discover the true magic of friendship in their own unique way.

(Of course, "Valley Mares" is ultimately inspired by the valley girls of the San Fernando Valley in California, and draws further influence from the sort of staple plots which abounded on 1980s-era sitcoms. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have writing it! Also, I'd like to give my friend Bobdat a big thank you for being both editor and test audience for this story.)

The myth of Equestria's discovery is well known—it is told and retold each year by Hearth's Warming Eve pageants from Manehattan to Canterlot. The true origins of the nation are, however, far more complicated.

After defeating the Windigoes and forging an alliance between their three tribes, Chancellor Puddinghead, Commander Hurricane, and Princess Platinum—not to mention Smart Cookie, Private Pansy, and Clover the Clever—have an uphill battle to fight before they can convince everypony to stop fighting and live in harmony. Legions led by Hurricane's political opponents plunge the pegasi into civil war, Princess Platinum and her father struggle to maintain control over insurrection-minded unicorn nobles, and Chancellor Puddinghead's hooves are full trying to convince the other Earth pony leaders of the importance of this new alliance.

It's a world of intrigue, war, and disharmony. Before the colonization of the new region of Equestria, the disparate tribes of Ponyland must be brought together—but this may come at a price.

(Author's notes: inspiration was drawn, in part, from this image: http://sakuyamon.deviantart.com/art/Founders-of-Equestria-277451481?q=boost%3Apopular%20equestria&qo=2 The depictions of the characters in that image are how I imagine them to be in the story, including the gender decisions made by that artist.

Also, some dialogue between Princess Platinum and her father was inspired by the musical Les Misérables.)