After Princess Luna had raised the moon a few hours ago, she and her sister enjoyed the calm beauty of the starry night sky. Ever since she had been saved from Nightmare Moon’s curse, the sisters had been able to put aside their mishaps and get on with their lives. On a silent night like this, Princess Celestia could almost forget the anguish and turmoil wrought by Nightmare Moon entirely. She stared at the moon, full and beautiful, free of the silhouette of an alicorn mare on its surface.
Just as the Princesses turned to go back inside through the balcony doors, a howling wind shattered the silence. There was a sudden, brilliant flash of light from the nearby forest which caught their attention. It was like a sun, its radiance tearing through the blackness...
It was not any villain they had fought. Those foes were either imprisoned, turned to stone, or banished. Still, Celestia felt something was amiss. Equestria facing another danger was not beyond the realm of possibility. Fearing the worst, she spread her wings and took flight, with Princess Luna following after her.
As soon as they approached the source, the light became so intense that they were all but blinded by it. They tried to see if the anomaly was being caused by some sort of magic, but even together, their magic couldn’t sense any disturbance.
Celestia and Luna couldn’t comprehend it even as it began to generate powerful waves of energy. It was like a scorching, summer day instead of the chilly night it was supposed to be. The sound was muffled, as if they heard it through water. It was deafening, and the sisters covered their ears. There was a loud BANG and a gust of wind no sooner than they did, and then all was calm once more.
The anomaly had disappeared. There was nothing to indicate that anything had happened there... except the small figure lying unconscious in the grass in front of them, something which took them by surprise and caused them to gasp.
“Sister, is this...?” began Princess Luna.
“Yes, it is, Luna,” said Princess Celestia as they looked in both shock and awe, “It's a human child.”
“But that's impossible,” Luna said. “Humans are only a myth.”
“And yet here's one before us.” Celestia drew closer to the young-looking human. “Hello?” she asked softly. The child offered no reply except a soft moan as he slumbered.
“He must have somehow fallen from his own world into ours,” said Luna.
Without looking away from the child, Celestia replied, “When he awakes, he'll be in need of an explanation as to what happened. We'll have to take him with us to Canterlot.”
“Are you sure that's best, sister?” asked Luna.
“We don't have any other choice,” said Celestia, “Judging from his size, he must still be very young, maybe no more than eight years old. He's too young to be able to protect himself, let alone understand anything of our world. The most we can do right now is to take him to the castle to provide him shelter.”
“Very well, sister,” said Luna. Just as Celestia was about to lift him with her magic, she stopped her. “Wait, what's happening to him?”
An unfamiliar magical energy radiated off the child’s body. There was an abnormal protrusion forming on his forehead, a testament to his slow, but radical change. The shade of his skin darkened until it was a dark gray coat, and his hair grew longer and silkier. The cause of his transformation was unknown, but every passing second led to him being less human and more equine.
“He's turning into a unicorn,” said Celestia with intrigue in her voice, “Though how that is possible, I do not know.” Luna opened her mouth to speak, but no words were uttered.
“We must get him to the castle as soon as possible,” she continued when Luna had nothing to say in return. She lifted the child.
Luna merely nodded and teleported them back to the castle. Once they situated him comfortably within a guest room, they closed the door behind them so that he could rest.
After Princess Celestia raised the sun the next morning, she headed over to the guest room to check on the child. She opened the door gently and peered inside; the child’s transformation into a colt was complete.
By then, the colt was already awake, looking at his hooves and then taking in his surroundings. He seemed very confused and, as expected, had trouble adjusting to his new body. His legs were shaking, and he would fall over every few seconds. Through strenuous effort and determination, he managed to make his way, albeit shakily, to a mirror on the other side of the room. A confused look adorned his features when he reached it; she thought perhaps there may be fear hidden behind his eyes. At the moment, however, he seemed unusually calm.
She politely knocked on the door twice, causing him let out a startled gasp and fall over. “Are you okay, little one?” she asked calmly.
“I think so,” he muttered. He heaved himself back up on shaking legs, pressing against the mirror for support. He looked around the room; his eyes passed over her. When he did not see her, he quirked a brow. “Who said that? Where are you?”
She stepped into the room. “I am Princess Celestia, and you are in my castle of Canterlot in the land of Equestria.”
“Princess?” he asked. “I'm sorry.”
He bent his knees in an attempt to bow before her, but he toppled over instead. Though he wasn’t native to Equestria, it seemed he understood something of princesses from his own world before. The respect he showed her was akin to worship, just the same as everypony else.
