The Rebirth of The Sun

Rays of soft golden sunlight fell across the four ponies in this hospital room; the soft beeping of medical equipment filled the air as a unicorn nurse tended to the nearby machinery. Two members of the Royal Guard sat nearby, quietly conversing with the pony lying on the hospital bed. A bedraggled looking grey colored pegasus lay on her back with her wings wrapped in bulky casts held to her sides.

“Now, Cloud Runner I understand that you’ve had a very traumatic couple of days, but as I understand it after speaking with Rough Spirit and getting the whole story, you went with Autumn Heart and his small group to look for the two pegasi Rain Drop and Lightning Flare, correct?” The older of the two guardsponies asked, his rank identifying him as a first sergeant.

Cloud Runner slowly nodded her head without looking at the guardpony who’d spoken.

Strong Hoof glanced down at the young guard who had accompanied him and shook his head. They had been asking questions of Cloud Runner for nearly an hour now and hadn’t managed to get more out of her than nods or head shakes. The doctors had recommended that due to her extreme shock they not mention that the other ponies they had managed to recover from the ruins had passed away from their injuries. With only the pegasus Sunny Dancer surviving, but she was in a very deep coma that none of the doctors felt she would awaken from.

Sighing softly Strong Hoof motioned to the younger guard and rose to leave. “Thank you for your time Miss Runner. I apologize for disturbing you, and if you remember anything else just let the nurse know and we’ll come right back.”

Cloud Runner gave a small nod without looking at either of them. As, they open the door to leave Cloud Runner screamed loudly and began thrashing around wildly on the bed. Both stallions stood there stunned as nurses came in and attempted to soothe the distraught pegasus. Her cries of “They’re here!” seemed to follow the guards down the hall, and just as they went to turn the corner the young guard glanced back and felt a chill go down his spine, ‘I don’t ever remember seeing an onyx alicorn statue there before...’  he thought shaking his head.

“What in Celestia’s name are you looking at?” the older guard snapped, Cloud Runner’s sudden fit had unsettled him and he very much wanted to leave the hospital. Looking back, Silver Hooves repressed a shudder as he stared at the now very empty hallway, “It was nothing.” he responded gruffly, “We should go.” Shaking his head in exasperation Strong Hoof led the way out of the hospital muttering about “Young colts these days.”

The two guards walked back to the palace in silence. The trip was a short one as Canterlot General Hospital was only a couple blocks away from palace. As the two head through a side entrance they call greetings to the other guards on duty and exchange nods. A gray coated pegasus guard stepped up to meet them as they moved to enter the palace, “the Princess has been awaiting your return, please come this way.” he said gesturing down a side hallway. Silver and Strong shared an uncertain glance at this news, it was unusual that the Princess would take such a personal interest in this case. Both guards, being unicorns themselves, were well aware of the dangers involved with using magic, and had seen many cases similar to this one. However, never before had Princess Celestia herself taken such a personal interest in such a case.

As Silver and Strong follow the gray coated pegasus, the silence stretches awkwardly between the three guards with Silver glancing nervously between the two older guards. “Do you know why the Princess wants to see us?” he asked softly.

The gray pegasus glanced at the younger guard and shook his head, “She did not say, she did however seem… Quite distressed by something. She has been… distracted lately.”

Once again, Silver and Strong exchanged nervous glances but before either guard could respond the pegasus stopped in front of an unassuming door and gestured that they should enter.

Entering the room they saw that it was a small study with bookshelves from the floor to the ceiling. Equestria’s solar diarch sat bent over her desk, her flowing mane draped over the various stacks of paperwork she had yet to attend to. All of her attention was focused on a sheaf of papers that had the worn edges and creases showing that the documents had been unfolded and refolded many times over.

Strong Hoof coughed, “Milady?”

The alabaster alicorn glanced upwards and for a moment the seemingly ageless diarch looked worn, her lavender eyes filled with a deep, unfathomable, pain and just as quickly it was gone. “My apologies my little ponies, what did you learn from speaking with Cloud Runner?”

