Old Mare Celestia

A long time ago, there were two princesses who ruled the world. The younger sister brought the Moon, and lit up the nights with her and her stars, caring for the ponies in her dreams. The eldest, on the other hand, brought the Sun, which ruled the heavens...

"What is the sun?"

The unicorn mare who had been telling her story stopped, looking at her five year old son, a pegasus foal, lying on his bed and ready to go to sleep, looking at her curiously.

"Why do you ask, honey?"

"Well, you always tell me this story, and although it is very good, you have never explained to me what exactly the sun is."

The mare was silent for a moment, a little doubtful of how to answer. Trying to remember her own mother's stories, she tried to come up with a satisfactory explanation.

"It's... uh... a star."

"Like the ones in the sky?" asked the little colt doubtfully.

"No, honey, it's a very big star, the King of the stars."

"King?" the colt asked. "How can a star be king?"

"I don't know, darling, but that's what they call it in the old stories" said the mare with a smile. "It is said that, in the past, the Moon used to hide to make way for the Sun, bringing the day..."

"Um...mom, it's always day."

"No honey" said the mare with a giggle. "It's always night."

"Then why do you tell me 'have a nice day', or 'this day we will eat soup', or...?"

"It's a way of speaking, honey, a way we have to remember the old days" said the mare with a smile, giving him an amused look. "Can I continue or do I finish the story?"

"Yes, mom, I'm sorry" replied the colt with a nod.

"As I said, the sun brought the day, illuminating the skies with such force and power, that it hid the stars in the sky, not even the Moon was a rival before its light."

"Really?" he interrupted the colt again, his eyes bright with excitement, but seeing his mother raise an eyebrow in his direction, his cheeks turned slightly red. "Uh…sorry."

His mother looked at him a little longer before giggling softly and continuing.

"Yes, and the sky was a brilliant blue that warmed everypony's heart. But one day, the princess of the Sun disappeared without a trace, and they say that because of this, her younger sister was so sad and heartbroken that she could not have the strength to bring the Sun to a new day, so the Moon has ruled the skies ever since. But they say that one day the lost princess will return and both sisters will rule together once more."

Finishing her story, she saw her son with a small smile on his face, his eyes heavier and about to fall asleep.

"I hope they meet again... I'd like to see the Sun..."

"One day you'll see, honey" said the mare as she gave him a kiss on the forehead and tucked him in a little better with the blanket.

Her son gave one last yawn before curling up into the blankets and closing his eyes. The mare watched him for a few more moments before sighing and walking away from his room, exiting into a room containing the bed she and her husband shared, the kitchen and the table where they used to eat, with just one more door to a small bathroom. It wasn't much, but it was the best they could get in Rockville, after all, there weren't many fancy houses in a small town devoted solely to rock farming.

The mare stepped out onto the porch, breathing in the fresh air, waiting for her husband to return from the mine, and she gazed up at the starry sky, a sky she had seen since she was a filly. Her gaze went to the East, where the moon hung low, close to the horizon, almost touching it, a perpetual view, and the address of the rock mine where her husband and most of the ponies in the village worked. There were more houses around, most with ponies, a few mares, and a few stallions, who, like her, were waiting for their husbands, wives, or relatives to return from their hard work.

Torches, always burning, lit the way to the mine, which was said to have once belonged to a family of proud earth ponies who owned an entire rock farm. Now, that farm was owned by the Governor of Rockville, who managed its operation and the trade of magical rocks, delivering the corresponding part to the legitimate owner of the surrounding lands. After several more minutes, the figures of the tired ponies began to become visible in the almost perpetual darkness, highlighted by the torches. The mare waited patiently until she saw her husband, who approached their porch, smiling at him with joy and love.

"How was your day, darling?" she asked him as she leaned in to kiss him.

The stallion, a pegasus, responded with a short kiss, following his wife inside.

"Tiring, I can't feel the hooves," he growled at her as he sat up, examining his body.

Like almost every day, he had small wounds criss-crossing his body, dotting his fur, and patches of mine-acquired dirt. His wife went into their kitchen and used her hooves to make him a bowl of cabbage soup, one of the few vegetables Rockville could produce, as the Governor refused to buy more effective plant preservation spells. Grabbing the bowl with her right hoof, and advancing with practiced balance towards the table, she left the plate to her husband, who sighed with satisfaction when he smelled the aroma, his last meal had been a piece of bread that they gave him in the mine.

"Thank you dear, I don't know what I would do without you" he said as he grabbed the bowl and began to drink the soup.

The mare sat in front of him and watched him eat in silence. Her husband always arrived tired from work, a working day of almost 12 hours a day, with only one day off a month. They barely had time to see each other, and their son treasured the moments where his father could be with them. After finishing half of the soup, the stallion turned his eyes to the door that led to his son's room, sadness on his face, which made the unicorn feel a bad feeling.

