Iridescent Aurora: Celestia's Soliloquy
Oh forgone my tedious duties, the castle nor its ordeals are leaving. For how so this day my pride, my gift to Equestria and her ponies has effloresced to become like her mentor, if not more. Twilight... She is something like the sun, though without the veil behind the ivory glaze of the moon, which coats and tips every mountain in Equestria simultaneously; even shading the star itself. Oh how this day my heart beats; not to live, but for her. My student of whom meets my expectations, which ironically disappoints me.
My damned curiosity plagues me this day, for I wonder of Twilight's path had she'd pondered more on her magical abilities and remained at Canterlot, unwilling to learn of friendship. Digression of this is ultimately fruitless, yet still I ponder it. So then it must have meaning, in something at least... If not then I entertain myself, but deserting the consequences what would become of her? If Discord had not escaped, had Nightmare Moon continued to be banished, had things not changed... My student may yet have still become an excellent apprentice, had become one of Canterlot's best wizards; even another tome for time to ponder, for she is more curious.
Leaving this path of thought, I now come back to the present. Surely the present is a gift, for how poet's would never cease to write and explore the thoughts, feelings, and memories of all the ponies present this day. A day, lit by my sun. Though in reality it isn't mine, I am not even its guide; more so, I am like its brother. For it hath become enraged by something beyond my realm of knowledge, yet then how is it I am able to control it? I don't, for I cannot control something that has no need to be controlled. In truth its orbit still exists, yet it remains dormant. Something hinders its travel, so I cannot call myself its guide for in reality I do nothing to aid it; except this.
A myriad space of time has passed, and yet still it remains detailed in my memory. Ancient now and foreign, but then it was new. It was indeed known that in a very ancient land of Equestria, we had two suns. Two blazing balls of fury, which enlightened both the day and night. In fact it was so bewilderingly & iridescently bright, that no one even knew that we had a moon. Rest was for a very short period of time, and in all reality would be considered none at all presently. Thankfully, my memory, indefatigable even after many millenia; is ever so vivid.
We only received two hours of sleep, and it was a constant lingering of sunset and sunrise. No night, only the passing inbetween them. No pony had the energy needed to be able to do even the simplest of chores. Making the supplies was hard enough, but we barely scraped by. Eventually it was decided by none other, than StarSwirl the Bearded himself, that we should only have one sun. Oh how the consequences were unforeseen to us, lost in our own grief, blinded by melancholy hearts and morose souls.
StarSwirl the Bearded devised a clever, and immensely powerful curse. One that would be able to destroy something as massive, and powerful as the sun. Little did we know, though we theorized and contemplated that the suns pulled each other across the sky. Since these were just theories and we dismissed them, little did we know that they held some verity. StarSwirl eventually completed the curse, and said, "All we need now, is something of great value. Not just in gold, but what costs something to your heart. For this curse requires not just great sacrifice, but great heart." And to this day, I do not entirely know what he was referring to.
Nevertheless I offered him something... something that indeed I held in great value. My father's blood sapphire necklace, for not only was this valuable in riches, it was valuable to me as well. My being would not exist without him, and it is the only record of his existence I had. The gem held a small amount of his blood, which had turned solid gold upon his death. I do not regret the decision, for what was this sentimental item in comparison with the desire I had to aid a nation desperate, and on the brink of economic collapse.
On the peak of the mountain, at an altar made of alabaster and marble began the marking of the death of a star. It truly was a memory untarnished, for its beauty masked its hideous outcome. A florescent aqua colored beam, mesmerizing in its power and ferocity shot up at the sun during high noon. Inside the middle of it, was my father's necklace. On the other side, not even visible was StarSwirl the Bearded chanting some ancient runes. The loudness, deafening in its quake shook the entire land. I was even afraid that I might fall of the mountain for it seemed to be crumbling on top of itself...
The whole planet shook, and cracks appeared on the pillars next to me. Chasms formed, creating ravines deeper then the naked eye could see. Today that is why there are canyons to the East of Canterlot, a popular vacationing spot for many ponies. We did not even consider meeting with other countries to debate this course of action, for so desperate we were. And so the terrible consequences ensued, followed by a war against the elements. But that is later in my digression, for now we are on the sun's demise.
