The Sun Queen

by NoMane

Disaster Strikes Ponyville

Discord felt a strange sensation as his search grew increasingly fruitless. He had hoped to be saved by now, preferably by a relatively furious Princess of the Night. But for the second time in two days, he felt dread. Celestia was normally a bright glare on his senses of the world, and he could as easily find her as he could find his own tail.

Now, though, his senses could not spot her. She had hid herself from him before, which apparently had been part of how Twilight had beaten him the last time, but he had never really sought her out and not been able to feel her at all.

It was the horrid sort of orderly sensation that made him turn the insect book he was reading into an actual insect that used book wings to fly just to get the chaos flowing.

“Discord, enough fooling around, I've found something!”

Sighing, he turned around. “Is it a map that points right toward Celestia?”

“If only.” Rarity sighed, glaring at him. “It's...well, let me show you. I think this was...a drawing book, once.”

“Oh, art of the Princess?” He elongated himself and curled around her to have a look.

“It used to be just a book with drawings, but...I think she used magic to attach older paper to newer paper, so she could annotate her work. See how it goes from charcoal to pen?”

He sniffed the paper. “And this paper is...goodness, I'm surprised this book is still intact. This is older than the Princess herself.”

“Why didn't Celestia write anything next to the pictures, though?”

“Oh, come now, Rarity, organized education wasn't a thing back in the era of chaos.” He smiled and poked her muzzle. “She was the pony who brought all of this school stuff about, you know. I'm not sure if she invented the writing system you ponies use now or if she just stole it, but she made sure every pony started using it.”

“I didn't know that. I thought it was-”

“Oh come now, even though she sits on a golden throne and wears a crown, Celestia doesn't like taking credit for things she can pin on other ponies.”

“Humility is a fitting quality for nobility,” Rarity said, turning her nose down toward the book.

Together, they read.

This was my home. Not this Castle or any of the other towns that sprang up afterward, but a spot near Everfree.

My father was of the strong belief that our kind needed to be strong despite the fact that we were born Pegasi, so he rather enjoyed fighting monsters to keep himself strong and canny. He made sure that as soon as I was old enough, I trained to fight as much as I helped mother with the farm.

“That home looks rather small, and there's only three ponies there instead of four? Where's Luna?”

“Ah...she was born a normal pony? How queer.”

Rarity cleared her throat and fixed him with her most furious glare yet.

“That word used to mean 'odd', dear. Whichever way your horn points, you're still a friend of mine.”

“Not that!” she cried, but then cleared her throat.

“I'm more worried about where she lived, not what she was before she was a princess...” She developed a small smile as the blush started to fade from her face. “It is a little encouraging to know a pony can come from nothing and become so much.”

“Oh come now, you're proof of that. Even with your charity addiction, you haven't run yourself out of business.”

She flushed and looked away, trying to sound angry. “Don't try to flatter me. I'm still supposed to be mad at you on behalf of the Princess.”

“Oh it's working, I see that blush.” He grinned. “Besides, I'll have two princesses, really three, probably, mad at me before today's end. Now shall we read on?”

My mother, a unicorn of practical aims, was content to indulge my father. She ensured that our home was defensible and safe, so that my father could keep it safe. Despite being a unicorn, she worked hard to keep the fields growing. I'm not embarrassed to admit that New Dawn was the finest farm unicorn I'll ever know, and I know I'll never live up to how wonderful a mother she was.

That spot is not far from this castle, at a place that would be rather ideal to use for farming if it were not so in danger of monsters from Everfree. Perhaps one day, ponies brave and strong will be able to use the territory and protect it without concern as my father did, but even with Discord gone things are not so simple.

Luna is nearly as fearsome in battle as father was, and I know she would fight any enemy we had until her very last breath, but the pressure is too much. She has grown up too fast. I want to show her our home, our real home, but...with our parents gone, it isn't a home, is it?

One day, it will be a home for somepony, but not for us. I swear this, not only on my late mother and father, but upon the Kingdom of Equestria.

Rarity sniffed. “I knew the Princess's life wasn't all sunshine and daisies, but...”

“Oh what one never tells those who she keeps closest. Of course, I'm not sure such things pain her any more, my dear.” He rubbed her shoulder softly with his paw as he found himself wondering how young he had made her.

