The Blank Flank Princess - I

Chapter 1: Rainbow Draft

It was morning, the sun was up, and Princess Luna was completely exhausted. The night had been one huge emotional roller-coaster for her, and raising the sun in the morning had taken all of her remaining energy. She crept up the tower stairs to bed, too tired to fly. She was glad that filly Tia needed a lot more sleep, so that she did not get under her hooves any more than she already had. The unknown enemy was obviously succeeding if his aim was to weaken her.

Was this how Tia had felt the evening after she had been forced to exile Nightmare Moon? If it was, then she had all of her sympathy.

"Luna! Luna! It's morning! Morning!"

Luna very nearly said something quite unmentionable and very un-princess-like to the little filly who had jumped on her back. Thankfully she was able to control herself and just groaned very loudly.

"Oh, Tia, I've been awake all night, I'm tired, and I need to go to sleep before I just pass out here on the stairs."

"But who'll play with me if you're asleep?" Tia complained. "I'll be all on my own! I don't like being on my own."

"Princess Luna!" The voice made Luna's heart leap within her – the very pony who might be the answer to Tia's question!

Twilight Sparkle had been up all night as well, but Luna did not really care about that. She was far too taken up with her own situation.

"Twilight, what are we going to do? We have to find out who did this, but Celestia really is a little filly right now! She doesn't remember being an adult, and she has no idea what the threat to Equestria is! And we have to look after her as well as trying to find out who did this to her!"

"And I'm sure this is just what he was counting on when he used the regression spell on her," Twilight sighed. "Luna, who's going to look after Celestia while you get some rest?"

"Why, you are, Twilight Sparkle. Tia, run along with the nice unicorn, she'll look after you." Luna quickly used the last of her magic to teleport back to her chambers before there could be any objections. Twilight looked in shock down at the eager little filly in front of her. Tia jumped up, using her wings to remain airborne.

"Oh, oh! Where are we going?" she asked enthusiastically. "What will we do today?"

Twilight Sparkle had been a very quiet and studious filly; she had preferred to spend her time with her nose in a book rather than playing with other ponies. It was now rather apparent to her that Celestia was not that sort of filly at all, she that meant she would have to somehow find out what one did with a hyper-active white alicorn filly no older than Applebloom.

And all the while the unknown enemy was planning and working, using Celestia as a distraction. What was worse, Celestia had said that she was putting a trusted former student of hers into the School staff – but had neglected to tell Twilight Sparkle who that unicorn would be.

It was going to be a difficult day, the purple unicorn thought.
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Little Tia did not know how her state affected others because it was quite normal to her. She had no memories of being an adult, of being the regal princess who ruled Equestria with a fair and kindly rule. Her memories had been regressed, and she was very much a pony out of time.

The Equestria that she remembered had been a very different place, a world still untamed, where chaos monsters battled with her parents for control over the land. Her parents had been strong, good and just, the monsters had been hideous and full of evil, using the creation as a plaything without regard for pony or beast. The old castle had been constructed for defence and strength, compared to it Canterlot Castle was a folly, a palace built in the form of a castle more out of a desire to honour history than for any real protection. The dragons kept their ancient places, far from haunt of Pony, but the chaos monsters were all gone; the elements of harmony had done their work well.
The little filly trotted around the castle with eyes wide in wonder. She looked at ancient stained glass windows that depicted her own actions as things that were new to her. Was she really that pony? Had she become the heroic champion of ponies? It looked in some of the windows as if she and Luna had done many heroic things together, but in others as if she had ruled alone.

"Twilight?" the pink-maned filly asked, looking up at the tired unicorn.

"Yes, Princess?" the young unicorn looked down at the little pony.

"What happened to Luna? I mean, I know that a lot of things happened when I grew up, but most of these windows don't have Luna in them. Why is that?"

"Luna… Luna became jealous of you because most ponies slept through her night while they enjoyed your day. She… she gave in to the evil and had to be banished. She was restored by six brave ponies a little over a year ago." Twilight did not say that she was one of those ponies.

