The Elements of Harmony never existed. The Tree of Harmony never grew. As the Elements and the Tree do not give off the light of harmony, and indeed never can, neither is ponykind strengthened to subjugate nature. Dangerous predators created by the Great Enemy in millennia past hunt and devour the unwary. Unbound to the gestalt will of Ponykind, the planet never loses its overarching hostile nature.

Ponykind’s sole advantage lies in natural magicks generated by their bodies, independent of the non-existent magic of Harmony. Their will is indomitable. Even as a world seeks to end them for daring to exist, they rage back in kind. Endless wars against nature itself wreathe the land in fire. In this dark place, in this dark time, security can only be brought on the point of the sword.  

The Monarch, Celestia, reigns alone in Canterlot, having killed her sister a thousand years prior out of necessity. Without Harmony, she is incapable of raising or lowering the sun, as the capability to bring all things under singular and peaceful control never came to be. Rather, she sits upon a golden throne, ever vigilant for threats upon the horizon, blade prepared to smite those who seek to harm her subjects. Broken in heart and soul from any true benevolence by the events of her past, she is willing to do anything to safeguard the empire she fought to build, and the ponies she swore to protect.

Supporting the will of their Monarch, Celestia's servants are legion. The mighty Equestrian Army constitutes the single mightiest and most effective military force in the known world. They are the blade of Equestria, and none can escape their wrath. The Equestrian Civil Defence Forces maintain law and order, desperately maintaining the illusion that all live in a government of benevolence, light, and harmony. It is a losing battle. The Equestrian Safety Bureau hunts for enemies that reside both within and outside of Equestria that are capable of harming the innocent. Merciless, cold, ruthless, pragmatic, and ever vigilant, nothing is beyond their capability or gaze for long; Hidden from the eye of the public, yet not fully unknown, feared, yet not understood and barely thought of, they are the organization that cause individuals to look over their shoulders.

All these are necessary. The enemies of Equestria possess might to darken the skies. The Changelings infiltrate and break apart Equestrian society. The Griffons, leery of all and judging the herbivorous ponies to be weak of will, seek to destroy them. The Minotaurs, isolated and proud, seek to expand their boundaries in their eternal search for metal. The Dogs kill for slaves and diamonds. Equestria is saved from outside destruction merely through natural magic, and the fact that her enemies are not united. Within, cults that continue to worship the Nightmare despite her death ten centuries prior seek to perform blood sacrifice to dark entities beyond the veil of reality. Enemy operatives seek to dismantle Equestria from within, even as they themselves are hunted by the ever vigilant Equestrian Security Bureau.

Unseen for five thousand years, the Great Enemy stirs and laughs as wicked plans and murderous whims play in his mind.  

Harmony is dead, diplomacy has failed. In a world devoid of hope, survival is the only possible goal. Forget joy and contentment, peace and unity. They do not exist.