Chapters “We’re taking her to the hospital, Princess, calm down, we just-”
“We demand to see her now! What happened!? Tell us what happened this instant!”
“She collapsed, Princess. Collapsed. Please, step aside and I promise you that your sister will be-”
“We want to know what is going on! All that We’ve been receiving in recent days is mystery and unsatisfactory answers! We must know the situation at once! How dire is it!?”
“Her Majesty is having troubles with breathing. We are taking her to-”
“We must go with you. We must stand by her side.”
“No, your Majesty, that is simply against protocol. We cannot allow anypony else-”
“Our sister is dying in the back of an ambulance and you are telling us that We cannot come with!? Do you know who you are talking to!?”
The Nurse bowed her head. A teary-eyed Luna was barking orders that would lead her nowhere. This seemed to be the case more often than not, nowadays. No matter what, she was not allowed on the ride to the hospital.
“Luna,” the Nurse said soothingly, “you are not allowed to come on this trip. You are allowed to see her in the hospital. Do you follow?”
Luna’s lungs were giving out. “No. No, We don’t follow! Please, tell us what has happened to our sister!” Her stern facade was faltering. “What happened to my sister, Nurse?”
The Nurse lifted her head back up. “Well, she’s immortal, Luna. She can’t die. I agree the circumstances are very peculiar, but I guarantee you that she is going to be quite all right.”
Luna brushed away a falling tear drop. “When can We see her?”
“As soon as clearance is given.”
Luna shook her head, dissatisfied once more. “No, no, give us a time! A time! We can’t-”
Luna was interrupted as a gentle hoof fell on her shoulder. It was the only bit of solace she could find in the buzzing atmosphere. The Grounds could now be described as a total chaotic mess, a fear instilled frenzy. The hoof on her shoulder was a bold gesture.
“Luna,” the Nurse said, “You will see her.”
With that, the Nurse spun round and loaded some medical supplies onto the carriage. As soon as the clear was given, flashing lights flickered on, and a loud siren wailed as the ambulance sped off down the street. Thousands of ponies watched as Equestria’s most prestigious leader was being wheeled away down the street. Luna’s sister was in that carriage. The immortal Princess of the Sun was taking a trip to the hospital for reasons unexplained.
o----o
Luna sat in a chilly waiting room for a horrendously long expanse of time. The clock ticked by laboriously slowly, so much so that Tank could appear to have the speed of a cheetah. There was a ticking inside of Luna’s head. A slow metronome played out through Luna’s mind; the already anxious Princess remained in a state of disarray, of misunderstanding. It was impossibly cold for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
Luna began to pace. It was a common practice of hers, but it was none too popular with her. She only did this when something bothered her, especially when it was out of her control. It’s not as if it served any purpose, either. If anything, it only made her think more about the current situation, which she only ever pondered a pessimistic outlook. The others watched the Princess of the Night struggle to come to terms with her sister’s curious condition.
Three hours Luna waited. Three hours Luna paced the floor of the waiting room with her mind ready to burst at any one point in time. A nurse finally emerged from the hallway and approached to address her. It was not the same one as before, but a nurse nonetheless. Luna stood tall and mighty, her mane wavering slightly.
“Your Majesty,” the Nurse said in respect, bowing her head. Her bright pink mane was messy and fell about her face. It was obvious she should have been off duty quite a long time ago, but had been held up after the Princess of the Sun arrived.
Luna raised a hoof. “No need, dear Nurse,” she said. Tentatively, she added, “Is... is she well?”
The Nurse righted herself and looked Luna in the eyes. “All tests were inconclusive,” she said to put it succinctly.
“This is good news?” Luna asked to clarify.
The Nurse averted her eyes. She rubbed at her temple. “It could be good news, that is most definitely an option. Or, it could mean that we just don’t know what’s wrong. It isn’t very often an immortal comes to visit our hospital, Princess.”
“So, perhaps a condition not foreseen?”
“Perhaps a condition outside the knowledge of modern medicine.”
Luna’s heart sank to the very bottom of her hooves. She stared straight through the Nurse. She shivered, expecting only the worse to come of the situation. “We have waited for three hours to hear that you haven’t the slightest idea as to what is wrong with her?”
“No, Princess,” the Nurse corrected, “we’ve waited until she’s woken up for you to speak to her.”
o----o
The door creaked open, revealing a quaint room with a lone figure resting on a hospital bed in the middle of the floor.
“Tia...?”
Celestia rested on a simple hospital bed, the milky white sheets drawn over her body and tucked in with care. She was breathing regularly, and from Luna’s perspective, she did not appear ill. Celestia turned and her eyes fell upon her sister’s. She half-smiled. She tapped the bedside twice, urging Luna to come sit by her side.
Luna swept her mane out from over her eyes. She sauntered over to Celestia’s bedside, the white alicorn smiling a broken smile, her motions weak and trembling. She didn’t look as if she were ill, but her actions definitely suggested it. Luna sat down next to Celestia. She opened and closed her mouth, waiting for words to escape from her lips, but none came forthwith.
“Luna, I’m glad you came,” Celestia whispered dishearteningly, her voice wistfully soft. “I’m... I’m so sorry for the way I acted... I just couldn’t find it in me to tell you.”
Luna took Celestia’s timid hoof up with both of hers. “Tell us what, sister?”
The Princess of the Sun fought it, but in the end could not stop it. A tear spilled from the corner of her eye. It was filled with loss, guilt and regret. She turned and stared at the blank wall of plaster, realizing it was eerily similar to how she felt at the current time. “You must know, Luna.”
“Know what? Please, tell us!”
Celestia took a deep breath. She took her gaze from off of the walls, down to the floor. “I have been keeping a terrible secret, Luna.”
At that moment, Celestia wriggled her hoof away from Luna’s grasp. She pushed it under the sheets, wiggling it around, evidently trying to grab a concealed item from under her. After a few seconds of struggle, Celestia brought the item to the surface: a simple papyrus scroll. The Princess of the Sun mustered the strength to hand it to Luna.
Luna hesitantly took the scroll. She unfurled it. On it, it read-
Princess? What is wrong? Has Nightmare Moon returned? Are you hurt? If this message is disregarded, we will have assumed the worst. We are on our way to Canterlot now.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
-Luna frowned. “What is this for?”
Celestia attempted a smile again. It wasn’t working for her. “You have to save them, Luna. Save all of them.”
Now Luna was utterly confused. Save them from what? Her sister was very enigmatic, and it bothered Luna that she could never cut to the chase. “What do you mean save them? Are they in danger?”
“Very much so, sister. As are you.”
Luna blinked. “We are?”
“Yes, Luna. And... and I’m afraid I’m the one that’s caused it.”
Luna felt greatly perplexed. Her sister causing trouble had never once crossed her mind. She’s sick. She’s causing trouble. None of it made sense at all. None of it added up to anything notable.
“I... I don’t understand, sister...”
Celestia sighed. “Luna. You remember when we came here, correct? I brought my Sun and you your Moon?”
“Y-yes...” Luna said hesitantly.
“We were in our younger years, Luna. I understood why we brought them. You, unfortunately, did not. You were never told, Luna. You were never told why we brought them.”
“Well, we have them to light Equestria! We have them to show our presence and our message of peace! That is what I have been told...”
Celestia only shook her head in disagreement. “Oh, Luna. I love you so much.”
Luna could feel her eyes begin to water again. “Sister... what is going on? ”
Another sigh. “Luna. What I am about to tell you may shock you. Stay seated.” Luna stay settled in her seat next to Celestia. She stared Luna directly in the eyes. The Princess of the Sun continued. “You see... the reason we towed our respective celestial bodies here so many years ago was not just to light the way. It was not to provide inspiration or instill hope. Luna, we have more connections to our Sun and Moon than you were ever led to believe. These bodies aren’t just something that light the sky. They are life forces, Luna. They aren’t a couple of lanterns that float harmlessly in space. Luna... We are the Sun and the Moon. ”
Luna’s mouth hung open. She stared. “W-we don’t understand... how could you not... how could you not...?” Luna went fishing for words and ended up catching a soggy boot.
“I’m sorry, Luna. I’m sorry we could never tell you. You were so young, and you weren’t ready to know yet. We were going to tell you eventually... but then something happened.”
“The attack,” Luna stated.
“Precisely.”
Luna faced the far wall. She thought she could see right through it. She could see through it, but was still trapped inside of a box. “We still don’t quite comprehend. What does all this mean? What do you mean save them? How are you causing trouble? This doesn’t make sense.”
Celestia summed everything up in one melancholic sentence. “I am sick, Luna.”
Luna grunted. “Still little to go off of, Tia! You are not sick! Your immortality prevents you from being-”
“Immortality doesn’t exist, Luna,” Celestia cut in, “it is a popular myth. People are led to believe we are immortal. None of it is true.”
