Half Hour Horses: Legacy Prompts

by HoofAndQuill

LP21: Can't Move the Sun [Slice of Life]

The Prompt: You can't move the sun, silly.

One of these days I'll actually get something written on Thursday instead of half a week later.

Late.

The sunrise was late. Those words barely fit together as a sentence in Twilight Sparkle's mind. The sunrise was never late. Well, that wasn't strictly true. Twice in her lifetime the sun had failed to rise on time, but one of those times was due to Nightmare Moon, and the other was due to Tirek. There had been no notice from Princess Celestia about any sort of problem, so that seemed unlikely. But still... it was three minutes late.

Twilight glanced at the clock on her wall. Four minutes late.

She felt her wings rustle behind her, still an unfamiliar feeling. She shouldn't teleport to Canterlot. Princess Celestia knew what she was doing. Maybe her clock was wrong. So, she wouldn't teleport to Canterlot. A few more minutes of waiting was okay, no pony probably even noticed yet. Everything was fine.

A thin line of light appeared over the horizon, and Princess Twilight Sparkle let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. There. There, everything was fine. The line of light grew slowly, and Twilight smiled as she watched the sunrise. See? She didn't have to go to Canterlot.

The line of light thinned, and then sunk back behind the hills.

Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed.

The world rushed back in and Twilight found herself standing on the balcony that Princess Celestia stood on to raise the sun every morning. But the Princess, or rather that Princess, was not here. Princess Luna stood at the edge of the balcony, breathing heavily and somehow managing to scowl at the horizon even as she did. There were a few different polite ways to approach a Princess of Equestria, but Twilight didn't stand on ceremony this morning. "Princess Luna?!"

Luna started slightly, and then turned to look at Twilight with a slightly irritated look on her face. Twilight did her best not to shrink back. "Twilight Sparkle? Why are you here in Canterlot?"

"I... the sunrise was late, and then I saw..." Every word only caused Princess Luna's expression to darken, and Twilight soon found herself deciding to stop.

Twilight Sparkle started again after a moment. "Where is Princess Celestia?"

Princess Luna nodded toward the castle, at a balcony where Twilight knew Princess Celestia's room to be. "My sister is ill. Don't worry, Twilight Sparkle, it isn't serious. However, I am to raise the sun this morning."

After a moment's hesitation, looking up toward Princess Celestia's room, Twilight smiled at Luna. "Well, would you like some help? I've only done it once, but-"

"No." The answer was curt, and the tone made Twilight flinch. Princess Luna sighed, and spoke more carefully. "I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle. I have... never done this alone."

Twilight looked up at the other alicorn for a second, and then smiled again as she realized what she meant. "Princess Celestia has always helped? I know you can do it, Princess. I'll just watch... if it's okay, I mean."

Luna nodded, and turned to face into the east again. Twilight watched as the older alicorn's horn glowed. Twilight Sparkle was the closest thing in Equestria to an expert in magic. She would never admit it, but her own casting often surpassed even Celestia's in certain ways. As she watched Luna piece together her spell, she did everything she could to bite back commentary. Princess Celestia did this every morning, and Twilight had often watched her. Princess Luna's casting was... not Celestia's.

Still, she was certainly trying. Twilight bit her lip nervously, and watched the horizon. That thin line of light appeared again, rising slowly for a few seconds. Then, Princess Luna let out a pained, undignified grunt of exertion, and the sun slipped back behind the horizon again. Luna stood there, panting heavily and sweating in the cool night air, and Twilight knew better than to say anything.

After a few moments, Luna spoke again, in a voice as far removed from her royal Canterlot voice as Twilight had ever heard it. "My sister... raised the moon for a thousand years."

Twilight Sparkle nodded, and spoke quietly as well. "She had to."

"I should be able to do this, for one morning. Without my sister's help."

Twilight took a hesitant step forward, and then reached up and placed one hoof on Luna's shoulder. "Princess Luna, one of the most important lessons I've learned is that we don't have to do things ourselves. Not when we have friends. So... can we try together? Without Princess Celestia's help, but with mine?"

Princess Luna looked down at Twilight, and then aside, and nodded almost imperceptibly. She turned again to the horizon, and her horn glowed. Twilight smiled, and stood resolutely beside the older Princess, lighting her own horn and filling in the cracks in Luna's spell, doing her best to help without overshadowing. Her horn glowed more brightly, and thrummed with the effort and the magical power required. Slowly, the horizon began to glow as well.

---

Princess Celestia turned to look out of her window, as the sun slowly crested distant hills, and the morning light filled her kingdom. It was late, but it was still done. She was awake, of course, despite her illness. She felt strange, watching the sun rise instead of actually making it do so. As the sun finally set into its course for the day, Celestia moved a little in her bed so that she could look down to the balcony. She smiled at the two ponies standing there.

Her former student and her younger sister stood together on the balcony, breathing heavily and obviously dizzy with magic use and exertion. They weren't talking, not that Celestia could tell, but she knew very well that her sister would have not allowed Twilight to help without at least some token resistance. After a few moments recovery, Twilight smiled up at Luna, and the two ponies shared an exhausted, perhaps slightly awkward hug.

Princess Celestia smiled and settled down into her bed again, secure in the knowledge that Equestria was in good hands.