The Sun Won't Come Home

by bahatumay

Chapter 2

Twilight groaned and slowly pushed herself to her hooves. She quickly determined that she was not dead, which was definitely a desirable outcome. The air wasn’t toxic, or at the very least wasn’t caustic; and the gravity seemed to be somewhat similar to that at home.

She opened her eyes, and quickly closed them again. It was either noon, or the explosion had disoriented her.

And was there always a loud noise that sounded like it was getting higher in pitch?

“Stupid deer! Get off the road!”

Twilight’s eyes snapped open to see a large red wagon, but this one without any ponies pulling it. It seemed to know magic, though, as there were two large lights in front that illuminated the night. Twilight stepped to the side, and it moved forward of its own will.

“Stupid purple deer… Purple?!” The car stopped, and the driver removed a forcefield from his seat and threw out a small bag of what appeared to be grass. “I’m never smoking pot again,” he swore as he replaced the forcefield and moved his carriage away.

Twilight attempted to process this, but didn't quite understand how exposing a metal cooking utensil to fire would be beneficial in any way, or what that had to do with the bag of vegetation. As he left, Twilight realized just how dark it was without his lights. She lit her horn and picked up the bag. Though it had a strange aroma, it appeared to be edible.

But Twilight was not so foolish as to eat new plants without detailed study. Leaving them on the road, she took stock of her surroundings. She appeared to be by a forest of some kind, on a road paved with stones the likes of which she had never seen. Apparently, the ponies here had managed to build with some kind of cement and little rocks that kept the roads relatively smooth, but Twilight could tell that these ponies must not have had hooves, because the strange rock on metal would make ponyshoes wear down and be rather uncomfortable after a while.

If there even were ponies. Twilight remembered the strange, pale, furless thing (aside from his forelock) piloting the carriage. He looked somewhat like she’d looked last time she’d dimension-traveled, but his proportions were too thick and his color was all wrong. Perhaps they all looked like him, but in her opinion, it (probably male, though) had strange, thick proportions, with large hands and wide arms. Nothing at all like the time she had dimension-hopped through the mirror.

Speaking of others… Twilight looked around and began walking the direction from which it had come. If there were one, there were probably many; and she needed to find as many others as she could if she had a hope of finding Celestia.

* * *

She continued walking through the forest, close to the road but not on it, as the rough surface sent uncomfortable tremors through her ponyshoes. She probably would have flown, but the thick underbrush would have made that a very painful option, and besides, she didn't want to miss a single clue as to the whereabouts of Celestia.

Suddenly, a deafening crack rang out, and part of a nearby tree branch spontaneously exploded. Twilight dropped to a crouch, ears pricked up. It seemed like lightning, but far too small and there were no clouds in the sky. It didn't even smell like rain; instead, now that she thought about it, it smelled somewhat like a firework.

Another crack filled the air, and another tree splintered. Now that Twilight knew where to look she saw a person there, aiming a long stick at her. Twilight didn't understand much, but she could tell that the stick seemed to be the source of the noise. She lit her horn and shot a barrage of magic back, hitting it right out if his hands. He shrieked and dove after it, apparently feeling helpless without it.

Twilight took this opportunity to run away, ducking under branches and scampering through the woods. Ponies are very surehooved, and she made much better progress through the underbrush and trees than her bumbling attacker.

When she felt she was a safe distance away, she stood and caught her breath, just now realizing the danger she had been in. That could have been her head instead of the trees! “They don’t know who or what I am!” she realized.

Twilight decided that if these new creatures were going to shoot at her on sight, it would be a good idea to make sure they didn’t see her. After her huge spell and that little expenditure, though, she wasn't strong enough for a complete cloaking spell; but also on that page in the book was a distraction spell (colloquially called the Shield of Boringness) that had the effect of shielding her from view unless ponies were specifically looking for her.

Twilight lit her horn and cast the spell. When she was certain it was working, began to walk back towards the road. Celestia had to have been somewhere close to this road when she traveled; it would only make sense that she’d walked it, too.

And, unfortunately, that meant that Celestia had probably been attacked, too. Twilight swallowed her fear and continued walking.

* * *

The day progressed slowly, but Twilight's endurance never slowed. She eventually arrived at a city that was larger than Ponyville, but not overcrowdedly huge.

That is, until it hit noon. She had to do a lot of dodging and jumping as these people moved, apparently lost in their own worlds with no attention spared for others. She desperately wished her magic would recover as teleportation would have come in handy; but then again, maintaining the shield of boringness while teleporting would be difficult just from the output of magic released. The shield itself was a constant drain, but a fairly slow one; so maybe it was best that she kept hoofing it. It wasn't bad, but it was an expenditure.

