[Prologue] The Eulogy of Stellar Lights
Stella
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It begins on a Friday night, just after sunset. A late summer's evening rolls in, and fireflies have come out to play. Shadow's ghosts wither away into an austere sky. Twilight is magnificent, as it always will be.
In a small suburb near the outskirts of Everfree, a lone mare turns from closing up shop to admire the colors chase each other under the horizon. Leathery wings shuffle in place upon her shoulders as a pair of tall, tufted ears swivel to catch the sounds of fading daytime. She turns again, and the shooting stars falling across her haunches seem to shine in the streetlamp.
Like most Fridays, she locks the door behind her, entombing the astronomy equipment behind it for the weekend. This far away from the borders of ordered territory, the stars always dance in greater splendor than other places. Business is good enough to let her take a night off, every once a blue moon.
Tossing her key into a well-worn saddlebag, she begins the trot to her next destination. The warm summer air feels pleasant, so she allows her wings to dangle half-unfurled at her sides. There's no reason to fly; she has plenty of time and the trip will do her some good. She won't admit it, but she's been glancing at herself in the mirror lately. All this time in the shop must have been making her a tiny bit plump.
She slowly ambles down the cobbled road. The stones, baked in the sun all day, are still deliciously warm to the touch. Cricket serenades compete for her attention. Its a sort of racket that she loves.
Just over the distant treetops, she can pick out the spires of the Princess' castle., tall enough even to be seen from Ponyville. The crystalline keep sparkles, a far-off jewel caught in daylight's last breath.
A left turn at the second intersection brings her to a bridge crossing the canal that zigs and zags around Everfree proper. A melancholy stallion sits at the railing, watching small skiffs poled up and down the waters, lanterns swinging from the bows. His face is obscured by the shadow of an unruly mane.
She pauses next to him. "Everything all right, friend?"
"Not particularly," the stallion replies. "I was waiting her for my wife. It's our anniversary tonight, and I had it all planned out. I think something went wrong."
"Oh, um," She's thankful he faces the river while she takes a small step away. Perhaps it was wrong of her to intrude. "I'm sorry to hear that. Did she ever show up?"
"Yes. I hope. But..." His shoulders slump.
The poor dear looked quite out of it. "But?"
"Something went wrong," he repeats. His voice is cracking. "Very wrong."
"Sir, are you sure you're okay?"
"Are you okay?"
The mare raises an eyebrow, glancing down at herself as if she'd missed something earlier. She felt fine. Sure, a little tired from work, but nothing like a good rest wouldn't fix. And maybe a few less chocolates.
"Are you okay?" the stallion asks again, still fixated upon the boats in the river.
"Maybe we should get you some help," she begins, but freezes when he looks at her. The streetlamps strike through the shadows covering his face. Cracked and yellowing bones grin madly at her between hollow sockets. There's nothing there, no flesh, no sinew, just skeleton.
The skull moves, his voice comes out. "Are you okay?"
She can't speak; couldn't even if she wanted to.
It continues anyway. "Stay with me. Please."
The mare stumbles backwards, squeaking as her breath hitches in her throat.
"Anything, please. Try anything." The stallion rises to his hooves. His image seems to flicker. "Don't leave."
She turns and runs.
Streetlamps race past. She's galloping harder than she could imagine, eating up the cobblestones. But there, ahead, he stands, the skull face expressionless as he holds out a hoof to her. She sees a small street coming up --- bolts for it --- darting around parked carriages and trash bins, casting glances behind her.
Even her eyes can't see him in the gaps of shadow, but her ears pick up the sound of another set of hooves on the stone.
"Don't go!" comes the cry.
She bites down a scream and hurls herself onward.
The city melts around her. Signposts drip street names, building facades slump and bend towards her. She feels like she's going faster than ever before, but not moving an inch.
Something's coming up behind her. She can feel it.
A small alley appears. She dives through, tumbling into the shadows and knocking her breath out upon the ground. There. Must be safe now. Have to be...
"Please..."
Stars no.
It's there again, standing at the entrance to the alley, blocking the way out. She scrambles away until her back strikes brick wall.
"I love you. I love you. I love you!"
