...There are many such opportunities throughout one’s life to seize greatness.

It could present itself in the most obscure of ways, and is rarely recognizable in an obvious form. The results of such endeavors, however, is undefinable.

Greatness is an valued obscurity — it cannot be specified. This is because it has been interpreted in a variety of ways, through many different examples.

To be great could mean that you are a conqueror, a builder of mighty constructions and a founder of nations. But it could also mean that you are an average citizen, who, in a moment of kindness, gives away your new woolen coat to a shivering vagabond on the side of the road.

All are capable of rising to such heights. The problem, though, is that greatness often eludes those who seek it, and rather thrusts itself upon the unsuspecting.

A stillness unlike anything I had ever experienced hung in the dusty air of the field. Aside from the occasional groan of an unconscious casualty and the faint rasp emanating from the pylons of the massive Eclipse, the silence was comparable to that of a tomb.

The mysterious rider rose from his bow. He appeared to be of an older disposition, his gaunt face beaten and weather-lined, but there was a hidden steel to his frame, evident in his graceful motions and composure.

The peculiarity, though, was that his visage struck me as familiar. I felt like this was a face I had seen before, long ago, and that it was not a face to be forgotten lightly. Where had I seen this elder? The question hung upon the very tip of my tongue, but for the life of me I could not recall the answer.

The large dragon standing several paces behind him gave an agitated rumble, reminding us of its presence. Chives and I took a measured pace backwards, while Luna remained as immovable as a mountain. The ebony wings held out at her sides gave the slightest of tremors, and whatever fear she had was stomached instantly. Such bravery!

“Are you the commander of these whelps?” she finally spoke, in that new voice that was Luna’s-and-yet-not-Luna’s, referring to the pile of defeated pirates. I noted that the usual ‘thee’ and ‘we’ of her dialect were left out.

The rider dipped his head. “Aye, m’lady, that I-”

Luna became a black blur of motion. He was immediately silenced by the impact of an armored hoof striking him square under the jaw. The netherdrake gave a threatening growl at Luna, but she ignored it.

“Then you shall explain yourself!” she declared.

“But... Your Grace, I was mista-”

Another flash of black, and he was tumbling head over hooves into his steed, which grunted with annoyance and nudged him back upwards. It bared its teeth at the alicorn, who merely flashed a grin of serrated fangs right back at it. The drake sank to the ground and whimpered.

“And another thing,” said Luna. “Why do you address me as royalty?”

He simply stared at her, mouth open in a mix of disbelief and shock.

“SPEAK, WRETCH!”

“I... you truly do not know?” he finally asked. At the uncompromising glare from Luna, accompanied by looks of utter bafflement worn upon the faces of Chives and myself, he rubbed his face with a wing. “This was not how I expected our meeting to proceed. You, with the patch.” He was speaking to me, know. “Get aboard and fetch the first mate, tell him to prepare my quarters to entertain guests.”

My companions looks about for a few seconds before realizing he was addressing me. Luna frowned. “He’s not part of your crew. He flies with me.”

“I am Lord Cassius of Umbara.” I respectfully dipped my head in greeting.

The rider’s face took on a semblance of surprise. “We thought you were dead! My scouts reported that your home has been occupied by a garrison of the King’s soldiers.” I winced at the mention of my home overrun with Colonel Shaddo’s thugs. “Are you... traveling with Her Majesty?”

Luna opened her mouth once again to no doubt bombast him with more yelling. I quickly stepped in front of her. “Yes. Chives, my servant, and I count ourselves privileged to be friends of Luna, and members of her quest.”

“Quest? What quest?”

Chives coughed politely. “I think you have some explaining to do before we say anything more... old friend.” What? Luna and I whirled about, to find him looking very smug with himself. “I had a feeling I recognized you. The Wastes haven’t been doing that ugly mug of yours any favors.”

“Chi.” The rider grinned. “It’s been a long while, hasn’t it? I could have sworn you’d kicked the bucket a hundred cycles ago.”

“Likewise,” Chives agreed.

“WILL SOMEPONY PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON HERE?!” roared Luna.

During that time, I had been anxiously studying his face. With the revelation that Chives had known him some time ago, and my own vague familiarity with the stranger, I deduced that he must have been present during my early years in the Celestial City. Having never seen him visit my estate, that was a good guess.

I wracked my brain through all of the petty nobles that called the Court their home. Multitudes of titles, endowments, and pedantic pageantry whirled through my thoughts. Where had I seen this old one before? Chives mentioned that he was intended to be deceased. Perhaps that meant he was a supposed victim of an assassination or a power grab, not unlike the fate of my own parents.