If the guards were surprised at Celestia’s knowledge of the case, their impassive expressions revealed nothing. Strong Hoof coughed and then began, “To be honest milady she seemed to be in so much shock that she only nodded or shook her head in response to my questions. In fact, she only seemed to respond as we were leaving and even then it seemed to be more of a breakdown of some sort and not at all related to the incident at the ruins.”

Celestia nodded, disappointment seeming to flash onto her face for a split second. If she had been paying a little more attention she might have noticed the hesitant look on Silver Hooves face and how he tentatively opened his mouth as if to say something. Right before he could however Celestia thanked them both and turned her attention back to her desk in what was an obvious dismissal. As Silver Hooves followed Strong Hoof out of Celestia’s study his thoughts drifted to Cloud Runner’s panic attack and the strange statue he thought he’d seen in the hallway outside her room. Glancing down at the younger stallion as they headed through the palace to grab some food, Strong saw the thoughtful look on his companion’s face. “Where’s your head at?” he asked curious.

Shaking his head to clear away his dark thoughts Silver grinned, “Nah man, I’ve just never seen anything like that before… Is it always like that?” he asked softly.

A sad look crossed Strong’s face, “Unfortunately yes, that is how it happens all too often. I wish I could say it gets easier kid, but…” he shrugged.

Silver nodded and remained silent as the two guards headed into the lunch room.

Not too far away in the small town of Ponyville an impatient purple unicorn paced around the center area of her library as she waited for a response to the latest letter she had sent to Princess Celestia. Meanwhile a small purple dragon watched her anxiously awaiting the familiar sensation that preceded one of Celestia’s letters. Just as he was about to give up waiting and suggest to Twi that she should move on to the reshelving she had scheduled for that day when a familiar rumble began in his gut, ending with a belch of flame and the appearance of a familiar roll of parchment bearing Celestia’s easily recognizable seal.

Twilight practically pounced on the letter scooping it up in her magenta colored magic and unrolling it, her eyes quickly scanning across the parchment. Slowly Twilight’s face fell her expression turning from one of excitement to disappointment and then confusion. Finally, her eyes drifted down to floor as she finished the letter.

“Come on Twi! What’d it say?” Spike asked, trying to recapture some of Twilight’s previous excitement.

Sighing Twilight turned her lavender gaze to Spike’s green-eyed one, “Alright Spike I’ll read it to you. It says:

My Dearest Student Twilight Sparkle,

I am grateful for your offer of help my young student, but I assure you I have the best officials working around the clock to help the ponies involved and to discover the forces behind the incident at the ruins. I appreciate your offer of help Twilight, and of course fully support any of your research into ancient ruins like the ones that were discovered most recently. You can be of the most help by continuing your studies in Ponyville and writing me about your lessons on friendship. Thanks again my faithful student.

Best wishes,

Princess Celestia”

Twilight glanced up, but her gaze seemed to fade through Spike as she thought. “I wonder what she meant by all of that?” she mused to herself. “Maybe there’s a book here that has the information she was talking about?” As she finished this statement her magenta colored magic began swirling around the room picking books off their shelves and hovering them in front of her face so she could scan their titles for a split second before moving to the next set.

Spike sighed, and knowing it would be nearly impossible to talk to Twilight while she was like this merely shook his head and walked into the kitchen planning to make a pot of tea for when Twi calmed down.

As the books flashed past her face they steadily moved faster and faster until with a start Twilight felt her magic reach for the next text and come up empty. Frowning Twilight felt around with her magic and began tugging on something that felt vaguely book sized and shaped. To her immense frustration the book seemed to be stuck on something, but as she tugged harder a loud crack echoed throughout the library followed by a soft whirring sound as an object flew through the air and hit her in the head with soft thump before falling to the floor.

Startled Twilight whirled around and glanced first at the small rough-edged hole in the shelves of her library and then at the pile of dust and shards of wood surrounding what appeared to be a small, tattered, journal.

“Twi! What in Equestria was that?!” Spike called glancing out into the main area of the library, his bright, green eyes landing first on the hole in the shelf and then moving to the mess of dust and and wood shards on the floor. Sighing Spike shook his head, “Well that’s new, you need any help out here Twi?” he asked.

