//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Main Attraction // by Dimentio //------------------------------// A Look Into The Past The true King's perspective It was funny really, the three unicorns standing before me...I couldn't help but stifle a laugh. One thing did irk me slightly though, Starswirl, my most loyal of servants was among them. I recognized the other two as well, though they weren't truly of much concern. One, a pink maned alabaster mare named Celestia, and the other, Luna, an almost uniform dark blue. Those two were once affectionately deemed princesses by Queen Esmer and I. All three of them had an air of confidence bordering on arrogance. "This is where it ends King Dimentio, we're done watching your people suffer!" Starswirl said angrily, causing me to smile even wider. "Ohoh, but how should they suffer? There is no chaos, no strife, no disorder whatsoever." I replied. "A world without war, crime, or disease. This is a perfect world that you question." "None can live under such repression! They have no joy, no hope-" The alabaster one began causing me to raise my hand in annoyance. "No deviation from my standards." I declared as I stood from my throne. "I don't think you understand what hope brings...disappointment, disaster, defiance." "How dare you." The Luna began as she stepped forward to challenge me. "Without hope there is no progress, these lands are stagnant, your people are miserable, and you...ever since the queen passed you have become a tyrant with no show of remorse!" At the mention of the queen my guard dropped momentarily, grief seemed to cloud my mind...a pitiable weakness really, sentimentality. I have since removed all ties to it. Immediately, her horn lit up and fired several bolts of magic in my direction. The bolts deflected harmlessly off of my hand, but it seemed that it wasn't all she had in store as copies of herself suddenly surrounded me. "Ah ah ah, attempting to copy my tricks is a poor form of flattery my dear princess." I said mockingly. "You must understand that magic is always a serious matter." Luna grunted in surprise as my own likeness possessed her illusions. She quickly teleported back to her group as the futility of her actions was made clear. "And mentioning her...that is worthy of punishment." I growled and snapped my fingers. The box of light surrounding Luna seemed to send a shrill jolt of terror from her white counterpart. A moment later, the blue princess was wracked with agony as I began to torture her mind, an action I was unable to finish as Starswirl and the white one attacked me simultaneously. The white one was almost negligible in comparison to my former apprentice, his spells matched even my own at the time. The white unicorn quickly noticed that she was becoming more of a hindrance than a help to Starswirl and rushed to her sister's aid. "Luna!" I heard her pain filled shriek as she attempted to wake her sibling. I almost felt guilty for causing that, something in me telling me that this was wrong, that I shouldn't be doing this. I shrugged off "Please, wake up! we can't do this without you." "And...you...shan't have to." The Luna, replied. It was a bit shocking to see that she was able to speak, let alone stand, but I suppose that could be attributed to her premature escape from my mental assault. "Dimentio, stand down. You know Esmer would never approve of what you are doing. Even when she went mad, she would not see her subjects treated like cattle." Starswirl said as he put himself between the two sisters and I. "I told you to never mention her!" I roared through my mask and unleashed a powerful assault directly at him. He attempted to shield himself but to no avail as my bolts began to crack his barrier. In desperation he warped to the side of the other unicorns. "You were once such a kind king..." The Celestia said as she looked at me with hardly veiled sadness. The smallest pang of guilt resonated within him. "You and Queen Esmer took my sister and I in and practically raised us as your own! I have no idea what happened to the queen, but whatever caused her death warped you as well. Your once caring eyes and crown of gold have been replaced by orbs of madness and hate behind a mask." "You always did like to wax poetic." I sighed, this time simply dismissing the mention of Esmer as I realized that I was actually beginning to waste my strength and time by allowing anger to distract me. I backed away from the group and sat back down in my throne. "This 'fight' is over." I said simply. "You haven't the strength to dethrone me, you will never have that kind of power." "Do not think that this battle is won Dimentio, We have acquired a power to match even yours!" Starswirl yelled back at me, in response to what I believed to be a bluff, I laughed. "You have always told me to take magic seriously...perhaps it is time for you to practice what you preach." "Hohoho, how long did it take you to come up with that one liner, dear Starswirl?" I laughed in response. "Regardless, you should know better than anyone else that I am always dead serious. There is no way to match my power in this world that I created." "It's time Starswirl, we can't beat him unless we use it." Celestia said as the trio got into some strange triangular formation. "You did not create this world alone, your wife put countermeasures in place to stop intervention by your father, a being much more powerful than even you. There is no reason they would not work against you." Starswirl said eliciting surprise from myself as a strange power linked he and his unicorn pals. This can't be happening, there is no way that they had found it. I thought, panicking slightly as I realized what I was now facing. "I call upon the tree of harmony, to bring balance to your ultimate order, to bring life back into this land, and to end your reign once and for all!" Starswirl declared as a second light burst through the window and combined with the power that the three unicorns had been channeling. I hardly had time to yelp before a massive blast of light struck me and seemed to split me into pieces. I recognized this power, it had been the failsafe that Esmer and I created to deter my father or any other beings that had achieved multiversal godhood. The entire purpose of the Tree's spell was to separate a being's consciousness, body, and power. the victim's power would be split into the closest living beings. The consciousness would then be banished from the dimension for eternity. The victim's The body would then be used as material as their knowledge would be copied into a tome that once opened would break the spell keeping them from returning. Most of my energy was absorbed by Starswirl, quite a bit of my aura also seemed to attach the two sisters that were present, while the rest of it along with what I could see of my body becoming pages in some massive tome. Starswirl most likely succumbed to the power and his defiance against order, before everything went black I saw him clutch his head as two antlers emerged on either side of his horn as his eyes yellowed. "Ciao...for now." I said in a way that could have chilled the mightiest of heroes. I knew that the Tree of Harmony wasn't a perfect tool, my body and my power could be taken from me, yes, my consciousness can be banished from this dimension, oh yes, but if someone were to read that book, to cast one of the spells within...I would be back, temporarily bound to that book, sure, but that would only be a minor setback. My true body was gone, turned into a massive spellbook it seemed. My consciousness survived though, and was expelled from this peaceful world that is called Equestria and forced to wander through dimensions to find a host to pass the time... Perhaps one day I would return. "Ah ha ha. I can hardly stand the wait."