S8 E7: Horse Play (What If?) (Bonus Chapter)
Princess Celestia had come to expect many things over her long life. But Twilight and Spike showing up at the castle in Canterlot with a gift basket wasn't one of them. Still, it was a welcome surprise and so she greeted the gift and its delivers warmly. "Oh my," She declared as she used her magic to pick up the gift basket. "To what do I owe the occasion? It's not my birthday, is it?"
Twilight smiled even as she shook her head. "Nope. But it is an important anniversary for you," And she happily explained. "I had an idea on something I could do for your ones-versary, even if I'm not your student anymore."
The sun princess adopted a bit of a confused look. "My 'ones-versary'?"
Twilight explained. "Yup. The one-thousand, one-hundred, eleventh year anniversary of when you first raised the sun," And in a somewhat cheeky tone of voice she added. "If it makes you feel any better, you don't look a day over five hundred. I'm practically in diapers compared to you."
"Oh come on now, you know I'm not that old," Princess Celestia chortled right back. "Still, I'm flattered you remembered. Even I had forgotten about such an anniversary."
Spike added. "It's a good thing Pinkie Pie told us about it, or we would've forgotten too. It was her idea to bring you this gift basket."
The alicorn with a majestic white coat inquired. "What did you have in mind for a celebration?"
"Trust me, you'll like it a lot!" Twilight declared and proudly proclaimed to her former mentor now alicorn equal. "To commemorate your first sunrise, I've written a play all about it. We'd like to perform it at my School of Friendship with my students, if you don't mind that is."
Princess Celestia stood up and giggled happily as she exclaimed not unlike an excited school filly! "Mind? Oh! Of course not! Oh! I think a play is a fantastic idea!" And she started prancing around the throne room without care for who might see her.
Spike blinked in surprise, he was not used to seeing the princess in such a happy state. "Did you just... prance?" He asked her.
Celestia blushed ever so faintly. "Oh, I hope none of the guards saw that," And she recovered. "Forgive me for getting so excited back there. It's just, when I was a filly, my friends often put on plays for me," She recalled. "I always wanted to stay and watch, and sometimes I could if my parents or Starswirl the Bearded didn't find out," The alicorn fondly added. "It was so wonderful. Everypony coming together to create a magical experience to share with others. I've always believed theater brings out the best in us and forges a special bond of friendship. I feel like the theater would've been my calling in life if I hadn't been born into the royal family."
Twilight gasped! "I didn't know you used to be an actress!"
The sun princess shook her head. "Oh no, not me. I tried it once in my spare time and it didn't pan out well. I never could find the time to take lessons, even though I wished I could be part of the experience."
"But don't you have to put on an act when you're meeting with delegates and important leaders?" Spike asked the alicorn.
"There's a difference between acting for the sake of politics and acting in the theater for a play," Princess Celestia told Spike. "One involves hiding one's true emotions to avoid trouble, the other involves intentionally exaggerating your emotions as required for the performance."
The young alicorn looked at the princess as she questioned. "I take it that means you don't want to be an actress for our play? We'd be honored to have you, and I'm sure we could find the time to give you a few lessons. Besides, your acting can't be any worse than the students', they've never acted before in their lives."
Again, Celestia shook her head. "As much as I'm flattered by the offer, I must decline. We both know what happened the last time you tried to do something for me, Twilight. And we both agreed to be honest with each other from that point forward," She unhappily sighed for a brief moment. "Therefore I must be honest with you. I don't believe I could be a good or even decent actress for your play. The audience might expect subpar acting from your students, but I would stick out like a chocolate bar at a swimming pool and be held to much higher standards."
"I see," Twilight briefly frowned, before she perked right back up. "Well still, you could at least come down to give tips to whoever ends up playing you. You know, so their acting will be more convincing."
The alicorn with a majestic white coat warmly smiled. "That sounds much better, Twilight. I'd be honored. After all, I always do seem to be good at giving advice and directions to others." Yet she couldn't have anticipated the unique challenge that was going to occur this time. An unforeseen circumstance was going to require her expertise in a way that no one could've anticipated. But it would be necessary to ensure the play's success.
With Princess Celestia onboard for the play (albeit in a non-acting role), there was nothing left for Twilight and Spike to do but to head back to Ponyville. A stage had been set up not far from the School of Friendship alongside several rows of stadium like seats in a circular fashion.
Most of the set-up work was already finished. The background had been painted and set-up, costumes had been developed for the cast and all of Twilight's friends were carrying out their assigned roles as best they could.
Pinkie Pie descended from above with an umbrella, tucking it away after a brief shower of confetti. "Confetti is ready! Woo-hoo!"
Applejack wasn't anywhere near as excited as Pinkie Pie, largely because of where the confetti had landed. And she scolded her fellow earth pony. "Wormy apple cores, Pinkie! How many times have I told you to keep your special effects away from my sets?!"
"Sorry," Pinkie apologized. "Still, that's only the three hundred twenty-eighth time you've had to tell me that. Last time you said it took more than five hundred," She then grinned. "Besides, I took over creating the fake sun for you."