“It's quite alright.” Celestia giggled as she enveloped him in magic and set him on his hooves. She then slowly exchanged smiles with him. “It seems like you have a lot to learn. Tell me, what is your name?”
The colt's smile faded almost immediately. He was slow to respond, putting a hoof to his temple as if in pain. When he spoke, his voice was soft and sluggish. “I... don’t remember... I can't remember anything before I woke up.”
“Nothing at all?” Celestia asked in shock.
The colt shook his head. “No,” he said, “Nothing. All I remember is just darkness, and then waking up in this bed.”
After overcoming her shock, Celestia wrapped a wing around the colt and proceeded to explain, “You were in the forest when I found you.”
“You found me?” asked the colt with concern in his voice. “Why was I out in the forest though?”
“I have no idea,” she said. It was the truth; perhaps it wasn’t the whole truth, but she wasn’t yet sure how to put the nature of his arrival into words.
The colt became dejected. “I wonder why...”
Celestia couldn't let despair take his mind. Trying to take a step, the colt stumbled again, but before he fell, Celestia steadied him once more. “Don't worry,” she said, “what matters is that you're here now, safe and sound.”
“Yes.” Though the colt acknowledged her words, his nervousness continued to overwhelm him. Only when he noticed Celestia's magic aura around him did it begin to dissipate. “What is this?”
“My magic is there to keep you from falling,” said Celestia. She slowly dispersed her magic so that he could attempt to balance again.
“Wow, can I use magic too?” the colt smiled, marveling at the novel concept. He stumbled slightly as the elder pony’s magic dissolved, but he was able to stand upright once he began to get acclimated.
“You will be able to cast magic one day, my little pony,” she said, “but it will take much practice to harness.”
The colt nodded in understanding, as if he was already fully aware of the possible advantages and consequences of learning magic. “Can you teach me, please?” he asked politely.
“I can indeed teach you how to use magic,” said Celestia, “But it’s still quite early for you to start learning. Perhaps we can begin our lessons after you have settled in.”
He looked confused for a few seconds, wondering why he couldn’t learn magic right away, but he smiled and nodded. “Okay,” he said. Celestia smiled back, impressed at how quick he was to understand everything she told him.
“If you wish,” she said, “I could give you a tour of the castle so you can know where everything is during your stay.”
The colt nodded and said, “Yes please!” Celestia smiled at the colt’s enthusiasm and led the way out the door. He stumbled and fell through it, as he stood up and giggled, she couldn’t help but giggle as well. The determination of this young lad made her wonder of the things to come.
The guest room the colt had stayed was at the top of the northeast tower of the castle, so it was just one room and a spiral staircase leading down to the main castle itself. Princess Luna was waiting for them at the bottom of the staircase.
“I’d like to introduce you to my sister, Princess Luna,” said Celestia as they reached her.
The colt bowed in respect. “It’s nice to meet you, Your Highness,” he said politely.
Luna giggled and bowed back. “It’s nice to meet you too, little one,” she said, “Tell me, what is thy name?”
Not wanting to cause the colt undue stress, Celestia responded for him. “He doesn’t remember,” she said, “It seems he has amnesia.”
“Oh, I see,” said Luna, sounding concerned, “But he is well otherwise?”
“Yes Luna,” said Celestia, “I’m about to give him a tour of the castle. Would you like to join us?”
“Of course, sister,” said Luna with a pleasant smile.
With that, the sisters accompanied the colt through long hallways, up and down tall towers, and the various luxuries the castle had to offer. It seemed as large as a town to the colt with how big it was. Curiosity and wonder filled his mind as he followed the Princesses. The tour took a little more than a couple hours, but it seemed longer due to the fact that he marveled at everything -- the beautifully stained glass windows in the main hall, the great high ceilings in the throne room, the fantastically carved statues in the garden, everything. Celestia and Luna smiled at the colt’s fascination.
Their last stop on the tour was the Canterlot Library; Celestia decided to save it for last so that she could show the colt where he could read during his stay. She introduced him to the section for young colts and fillies and let him pick out a selection of ten. Five of them were fiction novels, the other five were non-fiction, covering topics ranging from Equestrian History and writing to mathematics and magic. The colt expressed an immeasurably strong affinity for books as he spent a while deliberating his choice of reading material.
Eager to make him to feel welcome, Celestia and Luna allowed ample time to make his decision. After finding a few that he liked, he found a nice little nook over by a window to read in. By the time he was ready to go, the sun was casting a long shadow through the glass onto his book. Not wanting to lose his place, the colt took his books back with him to continue later.
