It was unclear how Trixie had done it. She shouldn't have been able to, that much was obvious. No aspect of her previously stated plan had made sense - in fact, it had been so illogical and haphazard that Starlight was fairly sure that there were elements of a brownie recipe in there. (She could think of no other reason why the casting had required two cups of flour.) Yet she had tolerated her best friend's attempt at a demonstration - it was supposed to be 'new magic' after all, and sometimes the new meant pushing beyond the boundaries of what seemed like common sense.

And now look where that had gotten her.

Trixie was hovering just above table-height, eyes glowing an impossible bright white. Her body was spread out wide, hooves splayed out like the petals of a flower. And in the background, Twilight was screaming.

Not incoherently or with terror, mind you. More with disbelief and full of questions that, realistically, she should have known Starlight couldn't possibly answer. Questions like "How did Trixie do that?" and "Why did Spike just get a message from Princess Luna that Princess Celestia has disappeared?" and "What do you MEAN Trixie's moving the Sun now?!"

All Starlight could do was stand there with no response beyond a lame shrug and a look of sympathetic distress. Because she understood. She understood not what had happened or why the spell which had theoretically been to summon a phantasmal chicken had imbued her friend with divine power; no, she understood the more practical problem. That the power to control the Sun was in the hooves of the Great and Powerful Trixie and that they were probably all going to die.

------

It took about half an hour for Trixie to stop floating. She lowered to the floor and collapsed into a heap - Starlight carefully bundled her up in a blanket and got her some water, hoping that the episode had passed and everything was just a temporary problem.

It was not.

Trixie - once her eyes opened - looked at Starlight in a way she never had before. It was a look that told of understanding knowledge beyond the limits of knowledge, of having seen things no mortal pony should have seen, and of feeling a great power that burned and bubbled deep within her gut.

Trixie belched, then frowned as she understood the burning and bubbling was not heartburn.

"Starlight," she asked tentatively, "Would you happen to know what has happened to Trixie?"

There was a hesitation. In any other circumstance, Twilight would have been the better one to relate this (were she not currently in the corner, hyperventilating into a paper bag.) She was a Princess after all, and far more knowledgeable in matters of diplomacy and how to handle unpleasant situations. But having her tell Trixie anything was… dicey. No, better for her best friend to pull the bandage off and be there to help her. So Starlight took a deep breath to steady herself. "The spell went wrong. We're not sure how or why, but somehow we think you absorbed Princess Celestia instead of summoning a chicken."

"Rooster," Trixie almost reflexively corrected. "Trixie was summoning a rooster." Then she stopped. "Wait, so Trixie is an alicorn now?"

Starlight shook her head. "No." The 'thankfully' was unsaid but implied. "But the Sun was following your movements earlier. When you turned your head to look left, it moved left, then right when you turned your head right." It had been terrifying, once they had realized what was going on.

Trixie, on the other hoof, seemed more intrigued. And she stared at the sky, slowly moving her head back and forth. True to Starlight's story, the Sun echoed her movements - left, right, forward, backward, in a figure eight. It was only when Trixie started to duck down to see if she could bring the Sun closer that Starlight stopped her. "Trixie, this is serious!"

"Seriously Powerful," Trixie said, perhaps not having the same appreciation for the situation. "Trixie said that was was going to demonstrate new magic, and she has!" Leaping to her hooves, the showmare struck a dramatic pose. "While perhaps not what she had intended, The Great and Powerful Trixie has pushed the boundaries of magical knowledge and demonstrated her mighty intellect!"

There was a silent moment as Starlight tried to figure out how to solve the problem.

She did not get much more than that, as Trixie grabbed the blanket she had been wrapped in and slung it over her back as a cape. "Now," she stated with supreme authority, "Trixie shall head to Canterlot!"

"...why." Starlight feared she knew the answer.

She did. "So that Trixie may take the throne as is demanded. While Trixie did not intend to usurp it, there is no arguing that she has. Trixie controls the Sun, and thus by rights she holds the Solar Throne. The public requires - nay, needs her presence!"

And before Starlight could stop her, Trixie teleported.

"You know," Starlight mused to the air, "I didn't think that this would be how I would end up committing high treason."

------

Teleporting to Canterlot a minute later, Starlight found the situation had already become far worse than she had feared. Trixie was indeed sitting on the Solar Throne, wearing Princess Celestia's discarded tiara. Several of the Royal Guard were present, spears at the ready and pointed at a Trixie who didn't seem particularly concerned by her potential pointy death.

