Everyone in Equestria and beyond know that Celestia and Luna guide the Moon and Sun across the sky. But what about the other celestial bodies?
Everyone in Equestria and beyond know that Celestia and Luna guide the Moon and Sun across the sky. But what about the other celestial bodies?
Are the other planets sentient? Do they have special ponies that guide them across the sky? Where did they come from? Does Luna control them? Twilight Sparkle is determined to figure it out.
“And this is how the Moon affects the oceans and orbit of our planet,” Twilight concluded to herself, her quill dancing across the parchment. I’ve never really taken the time to study these things, she thought to herself. It’s a wonder I haven’t – it’s fascinating!
She briefly turned away from her study and peered through the telescope, looking over the pale lunar surface.
It was a little before midnight, and Twilight was sitting outside on her balcony, studying – you guessed it – the moon and the stars. The moon almost looked alien, the shadow of the Mare in the Moon gone forever. Twilight had grown up seeing those dark craters, and now that they were gone the moon seemed almost brighter, it’s radiance shining down over Equestria. She turned back to her books and parchment, rubbing her eyes, feeling a little bit sleepy. She was used to this late night study, so it didn’t really cut into her sleep cycle much. She turned her head back to the telescope, and then let out a startled gasp when her horn hit the eye-piece, knocking the telescope to face a different direction.
“Oh no!” She sprang to her hooves, and examined her precious sky-gazer for any signs of damage.
“Thank Equestria,” she sighed, finding nothing to worry about. This telescope had been a gift from her brother for her birthday many years ago. Feeling lucky, she looked on through. In her new telescopic field of vision was a star. A particularly bright star, with a reddish-orange color, twinkling brightly against the dark sapphire midnight sky.
“No, not a star, it’s a planet.” She said to herself. “Hm… Venus? No, Venus only appears in early morning and evening… Mars, that looks about right! Its mars,” she confirmed to herself. She examined the bright, star-like object for a bit before turning to her books.
“The Sun and Moon are important celestial bodies,” she spoke to herself. “And each is controlled by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna respectively, but what about the planets?”
Curiosity began to seep into her mind; Luna and Celestia control the sun and moon. But what about the other planets?
An interesting thought, a nagging curiosity. Twilight had never thought about it, she knew there were other planets and yet this thought had never come to her. And now that it did, it hit her like a train. She picked up The Astronomical Astronomers Almanac to all things Astronomy – a brand new copy she’d ordered after Spike accidentally roasted the other one.
“This should be interesting!” she said with a smile.
~~~
“Twilight?”
Twilight felt a claw gently nudge her shoulder, and she let out an irritated, indecipherable mutter.
“Twilight, wake up,”
Twilight opened her eyes to a wall of text. She groaned, and lifted her head with a stiff neck; the book fell forward off of her head. How it ended up on top of her head in the first place was beyond her. She blinked her bleary eyes, and then rubbed them with her hooves. “What time is it?”
“It’s noon,” Spike replied from behind her.
“Noon!?” Twilight sprang to her hooves. “Why didn’t you wake me earlier?!”
“Uh, I… sort of took the opportunity to sleep in,” the dragon admitted and Twilight sighed. She levitated up her books and papers, causing a small wave of pain to course through her head from her horn. She shook her head as if it would shake the headache away, and neatly stacked the papers, then turned and trotted indoors with her things levitating behind her and Spike following close behind.
“What were you doing all night?”
“Studying, Spike.” She paused, as if momentarily forgetting what exactly she’d been studying, then a metaphorical light bulb lit up over her head.
“I was thinking, The Moon and Sun each have deities – in this case Celestia and Luna – who raise and lower them, control them, and so on. But what about the planets?”
“What about the planets?” he asked.
“Do they have special ponies who guide them through the sky? Or do they guide themselves? I mean, I’ve heard that the planets and some other astral objects – even our planet, have minds of their own and move themselves, and I just got so excited to study it!”
“And did you find what you were looking for?” he closed the door to the balcony, and tugged the books out of Twilight’s magical magenta grip, ready to put them away for her.
