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Wink of a Sun
‘I can’t bear it anymore!’ Luna said. She grabbed her glass and put it to her mouth, but it was empty. She chucked it away into the sand.
‘What’s the matter?’ Celestia mumbled. Ensconced in her deckchair, she turned her head to look at her sister. Or she pretended to. With sunglasses, you could never be certain.
‘It’s too hot. This summer is too hot. I’m frying. That sea’ — she made a gesture that took in the horizon — ‘is going to boil if you carry on running your kiln at full power.’
‘What of it?’ Celestia answered. ‘More seaweed salad for dinner! Very healthy, iodine and all.’
Luna didn’t bat an eyelid.
Celestia sighed. ‘Look, Luna, I’ve already explained to you I can’t do a thing about it. There’s no control to tune the output radiance of the Sun and—’
‘How inconvenient!’ Luna interrupted. ‘My Moon has phases, and it doesn’t even heat up. Your Sun is such a waste of energy, as are most outdated appliances. Did you ever think to assess its environmental impact or consider a more efficient system?’
Celestia turned her face away. ‘I’m growing fed up of your greenwashing. Do you know how much it cost to engineer the sun? No. Believe me, if you knew, you wouldn’t been so keen on replacing it on a whim. Besides, good luck growing veggies in moonlight. So please, now, if you’re too hot, go swimming, leave me alone and knock it off!’
Luna grouched something inarticulate Celestia shrugged off, and that was all.
That is, until a small black rectangular device rose up silently from under Celestia’s deckchair and flew right to Luna.
Celestia bolted upright. ‘Luna!’ she shouted. ‘Give my cellphone back at once!’
‘If you want it come get it, you big fat slug!’ Luna replied, and she blew a raspberry at her sister. ‘Let me see… Mmmm… The sundial app. Ah gotcha!’
‘Don’t you dare—’ The sun was snuffed out. Night fell.
‘You’re out of your raving mind!’ Celestia yelled. A white glow wrapped itself around the phone. The sun reappeared, and it was day again.
‘That’s not fair!’ Luna yelped. A blue halo coiled around the white, punched its way through it and the sun was again put out. A few seconds later, it was back. Then out again. Then…
Further away on the beach, the other ponies either looked at the blinking skies or at the fighting princesses with wide, popping eyes.
Twilight Sparkle rushed down the stairs amidst the blaring of the alarm. She flung a door open, blatantly disregarding the conspicuous ‘Restricted Access. Special Clearance Only!’ warning painted on it, and broke into the control room.
Red lights were flashing all round. She darted straight to the console and punched the ‘Emergency Override’ knob. The din stopped. Lights turned off. She exhaled loudly in relief.
She heard hoofsteps behind her. She spun around to face the technician on duty. He made a perfunctory salute. ‘Well done, princess! You acted fast this time.’
‘Thank you’, Twilight answered, still panting from the exertion. ‘I’m getting the hang of it now. That’s the… errr… fifth time this week, isn’t it?’
‘Sixth, your highness’, the pony corrected. He smiled.
‘I wonder if this advanced control system was a good thing, after all’, Twilight said.
The technician harrumphed.
‘Imagine what would have happened had the weather extension been patched in’, Twilight said.
The technician mused for a while. ‘Microclimates, I suppose?’ he eventually answered.
Twilight giggled and winked at him.
‘What’s the matter?’ Celestia mumbled. Ensconced in her deckchair, she turned her head to look at her sister. Or she pretended to. With sunglasses, you could never be certain.
‘It’s too hot. This summer is too hot. I’m frying. That sea’ — she made a gesture that took in the horizon — ‘is going to boil if you carry on running your kiln at full power.’
‘What of it?’ Celestia answered. ‘More seaweed salad for dinner! Very healthy, iodine and all.’
Luna didn’t bat an eyelid.
Celestia sighed. ‘Look, Luna, I’ve already explained to you I can’t do a thing about it. There’s no control to tune the output radiance of the Sun and—’
‘How inconvenient!’ Luna interrupted. ‘My Moon has phases, and it doesn’t even heat up. Your Sun is such a waste of energy, as are most outdated appliances. Did you ever think to assess its environmental impact or consider a more efficient system?’
Celestia turned her face away. ‘I’m growing fed up of your greenwashing. Do you know how much it cost to engineer the sun? No. Believe me, if you knew, you wouldn’t been so keen on replacing it on a whim. Besides, good luck growing veggies in moonlight. So please, now, if you’re too hot, go swimming, leave me alone and knock it off!’
Luna grouched something inarticulate Celestia shrugged off, and that was all.
That is, until a small black rectangular device rose up silently from under Celestia’s deckchair and flew right to Luna.
Celestia bolted upright. ‘Luna!’ she shouted. ‘Give my cellphone back at once!’
‘If you want it come get it, you big fat slug!’ Luna replied, and she blew a raspberry at her sister. ‘Let me see… Mmmm… The sundial app. Ah gotcha!’
‘Don’t you dare—’ The sun was snuffed out. Night fell.
‘You’re out of your raving mind!’ Celestia yelled. A white glow wrapped itself around the phone. The sun reappeared, and it was day again.
‘That’s not fair!’ Luna yelped. A blue halo coiled around the white, punched its way through it and the sun was again put out. A few seconds later, it was back. Then out again. Then…
Further away on the beach, the other ponies either looked at the blinking skies or at the fighting princesses with wide, popping eyes.
Twilight Sparkle rushed down the stairs amidst the blaring of the alarm. She flung a door open, blatantly disregarding the conspicuous ‘Restricted Access. Special Clearance Only!’ warning painted on it, and broke into the control room.
Red lights were flashing all round. She darted straight to the console and punched the ‘Emergency Override’ knob. The din stopped. Lights turned off. She exhaled loudly in relief.
She heard hoofsteps behind her. She spun around to face the technician on duty. He made a perfunctory salute. ‘Well done, princess! You acted fast this time.’
‘Thank you’, Twilight answered, still panting from the exertion. ‘I’m getting the hang of it now. That’s the… errr… fifth time this week, isn’t it?’
‘Sixth, your highness’, the pony corrected. He smiled.
‘I wonder if this advanced control system was a good thing, after all’, Twilight said.
The technician harrumphed.
‘Imagine what would have happened had the weather extension been patched in’, Twilight said.
The technician mused for a while. ‘Microclimates, I suppose?’ he eventually answered.
Twilight giggled and winked at him.
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