When it finally hit me, I sat down upon the Maria and gasped. “I know who you are!”

Expectant faces turned to me.

“You’re High Elder Vega Lyrae!”

Luna’s ear twitched dangerously.

“WHO!?”

The High Elder’s quarters aboard the Eclipse were surprisingly luxurious. I dabbed a hoof at the silky white carpets, taking in the sumptuous furnishings. Blackwood, and exquisitely varnished, the quarters were large for a ship’s berth and contained several rooms for habitation, including a small galley, two bedrooms, and a main foyer.

While the vast majority of her inhabitants now occupied the medical bay, a small skeleton crew was able to begin maneuvering the ship, to a destination I was not aware of. The steady, soft hum of her pylons was prevalent, a testament to the raw power it must have taken to move such a leviathan.

A rattling about in the galley told me that our host was busy preparing the tea he had promised on the way up, after we managed to pacify a certain irate alicorn.

She lay upon a plush couch, her armor stripped off and laying in a messy heap in the corner. After boarding the massive ship, whatever strength had been flowing through her veins due to the transformation had all but evaporated, and she had promptly collapsed upon the decking. The strange, dark coat of hers had faded away in an instant, leaving the midnight-blue hue and swirling, star-studded mane I had grown accustomed to. The alicorn was breathing softly as she slept, occasionally twitching a leg.

Chives rested easily upon a cushion, fetlocks behind his head, for all the world seeming as if he were relaxing upon a Maria beachfront.

I couldn’t share his sense of ease, though. Too many questions burned within me, threatening to spill out at the slightest of pretexts. The small table I hunched over offered no answers within the swooping grain of wood.

With a clatter, a teacup was set before me, brimming with a piping hot beverage. I gave a cursory sniff. Shadeleaf. A respectable choice!

“What’s that name I heard some of the bumbling idiots you call crewmembers address you as?” Chives said absently. “‘The Big Vee?’ Really. That’s cute. Your narcissism hasn’t faded in the least.”

“And your sharp tongue hasn’t dulled with age, either. I’m surprised you haven’t cut yourself on it, yet.” The old noble retorted as he sat down across from me and took a sip of his own drink. “Now, I think that we have a long story in front of us, and, as often is the case for long stories, the best place to start is the beginning.” He set the teacup down. His voice took on a dangerous, hushed tone. “What I am about to reveal to you is knowledge that, if made known to the land, will incite nothing less than total revolution. You must swear to me, and the rightful Ruler of the Night, that you will not jeopardize the revelations of this conversation until we deem it otherwise.”

Chives and I exchanged a glance.

“Rightful Ruler of the Night?” I wondered. “Is there another involved in this mess that we are unaware of?”

“Most likely,” said Chives. “Fate seems to have a habit of confusing and endangering us, as of late.” He gave a shrug. “But if you deem it necessary, Vega, I’ll play along. You have my word that what happens here shall not leave this room.”

“And mine as well,” I added.

The Elder nodded, satisfied. He took another long drink, before beginning to speak.

“As an Elder, it was my duty to interpret the messages from the stars. That is no secret. The stars are not silent, blind, dumb pricks of light, they are manifestations of the energy that pervades through everything, through the universe. And if you open yourself up to the flow of the cosmos, with enough time and practice, you might hear what they have to say.” He chuckled. “They’re quite the talkative lot, really. They can tell us when a silverstorm may strike, the strength of the starlight for the cycle’s growing season, and sometimes... sometimes they tell of events that will come to pass.”

“The future?”

“Yes, Cassius. The past, the present, and the future... they are not concepts the stars abide by. All of time is one to them, and so they are privy to the secrets of what might happen.

“So when I was a novice Elder, in my first ten cycles of service, I was astounded when they granted me a powerful vision. A prophecy.”

Those words sent an uncomfortable chill down my spine. The letter we had found in Colonel Shaddo’s possessions gave mention to a prophecy. I had a deep suspicion that it and the one Vega Lyrae spoke of were one and the same.

“I had a vision, of a new age for our people, a new dusk that we might all prosper under. We would be led on a mass exodus back to our true home under a powerful leader, one who commanded the very moon itself. A home that we were taken from thousands of cycles before by an entity who damned an entire race for the sake of a sick joke.”

On the couch, Luna suddenly spasmed and twisted about, before returning to a peaceful slumber. The Elder paused a moment, Chives interrupted him.

