This is a story that has never been told. It happened before the well-told legend of Nightmare Moon. A story even older than the fables that tell of Discord’s rule. One that won't be found in any books, in any library; no ancient scrolls or cave markings hold knowledge of this tale. It does exist, but only in the memories if those who experienced it. Four total, but in the lands of Equestia, only two princesses, Celestia and Luna, remember. This is their memory, as faded as it is. It's their past... and their future.
It all began when an alicorn stallion appeared in the kingdom, just on the edge of Equestia. Nobody knew who he was or where he came from. His coat shone like burnished gold in the daylight, the feathers of his wings were of a slightly lighter shade, shining, almost like emitting their own light. His mane and tail were the opposite -- the purest of black, flowing down his neck, with bright blue lightning flickering through it, the blue lightning matching the bright blue of his eyes. He quickly drew attention to himself, ponies came out, staring at him in both awe and fear at the stranger.
As he made his way from the borders into the country, he made a point to spend time in each town, each village he crossed, helping little ponies, relieving them of their fears of the mysterious new alicorn. The stallion thus left behind a trail if goodwill, and the news of him were spreading.
He was met outside of the old capital by only a small contingent of guards, and both the rulers of the land: King Eternal and Queen Infinity, and their two young daughters: Princess Celestia the older, and the younger -- Princess Luna.
The stallion’s name was Morrin Asturias. He was very straightforward with the answers when the divine rulers began questioning him of his origins and reasons for being here. The answers they got surprised everyone, but most of all the royal daughters, who had never seen another alicorn stallion, besides their own father. They stood on the back, watching him mesmerized.
Morrin wasn't of the world of Equestia, neither he was from any specific world. His kind, astral creatures, were from the space in-between worlds, called by some the Astral Realm. He was an Astral Dragon, one of the oldest creatures of that plane of existence. Not all of creation, but very ancient nonetheless. His kind, immortal as they were, traveled the multiverse, spending a lifetime or less in one place, shifted in the world's prominent species, enjoying new experiences, then moving on when the time was right.
The king and the queen knew about worlds other than their own, they had a few, a very few other encounters with otherworldly beings. Even with that knowledge, they were suspicious of creatures of other worlds, but noting his kind acts, they gave the stallion their trust and offered him a place to stay at their palace -- a beautiful tall castle in the middle of peaceful woods, near the base of a massive mountain. He accepted their offer kindly, and set himself up a place to sleep.
Asturias spent most of his time outside the castle, as he was not the type to lay around and be a lazy noble. He was helping the little ponies and no job was too small for him, no job he wouldn't touch. He helped simple farmers to plow their fields, helped to move weather around, guiding rain clouds over the farms. He even assisted with construction of a wonderful city of Manehatten. He did it all with little magic, for despite being an alicorn, his strength laid with the physical and flight.
His actions brought the love of the ponies, and their respect. It also drew the attention of both the alicorn sisters. They spent much of their free time scrying on the stallion, being much better in magic than he was, they were able to watch him at work.
At first the reason for spying was a suspicion, as they didn't know as much about the other worlds as their parents, but in time it started to change. The suspicious grew into curiosity, then into awe, respect and, in time, into longing. Both sisters watched the alicorn stallion work hard in the land, hidden in clouds, eyes locked on the stallions flanks as he pulling plows, pushing stones up to be constructed into walls for buildings. The sisters watched together as they’ve always shared everything.
After a few months, they finally worked up the courage to approach Morrin, they walked up to him, flanking the stallion, and demanded a date. With both of them. Needless to say Morrin was a bit stunned, he watched them glaring at him like they were afraid he would refuse. He agreed, and enjoyed said date, and the many following ones.
Years went by, Equestria grew and prospered under the rule and guidance of the king and the queen, and their daughters and their daughters’ stallion. Manehattan grew into a prosperous town, and the construction of Phillydelphia had begun. All was good.
Then the Shadow appeared.
Nobody knew where it came from or what it wanted. One day it covered the Sun, not blocking it out completely, but placing the planet in eternal dusk. Neither the king nor the queen, with their combined might, were able to bring the light back to the world. Then a massive creature appeared a few miles from the capital, an intangible creature, wrapped in shadows, with blood-red eyes glowed from within.
It did not move from its location. When a pegasus approached, asking what it wanted, the only reply it gave was a deep resonating laugh. A shadowy tentacle bolted out from within the blob of darkness, trying to snap at the pegasus, who barely dodged it. Moments later, creatures made of solid shadow erupted from within its body, and began marching upon the capital.
