The Sun and the Moon
“I want that engine up and running now!” the captain yelled, holding a bandage to his bleeding head.
The rebel ship had been badly damaged in the attack. It was a miracle they were still alive. If it wasn’t for the moon exploding the way it did, that ship would’ve have destroyed them and the planet.
“I’m sorry sir, it’s no use. The engine is unsalvageable,” the Engineering officer called over the line. “The best we can do is to keep it going long enough to evacuate.”
“That’s not good enough!” the captain roared back. “Keep working on it, for as long as it takes!” He slammed the communications button so hard, the display cracked; though that may have already been like that from all that had happened.
While the crew of the ship scrambled to get the ship afloat, recent arrivals from other ships were reuniting with their tales of the battle.
“Clover, you’re alive!!!” Sunbeam yelled rushing over to her. Clover hugged her tight enough for Sun to wince from the pain in her jaw.
“What happened to your jaw?” she asked noticing the bruising and dried blood. “Do you need a doctor?”
“If fine,” Sun dismissed. “It’s nothing.” She did not want to mention what had transpired on the other ship. “I’m just so glad to see you here.”
“We need a doctor over here!” a unicorn women called out for help. She was standing over a frail unconscious Pegasus with thick glasses on his face.
“Harmon!” they both cried rushing to over to him. Harmon stirred upon hearing his name called to him.
“…Did…did we win?” he asked, looking up at them.
“Yes! Yes Harmon we did it!” Clover exclaimed.
“That’s good. I think I’ll take a nap for awhile then…” He quickly closed his eyes and fell back to sleep. As the doctor examined him, he was able to inform his friends that he would be just fine after a few days rest.
Sun and Harmon exchanged their stories of how the battle unfolded while assisting other ponies as needed. After an hour, the captain started to talk through the ship-wide communications.
“Attention, Attention! This ship is not in danger. I repeat, this ship is NOT in danger. However, it is also unable to land on the planet. All crew are to transport as much equipment as possible to the surface and begin evacuations thereafter. I repeat; there is NO danger to this ship, so there is NO cause for panic. We need to salvage as much as we can.
“Also, if there are any able pilots onboard, you are required for flying all remaining scouting vessels to the surface for salvage. Report to the hangar deck, ASAP. That is all.”
As ponies were Digi-ported to the surface, reunions were happening every minute: mothers and fathers reuniting with their families, friends reuniting with friends, and even Pegasi soldiers, laying their arms down in surrender, happy to have survived. The only thing that made that moment more memorable was the glistening sun shining down upon them.
Star Swirl was one of the last few ponies to Digi-port down to the surface. He searched the crowd for Mint or Bake, lost in a sea of ponies. Finally his spotted a mint green unicorn rushing up to him, completely distraught.
“Star Swirl! Star Swirl,” she wailed running into his hooves. She continued sobbing and crying. He patted her head. “It’s good to see you too, Mint.”
“It’s all my fault! It’s all my fault!” she repeated again and again.
“There, there...what are you talking about?” he asked as he held her tight, rubbing her back.
“I lost the girls,” she whimpered. “I lost them!”
Star’s eyes widened as he looked around the scene for signs of them. “I don’t understand,” he said pulling apart and looking at her. “What do you mean when you say you lost them?”
Mint told him how they disappeared into the crowd just before the battle began. She had search every inch of the camp looking for signs of them. Her only conclusion was that they had somehow made it aboard the rebel ship.
“That’s impossible, Mint,” Star said dismissively. “All the civilian ponies have already transported down from the ship. If they were onboard, then you would have seen them already.” Even as he said this, his mind drifted to the section of the engines that had been ripped from the ship entirely. But there was no reason for them to be anywhere near there, had they actually come aboard. “No, they must just be either hiding in the camp, or in the forest. And now with this miracle of a bright sunny day, it shouldn’t be too hard to find them.”
This seemed to cheer up Mint some. “Do you really think so?”
“I know so,” he said with confidence.
“Speaking of the sunlight, do you now how this happened?” she asked.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” he answered truthfully. “Whatever did that though, is the only reason we’re both here to talk about it!”
Star overheard voices in the crowd steadily rising, with hooves pointed upward in the air. He and Mint looked up to see what all the commotion was.