She was pleased to find a park, just like in Ponyville. There were trees, shade, and drinking fountains; and since there were foals all over the area, she knew it was fairly safe. Her first item of business was to use the drinking fountain; she hadn't realized just how thirsty she was until she'd seen it being used. It seemed to be a simple twisting motion, and even the youngest was able to get a drink (even if he did have to be lifted by his mother to reach the spout). She waited until there was no line, and then trotted up.

Unfortunately, hooves don’t twist very well.

After a few (or maybe many) false starts, she managed to wedge a rear hoof into the dial and twist it enough to get some water. That was a huge relief, and she drank until she was full. She stepped off and wiped off her mouth, and then began to scan the area, looking for anything that could help on her search.

Now, throughout this whole time, she had been maintaining her shield, so it came as a huge shock to Twilight when a little girl’s eyes grew wide, and she began tugging on the pants of the woman standing next to her. “Mom! Mom! Lookit! It’s a unicorn! And it has wings!”

Twilight paused for a brief moment to feel offended. ‘It’? Really? Surely her appearance was not that androgynous.

Her mother looked down, smiled, and stroked her daughter’s hair. “Dissi, honey; there’s no such thing as unicorns, and especially not winged unicorns. They’re just real in my stories.”

The child frowned. “Well, if there’s not, it sure looks like one!” she proclaimed, pointing accusingly at Twilight.

Twilight looked around, but no one else seemed to be reacting to her presence. Maybe being young allowed her to see through her spell? Or did the power of innocence work in this world? Either way, Twilight did not want to be discovered, and she channeled more energy into the spell in the hopes of dissuading her attention.

Dissi looked back at her mother and then back towards Twilight, and her eyes narrowed in confusion and her hand fell. “She’s not there anymore,” she said sadly. She perked up again quickly. “Can Leelee and me go play on the swings?”

The woman smiled. “Of course.” As the little girl ran off, the woman smiled and slowly shook her head. “Oh, Dysis, such an active imagina-” But her voice trailed off as she turned to look where she had pointed, and her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

Twilight’s eyes widened as well. Not just because the woman could see through her shield; but because she recognized her. She knew those eyes better than her own. Even framed by golden-white hair instead of a multicolor mane, she knew those eyes.

“P- Princess Celestia?” she whispered.

Comments

[sakuralovelight]

Oh so can't wait to read more

[Shirohige]

Oooh!

[Tchernobog]

[Keradon]

... yeah this chapter just catapaulted this puppy straight to the favorites list.

[Misdirection01]

Interesting! Hope to see more.

[Diesel_Punk]

Something bothers me. If they both came to this place via the same mean, why did celestia change and not twilight?

[Raistlin]

4924699

Maybe she shapeshifted willingly with her magic.

[dragonjek]

Oh dear. I figured it would be something regarding a new family, but I guess we know why the sun isn't coming home now. About how long do you expect this story to be?

I can only begin to imagine how Twilight will take this. This looks like one of the stories where Celestia was all but a second mother to Twilight. The idea of Celestia with a kid could be... awkward. Jealousy, affection, anger, I don't know, but it would definitely be awkward. And then there's Celestia objecting to going home because of her family, when the one that wants her back the most sees her as a mother and the one who would want her back the most (if she thought Celestia was still alive) is her sister, would be painful. Not returning to your family because of your family. Ow. Her refusal to go back in the first place would be bad enough, but after 15 years of Twilight trying to reach her?

How is Luna ruling, by the way? I suppose the state Equestria is currently in will come up in Celestia and Twilight's talk, but from the sound of it Luna took sole responsibility (or effectively did so) upon Celestia's death. I don't know if Twilight would have time for her 15 year obsession if she participated in the everyday management of the country. How have her relations with her friends fared these past years? If Twilight can't convince Celestia to come home with her, would she stay on Earth?

If Celestia wound up on Earth from the magic collision, does that mean Sombra went there too? If he did... is he the one Celestia had Dysis with? (is that her full name or a shortened one, btw? I suppose that, living as a human, she might use human naming conventions, but there are a number of human names that would fit into 1-name pony name patterns) If not, what happened to him? Who did Celestia have a kid with? Is he still around? But if so, how did Sombra become the type of pony/person Celestia would try to make a life with?

But if the father was her fellow pony, then I would think she would be more open to going home. The change in her daughter's form wouldn't really be that significant a thing. Hm... dimensional travel might have purged Sombra of darkness and going back to Equestria could corrupt him again, or she worries that it might infect Dysis? Was... was Dysis the result of willing sex in the first place? That could put even more of a worry on her possibly being affected by dark magic, if she isn't. If Dysis's father was a real, actual human (and still around), it doesn't seem like Dysis has any idea what her mother really is (and if she's keeping it secret from her kid, there's a fair chance that the father doesn't know she's secretly a horse, either), and exposing her new family to that truth would irrevocably alter their relationship, possibly beyond repair (although a little girl probably wouldn't see much wrong with an awesomesauce pony mom, the guy might have some objections to finding out he's been sleeping with an equine).

