Flame of the Sun

Equestria, August 12th, 1502

Canterlot truly was the epitome of architectural beauty. While the Changelings specialized in large and efficient architecture, and the Griffons in technologically-advanced architecture, the Equestrian's prided themselves in a variety of eye-pleasing structures that were almost beautiful enough to make an enemy at least feel bad for destroying them. Canterlot, however, was an astounding, ethereal beauty. A city laden with impossible structures, as hands opened to the great sky above. The constructions made from the finest, sturdiest, and most perfect materials that most would consider impossible to find in such number. Perhaps by magic, or by the hard, hard work of the resilient elder earth ponies who built it millennia ago under the old alicorn rule. It was a place that had survived since the ancient times, and the cleanest area within the entirety of the Equus continent.

Sunrise Sparkle sat quietly within her quarters, studying books from war strategy to species psychology. While she was used to reading, and enjoyed it quite a lot, she frankly found the contents of the book she read to be disturbing and callous. 'The enemy oft expects a frontal assault, yet few foresee the use of diplomatic pressure to condition the masses towards revolt'. Similar such deceptive tactics were entailed within the strategic books, while clinical breakdowns of the generalized species-specific weaknesses were entailed in the psychological books. She paused for a moment to take a rest, seeing as she was admittedly overwhelmed by the nature of these things and moreso why she was studying them in the first place.

At this moment, she heard a knock on the door behind her. Giving a small sigh, she got up from her desk to open it. To her surprise, an old friend stood at the door, one she hadn't seen in months' time. A yellow coat with a blazing red and gold mane, smiling to see her.

"I like what you've done with your hair, Twi," she said, "would you mind if I come in?"

"Ah, Sunset, I wasn't expecting you to come at such a time," she said with a nervous laugh, "and, please, call me Sunrise Sparkle."

Sunset quirked a brow, walking in and shaking off the odd name change to admire the beauty of Sunrise's room.

"I finally found some time to see Equestria again," Sunset said, standing on her hinds and stretching out before returning to all fours, "I noticed the flag has changed, and by the way, where is Celestia?"

"Daybreaker," Sunrise corrected, though she understood Sunset would have had no idea, "the Empress is in a meeting with diplomats from Zebrabwe and Halflinger Grove. I believe she's organizing counterattack against Griffonstone and the Changeling Hive simultaneously."

"Oh, that's. . ." Sunset paused for a minute. Surely it wasn't what she thought it was, so she decided to change the subject, "where is Starlight, by the way? I've been trying to send her letters, but she hasn't replied."

"In hiding," Sunrise answered coldly, sitting back down at her desk to read as she spoke, "she attempted to issue a communist uprising, and she is now wanted by Equestrian law enforcement. Some believe she may be holed up in the Griffish Isles, but the Empress has little concern for finding her until the existing threats are neutralized."

"Oh no," Sunset replied, "I'm sure the Elements of Harmony can fix that!"

Sunrise was silent for a moment, before shaking her head as she lit her horn and began to write notes. Sunset started to have a remarkably uncomfortable feeling from all of this. Twilight—or Sunrise—was acting so. . .callous. It was unorthodox to say the least. She opened her mouth to pry further, but Sunrise quickly answered her impending question.

"I am having a meeting with the Elements today," Sunrise said suddenly, "aside that, when the criminal is found, she will likely be executed."

"Wh-what?" Sunset spoke with a shocked stutter, "What do you mean executed?!"

"I mean killed," Sunrise said, turning to Sunset, "you waited too long, and now you've come not to Equestria, but the Solar Empire. Harmony is established through order, peace through power, and the light of truth comes only from the sun."

"Twilight, what are you—" Sunset said, before feeling a towering presence behind her.

"Now now, Sunset," Daybreaker said softly, "there is no need to be worked up."

"Oh, Celestia, you're—" Sunset stopped as she turned around, before jumping back and letting out a yelp in fear of what she saw. Whatever that was, it wasn't Celestia, not by any stretch of the imagination. What she was looking at was clearly a monster.

