twilightpony | The Dream Mare

In Moondancer's notes there is more to the story... it's mostly about Epona. The gist of it is that Epona was the lead mare and mother of all. This I take is a result of being long lived and from the Tree shaping her offspring.

From Moondancer's translation: All ponies looked up to Epona and she cherished them. The ponies in turn loved and cherished the land they lived in and all that shared it with them. It wasn't long before the ponies developed a system to keep themselves comfortable and to help the plants and animals they cherished thrive.

Weather control started with pegasi gathering and herding naturally forming clouds and taking them to where they were needed. The technology for making clouds came later, and with that came the possibility of building stable cloud banks on which pegasi could construct buildings.

The earth ponies found that they could influence the growth of plants and they soon took to agriculture and to using pegasi weather control to their advantage. Ponies stopped wandering the grasslands.

With the advent of unicorns, ponies took over the day and night cycle to fit with their natural activity rhythm. Eventually they extended this rest and work cycle into seasons of growth, productivity and rest. It just felt right, as did the saddles, bridles, clothes, and houses that were developed by settled ponies. Or maybe it was the Tree whispering in their ears as they slept.

By now, Epona was a very old mare. She didn't look it, she was as sound of body as she had ever been, but her mind was old. She could dimly recall the old garden, when they were wild and still wobbly on their hooves. The old herd was gone, she was the only old pony left. All around her were her children's children's children, many generations removed. They had been changed and Epona felt alone. Only in her dreams did Epona still gallop the old fields under the eternal sun. Only in her dreams did she still feel relevant. And it was in her dreams that the Tree gave Epona a new gift.

The Tree showed her how to become a dreamwalker. This in turn became the greatest gift of the All Mother. In the collective dreamscape her vast experience made her radiate strength and warmth. She was to be followed without question and she protected her magical children from their nightmares. She kept them sane so that they could in turn remain the sane stewards of this, the Tree's green garden.

Epona retired from the jostle and nipping of pony settlement, choosing at first to return to the nomadic ways of her youth. But there were winters now and piaffing deep snows for dried yellow grass grew tedious for an old pony. She had favorites that would tend to her needs, proving her with fresh horse blankets against the cold, delivering hay to her when they could find her, coaxing her to move into a stable.

Eventually she relented and she moved into an isolated stable built by her followers. They chose a cave near the original garden, the dispersal point of all plant and animal life released by the Tree, now wiped off the face of the land by wind and shifting sands. The cave was dark and far from all pony settlements, and the stable itself was magically lit by a crystal that was fed by the spirit of ponies everywhere. Epona approved of this as it reflected the dreamscape that resides in the darkness of sleep, when everypony is alone. Here she could concentrate on nurturing ponies in their dreams.

But Epona was not getting any younger and ponies don't always dream of cooperation and the common good. Epona took up reliving her distant past, as best she could, tracing her memories in ink on scrolls, spending less and less time in the dreamscape and more time on the esoteric art of fixing words to paper. Her words. She looked inward and backward. She didn't notice her magic light dimming until it went out.

Outside the cave Epona found deep white snows and howling winds. Her hay larder was nearly bare. She had long ago stopped paying attention to the seasons so she didn't know what season to expect when she looked outside. What troubled her was the dreamscape. Everywhere ponies were dreaming of winter and ice. Ponies seemed to be fading away and their dreams were weak and angry. Epona threw herself into the task of bringing them back. She gave the dreaming ponies her strength, she bid them to follow her and she dreamed of spring.