Twilight backed away into a corner once she saw Sunshine poke his head out the bathroom door. Dragging the blanket over, she held it in front of her face like a foal hiding from the monster under their bed. Watching as he looked away from her even as he came near, flinching whenever her breathing came out in a squeak, he still never looked her in the eyes. She had stopped breathing when he was standing over her, and slowly he got down on his knees and wrapped his wings around her making her shut her eyes momentarily from fear before she realized he was hugging her to calm her nerves.

"I'm sorry, Twilight." He said rubbing her back with a hoof. "I should have sent a letter, I should have warned you... If Eris hadn't been here I-I don't know what I would have done to you. I'm sorry."

Hearing the sincerity in his voice, she slowly tried to wrap her own fore-legs around his shoulders but found they were to wide. Instead, she just hugged his neck and let a few tears escape.

Letting go, Sunshine took one last look at his former student as she got up before turning to the bathroom door where Eris was standing, watching him with her eagle talon in a snapping position. Giving her a nod, she lowered her talon and watched as he went to another corner where he had put his new regalia. Putting on the red metal, he took a deep breath and doing what Cadance did when she was stressed, put a hoof to his chest and took a few calming breathes.

"Eris," he said turning back to her and found she was glaring at a mirror shard. "Eris." He said louder, grabbing her attention, but not before she shattered the shard underneath her hoof.

"Yes?" She asked wiping the shards away as she gave him a forced smile.

"If you wold like to stay, I plan on addressing my guards of my recent transformation. I'm sure you would find some amusement in seeing the shock on their faces." He asked grinning as she shrugged. "You can be the one to announce my arrival to the public any way you wish too, as long as there are no floating buildings." He said making her grin become genuine and her eyes light up with a devious spark.

Eris, cupping her hands while her ears formed horns, disappeared in a bout of laughter leaving Twilight to look at Sunshine in concern.

"Sunshine," Twilight said mortified at the prospect of Eris having free roam in Canterlot. "You realize you just let the spirit of chaos run rampant through Equestria's capital, right?"

"I realize I just let a responsible, kind hearted mare run rampant through the city, yes." He said smiling as he looked out the window. "Hmm, no flashing colors, screaming or crying and I see nothing in the process of being morphed or coming alive, nor do I see any changes in the weather. Twilight, sometimes you need to look past the past and see her for what she is now. A kinder spirit of chaos with a heart of gold and a motherly care for all living things."

"She does seem to be more controlled than when she was Discord." Twilight said biting her lip. "But she's still a trickster."

"Why do you say that?"

"After I lied to a guard for her," Twilight said making him raise an eyebrow. "She gave me a glass of tea made with salt."

Smirking, he chuckled to himself before he couldn't hold it in and laughed, causing Twilight to go red in the face. Going to her, he put a wing over her bringing her into a hug again.

"Twilight, that was a harmless joke. One she has pulled on me and my sister before." He said looking at her even as she stared back up, still flustered. "She may be a trickster, but she's not turning furniture into to taffy or putting superglue on my sister's throne. That, even we agreed, was too far." He said shuddering from the memory.

"I know she's a trickster, but she doesn't follow the same rules like she did before." She said letting her head lean on his shoulder.

"That might be because the rules have changed," Sunshine said. "The last time I checked, there wasn't a male alicorn or a female Draconequus. To her, this is like a game, one where all the pieces on either side have been thrown off and are being replaced."

"She said something similar about her relationship with you." Twilight said smiling. "She's always playing a game with you, she said."

"She's right." He said smiling as he looked back at the city. "When you have nothing but time, you need something to keep you sane."

Canterlot

Smiling gleefully as she watched Sunshine through the telescope she had perched on a two story building, her smile became razor thin when he saw him walk out of view. Waiting for two minutes, she waited for him to poke his head back out, but when he didn't, she giggled with a maelstrom of devious and chaotic thoughts pooling in her head. Looking down at the nobles of Canterlot, the supposed elite of the country, she appeared down on the clean streets with a flick of her tail.

The nobles, taking notice of the cackling goddess stopped in either trepidation or disgust but otherwise didn't acknowledge her. With a short leap, no more than two feet off the ground, she was suddenly standing on a mahogany podium with a microphone and all around the city, speakers had appeared in random intervals.

