//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Shadow of the Sun // by Starwin //------------------------------// Shadow of the Sun By Starwin Chapter 1 It had been a terrible idea. How could she have possibly agreed to something like this? They had seemed so innocent and curious. Their motives sincere and their interest genuine. Now, however, Twilight Sparkle seriously questioned how she had let three school aged fillies talk her into ‘helping out’ in her library. Apple Bloom and her two friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, meant well, at least, Twilight thought that they did. They were always rushing around, trying something new to earn their cutie marks. The problem was, they always seemed to pick something very opposite to their nature. At first, Twilight had been excited to help the girls become Cutie Mark Crusader Librarians. That enthusiasm had left her less than ten minutes later. For the last half hour she had been racing around, trying to stop the three fillies from destroying her library. A horrendous crash from the far end of the room halted Twilight in her tracks. She looked over just in time to see a whole collection of books topple down onto Scootaloo. The young filly was buried in a small avalanche of fairytales, with only her head poking out from under the pile. Twilight hurried towards the filly, dropping the books she had been moving back to biography from biology, where Apple Bloom had mistakenly stuck them. Her horn began to glow as she rushed to Scootaloo’s aid. Using her unicorn magic, Twilight levitated the books off of the tiny orange pegasus and back onto the shelves. “Scootaloo, are you alright?” asked Twilight in concern. “What happened?” “Yeah, I’m fine,” replied Scootaloo as she climbed back to her hooves and brushed herself off. “I was trying to put this book back on the top shelf but I slipped and all the books tumbled down on me.” Scootaloo held up the book she had been trying to return. “Scootaloo, we have a ladder for that,” said Twilight in frustration. Her horn glowed again and the rolling ladder zoomed around the library to stop next to the two ponies. “Also, that book is fantasy, not fairytales. It goes over there,” explained Twilight as she pointed to a shelf across the library. “Oh,” said Scootaloo in confusion, “aren’t fairytales, fantasy?” Twilight opened her mouth to explain the difference but was interrupted as she felt a tug at her side. Glancing behind her Twilight found a small white unicorn with a curly pink and purple mane looking innocently up at her and instantly knew that no good could come of this. “Yes, Sweetie?” asked Twilight, dreading what might be wrong now. “Um, are your books supposed to be on fire?” asked Sweetie. Twilight’s eyes widened as Sweetie pointed to a book that had burst into flames. “I… what… but how?” stammered Twilight as she rushed over to put out the tiny fire. In all the chaos, Twilight didn’t hear the knock at the door nor did she notice when a powder blue pegasus made her way into the library. Twilight was just getting the flames under control when the pegasus called her name and made her jump. “Oh, Rainbow Dash!” exclaimed Twilight. “Thank goodness, for a second I thought you were another…” a second crash from the far end of the library interrupted Twilight. “Oops, my bad,” called Scootaloo. Twilight let out a sigh and dropped her face into her hoof. “If they ask you to be Cutie Mark Crusader Weather Ponies, tell them no,” whispered Twilight. It was then that Twilight saw the expression on Rainbow Dash’s face. “Rainbow, what’s wrong?” “Oh, weather ponies! That’s a great idea!” said Applebloom in the background. Twilight gave an involuntary twitch. “I didn’t know where else to go or who to tell,” said Rainbow Dash, her whole body shaking. Twilight had never seen her friend like this, it wasn’t just panic in her eyes, it was fear. “I think something is wrong with the sun.” “What do you mean, ‘wrong with the Sun?’” asked Twilight in concern. Rainbow Dash ran a nervous hoof through her hair before she answered. Twilight heard the patter of small hooves as the three fillies approached to listen in. “The Sun,” continued Rainbow Dash. “I think the Sun has stopped moving.” “What? That’s impossible, the Sun can’t just stop moving,” replied Twilight in a disbelieving tone. “Look!” cried Rainbow Dash desperately. She pointed out the door behind her, gesturing up towards the sky. “Look at the Sun!” Twilight took a step outside and shaded her eyes with a hoof as she glanced upwards. It was a bright blue day with a