Rising Star looked out the window at the setting sun. She had been staring at the hauntingly beautiful sight for the past fifteen minutes from one of the missing sections of wall in the castle’s west conservatory. She sighed heavily as the actual implications hit her. Canterlot was a mere shadow of what it used to be, and it was much more sobering a thought than she was prepared for as she gazed upon the ruins. The hour of twilight felt eerily fitting for the scene. The faint orange glow lit the horizon with just enough light that one could see. As if the fate of Canterlot, nay, the fate of all Equestira itself was covered in darkness with just a glimmer of hope remaining. Rising Star leaned against the side of the brick opening and sighed. It had been a long day, if one could even call it a day anymore. She had been ordered by Lady Twilight to take census of the ponies in the refuge area. Many families were still missing including most of her own. She had found several of the more distant members of the Heartstrings family hiding under a table in the middle of a destroyed house, but most of her immediate family she had not heard from yet. Her brother had been away from Canterlot at the time visiting his fillyfriend in Appaloosa, so he was probably alright. Her cousin lived in Ponyville now, she had not seen her in town since the royal wedding, so she was probably safe as well. Her father was found under a pile of rubble in the market district, with three broken legs but alive at least. Her sister and mother were still missing, however. The young Unicorn shook her head. She did not even want to think about what all this destruction meant for her career. Technically, with Rivensilt missing and Storm Dancer banished, she should be next in line for the position of Celestia’s first attendant. But what did a promotion matter if Celestia was not even in power at the moment? Still, after what she saw happen to her old career rival, Storm Dancer, she wondered if the job was even worth it anymore.
She gazed down at the collection of ponies that were busy clearing rubble out of the base of the promenade. They had been lucky enough to find an old construction crane still in working order earlier in the day. She was pleasantly surprised at the morale of the citizens. Lady Twilight may have absolutely no idea what she was doing, but at least the citizens were rallying behind her reconstruction efforts. Rising Star shook her head. Well the nobles certainly were not behind her. That was going to cause an issue very soon unless something was done. It was such a shame that the Lady would not even listen to any advice from any pony except her friends. That was becoming troublesome. She was pulled from her thoughts by a voice. “You wanted to see me, Rising Star?”
“Wind Strider,” she said as she turned around. “We need to talk about Lady Twilight.” She approached the Pegasus. “You need to tell her to step down. She’s not fit to rule.”
“Not fit to rule?” Wind Strider let out a small gasp. “Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh? She’s only been in power for a day or so. It takes time for a new….”
Rising Star stamped her hooves. “Does it look like we have that time?” She pointed a hoof out the missing wall at the rubble below. “The capitol is in ruins! She’s got them rebuilding the residential district first!”
“Ponies need a place to sleep…”
“The nobles are up in arms about their houses being destroyed. They want their houses back. Who do you think is paying for all these repairs? We can’t afford to lose noble support right now. If Lady Twilight keeps ignoring them…” Rising Star shuddered. “Not to mention Griffica has somehow already received word that Celestia is incapacitated. They are building up soldiers on our shared border. We could be dealing with an all out war in a few days! Then there’s the sky! Ponies are scared and all she does is sit in the throne room and pace with her clipboard!”
Wind Strider shook his head in disbelief. “What’s this about Griffica? I hadn’t heard anything about soldiers!”
“That’s because the Lady has been running you around constantly looking for the captain of the guard and the princess.”
“And you think that’s a bad idea? Since you want her out of power so much, shouldn’t we find one of the other ponies in the line of succession?” Wind Strider pressed his hoof to Rising Star’s snout. “Or perhaps somepony is just getting power hungry and wants the job for herself!”
“I’m not claiming I’m the right pony for the job either, but I could do a better job than she does!”
“What do you suppose I even do? Celestia herself picked the line of succession. I’m sure it’s true she never thought it would go this far down the line, but we’re already here and we don’t have much of a choice otherwise.” Wind Strider shook his head. “The decision was made already. It’s out of my hooves now and I think you could be a little more grateful considering that Lady Twilight and her friends saved Equestria three times now.”
