Prologue: Equestria Falls
Equestria was once a beautiful and harmonic world. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, and many other powerful and mysterious creatures lived in peace among each other. True, there were many forces that threatened Equestria over the years, but they were always beaten back by six special ponies who wielded powerful artifacts called the Elements of Harmony. Using these, the six friends protected Equestria from eternal night, eternal chaos, (whatever Chrysalis and the Changelings would have brought), and even slavery under a tyrannical lord of shadow.
This is the story of the time when the power of friendship failed. This is the story... of when Oblivion arrived in Equestria.
It all started one normal, rather peaceful day. Ponies of a quiet town called Ponyville frolicked and played and enjoyed the great whether around them. In the town library, an alicorn named Twilight Sparkle and her baby dragon assistant, Spike were busy with study and all that crap. Suddenly, Spike belched up a letter from the ruler of their land, Princess Celestia. Twilight used her magic to levitate the letter in front of her to read it. When she finished reading it, a look of confused horror came across her face. “Spike,” she said to her assistant, “write a reply to the Princess immediately. Tell her we’ll be at Canterlot as fast as we can.” Twilight then galloped out of the room, wings extended and ready for takeoff.
“Twilight, wait!” Spike called after Twilight, “What did the Princess want?” But despite his calls, Twilight was well out of range of his voice.
Twilight flew all over Ponyville to rally her friends to inform them of Celestia’s letter. First going to Cloudsdale, city of the pegasi race, to get her friend Rainbow Dash, a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. Next, she went to Sweet Apple Acres, where most of Ponyville’s food comes from, to find her friend Applejack, an orange earth pony with a yellow mane tied in a ponytail and topped with a hat. Next, a cottage outside Ponyville where her friend Fluttershy, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane, lived. After gathering those three, she went to Carousel Boutique, a dress shop near the center of town, where her friend Rarity, a white unicorn with a curly purple mane, lived. Finally, she went to Sugarcube Corner, the local sweets shop, where she gathered her last friend Pinkie Pie, a pink earth pony with a poofy hot pink mane. After they were all gathered, Twilight explained her urgency. She explained the Princess’s letter and what it contained. All six of them were in agreement that there was no time to lose and headed immediately to the train station, where they were immediately recognized as the six ponies who have wielded the Elements of Harmony in the past and let onto the train at once.
Later, at Canterlot Castle, Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were impatiently waiting for the arrival of Twilight and her friends. When they finally arrived, Celestia wasted no time before getting to explaining why she summoned the six ponies. “Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said, “all of you. Equestria is in danger far beyond anything that could possibly exist,”
“What is it, Princess?” Twilight asked.
“A powerful creature that was thought to only be a legend,” Cadence replied.
“One unlike anything that any of us have ever faced,” Luna added.
“Well what is it?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying up to the front of the group. “With the way you’re describing it, it sounds like we don’t have very long before something really bad happens.”
“It is a creature that calls itself Oblivion,” Celestia said. “A powerful entity who commands an army of creatures known only as Flesh Eaters.”
“He is a creature that is said to be able to devour entire dimensions within days,” Luna added. “And he is headed towards Equestria as we speak.”
“So if he’s so powerful,” Twilight said, stepping forward, “how do you know we’ll be able to beat him? I mean, he has an army, he can devour dimensions, for all we know, he can... shoot lasers from his eyes!”
“Don’t worry, Twilight,” Cadence said. “I’m sure that with all of our combined powers, we can stand a chance against this Oblivion guy.”
The battle was over in a matter of minutes. Bodies of dead ponies were strewn about the charred and scorched landscape. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, crystal ponies.... Not a single soul was spared. And Oblivion didn’t even stop at the ponies. Many other powerful creatures, a griffon named Gilda, a hydra, even Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony, were useless against Oblivion’s tremendous force.
Twilight Sparkle and the other alicorns were the last to stand, but even they could barely stand. Twilight looked out at the landscape. The bodies of her friends held in Oblivion’s energy field and ground to dust in a second. The Elements of Harmony lay shattered before Oblivion’s hooves. Twilight looked up at Oblivion. He was an alicorn as well, but he was far different from her and the others. His coat was a deep black, his eyes and mane a blood-red, and his expression sinister. “How could you do such a thing?” Twilight asked, tearing up. “How could you... MURDER so many innocent souls?” Oblivion did not reply except with an energy blast which knocked Twilight across the charred field, finally landing about a football field’s length away. She tried to get up, but she couldn’t and fell back to the ground, dead. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence charged at Oblivion after this, hoping their combined strength would be enough to defeat him. Oblivion simply sent them flying with another burst of magic. Celestia and Cadence were killed, but Luna barely survived, though playing dead and hoping Oblivion would leave her be. She could feel Oblivion’s hoofsteps as he approached her and tried to be as still as possible. However, Oblivion walked past her towards Celestia, who was already dead.
“So,” Oblivion said in a thundering voice, “this is the mighty Princess Celestia.” Oblivion picked up her lifeless body with his magic and crushed her like he did to Twilight’s friends. “Pathetic.” Oblivion then began walking off. “Next stop... Earth.”
“I’m alive,” Princess Luna said quietly after a while, hardly believing that it was her own voice that said it. “I’m alive.”