Where the stars came from
"Tia!"
She stared at the sky. Her eyes grew wide with horror. It was like rain, if rain was made of light. She couldn't hear the screams. She knew that. But she thought she could. Sweet Harmony...
"He has gone too far." Her sister's voice. She nodded.
They were in agreement.
Celestia ascended, her fluffy slippers muffling her hooves. A spark of magic flowed through her horn, the soft glow illuminating the stairwell. It wasn't much- the last thing Canterlot needed was a solar flare at midnight- but it was enough to see by.
Of course, it was also pointless. Celestia had gone up this tower hundreds of times during Twilight's apprenticeship, and thousands of times before that. She could have walked the distance in shadow and not stubbed a hoof. Yet some things came as habit, so deeply ingrained that one had to think about them to avoid it, and Celestia's thoughts were elsewhere.
She rounded another curve in the tower, and came face to face with a thick, oak door. Celestia stretched out her magic, and pushed it open- softly, just in case.
The room beyond was lit by lantern-light, drifting down the stairs from the level above. Celestia extinguished her magic as she crept inside, closing the door behind her gently with a rear hoof. She followed the light across the room, squeezing between the near-improbably number of bookcases that Twilight Sparkle had managed to fit into her hallway.
When she rose to the higher-level, she saw her most faithful student, crouched over the eyepiece of a great telescope. A lantern burned on the shelf beside her, the soft burn of oil and wick accompanied by the scritch and scratch of a quill across paper.
Spike, of course, lay in his basket at the foot of her bed, as oblivious to the world as Twilight was. Celestia smiled, catching the baby dragon's blanket in her magic and pulling it over him. The dragon took it, wrapping it greedily around himself as he sunk further into dream.
Celestia crept closer, close enough to hear her student muttering as she adjusted her view. The polite -some would say Princessly- thing to do would be to cough and announce her arrival.
Celestia leaned close to her student's ear.
"Good evening, Twilight."
Celestia danced back a step as her student jumped. "Princess Celestia?" Twilight shouted, loud enough for both mares' eyes to flash to the basket at the foot of the bed. The purple dragon groaned, and rolled over. Twilight looked back at her mentor, her ears pinned back in worry. Her voice was frantic. "I- I didn't know you'd be stopping by."
"Quite all right, Twilight. I wasn't expecting it either. And no," Celestia held up a hoof and smiled, "You didn't wake me. Being a princess comes with many responsibilities and duties, long hours amongst them."
Twilight nodded, relaxing slightly. She still looked shocked, but then, even excusing Celestia's sudden appearance, it was the first time the young unicorn had seen the Princess without her crown or breastplate. Celestia smiled. It could be difficult to reconcile the image of a princess with a pony in a pink bedrobe.
"I was addressing some documents of state. Though that doesn't answer why you are still awake."
Twilight wilted. "I'm sorry princess," she said quickly. "I... I should have asked first, but-"
"Twilight. You are my most faithful student. If you are up at this hour, I am sure you have a very good reason for doing so."
Twilight smiled, clearly bolstered by Celestia's words. Her horn glowed, and a large book floated between the two. "I was doing some research and tonight, Starswirls' Beard is in ascendance."
"It is?" Celestia looked up through the great, glass dome encasing the room, following the telescope. Sure enough, it was aimed at the vertical string of stars, the lowest of which had begun to smolder. Celestia smiled. Over the next week, the rest of the stars would light up in turn, like a fire spreading.
Has it been a quarter of a century already? she wondered... but then again, her attention had been elsewhere as of late. She glanced at the dark, horse head shadow on the moon.
"It's so fascinating," Twilight continued eagerly. "It's the first time I've ever seen it, of course, so I'm logging the findings in a journal; how long it take's each star to light up, the brightness of each, how long they stay lit. Hopefully, I'll be able to use this research to establish some more concrete detail's about, not only Starswirl's Beard, but all of the constellations."
"Details?"Celestia tilted her head. "What details?"
Twilight didn't seem to notice her mentor's confusion. "Everything!" She pulled another book of research towards her. "There have been studies in the field before, of course- astrologers have been studying the stars for centuries- but it's all been somewhat limited in scope. The entire subject could really use a more scientific overhaul, and Starsign One, Quadrant One seemed like a good place to start."
"Starsign One?"