"Come with me, Sunset," Daybreaker said with a sigh and a smile, "we have much to talk about."

Griffish Isles, August 12th, 1502

Starlight sat quietly within her room of an underground bunker. While she was not particularly friends with the Griffons she resided with, she had worked with them diplomatically in the past before being outcast by Equestrian society for her revolutionary ideals. The Griffons in the isles, however, had already shared a similar ideology. This was, of course, because they were numbered merely around 14,000, a small number to work with. Even they believed that trying to promote such an ideology to an entire continent was ludicrous, but Starlight had helped them so much with Equestrian resources to allow them to make the most of their small islands. This included as well the larger piece of land south of Trottingham, which was evacuated by Equestrian authorities given it's proximity to Griffonstone territory.

She had a plan, she had a big plan. In fact, it was a great plan. The only issue was that she didn't have a lot of details in her plan. It frustrated her trying to meticulously nail down each and every detail, she'd rather work on the fly and see how things go. At the same time, she knew there had to be compromise, as this wasn't like the small village she ruled over for that short time, and even that was ruined for lack of a backup plan. She scrambled through a few papers, trying to think of how to manage a resistance well enough against Equestrian rule, before the lead Griffon, Nova, stepped into the room.

"You look busy, Starlight," she said sarcastically, sitting down beside the equine. While Starlight was not friends with the Griffons per se, she had warmed up to Nova rather quickly in the time due to her charismatic demeanor. Starlight could almost tell Nova was only there to be entertained, rather than to be involved, but still she was supportive in some kind of hope that maybe Starlight was truly capable of all that she claimed.

"Same old, same old," Starlight replied with a sigh, "but I think I might have my head wrapped around something I can go with."

"You think?" Nova said with a chuckle, "well, we just got intel from our observer party. It seems Equestrian politics have changed. Or, should I say, the New Solar Empire."

Starlight sat back, before letting out an exaggerated groan of frustration. Quickly, however, she recovered, suddenly moving forward to look at her notes. She began to laugh, smiling so bright she almost looked crazy. Nova, expecting no less, simply smiled in response herself. Starlight was a very colorful figure, to say the least. She was definitely a pony worth keeping around for sake of adding a bit of spice to life.

"So you're telling me Equestria has become a supremacist state," Starlight mused, "which means that there are definitely harmonists loyal to the crown, but not to the ideology. What better opportunity to promote equality than to ponies under tyranny! Nova, do you know what this means?!"

She turned to grab Nova, who was taken aback by the sudden contact, but remained still as she looked at Starlight with a more surprised expression. Starlight, of course, smiling still.

"This is the opportunity! To bring down the sun and rinse the world in red!" Starlight said excitedly, "Loyalty to the crown is bound to be fragmented, which means all it will take is a bit of propaganda here and there, and some quiet connections in the places the Empire doesn't surveil! This administration has to be new and sudden, which means that they're still reorganizing. Listen, we need to start organizing ourselves, get the word out, equality and. . .harmony! Yes. Equality and harmony await!"

"Give me one reason we should risk so much to help you, even if your plan sounds admittedly good," Nova said. Starlight thought for a moment and turned away before offering a grin as she darted her eyes back towards Nova.

"Because I don't need all of Equestrian land, I just want a part of it. Don't you Griffons need a little bit of, hmm. . .breathing room?" Starlight said with a wink. Nova looked down for a moment, before smiling again.

"You're right," she said, "if we act fast enough, the two of us could take the Empire on from beneath while they fight the greater powers. Daybreaker can't have her eyes everywhere."

"That's the spirit!" Starlight said, giving Nova a tight hug before jumping up, "I'll get working on the posters, you organize your griffons. Give me numbers and we can work from there."

"As you say, Ms. Glimmer," Nova said as she gave a bow with a playful chuckle. As she left, Starlight turned to her desk and began to sketch upon some pieces of blank paper.

