As was the story of Heart's Warming Eve, Equestria was founded many millennia ago by the three rulers of each of the pony races: Princess Platinum of the Unicorns, Commander Hurricane of the Pegasi, and Chancellor Puddinghead of the Earth ponies. At first these ponies were unable to properly work together, as they were all separated by their hatred and prejudice of one another, and it was these very feelings of abhorrence that almost brought the ends of these pony leaders at the hooves of the deadly frost spirits, the Windigos. All seemed lost once the freezing magic of the Windigos started to take hold; but, thanks to the actions of Clover the Clever(Unicorn), Private Pansy(Pegasus), and Smart Cookie(Earth pony), the fire born of their newfound friendship melted the icy hearts of the pony leaders and forced away the wicked Windigos, and the tundra their newly discovered land had just became reverted back to its beautiful, lush green state, and all was well once more—or, more correctly, all was well for the very first time, as the rulers of the pony races were able to see the importance of friendship, harmony, and togetherness, so they joined the three tribes into one unified nation, and named their new land "Equestria".
Over the years since Equestria's founding, the life of the Equestrians prospered wonderfully, thanks to the newfound fellowship between all of the pony tribes, and Equestria's civilization also grew at a rapid rate, with the expansion of colonies further outward from the Frozen North to all parts of the country. Even though this land was claimed by the ponies, there was still the decision that needed to be made concerning how far out Equestria would extend, as it was not currently known if there were any other races residing in or around Equestria at the present time. In order to remedy this state of affairs, Commander Hurricane organized several scouting teams of her pegasi and sent them to all the corners of their homeland in to seek out any possible settlements belonging to other creatures and to gauge how far their territory would extend if any or none were discovered. It had taken many days, but Hurricane's pegasi had done their duty, and each report was one and the same: nobody else was living in Equestria except for the indigenous animal life. This was the common account amongst the scouts, but some had gained additional intel concerning Equestria's geography, such as both the west and east sides of the country ended at oceans, which was quite beneficial for the ponies to know, for additional resources could be procured from the seas, and they made for very pleasant regions in which to live for the ponies who enjoyed simpler, more peaceful lifestyles.
While this recent intelligence certainly assisted in the knowledge of Equestria's geography and terrain, a single problem had come up: one of Hurricane's scouting parties had not yet returned, though it had already been more than a day since the other squads had come back from their missions. At first the pegasus leader was fraught with the notion that her troops had run into some kind of trouble, but she quickly cast aside these feelings of anxiety due to her conviction in the unwavering confidence she held that any member of the pegasi race could handle any mission—especially one as simple as a scouting assignment. And, sure enough, as the dawn had breached the horizon of Equestria, the silhouettes of the absent patrol were seen flying swiftly towards the founding colony of Equestria, with many a pony rejoicing the return of the brave band of pegasi, with each member present and accounted for. Commander Hurricane wasted no time in convening with her troops in order to assimilate their account of what events had taken place during their undertaking.
First and foremost, Commander Hurricane was informed that not one of her pegasi had any sign of harm done to their being, showing that her worriment of them being under attack was entirely unneeded, which was reassuring for her(though she didn't show it so as not to appear soft in front of her soldiers). What was relayed to her next was the delineation of that which had kept the team from reporting back on time. As part of their mission was to seek out the appropriate borders for Equestria, it had taken some time longer for the team to fly out until they found the said borders and return back home. This sounded reasonable enough, but Hurricane demanded to know what made the team decide on where Equestria's borders should be without the her or any of the other leaders' consent, which they explained without haste:
While traveling southward through Equestria, the scouts were surprised by the sudden transition of a lush, green environment into a dry, dull-colored desert. All around this barren land stood many rock spires, looming over the desert as their rocky precipices thrust up into the sky overhead. Amongst this seemingly never-ending sea of sand were numerous trees and various other plants, though whatever life they had once contained was now long gone: drained of their essence by the harsh, unforgiving rays of the sun and thusly transformed into the sere vegetation that was their present state.
In addition to the severe conditions visible to them, the pegasi also became aware of the intense rays of the sun beating down from overhead, which went unnoticed before because of the many clouds hovering over the greener areas of Equestria, and not a single one of these clouds was seen anywhere over the desert, which only added more to the punishing desert atmosphere. Venturing into this type of environment would be very risky and greatly taxing for most ponies, but the pegasi soldiers of Commander Hurricane were not just anypony: they were resilient and strong, and could handle much worse than a mere scalding hot desert. Plus, they had their orders, and they intended to carry them out to the end, and so, without a second thought, the pegasi scouts entered the blazing hot sands of the desert, determined to follow it to its end.
The desert proved to be quite expansive, with none of the pegasi able to spot the left, right, or front borders of the desert, even with their ability to fly to higher altitudes. They searched the desert for what felt like hours, as even being rugged ponies that they were, the blistering beams of the sun cooking their bodies and minds without end was starting to get to the pegasi, with several of the soldiers feelings bouts of loginess that were hindering their abilities to keep moving—but still they pressed onward, as resolute as ever to complete their mission.
Just as it had been since their scouting mission had begun, there were still no signs of life anywhere to be found, and the pegasi were making sure they searching thoroughly across this entire desert land, but, there was still yet to be anything or anyone found. Although, the face that no sign of life was sighted anywhere in this desert did not come as a surprise to the pegasi, as they could not fathom why anypony would live in such a ruthless environment. But, they continued their search regardless of these considerations, as there had yet to be an indication of where their exploration was to be halted.