No. My knees sunk onto the cold marble floor, and I struggled to keep my forearms from doing the same. I gasped for air, and a pathetic wail escaped my lungs. After a few deep breaths, I untucked my warm ears and glanced at everyone around me. My tear-stained sister, Pipp, sat on the ground in silence, and a friend of ours named Sunny groaned as she rubbed her temple. A humming Hitch curled himself up into a giant ball, and Izzy was still sobbing despite being the first one of us to stand.
With my heart still beating erratically, I flew up towards the ceiling of the “castle” and snorted to get everyone's attention.
“Guys!... I know that this vision was pretty painful to see, but at least we know exactly what we're supposed to do now...right?”
My friends and sister nodded, but misery, fury, and disbelief still weighed me down. A year ago, I wouldn't have believed it was possible to grieve for ponies I've never even met, but here I was. The entire truth about Terra’s past was finally revealed to all of us through a glass pyramid that allowed my friends and me to practically step into another world. We were supposed to understand the most important things that the Mane 7 accomplished during their lifetimes, so many of their trials, joys, successes, and failures were witnessed by us firsthand via visions.
But someone tried to erase the past, and now our own future was about to be at risk at well. Over 700 years ago, Equestria’s true heroes attempted to defeat a very vile threat, but they were only able to prolong the inevitable chaos. The Mane 7 and their loved ones were unfortunately slain in the process of sealing their foe away to the moon. The enemy responsible would soon be free in our time, however, so a dictator would rule our entire world if we did nothing about it.
Feeling uneasy at the moment, I checked my phone and saw that it read 11:58 pm. Nothing seemed unusual as I peered outside of the nearest virtual window. Crickets chirped peacefully, and fireflies added their usual sparkle to the bleak darkness. That's when we heard the rhythmic gongs of the North Maretime tower bell, and its melody echoed across the land for miles.
Sunny fetched her smartphone and stared at the screen in silence for a moment before speaking up.
“It’s already 12:02 pm...” she practically whispered with her eyes widened.
“I still wouldn't hold my breath,” I warned while facing everyone else's gaze.
Was this as*hole going to show up or what? After sighing with frustration, I frowned and flickered my ears before allowing my mind to wander. It was during my foalhood that I discovered my passion for physics and conspiracy theories.
In those days, I would always carry a notebook with me just to interview a wide variety of ponies on their opinions. Public school was out of the question for anyone from a royal family and this kind of bummed me out. Having a private tutor with flexible hours was pretty convenient, but I still wondered what it was like to learn among the common. Some of my friends shared my love for sports, but most ponies my age got bored rather soon when helping me do serious research for my space theory journal.
My great-great-grandfather on my mother's side passed away when I was 11, but he was the coolest pony I've ever met. He and I would have a blast discussing anything from the accuracy of carbon dating space rocks to the mysterious disappearances of celebrities. Our favorite topic was the astronauts who claimed to have encountered an evil spirit on the moon. The most bizarre rant came from a stallion who had a ruptured eardrum and needed immediate surgery when landing back on Terra.
He swore that while no one else was around, an invisible ghost took his pen away and shoved it into his right ear. The stallion became permanently deaf from that side, but no one was able to help back up his story with actual evidence. Like many ponies, I always suspected that the truth might have had something to do with Princess Celestia and Luna’s past. I spent countless hours interviewing archaeologists and going over palace documents, but my efforts yielded fruitless results.
My thoughts were interrupted by the horrible sound of multiple sirens. My friend and I checked our cell phones to see that Meteorologists have prompted the government to issue a “Foreign Anomaly Heading Towards Terra Warning.” Wait. I am getting ahead of myself, so I'll need to go back to when we all got ourselves into this situation. It all began one warm September afternoon last year.
On that day, I was about to put my phone on silent for a peaceful nap before a call from an unknown number came in. It was a forensic scientist who was new to Zephyr Heights, and she urged me to meet her due to some unbelievable discovery. Upon arrival, I was presented with a familiar birth certificate. It was around 2,000 years old, and the edges had clearly been exposed to a flame at some point.
Some stallion brought me a water bottle upon request, and the mare explained that she used the latest technology in order to enhance a handful of nearly illegible documents.
“I remember going over that one. Didn't it belong to a duke?” I asked.
The scientist shook her head slowly.
“My team and I still weren't able to retrieve the name of the newborn foal or their father, but you won't believe who is listed as the mother..”
I was ushered into another room that contained a computer and a minimal amount of equipment. The scientist placed the document under a magnifier, and the view was displayed on a nearby screen. I took a sip of my drink and admired the stunningly fine details, but that's when I saw it. I spat my water out and took a few steps back.
“PRINCESS LUNA HAD A FOAL?!”
The mare nodded, and my phone started ringing. It was Sunny.
Season 1 episode 1: Their Sun Before The Storm pt. 1
Author's Note
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Season 1 episode 1: Their Sun Before The Storm pt. 1
“Papa?”
My sister Pipp approached our father as he was about to step inside his office. She stood up on her infant hind legs in order to be seen, and it worked. Dad looked down at her before smiling and closing the door.
“Can you read us a story?” She asked.
The reflections on her pleading eyes increased and Dad eventually nodded. He headed towards a library on this floor and we trailed behind him eagerly. The place had such a beautiful glow under the moonlight, and it was so clean that you could hardly see any dust particles dancing in the air. But father had to turn the switch on in order to find whatever he was looking for. We waited as he disappeared into a row of shelves and he came back with a moderately thick book. We all made our way back to my room, and Pipp and I sat beside our Dad as he cleared his throat.
“So girls, what I am about to read is a true tale of two princess sisters who lived several hundred years ago…”
That got my attention. Father opened the book and started to read slowly as Pipp’s tiny wings buzzed with anticipation.