Luna was absolutely rocked by this discovery. She was learning things that have been kept from her for thousands of years. Death was possible. Luna had been so careless all of her life, but death was possible. The sensation Luna was experiencing was incomprehensible.
“But... We... I don’t...”
“Luna. You and many of the residents here are in great danger. You know the spell. You remember how we came here. Please, save them, the elements especially. They will help you.”
A tear drop fell from Luna’s cheek. “What danger, sister? What danger?”
Again, Celestia turned her head. “Luna. I suspect you know more than anypony else on this planet does what happens when a star explodes.”
Luna reeled and clutched at her heart. She felt as if she had just been slugged by a humongous sack of anvils. Her vision grew blurry from all of the condensation forming in them. The world quaked with formidable malice.
“No... no! ”
Luna threw her arms around her sister. The truth was unbearable. The truth could not have been the truth. It was some sort of sick, twisted lie. Everything could be reversed. Everything could be turned around. Her sister was going to be with her forever. This couldn’t be true. The one pony she could trust to live on with her where all others died could not just disappear. It was inconceivable. Everything could be reversed.
“Luna,” Celestia said as her sister cried profusely on her shoulder, “you must leave. You cannot stay here. There are so many that can be saved.”
“I will be here with you!” Luna cried into Celestia’s dying body. “I will vanish with you, and we can be together forever!”
“No,” Celestia replied sternly. “You must leave. You have your duties, sister.”
“What duties!?” Luna screamed, lifting her face from Celestia’s body. “My entire life has been a lie!”
“Sister, you are well. Your Moon is strong. I ask- no, I plead that you save these ponies. You know the spell. You remember how we got here.”
Luna sniffled. “Why? Why can’t I be here with you?”
Celestia smiled. It was a true, bright, radiant smile. It was the final smile the Sun would ever bring to this land of Equestria. “Because I love them, Luna. And I love you as well.”
Luna’s tears were producing puddles on Celestia’s bed. The Princess of the Night didn’t know what to call herself anymore. She felt sadly disowned. Her sister loved her though, and Luna loved her sister right back.
“Luna.”
Luna, through immense sobbing and a multitude of hiccups, managed to choke out, “Yes, sister?”
Celestia put a hoof on Luna’s chin. She wiped away the tears. Luna blinked. The Princess of the Sun had one final word to say, one all important word that would allow the survival of the pony race. Drying Luna’s cheek, Celestia said-
“Go.”
o----o
Luna emerged from the hallway, into the waiting room, where two familiar faces were standing and arguing with one of the nurses Luna recognized as a driver of the ambulance. He was calmly trying to explain that Celestia had a visitor currently, and could not be disturbed. They shouted petty insults back at the Nurse. They weren’t getting anywhere fast. Then, one of them looked over and saw Luna. She called for the Princess of the Night... or whatever she was now.
“Luna? Luna!” Princess Cadance stepped away from the Nurse and stumbled over to where Luna was standing. The Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, was quick to follow. “How is she? How is she doing? We were away when we heard the news, and we couldn’t make it any earlier. Is my Aunt all right?”
Luna’s tears had only just recently dried. Her eyes were still red and puffy. The loving duo of Cadance and Shining could tell, but failed to ask. Luna could only respond with orders.
“Shining.”
“Yes?” replied the handsome white unicorn, dressed in full uniform, ready to command the full force of the Royal Guard at any time... though he fully expected to be at Celestia’s bedside.
“We need you to carry out Order Eight.”
Shining Armor reared back, shell-shocked. “Order Eight?” he replied in astonishment. “This... this is that serious? What’s going on, Luna?”
Cadance tried to butt in. “What’s Order Eight? Can’t we see Celestia first?”
Luna shook her head. “We are afraid not. And yes, this is that serious and much more. This needs to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible, Shining Armor. There is not much time.”
“I don’t understand. Is Celestia hurt? Where will we lead them, your Majesty?” Shining asked.
Luna disregarded the first question. “Ponyville.”
Shining looked even more shocked than before. He took a step back. Cadance nudged her husband in the side, attempting to steal his attention away. The Captain of the Royal Guard didn’t move a muscle.
“Honey... what’s Order Eight?”
Shining Armor shivered before he came to. He turned to Cadance with wide eyes. “An evacuation of Canterlot,” he said.
o----o
“Where is this stupid place!?” Rainbow Dash whinnied, brushing past a crowd of ponies in hysterics after seeing the collapse of the Princess. “We’ve been searching for over an hour. If the friggin’ Royal Guard wasn’t so stupid we coulda been there hours ago!”
“The Guard is only taking precautions, Rainbow,” Twilight Sparkle answered her friend, racing down the pavement to keep up with her. “They immediately set up a lockdown after any situation such as this arises.”
“Yeah, well they should know who the Elements of Harmony are by now. It can’t be that hard to recognize us.”
“Uh, Rainbow?” Applejack chimed in, shouting over the commotion of the crowd. “In case ya didn’t know, we were attacked by a swarm a critters last year that can impersonate anypony. Remember that?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow snapped. “You aren’t helping, AJ.”
The Elements of Harmony pushed through the crowd, having only just deduced the location of Princess Celestia. The Royal Guard was out and about, barking orders into the crowd, trying to disperse the fiasco. They certainly had their hooves full. Ponies scrambled to and fro, yelling for others to get out of their way before they were trampled. The Royal Guard had little control over the situation.
Then without warning, and even to the shock of the Royal Guards, everypony heard the unfamiliar click of the Palace intercom system. The debacle in the streets stopped for a brief moment for the residents to listen. The Elements halted their search for a spell, wondering just why the Palace needed to use the system. A raspy voice spoke through the speakers, which, even in its distortion, Twilight could easily recognize as her brother’s, Shining Armor.
“Citizens of Canterlot. We have received a distressing message from the Princess. The city has been deemed unsafe. The evacuation of Canterlot is in effect. Please, remain calm and return to your homes. Pack light. There will be a Royal Guard posted at your street corner to assist you with any further questions. You will exit the city with your family and belongings, plus the aid of the Guard at your respective street corner. All Guards, initiate Order Eight.”
The voice ended with a strange crackling noise. Afterward, the lamps in the Palace seemed to grow brighter. Luna’s Night still reigned. Ponies were already beginning to theorize treachery between the sister’s, but little did they realize this was not the case. There was surreal silence. Then, as expected, absolute panic.
Everypony immediately started to rush back to their homes. The Royal Guards had to stay perched on top of the roofs to avoid being overrun by the masses. It was a mess. The citizens of Canterlot far outnumbered the members of the Royal Guard. To say they were prepped for a situation such as this was a far cry.
The Elements of Harmony were stuck on the streets. They needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible, but unfortunately that was against the flow of traffic. Applejack and Rarity ended up leading the way, squeezing through and trying to produce a margin wide enough for the rest to push through. They were followed by Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash carrying Fluttershy on her back. Fluttershy had her eyes shut tight and she held onto Dashie for dear life.
They scurried along, looking for side streets to get them where they needed. The good news was, they found some. The bad news was, they had no idea where they led to. They entered a maze of side streets that circled the Palace Grounds, mostly to indeterminate places, others to places that, as Luna noted about the Palace, served no purpose. The more and more somepony thought about it, the more they realized that the whole of Canterlot was one absurdly complicated puzzle.
Another turn, and they were faced with a dead end. The gang grew frustrated. Rarity turned to Applejack and made a subtle joke about her incompetence with direction. Applejack countered with the fact that Rarity had to look her best for an appearance in Canterlot, and they wasted a good fifteen minutes waiting for her back in Ponyville. Rarity complained that that wasn’t even enough time to prepare, and that they should all feel lucky that she had the uncanny ability to prepare in such time. Pointless bickering ensued. Rainbow Dash entered the fray for the hell of it, commenting on how silly Applejack’s hat looked. Dash only got a terribly cold stare back. She realized that she should never comment on the hat ever again unless it was a compliment. Two minutes passed. They didn’t notice the Princess of the Night materializing right behind them until poor Fluttershy squeaked in surprise.
They all turned round to the sudden burst of magic.
“Nightmare Moooooon!” Pinkie screamed, pointing in horror at a slightly disoriented Luna.
Everpony scattered. That was a ridiculous thing to do, considering there wasn’t anywhere to run to. Fluttershy ended up hiding behind Rainbow Dash. Rarity and Pinkie wound up pressed up against each other, squeezing the life out of each other. Applejack hid under her hat. Twilight Sparkle stood still, waiting for the Princess of the Night to come to.
There was a tense moment of silence. Twilight carefully approached the Princess, her Majesty having trouble adjusting from the teleportation spell. Finding Twilight Sparkle through their connection was much more difficult than locating Celestia. Luna felt woozy.
“L-Luna?” Twilight asked, raising a hoof and wavering it in front of Luna’s face.
Luna shook her head to rid herself of the dizzy spell. “Yes, Twilight Sparkle. We are fine. We are so glad that We have found you.”
