PROLOGUE
"For thousands of years, the magical land of Equestria has depended on its many generations of heroes for protection. Among them have been the Pillars of Old Equestria and the Royal Sisters.
However, before the founding of Equestria—back when it was called Ponyland—its only protection was an elite group of unicorn sorcerers led by the self-righteous Gusty the Great.
For years, Gusty and her unicorns defended the ponies of Ponyland from their enemies. That was until a new enemy arose: a ram known only as Grogar.
Grogar used unspeakable dark magic to conquer Ponyland and destroy its rulers. He created monsters—pure abominations—from the parts of already-existing animals. And with it, he renamed Ponyland into an empire of darkness: Tambelon.
Centuries passed, and many ponies lost hope of ever regaining their freedom. However, Gusty managed to reunite the three tribes under her leadership. And, together, they battled Grogar with all their might.
Harnessing the power of the three pony tribes, Gusty weakened Grogar long enough for her to steal his source of magic. This source—deemed the 'Bewitching Bell'—was a talisman of pure hatred and destruction. She neutralized its power and banished Grogar to another realm.
Unfortunately, the battle left Gusty extremely weak, and she used the last of her power to hide the Bewitching Bell in an enchanted cave atop Mt. Everhoof. And with that, Gusty the Great perished.
Soon, her apprentice, Star Swirl, would become the new guardian of Ponyland. And soon after, he would take an apprentice of his own—Clover the Clever.
As time went on, however, many ponies forgot the unity brought about by Gusty the Great. They grew further and further apart… until they were three separate nations.
High atop the Crystal Mountains was the Unicorn Kingdom, where the aristocratic unicorns practised their magic. In the clouds, isolated from everyone else, was the Pegasus Alliance, where pegasus warriors trained for battle. And spread across the mainland was the Earth Pony Confederacy, where the earth ponies tended to their farmland.
The three nations—divided as they were—managed to coexist, albeit grudgingly. But then the legendary windigoes arrived. The three pony leaders blamed each other for their misfortune and soon concluded they would have to find new land.
That may have sounded like a formidable plan in theory, yet in truth, the only land free from the blizzard was the land the three claimed for their own. As tensions rose, the winter returned, and the three leaders and their seconds hid in a cave.
The leaders continued their bickering until the blizzard froze them in enchanted ice. With nowhere to turn, their seconds made amends for the fighting, and Clover the Clever—the mage among them—defeated the windigoes and melted the ice. The three pony leaders soon thawed, and as their bodies melted, so did their hearts, and the result was a united land: Equestria.
With the windigoes gone, the ponies of Equestria slowly rebuilt their kingdom. The three nations fell. And soon, the daughters of the original rulers of Ponyland took their rightful place as rulers of Equestria.
After Star Swirl and his allies—the Pillars—disappeared, the Royal Sisters took their mantle. They used the power of the elusive Elements of Harmony to defend Equestria from evil.
However, the younger sister, Princess Luna, became jealous of the elder and transformed into the wicked Nightmare Moon. Reluctantly, her elder sister—Princess Celestia—banished her to the moon, waiting for the day the new bearers of the Elements would free her.
Over 1,000 years later, a young unicorn named Twilight Sparkle—Princess Celestia's protegee—alongside her dragon friend Spike and her friends became the new Element-bearers and freed Princess Luna. They defended Equestria longer than the Pillars or even the Royal Sisters had. And soon, Twilight Sparkle became an alicorn, given the title "Princess of Friendship."
In their time as defenders of Equestria, the Mane Six faced many threats and villains.
- Nightmare Moon, who would have brought about Night Everlasting had the Mane Six not freed Luna.
- Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, who threatened to transform Equestria into a land of madness.
- Queen Chrysalis, the leader of the shapeshifting changelings who nearly single-hoofedly conquered Equestria and ruined the wedding of Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.
- King Sombra, the tyrannical shadow-like ruler of the Crystal Empire, who threatened to destroy the source of light and hope in Equestria.
- Sunset Shimmer, Princess Celestia's former protegee, who stole the Element of Magic and almost conquered another realm.
- Lord Tirek, a centaur who could absorb the magic of any living creature.
- The Sirens, a trio of deadly singers who would have defeated Twilight had a redeemed Sunset Shimmer not stood up to them.
- Starlight Glimmer, a pony who would have destroyed time itself had Princess Twilight not helped her redeem herself.
- The Pony of Shadows, the archenemy of the Pillars of Old Equestria, who would have turned Equestria upside-down had the Element-bearers and Pillars not defeated him.
- The Storm King, a tyrannical satyr who would have destroyed Equus had the Element-bearers not defeated him.
- Cozy Glow, a filly who almost drained all Equestrian magic to another realm.
Eventually, the friends would replace the Royal Sisters, facing their greatest threat yet: The Legion of Doom. A trio of villains from the heroines' past—Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow—revitalized by a redeemed Discord as a test gone wrong for Princess Twilight. Powerful, the Legion threatened to destroy the very foundation of Equestria.
Yet even after they destroyed the Elements of Harmony and brought back the windigoes, the ponies of Equestria and their diverse allies managed to defeat the Legion and imprison them in stone.
Five years have passed since then, and Equestria has now become home to all creatures, not just the three pony tribes. There are now dragons, hippogriffs, reformed changelings, and even kirin who now roam the cities of Equestria, not only as neighbours… but as friends.
However, hiding deep in the shadows where Tambelon's capitol once stood is a foe more powerful than any these six heroines have ever faced, prepared to reclaim what rightfully belongs to him."
