//------------------------------//
// The Heavy Headed Ruler 
// Story: Under A Burning Sun 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
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Sunset could only keep on smiling as she watched all who would oppose her stand down and kneel before her. All her dreams were coming true!

"Now then," The fiery alicorn spoke at length. "How should I deal with you all? Why don't I start with you, ex-Princess Celestia? After all, it was you who denied me the power that rightfully mine and then replaced me with Twilight Sparkle."

"I did not replace you, Sunset!" Celestia snarled and glared at her disgruntled former student. "You chose to run away after going behind my back. I always held out hope you would return one day, but not like this."

Sunset only coldly hissed in reply. "Yet it seems you got everything you wanted anyways. You got a new student who would never question your authority, and it seems you've been reunited with your sister. I had no one to help me in that other world, but I survived and now I'm stronger than you," It was then that she got an idea. "You know what, I seem to recall you telling me the story of how you and Princess Luna once overpowered Discord, turning him to stone."

At that Celestia let out a gasp! "You wouldn't dare! I don't know what happened to you in that other world, Sunset, but it's clear to me that you are lost!" She started to light up her horn, causing it to spark quite ominously.

But Sunset effortlessly lit up her own horn and overpowered the alicorn she had once looked up to. "Another mistake like that, and being turned to stone will be the least of your worries," She hissed. "Speaking of which, where are the rest of the Elements of Harmony?! I know they have to exist somewhere."

"You'll never get your hooves on the elements, you monster!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew right up towards Sunset's face. "They're safely in Ponyville and..." But she trailed off as the brash speedster realized her mistake.

"Ooh, how very interesting," Sunset snickered. "Take me to this 'Ponyville' you speak of. I want the Elements of Harmony!"

Applejack stomped a hoof down and snorted. "Absolutely not! You want the Elements of Harmony, you'll have to get through the lot of us first!"

However, Celestia rose to her hooves and protested. "Please, there's no need for violence. I hate to admit it, but Sunset holds all the cards. There is little we can do to stop her, especially not so long as she continues to have that army at her beck and call."

The fiery alicorn grinned anew. "A wise decision, Celestia. But then you always were soft."





Reluctantly, Celestia and Luna along with Twilight's friends left the Crystal Empire and traveled to Ponyville (Sunset left some of her brainwashed humans turned ponies behind to ensure Princess Cadence and Shining Armor wouldn't try anything). They led Sunset straight to the Golden Oak Library where the Elements of Harmony rested behind a glass display case.

Using her magic, Sunset effortlessly melted the glass and then took all of the elements into the grasp of her horn. "Oh yes, I can feel the power flowing through me. Power beyond that of even you, Celestia."

"Do your worst, Sunset, if you can," Celestia defiantly declared in a tone of voice that sounded noticeably cold and detached. "But I hope you're aware that without me the sun shall never rise again. And without the sun, Equestria will perish."

"You needn't worry about that, I will take over raising the sun every day. It didn't always need you to be raised after all." Sunset grinned.

But Pinkie Pie pointed out. "Well you're never gonna get the chance to find out, meanie pants! The Elements of Harmony don't belong to you! They belong to us, and we'll never use our elements against the princess!"

"For once, Pinkie makes a fine point," Rarity commented with narrowed eyes. "You are nothing like Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. You cannot possibly wield all six elements on your own."

Sunset Shimmer just smirked as her horn began to light up. "I guess we'll find out, won't we?" To the surprise of everyone in the room, she was able to pull the remaining Elements of Harmony away from their respective bearers and bring them all to her. They circled around her not unlike a protective shield or force field.

Then, without even bothering to wait for a reply or any last words, Sunset unleashed a devastating beam of rainbow colored energy upon Celestia! Everypony watched in horror as the majestic alicorn and kind ruler slowly began to be turned to stone!

Against her better judgement, Luna rushed forward and screamed at the top of her lungs! "Celestia, no!" She began to light up her horn, only to immediately be enveloped by the rainbow beam and slowly turn to stone as well! Her magic proved powerless against the Elements of Harmony!

There was a blinding flash, and when it had faded there stood the royal sisters: Petrified with looks of horror and hopelessness frozen upon them! To make matters worse, the elements themselves turned to stone and fell to the ground in front of the statue. Just like that, Equestria had lost both its rulers and its last line of defense.

"Oh Luna," Sunset remarked in an only slightly concerned tone of voice. "You didn't have to jump in and be the hero. I was going to spare you. I only wanted Celestia gone, I could care less about you," Then she turned her attention to the five ponies who reminded her of the five girls from the other world that Twilight had convinced to stand against Sunset. "As for the rest of you..."

Fluttershy whimpered and shrank as her friends all huddled around her, trying to varying degrees to be brave. "P-please, we don't want any trouble. We don't want to fight you."