scant few clouds in the sky. The Sun was at its pinnacle but Twilight couldn’t tell if it was moving or not. From what she could see, there didn’t appear to be anything wrong. “I can’t really tell,” said Twilight. “How do you know it’s stopped?” “I went to take my noonday nap,” explained Rainbow. “But when I got up it was still noon. And I’m not the only pony who’s noticed, the whole town’s in a panic about it.” “I suppose I could run some experiments,” muttered Twilight to herself. “My astronomy equipment is upstairs…” “Oh, oh,” said Sweetie Belle. “Let us help, we could be Cutie Mark Crusader Astrologist!” Twilight Sparkle looked horror struck at the idea of letting the three fillies anywhere near her astronomy equipment. “We don’t have time for that!” exclaimed Rainbow. “We have to send a letter to Princess Celestia and find out what’s going on!” “Oh, you’re right, that’s a great idea,” said Twilight. “Spike!” called Twilight. Her voice echoed through the library but no answer came. “Spike!” “Uh, he ain’t here,” said Apple Bloom raising a confused eyebrow at Twilight. Both Rainbow and Twilight looked down at the little filly. “Don’t ya’ll remember? You said he could have the day off when you agreed to let us be your assistants.” Twilight’s eye twitched again. “Yes, I did, didn’t I,” said Twilight, letting out a nervous laugh. “I’d completely forgotten.” “Well, we need to find him,” said Rainbow. “Where do you think he’s gone off to?” “Oh that’s easy,” answered Sweetie Belle. Everypony looked at her. “He probably went the same place he always goes, Carousel Boutique.” “Oh course, I should have guessed,” sighed Twilight, rolling her eyes. “Come on Rainbow, let’s go get him.” The two mares turned to leave but a small voice stopped them. “What… what should we do?” asked Scootaloo. Rainbow and Twilight glanced at each other then back at the three little fillies. “I think it’s best if you three wait here for now,” said Rainbow Dash. “At least until we know more about what’s going on.” “I also have an important job for you,” added Twilight. “It isn’t cleaning up the library, is it?” asked Scootaloo. “Because I don’t think we’re cut out to be Cutie Mark Crusader Librarians.” Twilight couldn’t agree more, but didn’t want to hurt the three fillies’ feelings. “No, it isn’t cleaning the library,” answered Twilight. “If Spike gets back before us, I need you to have him send a letter Princess Celestia right away. Can you do that?” The three fillies saluted. “Ya got it!” said Applebloom. “Cutie Mark Crusaders are on the job!” “Alright Rainbow, let’s go!” said Twilight. The two mares hurried out the door but Twilight poked her head back in. “Seriously though, don’t touch anything else.” Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash galloped as fast as they could through the streets of Ponyville. The town seemed unusually empty. Sale carts sat vacant, no fillies were out playing. It almost felt like the town had been abandoned. Rarity’s Boutique wasn’t far away, at their current pace, it would only take a few minutes to get there. Twilight couldn’t help but glance up at the Sun every now and again. Rainbow was right, it didn’t seem to be moving at all. The more Twilight looked, the more worried she became. She didn’t like the implications of what a stationary Sun meant. It was unpleasantly hot as they reached the shop. Twilight was thankful to get inside. The downstairs clothing shop appeared to be deserted. Bolts of fabric lay on the floor where they had been dropped. Several mannequins sat with loose threads hanging off them. Rarity very rarely left her shop in such a condition. “Rarity!” called Rainbow Dash. “Spike!” No answer came. It appeared that both of them had left. “They must have gone to the Town Hall. That’s where most ponies seemed to be going when I was headed over to your house.” “Then that’s where we need to go too!” said Twilight. Without waiting another moment, Twilight and Rainbow rushed out the door, galloping for the center of town. Twilight was worried, they weren’t getting answers fast enough. With Spike missing, the one pony that could shed some light on what was happening was unreachable. By the time the two of them arrived at the town center, Twilight could feel the heat rising up from the ground. Whatever was going on was getting worse, much quicker than Twilight would have hoped. “Please, everypony! Please just calm down!” pleaded the Mayor of Ponyville. She was standing up behind her podium, trying to bring some order to the mass of panicked citizens. There were dozens and dozens of ponies