Rubbing her head where the journal had collided with it Twilight shook her head, “Thanks anyway Spike. Why don’t you go see what the Crusaders are up to?” she asked absently as she picked up the journal and gently brushed the dust off with a hoof.

Spike nodded, “Alright then, there’s a pot of tea for you in the kitchen whenever you finish with...Whatever it is that you’re doing.” the young whelp responded, chuckling as his big sister and guardian mumbled an affirmative as she began gingerly flipping through the journal.

As Spike went to leave he turned to glance back at his adopted big sister and mother and shook his head at her intense concentration with a fond smile. His eyes flashed over the cover of the journal and through the thick layer of dust was sure he saw the faded imprint of an apple, but then Twilight turned and Spike pushed the thought out of his head as he headed out the front door.

Reading through the journal at her usual breakneck pace Twilight froze as her eyes flashed over a particular section of text. Her eyes widened as she reread the paragraph, the words Applejack and Big MacIntosh echoing through her mind. “T-this is… It’s Applejack’s mother’s journal! But how did it end up in the library? And why was it hidden?” Twilight’s mind rapidly ran through a multitude of scenarios each more outlandish than the last. “I need to tell Applejack!” She cried aloud and began excitedly packing her saddlebags with the various odds and ends needed for a trip to Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight glanced out her window briefly to check the time, and made the swift decision that since it was still relatively early in the day she did not need to leave a note for Spike as her trip to visit Applejack should be relatively short.

Twilight quickly fastened her saddlebags and headed out the front door of her tree home. The trip to Sweet Apple Acres passed quickly and before she knew it she was standing underneath the sign bearing its familiar apple shape. Making her way through the farm’s main gate Twilight headed over to the large main barn following the sounds of cart wheels and grunts of effort. As she crested the hill Twilight watched Big MacIntosh bring carts of apples into the barn and begin packing them into crates for shipping to different cities around Equestria.

Big Mac looked up as Twilight approached, nodding his head in greeting, “It’s good to see you again Miss Twilight. You here looking for Applejack?” At Twilight's nod he answered her unasked question. “She’s working the western half of the orchard today, so you’ll find her over yonder.” Here he gestured broadly with a hoof to the aforementioned group of trees.

“Thanks!” Twilight responded giving Big Mac a friendly wave as she headed towards the western part of the orchard.

Twilight made her way slowly through the cool shade of the apple trees. As her eyes flicked across the rough, sun-dappled tree trunks Twilight took in the sheer size of the trees in this part of the orchard her mind absently contemplating roughly how old these trees were. Just as Twilight was actually going to begin calculating how many years old the trees were by the depth of the creases in the bark, a loud thunk echoed through the air jolting Twilight out of her reverie. She turned towards the rhythmic sound of apples falling into wooden buckets several yards away from her.

“Applejack? Hey, it’s Twilight do you have a minute? I think I found something you’re going to want to take a look at.” the purple-coated mare called as she picked her way through the trees towards where the sounds had originated from.

“Yea sure Twilight, just head on over here and we’ll take a look at… Whatever it is…” Applejack called back, chuckling to herself over the obvious excitement in her friend’s voice.

As Twilight finally made her way over to the row where she had heard Applejack speaking from and spotted her orange-coated friend picking up some stray apples and placing them back into the wooden buckets she had loaded onto a cart. At the sound of hoofsteps Applejack turned around and treated her friend to a bright, sunny smile “Hey there sugarcube! So, what’s this thing that you’ve found? Some sort of magical doohickey or what?” she asked scratching a hoof through her mane, “Cain’t see how I’d be able to help you none, but I’ll try my best anyhow.”

Twilight smiled back and shook her head, “I appreciate what you’re saying Applejack, but it’s not some sort of magical device; more like a journal actually. I think you might be interested in it because it talks about you and Big Mac so I figured your mother or father might have written it.”

Applejack’s eyes widened and she moved toward Twilight with surprising speed, “Written by my parents you say?! Where is it?! Where did you find it?! Can I see it?!” she asked swiftly her words almost blurring together as she pressed her face right next to Twilight’s.