"I appreciate that," Applejack declared as she adjusted her hat. "But please don't go overboard like you usually do. This ain't a Bridleway performance, it's only a couple o' pals gettin' together to put on a ones-versary play. Just gotta keep it simple."
Meanwhile, Starlight was approaching Fluttershy as she commented in amazement. "I can't believe you've memorized your lines already, Fluttershy. Are you sure you've never acted professionally before?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "Of course not," And she explained. "Memorizing your lines is simple. The real challenge is getting past terrifying, paralyzing stage fright," She very briefly froze as her eyes appeared to shrink a bit.
"I see," Starlight Glimmer reluctantly commented. "Well, I guess I'll take Twilight's word for it when she says you played Princess Celestia once before."
The animal loving pegasus blushed. "It's a long story. I just hope Princess Celestia doesn't mind. We were going to have Ocellus do it, but she's already cast as Starswirl the Bearded."
Sandbar could be heard grumbling in the distance. "It's not fair! Why does she get to have such an important role?! I could totally pull off Starswirl the Bearded, I even dressed up as him for Nightmare Night last year!"
Rainbow Dash flew over and explained. "We've been over this, Sandbar. Ocellus is playing Starswirl because we couldn't get the actual Starswirl to come here and play himself. So having a changeling morph into him is the next best thing."
Gallus, meanwhile, was commenting on his "unicorn sorcerer" costume that consisted of a simple gown and a cardboard tube tied to his head that was painted to look like a horn. "I look ridiculous! Can't believe I agreed to this just to get some extra credit at school."
Silverstream excitedly chirped while prancing in her her own costume! "This is so exciting! I've never been in a play before! In fact, I've never even seen a play before! Ooh, I wish Mom and Dad were here to see this!"
But all Smolder could think about was the way her costume felt. She kept moving her claws in a clumsy fashion, trying to reach her scales through the fabric. "Why is this costume so itchy?!" She grumbled. "And it's not very aero-dynamic either, I'm getting a wing cramp."
Rarity came trotting over a moment later, wearing her ruby red sewing glasses and having a measuring tape hanging around her neck. "Perhaps I can still make a few adjustments. But these costumes were the best I could do on short notice," She then added. "I do hope Princess Celestia appreciates the tribute that this play is."
Just then, Twilight and Spike approached the stage with smiles on their faces. Everything seemed to be coming along quite nicely. "Wonderful news, everyone!" Twilight excitedly declared despite sounding out of breath. "Princess Celestia not only gave her blessings for this play, but she's coming down to watch it. In fact, she's going to be giving our fake Princess Celestia some tips."
Spike was quick to point out. "Twilight wanted Princess Celestia to star as herself, but Princess Celestia wisely said no. Apparently, she doesn't think she's an actress even though she's always loved plays."
"Well, that's good," Starlight declared with a sigh of relief. "Having a princess as our star would be a lot of unwanted attention. And having to act alongside her would... overwhelming."
Applejack was quick to point out what she thought was a contradiction. "Come on, now. We've met Princess Celestia before. Plenty of times, in fact. Why would havin' her in our play be any different?"
The unicorn nervously explained to the farm pony. "Because all those other occasions were formal, short visits at most. You know: Galas, world-saving celebrations, that kind of thing. But imagine doing sweaty warm-ups with a princess, blowing your nose in front of a princess," She briefly blew her own nose to emphasize the point. "Or sitting around just... talking with a princess."
The alicorn turned headmare responded to that statement by saying. "I'm a princess, you talk to me. And I know you've talked to Princess Luna and Princess Cadence before."
"Y-yeah, but... well..." Starlight tried to explain. "Talking to you isn't the same as talking to Princess Celestia. She's a princess on an entirely different level if you know what I mean."
Twilight frowned. "Hey! How's about a little respect for your former teacher?"
The reformed unicorn's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink from embarrassment. "Sorry," And she quickly corrected herself. "Still, even if Princess Celestia isn't going to be in our play, having her come down to give advice is going to be a lot different from how we usually see her."
"She's just a pony like everypony else," The young alicorn pointed out. "I used to look up to her more than I looked up to anypony else, even Starswirl the Bearded. But ever since the swapped cutie marks incident, I've come to learn that it's not good to put ponies on a pedestal. When Princess Celestia comes here she's not going to be the ruler of our land, she's just going to be a pony offering advice."
"I... guess that makes sense," Starlight Glimmer commented and then nervously chuckled. "Wow, didn't think I'd be the one getting performance anxiety."
Twilight nodded before adding. "Well, I think what Celestia really wants to experience the special friendship that theater ponies have. To give her that, you all just need to be yourselves as best you can," And she then declared. "Now come on! It'll be a little bit before she gets here, let's start on the rehearsals and make sure everyone else knows their parts. We can worry about our Princess Celestia later."
A short time later, Twilight and Spike were watching comfortably from their assigned director's seats as rehearsal officially commenced.
