//------------------------------// // Chapter 3- The World on My Shoulders // Story: Beneath the Eternal Sun // by Darkmetroidz //------------------------------// All work and no play makes Twilight a dull mare. Like I had a choice. -Twilight Sparkle 1 Month, 2 Weeks since the Solstice At any moment, Twilight felt like she might collapse from exhaustion. She had been working herself half to death for nearly a month now, and still there was no real signs of progress. If anything, the situation in Ponyville had only gotten worse. Equestria had just seen its sixth week of constant sunshine, and the nonstop light and the heat wave and drought that had accompanied it were really starting to take their tolls. It had been with a heavy heart that Twilight had signed into law a number of austerity laws, including limiting the use of food for nonessential purposes, and enacted very strict guidelines regulating the use of water. Among other things, gardening had been one of the activities that had been deemed wasteful, making the use of water on flowers a crime. The law had come with an enormous backlash, particularly from florist ponies like Roseluck, but Twilight left them in place. Perhaps better than anypony else, she understood that water was a finite resource in their current situation, and they would have to take every step possible to make the supply last as long as possible. Rarity's singsong voice ate at Twilight's mind. "All work and no play makes Twilight a dull mare." She had commented. What she failed to appreciate was that there was nopony else to handle the crisis, and so it had fell to Twilight to try and manage. Only a week into the crisis, Mayor Mare discovered she was ill-equipped to handle a large-scale disaster of this sort. Her pride crushed, she stepped down from power and granted Twilight full control of the town. At first, Twilight had been reluctant to pass laws on her own and thought to run them by Princess Celestia first. However, when her letters went unanswered, she gave up and went about ruling as if there was nopony else more powerful than herself. When Twilight first realized her status as Princess now really meant something in a legal sense, she worried the power might go to her head, and cause her to become pushy and uncaring. Her prediction was halfway right. She did not become mean, but it seemed like everypony else did. When times were good, Ponyville was perhaps the shining example of community in Equestria. Its residents all lived in perfect harmony, all taking care of each other and working together. But that was in the past, in a time when nopony ever went hungry and the idea of shortage was a foreign one. A new Equestria had been born with the eternal day, and it was one Twilight wanted no part of. The denizens of Ponyville had become mistrusting, petty and selfish, and they would all bring their issues to Twilight to resolve. Twilight currently sat mediating a major disagreement. It was difficult, not only because the issue itself was extremely important, but also because two of her friends were the representatives for the opposing sides. A conference room had been set up in the cutie map's chamber, with Twilight sitting in between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The farmers had accused the weather ponies of letting the crops die on their watch, because there had been no rain, and barely any clouds, since the Solstice. "If we all up an' starve, it'll be because you wouldn't give us no rain!" Applejack snarled. Her words stabbed at Twilight's heart like knives. The accusation was beyond cruel. She seemed to be implying the pegasi were doing this out of malice. Rainbow Dash was as offended as Twilight was upset. "Do you think we want this to happen? Do you think we don't know we might run out of food? We know what we're doing Applejack, but I can tell you don’t. There's a lot more to being a weather pony than just clearing clouds." Dash dug around in the saddlebag on her back and pulled out a chart that was hastily drawn on a sheet of paper. It was crude, but it conveyed the information it needed. Regardless, Rainbow Dash had come prepared with materials. Either she had taken Twilight's teachings to heart, or she was really angry about this whole mess. "We get a budget of water that we need to make last the year. That water makes all the clouds, rain and snow we get in Ponyville. The problem is, with the sun being so bright, almost any clouds we set up evaporate before long. The only clouds that don't break up are storm clouds, but they use a ton of water. There's a reason we only get a couple huge thunderstorms a year. That's because if we did any more, we wouldn't have enough water for winter." Now with a clearer understanding of what was going on, Applejack's face had softened considerably. She no longer looked angry, just upset. "I'm sorry Rainbow Dash. I shoulda known y'all had a good reason. But we still gotta do somethin! Ponville needs local crops to survive. If we all lose our harvests, we may not live long enough to plant another." "We've been trying to figure out how to keep your crops watered while we keep to our budget." Dash sighed. "We haven't been able to come up with anything." After listening for long enough, Twilight raised her voice with a suggestion. "Why don't you just put rain clouds on farms and nowhere else? It will keep the harvest watered, and won't break your budget since you're not putting clouds over all of Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash cracked a relieved smile. "That should work. We definitely have enough water to make it until the harvest. After that…" Her expression suddenly turned serious. "No promises." Twilight sighed. It was never that easy. "For the time being, cancel winter. We have to focus on survival, and that means stretching our water supply as far as it will go. Do you know if you will get any more water from Cloudsdale?" "Your guess is as good as mine." Rainbow shrugged. "We can't get a straight answer from them. I guess it depends on what shape the reservoirs are in when it comes time to collect water." "Which reminds me, Applejack, how is our drinking water supply looking?" Applejack cleared her throat. "Well, the lake is still goin' down, but thanks to your laws, it ain't as bad as it was. They threw Rose in the slammer for a few nights after they caught her there with a watering can, but otherwise everypony seems to be cooperatin'." "Good, good." Twilight breathed. With their business done, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were able to leave as friends. Twilight smiled seeing them walking out side by side, discussing their own plans to help out the town. It was good to see some ponies still were willing to work together for the good of everypony, instead of themselves. If only every meeting went as well as that one. Her well-deserved moment of peace was broken by the sound of claws frantically being dragged along the crystalline floors. Spike came rushing down the hall past Applejack and Rainbow, nearly bowling over the latter, with a letter clutched in his claws. "Twi… light!" He gasped, trying to catch his breath. He always complained about the size of the castle, even though Twilight insisted they could use the exercise. "You got a letter!" "Did Princess Celestia finally answer me?" She asked excitedly. Hopefully the Princess could clear up what was going on. Mistrust of the solar Princess had been spreading, at first only in whispers. But nearly two months into the disaster and ponies were openly declaring Celestia was the cause of their problems. Twilight herself had a hard time believing it, but even she was beginning to have to accept that it was likely no coincidence. "No, it's from Shining Armor!" He handed her the paper, which she read curiously. Twily, Sorry I didn't write sooner little sis. I don't have much time, so I'm going to keep things short. What's going on has been no accident. Princess Celestia is keeping the sun where it is, and I think it will only get worse from here. Princess Luna is gone. I don't know what happened, but there was a broken window in the throne room, and blood and ash on the floor. I'm scared little sister. Princess Celestia isn't acting right. She's been talking about traitors and rebels like there's some whole conspiracy against her. I'm planning on resigning from my position as Captain of the Guard soon. The sooner I'm with Cadence and away from here, the better. Take care baby sister. I promise I will write again as soon as I can. Your BBBFF, Shining Armor A cold shudder ran down Twilight's spine. In one short letter, her brother had managed to confirm all of her worst fears and more. Her brother, her stalwart knight was always so brave. He had faced off against the specter of King Sombra in the arctic without hesitation. If he was afraid now, Princess Celestia must have become truly horrifying. Spike was trying to scramble to her side to see what was going on. "Is everything alright?" "No Spike. It's a lot worse than we thought."