After the tour ended, they attended a private feast in the dining room for dinner. He must have been starving because he ate much more than the sisters had expected him to eat. It was both shocking and somewhat amusing to them. By the time that he was finished, he had eaten so much he was lapsing into a food coma, so Celestia and Luna escorted him back to the guest room to rest.
“Thank you, Princesses,” he yawned with a smile.
“You’re welcome, little one,” said Luna.
“Sleep well,” said Celestia as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. The colt smiled and the sisters left the room, allowing him to drift off to sleep. Once they were sure he was asleep, they entered the room again and stood on either side of him. “Okay, Luna, together,” said Celestia as her horn glowed.
Luna nodded in affirmation, and the sisters began casting a spell to restore the colt’s memories. The memory spell was augmented by Luna’s dream manipulation, but to their surprise, all traces of any memories were completely absent. There was nothing in his mind. No memories of his home, his friends and family, not even a shred of knowledge on how old he really was or when he was born.
“This is troubling, sister,” said Luna with unease.
“I know,” said Celestia, “If there’s nothing in his memory, we won’t be able to help him to find his way home.”
“So how do we intend to help him if his memories are gone?” asked Luna.
“There may be some information we are missing in the archives,” said Celestia, “It may take a while, but we should be able to find something about humans and where they come from.”
The sisters then headed to the Canterlot Library and began scouring the old archives, starting with The Legends and Myths of the Bipeds.
Flipping through the old pages and faded texts to find any useful information proved more difficult than expected. All they could find were myths of all kinds, none of which were new. All of them were a bust as well. All they could glean off the old texts was that humans came from an unknown land beyond Equestria and that they were beings of incredible power. They presumably embodied a power even greater than magic itself. There was speculation about where they had come from, what kind of beings they were, and where they had disappeared to. There were many contradictions, none of which were definitive. When the candlelight began to die, and their tired eyes watering from the dusty pages, they realized that their research had gone on far too long. They didn’t want to give up yet, but there was still nothing to be found. Only the willpower of their care for the colt kept their hopes up at this point.
Luna had just started putting away some of the books and scrolls they pulled when she spotted something in one of the bookshelves in the far back that she didn’t remember, an ornate case made of ebony carved in a cylindrical fashion. It seemed very old, and Luna could feel a faint magical aura surrounding it.
“Sister, I think I found something,” she said, drawing Celestia’s attention to the case as well.
Celestia opened it, and an old scroll slid out. The spell’s importance became apparent as soon as it emerged from the case. It had been left untouched by the passage of time thanks to a spell of temporal preservation. It must have been well before their time, if the spell’s aura resonating off the scroll was anything to go by. After they unrolled it, they estimated its writing to be an ancient dialect of Old Ponish, which they needed the help of a translation spell to clearly read it. It seemed to be a historical account dating back almost 8,000 years ago, circa the time of the first Alicorn Princess of Equestria’s reign.
Before a time in which the pony tribes were united, a group of bipedal creatures proclaiming themselves to be humans miraculously appeared. Unfortunately, the ponies of that time were not accustomed to seeing such strange creatures, so they avoided the humans out of fear that they were monsters. For the sake of showing the ponies they meant no harm, the humans proceeded to start a community of their own near the pony communities and offered to share their food supplies of vegetables, fruit, and wheat. Only one pony summoned the courage to speak with the humans, a unicorn named Nova Nebula, and she helped the humans to understand why the ponies were afraid of them. The humans then explained that they had come from their own world to Equestria for the sole purpose of exploring lands beyond their own and promising peace through sharing their wisdom and knowledge with any far-reaching societies they came upon. The unicorn then spread the word to the other ponies and encouraged them to come and accept the humans. With her there to guide them, the ponies came to terms with their fears and were able to accept them, and out of gratitude for having made it possible for harmony to be brought to the two races, the humans granted Nova Nebula some of their own power, effectively transforming her into the first Alicorn of Equestria.
The humans had crowned themselves two leaders, a King and Queen, and the ponies followed Nova Nebula as their leader, crowning her as Princess of Equestria. Together, Princess Nova and the King and Queen of the humans, Richter and Carrietta, maintained harmony between the two races. It wasn’t long before the humans had a vision of expanding the promise of peace and harmony among the other creatures of Equestria. This led the ponies and humans to build relations with the yaks in the north, the griffons and dragons in the east, the hippogriffs of the south, and even the race of Sirens toward the unknown west. Years passed and the influence the humans brought to Equestria continued to spread.
