From the Rejected Pile, Part 2 · 6:50am Feb 8th, 2014
Or: I Actually Wanted to Write This One Someday
Three Sisters
Apparently there's a somewhat popular fic called that so I'd have had to have changed it at some point.
This one was inspired by another fic. I liked the headcanon so much I wanted to give my take on it. Then season 4 happened, completely destroying the premise.
The story opens on the founding of Equestria, with the leaders of the three tribes ratifying the constitution. Above, the spirits of the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars watch. Each had their own favorite race. The Sun liked earth ponies, the Moon liked pegasi, and the Stars liked unicorns. Equestria thrived for a while in peace and harmony and all that boring stuff. Then Discord appeared.
The celestial spirits watched to see how the ponies would defeat Discord. Spoiler: they didn't. Now, eternal chaos isn't very conducive to starting a family, so in order to keep the fun little ponies reproducing, Discord would only affect one city at a time. Where and when he'd switch? Well, who knows.
So every other city was still gripped with fear of being next. After an amount of time that was rather longer than the spirits would have liked to admit, they decided to do something about it. The night before they put their plan into action, the stars rose in a perfect grid, openly defying him and sending the message to the entire world: there is still order.
At the next sunrise, by a lake and a forest on the edge of Equestria, a beam of light descended from the sun, and in a burst of fire, the Sun took the form of an alicorn. Why not the earth pony she preferred was beyond them. Best not to argue. But when the Sun left her celestial body, she lost absolute control over it, and Discord got a new toy.
When the moon rose, the Sun looked to it, opened her forelegs and called for hugs. But the Moon didn't come. Seeing what happened to the sun gave her cold feet. Many moonrises would go by before she finally worked up the courage to come down in a wave of ice.
The Stars stayed in the sky as planned. Being in the sky would let her keep her near-omniscience, which is certainly a help when dealing with Discord. The Sun and the Moon named each other: Sun-less-ee-ia, and Loon-uh.
The two spent their childhood in that forest doing filly things I never expanded on. I'd establish Celestia as the fiery, hot-headed one, while Luna was the cool voice of reason. Eventually, they grew up and it was time for phase two. The Stars removed one of the stars from the sky, sending it streaking down to Equestria. She was trying to land it at Celestia and Luna's feet, but she missed. By a lot. Like, over a hundred miles. Try throwing down something from space sometime; it's not easy.
So the alicorn sisters had to go on a hunt to find the first Element of Harmony. It had come down in a forest near a city. Having an eye in the sky certainly helps here. The Stars taught the two a spell that would make them appear as the earth pony and pegasus they like to be, and make them escape Discord's notice, as long as they didn't do anything to call attention to themselves. Inside the forest, they find a lone filly, whose parents had been killed by thugs and escaped. Luna launches into a spiel about how there's still hope and order and all that jazz. Celestia makes silly faces behind her back. The filly laughs so hard that she decides she likes them and lets them have the glowy stone she found.
(Laughter)
The next star comes down in the city that Discord is tormenting. The spell keeps them out of notice and they find the Element easy enough. But while there, they find a mare whose children had manage to flee, but she tried too hard and now Discord pays her special attention. Celestia decides to give the mare her anti-detection spell, losing it herself. Luna helps guide the mare out of the city and Celestia gets spotted. Celestia's pride gets the better of her, and she decides that maybe the Elements aren't needed. She openly challenges Discord and channels the raw power of the sun to fight him. I never decided whether there was a change of venue for the fight or if Celestia nuked the city off the map. Either way, she gets her ass handed to her. Discord decides that was delightfully fun and oh so chaotic, so he'll let her go this time. Celestia regains the hiding spell and a whole lot of humility.
(Generosity)
Next stop: The Crystal Empire. King "Crystals" Sombra has the Element. Celestia and Luna speak with him, and he doesn't like Discord either. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so he hands it over. That was easy. On the way out, Celestia and Luna see the conditions he's putting the crystal ponies through. Luna wants to stay pragmatic and not risk the mission (and the world!) but Celestia wants to do the right thing. Morality wins out, and they go back and take Sombra down.
(Kindness)
I never was able to come up with a scenario for Honesty I liked.
By now, Discord has caught wise. He redirects the next Element directly to himself and keeps a careful eye on it. Good luck getting it while staying stealthy. So they don't. Celestia decides to be the distraction so Luna can grab the Element and run. Knowing that she won't get off so lightly again, Celestia challenges Discord anyways. Luna can't abandon her sister, so she throws off her own disguise and stands at Celestia's side.
(Loyalty)
The Stars quickly send the final Element to them, finally getting her aim right. But in her rush, she flubs the re-entry and the Element of Magic shatters. The sun on one horizon, the moon on the other, and the grid of stars blazing overhead. Celestia and Luna activate the five intact elements, and the Stars use her power to hold the sixth together. The rainbow of harmony sends Discord to his destiny.
