//------------------------------// // The Disorder Has Been Doubled! // Story: The Sun Queen // by NoMane //------------------------------// Celestia dove in. Rainbow Dash just barely flew aside. The counterblow came quickly, but she rolled to the side and tried to buck the pony from the air. Neither Queen nor challenger scoring a hit, they broke apart. “You're pretty fast for someone who just sits on a throne all day, but I'm faster!” Rainbow called as she sped away. She gave chase, but she quickly found it was futile with the dress holding her down. The streak of rainbow light sped away from her faster than she could even hope to pursue. Retreating, she headed for a nearby building and slipped her beautiful dress from her body. If Rainbow Dash was coming back, she couldn't be fouled by even the most beautiful outfit. She quietly swore she'd return to retrieve it shortly. And then she heard it. Turning, she ascended just in time for Rainbow to fly under her. She turned to engage again, and caught Rainbow Dash as she was coming around. Their hooves clashed against each other, and she ascended as her foe fell beneath her. She savored the minor triumph, and rallied for the counterattack. Altitude was on her side, but it didn't matter. Rainbow Dash ascended as fast as she fell. The blow that hit her horn left her starstruck. Her wings managed to keep her aloft, but she lost track of Rainbow Dash as she stabilized. “Rainbow Dash! You can't just hit Queen Celestia!” Rarity shouted up at them. “She can banish me when she gets me back to normal!” the pegasus answered from below her, “and she's a Princess!” “Insulting me won't make me strike while your back is turned!” Celestia called out, ascending again. A blow to the back would probably maim one of her wings, but that would be the end of the fun, wouldn't it? “Let's go head to head, then!” “So cocky!” She gasped at the boldness, but cleared her throat. “We accept your challenge! HAVE AT THEE!” And so they charged. They shared a grin a few moments before impact. A moment before impact, Celestia dropped her head and Rainbow twisted in flight. The next thing she knew, she crashed into the building below. Getting back to her hooves spread agony through her. A lesser pony might have been utterly broken, but then there were no lesser ponies in this battle. Raising her horn high, she focused on the sun. Its closeness alone invigorated her, but a spark of its radiance could even mend broken bones. Unfortunately, as she winced at the ache in her horn, she reached out with all of her might. The brief instant of ignition was enough to make her howl as her mane and tail burst into flame, but then the pain vanished all too quickly. Resurrected, she took flight and met Rainbow Dash, who seemed to have fared far better than she did, save a cut on the cheek. “Whoa! You're on fire!” “You may be powerful to push me this far, Rainbow Dash, but know this: the Sun burns eternal!” Celestia grinned. “And I am the Sun Queen, so too shall I outlast all who challenge me!” “Rainbow Dash! Just yield!” Rarity called up, “whatever's going on, we need to work with Celestia, not against her!” “Rarity, go do something to solve this instead of nagging! I'm not going to let this hothead push ponies around or burn Equestria to a crisp!” The pegasus wiped sweat from her drenched brow. “What can I even do? It's not every day our monarch is terrorizing the capital!” “Just go to the palace! Discord's there, he did this, he can fix it! No sweat!” “I'm not so sure about Discord being any help, but perhaps I'll be able to get some help there anyway. Don't get hurt, either of you!” Celestia took a small breath in, and spat a small fireball at her foe. It drifted off to the side past her. “We're still doing battle! I'll have you know that you'll be beaten before Discord returns, if he even hears your petition for aid.” “Hey. I thought you wouldn't attack a pony from behind.” Rainbow Dash dared to get nose to nose with her. “Oh please! If I meant to hit you, you'd be looking for a wig after this was over.” She waved a hoof dismissively as she backed away slightly. “Now, have at you!” The battle began again. At the palace, most of the guards were having a jolly old time. The nobles who doing the conga around the dining hall, however, looked about as pleased with the situation as the guardsmare who was hoping to glare a hole through Discord. “You three really could take this seriously,” she muttered. “Nah. It's not like we can really fight it,” one murmured, tipping his chair backwards as he put his back hooves up on the