A/N So here it begins. The work of several people. This story is a testament to our work, our dedication, our passion.
Now everything there was a bunch of silly words. We thought this was a good idea and stuff. Hooray! Now, may the Band of Bronies present: The Followers of the Banished.
- Aeterna Aurora et Crepusculum
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Long ago, in a not so far away land, I, Star Brew, the potion-unicorn of Everfree, unleashed an UNSPEAKABLE pot of coffee, but a foolish young avatar......
Star Brew shook his head and crumbled up the scroll on which he was writing. He just couldn’t decide on what to write. Princess Celestia had chosen him of all ponies to write the story of him and his friends, probably because he had a perfect memory, but he just couldn’t get it off the ground.
He looked out the window at the moon, which was just now rising. The unnatural formation of its craters formed a mare’s head which resembled the all-too familiar face of the beloved lunar princess.
Star Brew simply didn’t know where to begin. So much had happened in the past few years: Princess Luna’s mental decline, her insurrection; but Celestia didn’t want him to write about that. No, she wanted him to write about him and his friends. What happened after the princess’s banishment. What happened to the common pony when all hell broke loose.
The grey unicorn could see the wisdom in this; writing down what the common pony went through, the hardships they faced was all important. But still, to write about what his group of friends had done? After all that they had gone through? The hardships they endured, the marks of the betrayals, the deaths that still haunted their dreams? Star Brew wasn’t sure he could write down any of that; the memories were too painful. Canterlot’s ponies could barely stomach the romanticized stories about Princess Luna’s banishment; there was no way they would be able to read about the atrocities that they had lived through.
They had just narrowly avoided the destruction of Equestria, the destruction of everything everypony held dear, and Princess Celestia wanted him to write about it!? After all they had done in order to prevent the common pony to hear about, she wanted it to be public knowledge!
Star Brew honestly had no idea what the princess was thinking. Then again, she was the ruler of Equestria, so he didn’t really have any say in the matter.
The grey unicorn looked to his desk. Numerous scrolls were stacked haphazardly upon its slanted wooden frame. Each one of those scrolls documented the events that had transpired to Star Brew and his friends. Those scrolls represented nearly six years of adventure, tragedy, and hope. Inside those rolls of paper, his and his friends ideas and experiences rested.
As his thoughts drifted towards his friends, he considered how unlikely it was for all of them to have met in the first place. To begin with, himself. He came from a small traveling family that dabbled in all sorts of products. Star Brew had been born just outside the Everfree Forest, where he had lived simply all of his life.
Princess Luna had changed that for him. She had recognized his talent in brewing potions, a talent that he would have never discovered had it not been for her assistance. She took him in after an Ursa Major killed his family and gave him a place where he could make a difference. Star Brew would always be thankful to the Princess of the Moon, no matter what she had done.
Then there was what he considered his polar opposite: Silver Light. The spoiled earth pony hailed from Seaddle and as far as Star Brew could figure, she had never worked a hard day in her life. She was arrogant, yet intelligent. Even now, after all they had been through, he still wasn’t quite sure when she was being clueless.
Midnight Blaze and Honeuma both hailed from Princess Luna’s security forces. The former tended to be a bit overbearing at times, but all-in-all had a good head on his shoulders. Honeuma, on the other hoof, was an enigma. He had pledged his full loyalty to the Princess of the Moon, and in doing so, had earned the leathery wings which now graced his back. Both of the pegasi were now a bit lost in life, as their patron was now gone.
Ricochet hailed from Manehatten surprisingly enough. The female pegasus seemed to be everything the city wasn’t: head not in the clouds, agreeable, and friendly. The only thing she did seem to pick up from the cultured city was her way with words; Star Brew couldn’t even begin to count the number of times that silver tongue had gotten them out of trouble.
And finally, the oddball of the group: Arian. Arian was.... unique, to say the least. He was very quiet and caring; he never showed off. All of this was rather extraordinary, considering his heritage: Arian was a griffin. His adoptive parents had found him as a baby in the Everfree Forest and raised him as their own son. Despite the prejudice against the griffins, he worked diligently in his parent’s store.
Star Brew looked back out the window; the moon had climbed high in the sky. Time had passed quickly as he rambled about in his thoughts, flying from the time when he first arrived at Canterlot to the time when he was banished from the city simply because he was a supporter of Princess Luna. He recalled each memory vividly, as if each were occurring around him. He lifted the quill from his desk and set it against the paper once again. He let the memories tell him the story, the story that began ten long years ago, on that fateful night of the Summer Sun Celebration when he ran into Midnight Blaze.
The grey unicorn worked late into the night, filling scroll after scroll, his quill only stopping briefly to dip into the nearby inkwell. Finally, he set the quill aside, just as the rays of the sun entered through the window. After writing for half the night, he had finished. The potion master cast a quick spell to copy the scrolls, then stacked the originals beside his desk. Star Brew had filled nearly forty scrolls with the story; now all that was left was to deliver them to the princess.
He gathered the copies all up and set them neatly into his saddlebag. Star Brew walked to the door, then turned. His horn glowed with magic as he narrowed his eyes at his small room. A soft green light encompassed the room, which then settled into the walls. The great stone walls flowed from their solid state, filling in the window and the door frame. From the hallway where he stood, there was no trace that the room ever existed. He sighed, then turned down the hallway towards the new planted Canterlot Gardens.
He passed through the shrubbery that marked the entrance of the maze. Star Brew walked silently through the green maze, navigating the paths as though they were nothing more than a slight inconvenience. At last, he reached the center where there stood great stone pedestal.
Next to the small monument stood his friends; the pegasi, Midnight Blaze, Honeuma, and Ricochet, the griffin, Arian, and the earth pony, Silver Light. Behind them stood none other than Princess Celestia herself. Wordlessly, he lifted the saddlebag containing the scrolls to her with his magic.
A melancholy smile crossed his face as he walked towards the pedestal. He climbed to the top, where his friends soon joined him. Star Brew looked at Celestia, then spoke.
“Are you sure? Will this be worth it?”
She nodded.
Star Brew looked at his friends gathered around him. Soft, sad smiles of acceptance were all that he received. “Then do it.”
Princess Celestia’s horn began to glow with multiple layers of bright white light, which encompassed the six weary heroes that stood on the pillar. Star Brew stared out, his entire life passing in front of his eyes as he recalled every moment that had led up to this day.
Somedays, it really sucked to have a perfect memory.
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A/N Hooray! There was the prologue, the next chapter should be up relatively soon. Now could you please review? It makes all of us feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. - Aeterna
Reviewing will make us write faster...maybe. Oh, and my potatoes are superior. - Anubis the Muse
Can’t think of anything related to writing. Or ponies. POTATOES!- Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihMMw0rnKz4
So, guess who sucks at proper intros? This guy, right here. Hope you readers have fun with this menagerie of psychosis we call a collaborative effort, I know I am. And do us all a favor and leave a review, yeah? I know it helps me get through the whole process a hell of a lot faster. And you lot should know by now... that my potatoes are known to God himself. - The Feral Muse
Sit back and enjoy the ride... It’s gonna be a long one - Ivory
This should be quite the interesting experiment, so lets see if we can make this amalgamation work. - Noize