Finding A Star - Prologue

A long time ago, planets floated silently in the sky, and their moons span just as soundlessly. Stars shone and sparkled, their billions joining a picture on the largest canvas in existence..

Now, where there was peace and beauty that was on a scale unimaginable, there is only the carefully orchestrated display of cruelty to the night sky. Stars no longer shone in kind, and the planets and their moons appeared to all as if a goddess had marred their surface with fear itself.

There was one world however, that persisted. Where all others were lost to the cries of the infinite universe, Equestria endured. It did so because it had to. It was a beacon of hope for those who had lost everything but their minds. But this choking fear which had claimed all other worlds, this fear that had the power to shape the beauty of a billion stars into a vision of hate, was only kept at bay by a single being. A pony. One that's name kept being heard. Twilight Sparkle.

~~~~~

"Hello, and welcome to today's show of The Mane News. Our special guest tonight is a pony who has braved the pelting of hail and the beating of the sea to rescue a filly after she was swept into the water after hurricane Clover hit New Ponyville."

Discovery looked onto the stage, and wondered not for the first time if she wanted to appear in front of millions of ponies on Manehattens' top news channel. Shaking her blonde mane from out of her eyes, she steeled herself with the fact that she would just have to play her part; the scared and grateful filly that everypony expected her to be; and she would have no reason to make a blunder.

"So, Swift Saddle, how is it you saw little Discovery in amongst the rain, hail and wind? That must have been quite some luck on your side."

"Yes, it was at that. I only managed to see a wing, but I couldn't be sure even then. It was the shine of a boat further in the distance that put my gaze in her direction. When I saw her, I realized I had to rescue her. I reached her just in time, too. The waves that broke the sea barriers came not seven minutes after we got to shore."

Her time to go on was just around the corner. She smiled as the carefully scripted lines started to further convince all listening to Swift that he was a hero. This was an essential part he had to play. A part he made sure was spot on.

"Unfortunately Swift, we will have to cut this interview - and show, fillies and gentlecolts - short, as I have just received information that an emergency nationwide broadcast is going out in five minutes. Until then, here's Cacophony, with her latest rendition of..."

Whatever else was said past Discovery by. She did not plan for this eventuality at all. I spent twenty damn minutes in that freezing sea, she thought. All that preparation, for nothing! She was about to throw a fit right there backstage, until somepony let out a cough behind her.

"Excuse me Miss Discovery, but you will have to leave now. We're sorry for cutting this short, but the broadcast is being sent by Twilight Sparkle herself."

Discovery stifled a glare. It wouldn't make sense that she would be angry for not appearing on the show - ponies would suspect something was amiss. If anything, she would be expected to be relieved.  So she put on a quiet and calm voice when she spoke. "Thank you, I'll just be going then." She smiled a, a fake, if convincing smile.

She left the building and stepped onto hard sidewalk. Turning, saw two stallions quietly arguing,  recognizing them straight away. She was moving toward them when their voices got louder, both with scowls on their faces and clearly anything but relaxed. Discovery looked at them with a disgruntled gaze. This is just what I need, she thought.

"Sparkles sake, Twister! I told you to watch out for this kind of incident, and schedule around it!" The first stallion yelled.

Twister met his hard stare with his own. "How do you expect me to foresee an emergency broadcast?"

That got Discovery thinking. She was always looking for answers. I wonder what the broadcast was about. Must be important if they were willing to tell TMN to shut down their studios for the day.

"I don't know!" Swift started. "What I do know is that this was our one chance to get our message to Twilight Sparkle on the air, and then you-

"Listen, Swift. I may be able to get into their building and take a peek at their calander, but I can't read her mind!"

Discovery stepped in before a really heated argument could take hold. "If the broadcast is being sent by Twilight Sparkle, then we can use it to hijack the enchantment line it's being sent across. I'm of a mind to believe that she could be more convinced to converse with us if we orchestrate ourselves into this correctly."

They turned to her, startled. They didn't even know she was there until she spoke up.

Discovery looked upon Twister. His unassuming gray coat and brown mane might've hid his talents from other ponies, if not for his shiny gold (but most importantly, unlocked) padlock of a cutie mark. His talent; he was very good at opening things that ponies didn't want opened.

A far cry from Swift Saddle, Discovery mused as her gaze moved to the left. The hot headed stallion had his personality clearly reflected in his appearance. His glaring white coat was a stark contrast to his dark orange mane. His cutie mark of an open flame behind a unlit candle was not a testament to his temper however. This unicorn had a talent for using the sun as a tool. He could warm the hearts of other ponies, or encourage wilted crops to grow. He even boasted he could magnify the suns rays on a particular area. Discovery suspected this was mostly a white lie. She knew he could warm things, but using the sun directly as a conduit? She thought this was unlikely. No pony had that power.

"Discovery, warn me next time you intend to give me a heart attack." Twister said, smiling. The contradictory wording had Discovery smiling back.

Swift was just irked further by the Pegasus and Earth pony's nonchalant attitudes. "Don't be a foal, Discovery. You know the best way to talk to her was through publicity. If there was any other way, you would have thought of it. Or am I mistaking your talent to solve problems as over-confidence?"

He added that last part out of frustration, and Discovery knew this.

She was here to calm the situation, not intensify it. With this in mind she said: "Swift. You trust me and my talents. It will be those talents that will turn this around, I assure you. But it will be your trust in me that will let this succeed. I promise."

Swift sighed. She was right, he realized. "Fine. But first we must find out what the broadcast was about. And since it will have likely passed by the time we return to New Ponyville, I suggest we book a few rooms."

Any reply was either forgotten or was unheard.

Two incredibly bright bolts of white and dark blue stuck the Empire State Building, sending a blitz of magical fire outwards. Its superstructures blew apart, sending huge chunks of flaming debris in all directions. Screams and gasps of horror radiated around the three ponies, while they and a distant purple Unicorn sitting in the Rockefeller Centre, looked on in terror.