Light fell across a shattered world. The ground lay twisted and cracked asunder, blacked and bare of life. Equestria had fallen and the world of ponies had ended, the war that tore the planet apart had spared few. Canterlot had been ripped from its mountain fastness, and cast down into the plains below. The Crystal Empire was a crater of shattered crystals, its icy fastness wiped clear of all life. The once green and lush land that was Equestria was dead.
The desolation laid spread across the entire world. Griffinstone, Yakyakistan, and the Dragon Homelands all lay ravaged. Even beneath the sea, the realm of Aquastria was razed, it's people slaughtered or fled. The Kingdom under Stone had fallen to shadow and the halls of Canorum were silent.
The bare remnants of Ponyville had long stood empty. Its inhabitants had been long gone, driven by the specter of Tirek. Once it had been a place of light and joy, now only charred timbers and ashes remained in the aftermath of war. A lone figure stood among the wreckage. His form was clad in the garb of war, armor of steel and bronze and a cloak of deep purple. He bore no weapon and his head was bare. He was an Alicorn and the name he had chosen long ago was Solarion. The wind rasped through his short-cut mane, as he remembered the beginning of the end.
It started when Tirek attacked Canterlot after the loss of the Elements of Harmony. The Princesses of Sun and Moon, Celestia and Luna had fought back but Tirek's power had grown to exceed them them. Discord, the Spirit of Chaos had joined the conflict, but even his might was not enough. What truly happened that day no one knew, but its outcome was bitter. Luna and Celestia fell, alongside Discord and in their deaths unleashed a surge of magical forces beyond anyone's control.
The blend of chaotic and harmonic energies had swept across the continent, upsetting the balance of the world and empowering those present at the epicenter of the blast. But this power amplified who they were at heart. Those ponies with a good nature who had held friendship in their hearts, were ascended to alicornhood taking up the mantle of the two sisters.
Opposite them were the beings whose hearts were darkened by envy, rage, and the desire for control. They received the power they desired but were warped and twisted, the ugliness of their hearts laid bare. These 'new gods" divided between the light and dark and became the embodiments of primal forces. They took new or altered names to signify their roles: Midnight Star, Glimmer Shadow-Weave, Starshield, Darkonda, Cadenza Amoria...
Tirek survived but the power he wielded had been twisted into something else. He could no longer take the magic of others, but his exposure to the energies had made him into a God, and the darkened heart he possessed created a God of Evil. Tirek and those consumed by the darkness forged an army and they strove against those who sought to honor the legacy of the princesses.
The powers wielded by both sides ripped the land apart, starting earthquakes, causing tidal waves,tearing the fabric of the natural world. The armies were too evenly matched, so each side began developing new weapons, new technologies, and new ways to gain the advantage. Such instruments as the Mind Warp, the Stellar Gates, the Omega Crucible, and the Silver Nemesis were devised. For over hundreds of years war raged, for neither side could over match the other and neither would give in. The Light-Gods would never surrender the freedoms they clung to; the Dark-Gods would never cease in bringing order through tyranny.
Champions arose on both sides earning fame and fear alike: General Starshield who broke the enemy on the slopes of Mt. Everhoof in the Battle of the Crystal Mountains and avenged the sack of the Crystal Empire, Glimmer Shadow-weave who spun lies that destroyed whole kingdoms, turning friend against friend and leaving them prey for Tirek, or Starstrike Ember who slew the Dragon King in single combat, armed only with a spear. Above them all were Tirek and Solarion, moving pieces on the chessboard, always stalemating the other.
The war had long left Equestria behind, spreading like a cancer across the planet and beyond. Other worlds were plundered for resources the few inhabitants killed or enslaved by the Dark-Gods. Generations of ponies and other races were born and died, trampled beneath the Gods' never-ending battle. They scattered, refugees on the road struggling to endure and evade slavers.