"Starswirl's Beard," Twilight explained, setting her books around her. In her excitement, she didn't seem to notice the tone in her teachers voice. "I like the name, but it really isn't suited for pure, scientific research. So long as ponies insist upon mythologizing the stars instead of pursuing them as scientific endeavours, it's going to fall further and further behind the other sciences! Identifying strict sky patterns and starting fresh is really the best way to go about it."
"Twilight... What do you mean by that?" Celestia said gently. "That ponies are "mythologizing" the stars?"
Twilight looked up, her brow furrowed. "I mean... Princess, when ponies look at the stars, they say 'there's Starswirl's Beard', or 'there is Upperlip's Plough'. Those names are fine for layponies... but scientists should have more scientific names to refer to them by, not just adhere to the naming of stars after famous ponies, fairy tales or what they look like."
"Twilight, Starswirls Beard isn't named that because it look's like Starswirls' beard. It's called Starswirls Beard because of Starswirl."
"But... isn't that what I just said?"
Celestia shook her head. "No. There is a very small -but very important- difference. You say that settler's saw Starswirl in the sky; but Starswirl came first. The stars came after."
Twilight looked at the princess in confusion. "But... Princess. That doesn't make any sense."
"It makes perfect sense, Twilight." The alicorn smiled kindly. "At least, it does to me. Tell me, do you know what constellations are?"
Twilight tilted her head, a hoof tapping as she thought. "A specific area of the celestial sphere," she said. "Strictly speaking, what ponies refer to as 'constellations' are properly termed 'asterisms'- a pattern of stars."
Celestia smiled. "Very good." She laughed with a light pride in her student. Twilight's smile grew as Celestia sat down. "You're correct, Twilight. A constellation -or rather, an asterism- is a pattern of stars. But do you really think it is coincidental that there would be a long, vertical string of stars that resemble Starswirl's beard? That they would be beneath a horizontal set of 'bells'?"
Twilight pursed her lips together. "I suppose it is something of a coincidence that that precise pattern was there... but that would just encourage early settler ponies to make the connection. They knew a famous pony with a long beard and bells. When they looked up at the sky, they saw what they wanted to see."
"A possibility," Celestia said, nodding. "Though there is a much simpler explanation than that. Either ponies looked up at the sky, and saw a set of stars that reminded them of Starswirl the Bearded... or somepony put stars in the sky in the image of Starswirl the Bearded."
Twilight frowned, sitting in the circle of her books. Celestia smiled.
"You may take notes, Twilight," she said with a nod. Twilight smiled in appreciation, lifting one of her notebooks, and turning to a blank page. "Though I should warn you that not many ponies know what I am about to tell you- oh, it's not a secret," Celestia added quickly, "But it is... old. It's..."
She hesitated. For a moment, Celestia sat in silence, turning things over. Twilight said nothing, waiting patiently on her mentor and unaware of the thoughts that turned in her mind. How much to tell? How much of the story was Celestia's to impart, and how much belonged to...
The Princess of the Sun looked at the moon, then back at her student.
"...It's the story that I heard about where star's come from." Twilight nodded eagerly.
"It's difficult to know where to start," Celestia began. "You see Twilight, the stars we see... they have not always been the stars that were there. A time ago- a very long time ago- there were constellations that no pony living today would recognize."
Twilight's quill stopped moving for a moment. "There were different asterisms?"
Celestia smiled and nodded. "Very different," she said. "It was a very different sky, with very different stars."
Twilight tapped the quill against her muzzle. "Stars do wheel across the sky at night," she mused aloud. "I suppose, over vast periods of time, it's not unreasonable for some to have vanished and new one's to appear. That would have created new patterns in the sky."
"It would," Celestia admitted. "But that isn't what happened. What happened was something... worse. A wicked creature known as a Draconequus appeared."
Twilight frowned, her quill stopping. "A draconequus?" she repeated. "As in... a creature like the statue in your courtyard? But those only exist in foalhood stories."
"All stories have an element of truth to them, Twilight," Celestia said. "Especially foalhood stories."
Her tone was more clipped than she had intended, her voice sharpened on the whetstone of memory... but when she saw Twilight flinch, she frowned. She raised a hoof to her forehead. "Forgive me, Twilight. I'm sorry. It... has been a long night. I didn't mean to snap at you. Will you accept my apology?"
Twilight nodded, and Celestia continued.
"As I said, the Draconequus appeared. It was a very powerful creature, a spirit of chaos with the world as its plaything. It did many cruel, terrible, and unspeakable things." Celestia bit back the edge of her words. "Reaching into the sky and pulling down the stars was among the least of its crimes."
