//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 Solar Sun Celebration // Story: A New Beginning // by Falinov //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Solar Sun Celebration "I hate school…” “Of the many things I hate on my short list, this is absolutely one of them…” I gripe to myself quietly as I continue to go over the characters Twilight had given me about two hours ago. Despite my best efforts as I continue to I compare the two languages I can't find any similarities. I pause for a moment and stretch my muscles out, enjoying the prickling sensation in my back. “There has to be something similar about these…” I place my hand on my chin rubbing it in thought, as I trace the first character on the list Twilight provided me with. However, as I continue to trace I begin to notice a pattern between the letters. Just like German it still has some similarities as English. After sitting for what felt like much longer than it was, I feel as though I start to understand. All I have to do is compare the similarities and the shape of the characters I have been assigned, sure enough, I see that the A in Equestria looks a lot like the English numeric system in a few ways, however I am not for certain this is correct. Looking at the other characters for the same similarities I write a simple name in the Equestrian format. Assuming that the word and letter order isn't different from English, I have, at least in theory, written “Twilight” on the paper in front of me. "Ah-ha!, Perfect!, The easiest language I've ever learned!" “Good going there; still got to learn the rest of it…” I pat myself on the back and I take a look at the partially dusty history book beside my language books. I open the History book’s back cover and place Twilights alphabet list just above the pages of the book. Gently I close the book on the paper and turn to what I hope is the first page of the book. As I glance at back and forth between the book and the letters I slowly start to translate the first page from Equestrian to English within half an hour. "Chapter 1 Prehistory of Equestria - Ruins of a Civilization" I double-check to make sure that I translated it correctly. Sure enough, my assumption of the word order is in fact correct; glancing back and forth at the history book and the translation paper Twilight gave me earlier I begin to translate the pages of the chapter. A short 20 minutes of copying symbols onto a sheet and studying later I translated the information. Within this info it told me that there are two rulers what I didn't know was the second name. However, with that piece of information stored away in a later chapter it told me of Princess Celestia the eldest ruler of the land and responsible of the old world’s rebirth to flourish . According to this chapter Celestia and her Sister (who hasn't been mentioned yet…) Terra formed large areas of the world and made them what they are today. Despite this there are still some remaining areas around the world left over to be reminders/burial grounds for survivors who lived long enough to see their world off. Evidently the largest found piece of was a chunk of metal from an unknown object recovered on a beach in the Northern Atlantic inscribed and burned on the piece are odd symbols “Москва” since terraforming was performed no pony has been able to successfully identify what it means since the more historical data was destroyed prior to the planets discovery. Upon request of the princesses it was placed in the Royal Sisters first castle and moved to Canterlot Archives and moved to Manehatten and is currently in lockup. “Odd… those look like… Russian symbols?” I try to look closer at the symbols written in the book. “Gah, why does that part have to be so damn worn down.” I look as close as possible by pressing my face to the page. “Fuck it…” I move onto the next page and continue to write translate and read the book. Well over 4 hours later, I’m on the verge of reaching Chapter 19. I snicker to myself as I admire my massive pile of papers beside me that I had used to translate the chapters I had previously read. Taking a brand new piece of paper and the list of words I carefully translate the 19th chapter in this massive history book. Slowly but surely the name becomes clear. "Chapter 19 The Solar Sun Celebration." I put my hand to my chin and recall a particular princess mentioning it. “The Solar-Sun Celebration; an annual national holiday for nearly two millennia in Equestria’s 2 two millennia time span known as the unification period. This event symbolizes the end of Tyranny from Discord the spirit of Chaos, this also symbolizes the anniversary of Nightmare Moon’s banishment nearly 1000 years ago.