//------------------------------// // ...Just Before the Dawn // Story: Celestia's Sick Day // by Smithawits //------------------------------// Luna was sleeping peacefully; she was bundled up in a blanket, when one of her worst enemies made it's presence known in her room- BEEEP!.....BEEEP!.....BEEEP! -her alarm clock. Luna grunted and put her pillow over of her head, trying to drown out her enemies shouts. "Why is this stupid thing going off!?" she thought to herself; she suddenly remembered her conversation with her sister just a few hours before. "Oh yeah...gotta raise the sun..." BEEEP!....BEEEP!...BEEEP! "Be quiet will you!?" she hissed. "Just five more minutes! Please!" yet despite her pleas, her alarm clock continued its shouts, which seemed to get louder as the seconds went by. Finally, Luna stuck a hoof out of her blanket cocoon, and smacked the top of her nightstand hoping to knock out her most hated object in Equestria; she missed. She swung again, but this time she missed the nightstand completely. She swung a third time and hit the top of her alarm clock; now all she had to do was turn it off, or at least hit the snooze button. After what seemed like an eternity of feeling around, her hoof finally found the snooze button; she pressed it but her clock refused to yield. She pressed again, but harder; still the clock continued its awful noise. Luna was eventually pounding on the clock to get it to shut off, but for some reason, her enemy was invincible and absorbed every blow. Finally, enough was enough. Luna sat up and growled at the object of her torment. She levitated it and, with a swing of the head, threw it against the wall shattering her foe into tiny pieces and finally shutting that accursed thing off. Luna was never a morning pony. Luna sighed and crawled out of bed. After stretching, which was completed by popping some of her joints, she slowly dragged herself to her shower. Hopefully a nice warm shower would wake her up. She stepped in and shut the curtain behind her with her magic. She went to turn the 'warm' nozzle, but mistakenly turned the 'cold' instead. Water as cold as ice cubes shot out and began to freeze Luna. "Ahhhh!! Too cold! TOO COLD!" she shouted. She scrambled to turn on the warm water, but, in her panic, she turned the warm all the way up and turned the cold all the way down. Water as hot as molten lava shot out and began to burn her. "TOO HOT! TOO HOT!!!" she finally shut off the water. She stood panting and wide-eyed. At least she was awake now. After taking a proper shower, she walked over to her nightstand. She put her shoes, necklace, and crown on and stepped out of her room, only to find herself on the balcony where she was supposed to raise the sun. A gentle winter wind blew over Luna as she stood staring at the horizon. She finally closed her eyes and focused her magic on the sun hiding below the horizon. It was tough and took a few minutes, but slowly, the sun began to rise into the sky. Luna stopped channeling her magic when she saw the sun separate from the horizon. "Well that was easier than I thought," she thought to herself. She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief; when she opened them, she found herself in Celestia's throne room with Shining Armor next to her. "Alright Luna," Shining said. "It is 8am now. At 9am, you need to look over and sign some laws that are yet to get passed; at 10am, you have a meeting with the Canterlot City Council; and then at noon, you need to adjust the sun so that it enters its cooling phase. Then you have another meeting with the Council at 1:30, followed by-" "I'm sorry Shining" -Luna interrupted- "but I don't ever remember Tia's schedule being this busy." "It's usually busier." "You're kidding..." "No ma'am." "Alright then-" Luna sighed "-let's get started," Luna turned and suddenly found herself standing on the balcony again, except this time, it was noon. It was time to put the sun on 'cool down' for the afternoon and evening. Luna stood straight and shot a blue beam of magic straight at the sun. Afterwards, she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, like something didn't feel right. "I did set the correct temperature right?" she thought.  