Black Sun

Ponyville
October 15th, Year 23 under the Four Princesses

The skies over Ponyville were as fair as could be hoped for at this time of year. Only a few scattered clouds hung over the town and a light breeze carried a cooling flow to compliment the warmth of the sun above. It was almost a metaphor for the state of Equestria. The troubled times of the past few months, from small things like a clash between friends to major incidents that saw the return of the nation's old enemies, were being blown away and the serene peace of the past seven months were settling in.

As she circled high over town, warming her feathers on the thermal currents, Rainbow Dash took a moment to simply appreciate the situation. After everything she personally had endured, the peace was extra welcome to her. A chance to look around and appreciate how much better things were becoming for ponykind. To the west were clear skies and bright sunshine. Aside from reflecting how good things were for the general population, thousands of years of enmity were coming to an end beyond that horizon. Within the Undiscovered West, the ponies of Equestria and the changelings of Outlani were laying the groundwork for a new start between their races. Rainbow couldn't help but smile to herself at the thought, both for the part she had played and for the fact that her friend Water Flare was likely in the changeling homeland right now, making that future a reality.

All the same, she knew it wasn't as simple as that. She banked to turn around and scanned over the skyline in the opposite direction. Just visible to the northeast were the rumbles of a thunderstorm that was steadily creeping south along the coastline. A distant reminder in the back of her mind that there was always some fresh threat lingering out there. Twilight had mentioned a potential one a few months ago, what sounded like a old mares tale about alicorn ghosts powerful enough to destroy the world. The thing was, she knew and trusted her friend enough to believe it. Not to mention it was apparently serious enough for Princess Celestia herself to be personally keeping watch on.

As she caught a thermal under her wings and gained a little altitude, Rainbow looked down over Ponyville. A beacon of calm between the two extremes. Even the feeling of security brought about by such a familiar place was reflected in the pleasant warmth of an autumn sun, using what strength it had before the chill of winter set in fully. She had her home, her friends, and her peace of mind. There wasn't much more a pony could really ask for.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow's ears twitched and she shook the idle musing from her mind at that familiar voice coming from behind and below her. She pulled out of her glide and into a hover before spinning round, smiling as she saw Scootaloo flying up toward her. Even after several months she still had to put aside that minor sense of surprise at seeing her sister in all but blood. Due to both her flying almost as well as any pegasus after being grounded for most of her life, and for the scar running parallel above her left eye that had left her eyelid resting slightly lower. If it bothered Scootaloo though, she never showed it.

"Heya squirt," Rainbow said with a smile once she was close enough, dropping altitude so she wouldn't have to push herself too hard. "What's up?"

"Twilight's organized a general get together in the park, just something for ponies to catch up at. You in?"

"Hah, you even need to ask?" Rainbow grinned as she looked at the ground again. She had noticed quite a few ponies had been heading that way but hadn't paid it any mind. Still, she had been a bit busy with both the Wonderbolts and the Equestria Defence Force in the past few weeks, it was high time she hung out with the others like old times.

"Okay, race you there! First one through the course gets first pick of the sandwiches!" Scootaloo called as she flipped over backward and dove for the ground.

Rainbow Dash could only stare in surprise for a moment before grinning further and taking off after her little sister. Her eyes narrowed against the wind chill as she pulled alongside and shot a cocky smile at Scootaloo. They both knew that Rainbow was untouchable in a straight line if she really went for it, but the adrenaline rush of competition meant more to her than the definite victory these days. Scootaloo glanced back at her and adjusted her posture slightly to match Rainbow's before pulling out of the dive and banking off slightly. Rainbow followed her, wondering what the diversion was about. They were still a good hundred feet in the air and angled toward the center of town. Then she levelled out and saw what Scootaloo had been aiming for.

A light red ring was hovering in the air ahead of them, wide enough for a pegasus to pass through at full wingspan. Another was visible just beyond it, with a few dozen more headed toward and over the park. They looked a random mess but Rainbow could already pick out the course they made. A quick glance toward the park showed a light blue unicorn with her horn lit in a pink aura, carefully watching their flight. That confirmed her thoughts; Scootaloo must have called in a favour from Trixie to make things more fun for them. She made a mental note to thank them both later before focusing in fully on the mid-air course, pulling ahead of Scootaloo to let the younger mare ride her slipstream before getting to the hard part.

Hopefully they could put on a good show for the ponies on the ground while they were at it.

Pinkie Pie spun on her hooves to watch Rainbow and Scootaloo pull a corkscrew one after the other as they made a pass over the park, the smile on her face only growing at the display. Twilight had mentioned her plans for this open hang out session yesterday and the party pony had wasted no time in making sure that there was enough of a setup ready for half of Ponyville to show up. Pound and Pumpkin Cake were more than capable of looking after Sugarcube Corner for a few hours and being able to put together a casual party like this was what she did best. As an added bonus, such a gathering was the perfect opportunity to spend time with her marefriend once all the prep work was done.

