"So," Professor Rondache said, looking out over the lecture hall, which was sporadically dotted with students. "The skycities were created six hundred years ago. Due to the resources available in the sky, the citizens of Equestria were inclined to build them for total access. Cities like Cloudsdale, which kept themselves in the sky via the air-buoyancy of the clouds, could only be accessed by pegasi. However, due to the pegasi blight, there weren't very many still alive at this point. Therefore, a compromise had to be made that could allow the easy transfer of goods between the land and sky. Thus, Bespin, a unicorn experimentalist, discovered the counter-gravitational effect between the sun and Equestria."
"Is that what the skyroads run off of, as well?" A student in the front row asked. She looked to be about nineteen, had an athletic build, elegant wings, and a bright purple coat. Her mane was a pale blue streaked with white, contrasted with a sterling silver flower pin that sat slightly above her left ear. Rondache delved into the back of his mind for her name; she had state after lectures for tutoring multiple times. It had something to do with bubbles, and test tubes. No, beakers. Bubbly Beakers, that was it! She was a smart mare; her grades never dropped below 90 percent.
"Well, yes and no," Rondache answered. "To understand, one must first know how the counter-gravitational effect works. Gravity is the force that holds us down on Equestria, and keeps us from floating off into space. In the same way, it keeps the sun and moon, the astral bodies connected to the life forces of our two alicorn princesses, from straying too far away from Equestria. Bespin was the one who discovered the slight tug of the sun and moon on Equestria. Without it, the clouds, the wind, everything, wouldn't exist.
"Wind was an effect caused by the two gravities working against each other. Things floating in the air, such as clouds, existed simply because they were in the sweet spot between the two gravities. you see, as two gravities work against each other, a zero gravity point is created. In fact, every single spot in between here and the sun or moon is a zero gravity point. However, one must be the correct density to float there. Through this, we ponies, save for pegasi, stay landlocked, and clouds float at different heights.
"Bespin had been spending years researching this when she discovered a way to harness it. By experimenting with small pebbles, grains of sand, and leaves, she found the sweet spot. For every one gram to three cubic centimeters, the object must be one meter, give or take a few centimeters, from the ground to be in the zero gravity zone.
"Through this, Bespin managed to design a scale-model prototype of what she called 'Bespitopia.' The Equestrian Royal Scientific Council approved of her design, and commissioned her a grant of over one trillion bits to build it. The skycity, which was half the size of Canterlot, was built with hydraulic boosters and ballast tanks, much like a hot air balloon. These were built in to allow ponies and items to travel on and off of the city without causing it to leave the sweet spot and fall to the ground.
"The skycity was finished in ten years, five years ahead of schedule and five billion bits under budget. However, two weeks before its completion, Bespin succumbed to a lingering tuberculosis she had acquired five years earlier, so she was not able to see her aspiration become a full reality. Her daughter, Ascencia, finished the project and changed the skycity's name to New Canterlot, in the hopes that Equestria would double in size due to the skycities, which New Canterlot would be the captiol of.
"Following this, Ascencia was tasked with creating a byway between land and sky. She discovered that, with a monolithic city now floating in the sky, there was yet another counter-gravitational effect created. By utilizing this, she managed to create yet another zero gravity device, which is now known as the skyroads. These roads, which begin a good one hundred meters off of the ground, are accessed by non-pegasi via a pulley system. Does that answer your question?" Proffessor Rondache finished, turning back to Bubbly Beakers.
"Yes sir," She replied, hiding behind her hair. "It does, thank you." The mare, obviously embarrassed to be seen as the cause of an unnessecary addition to the lecture, slid down in her seat and tried to become invisible.
"And that concludes our lecture," Rondache said, addressing the rest of the students. "You are dismissed." Despite this announcement, Bubbly stayed as the rest of the class excitedly left the lecture hall, ecstatic to be dismissed early. "Are you staying after again, Miss Beakers?" Rondache asked.
"Yes, sir, I have some questions regarding the longevity of the skycities," She replied, moving from her seat up onto the platform. "You have probably heard this all from the apocalypse theorists and the crazy homeless ponies, but unlike them, I've actually done my research, and I've come up with a projected timeline of the remainder of this year."
"Well, you sure are prepared," Rondache replied. "What do you suppose is going to happen?"
Bubbly took a deep breath and began. "As you may remember, Princess Cadence died last December, not two months ago. The disease that was the cause of her death is one not familiar to ponykind, and had finished her off over the course of five months. We have no idea whether or not this disease is contagious, which makes it all the more frightening.
"You may have noticed that, shortly before Cadence's death, the sun had been sporadically flickering on and off sporadically for small, shorter-than-a-second periods of time. However, lately, these periods of time have extended, and are causing quite a large deal of trouble for the skycities as the sun turns off for several seconds at a time.
"I fear that, in fact, this disease may indeed be contagious, and that Cadence may have transferred it to Celestia. If so, then it won't be long until Luna has it, as well. Upon Celestia's impending death, the sun will cease to exist, being that it is tied to her life force.
"Following this, the skycities would begin to fall, their hydraulic backup systems not enough to fight a full-gravitational failure. Luna, however, will notice the absence of the sun and raise the moon, saving the skycities. She will then immediately rush to Celestia's side, thus catching the disease herself.
"The effort of keeping the moon in the sky will be quite taxing on the princess, and it will speed the severity of the disease along, so that she dies within the month. Immediately, the skycities will fall, taking out millions of Equestria's population along with them. And that is my prediction," Bubbly finished. "So what do you think?"
