//------------------------------// // Secrets of the sun // Story: Immortal Balance // by Koji //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Secrets of the Sun I was almost always exploring outside with big sister Luna, so I didn't see Celestia much. It didn't bother me in the slightest, Celestia never payed attention to me anyway. The times I did see her, she always seemed to be rushing to do something, but I didn't know what type of things she would have to do, cooking and cleaning were done by Luna and I. On the extremely rare occasion I saw Celestia calm, she would be staring at the sun, her thoughts almost audible. On one of these occasions, she saw me looking at her. She briskly turned to look me in the eyes, smiling. "Order, how long have you stood there, my little brother," That is not something that Celestia has ever said to me before. She always tried to make it a point that I wasn't her brother. "Why do you look so scared? Cockatrice got your tongue? Oh, I see, you only like Luna as a big sister, that hurts," at this last sentence, she held her hoof to her chest and pouted. "Why don't you hang out with your other big sister for once? Come on, it'll be fun! I'm sure Luna will agree." Celestia wanted to do Luna's job? I wanted to object, but all objections died from the honesty in her eyes. Maybe she did want me as a little brother? "I'd love it Celly!" Oh no, I used Luna's nickname for her! "I mean Celestia!" She only pat me on the head. "Don't worry, you can call your big sis Celly. It isn't like that name is reserved." Relief surged through me. I had thought she might get angry at me, but she just seemed completely cheerful. She turned around. "Let's go, I have something I'd like you to see." She started walking to her wing of the house, and I bounced along after her. I got Celestia to like me! Whoa. Celestia's room was much different than I expected. Instead of using candles, she had managed to set up mirrors to spread sunlight throughout the room. She seemed to really like the sun. Paintings of it covered her walls, making it bright and cheerful. She had given me a big ball with a painting of the sun on it, she had even taught me how to balance on it. I think I almost made Celestia really when I rolled into one of the vases that she had made. Luckily, I caught it before it broke on the floor. This ball was my favorite toy ever. Celestia taught me a game where we bounced the ball on our heads and tried to pass i to each other. I still doubted her sudden change of heart, but I was having too much fun with her games. Celestia caught the ball with her hoof and set it down lightly on the floor. "Did you like the games?" I nodded. "Good, it looked like you were having a lot of fun. Now I want to show you something, come with me." She started walking towards a large mural of the sun on the far wall. I followed her cautiously, not knowing what to expect. She tapped a spot in the center of the sun and it collapsed inwards, revealing a staircase leading downwards. "Come along, there's much to see." Celestia didn't turn to check if I was following, she just went down the stairs. I didn't want to follow, but I couldn't stop myself from walking down the stairs. Well, I was at least walking for the first few steps. After that I was more like a comet, hurtling down the stairs with no control. I landed on something soft, but I couldn't tell what it was with my eyes clenched shut. It moved and harrumphed. I opened one eye. Oh, that was bad, I had landed on Celestia. I jumped off of her and she got up. "That was unexpected. I hope you liked the landing as much as I did. Let's continue." She looked at a string hanging down from the ceiling. "Wanna see a magic trick?" I stared back at her, confused. She giggled and pulled the string. The sudden light nearly blinded me. Where was it coming from? I shook my head to get the spots out of my eyes. There were strange glowing orbs hanging off of the ceiling. "What are those?" The most obvious question I had came out of my mouth at the same time as the thought. Celestia was still giggling. "Those, Order, are just one of the things I've made down here in my little laboratory." she waved a hoof around, drawing my attention to all of the strange things that the orbs now illuminated. "I haven't let Luna see this because I thought she might be frightened, but I know how curious you are to learn. Come over and help me test one of my little experiments." She was now standing by a strange metal box with tons of vine-like things coming out of it. I walked over. "What does this do?" I was walking around the box, trying to figure it out. "Well stand still and I'll show you." Celestia still hadn't stopped giggling. I complied, and sat down in front of her. I felt something metal touch my head. It was bowl shaped. "What's this?" "Just stay there." Her giggling started to grow louder. I was starting to get nervous, but I didn't want to disobey Celestia. By this point she was laughing as loudly as one of those Hyena things. She walked to a strange stick thing poking out of the floor at an angle and put on the goggles hanging off of it. She moved the stick and I heard a strange crackling noise. The stick clicked into a position mirrored to its original. The light flickered in front of my eyes. There was a strange buzzing going through me. What was this feeling. I felt more and more detached from my own consciousness. Why was the world dark? Author's Note More spontaneous writing! Celestia is so totally evil, maybe. Maybe her experiment just went wrong? I also finally drew up some cover art! Hope you like both the chapter and the picture!