The Meaning of Eternity

by LightningStruckTower

Chapter 1 Upon a Shooting Star

Chapter 1

Upon A Shooting Star

Princess Luna let out a sigh. As usual, she stood watch during the hours of the night, more commonly skipping from dream to dream among the loving subjects. But tonight something has kept her rooted in reality, even until the wee hours of the morning. She felt a pensive apprehension that she can’t seem to shake. A bright flash snapped her out of her reverie, and she glanced to its source. There seemed to be an incongruity in the sky, where the stars were... different. After a few more seconds of observation, she realized that the incongruity is widening slowly. It stopped after a few more seconds. From the center of the discrepancy rocketed a meteor in a fiery haze. Luna gasped, and desperately tried to divert its course, to send it back towards the heavens, but to no avail. A force coming from the object itself prevented any interference on her part.

Next she tried probing the object for any inclination of what it is, but she was blocked by a presence. There seemed to be an "awareness" inside of the object. As to its nature, she only learned one thing; It reminded her of a half remembered melody, a hazy memory, or mostly forgotten dream.

The object crashed to the surface, deep within the Everfree forest, and produced a boom heard faintly even in Canterlot. In moments, Celestia arrived at Luna’s side, and Luna told her everything. Celestia reaches out to probe the object herself, but the way she snaps back to herself indicates she met the same resistance. She wears a funny look on her face, but Luna is unsure if it is fear… or something else. Luna glanced back to the sky, and noticed the hole had vanished. Celestia began rapidly scribbling a note, before sending it off as a wisp of flame.

“When I return in a few moments, we will go to Ponyville, get the girls and arm them with the Elements. For now, I’m going to rouse Discord. Once we’re prepared, we go to investigate.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________

An explosion rocked Ponyville. In the library, Twilight Sparkle snapped awake, almost falling out of bed as the ground shuddered in response to the celestial impact. She rushed to the window, followed closely by Spike. A smoky trail hung in the starry sky: evidence of a meteor. Torn between an eagerness to find the bolide and the instinct to make sure her friends were okay, Twilight stood motionless for a moment before deciding on the best course of action.

“Spike, take a letter.”

As Spike reached for a quill and paper, his body convulsed slightly before belching out a hastily written note.

“Twilight, calm Ponyville if need be, and collect your friends in the library. Will be there soon. –PC.”

Tucking the letter away, she made for the door, followed closely by Spike. When she opened it, she grimaced at what she saw, despite being unsurprised.

“The horror! The horror!”

Ponies rushed screaming in every direction. Several had even passed out in the street. Parents snatched their foals in fear, running around the town square before pelting to their homes and slamming the doors shut. After disdainfully viewing the spectacle for a few moments she unfurled her wings, rose into the air and inhaled deeply.

“EVERYPONY CALM DOWN!”

All eyes snapped to the mare as she lowered herself to the ground.

“Seriously! I understand that the noise was startling, I mean I almost fell off my bed, but what could possibly warrant this mayhem?”

“Pinkie Pie said it was a good idea” blurted a pony.

Twilight rolled her eyes. Of course it would be Pinkie instigating this.

“Is anyone hurt or in danger?” Twilight asked.

“…No.” answered another.

“Well, then running and screaming isn’t a good idea. It’s just a shooting star, and there is nothing to worry about. The other princesses will be here soon, and we will study the meteor. I promise, it’ll be nothing more than a rock. So if you could simply go home, calmly, I assure you nothing more will happen and nothing will go wrong.”

There were grumbles from the crowd and they began to disperse, but Twilight hardly noticed. Her next task was to corral her friends for the coming royalty, and was dead-set on making sure everything was in order.

“I might as well get Pinkie first,” Twilight thought aloud. “After all, it’s best for everyone if I can get my eye on her as soon as possible.”

She angled her way towards Sugarcube Corner, Spike bobbing slightly on her back as she slipped into a trot. In a mere five minutes, the bakery came into view. The pair could hear the twins bawling all the way to the corner, and as they got closer Twilight began to empathize with the couple. Spike’s sympathies, however, lay elsewhere.

“That’s pretty much how I feel after being practically blown out of bed at this hour.” He grumbled.