The fiery alicorn flashed a sincere smile as she approached the five mares. "A wise decision on your part. You five are of little concern to me now that the Elements of Harmony are no longer usable. So I'll let you go, on one condition."

"And that would be?" Applejack questioned with a quirked brow.

"You make sure to tell everypony you know that Equestria is under new leadership: Mine!" Sunset declared. "I will control the sun and the moon, and all will worship me and me alone. Anypony foolish enough to resist will answer to me. I'll probably throw them in the dungeons, or if their crimes are really bad I might just banish them to the moon, or even the sun. And trust me when I say that if it's banishment to the sun, a really bad sunburn will be the least of anypony's troubles. So spread the word and make sure to tell me if anypony decides they wanna rebel. As long as you do that, I won't hurt you."

Reluctantly, the five mares agreed to the terms offered. Just like that, the age of Celestia was over and the reign of Sunset Shimmer was about to begin!





(Several weeks later)

At first Sunset had enjoyed every minute of being ruler. She wasn't even bothered by the fact that she remained in her fiery demon appearance and did not return to how she had been originally (or even like the image of herself she had seen in that mirror). Even raising and lowering the sun and the moon every day and night didn't bother her, despite how much of a drain on her magic the two planetary objects inflicted.

There were a few impromptu rebellions here and there. It was to be expected considering so many ponies were so used to Celestia's leadership and could never have imagined it ending so abruptly. Most of the rebels themselves were easily put down without force, only the leaders ever truly warranted severe punishment.

But as time went by and things slowly settled into a routine of sorts, Sunset Shimmer started to find herself developing a feeling she would never have imagined herself feeling: Regret.

Now Sunset didn't regret what she'd done to Twilight Sparkle for daring to interfere with her plans, it served that pesky pony right for getting in the way and messing with things beyond her comprehension. And neither did Sunset regret her decision to invade Equestria and take over. Maybe it hadn't gone exactly the way she'd imagined it being, but she still got everything she'd wanted out of it.

What Sunset did regret was just discarding the royal sisters without much fanfare, turning them both to stone and allowing the Elements of Harmony to become useless once again. "Perhaps I should've worked out some other way to force them to stand aside, a way to make Celestia acknowledge that she was wrong to ever turn her back on me," She thought to herself. "All I wanted was what I believed she was holding me back from achieving."

Yet time travel was out of the question. The young alicorn didn't know how far time travel spells had come in her many years of absence from Equestria, but even assuming they had been perfected she highly doubted anypony who knew of them would tell her. So now here she was, stuck as Equestria's solo ruler. And while she still had fear to rule over her subjects, that was about all she had.

Still, Sunset Shimmer went to great lengths to hide this regret from others. She couldn't afford to show any signs of weakness or other ponies would be sure to pick up on it. So she went about her royal duties as she always did, settling into a routine that became tolerable but not enjoyable.





Another boring day of court came and went with little fanfare for Equestria's new ruler. The most exciting thing about it was when the royal guards entered the throne room, carrying with them a noblepony who was shaking and trembling all about. "Your majesty," One of the guards spoke up. "We caught this stallion passing out flyers denouncing your rule."

"I didn't mean it!" The noblepony insisted even though his entire body betrayed his statement. "I simply meant to point out how... 'different' your rule is from Pr.... I mean the pony who preceded you."

Sunset Shimmer just groaned as she rose from her throne and approached the captive noblepony. "How many times do I have to repeat myself before you ponies learn? I don't tolerate those who speak ill of me in any fashion. Though I suppose I should commend you for correcting what would've been a very unfortunate slip of the tongue. You know the law, you're to never mention that former ruler at all in my presence!"

The noblepony only whimpered and tried to shrink from Sunset's gaze. "Please, your majesty, I beg of you. You can throw me in the dungeon if you want, just don't banish me to the moon or the sun. I won't survive!"

"And now you've been reduced to begging like a commoner, how pathetic," Sunset scoffed. "But I guess I can spare you, only on account of the fact that the dungeons are all full and I'm feeling a tad bit 'generous' today. Make no mistake though, if you cause any trouble for me ever again I won't show you mercy. So if I were you I'd keep that big mouth of yours shut, understand?"

"Y-yes, your majesty. You have my word, I'll never speak ill of you ever again so long as I live!" The noblepony insisted as he reluctantly waddled away, his whole body still shaking.

As for Sunset, she simply declared, "Court is adjourned for the day." and then trotted away. "There's got to be some way to undo that petrifaction spell," She thought to herself. "And I'll bet the answers are somewhere in the Canterlot Archives. Probably the Starswirl the Bearded wing, because why else would Princess Celestia have it under constant protection?" The alicorn was grateful that her royal status would allow her access to said wing without question.

Being royalty did have its advantages after all.