War over the Sun

by starfox64x

Ch 1. No Time to Celebrate

War for the Sun

Chapter 1, No Time to Celebrate.

“Pinkie Pie! Quit it! You’re going to tip the carriage!” Rainbow Dash scrambled around in the small carriage, trying to pin down the feisty pink pony, whom was bouncing around in her normally eager fashion. It wouldn’t be too big of a problem, except the carriage they were traveling in was particularly small for the six ponies traveling in it.

“I can’t help it!” she told her, finally taking a seat, although her tail twitched uncontrollably behind her, swatting Twilight and Applejack with each pass, “This is going to be such a great party!”

“Pinkie, this ISN’T a party.” Twilight told her, trying to hold the active tail down long enough to get her attention, “The princess just wants to meet with us about something as representatives of Ponyville… there are going to be representatives from all over Equestria about this, and we need to BEHAVE.” She gave Pinkie a glare, trying to hint to her that she needed to be… less like Pinkie Pie today.

“Aww! But that means people from all over Equestria will be there! We can have a global theme! With snacks from all over the world! We can have chocolate nests with marshmallow eggs for the Griffins, Spicy dragon fruit punch for the dragons-“

“They’re already providing food pinkie.” Twilight interrupted quickly before the ideas got too much for Pinkie to handle, “They’ve got things under control, we’ll have a party when we get back, okay?”

Pinkie pie just smiled as she finally took her seat, a glint of hyperactive joy in her eyes. With the loud one finally calmed down to a reasonable level, Applejack spoke up with a few questions, “Why us anyway? I mean, I can understand you, being her student and whatnot, but why are the rest of us suppose to represent ponyvlle for this… thing? Wouldn’t it be better for the Mayor to handle?” the attention of the other ponies shifted from Applejack to Twilight, this was apparently something that had crossed their mind as well.

Twilight nodded, it was a genuinely reasonable question to ask, “Well, according to her letter, we’ve all taken part is saving Ponyville and even Equestria a few times… so she believes that we are more than qualified to represent our friends in Ponyville.” She gave them all a smile, as if telling them she was proud to have such brave and heroic friends alongside her.

Rainbow dash was unfazed though, her own curiosities boiling inside her, “What are we all meeting for? What’s going on that they need people from all over Equestria to meet so suddenly?”

Twilight frowned, her head dropping a little. She didn’t have the answer to that, and although she quickly replied to Celestia’s letter asking this herself, she got no reply, “I’m not sure… but it seemed important, so I’m sure we’ll find out soon!” she tried to bring her smile back, but everyone could see the worried look in her eyes. The group quieted down for the short remainder of the trip, feeling their questions could only be answered by Princess Celestia herself.

Spike hopped off the drivers seat of the carriage, opening the door for the six friends, “We’re here!” the girls slowly exited the carriage to be formally greeted by a royal guard, “It’s good to see you ladies,” he glanced up as a rainbdrop fell onto his nose. The clouds were rolling in quickly, and the rumbling in the distance made him feel uneasy. “Please, follow me. The others are waiting in the main hall.” The girls nodded and followed him, but their curiosity began to boil once more. Rainbow Dash was the first to voice her wonders.

“So buddy, what’s the deal?” she asked, hovering by his side.

“Princess Celestia has asked ponies from across Equestria to come together today for discussions…” he said simple as he led them into the castle.

“Uh, yeah, we got that… anything else? Like what we’re talking about? Or why?”

The soldier stopped outside the large set of doors leading to the next room… he was quiet for a moment, as if thinking of what to say… or rather, if he should say it at all. “I’m not entirely sure what it is that’s going on… But a few days ago there was an attack at Trottingham.” The girls froze in place, their hearts stopping briefly. Fluttershy mouthed the last few words he spoke, as if trying to comprehend them fully. He continued when he noticed the sudden silence amongst them, “No one was killed, although there were a few injuries… word is that dragons crossed over the border and began to destroy the town…” the rain slowly began coming down with more force, and in greater numbers on their heads.