Spike took the liberty of barking out orders from a red megaphone. "Okay! Places, everypony! Let's start rehearsing 'A New Day in Equestria'," When he heard Twilight clear her throat he quickly added. "Directed, written, and produced by Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight then shouted. "Page one, act one, scene one. Take one, and... Action!"
Red curtains that had been drawn across the stage parted. Out stepped Fluttershy who wore a costume that loosely resembled Princess Celestia's appearance: Even down to her flowing mane and tail and the tiara she was always seen wearing on her head. Despite this, she spoke as if she wasn't dressed as a character at all. "Long ago, in a time before alicorns were known, the new kingdom of Equestria was suffering terrible hardship. Raising the sun every morning was so hard that it took five great sorcerers plus Starswirl the Bearded to do it."
Sandbar, Smolder, Gallus, Silverstream and Yona all came trotting out onto the stage in their "sorceress" uniforms and took their assigned places. But Ocellus had forgotten to transform into Starswirl. She only realized her mistake when the spotlight started to shine on her. "O-oh! Sorry!" She profusely apologized and hastily transformed into the wizard himself, before trotting out to join the other students. She still spoke with her usual voice as she apologized again. "Sorry, Headmare!"
"It's okay, it's okay," Twilight sought to reassure the transformed changeling. "This is only a rehearsal," And she then instructed. "Proceed as planned."
Fluttershy continued to narrate as a lever was pulled and from a trap door emerged a huge wooden ball. It was painted a bright yellow and covered with lights. And as it rose up, the students all shut their eyes as they tried to appear to be deep in concentration. "And every day, the unicorns helping Starswirl out would use up so much magic that they lost their powers forever."
All but Ocellus fell to the stage floor and lay flat as the fake sun was lowered. Or at least, all but Silverstream lay flat since she instead kept her eyes open and stuck out her tongue.
Fluttershy had to pause in her narration to tell the excited hippogriff. "You have to look drained, Silverstream, not defeated."
"Aren't those the same thing?" Silverstream wondered even as she corrected herself. "This feels so silly."
Yona remarked. "Yona not like having small part. Yona wanted bigger role! Yona be good pony sorcerer or pony princess."
"Yona!" Sandbar whispered in a hushed tone as he broke character! "We're not supposed to talk, remember? We don't say anything!" And then he apologized. "Sorry about that, Headmare."
"Just keep going," Twilight instructed even as her left eye started to twitch a bit. She then looked to Spike. "This ain't going so great. Guess we should've started rehearsal sooner."
Meanwhile, Fluttershy continued to provide the opening narration. "Things looked bleak. Soon, Equestria would lose all its magic users! Then the land would be covered in darkness for eternity!" She then hastily ran back behind the stage even as she kept speaking. "But then, one of Starswirl's students named Celestia discovered she had the power to raise the sun all by herself without draining her magic! Which of course... is me... because... this is my story. Yes, I am Princess Celestia."
"I thought I told you to remind me to recast the narrator to somepony else!" Twilight turned to Spike with a groan.
"When would we have found time to do that?" Spike wondered aloud and put a claw to his forehead. "Never mind, we'll fix that after this rehearsal," And then he shouted to Fluttershy! "Just get into character and say your line. Then we raise the sun and we're done!"
The dressed up pegasus mare somewhat nervously replied. "O-oh, right," She trotted back onto the stage and said in a soft tone of voice. "It is time for a new day in Equestria."
"Louder!" Twilight insisted! "We don't have microphones, the audience needs to be able to hear you."
The pegasus mare realized her mistake and though still nervous she managed to speak up a bit more audibly. "It is time for a new day in Equestria."
The young alicorn somewhat smiled. "Better, but could be a little more convincing. We'll work on that later," Then she noticed something that hadn't occurred despite Fluttershy speaking her designated line. "That's the cue for the fake sun!" She shouted.
"Sorry," The voice of Pinkie Pie could be heard apologizing from afar. "The lever got stuck, but I think it's fixed now."
The fake sun suddenly rose up from its trap door, catching Fluttershy off guard as she realized she'd been standing too close to it! She let out a strangled eep as she dove out of the way just before she would've been hit by it!
"And... cut!" Spike declared and not a moment too soon.
"Goodness!" A familiar voice suddenly spoke up, catching the attention of everyone. "I didn't think things were nearly this bad. You most certainly could use my help." And who should be seen standing behind Twilight and Spike but Princess Celestia herself in all her glory?
Twilight Sparkle gulped and looked so ashamed! "Uh... h-how much of that did you actually see?" She questioned, hoping maybe for a small miracle.
Alas, there wasn't one as the sun princess seemed to smirk. "Enough to see that there's a lot that needs to be improved. But don't worry, I've seen worse. Things are nowhere near as bad as they could be," She then winked. "Let me just see what I can do."
Twilight could only bow to Celestia despite knowing she no longer needed to do so. "By all means, we'd be honored to have your help," Under her breath she added. "Faust knows we need it."