“Being a hero does not give one the qualifications to rule sovereign land. There are priorities that need to be handled. Running a country is not like organizing a picnic! Either she needs to learn that or she needs to be removed from the throne.”
“Lady Twilight is trying her best to deal with the situation at hoof.”
“She’s been sitting in the throne giving stupid micromanagement orders! I don’t think she’s left that room since this all started. If she can’t see the important things then you need to convince her!”
“Convince me of what, Rising Star?” Twilight Sparkle said in a harsh tone from across the room. She walked across the room, Celestia’s oversized crown and armor bouncing with each of the small pony’s steps. Pinkie Pie bounced along next to Twilight. Twilight frowned at Rising Star before glancing back to Wind Strider. “Acting Captain, have you found my brother and sister-in-law yet?”
“Not yet, my Lady. I assure you we are looking furiously.”
“My parents?”
“They are being attended to at the medical camp in the residential district. They appear to be stable.”
“Good. Now Rising Star,” Twilight turned to the orange unicorn. “What is it that has you so upset?”
Rising Star stomped her hoof on the ground and gritted her teeth. “Isn’t it obvious? Take a look out there! It’s mass confusion. And what are you going to do about the sun?!”
Twilight’s face contorted into confusion. “Sun? What do you mean?”
Rising Star took a step backwards. “You don’t know? You don’t know! Un-bucking believable!” Rising Star slammed her hoof against Wind Strider’s chest. “Some pony you picked to be in charge, Wind Strider! Have you not looked out a window? How could you not know?!” Rising star gestured to the opening in the wall. “The sun has not moved IN THREE DAYS!”
Twilight’s pupils opened wide and her eyelids even wider. Her ears folded down and her mouth went slack. “What?” She approached the opening in the wall and stared at the horizon. “How could that be?” Twilight spun back around. “How come I wasn’t told?”
Wind Strider bowed sheepishly. “I… I thought you knew…”
“Inept! All of you!” Rising Star slammed her hoof against her forehead.
Pinkie Pie pounced forward. “Hey, don’t call us things I don’t know the meaning of! You’ll upset Twilight!”
Rising Star pushed Pinkie Pie away. “Enough. I don’t have to time to deal with the Lady’s jester.”
Twilight gritted her teeth. “Leave her alone!”
“Why? What’d she do?”
“She’d called you a name.”
Pinkie scratched her head. “What name? Jester? I am a jester! That’s what Applejack and Rarity told me to do. They said I should keep you happy and keep all the bad news away from you so you wouldn’t get upset and make bad decisions! That’s why I didn’t tell you about the whole sun thing. Because it would make you all sady-wady and I was doing a great job until this party-pooper spilled the beans!”
“Wait, what? You knew about the sun not moving and you didn’t tell me?”
“Well, yeah. I’ve been intercepting messengers and complaints for like two days to keep that under wraps. It would make you sad.”
“WHAT THE HAY, PINKIE?! You didn’t stop to think that, ‘oh perhaps maybe Twilight should know that the bucking sun decided to stop moving’. You didn’t tell me because you thought it would make me sad?! Well how about angry?!” Twilight screamed in her pink friend’s face. The pink pony crouched down underneath the noise. “Is angry better?!”
Pinkie Pie’s eyes watered. “But… Applejack said….”
“I highly doubt Applejack said anything along the line of keeping some of the most important information about the heavens since the advent of Nightmare Night from the acting ruler of Equestria! Do you have any idea how stupid you’re making me look right now?!”
“She’s not making you look anymore stupid than you already were.” Rising Star said.
“You shut up!” Twilight turned back to the sobbing Pinkie Pie. “Get out of here! I’m so angry at you I can’t even describe it.” Twilight stomped her hooves loudly and Pinkie Pie raced away crying. “You!” Twilight thrust her hoof towards Rising Star. “Tell me everything that’s wrong. It’s my job to fix it.”
Rising Star let out a snort. “After that display of incompetence, I sincerely doubt you have the capability to fix anything.”
