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// Prologue 
// Story: Starswirl's Return 
// by Harratot33 
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Spike sat utterly motionless in the Crystal Empire Library, utterly absorbed in his utterly exciting and action-packed issue of Power Ponies. The baby turnip-purple dragon was entirely aware of the fact that Princess Celestia and Luna were dead—murdered in cold blood by their revenge-hungry allicorn brother Stellas Spatium, shortly after his return from banishment. He was aware that everypony in Equestria (and beyond!) was now a slave to Spatium, their mentalities altered, forcing them to obey his each and every command. The exceptions to this rule were, of course, The Mane Six, the second of the two remaining princess, Cadance, Discord, Starlight Glimmer and her best friend Trixie, Lord Tirek, Shining Armour and his daughter Flurry Heart (as a result of the Crystal Empire being shielded from Spatium through a powerful forcefield). The assistant to the princess of friendship sat more serene still. Despite being thoroughly aware of all this, he was unknowledgeable about a number of things: Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack being turned evil by Spatium's dark elements of harmony, for instance. And of course, Spike, as was the case with everypony—even Spatium—was unaware of the things that had not yet come to pass. For whether or not Spatium was defeated did not matter; his effect on Equestria and the mulit-verse as a whole would undoubtedly live on forever...