Lumineer’s mother comes from a very conservative thestral tribe, hailing nightmare moon as their sole goddess with priests and churches that speak of dreams given to them by nightmare moon herself. Nightmare Moon had told one of the highest ranking priests, and just so happened to be the kindest, that Lumineer’s mother would give birth to Nightmare Moon’s chosen one, one that would assist in bringing eternal night and justice for their people, and that this pony would be a half blood. The priest went to Lumineer’s mother in private, telling her the prophecy verbatim, worried for her safety and aiding in her fleeing of the tribe, keeping the prophecy a tightly held secret until months after Lumineer’s mother had left.

Lumineer’s mother wandered the countryside surviving off of scavenging for berries and small fruits until eventually stumbling upon Lumineer’s father and his family’s farm.

...

Lumineer’s father and his family were, for generations, humble elderberry farmers. They sold all sorts of remedies and products made from the fruit, making a decent amount of money, enough to support a large family. Lumineer’s father was a young, hardworking, kind, and honest colt. He worked the fields one day, spotting a ragged worn down pony crawling out of the thicket on the edge of his property line. He abandoned his work and rushed to the ponies side. She practically begged him for food and water and he obliged, allowing her to eat all the elderberries she could stomach.

He noticed she had wings and asked her about them, thinking her to be a pegasi, having never seen one before.

She admitted that she was not, infact, a pegasi, and was a thestral. Lumineer’s father was slightly shocked, he’d heard of thestrals but… he was always told their akin to feral animals, that they couldn’t speak, were impossible to reason with… and yet here one sat in front of him, and a rather kind, soft spoken, and pretty one he thought. Lumineer’s father decided to keep her hidden in a barn on their property, providing her with food and water. She insisted that she help working as payment but Lumineer’s father refused, so in the night she would sneak out and begin working the fields as the rest of the family slept. This, although being a small effort, did not go unnoticed by Lumineer’s family. They were producing far more elderberries than they usually were able to grow and although they took it as good luck, they got suspicious. Eventually Lumineer broke under pressure, he was an awful liar, he admitted that he was harboring the thestral and the family responded as he expected, fear, hate, confusion, anger.

They demanded that Lumineer’s father remove the thestral or they would kill her, Lumineer’s father begged and pleaded that they take a chance on her but they refused, convinced that he was simply too empathetic for this creature, this pest, that he allowed to call one of their barns home. Lumineer’s father then tearfully declared he would not and could not work on the farm any longer if they removed her, stating that she needed someone to help her, she could not survive alone, scared and feared for no reason other than by prejudice. Lumineer’s family reluctantly decided to allow him to go to ponyville, asking him to sell their products there, they would allow him three quarters of the bits he made in turn, giving him enough money to live on and support a family if he needed to.

Lumineer’s father approached the thestral mare and told her the preposition, every detail. She actually seemed very happy, but that was understandable as she would be moving out of a barn into a proper home, with civilization. He promised to protect her from those who would dare do her harm, physically or verbally and from then on, they were inseparable.

Once they moved to ponyville word spread quick a thestral had moved in and many scoffed and groaned, but as she proved no trouble and Lumineer’s father made a living and name for himself, the fear began to dissipate, seeing her as just another pony, although fear and rumors still lurked under the surface.

About a year and a half after moving in, Lumineer was born. Silver hair, dark pale blue coat, icy blue eyes with slitted pupils and small fangs, although he lacked wings, the only thing missing that would make him fully thestral. Lumineer had been born with his cutie mark, a sunset halfway sunk into the horizon with an orange sun, fading into his pale blue coat. His father was absolutely floored at seeing this, Lumineer’s mother had told the father of who Nightmare Moon is, the prophecy that was told to her about two years ago now. Lumineer’s father initially seemed terrified of this prospect, eternal night… justice for the thestral by means he didn't entirely agree with. But he saw how the world treated his now wife, how shunned the night was, how ignorant other ponies were… how much they were unwilling to change and understand what they fear. Soon afterwards he began to worship Nightmare moon too, convinced by his wife. Lumineer was taught of his destiny, repeated and drilled into his head from a young age, as soon as he could read Lumineer’s mother had made scripture for him to read, making Celestia out to be a villain and Nightmare Moon as the true and rightful ruler of Equestria.

Although Lumineer’s mother had seen her son as more of a tool to assure their victory, Lumineer’s father still saw his son as what he was, his son. He took him out nearly every night to stargaze, encouraged him to play, have a childhood still, make memories, even if he was destined for something that could be very violent. Lumineer’s father loved Lumineer with all his heart, wanting to spend every second he wasn’t being taught to read exploring with him. He told Lumineer of the everfree forest, just how dangerous it was from hearing the locals talk. The father himself saw timberwolves and other creatures lurking just beyond the tree line. Lumineer agreed to never go near the forest, however, years later at age fourteen now, exploring the same places over and over got boring for Lumineer. He waltzed to the edge of the Everfree and heard something call out to him, something that sounded like it was everywhere, so far away yet right in front of him, calling him to go into the forest. Lumineer’s father noticed him walking towards the treeline and rushed to stop him, but timberwolves showed themselves. Lumineer was surrounded, terrified, and his father in the nick of time appeared and began fighting them, but his father was overwhelmed and wounded. Lumineer called out to his father and rushed to him, the timberwolves backing away from Lumineer as he held his father, growing angrier, his hooves began to glow furiously, the air around him crackling as a terribly bright flash that caused the timberwolves to be dispelled. Lumineer, not even processing what he had just done, checked his father over, and began crying hard as his father lay on the forest bleeding profusely. Lumineer had started to get up but his father grabbed him, stopping him. He told Lumineer help would not come fast enough, asking Luumineer to sit with him. Lumineer reluctantly abided his father’s wishes sitting with him, and hugging him tightly, his father hushed him softly and held him close, speaking fondly of all his memories he’d made, how similar Lumineer was to him as a child, how much Lumineer loved to explore… how smart he was… he spoke of how proud he was of the young man he’s turning out to be, how great he is destined to be. Telling him this was not Lumineer’s fault, and with his final breath… he told Lumineer to be great, if not for himself, than for his father, and that he loved him.

Author's Note

Note: the timberwolves mentioned are the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team, they got isekaied 🙁