“Well, it doesn't make it less tragic for me.” She wiped her eyes. “Now, I think the area she mentioned might have been near Ponyville, and if she teleported there...”

“Somepony would have found her. Maybe Twilight would have sensed it and found her already,” he said with hope.

“One more Princess to be mad at you.” Rarity smirked, hoping he was right.

He wrapped an arm around her and smiled right back. “At this point, Mi Amore Cadenza will be mad at me as well, and I bet her foal will have a few cross babbles for me as well.”

She was about to scold him for his attitude, but he snapped his fingers, and away they went.

Not far away, Rainbow Dash had been having a relatively fruitless search. The areas around Canterlot were largely bare save for some farms. The field ponies eagerly joined the search effort, and she was able to expand her efforts even further. Even being able to exclude some areas from the search didn't ease her effort.

Still, she was losing altitude by the time her search radius included Ponyville. She descended to roost at her cloud house. A brief nap wouldn't be all that bad, right?

She was asleep before she could dispute her own idea.

Not far beneath her, Rarity and Discord appeared. As they looked around, it was the unicorn that glanced at Discord. “Do...you have any chaotic tricks that can tell us where she is?”

“I wish. I would have done them and saved us that search in the library.” Discord sighed.

The loud snoring that came from above was a huge wake up call for them.

“Oh my, that's Rainbow Dash!” She'd recognize that snoring anywhere.

“Well, if she's gotten this far, best wake her up and see if she's found our Princessy friend!” Discord snapped his fingers and ascended to the skies.

Rainbow Dash would snap awake to a pair of cymbals being smashed together in her face.

“Discord!” she cried out in shock, before glaring as she came back to reality. “Discord!”

“What? You've found your way to Ponyville too, that's good. I just wanted to make sure you were awake for the part where we find Princess Celestia.”

“She's here?!?”

“She might be here.”

Rarity shouted up from the ground, “we found a journal! She used to live around here, long before Ponyville was founded!”

“Rarity's here too?” She began to descend toward the ground, smiling a little at the sight of her friend.

“Of course! Somepony has to make sure I don't get up to mischief.”

“That's right, Rainbow Dash! Come with us. We're going to find Princess Celestia and fix what Discord did.”

“Actually, ladies, you two should go without me. She's afraid of me, and if I am stalking around every pony will be talking about me.” He sighed sadly. “Of course, I'll be nearby, but I'll have to hide my magnificent face.”

“But we need you to fix this,” Rarity said, resisting the urge to whine only barely.

“Now, when you need me, I'll know.” Discord shrugged, before beginning to melt into the side of a nearby building. “Until then, I'm gone.”

“Well, somepony will know about an alicorn filly running around. It's not like you can hide when you have wings and a horn.”

“That's right!” Rarity proclaimed. “Now, let's go! We can't relent, even for a moment!”

And so she charged off. Rainbow Dash was about to warn her, really, but it was too late by the time she opened her mouth.

She ran headlong into Cheerilee, who sprang back to her hooves as if on fire. “Rarity, good, is Twilight home? I need to talk to her!”

“What's wrong, Cheerilee? We're in a bit of a hurry, we haven't had time to check on Twilight, but I'm sure she's still there.”

“A new alicorn filly has shown up, and...I have no idea where she's from! And she doesn't have parents with her or anything. It's as if she just showed up out of no where!”

“Wait a second? An alicorn filly?” Rarity asked, hopes rising.

“Yes! I didn't believe it either, but she was in the schoolhouse after recess. She must be having problems controlling her magic and have teleported there, but her parents haven't come to get her.”

“Would that filly happen to have white fur and a blue mane?” Rainbow Dash flew down to look her in the eye.

“Light blue, really, but...yes?” Cheerilee looked so unsure of herself in that moment.

“That's Princess Celestia!” the friends cried in unison.

“Wait!” Cheerilee shouted, and then shook her head a little bit in hopes of steadying herself. “Sha...she...she said she was Flary. Princess Celestia wouldn't lie to us...or be a filly. What's going on?”

“This is something Discord did. And Discord is going to fix it, but we have to find Flary and bring her to him,” Rarity said with steel in her voice.

“Oh dear. I...I called her up in front of class to help teach a lesson.” The school teacher sank down onto her flanks and covered her eyes with her hooves. “I hope she doesn't take that personally.”