“Why would they do such a thing?” Rarity asked, appalled at the idea that these creatures, with their beautifully colored scales and gorgeous wings, would do something so violent without cause.

“I don’t know, even what I was told was limited… Princess Celestia and Princess Luna apparently went out that way as soon as we got word of the attack… My guess would be to confront the dragons about this…”

“She… she wouldn’t start fighting with them, would she?” Fluttershy’s voice was soft and timid, but amongst the silence of the others, it was clearly heard by all.

“I don’t think so… you know her, she’s a peaceful pony… even after Nightmare moon tried to take over Equestria, she found it difficult to confront her a second time.”

Memories of the incident flooded back to the girls…. Nightmare Moon’s return after one thousand years, and her threat to bring eternal night to the land of Equestria. At the time it seemed bad enough, but over time they all realized how things would be today if her takeover had been seen through; no light to grow the plants, time would stand still, the naturally invigorating light would be replaced with the cold, dim stare of the moon. The worlds creatures dependant on it’s light to see would be no match for the creatures of the night. The broken balance of the world would be devastating for everypony.

“I think you should head inside… The others are waiting… although the princesses has yet to return from their trip to Trottingham.” He nudged open the door before stepping aside to let them through. Twilight was last to pass, but she stopped by his side, “When will she be back?” she asked quietly.

The guard looked away slightly, “She should have been home hours ago…’ he quickly realized what he said and tried to fix it, “B-but you know her… she loves the scenery! heh… I’m sure she wont be much longer…” he gave her an awkward smile… it didn’t work for her. She quietly followed her friends into the large room, where others were gathered, standing around, chatting and discussing their thoughts on what they knew. Mostly rumors and hearsay about what had happened, many ponies argued that they had heard something completely different, while others stood back to avoid the confrontations, figuring the rumors would only spawn more rumors.

“I heard the Princess was killed!”

“Ridiculous! She’s too powerful to be taken down by a couple of dragons!”

“I thought she blew up their continent…”

“No! She used her powers to create a barrier so they couldn’t get over.”

“Celestia didn’t blow it up! Luna used the moon to crush them all!”

“The moon is still in the sky you twit!”

“I don’t see it!”

“It’s because of the storm you foal, you can’t see ANYTHING up there.”

“It’s the dragons! They’re changing the weather to hide their army so they can attack canterlot!”

Twilight wasn’t one to absorb rumors like those, but all the talk along with the princesses mysteriously missing gave her a bad feeling in her gut. Her head hung low as her mind began to come up with their own ideas of what terrible things might be happening…

“Hey Twilight, don’t get so upset…” Spike gently stroked her neck, trying to cheer her up, “Princess Celestia will be back soon… she’s just taking the long way home… “

Twilight smiled at her trusted assistant, “You’re so sweet, Spike… always trying to cheer me up when I’m down.” She rubbed her cheek against his, showing him her thanks.

His cheeks turned pink, “Aw, you’re such a flatterer, twilight, hehe…”

“You should try that charm on Rarity some time.” She grinned a little, while Spike flushed red. He sputtered a bunch of words, not really making a clear sentence… however they quickly got distracted by a sudden cheer.

Pinkie Pie was standing up on the table, surrounded by cupcakes, “Woo! Come on everypony! Who says we have to wait around doing nothing? Lets make sure when the two princesses get home they come home to the GREATEST PARTY IN EQUESTRIA!” She popped a record onto a record player, one that until now, no one knew was there, if it was even there to begin with. Loud music pumped into the room from the player, echoing off the walls of the main hall.

Many of the guests seemed reluctant to party, considering what most of them were discussing amongst each other… but Pinkie’s cheerful and contagious demeanor brought them out of their nervous shells, cutting through the tension like a hot knife through butter, and soon the entire room was full of ponies bouncing to the music from the record player, and popping cupcakes into their mouths.

