Long before the peaceful rule of Celestia and Luna, Equestria had been divided into three separate kingdoms.
The first and largest was "Auroria", which existed in what is now known as the Crystal Empire. Auroria had been ruled by a unicorn known as King Mira, who, in most instances, was a friendly ruler known to have extravagant parties and a yearly fair to celebrate friendship and love. King Mira had an illustrious grey coat and a bright yellow mane, along friendly blue eyes that could pierce the soul.
After the discovery of the Crystal Heart the fair evolved into what is now known as the Crystal Fair. About 20 years ago, King Mira's wife of 25 years, who was pregnant at the time, disappeared one night during a long and destructive blizzard, and the next day, they found her body torn apart. King Mira took her loss hard, and vowed to find who did the terrible deed. He became lonely, but his heart was still good, and continued to rule his kingdom fairly.
The second kingdom was "Montoya", a large and barren kingdom to the south of what is today known as the Everfree Forrest. Though located in a vast desert, Montoya had been successful in harvesting stone and gems. The corrupt leader of this kingdom, Chancellor Sandstone, had been ruler for a good 35 years.
He had two daughters, Shaded Mesa and Desert Rose, who gave up their royal life so they could help those less fortunate. Montoya had been around for about 60 years, and was thinly spread out and was hard to control, so it had been spilt into 2 districts. And to make things worse, their economy was terrible, and the taxes on those less fortunate had been increasingly demanding. Shaded Mesa and Desert Rose hatted their father who had increased taxes so he could build his army, and swore that they would overthrow him, someday.
Finally, the third kingdom, which was about a third of the size of Equestria, was known as "Alicornus". Ruled by Celestia's father, King Shadowmare, an aging alicorn, Alicornus had become a great military power. Shadowmare was known for his fierceness and his dedication to the law. He would throw even the pettiest of thieves into the Canterlot dungeon.
His daughters, whom are now our glorious Princesses, Celestia and Luna, were tasked with creating stars for the night sky. Celestia and Luna were young at the time, but their magic was strong. Shadowmare raised the Sun and the Moon, and tirelessly formed the constellations.
These three Kingdoms lived in peace, but not harmony. For the downfall of these Kingdoms and the horror that followed was caused by the Darkness that existed outside these three kingdoms. And this Darkness was becoming restless, and now on the move. For it had a terribly horrible plan on how to enslave this world, which was about to unravel…
Crystasis, Auroria, Gaia, Spring, 95 B.C.E.
It was a bright and sunny spring day in Auroria's capital city, Crystasis, and sitting alone in the cities public library was a young colt, Emerald Prism, whom was reading quietly about the fall of the Great Griffin Empire. Prism's coat was a light brown, and he had a dark mane. Those who knew him would say that he was very intelligent, and very determined. Ever since he discovered his talent, the ability to control soul crystals, which contained great magical power, he had studied ancient empires, in an attempt to locate these soul crystals. His cutie mark was a white crystal surrounded in green fire.
His friends, Bronze Spirit and Rain Dasher, and he went to Crystasis's School for Extraordinary Ponies, which was for unique unicorns and pegasi. Bronze Spirit was a young unicorn with a rust brown coat and a white mane, and studied unicorn warfare. Rain Dasher was a young Pegasus with a white coat and a yellow mane. She and Prism grew up across from each other, and were the best of friends. Both Prism and Bronze had a crush on her. Her cutie mark was three glowing raindrops.
Prism had almost finished his book, when the head librarian stormed in. She looked distressed, and almost looked in pain. "Prism, why are you here and not at the crystal fair?"
Prism looked up at the aging mare. "What's the point, it happens every year, besides, I need to study for the quarter final."
"The point is, King Mira made it mandatory for everypony to go. Ever since his wife died, he has been in such a bad state, and the crystal fair is the only thing that keeps his spirit up." The librarian shifted her gaze to something behind Prism.
"But I'm just one pony, what is he going to do, send my father after me?"
A voice thundering behind him said, "Yes". Prism turned around to see his father, Steel Charmer, behind him. His father was a member of the Royal Army, and was also King Mira's best friend.
"Father! What are you doing here?"
Steel Charmer walked up to Prism and rested a hoof on his shoulder. "I was expecting to see you at the fair, but when I talked to your friends, they told me that you were at the library. Alone."
"Dad, I wasn't expecting you. You've been gone for months, and I thought you were dead." Prism got up and faced his father. "You should have written."
