Ah, Hydaelyn… A vibrant planet blessed by the light of the Crystal with whom it shares its name. Upon this world, amid azure seas, encompassing the westernmost of the Three Great Continents, lies a realm embraced by gods and forged by heroes. Her name: Eorzea. The annals of Eorzean history have charted the rise and fall of many civilizations, each one enjoying an era of peace and prosperity. The Astral Eras.
To date… all have proven ephemeral.
In the year 1572 of the Sixth and most recent Astral Era, the northern empire of Garlemald amassed a great army at the heart of Eorzea, seeking dominion over all. Rising in desperate resistance, the forces of the Eorzean Alliance met their would-be conquerors in the field.
Yet even as the battle raged, the lesser moon, Dalamud, was plucked from the heavens by the machinations of Nael van Darnus, the legatus of the VIIth imperial legion. From its core emerged the Elder Primal Bahamut, whose rage was unleashed upon the realm in a storm of fire and death.
The devastation brought Eorzea to its knees and the era to its end.
Five long years have come and gone, and in spite of the carnage, the light of life still shines upon Eorzea. Man labors tirelessly to raise himself up from the calamity’s ruin. The land is forever changed, a stranger to him once more. Yet heedless of what lies ahead, he shall press on, spurred on by the promise of peace and prosperity.
Amid this period of great change, an adventurer has arrived in Eorzea, one whose path shall chart the course of the realm, and indeed, the very fate of the world itself.
And yet his arrival would not be the only one…
For far across the endlessly churning sea of the dimensional rift between worlds, there lies another realm. One untouched by the horrors of the calamity. A realm of light, of harmony. A land of hope and companionship, of friendship and magic.
Her name: Equestria.
For a thousand years, Equestria has enjoyed its own prolonged period of peace and harmony. Within this land, there are two mighty princesses who rule with kindness and benevolence. The eldest, Princess Celestia, with her great magic, raises the sun to begin the day, while her younger sister, Princess Luna, draws forth the moon to begin the night.
For eons, Equestria has stood as the center for peace and harmony in her world. Their light shines like a beacon to all, that all may know comfort and joy.
But where there is light, there is darkness.
Beyond the sight of both realms, sequestered away and hidden within the deepest shadows, covetous eyes and greedy hearts see the light of Equestria. The darkness reaches forth, ravenous, and the threat of a new calamity looms silently over Equestria, unseen and unknown.
But between light and darkness, the day and the night, the sun and the moon, there is ever the sparkle of Twilight… and so it is that the newest princess of Equestria, and the student to Celestia, shall play her part in the tale of Eorzea, and the eternal struggle that rages on at the heart of Hydaelyn…
May she ever walk in the light of the Crystal, and the Light of Harmony, both...