> Keeper of the Dawn
>  by Some Leech
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Solis Occasum
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pulling upon his cloak, sheltering himself from the cold, stiff breeze, Anon lowered his head. With no worry of running into anyone or anything, he simply closed his eyes, put his shoulder into the gale, and soldiered on. The closest settlement which even resembled a city was nearly a hundred miles away and required both a boat and an immense amount of provisions to reach - then again, that was one reason he’d been assigned to his post.

For all intents and purposes, he was in the middle of a barren wasteland. His only company was dead or dying shrubbery, remarkably hardy lizards, and a small handful of sand-dwelling insects, leaving him effectively cut off from any form of social contact. Fortunately, the Equestrian Federation had been gracious enough to regularly deliver provisions of food, water, and literature he requested. While he’d initially hoped he’d be given more creature comforts, especially given the desolation he was subjected to, he’d been mistaken.

A particularly ill-timed gust drove him back, nearly causing him to lose his footing as he crested a dune, yet he caught himself. Slightly altering his course, he moved around the small hill, shielded his eyes, and squinted off to the east. Having walked the same vague route more times than he could count, knowing he had to be close to his destination, his gaze settled on a lone dune off in the distance - a dune from which the wind seemed to emanate.

The moon shone overhead, the squall grew stronger and stronger, and the sands shifted under his feet - still, he endured. Making the daily pilgrimage was his duty, his sole purpose - not because he wished for it, but because he was possibly the only one who could survive it. Drawing nearer to the singular mound, hearing a singular pop behind himself, he paused and turned.

“Caretaker,” a voice intoned.

Anon’s eyes settled on a shrouded figure standing some dozen paces to his rear. There were perilously few who were powerful enough to teleport such a great distance, and fewer still who even knew he existed at all, though that wasn’t what piqued his interest. For someone to interrupt him while tending to his responsibilities was unprecedented, meaning something was wrong. Turning and trudging back towards the interloper, he waved a hand motioned to the refuge of a nearby hillock.

Pulling back his hood, yet leaving his cowl in place, he furrowed his brow and watched the pony trot to his side. So far as he knew, there weren’t many creatures in Equestria who could freely use magic, far fewer than there were in ancient times, so he was left to presume his visitor was from the nation of unicorns. Sure enough, as the equine raised his head, revealing a horn atop his crown, his suspicions were confirmed.

Not only was it a unicorn who’d sought him out, but it was none other than Prince Vortex, sovereign leader of his kind. Cloaked though he was, protected from the driving winds and grit, the platinum mane, traceries of his horn, and piercing arctic eyes left little room for doubt - something was wrong. For a royal to seek him out, going so far as to disturb him while tending to his charge, was unthinkable - foolish even. Squaring off against the unicorn, keenly aware of the contempt welling up within himself, he stood his ground.

“Caretaker, I trust you’re well,” Vortex intoned, a statement more than a question, as he peered up at the man.

Beneath the thick fabric over his face, Anon scowled. Pleasantries weren’t typical for the Prince, nor were personal visits, so he was not about to acquiesce with idle chit-chat. Crossing his arms over his chest, he shifted in place. There had to be a reason for the intrusion, though he couldn’t fathom what it was, and he’d be willing to quietly wait for an explanation.

The unicorn locked eyes with him, for the briefest of moments, before he averted his gaze. “How does she fare?”

“Well enough,” the man grunted, unyielding, “why?”

“Her sister has passed, I just thought you should know…” Vortex flatly stated, as if the news was as unremarkable as noting that the sky is blue.

The man’s eyes widened, and a coldness gripped his heart, yet he only managed to barely shift his stance. “When?”

“Four cycles ago, as we understand it,” the unicorn explained.

Balling his fists, fighting the urge to do something rash, Anon set his jaw. Anger wouldn’t help anything - on the contrary, it would likely complicate matters further. If the youngest was gone - had been gone for four cycles, it meant a number of things. First and foremost, since the moon had continued its celestial travels unimpeded, a global crisis was no longer a great concern - secondly, and more prudently, it may mean…

“How?” he asked, feeling a pit formed in his stomach.

“We don’t know, but the stargazers have confirmed it,” Vortex murmured, his voice barely audible over the gale. “Anon, you’ve done the Federation a great service. Without you, we -”

“Get to the point,” Anon interrupted.

