Prologue: Origin

"Hello there little one. Know that I will be with you from now on. Our bond was sealed the moment you first drew breath, and so it shall remain until your last."

The newborn unicorn cooed softly in his bassinet as the smiling faces of his parents looked down at him. His wide blue eyes sparkled in the light. If one looked closely enough, they could see just the slightest hint of laughter in them, as if someone had just told a great joke.

The nurse walked over to the parents. "Have you decided on a name yet?"

"Yes, his name is Scamp" said the mother lovingly.

Looking down at the baby, the nurse could see why they had chosen that name. He had the look of a real prankster, like he might one day be a great entertainer. She smiled as she thought of the bright future that lay ahead for the little unicorn.

"That'll do nicely" she said as she left to attend to the other newborns.

"None of them yet know what you're capable of, my little star. Nor should they ever find out until you're ready. I will make you powerful, and together we shall do amazing things."

The little colt hummed quietly to himself as he played with his toys. He was only 2 years old, but he could already perform amazing magical feats. His parents couldn't really explain it, as their magical talents weren't anything special, nor did they have any powerful family members to speak of. Yet, here was little baby Scamp, levitating blocks as if it was second nature to him.

"I swear, that kid's incredible. I've never seen anypony his age that could do that!" his father exclaimed proudly.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd though, dear?" his wife asked. "I mean, there's no reason for him to be that powerful. It just... scares me a little, that's all."

"Ahh you worry too much. I'm sure he's just got some kind of natural talent or something."

"What if... what if he grows up to be a freak? What if the other children will be afraid of him?"

Now the father began to look a little worried, having thought of his little baby boy being made fun of for being different. For being special. "Nah," he said, attempting to sound reassuring, "he'll be fine. I'm sure he'll have lots of friends to play with."

One of the blocks Scamp had been levitating through the air fell squarely on his head, causing him to cry. His mother rushed over and scooped him up in her arms, rocking him gently.

"Shh, it's OK baby. Shhh."

There was a flash of something in his eyes. It was there briefly, but his mother noticed it all the same. It looked like intense anger, and hatred. Just then, blocks began flying around the room as if being thrown by a child on a temper tantrum, yet there was no magical glow around any of them, so it couldn't possibly have been Scamp.

"Could it?" the mother thought to herself. "No, that's crazy... simply crazy."

"Wow, would you look at that." said the father. "That's umm, that's a bit scary. Scamp isn't doing that is he? I don't see his horn glowing."

The mother looked down at her child, unsure of what to think. That anger in his eyes, she was sure she had seen it. It was there for just a second, right before the blocks began flying.

"Weird." the mother said, a hint of fear in her voice. "Very weird."

"You are very special, my dear. You should never allow yourself to be mistreated, ever. If anyone ever dares to strike you or harm you in any way, you must show them the error of their ways. Show them what fools they are, and make them pay!"

Little Scamp roared viciously at the three colts who were making fun of him. How dare they? How dare they? Scamp had always known that he was special, he could feel it for as long as he could remember. He knew that he was better than all of his peers, that they were just jealous. Still, when they called him names like "freak" and "weirdo" it hurt, and made him angry.

"You take it back! Take it all back!" Scamp screamed at them.

They laughed once more. One of them spoke up and said, "And what are ya gonna do if we don't? Cry and run home to mommy?"

"Yeah, he's nothing but a little crybaby!" said another.

The 7 year old couldn't take it anymore, his anger was reaching the boiling point. His eyes began to change color, from blue to a strange shade of green, and his horn started to glow similarly. Objects from all over the playground began to fly in every direction. Three beams of light shot out from Scamp's horn, and into the three bully's heads. They were instantly frozen in place like statues, their eyes showing pure horror.

The teacher ran over to see what was going on, and noticed Scamp standing in front of three horrified colts. She hadn't the slightest clue what was going on, but she knew she had to put a stop to it.

"Scamp, that's enough! Stop what you're doing immediately!" she screamed, her voice shaky.