At the foot of the dais stood Princess Luna, mouth pulled to a tight line. As soon as there was a flash beside her, she turned, opened her mouth… and looked just a bit surprised. "Starlight Glimmer? I had anticipated Twilight Sparkle to attend to this problem, not you."

"Sorry." Starlight couldn't help the bashful apology. "Twilight's kinda in the middle of a panic attack right now. I'm sure she'll catch up!"

Luna looked at Trixie then back at Starlight. "I believe I may understand why." The ancient alicorn sighed. "Fortunately I have already been in communication with Spike, who has coordinated with me to try and make sense of this highly unusual situation. Unless you have a solution he has not mentioned–"

"I don't." Starlight didn't like admitting that, but she was at least quick to do so.

Luna nodded firmly. "Then for the time being, I shall take control of this situation." Striding up the dais with the confidence born of a thousand years (give or take), she confronted the showmare. "Trixie," she said with placid superiority.

"Luna," Trixie responded with the confidence of one who had no idea how close to being sent to the Moon they were.

"You control the Sun now, yes? And believe this entitles you to the Solar Throne?"

Trixie blinked. "Yes? Isn't that the definition of it? The Solar Throne belongs to the pony that controls the Sun."

Luna pursed her lips for a moment. "I will recognize your claim–" She was briefly interrupted by an incoherent rumble of panic from everypony else in the room. They were silenced as she stomped her hoof with authority and began again. "I will recognize your claim, provided you agree to three caveats. The first is that, should our sister return and she retake control of the Sun, you will step down from the Solar Throne for the same reason that you have assumed it."

"Trixie agrees." That, at least, was easy for her. "Trixie did not seek this power, she merely accepts the responsibility thrust upon her."

It took some visible effort for Luna not to say anything about that. "Second," she continued, "You will accept that same responsibility for movement of the Sun at both dawn and dusk. You will not further abuse control over the Sun's movement, nor disrupt the lives of all those who require the Sun."

Trixie, magnanimously, placed a hoof over her heart. "Trixie swears it."

That garnered a nod of approval. "And lastly, you will allow yourself to act in a junior role to myself when it comes to matters of government and rulership for a time. You are yet new to the Throne, and it will take time for you to become familiar with the inner workings of Equestria's government. The Solar and Lunar Thrones are equals and I will not deny you in this - merely advise that you need time to gain proficiency in such a complex system."

There, Trixie hesitated. But after a brief thought, she nodded in agreement. "Trixie is willing to do so, provided she is given access to the appropriately skilled tutors. The Solar Throne cannot and should not remain subservient for long."

Princess Luna looked like a mare who knew she was signing her own death warrant. But she nodded in return. "Then so let it be, Princess Trixie Lulamoon."

Somewhere in the distance, Twilight Sparkle started screaming without yet knowing why.

------

The first day of Princess Trixie's rule went well. The Sun rose just as it should, the showmare was given a basic tutorial on the various branches and arms of Equestria's government (which she showed precisely zero prior understanding of), and the Sun set just as it should have. The less aware would have thought things were going well.

The second day passed similarly, save that Trixie's education turned to the absolute basics of foreign diplomacy - being able to name and identify Equestria's neighbors on the map. (Those, she was slightly better with as she had traveled to several for shows.) The Sun rose and set as needed and on time.

Day three is when it started to go wrong. The Sun was eight minutes late to rise (though it did set on time later on.) Education that day was legal - the basics of the judicial system. Trixie was somewhat proficient there as well, having been a defendant numerous times.

Day four… well….

------

Snoring was not a good sign. Luna understood that. Particularly not when it was coming from Trixie's (temporary) bedroom at nine-thirty. The Sun was supposed to have been up two hours before, yet the Sun's minder was still deep asleep. And so Luna felt it was time to do something about it.

The doors of the Solar bedroom smashed open with a cacophony of noise, knocked off their hinges by midnight blue hooves. Luna - Princess fell and terrible - stormed in, grabbed the little blue unicorn in her magic, and shook her like a salt shaker.

Trixie had no chance to preserve her dignity and could only let out incoherent warbling as she transitioned instantly from 'deep sleep' to 'magnitude seven earthquake'. And she had even less as she was then dropped back on her bed with a [I]fthumph[\i] of sheets and pillows. She flailed, trying to get up and face her attacker.

She did not need to as Luna once more lifted her up, extracted her from the sheets, and set Trixie down on all four hooves. "You're late," she accused.

Trixie drew herself up haughtily and let out a disgruntled harumph. "Trixie is well aware of what time it is! Morning in Equestria cannot begin without her, and thus morning begins when Trixie says it does!"