Why is Celestia human? I'm guessing she transformed herself via magic (as she could see right through Twilight's spell), but there are a number of unintentional things I could imagine might turn her human, depending on how magic and dimensional travel work in the story. Is she able to consciously use magic without her horn? Just how human is Dysis? While it could be innocence, she just so happens to be Celestia's daughter, which makes her ability to notice Twilight despite her Shield of Boringness a bit more suspicious. She's either a half-pony or a pony born, to the body of a human.

Is she mortal there on Earth? Are alicorns even able to have children (or if they do, are their children alicorns as well)? That would certainly be an understandable reason to stay--natural death would never find her, and having a child (or a child she won't outlive) might be impossible back in Equestria. She could also decide not to go due to the method of travel--the double magic-spolsion from Equestria leads to Earth, but would one from Earth necessarily lead back to Equestria? If she did want to go back to Equestria (with the new family, obviously), she'd be risking not only her own life, but that of her daughter (and possibly husband). Can a being from a world with no magic even be affected normally by magic? If not, Dysis would make any calculations Twilight had about how to travel be thrown way off, or might make dimensional travel with the kid in tow impossible.

Twilight's reaction to human technology (and pot) is funny. She'd probably be excited if she got the chance to figure out what it actually was, nerd that she is.

I have no idea what you might do yet, and I love it. The lack of a sad or tragedy tag is encouraging, though. You've got yourself a favorite.

[Motsu]

This cliffhanger is maximum.

[dragonjek]

4925147 Yes, only those looking for Twilight can find her. But Dysis isn't looking for unicorns everywhere she goes. Even little innocent kids who believe they exist don't try to look for unicorns all the time, everywhere (especially considering that the stories she's told are almost certainly about Equestria ponies (which don't spend their time hiding from everyone), not the mythological, rare, shy, you-only-get-a-glimpse unicorns from Greek mythology). She would have to have been told a pony story five minutes ago, or through a ridiculously extreme act of luck (even for fiction) have been trying to find a unicorn at that exact moment, in a city, on an ordinary walk. There's no reason that she would be looking for Twilight right then.

The "power of innocence" bit mentioned in story would be a likely reason to see past the shield, but if that isn't confirmed then I think her supernatural origins are a more likely reason for it.

[StormyVenture]

4925279
It seems to me that wanting to see something badly enough or generally believing in it might be sufficient to elude the spell. Either that or the spell operates a little differently than Twilight thinks. Sounds like Dysis wants to see a unicorn and that, for her, is breaking through Twilight's spell. It depends on whether looking for Twilight means that you must know who Twilight Sparkle is, something about her and be searching for her specifically or if looking for a winged unicorn (alicorn) is enough to find one if she's trying to hide right in front of you. -- I sincerely hope this isn't one of those "ponies don't really exist" meta stories and there's a good reason for Celestia or a near clone to be there and not returning to Equestria.

I suppose it's possible that the dimensional travel changed her into a human, but she remembers being a pony and retains something of her original nature. Maybe she couldn't change back and so she couldn't use magic to travel back?

[TyaLeora12]

If Dissi is Celestia's daughter... Uhh that's mean she married right? And who is her husband?

[dragonjek]

4925715 Wanting something or believing it exists is a drastically different concept from looking for it.
If you are looking for something, you are trying to find something. It is an external action is actual purpose behind it. Wanting and believing are undirected and internal, and passive besides. The nature of those words are completely different.

The spell seems familiar to a few other things I've occasionally come across in fiction, and if it is like them then one probably doesn't have to be looking for Twilight Sparkle specifically. Someone could hear that there was some sort of funny horse in the residential district, and if they went searching for it they might be able to see her.

I doubt that ponies don't actually exist. It doesn't look like the story's going there, and it would be hard for something that only exists in fiction to make itself non-fiction, as any means to pull them from a story would require some bizarre technology--which, as travel was initiated on the pony side of thins, is rather unlikely. As for good reasons... well, whether a reason is good or not is completely subjective, but I don't think that Celestia would stay behind without one.

[SHL]

4923487 My exact reaction right now

[SinfulDreams]

4927591 ...Discord?

[Georg]

"... the Shield of Boringness"

Because Marilgold is Best Unicorn

[bahatumay]

4939216
YES!
I was hoping someone would catch that reference!

[Alondro]

4924699 Also, incredibly convenient that Twilight pretty much stumbled right across not only the correct dimension on the first try, but the same general location of Celestia as well...

And then to top off the incredulity, she basically stumbles right into Celestia by pure happenstance.

She should totally be playing Powerball, Megamillions and every other lottery and casino game on earth with that kind of luck!

[Snowstreak]

Though it had a strange aroma, it appeared to be edible.

Dis gon b gud.

But Twilight was not so foolish as to eat new plants without detailed study.

So the world didn't end that day.

[Widow Peak]

Hold on a Celestia-forsaken second...