Pinkie made her way around the room, bouncing around, finding those with lackluster dancing ambitions, and giving them a ride as their dance partner until they too were jumping and bouncing with just as much fire as her. When her goal to liven up an individual had been completed, she would quickly move onto the next pony who gave little energy into their dancing efforts.

Rainbow Dash didn’t have this issue with her dancing, always wanting to be the center of attention, was dancing wildly in the middle of the dance floor. She was making most of it up as she was going along, but from time to time she would lift her self into the air and do a few moves that her friends were familiar with. Loops and spins, anything to impress the crowd. The wonderbolts were nowhere to be seen, but she figured if she impressed a crowd here, maybe word would get to them about how she not only dominated the skies with her skills, but the dance floor as well.

Although Rarity wasn’t going as wild as the colorful pegusus, she was just as flashy and was getting just as much attention. She didn’t know that a party would ensue, although she wasn’t very surprised considering Pinkie Pie was coming along, she DID however know to dress herself in a stunning gown. She danced fairly modestly, but still gathered much attention from across the room. She knew she looked good, and she was happy for the attention, but she kept mostly to herself, enjoying the gaze of those admiring her.

Applejack quietly cursed herself for not thinking about bringing some apples with her to sell to the enormous crowd. Luckily for her though, she overheard a few ponies chatting about business, and her curiosity led her to scoot closer. Her ears perked when she heard one mention that their town’s apple orchard had been wrecked by a wildfire. Applejack quickly poked her head into the conversation, eagerly offering her assistance to them. “Well if you need some apples, our orchard has a bit more apples than we can sell… I would be more than happy to sell you our overstock at a discount… and maybe I could offer some of my services to help restore your orchard…” her warm smile grabbed the eyes of the business ponies and her proposition quickly grabbed their wallets. She knew she had them, now they just needed to get through the boring paperwork. It had become a surprisingly good day for Applejack.

Even twilight found herself dancing alongside her friends, although her concern for her mentor was still poking at the back of her brain; Why would she be gone for so long? Why would the dragons attack so suddenly? What would their future hold now?

“This is a wonderful party, isn’t it, Twilight?” Fluttershy walked over to her from her secluded corner, she liked to dance, but with all the strangers around she felt a little reluctant to join them. Although that’s not to say she wasn’t enjoying herself.

“Yeah, it’s great huh?”

“I was thinking though, what do you think an already BIG celebration would be like if Pinkie were to host it? Like the Summer Sun Celebration or the Grand Galloping Gala?” it was a simple thought for a wandering mind to come up with

Twilight giggled, “Didn’t we already see how Pinkie Pie turned the Grand Galloping Gala into a wild party just a couple of months ago?”

A giggle escaped Fluttershy’s lips as well, “Oh yes, I almost forgot… although… sometimes I kinda wish I would forget…” her smile faded fast, she still hadn’t gotten over how she acted during the gala, it pained her to think how crazy she got over the animals…

Twilight moved in quickly to get her mind onto a new path, “I bet the Summer Sun Celebration would be wild too… I can imagine Princess Celestia being strapped to a couple of sparklers before rising up to bring the sun up,” The two laughed, but it quickly reminded her of who she was worried about…

“Although it was nice that the princess invited her sister to start the night before with a celebration too… I’m so glad she’s being so sweet to her sister like that…”

Twilight smiled, it was nice to watch the moon rise into the sky the night before the Summer Sun Celebration. She seemed so happy to take place in royal events with her sister. The look of happiness and admiration in her eyes toward Princess Celestia… it was a magical moment. “Yeah… they truly love each other, don’t they? Didn’t Celestia mention the possibility of having a similar event in the winter for Luna to host? The Winter Lunar Cel-”

A sudden crash caught everyone’s attention. The sudden slam rocked the room, causing the record player to slip and go silent, along with the rest of the room. They thought it might be thunder from the storm brewing outside, but the true cause was lit up by a bolt of lightning outside. Standing in the doorway was the Princess of Equestria, Celestia. The doors had swung open at her arrival; her horn was just fading to normal from the magic she used to push them open.

