Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin
Chapter 2
The blazing golden disc of the Sun radiated down unbearable heat. It was fixed in the pale blue dome of the world. There were no clouds left in the sky. An endless noon day blue stretched from horizon, to mountain crested horizon.
Below, in Ponyville, the town was just as empty as the sky. The streets were quiet and still and silent. Every shop window displayed a closed for business sign. Every street cart had its goods packed away. It was as if the town had been completely abandoned.
Everypony was inside hiding from the heat — everypony, except, for Twilight Sparkle.
Through the shimmering heat waves, Twilight moved slowly down the main road, pulling a small two wheeled cart behind her. Purplish light flickered around her body every time she took a step. Her face was strained with effort as her horn glowed brightly, working to maintain her shield spell. The thin light was all that kept her safe from the burning heat.
The back of the cart had been covered with a thick white cloth. Like Twilight, the cloth also glowed with a purplish aura. Twilight had cast a spell on it, to make it heat resistant. The spell had to be renewed regularly but it was worth it, to protect the cargo.
Underneath the cloth were precious bags of food. Hours ago the cart had been completely full with deliveries. Now, Twilight had given out most of them and only had a few more stops ahead of her.
Twilight continued up the street. Her course turned slightly as she moved towards one of the nearby buildings, a tan house with a tiled roof. Her progress was slow, her movements labored. She had been out in the Sun for far too long and she needed to rest.
Hot, tired and slightly out of breath, Twilight dragged herself towards the house, each step more difficult than the last. She reached the front door, raised a hoof, knocked and waited.
Standing still proved to be harder than walking. Twilight struggled to maintain the spell as the intensity of the Sun beat down upon her. Her face tensed with concentration and her shield flickered slightly.
The approach of hurried hoofsteps reached her ears. It was a very welcome sound. She didn’t have to wait long before a teal unicorn with a very light blue and white mane, answered the door. The unicorn mare stayed well inside the house, keeping out of the Sun. Even still, it was apparent that the heat from outside was making her uncomfortable.
“You made it,” said the mare. Twilight could only nod. “Here, let me help you.” The unicorn’s horn glowed and two bags of food lifted from the covered cart, held aloft in a magical golden aura.
“Rest,” said Twilight, barely managing to get the word out. So far, she had delivered food to more than two dozen houses. Every four of five houses she’d had to stop to rest and regain her strength.
“Of course!” said the teal unicorn. “Please come in.”
“Thank you, Lyra,” said Twilight. She shrugged off the cart harness and stepped into the house. Once Twilight was inside, Lyra shut the door quickly behind her. The shield around Twilight shimmered away.
“Come on, I’ll take you downstairs where it’s cooler,” said Lyra. Using her magic, the teal unicorn placed the food bags across her back. The supplies had been tied together so that they could be carried like saddle bags. Lyra trotted on ahead and Twilight followed behind.
As the two mares reached the other side of the room, they found another pony waiting for them. She was a white coated earth pony with a purple and pink mane. She held open a door that Twilight assumed must lead down into the cellar. She smiled as Twilight and Lyra passed her.
“Oh Twilight, you look terrible!” said the mare holding the door.
“It’s been a very long day, Bon Bon,” said Twilight wearily. “I just need to rest for a bit before I continue.”
Behind the door was a steep stairwell that led down into the earth. Twilight had never been down into Bon Bon’s cellar. In truth, she had never even been to her house before. As Twilight understood it, Bon Bon was hosting three other ponies beside herself, one of which was Lyra.
The three mares descended down into the ground. The air became cooler with each step. Quickly, they reached the lowest level, which was nothing more than a simple room. Two other ponies were spread out around the small space. They looked up hopefully, excited to see the food.
“Is that… all there is?” asked a dark pink pony with purple hair. Twilight remembered her name to be Berry Punch but knew little else about her.
“I’m afraid it is,” said Twilight tiredly. She looked for a nice comfortable spot on the floor to rest for a bit. There was a place that seemed to be a makeshift bed. “Does anypony mind?” asked Twilight, pointing a hoof towards the bed.
“Go right ahead,” said Bon Bon with a nod. Twilight smiled thankfully and settled down. It was not the most comfortable thing she had ever lain on but it would do.
