"Citizens of Equestria! It is with great sorrow that we bring you this news! Our dear sister, Princess Luna hath succumbed to darkness, hence we had no choice but to banish her to the moon!" shouted Princess Celestia, standing upon her balcony. She watched with leadened eyes as the citizens began to murmur and converse in a slightly panicked manner. "We...I am greatly sorry for this loss!", she said as she retreated from the balcony into her castle.
Sulking in her bedroom, she would occasionally glance over to items belonging to her sister. "Why...why did you have to leave me?" She paused, eagerly waiting for a response. "It wasn't my fault!", yelled the princess as she stood up and stomped her right foreleg. "I wasn't strong enough on my own! I couldn't rid the darkness from your heart, so I...I..." She became silent for a moment as she went back to a sit up position, her head dropped low as if it would fall off her neck. "I'm sorry there was no other way...I'm sorry I'll never see you again." For the rest of that night, the princess did nothing but mourn over her sister for it had been the saddest moment of her life.
*1 year later*
Glazed in thought, the princess was glancing over the newly signed treaty between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom. It had only been a hundred years since Princess Luna and her had started the proposition to make peace with the other nation.
"Yes, they may seem ferocious at first glance, but they can be just as kind hearted as anypony." Celestia remembered those words spoken by Luna and smiled at how her sister was always good at seeing underneath the surface when it came to matters like these.
Sighing off the thought, she levitated the agreement over to her executive and had him carry it out. Moments later, a knocking on her throne room door.
"You may enter!", she commanded. A unicorn wearing a brown cloak entered the room. Even though the pony’s head was covered by a hood, Celestia almost immediately recognized him. "Clover the Clever? What brings you here?"
"Greetings my fellow princess, I have come with good news", said Clover as he removed his hood and bowed his head. "It does concern your sister after all."
Celestia was taken aback by this. "What do you mean it concerns my sister?"
"I think it would be best if I showed you, princess", he said in an intriguing way. "If you would follow me, please. I believe this is the only time your available."
Princess Celestia was a bit hesitant to join him at first. She knew he was wise and would never do anything to upset the princess, yet she didn't quite know how he could not upset her at this point.
As they both neared the Starswirl the Bearded wing, Celestia began to feel a bit concerned about what she would be shown. She could see Clover walking in front of her had a confident, slightly happy expression on his face.
"We're here", he said as they entered Starswirl's old private study.
Celestia was a bit hesitant entering after him. She hadn’t been in her old teacher’s study in ages ever since he mysteriously disappeared. She and her sister as fillies always had a phobia that he would return when they least expected it and there would be BIG consequences. Realizing it’s been decades since he went missing, her fear was probably irrational now.
Clover was already looking over some books when she entered. "My old mentor, Starswirl was quite the astronomer in his day. He left behind countless writings about star patterns, constellations, and celestial dating. His work has proved most helpful in my studies.”
“Studies? Studies of what?” Celestia was eager to know what the ever clever Clover had to offer.
“Now at first I thought it was just a coincidence, but upon closer inspection I discovered a key message." He went over to the telescope and slightly adjusted it's position while peering through it. "Come see", he said while motioning her over.
Celestia walked over and leaned her head down to look through the telescope. "All I see is the moon", she said in confusion.
"Look carefully at the stars around the moon."
Celestia moved the telescope's aim around the moon to observe the stars and then stopped when she noticed something. "Wait...why are there four bright stars surrounding the moon? I've never noticed those before."
"It's a sign, princess. A sign that your sister will return someday."
Celestia raised her head back in surprise. "How is that possible? Her banishment was made to be permanent to ensure the safety of Equestria. There was no other way. How could she-"
Clover stopped her with a hoof. "I know this may seem hard to believe, but trust me when I say that she will return."
"How are you so certain?" she retorted.
"I've been observing the stars for many years and their path had no correspondence until just a year ago I noticed that they were all moving towards each other. And even stranger, they would eventually join together where the moon is. Again, I thought it was only some rare happenstance, but then I looked back over some of Starswirl’s old research."
He levitated four scrolls from a desk that had already been opened and brought them over to Celestia. As she read them, Clover began to explain each one of them.
"These scrolls document the history of the four stars. Each one has a similarity to one another:
The first star, Sepron aligned with the moon around the time the three tribes started disputing and brought about the windigos.
The second star, Melanius aligned when Discord established his reign over Equestria and brought about great disharmony and chaos.
The third star, Titanus aligned when Tirek came from a distant land and tried to seize all the magic in Equestria.
And the fourth star, Cipheret came to pass when King Sombra rose to power."
Then Celestia saw the connection. "So each of these stars signifies the rise of a great evil? But what does that have to do with Luna?"
"Your sister is the greatest of these because you cannot fight her like you did your previous foes", Clover elaborated. "It is because of this that the stars will aid in her escape."
Celestia shuddered at the thought of seeing nightmare moon again. "What must I do to stop this?"
"There is no stopping it", he said grimmly. "You have but one option: you must find others who embody the Elements of Harmony, and they together will have the united strength to save her."
"But how will I know they are they are the ones ready to face her?" said Celestia, placing the scrolls back on the desk. "And when will she return is the better question."
Clover glanced at the abacus sitting on his desk and then over to his mentor’s giant hourglass before responding. "I believe at which the rate the stars are moving, they will reach alignment with the moon in almost a thousand years from now. The exact day, if I’m guessing correctly, should be during the longest day of the thousandth year. The Summer Sun Celebration."
How ironic thought the princess. "So I must wait that long and find the chosen six when the time is near? How will I find them out of all the inhabitants of Equestria?"
The cloaked pony stopped and contemplated for a moment. Then he remembered his own study on the Elements and the Tree of Harmony. "The sixth element, the Element of Magic only makes itself known when the other five are present. Therefore, the sixth element unites them. I believe if you can find the one who embodies the Element of Magic, he or she will be able to unite the other five. And I suspect the one who embodies that element must have exceptional magical prowess, much like yours. I suggest creating an institution for gifted unicorns by that time. It may increase your odds of finding the chosen one.”
The princess, overwhelmed by this information, sat back in thought. "So am I to just wait for this...prophecy to pass?"
"Yes", Clover said blatantly. "I know it is hard for you to wait that long, but with time and eternity all things pass within a blink of an eye."
Celestia said nothing but instead sulked her head a little. Giving an audible sigh, she raised her head back up to look at the giant hourglass before her. And then...she blinked.