“Well – no, actually…” he ears drooped. “All my books talked about them, what they’re made of, key components, and their distance to the sun, how fast they move, and so on… but nothing about whether or not they’re sentient, or have ponies that guide them through the sky.”
“Bummer. Hey, I’m going to put these books away,” he told her and headed for the steps.
“Alright,” she said. She trotted up to the mirror, and started running her hairbrush through her mane. The wonder still tugged in the back of her mind, refusing to go away.
“This calls for more study,” she then winced at a particularly painful throb in her head. “…After I take something for this headache.”
She set the brush down and headed into the bathroom. She searched the medicine cabinet until she found what she was looking for, and then unscrewed the cap. She levitated a pill up and popped it into her mouth, grimacing at the bitter taste. She trotted down the steps and into the kitchen. She searched the cupboards for a bit, then sighed.
“Want me to make something?” Spike asked, stepping in.
“No, actually – how about we go get muffins or something from Sugarcube Corner.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Spike replied eagerly.
“Hang on, though,” Twilight said, trotting into the main room and towards her ‘reading desk’ she produced parchment and quill, scribbled down furiously, and then rolled the letter up. “You don’t have to send this,” she told the baby dragon. “I’ll give it to Ditzy; this one isn’t going to Celestia.”
~The Next Week~
“Package for Twilight Sparkle!” Ditzy’s husky voice was accompanied by a knock on the door, and Twilight closed her book, put down her reading glasses and headed for the door, opening it wide. The light gray Pegasus was fluttering next to a large box which couldn’t have possibly been pushed or carried, and had a letter balanced on her hoof.
“For you!” Ditzy, or if you wish her preferred nickname, Derpy, said. She handed Twilight the letter, and nudged the box.
“Thank you,” Twilight smiled, taking the letter. Derpy saluted, and then flew off, letters trailing behind her. Twilight looked at the massive package for a moment, before opening the letter.
Twilight Sparkle,
I shipped you all of the books on the subject that we have, though I’m curious as to why you want them. Anyway, they’re due back next month, and I’ll assume you can read all of them in that time. Knowing you…
Anyway, enjoy.
Your friend and fellow librarian, White Quill
Twilight smiled, “They’ve arrived!” she levitated up the box with minor difficulty, and brought it inside. (She had to turn it onto its side to get it to fit)
“What’s arrived?”
“Spike, I ordered a bunch of books from the library in Canterlot. The one I used to work in, don’t you remember?”
“Oh. What did you need?” Spike looked at the massive package in confusion. “Isn’t that a little excessive?”
Twilight opened the box, and peered in. “Books on the planets, the sun and moon, theories and such on Celestia and Luna… and a few spell books.”
She then levitated the books out carefully, and placed them each around her ‘reading place.’
There’s got to be at least forty books, fifty at most! Spike thought, and Twilight picked on out.
“…Uranus has rings, a magnetosphere, and many moons. Uranus is a gas giant. Composed mostly of water, ammonia, and methane…” Twilight stopped reading when she heard muffled giggling. She looked up, and Spike turned away. “What’s so funny?” she narrowed her eyes.
“Nothing, nothing!” he said, stifling another giggle.
“Oh, be quiet,” she snorted. “It’s not that funny!” she turned back to her reading, deciding not to read aloud. I already know all of this, she thought with an irritated sigh. She flipped through the rest of the pages, “Come on! There’s got to be something in here,” she said, “Planet sentience? Who moves them?”
“Wouldn’t Luna? She created space and all…” Spike asked.
She closed the book and sighed, placing it in the ever-growing pile of useless books. “I don’t know, we don’t even really know if she actively created space or if she just planted the seeds and let things happen. Celestia could control the planets too, I suppose.”
“Well… why don’t you ask them?” the baby dragon inquired, and Twilight shook her head.
“Spike, I’m Princess Celestia’s student! I think I should study these things, I can’t just ask her everything! I have to study,” she put emphasis on the word ‘study’, “Otherwise I wouldn’t learn anything!”
“I don’t know, I ask you stuff and then I learn things,” Spike replied with a smirk.