in the enormous crowd. Twilight could hear unease building in their whispers. If she couldn’t get word from the Princess soon, things were going to get a lot worse. “How can we calm down!” cried a pony in the crowd. “Look at the Sun! It hasn’t moved for hours! What if it never moves again!” There were echoed jeers of discontent from the on lookers. “Excuse me,” said Twilight Sparkle trying to get past. Some of the ponies turned to look at her. “It’s Twilight Sparkle!” exclaimed a pony. “She’ll know what to do!” “Yeah, ask her! She’s Celestia’s student!” shouted another. Twilight felt her cheeks warm in embarrassment. The mass of ponies pressed towards her, seeking answers she didn’t have for them. “What’s going on?” demanded a yellow mare. “What’s happening?” asked a dark brown colt. “Is the Sun ever going to move again?” whimpered a little frightened filly. “Do you like my hat?” “Pinkie?” asked Twilight. She turned to glance at the pink pony who had poked her head out of the crowd. Atop her head was a bright yellow sun hat. It hurt Twilight’s eyes to look at it. “Uh, it’s very nice,” said Twilight. “Have you seen Spike?” “Yep, I sure have!” replied Pinkie Pie. “Fantastic! Where is he?” asked Twilight in desperation. “Some place over there,” said Pinkie. She waved a hoof towards the sea of ponies, many of whom were staring at Twilight, expecting a miracle from her. “You couldn’t be just a little more specific, could you?” asked Twilight. Her eyes searched the crowd, unable to see anything resembling Spike. “Nope,” said Pinkie Pie and with that, she vanished. “Naturally,” said Twilight with a sigh. “Excuse me.” She forced herself into the crowd, squeezing between ponies that seemed reluctant to let her pass without getting an answer. “Let me see if I can spot him!” said Rainbow Dash. With a flap of her wings she leapt up into the air. She held a hoof up to her eyes and scanned the crowd. “I see him, he’s over there!” Rainbow called down. She pointed a hoof off towards a spot that Twilight couldn’t see. “Pardon me!” said Twilight, becoming a little irritated that the others wouldn’t part to let her through. When the ponies in front of her still didn’t move, Twilight let out a huff of frustration. “Oh, we don’t have time for this!” exclaimed Twilight at last. She closed her eyes and focused as her horn began to glow. With a flash and a pop, Twilight vanished. She used her magic to teleport past the crowd and up onto the stage. From her new vantage point she was able to spot Spike, standing alongside Rarity of course. Twilight’s horn glowed again. A bubble of magic wrapped around the small purple dragon and lifted him up into the air. He floated over the heads of the other ponies before finally coming to a stop along side Twilight. “Spike, at last,” sighed Twilight in relief. She was still holding Spike aloft with her magic so that he was eye-level with her. “I need to send a letter to Celestia immediately!” “Uh, actually, she already sent you one,” said Spike, looking a little embarrassed. He squirmed uncomfortably in Twilight’s magical grip. “I have it in my bag.” He struggled to reach it but in the weightless space of Twilight’s magic he only managed to spin around. Twilight lowered him gently down to the wooden platform and released him from the spell. Spike rummaged around in his bag before pulling out a white scroll with a golden seal. It looked just like every other letter Twilight had ever gotten from her mentor. Twilight didn’t know why but she had somehow expected it to look different, more important in someway. “It arrived while I was uh… out,” said Spike, with a slight blush. “I was totally going to give it to you when I got back! But then everypony started panicking and I wanted to see what was going on… and…” “It’s alright, Spike,” said Twilight. She levitated the message out of Spike’s claws. Twilight broke the seal and unfurled the letter. Quickly her eyes scanned across the page. As she read she frowned with concern. “What does it say!” shouted a pony from the crowd. “Yes! Tell us!” cried another pony. “What’s wrong! What’s happened!” pleaded a desperate mare. Twilight rolled the letter up and pushed it safely back into Spike’s bag. “Ponies, please,” said Twilight, raising her voice for all to hear. The gathered ponies quieted a little. “I have received instructions from Princess Celestia. She has placed me in charge of making sure everypony in Ponyville is safe while she works to fix the Sun.” There was a murmur of uncertainty from the crowd. “I know you’re frightened,” continued Twilight, “but now