War over the Sun

by starfox64x

Ch 2. Nightmare

War Over the Sun

Chapter 2, When the Moon went Dark.

The dark room was silent. Celestia had been left alone to rest in the lonely room at the top of the medical tower, The doctors and nurses did all they could for the princess. A few voices could be heard through the door, discussing further treatment for the princess.

The dim light of the moon gave Rainbow Dash a decent view of the tired soul resting in the large bed. She didn’t dare approach the princess though. It was a sacred object in this world, and now it was more fragile than ever before. She even feared the flapping of her wings would disturb the air entering her lungs, she was genuinely scared and unsure of what to do. Although all she was asked to do was to check up on the princess, she wanted to do more but feared further investigation would harm the princess in some way.

When she felt like she had observed long enough, she quickly descended to join the other girls by the ground, landing by their feet, “She’s breathing…” she said softly, it was about the only information she gathered hovering outside her open window, “She seems real peaceful…”

“Don’t say it like that…” Twilight snapped quickly, her head hanging low “Dead ponies look peaceful…”

Dash bit her lip, a bit of a grim look on her face, “Sorry… I-I just meant…” her words drifted to silence, deciding to just let it go.

Applejack nudged the purple pony, trying to cheer her up a bit, “Maybe ya should go see her… I’m sure she’d love to see her little pupil by her side when she wakes up.” She knew they were close, a bond between teacher and student was strong.

“Maybe… I don’t know…” she kept her gaze low, the fresh memories of her teacher collapsing on the floor into a small pool of her own blood. It was horrifying to watch, and just as much so to think about it.

“How about I go up there and throw her a PARTY instead?” Pinkie pie blew hard into a noise maker, making a loud buzzing sound echo through the courtyard. “It’ll be great! She’ll wake up and we’ll have streamers and balloons and music and cake-OH! And candy! Lots and lots of-“

“NO!” all of the ponies spoke up quickly, twilight moreso than the others, her head no longer aimed toward the ground beneath her feet.

“fine… I’ll go up and see her…” Twilight turned from her friends and slowly walked into the tower, making her way to the stairs quietly.

Pinkie pie giggled to herself, a sly grin tugging at her lips, “I knew that would work…”

Rainbow Dash gave her a confused look… before realizing what just happened, “Did you just convince Twilight to go see the Princess by threatening to throw a party?”

Pinkie pie giggled, “I’m not dumb y’know… ” the girls gave her a smile, heading off to get to bed for the time being.

Up in the tower, Twilight quietly entered Celestia’s room, seeing the pony sleeping quietly under the thin sheet placed over her lower half in an attempt to keep her warm while she rested. The pupil sat quietly by her side, watching her chest move up and down slowly with each breath. Her cuts were stitched and bandaged, while her broken wing was placed in a cast. An IV was attached to her side, replacing the large amount of blood lost during her fight. A bell sat by her bed, heavily enchanted with unicorn magic to ring if something happened with the princesses. The extra magic made it extra sensitive to any sudden changes in her condition.

Twiilight soon found herself unable to just sit there quietly and watch her teacher sleep, her curiosity and concern were flaring up to unbearable levels. She took a look around the room, taking a look at the door before look at her teacher once more. She closed her eyes, and her horn began to glow faintly as she began to concentrate on her teacher.

“Twilight, what are you doing?” the voice shocked her, making her lose her focus. She quickly turned to the door, seeing her little assistant, Spike, in the doorway. “Twilight… you were using magic on the Princess…” he feared she was using her powers in a desperate attempt to heal her. He knew she didn’t know enough about medical magic yet, but he DID know she was crazy enough to try anything to help her teacher.

Twilght bit her bottom lip, giving him a quiet nod, “Yes… I was trying to take a look at her memories… I want to know what happened.”

He sighed, feeling relieved that the inexperienced pony wasn’t trying something reckless. However, now the thought of knowing the truth frightened him just as much. Spike quietly made his way over to her, making sure to shut the door silently, “Why do you want to know so badly?”

“Princess Celestia has never lost her temper… she’s always been so sweet and kind… and just now she’s declared war with the other side of the world…” Twilight seemed flustered by all these thoughts in her head, he questions filling her skull, threatening to burst open. “I want to know what happened to make her make a decision like that… It’s so unlike her…” she continued to watch her teacher sleep… not much had changed since Rainbow Dashes report…

The young assistant finally spoke up after a moment of silence, “I want to know too.” Spike said quietly to her, “I’m a dragon too… I want to know what they’ve done to make her want to have a war against them…”

“Spike… if you’re worried that she’s going to go after you, you should know better… You’ve been my best friend for ages… there’s no way-“

“Please Twilight!…” he raised his voice just a bit, still whispering compared to what a normal outburst like that would be, “just tell me what you see…” Spike had a look in his eyes… something more than curiosity was in there….

