Chapter Two
On the train to Canterlot
The train ride to Canterlot had been grim, but they were, thankfully, making excellent speed. They were now just a few minutes from the capital and throne city of Equestria, tucked away into its mountainous home.
Gathering Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack had not taken long, due to Rainbow Dash's speed, but also thanks to the fact that three of the four others were already on their way to the library. Only Fluttershy had needed to be rounded up, huddled as she had been with a number of her animals, trying to convince them that nothing was wrong despite the black sun. Even now, the timid pegasus was pressing herself tightly into the corner of her seat, eyes transfixed on the floor.
"This is just ghastly," Rarity quipped as she stared out the window. "Normally I do so adore these trips to Canterlot and the chance to see the scenery on the way. Always such a delight! But with the sun looking like it does…"
"Ah'm just glad train's runnin' like normal to Canterlot," Applejack said. "I reckon things can't be too bad there long as that's the case."
"It's horrible," Fluttershy countered, though softly. "None of the animals wanted to come out into the sun. They don't trust it. Animals don't usually like surprises."
"Unless it's a surprise new toy!" Pinkie Pie pointed out. "Gummy loves new toys! Or new food. Or new people. Or new hats, or shoes, or words, or – "
The other five ponies let her continue as they looked to each other. "So ah'm thinkin' that Princess Celestia must be sick," Applejack said. "Didn't know that the princesses could catch a cold."
"I don't think they can," Twilight said. She was standing – she hadn't remained still for long at all during the train ride, instead constantly sitting, then thinking of something and standing, then lying on the floor, only to stand up and pace as much as the small car allowed them, over and over again for the past several hours. "When I was being taught in Canterlot, I got sick plenty of times, but Princess Celestia never seemed to worry about catching anything from me, and I never saw her sick, either. I think that even if she could get sick, she'd just use her magic to cure herself."
"Maybe she's not sick," Fluttershy ventured. "Maybe she's…um…injured."
"Injured?" Rainbow Dash asked, and burst out laughing at that. "What could injure Princess Celestia? Did she fall down the stairs or something?"
" – or new food!" Pinkie Pie finished at last, leaning in to the group. "Hey, were you girls even listening? What are we talking about now?"
"Reasons why the sun's black."
Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her chin as she considered, then started hopping up and down. "Ooh! Ooh! I know! Princess Celestia's been put inside the sun!"
The train car was very quiet at that, except for Pinkie's bouncing, and even that died down after a moment. "Did I guess wrong?" She asked.
Rarity shuffled her hooves in front of her. "Well…" she said. "It…it is more likely than the Princess falling ill," she noted.
"And it would explain the sun…" Fluttershy noted. "Like when Nightmare Moon was trapped in the moon, she was the Mare on the Moon, remember?" She paused, and shivered. "But…only Nightmare Moon or Discord could have done that…"
"Ah think we'd know if'n Discord had managed to escape," Applejack said. "The guy ain't what you'd call subtle."
"Leaving…"
The silence returned to the rail car as it at last came to a stop in Canterlot. The six ponies quickly trotted from the train car and out into Canterlot itself. The streets were bustling, as was usual for the capital city of Equestria, but everypony seemed to be walking with extra speed, and were constantly glancing up at the sun, now hanging directly overhead.
Twilight Sparkle was making a determined effort to not look at it, which was how she saw her, getting off of a separate train car, closer to the engine. Blue coat, white mane and tail, clad in a purple-starred cape and purple, pointed wizard's hat – apparently she'd found replacements. The pony didn't make eye contact, but a wave of memory quickly overtook the lavender unicorn.
The cheap magic show, the humiliation of her friends, the ursa minor that Twilight had been forced to deal with, although admittedly wizard-hatted unicorn herself had played only a peripheral role in bringing it to Ponyville…
"Trixie?" Twilight asked. Her friends turned to look.
