Ask Not the Sparrow
is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Role Swap AU by MagnetBolt. After the Elements of Harmony changed Daybreaker back into Princess Celestia, they severed her connection to the sun. On the eve of the first Summer Sun Celebration in a thousand years, she asks Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to accompany her on a journey to regain it.
The standalone sequel, Love Bites, takes place on the anniversary of Ponyville's founding. Rarity has invited Twilight's godmother, Queen Chrysalis. Unfortunately, events in Ponyville often end in disaster...
Both fics contain examples of:
- Complete-the-Quote Title: Both fics' titles are completed by their chapter titlesnote : "Ask not the sparrow how the eagle soars" and "love bites, but sometimes it's just a nibble".
- Role Swap AU:
- Princess Celestia turned evil 1,000 years ago instead of Luna.
- Rarity was the princess' student, while Twilight Sparkle runs a business. The dragon she hatched at her entrance exam was Ember instead of Spike.
- Applejack works at Sugarcube Corner, while Pinkie Pie's family founded Ponyville and have a farm there.
- Fluttershy performs extreme flying stunts, while Rainbow Dash prefers to stay on the ground.
- Queen Chrysalis was Twilight's babysitter instead of Princess Cadance.
Ask Not the Sparrow contains examples of:
- Broken Angel: It turns out the reason why Rainbow Dash doesn't fly very often is because she broke her wings as a filly, and it took years of physiotherapy for her to be able to fly again.
- Ghost City: Celestia's journey takes the group to the ruins of a scorched city that she accidentally destroyed when she first tried to control the sun.
- Noodle Incident: Rainbow says that Pinkie dared her to drink liquid rainbow once, but neither of them really won.
- The Reveal: Rainbow fell out of the sky as a filly instead of Fluttershy, and broke her wings as a result.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is a line from Kill la Kill.
- When asked how re-establishing her connection to the sun works, Celestia initially jokingly answers the question as if it were about how the sun itself works and says she's heard it's a mass of incandescent gas.
- To Be a Master: Rainbow Dash tells Celestia that her dream is to become the best doctor in Equestria.
Love Bites contains examples of:
- Adaptational Heroism: Canon Chrysalis was a ruthless dictator who kept her subjects constantly starving, but this Chrysalis is an ally of Equestria and Twilight's kind-hearted babysitter.
- Fairy Godmother: Queen Chrysalis called herself this to a younger Twilight. She promises her three wishes, and while she doesn't have literal wish-granting magic, she still tries to make them come true.
- Incorrect Animal Noise: Defied. Rainbow asked Fluttershy to make a "majestic eagle call" as an alarm, but Rarity tells her that she's thinking of a hawk's call. Immediately afterwards, Fluttershy makes a "squeaking sound like a very excited and feminine turkey", which is what bald eagles actually sound like.
- Love Potion: Twilight added "liquid love" to some soup for Chrysalis' visit. Unfortunately, she can taste the difference between that and real love, and when other ponies drink it, it makes them act like mindless romantic zombies.
- The Watson: Twilight Sparkle goes outside so little that she doesn't know about Ponyville Days, allowing Rarity to explain it to both her and the readers.