"Why?"
"Because it could. Because they were there. Because they were shiny, or not shiny enough. Because..."
Celestia shook her head. It was a question she had asked herself, more often than she could remember. Had there been some reason to his chaos, some method that they had overlooked? After all these years, those questions had twisted into corridors and runways of thoughts, but no answers.
"Trying to understand his motives would drive you mad, Twilight. The Draconequus wasn't a creature that could be reasoned with. With it, it brought only despair. It was an age of Disharmony, Twilight. Discord. An age without friendship."
Celestia stared intently as her student made notes. She had always tried to impress the importance of friendship upon the young unicorn. If Twilight was disturbed by the notion of a world without such a force, however, she didn't show it.
The princess sighed with quiet disappointment. She tapped the ground a moment, regaining Twilight's attention, then continued.
"It was an unhappy time- at least," she added darkly, "for anypony not sitting on the chaotic throne. The Draconequus found the random seasons and broken skies quite amusing. Everypony else, on the other hoof..."
"Didn't anypony try to depose the draconequus?" Twilight asked.
"Of course. But that was easier said than done. Under the Draconequus, chaos and selfishness reigned. Ponies were incapable of-unwilling to- work together. Instead, they fought with one another, each trying to edge out above the others. And any ponies who could put aside their differences long enough to work together still had to confront the Draconequus itself... and that was a creature beyond any pony's might."
Celestia bowed her head a little. It may have just been her imagination - the mood of the story interfering with her thoughts- but for a second, she was sure Twilights' lantern flickered, and she heard a mocking laugh.
"What happened?" Twilight asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Obviously things were fixed."
"They were," Celestia agreed with a nod. "With great difficulty."
She looked out the window, into the twinkling sky.
"There came a point," she said. Her voice was soft, and for a moment, Celestia wasn't sure whether she was speaking to Twilight, to herself, or to her. "A point when the Draconequus excesses became too great. His power was such that mortal ponies could not oppose him, but he couldn't be allowed to run unchecked. If my little- if ponykind couldn't confront him, then somepony else would on their behalf. Someponies else. There were two. An elder and a younger."
Twilight frowned. "An elder and a younger," she repeated. Her eyes lit with recognition. "You're talking about the Royal Pony Sisters!"
Celestia smiled. "Yes- eventually. Though neither were royal at the time. Then, they were just two ponies, who took it upon themselves to overthrow the tyrant. Which they did."
Twilight stopped her quill, looking up again. "But... how?" She frowned. "If the draconequus was so powerful -powerful enough to break the stars- how did two unicorn's defeat him?"
"That's a story for another time, Twilight." Celestia smiled gently.
Her eyes flickered back to the moon before she continued. "What is important for our purposes is this: it was difficult. There were many setbacks, many obstacles that needed to be overcome. As I said... most ponies of the world had become resigned to this new state of being, of living within chaos. At best, they were indifferent to the Sister's efforts, at worst adversarial. The only pony that either sister could rely upon was each other."
Celestia trailed off. The air in the astronomy tower was still, even Spike's snores fading to nothing. She felt her students eyes - so bright and full of life- on her. She didn't meet them. She sat, as regal in a bedrobe as she had ever felt in her armor, and stared through the glass ceiling, eyes misting with memory.
"Imagine, Twilight," she said, her voice growing soft. "Being alone, and against the world you wanted to save. Imagine having your sister cry herself to sleep. Imagine being so tired of everything that you couldn't cry. Imagine looking into the blackness of the sky, the storms scuttling on the horizon, and asking yourself if it was worth your efforts. What would you say?"
Twilight sat beside Celestia. "I... I don't know," she admitted quietly. "Platitudes would seem empty in the face of that."
Celestia nodded. "They would be," she said. " 'Everything will be better' sounds nice, but it can be an empty sentiment. If you wanted to convince somepony that things would be better - if you wanted to keep your own spirits up, so that in the dark, starless night you weren't afraid..."
Celestia smiled, and spoke softly.
"The two pony sisters told each other stories."
"We can rest here," she said, sitting under the tree. She stared up through the gaps in the roots. It was night again- for whatever that was worth. Discord batted the celestial orbs like a child with a ball. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, and she had long since given up on trying to find it.
Her sister lay on her side, staring into the distance. She said nothing. She had said nothing for the past few days.
She understood the feeling. She was beginning to feel the same. That they chased a lie at best; at worst, they would find the Tree of Harmony, burned and uprooted with 'Discord wuz here' written in marker on the side.