She didn't have time to think it through, because almost immediately afterwards, Luna heard her name being called from back inside the castle. Luna turned to find herself sitting in a large room around a table with other high class ponies. "Princess Luna?" a stallion called out. "Are you alright?" "Yes, yes, I am fine. I was just thinking about something else. What were you asking?" "We were discussing this bill. Did you get the chance to read it?" "Oh I'm...I'm sorry I haven't yet.It's been a hectic day." "I understand, but the quicker you can read it over, the better. We need to make a decision soon." "Alright. I will read it over later today," the other ponies in the room nodded in approval. Suddenly, Luna heard a scream behind her. She turned and found herself standing in the middle of a burning Ponyville. Panicking ponies covered in ash ran around the town; as several building were on fire and were quickly being consumed by the flames. The river was boiling and several volcanoes could be seen rising up in the distance. If that wasn't bad enough, the sky was covered with ash clouds and raining hail-fire. "How did this happen!?" Luna thought. "Wait...the sun's adjustment. I must've accidentally raised the temperature instead of lowering it! But how did raising the temperature slightly make all of this happen!?" The area around Luna suddenly glowed a bright orange. She looked up to see a massive, burning hailstone heading straight for her. Luna could do nothing but stare at the hailstone, frozen in fear. The burning stone finally smacked into her. Luna gasped and shot up in her bed in a cold sweat. She looked around trying to figure out where she was; eventually, her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw that she was in her room. When she realized where she was, she fell back into her bed. "Just a dream...it was just a dream..." she whispered to herself, trying to steady her breathing. "Wow...I...I normally have...more control over my dreams. This...this rule-for-a-day-thing...must have me on a bigger...edge than I thought." Luna was finally able to steady her breathing and relax by taking a deep breath. She looked over to her alarm clock which read 5:00 a.m. "One hour until sunrise...no point in going back to bed now I guess," Luna got out of bed and went to take a shower, making sure to turn the right nozzles. When she was done, she walked towards one of her bedroom windows. She could see a faint glow on the horizon; it was the glow of Ponyville at night. "Ponyville," Luna thought. "One of the few towns in Equestria where one can relax. I still remember Nightmare Night, where Twilight Sparkle helped me fit in with the rest of the town," Luna's ears suddenly perked up as an idea popped in her head. "Twilight Sparkle...one of the most knowledgeable ponies I know. I bet she can help with this situation, or at least have a book about Celestia's virus. Plus, she was still awake when I did my nightly rounds, I'm sure she can help!" Luna quickly turned and put on her normal princess wear,  and her favorite black cloak. "Wait...what about Shining; what if he comes back early to check up on me," Luna levitated a quill and paper; she wrote a quick note explaining where she was, in case Shining did come back early, and set it on her pillow. Luna closed her eyes, and activated her horn. Her horn glowed brighter the harder she concentrated, but when the spell hit its climax, it backfired and slightly shocked Luna. "Ouch..." she said as she rubbed her forehead. "I guess it has been awhile since I've used the teleportation spell. Let's try this again." Luna once again charged her horn and, this time, succeeded in teleporting to Ponyville. Luna opened her eyes to see that she had appeared behind a building; unfortunately, she looked down to see that she was a few feet above the ground. Gravity took over and pushed her towards the ground; thankfully, a blanket of snow was there to cushion her fall. Luna lifted her head from the snow to reveal her cheeks had a slight shade of red. Even though nopony was there to see her mistake, she still felt embarrassed for messing up on a simple teleportation spell. She stood up and walked down the alley into the main street. One stallion who had a bit too much to drink looked over at Luna as he passed by. "Yo-your Luna coshtume looksh horrible!" he said with slurred speech. "Luna doesh not have that weirdly shaped of a head..y-you sh-should be ashamed...." the stallion turned and stumbled his way down the street. "Oh, and by the way," the stallion called back. "Ish not Nightmare Night anymore, ish Winter and Hoovesh Day...or somethin..." Luna just simply rolled her eyes, she would've done something to teach him not to drink so much, but his hangover in the morning would be more than appropriate punishment. "Still though," Luna thought. "He was able to recognize me. If a drunk pony was able to recognize me, theres no telling what a sober pony would do; the questions they would ask and the rumors they would start," she then pulled her hood over her head and quickly made her way to The