//------------------------------// // 1. An Old Night // Story: Protector of the Dawn // by PatteringHoovesofDawn //------------------------------// Nighttime was hard to get through now that Celestia was gone. It was Dawn's Sentry's - well, Dawn. No-one really called her that except for her angry mother- least favorite time of the whole twenty-four hours. Quite noticeably, it always lasted longer than it was supposed to. When Celestia was there to raise the sun into its highly exalted place among the clouds and overshadow the stars with its blazing beauty, things were right. Nothing was out of place. Everything was the way it should be. Now, with Prince Umbra in charge of the celestial body that was the moon, nighttime overstayed its welcome. Not that the denizens of Equestria disliked the night; it was simply that day was far superior for enjoyment, seeing as the night was mainly used as time of slumber. Adding more hours to this time was unnecessary. It left something to be desired, and it said something about the sole sovereign of the night. Without Celestia, the day was not enjoyable - unless you were a fan of chaos a lá Discord or you just really liked the night. Like a night owl or something. If you looked close enough, you could see that there were blotches of the dark seeping in through the cracks of baby blue illuminated with yellow. Fluffy white clouds stretched by the imagination to be whatever shape possible in ones own realm were now ignored. Most would rather gaze at the stars as if searching for eggs on Easter or presents on Hearth's Warming. The day was often spent halfway between light and dark. However, most went on with their day, trying to focus on this obvious flaw that they knew was not right. The true heir to the sun who might possibly know how to operate the celestial body, Prince Aethereus, was nowhere to be found. In fact, there was not a single soul who had ever laid eyes on even a speck of him, so there could be no way of ever finding him. There wasn't the slightest hint or indication of who his father was. All that was known was that his father stole away with him soon after his birth, thereby assuring only few if any knew of his existence. Besides, that was long ago. So long ago that his birth was something that most didn't even remember. Hope that the true heir to the sun would return was pointless. The cravings grew stronger and stronger with each growing day for just that, but maybe longer. Longer than it had been the last day. Longer than that the next even. Dawn thirsted for the sight of sunlight day after day. Typically only a third of the twenty-four hours was devoted to the sun, even in the summer times. After summer, it became worse. Soon, night took over and eventually, only an hour -maybe even less than that - was dedicated to day. The moon was now a symbol of hatred for Dawn and many others. The dark became the usual, so it wasn't much of a difference for Dawn to lock herself in her room all day, every day, shutting out all possibilities of light. The warmth of Celestia's sun was all she ever wanted - ever needed. In its absence, only dark remained and only dark she saw. What difference did it make for her to substitute Prince Umbra's darkness for her own? It made none, at least in her own eyes. What she didn't take into account, was what she was missing. There were still very few moments of sun raised by her mother and she didn't get to see them because she was always in a room to herself. But did she care? No, she did not care if she missed out on what she craved. It wasn't enough to satisfy her wants and needs. Outside, nothing mattered to her. She didn't care about the flowers which rarely bloomed without Celestia, and friendship was not something she yearned for with the same zeal and fervor she passioned for the sun which no longer carried the same weight it used to. Sustenance like food no longer drove her. It was only necessary for survival, not living. The sustenance she truly required was the sun. The sun was the savior of her happiness and gaiety. She tried to bring it back. Of all of the books she had read, at least one of them had to include a spell to raise the sun. However, the ones she did find were difficult to preform. She tried to request longer days just like the other citizens of Equestria. But much like them, her requests and demands fell on deaf ears and night continued to reign over the day. Her room was spacious and lonely like the den of a wolf which hosted no pack, but a solitary alpha. As the case with a library, the room was filled to the brim with bookshelves and books sitting atop them. Of the countless thousands of books, she had read about ninety percent of them. Entrapped within her mind was a treasure trove of information, most of which she didn't need in order to be a functioning citizen. She needed the information to feel important. Knowledge is power, and power attracts attention. So alone she sat at her desk. Using a magic of a carmine hue, she levitated the single quill of a snowy owl. She dipped it in tar black ink and brought it to her paper. "Dear Princess Twilight, My purpose for writing you this letter is because you have not responded to any of my queries about the sun and the reign involving it in person. In fact, it seems you have shut me out of your life completely. Hopefully, you will reply to this, seeing as you often respond as soon as possible to all of your mail. I would like to request a change to the schedule of day and night. I believe that daylight should" Knock knock. The sound of hooves against a door. Light, acting as a spirit of hellfire, crept into the otherwise dark room, illuminating even its darkest corners. Dawn shuddered. She was too well used to the darkness to appreciate the warmth of light, no matter how artificial. Hollow clops of hooves filled her ears which spun and twitched, trying to flee from the noise while remaining attached to her head at the same time. She sat, staring at her parchment as if something was going to magically appear upon it. Turning around was not something she was interested in at that moment. She wasn't going to face him. "Dearest sister, you must come out." Dawn's eyes shook, hopping from corner to corner on her paper, tuning out the cries of her brother and absorbing herself into the individual blogs of ink on the paper, grasping for its dark hue. "Sister, please. It has been a month. I know that our mail-dragon, Flame, has been bringing you the refreshments you require to survive, but you cannot continue to live like this. Holed up in your room, never to come out into the real world." A sudden bite; sudden snap, she said, "What does it matter!" her voice rose from a whisper to a scream in a matter of milliseconds. "Please, sister. It matters the world to myself and mother. We care about you very much," said he, not truly knowing how to reply yet taking the passive response. "Hogwash it is, I tell you. If mother cared so much for us, she would have dragged us out of our castle room and into - wherever she wants us to be, we do not care." "You must come out to see the light every once in a while, sister. It is quite beautiful. I dare say nothing could rival its beauty. You should cherish it while it is still in existence." "Phooey! I do hope you realize seeing one hour of sunlight is a waste of my time." "If that is how you truly feel, I must depart." "Good riddance, then. Goodbye to you, brother." "And you, sister." The clop of hooves slowly faded out, and large doors creaked closed like the gates of Hell pushing back demons aglow with hellfire from its depths. Darkness took hold over the room once more, satisfying Dawn again.