A/N: this is a preview of the first chapter, of the three part finale, that will end the series.

The Beginning of the End: prologue

It was a beautiful sunny, day over the peaceful, majestic city of Canterlot, and everypony was out doing their daily jobs, running their shops, their business's, and other sorts of things.

Even the students of the Canterlot University, were all hard at work, studying for various tests, or researching projects, everypony was calmed and relaxed, that except for a certain one.

(Canterlot University, student dorm)

"Aw, where is it, I know I put it here somewhere, why can't I find it?" a unicorn said as he ran around his room, looking through drawers and shelves, he was interrupted by another pony walking into the room, with a saddle bag, around his body, when he saw the pony running around the room frantically, he was shocked and sighed.

"Dusk, I thought you were ready, everything's packed, were going to be late for the interview, come on, hurry up" he said, the panicked pony turned to him, "I know, but I can't find our tape recorder, I know it's here, I set everything up last night" he said, the other unicorn just sighed and began looking around the room, when his eyes rested on the bed side table, "yeah, I think I found it" he said as he picked it up, the panicked one gave a sigh of relief, "now hurry up, the others are waiting" he said as he left the room, Dusk walked over to his bag and set the recorder inside, he put it on his back and ran out the door, and closed it behind him.

(Canterlot University, main campus)

As the left the building, they walked across the campus, passing other ponies that were walking to their classes, they had been given special permission by the dean of the school to leave campus and perform their interview, for their important research project.

As they walked up to the main gates, they saw two other ponies there, both of them with bags around their bodies, one of them was male, the other was female, who smiled at Dusk as they walked up.

"guys, what took you so long, we need to get to the senior citizens home, before it's too late" he said, the other pony sighed, "yeah I know, but Dusk here was taking forever" he said as they walked up, Dusk frowned, "hey come on, you guys know I'm not good at last minute packing" he said as the mare walked up to him, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "oh well, let's just try and get there on time" she said looking up at him, one of the ponies looked at his watch, "well then, let's get going, this is something we can't afford to miss, luckily it's not far, let's start walking" he said as he placed the bag over his back, and started walking, the others followed him.

(Canterlot, Senior Citizen's Home)

After walking for a few blocks, passing other ponies along the street, they reached their destination, a large building that read 'Senior Citizens Home', the looed at each other with bright smiles, and made their way up the steps, and in to the building.

As they entered, they looked around and saw other ponies, sitting around the room, obviously waiting to see their fathers or mothers, or even grandparents, they turned to the center of the room, and saw a mare in a nurses outfit sitting behind a desk, looking through record books, they all turned to each other, and walked up, as they approached the mare looked up and placed the record book, on the table and looked up at them with a smile.

"Yes, how can I help you four today?" she asked with a kind smile, they all looked at Dusk, he sighed and turned to her and did his best to look decent, "um yes, we're here from the University, we have a scheduled interview, with a um…Mr. Gale, is he available?' he asked the nurse looked through another record book, and placed a hoof, on a specific page.

"ah yes, I do believe he is, I'm his personal nurse, I'll take you to him, I'm sure he would enjoy visitors, he doesn't get many, except for his son, and other family members, please follow me" she said as she lead them across the room, they looked all around, many of the ponies in the room were elderly, except for visitors and nurse's, many of them playing simple games like chess, others reading books.

As they walked across the room, they turned down a hallway, they saw some nurses pushing patients in wheelchairs, others helping the patients, with their walking, soon their walked up a set of stairs, that led to the second floor, they soon turned down another hall, and came up to a door, she took a deep breath, and raised her hoof up and knocked on the door, and waited for a few minutes, they heard a raspy voice on the other side, "yes, come in" said an elderly voice.

The nurse opened the door and they all walked in, the room was well decorated, they saw a nicely set up bed, the bedside table, there was a picture of a much younger stallion, a beautiful young mare, and a young colt, beside that lay a vase filled with flowers.

They continued looking around the room, they rested their eyes on the elderly stallion, looking out the window; he was sitting in a chair, calmly looking at the ponies passing by, in the street below, "Mr. Gale you have some visitors" she said as she walked up to him, and placed a hoof on his shoulder, he turned and looked at her with a smile, "thank you my dear" he said as he tried pushing himself up, but found it very difficult, and he would have fallen down, if it wasn't for the nurse, who helped him up, he turned the chair and sat down once again, facing the four students.

"The students from the university are here for the interview, will you be alright, with that?" she asked in a caring tone, "of course dear, thank you, you're too kind for this old stallion" he said, she smiled at him and walked back to the students, "don't get rough, he's probably one of the oldest patients we have here, but he's very wise, if he asks you a question, I suggest being honest, if you need anything, please call" she said and she left, closing the door behind her, leaving the elderly stallion, and the four of them.

"the older one, looked up at them, his eyes looked as if he was about to fall asleep any minute, the nurse was right, he probably was one of the oldest patients, judging by the wrinkles of his face, he did look like he knew a lot.

"so, you must be the students for the University, when I received your letter, I couldn't help but notice, you wanted to interview me for a research project, you chose the Great Revolution, I'll say that is a very interesting subject" he said, Dusk placed his bag on the floor, "yes we were the ones who sent the letter, but first I must say, it's a real honor to meet you Mr. Gale, we've heard about your stories" he said extending his hoof, the elderly stallion smiled and reached out his shaky hoof, "please you can call me Night Gale if you like" he said as they shook, and stepped back, the elderly stallion gestured for the to take a seat, so they could begin.

"Just so you know if you wanted to know of the revolution, you could have gone to the city library, they have large amounts of articles, of the revolution" he said in a raspy voice.

Dusk looked at the others, and then turned back to him, and remembered what the nurse said about being honest, "yes, but everypony in our class got similar projects, the library was filled to the brim with students looking up information, we thought it best to get information, from a pony who was directly involved with the event, we found out that you lived here, and we decided it was the perfect chance to, get a real example of the events that took place" he said, the elderly stallion just looked down sadly, but then looked up at them.

"yes, I was directly involved in it, but it's been so many years since then, my memory is a bit foggy, you'll have to bear with me" he said as he cleared his throat, they all took a seat, "um, before we begin, do you mind if we record the interview, it will help make it more believable for our class, if we have verbal and video proof, that we were here" he said, the stallion looked up at them, with a confused look, but he nodded his head, they all silently gave a sigh of relief.

One of the four, pulled out, a small video camera, and pressed the record button, Dusk, reached into his bag, and pulled out his tape recorder, and a notepad filled with questions, he levitated a pencil out and placed it behind his ears, and pressed record on the tape.

"Okay, first we wanted to know, how old were you when it all started?" he asked, the stallion, looked to the side and thought for a moment, knowing it might be hard for him to remember, they all waited patiently, he then looked back up at them, "I was probably about as old as you all are, I attended the university myself, when I was younger, but if you want to know what really happened, I'll tell you the whole story, but it will take a while, so you might want to get comfortable" he said as he attempted to readjust in his seat, but after some struggling, he succeeded and sighed.

The four of them waited patiently for him to continue, he son looked up at them, is eyes seemed more lively now, "let me tell you the story of how one pony's lust for revenge, changed this kingdom forever, the story of how one pony's corrupted ambition, shook this kingdom, but most importantly, let me tell you the story, of how my father, Flame, died to protect those he cared about" he said, with a serious look on his face.

The students just listened intently, as he started to tell the story.

A/N: well there you have it, the preview for the first part of the grand finale, hope you all enjoyed, there might be another, so keep an eye out for that.