History FanFic / LegendsOfEquestria

Legends of Equestria is a partially published alternate continuity fanfiction set in the ''My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' universe. Spanning the entire history of ponydom (starting before the species even evolved) the continuity seeks to rationalize the universe and provide origin stories and explanations for many of its established features. The plot follows Princesses Celestia and Luna through all the years of their lives, through the tumultuous times of establishing the free kingdom, and the internal struggles that define who they become.

It is actually merely a constituent work in a much larger universe, which will eventually include 14 stories: 2 trilogies, the quintology ''Legends'', one independent work, and a final duology. In this universe, Equestria is merely a small country on a much larger planet. This planet is controlled entirely by [[TheEmpire one massive empire]], which despite its incredible technological superiority, is unable to match the power of magic militarily.

Originally started as a simple retelling of the events of the show, it has since expanded into a story told in five Acts, each covering a period of Equestria's history. As stated above, the work is only partly published, so some of these are not public as yet.

* Act I: Ascending Star - covers the time leading up to the Royal Sisters' overthrow of Discord for the first time, along the way setting up the free kingdom of Equestria.
* Act II: The First Equestrian Civil War - covers a roughly 500 year interval after the conclusion of Act I, wherein the two Princesses must put down a rebellion centered in the province of Ponyville and aided by the Pegasi (exiled after the events of Act I). The Act ends with the first emergence of Nightmare Moon.
* Act III: The Silver Age of Equestria - covers the 1000 year interval where Nightmare Moon is imprisoned in the heavens, and features Celestia consolidating her power as sole High Princess. Unable to wield the Elements of Harmony since her connection to Luna is broken, Celestia assembles a group capable of unleashing their power, and the Act ends where the show begins.
* Act IV: The Fall - covers the plot points discussed in the main series canon, from the re-emergence of Nightmare Moon to the defeat of Queen Chrysalis and the changelings.
* Act V: Supernova - branches from the main canon in order to bring a full conclusion to the main conflicts of the plot, and ends four years after the events of Act IV.

The author has also endeavored to add in his own shots of speculation in several essay Appendices, of which only one is currently published, discussing how magic can be modeled as a programming language and presenting evidence for its Turing Completeness.

Act I is currently published in full and can be perused here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8497214/1/Ascending-Star \\
Act II is currently published in full and can also be looked at here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8500169/1/The-First-Equestrian-Civil-War

If you prefer to read the whole thing as one story, it is published in that format here: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/64073/legends-of-equestria

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!! Legends of Equestria contains examples of:

* AerithAndBob: a reason is offered as to why some ponies have regular generic names while others have names indicative of their special talents. Since ponies are named at birth but don't receive cutie marks until they come of age, there is just as much chance of the name turning out completely wrong as there is of it lining up right. Since the fallout is potentially very embarrassing, some parents choose not to take the risk and use generic names instead.
* BigBad: The Emperor, leader of a highly advanced race of lizard-like creatures and also supreme ruler of a planet-wide empire, of which Equestria is "but a speck". He would prefer that Equestria function like a normal province instead of like a secluded protectorate, and eternally threatens to force Celestia to accept his technology.
* BrainsAndBrawn: In Act I, Celestia and Luna are set up like this. The elder sister is an intellectual/magical prodigy and [[TheChessmaster a Chessmaster]], but she's next to useless in a physical fight, so Luna has to be the one to defend her.
* BreadAndCircuses: the kingdom that Celestia has built by the end of Act II comes to resemble this, by using weather control to establish a stable food supply and [[spoiler: her cutie mark spell]] to nudge ponies into lives that make them happy.
* ConflictingLoyalty: comes out in a big way with Princess Luna in Act II, when her and Celestia agree to split responsibility for the country between day and night after the disastrous [[spoiler: Battle of Ponyville]]. Luna swore undying personal loyalty to her sister, but cannot stand idly while the freedom she fought for is destroyed by Celestia's dictatorial governance.
* DoingInTheWizard: In one of the Appendices, the author points out that Celestia's cutie mark spell is remarkably close to an inference engine, similar to a declarative programming language. He goes on to model magic as an imperative language, and even proves that magic is Turing complete within the universe!
* FallenHero: Here, the hero who falls is Princess Celestia, whose FatalFlaw is her supreme confidence and pride. When faced with the decision to either admit her failures or continue on her path, she invariably chooses to continue doing things her way. During The First Equestrian Civil War, this eventually leads to her [[spoiler: destroying the entire town of Ponyville to teach ponies that revolution is futile]].
* GreatBigLibraryOfEverything: The Imperial Archives in the Empire's capital city of Concordia preserve all accumulated knowledge for the entire Earth, stretching back more than six thousand years before ponies even ''evolved''.
* ILied: Celestia gives us one of these after tricking Princess Luna/Nightmare Moon into activating the Elements of Harmony with her. (For context, all Luna wanted was for things to go back to the way they were before the monarchy, so Celestia promised to use the Elements to reverse the spells she was holding the population in check with).
* LesCollaborateurs: Ascending Star presents the so-called sham court: ponies that recognized Discord as the rightful King of Equestria in exchange for marginally better living conditions. Seeking his favor, they send spies throughout the population in an attempt to find the leaders of the LaResistance.
* MagicAIsMagicA: The story makes clear several rules concerning the way unicorn magic works. Most important is the distinction between magical power and magical complexity. While any unicorn, regardless of study or skill, can cast simplistic spells (such as the standard telekinesis), and can cast very ''powerful'' versions of these spells when properly motivated (i.e. being able to lift large objects or throw items with great force), skill and instruction are required to master ''complex'' magic. So only a pony that has studied extensively can work with transmutation, teleportation, time spells, thought control, etc.
* MeaningfulName: Celestia's birth name, Celeste, obviously shares a root with the name that she will adopt for herself.
** This is however, inverted for Princess Luna, as her birth name, Claire, has absolutely nothing to do with the moon. There ''is'' a famous French song called "Au clair de la lune", which in English translates to "In the light of the moon," but that was probably unintentional.
** The names of all the Masters from Act I are indicative of their chosen elements: Terraria = Earth, Aquos = Water, Seraph = Fire, Altas = Air.
** The name of Discord's capital city in Act I, Eridian, references Eris, the Greek goddess of discord.
* MotherNatureFatherScience: in Act I, the two female Ancient Masters command the orders most in tune with the natural world. Terraria seeks unity with the natural order, and Aquos tries to control her world through understanding magic. The two ''males'', by comparison, are far more rationalistic in their goals. Altas is a mathematician, and Seraph is an industrialist who seeks to rule nature.
* NotSoDifferent: when Celestia meets Discord for the second time in Act II, he reveals that he [[spoiler: was once a unicorn like her]], but was driven to accept the power of dark magic when his whole family was killed in a meteorite strike. Over time, the dark power consumed him, turning him into the creature he is today.
* RomanticismVsEnlightenment: the conflict between The Emperor (Enlightenment) and the citizens of Equestria (Romanticism) is clearly one of these. The Emperor favors a completely technology-driven society, built on the principles of mechanization and a rigid social structure. The inherent ideals of the ponies instead favor a more communal and friendly society.
* TechnologyIsEvil: the villain of Act I is a mechanical genius who uses his talents to invent new forms of weaponry and munitions.
** When Celestia assumes the throne, she goes so far as to ''explicitly'' declare that technology is evil, and strictly bans its proliferation.
* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: happens once in Act I when Celestia goes to get her revenge on Seraph, after he [[spoiler: tries to kill her and assume the throne]]. All it takes is one look for everyone else to realize that she does '''not''' want help.
* TheCorruption: the unnatural blending of [[spoiler: light and dark magic that is Celestia's cutie mark spell]] functions this way for the Everfree forest, slowly twisting it from a beautiful, peaceful place into the corrupted strangeness that it exhibits in the present.
* TheManBehindTheMan: when Celestia and Luna first defeat Discord in Act I, his boss The Emperor shows up later in the day to offer them an ultimatum, allow Equestria to integrate with his Great Empire, or else he will destroy them and repurpose the land as needed.
* WasOnceAMan: Discord reveals in Act II that he was originally a unicorn, before being driven to accept the power of dark magic by SurvivorGuilt after a meteorite strike killed his entire family. Over time, the power corrupted his form.

** This is however, inverted for Princess Luna, as her birth name, Claire, has absolutely nothing to do with the moon. There ''is'' famous French song called "Au clair de la lune", which in English translates to "In the light of the moon," but that was probably unintentional.

** This is however, inverted for Princess Luna, as her birth name, Claire, has absolutely nothing to do with the moon.
*** Actually in French there is a famous song called "Au clair de la lune." In English this translates to "In the light of the moon." Even though a "e" is added they are both pronounced the same way. Intentional or not her name is meaningful.

* TheLibraryOfBabel: the Imperial Archives in the Empire's capital city of Concordia preserve all accumulated knowledge for the entire Earth, stretching back more than six thousand years before ponies even ''evolved''.

