Author's Note

Since this is a written part, I'll add this in so you know what the fuck's goin' on;

Princess Sunburn is the daughter of QueenCelestia and King Sunburst. After marriage, Star Swirl the bearded gifted his sunny student with the power of being a queen instead of a mere princess, making Celestia the supreme lordess of Equestria and “Ruler of the Sun.” Celestia and Sunburst wed and he was crowned king. Moons after, Celestia had his daughter, whom they named Sunburn, the Princess of the Sun.

Sunburn had a rough upbringing. It wasn’t toxic or abusive, but her parents kept trying to make her do things she had no interest in, like raising the Sun and reading thousands of pointless books. Sunburn never wanted to be apart of that.

On top of it all, Celestia had on ongoing and irrational fear that her only foal would turn evil like her sister once did, so she overreacted whenever Sunburn showed any rudeness or jealousy, which she started doing a lot as a teenager, but Celestia mostly blames that on Sunburn’s new friend.

Sunburn got her cutie mark for wielding fire. She has an intense interest in flames and ash (which also piles onto her mother’s fear). Sometimes when Sunburn gets mad, her alicorn magic would accidentally start a raging fire.

Sunburn is tempered, but she tries her hardest to fit her role of the kind princess. In public, she constantly pretends she’s perfect and loves learning to bring the sun to shine down on their heads. Without the paparazzi, she spends most of her time burning books Sunburst tried to bribe her into reading and seeing her friends; Joystick, Dovey, Anxiety Attack, Loudmouth, Champion, and the newest, Butter, who she met through Dovey--Princess of Chaos--’s friend Empire Apple.

Empire and Butter were cousins. Butter was a year older than Sunburn; fifteen. When Sunburn had laid her scarlet eyes on Butter’s golden coat, her heart danced in her chest and pink flared on her light snout. The crush grew as she learned more about Butter.

Butter was a unicorn from Las Pegasus, a colorful and rich cloud city Sunburn always dreamed of visiting. She had a big sweet tooth and was working for her uncle Flam’s marefriend/boss Beehive as a door-to-door salesmare. Butter also ran a booth at the Ponyville Market when she came to Ponyville, where she sold multiple items as “elegant” and “one of a kind” for tons of bits, when there were hundreds of said items hidden in boxes in the booth.

Every few months, she visited her cousins--Jasper, Empire Apple, and Diamond Core--with her thirteen-year-old brother Caramel. He was Butter’s Market employee and he made all types of edible goodies to sell to Sugarcube Corner on the side.

One day, though, when the two went to Sweet Apple Acres and found their cousins had left their forever arguing parents Rarity and Big Mac, they needed somewhere else to stay, since they didn’t want to be in the middle of that.

So Butter and Caramel did what any creature would do.

They set up shop in the Market and wasted the day away selling things. Then when the day was done, they begged Champion’s uncle Raspberry Ripple to let them sleep at a booth in Sugarcube Corner.

Raspberry Ripple has a soft heart, so he let the unicorns in after hours. Caramel and Butter were surprised to see that Sunburn and her friend group were there, sipping on smoothies and devouring the leftover sweets. They sat in the booth behind them, paid for something to eat, and talked about their plan for tomorrow.

Sunburn overheard their situation. They hadn’t raked up enough bits for two train tickets back to Las Pegasus in one day; they hadn’t expected to go back so early. Since Sunburn knew their cousin Dia (Diamond Core) was friends with Dovey’s little brother Alley Cat (Dovey wasn’t really friends with the others), Sunburn offered them the castle to stay in instead of the bakery.

But, when Sunburn brought the two to the castle, she remembered why she had stayed out so late; Celestia and Sunburst had thrown a party of high society.

Sunburn told Butter and her brother to the hallway of stained glass while her parents scolded her for being late, for not being in “proper attire,” and for bringing a pair of strangers into the cherished castle.

Sunburn had been shooed away to get into her dress, but she instead helped Caramel find two guest rooms and a restroom.

When Butter asked for a guide for heroic deeds frozen in the colorful glass, Sunburn was starting to get flustered. Butter was intensely flirtatious, also cunning, broad, and . . . utterly beautiful . . . .

Sunburn went on to describe the events happening in the stained glass with stutters and stammers.

