//------------------------------// // The heat // Story: The wrath of Daybreaker // by Hyper44 //------------------------------//   Luna’s wings barely made a sound as she flew away from the castle. Wind ruffled though her dark blue feathers making a soft whooshing sound. Her mane and tail flowed like water and the dots of light in her hair flickered beneath the stars. Looking down at her moon shadow as it ran across the ground Luna sighed deeply as she wondered if she could ever undo this. Regret made her heart ache and she knew that she would never forgive herself if she could not change what had happened to Celestia, through the wish.   Luna angrily grit her teeth. That dragon! She knew now that she had been doped. He had made her wish her revenge. Now the innocent suffered because of his spite. Then Luna sighed again know that it wasn’t just the dragons fault as far as she could see. Before she knew it it getting hard to see the stars through the tears in her eyes.   “Lunaaaaa! Princess Lunaaaa!”    Tiny voices suddenly broke through her thoughts. She stopped and hovered in the air to see a group of foals streaking down a hill towards her. They stopped at the base waiving and calling her name. Luna quickly wiped all water from her eyes, forced herself to smile and glided down to them.   “Hey, hey, look!” They declared showing off the bright jewels that hung around their necks. Each had been enchanted and glowed like a lantern on a necklace.   “One of the elders came up with it! Now we’re allowed to play outside the village at night as long as we stay close enough that out parents can see our light! Isn’t it neat!”   “It is neat,” Luna said folding her wings on her back. “So what are you playing?”   “Oh, we’re not playing right now,” One foal said.   “Yes, we’re painting the sky,” Another finished pointing up the hill. In the grass clay plates, jars and cups lay scattered.   “We wanted to show how much we liked the night so our parents made us these to paint the skies on.”   “Do you want to come join us?” A filly asked looking up at Luna with pleading eyes.   “I’m sorry, I can’t right now but you can do me a big favor…” Luna whispered her request and the foals were soon scrambling back to their art projects. She waited until they all had reached the top and then spread her wings. Once high in the air Luna cast an invisibly spell to hide herself from any eyes in the ground. She hated avoiding ponies like this but she wanted no delays.   Her wings carried her to the outermost edged of Equestria to where a large grove of weeping willow trees grew. Right in the center stood a tall house that loomed over the trees. Leaves and branches waived and quivered as Luna swooped down to land in the shade of the willows. Dappled moon light crossed her face as she hustled towards the house. She reached out with her magic but before she could open the door it swung open.    “Come in, I think that I have found what you are looking for,” A soft but clear voice called out to her.    Luna trotted inside the candle lit house and barely avoided tripping over a pile of books. Thick tombs were everywhere, on tables leading up the stairs and along shelves that disappeared into separate rooms. Some were open some were closed, none however seemed dusty. In the center of the chaos was a unicorn whose purple coat coloring was so pale that it looked like a illusion cast by surrounding lighting. She stood beneath as painting of Clover the Clever with a number of open books setting atop stacks of closed books.    “Whisper in the Willows, what have you discovered?” Luna asked eagerly. The mare turned and looked at Luna.    “I think that I found what you wanted to know,” The mare replied getting up and plucking up a few books that lay nearby. The covers were etched with draconic writing. “You wanted to know about how a pony could ask a wish dragon for a change of fate and receive it and just how much could be changed. Then you wanted to know in what way it could be undone. All in the name of protecting Equestria just in case a pony happens makes such a wish,” Whisper stated and then stood there staring suspiciously at Luna for a while.   “Yes, what have you found,” Luna replied without missing a beat.   The mare blinked at her, shrugged and then opened the books. “There are dragons who’s wishes can tamper with fate, though these are rare. Even more rare is finding a dragon that will be willing to.” She stopped and looked at Luna a moment but the princess just nodded for her to continue. “That’s because this can be very dangerous and according to any dragon, it never ends well. It is possible to undo wishes with the wish of another dragon but that doesn’t always work. There are of course more natural ways, if say one wishes for certain trees to grow in a desert all one has to do is dig them up and the wish is undone. With wishes that tamper with fate it would be harder to find a natural cure, if even possible in some situations.”   “But it can be undone, especially if one can find a dragon willing to grant a new wish to counter it,” Luna said.   The mare nodded. “Yes, but one thing to remember, the special magic that dragons possess do have special limits. One in particular, no wish can turnback time. Whatever happens with a wish, happens. Even if the wish is undone, there is now way to undo the events that took place because of it.”    Luna nodded. “Thank you for your work. That is all I needed to know incase this danger arose.”    Again, the mare stared curiously at her but the princess gave nothing away. Luna stoically left the house and flew gleefully across the skies. The moment the willow grove was lost from sight the princess began doing backflips and cartwheels.    “Whoooo-hoooo! Yes!” She cheered towards the stars. “This can be changed! I’ll try one more attempt to do so naturally by giving her what she has always wanted. If that doesn’t work I will find a good dragon, explain the situation and have this undone. I may not be able to make it like it never happened but what’s a few arguments between sisters like us. It’s not like anything really bad happened.”    Luna had to make a few stops on the way for ponies who spotted her flying overhead but she soon made it back to the foals at the hill. All around them lay clay cups and plates that were covered with joyful depictions of the daytime. Brightly colored suns shone over fields of beautiful flowers or dancing rabbits and singing birds. It was like a spot of sunlight in the night. Luna looked at them almost wondering if she herself had forgotten the life that the daytime brings.   The foals beamed cheerily at her. “We made lots of them so Princess Celestia will be really happy. This much happy,” One said throwing his hooves open wide. They all scrambled to each show Luna the paintings that they had done. She thanked each one before she gathered up the paintings and sent the fillies and coats home to their parents.    