Blind Faith

by Flutter Riff

Prologue - Pt. 3

A thousand years later, Twilight Sparkle discovered the legend of the Mare in the Moon. As Princess Celestia's protegé, the purple unicorn pony was sent to that year's location for the Summer Sun Festival, a town less than a century old called Ponyville. Her official mission was to see to the town's preparations for the festival, her unofficial mission was to make some friends. After the preparations were checked and several subsequent friendships took root, the time for the Summer Sun Celebration had arrived; the time when Celestia would raise the sun on the longest day of the year. Anxiously watching the moon through the window of the town hall, Twilight noticed four stars disappear behind the moon as it sank towards the horizon; the Mare in the Moon's silhouette vanished...

-----

Evening Star suddenly became aware that he was floating. As he slowly woke up, he could vaguely make out four other ponies near by. After a minute, he could discern that the one directly in front of him was Luna. The other three were the plain white ponies that represented the three stars Celestia placed under Evening Star's command as they watched over Luna. Just as Evening Star was beginning to realize that he'd awakened, a beam of light burst from him and the three star ponies, the four beams converging on the blue alicorn princess.

It was evident that Luna herself was starting to wake up; a sense of panic was beginning to rise in Evening Star as his memories began to return. She was still wearing the armor she'd worn when she declared herself as Nightmare Moon. Was she still corrupted by her jealousy? Evening Star scrambled to gather his thoughts and concentrate his magic in order to touch Luna's mind; however, he'd only just began to reach out to her when the beams of light vanished. Nightmare Moon's eyes shot open, and suddenly she was gone.

Evening Star opened his mouth to cry out Luna's name, but no sound came out. He realized what he was seeing was simply his visual spell's representation of what was happening. He was still floating in the night sky near the moon. Looking down, with the help of his magic, the colt could see the expanse of Equestria far below him; a vast expanse of teal contours and darkness. When he looked back up, he was slightly startled to see Celestia there looking at him.

“I'm afraid you cannot yet speak, Evening Star, but listen well: the day has come, and Luna has been freed from her prison.” The white alicorn lowered her head, her eyes subdued, “I'm afraid Luna is still twisted by her jealousy, but there is a group of ponies that I believe will be able to help her.” She lifted her gaze to meet his, “It is almost time for you to awaken; when Luna is freed from Nightmare Moon's jealousy, you will return to Equestria. Knowing my protegé, it will not be long.”

With those last words, Celestia vanished, and Evening Star fell back into his dreamless slumber.

-----

“You see, Nightmare Moon; when those elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: The Element of Magic!”

With those words, the six ponies were lifted into the air as stone shards combined to form the shimmering Elements of Harmony around the necks of five of them, and a tiara on the head of the sixth. With a beam of brilliant colors, Nightmare Moon cried out as she was engulfed in the light.

When the light faded, the six ponies were on the floor in a daze, and Princess Luna lay in the place where Nightmare Moon had stood. After the six mares picked themselves up off the floor, the orange one spoke up. “Gee, Twilight, I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey; but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship!”

“Indeed you do!”

The six ponies gasped; as they looked through a window facing the East, the dark night sky quickly melted away to hues of red and pink as the sun began to rise, pouring a blinding white light into the room, revealing Princess Celestia as it faded away. Each of the ponies knelt down in respect except for the purple unicorn mare. Twilight dashed forward to embrace the princess, who returned the gesture in kind.

“Princess Celestia!”

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, I knew you could do it!”

Twilig ht backed up a bit with a puzzled look upon her face, “But, you told me it was all an old pony tale!”

The white alicorn smiled, “I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her! But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart. Now if only another will as well.”

The princess began to walk towards the raised platform and lowered her head towards the dark blue pony who crouched there. “Princess Luna, it has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this; time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister. Will you accept my friendship?”

The blue alicorn, a little smaller than her elder sister, simply gazed up at Celestia in silence. Soon, tears welled up in her eyes as she rushed forward to embrace her sister. “I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!”

The white alicorn smiled and returned the embrace, “I've missed you too.”

Suddenly, excessive bawling could be heard, tears gushing out of the pink mare's eyes. But as soon as she'd started, she suddenly stopped, a joyous look on her face, “Hey! You know what this calls for!? A party!” With that, a pink cloud was all that remained as Pinkie Pie zipped off to begin the preparations.

The remaining five little ponies simply looked at each other and laughed nervously as they stood up to leave. Twilight turned to look back at Celestia and Luna, “Princesses, are you coming?”

Both princesses gazed at Twilight, but it was Celestia who spoke up. “Yes, Twilight. You six go on ahead, we'll be along shortly.” Apparently satisfied, Twilight Sparkle trotted off after her new friends.

Celestia turned to face her sister, “Little sister, there is one more matter we should clear up before we attend that celebration.”

Luna looked up at the white alicorn, “Sister?”

Celestia calmly walked over to a window facing the west, where the moon was just beginning to surrender beneath the horizon. “I'm speaking of Evening Star.”

