To her royal Highness, Queen Celestia Solaris, the monarch of the Green Lands and defender of the people. Long may she reign.

As you will no doubt be aware, it will soon be the dawn of your thirtieth anniversary as Queen, and for this momentous occasion, I have pondered long and hard on a suitable gift to grant you for the day. And that is when it struck me. An idea. For, you see, I have, for many years now, been working on something that is, in all honesty, very dear to my heart.

For as long as I could remember, I have served with joy in my position, safeguarding the ancient and respected archives of Canterlot. In all the world, no centre of knowledge has been as great, or as renowned. And yet, while it brought me no end of smiles to see so many people come here to learn and look back on the wealth of knowledge stored here, one thought, above all else, gave me cause to lament; I myself have never actually added to that knowledge myself.

Such thoughts began to plague me for many a year, until, at last, I decided to actually do something about it. So, I decided to set my affairs in order, found a suitable replacement for my duties, and sallied forth, into the world to complete my grand work. And what, you may ask, is that work? A chronicle, detailing not only the great houses of our lands, but also of the land itself, it's many wonders, and the peoples that make it up.

True, there are many such tomes within the great archives, but such things are ancient, and many have been truly lost to the ages. Not since the early reign of your late Father has such a chronicle been attempted. So, I journeyed, I discovered, and I learned. Through the better course of a decade, I gathered notes, met many interesting and colourful characters, and expanded by view on the world far more so than I ever could have done guarding old books.

And here, at last, I have compiled them together, into this first edition, which I happily grant to you, my Queen, to celebrate your latest anniversary. It would truly be an honour for you to have this work of mine in your possession. And if, by some small chance, reading these pages can bring you some measure of satisfaction, then that alone is justification enough for the effort I have put into making it.

I can only hope that many others will look upon the knowledge within these pages with interest.

Regards,

Subtle-Writ, the former Arch-Curator of the Royal Archives of Canterlot