Wind Strider stamped his hoof on the ground. “Watch your tongue, Star. Like it or not you are still speaking to the ruler of Equestria at the moment. Don’t blame all this miscommunication on Lady Twilight. You’re a royal advisor and attendant. If she didn’t know what was going on, you’ve clearly failed at your job as well. Now, answer the Lady’s question.”
“Oh very well, your majesty!” Rising Star said in a childish voice. The Unicorn inhaled deeply. “The nobles are ready to riot. The castle is still falling apart and there are no building supplies left in the whole city. Repairs to the city are screeching to a halt because there’s no food or drinking water. The Griffins are preparing to go to war with us because the sun hasn’t moved and they’re scared. The cities surrounding Canterlot are closing their gates and cutting off supplies because they think eternal twilight is upon us. The army is in shambles because of lack of supplies and morale so the Griffins will wipe the floor with us, should they invade. Oh and the sun hasn’t moved so everypony is scared out of their minds. Looting is worse than ever in the streets and the guards aren’t stopping them because they’re the looters half the time. As we overturn each piece of rubble there’s the fear that we’re going to uncover the body of somepony we know. The number of seriously injured is far beyond our capacity to treat and care for. Amazingly so far, no pony has been found dead, but the number still missing is astronomical, it’s more than half the city! As if they’ve just vanished. Oh and the sun hasn’t moved for three days, did I mention that? Many ponies saw Nightmare Moon rampage through the streets and Celestia has been locked in a room of the castle so many ponies haven’t seen her at all. All the citizens in the streets assume she’s dead and that the sun will never move again. The ponies that have seen the princess are frightened that some evil spirit has taken over her mind and won’t go near her. Oh, and no doubt because the sun hasn’t moved, the temperature has begun to drop. It’s already twenty degrees cooler than it was yesterday.”
Twilight looked at the floor. She had known about most of the issues, she had not been completely uninformed it seemed. Still, hearing it all at once was startling. “I see….”
“Oh good, I’m glad you ‘see’. When you get to fixing it, let me know.” Rising Star pushed passed Twilight and began to walk away. “Not all of us are oblivious as to what the princesses were fighting over, by the way. Some of us are smart enough to piece together the clues.” Twilight shuddered. Rising Star glanced over her should before exiting the room. “Many of the ponies are calling this whole disaster ‘Nightmare Twilight’. It refers to the sun’s current position in the sky… for now. Soon it could refer to the name of the ruler during this tragic time if you’re not careful.” She left the room and slammed the door closed with her magic. Twilight sighed.
Wind Strider bowed his head. “Milady, I’m truly sorry for not informing you. I honestly thought you knew….”
“She’s right. I shouldn’t be in charge. I don’t know what I’m doing at all.” Twilight shook her head. “But it’s too late for that now.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Madness or not, I’m going to talk to Celestia. The sun’s not moving because she’s probably still unconscious. This should be easy to fix, right?”
“Let’s hope so. For everypony’s sake.” Wind Strider sighed. “I’m going to assign some of my more trusted guardsponies to watch Rising Star. She’s angry, scared, smart, and feeling helpless. That’s not a good combination. If we’re not careful, we might end up with a coup on our hooves.”
Twilight shook her head and pushed the door open, Celestia’s crown bobbing with each movement. “That’s probably the least of our worries right now.”
