//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Elements in Harmony // by No One and Nobody //------------------------------// Prologue Several miles offshore of Equestria there sits a small volcanic island. Not many ponies think much of the place. It has long since died from some mysterious calamity buried so deeply in the pages of history that the Princess of Friendship herself would be unable to find any mention of it in her oldest books. Even the two celestial rulers themselves possessed no memories of what took place there many eons ago. The battles that were fought there have long since been forgotten; and the heroes and unspeakable evil which once did battle for the sake of Equestria have now passed on into the care of time. But even so, to forget what took place there so long ago was a truly terrible mistake for the ponies of Equestria. Not every being who was born beneath the mountain had met their end that fateful day. Deep beneath the gentle waves that lapped the white sandy beaches, many fathoms below the palm trees that swayed in the breeze, buried away inside of caves within caves slept the offspring of the ancient evil. It had slept peacefully all this time and might very well have slept till the end of Equestria itself had the mountain not belched loudly one night. Within the dark, partially submerged cavern far below the mountain chunks of rock and stone were dislodged from the ceiling and plummeted into the water as the cavern trembled from the mountain’s bout of indigestion. As the rumbling stopped and the mountain settled itself back to sleep on the quiet island, a giant stone column detached from the ceiling of the cave and slipped silently into the murky waters. Two more columns slithered into the cold saltwater and the second one twitched slightly as it submerged dragging some small rocks and pebbles with it. As the cave grew silent again several bright orbs glowed blood red beneath the surface before they blinked out and the cavern shook from a muffled THUD which resounded through the walls. The Creature was awake, and it wanted to get out of its crib and play.   Meanwhile far away, so far in fact than not even Pinkie would be able to find them. Three beings stood facing each other worry stamped on their ancient faces. “It has awoken,” said the First, “No pony will be able to stop it.” “Neither the strength of the Earth Ponies, nor the speed of the Pegasi will be a match for it,” said the Third. “And once it feeds on the Unicorns' magic no dragon, gryphon, bison, yak, zebra or otherwise will be safe.” “Once more we must call for help,” said the Second, placing four vials in front of them, “Once more we must seek out those who will truly give their all. Seek the four who only together can save all.” The First and Third took two vials each and withdrew. The First took one of the vials, which was a little longer than a pencil eraser and filled with a thin brown sliver and, holding it up, looked through it, right eye glowing. In a fast flowing stream somewhere in the Everfree Forest a boulder, wondering why its alarm clock hadn’t gone off, tried to yawn.