Can You Tell Me A Story, Mommy?
Stories come and go and the history behind them simply vanishes as time goes on. But some stories stay with us, even if we didn't know it. Seeing the ponies go about their daily lives without a care in the world brought a smile to even the coldest of hearts. Celestia, considered to be the main ruler of the grand country of Equestria. Along with her sister, Luna, Celestia reigned over her ponies with a gentle hoof and an even gentler smile. The sun is meant to be a beacon of hope, one that Celestia looks up to with wonder each and every day. It was not always as it is now. The world was once ravaged by war, deceit, and all manners of unspeakable evil. War corrupts all that it touches and no matter how long you avoid it, its effects can be seen and remembered for almost all of eternity. Just as you cannot completely wash away the light, you cannot simply brush away the darkness. It resides within us all, waiting to take control when we're the most vulnerable. Then again, the light does the exact same thing. It is a never ending cycle, really. Equus seemed to be on a roll here with this prolonged peace.
Celestia's mane whipped across her face due to a heavy gush of wind, snapping her away from her deep thought. She glanced down at the dark streets below, barely illuminated by the moon's rays. With a final smile to the few ponies still awake down below, she turned around and entered the door behind her, leaving the balcony empty once again. She crossed the carpeted floor with no haste, as her duties were completed for the day. Well, all save for one of her biggest, and most recent duty, to have ever graced her life. Her daughter, whose name was Melody, had been born eight years ago. She had always planned to have a daughter or son for the longest time, but she never had the time to settle down. With the world as peaceful as it is now, it seemed like the perfect time. The joy of having a foal to call your own was a feeling next to nothing. Though, she considered the ponies of Equestria to be her children, Melody was something else entirely. Melody was everything that Celestia cherished in this world.
Celestia had fashioned the room next to her own to be made into a foal's room when she had found out about her. She stopped at the door that sat next to a recently-installed fire place, her smile widening as she grasped the handle with her magic. With a turn of the knob, the door slowly swung open to reveal a bouncing filly upon a queen-sized bed. The filly's eyes widened with joy at the sight of her mother, almost immediately jumping down from the bed to assault the older mare with hugs and kisses. Celestia laughed and returned Melody's love in full. Melody liked to do this sort of thing every time they met each other in the same room after being away from each other. It was a small phase the filly was in, but it was a phase that Celestia loved.
Melody was a snow-white filly with a sparkling blue and white mane that flowed, just as her mother's did. The filly's pretty, green eyes were always filled with wonderment and curiosity of the world around her. Her hooves tapped the ground lightly, as they always did when she was overly excited. Celestia didn't think that Melody knew about that habit because she always seemed surprised whenever it was pointed out. Looking into her daughter's eyes, Celestia could see herself as a young filly. It was like looking into a mirror everyday that had a mind of its own.
Melody's backed off a bit, giving her mother some room to breathe, "How was work, mommy? Did you have fun?"
Celestia walked over to the bed and sat down, levitating her daughter next to her as she did so, "Oh, things were interesting and fun as they usually always are," she looked down at the small filly with a slight grin, "but I did come across a dragon. Can you guess who I saw today?"
Melody's face lit up with excitement and she started tapping her back hooves against the princess's thighs, "Did you see Spikey? Are Twilight and Spikey here?"
Celestia giggled a little and patted Melody's head, "Yes, Spike and Twilight are visiting the castle for a couple of days. Rarity came along, too, but the others stayed in Ponyville. Oh, I remember when you and Spike used to play together... you were both so cute!"
Melody deadpanned at Celestia, obviously not amused by being called cute, "I am not cute, mommy!" she brushed a bit of her mane away from her eyes, grinning a child-like grin as she did so, "I'll have you know that I am beautiful and sophisticated."
Celestia laughed at that, realizing what Melody was doing later than she would have liked, "Blueblood would be offended if he found out that you were impersonating him, Melody," she went on the mutter under her breath, glancing away from Melody, "Then again, when isn't he offended by something?"
Melody didn't seem to hear the remark about blueblood, or if she did, she definitely didn't show it, "I'll talk to them tomorrow... but right now, I'm really sleepy. Can you tell me another story, mommy? Something you haven't told me before?"
Celestia thought for a moment, wondering what story she hadn't told her daughter yet. After so many years, trying to be original was a tad difficult. She looked down at her expectant daughter, wondering if it was time to pass down one of the most ancient stories ever told. But was she ready for such a story? It didn't seem like something you'd tell an eight-year-old. Then again, Celestia was only six when she heard this story, and she turned out pretty good. She looked up and out the window for a moment, knowing that this might take a while.
Celestia looked back down at her daughter with a motherly smile, "I'd like to tell you a story passed down to me through generations of different alicorns. My mother told me this story and her mother told her about it. Her mother's mother's mother lived through this period of time. It is said that without these events, Equestria would have never been created. I would like to tell you about the Equus Equilibrium. You haven't heard of this, have you?"
Melody shook her head, child-like curiosity pouring into her eyes, "No, mommy, you haven't told me about the Equus Equil-... wibium..."
Celestia chuckled at the way Melody pronounced the last word, shaking her head, "No, honey, it's equilibrium. Equus Equilibrium. You know Equus obviously, but equilibrium is a fancy way of saying that things are in perfect harmony... balanced."
Melody said equilibrium a couple more times until she got it right. Celestia wished that she had birthed a foal sooner... this was a treasure unlike any other. She moved her daughter and herself to sit further up on the bed, sitting up against the headboard, using the pillows as cushions. The little filly was doing her hoof tapping thing again, obviously excited to hear mommy's story.
