//------------------------------//
// Prologue 
// Story: On Alicorns 
// by Nra Vadumee 
//------------------------------//

A dozen cries breached the newly made air.

The Great One stood over her foals, fillies and colts, and beheld them. Aspects of the world which she had made were distilled into these, her Bloodborne. Shadow, darkness, light, heat, love, hatred, art, knowledge, earth, fire, water, air. Umbris the Shadowmare, given reign over what light was shielded from. Pentimus the Dark Stallion, lord of dark places and dark thoughts. Lumos the Mare of Light, spreader of light. Thermos the Heatborn, lord of heat and warmth. Amor the Lovebringer, mother of love and affection. Iras the Hatebringer, father of rivalry and war. Professios the Artgiver, matriarch of emotion. Academis the Scholar, patriarch of knowledge. Terra the Earthmare, queen of the soil and its underdarks. Infernis the Firestallion, king of flame and ash. Aquos the Watermare, lady of the rivers and oceans and lakes. and Aeros the Airstallion, lord over the clouds and skies.

Twelve souls. Twelve perfect souls. Twelve beings of power only outmatched by hers, and rivaled only by each other’s. 

Twelve rulers.

Twelve masters.

The Great One named them Alicorns, for they were made of all, fused all, and would rule over all while she left the world she had made. 

With her children standing, already full grown after the course of decades, as time mattered not to the immortal ones in an empty world, she looked across the empty world and spread her wings.

“My foals. My fillies and colts. My Firstborn. My Alicorns. This is the realm which I have given you to rule, and you are the lords I have given this realm. Go forth. Shape it. Forge it to your will, for you are the Firstborn and the Foals of the Great One. This world is yours. This world shall always be yours.”

And so they set forth, all across the world which their mother had given them. Terra rose great continents and mountains to claim for her own, while Aquos flooded that which could be flooded in her own name. Infernis stole from Terra, claiming some mountains for his own, forging great pits of flame into the great peaks, carving his sigil into the earth. Aeros robbed Aquos of the realm above her beloved seas and rivers and lakes, filling it with precious air and clouds.

Lumos set out across the world, her wings glowing golden as she shined her light down, spreading it wherever it could touch, while Pentimus trotted across the realm, fast as light herself, and claimed half the world as his, leaving the other half to her. Umbris, noting that Lumos had not reached all the places in her half of the realm, quickly snuck to them and laid her name down as claim to these regions. Thermos, admiring the speed and beauty of Lumos, asked to share their realm, ruling it as heat and light together. Lumos, who adored Thermos for his courage and creativity for asking, agreed, and so the first union was struck between Light and Heat.

Umbris, seeing this, and seeing how small her lands were compared to the other alicorns, went to Pentimus, asking to join their lands. Pentimus, forever sworn as soon as he and Lumos began racing to claim the realm to destroy her, agreed, and so the second union was formed between Darkness and Shadow. 

Seeing these alliances form, Infernis, concerned of Terra’s retribution for his theft, turned to Aquos, as he knew she despised Terra and Aeros for denying her dominion over the lands they claimed. Aquos, knowing Infernis’ bravery in stealing from her foe, agreed, and so the third union was forged, between Water and Fire. And so the firey pits Infernis made became pits of liquid flame, and beneath Aquos’ beloved seas would open tears into the world’s firey beating heart.

Fearful of this new union, Terra looked to regal Aeros for aid. In exchange for Aeros’ aid, Terra would open pockets beneath the surface of his realm for Aeros to lay claim in, and he would allow her mountains to pierce the clouds themselves. As concerned as she was of the third union, Aeros consented, and so the caverns beneath the soil tore open and the mountains rose above even the clouds, as the fourth union, between Earth and Air, was sealed.

Iras did not seek to claim land. He sought only to destroy it, to lay waste to the creations of those who had beat the remaining alicorns to the realm of existence. But before he could unleash his unending wrath, before him came Amor. He was struck by her beauty, and staid his wrath to hear her speak. The words which came from her were not words (for words did not exist, merely ideas) but sounds of soothing and softness, and he was calmed. He bowed before her, and asked for her to join him in union, love and hatred, to strike perfect balance. Without hesitation, Amor agree, and the fifth union, the union of Love and Hate, came to be.

Finally, Professios and Academis found each other with no want for land or claims. They had no power over the world. There was emotion and knowledge, but none to feel or know. And so the two struck the sixth union, between Emotion and Knowledge, and began to set in motion events which would forever alter the face of the realm of existence.