Fellowship is Miraculous

by Praynfaith96

Chapter 2

“So, what’s your life story, Pastor?” I may have just met Twilight, but I’m already intrigued by her curiosity.

“Well, I’m originally from Irondiana. My family still lives there, I moved to Ponyville a few years ago when our new church plant finally opened after we converted the former warehouse. You know, I was just like you growing up. I was always thinking about what God’s plan for my life was. As it turned out, I was meant to evangelize to everypony. That’s how I got my cutie mark.” I then show my flank to Twilight, which has a picture of a Bible on it.

“Wow, that’s, um, a great story, Pastor.”

“I took my studies as far as enrolling in EBTS, that is, Equestrian Baptist Theological Seminary.” I then point towards my framed degree on the wall. “You know, the Lord doesn’t want us to be trapped in the darkness of ignorance, but rather implores us to be sober-minded and watchful (1 Peter 5:8).”

“That’s nice and all, but I don’t know much about your ‘god.’ What is His purpose for us here? Everyone is Equestria already seems so happy and satisfied. How do we even know there is a god?”

I look across my desk at Twilight. “Well, God created us to serve and glorify Him, so then…”

“Wait, what do you mean by created? Did we not evolve from smaller ponies?” Twilight was taken aback by this. Nopony ever seemed to question this before.

I shook my head. “I’m afraid not. I mean, surely you are aware of just what a complicated, interconnected system this whole universe is, right? The probability of having all this just form by a random accident is next to nothing. In addition, this view presupposes that we ourselves are just a ‘random accident’ too, rendering all morals and purpose as futile including the so-called Elements of Harmony. Rather, I see it that God specifically created the world with an intelligent design in mind, and that every species was created as its own ‘kind’ from the start with a purpose. Nothing can just appear from nowhere; it must have been something created by someone with a specific purpose in mind. The world is no different, Twilight.”

Twilight looked back at me as she was writing down notes. “That’s interesting, but not a lot of other ponies seem to think much about this. At least not in my inner circle.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised by that. You are a unicorn after all, and it seems that most unicorns and pegasi I’ve encountered think that they have no need for God in their lives, given their extra abilities.”

“That may be true in general, Pastor, but even I’ve come to recognize many of my own limitations. It’s something I learned as a student of Princess Celestia.”

I was taken aback. “You mean that you’re a student of Princess Celestia? You must be very gifted to be studying under her tutelage.”

Twilight blushed. “Thanks, it’s an honor to be her student, of course. But this whole purpose thing was really getting to me lately. It’s surprising that you say all this though. Throughout Equestria, everyone seems to be happy and good. Does that not count for anything, Pastor?”

I shook my head. “I wish it did, Twilight, but that’s not the case. Are you familiar with the concept of original sin?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth. He wanted to be close to us, so he created us to be stewards over the Earth and everything in it. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for us to become deceived by Satan, who lead them astray. As a result, every bad thing that has happened in this world first became possible, because we fell into sin. See, sin refers to any act that is in disobedience towards God, and Satan exploits our desires so then we rebel against God.”

“But why would God create such a wicked being like Satan? Wouldn’t that be endorsing sin?”

“God created Satan, but he was a very different being than he is now. Originally, Satan was one of God’s greatest angels, becoming known as ‘the Day Star’ (Isaiah 14:12). He unfortunately rebelled against God and was cast out. As revenge, Satan wants to lead everypony astray and drag them down with him. He has a wide variety of tools at his disposal to achieve this.”

“I see.”

“Take what you said about most of Equestria, for example. You said that most ponies seem to be constantly content with the world around them. In God’s eyes, this represents a sort of complacency that serves to distract everypony from what God wants for them. Satan exploits this further to cement this complacency in the hearts of everypony. Without a rock solid foundation on which to live their lives, these folks fill that void with the temporary things of this world, and altogether ignore the eternal matter of our Lord.”

Twilight’s horn then lights up. “I’m sorry, can I just get a cup of water from the water cooler? I’m still listening.”

“Of course, Twilight.” As she got up to get some water, I continued my explanation.

“Let’s put it this way: Those who trust in the Lord are wise and have built their lives on a solid foundation of rock, and those who focus on worldly things have built their lives on sand. When something happens in this world, it comes at them like the rain and the wind. Those who trust in God are able to weather that storm, while those who put their trust in worldly, temporary things can and do lose them (Matthew 7:24-27). I mean, you could be rich one day, then lose all your Bits. Or, you could have a big house, and it could be then lost.”

“And that’s why bad things happen to seemingly good ponies, right?” I nodded.

“It’s not about ‘good vs bad,’ because in God’s eyes, all of our works are filthy rags to him (Isaiah 64:6). We are all lost without God, Twilight.”

“Lost?”

“Yes, apart from Him, we are all deserving of Hell. God doesn’t send anyone there; ponies send themselves there because they seeked to live their lives apart from God. In Hell, you are eternally separated from God, and punished for your sins.”

“Yikes, that’s a terrifying prospect.” Twilight continued to write. “But wait, how do we know exactly where Hell is? Is it any different from Tartarus here in Equestria? Also, why would God send anypony there? Could he not simply reform them of their sinful ways?”

“Those are very good questions, Twilight. The truth of the matter is that Hell is much worse than Tartarus could ever be. Since Tartarus is here on Earth, God still maintains some degree of control over it and so it basically serves as a glorified prison here. Hell is different because of a complete absence of God, meaning that one is completely at the mercy of sin and darkness. I doubt that’s a path anypony wants to go down.” I then smile. “The good news is that we no longer have a need to fear about sin’s destructive path. Because God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten son Jesus, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).”

