The Sun Summer Celebration
Once upon a time, in the magical Land of Equestria, There were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all of Equestria. To do this, the Eldest used her unicorn powers and brought out the sun to shine upon the land, the Younger, brought out the moon to begin the night. Together, the two brought peace and balance to Equestria, and to all the different ponies who lived there.
But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and delighted in her sister’s day, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night.
One fateful day, the younger Sister refused to lower the moon and make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one’s heart had transformed her into a wicked Mare of Darkness!
Nightmare Moon.
The Elder sister pleaded and fought for her subjects valiantly, but before she could act, her wicked sister cast a powerful spell that sealed away her sister in the Sun. With her sister gone, and no one to stop her, Nightmare Moon began her reign of terror across the land.
And so began the Year of Darkness…
“Twilight! I see that candle in there!” Came a voice that shook the young filly from her reading daze. The young unicorn pouted as her mother opened the door, stepping in. “Lights out, dear. You have a big day tomorrow!”
“Aw, but mom!” She pleaded. “I was just about to get to the second verse and-”
“Now Twilight, we talked about this. You want to see the Sun Summer Solstice this year, don’t you?”
“Of course I do!”
“Then you need to rest.” Her mother said, gently tugging the book from Twilight’s grasp. Twilight’s pout increased as she watched her storybook float up and away onto her towering bookshelf, pointedly up high, where she wouldn’t be able to reach it easily.
“But i’m not sleepy at all…” Twilight huffed at her mother, but settled anyway as the warmth of her comforter embraced her. Watching her mother trot to the side of her bed and smiling down at her, gently.
“Well then, how about a lullaby?” Her mother offered.
“My Little Pony, My Little Pony
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh…
(My Little Pony!)
Everyday is a dream come true!
(My Little Pony!)
Oh, How I love to share them with you!
A valiant heart!
Fantastic adventure!
An open mind!
That’s sharing in kind!
Some happening beats!
It’s an easy feat
And magic makes it all complete!”
My Little Pony!
I’m so glad you’re all my very best friends!
It started on the morning of the Sun Summer Solstice. That’s what Twilight came to believe, at any rate, years later when hindsight was 20-20. It was something of an event, in the Castle-city of Shangri-la. Every Sun Summer Solstice morning, the Moon, off the coattails of the longest night of Equestria, would be lowered, and in it’s place the Sun would bathe the world in her warm glow once more.
This event was meant to symbolise another that had occured over a thousand years before.
All Twilight knew at that moment was that she was sleepy, and cold, even under the coat her father had draped over her. She stood there shivering and shuddering in the cool air of the morning, which by her standards, wasn’t even morning.
The moon hung low in the sky, glowing brightly on a backdrop of blackness and nothing more. A crowd of hundreds stood in a herd around Twilight and her family, murmuring in anticipation. For a sight Twilight had never seen, as usually she was dutifully in bed at this time.
She had just given out a long, much needed yawn when she noticed everyone had hushed.
The little filly didn’t notice why until she heard the laughter. At first, it scared her, and seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Ducking under her mother, she frantically looked around for the source of the cackling.
Then she saw it.
It was something like smoke, wafting from the far edges of the stage and coalescing into the center, compacting and making a shape. Twilight watched in awe as the shape twisted and solidified in a burst of blinding light, cackling it’s head off the whole while.
She had never seen their king in person before. She’d seen various pictures, yes, in many storybooks, many descriptors in many books that didn’t offer pictures save the ones that it painted in the mind’s eye. While none of them had been wholly off the mark, none of them had managed to quite capture his…fluidity?
“Good MORNING everypony!” The King declared, mismatched arms splaying apart in a stretch. “And how’re my beloved subjects tonight? Didn’t party too much I hope?”
The crowd around Twilight blared in chuckles, along with the shouting scream from one young pony in the far back, loud enough for twilight to hear even up so close to the front.
“YEAH!”
“Well, It’s good to see my ponies so spirited!” The king said, smiling briefly as he stretched his arms out into a loud yawn. “HAum--Hoo….and at such an early hour. I don’t know about you, but i’m looking forward to a nice long nap after this.”