Extirpated, erased it seemed leaving a mark greater than that anything else could have made; lest it should destroy our world. Lights, bright though distant created seams through the darkened veil. The firmament was no longer a thing of constant light, but a cycle. We had created night, but at a terrible price. The light, from the previous sun has been captured and sealed into my father's necklace. Along with it, the energy of an entire star held within it. StarSwirl was in a coma for seven months after performing the spell, many believed him dead; though I knew better.
Kindred spirits and celebrating followed, for ponies everywhere got a rest from the impermeable light which hid the stars. They constantly roared, drinking and making merry at their newfound time. For with day, night was given birth. Oh, the price we payed and only later finding a solution. For some reason, the other sun never came. It was constant day on the other side of the Equestria, and constant night. The pegasi had no weather to control, though it was never ending night which made it unbearably cold. The Samarean Desert was created, and the precipitation fell on the borders of night and day, dawn and dusk into the ocean.
Torches, big massive bonfires were lit to keep the country warm, and so we would not freeze to death. Temperatures though cold, were now not life threatening. Ethereal winds blazed upon the grass, now silvery white in the night. When ponies felt the air's bitter kiss they shuttered, for even having to breathe the air was a daily chore. Another task, was that we had to constantly keep the bonfires lit, which also meant chopping down trees from the everfree; engrossed in the vines, encasing predators. It was a dangerous time in Equestria, despite the beauty of the sky. And once trees were chopped down, timberwolves swarmed angered by the loss of some of their forests and breeding grounds.
The pegasi no longer flew, and the unicorns only tried to learn spells of warmth to keep themselves and others around them shielded from the now bitter cold. For the air had taken upon itself swords of ice, and the wind its arm. Eventually, even their spells stopped working, or at least didn't make much of a difference. They just had to crowd next to the torches to keep themselves from freezing. Even when StarSwirl came out of his coma, it didn't make much of a difference.
StarSwirl looked as if he had born all of Equestria's solemnity, looking more degraded by time then the families of those who had been lost to be bitter cold in their sleep. Sleep was now too common, and too dangerous. My ponies, suffering and engrossed with this cold and the chance of dying while sleeping were angered with me. It was an arduous time, which only made StarSwirl the Bearded work even more brutally. He studied his own notes, pondered over ever scripture and tome of celestial magic he had ever written.
My sister, Luna was actually enjoying the nighttime indefinitely. She had no purpose, for both her mane and her coat were undeceivably white, and her flank bare. Once the night came, it gave her purpose. Her mane began to turn to the color of the sky, and her coat the navy blue emptiness which blanketed the stars. Her eyes deep, deep blue which eventually made her camouflage when flying. Her cutie mark was now of the moon, which was shown so brightly across the sleeping skies. And so since I did in fact prefer the day, we bickered like little children about the greatness of day and night. This grew tiresome, and I swear I almost caught her sabotaging StarSwirl the Bearded's work one night...
It took two years, which in fact felt more like 200 or so to finally develop a solution. StarSwirl explained, "Though we killed a daughter of the sky, her body's decay remains. A hole, a hole in the sky invisible to the naked eye. This is what has been causing all of our troubles, for it stops our sister sun from returning. If we were to either get rid of this hole, or block of its pull on the sun we would restore Equestria and all her ponies."
StarSwirl the Bearded worked tirelessly developing new solutions because either of these seemed highly unlikely. But even after another 3 months of arduous research, and more hopeless conclusions. StarSwirl headed to Saddle Arabia, once an oasis now an unpainted desert. He worked with other great ponies in the hopes of finding a permanent solution to our problem. None were made, and so now even more desperate were all the countries of the world. So desperate in fact, that one of the great ponies of what was now a desert, stole StarSwirl's work in order to destroy the sun. We failed in our attempts to stop him, and comfort felt by now ended heat was short lived.
We had no suns, no way to keep our planet lit; many of my ponies thought we were all going to die... Mourning and a bitter rage soon took over all the ponies of Equestria. The torches soon didn't become enough, and many more of my ponies died. They looked so peaceful, many would think that their fillies and foals had only overslept, yet this is a dream compared to reality. The sky was now menacing, and soon even Luna began to dislike the constant night (which is Ironic now all things considered). For I suppose even she did not like seeing my ponies travail across the air as if crossing frozen waters.