This was the wrong answer, and Princess Luna made it clear by grabbing a nearby pillow in her magic and clocking Trixie in the face with it. "You swore you would not abuse control over the Sun and not disrupt the many, many, many lives that depend on its timely presence."

"It isn't abuse, it is royal prerogative!"

Trixie's explanation got her another pillow to the face. "Raise the Sun now. And do not be late again." With that, Luna stormed out as regally as she had entered, leaving her ersatz co-ruler in her wake.

Trixie, meanwhile, watched the Lunar Princess leave with narrowed, vengeful eyes. This was not over.

------

Sunrise the next day was on time. Sunset… was not. Princess Luna awoke to find the Sun still high in the sky and Trixie missing. She had not shown up for her lessons that day (which was perhaps fortunate as nopony wanted her to learn how the army worked) and was unsighted by any of the Palace staff.

After an hour of searching, Luna found Trixie in one of the Palace's wine cellars - drunk beyond drunk. Judging by the bottles around her, by all rights the showmare/Princess should have been unconscious. Yet somehow she was not and was instead merrily singing raunchy showtunes.

Luna repeated the performance of the day before - picking up Trixie and was just about to shake her when she realized the potential biological disaster of doing so. Instead, she merely hauled Trixie close so the two were face-to-face. "What do you have to say for yourself," demanded the alicorn.

Her first response was a belch. The second was a self-satisfied grin. "Trixie is showing you that Trixie is the one in charge of the Sun, so Trixie can make the Sun do Sun when Trixie feels like Sunning."

It took several seconds for Luna to parse that. Then she frowned, visibly considering if she should see what happened when Trixie was thrown from the Palace's highest tower. But common sense overcame her anger, at least for the moment. "You swore an oath," Luna direly noted. "And you are causing grave harm to everypony in Equestria with these childish shenanigans."

Trixie stuck out her tongue at Luna. "It isn't Trixie's fault if Trixie likes to sleep in. She's a night mare!" And that wordplay/near insult caused her to dissolve into giggling.

"Lower the Sun," Luna demanded. (Later, she would spend a considerable amount of time going over the irony of the situation and her saying that.)

Once more, Trixie stuck out her tongue.

So Luna marched out of the wine cellar (with Trixie in magical tow), up seventeen flights of stairs to the highest point in the Palace, and held Trixie up in the air. "Lower the Sun," she commanded once more.

Trixie grunted and crossed her arms.

And so Luna waved Trixie like a conductor's baton, snagging the Sun and pulling it downwards. Then - after raising the Moon properly - she dumped Trixie on the stones of the parapet. "Do better, you lazy lout," she commanded. And then left in her foulest mood since the Nightmare.

Trixie, meanwhile, decided this was a great time for a nap.

------

When the Sun did not rise properly the next morning, Starlight Glimmer was awakened by a mob. Princess Luna was at the head of it and behind her stood dozens of Palace staff, Royal Guards, and concerned politicians from around Canterlot.

Half-awake, Starlight Glimmer asked the only question that made sense to her. "...Am I under arrest?"

"I am commandeering you as part of an official request on behalf of Equestria," stated Princess Luna. And then she thrust a large measuring cup full of flour at the unicorn. "Recast the foul spell that removed my sister. At least if you control the Sun, it will rise on time. You are a unicorn of singular power, Starlight Glimmer, but I know when you are sleeping and I know when you awake. You do not sleep in like certain ponies do, and so I would rather entrust you with the responsibility."

Starlight paused. "...why aren't you asking Twilight?"

Luna took a deep breath - then sighed. "Twilight Sparkle already has much on her plate. Also I remember what happened the last time she held the power of multiple alicorns within herself. Better to avoid that problem than recreate it."

While that didn't sit right with Starlight, she also wasn't in much of a position to argue. So she took the flour and - while being watched by several dozen angry Canterloters - recast that fateful spell.

She knew that it had been properly cast when the flour burst into flames and a rooster's crow echoed through the air. Then - as illogically as everything started - Princess Celestia fell out of a hole in reality to land before Starlight in a tangle of limbs, fur, and feathers.

Gasps echoed all around the room - but none louder than Luna's. "SISTER!" Tearful and joyous, Luna grabbed Celestia and hugged her tightly. "Oh, you have returned to us!"

Princess Celestia groggily turned her head and coughed, expelling a gout of white feathers. "Luna," she hoarsely asked, "Who banished me to the Chicken Dimension, and where are they? Please say somewhere remote so I can smite them with a clear conscience."