The Vagrant Star

by RD-loves-RA

After falling so far, is it truly possible to carry on? For these ponies, the world they know is coming to an end at the hands of a mysterious organization bent on cleansing the impure. The Elements will face their greatest challenge yet, and their friends may just be the key to stopping a world-ending catastrophe. But is anything really as it seems, or is it all just hopeless?

2. Foreword

I do not own anything other than the plot-line and any original characters.

MLP: FiM is property of Hasbro and Lauren Faust.

The Vagrant Star

By RD-Loves-RA

Foreword

Darkness? Some ponies are afraid of it. Some ponies live in it long enough to find their way out. Others are consumed by it, their very souls twisting and bending to its will. In all cases, darkness blinds those exposed to its grasp. Their eyes dart in all directions, desperate to find just an ounce of light. For in that expression of light is hope, but with hope comes a crippling vice. The fleeting desire for things to get better crushed under the burden upheld by those who act on that fickle dream.

For what is improvement other than a generalization of 'things getting better'? Circumstances improve, but only in a less than desirable frame of reference. There will always be suffering. There will always be pain. These are truths universal to every great society, and every being in mortal existence. Nothing can stop this condition, and many have fallen trying. That is the tragedy of those who wish to make a difference. Of those brave few that die with a pure heart and nothing to show for it, and of those who harness the darkness, abandoning their own innocence in favor of wrenching others from its depths.

Make no mistake; it is far from a hopeless struggle. Through all of the pain, and all of the suffering, through darkness itself comes the light. Light breaks effortlessly through the dark because of the strength behind it, and because of the very nature of darkness. It is merely a shroud that covers the good in the world. It is still there, and it won't disappear. It just takes the smallest spark to illuminate it. If a pony has any trace of light left in their heart, then they are capable of overpowering their darkness and assuming control of their destiny.

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but what they don't mention is that the path is not straight, nor is it impossible to turn from. In essence, it is never too late to change.

-Princess Celestia on "The Fall of Princess Luna."

May 17th, Year 231 of Celestia's Reign.