All through the night, the three ponies kept the fire of friendship alive by telling stories to one another and by singing songs, which of course became the winter carols that we all still sing today. Eventually, the warmth of the fire and singing and laughing reached the leaders, and their bodies began to thaw. And it even began to melt their hearts.
The three leaders agreed to share the beautiful land, and live in harmony ever afterwards. And together, they named their new land Equestria!
That is where this story ends, but here begins another.
The three tribes had been living together in Equestria for nearly six months now and while some accepted the new lifestyle, many still shunned those from the other tribes. A few had even refused to move, taking the cold over life with other types of ponies.
The sun was high, signaling the meeting of the leaders. Nopony would accept a sole leader from another tribe so the three leaders had formed a council who met in the center of their new city. In front of the meeting building wove the flags of the three tribes.
"Let the meeting begin," declared Clover the clever, who had been appointed to conduct the meeting. "Today we are here to discuss the arrival of my mentor, Starswirl the bearded, in Equestria. As the most skilled and well known unicorn from our tribe, many of our citizens have requested some sort of celebration to commemorate his joining us in our new land," around the table the five other ponies began to converse.
"You have told us that Starswirl is coming, but the Pegasus ponies don't think we should celebrate. He is not famous among us or the earth ponies and they think it would be an insult to celebrate a pony known in only one tribe," Commander hurricane said.
"May I remind you that we are no longer separated into tribes. In Equestria we are all supposed to be equal," replied Princess Platinum.
"I'm less concerned about that and more concerned about the economical side of things," began Smart Cookie, "We haven't been a country all that long and until our supplies are more stable we can't go wasting them on parties whenever we feel like it."
"Well maybe a party would be good for the ponies of Equestria. They could use something to cheer them up and bring them together." Private Pansy spoke up.
"I agree, a celebration is exactly what we need to unite, but nopony will unite if that celebration is for a certain pony." Interjected Chancellor Puddinghead.
"That doesn't change the fact that we simply don't have the resources right now."
"Yeah, the crops need time to grow, and sunlight. Princess, why is the sun taking so long to come up in the morning? It never took this long before."
"We're doing the best we can, but many of the unicorns who used to help raise the sun stayed in the north and we haven't had time to train any more. It is hard with so few able to help."
"Well I think..." Hurricane was cut off by a loud sound in the distance. All six ponies hurried to the windows to see what had happened. Down in the streets other ponies had stopped to stare at the nearby mountain. A trail of dust floated out of its side, indicating a crash.
After calming the citizens, the six leaders set out to discover what had crashed and if it was a threat to their new kingdom. They spent the day speculating what it could have been and set up camp, as the sun crept below the horizon, at the bottom of the mountain. It grew dark and the ponies started a fire to keep warm, but just as they were about to sleep for the night, Clover spotted a light about where the crash had occurred. The light flashed on and off like some sort of code.
Quickly he alerted the others and they decided to continue on. After only a few hours of exhausted travel the reached the source of the light. Sitting among the trees was a large pony. His dark coat and indigo mane blended into the night so well that, if not for his pulsing blue light, they would have missed him entirely. The source of the light was his horn, so everypony was surprised to see that he had wings as well. Their silent awe was broken when he turned frantically and spotted the six ponies.
"You there! Please! Please help her..."
He shifted aside, lifting his wing to reveal another winged unicorn. This one looking terribly injured, her white coat and turquoise mane were dirty and caked in blood. The six sprung into action, their exhaustion evaporating. The unicorns and Pegasi started lifting her towards the city to find a doctor. When the stallion tried to stand up he collapsed so the earth ponies held him up as he limped along.
"Thank you all so much," he began as they traveled, "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't come along when you did."
"It's no problem, really, but what happened to you? Why did you crash?"
"It is a long story. Our land was in war. For thousands of years we battled a race known as the Draconequus. We survived, mostly, but we had no way to gain the upper hoof. In the end the Draconequus released a power they could not control. It wiped out both of our races, all except for us two. We have been searching for a new home, but her injuries kept getting worse. I could do nothing but keep moving until we found help."
They reached the city late the next day. Ponies stared as their leaders carried two strangers through town to the palace where they stayed. Pegasus guards opened doors to make way for the leaders and the injured but asked no questions as they settled the two into one of the spare rooms. Clover the clever was the first to leave and opened the door to see Starswirl the bearded walking towards the room.
"Ah, Clover, I heard you had returned. I was worried when my prized pupil was not here to greet me." Clover was momentarily stunned, but hurries to shake it off.
"Y-you're early! We weren't expecting you for another week!" he finally said.
"Yes, I know, but I saw no reason to put it off. Honestly, I was surprised when you told me that you and the Princess had founded a kingdom with the other tribes. Our land has survived hundreds of years as it was, I see no reason to change how it was."
"Perhaps, but we were being torn apart. The three tribes depended on each other, but we could not stand them. The way we lived was flawed and made us weak. The cold? it was caused by windigoes, Drawn in by our anger."
"Windigoes, I might have suspected as much. Ah well, it is all over. Now what is this I hear about you bringing strangers into the palace?" The others had started filing out of the room, each nodding their respect to Starswirl before continuing on to their business.
"Come and see for yourself."
They entered the room and Starswirl gasped at what he saw.
"P-pegasi? With alicorns? What kind of creatures are these?!"
"They are ponies, just like us, be kind." Their entrance caught the attention of the stallion, who turned and smiled. The unicorns notices his newly bandaged wounds.
"Friends! we thank thee for thy hospitality. We are very grateful. I do not believe I have properly introduced myself. I am Caelus, and this is my wife, Astrum," he said, nuzzling the unconscious mare "And your names are?"
"I am Clover the Clever, and this is my mentor, Starswirl the bearded. I assume my friends introduced themselves before they left?"
"Of course."
"Will she be okay?" He asked kindly
"Her wounds are great, but the doctor said they will heal. Of course, he is not so sure about the baby." Only then did the unicorns notice a slight bulge in the mares belly. Clover smiled.
"Well then, I wish you all the best of luck in your recovery."
They left the room. Starswirl was quiet for a few long moments and when he spoke his voice was cold.
"You know that I disapprove of the tribes mingling, but these strangers are too much. As soon as they are better, they must go." Clover started to protest, "You know I am right. They cannot stay here. Ponies have a hard enough time accepting the ones they depend on, they will never accept these."
And with that, he turned and left.
Hey everypony! Yes, I totally just brought my 'traditional' mythology into this story. for those of you who don't know, an 'alicorn' was originally the name for a unicorns horn, I figure it turned into the species name later.
Always excited to hear what you think!
~Autumnbreeze