Prologue: All for the Want of a Horseshoe Nail
Equestria. A land populated by many creatures, and the home of peace, harmony, and magic. It wasn't always like this, though.
The spirit of chaos and disharmony, Discord, once ruled the land as he saw fit. As he sowed his sense-defying wave of anarchy and mayhem onto the world, uncaring of its inhabitants suffering or opinions, the alicorn sisters Celestia and Luna rose up against him, bringing forth their Elements of Harmony. They activated the Elements, and prepared to turn the draconequus to stone... but something happened. Something that should not have happened.
Discord, after discovering the element's purposes and sensing his impeding fate with an aching horror, immediately apologized for his transgressions and offered to make amends for the wrongdoings he committed. After some heavy consideration, both the sisters agreed to let him have a chance at redemption, and let him go free under the most intense of supervision.
As the two alicorns became the benevolent rulers of the land, and gained the job of lifting the sun and moon as the draconequus went about in an honest bid to change his ways, becoming a trusted ally over time. And from being an ally, he soon became a true friend. And, as Princess Celestia found out in her case, Discord became much more than a friend.
As the trap known as love ensnared two more victims into its embrace, romance blossomed like a flower between Discord and Celestia in the years that followed. After careful planning and more than a few discussions, the pair finally consummated their love and were happily wed before a cheering, euphoric crowd.
...But Princess Luna, already attempting to cope with how much the land adored her sister and her precious day more than herself and her scorned night, had her final straw as she saw Celestia find the true happiness she knew deep down that she may never attain in her position. With this thought slowly poisoning her mind like a hatching seed of madness and resentment, something dark was born within her. And Luna's fall to hatred and jealousy could not have come at a worse time.
A unicorn bearing dark magic from the north, Sombra, and a centaur from a faraway land, Tirek, had both started their individual rises to power. Sombra had used his awoken ability as an umbrum to take over the Crystal Empire in the north in less than a day and a night, and Tirek had finally, fully trained himself to siphon the life-magic of others to sate his power-hungry nature. Celestia and Discord quickly began a campaign to end these threats.
While their backs were turned to her, focused on what important problem that was at hand, Luna succumbed to her pent-in emotion and allowed a twisted, evil being known as Nightmare Moon to take hold of her, both in mind and body. Whatever was left of the young alicorn that Celestia and Discord knew was consumed fully, and entirely.
Ambushing him on the night of her transformation, Nightmare Moon found Discord in the throne room of their castle. Before he could react, the fallen princess had cast a nasty hex that turned the draconequus into unliving stone, and as Celestia entered the room to see what caused the commotion, arrived just in time to see the monster obliterate him with a spiteful laugh and a blast of concussive force; breaking him like the statue he now was.
Celestia, carrying a bundle with an unknown, valuable treasure in her grasp, could only watch with the most terrible and helpless of anguishes as her husband was shattered to a thousand pieces in front of her. Lost in despair, she could not defend herself afterword as Nightmare Moon cast a viscous beam and mortally wounded the Princess of the Day. All Celestia could do then was retreat a small distance away before succumbing to her injury, as what was once her sister leisurely followed, waiting for death to claim her like a preening vulture.
Moments before passing from this world, Celestia used the last of her magic to seal the precious bundle she carried in an impenetrable, golden amber. Nightmare Moon, upon arriving at the scene, found this curious object. In the following months, she tried fruitlessly to break through this ball of raw material with no success. Deeming it nothing more than an earthly item of little importance, she casually threw it away with the rest of the kingdom she betrayed.
After destroying the Elements of Harmony to secure their reign forever, the three tyrants split the land equally: Sombra would have the north, as well as the Crystal Empire. Nightmare Moon would have the lands of the pegasi, where she cloaked it in a never-ending night and darkness. Finally, Tirek would have the mainland. Each ruled with merciless iron hooves for the next one-thousand years, and the only thing the denizens of Equestria ever knew were oppression and fear.
That is, until one, still night, something happened. And that happening brought with it the hope this world desperately needed, in such a time of darkness and enmity...
The unicorn Night Light shuddered awake over his wooden desk, blinking his eyes tiredly as he came to the slow realization that he had fallen asleep. Working as curator for the museum dedicated to the defeat of Celestia and Discord was very tiring work, especially when Lord Tirek expected one like him to keep it running as best as physically possible. After sorting out the papers on his desk into their proper order, some of which containing a fresh coating of drool on them, he looked to the picture of his family at its corner.
His wife, Twilight Velvet, stared at him with her loving, though worn smile. His elder son, Shining Armor, also looked through the photo with a grin, while beside him stood their young daughter, Twilight Sparkle. Night Light couldn't help but sigh at their faces and slowly stood up from his chair, which let out a loud, eerie squeak as it was moved.