The ponies in the crowd laughed at his candid speech, and a tension Twilight hadn’t even noticed, lifted. She watched in awe with the rest as the king vanished with a snap of fingers and a flash, only to reapparate in the crowd, pawed arm slung over a mare.
“Although I appreciate the enthusiasm my little ponies...” The strange creature took a glass of dark purple liquid from a wobbling punch colored mare. They all watched as the mare teetered over, like a cup placed too far on the edge of a counter, and spilled onto a body sized pillow that hadn’t been there a moment previously.
Another puff of smoke and flash of light landed the king right back on the center of the stage, as if he had never left.
“I think it’s about time we all call it a night, don’t you agree?”
The king flicked the glass of liquid into the crowd. Twilight watched it soar a short ways above before bursting and popping in the air like a sparkler. “Or…Perhaps we should call it a day instead!”
Twilight giggled, braving to venture out from her mother’s protection, feeling a little more awake now.
Twilight was fully out in the open now, following her mother closely as they made their way toward the front, leaving her trepidation behind.
The crowd hushed and gathered closer toward the stage, a sea of flanks closing in on her family, blocking her view of the King and his stage. Her parents attempted to shuffle forward and defend their view of a flank free spectacle.
Not to have this chance taken from her, Twilight put her hoof down and proceeded to squeeze through the forest of legs with all her might, ignoring the initial protests of her mother. She’d lost sleep and study time to see this event, two precious commodities that Twilight did not give up lightly. She had to see this, she needed to.
With great effort and more than a little apologizing as the filly strongarmed her way through, she found herself stumbling to the front. Here she could see everything, and it startled her just how close she was to the stage now. She gazed at it in wonder, letting her eyes trail up to the top of the stage, where her own eyes met that of The King’s.
She let out an audible gasp, and shrunk down, panic suddenly gripping her. At some point he’d noticed her, was because she’d been disruptive?
Her growing fears all but vanished when a warm and kindly smile spread on his snout.
The King took his attention from her and started to rise in the air, arms splayed side to side. His smile fading into an expression that was more serious, but not unkind.
“Well My dear subjects, as you know this is the 984th year since that fatefull Night. The Night that was never meant to end.” The Draconequus spoke, and the ponies were compelled to listen. “Almost a Thousand Years ago, Tyranny reigned across Equestria, gripping its subjects in endless darkness. This Celebration, while all in good fun, is to remember the brave ponies who stood up to that darkness, with only magic and companionship to aide them!”
“ Today, This Sun Summer Solstice, to end the Night and bring Equestria to another tomorrow, I bring you the sun!”
With a flap of his two feathered wings, one blue as the sky and the other black as shadow, the King craned his neck in an arch. With this action, the singular jewel atop his crown began to sparkle in the moonlight, growing in luminesence as the seconds passed, glowing brighter and brighter, until Twilight’s eyes began to sting.
A corona of light surrounded the moon in response to the glowing crown. It grew brighter, waves of light trailing into the sky, painting it from dark blue to light, to a soft violet and then to orange. Just as the moon became it’s brightest, with a great blast of light that swept away the last remaining traces of night, the sun in its place.
Twilight gasped in synch with the rest around her, eyes widening in awe.
The sun, unveiled by night, shone brightly with a trumphant glow upon all of equestria. The warm rays of the sun dancing through the clouds and showering twilight in its gentle light, banishing her chill if for just a moment.
She’d read stories all her life about the Magic of Chaos and it’s representing spirit, but seeing was believing. For Twilight Sparkle, the world was suddenly alive in a way it hadn’t been before.
Thankfully the crowd was too absorbed by the spectacle to notice the King, less than regally, sag back down to the ground like an autumn leaf. He collected himself after a moment, rubbing his talon through the back of his white and black streaked mane.
“What is this, the nine hundreth year or something you’ve done this? You should really be used to it by now, boss.” One of the guards spoke, still standing at attention with the others.
“I’ll have you know I only started doing this when Shangri-la was founded. And that was only THREE hundred and SIXTY years ago, thank you very much.”
The snow coated monochromatic stallion snorted. “Yeah, that doesn’t change my point… You were exhausted last year too.”
“I’ve been exhausted for at least ten.” The King huffed.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Sire.” He asked.