Golden Oaks Library. A few ponies were out and about, but thanks to Luna's cloak and her quick movements, nopony gave her a second glance. Luna finally arrived at the library, and to her relief, saw that the lights were still on. She walked up to the door and knocked. ^^^^ Spike was curled up into a ball as he slept soundly in his bed. Every now and then, his eyelids would flinch as his subconscious reacted to the dream he was having. Without warning, Spike slowly opened his eyes and yawned; after he refilled his little lungs with fresh air, he looked at the bedroom clock which read 4:45 am. As he turned over in bed, he looked at the doorway that led to the stairs and saw that the light on the other side was on. "Is she really.." he said as he looked over to Twilight's bed, which had almost everything a bed should have at this time at night, except its owner was missing. "Why am I not surprised," he said as he sighed mentally. Spike got up and made his way downstairs where he saw Twilight sitting in a corner reading a book, with a candle almost burnt completely away. "Twilight, are you still reading?" Twilight looked over to him and nodded with a sleepy, yet loving smile. "Why? It's nearly five in the morning, you should be asleep." "Well," Twilight replied. "I realized that I don't have anything planned for tomorrow, so I thought I'd do a little reading." "A little?" "Well, I may have gotten a little carried away." "A little?" Twilight smiled, "Tell you what. I'll finish this section, and then go to bed. Okay?" "Well...alright. Just don't make a habit of these 'all nighters'." "I promise." Pinkie Pie promise?" Twilight giggled and went through the motions of a Pinkie Pie Promise, "I promise." Spike nodded and walked into the kitchen. "What are you reading?" he called back. "I'm reading up on Hearth's Warming Eve for the upcoming play." Spike walked back into the main room with a glass of water in his claw, "Isn't that still a week away?" "Yes, but I thought I would read ahead and get prepared." Spike drank some of his water and headed for the bedroom. "Well, I'm going back to bed. Goodnight...or rather, good morning." Twilight giggled, "Good morning, Spike."  Spike was soon back in his bed and fast asleep, leaving Twilight alone downstairs. After a several minutes, Twilight heard a knock at the front door. Twilight turned with a surprised look "Who in the wide world of Equestria is knocking on doors at this hour?" she thought as she approached the door. Twilight opened the door to reveal Princess Luna standing on the other side. It took all of two seconds for Twilight to realize that royalty has visited her unexpectedly. "Hello Twilight, may I-" Luna started to say, but was interrupted by Twilight slamming the door in her face. Twilight leaned her back against the door and started to hyperventilate. "What is Princess Luna doing here!?" she thought to herself. "Spike, get down here!" she whispered loudly up the steps. Her call was answered by an annoyed groan. Twilight growled and quickly ran upstairs into her room. "Spike! Wake up!" she continued to 'shout-whisper.' Spike simply grunted and turned over. Thinking that he was getting up, Twilight began to pace and think out loud. "Why is Princess Luna here!? Why at this time of night...or rather, morning...or rather-oh who cares! She's royalty! Royalty can visit whomever they want, whenever they desire! But why is she here? Did I do something wrong? Oh no, oh no oh no oh no, I bet I did do something wrong. I bet it was something so wrong, that Celestia herself can't bare to look at me; I bet that is why Luna is here! I bet she's here to tell me I failed, and that I need to move back to Canterlot, or that I'm being banished for being such a failure and...and-" Twilight stopped pacing and looked at Spike who was still curled up in his bed. "AND WILL YOU GET OUT OF BED ALREADY!?!?" She then immediately ran over and flipped Spike's bed, sending the baby dragon tumbling onto the floor. "Hey! What was that for!?" Spike snapped as he rubbed his head. "Spike, we've got an emergency. Princess Luna is here!" "What? Why?" "I don't know! All I know is that while I was reading, there was a knock at the door; I opened it, and there she was! I then slammed the door and ran up here! Now, here is what I need you to do, Spike. I need you to quickly clean up-" "Woah woah woah, hold on, Twilight," Spike interrupted with a concerned look. "Repeat that last part." "Which part?" "Right after the part where you opened the door." Twilight thought for a moment, "I then slammed the door and ran up here. What's the problem?" Spike's concerned look grew more and more