With permission having more or less been granted to her, the alicorn with a majestic white coat strolled onto the stage and made her presence known to all. "I'm all highly flattered you would put on a play based on my life, or at least part of it," She spoke in that warm and gentle tone for which she was always so famously known for. "But even by school play standards, you need help."
"Obviously," Starlight Glimmer blushed as she seemed to shrink from the sun princess' gaze. "I guess that's what we get for waiting so long to do rehearsal. This was originally just an after school project until Pinkie Pie mentioned your ones-versary."
Pinkie Pie bounced over. "Hey, I make it a habit to remember every important milestone! Every day has something worth celebrating!"
And the sun princess gave a smile as warm as the sun itself. "I'm flattered you remember and wanted to do something special to commemorate it. It's hard to remember a time before Luna and I had our royal duties."
"Wait, you mean you didn't take over ruling Equestria just because you could raise the sun and moon all by yourselves?" Starlight pondered. "That's what they always taught us in school."
Celestia chuckled. "Luna and I were quite young when we discovered our talents. You very well couldn't expect children to run a kingdom now could you?" She then trotted over. "This play may not be as important as a meeting with delegates or some ancient evil trying to take over Equestria, but it means a lot to me as I'm sure it does to all of you."
Ocellus excitedly fluttered her little wings as she approached the princess. "Thorax always talks about how nice you are when you have your talks. I never imagined I'd get to meet you in pony!"
Princess Celestia shook Ocellus' hoof even while she grinned. "Now now, I'm not here to sign autographs or anything like that. I am here to help you all make this play the best I can be," She then turned to Fluttershy. "I understand that you will be playing me, Fluttershy. I think you're an excellent fit for the role, you are much like me: Calm, gentle and caring to others."
"You were watching me?!" Fluttershy gasped! "Oh goodness! I must've made you look so bad with that performance!" And she apologized. "I thought I'd gotten over my stage fright, but maybe I didn't conquer it fully. I'm used to singing with others, I've never actually starred in a play just speaking."
Celestia simply smiled. "It's alright, I can give you some pointers. We'll run through your lines and I'll help you become more like me. By the time the play's ready, you'll be a natural."
Having since gained some confidence, Starlight Glimmer used her magic to float over a small script as she informed the alicorn. "Here's everything Fluttershy's going to say when she's you."
And Applejack tipped her hat as she promised. "You let the rest of us sort out the other problems. We'll get the students into actin' shape by the time you're done."
"Splendid!" The alicorn with a majestic white coat declared. "You all do your part and I'll do mine. And together, we'll make this the best school slash ones-versary play ever!" The last line was delivered with a bit of an echo.
Rarity (who had been nearby, working on the costumes) looked up from her sewing machine and questioned. "Was that your 'Royal Canterlot Voice' princess?"
A faint trace of red appeared on the cheeks of the alicorn as she still managed to somewhat normally respond. "Well, Luna had to get it from somewhere, didn't she? Sometimes it still slips out." Then she motioned for Fluttershy to follow her, and the pegasus mare did so without hesitation.
Soon, princess and pegasus had headed out to a lonely hill far from the stage. They could only barely see it and most certainly couldn't hear what might be going on or behind it.
This was the perfect environment for character rehearsal. A place free from distractions or anything that could make a pony worry.
"Okay, Fluttershy," Princess Celestia smiled as she briefly looked over the script. "Let's start from the beginning of your new role. You're not the narrator anymore, that will be given to somepony else."
"Who?" Fluttershy wondered.
"I'm sure the others will sort that out for us," Celestia explained. "If you'd like, I can fill in for the narrator for you if it will help."
The pegasus mare with a butter yellow coat shook her head from side to side. "No, no, no. That shouldn't be necessary, princess. I... think I can manage. I already have the narration memorized."
The sun princess nodded and smiled. "Okay then. Are you ready to begin?"
The pegasus mare forced a smile while declaring quite boldly. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," She cleared her throat and stood up. "It is time for a new day in Equestria."
"Not bad, but you could stand to put a little more effort into it," Princess Celestia instructed. "And a little more emotion, too."
Fluttershy questioned the request. "I thought you said you weren't an actress, Princess Celestia."
Smiling even brighter, Celestia calmly explained. "Indeed I'm not. But whenever I did have free time in my youth, the theater was my favorite place to hang out. Even just watching plays, I picked up a thing or two on what makes a good actor or actress. And behind every good performance is emotion. An actor or actress must sell the audience on what their character is feeling."
"I guess that makes sense," The pegasus agreed. "But what I am supposed to be feeling when I'm playing you, Princess Celestia? How did you feel when you first raised the sun?"
The alicorn fondly recalled. "Words can't really describe it. It was a truly exhilarating experience, especially when Starswirl the Bearded realized I hadn't lost my magic," She then put a hoof to her chin. "Why don't you try visualizing this with me?" Shutting her eyes (and motioning for Fluttershy to do the same), she began to speak in a gentle and relaxed tone of voice. "You're a princess. Regal. Commanding. Confident. Feel the rising sun's warmth. Equestria needs you."
"I... I feel..." Fluttershy began as an unusual sensation starting to take hold of her body.