Is that better? Good, good. Perhaps I'll actually write the scenes out later, but that's what you get for now. Next chapter's coming out in, like, nine minutes or something. I'm spamming FimFicition tonight :D

Chapter 1 (Bold Mare)

“Is that your birth?” Butter pointed her hoof to a particle image. It was a depiction of Celestia and Sunburst shooting red beams from their horns, the scarlet lines fading into the rising ruby-colored sun. In the middle of the Sun, a glass figure of Sunburn flew with giant red wings, bathing the world in a rosy tint.

But the Sunburn in the glass wasn’t the true Sunburn. That mare had long magenta curls, flowing behind her lithe body gorgeously. Her closed eyes were brimmed with tons of lashes. Sheradiated perfection and grace, promising to protect the nation in her large wings.

But that wasn’t the real Sunburn. The true Princess of the Sun had a short mane and tail, few eyelashes, normal pegasus wings, never was birthed from a red sun, and had notblanketed her hospital room in a scarlet hue.

Sunburn shrugged her shoulders as she glanced at the amulet on her orange necklace. It was a copy of her cutie mark, an orange-and-golden flame trapped by white air overhead and a crimson fire beneath. She had always thought it symbolized her diamond-in-the-rough upbringing.

“That’s what they like to remember my birth as,” Sunburn responded.

“Really? This isn’t how you slipped out of Celestia?” Butter mocked, her green eyes brim with amusement. “I never would’ve thought!”

Sunburn laughed, her cheeks flooding with pink and her horn blazing a short-lived flame when she snorted.

“The Queen and King like to betray me as the perfect daughter.” Sunburn explained.

Butter frowned, then quickly smirked. “Are you sure they aren’t blind? To me, you already are perfect.”

Sunburn blinked. “Yeah, right.” She turned her gaze to the enpicturement. “That’swho’s perfect, the mare with big hair and wings.”

“Your wings look fine to me.”

“They’re not alicornwings.”

“Well, your mane—”

“Is as short as Luna’s when she transformed back from Nightmare Moon!” Sunburn whipped her head back around, glaring at Butter with a blazing horn. “My own mother thinks I’m evil! The only thing that I’ll turn red are the skins of ponies as I set them on fire!”

The carpet beneath the princess smoked as a circle of flame ignited around her. “I bet my dad thinks so, too. And so do you!”

The yellow mare’s back was against the wall.

Butter’s face grimaced in the firelight. Suddenly, the fire that Sunburn had lit vanished without a sight. Butter got back on all fours and glared at Sunburn, marching toward her.

Sunburn slumped her head down. She didn’t want Butter to see the tears running down her cheeks, tracing another after another. In front of her, the image of her better self seemed to whisper in a cruel manner, murmuring insults and despair into Sunburn’s red ears.

Butter placed her hoof on Sunburn’s shoulder. For a moment, she stood there, silent, then she turned Sunburn around.

“I don’t think that,” Butter promised. “I’ve seen worst, Princess. My cousins are best friends with the heirs of Chaos, for crying out loud! You’ve got it easy, babe.”

Her face brightened. “I barely know you, Sunburn. But I already know you’re generous, funny, and mad as a hatter.” She grinned. “I like that in a mare. Don’t ever think that you’re less than what the universe planned. You wouldn’t be here if you were supposed to be somepony else. Neither would I.”

Sunburn blinked. Butter took her hoof from the tan mare’s shoulder and traced her cheek, whipping the last of her tears. Then Butter’s hoof was quickly on Sunburn’s chin, pulling the princess closer . . .

Sunburn didn’t stop Butter. She didn’t want to stop her. As their lips pressed against each other’s, Butter’s hoof returned to her side. Sunburn rose her own hoofs and held Butter’s arms, afraid the con-pony might pull away too soon.

Sunburn stared at Butter for a moment. Her long gold-and-brown mane, her pink collar, blue neck bow, and the purple bow above her right ear that held a metal stick of small butter in the middle. Butter looked so comfortable with the kiss, by the small kindle of blush under her eyes.

Sunburn extended her wings. Butter was right, she thought as she closed her eyes. Sunburn was meant to be herself, not the show pony in the stained mirror. She was happy this way, and that was all that mattered.

That and Butter.