“I’m fine…but raising the sun isn’t as…..Easy as it used to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s almost as if it’s…resisting me.” The Draconequus looked to the same sky at which his subjects marveled. A suspicious frown taking his features.
“Ominious.”
“It’s probably nothing.”
“It rarely is with you, your majesty.” The Stallion snorted, motioning to the other guards with a flip of his mane. The Guards began to move out as their charge recollected himself, stretching his various arms, hindquarters and whatever else the mismatched monarch had.
“Wishful thinking, then.” The King finally responded with a grunt. With a loud crack in his shoulderblades he finally snapped back into form. He looked on his subjects again, and some had started to offer him their attention again, especially a bright eyed and adorable filly at the forefront.
The morning’s events eventually lead into the banquet, a wide array of every food concievable, and some even inconcievable, to pony kind was on the menu. The table was a dazzling array of colors, and smells. It was clear the large crowds were ravenous, but there wasn’t need to worry about any shortage of food, should it come to it, as Discord was more than capable of refilling the platters as they emptied. As many times as he needed, in fact, as unglamorous as it was, it was more or less his only real “job” at the event,
“Ugh…why do I always agree to these?” Discord whined, letting his head fall into a heap on the table.
“Because it’s your duty? Sire?” His personal Guard offered.
“Oh goody. The entire spectrum of Chaotic magic at my disposal and i’m reduced to the royal caterer.” The King huffed.
Perhaps that was a bit selfish, but after three hundred years of these holidays, which had slowly refined from a spur of the moment speech three hundred years ago to meticuliously scheduled tedium, The King found himself bored, even if it was one of the only ones he made a personal appearance. It didn’t help that he was the exact opposite of whatever a creature of habit was, and keeping on task was more difficult for him than anyone in the kingdom.
“More like a Royal lunch lady.” The Guard snorted sarcastically.
“Silver Glow? What would I do without you?”
“Probably turn everyone’s mane into cotton candy, sire.”
“Oh that’s so ten decades ago. I think on a sunny day like this a monsterous gale would be more appropriate. Maybe even some suddy streets for a bit of flair- Those Chipmunks over there could be put to good if well placed in a crowd. Maybe even a bit less gravity here and there, just to keep it fresh-And Oh! Why not some Cotton Candy Manes, just for fun?”
His Royal Guard stared at him unblinking.
...
“I’m... starting to remember why i’m limited to just one of these a year.” The King said.
“You don’t say.” Silver Glow replied, dryly. “Remind me to bring you some card games next time.”
“Give it back!” A small but shrill voice nearby snapped Discord out of any building mischief he’d been concocting.
“Sheesh, calm down, I just wanted to see what you were reading!”
“Give it back!”
“What the heck? Is this an encyclopedia?” Discord watched as a rainbow maned pegasus filly tossed a rather bland looking book to her Griffon friend hovering above.
“Seriously? What kind of Egghead brings an encyclopedia to a gig like this?”
“i’m not an Egghead!” The target of their teasing, a unicorn filly, jumped up after them, vainly trying to reach them.
“Pffaahaha! Egghead!” The Rainbow Pegasus laughed, doing an impressively complicated manuever in the air to catch the book as it was tossed back to her. “Well come on Egghead! Take it back with your brainy unicron magic!”
The Unicorn filly frowned, her horn sparkling and flickering with magic. Unfortunately, as he face became redder and her frown increased in concentration, it was clearly futile.
He watched her jump, her concentration ruined as the other two broke into uproarious laughter.
“The Egghead can’t even cast a spell!” The Griffon shouted between laughs, doubling over.
A small frown formed on the King’s brow.
“Give it back!” Twilight shouted, jumping at the Griffon.
“What the heck?” The Pegasus said, roughly flipping through the pages. “Is this an encylcopedia?”
“Seriously??” The Griffon balked, rolling her eyes. “Pff! What kind of king of Egghead brings an encyclopedia to a gig like this?”
“I’m not an Egghead!” Twilight said, stamping her hoof on the ground. She gasped as the Griffon carelessly tossed the book in the air, running to catch it.
“Pffaahahahaha! Egghead!” The Pegasus jeered, flying circles around her before catching the book right before she could.