“So…” asked a blue mare with a white and blue mane. Twilight did not know the pony’s name but she knew her question. It was the same question she had been asked at every stop, even when she hadn’t come in to rest. “Is their any news from Celestia or anypony else?”
“No,” replied Twilight, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice.
“But it’s been five days!” cried Bon Bon. “The Princess hasn’t sent you any letters?”
“No,” answered Twilight a little sadly. That was her least favorite question.
“Has the Sun… moved at all?” asked Berry Punch.
“No,” replied Twilight again. She knew what question was coming next and she didn’t want to answer it.
“Do you know why it's taking Celestia so long?” asked Lyra hopefully.
“No,” said Twilight softly. Everpony was quiet for a long while, until Twilight spoke again. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know much more than you do.” The room fell into an awkward silence once again. Twilight let her eyes close. She wished that she could sleep but there were only a few more houses to go and then she would be home.
“Do you have any idea how to fix this?” asked Lyra, breaking the silence. Twilight looked up at the teal unicorn. That was not the first time she had heard that question either. The answer she gave was not entirely honest.
“No,” whispered Twilight.
Lyra showed Twilight back upstairs to the door. Twilight had told her she didn’t have to come along and endure the heat of the house. However, Lyra had insisted on seeing the other unicorn off. It was either because she felt she owed Twilight — for risking life and limb to bring them food — or because she had something she wanted to ask in private. It turned out to be the latter.
“Twilight,” asked Lyra, as they reached the door. Her tone indicated that the question she was about to ask would not be a happy one. “Things… they don’t look good, do they?” Twilight tried to smile but it faltered.
“No,” said Twilight, falling back on her new least favorite word. “Things do not look good.”
“Is Celestia really going to fix this? Can, she even fix it?” asked Lyra. Twilight looked down before she answered.
“I don’t know, Lyra,” replied Twilight, the tiniest of quivers in her voice. Lyra reached out a hoof and touched Twilight’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Whatever happens,” said Lyra with a smile. “Thank you, for all that you’ve done for everypony.” Twilight nodded but couldn’t find words to respond.
“I need to recast my spells,” explained Twilight. She turned away from Lyra, looking at the door. Focusing her effort Twilight ignited her horn with sparks of magic. She cast a spell on the cart outside, on the protective cloth. With a great effort that left her panting slightly, Twilight renewed the resistance spell upon the cloth.
When the spell was complete, Twilight swayed a little, threatening to collapse to the ground. Lyra moved forward, making to support her.
“I’m alright,” said Twilight. She held up a hoof, halting Lyra’s worried advance. “That spell just takes a lot out of me. Hopefully that should be the last time I have to cast it today.”
Taking a deep breath, Twilight prepared herself to cast the second spell. This one took less effort but unlike the cloth, Twilight would have to maintain it. Once again the sparks of magic cascaded down from her horn. Slowly, a shimmering shield began to spread out around her body, coating her from horn-tip to hoof.
Once she was protected, Twilight gave a nod to the other unicorn. Lyra opened the door, standing as far away as she could. A blast of hot air rushed into the house. Quickly, Twilight hurried back outside so that Lyra could keep the heat out.
“Twilight,” said Lyra. She stood just inside the door, her eyes fixed on the lavender unicorn. “I just want you to know, that we believe in you. That I believe in you… and your friends.”
“Thank you,” said Twilight with the first genuine smile she’d had in days. Lyra smiled back before finally closing the door.
Alone once more, Twilight turned back to her cart. The wooden frame had started to warp under the heat. She wished she could make her shield spell larger and protect more of the cart but she didn’t have the energy to spare. A larger shield meant more effort and more effort meant less time.
With relative ease, Twilight slipped back into the harness. She was ready to be on her way again.
The next set of houses went by fairly quickly. They were not that far apart and Twilight did not stop to rest at any of them. Some of the ponies had been unhappy about their food rations. However, Twilight had been firm on the amount for each house. One bag for every two ponies, no exceptions.
She and Applejack had counted very carefully. Twilight had done the math herself and the results were not good. They needed to be strict with all of the food they had left. There simply wasn’t enough to sustain them for very long, although Twilight didn’t tell that to anypony.
