I am Andromeda, daughter of the legendary Crimson Dawn and his wife, Rose Thorn. It has been nearly two hundred years since the devastating conflict of the First Equestrian World War. Granted, there hasn’t been a second one, but that’s okay. Nopony plans on another. Not after the first one.
The loss of life was substantial. Millions were killed relentlessly by King Sombra and his Army of Darkness. As the Equestrians liberated their cities, they found that Sombra had razed them. Thousands of ponies had no home, if they were even alive. I honestly don’t know how my father soldiered on.
By the ten-month mark since the beginning of the war between Equestria and the Crystal Empire. My homeland, Atlantis, and our most formidable enemy, the Dominion of Apollo, had joined on Equestria’s side. They bolstered the forces my father temporarily commanded by more than five hundred thousand mares and stallions. Each was willing to die for their cause, and Sombra nearly wiped them out with a destabilizing Gem. It then exploded and was never used again, the magic inside coalescing into seventeen alicorns, including the princesses Luna and Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. All were used as hostages until Sombra was finally defeated.
During the greatest battle of the war (and the time), Queen Atlanta personally lead the charge that broke into the fortress Dragonspire Citadel. She continued fighting long after her growing number of wounds should’ve let her. Her sunrise-orange battle armor, glowing radiantly in the twilight of early morning, was cut and bashed and bloodied. Now it lies in my care as I am the Queen of Atlantis. Sadly, Atlanta was hit by a volley of Russian machine gun fire that rendered her almost lifeless. Quick reactions saved her by slowing the projectile enough to not kill her. But in that moment, General Shattered Hope of the Crystal Empire rammed his sword through a kink in her armor. Clean to her heart, she died in seconds.
My own father sacrificed himself for me, transferring his life energy by way of my own magic when Sombra used shadow magic to slit my throat open. He kept me alive while he drained away, becoming nothing more than a crimson Pegasus dead on the steps to Sombra’s throne. By the time Princess Celestia came to help, as she’d been on the other side of the city, he was too long gone to be revived. His remains are at the top of the hill in the Marelington National Cemetery outside Nautinia, alongside Rose Thorn and Queen Atlanta.
But this is not to reminisce about those events. I have gathered what information I could from the ancient libraries of Nautinia to write this novel. This is about the Atlantean-Dominion War. How my father became the stallion I knew growing up. How he met my mother. How Atlantis defended its freedom and successfully threw back the Dominion forces invading.
The story of why Crimson Dawn was the way he was.