"I see. Oh, I'm sorry Luna did that. And… no wonder I look so unhappy in most of these windows! I love Luna more than anything!"

"I know you do, Princess. She knows that as well."

"And the chaos monsters… what happened to them?"

"You and Luna defeated them, using the elements of harmony. They were all defeated, one by one. I suppose that their being chaos monsters helped, because chaos monsters can't really work together."

"And what happened to the old castle?"

"It… it was destroyed when Luna was banished. It was then that you moved the capital to Canterlot. Of course I only know these things from reports, and from legends from long ago. You kept so many of the secrets to yourself, you would not have ponies think of Princess Luna as evil. She wasn't, she was just misguided."

"Poor Luna! She's a nice pony. Even if she's very tired. And… all this is really my fault, isn't it? I cast a spell that went wrong that did this to me. And now Luna has to do everything herself because I'm too little to do it. Can you know me around the castle? I want to see everything, and hear about the way things are now that there is harmony and not chaos in Equestria."

Twilight smiled – that was one thing that she could do, act as a tour-guide.
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Twilight led the way around the huge castle. Little Celestia was incurably curious, she wanted to know what every little thing was, what every picture and stained glass window was about. Twilight was very glad that she had paid attention during all the tours of the castle that she had taken in the past, and that she was fascinated with history herself. She walked and talked until her hooves felt made of lead, and her voice was a low croak. To her relief little Celestia tired too, and at last the two ponies fell asleep together, and Twilight got some much-needed rest.

She was woken by Tia bouncing on her, an action that drew a startled scream from the young unicorn. It was followed by a giggle that could only have come from one pony.

"P-Princess Luna!" Twilight spluttered, jumping to her hooves. "I…"

"You were sleeping, I didn't want to disturb you. Tia, on the other hand, did, and you know how she always gets her way." The midnight-blue alicorn's tone was rather mocking, but Twilight chalked that up to stress from having to take control of the whole kingdom while Princess Celestia was incapacitated by her current… condition.

"Princess Luna, we need to concentrate on the pony that did this to Princess Celestia. What we know is that he is extremely dangerous and extremely intelligent. Not to mention evil. You… you's almost as old as Princess Celestia…"

"I was on the moon for a thousand years, in a sort of suspended animation. Celestia spent that millennium honing her magical skills."

"You became Nightmare Moon."

"Yes, but that was more… my own magic… well, it was different from what this unicorn is doing. He is trying to use the magic of the Draconoquis to gain great power for himself. It's not the same as what happened to me. I gave in to my anger and hatred and I was transformed. He has deliberately chosen the path that he is travelling. Twilight, there is one similarity between him and myself – I nearly destroyed Equestria, and if this enemy isn't stopped, he will do the same."

"That's if it's a stallion. It might be a mare," Twilight sighed. "We know next to nothing at all about this enemy, and that's what really worries me. All we know is that the enemy is connected with the School – and that is where we are going to have to concentrate our efforts."

"Your efforts, Twilight Sparkle," Luna corrected. "I'm afraid I am going to be busy ruling Equestria. we also have to work on getting Tia back to normal somehow; you heard that we need to help her get her cutie mark back. How did you earn yours?"

"As you know, Princess, my great skill is magic. I was taking the entrance exam for Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and I was on the brink of failing when somehow Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom triggered my magical abilities. They went haywire, but Celestia was able to bring my abilities back under control – and then I found that I had my cutie-mark."

"Mine appeared when I raised the moon for the first time… But I wanted to raise the moon! Tia doesn't seem to want to control the sun, and I can't force her to do that. Nopony is ever forced to do the thing she gets her cutie mark for…" Luna groaned. "I have no idea what to do, you realise that?"

"Princess Luna, this has never happened before, nopony knows what to do – apart perhaps from the Pony who did this to her," Twilight was trying to reassure the rather distressed alicorn.