A yellow sphere seemed to be falling from the sun. As it neared, wings could be made out flapping down to the ground; then a horn. All of the ponies stared, mouths gaped open, as a silken white Alicorn filly with a smaller blue filly held on her back surrounded by a brilliant yellow aura soared down from out of the sky.
A clearing appeared in the middle of the crowd, allowing the two Alicorns to land safely. The white Alicorn stood taller than the crowd with a glowing crown glistening with the gems contained within and a Celestial Sun cutie mark beaming into the hearts and souls of each and every pony. No pony was in doubt, yet everypony stood in shock, as the bringer of the sun stood before them.
Star and Mint scrambled to reach them through the crowd.
“Girls! Girls!” Mint screamed. “You’re okay!”
Celestia saw Mint Julep and Star Swirl racing toward them and she smiled with tears in her eyes. When they reached the Alicorn fillies, Mint’s expression was halfway between wanting to hold them tighter than a vice and smack them across their faces. She settled for the former, hugging them as they both squirmed to break free.
Star was smiling on the outside, but in his head he could only think of Sugar Baker. If he hadn’t come running when seeing this grand of an entrance, it could only mean he wasn’t hear to witness it. He kept his thoughts private for now and joined in the happier scene in front of him.
“Looks like somepony earned their cutie mark today,” he said, pointing to Celestia’s flank. Mint let them go long enough to find the filly’s new Celestial Sun cutie mark.
Clover and Sunbeam had made their way closer trying to see what was causing the commotion. When Clover saw the cutie mark, she began to see two and two coming together.
“Star Swirl, who is this Alicorn filly?” she asked, staring at Celestia.
“Clover, these are Bake’s daughters,” he answered. This is Celestia, and the little one is Luna.
Clover walked up to Celestia, looking at her cutie mark, looking at her crown, then into her eyes.
“Celestia, why do you have a sun for a cutie mark?” she came out straightforward and asked.
Celestia looked a little nervous. She never had so much attention in her life and found it to be uncomfortable.
“I um…I stopped that sphere from harming everypony,” she started.
“The Windigos ship?” Clover asked, confused. “How could you have possibly…”
“I found this tiara in an ancient castle nearby,” she explained. She went into the details of discovering the Elements of Harmony, sneaking onboard the rebel ship, getting sucked into space and somehow not dying (upon which many ponies listening gasped), seeing the sphere about to attack, and using the tiara to stop them, by igniting the moon.
On any other day, such a story might have landed this filly in a mental institution for unstable ponies, but with the sun’s rays shining cheerily down at them, they were eager to believe this amazing recanting.
“And your cutie mark?” Clover asked again, seeing that Celestia technically hadn’t answered the question.
“The sun won’t move on its own. I’ll need to move it every night and morning.”
“And you can do that?” Clover asked with a shocked look on her face.”
“Y-Yes,” Celestia answered hesitantly realizing the role she was about to sign up for, “I will move the sun every day and every night.”
The crowd around them cheered, praising the Alicorn for saving them. Before Mint or Star could do anything, Celestia was hoisted into the air and passed around in celebration. Since neither Mint nor Star could do anything, they stayed with Luna, who was out cold from exhaustion.
Clover’s Journal, Day 134 of Equestria:
I still cannot believe all that has happened over the last four months. I haven’t had enough time to even write a single journal entry in all that time, so I will try and include as much as I can now.
With the birth of a new planet and a new colony, I am amazed at how well everypony has worked together to help rebuild our civilization. With our former leaders now gone, many ponies looked to myself, Sunbeam, and Harmon Pimsey to lead our people. We agreed under the condition that this government would be dedicated to the inclusion and diversity of each and every pony with no regard for whether they are Unicorn, Pegasi, or Earth pony. They are ponies. And as the first act of our new counsel, we decided to name this planet Equestria; a home for all equines.
For Alicorns though, it is a very different story. The only known Alicorns to survive are the fillies, Celestia and Luna; daughters of Ruby Hearts and Sugar Baker, both of whom are now deceased. We lost contact with the only remaining Alicorn ship not reported destroyed during the course of the war.
We needed to dismantle most of our ships and equipment to help produce basic necessities for us to survive, however we saved one last scout ship. We are sending it out to search for the Alicorn ship and any other surviving ships and tell them to come home.
