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Blood at First Sight575 words
The Enlightenment804 words
The Ascension of Applejack and Rainbow Dash128 words
On Dealing With Loss176 words

The Enlightenment

"What are you?"
"What the hell?"
"Don't hurt me."

You most likely recognize these lines from the stories your parents used to read to you as foals. Indeed, they are considered essential lessons to learn when growing up. But do you know where they came from? Do you know about the creature that descended upon our world in a streak of fire? Do you know the origins of the Day of Reflection? No?

Would you like to?

Princess Celestia, goddess of the sun, ruler of the day, defender of peace, was performing her morning ritual in the royal garden. She was alone, of course. She dared not risk a mere mortal gazing upon her most holy of forms during the sacred act. Her image as a princess needed to remain pure in the eyes of her little ponies.

Once she had finished bestowing her nutritious blessing upon the garden, she noticed a dark blemish against the morning sky. A fiery object was racing down from the heavens, leaving a black streak through the clouds. Celestia quickly realized the mysterious object was on course to strike Canterlot within moments. Faced with the possibility of the city's imminent destruction, Her Royal Highness acted immediately. Using her alicorn might, she channeled the entirety of the sun's massive power and focused it into a single point at the tip of her horn. With grim determination, she then relinquished her hold on the supercharged spell, unleashing its power to summon a quill and scroll. Now nearly drained of her magical reserves, Celestia began to write.

Unfortunately, in her haste to protect the ponies of Canterlot, she had forgotten to summon ink. This made little difference, however, for the object was much faster than she had anticipated. It struck the ground near her hooves just seconds later, landing directly on top of Celestia's fertile gift to nature.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed a hairless, ape-like creature lying in the center of a fresh crater. It appeared to be male, but Celestia was unable to discern anything beyond that. She stared in awe, wondering what the creature could possibly be. She did not wonder long, for he then whispered the first of many teachings to come.

"Holy shit."

Celestia was shocked. She could feel the great wisdom flowing from his words. This being must have been incredibly powerful, yet he chose to make peace and share his knowledge instead of attacking. Fascinated, Celestia attempted to introduce herself. Unfortunately, the alien creature had already gone to sleep, most likely exhausted from his long journey. Celestia, in her wonderful grace and mercy, brought him to a guest room where he could rest without disturbance.

He slumbered through the entire day and deep into the night. During this time, Celestia informed her sister, Princess Luna, of the wise alien's existence. Luna was understandably wary at first, wanting to at least know the alien's name or the reason for his sudden appearance.

She decided to take a peek into his dreams. In doing so, she was able to glimpse the wonderful creations of his people. Though she was unable to discover his name, Luna believed she had found the alien's reason for coming to Equestria: he must have wanted to share his immense wisdom with other worlds.

When he finally woke up, the alien was very excited. He ran through every hall in the palace, screaming more knowledge at the top of his lungs. Every single pony he met was given their own special nugget of wisdom, shouted directly into their faces.

"Who are you?"

"What are you?"

"Where am I?"

"What the hell is going on?"

"Get away from me."

"Someone please help."

The seemingly endless fountain of wisdom had a general theme: introspection, soul-searching, self-examination. Every piece of advice, every statement of truth, it was all designed to make you think about you.

This day—the second day after the alien's arrival—became known as the Day of Reflection.

The next morning, he was gone. That was the last time he was ever seen by living eyes.

Many ponies have speculated about his sudden appearance and his even more sudden disappearance. Some have denied that he ever existed. After all, how could a single being so drastically alter the landscape of Equestrian culture in merely two days? How could the very foundation of modern pony society be built on the words of someone that was not even a pony?

To the ponies that deny the Day of Reflection, I recommend studying the alien's third teaching to Luna: "Fuck this shit." Meditate on those words, and perhaps you will come to understand just why he left. Why he had to leave. We are not the only ones in the universe, you know. There were undoubtedly many more societies that needed his help. His guidance. His wisdom.

Author's Note:

mfw writing this