At last, Twilight was on the final leg of her trip. Her path strayed slightly, taking a longer route that led her passed the train station. Her eyes moved hopefully over the empty platform and the vacant tracks. At the end of the platform, a cart had been pulled across the tracks. If any train did come through, it would either have to move the cart or smash it.
Twilight’s expression fell. The cart was right where it had been yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. No train had come through Ponyville. No train had stopped in Ponyville. Wherever the train was, it didn’t seem to be coming here any time soon.
Twilight moved on, making her way home. She didn’t have far to go before she could see the shape of the tall library-tree between the buildings. The tree was starting to wilt and it saddened Twilight to see her home in such a condition.
With a click and thud, Twilight detached herself from the cart once more. Reaching into the cart, Twilight grabbed the last two bags of food. She hauled the bags up over her back, unable to use her magic and maintain the shield. She grunted at the new weight and was glad her task was almost done.
Twilight turned towards the house and started to walk. With each step her shield flickered. It took all her focus to keep walking and casting. The short distance of a dozen hooves was the most difficult walk she had made all day but at last, Twilight reached the front door.
She paused only for a moment to read the temperature on a thermometer she had fixed to the doorframe. It read the exact same as when she had first attached it. The liquid inside was at the max temperature it could display. Twilight wondered how hot it really was, having no greater measurement tool.
Using her body, Twilight leaned against the door and pushed. She stumbled across the threshold and the door swung shut behind her. Twilight was able to take only two more steps before she collapsed to the floor, completely exhausted.
With a final dieing flicker, her spell faded away. She had made it inside not a moment too soon. It took her a great effort to shrug off the bags. When at last she was unburdened by magic or supplies, she lay there on the floor, too tired to move.
“Spike!” called Twilight, not getting up. “Spike!” she shouted again, not giving time for a response.
The sound of tiny footsteps pattered up from below. While Twilight waited for Spike to arrive, she glanced around her poor library. Books still lay strewn about and shelves were toppled to the floor. Twilight longed to clean it up but the heat was too intense for her to remain upstairs for very long. It would be a waste of effort to use her magic, simply to clean.
Twilight had been upstairs many times, each time wishing she could spend just a little bit putting her books back in place. However, there were more important things for her to do. She had been taking solar observations, making supply deliveries and trying to find a way to get to Canterlot. There was simply no time to put the books back in order.
Spike emerged from the cellar door, breaking Twilight out of her musings about the library. He looked just as tired as Twilight felt.
“Twilight! You’re back! Did it all go as planned?” asked Spike. Wearily, Twilight nodded.
“Everypony should have enough food for at least four more days, depending on how much they eat,” said Twilight. “Applejack should have the next batch ready to go by then. I just hope the other unicorns were able to make all their deliveries.”
“You can’t keep doing this!” said Spike, walking across the floor towards his friend. “How long do you think you can keep going out there?”
Twilight smiled up at Spike.
“I don’t have a choice, Spike. I have to do what I can until this is fixed,” answered Twilight. Very slowly she got to her hooves, instantly wishing she hadn’t. It was much hotter standing up. “I promised I would take charge and keep everypony safe.”
“Twilight…” said Spike sadly. “What if this is never fixed?”
“Come on, we should get back into the cellar. This heat is unbearable,” said Twilight, dodging the question. She made to lift the food bags but Spike grabbed them instead.
“I think you’ve done enough deliveries for one day. How about you let me carry these?” said Spike, hefting the bags over his shoulders. Twilight nodded, in no shape to argue.
Spike hurried back towards the cellar door but Twilight moved at a much slower pace. Her muscles ached and her body was tired. She needed a good long sleep.
Twilight paused at the threshold and looked sadly around at her library. There would be no visitors today. There may never be visitors again for that matter. How much longer would her books survive? If this heat kept up… how much longer would anypony survive?
“Twilight, come on!” cried Spike. Twilight turned and followed, closing the door behind her.
Only a small number of houses in Ponyville had cellars. Many homes had been abandoned and ponies had been relocated to live with another family before it had been too hot to go outside. Twilight had organized the reshuffle herself, ensuring that no home had more then four ponies. Four, her books had told her, was the optimal number for the confined space.
Like so many others, she had two roommates as well. Her friend Rainbow Dash and the filly Scootaloo were now living with her. Rainbow’s home had evaporated on the second day. She had lived in a cloud house but the heat had burned it away.