She lay beside her sister, wrapped her wings around her. "What did you call that farmer we passed," she asked aloud. "The one who acted like he was noble?"
No response. Her sister picked at the dirt in front of her with a hoof.
They sat in a long silence. She felt too empty to say a word.
"...Upperlip." Her sister raised her head, a small curving her muzzle. "He said his name was Upperlip."
Twilight nodded with comprehension. "Ponies have always told stories around a campfire," she murmured. "I suppose that telling stories without the fire makes sense, too..."
Celestia smiled. "It does," she said. She stretched out a wing, placing it on Twilight's shoulder. " When you were a foal, your mother told you bedtime stories, didn't she? And you read the same to Spike. It's a cycle that goes back to ancient times. Stories... they help keep a spirit high. The stories the sisters told all started a certain way - 'Remember the pony farming rocks', or, 'Once upon a time there was a castle in the woods'. They spoke about things that had happened to them, or things they made up... or things that they hoped for. And their stories always had a happy ending."
She sighed, smiling as she looked at her student. " 'Once upon a time, there was a magical land of Harmony. And it will come again.' Ponies need things to inspire them, and to move them forward... self-appointed champions more than most" she added with a snort.
"And it worked. The pony sisters followed one of those stories -an old legend- and found a way to defeat the Draconequus. And they restored Harmony to the world."
Twilight nodded, pursing her lips together. "But... princess. Did the royal sisters fix the stars when they defeated it?"
"No," Celestia said sadly. "They didn't. The stars that the Draconequus destroyed... they were lost forever. And immediately following his reign, there were many more immediate problems. The two pony sisters took it upon themselves to raise the sun and the moon each day and night. Eventually -after the the time of the Three Tribes- they were made the royal pony sisters. I believe you know how the rest of their story went?"
"The younger was jealous that the ponies of the kingdom didn't appreciate the princess of the night the way they appreciated her sister. One day she refused to lower the moon, and became... she became Nightmare Moon. So the elder sister banished her."
"With the Elements of Harmony. That's correct."
"The what?"
Celestia smiled. "There is a book about it in my room. I'll have it sent to you. But... the important part is that the elder pony's sister was gone. The sister with whom she had shared everything. The sister who had helped her through the darkness of the Age of Discord. The sister with whom she had shared everything. one day she was there, and the next... she was gone."
"But... the elder sister did what she had to," Twilight said.
"That's right. The moon had to be lowered. It was Lu- her royal duty. When she refused, the... elder had to do anything required to protect her ponies. I- she did the same to Discord. She did the same to her own sister. I am sure that... If the situation happened again, she would do the same once more.
"But... it was her sister. Twilight... imagine if Shining Armor were to ignore you. Not out of malice; it was just that he had duties in the guard. And then after that, he was sent to a distant nation as part of the diplomatic escort. He does his duty; you know that. But it would still hurt. And hurts... hurts can grow. They can grow, and they can fester. Now imagine if Shining Armor did his duty, put you in jail, and for years, you never saw him. You never heard his voice. All you had left would be your memories. How long would it take until the only memory that mattered, the only thing that you remembered about him, was that he had betrayed you?"
Twilight was silent. Celestia was silent. For a moment, the only sound was Spike's soft snoring.
"The elder sister didn't want that. What pony would?" Celestia closed her eyes. "She still loved her sister, just as Shining Armor would love you. She did her duty... but that meant she lost her sister. But maybe... maybe not forever."
" 'And on the longest day of the Thousandeth year, the stars will aid in her escape', " Twilight recited.
"That's what... the elder sister said to Starswirl the Bearded." Celestia sighed, bowing her head for a long time. "You asked where the stars came from, Twilight. The elder sister had the power to raise the sun. She used her magic, took some of the sunlight, and arranged it into the sky into signs that both sister's would recognize. The farmer ploughing rocks, " she pointed at Upperlip's plough, "the castle," she pointed at a distant unlit set of stars. She gestured at Starswirl's beard, with a laugh. "The time Starswirl's bard caught fire... though that last one was only funny because he wasn't hurt."
"The elder sister arranged light into asterisms based on their memories," Twilight said, eyes widening. Celestia nodded.
"Memories. Good ones. Reminders of the time they spent together; of the stories they told one another. Something to comfort her little sister during her exile, and to remind her that her sister hadn't forgotten her. Signs to remind her how much she was loved."