He knew the Prince didn’t truly care, that the pony’s only concerns were self-serving, and he was not about to suffer through the hollow, pretentious flatteries of the noble. He knew he was little more than a tool to the Federation, fulfilling a purpose which none other could, which meant his insolence could and would go unpunished - at least, so long as he had a role to fill. Virtually immune to any repercussions the sovereign may levy against him, he squinted down at the equine.

Vortex glowered up at the man, yet he didn’t shy away. “My point is that this may be the last you see of me, of anyone. The pegasi will continue their regular shipments of supplies to you, so long as you still have an obligation to fulfill, but the flow of magic has been waning. It took nearly a dozen sorcerers to send me here, and I don’t have much time before they summon me back, so my time is short. If or when the time comes, should your duties come to an end, I’ll -”

“You won’t do anything,” Anon barked. “Your people brought me here, forced me to do this, and I’ll be damned if I’ll be used by you after this.”

“We had no choice,” the unicorn sternly insisted, unflinching. “If we hadn’t used the rainbow bridge and brought you here, she would have been left unchecked.”

“Only because you’ve made a mockery of everything she stood for!” Anon countered, leveling a finger at the pony. “You think I don’t know what your kind has done, how you’ve done away with everything she worked so hard to enact?” he blared, prodding the Prince’s chest. “She laid the foundation of a nation, unified the creatures of the land, and look what you’ve done with it. You reign over a divided, twisted parody of everything she and her sister toiled thousands of years to build, and for what?”

Vortex’s lip curled, as an ominous glow wreathed his horn. “Do not test me, human. The old ways were flawed and nearly brought us to collapse on numerous occasions, you know not of what you speak.”

“And yet you’re the one who needs me - needed to wrench me from my home, my family, and everything I cared for, just so you could have someone tend to her,” Anon spat. Though he realized the blame didn’t rest squarely on the pony’s shoulders, being the latest in a long line of royals, he seethed knowing what they’d done - what they’d squandered.

Staring at the man’s face, the Prince snorted in disdain. “It makes no difference now. Do your job and fulfill your purpose.”

There were hundreds of things Anon wanted to say, and questions to be asked, yet all he felt was contempt. Though he hadn’t asked to be brought to Equestria, he’d initially thought it was a wondrous, magical place; sadly, his stance on the matter had gradually shifted. The books he’d read painted the land in a wholly utopic light, chronicling an age of friendship and adventure, but that age had passed. Time had divided the world, highlighting the diversity of what used to be a melting pot of mythical creatures, and there was nothing he could do to change it.

Something had happened, something which had ultimately resulted in Equestria becoming a shell of its former self. Over the span of hundreds of years, the world grew twisted. Ponies became tribalistic, keeping to their own kind, and the other races soon followed suit. As he’d poured over the histories, engrossing himself in the world which was, his amazement with the land steadily became one of melancholy.

Some part of him had always assumed, or at the very least hoped, that Earth was singular. An entire planet of creativity, aspirations, and nearly unlimited potential, somehow mired in the minutia of differences and disparities. The texts and documents he’d studied showcased what camaraderie could accomplish, how embracing diversity was beneficial for all, yet that that era was gone, replaced by isolationism and segregation. In the end, he discovered that his new home was no better or more idyllic as his last.

“Consider yourself lucky,” he callously noted, pulling the hood over his head, “if she could understand what you’ve done, what you’ve become, she would be beyond disappointed.”

With nothing left to say, he turned and marched away. Regardless of the unwanted interruption, the dour news, or the Prince’s flagrant disregard for the sister’s passing, he had a responsibility - not for the unicorns, the Federation, or anyone but her. The pop of displaced air and discharged sorcery behind him was a welcome sound, telling him his solitude had been restored, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. As he approached the lonely dune, feeling a rumble through the ground, he forced a smile.

“Sunshine,” he softly greeted, as he had many times before. “Sunshine…”

The earth quaked, the sands shifted, and the hill began to move. Though his voice had been faint, no louder than a whisper, it never escaped her. Like some primordial obelisk, an ivory pillar arose from the earth, moments before a kaleidoscopic, aurora emerged. Sinking to one knee, both in deference and to stabilize himself, he watched the ancient deity show herself.

Despite having always questioned if gods truly existed, the sight of the titan never failed to evoke a sense of reverence within him. Impossibly large and unfathomably powerful, she shook the dust from her alabaster coat, pressed her hooves to the sand, and pushed herself into a seated position. To be in the presence of something so inconceivable was awe inspiring, but to see her muzzle split into a warm smile was one of the few things he genuinely looked forward to.