"Testing, testing," she said listening to her voice come clear through the speakers. "Hello ladies and gentlecolts," she said letting her heart slow down to deep pumps instead of the fast paced ones she had seconds before. "My name is Eris, the former-former ruler of Equestria and gender-bent Draconequus, formerly known as Discord. If you are wondering about the subject of this message, it is only to instill as much patriotism to your new prince of Equestria. Yes, that's right, a male alicorn is on the throne. You all should have an easy time guessing who he was before he was a stallion."

When the nobles merely stuck up their noses and threw a few harsh insults her way, she only smiled and watched them go on their way. Grabbing the microphone in her hands as a sea of her cotton candy clouds began swirling overhead, she blew a small jet of fire into the microphone and fire erupted from all the speakers. The roads morphed, turning to sand in some areas and caramel in others while buildings became transparent and the tallest were colored in stripes, dots or plaid as her chaotic influence spread over the city.

"Maybe I didn't make it clear before," she said looking at the startled crowd around her. "You all are going to go to the very stage where Celestia would raise the sun during the Summer Sun Celebration or I'll turn this city into my own personal playground. And I should warn you, I tend to break my toys' little minds, bending them like licorice over a flame, until it's like a red putty. So, unless you all want to start hugging cabbages and run from saber tooth rats, I'd suggest you hurry."

The ponies quietly taking cautious steps around the smirking goddess, whispered to one another as the ground with each step became normal again until they stepped off. Watching the chaos around her, Eris took to the rooftops that she'd made into interconnecting ice rinks and giant donuts. Skating on the ice and taking a bite out of a lemon glazed doughnut, she sighed happily as she savored it. Her first real taste of chaos, metaphorically and literally, since her reforming.

Canterlot Castle Ball Room

Sunshine peeked around the edge of the curtain as he, Twilight, Cadance and his sister stood behind it, listening to the two guard captains have their ranks form two groups. The day guard were quickly assembling into their respected line while Luna's night guard were squinting against the light and mumbling about loss of sleep.

"The first step," Sunshine said drawing his head back. "Thankfully I won't have to take it alone." He said giving his niece's mane a light ruffle.

"The guards should be easy enough," Luna said. "It is the nobles I am most concerned about. Brother, where might Eris be? Twilight told me that she was here earlier."

"She's... speaking with the nobles on her own terms." He said resisting the urge to snicker at his sister's face. "You shouldn't have to worry about any collateral damage or any ponies becoming discorded, she knows better than to do that now."

"If you have forgotten, she is not Discord any longer." Luna said ruffling her wings. "You heard her yourself, she doesn't have to follow her old rules anymore. Yet, you let her loose in the city? Has this change of gender affected your judgement?"

"No, it has not." He said frowning at her. "If you would have taken the time to get to know her, this new Eris, if you had seen how caring she was you wouldn't be saying that. This gender change only affected her judgement in positive ways. I believe the guard captains have everypony in position so, Luna, I do believe it's time." He said going to her side while Twilight and Cadance took their sides.

Pushing the curtain aside, Sunshine took a moment to look at the shocked guards and, the others who visibly tensed upon seeing the foreign alicorn near their other princesses. Stepping forward with his sister, most of the night guard and a third of his own guard looked between them in suspicion before Luna took the center stage.

"Day guard and Night," she said letting her voice easily echo across the bare room. "You have all been gathered here today for the official introduction of Equestria's recent ruler, or former ruler depending on your point of view. Prince Sunshine."

At the mention of his name, Luna along with nearly all the guards, Twilight and Cadance visibly snorted without trying to hide the small smiles they had as he took her place on the stage.

"Good evening and morning to you all," he said receiving no response from any of them but flat stares. "As my sister has told you, I will be a new ruler. I will be replacing Princess Celestia because," he turned and showed them his cutie mark making nearly the whole assembly gasp. "I am her. Even in this new body, I still expect the same loyalty from either side of the guard and I also expect you to treat me the same, as if I were still a mare, but excuse me for pointing this out rather bluntly, I would appreciate it if my own guards would not eye me from behind. I always noticed it but I didn't want to embarrass any of you."

