Introduction
Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together—
False.
—and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest—
And the proudest, and the most imperious, and the best at all she does, the most beloved, the most wonderful... the list goes on. But you all are likely growing tired of my mocking, so I will continue.
—used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger—
I won’t mock Luna. I sympathize with her, despite everything. Although I suppose I’m a bit biased when it comes favoring her over Celestia. But I’ll go on.
—brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies.
Again, false.
But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day—
I’d already left by then, but I’ve heard enough stories from Luna and others to know what happened.
—the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her—
Well, that is a blatant lie.
—but the bitterness in the young one’s heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon. She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night.
And then the story goes on to explain how the wonderful Celestia harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony and banished the terrible Nightmare Moon to the moon, of course. Everypony knows of that story. Some call it an old mare’s tale, and I must say that I agree. This story, as written in an old book in a small-town library, reflects an obvious favoritism of Celestia. It claims that Celestia “reluctantly” used the Elements. How can anypony know if that’s the truth? Why is the light so often associated with the good and the darkness with the bad? As the story said, there is beauty to be found in the night. Sometimes the world is a gentler place without the light of day to reveal the truth. At least, that is what I have found.
But I digress. I know that I have arisen many questions in my ramblings. The truth, or at least the beginning of the truth, is that there are three royal sisters. Celestia, who controls the sun, Luna, who controls the moon, and myself, who—in my own way—controls the stars. I am the sister nopony wishes to mention, quite literally the black sheep of the family. The few who still remember me wish I were completely forgotten, and I do not blame them for that. I too wish I could forget. And yet, I tell you this story. My story. Twenty-seven years before the stars aided in Luna’s escape.
My name is Stella. I am the stars that aided in Luna’s escape.
Chapter One
I remember it was wintertime when I put that old book down in that small-town library and made my way out into the Everfree Forest. The sun was beginning to set, and the snow fell lightly from the clouded sky. Every time I look at the sun, I, of course, can only think of Celestia, showing her prowess with the rise and fall of both the sun and the moon. She and Luna had shown great strength from when they were only toddlers, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit resentful of the attention they received. Relatives in the royal family were rarely proud of each other, only of themselves. There was constant competition for the throne. I suppose this mindset was ingrained in me as soon as I was born, just like my sisters.
Unlike the sun and moon, the stars can move on their own. I merely supervise and study them, keeping track of the ones that die and those that are reborn. If Equestria ever appears to be in danger because of some threat from a star, I can control them to go off course. But I can only move them; the stars go through the cycle of life on their own, just as Luna cannot destroy the moon she is a part of and Celestia cannot create another sun.
The job of keeping track of the stars can best be done at night, and away from the presence of other ponies. During my travels across Equestria, I often rested during the day, not emerging into the world until the sun sank closer to the horizon. I sometimes stayed in inns; other times I rested among whatever wilderness was nearby.
The closer I drew to the forest, the fewer ponies I saw roaming around. Many feared the Everfree Forest due to the fact that it hosted an array of dangerous creatures, and also that it worked differently than the rest of Equestria. I was not afraid of the forest, myself; I had come across it many times in the last millennium. Not to say it was not dangerous, but then again, I was certainly dangerous on some levels, myself.
The cloak I wore to hide my wings dampened as the snow fell harder, and I hoped the weather would be different in the Everfree Forest. The trees grew taller and any signs of ponies grew smaller as I walked along. The snow ceased falling, although the chill was still there, and I removed my cloak to stretch my wings. The forest crawled and curled around me as I made my way further into it. The only problem with watching the stars in the Everfree Forest was that the canopy of trees usually covered any view of the sky, but when I walked around long enough, I was able to find a large enough hole peeking through the long tree leaves, just about the size of my head. It was enough for my stargazing.
I pointed my horn toward the sky, which was cloudless and left the earth completely bare to the cold air. I shut my eyes and felt the tip of my horn glow. In a sweeping rush, I was no long on earth and, instead, among the stars. I saw them clearly before me, moving with the other planets, glowing, pulsing. Some were small, and others were very large. I swept my gaze all around to make sure all was in order, that the stars would be benign tonight. I saw Celestia’s sun, and in the distance, I could see the moon, and the face of the Mare in the Moon I knew so well. I thought that perhaps tonight I would talk to her, as I sympathized with her plight, and though she would never admit it, I knew she was lonely—
And then there was a scream.
I lost my concentration and fell back to earth. I opened my eyes just in time to see the glow of my mane fading to black once more. As I looked around, I heard it again:
“Help! Somepony help me! Please!”
I don’t know why I decided to help. I don’t think I will ever know the reason behind most of my intentions; I had always been somewhat rash, acting before thinking. But there was no time to think, then. Only to act.
I flew toward the cries for help, flying away further from the small town I had just left. The sun was gone now, and Luna’s moon rose high in the sky, providing me the only light as it shone through the cracks in the canopy. I narrowly missed crashing into every tree I passed, and the vines seemed to lash out at me as I ducked underneath them. The cries continued until finally, around a bend of trees, I found its source: a redheaded male earth pony, his head and hooves barely surfacing a bank of quicksand.
