//------------------------------// // Left in Charge // Story: Parachronal // by Mare Macabre //------------------------------// Luna, At Twilight Sparkle's behest, and the insistence of a majority of the serving staff, I have resigned myself to a very brief stay in Neighpon to alleviate some work-related stress. Ordinarily, even in my time away, I of course would maintain the cycle of the sun, but one of Twilight's friends is accompanying me on the trip and has told me Twilight is unmoving in her demands that I leave everything pertaining to my duties behind and spend some time as an ordinary tourist. Evidently she intends to rat me out if I so much as touch the sun. It's funny to think how far Equestrian society has come when its princess can be ordered not to perform her tasks by her own student and one of her friends. Amazing and terrifying. At any rate, Twilight offered to take control of the sun in my place while I'm gone, but I myself was insistent on her not being ready for such a task. She has come a long way in her studies, but the Old Magicks are still beyond her total control. I am very sorry to do this to you, sister, but I must ask that you take over the sun, starting tomorr this evening. I will be sure to bring you some mochi (that is what it's called, right?) when we return. Once again, I am sorry to put this burden on you, but it must be done. See you in three days, Celestia Luna scanned the note again, groggily conjuring a hand to rub the sleep from her eyes. She rolled out of bed, staggering as she got to her hooves, then stumbled to a great blue curtain that kept the invasive light from her lair. The smallest of movements of the curtain let a blindingly bright sliver of golden light into the pitch-black room, making the princess of night hiss and shield her stinging eyes. She stumbled backward, knocking into a small table in the middle of her room, then righted herself and returned to the curtain. Luna fumbled with her ruined nightvision, groping magically around her bed for her blindfold, then slipped in snuggly and securely into place before pulling back the curtain once again. She could feel the warmth of the sun's rays pierce the cool of her inky tower, heating her dark coat and making her anxious and hot. Using the dexterity of a drunkard, she threw an arm of magic out at the sky, flailing around until she felt the sun brush her aura. Now, considerably more carefully, she heaved and pulled the lassoed star from its point in the sky and guided it gently below the horizon. The burning orb gone, its uncomfortable heat vanished, Luna dared to remove her sleep mask. Her vision was fuzzy, her eyes adjusting to changes from total dark to blinding light and back again. She blinked repeatedly, rubbing her watery eyes, and reached out with her magic to take hold of the smaller, and considerably more manageable moon. The familiar touch of the silver sphere put the Lunar princess at ease. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly, calming herself as its tranquil aura mingled with her own. Luna straightened her neck, adjusting to a dignified and powerful pose, and lifted the shining orb from its hiding place behind the horizon. The cool, dim light of the moon filled the void left by the vanishing of the sun, and the once empty black of Luna's chambers filled with starlight endless nebulae and constellations took shape on her rounded ceiling and projected downward into the empty room below. Luna opened her eyes, slowly, then turned and wandered through the holographic starfield. Her eyes scanned the arrangements of the heavens, calculating paths of orbit and the ever changing effects of gravity on the many systems that sprawled out before her. An errant thought broke her planned path of observation, turning her focus to a specific green nebula. The princess of night approached it, leaning close and expanding the image. "As I thought," she thought aloud, "It is about time." Princess Luna turned and made her way back to the curtain, this time stepping out onto the balcony and breathing deep the thin air of her high perch. She looked to a spot in the middle of the sky, at a faint green cloud in the cosmic distance, and called a well remembered spell from the Old Magicks into her horn. "Let us be the first..." the alicorn whispered, releasing the spell. From the green cloud came a twinkling orange light. For the briefest of moments, the peaceful blue of the night was disturbed by a flicker of gold. In seconds, the light had faded, and a bright yellow star shone at the epicenter of the fleeting disturbance. "...to welcome you," Luna finished. The Night Mother let out her held breath, smiling affectionately at the new addition to her cosmic garden, then quietly returned to her sanctum to view the stellar object properly. A knock at the door cut her admiration short and drew a sigh from the blue alicorn. "Who knocks?" she queried, her voice controlled. "Princess Twilight," a guard answered. Luna felt an unnoticed tension drain from her body, then return as she swept her eyes around the room to ensure all was in order. Satisfied with the cleanliness of her living space, she righted herself and responded. "She may come." The door cracked open, allowing access to a giddy purple alicorn, then closed silently behind. "Good evening, Twilight Sparkle," Luna greeted her guest, bowing slightly. "For what purpose do you seek my company?" "I saw the starbirth," Twilight piped excitedly, then stopped in her tracks. The young alicorn looked up at the hologram that filled the upper portion of the room, her eyes twinkling with excitement and mouth spreading wide in a girlish grin. "Wow!" she breathed, spinning in place and drinking in the projected sky. "Is this...is this real-time?" "It is," Luna answered casually, pulling the projection down to encircle the two royal ponies. "The new star is right here." Twilight rushed to where the lunar princess had pointed and studied the brilliant yellow dot from all angles, bobbing and weaving around it and dancing in place on skittish hooves. "This is amazing!" Twilight laughed, turning her attention to the rest of the cosmos displayed around her. "Is...is everythi that's Perseus!" she squealed, leaping over to the named constellation. "I never get to see Perseus!" "Truly?" Luna asked with a frown, stepping over to her guest. "Well, not never," Twilight admitted with a blush. "Never this clearly though. For some reason the weather teams of Ponyville seem to think the best time to have cloudy nights is during prime stargazing opportunities." She ran her eyes over the floating constellation again. "You know what? I'm going to make a weather