“ I can't help but re-read that again to be sure I read it correctly. “Nightmare Moon… I thought that Luna was the second sister…” I think back to when Luna had looked at me guiltily the other night. ‘Was she telling me the truth about who she was’ I continue to read and translate the letters on the page with interest forming on my face. “The event takes place at the dawn of the Summer Solstice when Princess Celestia raises the sun and Princess Luna's lowering of the moon creating a beautiful rift of light that emanates around half the planet.” Suddenly, as I continue to read a rainbow blob slowly moves over the right side of the book as light shines through a garden level window nearby. Looking over I see the sun slowly creep over the hills and mountains in the distance as the reality of the situation hits me like a freight train. "Ah Shit… I need to get out of here!" I quickly gather my study books Twilight had given me. As I run up the stairs to see a purple blob slouching over piles of papers I slowly approach her to see she's fast asleep snoring softly. Gently I set my books down and put my hand on her shoulder gently shaking her awake. "Geez Twilight, you're harder to wake up than I am." I whisper under my breath after a few more slight nudges I see her eyes sag open as she moans slightly. "Morning sleepy head" I smirk as she yawns, stretching her forehooves. "Nyy-w-wht tyme is it? (Ugh, why did you wake me.)" she slurs her words as she sits upright, her mane a frazzled mess sticking in just about every direction imaginable. Kneeling down to match her current height I crouch next to her. "I was hoping that you could tell me, I can only assume, my best guess is around 5:50/6 A.M." she gets up on her hooves and stumbles over to the curtains and looks out. "Looks to be 5:40 in the morning Nhhhg." she yawns and she almost falls over I catch her before she does. "Perhaps you should sit down?" she nods and wraps her right fore hoof around my neck. Gently I help her over to the couch she's surprisingly lightweight, I help her sit down for a second she stretches her hind legs and her back much like a cat would after a long nap. "If it is nearly 6 in the morning chances are I should probably head out before the common folk see me; can I take these books with me,”I reach over and grab the books from where I left them. “I’ll have nothing better to do this week besides reading.” I give a slight smile. "I don't see why not; but please careful that history book in particular is very old. It has been passed down through the ages and added onto throughout the years." "No problem! I promise I will guard them with my life." I give her a smile as I leave her house. However, when I got outside I was already seeing ponies already setting up what appears to be something similar to a farmers market. From what I can see from my current position they were selling a multitude of items ranging from food to physical items. It was almost like the Flea markets that were found in California and the farmers markets of Colorado. 'Look at yourself, you're only 27 and you talk like you are an old geezer...’ I pause for a moment thinking about it. ‘Never mind, I am technically well over 2000 years old now.’ I GOT THE RIGHTS GOD-DAMN IT!' I shake my head side to side dismissing the idea with a slight chuckle. As I leave the town I begin to run a little faster back down to my bunker hoping no-o-pony has seen me. Only a few minutes after my departure the sun has risen seeing no danger and seeing I am a decent distance away from the town I watch as the sun creep over the horizon shedding hundreds of vibrant rainbows around me. "Strange... In my life I've never seen the sun cast so many rainbows." I shake my head turn my attention back to the bunker door at my feet. Reaching down I pull the hatch open with all my strength the door squeaks open. As I enter my bunker I turn the lights on; gently they flicker to life, making a slight buzzing noise and emitting little to no light. I make my way to my bed without care I toss the books onto the old bed, as I should’ve expected it made a large dust cloud rise quickly I rear back trying to avoid the dust floating around me. Only a few seconds after I begin sneezing hysterically. Once the dust settles off the bed, I sit down on the edge of the bed, I flip the pages of the book open to find the Solar Sun Celebration once again. “The solar sun celebration is also a yearly celebration to honor the relationship and reformation of Princess Celestia's sister Princess Luna.” 'Wait Princess Luna; huh, so she is royalty weird how she had managed to spot me of all things.' I pause for a moment thinking it over. ‘But the question is; why was she there… right then and there almost....... Waiting for me…? Why does she seem to take an interest in studying me.’ Seeing no other options I will have to just accept the fact she is infinitely more powerful than I could imagine. ‘Probably just a lucky coincidence; I probably won’t ever see her ever again.' I continue reading thinking of my luck. "Princesses of the Sun and Night in eternal harmony; since the very beginning existence of Equestria.” I stop for a brief moment looking below where a small edit was made. “It was only recently Princess Luna was reformed, however, is still learning how to cope with the modern ways of life." ‘She was banned for 1000 years...Talk about a life loss gap.’ I scratch my head, trying to wrap my head around the situation with no other options that I could find reasonable I lay my head down on the old pillow gingerly fluffing it and fall asleep. <><><><><>Hours Later<><><><><> Groaning, I roll on my side and blink my eyes open seeing nothing I rub my eyes with the back of my wrist after rubbing my eyes as I sit up I notice a slight very dim cyan glow in the dark; curiously I stand up and clumsily walk over to the CryoStasis pod; on the floor I find my old digital watch still glowing bright as I get closer to it. Carefully, I pick it up and see the corner of the screen is cracked (Not sure if I was wearing it, the crack probably formed when I fell out of the pod) but still readable It says it is 22:43 P.M (10:43Pm). "Damn, I must've been exhausted from all this." Remembering when I left Twilight's Library. Gently I wrap the watch around my wrist; carefully attaching the clasp. Looking down at it I press one of the chrome buttons turning the screen off to conserve battery life. With a stretch an audible crack is heard, followed by a slight groan. I walk over to the edge of the bed to grab my shirt off the end of the bed, I walk up the stairs quickly putting my shirt on, I push the hatch open with an audible squeaking noise. A second after doing so, I feel a blast of cool evening air against my entirety of my body. I look up to see a sliver of the moon slowly moving across the sky and I think about what I had read about earlier and I look towards the town see light emanating from Ponies homes on the outskirts of the town. Before I head towards her house I go back down into my bunker and throw the closet to the right of it open finding my travel bag hanging up. Naturally, it was dusty as hell; despite this, I start throwing some dingy clothes on the bed till I find what I was looking for; A small container within it is a picture of my friends, and on the opposite side clamped to it is my US Navy tactical knife. I take the knife out and flip it open to see the blade is still inscribed with the Pat. number 3,455,213. I close it and attach the clamp to the side of my pants just in case, I look at the picture looking at my lost best friends. I turn the picture frame around removing the latches hold the picture in place and remove the photo from its glass protection and hold it in a better light. ‘I hope you all have found peace wherever you are… I’ll make this right for all of us.’ I roll the photo putting it into my shirt pocket. As I make my way for Twilight's I hear the ever so slight sound of hoofsteps following not too far behind, momentarily I stop and pick up some rocks and toss them into the nearby river and continue walking, acting casual as I could making sure that it wasn’t just my mind playing tricks on me; More than a few minutes pass, I can still hear them following me closely stopping instantly I throw a stone I had hidden in my hand at a nearby tree. As if on cue the stone stops only an inch from Luna's face. "If you're going to follow me, you need to keep your distance I heard every step you made." Pausing momentarily. "You certainly have an uncanny knack of finding me in the weirdest places don’t you…” from what I could see a slight smile spreading across her face. "Thou have an incredible sense of hearing." She smiles softly in the moonlight. "Thank you, but in my own defence; I was born with horrid eyesight, and naturally my hearing was heightened even with eye surgery, I still rely more on my hearing." I raise a hand to halt anything she was going to say. "Anyways, might I ask what brings you back here," I look at her quizzically. “following me more specifically?” Her face seems to turn a slightly red. "We came to see how you have fared so far." her stary mane moves like it was being billowing in a slight breeze. "I-I suppose i’ve been doing...decent, I suppose." My curiosity gets the best of me from what I had read earlier. “Since you are here...could you tell me about what the solar sun celebration is?” Instantly her smile fades and she turns her head away and looks at her reflection in the nearby stream and sits silently. 'Good job Austin you upset a pony princess how will you sleep at night knowing you did this.' "Are you ok?" I sit beside her. "Nothing is bugging us, I am glad….. Thou are doing better" she seems to be suppressing a slight change in her breath. ‘Mayday!Mayday!Mayday! Abort yo-fuck you're gonna do it anyways, aren't you....’ my conscious practically screaming at me in the back of my head. "You know I can tell when someone is upset, clearly something is bugging you." I sit beside her wrapping my arms around my legs. ‘Smoooootttttthhhhhhh...' “We are fine.” she looks away, but I can see a slight tear forming in the corner of her eye in the reflection. “It’s about Nightmare Moon isn’t it?” she winces slightly and looks at me with a look of regret in her eyes. “I might not know much about you or the history of this nation… but from what I read in the last 24 hours or less, it mentioned something about a banishment.” she seemed to be really upset by this seeing this I test the waters and I slide a bit closer to her. Gently placing my arm around her seeing that I couldn’t think of any better way to make the situation better. She looks over her shoulder at me, her fur below her eyes are slightly matted down. To ease her I tighten my grip as she wipes the tears from her eyes. “We cannot help feeling guilt for what we have done.” her eyes close as she lies on her stomach. “We all make mistakes…It’s what makes us who we are. I’m sure you didn’t mean it.” I keep my arm around her and she folds her forehooves under her chest and proceeds to lay her head on the ground next to the stream. For the next twenty or so minutes of so sitting there quietly, she shifts her face to me and asks me a question that sends shivers down my