"Did we get a spot in the lottery?" she asked doubtfully.

After a minute of tense silence, the stallion shook his head.

"No, we have to wait until next year."

The mare felt a gigantic weight fall on her body, her gaze going to the door with immense sadness.

"What shall we tell him now? I had promised him that he could fly on his birthday."

"I'll tell him before I go to the mine" the stallion said firmly, before his posture wavered a bit. "Did you have trouble putting him to bed?"

"At first, but he calmed down a bit after I told him The Legend of the Sun."

The stallion frowned slightly at her as he looked at his wife.

"That old wives' tale again?"

The mare glanced sideways at her husband before shrugging.

"It's a nice story, and the other times I've told it to him, he's liked it."

The stallion sighed before looking at his wife.

"Honey, we've talked about this, we can't get his hopes up with a legend, a legend that isn't real. It will only make it harder for him."

"I know" said the mare with a sigh. "But it's a story that brings him some hope, let him have that. At least until he's 7 years old."

"That's a long time…" the stallion said looking at his wife, who looked at him with pleading in her eyes, which made him sigh and nod. "Okay, you win."

The mare smiled slightly, then looked at their son's door, sighing once more.

"He's going to be devastated when he finds out he won't be able to fly on his birthday."

"It's something he have to get used to" the stallion said with a shrug. "Emperor Tirek only offers a few magic permits a year, he knew we was unlikely to win."

"That didn't stop him from getting his hopes up" replied the mare. "We both know what it's like, especially at that age. Even the slightest chance to do magic fills him with hope, and there's nothing you or I can do."

The stallion fell silent, sighing and focusing on his food, making the house silent. When finished, both went straight to bed, blowing out the candles and preparing to sleep.

Near the Badlands, now known as the Hivelands, was the tiny town of Sproutville, and even further away, practically on the edge of changeling territory, was a small farm, barely containing three orchards. The cabin was simple and wooden, inhabited by a single pony, a unicorn mare named Light Flare. At that moment, she was waking up from a long dreamless night, a common thing for her. With a groan, she rose from the bed, quickly covering herself with a robe that hid much of her body, revealing only her legs, tail, and head.

Light Flare headed toward her small kitchen, where she made herself a morning coffee to wake up to. She was a tall mare, she could perfectly look the tallest stallions in the face, and her horn, unlike other unicorns, was two or three centimeters longer and a little sharper. Her fur was white, and although it seemed that in the past it was impeccable, now it seemed more gray. Her mane was a dull pink, hanging practically lifeless, often forcing her to sweep the strands of her hair with her magic away from her face, since the mare seemed not to want to even comb it. Lastly, her eyes were a fuchsia color that, like the rest of her fur and mane, seemed dull and lifeless.

When she had her cup of coffee ready, she walked out onto her porch and lay down on the wood, looking out at the horizon, and beyond the imposing silhouette of the Changeling Hive, from where Queen Chrysalis ruled her assigned territory of Equestria, was the moon. She took a couple of sips of her coffee, quietly waiting a few minutes, until at last, she heard something to her right. First it was the faint sound of flapping wings, then the soft crackling of the fire, until at last she heard the wood of her porch railing creak under new weight, and seconds later, a squawk in its direction, one that sounded anxious and furious in equal parts.

Light Flare remained unperturbed, sipping her coffee without heeding the incessant crackling of the fire to her right or the increasingly loud caws. After about five minutes, the presence fell silent, and after another minute, it began to walk away from her. Only when the fluttering had faded completely did the mare take the last of her cup and get up, ready for another day's work.

Leaving her cup in the kitchen, she went outside again and, lighting up her horn with a dull yellow aura, all the torches around her farmhouse were lit. Once she had a source of light, she went to make sure the conservation spells she had put on the plants were still working, a spell that could keep the plants healthy and growing, though the knowledge of why those spells were needed was lost to time, and some say that its taste is nothing compared to what it had in the past. Light Flare was the only pony in Sproutville capable of putting quality spells on her plants, which made them taste so much better than the others, while the rest either only knew the most basic spells, or had to resort to services of the small magic preservation company in town.

After checking to her satisfaction that the spells were still working, she walked to the warehouse she used to store her tools and her harvest. She grabbed a belt and tightened it around her waist, then took a hoe and sickle, which hung from her belt, then tied herself to a cart, in which there were four barrels, which she carried outside. Of the three orchards she had, dhe only had one active, where she was harvesting wheat and potatoes, the other two were idle until the next season, she already planned to plant carrots and cabbages.

