The Sun Overhead (short story)
The Sun Overhead
It was always the same dream. It is always the same dream. And every time it happens, every moment of sleep in which it is in, the same result occurs; fear. In this case, fear of the unknown.
For as far as the eye could see there was snow in every direction. Hills covered in snow, ragged trees struggling against the cold wind, hills blanketed in snowfall so as to be undiscernible. A single, lumpy white sheet covered the landscape for miles in all directions. All except a tired herd of ponies – some with wings, some with horns, and some with neither – slogging on. And a short distance behind this herd was a single filly.
The filly was a small, tired looking thing, struggling to keep up behind the main group. She had a lighter blue coat, and a short tail of a yellow, even slightly gold color. Her mane, normally quite frizzy, waved about against the winds, sometimes even obscuring her view. Her eyes, typically a strong crimson color, squinted as snow and debris kept bothering her vision.
The filly knew in her mind that if she kept slowing down, the main herd would leave her behind; a case of cold logic, but necessary for the ponies to survive the coming winter. Necessary and brutal anyway, as the filly tried to struggle with all her strength, fighting the snow and cold. No one stayed behind to help her push forth, it was only her will that kept her going, and even that was waning fast.
“Help!” the filly wanted to scream, but the wind made the sound no louder than a whisper to the other ponies. With each passing second the herd got smaller and smaller to the filly’s vision; she knew what she had to do, but her body felt practically frozen. She watched in sadness as the herd finally passed the horizon, as a tear or so made her muzzle that much colder.
As she stood there, frozen both in body and in heart, the snow seemed to give way. Although it seemed like a reprieve this would not be the case, as the filly realized quickly that she was actually sinking into the snow. With what little strength she had, the filly tried desperately to move her hooves on, but the snow kept piling on and on. First her hooves and knees, then her shoulders, finally her neck were all blanketed in snow. As the snow reached the edges of her cheek, she tried to speak, to scream, but nothing worked.
When the snow finally covered her eyes, she awoke from the nightmare.
The filly was no filly, but a full grown pony, a unicorn. She awoke within a simple room, with such things like a ragged carpet and a simple wooden book stand. The bed she lay in was drenched in sweat, likely from the stress of the nightmare. She slowly and tiredly climbed out of the bed, moseying over to a simple stool laying in front of a desk with a mirror on it. Though the nightmare felt real to her, the pony stared into the mirror to be sure, even touching her muzzle with her hooves. She was an adult mare, with a light blue coat and a long yellow tail. Unlike her dream self she lacked a decent mane, what hair she had being little more than fuzz.
“This happens every time… get a hold of yourself, Star Flow!” the pony said to herself through the mirror. The pony was very self-controlled, and by now the stresses of the night before were gone. Instead, Star Flow’s thoughts shifted to the day that lay ahead, as it was still fairly early in the morning.
“I’ll bet I have time before the big event to go to the cliff and watch the sunrise!”
With a sense of assurance and a little confidence, Star Flow picked herself off the stool, loaded up a pack already with an assortment of random items, and headed out of her small hovel into town. A few ponies were awake, but Star Flow made an effort to pass by them discretely and out on her way. The town she lived in, nestled on a clearing on a mountains edge, was fairly small and took no more than ten minutes to leave. She trotted off on a thin path, looping just slightly around the mountain, eventually reaching a clearing atop a cliff edge. The view was extensive; miles of forest and the occasional mountain and hill, with a noticeable path for ponies coming and going.
“This looks like a good spot,” she said. Star Flow lowered her pack to the ground and began digging through it, out of which she produced an easel, a canvas and a paintbrush. The easel was easily set up with a little effort, and with unicorn magic she levitated the paint brush about eye level, apparently attempting to align something.
“Hmm… Yes.” Star Flow said, with an almost sneaky smile on her face.
“Now, let’s see what happens…”
Star Flow may have been painting no more than five minutes when a second pony, a unicorn mare, hurriedly galloped to a stop just behind her. The second pony was a dark reddish color, almost maroon. Her tail was a thick black shade, but was itself fairly short and thin. Like Star Flow, she was mostly bald.
“Star Flow! Moon and sun, I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Do you know what time it is?” the second pony asked, her muzzle in a scrunched, angry look. Star Flow, who had been lost in her brush strokes on the canvas, stopped and turned to face the second pony.
“Opaque Luster, what are you doing here? Is it that time already? I thought I still had some minutes,” Star Flow said. Opaque made a passing glance at the sun, trying to remember what time it was, though she ignored it and walked over to the easel.
“What are you drawing? I thought you didn’t really draw anymore.” Opaque said.
“Oh, not really, no. I just come up here for… inspiration I suppose,” Star replied. Opaque stepped in to look at the easel, only to actually struggle to hold back a laugh; it had a crudely drawn sun, with a simple smiley face drawn upon it.
