An Unexpected Turn of Events

by NightmareMoon

Chapter 1

It was a bright and sunny day in Equestria, thanks to the Weather Patrol; but not Princess Celestia, for today it was Princess Luna who had rose the sun. In the castle, everything was a wreck.
The attendants all gathered around Celestia's bed while she cried out - "I'm fine, I'm fine! I shall, like any other day, try my best to raise the sun. It is not like I am on my death bed, I just have a particularly bad case of the Pony Flu, which makes sense because alicorns have different immune systems than other types of ponies."
"Are you sure, Your Majesty?" Candlelight, the leader of the Council of Unicorns asked doubtfully. "It would not be wise to try and raise the sun with your illness."
"I must," Celestia said sadly. "Luna has raised the sun this morning, and she is too tired to do it again tomorrow, as she already must raise the moon. I do not want to put too much pressure on my dear sister; I must continue my duties, after all, no matter how bad my physical state is. After all, how would Equestria cope with darkness for the whole day?"
"No, sister!" Luna said among the other ponies surrounding Celestia's bed. "You have already raised the sun and the moon for 1,000 years in my absence. I am sure that I may handle a mere few days! Besides, you need a break, dear sister!"
"But I am much older than you, Luna, and you have only returned from your absence recently. Therefore, I will not allow you to raise the sun," Celestia insisted.
"It's no use," Luna muttered. "When she sets her mind to something, she will not let it go. I am her sister, I should know. Just last week she ate a donut and decided that they were so good that everypony in Equestria should be given one! And, it happened!"
"I remember that," Candlelight mused.
"Nevermind that incident, I do remember that I was not myself that day. But I must do my duties, no matter what my beloved subjects may request." Celestia growled feircly at the small circle of ponies surrounding her and constantly asking questions.
"But maybe the Council of Unicorns could help you...?"
"No. Raising the sun is way out of your league, and you need to be experienced, as it takes immense power to perform the feat."
"But sister!" Luna whimpered. "What if something goes wrong? Don't you remember last time?"
"Last time...?" Numerous ponies asked.
Luna paled. "Nevermind...it was nothing major, really."
The circle of ponies either galloped, teleported, or flew away as Luna waved them away, "Celestia isn't feeling well enough to negotiate, please leave."
"Luna, please, it's just a fever." Celestia said. "I feel a little lightheaded, though... I'll rest and see what kind of state I'm in next morning."
"Okay," Luna said doubtfully, but as she left the room she said quietly to herself, "I've never seen anypony feel better that quickly... so unless she breaks records, Equestria is going to be in trouble next morning..."

* * *

Catherine and Ellie woke up from a long, fun sleepover. Well, if you can call it a sleepover, as they were roomates anyways.
Cat yawned. "Hey, Ellie, get up. It's the day I've been dreading."
Ellie wrestled out from under the extremely plush blanket. "Then why are you waking me up to arise to the 'dreaded' day? Besides, cootie catcher fortunes aren't true, you poor, hopelessly gullible person. They're just games."
Cat whispered, "but... I have a feeling something horrifyingly shocking will happen!"
Ellie rolled her eyes. "Cat, get real. Oooh, some ponies from a mystical land of Equestria are going to kiiiidnap you!"
"Ooh, that's a good one. Did you make that up? But.." Cat became strangely pale. "Did you hear that? Maybe we ARE going to get kidnapped, but not by ponies! By scary men in black ninja costumes and ski masks!"
"First of all, I didn't hear anything. Second of all," Ellie took a pillow and threw it at Cat. "You're acting totally stupid right now! I mean, like, more than before! Which is pretty hard!"
"Shut up," grumbled Cat. "At least I'm not a stick-in-the mud like you! At least I can try to have fun with these so-called 'games,' which I am certain are not just schoolgirl hobbies!"
"Oh, really?" Ellie asked. "I could be certain that you were a schoolgirl, I mean, your IQ matches that of one."
But Ellie had no idea that Cat may have been telling the truth, because meanwhile, in Equestria, Celestia was attempting, as promised, to raise the sun. She didn't tell anybody, but she felt her fever getting worse...

* * *

"Here goes," Celestia said weakly. Her head was hurting madly and her vision was blurry as she attempted to cast the extremely complicated spell only her and Luna could conjure. She knew it was for the best. Where would Equestria be if she couldn't even raise the sun? She would let everypony down, and as the trusted leader of the fine country for as long as she could remember - which, as being immortal, was an immense amount of time - and she wouldn't stop now. So, for her pride's sake, she would go on.
Her out of focus eyes started glowing and so did her horn as she fired a silvery blue bolt into the sky.
"Oops," she muttered as she felt the spell reach out of bounds. She started shooting up like a bullet into the sky to start the spell, and felt the power bounce off the atmosphere and land directly in none other than Ponyville's direction.
"No no no no no!" She yelled in frustration, a headache growing. "Not like last time... this is exactly what happened last time! How could I let this happen? Whoever who gets hit with that laser beam is going to be cast into the direction of an alternate universe!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were gathered in the library to witness a new spell she learned, a very complicated one at that.
"Go, Twilight!" Rarity yelled.
"Yay," Fluttershy cheered softly.
"You can do it, egghead!" Rainbow Dash said.
"C'mon, sugarcube!" Applejack whooped.
"Oh my gosh! My tail's a twitchin'..!" Pinkie Pie shrieked.
Everypony stopped what they were doing and turned to face Pinkie to witness it - excluding Twilight, as it had taken a long time to build up the concentration to perform the spell and she couldn't stop now - and widened their eyes in fear.
"No!" Pinkie Pie shrieked yet again. "It's not just a-twitchin,' it's a combo! It's... my lucky day? No, it's not my lucky day, it's... a doozy?!"
Suddenly, something crashed into the library as Twilight's eyes began to glow white as if she was casting a complicated spell - but she wasn't, her horn wasn't even glowing! Soon, everyone else's eyes began to glow, also, and they began to fade in a shower of sparks and mist...