//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Sisters of the Sun and Moon 
// by Show Stopper 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 1


The sun was high when Dusk and Dawn crested the final hill. "There it is," said Dusk, gazing down at the town below them. "Ponyville. How long has it been since we were here?"

"Sixty-eight years," replied Dawn. "And seventy since we helped found it. It's sure grown a lot since then. Think Granny Smith is still alive and kicking?"

"If so," said Dusk, smirking, "then her name finally fits."

They shared a laugh and walked down into Ponyville. Though much larger than the hamlet that they had helped to get started, a number of the old buildings were still standing. Navigating the town was easy enough, though a few of the more modern buildings caught them off guard.

"A gingerbread house." Dawn deadpanned as they walked, staring at one such building. "Someone actually decided to design their house to look like it was made out of gingerbread."

Dusk shrugged, staring at a building a couple of blocks down. "I'm more interested in the one that looks like a merry-go-round. Then again, we did leave a house here that was carved inside of a living tree."

Dawn's eyes suddenly brightened. "I forgot about that!" she said. "Jeez, that thing took you forever to enchant. Think it's still growing?"

"It'll definitely be something to look into," said Dusk. She faced the road again and sighed in relief. "Oh good. At least that's still the same."

They approached the town hall, which was surprisingly deserted for midday. Now that they thought about it, neither sister had seen much of anypony as they'd walked through town.

"This is actually kind of creepy," muttered Dawn. "What's..." She trailed off as the wind suddenly picked up, blowing dust and loose debris into her face.

"Look!" said Dusk, pointing towards the outskirts of town. Off in the distance, a large tornado was forming, streaked with the colors of various fast moving pegasi.

"What are they doing?" asked Dawn, shielding most of her face with her wings. Suddenly the wind stopped. Dawn lowered her wings to find a bubble of teal energy surrounding them, keeping out the wind. She smiled at her sister in thanks.

"I'm not sure," said Dusk, narrowing her eyes to peer through the swirling dust storm. "Wait. Is that..."

As the two sisters watched, the inside of the tornado seemed to fill with something. All of a sudden, a geyser of water shot up into the air and off in the direction of Cloudsdale. The tornado slowly died down as ponies started filing away at the top.

"Huh," said Dawn, impressed. "I didn't think Ponyville would have the pegasus power to pull off a rain duty."

"The town sure has grown," Dusk agreed. "That's probably where everypony was. They should be back soon, now." They continued up to the town hall and stepped up onto the porch to await the return of the townsfolk.

"Seems like this place went through renovations recently," said Dawn, testing the porch. "Yup, fixed up the creaky porch."

"Finally! Somepony who notices!" The sisters turned to see a beige earth pony mare with a grey mane walking towards them, shaking her head. "I swear, you're the first pony who I've heard mention the porch. I was beginning to wonder whether it was even worth it to fix." Her expression grew quizzical as she approached. "Have you been to Ponyville before, then? You two do look familiar."

Dusk shook her head. "No, but our grandmother's shown up pictures. She always complained about this porch."

"I see," said the mare. "Well then, let me be the first to welcome the two of you to Ponyville. I am Mayor Mare. What brings you to our quaint little town?"

"We're looking to move here," Dusk answered. "My name is Dusk Shadow, and this is my sister, Dawn Sky."

The mayor's eyes widened, and a grin threatened to split her face in two. "I knew you two looked familiar! You're descended from one of Ponyville's founders, aren't you?"

Dusk nodded. "I take it you know of Granny Dawn, then?"

"Of course!" said Mayor. "After all, after our own Granny Smith, she and her sister were the leading force behind the founding of Ponyville. We've go their portraits hanging right in my office and I must say, you two are their spitting images. But enough about that; when were you two planing to move in?"

"Um, today," said Dawn sheepishly.

Mayor's eyebrows shot up. "Well, that's rather short notice. Do you have a place already to move into?"

"Nope," said Dusk cheerfully. "We figured we'd just stay at a local inn until we earn enough to rent a place of our own."

"I see," said Mayor, not liking where this was going. "And what sort of work will you be doing."

Dusk shrugged. "That depends. Who's hiring?"

Mayor winced inwardly, but kept an grin on her face. "You two really didn't plan this out, did you?"