“Good morning, Sunshine,” he muttered, “it’s time to get up.”

In the blink of an eye, the darkness of night was banished. Upon the horizon, casting long shadows over the arid and desolate landscape, the dawn came. Giver of life, lighting and nourishing the land, her power had sustained Equestria for millennia, yet she and her principals had gone forgotten. Abandoned in the wasteland, the bedrock of a bygone epoch, she was left to live out the rest of her preternatural life in solitude.

As she lowered her colossal head, bringing her snout to within a foot of him, Anon stepped back. Though he was effectively immune to her unfathomable arcane might, she still had the potential to do him harm. She’d never been anything but docile - nevertheless, he was always mindful about her size. Even if she would never intend to hurt him, the barest movement could easily upend him from the ground.

“How’s my sunshine today?” he calmly inquired, pressing his hand to her nose.

Snorting lightly, with her ears perking up, she stared down her snout at her tiny visitor. As her opalescent, magenta eyes settled upon him, a vague sense of longing and regret settled over Anon. She was happy - at least, to the best of his understanding she was, but she was a shadow of what she used to be.

From everything he’d read, she used to be much different. Her intellect had been keen, her stature a mere fraction of what it currently was, and her power restrained from centuries of diligence, yet that was ancient history. Fundamentally speaking, the majestic and charming creature she once was no longer existed, replaced by a primeval goddess.

While he’d never gotten much of an explanation, having only received conjecture and theories footnoted in the texts he’d consumed, alicorns were an anomaly in the world. Combining traits of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi, the mystical beings were the embodiment of all ponykind, and that embodiment was both a blessing and a curse. Though they were extraordinarily long-lived, their otherworldly lifespan came at a cost.

Alicorns, as best he understood it, didn’t age like other creatures - sure, they grew older and weren’t immortal, but the passage of time still affected them. The older they became, the more potent their sorcery became - the more potent their sorcery became, the larger their bodies grew. In and of itself, the languid changes weren’t a death sentence, yet an inevitability awaited them all.

Over the course of millennia, their faculties withered; the closest thing Anon could equate it to was senility, a mental infirmity which all living creatures eventually succumbed to. The loss of intellectual acuity for anyone was tragic, but to know what the legendary Princess had done, how she used to be, was heartbreaking beyond words. She hadn’t just lost herself, she’d lost everything and everyone she ever loved.

His one small solace ironically came from the source of his sorrow - simply put, with her intelligence reduced to that of an animal, she simply couldn’t comprehend what she once had. It was a small mercy for her, one which he found bittersweet, and some part of him was thankful for it. Her state was unavoidable, the inescapable final chapter of a long, well-lived life, and he realized there was nothing he could do to change it.

Fondly patting the side of her muzzle, he peered to the massive peytral around her neck. Secured by two gargantuan strands of enchanted leather, anchored to two tree-sized stakes sank into the earth, the raiment was designed to restrain her, as were the pair of negation rings seated on her horn, but he knew how laughable they were; had she wanted, she could shake off her bonds as easily as a child removing a scrap of clothing. She hadn’t spent her last centuries languishing in the desert because she was forced to - no, she did so because she chose to.

Somehow, as inexplicable as it seemed, she’d retained some sliver of her former self - some part that must have realized the harm she could do to others. She was the embodiment of the sun, the physical manifestation of a star itself, and her mere presence could wreak havoc on an environment. As frightening as it was to think about, the wasteland in which she resided wasn’t always a desert.

Though the Equestrian Federation may have seemed callous - heretical even - they hadn’t shackled her without reason. For the good of Equestria as a whole, and all the creatures therein, she couldn’t be allowed around her people. And so she’d been scrubbed from the histories, written off as having perished centuries ago, and resigned to live out the rest of her days on a forgotten isle - still, the ponies knew she needed a caretaker, someone to keep a watchful vigil over the divine Princess and give her some shred of company, and so they’d conscripted him…

“Easy, girl...Easy,” Anon chuckled, as she shifted in place.

Craning his neck, peering up at her, his smile faltered. He didn’t have the heart to tell her about her sister - nor did he see a point, considering she probably wouldn’t understand what he was saying. Ignorance was a small blessing for her, allowing her to enjoy the few pleasant moments she was allowed, unlike Luna. The Night Princess had been exiled from society, much like her elder sibling, though her fate had been prudent and necessary.

