The Ponyville chapel was a quaint little building in the northwest part of town. It was dominated by the graveyard behind it, but if one went in, they could find an entirely different world than the outside would suggest. It was well-kept by the only priest there, a unicorn named Scripture. In front of 4 rows of pews was the altar, dedicated to Princess Celestia and, more recently, Luna as well. Behind the altar was a stained glass window, that depicted a rising sun. On either side of the altar were doors to smaller rooms. The one on the left was the location of the foals' equivalent to a Sunday School on Earth. On the right was Scripture's small bedroom.
Although open to the public at any time, Scripture only held services on weekend mornings. It was old tradition to hold them when the sun rose, but nopony ever really wanted to wake up at that time, so he instead held them in the mid-morning. Usually, he drew a crowd of only a half-dozen ponies, between both the general lack of piety in Ponyville, and some ponies who doubted the Princesses' divinity in the first place.
This particular Sunday, though, surprised him. While he set up for service, nearly 30 ponies walked into the chapel, neatly filling every single row. Even all six holders of the Elements of Harmony arrived, despite Twilight Sparkle herself being a doubter. It was a quite pleasant surprise to the priest. He stepped up to the altar, and began to speak.
"I can tell that there must be a special occasion. Don't tell me that I missed Princess Celestia's birthday," he joked.
"Not quite," spoke a purple pegasus in the second row. Scripture recognized her as Flitter, who generally turned up at least once a month. "It's the day of the Summer Sun Celebration."
"And a full 365 days since Luna was brought back," Twilight added. "I'm surprised you haven't added evening services yet."
"Oh, my. A whole year, already flown by," Scripture said. He was a bit disappointed with his own forgetfulness. "Well, I would love to add evening services, but with rare exceptions like today, I'm not entirely sure how many ponies would turn up. Apologies to you and Princess Luna."
"Look, can we just get on with the service? It's just an hour, right?" Rainbow Dash asked. Applejack punched her arm, which shut her up.
"Right, on with the service. I have nothing particularly special planned for today, so a good few of you may be disappointed," Scripture said. His horn glowed, and a scroll opened in front of him. "We shall talk today about prayer. It's considered a tricky subject in the church, as the Princesses won't say whether or not they can actually hear them..."
He spoke his sermon for another 40 minutes, and spent the rest of his time answering questions, which were something he wasn't used to getting many of. He didn't know if he managed to convince anypony about the legitimacy of prayer, but he had at least managed to keep them interested... except Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who both seemed bored out of their minds by sitting still for so long.
Finally, the service ended, and anypony who did not stay around to attempt their own prayers left. Scripture cleaned the altar of his notes before walking around and joining them, until only one pony remained: Twilight Sparkle herself, who hadn't really seemed to have been praying as much as pondering.
"Miss Sparkle, I'm glad you attended the service. What do you think, as Princess Celestia's student?" Scripture asked.
"Honestly? I still don't think she's a goddess. Exceptionally powerful, sure, but I think a goddess would have better ways to spend her time than ruling a single country," Twilight answered.
"Well, perhaps I should prepare a sermon around that. I'll need to read up on a few sources first, but I can do it next Sunday, if you're willing to come hear me out," Scripture offered.
"Books against books, you say? I'll take that challenge," Twilight responded, grinning.
"That is often how these debates turn out. I shall see you next week, Miss Sparkle," Scripture said.
She stood up, and left the chapel. Scripture simply smiled. Perhaps someday, she'd have some faith in her own teacher. But, for now, he had some books to read, and a new sermon to prepare.