Eventually, there came a point in time when maintaining harmony was vital to maintaining the present state of Equestria, so a group of eight human priests brought together eight pure and flawless stones of Lapis Lazuli, Rose Quartz, Aventurine, Rhodonite, Sapphire, Topaz, White Quartz, and Opal, and buried them together in a cave beneath a cliff face. They chanted a spell while focusing on the stones, their magic causing the stones to grow and merge with one another, sprouting a sapling made out of pure crystal. After the sapling had sprouted, the priests explained that once it was fully grown, it would bear and retain the balance of harmony in Equestria for millennia to come. Its magic would protect Equestria indefinitely from the forces of evil and chaos.
Princess Nova and the Royal Human Family ruled side by side and celebrated their accomplishment of bringing the many creatures of Equestria together in tranquility. However, everything changed one fateful day.
While the promise of peace still dwelled in the hearts of man, they were a self-centered species by nature, easily corruptible by their arrogance and materialistic notions. The first sign that something was wrong was when fights began breaking out amongst themselves. At first, the brawls were isolated and came about through petty reasons, but soon tensions escalated, leading to riots between two human factions in an all-out struggle for power. King Adam and Queen Andrea attempted to reason with their people, but the rebels refused to listen, blinded by the promise of grandeur. The leaders of Equestria watched in horror as the humans attacked one another with great and terrible magic. Tens of thousands of human and pony lives alike were lost in the wars waged between them. No matter how hard the Royal Family tried to end it, the humans would not relent. Finally, King Adam and Queen Andrea came to an agreement with Princess Nova, a decision that was not easy to make, but it would put an end to the bloodshed and banish the humans once and for all.
With the help of Princess Nova’s Royal Guard, they rounded up the humans, subduing them so Nova could use an immobilization spell on them. This took considerable effort and time, but once it was done, she combined her powers with that of Adam and Andrea. Together, the three of them tore a hole in time and space with their magic. The resulting devastation was incredible, shaking all of Equestria. The longer it remained opened, the more likely it could cause irreparable, possibly even apocalyptic damage to Equestria itself. The King and Queen held the breach open and made sure that it would not expand any further than it already had, allowing the Royal Guard to forcefully send the pitiful humans through it, forever banishing them from Equestria without any hope of returning.
Ashamed of their own kind, the King and Queen chose to stay behind with the promise of helping Princess Nova undo the damage to Equestria. The following years were not easy for them or Princess Nova, but they kept their promise. As an alicorn, the Princess was gifted with long life, and she could only watch as her best friends - the King, the Queen, and their children - grew old and died over the passing years. After their deaths, Princess Nova created a memorial for them. Losing the will to continue ruling over Equestria, she began searching for a successor, somepony to continue to carry on the promise of harmony. She eventually found one promising pony to carry on her legacy. She made the pony her protege, and raised her to an Alicorn soon after, along with the title of Princess of Equestria. Princess Nova’s presence in Equestria then faded into obscurity. No pony knows her current whereabouts, or if she is even alive anymore, and since the memorial for the Royal Human Family has been lost to time, there was truly little influence left by the events of this era.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked at each other, then back at the scroll. They re-read it several times as they processed everything. If this child had somehow fallen from his world into Equestria, it must have happened purely by chance.
“I don’t think it’s possible to send him home, sister,” said Luna sounding very disturbed.
“I’m afraid I agree,” said Celestia in discontent, “That spell was of a magnitude that nearly destroyed Equestria the first time it was used. If we dared use it to attempt to send the colt back to his true home, the odds of us being able to send him back to his world safely are astronomical. We don’t know if this will turn him back into human. And it could shatter our world before he ever got the chance to pass through... and even then, with the gateway being heavily unstable, it could possibly destroy him and the world beyond as well.”
“So what do you propose we do?” asked Luna.
A small frown appeared on Celestia’s face as she contemplated their next course of actions. “He’s too young to be able to protect himself, he doesn’t know how to use magic yet, and he essentially has no family or home,” she said, “The only thing we can do at this point is to take care of him until he can take care of himself.”
Princess Luna looked at her sister incredulously. Princess Celestia felt the same way as her sister. This was a major turn for her. A young colt who used to be human, a creature straight out of myth and legend, had practically fallen into her lap with no memory, no family, and no home, and she is now suddenly tasked with caring for him as his charge. Both sisters weren’t prepared for this, but nopony else would be there for him.
By the time the sisters had returned to their bed chambers, it had been three hours since they had put the colt to bed. Though Celestia and Luna both needed sleep, worry and concern fueled their insomnia. Whoever he was before he appeared in Equestria, that life was forever gone, with no hope to return him to it. He was left with nopony to love him, and no identity to love himself. The night grew long over the thought of what could be done.
