“The essence of a shadow is not whose it is, but who, or what, casts it.”
Shadow Play:
The Longest Day
Twilight Sparkle awoke from a deep and dreamless sleep. The intense heat poured into the library, removing all comfort that she may have had. Sleep didn’t do any good against the rays of the sun, not really. Sleep did offer an escape for her during this crisis, but it was not a permanent one. She did not open her eyes yet; as she was uncertain of which way she was facing currently. To look out a window meant blindness, and to look away meant to face reality once again. She shifted, keeping her eyes hidden from the world. There was no comfortable spot, no relaxing position. She sighed and tried to ignore everything, but it was no use. Her purple coat was soaked with sweat, her mane was mussed up, and her horn had become so very dry. Twilight did not rise. Regardless of the fact that the sleep had been dreamless and short, it was pure ecstasy for her. She had dreamt of nothing but the sun since all of this had started three weeks ago. Sleep was the only thing that she had left. Well, almost the only thing. Rarity was still living in Ponyville, one of the few who dared to stay. The streets were abandoned, shops closed, homes deserted. Ponyville’s population was now two; two ponies who refused to leave, refused to forget all that they had accomplished here. Twilight had made Ponyville her home, and she was not about to forsake it. Besides, what would happen to Rarity? Even so, it was not like she could get very far on her own like this.
“Twilight?” a soft voice came accompanied by a short tap upon her door. The purple unicorn refused to open her eyes.
The door creaked open as Rarity stepped into the room. She was also sweat-ridden, her normally perfect mane was astray, and her hooves had cracked under the intense heat.
“Twilight?” the voice came again.
“Yes?” Twilight’s voice was weak, it had been so very long since she had anything to drink, but then again it was not an uncommon occurrence these days for a pony to die of thirst at a moments notice.
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I was already awake. You can thank our celestial friend for that.”
Rarity’s eyes widened before they glanced down. Twilight’s word choice for the sun was not lost on her. The Princess had promised to solve this, but had failed. She had let her subjects down, and given her life in the process, but Twilight had still taken the loss very personally. She, at first, had felt utter sorrow concerning the passing of Celestia, but then the sadness had changed into anger. It was an anger that only Twilight could experience, but nopony could explain.
“Do you want a drink?” Rarity asked.
This statement was a more subtle way of saying “I’m thirsty.” Every pony alive was thirsty, so the statement was viewed as selfish and thoughtless. ‘You’re thirsty? Oh, well we are too, and we aren’t complaining about it, so why should you? In fact, why should you even get a drink if you are just going to complain?’ Ponies turned on each other for a few drops of water, civilized towns turned into Anarchy’s playground as terror and thirst found its way into the minds and mouths of every pony still trying to hang on, regardless of the fact that there was nothing left to hang on to.
“Yes.” Twilight whispered, “I would like a drink. Feel free to join me.”
A faint smile found its way to Rarity’s lips, but did not care to stay very long. As the white unicorn turned from the room to retrieve the water, Twilight announced that she would get it, and opened her eyes. She was lucky; she had been facing away from the window this time. One eye was already blind, and she had no desire to sacrifice the other. Twilight rose from her place of slumber and followed Rarity down to the dining area of her house. For a library, it was well furnished. Twilight gathered what strength she had to levitate the water from its place in the shadows behind the cabinets, the coldest place in the house, and placed it on the table. The clear liquid sparkled in the vivid light. Rarity took over to carefully pour the water into a couple of glasses. Twilight’s knees buckled and she collapsed.
“Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed, rushing over to help her fallen friend.
“I’ll be fine,” Twilight reassured as she slowly stood up again and moved closer to the table. “I just need a drink.”
Rarity helped the other pony by lifting the glass to Twilight’s lips and slowly letting the water run into her mouth and down her throat. Twilight smiled and took a deep breath.
“What time is it?” the purple unicorn inquired after she had allowed the water to soften her throat.
“A little after three in the morning.”
The sun blazed outside.
“Doesn’t seem like it.” Rarity admitted.
There was a moment of silence. Rarity had her questions, but Twilight was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. She had been failing in health ever since the death of Celestia, with no improvement of any kind. She was falling away from this world, and accepting it. It was clear that time was precious, and, just like their water, running out. But when was the right time to address such a difficult subject? Was there a right time, or did you just have to choose the time that seemed like it would cause the least amount of damage? There was a right answer in there somewhere, but Rarity did not have the time to search for it. She needed to know now.
“Twilight, do you mind if I ask you a question or two?”
Twilight glanced over but said nothing. Rarity took this as a yes.
“Well, I know that this is probably not what you want to talk about, but I need to know if what the ponies were say was true, and you are the only pony who would really know.” She took a deep breath, preparing for this next sentence. “What did Celestia do to cause all of this?”