With so little equipment remaining, we have also decided to scale back our technology, revert to a simpler lifestyle in the hopes that our children and our children’s children will grow up in a land of peace. I never thought that my childish dream of such a life would come to fruition.
But the most looming event currently, is the upcoming coronation. Because of Celestia, we have the Elements of Harmony for the protection of those who would do us harm. As bringer of the sun each and every day, we came to the conclusion, with the massive support of the colonists, that Celestia would become queen.
Amazingly, she refused. She said that she did not want such a title and would refuse any title, unless her sister would be given that title as well. With permission from the counsel, next week they will both be crowned princesses of Equestria.
When the commotion had finally started to die down in the wake of the creation of a new sun, I finally had a chance to ask Celestia about the 'Elements of Harmony' she discovered. Apparently it is not a weapon, but a defense that requires the bearer to be of the best qualities of character: Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Laughter, Loyalty, and Magic. She also explained that 'Magic' refers to the most powerful magic of all: Friendship. I have never heard of Friendship equating to magic, but I cannot deny the results of her findings.
I find it ironic that between the three pony tribe leaders and their three underlings, we nearly exhibited all of these traits. Princess Platinum showed me a generosity unlike any other. Sun has told me there were times she could catch the late chancellor laughing so hard as though he would die if he didn't. When he recovered he would deny anything had happened. Sunbeam had a sense of honesty that she had trouble holding back, even if it meant getting into trouble from time to time. Harmon may have been a weak Pegasus, but he had a kindness to him that tried to do the right thing, even if it scared him. Even Commander Hirkain, as cold and insane as he was, felt that loyalty was of the utmost importance. He sadly took this to a dangerous extreme, but it was loyalty to those he wanted to protect most. As for me, I considered many of them to be my friends, and I truly feel, had we not been fighting one another all this time, we may have been able to wield the Elements of Harmony together to defend against the Windigos. But that was not the case. Instead we ignited a civil war that nearly destroyed ourselves.
The princess, chancellor, commander, Sun, Harmon, and I all have relatives of some kind on the base who survived the war. I will be keeping my eye on them. Celestia and Luna may be able to live forever if nothing ever happens, but that can and in all probability will change one day. We may need to find somepony or ponies that can protect us should the need arise.
With Celestia and Luna being the only two remaining Alicorns, they are now an endangered species. When they are older, they may form relationships and have children, but those ponies will be Alicorn in appearance only. They will not have longevity and their magic will be limited to that of a Unicorn’s.
Star Swirl has started work on a spell which might have the capability to transform a unicorn into an Alicorn, though he is not sure whether he will be successful. Thanks to his efforts during the war, and the help he provided thereafter, the counsel has elected him Chief Magus to the Royal Court.
As a favor to Luna, Star has agreed that his official uniform for the title would be his old HoverCar salespony costume. He did so quite reluctantly, as he loathed the bells with a passion, but he still feels tremendously responsible for not bringing their father back to them after the war and wants to help them in any small way he can. I personally think he’ll be remembered more for his costume and his beard, then as the most powerful Unicorn of the age.
The coronation will take place at the groundbreaking site of a new castle being constructed on a mountain overlooking the land. Its location will be called Canterlot.
It has been an incredible journey, and it has only just begun.
Clover
“Now repeat after me: Greetings gentlepony. Why doest thou seek an audience with thy princess?”
Mint used her hoof to accent each syllable that required greater annunciation.
“Why do I have to do this?” Luna complained. “It’s boring!”
“You must because your are a royal princess of Equestria, and the ponies of this kingdom need to hear the strength and conviction of your words. They need to feel at ease so that they may go about their lives without fear.”
This seemed more like an excuse to Luna than a reason. After all, it was Celestia who controlled the Elements of Harmony. It was Celestia that moves the sun every day. She was just a PINO: A Princess In Name Only. And she hated it.
“Come now,” Mint pressed on, “repeat what I told you.”
“Greetings gentle pony. Why does it though seek an ambiance with me?”
Mint cringed, but nodded smiling regardless. Lessons would be continuing for a long time.