Pulling the cart to one side of the orchard, she went to work, using the sickle to cut the wheat and, with her magic, carry it to the cart. After half an hour of hard work, in which there was still half the wheat to harvest, she move on to the potatoes, uprooting the superficial plant, which she keep in one of the barrels, and with the hoe she took out the potatoes, taking them to another barrel, separating both parts of the plant. After an hour of work, filling the four barrels, and with half of the potatoes still unpicked, she finished, approaching the car and taking it to the warehouse, where she began to secure the wheat in bales and store it in various boxes that she had stored.

After everything was done, she carried the full barrels and boxes outside the warehouse, loading the cart with empty barrels and returning to the orchard to finish harvesting. When she was close to finishing the wheat, her ears twitched at a characteristic sound that she had already gotten used to. Looking up, she saw what appeared to be a huge swarm, only distinguishable in the dark of night by the greenish light that illuminated them. Arriving at her position, it broke up into several smaller groups that dispersed to go to the surrounding farms. One such group headed for her, five beings with insectoid equine forms that landed at the entrance of her orchard, changelings.

Despite their slight aspect to ponies, they were more like insects. They had short, sharp horns that lit up the night with a green glow, fangs protruding from their mouths, and webbed manes and tails. Their skin was made of protective black chitin, hard and cold to the touch, protecting the fragile interior, a dark blue shell on their backs, which could open to let out a pair of insectoid wings, and they had holes in their legs.. Finally there were their eyes, blue eyes that covered everything, which made them seem like they had no intelligence or emotions, but nothing could be further from the truth, because they were still expressive. Light Flare watched them carefully as they approached, the one in the center wearing dark blue armor, with a green shield that represented a pierced heart, symbol of Queen Chrysalis's hive, and symbol that this changeling had risen to become a captain of his own squadron, who was showing her a big smile.

"Hello Flare, how are you today?"

The mare stared at him before focusing on her work.

"You have your share of the harvest where it always is, take it and get the hell out of here" she said nonchalantly.

"How dare you talk to us like that?!" shouted one of the changelings, who only wore her armor but without the shield on her chest, a simple soldier. "Show more respect to your Masters!"

Light Flare looked at her out of the corner of her eye, ignoring her outburst of fury. She could tell she was a mare by her voice, her horn smaller than her peers, and a softer, more refined muzzle. Her captain let out a small laugh before speaking.

"Calm down, soldier" the captain said with a smile, one that the others were imitating.

The changeling blinked and looked at her leader in confusion.

"But sir, this pony has disrespected you."

"If you stick with us long enough you'll find that Flare is pretty harmless, she's just pretty grumpy, right Flare?" The mare didn't respond, deciding to ignore the changeling and continue with her work, making the captain laugh. "Besides, the mare does her job diligently and always does her part, we can forgive her for her cantankerous attitude."

The soldier looked at her superior in confusion before focusing on the mare, who was still ignoring them.

"Very well sir."

"Excellent, take our share and prepare to return to the hive."

The four changeling soldiers approached the barrels and crates filled with wheat, potatoes, and its associated plants, grabbing it with their magic and lifting themselves into the air. The captain watched them before approaching the mare.

"See you next month, Flare," he said with a smile, but at the last moment, and with wicked amusement, he smashed one of the potatoes, crushing his hoof hard enough to render the surface plant useless.

With a last goodbye gesture, he took flight and rejoined his soldiers, but the changeling who had protested earlier looked at him in confusion.

"Sir, is you not going to absorb the corresponding fraction of love from her?"

"That is not necessary."

"But sir, the law states that all ponies between the ages of 5 and 80 must give a portion of love to the hive" said the soldier with a frown. "Not doing so would be a violation of the law and..."

"Do me a favor and try to assess the love in her."

The soldier blinked in confusion but she did as he was told, and as she did, her eyes widened.

"She's... she's empty!"

"Yes."

"But that's impossible! No being can survive without love!"

"She does, and that's why we don't extract the fraction of her love" the captain said with a shrug. "There is nothing to extract from her."

The soldier glanced from the mare, who was waiting irritably for them to leave, and from her captain.

"Why haven't you reported this, sir?"

"What? That a pony has no love?" the captain said with a raised eyebrow. "Even if they believe the report, it's an irrelevant thing that only interests the hive investigation committee. And since she's one of the few ponies in this seedy town who delivers her share of the crop on time, there's no need to turn her into an experiment, right?" The soldier looked at him a moment longer before shaking her head, causing her captain to nod in satisfaction. "Okay, back to the hive!"

In one quick move, the five changelings stalked away from their farm, carrying the full barrels. Light Flare watched them for a few more moments before approaching the plant, removing the shattered part and exposing the potato, which luckily was still intact. Placing it in its proper barrel, the mare turned to finish her job.