"Yes, that's right," Princess Celestia instructed in an unaware tone of voice. "You can feel it, can't you? Feel the sun's rays bathe your body, filing you with confidence?"
But suddenly, Fluttershy became alarmed with she felt something most unusual happen to her body! Before she had a chance to react or even express what it was, however, there was a sudden flash of light!
Celestia suddenly became anything but calm and collected as she stood up! She tried to light up her horn, only to find that it wouldn't even spark! "Oh dear!" She exclaimed in a worried tone of voice! "My powers... they're gone!"
Meanwhile, the pegasus posing as a princess exclaimed with alarm! "What's wrong with me?! I... I feel so powerful! I feel like I can do magic even without a horn!" She gasped as an awful realization struck her! "I think I have your powers, Princess Celestia!"
"Maybe because you do have her powers!" A familiar chaotic voice declared, its owner appearing before the two ponies in another flash of light!
"Discord! I should've known!" Princess Celestia exclaimed with surprise before narrowing her eyes. "What have you done now?!"
The draconequus intentionally made himself as small as possible as he sheepishly sought to defend himself. "Nothing, really. It was an accident, I swear!"
Fluttershy spoke up in a stern, scolding tone of voice that sounded not unlike she was scolding a child. "Discord!"
The chaos maker reluctantly confessed. "I was just observing your little rehearsal, and I couldn't help but notice that Fluttershy here," He pointed a claw. "Seemed to be having a tough time 'getting into character' as it were. So I thought maybe I could help her by making her see what it's like to be you, Princess Celestia."
The alicorn had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "By giving her my powers? How is that supposed to help?"
Discord quickly sought to defend himself while apologizing in as innocent a tone as he could manage. "It's not permanent if that's what you're worried about. It'll wear off in about..." He turned his gaze up towards the sky before answering. "Twenty four hours or so, probably not even that."
"You can't reverse it?" Fluttershy frantically inquired of her chaotic friend.
Discord hesitantly replied. "I'm... afraid not. I used more power than I thought I would. I only meant to give you a small bit of Celestia's powers," He willingly confessed. "But it looks like I gave you the whole package," And with a nervous laugh he declared. "Oopsie."
The animal loving pegasus could only shake her head in response to what Discord had told her. "Your heart may have been in the right place, Discord. But you really should know better than to do things like this without asking permission first."
"You're lucky I don't have somewhere important to be right now and that I don't have to worry about raising the sun," Celestia sternly scolded the draconequus. "Now it seems I'm going to have really teach Fluttershy what it means to be me so that she can control my powers."
The chaos maker was quick to reply. "You do that, princess. I'll just... provide the moral support." And then with a snap of his talons he disappeared.
Fluttershy shook her head in dismay. "I really thought he was getting better, princess. I know he has to be chaotic, but I thought he was learning how to use his powers for good."
The sun princess simply commented in response. "It's alright. This isn't the first time I've been rendered temporarily powerless or otherwise had my powers taken away from me. And part of being a princess means learning how to adapt to adversity," She then cleared her throat. "Now, let's just get back to our rehearsing. You can learn as you go."
The pegasus mare agreed. Yet as she prepared to learn from a princess, her thoughts turned to her friends on the stage. "I sure hope they're not having problems like I am." She thought to herself.
But Fluttershy wasn't the only one experiencing trouble. Even back on the stage, other problems were quickly presenting themselves.
One of those problems quickly presented itself when Rainbow Dash happened to peer out from behind the curtains and spotted something she normally would've loved to see, but in the current circumstances it was the last thing she'd wanted to see. "Uh, I think we might have a problem on our hooves here," She informed the others. "The crowd's already starting to show up."
"Oh no!" Spike gasped in realization! "We must've put the wrong date on all those flyers advertising our play!"
"That, or Princess Celestia showing up brought in the big crowds," Twilight commented before taking a deep breath. "But that's okay, we can work with this. We'll just have to confine any rehearsals to backstage and make sure we're not overheard. As long as we do that, I'm sure everything will be as smooth as-"
"-Silk!" Rarity suddenly cried out as she sprang from her sewing machine and rushed to a nearby trunk! "I must find the silk! I need to make some repairs to Smolder's costume!"
"Rarity, what did you do?!" Applejack demanded.
The fashionista reluctantly replied. "I was trying to add some room for her wings and I kind of put a hole through the sides. A really big hole!" She then began to sift through the trunk. "Silk is the only material I can work with on such short notice that won't make the suit all itchy."
Pinkie Pie then bounced over just seconds after a crash sound was heard, followed by what sounded like an "Uh-oh!" from Yona. "Uh, I think we're gonna need a new fake sun."
"Yona not mean to, Yona tripped." Yona's voice could be heard apologizing in the distance.
Applejack frowned upon receiving the bad news. "That fake sun took me weeks to build. No way can I get another one built if we're goin' on tonight!"
"We can't cancel now!" Twilight protested. "Those ponies are expecting a play and we've gotta give it to them. As they say in theater: 'The show must go on!'"