Although initially the Yaks and the Griffins tried to stay neutral, in the end it availed them nothing. Tirek and his Army of Darkness held no appreciation of their neutrality and annihilated their races with only a scattered handful of survivors. Even the mighty Dragons proved no match. The Light and Dark fought and the innocent perished. The constant grind of battle drove several of the Light-Gods from the war. Wearied of conflict they dedicated themselves to aiding the surviving ponies and the other races, swearing off violence except in self defense. Though they stood aloft from the conflict, these neutrals remained in the Light and retained ties with the High Council of the Light-Gods.
In the 371th year After the Fall of the Two Sisters, opposing scientists Quimedicus and Shadow-Master simultaneously uncovered a dreadful truth. The energies released so long ago, by the princesses' deaths had begun the destabilization of the planet's core. The forces released by the Godwar had accelerated the process, sliding the timescale from thousands to a mere handful of years. Soon the planet Equis would die.
Each side retreated from open combat to make its plans. Both had access to interstellar travel via the gateways and made plans to depart to neighboring planets. However both sides knew that the Godwar was only postponed and with time would begin anew. The Light-Gods had gathered what few refugees and survivors remained. They brought together all races in one great exodus: Ponies, Griffins, Diamond Dogs, Yaks, Seaponies, Breezies, Dragons, and what fauna had survived. They were sent to the new home world to live their lives undisturbed by war, these remnants a reminder of the failures of the Light.
Solarion regretted the conflicts that had seen so many innocents perish, but no path had remained but to stand against Tirek. Now their bitter war had destroyed everything in the end. Their home, the thing they had fought and sacrificed for was doomed. In the end neither could have it and this war would blaze on across the stars.
Oh, there might be intervals of peace and temporary reprieves, but always He or Tirek would strike to destroy the other. As long as one side still stood it never could end. He sighed as weariness fell over him like a shroud. His duty weighed heavy upon him.
The flutter of wings filled the air as a lavender Alicorn, landed beside him. She stood quietly reminiscing on better days, on friendships and magic, when the sun still shone and the Elements of Harmony could stand against any foe. Not this broken shell of her home. Her eyes grew wet as she spotted the brunt tree that marked her greatest failure.
He spoke his voice filled with concern, "It wasn't your fault."
She turned surprised, "But, I ..." There was nothing you could have done, Applejack and the others would never want you to blame yourself for what you couldn't control."
Twilight Sparkle bowed her head, "I know that... logically I couldn't have helped. But it still hurts and it feels like my fault for not being there, because I could have done something at least, to stop her and Glimmer wouldn't have....!
Solarion sighed, placing a gentle forehoof on her shoulder, "We can never know, Twilight and we can't change it, all we do is continue onward."
She lifted her teary eyes to meet his, “It hurts to be back here, knowing it will all be gone and yet it's reliving to know I won’t be seeing it again." Twilight swallowed, and spoke up stronger "It was the best thing to do, to come back one last time and remember everything and everypony, the good and the bad, before it's gone."
Solarion nodded in acknowledgement and looked towards the ruins of Canterlot and the broken outline of Mount Canter, “I imagine many of us are doing that, we all have places we hold on to. Now we must say goodbye before the end comes."
His eyes shimmered with tears as he remembered what Equestria had been when he was a young unicorn. For a moment he could see sunny skies and green fields with Canterlot shining in the distance, than the vision passed away and he saw naught but darkness and ruin under a red sky.
Solarion lowered his head in remembrance of things lost and turned to Twilight. "I'll be returning to Everfree, I've seen enough."
"Yes I suppose I have as well, I'll go find the others and meet up at the Gate." Solarion nodded and spreading his wings took flight towards the remains of the Everfree Forrest.
The barren wasteland stretched out beneath him as he flew to where the Castle of the Two Sisters had stood. Now a rebuilt fortress of steel and rock dominated the devastated landscape. Walls of magno-carbonium, equipped with automated force field defenses, skrapnel devastators, and pulsar cannons, encircled the last bastion of the Light-Gods and their preparations for departure.
The majority of their resources and equipment had been sent through the gateways, along with the last refugees. Now all that remained were the final stages.