“She’s gonna eat us!” Pinkie shouted. Rarity covered her mouth with a hoof.
Luna blinked twice in wonder. She snapped out of it. “Twilight Sparkle,” she continued, simultaneously thinking back to her days of the infamous Nightmare Moon. “You and your friends must come with us at once. It is of utmost importance.”
The gang let out a sigh of relief, realizing that Nightmare Moon was not the cause of the disaster. Well, not Pinkie Pie, but that’s another story entirely. That only led to more questions, however, none of which Luna had the stomach to answer.
“Where is Princess Celestia, Luna?” Twilight asked.
Luna defiantly held back tears. “She is fine, Twilight. She is fine, everyone.”
Nopony ever noticed it, but there was always a gleaming sliver of light that shone in Luna’s eyes whenever she lied.
“Can we see her?”
Luna turned to her sky, now only wishing for it to end, and for her sister’s Sun to shine brightly once more. Those times were now gone. They had abruptly ended. “Now is not the time. But soon...” Luna fell her eyes back to the Elements of Harmony: a.k.a the hope of a new world. “Hold on.”
In a dark side-street of Canterlot, Equestria, a blinding flash of light lit up the night sky.
The entire city of Canterlot gathered on the outskirts of the small town of Ponyville. Ponyville’s residents had also been ordered to evacuate, and had joined the massive group on the hillside. Luna and the Royal Guard were in front. The Elements of Harmony were at Luna’s side. Princess Celestia was nowhere to be seen.
“What’s going on, Princess?” Twilight asked out of concern. She felt as though she was about to watch her town get ripped to pieces.
“Hush, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, her horn beginning to glow faintly. “This requires deep concentration. You will see.”
Luna sent a message to all of the Guard through telekinesis. This message affirmed the Guard’s worst fears, the message that they were told they would never have to use. Good thing they were taught it anyway. Shining Armor grimaced, his wife very close to her side. They still had not received word of why all this was happening.
“You remember the spell...” was heard by every unicorn member of the Royal Guard.
Horns began to glow. The effort exerted was extreme. Faces of hurt were seen throughout the ranks, their entire focus going into the spell. And for what? Nothing was happening. The members of the audience began to grow confused. They had been evacuated to watch royalty put on a light show. Once again, Luna was questioned for her loyalty to the Queendom.
Then, Luna’s horn produced a grand spark of pure, wickedly sensational light.
The ground began to tremble.
Pinkie and Fluttershy fell right to the ground and covered their heads, assuming the trembles were that of an earthquake. Shouts of shock came from the crowd. It felt like the world was being torn apart. It felt like thousands of gargantuan fissures would suddenly present themselves and suck everypony under. It felt like a meteor had come and struck the earth with great force, creating violent seismic activity. Twilight Sparkle felt as if she were about to watch her town get ripped to pieces.
Then, by some ungodly force, Twilight watched as her town got ripped to pieces.
A tower. A tower sprouted out from under the earth, obliterating Sugar Cube Corner with minimal effort. It was tall, black, difficult to see in the night. The only reason it was seen was because it had several lights running down its length. It looked like a lighthouse. It was a lighthouse kept under the crust of the earth. Oddly enough, stranger things have happened.
Then, the tower stopped. Soon after, everything went.
The entire village of Ponyville bulged outward. Homes were annihilated. Trees were uprooted and tossed aside like play things. Roads crumbled and broke up, sending concrete fragments flying. The entire village of Ponyville looked as if it was being torn from its roots. Carriages ceased to be, the sickening sound of shattering glass was heard, the shaking of the earth could still be felt. The spell hadn’t ended.
Imagine, if you will, a city being born. That is exactly what the spectacle appeared to be.
Lights flickered in the distance, all stemming from this massive formation emerging from the earth’s crust. Everypony in the audience stood gaping. Homes. They could see homes shooting straight up out of the earth. There were various buildings that could serve various purposes. It was an entire city coming right out of the dirt. Nopony ever knew.
Ponyville could no longer be placed on a map. It was gone. The new city hadn’t even fully ascended from the earth yet, but it was gone. It was replaced by this grandiose metallic metropolis that glittered with various lights placed at the street corners and in the houses. That’s right. The thing had a grid. Soon enough, it rose high enough for the base to begin to appear.
The base made its way up through the canyon that used to be Ponyville. Now a humming sound could be heard. Everypony watched in awe as the final piece to the structure appeared. Zero gravity boosters, thousands of them, all propelling the structure upward. It wasn’t a city.
It was a spaceship.
The city floated on thin air, much like Cloudsdale, just not Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash stood next to Applejack, nudging her in the shoulder to AJ’s annoyance.
“That was probably the coolest thing I have ever seen...” Dash muttered.
The horns of the Royal Guards quit. All of them collapsed, panting, completely spent. Luna’s kept glowing. From the city limits, a beam of light shot out. It angled itself straight downward, and shot like lightning to a spot just before Luna’s hooves. It then widened itself, enough to accommodate the appropriate amount of guests. This was the bridge. Luna’s horn stopped glowing. She held her head in agony.
Not a peep was heard from the audience. Not a gasp or a crying foal. They all stared in disbelief.
“A... a spaceship!” Twilight said in shock. “Why? And under Ponyville?!”
Luna took a moment to stop her head from throbbing. “Of course,” she said, breathing heavily, “you do not believe we sent you to Ponyville by random choice, do you?”
Twilight was totally confused. “I don’t get it. Why have you built a monumentally large spaceship? And why are you revealing the secret of it now?”
Luna laughed weakly. “We did not build it, Twilight Sparkle. There is much you need to learn about our history that is not taught in history books.” Luna took one step forward, onto the bridge. Satisfied that it was functional, she began to walk up to get a better viewpoint of her audience.
Meanwhile, Twilight was left to think. If they hadn’t built it, then who had? Who was left on the planet to build such a magnificent structure? Perhaps they had received help from a distant planet? No. Too much trouble. There wasn’t a need for it. Why would they have it built? Unless...
unless they came here in it.
“You mean to tell me we’re descendants of settler ponies?! ” Twilight murmured to herself.
Luna stood on the bridge and looked out at the many faces in the crowd. She looked beyond and saw the rolling hillsides and grassy plains. She looked beyond and saw the infinite reaches of space and the stars. She looked beyond and saw her sister.
Everypony expected the Princess to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. They expected her snooty attitude and pushy nature. What they got was a very different Princess Luna.
“Come with us, and we will provide you with protection, a warm home, and food to eat. Don’t, and your world will erupt.”
With that, Luna turned and boarded the space-city. The Royal Guard tentatively followed, still completely unaware of what was occurring.
“What’s going on?” Rarity asked. “What’s happening? Why did she go and rip apart our homes!? Dear Celestia... my designs!” Rarity began to sob on Applejack’s shoulder.
“I don’t know,” Twilight replied, ignoring the drama, “but Luna’s acting very strangely. I still haven’t seen Celestia. She just... she just destroyed a town. That’s more than strange, I’d say. We need to be on our hooves, girls.”
They all nodded in agreement and stepped hoof onto the bridge together. They filed in after the Royal Guard.
The rest of the population was soon to follow.
o----o
“All right, where’s Princess Celestia?” Twilight demanded, charging into the Control Room of the spacecity with the famed Elements of Harmony. They were in the tower. They were a soaring distance into the air. “What do you mean by ‘erupt’? What’s going on Luna?”
Luna wasn’t in the mood. She hung her head low on the Control Console. The rest of the Royal Guard was getting the former citizens of Canterlot and Ponyville situated, which was proving to be a hassle. This entire situation was shrouded in mystery, and it was sort of “no shit, Sherlock” that she would be the one at the center of the blame. Nopony had a single clue of what was going on. They needed answers.
They would soon get them.
“Please... sit down over here.” Luna pointed to six empty chairs. “We... I only want your help.”
The Elements slowly approached the crestfallen Princess. Luna showed no desire of striking them or trapping them. She was Luna all right. But with everything that was going on, it was almost wishful thinking to believe that Luna had done nothing wrong. She hadn’t done anything wrong, but it was still wishful thinking.
“I know your minds must be troubling you,” Luna stated.
Twilight half-frowned. “You could say that.”
“You will all know the truth very soon,” Luna said morosely. “We... I can’t imagine that you will know what to do with it.”
Twilight Sparkle came round to get a proper view of Luna’s face. The rest of the Elements settled into their chairs, keeping an eye on Twilight and Luna.
“Luna... have you been crying?”
Luna said nothing. She was staring out the tower window, out over the horizon, where she saw trouble. At first, she thought it was hope. Light. There was light on the horizon. The light of the Sun. Then she recognized it as trouble. That light was a searing red. That light was burning white hot. That light was the light of a dying star.
“We need to get out of here,” Luna said. She immediately felt awful for saying it. If there were any way she could leave the ship and be with her sister, she would not hesitate to do it. Sadly... she knew her duties. Whether she liked it or not, the fates of thousands of ponies rested in her hooves. “Ship, start.”