The farm mare sighed and adjusted her hat. "Well, we're still gonna need somethin' that can stand in for the sun on short notice. Anypony got any ideas?"
Pinkie quickly shot a hoof up as she exclaimed! "Ooh! Ooh! I've got one! It's a good one too, you'll see!" And without waiting for any feedback (or for anyone else to offer their ideas for that matter), the pink party pony pranced away in the blink of an eye! She returned shortly with a marshmallow on a stick, the marshmallow was surrounded by flames that started to spit hot, gooey, melted marshmallow everywhere.
"Pinkie Pie!" Applejack angrily remarked as she hurriedly grabbed a bucket of water and threw it over the marshmallow (and Pinkie too) to extinguish the flame.
"What? It's realistic," The pink coated earth pony explained. "The sun is just like a burning marshmallow. Obviously we're not gonna use an actual burning marshmallow, we just need something that looks like a burning marshmallow."
Twilight hesitantly and nervously shot down the idea. "That sounds... unsafe. We've got enough problems as it is without burning down our set," She turned to Applejack and Pinkie Pie. "The two of you come up with something we can use for a fake sun that won't put anyone in danger."
"Right!" The two earth ponies saluted at the same time and trotted away.
Starlight came trotting into view just as Pinkie and Applejack raced past her. "Well, I've got good news and bad news," She told her remaining friends. "The good news is: Ocellus has got her Starswirl the Bearded impression down pat, she's even got the voice."
The little dragon hesitantly questioned the unicorn. "So, what's the bad news?"
Starlight briefly peered out through the red curtains. "I think the crowd's getting restless. We might need to have a show before a show to distract them so they don't get up and leave, or worse."
Spike smiled. "I think I know somepony who can do that. After all, she probably deserves something after we couldn't figure out how to work her into the play's story," He began to write a letter on a piece of paper. "I just hope she'll be available on short notice."
"Okay, so at least that's taken care of," Twilight Sparkle sighed with a slight sense of relief. "But this play is turning into a nightmare! It was supposed to be a simple play, but everything's going wrong!" She stopped after realizing she was about to lose her cool, though she still groaned. "It's okay, it's okay. As long as we get the play underway by sundown, we'll be fine. I just hope Fluttershy and Princess Celestia are back from their rehearsal by then. Because if not..." She gulped. "I don't know what we're going to do."
"Alright, Fluttershy," Princess Celestia declared as she took on the best instructor's tone she could muster up. "I've always found teaching to be where I am best. You may not be like most of the students I'm used to tutoring or mentoring, but I'll still do my best to guide you. Are you ready to begin?"
The animal loving pegasus mare blinked slowly in uncertainty. "I... think so."
"Good." The currently powerless sun princess smiled. "Now then, tell me how you feel. What you feel. Do you feel anything?"
Fluttershy immediately protested. "I can't feel anything at all! This is all too much!" She squeaked in horror! "Oh no! I think my stage fright's coming back! I'm not ready to be just like you, Princess Celestia!" And she began to breath heavily into a paper bag she'd brought with her for emergencies (which this was).
Celestia was quick to trot up to the panic stricken mare and calmly say to her. "It's okay, you don't have to be exactly like me. Think me of as just another character."
"But you aren't!" The pegasus protested again.
"For the sake of the play, aren't I technically one? The lead character in fact?" The princess pointed out. "And isn't life kind of like a play? We each are born with a role to play, and every day we go about performing in that role whether we mean to or not."
The pegasus mare with pink bangs ceased in her fast breathing as she processed the information. "I'd never thought of it like that before."
The sun princess winked. "When you live as long as I do, you start to pick up on little things like that," She then proceeded to instruct. "Now, close your eyes and visualize with me. Concentrate. Feel, don't think."
Fluttershy obeyed, shutting her eyes tightly. "Now what?"
Celestia instructed. "Listen carefully to yourself. Tell me, what do you feel? You must be able to feel something."
"I'm still not feeling anything," The animal loving pegasus mare responded without opening her eyes. "I'm sorry, Princess Celestia. Maybe if I had a horn I'd feel something?"
"No," The alicorn told the pegasus without changing her tone of voice even the slightest. "Shut out all other feelings, all other distractions. Let them all fade away like a morning fog burnt off by the sun. Look deep inside yourself and you will feel something."
Fluttershy hesitantly and reluctantly did so. It wasn't easy. So many thoughts raced through her mind, dozens of them worries about herself or her friends. But slowly, as she breathed deeply, she could feel them fade away. It was as if those were all the worries of another day, and a new day was dawning inside of her. A warmth began to spread through her body. "I... I can feel it! The love you have for all of Equestria! That radiating warmth!"
"Excellent!" Celestia smiled as she opened her eyes, taking note of how calm Fluttershy was now. She was so still she almost could've been mistaken for a statue. "Now, let's see if you can channel that energy, that warmth."
A gasp escaped the pegasus' lips as she realized what was meant by those instructions! "You mean...!"
The currently powerless sun princess just replied. "I do."
