Ponyville
Seated within her vast library, Twilight Sparkle, the Equestrian Princess of Friendship, was indulging in her cherished pastime of reading and sipping on a cup of iced tea when a loud knock came from the front door to her crystal castle.
I wasn't expecting anyone today, she thought as she closed her book and got off her chair. She made her way to the main hall of the castle and over to the large doors at the front. As she approached more knocks, this time louder and more pronounced, rattled through the main hall.
"What's going on?" another voice asked from the balcony above the main hall. Twilight looked up and saw her protege Starlight Glimmer and her loyal assistant, the young dragon Spike, looking down at her from above.
"I'm getting it, I'm getting it," Twilight reassured them. Twilight opened the door and peered outside.
Outside the large double doors three pegasi were waiting anxiously. One of them, a light blue pony with a rainbow colored mane, was bobbing up and down in a low hover while the other two stood on the stoop.
"Twilight!" the blue pegasus exclaimed. "We gotta talk, something weird's going on!"
"What is it, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.
Rather than explain, the blue pegasus simply pushed the door open herself and quickly flew inside. The forcefulness of her entry threw Twilight away from the door and knocked her over. "Oof! What's the rush, Rainbow?!" she demanded, flustered at her friend's lack of courtesy. The two other pegasi trotted in behind Rainbow Dash as Twilight picked herself up off the ground and shut the door. Starlight Glimmer and Spike made their way down from the upper level to greet the guests.
The pegasi Rainbow Dash brought with her included Somnambula and a dark yellow pegasus wearing plate armor. He took off his helm after stepping inside to reveal his short red mane underneath.
"Somnambula? Flash Magnus?" Twilight asked, recognizing the pair. "What brings you to Ponyville?"
"We have observed a very strange event and are concerned that something terrible is sweeping across the land," Somnambula explained. "As you may have noticed, the sun has become hotter recently and now an unknown alicorn with destructive ambitions visited my village and caused a great deal of damage, including the Pyramid of the Sphinx."
"Alicorn?" Starlight Glimmer interjected. She looked at Twilight in confusion, who returned the perplexed expression. "None of the alicorns in Equestria would ever do such a thing."
"I was not the only one to see it," Somnambula responded. "Other citizens who were out at the time observed the same thing: an alicorn had come to Somnambula and destroyed serveral structures with a terrible and powerful magic."
"The same thing happened in Cloudsdale!" Rainbow Dash blurted out. Flash Magnus nodded in agreement.
"A white alicorn with a mane that looked to be made of flame caused significant damage to the weather factory," Flash told the others. "She was laughing and seemed to be enjoying causing all of the destruction. Rainbow Dash and I tried to defend the city but she overwhelmed us with her might and flew away before we could do anything more. Right before she arrived, the already-hot sun seemed to get even more intense, as though she brought the power of the sun with her. The weather pegasi are currently trying to get the factory running again."
"We had observed a similar event in Somnambula," Somnambula added. "The sun's heat seemed to increase right before the arrival of the alicorn."
Twilight Sparkle raised her hoof to her chin and looked towards the ground. "This is concerning, thank you for bringing this to my attention," she told her guests. She walked to the window of her castle and looked out at the bright sun. "I've been staying inside because of the heat but it seems like I need to speak with Celestia about this."
Twilight looked in the direction of Rainbow Dash. "Let's get the others, Rainbow. We're taking a trip to Canterlot," she instructed.
"Got it, Twi," Rainbow Dash assured her.
Twilight turned her attention to Flash Magnus and Somnambula. "Could you two locate Star Swirl?" she asked. "We may need his help on this if there's a crazy alicorn that we've never heard of destroying everything." The two legendary pegasi nodded at each other then at Twilight.
Twilight galloped out of the castle and towards the town with Rainbow Dash in flight behind her while Somnambula and Flash Magnus flew off in another direction to locate the great sorcerer and fellow Pillar of Equestria. Starlight Glimmer stepped out onto the stoop behind them.
"'A mane that looked to be made of flame'..." she said to herself, recalling Flash Magnus's words, watching as her friends raced towards the town center. "No...it couldn't be...could it?"
Canterlot Castle
Twilight Sparkle and her seven friends slowly gaited down the long red carpet running up the hall of the capital city's grand castle leading to the throne room of the two ruling princesses of Equestria. The hall was flanked on both sides by ornate stained glass windows that documented great moments in Equestria's history, several of which depicted the deeds of Twilight and her friends. Accompanying the seven ponies and Spike was a taller, dark blue alicorn with the cutie mark of a white moon on her flank. Her mane appeared to be made of a serene star field set against a transparent night sky and seemingly flowed naturally even indoors.
"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Princess Luna," Twilight told the blue alicorn. "This a highly unusual situation."
"I agree," Princess Luna replied. "The recent reports of the sun's intensity have been documented here in Canterlot as well. I was not going to approach Celestia about it at first but with stories of this new alicorn accompanying these events, it can no longer be ignored."