"No way," Rainbow Dash proclaimed. "Small Equestria, huh?"
"Ugh. What is she doing here?" Rarity demanded.
"Who cares?" Applejack asked. She pointed directly up. "We got things to do that're a mite more important, y'hear?"
"Right," Twilight said, turning back and facing the Royal Castle. "Now to get to the bottom of this."
"What do you mean, 'no entry?'" Twilight Sparkle demanded of the day-guard posted outside of the castle gates. The dark-coated, golden-armored stallion, nearly a foot taller than her – and he the shorter of the two posted immediately outside of the gate – met her ire unflinchingly.
"That castle has been sealed, by order of Princess Luna," the guard responded. "Nopony is to go in or out."
"Princess Luna?" Applejack asked. "I thought y'all took your orders from Princess Celestia."
"Actually that's a common misconception," The taller, though younger-looking, of the two pegasi said. "We're all the same force, and both princess are our commanders. We just wear different uniforms during the night shift, which is great because – "
At a stern look from the shorter guard, the taller one clamped his mouth shut, though Twilight Sparkle thought she heard him mutter something about how the day-armor chafed his wings something fierce and that the night armor looked cooler. "In any event," the shorter guard said, "No passage, no pony, no exceptions. Those were my orders."
Twilight opened her mouth to shout, but Rarity cut in front of her before she could, batting her eyelashes. "Well," she said. "I don't know if you recognize us – "
"Of course we do!" The taller pegasus exclaimed. "You're the six that restored Princess Luna, and then beat Discord! How could we – "
A second stern look from his companion shut him up again, though not before he muttered something about his opinions on Discord, statues, and the keeping of examples of the latter containing the former in the royal gardens.
"Anyway," Rarity said, "You have to admit that we're very close to Princess Celestia, and I daresay Princess Luna as well. So could you maybe do us a teeny tiny favor and pass a message along to the Princess that we'd like to see them?"
"Of course!" The taller pegasus responded, even as the shorter one began saying 'no.' Before he could be stopped, he had taken off, wings taking him to the top of the guard tower where he passed along the message to another guard, before returning to his post. This time, it was the shorter guard muttering under his breath, something about latrine duty for the next month.
After a few minutes of awkward waiting, the unicorn guard at the castle's gate called down to the gate guards to let the six mares pass through the gates. The shorter guard seemed less than pleased, while his taller companion gave a pleasant wave good-bye as they entered, which Pinkie Pie returned with gusto.
The six were lead through the castle's courtyards, and halls. Twilight kept asking the guard questions – what was going on, where was Princess Celestia, why had the palace been ordered sealed – but he did not answer any of them, explaining that he was under orders not to. At length, the six plus their escort reached the antechamber to the castle's throne room. The doors of the throne room were slightly ajar, and inside they could hear voices as the guard instructed them to wait, while he stepped inside to announce their arrival.
"We understand thy concerns," a proud, regal voice, unmistakably that of Princess Luna even without the extraordinarily formal Equestrian that only she used to aide in identification, "but our sister cannot speak with thee, Prince Blueblood."
There was a slight squeak of terror from beside Twilight. The lavender unicorn rolled her eyes at Rarity's reaction to the name.
"He can't be that bad," Applejack insisted.
"You haven't met the lout," the cream-colored unicorn replied.
"But…the sun, your majesty," Prince Blueblood's high-and-mighty voice proclaimed. "I'm beginning to – that is, mine servants, at mine house, art beginning to grow worried. Thy sister maintained the sun and moon for a thousand years. Surely there is something you – er, ye? – could…?"
From the sound of things, Luna's expression must have darkened considerably. "Thou wouldst presume to entreat us to trespass upon the rightful domain of our sister?"
"Ah…"
"This audience is now over, Prince Blueblood."
There was a moment's sound of hooves on marble, and within moments the stallion – tall and handsome enough, at least on the outside – left the throne room, without even a second glance at the six mares who were waiting to be let in. This was possibly for the best, as Rarity, of all ponies, stuck her tongue out at him as he walked on by.