"And he or she is not going to share with us. I hope that the Council of Unicorn Mages can work out a counter-spell, even with the rather scanty information that we gave them."

"We couldn't tell them everything; nopony we can't trust absolutely can know the truth, your Majesty."

"I know. But it doesn't make me any happier! Look, we need a plan; we need to work out some sort of orderly way to help Tia get her cutie mark back!" Luna hurried over to the nearest table and spread out a parchment. "Do you have any ideas? I mean, you're her best student ever…"

"Well…" Twilight frowned as se thought hard. "Most ponies get their cutie marks when they're in school, so perhaps we should send Princess Celestia to school?"

Luna looked over to where Tia was bouncing up and down on a couch with cries of delight. The night princess smiled. It actually sounded like a good idea, she thought, one that had some chance of succeeding.

"Oh yes, let's send Tia to school. For one thing, that will get her out of our manes! Not to mention tails. While you're in the school looking for the enemy, we can enrol Tia as a student. It's her school, after all! All the magic lessons will help her, and up in those towers she's bound to look at the sun and think about it! She'll be back to normal in no time at all, I'm sure!" the younger princess felt happier just thinking about it. It was so easy, so straightforward.

"Princess Luna, are you sure that's a good idea?" Twilight frowned. "I mean, the enemy is likely to realise that it is Celestia, and he may try to attack her. I can't watch her all the time."

"Then we'll find a pony we can trust to be her bodyguard. I'm sure we can work out a story about why she needs one, like her being a relation of one of the lesser Royals. Now, we'll have to take the headmaster into our confidence, and I'm not very keen on that, but there's really no other option. I'll write a letter…" Luna was carried away by her enthusiasm for her plan.

"Princess, are you sure it's wise to tell him?" Twilight asked. She couldn't see Doctor Wand, the venerable headmaster, as a power-crazed villain determined to dominate all of Equestria, but then she was conscious that her opinions of the staff were coloured by her experiences as a filly. The teachers she was inclined to distrust were those who were harsh to students, but a love of disciple in school did not necessarily equate to a desire to be the unquestioned ruler of all equestrian.

"Wise? No, I don't. Necessary? Yes." Luna answered her. "Really, I have no choice. I have to tell somepony, and I am afraid it has to be Doctor Wand the headmaster."

"I still don't like it. I mean, he's a wonderful teacher, a really nice unicorn, but Celestia didn't share her concerns with him, and she had a good reason for that. Maybe it was because she was concerned about his security, but I don't know!"

"Twilight, you said yourself that this unknown enemy will probably recognise Celestia anyway."

"I guess you're right," Twilight conceded at last. "We do tell Doctor Wand. We send Celestia to school. I guess she's never been to school?"

"No, we were taught by our parents. There were no schools back then. Hear that, Tia, you're going to…" Luna's voice tailed off. The little white alicorn filly was no-where to be seen.

"Oh, horseapples, we just lost Tia," Luna muttered under her breath. Twilight looked around the room, horrified that she had not noticed.

"Where's she gone? Oh, Celestia, are you hiding? Celestia?"

Luna indicated an open window.

"I don't think she's here. She's decided to stretch her wings."
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Rainbow Dash had come to Canterlot with Twilight Sparkle in the hope that she might run into a Wonderbolt there; or at least somepony who could introduce her to the elite display team. All she needed was a chance to show them what she could do, her speed, her control, her effortless grace! On the off chance that there might be a Wonderbolt watching from below, she went into a difficult aerobatic routine, only to be forced to bank sharply by a small white flying object with a pink mane and tail.

"Hey, hey! Why don't you watch where you're flying, kid? I know you've got your head in the clouds literally, but that's no excuse! There's other ponies up here in the sky." The Pegasus pony's rather irritated voice startled the little white alicorn who started back in surprise. Dash saw her frightened expression and suddenly felt a little guilty. The filly was extremely small, and she was all on her own.