Twilight hesitated outside the door. Her hoof hovered over the wooden framework for at least a half an hour before knocking. The sound of hoof on wood echoed throughout the castle. Twilight attempted once more. When the echo fell silent again, she heaved a sigh and pushed the door open. “Princess Celestia! We need to…” The words became lodged in her throat as her eyes caught sight of the room before her. The eastern conservatory was torn to pieces. Books were strewn about amongst the rubble and the broken furniture. In the center of the room a white Alicorn with a pink flowing mane was laying on her side. The Alicron’s eyes were wide open but they were unfocused, lazily staring off in a random direction. Despite Twilight’s loud entrance, the Alicorn did not react to the Unicorn’s presence. “Princess…” Twilight approached the side of the mare and glanced downward. A sense of shame overcame her thoughts as she suddenly felt the full weight of the crown on her head. The Alicorn’s eye rolled upwards and peered at Twilight for a brief moment. The Alicorn was tapping her hoof repeatedly against a necklace she was wearing. The quiet sound of the Alicorn’s hoof clinking against the metal of the necklace echoed in the room. Twilight inhaled deeply. “Princess Celestia, you haven’t moved the sun in three days.” The Alicorn glanced back at Twilight and glared. “Listen… I know you’re mad at me, but you can’t just let the sun sit on the horizon.” The Alicorn’s eyes fell back to intensely staring at something in the distance as she frantically tapped her necklace. “Are you listening to me?”
Twilight knelt down next to the Alicorn. The room was silent with the exception of the clinking noise created as the Alicorn’s hoof tapped against the metal amulet. The young Unicorn peered into the Alicorn’s eyes. The princess had a glossy look about her. She appeared disconnected with the world; in a hazy state of mind. Her jaw was clenched tightly shut into a frown. Twilight attempted to trace the line between what the Alicorn’s eyes and the object they were ogling. The princess’s behavior was puzzling to Twilight. She had never seen her mentor in such a state before. Celestia had always kept her head about her, even in the most dire of circumstances. Then again, if recent events were anything to go by, Celestia was certainly fallible. Twilight’s eyes reached the end of the Alicorn’s gaze. The object the princess was staring so intently at was nothing but a bronze bookend, shaped like a pony. Twilight shook her head. Something was not right. She began to think that the silly rumors about Celestia having gone mad might have some truth to them. This odd behavior could not be from anger alone, could it? There had to be some underlying cause to Celestia’s actions outside of Luna simply breaking some ancient covenat. “Princess… please. You need to raise the sun. Ponies all over… not just ponies, even…. Donkeys, Zebras, and Mules… Dragons and Griffons…. All of them need the sun.” Twilight lowered her face to the Alicorn’s level and blocked her line of sight with the bookend. “All of them need your sun.”
The Alicorn frowned and furiously tapped the amulet that was wrapped around her neck. Twilight inhaled deeply. The intake of air was sputtered as her eyes watered slightly. “Are you so mad at me that you won’t even speak to me anymore?” Twilight turned her back to the princess and took a few steps to the far end of the room. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know about the Code of the Alicorns. Luna didn’t tell me about it until you already found out about us. And I’m sorry I hid us from you. To be honest though, we weren’t even a couple for that long… just a few days.” Twilight looked upwards at the ceiling. A small hole allowed her to gaze at the cloudy sky. “Oh my gosh, a few days ago Luna and I were simply walking through the forest laughing and chatting peacefully. Now my hometown is in ruins and you’re sprawled out on the floor giving me the silent treatment.” Twilight turned back to the princess. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but they put me in charge while you recover from whatever is causing this.” Twilight looked down mournfully at her mentor. “I hope something is causing this. This can’t just be because you’re mad at me, can it? When I saw you fighting with Luna… that was like nothing I had ever seen before.” Twilight levitated the tiara off her head and let it fall to the floor with a loud clang. The princess flinched at the noise, but otherwise ignored the action.
“I don’t want this job. I don’t want this burden. It’s not mine to bear.” Twilight’s ears drooped. “Rising Star tells me that most ponies think you’re dead; that you died fighting Nightmare Moon. Those that don’t think you’ve died, are certain you’ve gone mad. But the bottom line is: they’re all scared because the sun isn’t moving.” Twilight pushed the crown towards the Alicorn’s snout. “Please. This is your kingdom. Take the crown and raise the sun.” Twilight waited for a reaction, any kind of subtle indication that the princess was listening. She was not disappointed in that regard. The princess’s eyes narrowed and she let out a low, angry grunt, accompanied by her tapping her hoof against the necklace she was wearing. Twilight whimpered. “F… Fine! Perhaps it’s time the student to take the place of the teacher after all! If you won’t raise the sun, then I will! I’m the bucking element of magic! I’m a powerful Unicorn, and if you can do it, then so can I!” Twilight picked up the crown and replaced in back on her head. She stormed to the door and kicked it open. “I don’t need you! I don’t need you anymore!” Twilight exited the room in a huff and slammed the door shut. She stood outside the door motionless for a brief moment before breaking out into a loud sob. She heaved and sputtered as she walked away, tears streaming from her eyes and her chest shaking with sorrow.