“Right now, we have to fix her before the sun gets any lower, let's go!” Rainbow Dash sped off ahead of them.

“Cheerilee, she'll forgive you. Believe you me, if she doesn't forgive you, she'll be too busy apologizing to every pony she caused trouble for in Canterlot to be mad.”

“What could a pony like Flary...ah, I mean, Princess Celestia, do that could make ponies mad?” She got all four legs back underneath her.

“I'll have to tell you over drinks tonight, for now...we run!” Rarity took off, and the school teacher followed quickly.

Flary, meanwhile, was on top of the world. How could you beat a world where every pony adored her and didn't want anything but to play with her?

Tag was a little hard because her legs were so short, but she suspected that they took it easy on her. That just made it easier for her to tag someone and get back to running away. Truth be told, she didn't mind getting 'it' again, even if it seemed to happen a lot.

“Miss Cheerilee is taking a while to get back,” Applebloom said after a little while.

It felt like it had been an age, so Flary nodded.

“Do you think everything is all right?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Oh, it's probably just part of a bit of local excitement. I mean, Twilight's often a bit busy, and so is the Mayor.” Silver Spoon waved a hoof. “It's not like the world revolves around our convenience, after all.”

“Yeah, well, I kind of wish we hadn't promised to stay at the schoolhouse.” Scootaloo huffed.

“I can understand why she would be worried. A new alicorn showing up and all,” Diamond Tiara interjected, “er, not that you're new, new, like Princess Flurry Heart. No offense, Flary.”

“Uh, none taken.” She resisted the urge to ask about Flurry Heart, despite warm memories about the little foal. She shook her head. How could she think a foal was cute, anyway? Foals were icky and stole all of the attention from good little fillies.

“She is newer, to us, even if she is older than Flurry,” Applebloom said.

“Oh look, there comes Rainbow Dash!”

“Rainbow...Dash?” Flary said, feeling a familiar pain bouncing around in her skull.

“Princess!” Rainbow Dash called out as she descended, looking Flary right in the eye. “Are you all right?"

“Flary's a princess?” one pony murmured.

And then one murmur became infinite chattering.

“Why wouldn't she tell us?”

I'm not a princess.

“Why didn't Miss Cheerilee know?”

I'm just a little pony.

“Can we go now?”

I don't want to do this. I want to go home. I want to see mommy and daddy.

You'll not find them. A voice with so little care in it said to her.

“I...who are you?” Flary asked, trying to quiet the thoughts in her head. Unfortunately, she could barely raise her voice. Was she talking to the pony across from her or the pony inside her?

“I'm Rainbow Dash.” The pegasus panted softly. “I'm here to help you.”

“It's okay, Flary,” Miss Cheerilee called, “Rainbow Dash is with me.”

“Oh...okay, but...I'm not a princess. I just live on a farm.”

“I know you think that, darling,” a white unicorn said, “but...that's not who you are.”

She's with Discord! Don't trust her!

Was that pony one of the ponies with Discord in Canterlot? Nothing seemed true any more.

She sounds a little like Luna. Luna's just a little filly, though, not a grown mare...right?

A worthless pony. She's done nothing for you, and she's taken your happiness.

Canterlot? The place that shouldn't exist? That didn't exist? Luna didn't even exist, and yet her mind insisted she was real. But she couldn't be real!

Flary found her voice and yelled, “you're lying!”

And that quieted the ponies around, even if the voices inside of her would not be silenced.

“Flary, that's...that's my sister,” Sweetie Belle spoke shakily, shattering the silence, “she's not a liar.”

Sweetie Belle had been so nice, along with every other filly and colt here, but...they didn't know everything that was happening. Even Flary didn't, really, and she was there!

She doesn't know the truth, then. Even if she's not lying, Rarity is!

Spreading her wings wide and summoning her magic, she said, “you're not taking me to Discord!”

In a flash, she vanished, but in the end she was only on the other side of the crowd. Turning tail, she ran as fast as she could. The cries for her to come back fell on deaf ears.

If she stopped now, Discord would get her for sure.

“I just want to go home!” she screamed as she ran for her life.

Mommy and Daddy had to be somewhere. Maybe if she ran long enough, she'd get back to them.