Twilight, already somewhat exasperated with the others, merely rolled her eyes in response. When she reached the door, she was forced to knock loudly several times before she was answered. Mr. Cake came to the door, but only opened it wide enough to allow his head through.

“Is there something I can do for you, Princess?” He asked tentatively.

“Yes, please. Is Pinkie here? I need her to come with me.”

“Of course! She’s upstairs sleeping. I’ll get her up and out for you.”

Twilight’s eye twitched slightly as the door was closed in front of her.

“Sleeping!?” She seethed. “You mean she woke up long enough to throw the town into chaos, then just returned to bed?”

After a minor wait, the door swung wide, revealing the eye assaulting burst of a pink pony. Twilight immediately found herself in a rib-crushing hug, which lasted just a little longer than it should have.

“Good… urk… morning, oof.. Pinkie.” Twilight managed to squeeze out.

When Pinkie finally let go, Twilight gasped for breath just as Pinkie began speaking at a mile a minute.

“OhmygoshTwilightdidyouhearthatboomIdidandIgotoutofbedandrantothetowncenterand…”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said, cutting her off. “I am in need of your help. But you have to keep it between us and the other girls.”

Pinkie made her trademark promise in the blink of an eye.

“Okay. I need you to get Rarity and Fluttershy, and bring them to the library. If they ask any questions tell them I have the answers. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”

“Gosh, Twilight. What’s the matter? You’re acting like the shooting star was more than just a shooting star but you don’t want anypony to know.”

Again Twilight’s eye twitched.

“Exactly, Pinkie. That’s why you promised to keep it between our friends.”

“….Oh”

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment before continuing.

“Now if we could get sta…”

When Twilight opened her eyes, Pinkie was already trotting towards Carousel Boutique. Twilight let loose yet another sigh, and chalked it up to Pinkie being Pinkie. However, her mind soon returned to more important matters. She glanced up to the sky and cast her eyes about for a moment until she alighted upon Rainbow Dash’s house. She nudged Spike to make sure he was ready, before taking flight towards her friend’s place. When she arrived, she was relieved to find a much quieter atmosphere. A couple knocks are all it takes to get Rainbow’s attention.

“What is it, Twi?” She asks sleepily, wearing a tan nightcap with a pattern of golden compass
roses. “I was just getting back to bed when you knocked.”

“The princess needs us to meet up in the library. She sent me a note, and even though she didn’t mention it, I’d bet a year’s worth of bits that her visit will be about the meteor.”

Rainbow mumbled something unintelligible as she turned inside and tossed the cap onto her couch.

“Alright then. To the library?”

“Not yet,” Twilight responded. “We have to get Applejack.”

“Wait, you didn’t come and get me last? That farmpony is more of a morning pony than any of us!”

“I got you first for two reasons. Firstly, AJ can’t fly. Secondly, even if I came to get you last, you’d still be irritated about being up this early.”

Dash let out an irritated snort before conceding that Twilight’s logic was spot-on. Again. As the pair made their way over to the Apple family’s land, Rainbow seem to make it her personal mission to weasel every bit of information she could out of Twilight. Unfortunately, she learned that Twilight wasn’t much for theorizing, and in an unprecedented situation like this, she was just as lost as Rainbow was. Soon, the interrogation came to an abrupt end as they descended towards the farm, and they were both surprised to see the family awake and outside, busying themselves with the trees. The circled for a minute before locating Applejack, and quickly landed by her. Dash was the first to speak.

“How, and why, are you all up so early?”

“We’re up ‘cause we gotta collect all these ‘fore they rot. Least the ones that ain’t bruised, anyway” answered Applejack indicating the apples on the ground. “When that rock hit, luckily durin’ applebuckin’ season, it shook a lotta apples outta the trees, and the farm cain’t handle losin’ all that produce. On the bright side, we ain’t gotta buck as many trees this year ‘round.”

By the end of her statement, the rest of the Apple family had stopped collecting and made their way over. Twilight chose then to mention the reason for the visit.

“I hate to take you away from your work, but it’s at the urgent request of Princess Celestia that you meet with us in the library. She needs us, and hasn’t said why, but I’m almost positive it has to do with the impact.”

Applejack was hesitant to go along, for understandable reasons.