Another year, another year of complete and utter hell. StarSwirl had taken ill, and was unable to find a way to save us. Many ponies were dying, both from chopping down the everfree which was releasing predators and the cold. The castle had an enchantment put around it that would lock in the warmth of the torches. This took years to develop, and I took in as many ponies as I could. Though the castle was warm, and many souls who I could not allow entrance into Canterlot as much as it pained me started forming mobs to try and gain entrance. This lead to even more, and more deaths. For even our dungeons were full to the brim with ponies now refugees. And I find out that not only did the Samareans (as they were now called) steal StarSwirl's research and destroy the second sun without permission, but stole my father's amulet to do so!
I had no idea, it was an enigma as to even how the amulet worked for them! I suppose it held value because it was there last hope to save them from the heat? I decided nonetheless to study this issue, and even so I had to invite them to the castle. They came eager to escape the cold, though Canterlot Castle was only just above freezing. I had to invite them to dinner to sit by me, and I pleaded for my father's necklace's safe return. They were surprised that I knew and rather reluctant to hand it back; however, once I told them I was going to find a solution they handed it to me. It was encase in a golden chest, embodied with gems, and an enchantment surrounding the case. They told me something that brought great joy to me.
"Since the necklace already contains the light of the first sun, we had to store the heat from the second sun in order to get rid of the counteracting forces which are in both. So, and since we took away the heat the sun collapsed and destroyed itself." The Samarean prince was saying, though I was lost in my own contemplation for I knew how destroying a sun worked. I thanked them graciously, and headed up to the peak where the first sun was destroyed.
Two guards followed me, and set the chest down both curious about what I was going to do. I had figured out, that the sun was not destroyed, but killed. It was dying, and it would stay dead. Also, that we were clueless to the fact that the sun was indeed pulling us into it... however so slowly. I had ordered them to get my chariot and the royal fliers, and StarSwirl's book on ancient runes. They left me on the peak, which unfortunately was still so bitter cold. I suppose that's why they were so eager to follow my orders and head back inside the castle.
Not 10 minutes later, and they had returned destitute and with all the supplies. I took the book firstly, and pondered over the ancient scripture of runes and incantations. I needed a refresher course on creating a shield from the elements. I found it on page 24, paragraph 5, subsection B6. The spell was, "Impediment of the earth, wind, water, and fire". Okay, so now that I found the rune and I already knew how to expand shields. I loaded up the chest with my Father's Blood Sapphire necklace inside, and took hither on the chariot.
Fear, the survivalists way to maintain alert, focused. Yet, this fear is not one for my own safety or even that of my guards. My fear is of my failure, for what an enigma. Was I going to be destroyed, and my ponies die as icicles? This had to work, if it didn't then all my studies came to no solution; just my demise, my rather heroic demise. Supposedly this was the end, and nature had intended for a near-immortal to die. I did not ask my sister's accompaniment for this reason, for my destruction would not be her's also would I have failed.
The cold was bitter, and the higher we climbed the colder and more bitter the air became. It seemed as if we were trying to breath icy water, without the pleasure of finally drowning. Even with my shields I could only do so much, and unfortunately I cannot maintain and filter the air. Oxygen would run low, and so we would die if we were not expedient. Needless to say any further, me and my royal entourage did make it past the clouds and skyline into a vacuum without any air. As soon as we left where any air could possibly be, we felt a massive tug on our carriage. We were being pulled into something.
I saw nothing, just a spot of complete darkness. My fliers tried desperately to brake from the pull, but I knew it was hopeless. I chanted something in an ancient tongue, it was a song that ancient ponies sung when a star no longer had shown its light in the night sky. They sang it often, and afterwards proceeded to mate. But I suppose I will have to skip the latter as I have prior obligations, mainly saving the world and not dying. Though how they knew that any stars were dying because of the light from the two suns was another mystery to discover. I pulled out the chest, and opened the lid just a crack. The light was blinding, brilliant and comforting as was the warmth and heat that came with it. It felt like the sun shown against my face yet again.