"Wow!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "I didn't know you had that in you, Rarity!"
"Well, normally I am a bit more ladylike," she admitted, running a hoof across her perfectly-kept mane, "but for him? I'll make an exception."
Pinkie Pie giggled at that, as the guard who had escorted them to the throne room stepped back outside and opened the door wide. "The Princess will see you now, m'ladies," he said. The six mares entered the throne room of the Princesses of Equestria moments later.
It was a…jarring experience for Twilight, at the very least. She'd been in the throne room innumerable times – it came with the territory of being Princess Celestia's most faithful student. She knew every tile, every pillar, every window, every step leading up to the throne.
But the mare sitting there…well, she supposed she knew her, too. But for some reason, Princess Luna – with her dark-blue coat and waving mane like a rippling pool of water that caught the stars of the night in reflection – looked out of place in the golden Equestrian throne, even though it was by right hers as well as her sister's, equally and fully. She just wasn't a part of the memories of this place…
Twilight brushed aside the thoughts as she approached the throne, and bowed deeply, the other five ponies – even Pinkie Pie – bowed deeply. "Princess Luna – " Twilight began.
"Twilight Sparkle, what are you doing?" Princess Luna's voice responded as she began trotting down the steps of the throne.
Twilight looked up at her question. "Um…" She asked. "Bowing respectfully?"
Luna stifled a small laugh at that as she joined Twilight on the floor. "Why?"
"Well…you seemed kind of serious with Prince Blueblood…"
"What with the thees and thines and thous and wherefores…" Pinkie began, though a swift – albeit gentle – kick from Rainbow stopped her from going on and on.
Luna did chuckle aloud at that. "Ah, yes." She held one hoof out as though making a royal decree. "The Royal Canterlot voice with which we once graced our tiny subjects," She proclaimed, her voice pitch dropping several octaves and sounding as though many voices were speaking at once, although she thankfully, at least, did not duplicate the Royal Canterlot volume. After speaking, she put her hoof back down. "I don't talk like that anymore, not much, anyway. Nightmare Night taught me to…how was it you phrased it, Applejack?…loosen up."
Applejack beamed at that. "Shucks," she said. "Didn't think ah'd leave a lastin' impression."
"You all did," Luna said, bowing her head slightly, then nodding towards the door. "Prince Blueblood began trying to address me in the older form some time ago to earn my favor, around the same time I began to break my own habit. His grammar is awful…but, I must admit, amusing. So I put on a show for him."
The mares all laughed a little at Luna's words, Luna joining them – all except Pinkie Pie. When she noticed it, Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth. "Pinkie Pie," she asked. "Are you feeling alright?"
Pinkie Pie jabbed a hoof at Luna. "You're faking it," she said with surprising firmness. "I can always tell when someone's faking laughing and you're faking it, Princess."
Luna looked at the accusatory hoof, as though trying to remember the last time someone had pointed at her in that way. After a moment, she sighed, lowering her head. "Yes," she said simply. "I had hoped that seeing you all would lift my spirits, even if only a little…but that is not the case."
There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence, before Twilight stepped closer to the Princess. "Luna," she asked, remembering that the alicorn had asked them all – had asked all of Ponyville, in fact – to simply refer to her by name rather than title. "Why did the night last so long? Where's Princess Celestia? And…what's wrong with the sun?"
Luna chewed on her lip, a surprisingly common action for a Princess of Equestria, as she considered. "I will answer those in the reverse of how you asked them," She said, turning around and walking back up to the throne. Apparently, whatever she wanted to say, she wanted that bastion of law and order across Equestria as support. "The sun…there is nothing truly wrong with it. I am simply unskilled at raising it, resulting in its current state…" She grinned slightly, though it was hollow. "You should have seen what the stars and moon looked like during the first few years of my exile. I think my sister managed to make the moon a square at one point…"
"Wait," Rainbow Dash said, taking wing and hovering in place. "You raised the sun? But you just said to Prince high and mighty back there that you would never do that!"
