Sky-blue eyes peered out from the shadows. Glass was all separated them from the pale light of the moon. They blinked and descended back into the darkness.
A candle's flame flickered into existence, helped a by a spark of gold aura. The candle lit up it's surroundings, revealing a weathered scroll, brown and brittle with age. A small brass ink pot sat next to it on the wooden floor, a feather quill resting gently next to it.
The same gold aura unrolled the scroll and gently held the feather aloft, dipping it into the ink pot and bringing it to hover over the the parchment.
'Ten of Three, First Month of Early Spring, Year 5557, ATU' scrawled itself across the parchment in curly calligraphy, the wet ink shining in the candlelight.
"Let's see," mused a soft, feminine voice. "How to start this?"
"Why not from the beginning?" offered another voice, causing the original speaker to start, dropping the quill; which was quickly caught in an aura.
"The beginning?" parroted the first voice.
"Of course," came the response. "After all, isn't the beginning where all great stories begin?"
"The beginning..." mused the first voice. Golden aura gently took the quill from the other's grasp, dispelling the foreign aura. The quill touched the scroll.
"During the times when our world was young, Three Tribes existed. Not among each other in the Name-sake of their creator, but they lived against each other in disharmony and hatred. For their differences, they said, were too great to become one with one another.
This made their Mother very sad, for it was She who gave them life, and it was She who valued them so. With each passing century, She grew weaker and weaker, as did Her virtues, Her children, for they relied on the balance and joy their Mother's creations made.
However, with time, the youngest of Her children, Magic, contracted a sickness. All soon realized that, should they lose the precious child, all would come to ruin, for Magic was the balance of life in every living thing.
She, the Mother of all, made a decision. She decreed that Her children would teach Her creations and become one with the mortals they chose. Her children would teach Her creations the truth and acceptance about each other, and assist all in coming to realize what She had been trying to teach them all along.
However, She realized that those who were chosen to wield her children had to become worthy of such a task. So She created a test. A test that would take six individuals to complete. Two from each Tribe. To pass it, those from each Tribe would have to learn to love and love with acceptance for each other, or die. It was said that those who were chosen, never came back.
It seemed Her creations would never learn their lesson, and, despite Her best efforts, the test became more and more corrupted with each passing century. And with it, Her youngest, Magic.
But everything changed for the worst when catastrophe stuck those who lived with wings in the great skies, leaving only a thousand few left. The Trail of Fallen Feathers.
However, unbeknownst to Her creations, there existed another world, one where those with both wings and arcane energy lived, watching and guarding over Her creations, as She had tasked them to do so. T'was the world where the Holder of the Sun Star, Queen Sunshine, and the Wielder of Shadows and the Moon, King Darkness, hailed from.
Sent there on a mission to help the mortals find peace with one another by their predecessors, the Emperor and Empress, the King and Queen did their best to lead those they ruled over to the light. However, like the Mother Herself, their efforts proved fruitless. Only one city allowed them to be in power.
Radial City, Home of the Earth-born, Silver City, Home of the Magic-born, and Pegasite Peak, Home of the Sky-born, refused to have those who possessed all three traits of the Tribes rule over them. Each were a proud race, and to do so would be a stain upon their pride. So it was this way, for many a century, until travesty hit the Peak of the Pegasii, weakening thier numbers by many.
You see, dear reader, while the Three tribes lived in constant fear and hatred of each-other, war did not happen all the time. In fact, thanks to vigilant efforts of the King and Queen, a trade route was built mid Silver City and the Peak of Pegasii, establishing a tense relationship between the two great cities. Thus, tensions were reduced, and as the news spread, the city under the King and Queen prospered and grew in numbers, for the people were finally seeing the truth of what their Mother had been trying to teach them all along.
Regardless, the King and Queen continued to lose hope, for those who saw the light were becoming fewer and further in between. The Trail of Fallen Feathers lay heavy upon the hearts of the Sky-born, and they laid blame on the magic-born of Silver City. War broke out once more, only to be broken by the King and Queen, who were greatly injured in the battle.
Returning home, the King and Queen realized that they had been poisoned, Their wounds would not heal. But they couldn't be allowed to dwell on this, for yet another century had passed its course, and the test loomed on all once more.
The King and Queen made their pilgrimage to Elysium, Home of the Alicorns; a tradition they did every century, to plead for their Mother's children to take flight and make their way to planet once more. To govern the test and see if maybe this time, there were ones worthy enough to wield them.
Little did all know, Magic, the youngest, had grown too weak, and the corruption, hatred, and fear of the Tribes' contempt for each other had ravaged and twisted her mind. It was she that had caused the Trail of Fallen Feathers. And it would be she to make sure that, whoever took the test next, would not survive.
And it is here, that our story begins...