"No! They made fun of me! I told them to stop but they wouldn't listen!"

Suddenly, without any warning, everything that had been flying around dropped to the ground, and Scamp had passed out, tired from exerting himself. The three colts who had been making fun of him snapped out of their trance and ran screaming from the playground.

"Keep him away from me!" screamed one of them.

"He's a monster!" shouted another.

The third didn't say a word, nor did he ever speak again. Something had scared him so badly that it took his voice entirely.

"Soon, my little one. Soon. I have given you so much power, and soon you will be ready to face them. Then you will have it all."

Tonight was the night. Ever since that day on the playground 11 years ago, Scamp had prepared for this one moment. That day, he was made aware just how powerful he was. His cutie mark had appeared after he passed out. When he awoke, the school nurse was talking about it with his parents. They mentioned that his cutie mark was the symbol for "Chaos". He had asked what that word meant, but no one would tell him, and they never spoke of it again.

Once things had died down a little, he was allowed to go back to school. He spent most of his free time in the library reading about chaos and finding out why his parents wouldn't talk to him about it. Chaos was a very scary thing for a unicorn to embrace, for chaos magic was the most powerful, and perhaps the most evil form of magic there was.

He knew then what his destiny was. He was to become the ruler of Equestria, using his powerful chaos magic. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna could never hope to stand against him!

He had spent so much time preparing, so many nights in solitude practicing his spells. All that time he spent alone began to make him slightly deranged. He would mutter to himself all the time, and he had taken to calling himself a different name than the one his parents gave him. Goatroth, it was. He didn't know why, the name just had a nice ring to it. He had heard it in a dream one night and it just stuck.

Goatroth approached the royal palace silently.

"Good, the guards seem to have left their posts unguarded for a few minutes, now's my chance!" he muttered to himself.

He casually strode in to Celestia's throne room only to find it empty. Where had she gone? Somehow, he knew. She was wandering the palace halls. He began to search for her. He found her walking the halls with Luna at her side. The two were talking about something, whatever it was Goatroth didn't care, he was about to strike!

"Hello ladies!" he proclaimed loudly. "My name is Goatroth, and I've come to dispose of you and take my place as ruler of Equestria!"

Luna snapped around quickly, "Who are you and how did you get in here?" she snarled at him.

Celestia turned and stared in amazement at this bold unicorn before her. She had absolutely no reason to fear him, yet... there was something about him. She had sensed a dark power within him.

"Luna, be careful. Something isn't right with this pony."

Before either of them could speak further, Goatroth began to cast a spell directly at them. Celestia easily deflected it.

"No, you fool! It's too soon!"spoke a voice inside Goatroth's head.

"What? Huh? Who said that?" he said out loud.

"This pony's crazy!" Luna yelled.

"Hush Luna, and listen. He's responding to a voice we can't hear, a voice that's very real. Something is feeding him power, there's nothing we can do for him now but banish him."

"You don't mean...?"

"I'm afraid so. He's been possessed by a demon from the underworld. If we allow him to stay here his power will grow and he will be unstoppable! There's no other way."

Celestia was saddened to have to use this spell on one of her beloved subjects. She knew, though, that there really was no other way. If the princesses didn't act fast, the demon feeding him would give him a huge surge of power and he would be capable of destroying them both. Beams of brilliant white light shot out from Celestia and Luna's horns, meeting in mid-air.

Then, a completely different voice started to speak through Goatroth.

"If you banish me now, I will be back. You cannot keep me from your realm indefinitely." The voice was not of this world. It had a creepy, ethereal quality to it. "Wait for my return. On that night you shall see blood spilled on the very stars themselves, and then you will pay!"

The princesses directed the powerful spell at the evil creature. A blinding flash of white light filled the entire hallway. When it faded, the possessed pony had vanished completely.

"Do you really think he'll come back?" Luna asked her sister.

"I hope not, little sis... I truly hope not."