“It looks… great,” Opaque said carefully.
“Don’t worry, I’m not giving up my day job yet. Not technically, anyway.” Star Flow set about to pack up the easel, canvas and brush as Opaque held back her laughing.
“So, are you nervous about the event today?” Opaque asked, as the two started off down the path.
“Everyone’s nervous to give a speech, O’,” Star Flow said.
“You know this is important, right? Most every other Sun Pony has gone their whole lives as Sun Ponies, you’re one of the few who’s gone off to bigger and better things,” Opaque said, almost grumbling a little. She harbored some jealously towards Star, but never spoke about it.
“I know it’s important. I’ve raised the sun and you’ve lowered the moon as long as we can remember. If I mess up or get some bad luck, who knows what’ll happen?”
“Well, at least you’re going to go with Clover the Clever. I’ll still be here lowering the moon,” Opaque said, looking at the ground as the two trotted on.
“And we’ll still be friends,” Star Flow said, trying to sound comforting.
The two unicorns passed through town, rushing to get through the ponies going to and fro about their day. Once on the other side of the town, Star Flow and Opaque Luster were greeted by a stadium of ponies; a handful of stands with a handful of ponies, some familiar, some not so much, watched in eagerness as the two climbed up to a podium. The podium was flanked on either side by two rows of ponies, all of which seemed expressionless and calm. The left side ponies wore pink colored robes and gold horseshoes, each shoe embellished with a sun. The right side ponies were relatively the same, except that their robes were blue, their horseshoes were a dark blue and they were decorated with the moon instead of the sun. All four rows of ponies were bald. A single unicorn mare, regally dressed with a bright white coat, stood at the middle.
Opaque Luster hurried off to join the right-side ponies in their emotionless stance. Star Flow, nervous and wary, carefully walked up to the podium.
“Good of you to be on time. Stand right there, behind me,” the regal pony said, motioning behind her with her hoof. Star Flow hurried to her spot as the podium pony began her speech.
“Thank you, mares and gentlecolts, for being here at this solemn celebration. For today’s event, one of our very own, Star Flow, will be leaving us to study under esteemed guest, Clover the Clever. For even though she was one of our own –our own sister, who hath raised the sun with her fellows while her peers lowered the moon – she will be leaving the Sun Ponies today, and she shall be missed. It is a quiet duty, an important duty, to raise the sun in the morning for all good ponies. And while she leaves us to pursue her ambitions, we will never forget her or her service to the Unicorn Kingdom. Now a few words from Star Flow to mark the moment.”
The ponies in the stands gave a polite clap to the speech. The regal pony motioned toward Star Flow, who quickly moved up to the podium. More than a dozen ponies stared at her, waiting for her words.
“Thank you to all of you here. For as long as I can remember, I’ve lived here on Canter Mountain, being a Sun Pony raising the sun in the morning. It’s a difficult task, but I am grateful for the experience that I can take with me in the future. I hope that all of you will show support for both Sun and Moon Ponies, as much as I have supported all of this land’s ponies.”
This clap for Star Flow was slightly quieter than before, though she did not notice it. At the regal pony’s queue, the Sun Ponies on the left side collectively produced a magical, bright symbol in the sky of the sun. The Moon Ponies too also produced a moon symbol, parallel to the sun. The ponies all cheered at the display.
The event went on for several more hours; every so often, Star Flow spoke to friends to say her goodbyes and remember fond memories. Opaque was the last to give a goodbye, but it was a heartfelt one nonetheless. When most of the most ponies had gone, Star Flow approached a pony standing on the edge of the crowd, clothed in a simple brown cloak.
“Clover the Clever?” she said, in a nervous tone.
“That was a pleasant speech, though I probably would have added a joke or two at the end. Always leave them laughing,” Clover said, seeming uncharacteristically casual to Star Flow.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I actually didn’t think you would be here to be honest,” Star Flow said.
“You assumed we would meet at the castle, right? There is far too much daylight to waste time with even more meetings if you ask me!” Clover said, happily trotting off toward the town.
“Umm… where are you going?” Star Flow spoke, unsure of what to do.
“Towards the rest of my life, some excitement and some apple pie! You are my student now. There is a whole world out there to learn from and experience, and I am hungry!” Clover the Clever said, trotting on with a slight bounce in her step.
Star Flow looked at the sun overhead, thinking back to her dream. Most of her life had been certain; routines, practicing and the sun. But nothing was certain now. All her life she wanted to study magic, but she had no idea what would happen next, or where the end of the road would lead.
With only one real option, Star Flow followed Clover onward, her mind in a thousand different places at once.
Author's Note
This'll be my first fic. It's supposed to be a prequel, but the full thing is unfinished. Here's hoping people at least enjoy it.