Constellation Combat

It was another busy day in Equestria. Farmers were readying crops, bakers and chefs were preparing food, everypony had something to do. Andante, for example, had to prepare his music, as he was going to perform for an audience at the Summer Solstice Festival, in celebration of the day Celestia brought out the most glorious sunrise to start off the longest day in the year, and ended it with a magnificent sunset. Little did the Equestrians know, the longest day of the year was going to have the darkest, most lonesome night, without any constellations.

Celestia decided it was fit for Twilight to know about this pressing matter, for she was sure her apprentice could find a way to stop it from happening; Twilight never seemed to disappoint. The Princess made an appointment at i hour before the noontime, one hour before the height of the celebration took place, as the sun would rise to its highest point during the year. Celestia was certain that Twilight would come, after some hard reading on the subject. She did, after all, wanted to know what she was getting into.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

" Princess Celestia, I have come at your request," Twilight said as she entered the throne room.
"Twilight, I presume you have read up on the constellations?"
"Yes, Princess, I have. They were conceived at the time when the first Stargazer was enlisted, Lumino Solari."
"Very good. Then I believe you also know of the Prisoner in the Dark Void?"
"Yes, Princess."
"Then I have some very troubling news. The constellations are fading away, and my current Stargazer, Silvia Stardust, believes the Prisoner may be responsible. Without any constellations to protect us..." The Princess turned to Twilight, "the Prisoner can come at any moment, with all the Zodiac under his control."

Twilight sat there, eyes wide with shock. "You're not saying that I-"
"Yes, I am, Twilight. You must find a way to prevent the destruction of this world, " The Princess finished.
"But I read that this 'High Majesty' banished him. Who are they, and can't they do it again?"
"The Majesty consists of two deities of ultimate power. Lux, with her partner, Tenebris, both watch over Equestria. Tenebris banished Solari to the Dark Void, yes, but it is still a mystery to why Solari was even exiled. Before he went on a destructive rampage, he had a good moral, a good conscience. It seemed he was vastly different when we sent the Zodiac to destroy Equestria."

The princess went on about how magnificent and selfless Solari was before the rampage occurred, and how he changed overnight. It was a mystery to everypony at the time, and still was to that day. Several theories were brought up, saying how Solari saw the power he held, and wanted more, or how he wanted revenge on somepony, but none of them matched up with his character.

But it wasn't the time for reminiscing about the past, it time for Celestia to make her special appearance at the Summer Solstice Festival. When the princess was finished with her story, she sent Twilight off to regroup with her friends and other such matters before noon came.

For Andante, things went along pretty smoothly. He was playing his own composition, 'Sonata a la Sole'. Note after note, hearts were touched, the sky got brighter, and when the final chord struck, the Summer Solstice had officially begun with the sun high in the sky. Everyone was joyful. Ponies danced, all the pegasi flew around, doing loop-the-loops and whirls in the sky, and the unicorns did as many tricks as they could think of. It was a beautiful sight.

After the festival ended and the bright sun finally receded below the horizon, mostly everypony had gone to bed. Andante sat in a clearing in the Everfree Forest. He lay there, thinking back to the days with his family. The fun, the games, all that good stuff. Then he remembered why he left.

His siblings always teased him about the orchestra, and how he'd always fail in it. He knew he couldn't play anything they gave him. Viola, violin, chello, bass, harp, anything in the orchestra really, he just couldn't master it. Every night, his parents would insist he try again to make it in, just as the rest of his family. Both his parents, his aunt and uncle, even his siblings and cousins were in the string ensemble, except for him. He'd go to sleep every night, lonely. But there was this one pony that stood there for him. One of his sisters. But he never remembered her name, not even what she looked like. In his dreams, he saw a vague figure. He made it his quest to find her, because he knew she had left home to look for him. He wasn't sure why, but he just knew. Like a sibling sort of thing.

Twilight, on the other hoof, had stayed up to look at the night sky. Sitting atop the highest hill in Ponyville she craned her neck towards the night sky. Nights before, she had seen thousands upon thousands of twinkling lights up above. Now, only a few stars remain. Taurus, the bull, Pisces, the twin fish, and Libra, the pony of love and just. These were the first and most powerful constellations to have been forged in the sky. They have watched over Equestria ever since they were created, along with Orion, Leo, Sagittarius, and many others. But now, those first three remain to be the only ones left.

She wondered why the stars were fading away into the deep, dark abyss that is the night. She was about to turn back when the night sky burst into light. Taurus, to Twilights chagrin, was losing his luster in the heavens. She saw him wriggle and writhe in the night sky, fighting something the best he could.

Then he slowed...

Then he stopped.

With a final cry the stellar beast succumbed to the darkness around him, the only feature left of it was its pure white eyes. Which slowly turned a dark and vicious red...

As if it turned evil.