The government of Equestria is long gone, the world is in a state of confusion, and there are two celestial alicorns standing there, so they are naturally declared the rulers. Celestia rules the day, Luna rules the night, and The Stars above keep watch. Thing is, Celestia is still pretty fiery, and the castle's visitors quickly learn to prefer Luna's judgement. So all the ponies play in the day, and at night they come to the castle to ask for things. Celestia gets the fun, Luna does all the real work. Yeah... NO.
After a while Luna decides fuck that, Equestria does not need Celestia, time for a nice long night. Celestia doesn't take it well. I had visions of Celestia using her solar heat to simply melt through any doors or walls in her way, and the guards being too scared of Pissedlestia to get in her way. Nightmare Moon simply waits for her sister in the throne room.
They have a lovely conversation about how Equestria is better off without Celestia, and NMM has enough power over the moon to provide all the light the crops need. NMM goes on to taunt Celestia, daring her to unleash the sun on her again. It'll only kill everypony in the capital city, after all. It might even kill Nightmare Moon, no-one knows.
Nightmare Moon then brings out the Elements of Harmony to give Discord a friend in the statue garden. But the Element of Magic doesn't activate. The Stars refuse to go along with it. NMM feels mighty betrayed: it's The Stars' night, too after all. (Why the Stars sided with Celestia is something I never hammered out.) The Stars have another plan though, and Celestia takes the Elements. They all activate, and Nightmare Moon is sealed away, trapped for a thousand years.
But it came at a cost. The Stars put so much of her power into containing Nightmare Moon, that her connection to Equestria was severed. The stars in the sky dimmed to nearly nothing, and The Stars went silent. Celestia did not lose a sister that night. She lost two.
Centuries pass, and the responsibilities of being the sole ruler shape Celestia into the cooler mare she is known for. And on the longest day of the thousandth year, The Stars will aid in Nightmare Moon's escape. We know how this goes.
Shortly after her return, Luna points something out. Only the Stars can activate the Element of Magic, so... what happened? Celestia immediately shuts that line of thought down. The Stars are gone. There hasn't been a peep from her over the last thousand years. She doesn't know what happened, but it couldn't have been the Stars.
The stars in the sky have been ever so gradually brightening over the last 20 years... NO. Celestia reveals that while Luna has been gone, she had been waiting and waiting to hear from her sister. Her hopes had been raised and dashed so many times, she didn't want to believe anymore. Twilight Sparkle is not the Stars. Yes she has that cutie mark. Yes she's quite powerful. But she has no memory of being in the sky. She was born and not descended. She is just another unicorn.
Then Twilight gets wings. Celestia maintains that Twilight is not the Stars. There have been alicorns before. There have been powerful alicorns with stars on their flanks. None of them were the Stars. Twilight is no different.
One night, Twilight is looking up at the sky, her mind wondering about the strange brightening that had been happening over her lifetime, when there's a rush of sparkles and she finds herself in the same starfield that she got her wings in, and no Celestia in sight. She wanders for a while, letting a star perch on her raised hoof. Every star is an Element of Harmony. At night, they shine their power onto the world, recharging its magic. Twilight has no idea how she suddenly knows this.
She finds what looks like a swirling galaxy. It talks to her, telling Twilight that it is the Stars' memories and much of her power, completely inert without her soul to drive it. Twilight and the Stars converse for a time, while the realization slowly dawns on Twilight. Twilight asks the galaxy how to access her memories. Simply touch her horn to the swirl.
In Canterlot, Celestia and Luna anxiously watch the sky. Then the stars blaze at their full brightness, and a sparkly beam of light comes down to the balcony. In a burst of magic there stands Twilight Sparkle, spirit of the Stars. She remembers everything, how she left her memories behind as the cost of returning to Equestria, the plan to redeem Nightmare Moon, all of it.
Celestia extends a foreleg and asks for a hug. The three sisters embrace each other, finally reunited.
I dunno if it would have ended on that. And that little headcanon, while nice, has some implications. If Twilight really is the source of all magic, then hoo boy that's some serious power she's wielding. Could Twi have come down in the first place and solo Element-slapped Discord? Fiddly little plot holes like that. Oh and Twi outliving her friends. Welcome to your sisters' world, Twilight.
But like I said, the canon wrecked that story. Oh well, there's more out there to write.
Oh well, it could work as an alt. universe fic
Also, if all the main six become alicorns, then Twilight wont outlive her friends
Oh man. I'd totally read this fic a thousand times over again.
I would love to see this. I don't care if it can't be canon, most of my favorite stories are too far from the show to be canon. Also, if I may suggest an alternate title, something like "The Three Heavens" might work better.
This sounds like the best thing ever.
There's a fic series that's super similar to this. Like, even the details. Did you write those under a different username?
EDIT: OK, not all the details. Not the long journey to get the elements. But the 3 sisters, and Stars getting her memories back...
3142538 If you're thinking of DalTRS's series of fics, then you found the inspiration. Sisters of the Sky (which is the name I'd decided on for this one) would have been a re-imagining of that series, which he gave me permission to do.
If you're thinking of another series then I dunno.
3152331
Yeah, those are the ones I was thinking of. I really liked those so I'd read a reimagining.