Each slow, unhurried step accompanied by that declaration. Her eyes scan frantically, looking for some kind of escape, something, anything. They settle on the sky.
There!
She surges forwards, wings flapping. The ground sinks below her, the monster vanishes into the shadows. She breaks over the rooftops, heading in a random direction --- as long as it wasn't here.
Her breath is ragged and hoarse. She keeps flying until her wings feel like they'll rip from her sockets. It's hard to see through the tears, but she manages to roughly land on the top of an apartment building, skidding on the gravel roofing.
For a while, she simply lays there, exhausted, chest heaving. Eventually, she rolls onto her back, wiping her face.
She freezes.
"Stella."
The skull's empty sockets burn holes into her soul.
She screams.
"She's coming around!"
Fate
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The doctor lowers his clipboard, mumbles a final word of apology, and retreats from her. The door opens briefly, filling the sterile room with the busy hum of a hospital, before shutting with a metallic click.
They're alone.
Stella can't take her eyes off a fold in the sheets. At the bed side, she hears her husband desperately trying to control his breathing. It sounds like he's about to cry. Ironic, given the circumstances.
"Shhh. Blue." At his name, he jerks. Sniffles. "C'mere."
His warmth takes her from the side, and he slumps over her shoulder, shuddering. Stella can't focus on it, can't focus on anything really, but she knows he needs somepony right now. Even if it shouldn't be her. She strokes the back of his neck. Something warm and wet is dripping onto her pillow. "Shhhh.... shhh, hun. It's okay, it's all right..."
Stella can't bring herself to join in his misery. By all rights, she should be hysterical right now. She should be screaming, raging against the fates and the unfairness of it all.
What's going to happen to them when I'm gone?
That's it. That's the only thing in her mind, repeating itself endlessly. Why? Surely she should feel something. Anything. Was a cold sweat too much to ask? A single tear? Alas, her face might as well have been carved from stone.
So she lies there in her scratchy gown, comforting Blue when he finally couldn't hold it back any longer, and holding him long after he fell into a fitful sleep.
She watches the shadows race across the floor. Watches as the moonlight shines in through gaps in the blinds. Watches the rise and fall of her own breast, irritatingly consistent. Watches as the sun comes up. Watches as Blue twitches, lost in a nightmare.
At some point, Stella realizes she accepted her fate as soon as the words left the doctor's mouth.
She's going to die.
"...Blood tests... startling... cells aren't acting properly... there's nothing like this ever seen before... we aren't even sure... possible magic mutation... no, not genetic... wrong cells in wrong places... spell can hold it off... temporary measures... delaying the inevitable... total organ failure... slow collapse... one year... we estimate about one year... one year..."
One year.
Miss Lights, you have one year to live.
Stella gently wriggles out from underneath her sleeping husband, placing a kiss upon his cheek as he whimpers into the pillow. She stands, stretching the cramp from her wings. A familiar feeling down below leads her to the bathroom.
After doing her business, she looks into the mirror.
A placid expression stares back at her. No red eyes, no puffy cheeks, barely even a dirty coat. Aside from a messy mane -- which she kept short, anyway -- she looked fine.
The nasty lurch in her stomach returns. Her eyes widen. She rushes back to the toilet, barely making it in time before she heaves, spewing dark liquid into the waters. "G'hhhaaaach!" It hurts, feels like something's taking her insides and turning them inside out.
When she's done, she wipes her mouth off with a hoof and staggers to her hooves.
The door to the bathroom opens, and the doctor walks in. "Miss Lights!? I heard the noise, are you--"
"No," she interrupts. "I'm dying. Left a gift for you, by the way." She jerks her head towards the toilet. "In there. Are those for me?" She doesn't wait for him to answer, simply lifting a bottle of pills out of his stunned grip and plodding past him. "Thanks."
Somehow she slithers back into bed with Blue without disturbing him.
She's gone the second her head hits the pillow.
Love
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"Are you sure you'll be all right by yourself?"
"I'll be fine, hun."
"I mean, I could call in, get somepony to cover me..."
"Blue, I'll be fine."