"I couldn't. We were stationed down near the Alicornus Border, and any communication was restricted to military use only. King Shadowmare had been building an army, and the King thought that he could have been planning war. About a week ago, a diplomat from Canterlot came and revealed that Shadowmare is only building an army to defend his kingdom. Chancellor Sandstone is considering declaring war with Alicornus, a war for resources. Shadowmare is coming to visit in a week, and discuss what course of action we need to take."
Prism knew too well that Chancellor Sandstone has always preferred war to diplomacy, and another war wouldn't be that surprising. About 8 years ago, the Chancellor declared war on Alicornus, and after a year of war, the Chancellor was defeated. For some reason, King Shadowmare allowed him to retain his position, after paying a large and crippling war tax.
"You still should have tried." He threw his hooves around his father's neck. "I missed you.
"So did I." His dad hugged him back.
After a long an affectionate hug, Prism let go, and tossed his book into his saddle bag. They left the deserted library, and headed to the fair. This day was beautiful. The entire city was strewn with banners and ribbons. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky…
Crystasis was a glorious city, much like Canterlot today. Even though the city was surrounded by icy mountains and vast tundra, the city itself was warm and grassy. King Mira had kept the cold out using a magical barrier which warmed the city and kept out the cold. Before he discovered this magic, Auroria had been a barren cold wasteland, and filled with an impenetrable darkness. Mira and a team of unicorns known as the Auroras battled the creatures of this darkness for many years, until it mysteriously vanished. After that, Mira set up four townships, each shielded by a magic barrier. Trains carried passengers between these cities, and down to Alicornus. Attacks on these trains were not common, but still worried those in Auroria.
One such attack happened less than a week ago. A passenger train was carrying a group of diplomats and experimental equipment from Dodge Junction up to Vanhoover, the southernmost town in Auroria, when a shadow descended upon the train, and attacked. No, the shadow didn't attack, but something in the shadows did. A group of search and rescue ponies found the train the next day, derailed and torn apart. They found no trace of the diplomats or the equipment. The whole kingdom was put on high alert, and King Mira knew that it was only a matter of time before another attack would take place. He couldn't have known that it would be so close to home…
King Mira was sitting alone in his throne room. He was dressed in royal unicorn armor, and wore his illustrious crown which emitted a sad blue light, for the gems in the crown were rare mood stones. It had been exactly 20 years since his wife died. He wished he could just see her once more, but such a wish was impossible.
Just as he let out a sigh, a member of his royal guard burst in. "King Mira, a pony has arrived and requests an audience with you immediately, Sir."
"Can't you see that I don't want to be disturbed? I need to prepare for my appearance at the fair. Who could be so important that you felt the need to interrupt my concentration? "
"My lord, I am truly sorry, but this visitor bears the Alicorn amulet, and demands to speak with you, sir!" The guard looked frightened, but what could frighten a royal guard, thought the king. He knew little of the Alicorn amulet, but he did know that one who bears it is of great importance.
"Where is this visitor?
"He is in the Arcanum, Sir."
Mira shuddered at the name, for that was the room in which his wife spent most her time. She said that the room pulsated with energy, and was the perfect place for studies of magic. After her death, Mira had the room closed off, and only went in there to seek comfort.
He got up, and sighed, "Go and tell my steward that I will be late for my appearance. I should be done with this visitor soon." The guard rushed out of the room, and left Mira alone.
Mira, who now was just a curious as he was sad, started the long walk across his castle, towards the Arcanum.
Upon reaching the door, he stopped. He heard mumbling from inside the room, as if two ponies were discussing something, in a foreign tongue by the sounds of it. Mira lifted his hoof, and pushed open the door. Facing the window, which looked down at the fair, was a hooded stallion, a unicorn by the looks of it. Upon hearing the door opening, the hooded visitor turned and hissed out, "Hello, King Mira. It's been a long time, too long."
"Who are you? Reveal yourself."
The unicorn removed his hood, and what Mira saw frightened him. It was indeed a unicorn, but not like any unicorn he had ever seen. He had a curved red horn, a grey coat, and a dark black mane. His eyes were like Tartaric Fire. The visitor smiled, revealing his jagged teeth. Around this terrifying unicorn's neck was an amulet, which had a ruby with metallic wings and a horn, symbolizing an alicorn.
The visitor's eyes glowed as he spoke, "They call me Sombra, Father…"