He’d never gotten a definitive answer from anyone, putting together bits and pieces from the literature he received, but he was left to presume Luna had been banished to the moon. Long after the Elements of Harmony had departed, possibly after her sister’s cognizance had begun to degrade, the Night Princess had suffered some sort of psychotic break. Mentions of a great calamity involving Nightmare Moon were mentioned, as was her subsequent defeat by a cabal of magi, which made Anon wonder what actually happened.

Given his understanding of, and experience with alicorns, he assumed that mental decline had somehow triggered the reemergence of the young sister’s inner demons. In spite of Nightmare Moon’s initial defeat by the Elements of Harmony, Luna had always harbored the threat of her alter ego’s return. From what he’d gathered, the young Princess had never fully beaten the evil side of herself, suppressing it and keeping it contained, yet that containment had ultimately failed.

While he couldn’t say whom or exactly how the ill-fated Princess had been defeated, he considered himself, as well as all of Equestria, lucky that she’d been stopped. A cognizant alicorn was powerful, elderly ones much more so, but a rampaging, mindless one would be downright apocalyptic. As unfortunate as it may have been, given the threat she represents, imprisoning her on the moon was probably the best and most practical solution for a potentially world-ending threat.

Supposing Anon had been around at the time, there would have been nothing he could have done to help with Luna’s plight. He had no relationship with her, her physical strength would have vastly surpassed his own, and his invulnerability to magic would have only been useful as a shield for whatever sorcery she unleashed. Regardless, the past was the past, though the night Princess wasn’t the only alicorn he’d learned of.

Mi Amore Cadenza, more commonly referred to as Princess Cadance, was the Princess of Love. Out of all the alicorns, her tale concluded in the most tranquil way. Her penchant for affection and maternal care never faded, carrying her through her golden years, and allowing her to serve as the guardian angel of the Crystal Empire. She looked over her family and her people for generations, until she peacefully faded away.

An interesting note about Cadance revolved around her daughter, Flurry Heart. Being a natural born alicorn, the offspring of a transcended alicorn and a unicorn, she aged similarly to any other pony; she was still lived far, far longer than typical mortals, finally expiring at the ripe old age of two hundred and thirty-seven, but she was spared the horrifying ragages of her kind. Her bloodline was still tracked through the Crystal Empire and portions of northern Equestria, bearing a lineage for ages to come.

For Anon, the largest and most inexplicable mystery he’d encountered revolved around Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. At some point after the Elements of Harmony had passed on, she’d simply vanished. There’d been no documentation of where she’d gone, what had become of her, or why she’d abandoned Equestria, but she’d done so while still retaining a keen mind and sound judgement.

The running theory was that Twilight had fled to another plane, going off to help creatures in another realm, but nobody knew for sure. By all accounts, she’d been a fair and just ruler, reigning over Equestria for well over two centuries, yet she’d given it all up. Without the foundational support of her friends, her mentor, and her oldest allies, she may have simply decided to move on - that being said, her fate was easily one of the largest enigmas in all documented history.

With her sister gone, her protege missing, and Cadance having passed away ages ago, there was only one ascended alicorn left in all of Equestria - an alicorn who’s time was approaching. Despite her incomprehensible magical power, indomitable strength, and seemingly unyielding resolve to endure, the final Princess’ was still mortal. Just in the past decade of caring for her, Anon had noticed subtle changes with her - changes which filled him with unease.

She was slower than she used to be, took longer to notice his approach, and she slept increasingly often, though the most troubling thing was that her control over the sun was no longer fully in her grasp. There had been mornings when he’d discovered her slumbering in the light of dawn, with the cosmic dance having begun wholly on its own.

His best guess was that the natural order of things was renewing itself, all part of some celestial balancing act, yet that meant she was reaching her terminus. Once again, like so many other junctures in his life, he was powerless to stop the destiny, and it saddened him to the core. His biggest comfort was that he’d somehow been fortunate enough to be there for her, to appreciate everything she was and used to be, and it filled him with an immeasurable pride that she genuinely seemed to appreciate his company.

In an all too real sense, she was Anon’s reason for being. He’d been torn away from everything he had, everything he’d ever known, expressly to serve as her caretaker. Though he’d initially been resentful about his conscription, he’d eventually grown to appreciate what he’d been given - the gravitas of his role. He was a simple man, wholly unimpressive and normal to a fault, yet he’d been tasked with tending to a dying goddess.