Twilight turned away, but did not leave. She would have cried if she could, but the heat took the tears as soon as they appeared. Sadness without the ability to show it, and that made the emotion even worse. Sometimes crying was the best way to express oneself, and it gave purpose to the feeling of being genuinely sad over something. But Twilight Sparkle could not cry. She had cried her last when the rest of her friends had left Ponyville.
“She moved.” Twilight replied, back still turned.
“What?”
“While raising the sun, she moved forward for some reason, shifting the sun. Basically, the sun is closer to us now. It’s burning up Equestria.” Twilight paused, it was clear that she was struggling to get the next words out. “Celestia tried to repair the damage, but was killed in the process. Luna doesn’t have the power to move the sun, and as such our hope is defeated.”
“No, never.” Rarity moved to stand by her friend. “Hope is never truly lost. It’s just harder to see sometimes.”
“What hope is there then?” Twilight turned to face Rarity, her eyes spoke fear and hurt. “What can we do?”
“We can wait and see. We can hang on to each other.” It did not sound like Rarity truly believed what she said.
Twilight sighed again and looked over at the remaining water. She had been so thirsty for so long now, but when the water they had was gone, then that was it. Already the intense heat had gotten to the dwindling supply, and evaporation was well underway. Twilight mentioned this to Rarity, who gasped and replaced the water behind the cabinets. Twilight watched the one thing she wanted disappear from sight and moved over to one of the windows. The ever-present mirages caused the streets of Ponyville to become sheets of glass. Nothing moved outside, save for the shimmering of the heat. The town had died, burned to death, but without any visible damage.
“Do you think,” Twilight began, “that perhaps there is anything to drink in any of these other houses?”
“We already checked for water when the rest of the ponies left, it was all taken.”
“The water was taken, but perhaps they left something else; something else that we could drink. I’m sure that Sugar Cube Corner would have something, or perhaps one of the cafes.”
“That’s a good idea, I hadn’t thought about it.” Rarity nodded, smiling. “Here, I’ll go out and see if I can find anything.”
“See if you can find anything for your mane too, have to keep up appearances.” Twilight joked, returning Rarity’s smile weakly.
Rarity grinned and chuckled. At first she had been very upset concerning her hair being skewed by the heat, but, all things considering, it hadn’t even crossed her mind lately.
“I’ll do that, thanks Twilight.”
Rarity started towards the door, still smiling. Twilight followed after.
“Wait, it’s too hot outside to travel far. You should come back after you check Sugar Cube Corner.” Said Twilight.
“I’ll do that. See you in a bit.”
Twilight watched the white unicorn leave and immediately close the door behind her. One second was all it took for a wave of dry heat to push its way in and settle around the remaining pony. Twilight gasped at the sudden increase of temperature, causing the warmness to scratch its way down her throat, taking away any good that the water did, and causing her to cough. Her lungs ached and her chest convulsed as the coughing continued. She tried to cry, but failed once again. A rush of emotion came with it; anger, utter sadness, confusion, and despair all flooded her mind and body, filling her up with more than she could handle, despite her sickness.
Twilight managed to work her way over to the kitchen, where at least it was a bit colder. The pony collapsed on the ground, exhausted. The coughing continued, taking up what breath and energy she had.
Eventually the coughing ceased and gave her some time to be alone with her thoughts and the heat. She did not move from where she had fallen, seeing no reason to move, or even to try. Twilight’s eyes were half open, half alive. Her hair was withered, and her coat had gone from being the least bit glossy to resembling that of a corpse. She tried to swallow, but found herself to be unable. She did not stir, and accepted the fact. Her eyes slowly moved to the clock on the wall, Rarity had been gone for over an hour. It would not have taken her an hour to search Sugar Cube Corner. Rarity’s words came back to Twilight.
“Hope is never truly lost, it is just harder to see sometimes.”
Twilight continued to stare at the clock. The staggered movement of the second hand comforted her somehow. Perhaps it was because it never changed, it was always perfect. It always worked. It had worked when she had first come to Ponyville, it ticked in the same way when Discord had turned Ponyville upside-down and her friends had all turned on each other. It hadn’t faltered in keeping time when the Changelings had managed to infiltrate Canterlot’s defenses. Now, on the longest day, it continued to keep time for her. It told her when she was supposed to be somewhere, when she needed to send her reports to the Prin— Celestia, and when somepony was supposed to meet her; as Rarity was supposed to have done by now. Twilight’s blurred eyes managed to focus on the numbers, reading that Rarity should have been back by now. After all, it had been…too long since she left.
Rarity…her last friend…be at peace, and know you were loved by all.
A tear managed to work its way out one of the hopeless eyes and roll partially down her face before the heat devoured it. Twilight tried to smile, and found herself unable. With one last effort, Twilight opened her mouth to speak. The heat rushed down her, raking everything with a scalding finger. Twilight closed her eyes, exhaled, and lay still.
Outside, in the dead of night, the sun blazed.