She jumped uselessly after the Pegasus, desperately trying to get the book, her favorite book.
“Well come on Egghead!” The Pegasus waved the book in front of her, just out of reach. “Take it back with your brainy unicorn magic!”
A heavy pit formed itself in her chest. She’d never been able to lift anything heavier than a pen, let alone take a book from another pony.
She frowned, mustering up all her willpower into her horn. She strained and struggled, feeling the magic build within her horn and sputter.
She let out an air-starved gasp, feeling her magic wane and her energy drain. All her efforts ended abruptly when the loud and sudden laughter of the Griffon and Pegasus duo interrupted her.
“The Egghead can’t even cast a spell!”
The words stung so harshly that it surprised her. Anger and frustration roiled inside of her with such a startling flurry that Twilight had no idea what to do with it. She felt her cheeks heat up like furnaces and her eyes sting. She tried her best to stop it, lowering her head so they wouldn’t see her state, but it was futile.
The laughter suddenly stopped, but she didn’t notice until the world suddenly darkened around her.
Lifting her head just enough to see through her bangs, she saw why,
“u-uh?” The Pegasus tried, but a confused grunt was all she could manage.
The King glowered at her and the Griffon, his serpintine head arched over them in such a way that he blocked the very sun he summoned not even two hours before.
“And what, may I ask, do the two of you think you’re doing?” The King inquired with a quirked brow, his tone wasn’t at all the chipper notes of before, oh no, this time his voice was low and evenly measured. Somehow that felt more alarming than if he had just shouted or yelled at them.
“Whuh we-we were just--”
“We were just playing around…” The Griffon said, her feathers bristled defensively, though by the stiffness of her beak and wideness of her eyes, even Twilight could tell she was intimidated.
“Oh! Playing around are we?” The King’s brows raised, his voice growing worryingly pitched. “Having a bit of fun?”
“Yeah… We were just joking. “
“Oh you like JOKES, do you?” A wide, terrifying grin cut through the King’s features. “Well I have a few jokes of my own, Horsebutt.”
“Horsebutt-What?” The Griffon sneered, incredulously. Her eyes widened when she heard a giggle, her head snapping to her Pegasus friend, a look of fury on her face. “What’re YOU laughing at?”
“Your BUTT!”
“What about my--” She shrieked, shrill and birdlike. Sure enough, where the lion portion of her body had been, was now replaced by an inappropriately proportioned pony’s posterior. “Change it back!”
“What’s wrong? I thought you LIKED jokes!”
“Change. It. BACK!” The Griffon demanded, chest puffing.
The King, however, wasn’t about to back down to a small Griffon upstart. He leaned forward, shadows casting over his features.
“Or. What?” He asked.
“Or…Or--….or…” Twilight watched as the Griffon deflated, perhaps suddenly remembering exactly who and what she was dealing with.
“Oh relax!” The King chided, swiping a claw at the air dismissively, a bright flash and the Griffon was restored. “I’m only “playing” around.”
The young Pegasus continued to giggle, much to the dismay of her friend.
“It wasn’t funny.”
“Well,” The King sighed, “If you don’t LIKE that kind of teasing, might I suggest you keep that in mind, next time you decide joke with somepony? Hmmmmh?”
“Whatever.” The Griffon said, tersely, but didn’t dare say more.
“Now, if i’m not mistaken… Aren’t you two here for Cloudsdale’s little air-show later?” Twilight watched the Pegasus wilt, which told her he was very much not mistaken. “Why don’t you two flutter along to your group Hm?”
With a huff and a flap of her wings, the Griffon was the first to go. The Pegasus filly, however, lingered, glancing in Twilight’s direction.
“Go on.” The King said, much less sarcastically and much more firmly. “And I suggest you’re on your best behavior Rainbowdash. I’ll be keeping an EXTRA close eye on you.”
At that, the Pegasus filly seemed motivated enough to speed away, much more quickly and fluidly than her Griffon friend.
Twilight shrank as The King turned his head to her, her rage and frustration cooling into a horrible miasma of shame. She quickly burried her head as she felt her cheeks grow wet with tears. Trying desperately to stifle her sniffling before the King.
“Oh my, dear, are you alright?”