Scootaloo had been stranded at the library when the whole crisis had started. Her parents’ house didn’t have a cellar so they had been moved and there simply wasn’t room for one more at their current location.
However, Scootaloo didn’t seem to mind. She was getting to spend lots of time with her idol, Rainbow Dash. Despite Rainbow’s frustration with being kept inside, the attention from Scootaloo was helping keep her spirits up.
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had also been moved. Fluttershy was staying with Rarity at her shop while Pinkie Pie was staying with Applejack at her farm. Fluttershy had wanted to bring all her animals with her but both Twilight and Rarity had agreed that was a bad idea. Fluttershy had released them all into the forest and Twilight hoped that Rarity had been able to get their animal loving friend to stop crying.
Twilight descended lower into the cool ground, the heat of the house overhead rapidly becoming more tolerable. The ground was shielding them from the unrelenting Sun. Yet, yesterday, this area near the top had been much cooler. Twilight wondered how long it would be before even the cellars were unlivable.
Twilight shook her head. She didn’t want to think about that.
“Still no luck sending a message to Celestia?” Twilight asked the little dragon. Spike didn’t look back at her. He stopped on the stairs and Twilight had to halt suddenly or risk knocking him down.
“I tried as hard as I could,” said Spike. “I really did!” He turned around and there were tears in his eyes.
“Oh Spike, it’s alright!” said Twilight. She stepped around Spike so that she could be level with him. Gently, she wrapped a foreleg around her small dragon and gave him a reassuring hug.
“No it isn’t!” cried Spike, tears streaming down his face. “It isn’t alright at all Twilight!” Twilight held him and let Spike cry into her coat for a good minute. At last he wiped away his sniffles. “I don’t know if it’s me or… the Princess… but… there hasn’t been… anything… No matter how hard I try… I just can't send anything!”
“Keep trying, Spike,” said Twilight with the best smile she could manage. “That’s what we all need to do right now.”
“I know,” said Spike sadly. “It’s just… it’s so hard not to be able to do anything.”
“Come on,” said Twilight. “Let’s keep going.” Spike nodded and followed as Twilight led the way.
They quickly reached the room at the bottom of the stairs. Cold air washed over them as Twilight pushed open the door. It was much cooler down here, thanks in part to Twilight. She had tried out a couple of her cold spells and some of them seemed to work. At least it wasn’t snowing inside anymore.
“I’m back,” announced Twilight. Her eyes drifted from the pale-blue mare to the orange filly both lying on their roll-up beds. Twilight hardly got through the door before the two of them rushed her like little fillies, well, one of them was a little filly.
“Woah, calm down girls, it’s good to see you too,” said Twilight, returning their hugs.
“We were so worried about you,” said Scootaloo. “It’s so hard sitting down here and doing nothing.”
“I wish we could be out there helping you!” cried Rainbow Dash, her wings flapping impatiently. “What good is flying if we can’t even go outside? So, How’d it go? Did you get all the food out?”
“Yeah,” replied Twilight. “I took the north end of town and Rarity did the south. Amethyst Star took the house to the east and Comet Tail did the west. I did a lot more stops than they did. But, all of them were doing a much better job with the shielding spell…” Twilight trailed off and looked away.
“Twilight, what’s wrong?” asked Scootaloo.
“There’s… There’s something you should know,” said Twilight seriously. She bit her lip, she hadn’t been looking forward to telling them this. “It’s about Cloudsdale.”
Both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo’s eyes widened at the mention of the pegasus home city in the clouds.
“I… I don’t know how to say this…” Twilight paused. She had tried most of the way home to think of words she could say but her mind had just replied with empty answers. “Cloudsdale… it’s… it’s, gone.”
“What!” cried Rainbow Dash.
“No way!” exclaimed Scootaloo.
“How can it be gone!” demanded Rainbow Dash.
“Applejack and I looked for it when we were loading up the food. It’s been growing smaller and smaller for the last couple of days. Today, it was just gone. There aren’t any clouds left in the sky.”
“It can’t be,” said Rainbow, sitting back on her haunches. “What happened to everypony? My parent’s… my friends…” Twilight shook her head sadly.