Luna nodded. "I lied to him, Rainbow Dash, as I have lied to most of the ponies who have asked me what is wrong with the sun. I have told them that Celestia is feeling ill, and that the result of that illness was the black sun. But I will not lie to you ponies. I, and my sister, and indeed all of Equestria, owe you too much.
"Where is my sister?" Luna continued, repeating Twilight's second question. She looked up, at the roof of the throne room, though her gaze was slightly unfocused – she looking through the ceiling, perhaps literally with magic, at where the sun currently was in the sky. "She has been sealed in the sun."
"What?" The six proclaimed, almost as one.
"How could you?" Rarity demanded.
"She…she didn't turn evil, did she?" Fluttershy asked. "Because that would be…bad."
"Princess Celestia would never turn evil!" Applejack and Rainbow Dash said with absolute certainty, almost simultaneously.
"Besides, what would she even call herself?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Daymare Sun? Just doesn't have the same ring to it. And Nightmare Sun just doesn't make sense! Though it does sound better."
"Luna," Twilight begged, ignoring Pinkie Pie and locking eyes with Luna. "Please, whatever's happened, let her out. I'm sure that we can fix it, if – "
Luna held up a hoof, silencing the ponies with her action, though her own eyes remained on Twilight. "Nothing has happened – no, that's not true. Something terrible has happened, but it was not a quarrel between my sister and I. She is as pure of heart today as she has ever been. I did not seal her in the sun in punishment or out of retribution. I put her there because it is the one place, the only place, where I can be absolutely certain she will be safe without my having to stand guard…" her voice caught a moment at that, and she put a hoof to her chest before continuing. "…stand guard over her constantly. I must be free to act during this crisis. I had to put her in the sun. To protect her. I had to."
She didn't sound like she was trying to convince the ponies, as much as herself. There was silence for several moments, before Fluttershy stepped forward. "Um…" she said softly – not that she typically had any other way of speaking, of course. "If…I mean, if it's not too much to ask…and don't think it's because we don't trust you, princess, because we do, but if it's alright with you…"
Luna stood, and nodded, knowing the request Fluttershy was trying to make. "No. I understand," she said, looking up once more to the ceiling, through the ceiling, at the black sun. "Please, ponies, give me a minute."
The ponies waited, as Luna closed her eyes and bowed her head. Her alicorn horn began to glow a deep, midnight blue, and her mane and tail waved in a wind that wasn't there. Rarity and Twilight, both unicorns and therefore both naturally gifted with magical, could feel the raw power of whatever spell Luna was working.
Moments later, there was a bright, painful, hot flash from the floor between the ponies and the steps to Luna and Celestia's shared throne. The ponies all looked away, covering their eyes with their hoofs, and afterwards found their vision still almost whited out. Slowly, however, it began to return…
…and Twilight Sparkle, at least, almost wished it hadn't.
Physically, Princess Celestia seemed fine – almost fine. She lay on her left flank, with wings folded against her body, legs splayed out before her. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically, meaning that she was definitely still alive. But her mane, and her tail…where once the Princess' mane and tail were flowing ribbons of pastel rainbow colors, not truly hair at all but rather potent magic itself…now it was merely pink hair, like any other pony's. Well, perhaps not quite – its shine and glamor were positively divine, and in more ideal circumstances Rarity might have been gushing over it. But it wasn't right.
Luna descended from the throne to her sister's side, the other ponies crowding in as well, albeit with trepidation. "I have tried everything to wake her," the Princess of the Moon said as she ran a hand through Celestia's hair, brushing a few stray locks from her face. "Every spell I know. Smelling salts. Splashing her with water. Pinching her. Shouting…everything, ponies. But she will not wake, and I do not know how long she will sleep."