Upon hearing about the attack, much to the displeasure of both Celestia and Luna, who were both heavy with foal at that point, Morrin took off, heading in the direction of the unmoving, but spawning monstrosity. When he reached it, he was immediately attacked by tentacles. He easily dodged it, swooping under and over the monstrous appendages, calling out, demanding what the creature wanted. More tentacles appeared, reaching out for Morrin. A dark, deep voice echoes from the creature, heard for miles around: “Fooood… Eternal Souls...” it responded.
The stallion frowned and headed back to the palace. Once there, he let the royalty know what the creature wanted and began mobilizing the army. The pony army and the shadowy army soon met in the field. The dark creatures were no match for the trained and dedicated soldiers of the Equestia, but they were uncountable. Hundreds, thousands of dark creatures slaughtered, but they were all replaced with ease, while the pony army was slowly whittled down. The situation hadn't changed even after the Alicorns joined the battle, Morrin, and the king and the queen, but not the princesses -- they weren't allowed to come in their condition. They fought against the beasts, and dealt strikes against the shadowy creature spawning the beasts, but with no effect.
Weeks went by with no headway; the battle between the two armies continued, but neither were able to gain ground on the other and moral was slowly getting low. Feeding the army had also started to become a problem, as every able pony was drifted into the army, so the farms were left untended.
King Eternal and Queen Infinity came up with an idea that they hoped would save them. They noticed the beast was after the alicorns, since each time they appeared, it went straight for them. The royal parents sadly decided to offer themselves as a bait, drawing the creature away into the astral realm, to chase them eternally.
After saying goodbyes, and gaining a promise from Morrin, that he'd protect their daughters, they dived towards the shadow creature, horns charged full of their magic. They let the monstrosity get a hold of them before they forced a rift into the realm between realms open, and with powerful wing-flaps, dragged the creature out of Equestia.
All the little ponies cheered, the beast was gone. Morrin, Celestia and Luna, even with a heavy hearts of losing the king and the queen, sighed in relief.
Horrifyingly, their relief was brief. A day later, the sky darkened again, a scar opened up in the sky, and the creature of shadows returned. The sisters wailed in anguish -- their parents sacrifice was for naught, for they did not return.
Morrin watched in anger as the beast began rampaging through his little ponies once again. He knew he had to stop it, to keep the promise he made to keep his mates, and their children, and the rest of Equestria safe. He only knew of one way. He would have to sacrifice his body to banish the being away from the world.
“What? This is foolish!” Luna exclaimed, while she laid in the bed with her recently foaled daughter, a pure white pegasus, nursing her and glaring at Morrin
“Yes, I agree with my sister. There has to be another way we can defeat, or banish this being without sacrifice,” the older sister, Celestria, murmured softly, tears forming in her eyes. She pressed her own foal, a pink unicorn colt, closer to herself, nursing him. “We need you here. You've explained if you die here, leave this realm, you may never return.”
“But I will be alive. Just not here,” the gold alicorn stallion looked at both his mates and his children, his eyelids closing as he shook his head. “Perhaps, perhaps we could find a way. Do we have the time? What price are we willing to pay, how many more ponies are we willing to sacrifice?” he opened his eyes, looking out over the devastated battlefield, the shadow beast easily seen even at this distance. “I'm not willing to pay the price.”
Both Luna and Celestia cried, which caused the foals to whimper as well. Celestia nodded, wrapping a wing around the little colt. “Y-You're right. It hurts me so much to see so many of the little ponies dying,” she heaved a sigh, while Luna just sobbed, unable to argue, cuddling the pegasus in her own wings. The white alicorn smiled to her stallion weakly. “You'll always be in our hearts. You won't be forgotten,” she said.
Morrin smiled, moving up to wing-hug both the mares and his foals. “And neither the both of you. I'll always remembers you. Watch over our children, and their children, and their descendants,” he said as he leaned down, nuzzling the unicorn. “You be good for your mother, Mico. You as well,” he nuzzled the pegasus filly, “Arcus.” Both the foals babbled, grabbing their father’s muzzle and giving it a hug. Morrin, after they dropped and went back to nursing, turned away, tears in his eyes. “If I run into your parents, I'll let them know you're safe.” With that, he flew away towards the shadow beast.
With mighty flaps of his wings, the alicorn stallion made his way fast to the beast that had caused so much pain, so much strife. The beast he planned on removing from Equestia, to protect the realm he loved. His eyes narrow, wings cutting through the air as he dodged tentacles, his horn glowing as he began the change to move through the astral, turning into his natural form. With a roar, the alicorn shifted, feathered wings turning into massive draconian wings, his fur coat shifted to golden scales, his body bulked up with muscle. His mane no longer flowed like it did, but a pure black mane hung down his long neck, blue stripes appeared down the length of his back and tapered tail.