" 'The stars will aid in her escape'... that's not about Nightmare Moon, is it?" Twilight stared at her mentor. "It isn't prophecy. It's a hope. That one day, the stars-"
"-would remind her sister of who she used to be," Celestia concluded. "That they will help her escape the madness of Nightmare Moon. Very good Twilight."
The both ponies sat, side-by-side, and stared up at the sky through the windows.
"I think..." Twilight began. " 'Starswirls Beard' is probably a better name than 'Starsign One'. Changing it would require an upheaval of all the research everypony has ever done."
Celestia smiled, tipping her head. "If you say so, Twilight. Now-" she yawned, "-I ought to head to bed. Princesses need their beauty sleep, just as baby dragons do... and little ponies. Try not to stay up too late, Twilight- though I suppose our lesson for the day has been concluded."
Celestia had opened the door to the tower stairs, when her pupil spoke up again.
"Wait! Princess... if the elder sister created these stars, then where did the first stars come from?"
Celestia looked over her shoulder. Twilight pulled up a parchment, her quill poised again.
She smiled. Twilight Sparkle was the perfect student. Always asking more questions. Questions that deserve answers.
"Star ponies,"
Her pupil'as grip on the pen slipped. She blinked, staring. "Um... can you repeat that?"
"Star ponies," she repeated. "There used to be a magical race of ponies that lived in the sky- similar to pegasi, but much higher. They were a lot like normal ponies in many ways; they played during the day, and slept at night. However, in one respect, they were utterly different; their coats glowed brightly. You couldn't see these ponies when the sun was up -it was much too bright- but at night, they lit up the sky in their beds."
Twilight blinked in disbelief.
"Of course, they were like ponies in other ways. Sometimes, there were ponies who didn't want to go to bed, and who would play all night instead- ponies called those 'shooting stars'.
"I... I see..."
Celestia laughed. "Good night Twilight," she repeated, closing the door behind her.
When she was in her own room, she pulled a rope cord. A few moments later, a porter arrived. Celestia gestured towards her writing desk, and the thick book with the bronze horse-head on the cover.
"Would you mind delivering that to Twilight Sparkle? She should still be up."
The servant bowed, taking the book, and left the room.
Alone, Celestia stepped towards the window. She opened it with magic, stepping out into the balcony.
It was a cool night. A soft breeze caught and tugged at her rainbow mane. She barely noticed it.
She sat, staring up at the bright disc in the sky.
"Good evening, Luna," she said softly. Her horn began to glow, soft and golden. "I have another story for you. It's about an amazing young pony. I can't wait for you to meet her.
She stirred. She didn't know what time it was. Such concepts were meaningless, when everyday was illuminated by the bright blue orb just before her.
Today, though, something was different. She scanned the sky warily, her eyes finally falling on the sun.
Something flashed across it's surface, soft and golden. As the dark-coated pony watched, tiny pinpricks of light pulled themselves from the greater orb, and drifted through space.
She narrowed her eyes as the balls drew together. A moment later, her expression softened. She frowned, staring at the picture of light bathing the moon.
For the first time in she-didn't-know-how-long, she raised her head and spoke, her voice weak, and tired, and sad. And -not least- hopeful.
"Tia?"
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I like it! ANOTHER!
In all actuality, this is a lovely and well written story. Kudos to you.
Ever lovely, so sweet the sorrow~
Excellent.
I... can't really think of any other words to describe it. Although I have to mention that it's a little funny in a way to me- this story took Twilight's attempts at science and put it against the mythological truth, whereas I wrote a story doing the exact opposite. Just something in the back of my head while I read this.
But again, excellent story.
If there's any criticisms I have to make, you seem to have missed a few paragraph breaks, and a comma in one spot. Purely formatting, though, and only the former was noticeable.
Woah! Amazing! You have earned many cupcakes and much appreciation for writing this!
Kudos!
Nuuuuu, people read this
I reviewed this story!
My review can be found here.
Promised post-contest review is here! I know it didn't place, but I thought it was far from a bad story. Just not as in keeping with the spirit of the contest as others.
Here's your super-cool review from the Pleasant Commentator and Review Group! Thanks for submitting!
That was... touching.
This deserves so much more love than it seems to get. I always like new concepts of how things came to be, a little world-building (or a lot, that's quite alright, too), stuff like that. And you actually made me tear up on those last lines.
Thank you!
Thank you for the credit.
Okay, this is really great story but...Discord killed all of the Star Ponies? Man, that's...that's pretty dark...'