Twilight chuckled, “True, but this is different.” She stood of briefly, stretching her legs before settling back down and picking up another book, titled Cosmic Theories: Do the Princess’s control everything in our skies? “This looks promising! Why didn’t I pick this up first?” she asked herself, she opened the cover, and then blushed when her stomach let out a protesting growl.
“I’ll make you something to eat,” Spike said, well aware of her self-neglect when immersed in study.
“Thanks Spike.”
She turned back to her book, and started to read.
~~~
“…And so nopony is really sure who controls all of the celestial bodies outside of the Moon and Sun,” Twilight took a bite out of her sandwich and sipped her apple juice, before flipping the page.
“Many theories have surfaced over the years, the most common being that Princess Luna controls them unconsciously, as it was her that created the night sky, however beyond Equestria’s sky is space, and while Luna created the stars it is debatable as to whether or not she actually controls the cosmos beyond bringing the Moon forth.”
As Twilight read, she was writing down on a notepad. “Fascinating,” she paused for a moment, eyes staring up thoughtfully. “So… Luna brings forth the night, but does she bring the stars? Does Celestia bring the daytime sky, or just the sun? The sun makes the sky blue, so are the stars still there during the day, or does Luna bring them up and down with the moon? And this still hasn’t answered my question about the planets!”
Twilight absentmindedly nibbled on the end of the quill, she longed to know!
“Twilight, I still think you should just ask the Princesses,” Spike startled her out of her trance.
“The answer is no, Spike! I have to figure it out for myself,” she told him, turning back to the book.
Spike shrugged, and walked off, shaking his head. Twilight continued reading, her quill and notepad hovering next to her, ready to note anything… well, noteworthy.
Hours passed, though she knew not how many. Spike left her alone, so the only sound in the library in those hours was the ticking of the clock and the occasional noise from outside. Finally, she closed the book. She stood up, and stretched her legs with a groan. She picked up the book and placed it carefully in the pile, and trotted stiff-legged to the kitchen to put her dishes away.
“That didn’t get me anywhere,” she sighed, stepping back into the main room. I thought of all of the libraries in Equestria, the one in Canterlot would have the books I needed. Apparently not, she mused silently.
She leaned against the wall, resting her head on the bookshelf with a frustrated groan. She looked up, randomly reading the titles in front of her.
Dusklight, Underwater Basket Weaving: A Foal’s Guide, Your Heart’s Desire… That last one made her chuckle. It was about a stallion who loved a mare that refused to acknowledge him, so he’d used some sort of spell to look into her soul and…
Twilight’s eyes widened, and she blinked. “Looking into a soul… looking into inanimate objects… perfect… perfect!” she smiled widely, “I could look into the planets! Metaphorically of course, I know they the insides have cores. But still!”
Using her magic, she pulled every book on magic and spells off of the shelves, and dropped them unceremoniously to the floor. “Let’s get studying!” she looked around. “Spike? He must have gone upstairs…”
~Three Days Later~
Twilight carefully put her books away, humming joyfully to herself. She knew a spell like this would need lots of concentration, but she’d practiced a few times in the past so she knew the basics.
But extending your mind beyond the planet, millions of miles away? That would take a lot of effort. So she busied herself with mundane tasks to make sure she had a clear mind. Which was actually difficult, she couldn’t stop thinking about performing the spell. Not that it mattered, once she was actually doing the spell it would be all she was thinking about anyway, so it made no difference.
“I should practice more before doing this,” she told herself. So much could go wrong if she wasn’t careful. But she didn’t want to wait…
“Alright,” she told herself slowly. She turned to Spike, who was watching her anxiously. “Spike, don’t disturb me when I do this, and try not to let anyone else disturb me either. It is of the utmost importance that you allow me to stay focused, alright?”
“Sure, but… Don’t you think this is a little bit dangerous?”
“Dangerous? I don’t believe so, risky, but not dangerous. As long as nothing happens to my physical body, I should be fine!”
“Well, okay…” he backed up against the wall next the door, and nodded for her to begin.
Twilight closed her eyes and spread her legs slightly, lowering her horn. “Here we go…”
“Twilight?”
