“Celestia is dead. At least that's what everypony has assumed for the past two weeks. The sun hasn't set since the Canterlot wedding, no news has come from the capital since then. All radio has stopped working for some reason. It’s not like we ever got news early anyway.
There were rumours at first, something about changelings taking over, of course no one believed them at the time. Even our little village knew about the saviours of Equestria and the elements of harmony, and even if they had failed there still were 3 alicorns.
I tried to keep the peace as long as possible, telling everypony to keep to their homes, not go out and stock up on fresh water and food. I've already asked the local weather team to make some rain to freshen us up a bit. They just told me to get in line…”
“Faith dies last. Ah can't remember who said that, surely sam' great adventurer or somethin'. It was only spring but the heat already seemed to bother some of the cattle. We small folks didn't notice anything wrong at first, just another long day at work, ya know? We ain’t never expected it to last this long, is all.
News arrived quickly ‘bout the great swarm on that mighty shield. Those horn heads put some mighty trust in their magic. Ah always said, nothing’s better than yer own hooves. Too bad they ain’t saw it that way, pretty sure that egghead Star Seeds tried to lower the sun himself after only two days.
T'was impossible to think about it, they were always here for us, raisin' and settin' the Sun and Moon. So we held on our faith for as long as we could. But when they came, even faith was lost.”
“Class was cancelled again today. It was a sunny day again today. I wonder why we can't go to school anymore, even though all the snow melted. Mom and Dad told me it's dangerous outside but it's so hot inside too. At least we could go to the pool or something, but all they do is scream at each other. Adults are weird.”
“So much for our vacations. Fortunately, my dear husband and I were on our luxury yacht when it all started. Being at sea when the sun never sets is a blessing in a way. I just wished our servant knew their place a little better; those fools wanted to go back on the mainland.
We weren’t invited to the wedding so we went on vacation a little early. We departed the day the shield was put in place, this and the sun not setting made things clear. Canterlot probably had fallen, along with our dear Princess Celestia. Let's hope an alicorn survived to take care of the sun quickly. At least now we can finally put Blueblood in charge.”
“The factory is running at full capacity today again. Since the crisis began there has been so much demand for rain clouds that even the bigger cloud factory like the one in cloudsdale couldn't follow. And it's not like we didn't try anyway. We had a team working twenty-four-seven for the longest time. Well, it's not like it matters anymore anyway, there are no longer any nights.
The "night" shift never came, the cowards. Those sarosians argued that since night don’t come anymore, their shift never starts. We don't know how long we're gonna keep it up. I even heard there were some uprising in a factory in Stormshire already. If they wanted to unionize they could have done so before the Princess disappeared, for fuck’s sake. What kind of priorities do they have‽”
“So many deaths. The streets of Canterlot were filled with rotten corpses, both pony and changeling. They rotted in the sun all day leaving a stench that could mark a pony for life. What life could we get now that the sun won't settle?
This damn wedding destroyed pretty much all normality we had left. After Discord, I moved away from ponyville so I could stop seeing those atrocities. And yet it happened again. I knew I should have chosen Las Pegasus. Now we just stay inside, go out only to find food in what once was the lesser district of the capital of Equestria. Some scavenger banded together, fearing the others as anyone could be a changeling.
With no news from the palace, anarchy reigns on the city. Each day new corpses were added. Each day the sun rotted them away a bit more.”
Chrysalis stood where the wedding ceremony had happened a few days ago. Her leftover drones had already removed the Princesses' bodies along with the bearers of the elements'.
She had won, all the love in Equestria was waiting for her out there. Out there… in the sunlight.
With Celestia gone, the sun refused to move anymore, its light shining forever on the land. From the castle, the changeling queen could see the Everfree forest burning already, it wouldn't be the last forest to burn in the sun.
It turned out that Shining Armor's love was stronger than the Princesses’ powers, she had taken care of them without thinking it through, though. Changelings didn't do well in the sun for too long. Neither did ponies, unfortunately.
She regretted it a bit. All the power in the world but the world would burn away in a few months. What was the point of it all? She didn't know. She couldn’t tell anymore, not with this heat clouding her thoughts.
Survivors were regrouped under the Canterlot Castle. For a month now, the sun burned the land. The underground caves were, however, well lit and fresh, providing much needed relief to the few dozens of ponies gathered here.
One of them, a maid from the castle, had brought a mirror with her, saying it is a powerful artefact, something the Princess wanted to keep hidden. She thought that if they had to die, they weren't about to give the bugs any more magic.
Without warning, the mirror glowed and a young unicorn mare came out of it, looking visibly surprised. The ponies gathered all in awe at the view of her sun-like cutie mark, already looking at her as if she was the promised saviour.
Sunset Shimmer shrugged: "Talk about a welcome committee."
Author's Note
Since I didn't feel like writing much this week, I decided to post this short story I've made up late at night. Hope you enjoyed it!