“It’s alright, child,” Granny Smith assured her. “If’n the princesses need ya, it must be fer a good reason. We’ll be fine.”

“You sure, Granny?” AJ asked, trying to conceal the worry in her voice but failing miserably.

“I’m sure. Go on now, don’t keep them princesses waitin’!”

Applejack then reluctantly turned and headed towards town with her friends, and the farther she got from the farm, the faster she was willing to go. However, she did remain silent for the entirety of the trip to the library.

When they finally made it back to the library, the light of the sun was brushing the low eastern horizon, and the world seemed to slow slightly, as dawn approached. Twilight pushed open the door, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Pinkie had managed to get both Rarity and Fluttershy on time. Twilight’s relaxed demeanor lasted a mere second however, before she noticed that the princesses, along with Discord were in attendance as well.

“Thank goodness,” exclaimed Celestia. “We are now nearly ready go.”

Twilight thought it strange that Celestia seemed so driven to get a move on that she had skipped the small talk she so often indulged in. This realization only served to increase Twilight’s apprehension rather than eagerness towards the investigation of the bolide. Not wanting to disappoint, Twilight spoke up.

“What more do we need?”

“Why, the Elements of course,” Celestia answered, indicating the glass case to her right.

Twilight was growing more and more reluctant to journey to the crater by the moment, but still she acquiesced, and distributed each talisman to its respective bearer. Once that process was complete, Celestia waited no longer.

“Spike, please remain here. The rest of you, follow me.”

The command was not harsh, but nor was it particularly friendly. The six friends glanced among each other, their curiosity piqued. They followed, but Twilight was last, offering what she hoped was a reassuring smile to Spike as she closed the door.

The walk to the forest edge went silently, as they did not wish to awaken Ponyville. The sunrise had been postponed slightly by Celestia, just to afford the party time to slip through town unnoticed. Once they were successfully concealed by the trees of the Everfree forest, the sun began its ascent once more. The only talking, during the trip to the site were quick whispered exchanges, usually just apologies for clumsiness.

After what was probably three hours of brisk walking, the group came upon the site where the object had so obviously struck. The crater itself was roughly sixty feet in diameter, and possibly twenty feet deep. The every tree within a quarter mile radius had been either uprooted or blown clean of its foliage. In the center of the crater, however, lied a rock possibly ten feet in diameter. As they approached, the Elements began to hum and vibrate slightly, and the closer they pressed the more the Elements hummed. By the time they stood at the edge of the crater, the tiara was practically shaking Twilight’s whole body, and a quick glance around told her that she wasn’t the only on in discomfort.

“Can we take these off?” Pinkie questioned. “It feels weird, but not in a good way, more like in a this-is-shaking-my-whole-body-and-I-don’t-like-it-kinda-way.”

“Unfortunately not,” Celestia answered sternly. “Look.”

Everyone pulled their attention back to the meteor, which was humming at an identical frequency while slowly rising. It stopped its ascent when its base was level with the ground the ponies stood upon. At that point, the humming of the meteor and Elements intensified. The vibrating intensified to the point the rock began to fracture. The stone fell to the bottom of the crater, revealing a strange box.

The box was the source of the noise and vibrating, and once it was fully exposed, it and the Elements ceased humming. The box itself was about nine feet long and four feet wide. It was made out of a strange metal that was beautiful and hypnotizing. It appeared to be flowing slightly, even though it couldn’t have possibly been a liquid. There were breaks in the metal, and these breaks were patterns of lines that followed each other, perfectly straight with perfect angles at their turns. They were giving off a whitish-blue aura that was absolutely entrancing, and after a moment of admiration and pure awe, almost everyone began chattering.

“…Amazing.”

“Absolutely magnificent!”

“It’s really nice.”

“Gol-ly.”

“Awesome!”

“Shine-tastic!!!”

The girls glanced over to the three elders. Celestia remained silent, apparently deep in thought. Discord wore a very worried expression, as if he knew what was going on, and was genuinely afraid. Luna, however, glanced up to the sky.

“It makes me ponder… What other mysteries do the heavens hold?”

High above, unbeknownst to them, a starship slid out of a hole in space, emblazoned E.T.I.S.C. Road To The Rising Sun, and overlooked a seemingly barren, rocky and lifeless planet.