“Tell me more about this ‘Jesus.’ He sounds interesting.”

“Jesus Christ is the son of God, sent by God down to Earth so then we could come to know God more. Everyone was interested by His actions here on Earth, and He was perfect, sinless, and fulfilled the Law entirely. Unfortunately, He also caught the eye of the authorities, whose leadership saw Him as a threat to their power. As a result, they crucified Him, driving nails through His wrists as He was left on that cross to die.”

Twilight winced, knowing well that crucifixion was a particularly brutal execution method that was once prevalent.

“In addition to this crucifixion, many of Jesus’ followers were arrested and driven out of the public sphere. In spite of this, the church still managed to thrive. Amazingly, Jesus didn’t die from this crucifixion, but rather ascended to Heaven where He now sits at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1). He took that punishment so we not only don’t have to but can also be forgiven for our own sins by trusting in Him alone. That’s why came down to Earth, Twilight. He wanted to be among us and show us His love for us.”

“I wonder why Celestia never mentioned any of this.”

“I certainly have utmost respect for our Princess as a worldly ruler, but she is not our savior Twilight. She did not create you; she does not know all things about you or this world; she did not die for you; and she cannot save anyone. Only God can do these things, Twilight.”

Twilight finished writing. “Wow, pastor. It seems like quite a lot to take in. I need to return home to study more. Thanks for all the notes.”

I smiled at this. “My pleasure Twilight. Just know this one last thing before you go.” Twilight tries to find space on her notepad. “There are three things that a system of belief must have to be fundamentally true. It must be able to explain our origins, it must be able to tell us how we ought to morally live our lives, and it must be able to explain to address the issue of how mankind can be redeemed. Remember that in your studies.”

“Thanks Pastor Iron, I will!” As Twilight headed out the door and back home, I opened my briefcase and began my paperwork.

---

Meanwhile, Spike was putting away boxes of folded linens for Rarity as he finished up the list of chores. Rarity went over to Spike just after she had finished with a client.

“Well done, darling! Now the fine linens for my upcoming projects are right where they should be.”

Spike blushed as Rarity beamed a bright smile. “Aw shucks, Rarity! Anything for you…” Just as Spike dazed off into his secret crush, he just as quickly snapped out of it when Rarity spoke.

“Spike? Are you… alright?”

“Y-yes, Rarity!”

“Good. I’m just about to close the shop for an hour for lunch. You cannot bring about fabulosity on an empty stomach, you know!” After Rarity hangs a ‘closed’ sign in the door and gave Spike some Bits, she goes into her kitchen and places a small pot of vegetable soup on the stove. “Sweetie Belle and I had this last night. I think it’ll do the trick!” As the soup was reheated, Spike couldn’t help but be lulled by the aroma of the soup. He didn’t know what enticed him more, the soup or the alabaster mare preparing it. As the two of them sat at the table, Rarity began to ask Spike about life.

“So, anything new with you and Twilight?”

“Nothing much with me. Twilight had nothing for me to do at the library today, so I came over here to help. Though Twilight seems to be reading up about this, uh, ‘metaphysics’ thing or whatever it was.”

“Whatever do you mean, Spike?” Rarity became intrigued.

Spike shrugged. “Oh, you know. Something about our meaning and purpose in life, I dunno.”

“Purpose in life? I thought that was established when we received our cutie marks.”

“I know, but she, uh, seems to think that there’s more to it than just that, apparently. She went to talk about it with this pastor dude. I think his name was Sharp Iron or something like that.”

“You mean from that church up the street? When did Twilight start going there?”

“Oh, this is just a visit with their pastor to answer these questions.”

Rarity stood up. “Well, I’ll have you know Spike that while I was in Manehatten, folks from his church would always accost me at simply the worst times out on the streets! I simply have no time for those predators.”

“P-predators?! I mean, they seemed kind of odd to me, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that, Rarity.”

Rarity glared down at Spike. “Do not let Twilight be sucked into this! They will simply turn her into one of their minions! Besides, we already have our cutie marks and our magic, so I don’t think we need to be told what our ‘purpose’ is.”

Spike nodded. “Okay, Rarity. I’ll be sure to speak with Twilight about this.”

After Spike finished his soup, he returned home to find Twilight, hunched over her desk as usual.

“Hey Twilight.”

“Hey Spike. How was it at the Carousel Boutique today?”

“It went well. I got all the chores done, and she gave me these Bits and some vegetable soup, so you don’t have to worry about lunch for me.”

“That’s mighty generous of her, Spike.”

Spike chuckled. “Yeah, it was. She also asked about you and I told her about your visit to the church. She told me to tell you that you should be careful. Apparently they’re ‘vultures’ and ‘want to suck you in.’”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Now, now Spike. They may seem strange to us, but we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Pastor Sharp Iron seemed like a very nice stallion and explained all my questions in quite some depth. Here are my notes.” Twilight handed Spike her notebook, filled with detailed notes of our earlier discussion.

“Wow, this Pastor Sharp Iron seems to know a lot. What does he mean by all this, though?”

Twilight chuckled. “Oh Spike, I know it seems like a lot to take in, even I feel that way. No worries, I’m sure we can arrange to meet with Pastor Sharp Iron. Perhaps so you can get acquainted with him and see that he’s just a normal pony like the rest of us.”

“Well, if you say so. I just don’t know what to say to the guy. Won’t he think I’m some kind of heretic or something.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. Pastor Iron is kind and benevolent, based on my meeting with him. In fact, I think I can set something up where we can meet with him.”

Comments

[KV2 king of the derp]

Nice

[Truthseeker]

A ton of information here. Feels like a sermon instead of a conversation.