"The revolution isn't dead, 'Daybreaker'," Starlight said with a malicious grin, "it's resurrecting."

Hailberg, August 12th, 1502

Chrysalis approached massive gates, built into a wall constructed of pinewood that seemed to be enchanted by some ancient runic magic that she herself was very unfamiliar with. She held her foreleg up to the wide open gate, a small shock traveling through her as she made contact with a barrier. After a small grunt, she frowned, turning to her guards.

"Weapons down, stand firm," she muttered, before a couple of armed moose approached the gates. Chrysalis gave the best smile she could, which was not easy, before continuing to speak, "Hello Hailbergans, I am Queen Chrysalis, and I—"

"We know who you are, and we're not interested," a moose said firmly. It was surely a northern accent, but not Canterlotan by any stretch. It was a much rougher, sharper accent, akin to the Scotsmen of the human world one might say. Chrysalis frowned.

"Perhaps you should hear me out," she said, before the moose at the gate directed their spears towards her.

"You will leave or be executed!" another moose shouted. Chrysalis was grinding her teeth in frustration, what was the point of this 'diplomacy'? She sighed softly, turning her head backwards.

"Don't say I didn't try to be kind about it," she said.

The moose prepared to attack before noticing that the white planes of snow throughout the Taiga Range started to turn black, and thousands upon thousands of green lights illuminated the area. It was not for long, however, as they all flashed, launching into the air. Pausing in the sky, they suddenly plummeted towards Hailberg at a remarkable speed. Before the moose could react, Chrysalis blasted through the magic barrier with nothing more than a concise beam from her horn.

"RAAAAID!" one of the moose shouted, before being torn apart by a few of the Changelings at Chrysalis' guard. Before the other could retaliate, Chrysalis herself fired a beam of hivemagic towards him, leaving a hole in his body as he fell to the ground. Chrysalis simply walked, as her Changelings stormed the country by both magic artillery and physical invasion. Fortunately for the Changelings, their combat magic was naturally adapted towards avoiding their own. Despite all of the chaos, no Changeling would ever manage to harm another, only the enemy.

The Queen watched as they approached the greater, though archaic, cities of Hailberg, which were mostly tents and small structures with the exception of a massive antlered tree that served as the capital structure. To Chrysalis, the destruction was beautiful, and the screams of children like music to her ears. It had been so long since she had truly engaged in the brutal warfare she enjoyed—the Elements always got in the way. Now that they were no longer being used, she was able to act freely because the Solar Empire didn't care about the isolationist countries. It was free land, and free food for her Changelings.

One might say that Changelings could only feed by morphing and being loved by another, but that is merely a luxury meal. Chrysalis knew the most efficient way to feed her hive was by raiding other villages and countries, as the love energy that abounded in families was amplified by the fear and despair caused by their loss. The more violently their lives were taken, the more love they were able to harness in the form of love-bound agony. Chaos was truly the best way to feed, if only Discord were still in the Undersky realm to see it. Though he left long before Griffonstone had began to make it's strides against the eastern continent.

Another barrage of hivemagic blasts showered Hailberg, the large tree now shrouded in green flame with pitch-black smoke rising and shrouding the sun. Chrysalis chuckled to herself as she experienced the pleasurable feeling of shrouding Daybreaker's sun in the smoke of demise. As the blackened clouds grew thicker, and the smell of iron and burning sap filled the air, the sky became lit with the green shroud that was only known from the ancient tales of the Changeling raids centuries ago. Chrysalis felt a feeling she hadn't experienced in a very long time: national pride.

"Changelings!" she shouted with a loud and booming voice, "witness the power of your Hive! Take no prisoners! These lands are ours!"

Thousands of shrieking voices gave a cry of battle, rushing into Hailberg mercilessly. The moose could only watch as their lives fell apart forever. Their magic was out of date, they had weapons that were no more effective against a Changeling than they were against the sun itself, only used for hunting smaller animals that interfered with their crops. Their training was useless, and their lives where wholly-founded on a Moose-only culture, where no outsiders were permitted whatsoever. This was no war, Chrysalis would think to herself, this was a slaughter, and she loved it.