"M-maybe I shouldn't go, we have enough savings to last another week or two."
"Blue."
"This is a bad idea, I shouldn't have to leave my wife alone like this..."
"Blue!"
They're standing on the threshold to the street, plush carpet beneath their hooves and the rising sun peeking through the windows. Stella gently nuzzles the stallion hesitating at the door. Behind her comes the sound of pancakes on the griddle and the Monday morning Holocast.
Blue fidgets with his tie. "I... just." He's looking everywhere but her.
She kisses him, murmuring into his ear, "I know. But this will do you good. We've been cooped up in here for half a month. Go, get out there."
"But what about you?" He lays his neck over hers.
"I'll manage. Galaxy has school off today. I'll spend as much time as I can with her. Okay?"
They stay like that for a while, drawing comfort from the embrace. "Are we ever going to tell her?" He doesn't wait for a response, adding, "I hate this, I hate feeling like this."
"Like what, hun?"
"Useless," he mumbles. His voice is bitter. "Afraid."
"I've got the pills now," she reminds him. "The attacks won't bother me anymore. It was just that first time on our anniversary, and the hospital."
He is silent.
Eventually, he steps away. "I should go."
Stella offers him a smile, but he still isn't looking at her. She holds the door open for him as he steps into the morning and is swallowed by the sunlight. Leaning against the open doorway, she shifts her bathrobe against the breeze. It's a windy day today, and the family skimmer wavers a bit in air, before rocketing up and away into the metropolis of Everfree.
With a sigh, Stella closes the door and returns to the kitchen. Breakfast is almost ready. She flares her leathery wings, grabbing the spatula with the tips of the finger-like bones that make up the limbs and stirring the batter.
The Holocast is reporting the news for the moment. Pleasant background noise, really, but an interview with the Princess emerges, and Stella can't help but twitch a tufted ear towards the conversation.
"...truly remarkable, Your Majesty. What inspired you to initiate such an ambitious undertaking?"
"That's a fantastic question. I always knew there was more potential for the space program after ponykind returned to the Moon. Now, I say returned not because Princess Luna once dwelt there for a time, but also because it became the home of the lost pegasus tribe during Discord's short reign, ancestors of modern day nocturni, the Night Pegasi. It was actually Luna who brought them back when she returned, but for many years, we wondered what had became of the kingdom they left behind. After we re-established a colony there from ponies of all walks of life, I wondered if there was more out there. This program is intended to answer that question, once and for all."
"Fascinating. Are you at any liberty to discuss the progress your preject has made?"
"Not entirely, save for that this project has been something I alone worked on for many years, and only recently expanded operations once I was certain the theories behind interstellar travel were sound. The first launch is scheduled in three months, once we have finished constructing the craft and training the crew."
"Your Majesty, there are some among us who are wondering if there might be any ulterior motives to this program."
"Ulterior motives?"
"Yes. Would it be too much trouble to set rest to a few rumors?"
"Please, go ahead."
"Is it true that the secondary objective this program is to discover the location of the long lost Celestia and Luna?"
"..."
"Your Majesty?"
"...No comment."
She blinks, realizing that somehow her attention had drifted to the Holocaster. Something acrid makes her nose wrinkle, and glancing down, she gasps at the sight of the pancakes on the griddle. Blackened and scorched. Ruined.
"Ngghhhhh! You've got to be kidding me! Ffffffff---"
There is a small pegasus filly sitting at the counter, watching her with a curious expression.
"---ffffffuuuudge."
An awkward pause.
"Morning, Momma!" her daughter brightly chirps.
Stella sighs, scraping the mess into the incinerator. "Good morning, Galaxy. Did you sleep well?"
"Mhh-hmmm." The little scamp rubs at her eyes, stifling a yawn. "What was that?"
"It was breakfast." Stella presses a button on the counter, and the griddle descends, covered up by ceramic plates. Trotting around the counter, she ruffles the filly's mane. "I think I should leave the cooking to your father from now on. Want to go out for food?"
Galaxy's eyes light up. "Yusssh!"
"Okay. Wash up, and be ready to leave in ten."