Legends of Equestria is a partially published alternate continuity fanfiction set in the ''My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' universe. Spanning thousands of years of the history of Equestria (from centuries before the birth of the would-be Princess Celestia to several decades after the conclusion of the main canon) the continuity seeks to rationalize the universe and provide origin stories and explanations for many of its established features. The plot follows Princesses Celestia and Luna through all the years of their lives, through the tumultuous times of establishing the free kingdom, and the internal struggles that define who they become.

Along the way, the work branches into all manner of genera, including Science Fiction, Fantasy (obviously), Courtroom Drama, and Political Thriller.

* Act III: The Long Peace - covers the 1000 year interval where Nightmare Moon is imprisoned in the heavens, and features Celestia consolidating her power as sole High Princess. Unable to wield the Elements of Harmony since her connection to Luna is broken, Celestia assembles a group capable of unleashing their power, and the Act ends where the show begins.

* Act V: Supernova - branches from the main canon in order to bring a full conclusion to the main conflicts of the plot, and ends some ten years after the events of Act IV.

Act II is currently partially published and can also be looked at here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8500169/1/The-First-Equestrian-Civil-War

** Since all of the Princess' names in the main canon (Celestia, Luna, Cadence) have Latin origins, the fact that Celestia's [[spoiler: evil alter-ego Astrid]] has a name with a Norse origin signifies how foreign she is to the universe.
** In addition, the name Celestia designates for her secret police in Act V, ''Cultstaffel'', is a pretty obvious riff on the Nazi ''Schutstaffel'', or SS. Moreover, Black Fire, the pony in charge of the charge of the force, has the SS insignia as his cutie mark.

* MyMasterRightOrWrong: through Act V, despite knowing that Celestia has become a tyrant, Shining Armour continues to serve her, knowing that betraying his Princess means giving up his honor.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: by the time Act IV rolls around, pretty well every pony in the Equestrian public service is encouraged to be one of these, since Celestia prefers a hulking bureaucracy to stifle innovation and suppress independent thought in the population.

* SuperpoweredEvilSide: Celestia's [[spoiler: evil alter-ego Astrid]] definitely counts as one of these. Since [[spoiler: Astrid]] is capable of wielding [[spoiler: dark magic]], she is by default more powerful than Celestia ever could be alone.

** Happens again in Act V when Princess Luna [[spoiler: reveals that she is the "final" wielder of the Elements of Harmony, solely capable of unleashing their true power]]. Of course, in this case no one actually ''could'' help her, but it was still a deeply personal fight, as [[spoiler: The Emperor was about to destroy everything that herself and Celestia had built]].
* ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil: Once Celestia [[spoiler: starts to be consumed by the power of her dark magic]], through Acts III-V, we start to see a physical devolution in her character, similar to what happened to Discord. By the time the heroes confront her for the last time, she is sporting [[spoiler: a single mis-matched tooth, streaks of brown in her mane, an eagle's talon, and horns to match Discord's]], in addition to all the psychological trauma she's been through.

* TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin: subverted in the final battle when it appears that the combined magical powers of Equestria will be able to [[spoiler: overpower The Emperor's magical shields, only to have him switch on a second jammer and utterly defeat them]].
** Then doubly subverted immediately afterwards, as [[spoiler: Luna reveals herself to be solely capable of summoning the true power of the Elements of Harmony, and appears poised to fully overwhelm The Emperor. Again, he manages to kill her before she is successful]].
** Played straight immediately after ''that'', as [[spoiler: her grief over her sister's death finally gives Celestia the strength to overcome Astrid in a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind]].
* TheLibraryOfBabel: the Library of the Ancients in Act I stores the accumulated knowledge of the entire history of the pony tribes. After having learned everything she could from it, Princess Celestia has it burned down in Act II.

** The Emperor serves this function again in Act V, [[spoiler: warping in his fleet of battleships to give Twilight the same ultimatum after the mane six defeat Princess Celestia]].
* TheMole: this role is filled by [[spoiler: Spike]] in Act IV, where it is revealed that he is in fact Celestia's spy in Ponyville, hiding coded missives and reports in [[spoiler: Twilight's letters]].
* TheVillainMakesThePlot: especially true through Acts IV and V, where it is revealed that almost all conflict is caused by Celestia's attempts to break up the friendship of the mane six.