Both sisters ended up staying awake all night long, though strangely enough, they didn’t feel tired. After Luna lowered the moon and Celestia raised the sun, they made their way up to the guest room to check on the colt. Celestia knocked and called through the door, “Hello, are you awake little one?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” came the colt’s voice, “You can come in.”
Princess Celestia opened the door and both sisters noticed the colt was wide awake. He had his lamp on and was reading one of his books. “How long have you been awake?” asked Celestia.
“Not long,” he said, “ I only started reading a little before sunrise.”
“Which book are you reading?” asked Luna.
The colt held up the book he was reading. The Dark Unicorn of Firetop Mountain. “I really like this story so far,” he said with a smile.
The sisters both smiled. “So we see,” said Celestia.
“It makes me want to write my own story,” said the colt. “I know it’s too soon, but I had an amazing dream that gave me a great idea for a story.”
Luna’s eyes widened and her lips tightened. She only just realized she had forgotten to monitor the colt’s dreams. “What was it you dreamed?” she asked.
“Two foals, like me,” he said, “And they were following a long path, a path that was being shined upon by a beautiful star in the night sky. And they knew that at the end of the path, they would find what they wanted most in the world.”
Celestia smiled. “Sounds like a wonderful dream,” she said, “Would you like some ink and a quill to write it down?”
The colt smiled excitedly. “Yes please!” he said as he jumped out of bed.
Celestia walked with him to a nearby room which had a multitude of writing implements and stacks of paper. Taking out a small stack of paper and a few pencils, she brought them to a small desk and provided a chair for the colt.
“Here you are,” she said, “You may come into this room whenever you want to write.”
“Thank you, Princess Celestia,” said the colt as he sat down and started writing his story.
Amazingly enough, his penmanship was quite clear, unexpected for somepony so young. It truly had them baffled.
When he was finished, he smiled jubilantly. “All done!”
“May we see?” asked Celestia.
The colt nodded and brought them the pages. There wasn’t much to it, only encompassing about four pages in length, but the story was clear, albeit with simple vocabulary and not many details from point A to point B. It was simply, easy for a foal to follow along with. The story described the colt’s dream as he explained, but a couple changes were made from his description of his dream to make it more of a story: two kidnapped foals had escaped from an evil unicorn’s lair and were trying to find their way home, and the path they had to follow was illuminated by a bright blue star in the northern sky that shone both night and day. Though they were being pursued by the unicorn, ponies helped them along the way by throwing him off course or sheltering them when they needed rest. In the end, the unicorn was foiled once and for all by the brilliance of the ever-shining star, blinding him and making him lose his way so he was never seen again. The foals were able to make it back home, and they lived happily ever after.
“You have quite the imagination,” said Luna after she finished reading, “This is very good.”
“Thank you, Princess Luna,” said the colt with a smile. Just then, his flank shined and a cutie mark appeared. It was a rather obscure mark, depicting several lines zig-zagging and crossing each other. They almost looked like characters of a foreign, possibly even dead language.
“It looks like you’ve discovered your unique talent, little one,” said Celestia as she pointed to the colt’s flank.
The colt turned his head to look. A look of perplexion overcame his features almost immediately. “Huh?” he said, “How long has that been there?”
“Just now,” said Princess Luna.
“That’s your cutie mark,” said Celestia, “It’s a mark that only appears when a pony discovers their unique talent.”
The colt still looked bewildered. “I don’t understand what it means though,” he said, “It’s just a bunch of lines.”
Celestia thought for a moment before she spoke, “It appeared after you had written your story, and it looks very much like a word of an ancient language which means ‘creativity’, so I think that your cutie mark represents your talent for writing.”
The colt looked back and his flank and smiled. “Cool!” he exclaimed, “So it means that I can be a writer?”
Celestia nodded. “But to be a well-known writer,” she said, “which I imagine you will one day become, you’ll need a name that ponies can know you by.”
The colt nodded. “So what will my name be?” he asked eagerly.
Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a moment. This was one decision that they hadn’t anticipated making, but they didn’t seem to have much choice. The thought of his name crossed Celestia’s mind at least once the prior night, so a fitting name presented itself to her, one which took his talent of writing into consideration. “How do you like the name ‘Final Draft’, my little pony?” she asked.
The colt thought about it for a few seconds, then he smiled and said, “I like that name.”
Celestia and Luna nodded. “Then let it be so,” said Celestia, “Your name from now on shall be Final Draft.”
