//------------------------------//
// The Sun Sets 
// Story: Rising Dawn 
// by SpiderDungeon 
//------------------------------//

        Everyone knows the story about the alicorn sisters. The older sister, Celestia, who moves the sun each day, and the younger sibling, Luna, who moves the moon across the sky when the sun sinks below the horizon, allowing the two celestial bodies to flow through the eternal day and night cycles so that the world may live in imperfect balance. But what happens at the end of each day, when the sun goes beneath the sky to allow the moon to rise once again? Obviously, it doesn't just disappear; that would be stupid. Something as massive as the sun just phasing out of reality? No. But even the great Celestia can't keep it circling day AND night, even before Nightmare Moon was sent away. The Princess, whom the Equestrians refer to Celestia as since she is the only one, took on the movement of both celestial bodies, putting a tremendous strain on her already difficult task of moving the Sun. At the end of the night, the moon falls below the horizon, allowing the first cracks of the light of dawn to emerge. The moon is relatively small, so it can simply be placed on it's designated pedestal in Tartarus, the underworld, until it is needed at dusk. But the Sun is far, far more massive. Twenty seven million times more massive, in fact. It cannot simply be placed on a mere pedestal. No, that is where Khepri fills his role. When Celestia lowers the sun, Khepri is always there, and always has been, since the dawn of time.

Or as far as he can remember anyway. Khepri is pretty sure it's the dawn of time. Maybe.
Anyway, when Celestia releases the sun from her ethereal grip, even she doesn't know what happens to it. But Khepri catches it. He's been dealing with this star since forever. He knows how to catch it, how to hold it, how to caress it... Okay, he's never actually caressed the Sun before, but he does move it through the underworld so that it may light the mortal plane each day.

But DAMN that thing is heavy! It takes all night to move it into position. This exact thing is what Khepri realized several millennia ago, and boy did it blow his freaking mind. It was an enlightenment. Or what he assumed was one anyway. All he does is move the sun and make sure it doesn't fizzle out during the trip. Or more so hoping it doesn't. To be honest, he doesn't actually know what enlightenment even means, really. Hell, he likes to tell the demons and damned souls that he "protects the sun as it crosses the sky of the underworld" to make him look important. He isn't even all that special! However, it always amuses Khepri that they believe him. He also likes the kind words of encouragement and praise that he receives throughout his shift. It adds some spice to the repetitive day-to-day cycle that is his life. Wake up, keep the sun moving, eat, sleep, repeat. In fact, even after thousands of years of the same shick, he is only now getting bored of it, and that bugged him.

Khepri had a giggle at the pun he just made. He was a sucker for terrible puns, and being a giant scarab that moves the sun, there was a lot of potential. However, even the beetle's favorite pastime was not enough to quell the sorrow that is his new found realization of how dull his life is. New found in the last hundred or so years, that is, and every day since that first cynical thought, he wished, nay, depended on something exiting happening in his life. Something to finally break this endless cycle, even if just for a moment. Something new, something other than the same schedule, the same dinner, the same uplifting praises that he received from his neighbours!

Khepri jumped at the all too familiar ear-shattering buzz of his handless time-telling device. As annoying as it was, Khepri knew just how extremely valuable it was to not just him, but all who depended on him, as it somehow knew when the sun was coming, AND knew just how to wake him up to do his job. It's inner workings were mysterious as all he needed to do was connect a long black rope-like extremity to a specific hole in his cave wall, and it just... Worked. The scarab dared not open it to find out what sort of dark magic powered the strange device, but he lived long enough to 'never look a gift horse in the rectum' or whatever it is they say. He'd never look into a horse's rectum anyway. Ever since finding that... thing in his balled-up ding collection, he vowed never to touch fecal matter of any kind ever again. Besides, where it comes out is even nastier. Khepri shivered at the thought, but pushed aside said thoughts for when he was towing the fireball along as to stave off boredom.





Khepri approached the spot where the sun was emerging from the other side of the veil, and began his 'daily' routine. The beetle reached deep inside of his inner mind, as if looking for a set of really really lost car keys, except instead of lost keys he was reaching for the inner magic that all beings of the two planes of existence has. But it's still really far in. Like, REALLY far. Luckily, he has thousands of years of experience with locating his mana pool, and really only spent less than a second getting it. Channeling that inner magic out of his mind and along the dendrite connections to his claws, he spun a tiny ball of light. Focusing more and more, the ball grew. Small sparks of -- Well, he didn't know what it was, but it looked cool. -- Small sparks of coolness appeared within the orb, just as it always had as the mass grew still. Eventually, it stopped growing, and, like all the times before, he threw it upwards at the descending star. Khepri knew exactly what to expect. The same thing as the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that, and... The immortal bug decided not to sink himself into an eternal loop.

A metaphorical one, anyway. One endless loop was enough. He didn't think he could handle any more routine in his routine. It might just kill him.

Khepri saw a beam of light drop from fireball and walked over to the location it usually fell to. As it landed exactly where it had every time prior, it created another burn mark atop of other, preexisting burn marks on the hellstone. If this were to happen to a creature, it would really befuddle doctors. Picking the space rope (sorry) up in his claw, he sighed and started the long trek to the outer Farlands. A place where nothing dared go, not even the giant, fearless lava dragons. Nothing except for him, anyway.

"I lost the sun for a second," he said, adding a dramatic pause for an audience that he didn't care was there or not.
"But then it dawned on me!"
Bellowing a mighty guffaw (a wheezing giggle, more like), he walked toward his destination, watching the moon rise from it's resting place.

"Right on schedule."
Khepri sighed.
"Again."