//------------------------------//
// The Prologue 
// Story: Kingdom of the Stars 
// by mocandragon5 
//------------------------------//

Deep in the heart of the large forest surrounding them, with trees that looked like the legs of giants, hid the Kingdom of the Stars, in a large clearing, branching off slightly into the forest, with paths built which intertwined through the canopy. Eternal night lay over the land in which they resided, despite the efforts of every unicorn and alicorn who tried to change it over this area, the stars always shone bright, and every constellation could be seen at all times, the unicorns and pegasi of the area moving them around so that, as night fell on the other regions of the world, the stars would always be different.

The ponies who lived in the calm kingdom were usually dark in colour, like swathes of the night sky above were formed to be the shape of a pony, with star like patterns adorning some. Those that possessed these patterns were said to be gifted by the stars themselves, as some remained still, watching over them like guardians, and the ponies believed that these stars held divine power, the strongest of which was Polaris, the north.

The castle of the kingdom, placed in the centre, was a large structure, and looked like a palace, with a base of boulders, with black galaxy stone forming the walls, emulating the appearance of the sky itself. For light, lanterns were suspended in mid air, sparsely, around the cities, towns and villages, making them look as if any pony within was flying.

As suspected, the kingdom was a monarchy. The most famous king in the history of the kingdom, king Helios, was the one who started the kingdom, choosing the area as it was well defended from attackers. All of the monarchs through history, up until the civil war generations ago, when Equestria was founded, were close allies with those of other kingdoms. However, when war struck, they lost contact with all of the other kingdoms and nations and, after years of waiting, thought that they were the only survivors, the others having torn each other apart.

This story begins between Twilight becoming a princess, and the destruction of Ponyville because of Tirek.

King Zodius walked down the corridors of his castle. He was a large stallion, at least as big as Celestia, probably even bigger, with a coat a dark shade of navy, just slightly brighter than the night above him, his eyes were silver like the moon, however they had a slight gold tint to them, making them look like a piece of the sun had landed in his eyes. His mane was a dark shade of White, like dull silver. His flank was adorned with an image of two constellations, known as Leo and Scorpio, as his cutie mark. He was one of the last natural born alicorns, and he believed that he, along with his sister Artemis, were the last two alive. He had just left the large, empty, dining hall, having finished his evening meal.

"Your majesty" a tired voice rang out. The king stood surprised. That was the voice of one of the pegasi scouts he had sent out a few months ago to make sure there were no other nations around. They were only meant to return if they found some pony. This one in particular was one of the ponies with the lightest coats in the kingdom, a pale yellow colour. 

"What is it?" The king replied, eagerness filled his voice. "Sir, we have found another kingdom". The guard replied, knowing the news would excite the monarch.

"Tell me more!" The king said, his voice even more eager. The guard seemed to gather his thoughts, as if worried what he said could mean the difference between promotion and prison.

"We could not find much. All we could gather was the kingdom was thrice the size of ours, with two sisters ruling as princesses and another one, a... Synthetic alicorn if you will." The guard said, surprised the seemingly small amount of information sounded aloud.

"So I gather the rulers are TRUE alicorns?!?!" The king asked "Well, that changes everything. The festival to honour Polaris is coming up soon. Do you happen to remember the directions you took to make it there?"

The guard seemed shocked by what the king was implying, catching to it. "Yes sir, but you do realise there has NEVER been strangers here at the time of the festival?"

"I know that!" The king replied. "Go, immediately, and there may be something in it for you and your team"

"Thank you sir!" The guard said, nodded and charged out.

"This is going to be a very interesting festival. I wonder which nation this is, still alive." The king said, glancing out of the window.