Prologue: Dawn of the First Night
Prologue: Dawn of the First Night
At the dawn of the 1000th year of the reign of Princess Celestia, the land of Equestria has faced many threats to the inhabitants of the mystical land. The return of many villains predestined to occur had come to pass: Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra.
Those who sought to plunge the world into darkness for their own nefarious desires and cause disharmony among the ponies of the land. Yet time and time again the heroine wielders of the Elements of Harmony come to stop them. It is both a time of chaos and peace not seen in the land for many ages.
All was well in the town of Ponyville. The birds singing with the morning light gleaming upon their colorful feathers. The market was blooming, aloud with the energized chatter of its citizens as they went about their daily lives.
Applejack was bucking at the trees in Sweet Apple Acres to harvest the ripened and sweet fruit. Rainbow Dash sped through the sky as per her usual ritual of cloud clearing, her weather duties keeping her busy. Fluttershy was attending to some animals on the outer rim of the Everfree Forest as Rarity brought along the Cutie Mark Crusaders for another sleepover so she could focus on her work. Pinkie Pie of course, was up to her usual antics in the Cakes’ shop, planning the birthday parties of the next lucky filly or colt she would meet that day.
Though, as the others knew, one pony as usual stayed around her books, studying the day away as though her life depended on it. Unbeknown to anypony, her life and the others depended on it.
Twilight Sparkle, the element of Magic had just searched through her books for another source of studying material. Spike had gone out for the day to teach Peewee, his pet phoenix to fly with Owlowiscious. Of course, she had to deal with trying to find a book on her own, though as frustrating as it was, she endured for her pursuit of knowledge.
“I hope Spike and Owlowiscious are having an easier time teaching Peewee to fly than I am trying to find one book.” thought Twilight, scouring the higher shelves of her library home, using her magic to sweep every book from its place to the floor in a pile.
It had been six months since their adventure in the Crystal Empire and seeing that she had passed the test, Princess Celestia had given her a new lesson plan. Her latest task was to find and read a book she had never seen before, but was assured was in her stock at the Ponyville Library.
6 Months Ago- Canterlot, Princess Celestia’s Throne Room
“Princess, what are we doing for our next lesson?” asked the curious purple pony, her eye wide with anticipation at her next level of studies with her esteemed mentor.
“Patience Twilight, you’ve asked me this question for a good fortnight. But now is the time to tell you.” said Princess Celestia, her horn glowing with magic.
A small crystal materialized suddenly in front of Twilight, giving off a bright sheen from its blue coloration. It seemed to be engraved with small symbols that looked like an ancient language.
“This, my faithful student, is an artifact of our past. Carved into it is a prophecy written before my reign. As you can see, it is written in an older Equestrian dialect. Even I have not translated it properly, but I believe you can.” said the white alicorn, pacing around her student.
“However, I must warn you. Whatever knowledge you find must never be revealed to anypony.”
Twilight’s face stood blank with uncertainty. She started to respond: “Even my friends, Princess?”
“Even your friends, Twilight Sparkle. What you may find out from the stone could change our land forever.”
Twilight lifted the stone, surrounding it in a magical aura to bring it closer to her face. The way that the stone seemed to give off an evil glint irked the purple unicorn. It was like the stone was trying to be ominous about its inner workings. She turned it around, as if trying to read it without the cypher.
“Excuse me, Princess. But how am I supposed to translate this? There isn’t a cypher on the stone, and even you said you couldn’t translate it fully.”
“Well, you’re in luck, my dear student. There is one such book that holds all of the information you seek right in Ponyville. It’s called….
Present Day: Ponyville
“The History of Equestria?” thought Twilight, lifting the heavy book from its place on the shelf. It had a cover of pressed letter, embossed with the golden letters that bore its title, which she touched with a hoof. Strangely enough, the book responded to the touch, jumping into the air and flipping its pages on its own, as if possessed by an unseen force. Taken aback, Twilight leaped backward as the book slowly stopped and lowered itself unto the floor, showing off a picture of the stone.
As she moved toward the book, it turned a 180 degree angle to meet her face, as if it was trying to help her find out what she needed to know. The words, then a long line of deep black symbols staining the page, turned into a simpler font for her to read. It became a diagram of the stone, where to activate it, and the descriptions for each symbol.
“The Stone of Truths- An item that possesses the ability to give a brief summary of the history of Equestria, and what many call a prophecy into its future. To the unwary user, it is only a simple mineral trinket, but with its method of activation, became a great tool and useful guide to the life of its owner.”
Twilight stared at the stone, dumbfounded at its abilities. She started becoming frantic to the thought, hoping that this wasn’t another wild goose chase like her Time Traveling adventure.
“But the Princess gave this to me, so it has to be important.” she thought, and crept up the book, lifting it up with her magic to finish reading its contents.
“However, the stone has a horrible price. The price paid for the prophecy is the revelation of one’s own worst fears coming true. So be forewarned, do not use the stone unless you wish to suffer agony beyond mental progression.”
Though unsettled by the ominous passages, Twilight put the book down on her desk and looked toward the stone. Lifting it up with a burst of magic, she focused on a small patch of symbols on the side the book indicated, she focused her thoughts into the stone.
The room had suddenly gone quiet.
There was no wind howling through the trees, no gleeful cries from ecstatic ponies outside. The room quivered in response to the magic she forced into the crystal.
It glowed brightly as the new sun greeting the morning. Just as brightly as one of Princess Luna’s full moons rising from the heavens to lull the ponies to sleep.
Then it became dark. The crystal shook, fragmenting into thousands of small pieces. The crystalline structure then gathered, moving as though it was made of water. The liquid crystal then surrounded Twilight, who was in a panicked state. As she was sealed, she began hearing a voice ring deeply in her ears, as if something was calling to her from within the artifact.
Then, as suddenly as it had become dark, there was a dull light glowing in front of Twilight's face. It was a lantern, held in the hooves of an ethereal pony that beckoned her. Coming closer to the being, it began giving her a curious stare, its’ blank eyes staring straight through her as it spoke in a gravelly voice.
“O ye, who enter the sanctum of this artifact, be warned. The answers you seek will change the course of this land for eons, but you will only suffer for as long as you stay.”
Twilight bowed as a sign of respect toward the pony, laying her head low to the ground.
“Doth thou showst some respect, child. Ye shall know what you must learn.”
The ethereal pony waved its free hoof in the air, calling upon a cloud of golden dust to surround the purple unicorn. Twilight stood in shock, ready to receive the knowledge she had worked so hard to find.
The prophecy that would seal the fate of her home, her friends, and life itself was spoken.
“All you know is lost. As though who are closest to you are gone. The end of an era has passed”
“As Equestria is falling.”