With new hope Luna flew back to the castle in the Everfree carrying her load. Adoring foals knew not the need to show reverence, just love. Perhaps they could give Celestia the happiness that she had wanted for so long and snap her out of her walking nightmare.   Reaching the castle Luna flew through a window and hustled down the hallway thinking to perhaps to put them in a box and wrap them as a gift. Cutting through the dining room Luna nearly collided with her sister. The younger mare jumped back in surprise. Celestia stepped away and glowered down at her.    “What are you doing up so late?” Luna asked cautiously.    Celestia snorted contemptuously. “Why shouldn’t I be, every other pony is.” She tipped her head trying to see what Luna had hovering behind her. “I got word that the ambassadors from Saddle Arabia who were supposed to arrive this moring were delayed due to a collapsed bridge. Some of our citizens helped them and now they will be here soon. It may be the middle of the night but I must be there to greet them. Luna, what are you up too sneaking around with something like a silly foal who raided the sweets?”   “I brought a gift for you,” Luna replied. Celestia’s sneer faded somewhat and mild interest showed in her eyes. Luna hovered the plates, cups and bowls into the room and laid them out on a table in front of her sister. “Some foals made these for you to show how much they appreciate you and the day that you bring. They hope that you can come and play one day.” Luna turned to her sister only to see a snaring expression like that of a wild animal. Her eyes were glazed over and flame erupted from her horn. Luna jumped back in horror as the table and all the items exploded raining smoldering wood and clay fragments around the room.    “How dare you!” Celestia screeched. “Am I some pitiful grandma that you bring me a wrenched gift like this! This is nothing more than an insult! What would I want with the pathetic art of foals you little whelp!”    Luna cringed away from the wrathful eyes of her sister. “I.. I didn’t mean it like that! You would have loved this! I just… I…” She stammered.    “Oh, I.. I.. I… I’m just foolish! Out! Get out! Go back to your night!” Celestia screamed pointing at the dining hall windows.    Luna raced from the room and lunged out of the window. Wings pounding hard she flew north from the castle. She wasn’t just running from her sister she had to find a wish dragon and NOW! It may take days but she could only hope nothing got worse in her absence.     Celestia watched her sister disappear from sight then turned and stormed out of the dinning hall. She hardly noticed the terrified guards who were huddled in the corners on either side of the doors trying to hide. Her hooves pounded on the stone floor as she made her way to the throne room.   “Little wretch!” Celestia growled under breath. “Even more wretched are the ponies who adore her. Those stupid little ponies will learn. At least the most important ones still know that it is me they need to see and not that child.”   She soon reached the throne room and was only halfway down the carpet when a guard stepped in through the massive double doors. “Your majesty,” he said with a deep bow. “The ambassadors from Saddle Arabia are here.”    “Well, send them in,” Celestia ordered turning around. The stallion bowed and stepped out of the way to join the other guards who were standing around the room. As he did three ponies, a stallion and two mares clad in traditional Saddle Arabia garb strode in. They bowed to Celestia who bowed back though it was little more than a nod really.   “Your majesty,” Said the lead pony. He was a tall stallion with a dark coat. “We apologize of our late arrival. We had a little trouble along the way as I’m sure you have heard.”   “Yes, I heard,” Celestia replied, “I’m sure that you are tired though and I give you leave to rest so that we may talk in the morning.”       “Actually,” one of the mare ambassadors spoke up suddenly, “Along the way, your kind citizens told us of your sister who was always at rest when we arrived in the past. From what we have heard we would like to meet her. So tonight we wish to appeal to Luna’s throne and meet your sister.”    Celestia stared at them a moment and then replied in a deceptively calm voice. “You wish to appeal to Luna’s throne?”   “Yes,” The mare replied.    Celestia turned her head and looked at her sister’s throne. Suddenly she seized it in her magic. There was groan and then a horrible CRRRAACCCKKKK as Celestia ripped the heavy stone throne from its base.     “Then appeal to it!” She roared jerking her head and slinging the heavy stone mass at them. The ambassadors cried in terror and scrambled out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed. The throne shattered on impact pelting both the ambassadors and guards with heavy fragments.   “Or better yet! Why don’t you appeal to my dungeons!” Celestia roared. Just as the three ponies scrambled to flee they vanished in a flash of light.    “I will take this no more!” Celestia screamed spinning around and blasting out a section of the throne room roof. What wasn't vaporized crashed smoldering to the floor. Standing on he hind legs Celestia reached out with her magic. The light of the moon faded and the stars vanished as the sun rose. The sunlight gleamed through the roof and with it came terrible rolling waves of heat.     As the guards stared in shock and horror at their beloved princess flame flared from her mane. Black shadows began to swirl around growing thicker and thicker until she was lost from sight. The black mass of shadows suddenly erupted into a ball of fire. A searing heat wave rolled across the room and black smoke belched out through the gaping roof and down the halls. Terrible laughter echoed through the castle and the ball of fire suddenly collapsed revealing a terrifying sneering face with a mouthful of fangs and gleaming eyes. Celestia’s mane and tail were now rippling waves of fire that crackled and radiated heat.    The guards collapsed to the ground in fear as she turned her eyes to them. “Arm yourselves and go out into my lands. Ask anypony that you see which princess do they adore most. If they do not give the right answer, and I’m sure you know what that answer is, deal with them immediately. Oh, if you see my sister, tell her that I must speak with her... Hurry you fools, GO!”   The stallions leaped to their feet and ran. Instead of going to the armory they fled wide eyed with terror into the forest. Their hooves pounded the earth they ran, headless of the branches and thorns that tore at their armor and the howls of the timber wolves. What in the Everfree could possibly be more terrifying than what they were running from?