The startled purple unicorn’s eyes widened as she stumbled backwards and away from her suddenly frantic friend. “U-um… I think it was written by at least one if not both of your parents... I-I um… I have it right here… I-It was in a hidden compartment in one of my bookshelves… I-I...It’s r-right here…” Twilight stammered out, the journal moving out of her saddlebag and into the air before her illuminated in her magic’s magenta glow.

Applejack practically tore the book from Twilight’s magical grip and began paging through it her eyes rapidly skimming through it. “Uh...Um….T-Thats….Maybe you should...Applejack?”

Just as Twilight had gathered her wits about her and was preparing to lecture Applejack on the proper way of handling books, especially journals that were who knows how old; the sound of wingbeats interrupted her. Looking up Twilight barely had time to move backwards as a familiar cyan blur landed and skidded to a stop right where she had been standing.

“R-Rainbow? What are <you< doing here?” Twilight asked startled.

The rainbow-maned pegasus shook her head and brushed some stray dirt off her hooves, “Huh, oh hey Twi, hey AJ. What’s goin’ on?”

At the sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice Applejack jumped and swiftly hid the journal underneath her hat. Twilight shot Applejack an odd look and opened her mouth to start explaining about the journal when the orange mare interrupted her, “Nothings goin’ on Dash, Twi here just stopped by to say hi and talk about some old book she found.” Applejack explained hurriedly giving Rainbow what she hoped was a friendly smile. Twilight just stood there in stunned silence as her mind processed the fact that Applejack had just lied to Rainbow Dash of all ponies. She glanced over at Rainbow to see how the cyan pegasus had reacted to Applejack’s strange behavior, but her friend merely shrugged. As Twilight’s lavender eyes met Applejacks green ones her friend’s gaze begged her to leave the subject be. ’What did she find in that journal?’ Twilight thought absently to herself.

“Uh, hey egg head? You in there?” Rainbow Dash asked waving her hoof in front of Twilight’s face.

Blinking Twilight broke out of her reverie with a start, “Oh, uh...Hey there Rainbow. What brings you out here?”

Yawning and ruffling her mane with a hoof Rainbow gestured at a tree farther down the row, “Napping spot number 10. I was relaxing after working with the weather team today, we had to work pretty hard breaking up a nasty storm coming off the Everfree Forest.”

Applejack tugged her hat down lower on her head as her eye twitched, “Rainbow! How many times do I haveta tell ya that mah trees aren’t fer nappin in!”

Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head, “I’m not doing the trees any harm AJ. So calm down, sheesh.”

Applejack’s mouth worked as she attempted to come up with an appropriate retort. Twilight stepped between Applejack and Rainbow before things could escalate into a full on fight. “Why don’t we calm down you two. Maybe we can head into town and have dinner together? We haven’t hung out together in a while.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances and shrugged, “Sure why not Twi, I’m free for the rest of the evening.”

“Just let me finish this row Twi and then we can all head out together. Okay?”

“Sure that’s fine with me.” Rainbow Dash replied easily.

“Alrighty then, need any help Applejack?” Twilight asked, happy to be spending time with her friends.

“Well I guess a little bit ah extra help couldn’t hurt. Why don’t you two pick up the apples that don’t make it into the baskets, and then load the full baskets into the cart for me?” the orange mare asked.

Rainbow and Twilight nodded and then followed behind Applejack as she finished collecting the apples from this row of the orchard.

The three friends bantered happily back and forth as they headed through the orchard back to the main barn to drop off the cart of apples before they head out to dinner.

Working together Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack put the full baskets of apples in the right area of the barn so they were ready to be sold or made into the Apple family’s delicious treats.

Sighing Rainbow slumps to the ground, “Man that was so much work!” the pegasus groans.

With a chuckle Applejack gives Rainbow a hearty thump on the back, “That was nothin’ sugarcube, you should see all the work I haveta do everyday from sun-up to sun-down.”

“I’d really rather not.” The cyan pegasus chuckles as she rubs a hoof through her mane.

Twilight waves a hoof between her friends faces to get their attention, “Hey you two, are we going to go eat or what? I’m starving.”

“Yeah, yeah Twi. Come AJ lets get going.” With that Rainbow and Applejack caught up with Twilight and the three friends headed into Ponyville.