“Princess!” Twilight exclaimed, seeing her mentor was alive. She took a step toward her, but her eyes focused on her face... a face of a tortured soul.

Celestia’s eyes lacked the glow of the sun she took command over, her long mane lay limp against her back, hanging off her side and dripping wet from the rain. Her wings were collapsed by her side, dragging across the floor as she began to walk. As ponies saw how their princess looked, they gasped, they had never seen this lively spirit crushed like this.

The princess carefully took a step forward, holding her left hind leg up in the air, hopping the other to make up for the injury. Across her body were cuts and bruises, tainting her pure white body. She slowly made her way toward the center of the room, and was quickly joined by Twilight, “Princess! What happened to you?”

The Princess didn’t even acknowledge her by her side… she continued to walk slowly into the room, approaching the guests. One of the guards barked out to the other to get a medical team to come as quickly as possible.

“Did… Did the dragons do this to you, Princess?” Spike overheard the question, feeling his heart drop… would his own kind do something like this to the princess? But again, she didn’t answer her. “Where are all of the gaurds that you took with you? What happened to them?” Celestia continued to hobble closer to her intended spot. Suddenly a more important question came to the young pony’s mind…

“Princess… Where is your sister?”

The princess stopped midstep, her body shivered as she stood in place. Her blank stare looked at the fresh memories of what had happened. A drop of water ran from her eye down her cheek, whether it was a tear or just water from the rain, Twilight couldn’t tell.… It was silent for a moment as she stood there, but she finally regained her thoughts, and lifted her head to speak, “As I’m sure you all know… the Dragons of Dracozard attack the town of Trottingham a few days ago, and I went out to speak with them.” Her voice was weak, but she tried to speak up so everyone in the room could hear. The utter silence from everyone made this a fairly easy task, even with the weak leader. “I thought it may have been a group of ruffians playing games… but as it turns out… it was directed by military to get my attention… We tried to talk peace with them, but their lust for power drove them to attack me… and those who I brought with me…” Twilight felt her heart twisting in her chest, her thoughts on all the guards who tried to protect her… and her sister… “They seek to overthrow my reign, and take my power I hold… They threaten to make Equestria burn to try and take it, and they plan to send our world into a dark chaos when they do… I will not allow that to happen… but I must ask you all to help me… They plan to attack us with their strongest, and the army we have will not be enough… I ask everyone here to please return home and help gather supporters to join the fight against those who wish to destroy us…”

Many ponies in the room seemed eager to join her in the fight… but others, including Fluttershy, seemed unsure, and reluctant to fight. “Please, I know its not easy to fight… I don’t want things to go this way either… but if they are willing to take such bold moves like attacking out people and royalty on our own soil, than think what move they might take next… we have to strike back… before they come to us…before they kill everyone” her final words came out a bit sputter, her body falling to the ground.

“PRINCESS!” Twilight cried, jumping over her legs to look at her face. She was out cold. The medical team quickly arrived on the scene, the unicorn lifting her up with their magic and quickly making their way to the medical tower.

Twilight stood there in shock, staring at the door that the medical ponies used to exit the room. Around her ponies began to chatter wildly, some eager to join the cause, while others desperately wanted to avoid ending up like the princess in a war. Twilight didn’t hear a word… her own thoughts were more than enough to start a fight in her own mind. Would she fight for the safety of her friends? Or hide away to try and protect them from getting hurt in battle? Opinions fly between her friends as well, Rainbow Dash was eager to kick some butt, while Fluttershy was already emotionally tucking herself away.

A war in Equestria… millennia without conflict was about to end… soon a battle between ponies and dragons would take place… Love and tolerance is a hard thing to find in war.