desperate with each passing second. Finally, Twilight gasped and her pupils shrank to little dots. "OH MY GOSH!" -she yelled as she ran downstairs- "I JUST SLAMMED THE DOOR ON PRINCESS LUNA!!!!" Spike sighed and facepalmed, "This can't end well." Twilight nearly crashed into the door as she slid to a stop; after fumbling with the door handle she was finally able to get it open, completely forgetting that she could've used her magic. "Princess.....Luna," Twilight said gasping for air. "I.....I am...so sorry..." "It's alright um....is this a bad time? I can come back later in the day if-" "NO!" Twilight shouted which made Luna jump. "I mean uh...no, p-please come in." Luna walked inside and sat near the fire which was crackling in the fireplace. Twilight shut the door and looked up the steps to see Spike poking his head out of the doorway; she quickly nodded her head towards the kitchen, hinting to Spike that he needs to prepare a beverage of some kind. Spike got the hint and quickly made his way down the steps. "Hello, Spike," Luna said as he passed. "H-hello Princess Luna," he nervously replied before disappearing into the kitchen. Luna turned back to the fire and continued to warm herself. Twilight, who by now was shaking in her horseshoes, sat a few feet behind Luna. "Alright, Twilight," she thought to herself. "You've got royalty in your house. No big deal, this is probably just a test. Just don't panic, don't mess up and whatever you do, please please PLEASE don't ask a stupid question." "So um...Princess Luna," Twilight shakily said. "What are you doing here?" "NO, TWILIGHT!" she instantly thought to herself as she grimaced. "That was a stupid question!" "Oh yes, I was looking for a book," she said as she turned to Twilight. "Well you came to the right place!" Twilight said with a nervous laugh. "But doesn't the Canterlot library have what you're looking for?" "Twilight you imbecile, that was another stupid question!" "Well, I came here for the book, and personal advice." "Um...ok. How can I help you?" Twilight said. "What!? Advice!? What could she need my advice for!? This is a bigger test than I thought." "I was wondering," -Luna began- "if you had a book on viruses." "Viruses? You mean things like the flu?" Luna nodded. "Well um...I'm sure we do somewhere. Just uh...just give me a few minutes." Luna smiled and turned back to the entrancing fire; Twilight quickly ran into the kitchen. "Spike!" Twilight 'shout-whispered.' "What is taking so long!?" "I'm sorry, Twilight but the stove won't turn on so I can't heat up the tea kettle!" Twilight facehoofed, "Spike, you are a dragon, a dragon! Just breath fire to make it heat up." "Oh yeah! I guess I can do that, can't I?" Twilight rolled her eyes and walked back into the main room; by now, Luna had moved to the window. "Alright," Twilight said as she walked to the center of the room, "let's see what I have." Twilight's horn glowed with a faint magenta color; almost immediately afterwards, many books from different parts of the library moved out of their spots and floated towards Twilight. One by one, they floated and moved past in front of her. "Hmm...The History of Colds, no. How A Virus Works, maybe...here, I think these two will help," Twilight levitated the two books and set them on top of each other in front of Luna. Luna looked down at the books; the top was entitled: 'A Field Guide to Recognizing Viruses.' "This one could be useful," Luna said to herself as she scanned through it. "Um, Princess Luna, Spike is preparing some beverages. Would you like one?" "Yes please." Luna did not look up at Twilight, but instead kept glancing through the book. Twilight breathed a small sigh of relief as she turned towards the kitchen. "Just no tea please," Luna said. "I have to be in the right mood for it and tonight is not the night." "Oh sure, we don't have any...wait a minute," Twilight then started to whisper to herself. "Didn't Spike say he was trying to heat up the tea kettle!?" "What did you say?" "Oh nothing, Princess! Um...don't worry I'll make sure Spike doesn't bring out any tea." Just as she said this, Spike backed out of the kitchen carrying a platter with two cups of hot tea. Twilight stood in front of Luna so she couldn't see him and frantically moved her hoof across her neck, signaling to abort the mission; Spike got the message, and immediately reversed back into the kitchen, almost spilling his delicate load. Twilight grimaced expecting to hear a crash coming from the kitchen, but instead heard Luna speak. "Supernaturals?" Luna said in confusion. "Doesn't that word refer to ghosts and zombies and things like that?" "Normally yes, however