"We never do," admitted Dawn. "Figured it was time to leave Manehattan a couple of days ago, and decided on Ponyville last night."

Mayor nodded. "I see. Then you realize that we may not have anything for you two immediately. The only places that I know of that are hiring right now are the library and Sweet Apple Acres. The library can only hire one, though, and the Acres wouldn't be a good fit for either of you."

"Why not?" asked Dawn. "I've worked orchards before."

"They're looking for an earth pony," explained Mayor. "Nopony else has the strength and endurance to keep up with them. Trust me, many have tried. Unicorns and pegasi don't last a day, and even most earth ponies quit before the week is out."

"Sounds perfect!" said Dawn. "Good old-fashioned, getting-your-hooves-dirty farm work is right up my ally! Especially if that sticks Dusk in the stuffy library."

Dusk rolled her eyes as Mayor raised an eyebrow. "You've never worked an Apple Family orchard, have you?" she asked.

"Spent a summer at the Trottingham Acres a while back," Dawn countered. "I'll be fine."

"If you're sure," sighed Mayor. "Still, I'll ask around town once ponies start coming back from the Tornado Day event. Hopefully somepony will have something for you, just in case. The Acres are-"

"South of town," interrupted Dusk. "And the library is in the tree on the west side." Mayor's eyebrows shot up again and Dusk smirked. "Granny Dawn talked about this town a lot."

"I see," said Mayor. "Well, I wish you luck then." Dusk and Dawn nodded their thanks and headed south.

"Nice cover with 'Granny Dawn'," said Dawn once they were out of earshot.

"I figured we'd need one," replied Dusk. "We know too much about this town. It'd be suspicious if we didn't have that sort of connection. Besides, I doubt that Mayor Mare will be the only one to see how much we resemble ourselves."

After a few minutes of walking down a dirt road, the famous Sweet Apple Acres finally came into view. The house, barn and orchards looked the same as they had all those years ago. Down in the orchards, they noticed an orange earth pony mare bucking away at some trees. Her blond mane was tied back in a ponytail beneath her stetson, and three red apples adorned her flank. "Must be one of Granny Smith's grandchildren," said Dusk as they continued down.

The mare saw them coming and walked over to greet them at the front gate. "Well, howdy there," she said as she approached. "Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres. Name's Applejack. Y'all new in town?"

"Yup," said Dawn. I'm Dawn, and this is my sister Dusk. We heard that you were looking to hire?"

Applejack smiled down at her and chuckled. "We sure are, but I'm afraid you're a might young to be workin'-"

"What did you say, hick?"

Applejack's jaw dropped and Dusk facehoofed. "Oh no," she groaned.

Dawn fluttered right up into Applejack's face. If looks could kill, Dawn would have put Applejack six feet under. "I'll have you know," she seethed, "that I'm no little filly. You're what? Twenty? I'm twenty bucking six. So shut the buck up and GIVE ME THE BUCKING JOB BEFORE I-"

Suddenly, Dawn's eyes closed and she dropped to the ground, snoring softly. "You'll have to forgive her," said Dusk as her horn powered down, Applejack still staring wide eyed at Dawn. "Her growth was stunted severely as a filly. She's a little sensitive about her height."

"A little?" asked Applejack incredulously. "Her temper's worse than a worm's in a plastic apple factory." She grinned widely. "If she can work as well as she can shout, we may just have to hire her."

"mph, rip you bucking heart out and bucking feed it to you..." muttered Dawn in her sleep.

Applejack's eyebrow rose. "Provided she can keep her mouth clean around li'l Apple Bloom."

Dusk nodded and conjured a small bolt of lightning to zap Dawn awake.

"Wha- whazat?" mumbled Dawn as she got up.

"Congratulations," said Applejack, grabbing her attention. "You've got the job, provided you can keep up, o' course."

Dawn blinked for a moment, shaking off the last of her sleep, before narrowing her eyes. "Oh really?" she spat. "You sure I'm not too young? Or too small?"

"Well that depends," smirked Applejack. "Can you work?"

Dawn huffed, sneering up at her. "Just try me. After a week, you'll be begging me to stay."

