The King of Crystallum

Hope is a waking dream.

In the darkness of the past hope was all that remained and the future was born on the hopes of countless dreamers. No greater hope had there been in those times than the three strenuous days of the Congress of Equestria. In the Castle of the Two Sisters, the promise of peace and harmony was brought to life, the tensions between the Empire and Safanad set aside and the world itself was brought together against the vainglorious powers that spilled malice into the hearts of many innocent lives.

The names of the Honored Orders of that day – Golden Fleece, Iron Forest, and Rising Sun- are enshrined in the memory of Equestria, continued by Their Majesties Royal Guard, and moment by moment their legacy grows. So increases the tragic infamy that would stalk the names of the soldiers who would turn their blades against them – Hikanatoi, Vasilissas Froura, and Dimondian Guard- who before then would be the advance guard to a burning Saddle Arabia. Worst of all was the monstrous King Sombra against whom is heaped a greater tally of death and destruction than any other name before or since. This story, however, does not exist to condemn the late King for his crimes, or to lionize the loyal warriors of Equestria, but instead to provide a record of truth to a fading memory. Within this entry, I have rendered witness, you will find knowledge believed lost by many, a dangerous blasphemy that denies the romantic mythologies of young, self-important scholars and a growing faith in the untainted nobility of our nation. I would speak of the barbarity and folly of those who would soon be called heroes, and tell of the virtues once held by those who would be so viciously condemned and of the simple desires of mares and stallions who sought to do good.

I shall speak of the crucial moment that forged the future in which we now walk. I shall speak of the Congress of Equestria, at a time when the Mad King was considered by many a saint.

I saw, with my own eyes, and this is my testament. I was there when the Hikanatoi and Golden Fleece laughed and cursed one another, sharing drink in the Rose-Petal Tavern. I witnessed the skies of the Everfree freezing with cold and darkness on the day King Sombra arrived, and hope followed with him. I heard the cheers of thousands, when the Great Five stood together as friends.

I was there.