spine. “Hath thou made a monumental mistake in thy past?” she looks with her greenish cyan eyes. "Fortunately, I haven't made a life threatening "bad call", my superiors on the other hand have though; and it cost me a best friend… but I feel just as guilty for not intervening. If I could I would've gladly taken the bullet for him ; but I can’t change the past.” Looking at the position of the moon it was getting later. Despite my better judgment I take my hand off her and slowly stand up offering a hand to her to join me, she takes it and stands up now I can see she is slightly shorter than I am by mere inches. "I hate having to leave your highness, but I must get going before Twilight tans my hide. I said I would ask her if i had any questions; please take care Pr-.” She smiles and cuts me off “Luna” she simply says. “Pardon?” I look at her confused. “Please; call me Luna.” she has a light shade of red as she softly smiles at me. “Uh- Alright...Please take care Luna.” I wave at her and I begin to walk away but before I do I hear her voice. “Thanketh thou very much.” "Whatever for?" "For not fearing us..." she very slight smile. I nod and smile as she returns her gaze to the stream beside her. The walk to Twilight was pretty uneventful a few crickets here and there a branch whacking me in the face here and there… Eventually I reach Twilight's home and knock on the door waiting patiently however; While waiting I gently put my ear to the door to listen in; within all I can hear is the sound of books hitting the floor almost constantly. I remove my ear and hesitate to knock again, whilst rotting away outside Twilights door I swear I can feel the years pass by. ‘Do these ponies know anything about being proper?’ At least another 5 minutes pass before I hear an Audible creaking noise as the door behind me opens revealing the small Purple Unicorn. "Jeez Twilight, took you long enough." looking over her I can see massive piles of books everywhere; and I mean EVERYWHERE. “Sorry!” her cheeks turn a bright red. “Can I come in?” we stand there awkwardly. “Oh right Sorry!” She regains her composure as I walk in I see a mess that rivaled my room when I was a teenager. "Was I not invited to one crazy party or something?" stepping around the massive piles of books carefully. "No silly, its Thursday book organization day!" she gives an enormous grin that seemed a little too optimistic for something as remedial as ‘organizing books’. "Say whaaaaa," my eyes widen and I shake it off. "Uh- Nevermind, I'm here to talk to you about something that’s bugging me- er more specifically a Ponies “actions” towards me." “Do you know who this pony is?” Twilights ears perk up as she sits down in front of me. “I believe you’d know her as Luna.” "Huh-what?" quite suddenly . "Yes Princess Luna to be exact I was reading about her and her "Reformation"." I bend my fingers. “Oh, would you mind if we took this downstairs to talk about it?" Gently she sets the books down on a shelf and heads down the nearby stairs. “No, not at all.” I follow after her. "So what is Luna doing thats bugging you?" Twilight takes a seat in a chair I do the same across from her. "No, no its not what she’s doing per se, It’s odd because she’s Royalty. This week alone she has visited me multiple times; including about 20 minutes ago" "Hmph, that's certainly odd; this is definitely out character for her. She normally doesn't fly that far from the palace in Canterlot." her ears splay backwards to her head, hoof on her chin. "The first time I thought I could understand the second not so much. It’s almost as if she’s keeping an eye on me." ‘That combined with the fact she’s mysteriously finding me with ease.’ "Well, she doesn't normally reveal herself at all since ponies still are adjusting to her reformation." Twilight gazes at the ceiling trying to put the puzzle pieces together. “The thing is I mentioned something about the Sun Celebration, and she seemed highly distraught by it.” I give her a rather upset look. "I think it’s that time of year she feels guilty for what she did all those centuries ago, if you recall her Nightmare moon period-" I cut her off "So she was Nightmare moon! Ah-You see she didn't confirm to me that was her, but it did seem to...oh... that actually explains a lot; but why did she become that?" "Well, long story short Luna felt that her sister Celestia’s sun was cherished more than the darkness of the night, than her night that she spent hours upon hours creating, charting, labeling just for no pony to enjoy it but herself." Twilight gives a sad look. "As a result..." she continues on "Her anger corrupted her and she attacked Celestia supposedly, she was captured in battle seeing that Celestia couldn’t help her she banished Luna to the moon for which she represents for the better part of a 1000 year sentence." "Jesus...Little overboard?” “The Elements were supposed to remove the Nightmare side of her. From what my friends and I have found they deemed her too corrupt and in term sent her to the moon. It also was found that a prophecy was made that she would escape her Lunar prison.” “How long has she been un-banished?" I look at her coldly. "She wasn’t; nearly two years ago she escaped and was reformed by the Elements of Harmony.... again." she smiles. “That doesn't make sense...you just said earlier