Applejack chuckled once again. "We'll see about that." She nodded over to the barn. "Go an' get the wagon out an' bring it over to where I was buckin'. A few of our trees came in early, an' I want to get them harvested by the end o' the day."

Dawn saluted sharply. "Yes ma'am."

"So," asked Applejack once Dawn was out of earshot, "how long will she last?"

Dusk smiled fondly at Dawn. "Don't worry about her," she assured. "She's as good as her word, and a hard worker besides. If she says she can handle it, she can. Just make sure nopony mentions her height." She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We've had to skip town a couple of times because of her temper."

"Well, I'm sure we can handle anythin' she throws our way," said Applejack confidently. "So, where you headed now?"

Dusk nodded back towards town. "Got to find a job for myself. I head that the library is hiring."

"They sure are," said Applejack. "Poor Twi. Between workin' the library an' all her little projects, it's a wonder she has any time to spare for us. Tell her I said 'hi' when you see her."

Dusk nodded and bade her farewell. She was halfway back to Ponyville before a thought struck her, making her pause. Wait, Twi? As in, Twilight? It couldn't be... She shook her head and kept walking. Nah, it's probably just a coincidence. I mean really what are the odds? Besides, she's in Canterlot.

In a few minutes, she stood facing a treehouse. Not a standard tree-house, but a house carved out of a living tree. She smiled as she looked over her old work once again. Lighting her horn, she traced over the familiar enchantments. "Still holding strong," she whispered to herself, letting her horn power down. "Geeze, I've missed this place." She walked up to the front door, the same one that Dawn had carved all those years ago, and knocked.

The door opened and Dusk was left facing empty air. "Um, hello?" she asked, looking around.

"Down here." Startled, Dusk looked down and felt her jaw drop. Smirking up at her was a baby dragon, purple for the most part, but with green scales covering his chest and a line of green spines flowing from the top of his head to his tail.

"Um, hi," said Dusk. "I, um, I heard that you, well I mean, that the library was, um, sorry. Sorry," She put a hoof over her face as the dragon started laughing. "I really wasn't expecting a dragon in a small town like this."

"No problem," said the dragon. "Happens all the time. You're new in town, right? I'm Spike." He reached up a clawed hand to shake.

Dusk smiled and reached down. "Dusk Shadow," she said, shaking his hand with her hoof. "Nice to meet you. I heard you were looking to hire?"

"You bet!" said Spike. "Come on in." He led her inside to a familiar room. Bookshelves were carved into the walls, filled to bursting with books of every size and color. A few couches and cushions lay around to sit on while reading. A door led off into the kitchen while a staircase led up into what must have been a living area.

"I've got to say," said Spike as Dusk looked around, "it's good to finally find someone interested in the job. Do you have any prior experience?"

Dusk nodded, turning her attention back to Spike. "Some," she replied. "I worked at a library in Canterlot one spring, and my last job was as a librarian in Manehattan."

Spike nodded. "Well, you should feel right at home here, then. I'll go get your new boss." He ran up the stairs, shouting as he went. "Twilight! There's somepony here for the library job!"

Dusk took the time alone to continue to study the room. As she did, she noticed a door that hadn't been there when she's first built the treehouse. Curious, she walked over and cracked it open. Inside was a staircase leading downward. Odd, she thought, closing the door. This place didn't have a basement before. I wonder who added that? It would have to have been a rather powerful unicorn to pull that off while keeping this place alive. Her attention turned to a framed picture hanging above the fireplace. She walked up to it and smiled at what she saw; six friends all crowded together and smiling happily. She instantly recognized Applejack, and she found her eyes traveling to the rest of the ponies as well. Her eyes finally focused on the pony in the very center, and her jaw dropped. Impossible. It can't be...

There was a loud thud behind her, and Dusk quickly turned to see a purple unicorn standing behind her, the heavy tome she'd been levitating dropped to the ground. Two sets of eyes were widened, two jaws hanging loose.

"D-Dusk?" whispered the unicorn.

Tears filled Dusk's eyes. "Twily?"

They rushed towards each other, embracing and laughing happily.