Celestia brought a hoof to the filly's head, brushing her mane gently and slowly, "The story begins long before Equestria was made... back when Earth ponies, pegasuses, and unicorns didn't like each other for their differences. Well, most of them anyway. There were towns and cities here and there that accepted everypony for who they were. This was long before the great ice storm that brought the windigos. This was known as the time of Grand Exploration. We didn't know much about our continent and the continents out at sea. We were still finding our way in the world, still curious about what was on the other side of the mountains, and the mountains after that. Back then, there were different countries for the three different pony races. Along with the other countries for different species as well. The countries didn't really like each other... but they tried to tolerate each other's presence in this world as best as they could. Unfortunately, war was inevitable and the countries waged it for hundreds of years. Twenty years before the end of these wars, a small colt was born... according to legend, he was just as cute as you, Melody."
Celestia tapped Melody's nose for added effect, making the small filly giggle, "This colt would bring about a change that is still seen to this day. The Equus Equilibrium. Arguably the most important event to ever occur in this world's history. But let's start when the colt was born, shall we? It was a dark and stormy night, filled with dangers of many kinds. In the middle of a prairie, there laid a solitary barn... red against the blackened night. Through the roar of the wind and rain, and the crashing of the lightning, a small cry of an infant could be heard..."
The wind howled and the rain slammed itself down upon the ground, the terrifying power of lightning adding to the already grim atmosphere. But that was not what had the attention of four ponies, all varying in age. A small colt that had just recently been born was announcing his outrage at being torn away from his mother's warm embrace. The mother of this colt, however, didn't have enough strength left inside of her to do anything. Two ponies worked at trying to keep the mother alive, knowing that birthing the colt had been extremely strenuous. The small and helpless colt had been placed inside of a small wooden basket, his crying slightly subsided, but still present. The colt itself was as gray as ash with a jet black mane almost as black as the night that surrounded the barn that they were all inside of.
"Stay with me, Tory! Just keep your thoughts on the colt! You know he needs you in his life, just hang in there for him! For him, Tory, for him! Keep your eyes open for your colt, okay? You can do it. I believe in you, Tory."
Two voices could be heard from the basket, along with a wheezing of another pony. But the small colt didn't understand what was going on, so he just whimpered, wanting to go back to the only home he knew. This new world was strange and scary. He didn't want anything to do with it at all. The colt looked over at a hulking figure staring down at him with a smile, despite the fact that two ponies were freaking out over somepony.
The figure, still smiling, said in a deep voice, "You're going to do great things. I just know it... the prophet said that you would bring about a great change in our world. Just looking at you, I can tell it's the truth. You hold greatness inside of you."
The colt didn't understand these noises that the figure made, but they were frightening nevertheless. He whimpered a bit again, not knowing what to do. He softly shook his little hooves around, as that was all he could do besides crying an whimpering. The figure went away, leaving the colt to his own devices. Despite how scary he was, the thing had been keeping him company. Without the figure there, he started crying, not wanting to be alone. He felt as if he was going to be alone for a long time and that it had something to do with the wheezing thing in the background. But he didn't know why he felt this way. He barely understood anything at this point. His gaze shifted to the strange, yet soft, thing that he was laying on. It was nice, but it was a color he had never seen before... except in his dreams. He had dreamed of a great thing above him... it was a bright color, very nice to look at. In his dream, he had called it blue. Yes, the blanket was blue. It reminded him of the big thing above him. Well, not right now. It was just darkness along with a flickering orange light that slightly illuminated said darkness.
The deep-voiced figure spoke up in the background, "You cannot let her die, Scylia! Bring her back damnit! Please, bring my wife back to me!"
A lighter voice could be heard in response, "I can't do it Gareth. She's already gone... but right now, we need to keep that colt alive. I know how you feel. My husband died in the war... I know what it's like to lose somepony. Do you think you can hold it together long enough to help your son?"
There was a slight hesitation on the air, but the deep voice finally broke the silence, "Yes... yes, I think I can do it. Let's get my wife and my son out of here. The soldiers could come by at any moment. No one in the high council can know of this birth. This child is the one of the prophecy. We'll have to move to the new land... away from everything. The council cannot find us."
The colt, who was now quiet, could hear hoofsteps coming closer to him. Three figures loomed over him now, simply staring down at him. He felt a little afraid again, but at least he wasn't alone anymore. He didn't like it when he was alone.
An even lighter voice could be heard from the figure on the left, sounding a bit young, "Do you think that he'll make it, brother?"
The massive figure smiled, saying, "Yes, I think that he will make it. He will do more than just make it. He will go farther than any of us could ever imagine. But he cannot know about his destiny until he is older. There's no point in putting too much pressure on the kid," there was a pause for a moment, then, "you know, me and Tory never got to name him."
The light voice on the right, though not as light as the one on the left said, "Well, what do you want to name him?"
The two on the right and left looked expectantly at the massive figure in the middle, "I think I'll name him... Garth. My wife had mentioned it to me, but I had thought that it was a little too close to my name. I think that she would've liked that name. Garth..." his face lowered, getting closer to the now curious colt, "you may be the child of prophecy, but you're also my son. I won't let you get hurt. Change the world for your mother... make us proud."
All the little colt could do was coo and grab at the large pony's nose, giggling a bit as he did so. This got a few laughs from the somewhat small crowd, but it didn't last long. Soon, the colt was alone again and all he had to keep him company was the sight of being carried by some strange light to two red things. The red things opened to reveal the dark and scary outside world. With a brilliant flash of light, the little colt's eyes widened. What followed was a huge noise unlike any he had ever heard before. This didn't scare him, though. Strangely enough, he felt happy and safe under these lights. After a while, he closed his eyes and fell asleep to the sound of the lights. He dreamed of the blue thing above him again... the sky.