“I’m not sure I understand,” he said. “What do you mean by ‘our true home?’ Equinocti have been here since the beginning of the universe itself!”

“Who are you going to believe, Chi, schoolbooks and preachers, or the word of the stars themselves?” Vega snorted. “I would not lie to you when I tell you this — we were not always denizens of the moon, and we were not always what we are today.”

Chives and I exchanged another glance, but let him continue.

“Once upon a time, and I mean a very, very long time ago, we lived there.” He pointed out the window, to the horizon, where a shining blue orb hung in the blackness of space.

I rubbed my temples. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Every word I’ve said so far is true. The stars cannot lie, and neither can an Elder.” He sighed.

“And Her Majesty currently snoring on my couch over there is proof of this.”

“How!?”

“Look at her! Aside from a few differences, she looks exactly like us. That is what we once were. That is what we looked like when we lived on Equus. We were not called Equinocti back then, either. We were called Pegasi! Our wings have merely lost their feathers, now replaced with skin. Our ears; grown long and tufted to keep out the blistering winds and hear the drop of a pin out on the silent Maria. Our eyes; morphed and adjusted to see in darkness that she never could. At the core, we are the same, we are all pony.”

He pointed to the prone figure on the couch, who was currently spread across her back, gargling as her tongue lolled out of her mouth.

“And she was, and still is our Princess.”

“Pfffffft!” Chives struggled to hold in a bout of laughter.

I too, couldn’t resist a smirk. “High Elder, with all due respect. Luna has never once struck me as the type to lead a nation.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Well... she’s... she’s...”

“Her Majes- Luna, is exactly what our kingdom needs,” said Vega Lyrae.

“You’ll have to forgive me if I doubt you.” I set down my cup and pondered it’s depths. “The Kingdom would never accept an outsider to don the Nightcrown. And they’d outright reject this... delusion regarding our origins.”

“It’s not a delusion.” The High Elder’s voice sank to a growl. “Almost thirty-thousand cycles ago, our Princess stood against the very essence of entropy in the universe. A great and terrible struggle took place. In my vision, I witnessed the battle as if I were there myself, and let me tell you; it was chaos.” Despite everything, I found myself leaning forward to hear the tale. “Mountains became molehills, trees grew upside down, and the very oceans poured into the sky. But in the end, the ponies triumphed. Our Princess laid the beast low, flanked by a vanguard of her kin; pegasi of the night, the very clan from whose loins she had sprung.”

By this point, the growl had become a conspiratorial whisper. “Before the final blow was struck, though, the beast mustered its last reserves of power and banished her tribe from the face of the world. One last laugh before an assured defeat.”

“And you think that... we were this lost tribe?” Chives said.

“I know. The first Equinocti did, too. But over the cycles, truth became legend, legend became rumor, and rumors — rumors are forgotten.”

My butler and I sat back, mulling his words over in our head as we sipped our tea, which had grown lukewarm over the conversation. It was a tall order to take in, made all the more bitter by the knowledge that the beliefs and certainties had been laid low by a theory that was not only rocked us to the very core, but one that was plausible.

I wasn’t sure what to believe. My instincts told me to shun these foreign notions. Embracing such concepts went against the very grain of my identity. I had been raised to believe that we Equinocti had always been here, that we had formed from the dust of the Maria and the spark of life carried in on the stellar winds. It wasn’t just myself. Every citizen of the Kingdom believed this. It wasn’t just truth, it was who we were, the lone stewards of the moon, who had been, and would be present until the very end of time. Even if for the fact that Elders are incapable of telling lies, they are still capable of spouting what they believe to be truth.

My head, and the curiosity contained within, needed more.

“Even...” I began, “if your story is true, that does not explain anything else other than our supposed origins. Why is Luna here, then? Why are you here? What is the purpose of all this?” I waved my hooves about, indicating what I mean by ‘all this.’

High Elder Vega Lyrae took a deep drink of his tea. When he set the cup back down, he said, “I believe I mentioned before that this grand vision was accompanied by a prophecy, yes?”

“Aye. The fools sent to collect our heads held orders giving mention to just such a thing,” said Chives.

The Elder nodded. “Yes. The very same. When I first received the star’s message, I took it to Council, headed by the current High Elder, Star Swirl. They dismissed it as folly and I was ordered never to speak of it again. But, obviously, there was one who listened to me. When I myself became High Elder, and noted that the time was approaching, I began to preach my message to the others.” He grimaced. “They rebelled, unbelieving that such a commandment would come to pass.”

