//------------------------------//
// Prologue (original) 
// Story: Across the Barren Wastes, A Tale of the Heart 
// by KryonTrevahr 
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	I consider myself to be of good fortune to be able to recount the events that led to the founding of our city, Pathiallas. Without the daring exploits of my parents and their company this city would have never come to be. Alas, I admit too much pride in them. With that in mind I have tried to tell this tale as objectively as I can from the interviews with various members who went a great ways out of their own way for this land. I would list them here, but if I did, then what kind of story would that be? It would be straightforward, no doubt, but I'll list them at the end for the sake of historical accuracy. Even my parents will remain anonymous until then for the sake of making a good story out of history. Do not worry, though. All will be revealed with time, just as rain cuts stone. However, This legend should not take quite as long to recount, but the meaning should retain itself.

Unfortunately, I do understand some texts may go missing over the ages which describe the time before now. So, I will give a brief description of the tragedy which befell everypony before the Great War. It was about fifty two years ago when the snow started falling. At first it was a small joy, for the Earth Ponies would not need to work the fields when nothing could grow. So winter celebrations began. Yet, this quickly became a problem as the food supply became scarce. Conflicts between the tribes quickly increased with the frustration. The Pegasus tribe, tired of the low food supply, decided it would be their advantage to attack the Earth Pony tribe. At the same time, Unicorns were annoyed with the Pegasi, thinking this storm was their fault, and sent a small group to confront them. Mistaking their target, the Pegasi attacked the Unicorns which led to a long fight starting the war. Both of these tribes then brought the Earth ponies into conflict because of the constant raids on villages thought to have food or other supplies. The Earth Ponies had anticipated this conflict and mobilized as quickly as possible, making best use of spare metal as armor and weaponry for the conflict. Villages were disheartened by their leadership and the tribes forced their leaders to either come to an agreement or find a new home away from the snow. New, militia-like groups took charge with the leaders gone to find new lands. These main groups, commonly referred to as Earth Guard, Sky Guard, and Dawn Guard, were filled with malicious intent. The safety of their own tribes was no longer important, just the extinguishment of the opposition. Our legend began in an Earth Pony village right around that time...