Almost ten thousand years ago, superstition and the sword ruled, it was an age of darkness, it was a world of fear. It was the first Storied Age, the Age of Heroes. Humanity was ruled by the mighty wizardkind, who were seen as gods in the skins of men. Then came the War of Wizards, wizard fought wizard, brother turned upon brother, sister slayed sister. They're destructive powers raging across the Earth, destroying everything in their path. In the end, they lost. They lost, everyone lost. Everyone but the Five. Four wizards and a witch, last of their kind, lived on. Surrendering their rulership of mankind, they vanished, seemingly forever, leaving nothing but ash,death, and the Great Seal, a massive runic seal that help all the world's magic at bay.
~2020 A.D.~
A massive unknown landmass appeared in the Atlantic Ocean. Humanity responded by sending planes and ships to investigate, only to find their machines to suddenly stop working, causing their planes to fall, killing them on impact. The boats however, managed to get much closer. They were meet with an invisible barrier. There was no penetrating it. It stopped everything, bullets, bombs, fire, grenades, knives. Everything. About a month later, however, a pony by the name of Princess Celestia appeared on an international new show reporting on what the reporters were calling "The Silent Invasion"(what can I say, reporters are weird). She explained that the barrier what due to our world and her's completing a cosmic shift that had begun ages upon ages before. Unfortunately, she said, our world was devoid of magic, and thus, instead of a portal between the worlds, the barrier had formed, impregnable to non-magical objects and beings. She also said that she and her subjects had created a serum that would transform a human being into a pony, thus allowing them to pass through the barrier. She asked the United Nations(and pretty much everyone else) for permission to set up what she called "Conversion Bureaus", to hand out the potion to those that wanted it. After three days of negotiating, the United Nations(and almost pretty much everyone else) decided to allow these buildings to be constructed. Almost five mouths passed as the Bureaus were built. When they were finished, they opened their doors. The broke, in debt, and many of the homeless flocked to the Bureaus for the serum. Thousands were converted within a month. It was during that time that The HLF(Human Liberation Front) and the PER(Ponyification Earth's Rebirth) terrorist groups were created. Five years passed, and a little more than three billion were converted, both by choice and by force. That's when people began realizing something was wrong.
The 'newfoals' ,as the ponies called them, boar little trace of their previous personalities, and seemed repulsed by the mere sight of a human. Conversion slowed to a trickle, and the HLF gained more and more support. That's when it happened. The barrier began to expand. This caused massive uproar among the remaining humans. Celestia claimed that the barrier was expanding naturally, and that all humans must convert or die from it. That's when it happened. The HLF bombed several Conversion Bureaus, killing approximately 2,000 ponies, 9,000 humans, and 1,000 newfoals. Then Celestia responded. She declared, on April 7, 2027, that conversion was now mandatory. Naturally, humanity was astounded. They fought back, killing ponies on sight. However, in the mist of the conversions,mankind had failed to keep an eye on it's creations. They were failing, the more modern and complicated the faster. Humanity's precious technology was failing, dying, not working. World wide. In 2028, the barrier's westward progress, stopped. Just, stopped. In the middle of the Atlantic, it just stopped. And it's Eastern progress split when it hit Ireland. It was like someone had pressed a small metal ball through a lump of clay. It kept advancing, but there was a pair of lumps in it.
By 2030, humankind was forced to resort to their most desperate weapons. Their electricity impossible, their bullets and bombs exhausted. Bows, arrows, swords, shields, and spears. The most ancient weapons they had. The humans numbered only a billions now, while the ponies numbered nine billion. Humanity knew it was fighting a losing battle, but they still fought on. Then, an old pagan habit resurrected one very dangerous miracle: the rune stones. Small glowing rocks engraved with mystical runes, granting the user powers unlike any seen in more than three-thousand years. It was old magic. And it had given mankind a chance.
"Hello Princess." said a male voice.
"What?! Who's there?!" shouted Princess Cadence, who had been half-asleep at her desk, in a pile of paperwork.
