As they entered into the secret room below the throne room, Aurora noticed markings on the wall. She leaned in closer, using her own horn to provide the light. The pink light revealed a roughly drawn sketch of ponies, and what looked like a mountain.
"Come along," Asterope urged.
Luna popped beside Aurora, seeing what it was her sister was looking at before trotting off after her grandmother. Aurora reluctantly followed, worried that her grandmother would skirt around the topic like she had done before with her poise lesson.
The alicorns reached a large circular room, Asterope's horn casting everything in a blue light. The light grew brighter until Aurora and Luna had to shield their eyes from the brightness. On the floor where Asterope stood was a sapphire cut into a perfect circle. It began to glow with a blue light and it spread across the floor. It snaked its way up onto the walls, revealing detailed pictures of ponies. It was as if life itself was being breathed into the ponies.
Luna let out a gasp of awe while Aurora felt her jaw drop at the majesty of this.
"Our story begins not long ago," Asterope began, kneeling down. Luna scampered over and plopped down next to her, snuggling into her. "Long before you were born, there was no Equestria. There were two kingdoms, quite far from each other. One held the alicorns, the other, the rest of the ponies.
"How much do you know about the history of the other ponies?"
"Not much," Luna confessed. "Except that they came here from far away and made friends and founded Equestria."
"You have the abridged version, Luna. The one that the ponies do every year for Hearth's Warming Eve. But, I will summarize so that you understand a little more.
"The Windigos prowl the skies, hoping that they'll find those with hatred in their hearts. In the Alicorn Kingdom, things were well because there were no differences among our kind. In the Pony Kingdom, however, the three types of ponies had a tense relationship. While today it works well, back then, it was a strenuous system at best. The pegasi had a strict, militaristic form of government, yet they had to answer to the Unicorn King for the weather. The King was picky and changed his mind frequently, causing strife among the unicorns and pegasi.
"At the time, the unicorns had to band together to raise and lower the sun and moon. It was a taxing magic on them, and though they were the most powerful ponies, they could do nothing without the food the earth ponies grew."
Aurora finally knelt down, gently tapping the sapphire with one hoof. "Why do the earth ponies always seem to be picked on the most?"
Sighing, Asterope looked her in the eyes. "When somepony has something you don't have, you become resentful. Likewise, when somepony lacks what you have, it's easy to become prideful. The pegasi considered themselves above everypony else. They believed that whoever controlled the weather should be the ruling ponies.
"In a similar vein, the unicorns believed whoever had the magic should be the rulers, and, at the time, they were. It's hard to contend with somepony when they have an arsenal of magic against you.
"As for the earth ponies," Asterope gestured to a picture of a yellow earth pony, rearing on her hindhooves, "they have an innate magic. No plant will grow the way it will for an earth pony. They understand the earth, which is how they got their names, but more importantly, because of this connection, the plants understand the ponies, in a way. This is why your father is the overseer of the earth ponies; your mother over the pegasi. Their magic…is almost designed for that purpose. Which also leads to unicorns helping both parties, since we took over the sun and moon from them."
"Papa did say something about being stewards over the ponies," Luna said. "But what about Cut-I mean-Royal Marks?"
"The alicorns were the first to have a mark upon their flanks to distinguish to the world what their talents were. It was when a pony discovered their magical talent that a mark would appear."
"Wait! What about the Windigos?" Luna shivered involuntary.
"Ah, yes. Thank you, Luna. With the Pony Kingdom in a state of such chaos and distrust, the Windigos were provided with a feast the likes of which haven't been seen since. Their power grew until it began to snow uncontrollably. But this, you already know. As well as how this part of the tale ends.
"When the leaders of the pony tribes settled Equestria, they went back to gather their weary subjects and brought them here. They held a huge meeting among them, and they tried to decide who would be the rulers of this new land. They figured having one leader would help untie the tribes further, especially since some were less willing to forgive the past than others.
"The Windigos having been driven out of Equestria, they searched for anywhere that hatred could be. That was when they found us."