The party reached the end of the hall and the large double doors that led into the throne room. The two guard ponies stationed at the front of the doors pushed them open for the entourage of ponies. Inside, the red carpet the ponies were walking on continued into the throne room, running all the way up to the raised platform where the thrones of the two princesses were placed. On both sides of the room, tall stone columns ran up to the ceiling and more stained glass windows adorned the walls. Behind the thrones of the princesses, banners depicting the day and the night, the domains ruled over by the two princesses, were shown. However, at the base of the raised platform, there was an unusual addition not normally associated with the throne room.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight cried in panic as soon as she laid eyes on the throne room. Lying at the base of the thrones was a large alicorn, seemingly unconscious. Her coat was a brilliant shade of white and her cutie mark was that of a large, radiant sun. Her mane was a multicolored splash of lush colors such as green and lavender. All the ponies ran over to the collapsed princess.
"Sister! What happened?!" Luna exclaimed, concerned for her sister. Celestia's eyes slowly began to open upon hearing the sound of voices nearby. She fluttered her eyelids and tried to regain consciousness.
"Twi...light...?" she said faintly, trying to gather her thoughts as she awoke. "Lu...na?" She looked around. Despite her vision being blurred, she could make out the faint traces of familiar faces standing around her.
"Your Highness, are you alright?" one of the guard ponies who had entered asked of the fallen princess. "Did somepony do this to you?"
Celestia managed to roll herself into a seated position on the ground so she could face the others. She was still clearly groggy from waking up so suddenly but was able to communicate. "I'm...not sure. Where am I?" she asked the others.
"You're in the throne room of Canterlot Castle," one of Twilight's friends told the princess. She was a white-coated unicorn with the cutie mark of three diamonds on her flank. Her groomed purple mane curled around her head and her eyes were a deep shade of violet. "Do you remember what happened before we found you?"
Celestia looked around the room and began to recognize her surroundings. "Rarity?" she asked, identifying the pony who was speaking to her. "No, I don't. I was reading over some royal documents and the next thing I knew, I had blacked out. The only thing I recall from that moment to now is waking up in here."
"You can't remember anything?" a new voice broke in. It was cheery and bright. The pony speaking came around to Celestia's field of view. It was a pink earth pony with a puffy pink mane and the cutie mark of three balloons.
"I'm afraid not, Pinkie Pie," Celestia confirmed for the group. She finally found the strength to rise on her hind legs and stand fully. "I have been suffering under strange bouts of losing consciousness as of late and wake up much as I did now to find I can't remember anything that happened in between. At best I have a hazy recollection of a strong feeling of elation but I can't explain why it's happening."
"Sister, we had originally come to see you to inform you that the sun seems to have grown in strength recently," Luna explained to her sister. "Reports from across the kingdom say that the sunlight is unusually intense. Might this be related?"
Celestia walked to one of the castle windows and peered out across the city of Canterlot. She looked up at the glowing sun in the sky before closing her eyes and concentrating. As she did, her horn began to glow a soft yellow and the sun's intensity slowly began to diminish. Sweat began to appear from her forehead as she attempted to tame the sun's strength and by the time she had reduced the sun back to its normal levels, her front legs buckled and the princess let out a low groan.
"Nngh!" Celestia grunted, finding the task of reducing the sun's ferocity strangely difficult at the moment.
"Oh no, Princess, are you alright?" the yellow pegasus with the soft pink mane in Twilight's party asked out of concern. She took flight and came to the side of the princess.
"I will be fine, Fluttershy," she reassured her. Her expression conveyed a mix of stress and desire to downplay her condition. She flashed a weak smile to the pegasus. "But...my power to control the sun, I've been finding it harder to focus lately. It takes more energy out of me to manipulate the sun than I'm used to."
The other ponies all looked at one another. "Is there anythin' we can do?" the orange pony with the rancher's hat asked with a noticeable drawl to her words. "We hate to see ya feelin' this way."
Celestia shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Applejack. My magic is not easily understood by average ponies. Alicorn magic is not well-documented thanks to the fact there have been so few of us throughout history."
"That was something else, Princess Celestia," Twilight said, remembering the other reason they had come to Canterlot. "In addition to the sun being hotter than usual across the kingdom, there have been reports of a new alicorn sighted in Equestria. Unlike any of the other known alicorns, this one seems intent on causing destruction and calamity and the ponies who have seen her say that whenever she appears, the sun suddenly becomes even hotter."
Celestia pondered for a moment. "I hadn't heard any stories of another alicorn in the kingdom," she told Twilight. "Perhaps their presence is disrupting my own magic. If the sun becomes more intense in the vicinity of this other alicorn, it sounds as though her power counters my own."
"How do you want us to help?" Twilight asked.
"I am hoping that you and your friends will be able to find a solution, Twilight," Celestia said. "I trust your research skills to uncover the root of this matter."
Celestia looked over at her sister. "Luna, I want you to go with the others and aid their research."
Luna looked surprised that her sister did not want her by her side as she dealt with this problem. "Celestia...are you sure?" she asked.
"You will be of more use with Twilight's friends. They may need your help clarifying matters that only you and I know," Celestia assured her. "I will remain at the castle and attempt to stave off any further blackouts."
"We won't let you down, Princess!" Rainbow Dash said purposefully. "Come on, everypony!"
The party left the throne room as Celestia stayed behind, an expression of concern hanging over her face. "Good luck, everypony..." she said quietly.