My fliers even with their newfound courage from the light were only able to slow our descent, so I began to sing immediately. "Serenity from afar, hear our plead to not be a scar. You may not have your brilliant light, which had always shown a magnificent white. You brought us a symphony of decor, like the tiles on a palace floor. Do not look down on us, for we do indeed need you thus. You are what gives the poet's hands strength, and the writer's mind its abstract length. Though you may forever pass away, we will never forget thine golden day." The pull immediately stopped, and we were drifting, though the blackness still remained.
I opened the chest, unable to look directly at it. The heat was indeed intense, and we began to sweat intensely. I placed a hoof on the chain, and threw the necklace into the hole. It drifted for a while, until finally going into the dark hole seemingly infinite. A bright glow shimmered, revealing a horizon around the strange entity. It was indeed circular and dark, but and yet only the edge was shapable by the light now protruding from it. Eventually the entire body glimmered with incredible iridescence, and had incredible rays of light reaching from the epicenter. Eventually flames started up, but it seemed to be an even brighter and hotter fire. And so, I was forced to retreat from the new blazing and ever so welcome sun.
I came down, and saw hoards and hoards of ponies gathered in celebration. Such levity and festivity, the air was beginning to be warm but now ponies were cheering, and singing praises of their new sun. And what else I saw both was creepy and joyful. Ponies who we thought dead, were actually in a state of winter incubation as StarSwirl put it. This is why I am loved by so many, for they say that I raised the dead; though, this is not true. But my digression does not end, for there were two suns destroyed. The second on the other side of the world. My work was not done, but it would be for now for I must rest. It was very difficult for even my guards and staff were drinking wine and making merry, thus this was called, "The Year of The Sun". You can find it in the archives in my personal library.
Not a day later I was conversing with a now much better StarSwirl the Bearded, regarding the problem of our second hole. Not to mention that yet again our sun would not have orbit, so we had to work quick. We eventually figured out that the planet was rotating, and so the sun's weren't rotating around us. I of course found this ludicrous, for if the planet was moving why in Equestria would we not have great winds? StarSwirl replied, "The air itself is tied down to the planet, just like we are." Eventually and after much more convincing, I agreed with him. StarSwirl and I agreed to keep this information private, and to find a way to rotate the planet secretly.
We just began to rebuild our lives, and in fact decided to keep the bonfire torches there as a memorial to all our suffering. You can still see them around the realm of Equestria to this day. Oh, how I still visit those sites to this day. Though the stone plaque is dilapidated and cracked, with vines growing in the crevices. The memorial plaque reads, "A testament to hope, that even through the toughest ordeal and greatest travail that there is always hope. To be a hero, to be a god, to be a normal pony. As long as one of somepony lives, so will Equestria." This plaque on all and any of the bonfires always brings a tear to my eye, for both my guilt and nostalgia consume me; yet, also a sense of pride for what Equestria has become.
StarSwirl came by a week later, by which time all the snow had melted and once again we were all experiencing heat and sweating for the first time in years. He explained that the other black hole was indeed hindering our rotation, but we could not extirpate it or turn it into another star to light our world. So then we were left with one conclusion, to render the energy from the hole inert. StarSwirl came up with a brilliant and well thought out plan, that we use a series of Light Crystals to counteract the energy from the dark and blackened emptiness.
Light Crystals, are a rare crystal that grow extremely fast when presented with darkness and emit a special type of energy which is not a type of magic anypony is familiar with. It can only be created, but not made. This meant that we needed to make place the crystals in a place entirely darkened, and yet able to spread the crystals across the world without being presented with light. After yet another molten day of heat, I had found a solution through arduous study.
My body fatigued, and mind exhausted I had thought more upon how to solve our problem. I noticed that there were cracks in concrete roads that were ancient and unused, and left no indication of animal or pony origin. So it must have meant, judging by the angle at which the piece was cracked and torn that the ground itself moved. The ground... move? This surely was impossible, and unlikely. Yet it would explain the weird crevices. The earthquakes then, so how large of a scale does the ground move? And more importantly if it does, how?
Despite the heat caused by the new sun's birth just a week prior, I had to continue my work. Ponies were still celebrating, and not complaining about the heat. It was raining a lot more though, I suppose this was wise since it would cool us down and bring much needed precipitation to our lands. But at that time, I didn't even know what precipitation was. So thus, despite adverse conditions I pressed on ever so faithful in finding a solution to my dilemma.
