A Tale of Luster and Dawn

Prologue

A long, long, long, time ago, there lived an ambitious, powerful, evil ram named Grogar. He declared himself emperor of all the lands in his sight, and ruled tyrannically over what would become Equestria. He created various monsters to lay siege to the land and devour any ray of hope. 

As evil as he was, Grogar was able to bring forth the first order this land had seen. It went from sparsely scattered farms and pastures to three organized populations - the Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies. There was now a city in the clouds, and an organized Unicorn militia. 

A great leader known as Gusty the Great took the unicorn warriors to the Pegasus city of Cloudsdale to form an alliance and join forces against the Ram Tyrant. Through his magical crystal ball, Grogar was able to see Gusty's forces moving toward Cloudsdale. 

And from his point of view, what is worse than a rebelling army of ponies? Two of them, combining their magical power. And what smart tyrant wouldn't stop them in their tracks?

Grogar was no idiot. He was clever and cunning, unlike many other villains over the years. He hurried to Cloudsdale, waiting out the unicorn army. And as soon as the front rows became visible on the horizon, Grogar appeared, ready for battle. 

As powerful as he was, Gusty the Great would not back down. She and her army charged at Grogar, but his magic, manifesting itself in magical beams and other weapons pushed them back. Luckily for Equestria's entire future, the winds pushed Cloudsdale towards the battlefield. And, seconds before Grogar struck the final blow, the Pegasi army charged him from the sky.

But even still, the ponies weren't strong enough to defeat the tyrant. That's when Gusty noticed a shining talisman on Grogar's neck. The beams and magic were coming from the bell, not Grogar's horns. Gusty realized how she could defeat the tyrant once and for all. 

"Everypony strike at once!" she shouted. "I only need him down for a few seconds." The ponies counted down from three, and struck Grogar with all their might. The enemy was wrapped in magical beams and was brought to his knees, desperately trying to wiggle free. 

Gusty teleported to him and snatched the sacred bell off his neck. Weakened and surrounded by rainbow beams, Grogar fell into a deep, helpless sleep. 

Grogar awoke surrounded by sparkling stars. And no, he was not dead. When he came to his senses, he realized that the realm he once ruled was beneath him, far beneath. 

Grogar had been banished to the stars, turned into the constellation Aries - the Ram. His Bewitching Bell was locked away on a high mountain, and Equestria was safe from him forever. Grogar understood that Gusty, as a daughter of a pony and kirin, had much more magical power than a normal pony. 

Whatever spell was keeping the emperor in the stars and the bell on the mountain even exceeded the 1,000 year average most banishing spells have. But Grogar would find out about this a lot later, when he was joined by a fellow sky prisoner. Her name was Nightmare Moon, the evil reflection of the newly-crowned alicorn princess, Luna. 

She and Grogar became close friends and watched the Earth together. Nightmare told Grogar about her and her sister Celestia's battle against the evil alicorn Sombra, his banishment to the north and his alicorn magic locked away into his own necklace, the Alicorn Amulet. 

She told him about the rise and fall of the Crystal Empire, overtaken by the banished Sombra, and other great events that she witnessed. The pair watched every single Summer Sun Celebration, revolting at the idea of a celebrated banishment of Nightmare Moon. They saw Sunset Shimmer study and grow impatient, and witnessed her escaping into the Human World. They saw Sunburst's fruitless search for his sister Sunset, and many other events. They witnessed the birth of the great Twilight Sparkle, future princess of Equestria. They saw the Sonic Rainboom that brought Equestria's most famous friend group together. 

And there was another birth Grogar witnessed - the one of Nightmare's child. Nightmare had been created by Princess Luna to cope with her depression, to comfort her. And, even though she was a very unhealthy coping mechanism for Luna, she could experience loving and nurturing emotions. 

The pair fell in love, and soon, Nightmare Moon gave birth to Grogar's daughter - a hybrid ram-pony, full of immense power. Grogar gave her the name Rachel, the ewe. Her coat was a deep violet-blue, her hair was white like her father's and long like her mother's. 

Her eyes were a radiant magenta, her hooves and horns with golden bands on them. She grew and matured in the night sky with her mother and father. She became ruthless, clever, and stunningly beautiful. She also held immense power. 

She always got along well with her parents. The only real wedge between her and Grogar came when Nightmare Moon's 1,000 years were up. Grogar used his magic to set her free the moment it was possible, releasing her to wreak havoc and spread darkness all over Equestria. 

She was defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, turned into her old version: the kind princess Luna. Grogar was furious that his and Nightmare's plan didn't work. And even worse, Rachel blamed him for what happened. 

She said that if Grogar hadn't released Nightmare Moon, she would still be her sweet, evil self, not a prissy princess on the throne of Equestria, having completely forgotten about her family in the sky. 

No other being has been released from space, before or since. Grogar and Rachel remained there for the years after Nightmare Moon's return. But that was all about to change.