With another roar, he charged down towards the creature. “You've caused enough pain in this world you cancerous being. My name is Morrin Asturias, the one who'll banish you from this peaceful realm to never cause harm ever again!”
Dodging left, tentacles reaching for him, dodging left, snapping at a tentacle that gripped him by his right claws paw, biting the shadowy appendage off. On and on he charged, until he plummeted right into the shadow’s center form. The shadow creature seemed to pause, as if it wondered what the dragon was trying to do.
”FOR EQUESTIA!” the dragon roared, as his body glowed in pure golden light, making the beast writhe in what seemed to be pain, light shooting out from its body, incinerating the shadows. Then, with a mighty roar, the dragon exploded in more light, drenching the beast in his astral glow, which dragged both beast and dragon out of Equestia.
The explosion was massive, motes of light and darkness filled the air. The majority of the black motes sunk into the area of a massive forest, causing the woods to become darker. The majority of the light motes landed outside of the forest, amongst a fertile plain.
The ponies didn't cheer right away, considering the last time they thought they won they were wrong. They waited, they waited a day, then another, then a week. Only after a month had passed since the shadow was destroyed, they knew it was over.
The ponies began rebuilding their country. The two Alicorn sisters spent time mourning the loss of not just their parents, but of their mate as well. They decided to remain Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, for they did not believe, did not want to believe, their parents were dead. Life continued as it was, but with two rulers: the Sun, and the Moon.
The foals of the otherworldly stallion and the sisters of the sun and moon grew, had families, children of their own, and their children had children, and so forth. The sisters let the families grow, watching over them, but slowly drifting apart. Letting the families hold themselves up, without the influence of being related to the Alicorns.
Centuries passed. Millenniums passed. History faded. History forgotten. The Shadow was forgotten. The King and Queen, forgotten. The brave stallion who sacrificed his happy home, his love, to protect the very same -- forgotten. Celestia and her younger sister, Luna, they remembered.
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Exactly 9,492 years later…
The young dragon bounced in front of the cave where he and his mother lived. He was an energetic, gold-scaled dragon, black mane flowed down his neck, with greenish stripes flowing down his back. “Mooom, it's my 121st hatchday! It's time for me to go,” he said, seeming to be quite happy about it, but a tinge of sadness tainted his voice. It was the time for the astral dragon to leave his nest, and begin traveling the multiverse.
His mother, Leiko, sighed as she stepped out, nodding. “Yes, I know Ailan. Oh, I'm going to miss you,” she said, as she grabbed her child in her wings, hugging him tightly. “I knew this day would come, but I still dreaded it,” she sobbed.
Ailan hugged his mom back, nuzzling her neck. “Don't worry mom. We will meet up. Someday we will run into each other again, and I'll be grown even more, and you'll be proud of me and the things I hope to do!” the young dragon said.
Leiko nodded, letting her son go. “I know I know. I'll be proud of you no matter what you'll do,” she said with a growing smile. “Now, you be good, ok Ailan? Also, if you run into your Uncle Morrin, tell him I miss him and he’d better be behaving or his sister, despite being the youngest, will still shove his tail up his… Well, he'll know,” she chuckled, remembering the mischievous young dragonet her brother was over 15 millenniums ago.
“Of course mom, I'll let him know,” Ailan turned around, looking into the sky. “I wonder, what world I'll end up first. Hopefully it's a fun place to be.” With that comment, he opened his wings, and took off, making his way into the sky, eyes focused on a single point on the horizon. His magic, like magic of any other astral dragon, was weak, but it was enough for his goal. He ripped an opening into the astral plane. “Bye mom!” he hollered out one more time, before he popped through the rip, which closed behind him.
The elder dragoness nodded, wiping a tear away from her eye. “Bye Ailan Sempar, I hope the first world you end up in isn't harsh.”
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Some months later…
On a planet covered in smog and rocky lands, two armies are charging each other. On one side is a wave of green, large brutish humanoids roaring in a battle fever.
“WAAAGH!”
The other side, a much smaller army -- another group of humanoids in massive battle armor, ultramarine in color.
“FOR THE EMPEROR!”
They meet in the middle, both sides shouting their battle cries.
“So much for a peaceful beginnings,” Ailan Sempar thinks, charging forward, weighted by the massive Space Marine armor.
Thus, the story of Ailan Sempar, begins.