Twilight felt a bit intimidated by the young dragon snapping at her. However she didn’t want to keep him waiting. She looked back at Princess Celestia and began to focus again on her, slowly diving into the mind and memories of her teacher. She traveled in reverse through her memories… her speech at the party, her braving the storm with a crooked wing, a fire burning in the night, a pained cry calling out, screaming… and finally she got to the point where she was being escorted into the town of Trottingham. Twilight was scared going back through the memories… just the brief cries of an unknown pony made the student frightened to find out who they would belong to… who’s cries Celestia heard amongst the fire.

“We’re arriving at Trottingham Princesses,” called out one of the guards flying their royal carriage. Through Celestia’s eyes, Twilight saw her turn to her little sister, she felt a smile spread across her face, as the princess had done in the memory. The moonlight shined against her little sister, her mane sparkling like the starry night sky.

“I’ve never seen Trottingham like this before…” Luna said to her big sister in an eager tone. To Twilight, the voice sounded a bit fuzzy, echoing a bit. The memory was still forming around them and taking shape. Even the younger Princess Luna hadn’t completely rendered into the exact shape of Luna. After a few more seconds the memory felt real, the air felt like it was flowing through her mane, and the air tasted salty from the sea not far from them The area below was grassy, but the details were dulled by the dim light of the crescent above them. “I’ve only seen it from up in the moon…” she turned to look ahead toward the town they were approaching, “I’ve always wondered what it looked like up clo-… oh no…” her eyes widened as she looked off into the distance… Celestia quickly looked as well, spotting smoke rising from the town. Celestia’s eyes caught sight of something below them. She looked over the edge and saw many ponies pulling carts of their belongings with their families, frightened fillies clinging to their parents, while they themselves walked close to one another in fear. Though the dark night gave them little light to see, their frightened tears glimmered brightly as the families escaped the burning wreckage that was their home town…

Celestia glared at the flames, seeing two large dragon on the other end of town standing side by side, watching her approach. Her wings lay close to her back, as her self control tried to keep her from jumping out of the carriage and head butting the ones waiting for them “There, that is where we are to meet them.” She said quietly, more to herself than those around her…

The younger princess fidgeted nervously as the carriage descended lower, Celestia could see the fear in her eyes. She now wondered if it was a mistake to bring her along.

Their eyes locked onto the large dragons, standing side by side, towering over the ponies. Between them though was a more moderately sized dragon, just about Princess Celestia’s height. He was clothed in dark regal attire, holding a cane in front of him. He didn’t seem to be weak or impaired; the cane was most likely for show.

The princess dismounted as soon as they had slowed to a moderate speed, walking up to the three dragons, “I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, and I demand to know why you have crossed our borders and attacked our ponies!” the guard’s that pulled her along quickly detached themselves from the carriage, helping her little sister out before taking their place by Celestia’s side.

The dragon grinned at her, shifting his stance a bit, “Wonderful to meet you Princess… I’m Salazar… I am the ruler of my people as well. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

His casual tone and toothy grin angered the princess. She glared daggers at him, he acted so calm and confident amongst the flames of her ponies homes, “So you came and attacked us yourself… this is an act of war, you know…” she hoped that the idea of a full blown war would frighten the dragon enough to send him on his way.

“A war is not what I want, but if you don’t cooperate, a war is what you’ll get.” The princess felt a tinge of pain in the back of her mind… she didn’t want a war, she wanted everyone to be safe… “Than what do you want from us? What do we have to do to avoid a war?”

He shifted again, raising his head to speak. From the way he spoke, it seemed like he had planned out this speech of his. “You see, princess… as Dragons, we are cold blooded… Reptilian people always have been this way… since the dawn of time we have endured the cold nights, and only basked in the warm sun for mere hours, touched by its glorious warmth for only a short time before reverting to the cold dark night.” Salazar rubbed his arms, shivering a bit. His own words reminded him of the cool night they were standing in. Even with his thick royal garb, it was chilly for him tonight. Celestia listened quietly, although she wasn’t sure how this could relate to a solution… but she didn’t say a word, waiting for him to get to the point. “Last year in the land of Equestria, the night before the longest day of your year, a miracle happened on our end of the planet…” he grinned a little, his own memories of that day flooding through his, “Normally the shortest day of OUR year, and the most hated day to us dragons… it didn’t end… the sun stayed high in the sky for so long, much longer than normal… its warmth warmed our bodies. It was absolutely wonderful…”

Celestia felt her heart skip a beat, that night; it was the night Nightmare Moon made her return. That night she was given the choice to either try to get the elements of harmony gathered once again and free her sister from the evil inside her… or completely destroy her in a fight to save her kingdom. She was happy that things turned out for the better, but even now she still feared what might have happened if she chose to confront her sister and fight her. Her mind quickly moved back to their current situation, so she spoke up, “So, on our end of the world, when the night lasted for almost twice as long for us, on your side of the world, the sun stayed up.” she repeated the information as if double checking her notes, if some sort of agreement were to be made, she would need to make sure all her facts were accurate.