Twilight opened her eyes, clearly annoyed. Rainbow Dash had flown in the window, because obviously just using the door was too hard. “Hey, Twilight! What’s up? Nopony’s seen you in a few days, you okay?”
“I’m fine, Dash,” she replied with a smile, “I’ve been studying.”
“Oh, I see! Egghead stuff!”
“Hey!” Twilight snorted. “Now, I’m about to perform a very high-level spell, so could you please stay back and don’t interrupt?”
Rainbow Dash blinked, shrugged, and fluttered down next to Spike, who closed the window. When Twilight was sure they wouldn’t bother her, she closed her eyes once again.
Twilight Sparkle focused her horn; she had done this before but never like this. She bit her lip in concentration, the glow in her horn creating an intense ball of white light that nearly blinded Spike and Rainbow Dash.
Twilight’s legs started to shake, her breathing quickened and sweat formed on her brow, as the effort weighed down upon her. Her eyes clenched shut tighter, and the blinding ball of light slowly expanded, pulsed, sparks of magic erupting from it.
And then it faded, flickering out like a candle. Twilight gasped, refusing to open her eyes. “No! I didn’t even progress! I have to try again.” She sucked in a deep breath, and before her companions could interject she strained once again, willing her magic to work and her fatigue to go away. Her horn slowly started to glow once again. Spike wanted to stop her, but wasn’t sure if it was safe while she was concentrating on a spell.
Twilight collapsed, a single spark falling from her horn. “Twilight!” Spike cried, running to her side. Dash flew next to her, and nudged her. “Twilight?”
“No!” Twilight gasped. “This has to work! I… I…” she tried one more time, holding her breath and focusing as hard as she possibly could.
Finally Twilight finally collapsed completely, her head throbbing. “Oh…” she murmured, eyes fluttering open. “Uh, you alright?” Rainbow Dash helped the wobbly-legged unicorn to her hooves.
“I’m fine, guys I just- ow!” a sharp stab of pain from her horn caught her off-guard, and she gasped.
“Twilight? I told you to practice first!” Spike said, stepping up to her side.
“I just… need a rest, a nap…” Twilight groaned, rubbing her throbbing head. Then, she collapsed on her side, unconscious.
“Twilight!”
~~~
Twilight hated waking up with a migraine. She drifted slowly into wakefulness, wishing she could fall back asleep so she could wake up later without a headache. The unicorn lifted her head, wincing at the wave of blinding pain it elicited. She gently stroked her aching horn with a hoof, waiting for the wave to pass. She surveyed her surroundings, discovering she’d been put on her bed in her room.
She forced herself to sit up, contemplating whether or not to go back to sleep or go downstairs. The sun was still up; there was a lot to do.
Like what?
…Practice, of course. “I failed because I need practice. Spike was right, I’m – ow! – I need practice.” She groaned, closing her eyes at the waves of pain in her head. It was like her entire brain was throbbing against the inside of her skull.
She felt it pathetic. The spell had barely taken effect and she was left unconscious with a ferocious migraine. She knew it was going to be difficult, but…
Perhaps I was too confident, too excited. She closed her eyes and lay back down, tugging the pillow up over her face.
“…After another nap, I’ll get back up and study, practice, and try to expand my magical energy.” She closed her eyes, relaxing, hoping sleep would wash the pain away.
Several minutes later, she rolled onto her side, one hoof holding the pillow over her head, trying to ignore the painful throb. “Why me,” she groaned after several more minutes. The hurt refused to let her sleep. A sleep spell was out of the question: that would only make it worse.
I wonder if I was able to pull off the spell… that could take years to master, I’ve only tried once and it’s left me like this and I barely even managed it! There has got to be some other way… practice, yes that’s one thing, but… could there be a shortcut? I wonder…
Twilight never finished the thought; the blackness of sleep finally pulled her under.
~~~
Twilight awoke later that afternoon feeling rested and headache free. She brushed her mane quickly, making herself presentable for… herself, and trotted down the steps. Spike and Rainbow Dash were eating lunch, various sandwiches on a plate between them in the kitchen, and both looked up when Twilight trotted in.
“You’re awake!” Spike said mouth full of sandwich. “Are you okay?”