Satisfied that everything was in order now and ponies were settling in and enjoying themselves, Pinkie bounded over to a lone beech tree near the river that intersected the park. Her already joyful heart only soared further as she saw Apple Bloom leaning back against it, smiling softly and waving her over. She looked perfect to Pinkie in this light, dappled by what sunlight broke through the leaves, still sporting her sky blue neckerchief and a set of bandages around the lower half of her right foreleg. The cuts and burns they covered had long since healed but she had kept the leg wrapped up, a reminder of what the two of them had endured in order to be with each other today.

"Alright, ya ready to take a break now?" Apple Bloom asked, stretching out slightly. Pinkie replied by launching herself into a sideways somersault, halting halfway through her second roll and coming down to land against the earth pony's chest. Such a move would have winded most ponies, but between Bloom's build and Pinkie's ability to stop herself on a bit, neither of them felt a thing.

"I suppose I can scooch a little time in for you," Pinkie replied, snuggling in against Bloom's chest and nuzzling under her chin. "I mean setting up the most funderful meet to set a smile on everypony's face sure is fun, but it takes a lot out of me when I haven't hit my daily dose yet."

"It's not like you t'forget to bring a cupcake along."

"Oh I didn't," Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out a strawberry cupcake, popping it into her mouth and demolishing it in seconds. "But nowadays I never quite have all my Pinkie strength ready to go without a bit of Bloomie to back it up."

"Awww shucks," Apple Bloom blushed and wrapped her forelegs around Pinkie's stomach, cuddling her tenderly. She had a few inches of height and a fair bit of muscle over the party pony but when they were together she was always at her softest. "Now I reckon I might be able to help ya find some of that."

"Oh, but this dose is the rarest in all Equestria," Pinkie told her in mock theatrics, pressing a little closer and brushing a hoof against her marefriend's cheek. Her acting wasn't bad but it was so over the top that Apple Bloom couldn't help but giggle. That was the important bit. "How can you possibly find it in time?"

"'Cause I keep a stock right here," Bloom replied with a stifled laugh, leaning down and kissing behind Pinkie's right ear before whispering in it. "Love ya, Pinball."

"Eeeeehehe! I love you too, Bloomie!" Pinkie laughed in equal parts glee at her new nickname and joy at hearing those words again.

Apple Bloom followed it up with a series of strokes up and down Pinkie's stomach, as well as nuzzling into her mane. It normally felt like candy floss but recently Pinkie had actually started putting effort into her appearance. She now sported a softer and springier mane that bounced into Bloom's face as she made her partner squirm in amusement. Most ponies would be surprised to see such a pair of energetic ponies have such relatively restrained methods of showing their affection, but nopony could deny just how committed they were.

"So you see, the spiders arn't scary at all. In fact he's very helpful." Fluttershy said softly, watching as her star spider friend, Fuzzy Legs VI, scuttled along her raised hoof and peeked over the edge for a look at the seven month old, marigold orange foal nestled against Fluttershy's chest.

"Ba-da." Star Glider replied as she sucked on her hoof quietly, watching both the spider and her mother with a small measure of interest.

Fluttershy couldn't help but smile lovingly at the sight. She'd known right from that start that becoming a parent for the second time wouldn't be much easier than first time, if at all. Despite the difficulty, she'd been able to face it again, with the help of her friends and her husband. Even her first foal had been surprisingly understanding about the whole situation, though he always had been something of a calm colt. It had been something of a small mercy that she had faced nothing more serious than a call to a friendship problem during her pregnancy and for the sake of her foals, she hoped that the current peace would last for the foreseeable future.

"Excuse me, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy looked up on hearing her name through the background chatter of the gathering, recognising it was Diamond Tiara's voice and spotting her approach a moment later. She put the spider down to the ground and made sure it scuttled away to safety before looking forward again.

"Oh err, Mayor Tiara." She said, bowing her head for a moment in greeting.

"Oh don't worry, I'm only here to ask for advice," Diamond replied as she sat down in front of her, leaning in and taking in the sight of Star Glider. "Hey there, who's an adorable little sunpop?"

Star simply blew a small raspberry and reached for her mane in response.

"Sweetie, be nice," Fluttershy told her, brushing a few strands of blue-gray hair out of the filly's eyes and waiting while she padded her front hooves for a moment before settling down. "How can I help?"