management ordinance " "A mayor makes ordinances," Luna said, her tone suddenly stern. "A princess makes decrees." Twilight's ears splayed as she flinched under her superior's commanding words. "Ah...well, yes," she agreed, "I don't think...y'know that just seems kind of extreme, doesn't it?" Luna cocked an eyebrow. "Twilight Sparkle, you must learn to accept the power of your position. Taking small, elaborate measures to avoid using your rightful ability to command the common people is not the path to a long and fruitful rule." "You don't command ponies though," Twilight said in defense. "T-That I've seen. Or...I mean, Princess Celestia doesn " She quickly backpedaled in her statement, raising her forehooves deisarmingly. "B-But, I mean, I haven't seen it is all " "Twilight," Luna sighed, cutting her off, "be calm." She waited for the young alicorn to take a few breaths to steady herself before continuing. "We that is, my sister and I have no need to command the ponies of Equestria to gain their reverence and respect. Celestia has been a benevolent, if not subtly manipulative, ruler for many centuries, and I am remembered and am becoming known once again for being a kind, if firm, force of good to watch the night." She rose slightly in her position, subconsciously striking a more dignified and regal pose. "The common pony knows, loves, and respects us. You, for all your heroism, go unrecognized in the cities beyond your two homes." She relaxed her pose slightly, but kept her stern expression. "No ordinances. Decrees." Twilight fidgeted for a moment before nodding and offering a quiet "Yes, princess." Luna nodded approvingly, then let her face become neutral. "Now, what business brought you here?" The purple princess perked up as she remembered her mission. "Oh! Well I...I assume Princess Celestia told you about her trip." "You are a princess too now, Twilight Sparkle," Luna reminded her. "To you, she is Celestia." Twilight frowned and nodded again, unused to being corrected so frequently. "And yes, I have just read of her being taken hostage by your accomplice in Neighpon. I do hope you are prepared to stand trial for treason." "T-Treason??" Twilight gasped, "No, wait! I-I didn't " A raised hoof made her silent, and a somewhat worried grin alleviated Twilight's fears. "I am concerned, Twilight Sparkle, that we have conversed on so many occasions and yet you still cannot recognize when I am facetious." Twilight started to apologize, but was interrupted as her elder continued. "You do not hope to convince me to abandon my duties as well, do you?" "N-no," Twilight said sheepishly. "I um...I want to help. You. With the...sun thing." "'Sun thing'?" Luna repeated skeptically. "I want to...pick up some slack," Twilight rephrased. "I want to make this easier for you. Not that I don't think you could handle it on your own, I mean," she added quickly, "I just...it's my fault that you're stuck doing it, so " "My sister warned me that you had offered to take over the sun while she was away," Luna cut in, making Twilight flinch. "She also told me you are not yet skilled enough with the Magicks of the Sky to handle such a task." She considered the younger alicorn for a moment. "...You do not hope to usurp her throne, I hope." Twilight's eyes went wide, but she quickly pushed a grin onto her face. Luna's expression, however, was unreadable, and she quickly lost confidence in the assumption that she was again joking. "No," she said quietly. "N-no, I-I-I just thought...she could use a break. A thousand and some years is a long time to go without a vacation, right?" Luna stared flatly at her guest for several seconds, giving Twilight just enough time to realize what she had asked, then sighed heavily and waved away whatever apology the purple alicorn was about to give. "You are correct, Twilight Sparkle," she agreed. "A thousand years without vacation is a long time. My sister deserves a brief stay away from her duties. You, however, are not prepared to take her place, regardless of how brief the stay truly is." "Isn't there something I can do?" Twilight pleaded, eyes big and sickeningly sappy. Luna held her bemused gaze on Twilight for another moment before lifting her eyes in thought. Her tail swished behind her, her body realizing rather suddenly that the little purple yes mare was about the only thing standing between her and breakfast. Her head swayed back and forth as she deliberated her options, stopping as she found what seemed like a fair compromise, and the princess of night sat down rather unceremoniously. "I'll tell you what, Sparkles," she said, all pretense of regality gone from her voice, "You meet me back here in eight hours and we'll raise the sun together. I'll help you through it, keep it going for a few hours, and if you do well, I'll leave it to you for the day. Sound good?" Twilight blinked, then beamed and began hopping excitedly around a nebula. "Ohh thankyou thankyou thankyou! I won't let you down!" She stopped suddenly and faced her elder. "Uh, but, you won't tell Pr er, Celestia, right?" "Nooo, believe you me, I would be in much more trouble than you if she found out. Unless of course everything goes swimmingly, in which case she'll probably only be mildly upset with me and very proud of you. Regardless," she sighed, "I hunger. If there's nothing else to discuss, I shall meet you here at the decided time." Twilight started to say something, but hesitated. "Is there something else to discuss?" "Uh, not exactly," Twilight murmured, rubbing her shoulder. "But, do you...or, would you mind if I...looked around in here for a while? This is just...I've never seen star charts so accurate before," she blushed. "I'd really love to study all this." Luna narrowed an eye, offput by the thought of somepony wandering around her room and peering into her personal charts. After a moment of consideration, however, she reluctantly nodded. "I suppose I can trust you to my chambers," she thought aloud, then leaned in close to impress her seriousness. "But do not touch anything." Twilight quickly distanced herself from the table next to her. "Okay." "N Twilight," Luna sighed with a smirk, "You can touch anything you want. Just keep your horn empty of unchecked magic. Any spells cast on this model will have repercussions on the sky as a whole." The purple pony gulped and nodded, cautiously returning to the table. "I can do that." "Good," Luna smiled. "See you at dawn." Twilight started to bow before a hoof under her chin stopped the motion. She looked up at Luna, who gave a subtle shake of the head, then fidgeted and straightened up as the elder princess strolled past her and out the room.