that she was too corrupted to have that side of her removed.” “We think that it has something to do with being away from magic for so long on the moon weakened her and making it easier to remove,” she sighs for a second. “As of current she seems to be fine since then, she gets a fresh start.” Twilight puts a hoof over her mouth and giggles. “She gets a brand new start on life...Kind of like you!” Twilight's eyes light up. “I suppose so; so what are these Elements you told me about, what are they?" I raise an eyebrow whilst trying to understand. "Elements of Harmony." she gets out of the chair and walks up the stairs and grabs a particular book off the pile she had strewn around earlier and comes back down and levitates it in front of her; turning to a particular page she clears her voice. "There once were 6 stones, known as the Elements of Harmony, once rumored to be almost non existent until given to the two regal sisters each representing something that made them who they were. When combined created the most powerful magic that the world has ever seen. However upon Luna's banishment they were lost forever rumored destroyed during the banishment as they lost their power that represented Luna's half,” Twilight slams the book closed. “Until my friends and I found them." She sets the book down beside her. "There are 6 elements...The Elements of Kindness, Generosity, Happiness, Honesty, Loyalty, and lastly magic." I put my hand over my face and slide it down opening one of my eyes at Twilight who is now smiling wider than ever. "Ok, so judging by your crummy Poker Face, you're one of the most important of the 6 elements." I raise my eyebrow. "Oh, you're no fun," she giggles "Your assumption is only half true you need all the Elements to function, I am the element of magic itself." "Interesting; so the Elements basically is a shower that purifies the magic of a sentient being here that possesses magical properties?" "Right again, you're catching on!" she gives me a smirk. "That's a surprise, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed; so what does this have to do with Luna being upset. If these ponies don’t like her this much, than why is she still a co-ruler.” "Well, that's the problem ponies still think she's got an evil flame somewhere in her. Be that as it may that's only a small portion of the population in Equestria." Twilight's ears fold back a look of sadness in her. "I seriously doubt it… but at the same time, I see both sides of her problems and I cannot blame her for that she spent her time crafting something for others peo-ponies enjoyment, and what did they do... They didn't appreciate it; honestly, I don't blame her for it because I know how it feels to be ignored for your hard work, its something I knew all too well as a child." "Indeed." she sighs "Well, I should probably head home and continue my studies, still gotta work on memorizing your language." I begin walking and I stop and look at Twilight. "Oh, I almost forgot I bought this for you." I reach into my pocket and hold a folded picture which she takes in a pink aura. “Consider this as proof, and a gift.” With nothing else to say I leave her library heading what little I can call a home, leaving Twilight drop dead stunned. <><><><><><><><><><> Yep, here I am again walking near the forest back to my bunker. 'What a shitty place to have a home' I continue to walk back along the stream back to my home however, as I come to the top of the small hill I see something I wasn't expecting. "L-luna?" I see her laying flat her head buried in her hooves she appears to be asleep (at least I hope she is). I lean down next to her and place my hand on her shoulder. To my surprise her fur is incredibly soft and under the moonlight, her mane is shimmering. 'Hey Romeo snap out of it, and say something!' I shake it off and slowly shake her to hear a slight sniffle and moan. "Are you ok?" I sit next to her quietly as she yawns. "Why does thou show me such kindness whilst others do not?" she looks at me with a face I find rather cute. "Well for a multitude of reasons firstly you showed me kindness and I'm happy to repay it; second I feel that second chances are good for a person when their past wasn't their fault" I smile and offer a hand that she takes standing back on all fours. Now that I'm not starving to death or running for my life I get a chance to admire her beauty. "From what I was told and what I have studied; I sympathize completely, you did what you did out of anger and neglect, Heh- something I- humans know all too well." "Thou do?" she sits on her haunches listening like a child being read a bedtime story. "I wasn't exactly appreciated when I was younger, I was scrutinized for what I could though I do know nothing can compare to what you went through." As I stand there awkwardly the voice in the back of my voice shouting. ‘Oh for fuck’s sake, just hug her!’ To her surprise, I gently wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her into a hug. I let her go to see her face is red, baffled a small smile crosses her face her eyes wide that would make even the toughest heart melt. "Thanketh thou." she smiles and what I didn't expect was for her to fly off instantly. 'You’re welcome.' I give a slight wave as I stare as her silhouette flies off into the distance. ‘Stay strong.’