But you won't. You don't need any pony, least of all two rotten corpses!

That treasonous voices taunted her as she tripped and just barely kept herself on her hooves.

Turning into an alley when Miss Cheerilee appeared in front of her, she was shocked when Rainbow Dash landed at the far end. Turning to flee, Rarity and Cheerilee blocked the other way out. So cornered, she felt despair overwhelm her as she tried to flap her wings but the clumsy things didn't get her more than a few inches off of the ground.

There could be little hope here in this world without honesty.

But without knowing what the truth really was, there would be no hope at all.

No pony could help her.

She was alone.

And so you need me. I'll burn that chimera to ash, along with any pony dumb enough to follow him.

Don't listen to her!

The pony promising aid, however, was the only one to receive her favor.

Flary bowed her head and felt the power surge into her.

When the ponies around her gasped, she looked up, and she knew that she would run no more.

Daybreaker ran from no pony.

Still, Daybreaker was confused for a moment. Her perspective was all wrong. Those ponies seemed like giants, and no pony was larger than her. However, unlike the filly before her, she had memory enough to sift through the lies.

“Discord had a hoof in this. First manipulating me and then trying to destroy me when I was weak...before this is over, I'll buck him right in the ass.”

“Flary! That is not appropriate language for a filly.”

Daybreaker whirled around and glared as hard as she could. Cheerilee immediately dropped to the ground and cowered.

She smiled. “You're such a dedicated school teacher that I'll forgive that remark, Miss Cheerilee. The correct unwanted interjection was 'My Queen, that is not appropriate language for one of your stature!' Go to the schoolhouse and write that a hundred times on the chalkboard, and you'll be back in my good graces.”

Daybreaker only grinned wider upon seeing the mare scurry to carry out her orders. A stunted form couldn't stop her.

“And you two...what to do with you two?” she said as she glanced back and forth, “I do believe you were collaborating with Discord, who did this to me, and you...you're the one who tried to fight me back in Canterlot!”

“You started it!” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Oh that I did. How else would you learn? And if Discord hadn't interfered, likely at your behest...” Daybreaker glanced at Rarity. “I would have vanquished this upstart of a pegasus. You know, that fight was pretty fun...ready for round two? Between the two of you, it might almost be exciting.”

She grinned at the look of dread on the unicorn's face, before charging her.

However, instead of running, Rarity held her ground. Their horns clashed together as Daybreaker leaped to attack.

As she landed and turned around to face her, she winced. Her body trembled as magic ran down her frame.

“Hoping for an easy target? Well look elsewhere. I learned to fence from one of your own Royal Guard, Princess!”

“All the better! Let's be about this!”

Rainbow Dash lazily took wing over her, and Daybreaker jumped up to meet her.

The pegasus, however, just didn't have the agility any more. A quick headbutt sent her plummeting to the dirt.

“Your turn,” she said as she swooped down upon Rarity. This time, however, she cast aside the pretense. She stomped her hooves as she landed, just missing, before throwing her full weight into a tackle. Her foe caught her and shoved her back easily, but it only took a quick whip of her mane to regain her momentum. Still, she held back from actually finishing it even as the unicorn's eyes went shut as she tried to avoid the flame.

It only made her smile when Rarity rallied to defend herself again. A worthy foe should stand fast.

“I loved the dress you made me, by the way. It is a pity that you chose to go against me!” She feinted a thrust with her horn, and turned around to buck.

She felt her hooves strike home, and the scream of pain was somewhat satisfying. Disappointment, however, quickly filled the void.

“Two of Equestria's greatest heroines vanquished so quickly? What a pity that I need to count on these ponies!”

“Oh come now, Princess. You have a wealth of infinite energy from the sun. You can't tell me you are surprised that the fight is over too quickly because normal ponies can't match your vitality...” Discord murmured in her ear.

She whirled around, and there was nothing.

“I tire of your japes, Discord! You won't be going back to just being a statue when I finish with you!” she shouted.

“Oh you think that's a jape? How about this?” He snapped, and suddenly the world was thrust into darkness.

She screamed in that instant as she felt the sun's absence. The chill that ran over her made a horrid little voice squeak in her head. Now, the world was only lit by her mane and tail, and then only barely.

I want my mommy!