A large number of the Day guard blushed and were suddenly staring at the golden helmets in front of them, even some of the Night guard had turned a shade darker. Noticing this, Luna smirked at her own guards before turning her attention back to her brother.

"If you have any issue with this, speak now or later in the evening when I will be free." Sunshine said looking over the guards who, still remained motionless, as he expected them to be. "if there are no questions, you may return to what you were doing."

"The Night guard are mine, brother." Luna said watching as her guards were still. "You all may return to your bunks!" She yelled, but when none of them stirred, she shook her head realizing they had fallen asleep.

"That went better than I thought it would." Cadance remarked. "Now, for the nobles."

"Did somepony say nobles?"

Looking behind her, they all saw Eris standing there with an impossibly large grin and a whip cream mustache that she licked off with a finger. Snapping her finger, they hadn't been able to utter a word before they teleported.

Canterlot

The sounds of murmurs filled the air before a loud pop struck the nobles silent. Standing there with Eris, Princess Twilight, Princess Cadance and Princess Luna stood an alicorn, who if he were to raise onto his back hooves, could match Eris's height. With his crimson armor shinning in the fluctuating light, he looked around at the chaos before him in hidden amusement.

Streets both made of sand and caramel were beginning to melt back into stone, the cotton candy storm began to disappear and the multicolored buildings regained their original color. Looking back at Eris, she winked with a smirk that, after nodding her returned making her shy away from his gaze. Looking back at the crowd, nearly the whole city was there, and all of them were staring with as much trepidation as they did with Eris.

"Nobles of Canterlot," he said letting part of his own Canterlot voice roll out making them all jump. "If you have not already heard of me, I am Prince Sunshine." He looked back and saw his sister looking at him with a straight face, devoid of any emotion. "I, as a former princess," he said turning to show his cutie mark. "Will serve just as I have done before my recent transformation. If any of you disagree with this choice, speak now or forever hold what qualms against me to yourselves."

A portly blue stallion hesitantly raised his hoof, stretching his matching jacket. Sunshine, looking at him, nodded in his direction and directed his full attention to him.

"Y-Your highness," the stallion said sweating so bad the front of his jacket began to darken. "What gives you the right to take the throne of the former princess?"

"Seeing as I am her," Sunshine said pointing at his cutie mark again. "I would think that half of the throne would still belong to me. Now, if my sister were to take it, I doubt I'd put up little resistance if not for the sake of having time to myself." He said laughing but, seeing none of the others laugh he quieted down. "Ignore the poor joke, I still have every intention to rule as I did before. With peace and the protection of my subjects in mind."

Satisified, the stallion back away but now two different ponies, slimmer in build but near the same caramel color with cameras hanging from their necks, stepped forward. Sunshine acknowledged the closer one, the one with the cream colored mane slicked back and hidden under a pork pie hat.

"Your highness," he said without any hesitation in his voice. "May I ask, is the Eris character who summoned nearly all of Canterlot have any special relationship to you?"

His calm complexion faltered for a moment from the question and Eris's eyes widened before she caught herself and stared at Sunshine as he stood there, seemingly frozen in thought. Slowly though, the alicorn cleared his throat and pulled at the collar of his regalia.

"I--If what you mean to ask is she romantically involved with me, the answer is no. She is a close companion and, I say this with respect and pride for her, a very good nurse. Yes, I said nurse because recently I have gotten injured numerous times, but thankfully to her, I was quickly put into medical care and even now I still am."

Eris, hearing his compliments, blushed and allowed a small smile to splay on her lips as she curled a lock of hair.

The reporter, satisfied, backed away while his look-alike stepped forward, and holding a notepad brought a pencil out.

"If I may speak to Eris," he said, his voice a slightly higher pitch than the other reporter. "Going back to the former question, do you intend to have you any romantica-"

He was speaking one moment, but now he was silent. Putting a hoof to his throat, he rubbed it before he spit out a cotton-ball. Sunshine, looking at Eris, saw her red in the face and inspecting her lion claws. She glanced over at him and the reporter with the numbed mouth and back to Sunshine who had an eyebrow raised at her making her turn even redder.

