Prolouge: Two battles in a dusty tome
The young prince galloped at full speed down the hall towards the throne room, the source of the great cacophony that had woken him from his slumber. He turned the corner and looked upon the room from the balcony over the throne of his father and , at one point, his grandfather. Said relatives stood below him, horns ablaze and swords raised in a telepathic aura as a statement of defiance against the army of humans that stood on the threshold of the room and continued back into the city.
The royal guards continued to make dents in the horde but their progress was slowing as they were sorely outnumbered. The leader of the humans stepped forward and raised his staff, causing bolts of dark magic to course towards the king and his father only to bounce of their shields of pure etheric energy. They both then flapped their wings and rose into the air, shooting lightning into the horde as they rose. At the peak if their flight the eyes of the two royals grew a bright white and arcs of fire and lightning began striking down humans left and right. They were tearing the army to shreds or at least trying to.
The human leader leaped in the air with a snarl and speed like lightning. He struck the elder with a rapier and broke the shield. The human continued to strike the elder and soon the former king fell to the floor with a grunt as a gash formed down his left side and into his chest. The king roared in rage and came down on the human leader who began blocking with both his sword and staff. The king began charging a large spell as the human leader stumbled but he was struck by an arrow from the seemingly endless horde of humans that had filled in the doorway again as their leader fought the royals.
The king was staggered and the human leader saw his chance and as the prince watched in horror, a sword was run through his father's chest. The king fell but not before using the last of his magic to destroy much of the human force that remained. The prince dived from the balcony with a shriek and began furiously blasting the horde with any magic he could muster. The human leader snarled as he deftly dodged the blasts and rushed the prince but stumbled as a sudden blast hit his sword arm. He grunted as the prince paused with tears streaming down from his bloodshot eyes. The human leader looked over his broken horde, now dwindling in number from the prince's furious assault. He then examined his arm, torn and coursing with pain from the prince's magic, and though he desperately wanted the vault and its contents he was no fool and he knew that the orb gave the prince greater power than both the true king and the elder king. He rushed through the door and gave the order to retreat and planned to return at a later date after he had rebuilt and renewed his forces. As the humans fled the young prince went to his father's corpse and fell to his knees. The smell of burned human flesh filled the air but he did not care. He stayed there all night and wept.
AGE: 2984 Pre-Nightmare
The king examined the scene before him and he was reminded of that night so many years ago. The humans had returned and were once again on his doorstep thanks to their sheer numbers. He turned away from the window and began to descend to the throne room. On the way he laid his hoof on a bright red orb and was filled with new energy. He smirked as he approached the balcony overlooking the throne room as some humans had already climbed up to the top. His horn flashed and they were reduced to ash. Since that night his power had grown as had his control over it, simple humans were nothing to him. He descended the stairs to the main floor and saw the human leader from that night walk through the door. He was followed by six ornately dressed warriors with very ostentatious necklaces around their necks. At the center of each was a jewel. The king raised his sword in preparation for the inevitable battle and was just in time as the human leader rushed him with a piercing battle cry. The human leader had also grown in strength, more than the king had expected. This time however, the leader used only a sword and his technique had changed because of it, this caused the king to be more cautious than normal.
For what seemed like hours the two clashed with swords and, when those broke, spells. Eventually the separated and stood on opposite sides of the room, each panting and covered in bruises and other various injuries from their furious battle. Suddenly the leader smiled and with one quick motion commanded the six that were with him to attack. The king readied himself and began charging the strongest attack spell he knew. From what he could see these six had no actual armor, just fancy robes.
Then the six began rising in the air and a mysterious energy surrounded them and as the king let his spell loose the energy focused into a beam and flew toward him. The two magical forces missed each other by centimeters and each hit their targets. The six humans were gone, not even their necklaces remained, but the king remained standing. But he was not unscathed. He could feel the effects of the energy coursing through him and as he stared at his right forehoof it became clear. The hoof was stone, and he would soon be stone as well.
The human leader smirked evilly at this and stepped forward to look at the defeated king. The king simply smiled as his orb appeared beside him. He whispered a spell and the orb vanished. The human leader backed up at this and stared in horror as the castle began to also become stone. He scowled and ran out of the room, screaming the retreat order. He was the last human out of the city before it became nothing but a stone husk and sank beneath the sand...
Twilight Sparkle, purple unicorn and Princess of Friendship, lifted her eyes from the ancient and dusty tome. She had been doing some research into what Equestria knew of humans and Princess Celestia had directed her to an underground chamber near Canterlot. She had found many things here including this book that detailed a mysterious series of events that were supposed to tell the tale of why no humans are in Equestria but after what she just read the pages just ended. She was, however, surprised to find that humans had once been natives of this dimension and planned to follow up this research in the history wing of her castle's library at a later date.
She stood up on her hooves, eyes aching from the several hours she had just spent reading in the dimly lit chamber. Shelves lined the stone brick walls of the chamber and books lined the shelves. The only source of light was a single enchanted torch and it did very little. She was a bit skeptical about this place at first but the books she had read, along with Celestia telling her that everything in the chamber was true, had her convinced. She looked at the several notes she had scribbled as she read and used her magic to roll up the scroll and put it in a nearby saddlebag. She ruffled her wings to loosen them up and stretched out to loosen her muscles. She then looked at the clock she had brought with her, she had been reading for... SEVEN HOURS! That was a record even for her.
She now turned to Spike, who had just woken from a long nap, and said "Spike take a letter please." The dragon promptly grabbed a quill and scroll from his bag and prepared to write.
Dear Princess Celestia
My research in the old study has honestly left me with more questions than answers. However I did uncover that humans once lived in Equestria and had quite the population as well. I plan to follow up the research in the history wing of my castle. I would like to ask one thing about what I have been reading. You see in one book a royal house is mentioned because it was often in conflict with the humans. However, the name of the house was never mentioned though it gave a drawing of their insignia. It was a gray alicorn in a red circle that appeared to be on fire, if you have any information on this house please notify me as soon as possible.
Your fellow ruler, Twilight Sparkle