“It might be a bit more of a fair fight now,” he said from where near Rainbow Dash fell, as he tilted her head back and poured some hot cocoa into her maw.

Suddenly, the pegasus sprang to her feet. The smile on her face was downright unnerving. “Oh, what's in that stuff?”

“Oh it's Pinkie Pie's three day party mix. You're going to be up for a while, Dashie.”

“Don't call me that,” she said, before turning away from him, “ready for round three?”

Daybreaker trotted forward to begin the fight even as she felt the heat begin to drain from her mane and tail. She spread her wings to leap in. If she could defeat their champion, she could fix this!

“Discord, can't you just-” Rarity asked as the two passed without incident.

“Oh no, not quite yet. Let Rainbow Dash work off some of that excess energy,” Discord muttered with a nonchalant wave, summoning a cold flame to keep them lit even as the alicorn's light began to fade.

“She's not in danger, is she?”

Rainbow Dash began flying circles around her smaller opponent.

“Probably not.”

“...I have a feeling you're not basing this on any sort of logic.”

“Maybe. Why are you so worried? Rainbow Dash can take a powered down princess.”

“I'm worried because it seems like another curve ball comes out of no where the moment I'm starting to get used to this.”

“Well, it is chaos magic. You know, even I didn't know all of this would happen.”

“It amazes me that you managed.” She winced as Daybreaker flew by over head and smashed into a building. “To be a threat to Equestria.”

“Now, you see, the trick is that if I don't know what exactly is going to happen, no pony else can figure out what I'm planning either.” Discord smirked. “All right, Rainbow Dash, that's quite enough. I should be able to fix things now.”

He snapped his fingers and appeared near the fallen tyrant.

“All right, should be easy to fix now!” He seized her and snapped once more.

Rarity's stomach turned as the Princess's form rippled. And she had to look away as the pony grew.

When she dared to look back, Celestia stood up to her full majestic height.

And Celestia felt great in that instant. Summoning some light to her horn, she looked around. Rainbow Dash looked abashed. Rarity rushed to her and called, “Princess, are you all right?”

She turned her gaze toward Discord, who was looking elsewhere.

And so she smirked. “Master Discord, your plan is working perfectly!”

“What?!?” Rainbow Dash and Rarity matched each other in fury.

“You were brilliant, feigning ignorance and distracting these ponies!” she cheered, “now that the only pony who can resist me is Rainbow Dash, I'll trounce her, go to Princess Twilight, defeat her, and then you can be the ruler of all of Equestria!”

“Uh, I mean, wait a second, there's no reason to get violent, ladies.”

Celestia gripped Rainbow Dash with her magic and pulled her closer. “Oh no, you won't be hurting Master today. You have to fight me, Rainbow Dash!”

“Princess, snap out of it!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she took to the skies.

Celestia matched her in altitude. “Come now, Rainbow Dash. If you won't fight me, I'll help Discord take over Equestria!”

“Fine, you asked for it!” She rushed forward.

It was all she could do to ascend out of the way of the strike. Ascending, she prepared for the next attack.

Rainbow Dash came up at her with incredible speed, and she plunged downwards to meet her. At the last second, she rolled aside and the collision was averted.

As Rainbow Dash turned to recover, however, Celestia used her magic to end her descent, teleporting upwards and beginning to flap her wings.

She grinned as she focused on the sun and brought it back into the sky. Turning away, she called, “if you're not going to take this seriously, Rainbow Dash, I'll just have to go complete my objective!”

With the sun backing her, she could easily muster her full power. It wasn't long before she was being tailed, however, and she knew that this would not go simply. At least the library wasn't far. It had been a fun run, but some pony would be hurt if she did not resolve this.

Turning to face her head on, she waited. A quick teleport away put her out of the way of the rainbow streak.

“Hold, Rainbow Dash, I yield!” she said, giggling.

“What?” She screeched to a halt, stopping just in front of her monarch.

“There is no trickery at play, save for a little joke on my part. Discord did restore me to my true form, and to my own mind.” Celestia smiled. “It was a fun fight, but it's been centuries since I've flown. I can't pose a threat to you, even if I try.”

“Wait a minute, you were-” Rainbow Dash looked aghast for an instant, but then she smiled. “Th-that's awesome! Do you remember how cool you were as the Sun Queen?”