is not the time for fear. We must act as quickly as possible. This heat is only going to get worse. But, if you all listen to me, we can bring this situation under control.” Some of the crowd nodded their approval and Twilight took this as a sign to continue. “We can’t stay out in this heat. We need to go someplace where it’s cooler. If you have a cellar, then I want you to go down into it. Bring as much food and water as you can. “If you do not have a home with a cellar, find a family that does and stay with them until this crisis is over. Do not leave your homes. I will provide you with more information when there is more. “These are instructions from Celestia!” said Twilight, mustering as much authority in her voice as she could manage. “Please, go home, make yourself and your family safe. That is all we can do right now.” This seemed to appease most of the gathered crowd. Either because they believed Twilight or because the heat was becoming too much for them, the ponies began to disperse. While most of the ponies were trotting away from Twilight, five of them made their way towards her. “Well, I’m glad Celestia put you in charge,” said the Mayor. “I have no idea what to do in situations like this. Uh… what exactly should I do?” “Just like everypony else, go home and go to your cellar,” said Twilight. The Mayor nodded before galloping off. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all gathered up on stage with Twilight as the crowd continued to thin. “Wow, that was totally amazing!” said Pinkie Pie. Her bright yellow hat was still unpleasant to look at. Rarity’s eyes widened at the sight of the hat but she didn’t comment on it. “I’ve never seen you talk like that before. You almost sounded like Celestia! You were so strong, so assertive, so…” “Lying,” said Applejack her unhappy glare fixed on Twilight. “Y'all lied to them, didn’t you?” Twilight looked away, all but confirming Applejacks accusation. “So Celestia didn’t put you in charge?” asked Fluttershy softly. “And she didn’t tell everypony to hide in their cellars?” asked Rarity. “No,” said Twilight. “The letter didn’t say any of those things. That was all me. I had to do something. They needed to get indoors. Not be out here in a panic.” “What do you mean?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Why don’t you want them to be out here?" Twilight ran a foreleg across her brow. “Can’t you feel how hot it’s getting?” asked Twilight. “At first I thought it was just because we were galloping around so much but that’s not it.” “Now that you mention it, I am feeling a little flustered,” said Rarity. “I think it’s going to get a lot hotter, a lot quicker,” said Twilight. “I needed to get everypony out of this sun.” “And I think we had better do the same,” said Rarity. “It seems to be getting hotter by the second!” Rarity was right, Twilight felt like she was starting to burn. “The library is closest,” said Twilight. Her horn glowed and she levitated Spike up onto her back. “Let’s hurry there and we can figure out what we’re going to do!” Without wasting another moment the friends galloped off, making for the library as quickly as they could. By the time they reached the library, the Sun was blazing down on them with an intensity that Twilight had never felt before. The moment everypony was inside, she closed the door solidly behind them. It was still hot but not the burning hot of the outside. “You’re back!” cried three small voices. Twilight turned just in time to see the three little filly rush past her. Applebloom ran to her big sister and embraced her in a hug. Sweetie Belle did the same. Scootaloo stopped just short of Rainbow Dash, unsure what to do but clearly longing for the same kind of reassurance as her friends. “Uh, hey there kid,” said Rainbow nervously, giving Scootaloo’s head a rub. “We were worried you weren’t coming back!” said Sweetie Belle, her eyes welling up with tears. “There, there,” said Rarity comfortingly. “We’re here, everything is fine now.” “I don’t think anything is fine,” said Twilight seriously, letting Spike down from her back. “Alright Twilight,” said Applejack. “I think y'all owe us some answers. Just what the hay did that letter say?” Twilight looked at her friends. They were all staring at her, expecting answers just like the crowd had wanted. Answers she didn’t have for them. However, she wasn’t going to lie to her friends. With her magic, Twilight lifted the letter out of Spike’s bag and unfurled it. “This is the real message Celestia sent to me,” said Twilight. She turned the parchment around so that her friends could read it. The message was very, very short. ‘Whatever happens, do not come to Canterlot.’ It was unsigned. “That’s… That’s it?” asked Applejack, her eyes scanning over the blank page, making sure she hadn’t missed something. “That’s it,” said Twilight. She rolled the parchment back up and tucked it away. “She didn’t address it or sign it but I recognized her hoofwriting. Something must have happened in Canterlot. Something must have happened to…” Twilight broke off and looked away, unable to speak her fears. “So, we just need to send a letter to her and ask,” said Rarity calmly. “I’m sure that should clear things up right away.” “Right,” said Twilight with a nod. Yet, there was something in her voice that sounded like uncertainty. Normally, Twilight would have asked Spike to write the letter but she did it herself. She described the situation and asked for further instruction. When the letter was completed, she signed and sealed it before levitating the rolled up message over to Spike. The baby dragon held the scroll in his claw and blew his magical flame at it. His fire breath acted as magical transport, carrying messages to and from Princess Celestia. However, that was not what happened this time. The flame engulfed the parchment and it began to burn in his hand. With a cry of surprise, Spike dropped the letter and Applejack sprung forward. With quick hooves she stamped out the flames before they could spread. “Spike!” cried Twilight in distress. “What are you doing?” “I’m sorry Twilight!” said Spike in surprise. “I don’t know what happened! I tried to send it, just like always but… but it didn’t work!” Hurriedly, Twilight rushed back over to her table and wrote a second, much more brief, letter. She signed it and sealed it again, before giving it to Spike. “Try again,” insisted Twilight. Applejack stood by, ready to stamp out another blaze. Spike took a deep breath and blew. But this time, only the faintest gasp of flame escaped his mouth. The fire was not even enough to singe the paper. “Again!” Spike blew again but to much the same results. “Again!” shouted Twilight. “Twilight,” said Rarity sternly. “That is enough! You don’t have to shout at Spike.” Twilight glared at Rarity and there was something like insanity behind her eyes. Then Twilight blinked and looked away ashamed. “I’m sorry,” whispered Twilight before collapsing down into a heap on the floor. “I don’t know what to do now... I thought we would at least be able to send a letter.” “Well, if we can’t send one, we’ll just have to go ourselves,” said Applejack. “Um, hello?” said Pinkie Pie, waving a hoof in front of Applejack. “Didn’t you read the letter form Celestia. It said ‘Do not come to Canterlot!’” “So what?” said Rainbow Dash. “I say we go anyhow. Something is wrong and we need to find out what!” “But we can’t go even if we wanted to,” said Fluttershy softly, everypony turned to look at her. “Sorry.” “What do you mean we can’t go?” asked Rainbow Dash moving slightly closer to the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy shrunk away. “Sure we can!” “No,” said Twilight, not looking up from her spot on the ground. “We can’t.” “Just because some piece of paper says we can’t!” exclaimed Applejack. “Maybe the Princess didn’t know she would need our help! Maybe she figured we’d still be able to send her letters. Maybe…” “That doesn’t matter,” interrupted Twilight. “We can’t go because there's no way for us to get there.” “What do you mean?” asked Applejack. “Canterlot is two days away at a gallop,” answered Fluttershy. “Even flying it’s nearly a full day’s journey. If Twilight's right and this heat's going to get worse, then there's no way we could make it there.” “I think my magic could shield us from the Sun,” said Twilight a little despondently. “But not galloping and not for two days straight. So we can’t go, because, we can’t.” “So… so what do we do then?” asked Rainbow Dash, sounding a little defeated. The reality of their situation was at last starting to sink in. “Oh, oh, I know, I know!” said Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down and waving a hoof in the air. “I don’t see how a party is going to improve things Pinkie,” said Applejack, rolling her eyes. “A party? No, don’t be silly!” said Pinkie Pie. “We need to help as many ponies in Ponyville as we can. If we can’t go to Canterlot, then we need to do the best we can do, here.” “Pinkie's right,” said Twilight, slowly getting back up to her hooves. Some of her determination was returning. “We need to help however we can, until all this is over.”