Beneath the Eternal Sun

by Darkmetroidz

Chapter 2- Hell's Gates

That morning, Canterlot Castle might have been the gates of hell. And that would make Celestia… -Princess Luna

1 Hour since the Solstice

Princess Luna liked the summer solstice for different reasons than most other ponies. Since it was the longest day of the year, that meant Luna got almost sixteen hours to sleep after she put the moon down. At six-thirty in the morning, her princessly duties were officially done for the day, and Luna could retire to her soft bed and silken sheets for a well-deserved rest.

Her slumber was disturbed shortly after. A little after noon, Luna woke up soaked in sweat. Her bedroom had become unbearably hot in the few hours she had been asleep. She threw every sheet and blanket off her bed, but it was not enough to cool herself down. Usually, Luna's bedroom was one of the coldest rooms in the castle, but now it felt like an oven.

With only a couple hours worth of sleep, Luna was barely awake when she rolled out of bed. I'll just go turn down the thermostat and get right back to bed. She thought. There was still a long time before she would have to raise the moon, but still, she wanted to get back to bed as quickly as possible to get every second of sleep she could.

In her stupor, Luna was registering very little of what was going on around her. Her eyes were still partly crusted with sleep, and she navigated her way through the castle more by memory than by sight. Had she been awake, she might have noticed the groups of Royal Guardsponies, sitting along the walls of the hallway, stripping off their armor, manes slicked with sweat, talking and complaining to each other.

"What, is she trying to cook us?"

"Stars, it's like a furnace in there."

"Did you see her eyes? They were terrifying."

Luna had gotten very close to the huge twin doors that guarded the entrance to the throne room when a tiny version of herself, a manifestation of her conscience appeared on her shoulder. "Uh, boss?" It squeaked in a high-pitched version of Luna's voice. "We don't have a thermostat." It disappeared in a puff of smoke, taking any remnants of Luna's sleepiness with it, replacing it with realization, and fear. That's not good. She thought.

Cautiously, she opened the doors of the throne room, only to be blasted by a wave of heat so thick it felt solid. Luna struggled to see down the long chamber, but could not see far because of the heat distorting the air. Luna stepped foot inside, the oppressive warmth closing in on her, threatening to crush her. She estimated the temperature to be at least one hundred twenty degrees, probably more. Definitely hot enough to be dangerous. Luna lit up her horn, working to cast a spell she had learned years ago that would draw heat out of the body, and while she was still uncomfortable, she didn’t have to worry about collapsing from heat stroke.

The walk across the room only took a minute, but to Luna it felt more like an hour. Each step felt like it was being taken underwater, between the exertion of the spell and the toll the heat was having on her stamina. It's a terrible time to have a dark coat. She mused. Dark colors attracted more heat, and Luna's fur was about as dark as it came. Luna took great caution to keep her hooves on the red carpet lining the center of the room. If her hoof strayed off onto the bare marble on the edges of the chamber, she could expect painful burns on the bottoms of her feet.

Through the heat distortion, she could see two gleaming points of light at the far end of the room. Even at a distance, there was no doubting it; it had to be Celestia.

As Luna drew even closer, she was able make out her sister in greater detail, and quickly realized something was very, very wrong. The first thing Luna noticed was her mane. Usually her sister's mane cascaded in serene colors, now it seemed to dance red and orange like it was made of fire. Similarly, her eyes burned with an unearthly glow, and instead of warmth and kindness, radiated hatred and aggression.

Still, Luna was not afraid. Celestia was only ever frightening when she was protecting Equestria. Luna saw no reason to be worried.

"Sister, would you please turn the heat down?" She shouted, trying to get her attention, "I cannot sleep because of how warm it is in my bedroom!"

Without looking down at her, Celestia's voice boomed in Luna's ears, "Silence!" She hissed. In spite of the deafening volume, her mouth did not move. Instead, her voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, assaulting Luna deep in her brain. "The heat and the sun are to remain as they are, and I will not allow you to change that, Luna."