“I wouldn't call it 'cool', but I dare say that I was channeling a lot of the hot stuff I was when I was more than a millennium younger.”

“If you want to practice your moves, we can do it any time you want. I am a Wonderbolt now, so I do serve at your pleasure.”

She did her best to ignore the low hanging fruit, if only to avoid giving one of her subjects a heart attack.

“I'll have to consider it, once this mess is sorted out. This was not even one day's worth of chaos, and every pony is going to be in a tizzy.” She sighed. How many banquets would it take to sort this out?

“Now, we best save Discord from Rarity. Luna and Twilight will already give him enough trouble, and he did, at least, spice up the day.”

“Oh Rarity will be giving him heck too. She's losing business in Canterlot over him.”

They descended back toward Discord, who was floating high above as Rarity threw things up at him.

“Ah, Princess, Rainbow Dash, I see...uh...you worked out your differences?” Discord lunged to the right as an anvil came by.

“Well, I decided a little prank wouldn't hurt things, after how much you've disrupted my day.”

Discord's eyes went wide, and then he covered his mouth to avoid laughing. "That's...actually pretty funny."

She smiled in spite of the fact that she should want to put him back in the statue garden.

“Hey, Rarity, you can stop throwing stuff, it's fine!” Rainbow Dash shouted down.

“She's fine?”

“Yeah, long story, I'll catch you up on it later!”

Then, the chimera broke into full blown guffawing.

Just because she didn't want to actually harm him didn't mean she couldn't scold a little, however. “Laugh while you can, Discord. You've got to fix anything that might have been broken during this whole mess you caused.”

That killed his joy. “Oh come now, no reduction of sanctions since I helped you have fun?”

Celestia was still able to muster up a glare. “Discord, I sat through a class on long division, do I look like I had fun- oh no, I have to go tell Cheerilee she can stop writing those lines! You two, you're in charge. Make sure Discord fixes anything that got destroyed until I return to supervise.”

Focusing her magic, she teleported right back to the schoolhouse.

It was a little embarrassing to see the teacher working feverishly at the chalkboard. She seemed to have gotten through a fair amount of the lines.

“That's enough, Miss Cheerilee." She decided to not correct her verbal misstep. "By Royal Decree, I pardon you.”

The mare turned around slowly and then her eyes went wide. The chalk clattered to the floor “Princess Celestia, it's you! You're back!”

“I am. Sorry, it seems that Discord's...mischief has run its course, but I should still apologize for all the trouble.”

“Oh, it's no trouble. You got ponies to listen to my long division lesson, though I think they were only doing so because you were helping.”

“Alicorn-mania is a hard trend to contend with.” Celestia smiled, glad for the olive branch. “Nonetheless, if you need somepony to cover for a lesson or any other sort of favor, you need only send word to me and I will accommodate you any way I can.”

“I couldn't-”

She raised a hoof and instantly cut off the polite refusal. “I assure you, this is near the least of what I need to do to make the events of this day right.”

“I suppose I shall keep it in mind. Forgive me, Princess, but...I think I need to head home and pass out.”

“I'll be so exhausted at the end of my day, as well. Thank you for being an excellent teacher while I was in...such a vulnerable condition.”

“It's nothing. I have the same duty to any filly or colt, no matter whether they're that way naturally or by...magical misadventure.”

“Magical misadventure.” She giggled. “That's the polite way to describe it, I suppose. I'll be about my business. Please excuse me.”

“Of course, Princess, have a good day.”

Celestia stepped out of the schoolhouse and saw...probably about half of the fillies and colts gathered around. The way they looked at her some smiling and others with mouths agape, gave her a feeling that even the dimmest pony here could work out that Flary and Princess Celestia were the same pony.

“I apologize for the disruption to your classes, fillies and colts,” she said as formally as possible, bowing her head.

“You can come back any time, Princess Celestia!” Sweetie Belle called out.

“We love you!” Diamond Tiara shouted.

With those two clear statements, the others broke into cheering.

"I must go now, my little ponies. Have a wonderful day!" She called.

It was only when she was a while away that she said, "I might come back and visit, even if I'm not needed. They were a rather nice class."

There was so much work to do...

Author's Note:

Second to last chapter. Finished in a bit of a rush today.