table. “Hey, Discord, sir?” “Yes?” he said from the front of the conga line, dressed in ill-fitting guard armor. “Love what you're doing, temporary new commander, but you can only keep this up for like five more minutes, or it qualifies as a crime under the ECMJ.” “The ECMJ?” Discord stopped the line, shrugged, and snapped his fingers. Every pony in the conga line teleported to the empty chairs and were conveniently strapped in so they could not escape. “I don't know what that is, but probably better safe than sorry. How about a tea party?” “Love it,” the rule minding guard said. The guardsmare let out a little squeal. “You don't happen to have an Earl Neigh blend, do you?” “Oh I knew I'd win you over, Bronze Medal. Of course I do. And it even really neighs!” Another snap of his fingers produced cups and kettles, as well as tea bags that neighed loudly enough to echo all across the hall. With a roll of her eyes, she sighed and settled in at one of the empty chairs. Hopefully, he would at least get the taste right. There came a terrible knocking at the door, and every pony froze. It was Discord who slid up beside it and said, “who is there?” “Discord, you had better open this door this instant!” “It's Rarity!” the reclining guard cried, nearly tumbling over backwards. “Oh thank Celestia, someone who can help us!” one of the nobles shrieked. “Discordyouhadbetteropenthisdoorthisinstant? Never heard of you. Do you know the password?” The guardsmare shouted, “he's got ponies hostage in here! Please get help!” “Oh for goodness sake, Discord! Princess Celestia's started a heatwave outside, and she's halfway on fire! Come outside and undo this before any pony gets hurt!” “On fire?” His eyes widened briefly, but he found his composure as he snapped his fingers again. A window just big enough for him to shove his head through appeared in the door. “She's never done that before. Are you sure she's just not breathing fire? She used to do that when she was young and more fun.” “No, she did that too.” Rarity glared at him. “And she paid me a small fortune for a dress that's not going to fit when you change her back to normal, and when Flut-” “Let me just cut your little tirade off there. I conjured the bits up myself, so no pony's going to go hungry, and I'll undo it if you're so worried, you don't need to pull the 'tell my bestie' card on me.” He gave a dramatic sigh, slid through the opening, and turned to address his prisoners. “Bronze Medal, Gold Card, Silver Strings, you're in charge until I come back!” “Discord, let us o-!” He slammed the opening shut, and winced as a shriek pierced through even the heavy doors. “Now, lead the way, and I will resolve this whole issue.” Not too far away, Celestia raced across the sky, trailing in Rainbow Dash's wake. At last, she finally appeared to make a mistake, flying straight up. She circled and angled to strike the cocky pegasus in the back. That was around the point everything went wrong. A treasonous snap drew her attention downward, and she noticed the gum rope tied around her wings a second later. “Discord!” she howled as she began to plummet. Fire began to eat through the rope binding her, but only fast enough that she could arrest her descent before she crashed. Of course, she landed in front of the treacherous chimera all too quickly. Stomping her hoof, she did her best not to set him aflame. “You had better have a good reason for interrupting me at my moment of triumph!” “I do, my Queen.” He bowed. “Unfortunately, I need to talk to your successor.” “What?” Inside, she realized that she had been betrayed, truly, but her body moved too slowly. By that moment, of course, he had laid a claw on her and it was too late. A wicked chill ran through her. Her mane and tail snuffed out instantly, and so too did her confidence. Rainbow Dash was surely descending from above to smash her, and her body would not move despite her best efforts. Though she fought to glare, she found her eyes growing wide with fear as her viewpoint began seemed to slip downward. This was how her reign would end, either Discord would drain the warmth from her body until she froze solid or she would be smashed under the hooves of a worthy foe. Her eyes fell shut, and she saw what was waiting for her: the same ignoble emptiness that all mortals would eventually meet. “No!” she screamed, forcing herself to move. Through sluggish motions, she was able to raise her horn. “Don't hurt me!” “Oh really.” Discord sighed. “There's no need to overreact, just hold still a few seconds longer-” And she teleported. “Well, that's bothersome,” he