At this point, she realized that she had done nothing but break a barrier and kill one moose. How silly, she was so caught up in the ecstasy of unstoppable death that she forgot to truly participate in it. She opened her wings, flying towards the top of the tree where the King was, but before she flew too closely, she noticed a few Changelings being shocked to death by another, stronger magic shield. She groaned, it must have been recently-employed as the tree was already burning, and there were a few Changelings inside that were so small in number they were being picked off one at a time by some of the armored moose. Though, armored was a bit of a stretch, given what silly rags of leather they were wearing.

Chrysalis scanned the tree for a weakness, as it seemed the magic was more concentrated and therefore far more potent than the barrier that extended across the country. She looked up, laughing to herself loudly as she noticed how obvious the source was. The massive antlers at the top of the tree, of course! She flew upwards, firing a concentrated blast of hivemagic towards it, causing it to crack.

Inside the tree, the royal family had gathered in the most fortified room they could manage. Several moose, male, female, and child, were gathered together, numbering about 14. The King stood in front of his crying children as his wife tried to console them. He closed his eyes as the door was blasted open, revealing their doom. The King gave a final cry, charging at Chrysalis, but unable to even make contact as she flashed her horn causing his legs to fall off as if they were sliced apart. His face hit the floor as he gave a loud shout of pain.

"You filthy bug!" he screamed, "you kill the defenseless because you enjoy it! The gods will have you tormented for eternity! Damn you! Damn you! Da—"

Chrysalis lifted the moose by his antler, lighting her horn and tearing out his tongue.

"I do this to feed my children," she said with an annoyed grunt as the moose continued to make whatever noise he was capable to compensate for the unworldly pain, "and because I enjoy it."

Chrysalis chuckled as she looked at the rest of the family, intentionally keeping the King alive as she motioned for four more Changelings to approach.

"Make it brutal," she said, "this King has more love in him than I've seen in a while, we could be fed for weeks on him alone."

She stepped outside, a pausing for a moment to listen to the shrieks of the family one more time, before jumping out of the tree. She knew that Hailberg would make a great spot for an expanded hive, and while it was not as entertaining as usual given the lack of resistance, it was surely the more love than what she fed on from Shining Armor. She chuckled.

"How does that marriage even last?"

Equestria, August 12th, 1502

At least the tea was nice, Sunset thought, though the conversation was far from enjoyable. The words of Daybreaker were that of a warmongering goddess, not of the harmony-loving Alicorn she once knew. For a long time, she felt bad for turning against Celestia way back then, but now she was greatly-conflicted. Daybreaker was evil, pure and simple. There was no justifying the judgements she now made concerning Equestria, and even less the judgements concerning non-equine lands. If it wasn't ponies, then it was numbers. At some point, she questioned if Daybreaker even felt compassion for the ponies anymore, or if it was just a ruse for power. Daybreaker could sense the trouble in Sunset's mind, and decided to attempt consolation.

"Sunset, I don't expect you to just buy into this suddenly," she said, "take some time to process it. I know your home is the human world now, but Equestria was where you were born, and the way things have become must be despairing."

"It's not that, Empress Daybreaker," Sunset said, more coldly than usual, which Daybreaker noticed very quickly, "You've. . ."

Sunset paused, not sure what would come of what she was about to say. Daybreaker patiently waited with a smile, but Sunset knew the kindness wouldn't last long. Alas, if she were not to speak up now, Sunset thought, then she would have to live with having done nothing. She looked Daybreaker in the eyes with a disappointed look. Her heart was pounding, but she couldn't let it stop her from speaking what she believed was the truth.

"You've gone absolutely mad," she said, "you have no compassion, and you're going to bring destruction to this entire plane."

"Is that so?" Daybreaker said, her smile turning into a malicious grin, "in that case, what will you do about it?"

"I can't do anything about it," Sunset admitted, "but I won't be staying here to watch it. I'm going back to the human world."