Inside the room, the princess continued to tap her necklace as the eyes flashed on the bronze bookend she had been staring at. A low whisper crept into the room from the bookend. “And who says silence isn’t golden?” Discord’s chuckle echoed softly throughout the room.
Twilight Sparkle sat on the throne. She was crouched in a slight slouch as several books, levitated by her magic, spiraled around her. Pages flipped in sequence as her eyes darted back and forth between each one. From time to time she would shake her head and mumble to herself about how each idea suggested in each book would not work for what she wanted. Several, or at least three, quills floated high above the throne backing, drawing and writing any key notes she found in any of the tomes. Her expression was a sour pout; almost the expression that of a tantrum throwing foal that was just told to go to bed despite her assumed entitled rights. The room was empty, save for Twilight. She had sent away the one guard who normally watched the throne room, even in times as dark as this. She had not seen head or tail of Rising Star or Wind Strider, and for that she was grateful. Rising Star would accuse me of incompetence, and the as the evidence piles up, the description grows closer to truth. It is beginning to sting my pride a bit. Wind Strider would only keenly make me aware that my brother and sister-in-law are still missing. Which now that I think about it, the thought of him itself has just made me keenly aware that my brother and sister-in-law are still missing. So thanks for that, brain. She sighed. Even the act of studying was not doing much to distract her from the situation at hoof.
Every book she cracked open pertaining to the sun would only describe at most the different lengths of a day throughout the year. She had found a couple of books that provided theories on how the sun and moon were raised, bust most of these were written by authors who were widely off the charts for values of stupidity, crazy, unscientifically, and wackosity. She was not even sure if those were all words, and if they were, if she was using them correctly, but she could not find any other way to describe authors who suspected that Celestia had made an ancient blood pact with primordial extraterrestrial saucer-ponies in order to raise the sun every day. She had brought with her from the library many books on Hearths Warming Eve, in an attempt to find out how ancient Unicorns raised the sun before the princess, but there was never any more description than “The Unicorns raised the sun every day through their magics!” Literally that was the closest to a description she could get! As if the book was written for foals! Come to think of it, Here Comes Saddle Claus might have actually been for young fillies learning how to read. Why had she grabbed this one again?
“Twilight! We need to talk!” She was pulled from her thoughts by a familiar voice. She was pretty sure she had instructed the guard not to let any pony inside the room, but here there was a voice disturbing her studies. She would have to remember to have the guard locked in the dungeon for that. Where did that thought come from? Perhaps the weight of power was beginning to get to her? She shook her head and allowed a small window frame to form in the wall of floating books so she could see the source of the voice. “Applejack…”
The orange Earth pony sighed. “I just found Pinkie Pie crying her little head out of tears down in the courtyard. You upset her worse than a dapper mouse in a cheese factory without a napkin. It was hard to understand through all the sobbin’, but she’s mighty upset about you yellin’ at her. Fluttershy is comforting her right now, but if you’re gonna start turning on your friends you and I are going to have a bone to pick.”
Twilight turned away and let the wall of books close up back around her. “She was actively sandbagging my attempts to run this place. She was keeping from me the tiny little fact that, ‘oh by the way the sun isn’t moving anymore, ok thanks bye.’”
“Now, in retrospec’ it probably was a bad idea for us to put Pinkie on as somepony to watch over you, but you gotta know she had the best intentions. I mean, shoot, when does Pinkie ever have bad intentions?”
“The sun isn’t bucking moving and I’m responsible for it! Literally the whole world is looking at me right now and wondering why I’m so stupid that I didn’t notice it three days ago!”