Swallowing hard as a bead of sweat began to trickle down her face, the pegasus mare pushed her pink bangs back even as she didn't open her eyes. "I'll... try. Here goes!"
Princess Celestia watched as the pony currently possessing all of her powers began to lift into the air without even flapping her wings. She could see a golden yellow glow emanating from around the pegasus as she did so. And slowly but surely, the sun began to move.
With the warmth spreading through her entire body, Fluttershy opened her eyes and excitedly exclaimed! "I'm doing it?! I am! I am doing it! And all without a horn! Oh, this is so amazing!" She started to flap her wings and flew all around, buzzing past Princess Celestia several times! "Oh, I've never felt like this before! This is... this is... I don't even know what it is! This must be what you and Princess Luna feel like all the time!"
The alicorn chuckled even as she raised up a hoof. "Yes, it's a lot to take in at first. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Remember to stay calm. Don't let that power control you, you must control it."
"Okay." The pegasus reluctantly agreed even while she frowned ever so slightly. She'd been enjoying herself enormously. Still, she lowered herself to the ground as the surge of power wore off. The sun had moved to the west a little, but only if one had been looking closely at the sky would they have seen that such was the case.
Celestia clapped her hooves together in approval. "That was amazing, Fluttershy! You really remind me of myself the first time I raised the sun!"
"Really?" Fluttershy asked in slight embarrassment. "Even the getting carried away part?"
The powerless sun princess nodded. "Yes, even that. Even princesses aren't perfect. After discovering our powers, Starswirl probably got more grey hairs than he ever had before trying to keep us under control. It took us a long time before we'd learnt what an important responsibility our powers were," She then declared. "Now, let's go through the rehearsal one more time. Let's see how you act with my powers and Twilight's script."
Time seemed to pass quicker than anypony would've liked on the stage as they all ran about, trying to complete their tasks while the audience was "distracted" with a performance from Princess Luna.
But even an appearance from the princess of the night wasn't enough to keep the audience from growing restless. Eventually, they could all be heard exchanging remarks about how long it was taking for the show to start.
The moon princess trotted back behind the curtains and in a somewhat calm tone of voice she informed the others. "I can delay no longer. Ready or not, you'll have to begin your play."
"What?!" Twilight gasped as her eyes widened in alarm! "But we're not ready! We don't have our lead actress, the costumes aren't finished and there's no new fake sun! Our play's going to be a disaster!"
From afar, the familiar voice of Princess Celestia spoke up. "Fortunately, I know a thing or two about how to deal with those. After all the crises I've faced, I've picked up a few things in the field of disaster management."
Everyone backstage was delighted to see the princess, especially since Fluttershy was accompanying her. "Sister! Oh, thank goodness you're in time!" Luna desperately proclaimed. "I tried my best, but I don't have your charm when it comes to entertaining crowds for long periods of time."
Celestia smiled even while she remarked. "I didn't expect to see you here, Luna."
The moon princess simply explained. "When my favorite dragon wrote to me for help, how could I say no?"
Twilight, meanwhile, approached her former mentor as she declared. "Sorry, but things are even more messed up now than they were when you left. I thought we'd have more time than we did."
"Then there's no more time left to waste!" The powerless sun princess urgently proclaimed! "Just tell me what needs fixing and I'll do my best!"
Rarity urgently exclaimed! "We don't have a fake sun! We haven't worked out who the narrator is! And the costumes still need a minute!"
"A minute is all we need," Princess Celestia instructed. "Spike, you narrate the play."
Spike gave a salute. "Can do!"
"Leave the sun to me, or rather to Fluttershy!" The alicorn with a majestic white coat explained.
"What?! Sister, are you mad?!" Luna exclaimed in shock! "Letting her raise the sun, and now of all times?!"
Celestia just winked. "I'll let you keep the moon up for a little longer tomorrow morning. How's that sound?"
The younger alicorn reluctantly agreed. "Fine." But she still folded her hooves across her chest in a pout.
"And if anypony says anything about the costumes," Celestia then added. "Just roll with it. Improvise. Now, let's all take our places and give these ponies a show they'll never forget!"
Twilight Sparkle stepped out onto the stage as a lone spotlight shone down on her. She did her best to ignore the stern gazes of so many audience members as she calmly declared for all to hear. "Thank you all for your patience. Without further ado, The School of Friendship is proud to present: A New Day in Equestria." She then retreated to the safety of the curtains to watch the play unfold.
Spike appeared at a small podium that had hastily been erected on the stage, and he began to narrate. "Long ago, in a time before alicorns were known, the new kingdom of Equestria was suffering terrible hardship. Raising the sun every morning was so hard that it took five great sorcerers plus Starswirl the Bearded to do it."
Out came the "sorcerers" in their new costumes, which quickly attracted attention for all the wrong reasons. Some audience members began to snicker ever so faintly while other ponies appeared to be whispering to one another.
"I know what you must be thinking," Spike spoke up as he broke from his role of narrator. "And you're right, those sorcerers sure don't look good. That's because raising the sun is draining them all of their magic. Only Starswirl the Bearded ever has any left, and even he's struggling."