Salazar grinned widely, “It was a wonderful day indeed… but sadly, it did come to an end… and the night the followed remained the longest and coldest as it was every year. we heard stories of how the princess of Equestria had briefly fallen, and how that was the reason the sun did not rise for you.”

“So… you expect me now to give you a longer day?” Celestia moved her position, showing a stronger stance, as if she was unmoved by his demands.

“We can’t do that!” Luna suddenly interrupted, “We need as much daylight as possible to keep our plants growing, we can’t simply shorten our day to give you a longer one… and if we make both our days longer, than the night will last longer for both sides as well, it won’t work that way.” Celestia shot a look at Luna, she knew she was only trying to put a bit of reason into their minds, and her reasoning was excellent by any standards, but this was not the time for outbursts.

“That’s not what we want.” Salazar said calmly, not affected by the young one’s outburst, “Celestia, you rule over Equestria, but your powers affect the entire world. We of Dracozard believe you have too much power…”

“So you wish me to share it with you?” The princess was slowly getting concerned with their intentions, “I’m sorry, but there is only one sun, there would be no way-“

“But there IS a way, princess.” He insisted, his smile returning, “Right now the sun shines bright in our land… I have a theory… if you were to fall right now, to DIE right now, your powers would vanish, and the sun would stay in place, as it did when you fell a year ago, keeping the dragons warm for the rest of time!”

The guards quickly took their place in front of the Princesses, “We won’t allow you to hurt our princess!” Salazar smiled at the ponies in their act of defiance. He slowly raised his hand, and snapped his fingers. The two large dragons by his side raised their heads, gathering fire in their mouth before bellowing it out at the group. Celestia used her unicorn powers to shield them, but more dragons began to emerge from the fires around them, jumping into the fight.

Twilight tried to focus on the memories of her teacher. Groaning as she focused on the fight. The entire memory here was blurred with the fountains of fire, yells, screams, roars, all molding together into one loud painful sound… finally the memory grew clear again. Celestia was surrounded by flames, staring at her little sister, “Luna, Run… Please, you have to escape.” She pleaded, trying to get to her feet again. The roars of dragons could be heard somewhere near, but the two seemed hidden in the flames…

“No sister, I can’t… I can stop them… you’re too hurt… I’ll go with them, I’ll be their hostage so that they won’t come into Equestria and hurt anypony else…” Luna slowly took a step back, while Celestia looked on in horror.

“NO! You can’t! They’ll kill you! We can get out of here! We can be safe! Please, we have to-“ A painful cry echoed from nearby… and the helmet of one of her guards landed by her feet, singed and charred.

“no one else will get hurt… please sister, run…” Luna backed into the flames, slowly moving out of sight.

“LUNA! Don’t go! Luna!” she cried out many times… but soon, Princess Luna was out of sight… the roars began to fade… all that Twilight could hear from her memories were her screaming for her sister…

Twilight snapped out of the spell, breathing heavily. A few tears escaped her eyes, rolling down her cheek.

“it was that bad?” Spike asked softly.

“Yes… it… it was bad… come on… let’s let her re-“ the bell by the princess’ side began to ring violently. Twilight looked at Celestia, who was shifting violently in her sleep, groaning and breathing erratically. The doctors and nurses rushed in, ignoring Twilight and spike, quickly getting to work to calm the princess.

“We should go.” Spike pulled at Twilight’s mane, trying to get her out as quickly as possible. Twilight reluctantly turned and headed back down the tower, the images she gained in her teachers memories burning in her eyes. The dragon with the evil grin, and Luna vanishing into the flames, it was so hard to take in. Spike still wanted to know, but he decided to keep quiet until Twilight was ready to talk.

Comments

[Zobeid]

This seems well written.... even though I'm not thrilled with the underlying premise. I always assumed that Luna and Celestia control the moon and sun of Equestria, not for the whole world. I'll be following anyhow -- curious to see where it goes.

[starfox64x]

50770 I can understand it's not a premise that would fit with everyone... but i figured she controls an entity that has an effect on the entire planet, but she only rules over Equestria; the land of ponies. So what happens when the other creatures notice this and say 'Enough'. I got a few plans for twists, and i hope they're interesting ones...