The Control Room hummed to life. Thousands of buttons lit up in a dazzling display. Knobs and levers and cranks that seemed to serve no purpose at all became a source of light. It was all a neon blue.
Twilight was mystified. “Luna... what is this? What are you doing? Where is Celestia, and why did you completely upend an entire village?”
“It doesn’t matter, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna whispered. “Nothing does.”
“What?”
Twilight looked out to the horizon line now. She saw the fiery light from the Sun begin to creep across the land. The Elements followed her gaze, and they too saw it. Each of them raced to the windows and pressed their faces to them.
“What’s that?” Twilight asked, dreading the response.
“We need to get out of here,” Luna repeated. She lifted herself from her chair and began to punch various buttons and turn various dials. A couple of members of the Royal Guard waltzed in and immediately felt dumber just by looking at the complications to the advanced technology.
“You haven’t answered any questions, Luna!” Twilight cried, her voice taking on a direct tone. “What is going o-”
“Enough, Twilight Sparkle!” Luna barked, whirling around viciously. Twilight could tell she had most definitely been crying. “We will show you! We will- We will... oh!”
Luna fell to the floor, sobbing. She curled up into a ball, an embarrassment in front of her loyal subjects. She felt less like a leader already. Hopeless. That is how the Princess of the Night felt. Hopeless. The entire situation... hopeless.
The Elements raced over and circled the fallen Princess, concerned for her well being. Obviously something terrible had happened. Celestia was gone. Luna was emotionally compromised. A humongous spaceship had emerged from the depths of the earth, and everypony in the area was told to come aboard. Only recently had Twilight Sparkle discovered that the Princess’ had not created Equestria. They had, in a sense, just moved here. Then, Pinkie began to shake convulsively.
“Pinkie sense?” Applejack muttered.
Through her whimpers, Luna uttered the two words that would save all of the ponies she possibly could in such a short amount of time. The Moon needed to get out of this atmosphere.
“Ship... Go.”
Suddenly, the ship began to move. The thrusters burst in. A rude kick sent everypony sprawling backward. A translucent forcefield was seen descending around the city, safely sealing everypony inside. Everypony hung on to what they could. No advance was given, and several ponies out in the streets were suddenly pancaked to the sidewalk. But that meant it was working. They were going up.
“Where are we going to, Luna!?” Twilight yelled over the intensity of the thrusters. Luna didn’t answer. She closed her eyes and came in contact with her Moon.
Soon they were above the atmosphere. For the first time ever, a slight amount of the population of Equestria was above the clouds. They had entered space. This was not on the schedule for the Summer Sun Celebration this morning, and Twilight’s plans had been thrown for a loop.
The lavender unicorn struggled to her hooves. Her friends were quick to join her, helping each other up, curious to take a peek through the window. They stumbled over to the protective pane, built to withstand deep space travel. The view through the window was not a sight they wish they had seen.
“Is that... is that the sun?” Rainbow Dash asked, flabbergasted.
Miles and miles and miles away, Celestia’s Sun was burning. It wasn’t only burning, however, it was melting. The surface was a blistering red, and humongous bursts of flame lapped at the surface or sprung out into space and dissipated. Some of the flames looked like a large whip extending out to the planet of Equestria, but ultimately failed to reach. The Sun was a ball of dying energy. It was a bomb set to explode.
“Luna!” Twilight pleaded from her spot in the window. “This isn’t happening, right? Tell me this isn’t happening!”
Luna crossed over to the window, struggling to remain upright. She had to see her sister’s Sun, no matter how bad of shape it was in. It was the last thing Luna had of her sister. She pressed her nose into the pane, sharing the look of despair splayed upon everypony’s face.
Luna thought the Sun was beautiful. She wouldn’t ever tell anypony that, for she was stubborn. But she did think it was beautiful. She was always happy for her sister. Celestia changed the lives of so many ponies. All for the better. Tia was all Luna ever looked up to. Luna stayed up to watch the Sun rise not because she had to, but because she wanted to. It was majestic. It was empowering. It was peaceful. She never knew why so few ponies never woke to see the Sun rise. But now it was too late. They had missed their opportunity.
Boom.
Fire was reflected in the eyes of everypony onboard. Tears immediately stained the eyes of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight Sparkle took it the hardest. She let the gravity of it sink in all too quickly. Immediately, she realized her teacher was not onboard this ship. She screamed.
“No! Luna! Turn around! What are you doing!? Your sister is there! Save her! Save her please! ”
Luna felt the gentle tug of her Moon, and knew that it was now following the ship. Twilight’s pleas of sorrow hit Luna hard in the gut. It was her fault her sister had died. It was her fault she could not save all of Equestria. It was her fault she didn’t just die with the most beloved friend she could ever ask for. She had failed. She had failed everypony. Luna was coming to terms with the fact that she was already dead inside.
A flashing light came on. It was blinking red, and everypony turned to look. It read “fasten seatbelt”. Everypony but Twilight Sparkle fell back in their chairs and strapped in. They buried their faces in their hooves and wished it all away. But it was truth. It was harsh reality. Now they knew as well as Luna did, there was no such thing as immortality.
“Ship...” Luna whimpered. She looked up to the heavens, out to the infinite reaches of space. She felt she was going this trip alone. She felt she was completely alone. Wherever they were going, it was going to be a long trip.
“Ship...” Luna reiterated. “Warp.”
o----o
End of Part I
Go
by Church
“You’re a monster!”
Twilight Sparkle unfastened the safety belt from around her waist and made way for the Princess of the night. The ship was idling between Luna’s stars, or what were once thought of as Luna’s stars, but were now alien in nature and had adopted almost an entirely new syntax. Here, millions of miles away from the now decimated planet of Equestria, an unpleasant conversation was to be had.
“You killed her! How could you!? How could you not turn back!?”
Twilight stopped a few paces away from where Luna sat. The room was filled with the chatter of the Royal Guard, who were busy fiddling with the various instruments at the control panel in an attempt to figure out how they functioned. They had been trained for this exact situation, but not for this exact crisis.
And obviously, neither had Luna.
“The ship is in working order,” Luna said as if she had not heard Twilight at all. She stared out over the console, into the abyss of the galaxy.
“Listen to me!” Twilight screamed, a tear loosening itself from her tear duct and dripping down her face. “Answers! I want them... we all want them!”
“The ship,” Luna said again in a cool whisper, “has been kept a secret for many a century, Twilight Sparkle. And yet, right away, you knew what it was. How?”
Twilight groaned apathetically. “I think you and I both know just how many different types of books have fallen into my lap, Princess. I’m sure that I’ve come across a book about the plausibility of interstellar travel once or twice. And yet, I didn’t realize that, perhaps all along, we’ve had the technology for it. So I’ll tell you one more time, Princess Luna,” Twilight inhaled, and took a menacing step forward. “we want answers!”
Luna’s hooves rubbed the armrests of her captain’s chair. “I don’t have them,” she said emotionlessly.
“What?” Twilight cried incredulously. “What do you mean you don’t have them? Do you mean to tell us you murdered your sister for absolutely no reason at all!?”
With this, Princess Luna grimly rose from her chair and turned to face Twilight Sparkle, her expression dark and mighty. “I did not kill my sister, and bringing her along so that she could die in my hooves would have made little difference, Twilight Sparkle. I find your tone with me appalling, and you are quick to jump to conclusions. I wisely suggest you scurry on back to your friends until we get to wherever it is we’re headed.”
Twilight stole a quick glance back at the elements of harmony, who were honestly feeling a bit cheated after so many years of bearing that title.
Twilight turned back to Luna. “Wherever we’re headed? You mean you don’t know!?”
It appeared as though lightning were being spewed from Luna’s tongue. “As it turns out, Twilight Sparkle, we were prepared for this about as much as you were.”
Twilight only frowned. “I don’t see an excuse in that.”
Luna turned about as if the courtesy to look Twilight Sparkle in the eye were too hefty a task. Princess Luna, keeper of the night, was infamous once again in a light that was not to her liking.
“There is no excuse in that,” Luna said as she hung her head. “There are no excuses at all.”
Luna had cooled drastically. Her look of dejection summed up an experience that not a single pony in Equestria had seen coming. A bolt of electricity shot out from the control console in the background, shocking an unfortunate member of the guard, which evoked a strange yipping sound from his throat. Luna saw this out of the corner of her eye.
“Strange weather,” she said.
Twilight opened her mouth to say something, when a hoof abruptly cut her off from behind. The elements had come to her side, and they had decided to put an end to the earthquake before the divide it was creating became too wide for them to cross. All of their eyes glistened with fresh hurt. Twilight turned round and saw them, and she could say nothing to those eyes.
Applejack stepped forward as Twilight accepted a hug from Fluttershy.