"I would say that you're blowing things out of proportion, if not for the overwhelming amount of evidence," Rondache replied. "But when is Celestia going to die?"
"Any day now, the sun went out for a full half hour yeaterday; she's nearing the end," Bubbly replied. "There's really nothing we can do, except prepare as best we can."
"But how do we prepare? What could we possibly do?" Rondache asked.
"I don't know," Bubbly answered. "Honestly, all I can think of is to build shelters, but the skycities are enormous, they'd crush anything we built."
"One second, I'll be right back," Rondache said, briskly trotting out of the lecture hall. He entered the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He was only twenty-four, the youngest proffessor ever admitted by the college. His mane, a vivid dark orange, fell unkemptly over his shoulders, almost disappearing in his dark red, almost black, coat. His cyan eyes, the only bright attribute he had, stared back at him in the mirror.
Sweet Celestia, what have you gotten yourself into this time, Ron? He thought. This mare is right, I can't see any flaws in her theory. But what can I do about it? Obviously, I'm the first person she's told about this, so she's looking for reassurance, undoubtedly. But how can I reassure her? I know less about what's going on than she does. The Proffessor sighed.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and a voice. "Proffessor Randache?" It's was Bubbly again. Her voice was tinged with urgency. "Are you in there?"
"Yes," He answered. "What's wrong?"
"I was right," She answered, her voice rising and becoming manic. "I was right. The sun went out! It's been a full two minutes! Come outside, quickly!"
The Proffessor's eyes widened as he galloped out of the door. "What?" He rhetorically asked, seeing the genuine worry on the mare's face.
"Just follow me, and hurry!" She replied, bolting down the hallway towards the front doors.
Rondache followed her out into blackness. As his eyes adjusted to the lights, he could see the truth of what was going on.
The sky was falling.
At first, it was just small things, such as clouds, airborne leaves, and the like that fell. It wasn't terribly abnormal, it had been sporadically occurring quite a lot before this. Considering this was a blackout, it made it even more likely. Nopony was worried about anything else, nopony thought that the backup systems would fail. But they did. And the skycities fell.
The gargantuan underbelly of one of the skycities could be seen shortly after Rondache and Bubbly exited the college; it was racing toward Canterlot at an alarming rate. The skycity neared the tops of the skyscrapers, its impending collision with the city finally being noticed by the pompous citizens.
Suddenly, the pitch-black sky changed to a radiant silver as the moon appeared in the sky. The skycity's descent slowed rapidly as its hydraulic boosters kicked in, eventually propelling it back up into the sky. The citizens of Canterlot all rushed the palace, subconsciously aware that the princess would have to make an address.
After only a few minutes of waiting, Luna appeared on the watchtower balcony. "My dearest citizens," She said. "I have grievous news. My sister, Princess Celestia, keeper of the sun and my dearest friend, is now dead; she succumbed to the same illness as our niece Cadence.
"We do not know the nature of this disease, and, seeing at it took me as long as it did to raise the moon, I am afraid I may now have it as well. As such, I wish to prolong my life in order to keep the skycities afloat. Due to this, I must resign my position as ruler of Equestria, seeing that the stress of this would undoubtedly weaken me. I have chosen to replace myself with Chance Fortune, my most trusted adviser, and the best suited for this position. She is now ruler of Equestria in my stead. Farewell, Equestrians. May I continue living and keep you alive through this."
At this, the princess retreated back into the castle. Immediately, the crowd began to murmur, some understanding, some dissenting, and some not knowing what was going on. In response to this, a magical screen suddenly appeared above the crowd.
On the screen was the face of a unicorn, her expression that of concern. Her coat was the color of pyrite, and her hair was stark white, with a single streak of hot pink. Her horn, long and narrow, wrapped with shallow spiral grooves, strongly resembled that of the princesses.
"My dearest Equestrians," She said, her voice a low alto, sweet and melodic. "I never wanted this moment to happen; I would actually rather not hold this power. However, as the circumstances are inevitable, I must accept. Despite my lack of on the job experience, I will strive not to alter the current workings of this country. Farewell, and be well."
The screen dissolved into nothingness, the magic returning into the ether to be harnessed by another unicorn, be it later at day, or a millennium in the future. Regardless, Chance Fortune, the new ruler of Equestria, seemed genuinely concerned for the populace. For now, the worry was over. But what would happen when Luna died? Could staying away from the stress of running a kingdom really keep her condition at bay?
As the crowd dispersed, Rondache turned to Bubbly. "So what now?" He asked. "Did you predict this in that timeline of yours?"
"No, I kinda figured that Luna would try to stick it out," Bubbly replied. "I'll have to go home and run a few more mental simulations..."
"Wait, so you just think through what you suppose is going to happen?" Rondache asked.
"Well, yes and no," She replied. "It's a long story, and I don't know the particulars of it, but somehow, I have genes from some magical creature or other, and it's gifted me with slight foresight. Basically, I have to think through the different possibilities until one seems perfect to me, and that one is what happens. It's never messed up before."
"Well, you should get going then," The Proffessor replied. "I'm going to speak with our new leader about this whole predicament you've 'foreseen.'"
"Right," She said, extending a hoof. "Good luck."
"Thanks, you too," Rondache replied, shaking her hoof. Immediately, the mare turned and galloped off into the darkness, the moonlight barely providing enough illumination for Rondache to watch her as she disappeared around a corner. He took a deep breath and set off down the courtyard towards the palace entrance hall. He had a request to make.
