History of Equestria - Chapter 3 - Part A: The Deeds of Starswirl the Bearded

After the settling of Equestria the Unicorns were forced to admit a serious problem; raising the sun was unsustainably taxing. Before when they were more numerous it had taken all of their combined strength to raise the Sun and Moon into the sky each day, now a team consisting of Clover the Clever's mentor; Starswirl the Bearded, Archmage of Equestria and five of the strongest were forced to shoulder the burden. The task had prematurely aged Starswirl and the five assistants were utterly exhausted to the point of collapse each time, forcing them into a rotation which they did not have the numbers to sustain without working themselves to death.

However fate would intervene once more as Starswirl happened upon two Alicorn filly's living wild in the wood one day; Celestia and Luna. Knowing of the Alicorn's legendary power Starswirl took them on as his students and from a Castle in the place now called the Everfree forest, began teaching them the arcane arts in the hopes they would have the strength to bear the celestial yoke. His faith was rewarded as in time Celestia learned how to move the Sun through the heavens alone and was crowned Queen of Equestria, with her younger sister shortly after mastering the control of the Moon and being crowned a Princess in her own right.

The peace was short lived as the fledgling kingdom was attacked by the centaur Lord Tirek and his brother the Gargoyle Scorpan. Tirek had fallen in with a dark wizard Sendak the Elder who had taught him the secret of draining magic from others, after Sendak captured a unicorn Tirek betrayed him and attempted to consume the magic himself to disastrous results. The resulting explosion alerted Tirek's father King Vorak, who assumed Sendak was the sole perpetrator and sentenced him to toil in the mines until death. Tirek hatched a plan to march on Equestria, which he perceived as weak and drain it of its magic to use that power to overthrow his father.

Scorpan would usually accompany his brother on his adventures to try to keep him out of trouble and when Tirek set off for Equestria he traveled with him, upon reached Equstria Tirek immediately began his campaign of terror. Initially unwilling to stand against his brother, Scorpan was befriended by Starswirl and eventually agreed to help him trap Tirek. Bound in irons, Tirek was hauled before the Alicorn sisters for judgement and banished to the under heck of Tartarus for his crimes. Scorpan returned home to inform their father of his brother's fate.