"Answering his question," Eris said casually stepping up to Sunshine to lean on his head with an elbow. "If I had any intentions like that, I could have gotten him any time I wanted." She said brushing the fluff  of her tail under his chin and smiling as he shook his head and snorted, blushing nearly as much as her while she still leaned on nothing. "I, while I was still Discord, do admit I liked the princess." She said making the crowd gasp. "Don't act shocked, I'm sure almost all of you felt the same way."

"So," the reporter from before, the one speaking much more confidently than the other. "You have thought about trying to have some relationship with hi-I mean her?"

"At one point, yes." She said nodding. "Too bad this won't make much of a story since none of those feelings exist now. Trust me, it would be as obvious as Luna trying to sneak past an orange wall."

Satisfied, with the answer, he begrudgingly began to erase some of what he had written previously. Looking over the crowd again, Sunshine saw no others speaking up and beginning to turn and speak with his sister, stopped and peered into a corner of the crowd. Once he saw the face, his eyes widened and he sneered as he got to the edge of the stage and stared death at Artery Blocker.

"You lousy fraud!" He yelled letting his voice shake the ground and the ponies with it. "Guards! Arrest him!" He yelled pointing at Artery Blocker even then as his guards began to converge from the corners of the crowd and onto the terrified pony.

Before any of his guards came near him though, he disappeared right before their eyes. Sunshine, looking around felt a gust of air behind him and turning, saw him on stage with Eris glaring down at him.

"You know, Twilight told me something very interesting the other day," Eris said feeling her ears go hot. "About how you were insulting Sunshine because he ate your poisoned food over an urge he couldn't resist. Do you remember what I told you, if you ever insult him again, I'd make you eat the rest of your teeth? Remember? Because I certainly do." She said cracking her knuckles.

"I-I think I'd like t-to be arrested now." He said looking at Sunshine. "I-I dropped the charges! Just get your crazy girlfriend away from me!" He yelled jumping into the path of a guard, who, quickly put a pair of shackles on him.

At the word 'girlfriend' the crowd began bombarding Sunshine and Eris with questions. Looking around in frustration Eris teleported them all away, away from the crowd and guards attempting to keep them calm.

Canterlot Castle Throne Room

They all paused briefly to look at their new surroundings, but once they figured it out Sunshine turned to where he expected Eris to be, but found she wasn't with them. Looking around, he noticed his sister wasn't there either, leaving him with Cadance and Twilight.

Sunshine's Bedchambers

Eris stood behind Luna, red in the face while the alicorn took a moment to collect herself before she realized where she was. Looking around, she saw the Draconequus sitting on the edge of Sunshine's bed. Eris, as red as her tail in the face, very well nearly turned into a dark red as she gently gripped her chest while a small trail of smoke drifted up before stopping.

"Eris," Luna said watching the Draconequus look at her from the bed. "Where are the others?"

"Throne room." She said simply.

"So why did you bring us here?" Luna asked watching Eris blow hair off her face.

"I figured you wold like to question me about my openness with my secret feelings for Celestia." Eris said. "Am I right?"

"Partially. But you seemed to be blushing when he winked at you and praised you for your nursing." She said smiling as Eris smirked. "You still harbor feelings for him?"

"That, is a dirty lie my conscience has been feeding me." She said snorting. "Well, I'm not sure actually. A part of me does like him and another part of me has this weird twisted feeling in it. It's cold and stings whenever I think about it."

"That would be fear." Luna said making Eris narrow her eyes at her. "I'm guessing your conscience has told you that too?"

"She has." Eris admitted sitting upright. "Still, the part of me that does like him isn't quite sure of itself either. It's a simple yes or no question that I keep putting maybe down for the answer. Do you have any advice?"

"That question isn't for me to answer." Luna said smiling at Eris as the spirit's smile vanished. "I apologize if that wasn't the answer you wanted."

"It's fine," she said. "Listen, can you keep this secret? I don't want him feeling awkward every time we see each other, so just try and keep this in the mind and not in the air."

"I don't know," Luna said inspecting a hoof cover. "What would I gain from it? After all, I would just be keeping a secret from my closest relative that I've kept by my side for centuries. Imagine the strain that would put on me."

