Part One: Echoes of the Past
“I have often wondered what Heaven will look like. I have wondered even more who I will see there. I can name only two people who I know for absolute certain will be there: The friend who saved me, and the friend I’m trying to save…”
Chapter One: A Chance to Say Goodbye
As the cold wind blew through my hair and tears rolled down my face, I wondered if I would see them again in Heaven. It was my fault he had come, and my fault she had been in danger in the first place. Now they were both dead, and I would soon follow. It felt somewhat ironic that this was how I would die. I had always dreamed of flying, and now here I was, falling out of the sky to the ground below. I might have let out a chuckle if I had been the only one to die that day. But I wasn’t. Instead I had let the one who I owed the most in this world fall to her death, and allowed our murderer to bestow the same fate upon my best friend, the one who had volunteered to help me tie up this one last loose end. If only I had remembered who else laid in wait at the place I once called home. If only I had remembered my own father, the man who broke my family and soul, the man who had just now broken the two friends I owed the most in this world. And now here I was, the final victim of my final mistake. As the ground rushed up towards me, one last thought ran through my head: “Please, let me see her one last time. Let me have a chance to tell her I’m sorry. Let me have a chance to say goodbye.”
As I closed my eyes, I never felt my body hit the ground. I never felt my soul break free of my body and continue to fall. I never saw the two other souls that fell alongside me fall through the clouds, and into the flowery field that waited below…
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Luna had never felt so alone before. As she walked among the flowers, she remembered how she had spent her youth in that same field, frolicking alongside her dear sister. If only things had remained that simple, that innocent… But now things had changed. Even after returning from her banishment on the Moon, even after her sister had said she would never be alone again, she walked alone. Perhaps her sister would have kept her promise if she had not been so engrossed with teaching her student about the “Magic of Friendship”. A “Magic” that Celestia refused to share with her only sister. Luna looked up at the night sky, allowing these dark thoughts to flow through her mind for the first time since she returned to Equestria.
At that moment, Fate reached a crossroads. She could either allow Luna to give into her negative emotions, emotions that sprang from her own heart this time, or intervene and guide her back to the light. Fate chose the latter. As Luna gazed up at the stars she had put in the sky that very night, something caught her eye. Three falling stars. Three stars that she had not put in the sky. Three stars that, by all rights, should not even exist. She stood there in that field of flowers, transfixed, sensing as the stars suddenly changed course. No longer were they simply falling stars. Now, she recognized them for what they truly were: Three lost souls falling to Equestria. Three lost souls that were coming towards her.
As the first star collided with the ground, Luna swiftly galloped towards it, desperate to save whoever had just fallen from the heavens she thought she knew so well. As she galloped, she felt the ground shake as the other two stars landed, marring the beauty of the field of flowers. When she reached the first crater, she was shocked by what she saw: A young tan Unicorn with a curly brown mane looking to be in her mid-teens, curled up in a ball. Checking the other craters, she found two more young ponies in them, a young gray Unicorn with a crimson mane, and a serene look upon his face, and a young white Pegasus with a bright cyan mane, quaking in fear of some unseen horror. After making certain the three of them were uninjured, she quickly sent a telepathic message to her sister, telling her to send one of the royal Pegasus carriages to her location.
After sending the message, Luna sat down among the flowers and began contemplating what had just happened. Before she could begin to think too deeply however, she heard a gasp come from one of the craters. As she neared the crater where she heard the gasp, the one containing the white Pegasus, she was shocked by what she saw. The young Pegasus who had been unconscious only the moment before was trying to crawl out of the crater, albeit unsuccessfully. When Luna tried to help him up, all he did was look her in the eyes, and gave her a request. A request that shook Luna to her core.
“Please… Save her… Save her… And let me die…”
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When I woke up, a single thought ran through my head: “I have to save her”. I found myself lying in an earthen crater, but that didn’t matter. I found myself struggling to climb with hooves I had no idea how to use, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that I protect her, even if it meant my own death. As I reached the edge of the crater, I saw a strange face above me, silhouetted by the light of the Moon. The last thing I said before losing consciousness was “Please… Save her… Save her… And let me die…” Little did I know that at that moment in time, my greatest wish had finally come true: I would finally be able to apologize for everything I had done. I would finally be able to say goodbye. All I would need to do was remember who I was. And more importantly, who she was to me.