murmured as he heard more than a few ponies stepping up from behind. He turned to face Rainbow Dash and Rarity, who were leading the mob. “Discord, you said you could fix this!” Rarity did not need to shout, because the crowd behind her started to clamor loudly. Some of the things they said were rather hurtful and not worthy of printing. When he turned to make a hasty escape, he ran right into Rainbow Dash, who gave him the stink eye. “What were you doing to Princess Celestia, anyway? Why did her mane turn blue?” “I had to seal some of her power away so she wouldn't pull what her sister pulled oh...about a thousand and one years ago while I was fixing her. It's hard to work on a Godlike pony whose power source is really, really close to her without a dampener or two on her abilities.” He tried to sound casual, but he felt more than a little dread. “Now, let's calm down. I need to find out where she went, and then I can finish the process.” “And if you can't?” a rather dapper unicorn stallion wearing a tuxedo and a monocle queried, with a rather civil level of scorn. It was a little refreshing that one or two members of the crowd didn't seem to want his head on a platter. “Oh...well, she should grow back up in a decade or so? I mean, she's still the same pony, underneath it all.” He chuckled. “I just took away silly things like the restraint that made her so boring.” That brought an eerie silence to the crowd, which seemed to alternate in expression between utter shock and righteous indignation. “Right! It seems that we're all in agreement!” Discord summoned a detective's hat and magnifying glass. “I'll take the case! One missing pony Princess, coming up!” “Don't worry, every pony! I'll keep an eye on this...miscreant!” Rarity trotted after him. The crowd shouted encouragement (and some threats). Discord only smiled now that no pony was looking at his face. “And I'll look for her from above! We'll find her! Every pony else, check your homes and businesses and anywhere else you can think to look!” With that, she soared. Canterlot would be busier than ever. Miles away, a young alicorn filly appeared in the middle of an empty classroom. She had had a few seconds to look around when she heard a shout, “all right, every pony, recess is over!” The filly's eyes went wide as she thought quickly. There were ponies out there, and if they came in and found her they might tell Discord. The desks around her were too small and the windows shut, but surely the large desk at front would be good enough. She scrambled to get around it, tripped over entirely too long legs, and hit the floor with a thump. Her aching horn screamed out in agony, and she squealed in pain. That squeal quickly gave way to a sob, and then full on bawling. Her body shook as she buried her face in her hooves and tried to forget. It was only when another pony came over and put a hoof on her shoulder that she looked up through teary eyes. “Oh dear, my little pony, are you all right?” A magenta mare with a bright pink mane smiled down at her. Though she made a valiant attempt to quiet herself well enough to respond coherently, she ended up nodding her head instead as she tried to stop the tears. “It's okay, dry those tears, you're safe here. I'm Miss Cheerilee.” Spreading her wings, she focused on sounding normal. That hit a roadblock quickly enough, though, as she realized that she had no idea if 'Miss Cheerilee' was not one of Discord's allies. Truly, acting nice and then stinging you while your back was turned was one of his favorite tricks. “I'm...Flary.” The name felt wrong on her lips, but it was too late to take it back. She smiled. “Well, Flary, I don't recognize you from around town, but you're certainly welcome to stay and hear the rest of today's lessons, and then I'll help you get back home.” The idea seemed sound, so she gave a brief bow of her head. If nothing else, the ponies around her seemed to be staring more so than anything. Two earth fillies, one pink and one grey, were paying special attention, but they smiled in a friendly fashion when they caught her looking. “All right, everypony, take your seats. This is Flary, and she'll be joining us today, so every pony should be on their best behavior.” Slinking over to the only empty seat to the left of the gray filly, Celestia settled in and did her best to relax. Most of the students were a little bigger than her, but they seemed nice so far. She couldn't really forget what had happened to her or that she really shouldn't be here, but it was easy to pretend that she most certainly and definitely belonged here...