"Well," Diamond looked over to an open area of the park where a group of foals were playing tag under the watchful eye of a brown pegasus stallion. Fluttershy followed her gaze, knowing they were in good hooves with both her husband Silent Breeze watching and her son Mist Chaser joining in. It was a safe bet that Diamond's adopted daughter was in there too. "I know you have a lot more experience as a parent than I do, and you're a better one too."

"Don't say that, you've taken care of Stellar Nova through an incredibly trying experience. I doubt ponies who've had children their whole lives could do much better."

"Maybe, but there's still things I'm learning," Diamond's eyes focused on a sand coloured unicorn filly among the group, keeping watch on how she interacted. "It's been two weeks since Stellar got her cutie mark and she's still keeping to herself a lot more. Even from the rest of her crusader friends. Is, is that normal?"

Fluttershy thought for a moment and was about to reply when she noticed her hooves felt a little lighter. Star had shifted forward slightly and taken a strand of Diamond's mane in her mouth, chewing on it as if nothing was wrong. Diamond paused and looked back at the sensation before relaxing and lowering her head so it didn't pull so much.

"Oh gosh, I-I'm so sorry!" Fluttershy stammered as she reached out to try and coax the foal into something other than mane chewing.

"It's okay, I mean she's happy," Diamond chuckled gently, settling down fully and leaning her head in further. "And besides, I've got time today."

Despite herself, Fluttershy couldn't help but smile. It seemed everypony was willing to help in some way. Now she just had to think about how to respond to the question.

"Darling, I know it's a very nice piece of couture but you don't have to worry about hiding behind it." Rarity commented, taking a sip of tea. Pinkie had been considerate enough to include a few pieces in her food preparations for ponies with a somewhat more refined taste, but she had still needed to bring her own tea set. Not that something like that was a priority right now, not with the troubles still plaguing the pony sitting next to her.

"But...There's so many ponies here. What if one of them recognises me?" Coco Pommel replied quietly, glancing round at the dozens of ponies gathered in the area that were paying no attention to her in any way. She was covered up in a simple yet styled light blue dress of her own hoofwork and a wide brimmed sun hat, perfect for obscuring her features.

Rarity looked over at her sadly, not sure how to reply. Coco had always been a rather timid pony, but the aftermath of the White Phoenix incident had left her even more withdrawn. It had taken the better part of an hour to convince her just to come out like this rather than stay at home. Rarity had been to Manehatten several times in the following months and learned that while it was now common knowledge that her unlucky friend had been the mysterious arsonist, the fact that she had been brainwashed at the time had gone a long way in soothing public opinion. Practically the only pony outside Manehatten who actually considered her guilty was Coco herself.

"I understand what it's like to feel like your reputation has been destroyed, better than most ponies," Rarity said gently as she put her cup down on the picnic cloth beneath her. "But, aside from the fact that you're still among the best seamstresses I've had the pleasure of working with, the most important thing to remember is that even the worst of times is only temporary."

"Plus you're in the most forgiving town in Equestria. There's no better place to pick yourself back up." Sweetie Belle added as she joined them, rubbing her horn slightly.

The younger, taller mare was speaking from experience, considering she had been able to travel to Ponyville a lot when her singing career had fallen into a slump the year before. Now that she had managed to get it going again, combined with the recognition she gained for helping bring the White Phoenix to light, this was actually the first time she had been able to visit in months.

"Maybe," Coco admitted, sitting up and relaxing slightly as Sweetie sat down next to her. "I'd just like to know for sure that ponies still saw me as me."

"Well, just before I came over I had a crystal pony asking for an autograph. He asked if I knew you because he would have liked yours as well."

"Really...?" Coco pushed her hat back enough for her eyes to be visible, light blue irises shining with a glint of hope. Sweetie Belle nodded and pointed out a light red crystal stallion among a group of ponies not far away.

"Ask for Moonstone Snap. I guarantee you'll be as popular with him as I was, if not more so."

Coco looked over at the half-dozen ponies indicated, tapping a hoof against the ground nervously. After several seconds she pulled her hat back down over her eyes and stood up, slowly making her way over to them. Rarity and Sweetie watched her go with a sense of optimistic surprise. Neither had actually expected her to just get up and go for it like that, though it was likely at this point she also wanted it to be true enough for that nudge to overcome her fears.

"Did he really say that?" Rarity asked quietly once Coco had left, adjusting her glasses with her magic.

"Well, he actually said he was a fan of your fashion line and wondered if I knew any of the ponies behind it," Sweetie admitted. "I did tell him that she was the best employee you had though. Plus he did mention he was from Manehatten, so he either didn't know about what happened to her or didn't care."

Rarity nodded and smiled. That part about Coco's skill wasn't untrue and she may just have stumbled upon the perfect pony to help her get through her fears better than anypony. She also felt a strong measure of pride at her little sister, still doing her best to bring some happiness to somepony else's day no matter what.