The enormity of being her caretaker, the somber beauty of it, was indescribable. Compared to her experiences, all of her accomplishments and difficulties, his life and all the troubles therein were less than nothing at all. Coming to comprehend who and what she was was an existential experience orders of magnitude greater than anything he thought possible, and it had forged him into a different man.

She may potentially have had decades of life within her, or only a handful of days - either way, the thought of losing her terrified and inspired him. Without her, he had no purpose - without him, she would be wholly forsaken. With Luna’s passing, if Vortex could be believed, the world’s magic had dwindled, meaning his infinitesimally small odds of returning to Earth were virtually nonexistent.

Lost to his thoughts, reaching up and fondly stroking her leg, Anon was stricken with a thought. There was something he’d always wished to experience, if only for a fleeting moment, and he may soon lose his chance to do so. Walking to one of the twin straps tying her to the earth, he fished into his pocket and retrieved a small utility knife.

Throughout all of his time with her, he’d never deviated from his routine. Morning after morning, for years on end, he’d awoken the dormant titan, doted on her, then made the lonely trek back to his hovel. With her time running short, and the rules of nature rallying in strength, he steeled his resolve, slipped his blade into the enchanted leather, and began cutting.

There were times in life when one had to damn the consequences, when repercussions didn’t matter - this was one of those times. As the massive lashing fell to the ground, he steadily moved to the second. Nobody should have to suffer the indignity of isolated bondage through death, especially one who’d done so much good for the world, so he considered his actions just. Peering over his shoulder, seeing her ponderously lean towards him, he grinned.

Sawing through her moorings was the easy part, but that was only the first step. Holding his hands out, after stashing his knife, he slowly approached her face. He’d never been brazen enough to try climbing on her countenance, so he had no way to know how she’d react, yet he’d have to now. With the tip of her chin barely touching the sands, he cautiously rested a hand atop her muzzle and hauled himself up.

“It’s ok...It’s ok...” he reassuringly hummed, for himself as much as her.

Stepping as lightly as he could, he traversed his way up her snout, between her eyes, and to her monolithic horn. Glancing to his left and right, seeing her watching him, he anxiously smirked. By every definition, what he was doing was insane, something only a madman would do, but that didn’t stop him - if anything, it fanned the flames of his determination.

Securing his grip on the first of the two rings upon her horn, he pulled with all his might. The infernal band was heavier than he thought, giving him a moment’s doubt, although it eventually shifted in his grasp. As he heaved the cursed piece of jewelry free, it fell to her forehead and rolled off her face. The Princess flinched beneath him, likely startled by the abrupt impact, but she remained still.

Settling into a deep squat, digging his fingers under the second, larger band, he lifted with his legs. The second circlet initially stayed lodged, much as the first had, yet he was eventually able to pry it loose. Working the hoop up and off her horn, having to awkwardly stand on his tiptoes, the final shackle toppled free.

“Well,” he began, bending over and scratching her crown, “how about it?” Staring down into one of her eyes, his smile broadened. “Are you up for an adventure?”

As if she understood him completely, she shifted and ponderously got to her hooves. Swiftly moving to the aft of her horn, wrapping his cloak around the bony megalith and using it a makeshift set of reins, he braced himself. Her prodigious wings unfurled and beat once, sending a maelstrom of sand and loose soil flying to the wind, as she peered up at the sun.

The ground quaked with her first, laborious step, possibly the first step she’d taken in generations, yet that was only the beginning. What began as a lumbering trot turned into a canter, then a full gallop, as she gradually extended her wings. The world fell away, with one enormous leap, as the wind and heavens embraced them.

On the off chance that they were discovered, they may very well be done for. There could be, and more than likely were contingencies in place, emergency precautions should she ever become a threat to the world, but he was beyond the point of caring. His fate was bound to her, and she’d taught him a valuable and sobering lesson: the price of freedom and friendship were invaluable. Soaring above the wasteland and into the clear, cool sky, a tear rolled down his cheek.

How their journey could end, he couldn’t say. Where their destination lay, he didn’t know. What would happen to Equestria in her absence, he was left to wonder. It may very well have been her final flight, exhausting the wellspring of energy she had left, yet that didn’t stop her. Perched on her crown, thankful for the first time in many, many years, Anon accompanied Celestia towards the horizon and the new dawn…