in this case..." Twilight nodded towards the book. Luna looked down and the opened book and read aloud, "natural cures and remedies that are simply...super." The amusing description made Luna laugh slightly. "This should do nicely. May I borrow this book?" "A-absolutely, Princess!" "Thank you." Spike returned from the kitchen with two small cups filled with warm milk. "Oh! Thank you, Spike," Luna said with a smile. Twilight felt a huge amount of tension drop when she saw Luna's reaction to the milk. Spike bowed and made his way upstairs. "So you said you needed some advice from me, Princess?" "Yes. There is an illness at Canterlot; nothing too severe, but I would like to know, what do you do personally to overcome an illness." "Oh, well, when Spike gets sick, I have him get lots of bed rest. I also try keep him cool with a cold washcloth on his forehead and I have a bucket next to his bed, just in case." "I see." "Um, Princess, if you don't mind me asking, who's sick?" "My sissssnake. Yes, my pet snake is ill," Luna lied. "Oh, I didn't know your majesty had a pet snake. Well then, if your pet is ill, I recommend you talk to my friend Fluttershy, she is the expert when it comes to pet care." Luna finished her milk, "alright then. Thank you very much." "You're welcome. What is he sick with?" Twilight asked. "Beg pardon?" "Your pet snake. What is he sick with?' "It's called 4N4S." "Oh 4N4S well I hope things work-wait a minute. I've read about that virus. I thought it only affected ponies." Luna became uneasy as she felt her lie start to unravel, "m-maybe this is a different form?" "If it is, this is a wonderful opportunity to study it! Is it ok if I go with you and observe?" Luna's pupils shrank at Twilight's request, "I-I'm sorry?" "Is it ok if I go with you back to Canterlot and observe your snake?" Twilight was now in full scientist mode. She had already started packing her things for the trip to Canterlot. "If the virus has mutated, then scientists all over Equestria need to know right away so they can try and make medicine for it." "Twilight, stop." Twilight froze in place and her heart skipped several beats. She expected Luna to become angry for inviting herself to Canterlot, but what she heard next almost made Twilight fall over. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I lied." "Y-you lied?" "Yes. I don't have a pet snake. I don't even like snakes all that much." "Then why did you lie?" Luna breathed a heavy sigh, and looked around just to make sure that nopony else was around. She then motioned for Twilight to come closer. Twilight cautiously made her way to Luna and sat down right in front of her. "The real reason" -Luna whispered- "why I need these books is because..." Luna glanced around one more time. "My sister is sick." "PRINCESS CELESTIAL IS-mmph!" Twilight started to say, but was interrupted by Luna shoving her hoof into her mouth. "Yes," Luna continued to whisper. "Celestia is sick; so sick, in fact, that she can't perform her duties tomorrow." "MMPH!?" "Don't worry though, Celestia has planned out everything and she is going to have me substitute in her place for tomorrow," Luna brought her hoof back down to the floor. "Can I do anything to help?" Twilight whispered. Although she had no idea why they were whispering, considering they were the only two in the room. "Actually, yes. Even though Shining Armor will be helping me tomorrow, I'm still worried that I'll...mess up-" Luna then thought about her dream "-if you can try to stifle any rumors that you hear that would be very helpful." "O-of course, Princess." "Thank you, Twilight." After a few seconds of silence, a grandfather clock chimed. Luna looked at the clock which read 5:45 am. "Alright then. I guess I'll get going," Luna said as she walked towards the door.  "Thank you again, Twilight." "Oh um...anytime, Princess!" Without another word, Luna trotted out of the door and into the shadows; a second later, Twilight could hear the burst of a teleportation spell. She then closed her front door and sighed. She slowly walked up the steps as exhaustion took hold of her; the initial excitement from Luna's visit was gone. She reached her bedroom door, but instead of opening it, she gently banged her head against it. After a few bangs, she rested her head against the door, only to fall on the ground a few seconds later. Spike, thinking somepony was knocking, opened the door to see Twilight fall in and land on her back. Twilight groaned as she lay on the floor. "Um...Twilight?" "Yeah, Spike?" "Did Luna like the milk?" "Yes, Spike," Twilight said with a smile. "Princess Luna enjoyed the milk. Thank you for your help."