I watched it all as it happened. Every moment of it played out before my eyes, and all I could do was watch in awe. Nothing like this had ever happened before; our tiny planet had always thought itself to be alone in the universe. Unique. The only planet that could sustain life, that was how we saw the Earth. I suppose with that in mind, it was only fair that our naivety would be crushed in such a way as this. We deserved it too, our whole wretched race. I knew.
I'm not going to pretend I wasn't as naive as the rest of the world, but I was quick to accept the thought of life from other planets. In a world where thousands of people were sent to die for a cause we couldn't recall, in a world where every day people were mugged, or shot and killed for love, banished for being different, locked up for speaking their mind...I couldn't help but hope that somewhere in the universe would be a race that was better than us, more tolerable and hospitable. A race built upon reason and equality, rather than on hatred, violence and prejudice as ours was.
As it turned out, such a race existed, and one of its citizens had just crashed through the atmosphere, into a large plot of farmland just outside of town. There was much excitement as everyone either evacuated the town to find shelter, or rushed to the scene to get a closer look. Sometimes I wondered about people - there was no doubt in my mind that humans would follow each other off a cliff, and I didn't mean that proverbially. Despite myself, I decided to head to the crash site and catch a closer look. My curiosity had gotten the best of me.
The area was almost inaccessible. Car, trucks and vans littered the ground surrounding what I could only assume was a massive crater. I stopped my rusted-out Toyota Camry at the edge of the field of cars and killed the engine. Somehow, the further away I realized I was, the more I was drawn to the site. I wanted to see it for myself. I wanted to catch a glimpse of this new and strange creature. Deep inside of me, a need to understand this being, whatever it was, welled up and kicked and screamed as it attempted to burst out. Unaware of my actions, I climbed out of my car and up onto the roof. With unexpected vigor, I leaped from the roof of my car to the next one over, then to the next one past that. I proceeded across the sea of painted metal, unable to control myself. Several people honked at me, but most had already left their cars and walked over to the edge of what I could now see was clearly a crater. I stopped to gaze out at it.
It couldn't have been less than two city blocks in diameter. Nobody had yet dared to enter the crater itself; they simply stood at the edge and gazed in awe at the creature lying in the center of the massive divot. It was to this strange and enchanting creature that my attention now turned. It appeared to be a large, white horse. But there was something odd about it. Were those...wings? I couldn't see. I'd swear it had a large horn on it's forehead as well, but from that distance, it was impossible to tell. The only other detail I could distinguish was it's mane and tail, which gleamed pale hues of pink, blue and green and flowed with impossible perfection, like brightly colored steam, trailing with the direction of the wind. I was in awe. Unable to resist, I proceeded on towards the crater.
I want to meet you, I now found myself thinking, I want to understand you, to learn about you, and for you to be nothing like us. I want you to be unhampered by human corruption. I want you to be logical and reasonable, and responsible. I want you to save us from ourselves. I want to know you, and to know that you will end our corruption.
I knew how slim the odds were that this foreign creature would want to help us, but somehow I felt that if I offered hospitality, it would do everything in it's power to return the favor. As I approached the scene, now almost upon the waves of people, I noticed the creature begin to stand. I could see it clearer now, it definitely had wings and a horn. My pace quickened as jumped off the hood of a car in the closest row and began pushing my way through the crowd of people. I couldn't help myself; the desire to meet this being had surpassed even my own desire to live. People shouted at me, jeered and swore. Once or twice they would trip me to slow me down, but I pushed past them all. I didn't care about them. I cared about the creature that now stood dazed at the center of the crater it had created.
I reached the edge and continued off into the depths of the pit without any regard for my own safety. The creature looked to me quizzically as I approached. I slowed down as I reached it, and lifted my hands into the air to indicate that I meant it no harm. The creature stepped back a pace, and I continued toward it gently. I had no way of knowing what language it would speak in, or if it could even speak at all, so I spoke to it in the only language I knew.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt? Is there anything I can do to help?"
The creature's quizzical expression turned to what I could only interpret as kindness. It bowed it's head and touched it's horn to my forehead. A white light gripped my vision and I lost my sense of self. Before I could come to grips with the circumstance, I was alone in endless white with the creature. Though I could feel no wind, it's mane and tail still flowed with peaceful vibrance. The creature spoke to me in a female voice, powerful but gentle.
"I thank you for your concern. Are all humans as kind as you?"
I didn't know how to respond. I had intended to tell her that all humans are kind and hospitable, but the look she gave me at that moment told me that I should give her the truth. That lies would only hurt me in the long run. I took a deep breath.
"No. And I'm not particularly kind either. I was speaking from self-interest, hoping that you would offer us help in return for hospitality. Our society is a mess, our leaders are corrupt, and our people are only interested in self-satisfaction and instant gratification. If you don't want to help, I can't blame you. I wouldn't either if I was you."
The creature merely smiled at me, as a parent might smile at a child who was crying for some silly and insignificant reason.
"The only reason I came here was so I could help this world. I will admit, the journey was a bit more rough than I was expecting, and my memory is quite hazy, but I can remember two things. First, that my objective is to seek out an enemy from my world which has sought refuge in the hearts of all those on Earth. Second, that this enemy is the source of the corruption that has threatened to consume your world."
She bowed her head in apology and let out a sigh.
"It was by my careless oversight that this enemy came to your world and began to corrupt it. I believed his quarrel to be only with my homeland. I had never considered that he might seek out a new world to distort. For the trouble I have caused your world, I would like to humbly apologize."
I had no idea why she was apologizing. I was in no position to be mad at her; here I was, having only known a world of corruption and greed, and then suddenly, here she was, offering a solution that could end the suffering altogether. I looked at her and did something neither of us were expecting. I hugged her around the neck.
"If you can do that...if you can fix our selfish desires, corrupted systems, prejudice, hatred, ignorance and injustice...if simply by removing this enemy from our world, you can put everything right...you will be the hero of this world..."
I stepped away from her, and she smiled at me.
"I'm Celestia, by the way," she said, "in my homeland, I am a princess, but you don't have to refer to me as such. In this world, we are equals."
"A princess?" I asked, "but...aren't princesses supposed to have an easy life and tell their subjects what to do?"
"If I did not work tirelessly to ensure peace for my subjects, and to manage my responsibilities, I would be unworthy of a title of royalty."
Just from those few words, I learned everything I needed to know about this Princess Celestia. That she was truly unlike anyone I'd ever met before. That she was a soul that was yet uninfluenced by the bureaucracy that was commonplace on Earth. That she was exactly who I'd hoped she was.
"You can expect to see me again...er, I don't believe I caught your name."
"Martin. Martin Schade," I said with a soft smile.
"Martin Schade...if you'll be so kind as to help me in the future, I will rid this world of corruption for you. For all the people of this planet."
"You can count on me!"
Her horn began to glow, and with a bright flash of green, she was gone. I felt my body return to the material world and I collapsed to the ground. I sat there in the middle of the crater, pondering what had just happened and hoping to God that it would happen again.
I glanced around. Celestia was gone, but my memory of her was not. I finally had someone to look up to. Even though she was a winged unicorn from another planet, she was very real, and very powerful. With a bit of luck, she'd be able to destroy the chaotic facade of humanity and bring harmony to our society.
On that day, morning had dawned upon our bleak planet.