I pondered more on the ground itself, clearly we knew what was under it. Dirt, stone, coal, precious metals, and gems. Yet, so as well what about lava? That also comes out of the ground from volcanoes, though we only have one here. So wait, if lava comes out of the ground? That must mean something, because according to our knowledge the heat is more intense the farther down you mine. Lava is very hot, and the farther down you mine the hotter it gets. Suddenly, it hit me like a rock hits the hard surface of the road after a pegasi drops it.
Lava is also underground, though we have never mined past bedrock to reach it. So then wait, if it shoots out of a volcano when a volcano erupts, does it move? Yes it must, so then that means it must move underground... where there is no light; despite the light it emits when exposed to air. So if lava moves, that would explain the ground moving, which if on a large enough scale could create an earthquake calamity. But, there is no air underground, for all the space must be taken by the magma itself. That's it! If we deposit a large enough amount of crystals in four volcanos in the four cardinal directions, it should be enough to spread the crystals quickly throughout the world.
Luckily, there were indeed 4 volcanos spread out in the four cardinal directions from the epicenter focal point of the new sun. The Ares Volcano [W], The Silent Volcano N, The Gold Pillar ~~(lava contains gold ore), and The Red Star E. We sent guards out to dump the crystals in each of the volcanoes under the pretense that it was just waste that needed to be completely destroyed.~~
~~In just 53 hours, we began to see something that made even more ponies rejoice. The sun began to move, and I flew down from the flare to greet my ponies explaining that me and StarSwirl the Bearded had solved our problem, and made the sun walk across the water colored sky again. "My Ponies, my fellow Equestrians. It is a proud day, a great day for the nation of Equestria. For I with the aid of StarSwirl the Bearded, have corrected all of our past misdeeds and managed through much travail to receive recompense for all our suffrage. Which is what we desired before, which is now what we have obtained. Only one star, one sun to light our world. And so now, we have the dichotomy of Night and Day! Rest and Ordeal, a peace obtained and time to recuperate and dream. My sister Luna, has finally obtained her cutie mark depicting the crescent moon [(as we now deemed that ivory ball in the sky at night)] , surrounded by both clouds and stars. I myself have found new meaning in my cutie mark, for now I am the guide of the new sun!"~~
~~Cheers, more festivity, and a lot more drinking eventually left everypony happy, grateful, proud, and a great few quite drunk. Oh, how this pangs me; for I wish I could relive my life again. So selfish it sounds, yet there is verity to my words. Ruminating more on this subject, I find more heroism in fact then rumor. I always disliked being called, "The Guide, Host, and/or Ruler of the sun. For one cannot command a celestial body, I merely deceived and lied to obtain an ends by which I might save us. "The Year Of The Sun", was definitely a happy and cheerful time. The economic depression had ended, resulting in an economic boom of the "bit" currency. And industry soon found a schedule that could fit everypony's needs. A time for rest, and a time for travail.~~
~~As I look yet again upon the ruby embodied sun, glistening off of the mountain ice peaks creating a rainbow so brilliant; I am ever so grateful for my actions. Had I not done what I did, had I not chosen the paths I chose Twilight may still be a unicorn of whom is has a lesser future without my choices. I however am also humbled, because the dead star's remains are still there to this day. Astronomers to this day have no idea what it is, those who study the sky see the darkness desecrating Luna's sky. A hoof? Somepony has just placed their hoof on my shoulder...~~
~~I turn my head, and its StarSwirl the Bearded, teary eyed and smiling. I place my hoof on his, but he leaves. And so I am left to myself, to ponder along yet again the same story that had plagued me with bittersweet yearning for ages. Toil, for the heaviness of my heart so great a burden that I must weep. StarSwirl... If only you had agreed to become immortal, for the afterlife is long from me. I think about our reunion often, for my love... You are Equestria's Savior...~~
Author's Note
This is my first Short Story ever created in the history of Equestria! I hope that you all enjoyed it, I am really eager to hear back from all of you. Let me know what you thought and whether or not you liked it! You don't have to leave me a comment, just let me know how you felt! The inspiration for this story came randomly, as I originally thought it would be a troll move. But suddenly, her digression of her past became more of a history lesson in it self and a story I could not think to leave unfinished. I know I am not a very patient, nor well rounded writer. I hope to get better, and that you all enjoyed this story!
