Author's Note

I fixed up a part of this chapter I've been meaning to mend for a year. I'm going to work on the next batch of chapters, and they should start coming out soon.

I'm so sorry for the long hiatus!

Prologue

The Forerunners, A Species Lost In Time
Chapter 1, Prologue

Long, long ago, before the reign of the Princesses, before the existence of the Elements of Harmony, before the dawn of ponykind, our world was not our own. Our world was but a hunk of rock, molten and burning. But then they came. A great race stood tall, one that traversed the very heavens, harnessed the energy of the countless universes besides our own. A race that created worlds, captured stars, invented new life, and bringing peace wherever they went, only to leave behind their great civilization. The Forerunners.

They made great ships of metal and light, sailing through the black canvas of space and growing structures within the earth. They resided throughout, living long past our own, when we came. And then, one day, they vanished. But their legend remained. And as the sands of time moved on, trickling through their hourglass, we lost our memories of the great people that stood above us, bearing the burden of the Mantle. This is the last great compendium of their society, and this is their story.

-------------------- 99,000 Years Before The Reign Of The Princesses --------------------

Hardlight-Shines-Eternal stood on the bridge, hands clasped behind his back as he gazed at the anomaly. He was clad in his silver and icy cyan armor, angular helmet folded back so he could feel the light of the star before him. He was in a transport shuttle, having just exited the realm of Slipspace to continue towards his objective, which hid behind the large ball of fire and gas before him. No, what he was travelling to was his new residence, orders straight from the Iso-Didact himself. He was to go to a Halo ring, one that had been moved to where the anomaly stayed.

The oddity was unique, above all other things. The star orbited the planet, not the other way around. Furthermore, it was close to the size of a red dwarf, yet was the brilliant yellow of the average star. And strangest of all, was that it did not move by gravity. The Forerunners had stumbled upon the blue-green planet, landing on new turf. They found many strange species, ranging from creatures with golden-furred hindquarters and avian fronts to the fauna that moved the sun.

He shook his head in amazement. The so-called ponies, specifically a large group of unicorns, combined together to use something they called magic to shift the celestial object across the heavens. Some of the residents, mainly the hybrid “griffons” and “minotaurs” were extremely warlike, and were avoided by the Forerunners. This system was so out of the way, it was nigh impossible for the Flood to infect the planet. “Approaching objective. Prepare for landing,” a voice said, the ship’s ancilla. Hardlight sighed, before forming his helmet with a thought. He stepped onto the surface of the Halo ring, a hand guarding his eyes from the sun.

He walked, following his objective until he came upon an inconspicuous structure. It was a bunker, and inside lay a cryostorage pod, where he would sleep and wait for the return to the Mantle. He smiled softly, setting his Lightrifle and Scattershot on the nearby rack for care and storage. Settling into the pod, he waited for the cold and black to seep in. While he laid in his catatonic state, the Halo ring settled into a orbit that matched the sun, so it would remain hidden until he was needed.

-------------------- Present day, Twilight Sparkle’s library --------------------

Twilight Sparkle heaved a sigh, shutting the large tome in front of her. She stood up on her hooves, joints creaking in protest. She picked up the book with levitation, shelving it back under ‘F’ in the Myths section. “I really don’t know why that was in History, it’s just a load of fairytales.” She muttered, glancing at The Forerunners, A Species Lost In Time with suspicion.

Suddenly shadow fell upon the tree, casting the unicorn in darkness. She quickly teleported outside, then quickly shielded her eyes from the blinding white that surrounded a black dot. She had read about these, but only in books written a very long time ago. It was a solar eclipse, an event that occurred less than once every millenium. Something different poked out of the white, however, something that was curved. As it floated gently out of the painful shine of the eclipse, Twilight gasped. Before her eyes, resting near the sun, was an enormous ring. She rushed inside to message the Princesses about it, nervous and excited that it might be something new.

-------------------- Canterlot, the Royal Palace --------------------

Princess Celestia sat upon her throne, gazing throughout the enormous hall. Eyes lingering on the window that showed the defeat of Nightmare Moon, she began remembering the joy she felt at having Luna back, a happiness she still felt. Suddenly a scroll appeared before her, and she opened it. It was a letter from Twilight, about how a giant ring was next to her sun. Her eyes squinted in confusement, before she turned to look outside.

And she was met with an awe-inspiring sight. A massive ring indeed sat by her fiery charge, light reflecting off of the object. She swore she saw clouds, oceans, and even the green of forests on the inside, before she was interrupted by the doors banging open to reveal a wounded guard. “Princess!” He shouted, coughing up blood. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight, the guard had multiple spear shafts sunk in his body, as well as numerous lacerations. “The grif-griffons are…” He gasped, lungs starting to fail, collapsing to the ground in front of the shocked mare. “They’re attacking.”

He went limp with one final sigh, eyes clouding over in death. Celestia was shell-shocked, not having seen such horror since the day she had banished Nightmare Moon. Having one of her little ponies fall dead hurt her, much more than all the wounds the guard had accumulated. She looked back at the ring, and made a decision. Her horn glowed gold, and she vanished in a brilliant flash.

-------------------- Halo Ring --------------------

A large flash like a sun appeared in the middle of a clearing, before bursting to reveal a tall, white alicorn. Celestia looked around, taking in how everything appeared safe, then began walking, not noticing that a single blue eye was following her.

The Sentinel watched the creature that had somehow appeared in its patrol route, flying behind and above the intruder. It activated one of its emitters, sending information to the lone Forerunner ancilla aboard the Halo ring. The ancilla acknowledged, before ordering the Sentinel to keep its eye on the alien while it began waking the last surviving Forerunner, Hardlight-Shines-Eternal. The lights buried and hidden throughout the structure began glowing, activating dusty archives and towering citadels, bringing to life the long-dead superweapon.

Hardlight was needed.