Night Light remembered a place in this building he would go to if he felt worn and tired like this. Quietly, he trotted through the museum and took a few turns before arriving at his destination.
Wandering through one dark wing of the museum, the place where the possessions of Princess Celestia lied, he looked at each exhibit with a sigh at how awe-inspiring they were in such a dreary time that everyday life was. The gem-encrusted tiara that the princess once wore; displayed in a glass case. The solid gold chest piece she was said to have put on for every occasion; set on several strings that hung from the ceiling. Several more items passed his field of view, and they all indeed looked beautiful, but none could compare to the last one.
At the end of the wing lied the final exhibit; a large sphere of golden, frozen amber, sitting on top of a marble pedestal. It was the size of a small pony's body, and was much too hazy to see through, yet still glimmered constantly like a miniature sun. Most nights like this, where he had to work late at this mostly-empty place, Night Light liked to come here and just look at the object. It constantly radiated a very faint, but still noticeable warmth that rejuvenated his spirit considerably, and in such a wonderful way. On some long, arduous nights he would even dare to touch its smooth surface with a hoof, just to feel it as close as he could.
Tonight was one of those nights.
He crept on top of the podium where the pedestal stood, and gazed at the item with wonder-filled eyes. Carefully, as he always did, he placed his hooves over the smooth surface of the orb of amber and admired its vivid, peaceful warmth; closing his eyes as he savored the moment. Unbeknownst to the unicorn, it began to move and vibrate, as if shaking to life. Just as he sensed a disturbance and opened his eyes, the object shuddered and flew off of the plinth before he could stop it with a spell, and to his horror, it smashed with a loud noise when it made contact with the ground, sending golden, glass-like fragments everywhere. The glow it gave off faded, and all went still.
Cursing himself for his impulsive recklessness, Night Light hurriedly set to rushing down to see if the piece was still salvageable, the worst fear he had ever felt in a while welling up in his heart. That fear reached its climax when he saw it had been shattered beyond repair; pieces of every size imaginable lying everywhere. With the most hopeless of desperation, he began to pick up each shard, piece, and crumb of the item in a futile fashion. After picking up one of the bigger shards where the majority of the amber orb had landed, he reeled back in shock at what he discovered that lied beneath it.
There, under that final, large shell of amber, lied a small creature in a blue, silken bundle of cloth; the likes of which he had never seen before. It had the basic form of a pony, as well as the wings of a pegasus, but something else was also a part of it. One of its front legs looked like that of a talon belonging to a bird or griffon, and the scaly tail that poked out of the cloth's bottom looked scaly and lizard-like. Sticking out from its long dark brown mane that lined the creature's one-fanged head were a pair of small, pointed horns.
It looked clearly female, and appeared to be sound asleep. The latter factor was halted as the being's eyes began to slowly open, revealing them to be of a hazel brown, and faintly reddish-tinted color. She let out a mighty yawn, stretching out a pair of previously-unseen wings that lined her back as she did so. Both were feathered, but one was white and like that of a normal pegasus, while the other was wreathed in flame-esque bright, vivid orange and red colors, like that of a phoenix.
She began to let out a curious mewling noise as she looked around at her dark surroundings. After feeling the cold air that surrounded her she began to shiver and soon let out a baby's cry; tears falling from her eyes like a stream as an echo went out through the museum. Unable to contain himself, Night Light bent over and embraced the creature in his grasp, lifting her small, fragile form into his hooves.
Stopping her wailing the moment her head was turned and she stared into Night Light's eyes, she looked up at him and let out a small, loving coo. Still curious, she raised her small, front limbs up in an effort to touch him, smiling and giggling lightly. The unicorn couldn't help but comply, and let a free hoof touch her tiny arms. After a few seconds of just looking at each other with fascination, the small creature lowered her head and front legs, and slowly drifted off into peaceful sleep once more.
Deciding to try and find out more about this being, Night Light gently unraveled part of the blue cloth she was bound in and quickly discovered something. There, around her neck, lied a necklace with a flat, gold, circular pendant at its end. Picking it up with the utmost care, he read the inscription that spun around the item in a circle, revealing a name.
"Hmm... your name is... Solaris Star...?" he pondered to himself upon discerning what he scrutinized, before looking to the sleeping thing in his hoof. "That sounds like such a pretty name. Don't worry, little one. I-I won't turn you in. I'm... heh... I'm sure my wife will let me keep you."
He began to stand up, still cradling Solaris Star in his foreleg, and soon started to walk to the entrance of the museum, a happy look on his still-surprised face. "...And besides, my little Twilight Sparkle said she always wanted a smaller sibling..."
