The Last Day of Autumn

Dusk

Author: the NLR Information Minister

Editor & Artist: Rainbow Dashey

Special Thanks: Supreme Message, Thunder Bolt and Shadow Stalker

Hot blood surged through her veins, defiantly pushing away the frigid cold that surrounded her body. Every hair on her coat stood its ground against the withering jet stream, and every muscle in her body tensed in anticipation. The sun would set soon, and its last rays splayed radiantly through a cloudbank along the far-off horizon of a sapphire blue sea. Suspended high above the Equestrian coastline, the Moon Goddess clenched her eyes shut, lost in the throes of an approaching climax. Beads of sweat formed on her coat, and quickly turned to icy droplets. Her wings quivered, flapping every few seconds to maintain her considerable altitude. Far from prying eyes, she and her last-minute partner exchanged no words. She had found the steel-grey pegasus stallion soaring alone near a storm front. She beckoned. He obeyed. That was all there was to it. She required strength, focus and calm to perform what would happen after this particular sunset, and she had long ago learned that this was by far the easiest way to achieve that state of mind.

Moments afterwards, she opened her eyes, squinting at the cloud-shrouded sunset. The stallion, nearly comatose from his exertions, relaxed his grip around her hips and ceased his enthusiastic thrusting. A subtle light faded from her horn, and the last of his strength evaporated with it. Uttering a soft groan, he slipped out and fell away from his position behind her. Without taking her eyes off of the sunset, she briefly wondered if he would regain his senses before the ground reached up to claim him. Then she thought no more of the matter.

Several minutes later, Luna glided down to a grassy hill next to a river. With a gentle grace, she slowed to a hover. Her hooves, encased in their normal crystal slippers, softly lighted onto the grass. Just downstream, the river emptied into the ocean. Twice a year she performed this ritual, selecting a different hilltop, beach or glen for each occasion. The location itself did not matter, as long as it was near the equator. She shivered slightly, the balmy tropical air a welcome reprieve from the shocking cold of the upper atmosphere. From this hill, she could smell the sweet grass beneath her hooves, the imposing, earthy scents of the riverbank, the heady fragrance of the ocean itself, and the sharp, lingering taste of spent adrenaline and dried sweat.

Letting out a contented sigh, she laid down in the grass to ponder the task before her. Eyes half shut, she let the sounds of the wind and the distant surf wash over her. She tensed slightly when something small darted past her nose. Raising her head, she looked down to see that it was a small brown lizard. She furrowed her brow in annoyance, and was about to shoo it away when it darted towards a rocky outcrop nearby. From its vantage point, it looked over at her, nearly at eye-level. The clouds along the horizon gave way, bathing the goddess and the reptile in fading evening sunlight. Without blinking, the lizard basked in the last light, staring coldly at the alicorn. She was struck by the fearlessness with which it held its ground. Enjoying the sunlight, are we? she thought bitterly. Like a castle guard with his head held high, it kept one eye on her, and used the other eye to survey the rest of the hilltop. It settled its attention onto a particular spot slightly further down the hill. Following its gaze, Luna saw another lizard of the same species as the first. She looked back at the rocky outcrop just as its guardian scurried down the hill and aggressively chased the invader away. The two reptiles disappeared behind a shrub to continue the chase, and she settled down again to return to her thoughts.

A “test”, her sister had called it. Merely thinking of the word play made Luna’s lips curl into a sneer. The Sun Goddess toyed with her most valuable assets too often, Luna mused. Thus far, her subjects had performed admirably, but she wondered how well their spirits would hold up if they knew the truth. Narrowing her eyes at the nearby riverbank, she snorted softly in frustration.

A subtle movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was a lizard, similar to the first two, but noticeably smaller. Rather close to it, a fourth brown lizard emerged, even smaller than the others. The two newcomers seemed to be taken aback at one another, and neither seemed to notice the much larger creature in their midst. Luna expected the bigger of the two to chase away the smaller, as the guardian had done to the invader mere moments ago. Instead, it very cautiously lowered its head to the ground, apparently trying to evade the notice of the little one. After a moment, the smallest critter slinked away, and the cautious one took its time before peeking around the hilltop. It did not seem to notice Luna’s presence as it made its way towards the rocky outcrop. Where the first guardian had aggressively claimed and defended his access to the sunlight, the cautious lizard seemed content to sit next to the outcrop, close its eyes and steal whatever light it could from the sunset’s last seconds of life.

Luna glared at it. Lizard or not, how dare it partake of her sister’s majesty without even working for it? She slowly raised her hoof, blocking the feeble sunlight from reaching the small creature before her. It opened its eyes, looking around, but not comprehending what had happened. Such fragile lives, she thought idly. Lizards. Ponies. Even Dragons. You are but dust. Slowly turning to the West, she watched the very last remnants of the sun dip below the sea. With this, she slammed her hoof down, a wet crunch ending the small creature’s dependence on the Sun Goddess. Darkness settled over the coastline, and the alicorn slowly spoke for the first time in over a week. “Be still.” It was only a whisper, but it echoed eerily along the wind, down the riverbank and beyond. Silence fell over the hilltop as every insect, bird and even the water itself seemed to wither under the force of her command.

A long silence passed, and she slowly stood. Walking past the rocky outcrop, Luna stood at the very top of the grassy hill. She lifted her hoof, briefly regarding the messy aftermath of yet another defiance against the way of things. She lowered her crystal-clad hoof delicately back to the soft grass, and paid no more heed to the matter. With but a thought, her horn glowed slightly and a vile-looking, blueish grey book materialized beside her. Without even looking at it, she opened its star-adorned cover to a well-worn page. Turning to the East, she focused on the horizon. The book hummed with a dark energy, and her eyes glowed white. The tip of her horn shimmered with a deep azure fire, which quickly spread to envelope her entire body. With grim resolve, she slammed the book shut, gritted her teeth and breathed tenebrous life into a new Solstice.