Applejack chuckled uneasily, “Well, sugarcube, ya kind of been in here for the past few days and windows are all boarded up. And to be honest, even us ponies that were working outside didn’t notice the sun hadn’t moved for prolly the first day or so. It wasn’t until somepony found a clock amongst the rubble that we noticed. When you’re rebuilding a city, everypony’s tired and you just think you’re doing really well on time when you keep glancing up at a non-moving-sun. Besides, it’s not your job to raise and lower it, that’s Princess Celestia’s job.”
The books around Twilight fell to the ground in one large crash. Twilight’s face was streamed with tears at the mention of her mentor. “She won’t even talk to me. She hates me! I… I think she’d rather let the whole world freeze than help me at the moment. I’m not sure if she’s gone mad or if it’s just pure anger for me that is making her do this.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t hate you, sugarcube….”
“She was almost catatonic when I went to talk to her! The most she did was growl at me when I entered the room. She wouldn’t say a word to me and she wouldn’t…. she wouldn’t…” Twilight heaved a heavy sob. “She wouldn’t even look at me….”
Applejack raced over to the Unicorn and wrapped a hoof around her shoulder. “There, there. It will be alright.” Twilight mumbled something incoherent through her tears, but it was clearly a rebuttal to Applejack’s attempt at soothing words. “Now I don’t know what’s going on in that royal head of hers, but this is Princess Celestia! She’ll come around eventually. I ain’t never seen a pony more forgiving than the princess.”
“It’s like she’s fallen into some dark depression. And you know what happens when Alicorn’s fall in to depression, right? Things happen like Nightmare Night… or…” Twilight pulled away from Applejack’s hoof and curled into a small ball. “Or… Nightmare Twilight….” She pulled her tail up with her hooves and began petting it. “My decedents will be forever remembered as the spawn of Twilight the Horrid. If there even is a population to outcast them. For all I know the world will freeze over without the sun. The world will probably be covered in ice and giant polar bears will become the dominate species. They’ll live underground to get closer to geothermal hotspots through a complex series of tunnels. Every year they’ll venture to the surface to collect pony skulls so they stack them together to build an effigy of Twilight the Terrible and thank her for destroying the world by lighting the statue on fire with a taboo ritual powered by the pure flammable hatred of the ponies that once ruled the planet!”
Applejack gently tapped Twilight’s temple with her hoof. “Is that quitter talk I’m hearing?” Twilight’s eyes glanced upwards at her friend. “Come on now, Twi, you gotta pull yourself together and solve this thing.” Applejack lifted Twilight back into a sitting position. “If Princess Celestia won’t or can’t raise the sun then somepony has to do it for her.”
“But you don’t understand! I’ve looked through countless books! None of these even seems to suggest that another pony could raise the sun! Even those that follow the tale of Hearths Warming Eve simply skim over the fact that normal Unicorns used to raise the thing!”
“This is simple, Twi. Why not have Princess Luna lift the sun? Heck she’d probably already start trying if she knew. She probably doesn’t though. The guards locked her in some room underground. Have you talked to her yet?”
Twilight closed her eyes and buried her face under her hooves. Her response was muffled by her hooves covering her mouth. “No. I’m not going to.”
“Celestia took over raising the moon when Luna was gone. Why can’t Luna take over the sun? Come on let’s go talk to her.”
“And say what? How am I supposed to talk to her after what happened?” A book floated up near Twilight’s face and it mimicked the movements of a mouth. “Hey there Twilight, sorry about that tiny little tantrum there, but we’re cool, right?” The book was magically thrown across the room. “There’s nothing in any of the dating books about what to do if your fillyfriend destroys your hometown in an effort to prove your right to be together. I’ve checked.” She pointed with her hoof at a large pile of books that were sitting in a corner of the throne room. “What I’m I supposed to say?! That I forgive her for playing a major role in the destruction of a city and possibly the death of my brother?! What the hay I’m I supposed to say to her?!” Twilight curled back up in a ball and sobbed. “What the buck happened this week? Why did everything suddenly break apart? What am I supposed to do? I just want to go back to the way things were a few days ago, where we were just lying in bed, I was underneath her wing, and she was half-awake mumbling through a story about Starswirl the Bearded. What should I do? How can I fix all of this? Why do I have to fix all of this?”
