This is the story of a gem. A small thing to talk about, but this wasn't an average gem....

Long ago, in another age, an evil creature named Discord ruled Equestria. He reigned in chaos and terror for centuries. Nopony could feel joy or hope. Darker feelings began to creep into the world; greed, anger, and fear. And Discord used this to his advantage. He took five gems from a mountain and infused them with dark magic. He gave one gem to each leader of the pony races. The final two were given to the ponies of the Northern Ice Realm and the unicorns of the Southern Mountains.

Discord called the gems gifts for his subjects. Little did they know that he took a sixth stone for himself. He poured his very soul into the gem, poisoning it to the core. He had created the Master Gem. And now he could use it to control the rest.

The gems darkened the spirits of every pony in Equestria. And worse...

The unicorns of the Southern Mountains became as black as night, their bodies riddled with holes as the gem devoured all feelings of love. Discord recruited them as his personal army after discovering their talent for shape-shifting. He allowed them to roam through Equestria, feeding off whatever joy was left in the land.

The ponies of the Northern Ice Realm disappeared in the blink of an eye, never to be seen again.

But the worst fate was left to the three leaders of the pony races. They held to their gems out of greed. And the gems consumed them. They became nothing more than the shapes of ponies, no longer living, but neither were they dead. They became the foremost servants of Discord, the Fallen Ones.

It seemed that the draconequus would rule eternally.

But there were two who resisted....

Two alicorn sisters saw the terror of Discord's rule. And they vowed to free Equestria. They gathered what forces they could and marched on the Tower, Discord's fortress under the Southern Mountains. Any other pony would have called it foolhardy to go up against the Changeling Army, especially when they had ten times as many warriors. But no pony retreated as the alicorns led them into battle. Ponies and changelings alike fell across the battlefield as the fighting began. And even more would fall over the next few hours.

The younger alicorn sister fought her way to Discord. He sat upon his throne, watching the carnage with a smile. The alicorn stopped in front of him and challenged him to one-on-one combat. Discord stood up, the Gem hanging by a chain around his neck, and stepped forward to meet his challenger. The alicorn barely finished her first spell before she was defeated, her unconscious body flung across the battlefield.

The elder alicorn stood frozen in shock and horror as she watched her sister fall against the mountain. Whatever hatred she had held back was now unleashed as she charged Discord. It's said that she battled him for three days, no food or rest. But the power of the Gem would not yield. Discord struck the alicorn down. She refused however to die without first seeing her sister again. She pulled herself to her feet and ran to her sister's body, Discord in pursuit.

The younger alicorn had not perished, but she was unable to move. Her eyes opened weakly as her sister yelled her name. But instead of focusing on her kin, she focused on the beast behind her. Discord was ready to deal his final blow and lunged forward.

There was a single sound that echoed through the Tower. A cracking noise.

Discord looked down to see a fracture in the Gem. The alicorn had pierced the Gem with her horn. She muttered something under her breath and a powerful magic was unleashed. She didn't know what the outcome would be, but she hoped it was better than what had almost happened.

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A flash of light lit up the darkened sky.

Something dropped into the river with a 'kerplunk'.

And it sank to the riverbed.

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When the magic dissipated the Gem was gone and Discord had turned to stone. The alicorn sisters watched as their nemesis began to crumble and fall apart.

Equestria was free of its tyrant.

The Changling Army fled from the Tower. The Fallen Ones were never found, considered destroyed with the Gem. And peace had finally come.

The alicorn sisters refused to be their rulers out of fear of becoming like Discord. Instead they helped establish Equestria's first democracy.

After the first hundred years, the sisters decided that they were no longer needed. They disappeared without a word. As time passed, the alicorn sisters became legend, and legend became myth.

A thousand years of peace passed. Discord had become an old mare's tale, changelings were nothing more than figments of a young foal's imagination, and the Gem didn't exist.

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Pinkie wandered along the riverbank, the sun shining in the sky. She closed her eyes and smiled. "What a beautiful day!"

She sat down on the bank and put her rear hooves in the water. It was nice and cool. She leaned forward until all four hooves were submerged. After deciding that wasn't enough, she bellyflopped into the river.

She began swimming around, enjoying the feeling of the water against her body. She had never been happier than she was at that moment.

And then her hoof hit something...

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A single changeling walked past the bones of her own kind and ponies. The Tower was littered with them. She made her way to a pile of rubble and sat next to it. For years she had been coming here to pay her respects. None of her warriors questioned her. You never question your queen.

'Clack'

Her eyes widened. Had that rock just....

'Clack'

The stone was moving. It rolled itself to another stone and they began to glow. The glow persisted until the two stones had become one.

More stones began to roll. The changeling watched as the rubble began to form a shape.

A claw. And a foot. And a head! A smile crept onto the changeling's face

"Master."

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