“Once upon a time, Equestria was ruled by two sisters named Celestia and Luna. Not much is known about their past other than the fact that they were raised by their half-brother King Cosmos the second and his wife. Anyway, Celestia was the older of the two, and she had to make the sun rise every day. She was a warm, resilient soul who was always searching for the best in everyone, but she had a habit of overlooking things. Unlike her, Princess Luna was quite the worrier.
The moon sister liked to personally interfere with citizens' lives, and this caused conflict with her sister as well. Legend has it all began when Celestia supposedly failed to prevent the disappearance of Princess Ingrid who was heir to the Crystal Empire. It is confirmed that long before Celestia and Luna took the throne, their nephew King Skylar ruled Equestria with his wife Queen Aurora and the orphaned Crystal Empire siblings. Time passed, and Celestia made Luna go on a journey with her after the former reportedly confronted her nephew for an unspecified reason. But when the sisters returned, they learned that Skylar was found dead in a grisly manner.
No one ever found out who murdered the King, and young princess Ingrid was never heard from again. Many ponies had wild speculations as for who the culprit was, but most agreed that it was difficult to signal anyone out in particular. He was a charismatic, manipulative ruler, but some ponies started to make detrimental claims after his death that couldn't be verified. The colt Prince Ezra mysteriously passed away as well during his coronation, and a startling rumor surfaced regarding the sun princess. Someone said that months before everything changed, a very distressed Ingrid met with Celestia in order to bring up a serious complaint against Skylar and the former Queen Aurora.
The rumor’s most controversial claim was that Celestia was actually dismissive and chose to not take any action despite the fact that she should have. Many years later, the public lost interest in any conspiracies associated with fruitless investigation, however. During this time, ponies became restless since there were no more males in the royal bloodline. Luna remembered her eldest nephew Cosmos the third and she had a sinking feeling that she just couldn’t shake. Her brother’s firstborn was supposed to take the throne instead of Skylar, but he was exiled as a teen by his parents who claimed that he was mentally ill without any further explanation.
Luna found it hard to forget the past, and tension between the sisters only grew with time. The public started to slowly lose their sense of stability, and this is when a certain draconequus named Discord made himself known. He took advantage of the bitterness among the land in order to turn ponies against each other and declare himself King. The sisters realized that they had to put their differences aside in order to defeat him, but they knew they couldn’t do it alone. While roaming the Everfree Forest with four of their friends, they encountered a cave with a magical tree inside.
It contained six necklace artifacts, and the friends found out that they had extraordinary powers that could be used against Discord. The sisters and their friends were able to defeat their foe together, and all was well for several hundred years. To everyone’s surprise, the sisters would not age, and they eventually found out why this was. One night, Celestia and Luna had a bizarre dream where a faceless spirit explained to them that their life was merely extended for some reason. The sisters apparently had about 1,200 years left to live, and it was only then that a supposed curse against Equestria’s Kings would be broken.
This would explain Ezra’s sudden death, but what didn’t make sense was the fact no pony had the power to do such a thing. Celestia wondered if Ingrid may have had something to do with the curse, but she couldn’t think of any reason why the princess would have a vendetta against her little brother anyway. A few more centuries passed, and the moon princess's soul was burdened by watching the generations pass. Many ponies would die without considering the negative ramifications of what they did during their lifetimes, and unacceptable patterns prevailed despite societal advances. One day, Luna decided that she had enough.
The moon princess was never able to fully shake her envy for Celestia, and she felt that no one really appreciated everything she did for the world’s well-being. Luna decided to not lower the moon one morning and she told Celestia that it was time for only her to decide who was worthy of life. Her sister tried to reason with her, but this only increased the moon princess's fury. Luna proceeded to transform into a powerful, shapeshifting monster, and she attempted to kill Celestia. But their friends were nearby at the time, and they helped Celestia utilize the Elements of Harmony in order to banish her sister to the moon.
Before 1000 years would come to pass, Celestia prepared for Luna’s inevitable return. During the time the younger sister spent on the moon, Celestia decided to make a celebration commemorating her defeat. But her friends were long gone now, so a new generation of heroes had to rise in order to stop the wicked moon princess once and for all. A certain unicorn named Twilight Sparkle and her friends were deemed worthy to be the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony and they were able to help Luna fight the corruption in her heart. The next page will begin to detail a collection of letters sent from the Elements final bearers to the sun princess-”
Dad started to cough, and he told us that we could go over some of the Mane 6’s adventures tomorrow since it was getting late.
“Already?”
I flickered my ears and pouted. My eyelids weren’t even droopy yet, and my brain was running in a thousand different directions. I couldn’t wait to hear more about this Twilight Sparkle and the others.
“Of course. I still have a lot to do before midnight, and your mother needs you to be well-rested for the gala tomorrow.”
I snorted angrily, wishing that my father would someday dedicate more time for my sister and me. If only there was a way for the three of us to escape from all this royal nonsense and take a vacation somewhere far away. My mom never let others compare me to my sister, but she was so overbearing and strict in those days. My mind wandered to the upcoming party, and I tucked my ears since the very thought of being around so many ponies again made me feel nervous and overwhelmed. Pipp was still in diapers, but it was her who didn’t mind being shaking strangers’ hooves or being held by relatives that we didn’t recognize-
“Zipp?”
I was suddenly back in reality, and an unusually chill breeze hit my face to remind me of my surroundings. My apricot-furred friend sounded alarmed over the phone which was unusual for her.
“Are you okay Sunny?”
“Well…I think some caped pony is following me. I have a lot of groceries and Hitch isn’t answering the cell for some reason.”