"Just little old me." replied the voice.
"And who is that?"
"The answer is right in front of you."
"Oh ha ha, very funny. Now stop speaking in riddles and give a straight answer."
"And why ever should I do that? It's no fun to speak plainly."
"Because I'm the Crystal Princess."
"Mmm, yes, that is true, I however, am a Magus, and as such, my rank is much higher than yours. But I wasn't speaking in riddle anyway, I am right in front of you. Maybe three meters."
"Huh? But that would mean you're... at the window."
"Yes."
"But the only one there is that small bird..."
"Yes."
"So you're tryng to say... that you're... that bird?"
"Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Someone give the girl a cookie!"
"So... you're a hawk..."
"That's merlin, that you very much. Been trapped in this form for centuries, maybe a few millennia, hard to keep track of it all when you're me... and a hawk."
"Okay... and what do you want from me?"
"Why, to help of course, and to congratulate you."
"To help with what? And to congratulate me how"
"The grief, of course. And the pregnancy."
"What grief? What pregnancy."
"Ah, you don't know yet. Well it is the way of mortals to not know things until told, expectantly if it has not happened yet."
"Huh?" asked the pink alicorn.
"Well, first of, congratulations are in order. Princess Cadence of the the Crystal Empire, you are pregnant."
"What? Really?" replied the shocked(and apparently pregnant) alicorn.
"Yes, yes. Go check if you must. Why do you think you've been throwing up so much lately?"
"I've been meaning to have that checked out but how did you know I've been throwing up?"
"The crows themselves told me."
"The who?"
"The crows. They know everything. Past, present, and future. They usually stay out of mortal affairs, but they get involved every thousand years or so. Usually during a Storied Age, but that's beside that point."
"What do you mean by mortal?"
"Well, as the crows say, "We separate things into two categories: things we can do, and things we cannot. Dieing falls into the latter category." There are three of them, three immortal, all-knowing, talking, brother crows."
"Okay." said Cadence.
"Now, as for the grief, they told me that two members of the Equestrian Royal Family were going to die within the year."
"OH NO!" the Princess exclaimed. "I must tell Aunt Celestia!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"And why is that?" she demanded.
"Because if you do, then neither can be saved."
"What do you mean?"
"I have within my power the might to save one, but only one. The other dies either way."
"Who can you save?"
"Your child."
"What?" said Cadence, confused.
"The fetus you carry within you carries a fatal curse with him. He will not survive his own birth, and evil will be unleashed when he dies."
"And what can I do?" said Cadence frantically.
"You must destroy the Great Seal."
"What?"
"Or, more specifically, your husband must destroy it. Once it is destroyed, I will be able to break the curse upon your child, and he will not only survive, but the evil will remain caged."
"Okay, where is this "Great Seal", and how does on go about destroying it?" asked Cadence.
"It is at the edge of the Barrier, within a lake shrouded in mist. It is on an island in the middle, the Isle of the Blessed. Within the center of the island, there is a circle covered in runes. Next to the circle you will find a sword. Double-edged, three feet long, black handle, steel blade. The blade must be plunged into the circle, thus undoing it."
"And where in Equestria is that?"
"Simple. It's not."
"What? It's in human territory? How is that possible?"
"I'm a sentience 5000+ year old talking bird of prey and you're asking how there's a seal that needs breaking on Earth?"
"Good point. Where is it?" The hawk flapped over to the map of Equestria/Earth and pointed with his talon.
"There."
"It's near where the barrier stopped."
"Yes. It's what's stopping that barrier."
"It is? How is that possible?"
"Do you really want me to go through to physics of a supernatural force to you? Cause I can."
"No thanks. So the seal, break it, that's all? Then you can save my foal?"
"Yes."
"Then I will get my husband immediately." She immediately left to check to see if she was really pregnant,(which she discovered she was) and tell her husband. Once she was out of earshot, the merlin spoke once more.
"It begins." And with that he flew out the window once more.