Applejack pushed her hat down on her head. “Come on, we need to go talk to her. I’ll come with you. I ain’t about to abandon my friends now…” The orange pony picked Twilight up and pushed her to a standing position in front of the throne. “Now I don’t know what to do about the whole relationship thing. I’m not too good in that area myself, but what I can help you with is fixing this mess. Because I’m tired of seeing you yelling at your friends and seeing you curling up into a little crying ball. I’ll tell ya what we’re going to do: we’re going to march down to where Luna’s locked up and we’re going to get the sun moving again and then we’re going to get Canterlot rebuilt and find all the missing ponies. That’s what we’re going to do, and I don’t care if it’s improba-possible or impossibraly… or whatever the word is. See, we don’t even know the word because we don’t need it!”
“Impossible…”
Applejack tapped Twilight on the forehead. “Nope it ain’t ‘cause we don’t even know that word anymore. We’re just going to fix it no matter what!”
Twilight sniffled slightly and wiped the tears from her eye. “Iresponrbobaly?” The Unicorn smiled weakly.
“That’s the sprit!”
After the events that lead to the destruction of Canterlot, the royal guards had, at Twilight Sparkle’s instruction, carried Luna and Celestia back to what was left of Canterlot Castle. The elder sister was locked inside one of the conservatories on the upper floors. While Luna was locked in one of the old literature restoration rooms on the lower level. Twilight had often been to this part of the castle when she was living in Canterlot. Ancient tomes would be pulled from the library on a schedule to the temperature controlled restoration room. There, specially trained ponies would apply various mixtures to preserve the pages of the tomes and also scribe new copies to prevent the knowledge from being lost. Many parts of Canterlot made Twilight feel at home: the classrooms of the School for Gifted Unicorns, the Masonhoof Promenade on the west side of the city, the grand library, her own private quarters in Canterlot Castle, and most prominently the literature restoration room underneath the castle. Now that she stood in front the door, knowing that Luna waited on the other side, she found this to be the most uncomfortable place in all of Canterlot. “You ok, sugarcube?” Applejack placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.
“Yes… I mean I think so…. I still don’t know what I’m going to say to her.” Twilight raised her hoof to the door and prepared to open it. “It’s strange. She’s been a part of some terrible things in her lifetime. Nightmare Night, her return a thousand years later during the Summer Sun Celebration, and now the destruction of Canterlot. Yet, despite all that, now that I’m outside the door I’m not as angry at her as I expected to be…”
“That’s a good thing right?” Applejack smiled.
“No, I don’t think so at all. The fact that I can’t seem to muster the expected amount of anger against her… does that mean I’m a terrible pony? I know she’s hurt a lot of ponies but I just can’t seem to visualize her doing that…. I’ve seen her destroy Canterlot and I still can’t seem to reconcile that memory with my image of her.”
Applejack patted Twilight’s back gently. “It’s not like it was entirely her fault. Nightmare Moon was to blame for most of it.”
“But Nightmare Moon and Luna are still, in many ways, the same pony.”
“But not completely, right? I don’t quite understand how you explained it during the train ride, but Nightmare Moon has a mind of her own right? She may act on Luna’s wishes, but it’s still that demon that doesn’t know when enough is enough.”
“Perhaps….” Twilight sighed. She pushed the doors open. They creaked much louder than she expected them to, and this was no doubt due to the fact that they were now sitting slightly unaligned from the destruction that had hit the castle. Twilight let out a small gasp as her eyes saw the room. She had not meant to, but it had escaped her lips far faster than her thoughts were running. Luna was covered in chains. She was stretched flat against the floor with a chain attached at each leg, trailing off to the four corners of the room. Luna’s mane had changed; no doubt from her encounter with the Elements of Harmony. It had lost its ethereal look, giving her the appearance that she was now much younger. Twilight took a few steps into the room, followed by Applejack. Luna’s ears perked and she lifted her head. When the Alicorn saw who her visitors were, she lowered her head in shame.