“Princess Luna,” Applejack said. She sniffled once, and she silently cursed herself for not acting civilly before the Princess. She gathered herself an continued. “Ah don’t think ya were prepared fer this. Ya just... ya just...” And Applejack added this tentatively, “Ya just saw yer sister...” She couldn’t finish that thought.
“Look, what Ah’m tryin’ ta say is,” Applejack picked up where she left off, “none of us coulda seen this coming. But we’re here to help. Ah mean, ya do want our help, don’tchya?”
Luna half-turned, and she caught sight of Applejack’s gleaming emerald eyes. “Do we want your help?” she asked rhetorically. “This depends. Does this mean you trust us? Or do you mock us?”
Applejack was unsure of this. She turned to her friends, who had seen the same things that she had seen, who had heard the same things that she had heard. Their eyes said everything, as each contained within them the flashbacks of recent events. The elements all, albeit hesitantly, bowed their heads in unison.
“We trust you,” Applejack said.
Luna laughed. It wasn’t a zealous laugh by any means, but instead an exhausted one. She looked to the grimy tiled floor of which she had been standing on for some time. The self preservation unit designed for this ship had not done a remarkable job by any stretch of the imagination. Still, strangely, Luna found this fitting.
“Then please, please , we require your help,” Luna said as she lifted her gaze from the floor.
Twilight Sparkle stepped forward once more. “I realize that we still need to talk about this, but for the sake of the situation, I suppose it will have to wait.” Twilight wiped a tear away. “What can we do, Princess?”
Luna wasted no time. “We have not yet been outside of this tower, but we imagine the town below to be in a stage of chaos. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance should be handling the situation, but that isn’t enough. We need a head count, which means that everypony is to be designated a place for rest until we get everything else settled, and there is much to be done in that department as well. The Royal Guard is not enough. This ship needs to be thoroughly cleaned before it is deemed sanitary, and the only way to do that is if we have everypony pitch in.
“Twilight. We want you to be in charge of getting everyone situated into a house. We are sure that the guard has, by now, found the paper necessary to scribble down who goes where. You will be assisted by Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Oh, dear, that sounds dangerous, and I don’t think-”
“We’ll do it,” Twilight cut in, taking hold of Fluttershy’s hoof.
“Good.” Luna turned to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow Dash saluted the Princess involuntarily. “We want you to help with our food situation. The guard should have told the nurses of Canterlot where the food has been preserved, somewhere in this vessel’s cellars. We want you to find a nurse and see what you can do about help. If you can, find the Wonderbolts, as they would be quite resourceful as well.”
“T-t-the W-Wonderbol-” Dash was cut off as Applejack’s hoof came flying in to clasp it shut.
“Consider it done!” Applejack exclaimed.
Rarity purposefully cleared her throat. Pinkie Pie stood at her side, smiling, though what reason there was to do so was unclear.
“What of us, Princess?” Rarity asked, referring to herself and Pinkie.
“We are glad you asked,” Luna said. “As of right now, we are not in touch with some very important members of the community. We ask that you find them. We have prepared a list for you to follow, and we hope that, among the chaos, you are able to locate them.”
“Sounds easy!” Pinkie exclaimed jubilantly.
Luna called a member of the Guard over, and he proceeded to hand Luna a small scroll, presumably the list Luna was speaking of. She graciously accepted it and the guard scrambled away, back to the impossibly large control console of the ship.
“Take this, these are the ones you are to find.” Luna handed Rarity the scroll, and Rarity unfurled it to take a peek at its contents.
“The first one is...” Rarity mouthed the first name to herself. In disbelief, or rather shock, she then looked at Twilight. Just to be sure, she performed a double take. Positive she was thinking of the correct individual, Rarity’s mouth dropped. “Oh my.”
o----o
Twilight Sparkle exploded through the front doors of the tower, flinging two Guards harshly to the ground. She had descended ten flights of stairs in a matter of seconds. She looked terrified. It was as if her tail had been set aflame, and the water being used to douse it had instead been gasoline.
“Spike!” Twilight shouted out in despair. She had forgotten about her personal assistant, her brother, her family, and, in a sense, the seventh element of harmony. This, above all things currently, saddened her the most. If Spike hadn’t made it...
“Spike!” Twilight shouted again, this time louder. A mob of ponies had formed at the base of the tower, mostly Canterlot nobles, who were currently complaining about the nasty conditions of the town. They were being held back by the Royal Guard.
An already overworked Fluttershy came limping from out of the tower’s base. She had descended those stairs as fast as she could in chase of Twilight. Exhausted, she crossed to the purple unicorn who was frantically shouting Spike’s name into the mob.
“Oh, Twilight, we, oh dear,” Fluttershy sucked in a particularly large chunk of air. She exhaled. “We, um, should be coordinating everypony to... um...”
By the time Fluttershy had reached the middle of that thought, she realized that she had lost Twilight Sparkle. Rather, she never had her in the first place.
“Um, I guess we could find Spike, but I’m sure that Rarity and Pinkie Pie can-”
“Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy looked to Twilight Sparkle.
“Can you lift me? Can you lift me over the crowd so that I can get a better view of things?”
Fluttershy considered this. “Um, no, I don’t think I can-”
“You have to try, Fluttershy,” Twilight pleaded, fresh tears beginning to well in her eyes. After a moment’s hesitation, she added, “Please.”
A long, tired look at Twilight’s forlorn expression gave Fluttershy chills. It was difficult for the poor mare to make such decisions. But Fluttershy could never abandon her friend for any reason.
“I’ll do it.”
Twilight smiled. “Thank you.”
Fluttershy flitted over to where Twilight was standing. The crowd was growing feverish, and the sight of the elements appearing through the doorway was causing unrest. A pegasus thought he could be sneaky, and he used his wings to climb over the guards and approach the tower. Unfortunately for him, a Guard who (ta-da!) also had a pair of wings tackled him to the ground, where he was immediately apprehended.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Fluttershy asked one last time. “We do have a job to do...”
Twilight could think of nothing else but Spike. That mission would be over with before anything else could be accomplished.
“Yes. Please, just get me above the crowd and we’ll go from there.”
Fluttershy, who had almost recovered from her trip down the stairs, nodded. She grabbed hold of Twilight’s hooves. Twilight latched onto Fluttershy and readied herself to be dangled in the air.
“I’m ready,” Twilight said.
Fluttershy’s wings beat vigorously, and soon, Twilight Sparkle was being lifted into the air.
o----o
“Do ya think she’ll be okay?”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash raced down the road, dodging various obstacles strewn about the path here and there. Ponies were blocking off the streets and had become obstacles themselves. The closer they got to the food storage facility, the more barricaded the roads became. Soon Rainbow Dash would have to fly them there. Applejack hated flying.
“Who, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, referring to the pony in question. “Yeah. She’ll be fine. And Spike is fine, too. It’ll all be okay.”
Applejack scrambled over a toppled barrel with nothing in it. “Ah hope so.”
Both ponies kept running toward their destination. They’d constantly make detours, normally shifting sideways, to avoid clogged streets. Overall, the method wasn’t very effective. Rainbow Dash was itching to fly. Soon that’s what it would have to come to. Both of them knew it, though Applejack didn’t want to admit it.
Rainbow Dash was almost unwilling to ask something about Applejack. It had plagued her mind since she left the tower, and on a few occasions since she has had the opportunity to ask, but she hadn’t. Twilight’s predicament got her thinking. Three of the six elements had family. Pinkie had family, but they had separated long before this crazy expedition. It was safe to assume they were dead now. Still, the three mares that had family were Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack. Applejack must have thought about her family as Twilight left, but she had failed to acknowledge she ever did. She appeared calm. This was Applejack’s nature, of course. But how long would it take before she decided that she needed to go looking for her family?
“Dang nabbit,” Applejack cursed as she came to a screeching halt. “We can’t get through here.”
Looking farther along down the street, Rainbow Dash and Applejack could see a cavalcade of ponies completely blocking off the main path. Applejack drew in short, sharp breaths. It was beginning to become clear that there was nothing more they could do.
Rainbow Dash sidled up to Applejack’s side.
“Hang on,” Dash said, simultaneously grabbing hold of the flustered earth pony.
“Dash, no, wait, there ‘er other ways ta-” Applejack’s hooves were freed from their comfortable location on the ground. “Whoah nelly!”
“We’ll be there in a flash, don’t worry!” Dash said, which was a promise she could very well keep.
“Dash, put me down, put me down, put me-”
In a few simple, powerful wingbeats, Rainbow Dash was making quick time to their designation, and Applejack could be heard screaming as they flew over a large population of the ship’s residents.
o----o
Pinkie Pie merrily skipped down the corridor. The occasion didn’t call for skipping by any means, but she did it anyway.
“Okay,” Rarity said as they strolled along, “we need to keep our eyes peeled. We’ll look for a specific person on the list, but if we also remember the others on it, we can look for them as well. So, who’s after Spike?”