"Hey, you're kind of little to be flying around up here on your own," She smiled at the little filly in front of her. Tia smiled back. There was something nice about this little pony, Dash thought. She was just a very young filly who really should not have been out on her own, and she was wandering about in the sky not knowing where she was going. Dash had not had the most caring parents herself, and she felt for this little pony who had just been allowed to fly off. In some ways the little filly reminded her of Scootaloo, the little orange filly who practically worshipped her.

"Hey, I'm Rainbow Dash. What's your name?"

"I'm called Tia!" was the enthusiastic reply.

"Tia! That's a pretty cool name. Not as cool as Rainbow Dash, of course, but then no-pony's as cool as I am! Wanna see?" Dash's natural instinct to show off re-asserted itself, as she realised that the filly would be a perfect audience for her aerobatic tricks, and she mentally prepared herself for her routine.

"Oh, oh yes!" Tia cried.

"Okay, prepare for the coolest solo flying display you have ever seen!" Always willing to oblige, Rainbow Dash streaked up into the blue sky and went into a fancy flying display. She dodged clouds, she flew right through a cloud, she looped the loop, she rolled, she whirled, and finally she came to a halt in front of the awe-struck filly, glowing with pride in her own performance, certain that she had just shown all of Canterlot how cool she was.

"There! That's what cool looks like!" Rainbow Dash said in satisfaction.

"Oooh! You're fun!" Tia cried. "I like fun! That's why I'm out here, it was so boring back home, they were just talking about school and things."

"Yeah, home," Dash was reminded that this little filly probably had parents who might be worried, even if they had just left her to fly off in the first place. "Where's home, kiddo?"

"Oh, it's the castle. I think."

The words shocked Rainbow Dash. This little filly… This little filly was an alicorn, and she had only just noticed. Well, no-one had ever said she had the best powers of observation in Equestria, and besides she had been worrying about the little white pony. But now that she had noticed, Dash was thrown for a loop. Everyone knew that there were only two alicorns in the whole of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Luna was a midnight blue and this alicorn was white; Rainbow Dash realised with a shock like a bolt of lightning that could only mean one thing…

Celestia had had a foal, and covered it up! The divine princess of the sun had weaknesses like everypony else, and finally a liaison had resulted in more than just memories. That was one serious scandal on her hooves! The Pegasus pony's mind raced; if she'd accidentally discovered Celestia's deepest, darkest secret, and Celestia found out, then she would be flying on the moon, and there was no way at all that she would ever be able to join the Wonderbolts! She'd be forced to flee, live in hiding, maybe, change her name – even dye her mane!

"Tia! Oh, Tia, there you are!" In her consternation, Rainbow Dash had missed the sound of Luna's approach. She sighed with relief as she saw Luna; after their recent adventure she knew that the midnight blue alicorn was on her side, and so she relaxed a little, hoping Luna would just not tell her sister about this encounter.

"Princess Luna, I… I don't know who this filly is, I don't know who her mother is, and I don't care and please don't tell Princess Celestia that I saw her."

"Silly, you already saw me!" Tia laughed. Rainbow Dash gulped, then smiled. Of course, Celestia had named her filly after herself.

"No, I mean your mother. You're sweet, but your mother…"

"Uh, Rainbow Dash, that is Celestia. It's… difficult." Luna pointed out. Dash let out a strangled scream, realising what was really going on, and how badly she had goofed. Also just what her words had implied about her opinion of Princess Celestia, which was actually the main thing on her mind at that moment.

"Oh! No, I didn't mean… but of course, I knew that. I was just joking. That's it, I was only joking!" Shut up, Dash, she told herself, you already said too much, don't make things worse.

"I know," Luna giggled. She knew what Rainbow Dash had thought, and actually she found it quite funny. Rainbow Dash often spoke her mind, but she was a loyal pony, and… And perfect to be Celestia's bodyguard! They wanted a pony they could trust absolutely – and who better than the pony who represented the Element of Loyalty? "But this is rather a secret. Listen, this wasn't an accident, it's the result of an attack. There's a unicorn at Princess Celestia's school who is plotting to take over Equestria, and it will be up to you and Twilight to find out who it is. That means I need you to tell no pony about this."