Sunset got up, but was forced back into her seat by Daybreaker's magic. Sunset looked at Daybreaker with an expression of shock as two guards walked into the room.

"It's done, your highness," one said. Daybreaker chuckled.

"Good, have it disposed of, then," she said softly, "we don't need any more intruders."

The guards bowed, leaving the room quickly and back towards the upper levels of the castle. Sunset could only imagine the plethora of things Daybreaker may have been talking about, but one thought gave her an unbearable despair.

"What did you do?" Sunset asked suddenly, Daybreaker dropped her smile as she looked into Sunset's eyes with fire in her own.

"You will be staying here to watch," Daybreaker said grimly, "and I will not have the human world interfering any further with my plans. I owe a debt to the Empire that I intend to pay in full, and I will not have your over-compassionate silliness trespassing on my plans."

"You're a monster!" Sunset shouted. Before she could say anymore, Sunrise had entered the room, dressed in a new suit of armor personalized to her appearance. While baring still the symbol of the Empire, it's colors were of a deep violet and crimson, blended with intimidating beauty.

"I should have known," Sunrise said as she gave a hateful look to Sunset Shimmer, "your very name implies the willingness to uproot the Empire. I was hoping it wasn't true, but it seems you were unable to make the decision necessary to secure the future of ponykind."

"Twilight! I—"

Sunrise fired a beam of magic at Sunset, causing her to fall to the ground. She was not dead, but she was surely not conscious either. Sunrise was breathing heavily as Daybreaker turned to her in a look of surprise which quickly turned to a prideful smile. She walked up to Sunrise, leaning her head down and nuzzling her gently.

"You're growing up very quickly, my dear Sunrise," she said gently, "now, you must calm down, you are having a meeting soon."

Sunrise took a deep breath, closing her eyes and exhaling gently. Her straight face broke slowly into a relaxed smile.

"It felt good," she said quietly. Daybreaker simply chuckled.

"It does, doesn't it?"

Griffonstone, August 12th, 1502

The Taurus Manor was a rather large structure. Nothing compared to the castles of the Solar Empire, nor to the skyscrapers of Manehattan, but a large structure nonetheless. Outside of it was an illustrious garden, though consisting primarily of artificial plants that need only be 'watered' with electrical power. A few large air filtration units kept the area smelling nicer than the rest of the industrialized country, which was okay for the citizens because they were taught that the smell of smog was 'the aroma of progress'. They weren't currently aware of the reason their stamina wasn't what it used to be, but that was also okay, because King Taurus didn't really care.

Within the Taurus Manor was among the most beautiful interior architecture that Griffonstone's greatest builders and engineers could manage, which was nothing short of a bragging right, by the way. The illustrious manor was the envy of the eastern continent, and the symbol of power to the entirely of Griffonstone. It was no castle, but it was a modern 'reinvention' of royal housing, as they called it. Past all of the spare rooms of décor, grand pianos, red carpets, curtains, and gold-plated railings, the upper rooms were more personalized to the residents within. Typically for top generals to reside as temporary for long-term trips to communicate with the King. However, there was one very plain room which consisted of a large table, a few overhead lights, and several cushioned chairs.

Taurus sat quietly within his chair at the table as his top advisors began to enter the room. All of them had flown by themselves towards the capital building, but with their strict military organization it was no surprise that they arrived at the same time. As they gathered, Taurus snapped his talons as two servants brought in coffee, prepared in perfect timing to pitch-perfect detail as to the personal preferences of the officers present. One officer gave a soft applause with a chuckle.

"You certainly know how to treat your officials, my King," he said. Taurus smiled in response.

"As I would be treated, so are the loyal," Taurus said, "even if they prefer cappuccino with a list of preparations so stupid it's almost it's own recipe."

"More like a Griffoness coffee shop order," one of the other officers said, elbowing an officer beside him as a bit of laughter was spread about the table.

"Now, now, Field Marshal Garreth," Taurus said, "we know General Typhoon's order wasn't that complex."