“Gross! Don’t speak with your mouth full!” Twilight scolded. “But to answer your question, yes. I’m fine.”
“That’s good!” Rainbow Dash said with her mouth also full of sandwich. “Let me tell you, I had trouble taking you up those stairs! What do you weigh, like fifty hundred pounds?”
Twilight was going to scold Rainbow for talking with her mouth full, but now found herself self-consciously examining her sides. She wasn’t that fat was she? Maybe just a little pudgy… but she stayed inside reading books all the time! She managed to keep a decent weight for somepony who didn’t get out too much!
“So…” she started, “did anything happen? When I was doing the spell?”
“You mean other than an explosion of magical light? Not really,” Rainbow said, spraying Twilight with crumbs. Twilight wrinkled her nose in disgust, “Dash!”
“What?” the Pegasus swallowed, wiping her mouth with a hoof. “Oh,” she realized when Twilight wiped herself down. Rainbow smiled sheepishly, “Sorry!”
Twilight seated herself next to the two, and picked up a daffodil sandwich off the plate. “That’s it? Huh,” she bit into her sandwich, staring off into space thoughtfully.
“Why?” Spike asked. “Was something else supposed to happen?”
“No, I just thought it would have been more… ‘The entire town comes to check on us’ sort of magical explosion.” She shrugged, “I will need to practice smaller for a bit.” She nodded towards Spike, who nodded in an ‘I told you so’ sort of way.
“Once I’m done eating I’m going to start researching again,” she said after taking and swallowing another bite. “I want to be able to do this as soon as possible!”
“Really?” Spike groaned. “You were absorbed in studies all week! Why don’t you take a break?”
“Oh Spike, you know I don’t have time for that!”
“But… you assigned this test to yourself; it’s not something Princess Celestia’s having you study. You can do it whenever.”
“Yes, but I want to perfect it as soon as possible, which will take lots of time, dedication and study. This isn’t turning apples into oranges or looking into pony’s thoughts; it’s putting my mind out as far into the sky as I possibly can and looking into planets! That will take a lot of energy!”
“Why do you need to do that?” Rainbow Dash cut in, prompting Twilight to explain everything from observing mars in her telescope to studying the planets and so forth. Rainbow Dash nodded slowly, looking more than a little bored.
“Oookay, but why not just ask the Princesses?” Dash scratched her head.
“That’s exactly what I said!” Spike cried.
“I want to study it myself!” Twilight said, “It’s something I want to learn for myself, not ask the Princesses!” she finished her sandwich in one last quick bite and hopped off the seat. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have more studying to get to. Dash, could you take Spike and do something outside? I would like some solitude while I work.”
Rainbow shrugged. “Eh.”
“…I’ll take that as a yes?” Twilight half-asked.
“Sure!” Rainbow Dash rose into the air, grabbing Spike in a hoof. “I got some aerial stuff to do, Wonderbolt Practice – but I can take Spike! C’mon, let’s see how fast I can fly with a dragon on my back!”
“Oh! Uh... okay!” Spike replied enthusiastically, silently wishing he had wings. “See you, Twilight!”
Twilight waved as Rainbow Dash flew through an open window. What’s so hard about using doors? She wondered, mildly annoyed by Dash’s choice of exits and entrances. Don’t be like that; at least she’s not crashing through your ceiling! She thought with a chuckle, trotting into the main library room. She picked up her scrolls which she had written down more important spells and strategies in the past, and levitated several magical books down towards her. She didn’t even need to look to know where they were – she knew their location by heart.
“Let’s see…” she scanned the titles, which one would be more likely to have what she needed?
“…The Mysteries of Magic, Magical Anomalies, A Guide to Magical Conservation and Energy, Aegis Shield’s Scrap File – wait.” That last one made her pause and blink. “…Why do I even have that?” She tossed it aside, and searched through the rest.
“Riiight… Ah! Here we go!” she levitated the book titled ‘Magic: How to use the Magic within our surroundings to our Advantage’, and neatly stacked the other books in a pile next to her desk. She settled down on her floor-pillow, placing the book on the desk. She curled her tail around herself and put her cheeks in her hooves, magically opening the book.