Rarity took a look at the scroll and immediately looked away in disgust. Pinkie took the opportunity to snatch it away from her and look it over. She read the name below Spike’s.
“Prince Blueblood!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Don’t ever say that name again!” Rarity fired back, shutting Pinkie’s yap with a forceful hoof. Her mane fell over her eyes, and she shooed it away with a breath. She then looked Pinkie in the eye.
“If I lift my hoof from off of your mouth, you will not utter his name. Got it?”
Pinkie nodded in agreement.
“Good.”
Rarity relieved Pinkie. The eccentric pink mare immediately began to chatter.
“You know we’ll still have to go get him, right? Ooh! And I didn’t say his name, either! Are you happy?”
Rarity frowned. “Today isn’t going to go my way, is it?”
Pinkie giggled. “Probably not!”
Pinkie Pie and Rarity continued on down the alleyway in search of the important ponies on the list. The two ponies continued their search, each with now opposing viewpoints on the mission.
o----o
“Put me down, Fluttershy! We’ll hoof it!”
Fluttershy set Twilight Sparkle down in a small clearing in the streets. A crowd of ponies had recently dispersed, and so they were given a bit of leg room. Fluttershy collapsed. She panted on the ground like a sputtering fish, having performed her duty valiantly, albeit exhaustively.
“Should I carry you?” Twilight Sparkle asked, looking at the poor yellow pony with a hint of regret.
Fluttershy tried to say yes, but her ability to articulate words had been notched. Instead, she shook her head yes, a task that was done with great difficulty.
“On it.”
Twilight threw Fluttershy over her back. She had once carried a particularly large boulder, so, in comparison, Fluttershy was very easy to carry. Twilight speedily trotted away with Fluttershy, and they began to wade through parts of the crowd somewhere in the downtown district.
“Where have we looked already, Fluttershy? Better yet, where haven’t we looked? Any ideas?”
Fluttershy could barely speak. “Not really...”
Twilight frowned. She had to think. Where would Spike go? If she were Spike, where would she be? She went through a list of the things that Spike enjoyed doing and that didn’t help her any. She went over a list of the locations where Spike most likely would have been located and that helped her none. So what was there to do? Twilight had to think outside the box.
Then, it hit her. She had gone through all of the locations where Spike was likely to be, but had failed to think of the locations where Spike was unlikely to be, which, interestingly enough, is where Spike was likely to be.
And so, Twilight Sparkle thought back. If she were Spike, she would be doing the same thing Twilight was doing right now. Spike would be looking for Twilight. So, now that she had cleared that up, she thought of where she was likely to be.
“The tower!” Twilight shouted aloud.
Twilight’s horn began to glow immediately. Fluttershy flopped around helplessly on her back.
“Hang on, Fluttershy!” Twilight commanded. Her horn then flashed a bright purple, illuminating the dimly lit streets of the domed village.
And then, to the shock of the audience gathered round the two mares, both Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle disappeared.
Contrary to whatever Twilight may tell you, teleportation is not a fun experience. The side effects are normally, but are not limited to, dizzying sensations, a sense of disorientation, vomiting, and in extreme cases, body swap. But Twilight Sparkle was an expert, and so they both came out all right in the end. Well, almost. Even though Fluttershy had almost gotten used to the spell, her body was weak, and upon exiting the spell, she slipped from atop Twilight’s back and hit the ground, too dizzy to see straight. Twilight carefully picked her friend back up and slung her over her back. She looked up.
They were back where they had started.
The tower was now brimming with ponies wanting answers, wanting in, wanting a piece of the Princess. The Royal Guard was doing their best to keep them back, but they kept having to call in more and more of them with each passing minute. Twilight hesitated. She wasn’t doing what the Princess asked of her. Everypony else was but her. She was being selfish.
And so, Twilight was torn. The Princess had entrusted her with a duty, and she blatantly dismissed it because she had to find someone who was either here, or not, no matter what. But she hated to think he was all alone. What she did was act on impulse. If that can’t be sanctified, then there wasn’t much else to it. Spike needed to be found, yes, but he would eventually be found if she had done what she was supposed to do.
Twilight realized she had reached an impasse.
There was work to be done, yes. But that work would be executed poorly if she were to perform in her condition. She was experiencing a sort of existential crisis, one that couldn’t be averted no matter how hard she tried. Spike would not leave her mind, and she kicked herself for not even remembering him as soon as she stepped hoof onto the ship. How was she to find him in this catastrophe? Twilight looked about, and he wasn’t among the mob congregating out front.
And so a crestfallen Twilight Sparkle simply stood out in the middle of the street, waiting for a hero. None were forthcoming.
That is, unless you count the dragon of the hour, who came scuttling in from teh shadows. He stopped a few paces away from Twilight, who wasn’t looking his direction.
“Tw-Twilight?”
Twilight Sparkle gasped. She looked to her right, where a timid young purple dragon stood before her, scared out of his mind. He had been searching for hours, and had come to the tower hoping that Twilight would be there. In fact, he had seen Twilight and Fluttershy leave. They did not notice him.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
“Twilight!” Spike yelled in elation.
Twilight was shocked. Her search had ended with him finding her. It was curious to think about, for days ago she would not have given this a second thought. That thought was-
Spike was alive.
Fluttershy flailed around on Twilight’s back, for she was spun in the wrong direction. She ended up falling off. There she just lay, happy, exhausted, and relieved, all at the same time.
“Spike! Oh, thank Celestia, Spike!” Twilight cried in exaltation as the wave of emotion she was experiencing caused her to collapse into the claws of the small purple dragon. “Thank Celestia you’re here, Spike!” And they fell into an emotional embrace.
Twilight suddenly looked up from Spike’s shoulder in surprise. A strange sensation consumed her, and through her tears of utter relief, she came to an awkward conclusion. That conclusion was, sadly enough, that she didn’t have Celestia to thank anymore.
“Guard! My sister, where is she!?”
The Princess of the Night frantically scurried down the corridor, rushing toward the Guard she had addressed only moments before. Her nostrils flared, she was panting, and her eyes were daggers being hurled from across the room. She tore across the royal corridor with exquisite pace, her hooves clacking against the floor loudly and incessantly.
In other words, she was pissed off.
Luna was unhappy. Why she was displeased anymore, no one ever knew. At times, the most frivolous of matters had the tendency to upset her. Only Luna could be bitter over the misplacement of a potted plant. Palace Guards and close friends normally stepped aside and let Celestia deal with her sister. They didn’t know and didn’t care why the midnight blue alicorn was ever disturbed nowadays, mainly recalling all of their futile attempts to calm her over unimportant matters. But they did know one thing- Her tirades were occurring at all too common a rate now, and if a Princess was unhappy, the entire palace was unhappy.
“Have we not made our request clear!?” Luna snarled at the soft-spoken Royal Guard, who was moments before merely idling close to Celestia’s Bedroom, fiddling with his hooves. “Well!?”
The Guard stumbled backward. He cleared his throat. “Y-yes, your highness,” the Guard sputtered, “r-right away, she’s in here.” He pointed to the doors of the bedroom. Luna eyed the doorframe suspiciously for a short while before she ultimately set a hoof on the panel and began to enter.
“Thank-you,” the Princess of the Night praised, “you may continue on with... whatever it is exactly that you were doing, dear Guard.”
“Guarding the Princess’ royal quarters, your majesty,” the Guard replied to the carpeting.
“Hmph, as if that’s necessary,” Luna muttered. “My sister gets more and more paranoid as time goes on.”
As a fuming Luna entered her sister’s quarters, knowing full well that the entire altercation that just took place was utterly pointless, the Guard outside now stood more alert and more attentive than ever before.
o----o
“Tia!”
The distressing call reverberated off the walls, out the window, funneled directly into a dear old mare’s ear drums full blast, essentially sending her reeling into the nearest shrubbery. Luna payed little attention to the unbearable volume of her voice and called for her sister again.
“Tia!”
Celestia sighed. Her bed was quite literally the first thing to notice upon entering the room, what with its grandeur. Your eye could not help but spy it. Celestia hoped that Luna would see her resting in it so that she wouldn’t need to resort to any physical exertion. Not surprisingly, this was not the case.
“Tia!”
Another sigh. Noticing that her sister had failed to find her... on purpose, Celestia begrudgingly propped herself up for Luna to see. The Princess of the Sun arched an eyebrow. Luna was in a mood again. When Luna was in a mood, she fancied acting like a four year old filly who had recently had her cookie stolen by the class bully. Like a mother would a tender young child, Celestia beckoned for Luna to come to her.
“Tia, what are you doing?” Luna whinnied as she skidded to a stop at the foot of the bed. She gestured at Celestia with a hoof. “Sleep comes after you lower the Sun. We do not believe we have performed it any other way, nor does it seem logical to perform it any other way. Why are you disregarding your royal duties?”