“I don’t know Rainbow. All we know is what we can see,” said Twilight. “And what we can see is that it’s getting worse. Somepony begged me to fix all this,” continued Twilight, there was an almost-laugh in her voice. “Like I have the power to move the Sun…”
“We’ll find a way,” said Rainbow Dash. Twilight smiled at her. It was nice of her friend to say but Twilight had little hope that it was true. The terror in the town was building again. She could see the fear returning in the faces of everypony. Even if they were protected from the heat down here, there were other, just as difficult, problems ahead of them.
The biggest of those problems was food. The intensity of the Sun was wilting all of the crops. In another day or two, the plants would be inedible.
Spike was right, how much longer could she do this? It was harder and harder every time. She had actually felt the heat through her shield.
“I have to get to Canterlot,” muttered Twilight, more to herself than her friends. She had been thinking this ever since the message from Celestia had arrived. She needed to know what was going on! She needed to know why the Sun had stopped! She needed to get to Canterlot!
“Twilight, we’ve already been over this! Every single day in fact! That’s exactly what the letter told us not to do!” said Spike in exasperation. “And how would you get there anyhow? And with you gone, what will the town do?”
“I know,” said Twilight. “I know. I could never sustain the shield all the way, let alone while galloping. Besides Rarity and myself only a few other unicorns are either able or willing to brave the outside.”
“Couldn’t you just teleport there?” asked Scootaloo. Twilight shook her head.
“The further a unicorn teleports, the more dangerous it is,” explained Twilight. “I might be able to do it but I could just as easily miss by a mile or end up falling out of the sky! Or I might appear in a wall or inside somepony else! No, it’s just too dangerous.”
“We just can’t sit here and do nothing!” complained Rainbow Dash.
“We aren’t doing nothing, Rainbow!” said Twilight.
“You, aren’t doing nothing! Me and Scootaloo have been stuck down here for days!”
“Uh, guys,” Spike tried to interject. His words were unable to halt Rainbow’s rant. This argument had been brewing up inside of Rainbow ever since she had arrived.
“It’s not like you can just go outside! Even with my magic I can barely manage it. And it’s getting worse! We just have to stay put for now.”
“Stay put? Do you have any idea what it’s like being stuck in this room, unable to help anypony else! I need to go outside! I have to go outside!”
“Guys!” Spike tried again.
“Spike not…” but Twilight’s words were suddenly cut off as she saw the small dragon’s face. “What, it can’t be…”
For a moment Spike looked like he was going to be sick. His cheeks bulged out, his pupils dilated. Then, with an enormous burp, he belched scarlet flame. Usually his fire had no odor to it, save for when he accidentally charred something. But this red flame had the strangest metallic smell.
The flames subsided and from the air, a roll of parchment dropped to the ground. The four of them stared at it. This was not the normal letters they were used too. This parchment was dark black, almost as if Spike’s flames had burned it.
None of them moved to pick it up. It was like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Nothing for days and then… this.
At last, Twilight was the one to lift the document with her magic. She noticed that not only was the parchment a different color but the seal on the outside was not that of Celestia’s.
“It’s… from Luna,” said Twilight, a little shocked.
“I didn’t know Luna could send you letters,” said Rainbow Dash.
“She can’t,” said Twilight, looking down at the letter held in her magic. “The magical connection exists only between Spike and Celestia. So Celestia must have sent us a letter from Luna… but why?” Both Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash shrugged.
Twilight glanced at the letter again, considering it. She looked at the other ponies, as if asking them what she should do next.
“Well, open it!’ said Rainbow Dash after a long moment when Twilight had done nothing but stare at it.
Twilight was snapped from her thoughts. Nodding she broke the seal and unrolled the parchment. Her eyes widened. For one terrible moment she thought it was blank. However, once she found the words in silver ink, she wondered if it might have been better if it had been blank.
“Well?” asked Rainbow impatiently.
“What does it say?” pressed Scootaloo eagerly.
“Come to Canterlot at once. Bring the Elements of Harmony,” read Twilight. She looked up from the very short message. “Bring the Elements of Harmony? But we don’t have them… Also,” continued Twilight in frustration, “why does everypony insist on not telling me what the hay is going on! Is it really that hard to write just one more line?”