Her daughter tumbles off her perch, small wings flapping excitedly. She giggles as her mother deftly catches her with practiced movements. "Can we do something fun today?"
"Hmmm?" Stella sets her down. "Like what?"
"I gotta new sim from one of my friends at school. It's the newest Daring Do!" Galaxy proudly announces, tail wagging with excitement. "I traded it for a bag of cookies!"
Stella's face crinkles with amusement. "Your father's cookies? I can't say this friend of yours has bad taste. Hmmm." She pretends to think hard for a moment. "Run along, and we'll use the link at the park to play. All right?"
"Yuppers!" The filly scampers away. "Love you!"
Stella watches her vanish down the hallway, before shaking her head with a mirthful chuckle. She notices she's still holding the spatula in her wing, now coated in charred bits of pancakes. Her faces sours for a moment, then relaxes.
"I know, baby. I know."
She never really got used to the feeling of a sim. Too much, too smooth. It was like she was forced into experiencing the world around her. She couldn't tune out if she tried.
Still, she reminds herself, at least this wasn't real. Horses of Heaven help her if it was, because she's terrified out of her wits as it is.
"Ha-ha-ha-haa! Can you believe it? You're about to do something nopony has ever done before. Ever! You're dropping into the throat of a frozen volcano, mares! You're gonna ride the inside of Kilamarejaro --- nothing but pure darkness in there --- you're gonna be riding blind!"
A sharp warning siren blares from the cockpit of the vehicle, a pilot roughly smashing his hoof into some buttons a few times until it quells. Outside, nothing can be heard over the scream of the storm but the deafening chud-chud-chudding of propellers beating desperately at the air.
"...That's, that's rock'n'roll, mares, that's what it is, that is a deadly descent." The entire craft shudders violently, pitching the sole occupants in the rear passenger space about. "Heheheh, bet the only thing you two can think of right now is the sting of vomit in the back of your throat, eh?"
Stella places a hoof over her chest, trying to control how hard she's breathing. Her heavy winter ensemble flexes with the movement, more of a second skin than thermal protection. Her heart is absolutely pounding against the inside of her chest, and she fears it might actually break her ribs.
She turns to her daughter in wide-eyed disbelief. "This!? This is what you do for fun!?"
Galaxy is too busy rolling around the floor of the infernal machine as it sways in the wind. "Wheeeee! Oh, yeah, Momma, this is tons of fun! I do this stuff all the time! All we gotta do is make it to the bottom and grab the treasure. Just like Daring Do!" The filly staggers over to her mother, patting her on the shoulder. "I mean, if you don't want to do this..."
Stella takes one look at those big, glistening eyes and she knows there's no escape.
"Let's do this," she says uncertainly, stepping onto the board glowing at the center of the space. A long, thin, curved board materializes beneath her hooves, attaching itself by some unknown force. It has her mark on it --- two shooting stars --- something that seemed oddly comforting.
Galaxy joins her, a much smaller board forming underneath the much smaller filly.
"Are those flaming skulls?" Stella asks, eyeing her daughter's equipment.
"Yah-huh. Do ya like it? This is my custom ride. It's totes magotes the gnarliest plank that ever shredded that dopesauce pow-pow this side of the Crysties." She's positively wriggling with excitement.
"....What?"
The pilot's voice drifts back from the cockpit. He sounds like he's struggling to hold the craft in place.
"Put it out of your heads and start your nerves. Prepare to drop on my mark!"
Galaxy hops up and grabs onto an overhanging bar above their heads with her wings. After a moment's hesitation, Stella does too, and with little time to spare. She gasps as a hidden pannel in the floor drops away, and nothing but the black, monstrous yaw of open sky below them.
"Galaxy..."
"Shh, this is the best part!"
The pilot cries out. "Three..."
"Galaxy...!"
"Can't hear anything love ya buh-bye now!"
"Two..."
"Oh Tartarus."
"ONE!" Galaxy lets go and vanishes out the door, disappearing into the darkness with a stream of childlike giggles. A strong beam of light sparkles to life from the filly's head lamp, and Stella can see it swallowed up by the frozen mouth of the volcano.
Screaming in terror, Stella lets go and falls after her.