"Oh, my lips are sealed, princess! I am silent on the subject, I will never speak about the fact that Princess Celestia is now the cutest little blank flank filly… wait, blank flank! How did she lose her cutie mark?"

"We don't really know, just that some sort of spell was put on a scroll so that when Celestia tried to use a spell to locate the writer of the scroll it… did this to her. Because we don't know the original spell, we can't reverse it. The Unicorn Mages think that the key to getting her back to normal is for her to earn her cutie mark a second time, which is why she's going to school. Twilight and I think that her best chance of earning her mark is at the school."

"Well, then you are so lucky that you came to me," Rainbow Dash felt more in her element now. "You are looking at Rainbow Dash, advisor to the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

"Thank you," Luna smiled. "You will earn the gratitude of both of us, Celestia and myself."

"I'm Rainbow Dash, princess, Loyalty and the coolest pony of them all. Of course I'll help you – and I'll help defeat this evil unicorn who wants to take over Equestria! Say, can you put in a few words for me with the Wonderbolts?" she added. Might as well get something out of it, she reasoned.

"Of course I can, Rainbow Dash, and thank you. At the moment it's just me and Twilight looking after Tia, and I can tell you that she's quite a handful! You can… play with her the way we can't, Twilight's too tired at the moment, and I'm just far too busy because I'm now the only princess in the whole of Equestria!"

Rainbow Dash smiled, holding her head high as she hovered high above Canterlot.

"You can depend on me, Princess Luna," she said firmly. Her mind was already full of dreams about the Wonderbolts and future glory. All she had to do was look after an age-regressed Celestia – how hard could it be? "I'm proud to join your team protecting Fillestia and helping her to earn her cutie mark."

"Fillestia?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, we need a name for her that only we understand, so I'll call her Fillestia, short for Filly Celestia." Rainbow Dash gave her most self-satisfied smile. "No charge for awesomeness," she added, much to Luna's amusement.

"Fillestia. I think I actually like it!"

"So, 'til Fillestia gets her cutie mark, I'll be the official Fillestia Protector! Can you get me a black jacket and some shades for this job?"

"A black jacket and shades?" Luna was confused now, why would Rainbow Dash need shades?

"Sure, so I actually look the part! Royal protection officers need to look cool, you know. What's the first assignment?"

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The robed unicorn watched the scene unfold on the black crystal wall of his towering sanctum. He chuckled wickedly to himself.

"Rainbow Dash. The bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Brash, arrogant and foolish. Yet Princess Celestia put her faith in these ponies! And to think that this pony was the one who failed dismally when she faced Discord! She will present no trouble at all!"

The Servant bowed low as he entered the chamber, abasing himself before his Master.

"Ah, my Servant. Have you made contact with the pony I ordered you to seek out?"

"I have done as you commanded, Master. It was a simple matter…"

"But of course it was, my Servant. I know with whom I am dealing, I am no foal! Discord failed because he underestimated his foes – on both occasions. I shall not make that mistake. That is why I first dealt with Princess Celestia – and my action has already borne fruit. I cannot observe what is happening within the Castle itself because of the wards Celestia placed around it – but Princess Luna has revealed what she knows to Rainbow Dash, and I find it is even less than I thought she knew.

"Now, contact my agent in Ponyville," he ordered. "There are certain things that I must obtain if I am to possess ultimate power."

"As you command, my Master," the Servant answered. He hurried out once more, leaving the enthroned unicorn alone once more.

"Soon, very soon," he chuckled to himself. "Rainbow Dash, you may be loyal, but you are not intelligent. Curious how it is inferior intellects that are often most loyal. And yet, Rainbow Dash, you might still be dangerous. That means that I shall be forced to take action against you in due time. A shame, and yet necessary,"