Now Luna had more questions. It was definitely her sister that was making it so hot, but why? What was there for Luna to interfere with, and why was she mentioning it? And what had she said about the sun?

"Sister, please be reasonable. I just want to go back to bed, but I can't with this ridiculous heat." Feeling a bit of courage, Luna dared to ask another question. "What did you say about the sun?"

Very suddenly, her sister's voice turned from intimidating to angry. "For thousands of years, ponies have prospered beneath the light of my sun! The sun is what brings life to Equestria, and I have decided that from now on, it will remain where it is!"

Luna swallowed hard. Her sister's rhetoric reminded her of that of Nightmare Moon. "S-sister, this is madness! There has to be a balance between day and night for there to be harmony in Equestria! Without the night, there is no-"

"SILENCE!" Celestia roared. "I will not allow you to stand in my way, sister! Take this as a warning. You will not receive another." Without another word, a ring of fire formed on the floor around Luna that slowly started closing in towards her. The flames danced at neck height, just low enough so that Luna could see over the top, but in the confined space, there was no room for her to jump out. Luna tried to fly, but her wings had locked out of fear. She saw a flash from Celestia's eye, and a small lance of flame shot out of the ring and seared the right side of her face.

Luna screamed in agony as the fire ate away at hair and flesh. The smell of charred fur filled the air as Celestia watched uncaringly while her sister suffered at her hooves. Luna could feel the fur on the right side of her face burning off, followed by what felt like her skin melting. Had she not snapped her eyes shut immediately, she surely would have been blinded.

All Luna could think was fly, fly fly! Acting without thought, her wings spread wide and propelled herself towards the nearest exit, a stained glass window depicting Nightmare Moon's defeat by Twilight Sparkle. She couldn’t think straight. All she could do was put as much distance between herself and Canterlot as possible.

As she flew out the hole she created, she could hear Celestia's voice calling out to her telepathically. "If I ever see you or your accursed moon, I will not hesitate to kill you!"

Bits of shattered glass dug themselves into Luna's back and wings, but she was too scared to feel them. Her entire world had turned to chaos with one simple act. Celestia, her ever kind, nurturing sister, had injured her without warning or reason. There was so much to process, but Luna could register almost none of it. She was acting more like a wounded animal, running away without thought.

It took a few hours for Luna's adrenaline levels to lower to the point where she could think clearly. Unfortunately, that also meant she was feeling the full wrath of her injuries, both the burn and the broken glass. She was also incredibly tired. She would not be able to keep flying for much longer. She needed to find a safe place to land, where she could hide and recover, at least until she could make heads and tails of what had happened. For the first time since her escape, Luna slowed down enough to figure out where she was.

Her escape had put her along the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, near the town of Ponyville. Hiding with Princess Twilight would be out of the question. Luna had no idea what she knew, but she could not risk Twilight turning her over to Celestia. Twilight Sparkle had a good heart, but Luna also knew she was like putty in Celestia's hooves. If Celestia were to track her to Ponyville, Luna was unsure what Twilight would do.

Better to err on the side of caution. The Castle of the Two Sisters was not far, and while it was not ideal, it had one benefit that outweighed any problems; it was private. Few ever dared visit it, which would make it a perfect place for Luna to sleep for a few days to allow the pain to abate and her wounds to start healing.

The ruins came into view quickly. Her wings were horribly tired from her panicked flight. She could not muster the strength to come in for a controlled landing. Instead, she aimed herself at whatever looked soft and allowed herself to crash land.

Like a falling star, Luna slammed down on a pile of dead leaves that had piled up in one of the courtyards. She landed on her left side, leaving her burnt face exposed to the blazing sun. Luna was completely spent. There was no energy left in her tired, aching muscles. All she could do was lay there in agony, her face complaining of its burns, her back and wings the glass, and her muscles of their aching and cramping. Finally, Luna's body simply shut down. She fell unconscious there in that pile of leaves. This is not how I wanted to go back to bed. She thought weakly before her mind finally faded to black.