"Oh Dusk! It's so good to see you again!" exclaimed Twilight. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm moving here," Dusk replied happily. "The question is, what are you doing here?" She pulled back, holding Twilight at arm's length and looking her up and down. "Look at you," she said softly. "You've grown so much!" Her eyes moved to Twilight's flanks. "And in the right places, too."

Twilight blushed slightly, still smiling. "And you're just as beautiful as ever." Her smile dropped, her blush intensifying as she realized what she'd just said. "I-I mean, the same as ever! The same! Not as beautiful. N-not that you aren't beautiful! You are! I mean, not that I was looking! I just-"

Dusk laughed and hugged her again as Twilight groaned in embarrassment. "Still the same little Twily," she teased. "I forgot how easy it was to get you all flustered."

"Du-usk!" Twilight whined.

"Only joking, Twilight," said Dusk, backing out of the hug. But seriously, what are you doing here? I thought you were still in Canterlot!"

"I moved to Ponyville a couple of years ago," she explained, finally getting her blush under control. "Princess Celestia sent me here to oversee plans for the Summer Sun Celebration and..." She trailed off. A dark look had overcome Dusk's face at the mention of Princess Celestia. "Sorry," said Twilight. "I forgot that..."

Dusk shook her head, smiling once again. "Not your fault," she said. "I shouldn't let myself get down everytime I hear about... Anyway, I had heard that you had become her student. Congratulations, by the way. But, why would you still be here after the celebration ended?"

"Well, it's a long story," said Twilight. "The short version is that i made some friends while I was here and-"

*GAAAAAAAAASP* Dusk gasped loudly and dramatically. "My little Twilight made some friends?" She threw her hooves into the air her eyes rolling madly. "It's a sign of the apponyclipse! Everypony run for your lives!!!"

Twilight glowered as Spike laughed, coming back downstairs. "I guess you two know each other?" he asked.

Dusk nodded. "Of course. I told you that I worked in a library in Canterlot one spring, didn't I?"

Spike pondered that for a moment. "Well, that explains it," he said.

Twilight rolled her eyes as they laughed. "Very funny, you two. And yes, Spike. Dusk was a friend of mine back in Canterlot. She moved away before you were born." She turned back to Dusk. "Anyway, after the celebration was over, Princess Celestia let me stay in Ponyville so I wouldn't have to leave my friends."

Dusk nodded, her face neutral. "Sound's like something she would do." Her face softened as she smiled. "Oh, Dawn will be so happy to see you again. My sister," she explained, seeing Spike's confusion.

"Really? She's here too?" asked Twilight, looking around.

"She's down at Sweet Apple Acres," Dusk explained. "We met one of your friends there, Applejack. Dawn's going to be working there."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Really? How'd you convince AJ to hire her."

"Applejack called her too young."

Twilight winced. "Well, that explains how you convinced her to take Dawn seriously at least." She shook her head. "Anyway, you were looking for a job?" Dusk nodded. "Well, you're hired. With all of the extra projects the Princess has given me, I've been really busy lately. It'll be a massive relief to have some more help around here." She smiled and held out a hoof. "Dusk Shadow, welcome to the team."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

That night, Dusk lay awake on her bed in the guest room, staring out her window at eh night sky. There was a knock on the door and Twilight pushed it open gently. "Hey, Dusk," she said.

Dusk looked over and smiled softly. "Hey, Twily. What's up?"

Twilight walked over and looked out the window at the moon. "You haven't been to see her yet, have you?"

Dusk was silent for a moment. She sighed, looking up at the moon as well. "No, we haven't. I know I need to. Dawn deserves it. I told myself for so long that we'd go as soon as she was back but..."

Dusk felt a hoof being laid across hers. She looked over to see Twilight smiling gently at her. "You deserve it too," she said. "And as much as you hate to admit it, so does Princess Celestia."

Dusk frowned and looked away. No. She doesn't.

"Listen," said Twilight. "She comes over to visit every month or so. She'll be here in a couple of weeks. You and Dawn can see her then." Dusk hesitated. "You know she'd want to see you."

Dusk sighed again. "I, I'll think about it," she muttered.

Twilight gave her a hug, just holding her for a moment. Finally she got up and left. "Goodnight, Dusk," she said, closing the door behind her.

Dusk gave the moon one last look before lying down to sleep.