"It's true!" Starswirl spoke up as he appeared on the stage. "Every day I'm getting more and more grey hairs by the minute, and I'm not that old!"
Then Spike resumed his narration. "Things looked bleak. Soon, Equestria would lose all its magic users! Then the land would be covered in darkness for eternity!" And as he spoke he saw the students dressed as sorcerers all fall to the ground, looking quite exhausted. "But then, one of Starswirl's students named Celestia discovered she had the power to raise the sun all by herself without draining her magic!"
Right on cue, Fluttershy came trotting out as she recited perfectly from memory. "It is time for a new day in Equestria!" She shut her eyes as a familiar tingling sensation flowed through her body. She didn't need to look up to know that she was raising the sun all by herself.
The audience was none the wiser. The sun looked so real, but none of them believed it was the actual sun itself. Several ponies oohed and ahhed while marveling at the display before their eyes.
"Wow!" One pony in the audience could be heard to say. "I never thought a school play could have such advanced special effects! Must've been where the budget went."
It was possible for Twilight to hear Princess Celestia snickering faintly to herself while putting a hoof to her mouth. Still, the alicorn could be seen to briefly sport a rather goofy grin.
Twilight just smiled. This wasn't the first time she'd seen her former mentor like this. At least this time they were both in on the joke.
The play proceeded smoothly from there and ended right on schedule. The cast members all proudly took a bow as ponies clapped, cheered, whistle and even threw flowers onto the stage to show their satisfaction.
Afterwards, as the flowers were being gathered after everypony had left, Princess Celestia had a warm smile on her face as she told the others. "Judging by how many flowers the audience threw, it seems the play was a success. I couldn't have asked for a better ones-versary gift."
"Oh, it was my pleasure," Princess Luna spoke up in a tone of voice that suddenly sounded a lot like Discord. "It was the least I could do to make up for my little... slip up."
"Discord?!" Fluttershy gasped in surprise! "You were Princess Luna this whole time?!"
Discord quickly revealed himself as he shed his disguise. "Yes I was. And don't worry, the actual Princess Luna is fine," He then explained. "I knew she wouldn't be able to make it here. And I felt so bad about what I did to Princess Celestia. Helping to distract the audience was my way of trying to fix things."
Princess Celestia then looked at the draconequus and told him. "You may have had good intentions, Discord. And it's great that you tried to correct your mistake by helping others. But the next time you decide to do something like transfer a pony's powers or taking on the identity of somepony else, please ask for permission first."
The chaos maker reluctantly bowed his head and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, princess," Then he hastily declared. "I... uh... I'd best be going now! Toodles!" And then with a snap of his talons he disappeared in a flash of light.
Fluttershy just sighed. "That's Discord for you," But she promised to Princess Celestia. "I'll be sure to have a long talk with him tomorrow about his actions, just to make sure he understands not to do them again."
The sun princess nodded back. "Thank you, Fluttershy. That would be most appreciated," Then, mere moments after she spoke she felt a surge of power, and knew at once what it was. "Well, seems I've gotten my powers back again. And not a moment too soon." She quickly lowered the sun all the way.
"Thanks for all you did to help our play. We couldn't have pulled it off without you." Twilight said to her fellow alicorn.
Celestia smiled anew. "Helping my friends is exactly what I like doing more than anything else, even more than watching plays or wishing I were an actress. Besides, I never felt I had to be on stage to be a part of the show. All I ever wanted was to share an honest bond of creativity, artistry, and happiness with my friends. And that's exactly what I got to do," Then she added. "And you know, I had so much fun tonight that I've decided: Maybe it's time I retired."
The news came as a shock to everyone, especially Twilight who's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates! "What?!"
The alicorn with a majestic white coat just explained. "Nopony is meant to rule forever. I think it's time I gave up my crown and stepped down from the throne. Then I can devote myself freely to the theater."
"Y-you... you can't be serious!" The alicorn with a light purple coat exclaimed in disbelief!
Princess Celestia smirked and winked. "Indeed I'm not," She chuckled. "Perhaps there is a bit of an actress in me after all."
Twilight wiped the sweat from her brows in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. Don't ever scare me like that again!"
"I assure you, Twilight," Princess Celestia calmly and warmly replied. "If someday I do abdicate the throne, you'll be the first to know. And you will know if I'm serious about it. But hopefully, that day won't come for a long time."
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Great job on getting the next chapter/episode/second-to-last for this volume up. I really appreciate the effort that went into the exchanges, characterizations and general wrap-up in all the right places. And especially thanks for liking one of my ideas enough to do something based on it. Plus, as usual, you made great points in the author's notes. Anyway, very good work on Celestia giving helpful pointers to the students and Fluttershy (the latter ESPECIALLY after Discord temporarily gave her Celestia's powers) and also on Discord disguising himself as Luna to try to make up for his mistake. Plus, actually having a volunteer try to stall for time on their own accord makes much more sense than forcing Spike to do it.
VERY much looking forward to the next/last episode for this volume.