The blue alicorn's eyes opened wide, “But sister, not even Crystal Ponies have an alicorn's longevity!”

Celestia smiled back at her sister, who walked over to join her at the window, “As you might imagine, Evening Star was rather distraught when I used the Elements of Harmony to seal you away in the moon.”

Luna looked down, tears welling up in her eyes afresh, “Little one... He didn't deserve to be put through that...”

Celestia lowered her head, comforting her sister with an embrace, “Remember, little sister, we must put this behind us. After you were sealed away, I realized that Evening Star only ever really connected with you. With whatever might be left of his real family locked away, no friends outside of the castle, and you sealed away for a thousand years, his world was about to be torn apart all over again. So I cast another spell; one which placed three new stars under his charge, the four of them placed in turn around the moon to watch over you.”

Luna gazed at her sister in disbelief, “He was sealed away for as long as I was?”

Celestia nodded, “Only in his case, it was by choice. He wanted to do this, and he's still there,” she nodded up at the moon, now half hidden behind the horizon. “I believe it is time for the sleepy little colt to wake up.”

Luna nodded, “Allow me, big sister. It is only right that I relieve him of the post he chose because of a mistake I made a thousand years ago.”

Silver light began to entwine around the blue alicorn's horn before converging into an orb floating at its point. Eyes shut tight in concentration, Luna gave a slight gasp as the light shot as an erratic bolt of energy towards the moon, shrinking until it vanished in the distance of the great expanse between Equestria and the moon. Shortly after, a spark of light flashed on the moon, followed soon after by a shape gradually coming into view in the distance as the moon sank out of sight.

“... L-Luna...”

“I know, I know, I've got him...”

“Luna, he's coming in too fast...”

“Big sister, I know what I'm doing!”

-----

Evening Star felt himself awaken again; only this time instead of floating, it was the sensation of falling he felt. Yes, he was definitely falling, and fast. Wind whipped past him as he opened his eyes, only to squint against the sensation of the rushing air. Below him was the huge expanse of teal lines which he realized was Equestria. It was rushing up to greet him. His mind suddenly snapped awake as he began to appreciate that he was free falling through the sky, with no apparent means to slow his descent. With no wings, and his magic unable to assist him in the matter, he did the only thing he could think of: flail his legs around helplessly and yell at the top of his lungs.

-----

Sweat began to bead on Luna's forehead as she concentrated her magic. Despite her efforts, however, the silver glow of her magic began to falter; the colt would reach them in only a few seconds judging from the sound of his yells. Without hesitation, Celestia's horn glowed with golden magic, shooting out and forming a wide circle on the ground.

The yelling became louder, reaching a high point as the colt fell through an opening in the broken ceiling of the castle and landed head first in the center of the circle with an “Oof!” The magic acted as a gel at first, softening Evening Star's landing, his hind legs hanging above his head momentarily before solidifying under him as his hind quarters tilted and fell over. The little colt quickly righted himself, but when he tried to stand, his legs buckled and he quickly sat back down with his legs folded beneath him.

Luna walked tentatively over to Evening Star's side, laughing nervously, “I suppose one thousand years in isolation can make one rusty with magic...” Evening Star allowed himself a nervous grin, a tiny little squeak accompanying it, his breathing still slowing down from his re-entry. The grin faded however as the little colt again directed his wide, unsure, nearly-blind stare at the blue alicorn.

“L-Luna? Are... Are you still angry?” came the little colt's voice.

Luna sighed and sat down in front of Evening Star, pulling him into a gentle embrace. The colt tensed at first, but quickly eased as she rested her head on top of his, “No, Evening Star. Thanks to Twilight Sparkle and her friends, my eyes are open again. I'm so sorry, little one.”

Celestia smiled as the two sat together, eyes widening a moment as she recalled the imminent celebration. “I think we had better get going if we don't want to be late for Pinkie Pie's party.”

Luna stood up and nodded, “Yes, big sister. We shall fly,” she looked down as Evening Star got up on wobbling legs, “I can carry Evening Star.” The blue alicorn began to spread her wings, only to let out a sharp gasp as she quickly re-folded her left wing.

Celestia smiled, “I've been sealed away until the sun rose not long ago, and you two have been sealed away for much longer. I thought it'd be best if we simply walked, so I sent a message to Canterlot. Our escort should arrive right about...”

Celestia's voice trailed off on that last word as she turned her gaze towards the ruin's entrance. A moment later, six royal guards filed in, lead by a yellow unicorn mare, “...now.”

The royal guards bowed as the unicorn mare spoke, “Your Majesties, the captain sent us as soon as we received your message. We secured a path through the forest and the six mares who left here have already made it safely back to Ponyville.”

Celestia nodded her head, “Very good, Lemon Hearts.”

Evening Star cocked his head, looking first at the guards, then at Celestia, “Why do we need a guard if Ponyville is close enough that the others just walked?”

Lemon Hearts took a step forward, “Because, little colt, these ruins are in the Everfree Forest. The trees grow and the clouds move all by themselves. There are also strange and dangerous creatures around here. Speaking of strange, that sea serpent in the river had the oddest mustache...”