"So, Applejack, how's it feel getting old like the rest of us?" Spike asked with a small grin as the two of them walked through the gathering. Both had simply been mingling before meeting up and making their way back toward Twilight.

"Begging yer pardon, drake, but ah'm pretty sure that forty an' five days don't quite count as old yet," Applejack replied, her tone showing that she knew he was joking. "Besides, yer only thirty-one."

"Yeah, but nopony would believe that from the look of me." He countered, getting up on his back legs to walk that way for a short distance. She had to admit he had a point there. He was roughly twice as tall as the average pony when he reared up and he was certainly mature beyond his years.

"Alright, can't deny that one."

"So err..." Spike dropped back to all fours, suddenly looking a lot more wary. "Are you doing alright?"

"What with?" She asked in confusion.

"That, that whole ordeal with Bounty. It was kind of hard not to know about it."

Applejack paused mid-step. While she shouldn't have been surprised that he knew about it, she had been trying not to think about if she actually was alright. Very few ponies could say they had been attracted to a pony that turned out to be a magically created clone after all. Twilight knew more about it but considering that Bounty was effectively a green maned copy of Shining Armor, that discussion could very quickly turn awkward. On top of that, there was the fact that he wasn't the only stallion she had feelings for. While she had been too busy on the farm recently to pay the issue much mind, she knew that she would have to settle it eventually. Even if it meant leaving a pony's heart broken.

"I've been living with it, just not sure what t'do about it," She finally replied, moving to catch up to Spike. "What about you? You still haven't properly explained what why half yer back suddenly got darker."

"It's a long story." Twilight's voice came from nearby. The two of them looked over to see the Princess of Friendship laying down under an oak tree, looking over the proceedings with a faint smile on her face.

"Wouldn't happen to have anythin' to do with that lost alicorn story RD said ya told her?" Applejack asked. The way Twilight momentarily tensed told her all she needed to know.

"Rainbow!" Twilight shouted as she stood up, catching the pegasus' attention and drawing her away from the impromptu gathering of flyers that were now trying their wings at Trixie's course.

"It's basically a yes," Spike told Applejack quietly as Twilight waited for Rainbow Dash to land in front of her before launching into a restrained tirade about confidential information. "Considering what happened though, I'd say I'm lucky to be alive, let alone nothing worse than some torched scales."

"Hrrmm." Applejack mused to herself as she nodded and focused on the other discussion. She trusted that Twilight would tell her about it when the time was right.

"You told me about it in a hospital waiting room. Even in the middle of the night, that's not exactly confidential." Rainbow was saying, wings twitching slightly but managing to keep her composure.

"And that's why I'm not saying anything else on it right now," Twilight replied, looking stern as well. "But this may be bigger than we can handle with just the elements. You want ponies to find that out before we find a solution?"

"Of course not, but if we're going to make a start we have to tell the others sooner rather than later." Rainbow countered, motioning toward Applejack and Spike. By this point Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy had noticed the rest of their friends gathering and were making their way over.

"I think Rainbow is right," Spike interjected, drawing a look of surprise from Twilight. "You know better than I do how well things went with Ortasin. We're going to need all the help we can get."

"Errm, who's Ortasin?" Applejack asked.

Before anypony could inquire or explain further, Spike tensed up and belched a burst of green fire that materialised into a scroll with Princess Celestia's seal on it. Twilight took it in her magic and opened it up quickly, reading it out for the others.

"Twilight, I apologise for the haste this message was written with but an emergency situation has arisen in Canterlot. I ask you and your friends join me as soon as possible. Security at the castle is in an uproar so teleport to outside the castle grounds. If she is with you, instruct Rainbow Dash to meet with Cipher at EDF headquarters immediately. Please hurry...Princess Celestia."

"Oh my..." Fluttershy commented quietly, quickly leaving to make sure both her foals were safe with her husband.

Her words matched everypony else's thoughts. If whatever was happening was enough to break Celestia's regal demeanour, then it was likely worse than any of them could imagine.

"Alright, I'm probably be finding what caused whatever's happening. Be quick as I can." Rainbow told the others before taking off at full speed, heading for Canterlot at such pace that she launched a sonic rainboom once she was clear of Ponyville.

"I think you're all about to get your answers..." Twilight told the others as she motioned for them to move up to her, Fluttershy rejoining them moments later. She could teleport all five of them with little trouble and wasn't about to waste so much as a second. Not if this situation was connected to the lekli like she feared.

"One month short." Pinkie sighed quietly to herself as she moved up next to Twilight, the last one to get into position before they were teleported out in a light purple flash.