A bit more laughter was spread before they regained their composure. Taurus grabbed a remote, pointing towards a projector mounted to the ceiling and turning it on as a white screen rolled downwards. One of the servants who brought in the coffee had stayed behind to close the doors and cut the lights as the room was illuminated by the light of the projection. On it was a map of the nearby land, along with a few slides with information concerning that which Taurus was briefing them on.

"We have had our laughs," the King said, "but, as I woefully admit, times have become more serious. News has recently come in that the Equine-inhabited lands formerly known as Equestria are now called the Solar Empire. As prophecy foretold, Celestia is no more. The sun walks among us, fellow Gryphons, and her name is Empress Daybreaker."

No one was laughing anymore, as the video played of Daybreaker's first speech to the new Empire. A few of the officers even trembled at the sight of the unfurling banners. They expected Equestria to stay with the old, and that when Griffonstone had enough land, Equestria would have been an easy target. However, this was far from the case. Now they were dealing with a true leader, not a false monarch that whined when people didn't get along. Taurus continued.

"As you can see, Empress Daybreaker has already declared war upon us and the Changelings. While we have never liked the Changelings, we have never had conflicting interests with them, either. Their focus is the Solar Empire, and I believe we might perhaps be able to strike a deal through alliance."

One of the officers began to speak in objection before Taurus held up his talon.

"Allow me to finish. I understand that this is a preposterous request, and I despise those love-leeching parasites more than Daybreaker herself, but I believe that desperate times call for desperate measures. Furthermore, if we are divided, we must admit to ourselves that the Solar Empire is nearly guaranteed a victory. We shall deal with the Changelings ourselves after the war. After all, our technology is far superior to theirs, they merely have numbers which will be dwindled by the Solar Empire's army. We'll be receiving more information from Slyphiani soon enough, as of now I believe one of you has gathered information as well."

Field Marshal Garreth raised his talon. Taurus nodded, sitting back as the lights were cut back on and the projector turned off.

"Intel from a spy within Trottingham's evacuation zone denotes an equine among the Griffish Isles," Garreth started, "her name is Starlight Glimmer, and she is an escaped criminal guilty of promoting communistic ideology within Equestria. While the gryphons residing in the isles remain silent about her intentions, we believe she may be conspiring against the Solar Empire with the help of those aforementioned."

"I would advise that we consult with her, she may be a valuable asset," Typhoon added. Taurus pondered for a moment.

"No," he said, "not now, at least. Let's keep an eye on her and see what she does. Promoting communism would leave a bad taste in my mouth, but allowing it to flourish to the dismantling of the Solar Empire seems a wise course of action."

The gryphon officers all nodded, looking to each other and carrying on brief discussions before looking back towards Taurus, who got up. He reached under the table and took out a laptop, opening it and typing in a password before turning it around. As the OS launched, a camera feed could be seen loading on to the screen. When it did, the officers present became visibly uncomfortable. Some readjusting their ties, others taking a handkerchief to their brows and sipping heavily on their coffee.

On the feed was Princess Luna, hung from her forelegs and restrained like a dead animal. She was alive, but not by much.

"H-how did. . ." Garreth stuttered as he trembled, "that's not possible!"

"Oh, it is," Taurus said with a wicked smile, "Alicorn magic is powerful, but technology is unstoppable."

"What kind of demonic technology could we possible possess to best an alicorn?" another officer asked.

"There is no such thing as 'demonic technology', Archaeus," Taurus said dismissively, "but to answer your question, it's the same technology employed in our newest weapon models, which I shall have the pleasure of disclosing to you now."

Taurus looked to the servant standing by the door and nodded. The servant left before quickly returning with an alien-looking rifle, walking towards Taurus before cautiously handing him the weapon. Taurus held the weapon over his shoulder with one talon.

"What. . .is that?" Garreth asked staring at the strange weapon with awe.

"This?" Taurus asked, holding the weapon up with a chuckle, "this is victory, Garreth."