Celestia laughed, “What's important is that our trip back will be a safe one. Let's get going, shall we? Lemon Hearts, I'd like to talk to you about a special job as we go.”

-----

Evening Star remained silent as he walked alongside Luna. Celestia and Lemon Hearts were walking a short distance ahead of them, speaking in hushed tones. Lemon Hearts would occasionally look back at him with what he thought was a rather annoyed expression on her face. By now he understood how the Everfree Forest got its name; the trees grew in wild, gnarled shapes, there were some animals that may not have necessarily been hostile, but did not look at the ponies kindly as they passed, and the clouds in the sky seemed to have a spirit of their own. Occasionally, he would look up at Luna, who would look back down at him and smile. Evening Star would smile back.

As they neared the edge of the forest, the sunlight playing through the leaves at the edge of the canopy, Celestia stopped and turned back towards Evening Star and Luna. “I believe it would be best if Evening Star were to arrive in Ponyville with Lemon Hearts” Celestia said.

“What? What for?” Evening asked, hating the idea already.

“Because, little one,” Celestia replied, “the Crystal Empire is still largely unknown to most ponies in Equestria, and it has not yet returned. The fact that you yourself are a Crystal Pony is only known to Lemon Hearts, Luna, and myself.”

The white alicorn princess lowered her head on level with Evening Star's, “There will be uncomfortable questions ponies will ask if you appear with us; questions that other ponies do not necessarily need to know the answers to until you yourself are ready to talk about them. However, Luna and I agreed long ago that we wished for you to attend school outside of Canterlot, and I believe Cheerilee's school in Ponyville would be perfect. Lemon Hearts here,” she nodded her head towards the yellow mare, “serves Canterlot as a liaison officer between Canterlot and Ponyville. She is often seen in both places, so her presence will not garner attention, and so she will be charged with commuting you to and from Cheerilee's school in Ponyville.”

The yellow unicorn mare's annoyed expression returned for a short moment. Unsure, the little black colt looked up at Luna, who smiled warmly down at him.

“It will be alright, little one,” the dark blue alicorn said, “you will finally be able to spend time with colts and fillies your own age, and your education will be far more diverse with two separate teachers instead of just myself.”

Evening's stomach started to tie itself into knots. In all his waking memory, he'd never been too far from either Luna or Celestia. Luna leaned her neck down to gently nudge him towards Lemon Hearts.

“Go on, little one. Celestia and I will be right behind you.”

Evening tripped slightly as he nervously moved to walk next to Lemon Hearts, who only closed her eyes and sighed as as she began to walk as well.

“Look, foal,” the yellow unicorn muttered in a low voice, “just do as I say. I don't like this any more than you appear to.”

Evening Star huffed a sigh of his own as he followed, 'Just great', he thought. 'I can already tell this is gonna be a pain...'

In the distance, Evening Star could see Ponyville. Several balloons were escaping into the sky, and confetti was being shot into the air by what sounded like a cannon.

Author's Note:

Phew, prologue is finally complete!

Figured now would be a good time to see whether I can get any feedback. I still don't feel like I'm handling the spoken dialogue very well, but I guess I'm primarily curious about whether the story over all is entertaining or not.

Any help will certainly be appreciated as yet another fanfic protagonist sets out on his adventure. X)

(7/30) Alright, part 3 of the epilogue reworked. Now I can hopefully move on to chapter 1, and finally focus a little more specifically on Evening Star and his personality, since I haven't had a chance to give him much of one yet. X)

Comments

[celticfan]

Not bad pretty job dude. hell i think you have better grammer then me. this is going to favorites

[Flutter Riff]

2077220 Thanks! The prologue chapters kinda got out of control because I forgot my original strategy to use outlines to stay focused. Sorta like Twilight's checklists But hopefully I should be back on track now that I can start where I'd originally intended to start the story!

[The dead Pixel Brony]

It begins.

[Super_Big_Mac]

So first off: I forgot to remind you that Ponyville didn't exist a thousand years ago. Granny Smith was one of the original founders of the town, and she's just pushing something like 90. So... yeah. Wanted to point that out. Other than that, this was a fine prologue. Just work on the few things I pointed out, and you'll do fine.

[Flutter Riff]

3247273 Thanks! X) Though I didn't realize I'd placed Ponyville back in the pre-Nightmare Moon time period, I'll re-scrutinize my work and definitely rework these chapters with the dialog tips!

[Super_Big_Mac]

4688655 4688650
It's no trouble, really. I fancy myself a bit of an editor, so I kinda like telling other people where they went wrong (lol, jk).

If you ever need someone to help out, though I may not be available, there are a few groups you could look at that might have someone able to help.

Proof-reading, Pre-Reading, And Editing
Looking for Editors
The Proofreader Group
Overly Extensive Editors
Editors-R-Us

Hope that helps! I still really would like to see where this was going, it just sounds like a fun adventure!