My version of The Founders of Equestria, I left Clover out because i’ve already done her
Princess Platinum’s design is heavily based on this one
Of course the story of hearthswarming told to fillies and colts, and played in theaters each year, is very different from the truth, where the play attempts to add humor to the crisis and the characters involved, the real story was much harsher.
During the Greatest Battle, between Gusty and Grogar, Grogar brought forth his last creation, the wind-evils; wretched spirits that feed on hate and distrust, much like Grogar himself fed on fear, and made of the very element Gusty was closest to. The effect of the wind-evils was not felt immediately, the greatest threat to ponies after Grogars defeat was finding ways to move the sun and moon and fix the weather. Lucky pegasi had natural abilities to interact with the weather already, and Gusty helped the unicorns figure out how to bring about day and night. But over time the effects of the wind-evils began to be felt, and the ponies were seperated further and further, until they were on the brink of warring on each other.
Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy:
Commander Hurricane (he/him) started as a hopeful young pegasus, hoping to work hard, push the weather ponies to success, and get food enough to fill every belly. By the time we see him in the story he has lost much of this hope, and only continues to push other ponies harder and harsher.
Pansy (she/her) is actually Hurricanes daughter, when she was a filly her and her mother were Hurricanes biggest inspiration to work hard and do his best, to make sure they had what they needed, but the wind-evils power was stronger and the food ran short. During a period of particular famine Pansy’s mother secretly gave up some of her rations to her daughter and husband, Hurricane was too tired to notice the disparagy until his wife fell ill and was too weak to fight, she died leaving him and a young Pansy alone. Hurricane forced Pansy to join the ranks and keeps her by his side whenever he can, intent to protect her, but also tries to push her with the idea of making her stronger, harder, and better to surivive.
Of course Pansy was not built for the ranks of war, she never rises above the rank of Private and would much rather avoid fighting.
Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever:
Princess Platinum (she/her) truly believed unicorns to be better than the other races, they had magic, the power to interact with the heavens to move the sun and moon, and deserved the fealty and service of the others in her eyes.
She was given the task of attending counsel with the other races as her father was becoming too old and weak from hunger, he would die shortly after Equestria is formed, but Platinum is young and given a greater share of food than others within her kingdom, keeping her strength up. She also wasn’t made to use her magic to move the sun and moon, as the cold and famine had left the unicorns so weak that some would recover from the ordeal and find themselves with no or very weak magic after, the longer the strife went on the more unicorns lost their powers, as many could not do the ritual more than once. The unicorns kept this a secret from the other races, fearing their own weakness and reliance on their magic for their own image, and so Platinum was to abstain from using her magic as much as possible, to only show it off in the presence of the other races in order to keep up appearances.
Clover the Clever (she/they) was a studious and intelligent mare, she was a leader in the research of the heavens and the quest to find a better way to bring about the day and night, for her own position she was also exempt from raising the sun and moon herself, but would overlook the operations and could otherwise use her magic freely.
Clover was assigned to stay close to the princess, to give her counsel and see to her needs magically and ensure she didn’t somehow lose her abilities, if the princess wanted something levitated Clover would levitate it for her, and try to assume her whims. Of course Platinum wasn’t always easy to read, and rather prickly as she was unable to help herself, despite having the ability.
Puddinghead and Smart Cookie:
Chancellor Puddinghead (he/him) was given the largest change from his real self to the one shown in the plays, while the plays show an airheaded and silly pony the real Puddinghead was a harsh and even mean stallion, he would often threaten to allow the other races to starve and hated when his methods were questioned. As a younger pony he wanted nothing more than to create desserts, but the food rations were too sparing, desserts were a rare treat so there was no need of specialty cooks.
He always had an angry streak, and would rant about the treatment the earth ponies recieved from the other races, how it was unfair of them to give up their hard earned crops to them, and rose to his position as Chancellor with support of his herd. His anger never abated though, and only grew as their world grew colder and darker. He was assigned Smart Cookie to be his secretary by his herd, who wanted somepony to help Puddinghead make the right decisions, and not just ones made in anger.
Smart Cookie (they/them) was a fairly young but levelheaded pony, they didn’t get much choice in working with Puddinghead, no one wanted to be near him for long, but took it on to protect the interests of the common ponies. Puddinghead would rarely listen to Cookie though, and would continually insult their intelligence and usefulness. Needless to say, these two do not like each other, it’s just business.
Despite the events within the cave, and the unification of the three races, the three leaders would never truly become comfortable with the other races, sticking to their own and ensuring they would all have what they needed in their new lands. The early years of Equestria still had its challenges and problems laying in wait.