Luna and Aurora slowly both had been rising from the floor, and now both were standing. "You mean," Aurora asked, hooves trembling, "you've seen a Windigo?!"
Asterope nodded gravely. "Many of them. At the time, we were trying to create something that represented unity of all the creatures that live in our wide world. But we gave the creature too much power, and its rampant reign of chaos sparked hatred in our hearts. It was insane how much hatred seemed to pour out of everypony. The first hate is the strongest, they say. We were unsure how much of the damage was from other alicorns acting out…or the creature's own doing.
"The Windigos were starving at this point, and even the faintest bit of hate attracted them. Our hatred was like a beacon to them. They flew in a flurry, chasing down alicorns and freezing them in their tracks.
"We knew we had to get out, but Castor wouldn't leave his family behind. We ran to Pollux's home, got them, and made our way to the boundaries of the city wall. That was when the Windigos cornered us. It was the coldest I've ever been, because the cold was coming from…inside." Asterope pointed her hoof at her heart, bowing her head lower. "I didn't want to hate, I didn't want to die. I just wanted us all to get out together…
"That was when our parents, and any remaining alicorns flew to our protection. They threw themselves onto the Windigos, trying to buy us time. A break in the freezing clouds appeared, because the Windigos do not understand sacrifice. That pure love was enough for all of us to escape them before the Alicorn Kingdom froze forever."
"Forever?" Luna repeated solemnly.
"Didn't any other alicorns get out?" Aurora had now scooted by her sister and grandmother, the faintest whisperings of a chill spreading through her body.
"We don't know." Asterope stared up the stairs, though Aurora suspected she was staring to the stars. "If any other alicorns are out there, they've done a good job of hiding themselves.
"As for us, we flew until we could no longer feel the cold. I remember, it was night, and it was the first time in a long time I felt warm. We slept in a meadow. There were flowers of every color everywhere…
"When the sun rose, we started flying again until we spotted smoke rising from ground. In the hopes it might be more of our kind, we descended from the skies."
"And then what?!" Luna jumped upright.
"And that was when the other ponies discovered us. They all knelt on the ground, as though we were gods. After the four of us became Kings and Queens over Equestria, the original leaders of the clans took us aside and explained that we were the answer to their problem. They didn't want the Windigos to return just as much as we did. Yet they needed a leader over all the ponies that they could report to. A leader that would represent each race equally. As alicorns, we have unicorn horns, and pegasi wings, and a deep understanding of the earth, like the earth ponies. Agreeing that our union would ensure the Windigos would stay out of Equestria forever, we accepted the post.
"The leaders took us to the cave where Friendship's Fire was. We agreed that it must be kept safe, so that nothing would harm it. To hide it, we built a magnificent castle on the mountain side-"
"Canterlot!" the Pony Sisters squealed in unison.
"Yes, Canterlot."
"But where's Friendships Fire?" Aurora asked.
Asterope lowered her horn, glowing with magic, to the sapphire on the floor. The sapphire turned a bright yellow, spreading the light across the floor like before. However, the walls began to shudder, and the one directly behind the alicorns began to recede backwards. With several thuds that shook the room, stairs began to appear down the black hallway. As the last stair thudded into place, a soft pink pulsing light filled the hallway. Asterope lead the way, holding her head high.
Aurora followed in awe, feeling a warming from both her heart, and the hallway. Luna was right behind her, grinning widely. She stopped and pointed at the wall. "Rory, look!"
Glancing over her shoulder, Luna looked at picture her sister was fascinated by. It was a picture of six ponies, two of each kind, gathered around a giant flaming heart. "The original leaders," Asterope said without looking. "Their deeds forever immortalized in stone."
"Wow," Luna breathed.
At last, they reached a bare room where the pink light was coming from. There, in the middle of the room, high above the alicorns, was Friendship's Fire. The flame pulsated with the heart of ponies; the faintest sound of laughter could be heard as the heart beat.
"This is amazing," Aurora said, coming closer. "It's…beautiful." She extended her hoof to Luna and pulled her into a hug. "I love you."