//------------------------------//
// Setting the Sun 
// Story: Speedwrites 
// by Holtinater 
//------------------------------//

Once upon a time, before Celestia, Equestria was suffering terrible hardship. Raising the sun every morning was so hard, it took five great sorcerers plus Star Swirl the Bearded to do it. And every day, the unicorns helping Star Swirl would use so much magic, they lost their powers forever. Things looked bleak. Soon, Equestria would lose all its magic users! Then, the land would be covered in darkness for eternity!

Because of this looming threat, Star Swirl picked his battles. There just weren’t enough unicorns to complete the ritual even once every few hundred hours. The days grew longer, the land became hotter, and disaster was around the corner.





Celestia and her sister, Luna, had just finished their magic lessons with Star Swirl the Bearded, and on top of being exhausted, it was the hottest day either of them had ever experienced. The sun had been up for almost 750 hours. Star Swirl, the genius that he was, could recite exactly how long it had been up, and how much longer it should stay up, at any given moment. The goal this time around was to make it to 800. 

Following the sun setting would be the coldest winter ever, as the moon took its place in the sky for another 800 hours. After that… Nopony knew what would happen. Would it be best to stick to the same time, or should it be extended even further? With how hot it was already, Celestia wasn’t looking forward to the latter option, though she was smart enough to know that such measures were necessary for survival.

Though, as the sisters walked through the streets of Canterlot, a small country village that they called their home, she realized that there wasn’t a lot of survival happening even now. Nopony could do anything too physically taxing, or stay outside for an extended period of time. The crops were failing, as they often did these days, leaving less and less food to those who so desperately needed it. Distrust was once again spreading through ponies.

Earth ponies were being blamed for their crops failing. Pegasi were being blamed for not blocking out the sun with their clouds. Unicorns were being blamed for not being strong enough to pull the sun below the horizon. The winter was already going to be brutal, but Celestia knew that if they also had to contend with Windigos, there might not be anypony left to bring the light of day.

She stopped in the middle of the street, and looked directly above her, at the sun. She had been advised by her teacher, Star Swirl, to never attempt to move the sun. They had shown great promise in his lessons, and didn’t want to lose them, as he had so many other unicorns. Was it favoritism? Yes. But there was no questioning the wisest pony in history. He knew exactly what he was doing, and what he was doing was always for the best of everypony.

But as she stared directly into the massive star in the sky, Celestia began to recite his teachings in her mind. About how many thought that magic is a gift to the unicorns. How it is a force of will for them to exact on whatever or whomever they please. But this is not so. Every living thing has magic, from the beetles on the ground to the dragons in the air. Magic imbues us all with life and energy. And when it is used, it is not a force of will, or power, but merely a suggestion. It is a push for plants to grow swiftly, a nudge of a cloud to give rain. Even for the large, complicated spells that unicorns are known to use are merely communing with the universe to convince it to make something happen. 

All one had to do was ask the right question.

Celestia closed her eyes, lit up her horn, and asked.





Luna stopped her walking, and looked back to her sister. “Tia, what art thou doing?” She turned and walked back to her. “Star Swirl instructed us to use magic no more until our next meeting. And what, pray tell, are you using it on?” Luna looked around them both, but saw nothing that was wrapped in that familiar yellow glow. Despite her questioning, Celestia held her stance, with her head pointed to the sky. 

Luna followed her sister’s gaze and saw the now overly-familiar sun glaring down at them. She thought for a moment that Celestia was using her magic on it, but scoffed at herself. Why would she ever do something so ridicu-

The sun was definitely moving. But that couldn’t be right. Star Swirl himself said that there were still dozens of hours until the next lowering of the sun. He wouldn’t dare change his schedule, especially so quickly after talking to the two of them about it. If it wasn’t Star Swirl, then it had to be somepony else. But… No, it couldn’t be. They were already drained from their lesson not but a few minutes passed. She couldn’t be moving the sun all on her own, could she?

Could she?

“Tia, whatever thou art doing, it needs to be stopped. Thou art drained already, lowering the sun will leave you powerless!” She got no response, and the sun seemed to only be speeding up its descent, as if it were accelerating to crash into the land below. Though with how inexperienced her sister was with such a procedure, that may very well be the case.

As the display went on, Luna couldn’t hold onto her propriety as she started shaking Celestia, as if to knock some sense into her. “Stop this instant! You cannot keep this going, sister! You won’t ever do magic again!” 

But she did not stop, no matter how Luna shook, pushed, or yelled. The sun set, the heat gone with it, and darkness overtook the land. The only light in the streets was the faint glow from Celestia’s horn, fading until it popped out of existence. Celestia finally collapsed, and Luna came down with her, crying at the loss of something her sister loved so much.

Abruptly, a bright white light burst forth from Celestia, hurting Luna’s eyes, even though they were closed. And, when the light finally subsided a moment later, Luna saw that she was no longer laying by the side of her sister, but at the feet of… well it still looked like her sister, but she usually didn’t have wings, so this couldn’t have been her.

But then the alicorn looked down at her and smiled, and she knew that it had to be her. Tia held out her hoof to her, and helped her up. Once she was up, she hurriedly cleaned her face of tears, and saw that once again, her sister was looking to the sky. There was no moon, and the stars were dim, barely there. Apparently, only half of the ritual had been completed.

“All you have to do is ask, dear sister,” Celestia broke the silence, and gently nudged Luna.

The younger sister looked between her older sibling and the barren sky. Her, control the heavens above? She couldn’t do so even in her wildest dreams, what made Tia think that she could do so now? And what of the consequences if she failed, when she failed? 

The wise Star Swirl had directly instructed them never to attempt such a feat, and that such an attempt would result in the loss of their magic and, worst of all, the end of their apprenticeship under his tutelage. She couldn’t go against the advice of one who had proven himself more knowledgeable than she could ever be.

But as she gazed further into the dull abyss, she felt a need stir within her. A need to do better, to make the sky beautiful, filled with life.

With her sister by her side, Luna focused entirely on the sky above her, closed her eyes, and imagined that the stars were splashes of paint across the black canvas, with the moon front-and-center, providing a guiding light to the lost souls of the night, promising safety in it’s pale glow. 

When she opened her eyes, her dream of the starry night sky had become a reality.