Throughout the ages, stars have held many points of fascination in both Equestrian and Zebrican culture. The countless pinpricks of light dancing in Luna's night sky have long been argued over. Are they simply motes of magic in the heavens, or are they something more? What is their purpose? Are we alone, or does each star support a world like their own? These questions have lead to new studies of the stars, and all related celestial phenomena. Astronomers of all species enjoy the thrill of the mystery of the heavens.
Stars all have different myths related to them. In Equestrian culture, to catch sight of a falling star is considered a portent of good fortune—that if you make a wish upon it, your wishes will come true. Another myth popular among ponies is that for every star in the sky, there is a soul up in the heavens, and that a falling star is a soul returning to the world to be reborn. Then of course there are the constellations and their relevant myths.
Conversely, the stars hold a more serious role in Zebrican mythology. The stars are the countless children of their creator, Enzu. They believe that Enzu created both Equestria and the stars above in unison, but when he became unsatisfied with his earth-born children, he abandoned the world of Equestria in favor of the star-born. At some unrecorded point in history the zebra deity returned, only to find his Equestrian children had flourished without him, many even forgetting him completely. Enraged, he began to send his star-born children down to Equestria as punishment. This turn in history is markedly known by all zebras as the first appearance of the star-spawn, more commonly known today as the Ursa Minor and Major.
Something that both Equestrian and Zebrican theologists can agree upon, however, is that there are four stars in the sky that are of a most malignant nature. While it is lost to the annals of history exactly how these four stars earned their reputation as portents of destruction, they are most well known for freeing Nightmare Moon in the myth of the Mare in the Moon. Ask a zebra their thoughts on the myth, and they will likely tell you that Enzu cursed the Equestrian Princess Luna for blaspheming his sky, corrupting her against her peoples with the Nightmare.
A lesser spoken of prophecy emerged shortly after the defeat of Nightmare Moon. It was prophesied that during summer solstice marking the sixth year since the Nightmare's failure, Enzu's four generals will return to Equestria. If not stopped, they will rid the world of not just the Alicorns, but all sentient life, thus preparing Equestria for Enzu’s return.
The Gaean Crusade
Oo-Prologue-oO
The stars in Luna's night sky were always particularly beautiful this close to the Summer Sun Celebration. It wasn't a feeling that Twilight Sparkle could really explain, but ever since her first time celebrating the summer solstice in Ponyville, she's been drawn to the night sky this time of year. She might have guessed that it had to do with it marking the beginning of her friendship with Princess Luna, but she couldn't be sure.
Trotting away from her bedroom window, Twilight crossed the chamber and up the steps to her nine and a quarter inch catadioptric telescope. With a wistful sigh, she swiveled the aperture towards the moon. She wasn't sure what she expected to see when she peered through the eyepiece; the moon hadn't changed in the least since Luna was freed.
“Spike, could you please come here for a moment?” she called out, sweeping the telescope across the surface of the moon. She thought she saw something glimmering on the terminator of the moon, but when she looked back, the phenomena was gone.
The young drake thundered hurriedly up the stairs from the library below. She glanced at Spike with a bit of pride. For a long time, she'd wondered if his growth hadn't been stunted. It wasn't until a few months after the aftermath surrounding the Morrigan incident that Spike finally entered the next developmental stage in his life. Since then, he'd gone from being a cute baby dragon to being a handsome—albeit slightly intimidating—young drake.
“What's wrong, Twilight?” he asked, contorting his angular face in a frown. His eyes darted from the unicorn mare in front of him to the telescope, and then he understood. “Oh! It's that time of year again, isn't it?”
Twilight let out a small sigh. “Spike, I just want you to take a quick peek.” She scooted aside, allowing the drake access to the telescope. “It should be just a bit above the Mareanas Trench near the lunar terminator.”
Giving her a tired look, Spike crept up the steps and crouched before the telescope. Peering through the eyepiece, he frowned. “There's nothing there, Twilight. It's not like six years ago. Four stars aren't just going to come out of nowhere and cause something terrible!” Turning to face her, he added, “Come on, go to bed Twilight! You're probably just tired. You've been working yourself ragged over the last three years with this whole minimal magic use thing.”
Blushing at the drake's observation, she smiled. “It's really sweet that you're worried about me, Spike, but I'm fine,” she replied softly. “Besides, it's training for my body and mind. I want to be prepared so that I don't ever accidentally do what I did fighting Discord on Earth.”
“Fine, Twilight,” Spike sighed before making his way back down towards the stairs to the main floor. “Just promise me you'll go to bed early for a change.”
“Okay Spike. I promise,” she whispered, watching the drake slink off into the library and off to his bedroom in the basement. Once she heard the basement door slam shut, she turned and made for her own bed. Wincing as a wave of exhaustion rocked her legs, Twilight blew out the last candle in the room before crawling into her bed.
Maybe I did overdo it helping Applejack today. She gazed out the window, watching the moon travel through the sky. Her eyelids did feel rather heavy, and watching the moon only made her sleepier. Spike's right. Three years isn't enough time to adjust to living the earth pony way.
It was close to midnight by the time Twilight finally drifted off to sleep under the rays of Luna's moon. Not even the cool breeze creeping through the cracked window or the soft hooting of Owlowicious caused her to stir. Had this been any other night, Twilight would have been awake to observe a quartet of stars rise up from the moon's surface and descend upon the four corners of the continent.