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“Are you mad?!? ‘Send them to Ponyville’?!? Sister, they fell from space! They should be dead! And you want to send them to Ponyville?!?” Luna shouted. After arriving back at Canterlot and explaining what had happened to her sister, Celestia left to think for a few hours, before returning to Luna with the decision that she was going to send these three strange ponies to Ponyville, where Princess Twilight and her friends could learn more about them. “Luna, I know you want to keep these three safe, but if they truly did fall from the sky, then there are forces at work here that not even you or I can interfere with. You know the prophecy just as well as I do. We must try discern whether they are our saviors or our destroyers, before the predictions come to pass.” Celestia retorted. “Besides, if anypony can discern their intentions, it is Twilight and her friends. These three might be friends themselves, and nopony knows more about friendship than Twilight.”
“Sister, you are a fool if you truly believe that is the extent of their connection!” Luna shouted. “Friendship may hold power, but what these three hold is different! The white colt asked me to let him die to save the mare! There may friendship between them, but there is more at work here than just that!”
“Luna…” Celestia said quietly, having discerned the true source of Luna's strife. “This isn’t about them, is it? I know that the young Pegasus resembles Seraph, but … We were both there. You and I both know that he vanished a thousand years ago…”
“Sister, stop.” Luna said sharply. “We agreed to never mention Seraph again. You’re right, neither of us have seen him for over a millenium. But that doesn't mean he isn't still out there. You read the final line of the prophecy as many times as I have. He promised to return, and I still believe that.” She said with conviction.
“Luna… I know how you felt about Seraph, but… Fine. If you wish to make certain that they stay safe, go with them.” Celestia said.
“…What…? You’ll let me go with them…?” Luna said in surprise.
“Yes. I can see how much this means to you, so I’ll let you stay in Ponyville with them until this is all sorted out.” Celestia said. “But, I do have one condition. You must allow Alexander to accompany you. Ponyville may be safe, but there are powerful forces at work here, and I want you to be safe just as much as you want them to be safe.”
“Alexander…” Luna muttered. “Why him? If a guard must accompany me, why not one of my own guards? Why would you remove our newest Captain of the Guard from his post so soon after he obtained it?”.
“Because like I said Luna, there are powerful forces at work here, and Alexander is tied up in it all as well.” Celestia hesitantly explained.
“Alexander is involved too…?” Luna asked. “What else is there that you aren't telling me, sister?” However, Celestia remained silent at Luna’s final question, and simply walked away to her chambers in silence. “Fine then!” Luna called out after her sister. “If that is what you want, then Alexander can accompany me.”
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Once she was safely inside her chambers, Celestia finally allowed her tears to flow freely. She and Luna hadn't fought like that since the night before her dear sister transformed into Nightmare Moon. Celestia simply didn't know what to do or how to feel any more. “What happened to the love we used to share…?” She wondered. “Was it Seraph’s delivery of the prophecy that drove us apart…? Or is this all my fault…?” Merely thinking about her and Luna’s emotional distance being her fault brought up a torrent of memories in the princess’s mind. “Luna… It has been my fault… I promised I would never let be lonely again, and then I abandoned you to prepare Twilight for becoming a princess… You must have thought I wanted to replace you…”
The Princess of the Sun let that final thought sink in. Why had she made Twilight into a fellow Alicorn? The young filly certainly deserved it, but had she truly thought of replacing her only sister, even subconsciously…? Celestia sat in her room for the rest of the day, trying to think of some way she could rebuild her connection with her younger sister, as well as how to prevent the calamity that she feared was quickly approaching…
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When I opened my eyes, I was confused by what I saw. I was obviously in a bed, but it was in a room I had never seen before. The whole room looked as if it was carved from the trunk of a gigantic tree, but that didn't make any sense whatsoever… Just as I was about to climb out of the bed however, I noticed something. I had hooves. The first thought that struck me was “This is wrong. Why do I have hooves?”, but that thought was quickly replaced with “Why am I so surprised? I am a Pegasus after all…” I suddenly felt lightheaded. “Where am I…?” I thought to myself. “Who am I…? I can’t remember a single thing…” Before I could ponder much further however, I heard a knocking at the door.