The shields tingled as he slipped through the network as it recognized his magical signature. He swooped toward the top of the keep, where a guard contingent stood watch. They stood at attention as he landed atop the platform.
“High-Lord! It's good to have you back!" the officer in charge said, saluting as she approached Solarion, "All's well and no sight or sign of the enemy, My Lord."
Solarion smiled at her, "Thank you for passing that along, Lt. Fireflash, carry on with your shift." The pegasus beamed, and turned back to her watch.
Solarion smiled at his exuberance, as he stepped on the liftway, "Amazing, the resilience of youth." he mused.
"Sub-level 7: he stated to the system, "Affirmative" the A.I chirped. "Passkey and Code?" "Polaris and KR1971" "Accepted, please prepare for transit."
He sighed as the lift shot smoothly downwards. Tirek was out there somewhere. Nothing had been heard from him apart from a few skirmishes of scouting parties with Changeling Warmongers, but presumable he was making his own preparations for departure with his forces. He hadn't left, Solarion could still feel his presence in the magical ether, like a black void, devouring and collapsing everything into a single point. Tirek could surely feel his own presence burning, and neither of them would leave until the other was gone.
The swish of doors opening brought him out from his brooding and he walked out onto the rocky floor of a cavern. On one end, glowing with radiance from every branch, grew the source of all harmonic magic and the linchpin of this universe, the Tree of Harmony, it's soft light filling the cavern.
Solarion smiled as he felt his spirits lift in the presence of the Tree. He trotted towards it, his being humming with the power that stemmed from its presence. Beating his wings a few feet up into the air, Solarion extended his hoof towards the imprinted sun on the crystalline trunk. As he touched it he felt as surge of power flowing through him as SHE touched him back.
The Tree never spoke in words but in flashes of emotion, visions of things past, and dreams of what could be. SHE was ancient and unused to speaking directly. The images SHE showed him, were what he needed....
He saw shades of the past, the Princess fighting Discord, Twilight and her friends wielding the elements, the fall of Canterlot, his battles with Tirek, the suffering of the war, misery upon misery....
He saw glimpses of battles to come, a young centaur in a burning wasteland leading an army to victory but for who?... A lavender alicorn, not Twilight but like her, fighting a living shadow of fear, a king of nightmares while an ancient city crumbled.... Tirek conquering, worlds bound by his will, freedom crushed beneath eternal tyranny, but than slain by his own, his legacy ashes and dust ....
He saw himself, older and whited-maned in full armor, leading a armada of ships against a nightmare of the past that could never be.... He saw hope for the future, a shining world of green, a paradise of harmony, a citadel of crystal and steel shinning in the skies above, a defense for all worlds, the Tree resting uncovered on a green mound, it's light revealed to all, hope and light and joy...
He saw himself again, old but in simple robes, reading to a circle of foals in a peaceful garden... He saw heroes converging from many worlds to fight tHE nAMELEss, eXISTance crACKInG aS tHE dEVorER wAKES, THe aNTi-LIFe.fEAR, hATE, bURNIng aLL, nOTHInG!!....
Solarion fell back from the tree, striking the ground. He laid there, images flashing through his mind, and breathing heavily. What he had seen was but the merest glimpse of the web of time, things that were, or are or could be. Possibilities, but there was hope...
He pushed himself to his hooves, that invigorating rush filling his spirit. Tirek would not conquer forever, there was an end. He knew it would be long hence, but he would fall.
The paradise world he saw was Harmonia, the new home world, a bastion for light and peace like Celestia dreamed and the sky-bound citadel would be its shield and sword, a new Canterlot. The Tree must be planted on this new world. It would take care but it could be done.
As for what he saw at the end, he had no knowledge of it, only that the SHE feared it and what followed. These was still time to plan for that final vision. He must make preparations for what was to come soon.
As he turned to leave, the weariness that had plagued him lifted, he felt HER smiling in pride and love. For Solarion, once named Prince Orion Blueblood, the future was bright with possibility in the dawn of a new world.