* IWasJustJoking: In the run-up to the continuity's take on the events of ''A Canterlot Wedding'', Celestia attempts to avoid inviting the mane six to the eponymous wedding through any means necessary, but discovers that Twilight & co. have become so widely known for their prowess that hiring anyone else would make it look like she was being cheap. While discussing the ceremony with Shining and Cadence, Celestia mentions offhand that she would have preferred they hire a wedding planner. They both jump on this suggestion as a reason to invite Twilight, prompting Celestia to engage in one of these.
* LaResistance: Once Equestria becomes a fully authoritarian state in Act V, the mane six set up one of these based out of Ponyville.

* {{Magitech}}: When The Emperor returns in Act V, it is revealed that he has [[spoiler: reverse-engineered unicorn magic in order to make himself (and his fleet) invulnerable to its effects]].

* FreudianTrio: When Celestia [[spoiler: develops multiple personality disorder]] midway through Act III, the resulting conglomeration comes to resemble this.
** [[spoiler: Celeste]] as TheId, representing Celestia's innate emotional ideals such as mutual love and desire for freedom.
** [[spoiler: Astrid]] as TheSuperego, presenting the coldly logical approach to solving Celestia's problems, though not without some arrogance of her own.
** Celestia caught in the middle as TheEgo, desperately fighting to preserve her own identity within the struggle.
* HonourBeforeReason: after Luna recovers from her Nightmare Moon episode, she can see that Celestia is heading for a similar fall, but stands true to her oath to forever serve at her sister's side.
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: Celestia engages in one of these while contemplating whether or not Twilight suspects her intentions in Act IV.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Celestia's prophetic nightmares, first introduced in Act II.
* FallenHero: Here, the hero who falls is Princess Celestia, who is button-holed by her [[DealWithTheDevil deal with The Emperor]] wherein if she ever loses control of Equestria, he will arrive with all his strength to conquer it. Therefore, she is forced to be ever-vigilant to threats, and consolidates as much power as possible into the office of High Princess. Slowly, her paranoia starts to get the best of her.

* ConflictingLoyalty: comes out in a big way with Spike in Act V, when Celestia orders him to [[spoiler: kill Twilight Sparkle]]. Since the Princess acted as a surrogate mother through his formative years and has spirited away a large nest egg for him to retire on, he certainly feels loyalty to her. Of course, however, his close personal relationship with Twilight is what makes the choice difficult.
** This is also true for [[spoiler: Shining Armour]], who must choose between the Princess he swore loyalty to and [[spoiler: his own ''sister'']], for heavens' sake.
* DestroyTheEvidence: in order to help out the Flimflam brothers in their lawsuit against the Apple family (it makes sense in context), Celestia takes the one crucial piece of documentation that proves the Apples' case and buries it under an absolute mountain of red tape, redirecting it between dozens of departments and offices, having it get mis-labeled and tucked into classified defense briefs (thereby requiring the case to move to a higher court that has the power to unseal them), and ultimately placing it in her personal library. Then, to cap it off, she fires or reassigns every public servant who touched it during the course of that process.
* DoingInTheWizard: the entire concept of magic in the universe is explained as manipulation of controlled nuclear fusion using properly tuned brain waves. This process creates the unique "magic" neutrino, which carries encoded instructions based on the process of its creation, and is able to impart said instructions to the target of the spell.

* BrokenPedestal: A pretty obvious version of it, as Twilight is forced to come to grips with the fact that her mentor, the Princess, is actually power-mad and corrupt.

* AllIsWellThatEndsWell: averted in Act IV, where Celestia reveals in private that some the mane six's public antics totally piss her off, although she has to treat them nicely in public because they are the "heroes of the kingdom".

*** Actually in French there is a famous song called "Au clair de la lune." In English this translates to "In the light of the moon."

** Actually in French there is a song called "Au clair de la lune." Lune in French translates to moon.

* TheVillainMakesThePlot: especially true through Acts IV and V, where it is revealed that almost all conflict is caused by Celestia's attempts to break up the friendship of the mane six.

** [[spoiler: Celeste]] as TheSuperego, committed to her high ideals of non-violence and freedom for all. She is naturally the most passive and submissive of the three.
** [[spoiler: Astrid]] as TheId, prideful and seeking gratification from her lordship over the kingdom. As she generally overpowers her opponents with magic or military might, she is naturally the most aggressive.

* AllIsWellThatEndsWell: subverted in Act IV, where Celestia reveals in private that some the mane six's public antics totally piss her off, although she has to treat them nicely in public because they are the "heroes of the kingdom".

* BigBad: The Emperor, leader of a highly advanced race of lizard-like creatures and also supreme ruler of a planet-wide empire, of which Equestria is "but a speck". He would prefer that Equestria function like a normal province instead a secluded protectorate, and eternally threatens to force Celestia to accept his technology.