The Tale of Two Suns

by CroakerGamer

Night and Day

“All aboard!” The pony declared. Sunset and Reggie were seated in the coach headed for Canterlot. Sunset had to wear a bulky overcoat to cover her wings. She couldn’t have the world know there was a new princess running around Equestria, not yet. It wouldn’t be long now until Sunset had a little reunion with her old teacher.

“Hey, Reggie,” Sunset started, “How should we present ourselves to the Princess?”

“Well, the guards won’t take lightly to our company. We’ll need to prove you are worth Celestia’s time.” Reggie answered.

Once again, Sunset would have to pry all of the information out of him. “And to that I would have to…”

Reggie sighed. “I wanted it to be a surprise. This train won’t reach Canterlot until Luna and Celestia are trading occupation of they sky. At sunset, you will push the sun back into the sky, behind the moon.”

Such a thing had only happened in the human world. Sunset recalled astronomy she had studied in one of her science classes. She was going to have to cause a solar eclipse.

“Yeah,” Sunset chuckled. “That’ll grab their attention. But don’t you think it’s a little rude?”

“We mean business, My Dear. The only way to prove a point is with evidence. If you can move the sun, you have proven you are worthy of your destiny. If you can not, then there is no reason to continue and we may leave. Actions speak louder than words, My Dear.”

“I understand,” Sunset complied. She realized there was no other way. She just hoped that this first impression would leave the mark Reggie wanted and not the one Sunset feared.

* * *

The pair arrived at the station thirty minutes before the transition. They started trotting towards the castle, the destination where the plan should start execution. That was the closest they could be to attempt to intercept the sun.

When they arrived the guards looked as cross as ever. They crossed their spears, as if to warn Sunset and Reggie they weren’t allowed in.

“Wait for the princesses to leave. Fly towards the horizon, that’s where Celestia will be taking the sun. You’ll make it there by sunset. Push the sun back with all you’ve got. We’ve got one shot at this. You’ve got one shot at this.” Reggie repeated the plan.

The princesses flew from the highest tower of the castle, one in the opposite direction of the other. Show time, Sunset thought to herself. She threw off the heavy overcoat and spread her wings. She looked around at the faces of everypony around her. Even the guards had dropped their jaws.

“Stop basking and start working, Sunset. Your window for opportunity is limited!” Reggie warned. And with that she took off.

As Sunset flew towards her target, she realized that she had no idea how she was going to catch a sun. In the human world the sun was far away from the Earth and didn’t move. Sunset tried not to think logically. Her only goal was to push the sun back into the sky, not worry about where it would go if she didn’t.

The farther she flew from Canterlot the bigger the sun got. Instead of just appearing like the sun was traveling with constant size, it actually appeared to be heading towards the planet!

Sunset landed with a skid, pushing up grass leaving four streaks of mud in her wake. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the sun, its movement, and its size. She began pushing back, creating a beam-like grip around it. As soon as she made contact, the metal grip snapped. Her eyes flew open by themselves. This was a bad omen.

I must have underestimated the sun’s power, she thought. Once again she tried pushing on the sun. Sunset could feel herself being pushed backwards, the ground moving beneath her hooves.

“I can’t give up!” Sunset screamed, trying to convince herself she could do this. Her flank bumped into a solid object. Perfect, now she had leverage. However, even leverage couldn’t help in her situation. She started losing hope.

Her thoughts raced. She thought of her friends she had made. They would be cheering her on right now. She could hear them calling out to her.

Apple Jack‘s voice enter first, “Give it all you got, Sugarcube!”

“Don’t you quit on me!” Rainbow Dash pushed.

“You look fabulous, keep going!” Rarity chimed in.

“Um, don’t give up. I mean, if that’s okay with you.” Fluttershy managed to whisper.

“Oh that looks like fun! Come on Sunset, you don’t need a party to beat this bad time.“ Pinkie Pie blurted out, trying to be helpful.

Reggie was the last to speak. “My Dear, it’s all up to you. I know you have the talent to do this. Prove to Equestria you are the new princess!”

Sunset drifted towards her training. The strategies involved in flying, magic, and combat filled her mind. The past twenty eight days blended together. All she had learned, all she had felt. She needed to put it all in her focus and her magic.

She opened her eyes, fearing that the sun had nearly reached her. To her surprise, the sun was shrinking. She noticed that the magic that radiated from her horn as like nothing she had ever cast before.

She hadn’t added any physical or mental strain on her grip on the sun. She realized now the piece of the puzzle she had missed: An input of emotion. Sunset trotted away from her clenched position. Soon she was able to walk with the sun, which broke into a gallop. Galloping prepped her for flight. Soon, she was flying with the gaseous orb.

As she flew, she couldn’t help but cry tears of joy and chuckle. She had done it. No pony could stop her. She couldn’t help but continue her thoughts of her friends. How proud would they be? What could Reggie see back in Canterlot?

It didn’t seem long to Sunset, but in reality it probably took near an hour to place the sun back into the sky, behind the moon. Exhausted, Sunset glided bad down towards Canterlot. I hope that got Princess Celestia’s attention, Sunset thought. Suddenly, Sunset felt a swift, strong push no her back. Her flight turned to a fall.

Sunset couldn’t correct her fall. She had lost too much energy from creating the solar eclipse. She tried to move with the last little strength she could. Sunset managed to wriggle around so her back faced the ground. As her vision started to faded, she noticed a dark figure hover high in the sky. As Sunset approached the ground, everything went black.