“I’m s-s-s-sorry…” She whimpered, hiccuping back a sob.
“Now what do you have to be sorry about?” She felt his tail curl around her and push her closer, his wings hooding over her and his head, blocking them from view. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I-i..” She tried, only to be interrupted by another sob. Her frustration only grew with each cry following. This wasn’t how a young filly behaved in front of The King of Equestria. She really was a weak stupid Egghead.
“Shh…There there.” He soothed. “There’s no need to cry. See?”
Twilight looked up, blinking away her tears enough to see what it was he was holding. There in his talons was her book, The Encyclopedia of Equestria’s legends and Lore, First Edition. Her most prized possession aside from Mr. Smartypants.
“My book!” She shouted, quickly grabbing it into her hooves and hugging it to her. “T-thank you Mr. King…”
“Discord’s just fine, little one.” Discord chuckled, gently patting her head. “But I don’t believe I ever got your name Little Pony.”
“It’s Twilight, Twilight Sparkle, Mr. Discord King, sir.” She perked a little as he laughed again, though she wasn’t sure why.
“Well it’s nice to meet you Ms. Twilight Sparkle.” He reached over behind her ear, pulling out a colorful handkerchef and handing it to her. “Are you here alone?”
“MmMn.” Twilight shook her head, rubbing the cloth over her eyes, letting out a last fading hiccup as her sobs died away. “They were talking to their friends…so I went to read under the tree over there.”
“I see, I see.” Discord nodded in understanding.
“Twilight!” Came the voice of a stallion. Twilight and Discord lifted their heads to see, the draconequus folding his wings away. “Oh thank goodness--Ah! Your highness!” The Stallion bowed before him. “Thank you for finding my daughter. I hope she didn’t cause any trouble your Majesty.”
“Oh heavens no! Not at all! Young Twilight here was just regailing me with tales from this…” He craned his neck over, a bit awkwardly to see the title of the book. “Encylcopedia.” He finished, flatly.
“Of Equestria’s Legends and Lore.” Twilight added, smiling helpfully. The King returned her smile.
“Oh well--Th-that’s very nice of you, Twilight. To…read to the…King.”
“How big is this book anyway?” The King questioned, snapping his talons, and with a flash of light gripping the book. “My my my…Look at this! This is the kind of book that’d have some older ponies reeling! And you’re reading this?”
“Mmhm!” Twilight nodded.
“You really are a bright one, aren’t you?” Discord said, grinning.
“An Egghead you mean…” Twilight frowned, looking down.
“Oh I don’t know why you look so down.” Discord said, and Twilight looked up after a quick flash. “I rather like Eggs.”
Twilight errupted into a fit of giggles, and even her father chuckled some at the display. Instead of a head was a large appropriately shaped Egg. One that had a crude drawing of angry eyes and jerked open as he spoke, as if cracked.
“Don’t take too much stock in what petty ponies say.” The King’s head returned to form after another bright flash of light. “You’ve a very smart filly there Mr. Night Light.”
“Thank you sir.” Night Light trotted beside his daughter, wrapping a hoof around her. “Er-I mean-Sire. Your Majesty.” Her father grinned nervously above her.
“No thanks necissary! It was a nice distraction.” Discord said. “Take care Twilight Sparkle. I hope to see you again next year, hmm?”
“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed, her tail twitching.
That earned her a pat on the head and witch a flash the King was gone.
“Well how about that.” Night Light said, looking at his daughter. “You got to meet the King! How was that?”
“He was nice.” Twilight said, squeaking a little as her father used his magic to place Twilight atop his back.
“Well why don’t we finish breakfast before the Shadow and the Wonderbolts start their show?”
“Okay!” Twilight said, opening her book, not noticing her father’s eye roll or fond shake of the head as he started trotting back to the banquet.
Twilight turned to page 365. Her hoof resting by the title of the tale: The Magic of Chaos. Twilight smiled as she remembered the amazing display from earlier.
“Magic…” Twilight murmured to herself.
Author's Note
A/N: Good grief this took awhile to write, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. As the Description says this is just the first part of a series. I plan on it being three chapters long before I move onto the first big story.
I hope you enjoy it, and I apologize again if there's any glaring errors I missed.
