~ Over one thousand moons ago... ~

Twilight Sparkle had only taken one Celestia and Luna's role as rulers of Equestria for only two moons now, and she now found that she was much better at it than she first thought she would. With her best friends ruling with her, she felt like she would never be alone… even if they did have their own lives back in Ponyville to attend to. But a few days ago, a strange occurance happened over the Everfree Forest, and this led Twilight and her fellow members of the Guardians of Harmony to investigate, and what they found, looking like it had crashed into the ground, was something that nopony expected-- a book, with the cover depecting three gems-- one blue, one pink and one green, and a frog on the cover.

Deciding that this would be an answer that the secret archives in the Canterlot Library could help her with, Twilight spent what time she didn’t have filled with meetings and speeches to learn all that she could about this mysterious and maybe magical artifact. On the third day that Twilight had it, she was busy searching the archives when Spike flew in to check on her. “Twilight, give it a rest,” the small but steadily growing dragon advised. “I don’t want you to overstress yourself and go into a Twilighting mode.”

“That’s the old me, Spike,” Twilight said with a soft smile. “And I appreciate your conern. I promise, I’m not gonna overwork myself. But… this book is a mystery.”

“Have you found out anything about the language inside?” Spike asked, only for the purple alicorn to negatively shake her head, trying not to shake her crown in the process. “Not yet. It seems to be an unidentified language, but it bares some form of similarity that is tugging at my wings. I already sent Luna and Celestia a scroll, asking if they could see if they could identify the language.”

Just as she spoke, Spike barfed up a scroll, and Twilight immediately took it out and read it. “Dear Twilight, hope you are doing well. The book you found in the forest looks like it was catapulted from a world that we have not heard from in eons, known as… Amphibia.”

“Amphibia? Where is that?” Spike asked. “According to Celestia, it’s in an alternate dimension,” Twilight explained, eyes scanning the page vigorously. “And that dimension is only accessable through a magical music box… with gems that sort of look like what’s on the cover of the book!” Spike looked at the book and immediately realized that Twilight was right-- those jewels did bare a resemblance to the jewels on the music box’s picture. “But, did they say anything about how to decifer the language?”

“I’m getting to that,” Twilight’s eyes narrowed, causing Spike to chuckle nervously. “Here’s what Celestia says next. Based on what we could read, it looks as if the Mother of Olms had a prophecy envisioned for whoever was in possession of the music box, otherwise known as the Calamity Box.” But when Twilight silently read over the prophecy in her head, her eyes widened as her ears fell flat. “Oh my hoofness…”

“What? What is it?” Spike desperately asked, wanting to get a better look at what Twilight was seeing. “...oh, sorry, Spike,” Twilight apologized, snapping out of her state of shock. “It’s just… hard to believe. Listen to this: ‘Two sets of stars burning bright; one three, one six to expel the night. Should they fight or resist the fall, their choices determine the fate of all. Ponies and humans, united in power, shall defend worlds in their… final hour’.”

“Creepy…” Spike shuddered. “And look. There’s more,” Twilight said before turning back to the scroll. “We’re not sure if the six mentioned in the prophecy are you and the girls, Twilight, but I’d be careful in case the Calamity Box shows up along with the book. No one has heard from the citizens of Amphibia in many moons, so it’s hard to determine things without their guidance, since this book is from their world. I suggest keeping the book in a safe place, so no villain, if they were to escape, will get their hooves on it. Well wishes from my sister and me. Yours truly, Celestia.”

Twilight rolled up the scroll and placed it in her saddlebag that she kept with her before settling the bag on her back. “Come on, Spike. We’d better report this to the girls-- they’ve been wondering about the book too.”

“Do you think that the six mentioned ARE you and our friends? And where’s the Calamity Box now?” Spike asked as his wings fluttered to keep up with his friend/caretaker. “I don’t know,” Twilight answered honestly. “But, for all of Equestria… and Amphibia’s sake… let’s hope we don’t find out for a while.”

~ Present day in Equestria... ~

It had been almost a year since the Unity Crystals were reunited, and only about 6 months since the earth ponies discovered that they too had their own magic. In Zephyr Heights, royal guards Zoom and Thunder were accompanying Queen Haven down to the archives of the castle, so that way they could protect her from harm. “It won’t take but a moment,” the queen said to the guards. “We know, your majesty,” Zoom replied. “But we just don’t want anything happening to you-- it’s in the royal guard guide to protect all royalty.”

“...it is?” Thunder quietly asked, but Zoom slapped her partner with her wing to silence him before the queen heard. Luckily, she was ahead of them and didn’t hear. Queen Haven trotted through the archives when her eyes fell on something in particular-- a shiny golden substance. She moved the things covering it to discover the very same book Twilight Sparkle had discovered all those moons ago. Attached with it was a note-- faded, but still readable: ‘Take good care of this precious artifact, even after me and the Guardians are gone… we hope nopony will have to use it, but things may change. Yours, Twilight Sparkle’. Queen Haven’s eyes widened at this. “My hoofness… Zipp and her friends will want to see this!”

Author's Note

After many different tries, I managed to come up with the perfect story-starter! I hope it works this time... don't ask me when the next chapter is. Hoof to heart, everypony!