“And then they tried to assassinate you,” I realized.

“Tried. I survived the poisoning through a foolish mistake. The cook who slipped the toxin into my supper put it into the wrong dish. It was not I who fell, but a guest I was entertaining that night. But I knew that I could not survive another attempt on my life, so, I fled into the Wastes with the Order’s personal ship, and vanished. Over time, others found me. I never turned any away — all who find sanctuary here have been persecuted by the Kingdom for one reason or another. Now, I am the leader of my own private army, which I intend to use for the glory of Her Majesty and the fulfillment of the prophecy!” he declared.

“And that would be...”

“It is called ‘The Chosen One.’” He reached into his tattered cloak and removed a scroll, which he unraveled upon the table. “Here, read it for yourselves.”

Finally... the source of all this trouble. I had lost my home for this, been dragged halfway to the middle of nowhere, beaten and bloodied. Scowling, I delved into the words that had forever changed my fate.

In times of old, when lives were torn

and the world was odder still

Two sisters born, ‘twixt night and morn’

would face the monster on his hill

The Two cast out, to the frozen north

where they found the blessed Six

Two sisters marched forth, to end henceforth

the beast, and give him his licks

Amidst the stars, an exiled race

alone, aloof, bestrewn

Lost in their place, upon the pale face

of the dark side of the Moon

Through tempered souls, and hard-won fights

the Two became highborn

And assumed the rights to days and nights

Crowned by feather, hoof, and horn!

Three Tribes convened, a message was sent

for the hour had finally come

Their options spent, to the Two their future went

so that the tyrant might be undone

Amidst the stars, an exiled race

alone, aloof, bestrewn

Lost in their place, upon the pale face

of the dark side of the Moon

With friends in tow, the Two made haste

to where the white meets blue

The Six gave them grace, so they pummeled its face

it was smote, and said, “Adieu!”

But of the Two, the Night sensed wrong

trickery and ill intent

The beast was still strong and with the rise of the dawn

Far away her allies were sent

Amidst the stars, an exiled race

alone, aloof, bestrewn

Lost in space, upon the pale face

of the dark side of the Moon

When the dark sister is felled, Two becomes One

a regret ne’er forgit

With the tears of the Sun, the Six becomes None

but new hope may be alit

Hamper not her way, but crown her as Night

salvation lies with the tome

What bested her might, love and friendship will right

and all may one day come home.

“Vega... this changes everything,” Chives finally said.

I snorted. “Not really.” Had my faithful servant truly succumbed to these ridiculous notions? He glared at me, to the immediate result of one mouth shutting fast.

“I must ask, in light of this; what are your intentions for our foreign companion?” he asked.

The High Elder tapped a hoof on the table. “One: to declare her legitimacy to the throne and the Nightcrown.” Another tap. “Two: to install her as the rightful Queen.” A final tap. “Three: to cement her rule and fulfill the Prophecy of the Chosen One, thereby allowing us to return to our ancestral homeland.”

“So, nothing less than a revolution,” I grimly stated.

His eyes sparkled. “Oh, far, far more than that, I assure you.”

“Even if all you say is true, there is a slight snag.” I downed the rest of my drink in one go and said, “Your Princess isn’t even aware of her station. When I found her out in the Maria, she didn’t know how she came to be here. Whatever caused her to be sent to our lands, it damaged her. She has no memory of her time on Equus, only the vaguest of sensations, and the desire to return. That desire is the only similarity to the Queen of your story."

“Despite everything, I have to side with Cassius, old friend. Unless Luna herself can confirm this prophecy, it matters not who believes who. The public would never accept her as Queen, and neither would she,” said Chives.

“Elders can’t lie,” stated Vega Lyrae, “that is a known fact. But they can obscure the truth. If we can return my Order to it’s former glory... we might be able to have a chance. No king would ever refuse their counsel. The passage of power would be bloodless.”

I stood up from the table. “The decision still rests with the cause of all this mess. We need Luna’s support. I’ll wake her up so she can hear the same story you told us. If she disbelieves you, then the matter is settled and we go in peace for our own reasons.”

“Fair enough.” The High Elder nodded.

“There might be a small problem with that, though.” Chives poked me on the shoulder, and pointed behind me. Curious, I craned my neck to see nothing but an empty couch.

An empty couch.

An. Empty. Couch.

@#$%!...

Author's Notes:

Jesus fucking Christ, I should do poetry. I literally pulled the whole prophecy out of my butthole twenty minutes before this was originally going to be published. YOU'RE WELCOME.