Applejack looked up to Luna. "So that's why it took so long for the sun to come up," she reasoned. "Well…shucks, Luna. Ah can understand that. If'n ah was in charge of the sun and moon and Apple Bloom or Big Macintosh weren't wakin' up, ah'd probably take at least as long."
"H-how will she eat?" Fluttershy asked. "Will you need s-someone to help? Because I take care of hurt animals all the time, and I know how to – not that Princess Celestia is an animal, but the idea is the same – "
Luna inclined her head to the yellow pegasus. "Though my sister and I do enjoy food and drink, it is a luxury for us, not a necessity. The pure magic of the sun itself can and will sustain her, Fluttershy, as the magic of the moon and stars could and did sustain me during my exile. You need not worry about that…but I am truly grateful for the offer."
"How'd this even happen?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Let me guess: some kind of magic?"
"Powerful magic," Twilight Sparkle breathed, getting down onto her knees before her teacher, her horn glowing slightly. "A sleeping spell…but something about it feels familiar…"
Luna waited patiently for Twilight to reach her conclusions. After a few moments, the lavender unicorn looked up. "It's alicorn magic that put her to sleep," she said. "But…not yours. And not Nightmare Moon's. And not her own, but that's obvious, I guess…"
Luna nodded. "You are correct, Twilight Sparkle. And now I will answer your first question: why the night lasted so long." She nodded towards Applejack. "You are partially correct, that it was out of worry for my sister. But it was also because, during the night, as I began to draw down the stars and lower the moon, the castle – my sister – was attacked by a foe we thought long defeated. An alicorn named Blackguard. Once I realized what was happening, I strung the stars and hung the moon once more, as quickly as I could – the alternative was letting them fall to Equestria, and that would have been beyond catastrophic. But…" her voice again hitched. "But I wasn't fast enough. By the time I had returned to Canterlot, my sister had already been placed in slumber."
"But then you kicked Blackguard's flank, right?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I mean…Princess Celestia must have been attacked by surprise. But you knew she was at Canterlot. So…"
Luna looked away at that, eyes closed. A stream of shimmering wetness began to form at the edges of her eyes. "N-no," she stuttered. "When I arrived…by the time I had…Blackguard lingered just long enough to laugh at me. To laugh at my impotence…a-as my sister…"
The Princess felt a hoof at her shoulder. Opening an eye, she sat that Fluttershy had used her wings to float up to her. She had a gentle smile on her face, despite the fact that ever since Luna had told them she had sealed Celestia in the sun, she had been fighting back tears of her own. After a moment, Luna reached out, pulling Fluttershy into her forelegs and ceasing to fight her tears, instead crying silently into Fluttershy's mane. A moment later, the other five ponies were there, embracing Luna as well.
The alicorn needed the group-hug, badly. It was several minutes before the princess was able to compose herself, gently pushing the little ponies away from her. "Thank-you," she said as she ran a hoof across her eyes, clearing them of tears.
"No problem!" Pinkie Pie declared. "I hate seeing ponies in tears, but sometimes you just need to cry, right? Just cry and cry and cry and cry and cry until you run out of tears. Then you can laugh again!"
"Speaking of laughter," Rainbow Dash said, still in the air, "where are the Elements of Harmony? I think it's time we found Blackguard and taught her a lesson!"
"But wait," Twilight said. "Why did Blackguard do this? You said she was an alicorn! I thought alicorns were…well, good! All the most ancient Equestrian legends…"
Luna offered a sad smile at that. She closed her eyes, her horn glowing with magic, and a few moments later Princess Celestia's sleeping form disappeared in a flash, presumably placed back into the sun. "I wish that were true," she said. "But as my own…actions…should prove, that is not always the case. Blackguard's reasoning is…complicated."
"Complicated?" A new voice asked. "I don't think so…no."