"Now that's dirty." Eris said frowning at the smirking alicorn. "What do you want then?"

"For you to make up your mind." Luna said frowning at Eris. "That question will stay in your mind like a poison does in your blood unless you cure it. So decide, is he the cure or that maybe you're just friends?"

"For once," Eris said raising her talon. "Could you not be so confusing?"

Teleporting the alicorn away, Eris let herself fall back in the bed. Laying there for a moment to rest, she suddenly felt drained both physically and mentally. Crawling up to the pillow, she made herself comfortable and threw the blanket over herself.

As she was falling asleep from exhaustion, she noticed the bed becoming moist. Lifting the blanket she saw her fur matted down in sweat while the heat was back in her chest. It wasn't as bad as it was before, it was even fading now but it was still causing her discomfort internally and externally. Glancing at the door, she bit her lip as she looked outside and saw the sun was past mid-day and slowly getting lower.

'It wouldn't hurt, would it?' She thought to herself. 'But what if he comes in and sees me like this? What would I do? What would he do?' She thought glancing at her paw and claw gripping the bottom of her shirt. 'He's a gentlecolt, he'd know to look away. Besides, I've slept in his bed without a shirt on before, so why is it now that I have these... breasts... sticking out, that it would make a difference? He'd be reasonably, even before being turned into a stallion he was reasonable like that.'

Gripping the bottom of her shirt with a little less force, she lifted it up and slipped it over her horns without ease. The cool air in the room made her smile in relief as the small fire finally began to extinguish itself. Pulling the blanket up, she jerked it up, out of breath when it brushed against her sensitive skin. Blushing from the feeling, she slowly rolled onto her side but still felt the soft fabric of the bed brush against her making her bite her bottom lip to the point where it almost drew blood.

Getting comfortable, she closed her eyes and let the cool air and soft bed lull her aching body to sleep.

Canterlot Castle Dining Ball

Sunshine stared at the salad in front of him, seemingly smaller now with his small change in growth. Eating the cherry tomatoes, he looked at the other end of the long table and saw the empty seat where his sister would be. Sighing, he ate a few of the sifter pieces of lettuce and the grapes on the side before taking his pill bottle out from under his wing. Opening it up, he took out a pill and took it with a sip from the coffee in his hoof.

Pushing the plate away, he hung onto the pill bottle as he teleported outside.

Standing on the roof, he watched as his sun turned orange as his magic took hold and slowly dragged it down below the horizon. As his sister's moon rose and the night air fell on him, he suddenly realized the exhaustion he felt from having to deal with the nobles and the former chef. Gripping his pill bottle a little tighter, he took off into the air with two flaps of his wings and hastily began flying to his tower.

Looking down as the moonlight hit the gardens, he saw his sister strolling through the exotic plants with an escort. Passing them, he looked towards his balcony where he landed without hardly any sound. Looking down at his horseshoes, he saw a faint glow on the bottoms of them.

Opening the repaired door to his room, the air inside was warmer than the misty cold outside. Quickly going in and stripping his regalia off to set in a corner, he saw his bed had been repaired along with his mirror. Not wasting another moment he climbed into bed, oblivious to Eris. But, as he put the blanket on himself, he felt something underneath a wing irritating it. Reaching down with a hoof, he pulled the object out and he stared at it in confusion.

'What is Eris's shirt doing in my bed?' He thought before an eagle talon found the back of his neck and pulled him against something warm, soft and flattening slightly on him. 'This is happening to often for comfort.'

Setting down the shirt, he looked up and saw Eris's head on the headboard. Attempting to pry her off him only made her pull him closer and that's when he began blushing. Attempting to wiggle away he stopped when she let out a little moan. Against his rational thoughts, he looked down and saw her breasts were pressed against his own chest. As his face turned into the same shade as his regalia, he put the pillow his head was resting on onto his face. Using his magic, he lifted a small blanket out from underneath the bed and gently wrapped around her chest and tying it into a bow on her back.

'This had hopefully not become a regular occurrence, otherwise I'll need those weights sooner than we thought.' Next Chapter: The beginning of winter. Estimated time remaining: 44 Minutes