Prologue: Foreword - The Ages of Equus.

Greetings gentle reader: within this tome lies a collection and compendium of accounts detailing the history of the Equestrian nation and its ponies, as well as other historical documents and accounts kept herein. I spent years gathering as much information as I could, perusing countless museums and archives for the material that would allow this book to exist. Even interviews with the Princesses themselves and the foremost scholars of the kingdom were sought out and thankfully they rarely failed to impress.

Few care to examine the history of our kingdom these days. The countless events and figures that forged the nation we live in today are often forgotten or barely remembered as is. I suppose it is not particularly common to consider the darker decisions that had to be made in our past but a sense of history is important for if we are to prevent making the mistakes of our past we must first know it.

Popular history is often considered a children’s subject, presented through plays during the holidays. Of course whilst such productions are important traditions they do present a very simplistic version of events.

When I was a foal it was these plays that sparked my interest in history and began the sequence of events that led to me finding my cutie mark. This fascination would continue throughout my life. I despaired in the early days as I uncovered more information about the past and then compared it to the woefully inaccurate depictions presented to the public. It was this despair that initially encouraged and drove me to write this compendium.

Within these pages are the truth about Equestria’s past, its trials and its greatest achievements. The actions of our most famous figures are recorded and displayed for all. I sincerely hope that this book helps reminds the ponies of Equestria of what their ancestors did to allow them to live in the manner that we take for granted and that one day our descendants will do the same for us in the distant future

True Quill snr

***

Author's Notes:

AN: Slightly edited, and unfortunately accidentally unpublished/republished. Apologies everyone.