That afternoon, Luna was able to get away long enough to enjoy some time in the sun. She preferred seeing many stars on a canvas of night sky to the one bright one beating down on her like a furnace, but any time spent out of lessons was a blessing.
She kicked a rock across the castle courtyard, thinking about how she ended up here. Both of her parents were dead; she been made princess by the same types of ponies that would have bullied her at school in the past; and worse off she couldn’t go anywhere without running into other fillies that wanted her autograph or adults who wanted to kiss her hoof.
She just wanted to be somewhere alone. Shutting her eyes tight, she had not realized her horn was glowing, casting a spell. When she opened her eyes again, she stood in the middle of a dark forest. She quickly realized she had teleported for the first time.
She looked around at the unusual trees, hearing the deafening sounds of the life in the forest carrying about its day-to-day activities. She had appeared on a small animal trail that led deeper into the heart of the woods. Luna got a chill running down her spine.
“Follow…” a gentle whisper carrying through wind called out to Luna.
Luna thought of the last time she was in the woods and her sister was the one that could hear voices calling out to her. Maybe this time she would be able to get some ancient artifact. She started to follow the voice that continued to call out to her in an almost inaudible whisper. But instead of coming upon a mysterious ancient temple, she arrived instead at a reflecting pool, surrounded by four great pillars.
Luna crept precariously around the edge of the pool studying the images depicted on the pillars. Unlike the temple, these drawings did not move. They seemed to be more crude and less friendly. Luna felt another chill.
One pillar showed a two legged creature alone in the forest. His face was nothing more than a crooked smile on the backdrop of a night sky. Another image depicted several other creatures bowing before the man in worship.
The voice called out to Luna again.
“You seek to show your strengths…You seek to hide your weaknesses…You seek to show your sister that you are superior!”
“No!” Luna cried out to the pillars. Her voice echoed in the forest. “I am not better than Celestia. I know I’m not!”
“But you can be…You can obtain the power to rule…You can gain the ability to bring the night…You can create a night that will last forever…Look into the pool…Look into the pool and see what you can become...”
Luna was terrified. She wanted to run away, but was glued to the spot. When she finally could feel herself move again, it was not away in fact, but towards the pool instead. She tried to close her eyes and look away, but one of her eyelids disobeyed, and she felt her neck pull her face toward the pool. The moment her eyes met their reflection, she snapped face-forward staring wide into the reflection.
The reflection showed Luna much older, wearing a light blue helm and long black horn; a matching vest with the symbol of the crescent moon at its center. Her hooves were adorned with metal armaments. Luna couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The final detail she could make out was the cutie mark on her flank; the same crescent moon as on the vest, seated on a starry blue canvas of the night sky. As she struggled to see the cutie mark, her hoof slipped on the edge, and at once she fell into the pool.
When she splashed her way back out of the water, she sprawled out on the side shaking the water off of her. She examined herself only to find that same cutie mark on her flank. She knew when she saw it, that she had the ability to move the moon just as her sister moves the sun, and she would be able to paint the night sky with moonlight.
She closed her eyes and concentrated, opening them as she reappeared once again in the castle courtyard. Luna ran into the castle up toward the throne room, where her sister was struggling to endure her own painful royalty lessons. When she saw Luna running up to her so happily, she popped up to see what was the commotion.
“I got it! I got it!” Luna cried running toward her sister.
“What did you get?”
“Look!” Luna said, showing off her flank. Celestia saw the moon and the night sky and rejoiced.
“So what is your special talent, Luna?”
“I’m going to raise and lower the moon each night!” Luna proclaimed cheerfully.
“Do you know what this means?” Celested asked, a tear shedding from her eye. When Luna merely tilted her head in response, Celestia answered her own question.
“This means our destinies were always tied together. It’s fate that the two best sisters should bring forth the day and night for our people together.”
Luna was suddenly pulled into a tight hug by her big sister. She hugged Celestia back, but her thoughts had already drifted off toward creating the most beautiful ‘First Night’ she could think of.
Back in the forest, where the reflecting pool lay, with four great pillars around, a great laughter carried through the wind. Unbeknownst to Luna, one of the pillars held a dire warning:
Here lies the soul of the Harbinger of Darkness;
the one who stole the light of day from our land.
May this spell hold his soul forever trapped,
lest he return to bring darkness eternal.