Luna cocked her head to the side. For the first time in a long time, the Night Princess wasn’t complaining about how the noodles in her soup were too deformed to properly replicate the shape of a fish, or about some other ridiculous dilemma. This took Celestia by surprise. She shifted about awkwardly in her bed and hesitated for a moment. She appeared distant to Luna, vague and indeterminate.
“Sister?” Luna asked, lessening her overbearing tone.
The Princess of the Sun tossed the covers aside and rolled out of bed painstakingly slowly. She righted herself facing the far wall, away from her sister. “I was merely lost in thought, dear sister,” she said, her voice as bland as the wall that stood before her. “I have not forgotten my royal duties. Apologies that it has come to appear that way.”
Luna’s imaginary rage was quelled as she stood and admired her sister. “Tia... is something the matter?” The words came trembling from Luna’s lips. She knew to immediately cut the bullshit if it came to irking her sister in some way. Perhaps she had gone a step too far this time.
Celestia turned her head so as to face Luna halfway, a halfway satisfactory gesture. “I am fine, Luna. I will perform my royal duties at once. I will not tarry. You will have your night. There is no need to worry about me. Be well, sister.”
Luna’s look of concern grew serious. Her sister’s emotion was as blank and mysterious as the bowl of off-brand cereal she had ranted and raved about at breakfast this morning. Luna shuffled about uncomfortably on the bedroom floor. She took a single step forward and opened her mouth to further address her sister and the situation.
“Luna,” Celestia stated sternly. “I told you that I am perfectly all right. I cannot perform my duties until you have left. Is that clear?”
Luna took this as a rather rude way to bid her farewell. Her brow furrowed.
“Sister, something is eating you, and we would truly like to know-”
“I am well, Luna!” Celestia interrupted with menacing vigor. “Now, please, leave me be. Now is not the time to discuss things. I must lower the sun for your night.”
Luna took a defensive step back. Her eyes fell to the floor. Spots of colored light bespeckled the carpet, emanating from the fading sunlight flowing through Celestia’s radiant mane. They danced about in a merry fashion, a major deviation from Celestia’s current disposition as far as Luna could tell. Luna began to slowly back her way out of the room.
“There will be a time to talk though, sister, know this,” Luna advised. Celestia feigned to give a response.
Luna exited the room and closed the door, the hinges appropriately groaning in disgust. The Guard standing by the doorway was still there, exhaustively trying his darndest to appear as stoic as the superimposed ponies on the Royal Guard recruitment posters. Luna only sighed deeply. She lifted her head and started away. As she left the doorway, however, she could have sworn she heard her sister say-
Yes, Luna, there will be...
o----o
Luna never told anypony this, but she actually quite enjoyed watching the sun rise. Something about the mixing of colors- the blues and deep purples, the oranges and reds- it gave off an everlasting impression that truly moved her. She could see why so many artists strived to get out in the wee hours to paint such a spectacle. But even a master of their trade, Luna thought, could not compare to the beauty of her sister’s Sun. The Sun’s radiance bathed the land in a warming glow, dispersing the shadows like a lantern would a dark alley. On this particular morning, she enjoyed watching the Sun rise simply because her sister was the one raising it.
Luna sat on the balcony of the Astronomy Room, a hoof hanging limply over the railing, her eyes beaming as the rays flooded through them. As her night dissipated, she ended her nightly routine of counting the many stars in the sky. She never catches all of them, but her numbers seem to continue to grow as time passes.
“Good morning, Equestria,” Luna whispered to herself. She turned her gaze skyward. “We pray your slumber was peaceful.”
The stars were emitting a faded twinkle. As the night ended, they gave their last hurrah to the waking world, sparkling brightly in the deepest reaches of space. Luna heaved a sigh of contentment as the sunlight fully reached the confines of her tower and filled the room behind her with intense sunshine. She looked over her shoulder to the various instruments and trinkets in the Astronomy Room, a vast array of complicated technology that Luna never felt obligated to fully learn what did what. Realizing that she had no need for them, especially as the day started, Luna turned and trotted off toward the stairway.
Luna descended the stairwell quickly. She smashed through the exit at the bottom in her haste, nearly sending a shocked individual sprawling to the pavement. She curtly apologized to the gentlepony and sped off again, across the courtyard. Several of the residents turned their heads away as she passed them, already assuming that the Princess was in a crazed fit. Luna brushed off the cold shoulder and continued on.
She had to see her sister.
It was early. The usual hustle and bustle of the Royal Grounds had not yet begun. Sometimes it bothered Luna that the inhabitants were so prude that they could not wake to enjoy the awe-inspiring sight of the stars, or the majestic view of the sunrise or set. It was truly a sight to see, and for it to go to waste seemed disrespectful. But the Summer Sun Celebration was coming following this day, and it always made Luna happy to see her sister raise the Sun to the amazement of so many spectators. Luna was in no way eager to be cross with anyone today, she needed to assist in preparations for the occasion.
Luna bounced jubilantly up the steps to the Royal Palace. Celestia was never angry or bitter after the raising of the Sun, so chances were she would catch the Princess of the Sun in a pleasant mood this morning. Luna opened the palace doors as a billowing banner that read “Summer Fun, Summer Sun!” on it was being unfurled and set in place above them. The workers putting the banner in place gave the Princess sideways glances as she entered.
“Keep your head, Luna,” the alicorn muttered to herself.
Luna trotted through the winding corridors, the way to the Royal Quarters an unnecessarily complicated labyrinth of massive halls. Anypony who didn’t know the way would grow extremely frustrated and ultimately give up before they ever found the place. There were rooms in the Palace that didn’t serve a single purpose other than to be an extra room. Luna passed them with a grimace displayed on her face and a muffled huff of a breath.
Luna turned the final corner to the familiar sight of a single Royal Guard placed at attention at the end of the hall. She rolled her eyes.
“Guard!” Luna called. It was not the same one as the past encounter, to Luna’s relief.
The Guard stood at attention spoke as Luna approached. “Your Majesty,” he stated in acknowledgement.
“Yes, yes,” Luna said, “we could do without formalities. Where is my sister? Is she here?”
The Guard continued to stare off into the distance, his gaze cold and his eyelids held open. The sight made Luna’s eyes water. “She has not yet come back from the raising of the Sun, Princess. Shall I send for you when she returns?”
Luna found this odd. Her sister normally came back to freshen up before a day began. She was most in tune with Celestia’s routine. If not here, then Celestia could be anywhere. Their minds were interconnected, so searching for and locating each other wasn’t at all a burden. It just hadn’t been used in so long, for their communication through speech had been all they required.
“No... no, that is unnecessary. Thank-you.” Luna turned to search for her sister, but stopped herself mid-spin. “By the way, what is it exactly that you are doing here, dear Guard?”
The Guard looked puzzled. He hesitated once before he said, “These are my orders, your Majesty, to guard the Royal Quarters.”
“Hm,” Luna muttered. “Well, We order you to go fetch yourself some breakfast.”
Now the Guard was completely lost. His jaw locked and he blinked once. “I... I’m afraid I don’t understand, your Majesty...” he uttered. “my orders are to-”
Luna smiled. “I understand what your orders are. But your new orders are to fetch yourself some breakfast.”
The Guard stood deathly still.
“Is this new order made clear?” Luna queried.
The Guard blinked several times now, mystified by Luna’s command. “Y-yes, your Majesty...” he said unsurely.
“Good. Off with you then!” Luna said in the sweetest tone she could have managed in the past few days.
“Uh... T-thank-you, your Majesty.” The Guard took a few tentative steps forward, as if he had lost the ability to walk and was re-learning through trial and error. Luna noted it was appropriate that his helmet was entirely too big for his head. It was very easy to tell he was a recruit. Eventually, he seemed to grasp hold of what was occurring, and he trotted off, feeling entirely befuddled.
Luna was left in silence. She smirked and spun to face the doors to the Royal Quarters, gently pressing a hoof to the paneling and opening them with a curiously loud creaking noise.
Solitude.
Luna took notice of her sister’s room. It was tidy, organized, immaculate, even smelling of a fresh bouquet of petunias. The grandiose space was enough for a rather large family to comfortably inhabit. Though the Princess’ never thought themselves as higher than anypony else nor belittled anypony for any status they may have possessed, it now struck Luna as odd to have lived in such luxury for all of her years. She had never once known poverty.
Now, Luna was not in her sister’s bedroom to snoop. She had learned her lesson beforehoof, when she had searched in vain for her sister’s diary, turning the place upside down in the process. The diary was kept in the archives, because fitting an infinite number of pages under the bed was an absurd notion. Luna was almost banished to the moon once more. In any sense, Celestia never kept anything incriminating in her room. It was all hidden away, if that even. No, Luna was in here to gain a connection to her sister.