“Can I come in?” A vaguely familiar voice asked.
“Sure…” I said, still in a daze. The door opened, and in walked a young purple Alicorn, along with a tray of breakfast levitating in front of her. Something about this young mare struck me as familiar, but I wasn't quite sure what it was.
“Good to see you’re awake!” The mare said happily. “From what I heard, you've been through quite a lot lately! Anyways, my name is Twilight Sparkle. What’s yours?” For a second, I just stared at her, wondering who this mare was, and why she seemed so familiar. By the time I registered that she had even asked me a question, she had already set down the tray of food on my bedside.
“My name… My name is… Silver. Silver Dawn.” I said shakily, not sure where the name had come from.
“Silver Dawn, huh?” Twilight asked. “Are you sure that’s your name, or are you just making it up?”
“I… I don’t know… I can’t remember a thing, but… It just feels right.” I replied. And I was telling the truth. I didn't know where I knew the name from, but “Silver Dawn” just felt right, it felt like… Me.
“Well, for right now, Silver Dawn will have to do. Is it all right if I just call you Silver?” Twilight asked politely.
“Sure, I don’t see why not… Where am I? What happened to me? I can’t remember anything before waking up here…” I said.
“Hmm… So you have amnesia…” Twilight muttered to herself. “Anyways, as for what happened to you, it was really strange. You and two other ponies just fell out of the sky in the middle of the night! If Princess Luna hadn't been there to save y-“
“What happened to the other two?” I interrupted, feeling a knot forming in my stomach at the mere mention of two others.
“Don’t worry, they’re fine.” Twilight assured me. “They fell, same as you, but you all seem to be fine. They’re staying with my friends at the moment, just like how you’re going to have to stay with me for a little while.” She explained. If you want to see them, maybe we can get everypony together tomorrow and try to figure out what happened.”
“Thank you…” I sighed. “I don’t know what all is going on, but… I just feel like I need to see them.”
“Are the three of you friends?” Twilight inquired. “If that isn't prying too much, that is…”
“I don’t know.” I admitted. “When you mentioned the other two ponies who fell, I just felt like I knew them from somewhere… Like I had to protect them.”
“Protect them…” Twilight muttered. “Anyways,” she said, quickly changing the subject “You should probably eat your breakfast and get some rest. After all, you can’t see your friends if you’re still stuck in a bed!”
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Luna was alone as she walked into the basement of Canterlot Castle. She didn’t have long before she would need to return to Ponyville, but there was something she needed to see. As she reached the sealed door, she tapped it with her horn, releasing the various magical wards and seals that had been placed on it. This was the Room of Prophecy, one of the most secure rooms in the castle, a room that only she and Celestia could access. She walked over to the scroll she was searching for, knowing well where it lay. She had read it many times after returning from the Moon. It was all she had left to remember her love, Seraph, by.
This was The Prophecy of Harmony, penned a thousand years before by a young white Pegasus who seemed to simply appear out of thin air, only to disappear just as quickly only a few days later. Removing the scroll from its case, Luna carefully read through the lines once more.
I shall find you only if your heart is open.
Day fades to night as the Moon returns from a millennium of exile.
Harmony banishes the Darkness, but cannot hold it at bay.
Life is forgotten in Harmony’s return
Night fades to day as the sun’s successor is crowned.
Harmony conquers all, and peace settles over the land.
Life lays stepping stones for its chosen champions.
Day fades to night as three fallen stars herald the coming dusk.
Harmony will be shattered forever.
Life shall become the final hope.
The Night reigns eternal.
Harmony shall never return.
Life will be marred by death.
I shall return only if you still believe.