Equestria and the world it is a part of holds a rich modern culture. Fire breathing dragons, majestic yet greedy griffons, shapeshifting changelings, magical ponies, and much, much more. However, as rich of a culture it has, most it’s history is a great unknown. This is because a period of time before the time considered ancient by most. Only stories of this time frame survived.

In that time, there were great beasts known as Behemoths that roamed the land, terrorizing the people that lived there. These Behemoths held a power that made them impossible to beat on the field of battle. For generations of unknown amounts of time, the people could only live in fear of their lives from day to day.

That is not to say that the Behemoths lived in Harmony with each other. Every day, each one had to constantly compete with others for food and for the raw magic that literally seeped from the ground. Territory was a must as well. It is because of those conflicts, that someone found a means to fight back.

A man, who’s name is forgotten, ended up stumbling on the site of such a territory fight between Behemoths. One of them still lived, but barely. All around it was a large gathering of corpses that easily hinted it’s overexertion. Despite the fear he felt, the man reached forth and began to tend to the beast’s wounds.

As he aided the beast in its recovery, a bond between them began to form. The man’s care generated a type of gratitude from the beast that seemed to give it purpose and a drive to live. At the rough time of its recovery, another Behemoth came to challenge for territory and raw magic. It’s newfound purpose and drive to live led to a swift victory for the beast in honor of its healer.

However, despite the true bond between the two, the man saw an opportunity to harness this power for the benefit of his species. He taught the various villages of his tribe on how to tame these behemoths and he even traveled abroad to teach the other tribes and their villages how, all in preparation for a 100-year purge.

From there, a century of bloodshed occurred, Purging the land of the Behemoths. When peace was established, the Behemoths were wiped from the land and the beasts that were on the side of our ancestors died having fulfilled a life-changing purpose. As they died, their very essences eventually became part of their handlers, allowing each tribe to be able to wield magic in their own varied ways.

“The magic from the beasts changed our ancestors into the various creatures and ponies we know of today,” Sunburst read aloud while seated in his disorderly office in the Crystal Empire. The unicorn was deeply into the history that Starswirl the Bearded hypothesized came before many known ancient events (both by the perspective of modern ponies and the perspective of those ancient ponies). He turned the page and continued reading. “The many ponies I questioned on these stories and events all told variations of what I have written, but among all tellings, one thing was common. A call to be vigilant for the return of the Behemoths, but also to look forward to when many would be able to wield their power, both in size and strength. Eventual research into this will be needed to further understand this supposed foretelling of the future.” Sunburst saw that the journal ended there.

“That was a very good read,” he muttered to himself in deep contemplation. “It seems that Starswirl had doubts about a potential prophecy and I can see why. No actual written records of it.” Sunburst stood up from his chair and began pacing around the room with a hand on his chin. “But the idea of an ancient form of magic sounds interesting. The only place I can think of that would have that kind of magic would be the Everfree Forest near Ponyville.”

“But said forest didn’t really exist during the time of Starswirl...unless the magic began to seep from the ground there,” he began to hypothesize, his pace of pacing and his excitement growing with each step. “It makes sense. Most Unicorn Scholars guess that the Everfree is a font of wild magic that keeps itself from failing like the Badlands without pony care. It’s like an oil lamp, but the flame is the forest and the oil is the magic!”

Starburst then grabbed a suitcase and began packing, excited the whole time. “I do hope I have the bits for this, because this could be the find of a lifetime!”

Author's Note

I got the idea for this from some pictures. Silly pictures.