The Princess of the Night seated herself on the sensationally comfy bed and, paying no attention to how contented she was, she began to think.
o----o
Luna ascended a grassy knoll a considerable distance away from the confines of the Palace. The Sun was burning hotly, murdering the grasses and the small trees that dotted the plains in the distance, Luna supposed. There was little cloud cover, for as the Sun passed over them, they appeared to evaporate almost instantaneously. An overwhelmingly hot day just before the Summer Sun Celebration. Celestia must have lost her marbles.
Luna halted herself halfway up the slope of the small hill. There was a figure that sat alone at the very top, her beautiful mane gleaming in the harsh sunshine. Refracted light joyously skipped behind the figure, lighting the hill in a playful spectacle. The hillsides in the distance appeared devoid of any life, bare and worn away. This one had certainly seen better days, but as of right now, it was picturesque.
Luna continued her climb. The figure at the top sat still, seemingly oblivious to everything that presented itself to her. Luna’s steps were soft and produced minimal noise. But there was no call for her sneaking up on her sister, mostly because it was impossible to do so.
“Luna. I know you’re there,” Celestia said with little enthusiasm, her eyes transfixed upon the valley before her. “When you read me, we read each other. You know that, sister. Why are you here?”
Luna shifted her gaze to the greenery before her hooves. Her look of solemnity expressed it all. “We are worried about you, sister,” she stated demurely. “You did not seem... well... the day before.”
Celestia kept her back turned. “I told you I was fine, Luna. I was just a little tired is all,” she said wistfully. She paused awkwardly before adding, “Shouldn’t we be getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration anyway?”
Luna scraped her hoof at the dirt. “Sister, it is hard for us to prepare without the Princess of the Sun.”
Celestia gave no immediate response. Luna took the time in the momentary lapse to further climb the side of the knoll. Her sister was breathing heavily. Her aura was off, Luna could sense a disturbance in her connection with her earlier. But Celestia appeared to be healthy. Her coat was prim and proper, shining in the morning sun. Her mane was ever glorious, twirling around smoothly in the slight breeze. She seemed to be the same, sapient Celestia that everypony would instantly recognize. Then again, Luna knew better.
“Tia,” Luna’s voice took a brash tone, “We demand to know what it is that is troubling you. We know you. This is not you.”
Luna saw Celestia shiver. It was dangerously hot outside, so this struck Luna as odd behavior. The fine white alicorn ruffled her wings and held them snug to her sides. “Luna. I just need some time to myself. I will be back shortly for the final preparations. As with every year, this Summer Sun Celebration will be successful. I give you my word,” Celestia promised.
Luna thought this over for a spell. “No... no. We demand to know what is wrong. Why are you not telling Us?”
“Luna, I told you I am fine, and that-”
“No!” Luna interjected. “No, you are not! Something is on your mind and We wish to know what it is!”
There was a tense, drawn out pause. Luna watched her sister sit alone at the top of the knoll, an almost melancholic picture of her. For the first time since Luna arrived, Celestia moved voluntarily, hanging her head in dejection.
“I think you should leave, Luna.”
“Not until We have found out what is eating you, sister,” Luna responded matter of factly.
Celestia turned her head, revealing the right side of her face to her sister. Her horn began to glow a flashy white. “You leave me with no choice, sister.”
“Tia, what is going-”
Suddenly, there was an incredible white flash of energy. The Sun’s brightness paled in comparison. Luna grew dazed. She closed her eyes with her mouth still wide open in mid-sentence, praying that Celestia wasn’t doing what she thought she was doing. There was a peculiar popping sound. When Luna realized that the dust had settled, for it only took the spanse of the bat of an eyelash, Luna pried her eyes open. It took her a few seconds to adjust, but when her eyes could cope to the changes, she found she was standing on the cold tiles of the Astronomy Room.
“-on...”
Luna blinked. She had been transported to her favorite room, the Astronomy Room. But if Celestia thought this had been a kind gesture, she was sadly mistaken.
Luna twirled round and, frustrated, kicked the nearest instrument she saw that she knew very little about. She was furious. Her sister was not well at all. She could sense that from miles away now, and she didn’t even need to set up a connection with her. Luna sped off for the exit, done with her sister, done with her sister’s conspicuous nature. She needed a nap, Summer Sun preparations could do without her for one day.
o----o
A stargazing Luna listened as the residents of Canterlot happily awoke to ready themselves for the raising of the Sun. They had been celebrating and waiting all week for the occasion, and they knew the earlier risers always got the best seats in the house. Luna turned and saw several lights flicker on, several faces press up against the windows, and several eyes peep out through the cracks in their doors. It wasn’t long before a conglomeration of ponies came together en masse to see her sister’s Sun rise.
Luna watched disinterestedly from her lonely perch on the balcony of the Astronomy Room. She murmured absent-mindedly about nothing in particular, and for whatever reason, she deduced that she felt tired. She had counted ten less stars than on previous nights. She had failed to find any new galaxies or sentient races. She had completely lost focus through the entirety of her night. The many hours spent pacing was a time she would soon like to forget.
It was nearing time now. Luna saw several ponies come streaming from their houses. Relatives of the family, young mares, colts, foals; every color imaginable came filing out of their doorways. Not a single one ever spied the Princess of the Night sitting alone on her balcony.
It was easy to see Celestia’s stage from where Luna was watching. It was located in one of the Grand Gardens, one of the wide open spaces which could hold an abundance of ponies. Luna could already see that quite a few of them had flocked to the spot, and noticed that the smart ones (and most avid ones) had pitched tents to reserve their location on the grass. An hour, Luna guessed, and it would begin.
Luna passed the time by scraping meaningless marks into the balcony floor. She realized it was somepony’s duty to erase these marks, for they would always magically disappear after she did this, and that pony would once again have to clean up after her mess. Luna didn’t care. Her anger hadn’t subsided, and why she was going to stay up to watch the Sun rise was beyond her. She played tic-tac-toe with herself. She counted the minutes as they passed. She scrawled her name in chicken scratch. It wasn’t a mystery who kept putting marks in the floor anyway.
It was nearing time. Luna righted herself and looked out over the balcony railing, out at the growing crowd of ponies in the Grand Gardens. Boisterous chatter was culminating from the center, and it rose up over the rooftops, springing the Palace Grounds to life. Everypony who had never developed the festive spirit for the Celebration had learned to don ear plugs the night before, so that come morning, they would not be bothered by the noise.
Luna set her head down on her hooves. She could tell the crowd across the way was growing antsy; there was light coming from over the hillside, a faint glow radiating from the other side of the world. Luna’s Moon was low opposite it, readied to drop and wait for night to come again. Out of boredom, she snatched a simple telescope from a shelf just inside the door, then turned back around to take a look through it, down to the Grand Gardens.
She spied several young mares and colts sitting on their parent’s shoulders when she looked through it. She smiled when she saw the peeved looks on the faces of the ponies behind these duos. Elsewhere, Luna saw a few hooligans pulling various shenanigans and pranks on helpless victims in the crowd. Firecrackers would go off at random sections of the audience. Luna laughed as the ponies reacted to the harmless explosions by frantically hopping up and down. Otherwise, there was not much to report other than there were a bunch of ponies standing around waiting.
Suddenly, there was a unanimous hurrah emitted from the center of town. Luna whirled her telescope round to study the cause of the commotion, but then immediately recognized it as her sister’s elegant entrance. Luna sighed. She set the telescope aside and watched as Celestia’s flamboyance delighted the members of the audience. Her presence alone was enough to send everypony into hysterics. Luna only frowned.
The Night Princess turned her gaze to the horizon, where the Sun was still only peeping it’s little head out over the hillsides. She ruefully bid her night a bitter good day. It was easy to deduce that Celestia had reached the center of the stage from the raucous screams of affection. The day would rise in vivid colors in but a few moments. She turned her back to the soon to be display.
Then, light.
Rays of warm light streamed past Luna, straight into the Astronomy Room, gleaming off of the various instruments in ways they never had before. Luna realized that she had forgotten her sunglasses. She raised a hoof to seal her eyes away from the harsh light. Was her sister trying to burn the resident’s eyes right out of their sockets? Only on rare occasions did Celestia ever use such intensity. Luna’s mood soured.
Screams of admiration and fascination were heard. Dejected, Luna kicked another one of the many instruments she had no idea what purpose it served. She preferred banishment to the moon. Solitude equated to sanctity. And as far as night was concerned, it seemed nearly perpetual, even when the Sun hit the moon’s face. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. If Celestia didn’t want her here, then what’s another few thousand years? What’s it to her sister?
Luna’s thoughts were then interrupted by a sick, unbelievable scream. Almost simultaneously, Luna was shrouded in darkness.
Luna spun with the shock and curiously came face to face with her night. Her eyes grew monumentally wide. The stars were out in a sparkling splendor. The Sun had vanished. Shouts of fascination were now replaced with horror, all stemming from the confines of the Grand Garden. There were several ponies huddled around in a circle on Celestia’s stage.
Luna flapped her wings ferociously and made way for the Summer Sun Celebration at breakneck speed.