“Twilight…” The Alicorn said with a bit of a whimper. She lowered her head as a misbehaved puppy who had just been reprimanded would. “Twilight I…”
“Save it.” Twilight said, avoiding eye contact with the pony. “I’m not here to discuss that. I’m here because of the sun.”
Luna’s eyes widened. Her expression of shame mixed with one of worry. “I see…. The sun…. I was hoping that wasn’t the case….”
“The sun has not moved from its place on the horizon in three days. Your sister is refusing to move it.”
“No. You are mistaken.” Luna said as she glanced upwards at the ceiling. “If she could, she would be still controlling the sun. Every fiber in her being is screaming out to move that life giving orb, I promise you but Celestia is powerless at the moment.”
“Powerless… How could that...?” Twilight furrowed her brow.
“The Elements of Harmony neutralize Alicorn magic. Both my sister and I are incapable of magic at the moment is seems. I had hoped my sister had not been hit with the blast, but...”
“I see… so that is true the power of the Elements of Harmony. They neutralize magic?”
“Not all magic, just negative magic. Positive magical sources like that of Unicorns or the energy that resides in strong emotions like friendship and love are unaffected by the elements.”
“Wait… why is Alicorn magic negative aligned?” Luna shook her head dismissively. Twilight clenched her jaw. “Then you would be incapable of moving the sun as well, I take it?”
Luna bowed her head. “Yes. That is… correct.”
“When will the both of you get your powers back? You’ve been hit with the Elements before, and your powers eventually came back. How long did that take?”
“Almost a full year.” Luna said quietly.
“A year?!” Twilight screamed. Applejack nearly dropped her hat from the sudden, startling outburst. “Fine! Then tell me the spell to move the sun! I’ll take over from now on.”
Luna blinked a few times in confusion. “Spell?”
“Yes! The spell that allows a pony to move the sun. I don’t care how difficult it is; I’ll master it and somehow find the power to cast it! Celestia won’t talk to me, so you’re going to tell me how to perform it!”
“There isn’t a spell. Even if there was… I wouldn’t know it.”
Twilight shook her head. “Now’s not the time for secrets. Ponies are scared and I’m now responsible for them. Tell me how the Unicorns before Celestia raised the sun everyday!” Twilight shook Luna with her hooves. No small feat, considering their difference in size.
“That was a myth. Unicorns never raised the sun.”
“What? But… history says…”
“Pre-Equestrian history was all fabricated by Celestia. Celestia has been the only pony to ever have control over the sun. And I honestly haven’t the slightest clue how to raise and lower it. Only Celestia is linked to it and only she can control it.”
“But… it’s just like the moon right? When you were banished, Celestia took over control of the moon. So… surly there is a way to take control of the sun.”
“I don’t know how my sister managed to move the moon in my absence. By all reason it shouldn’t be possible. That’s not how the magic works. It shouldn’t have been possible. It was always something that baffled me, but once I returned Celestia would never tell me how she managed to gain control of the moon.”
“That doesn’t…” Twilight pressed her fore-hooves against her head. “I’m tired of secrets! I’m tired of being kept in the dark about all this! You and your sister made a terrible mess and I have to clean it up now, so I’m done with all these horseapples.” Twilight pointed at Luna. “You’re going to tell me everything! How you and your sister came to control the sun and moon and stars. In detail, from the beginning!”
Luna looked down at the ground for a moment. “If you’re truly sure you want to hear it, I will tell you. I warn you though. This tale is not a happy one. And once it has been told it cannot be unheard. By the end of it, I suspect you will hate us.”
“Lives are at stake! Tell me!”
Luna sighed and her eyes watered. “Very well. You want to start at the beginning? Then I suppose we should start where all tales with a horrible ending begin, with an omen….”