There are many different universes with the same characters in them, often acting and thinking the same, but are in different situations. Heroes could be villains, and villains heroes. Beings who walk on four legs and hooves could in another universe walk on two legs. This is a similar story. One about a young colt who's heart still longs for the love of a family and burns with the desire to prove himself. Let us dive into another side of Sunny Knight....
It was early in the morning when Princess Flurry Heart began to stir, some unexplainable force was preventing her from completing her gentle night's sleep. It wasn't until the young princess, now a fully mature adult alicorn, opened her eyes did she realize what the force was that caused her to awake. As she shot up in bed, the ever cheerful and energetic princess of the Crystal Empire gazed out the window, watching the morning sun peak over the horizon. "Today's the day! The day I find my first student!"
(https://youtu.be/SJMizrTFiFo)
Through the halls, down the stair case, and into the Royal dining hall princess Flurry Heart flew, even faster then normal. Her parents had just woken up themselves and sat down at the table to enjoy their morning coffee before being served breakfast. Little did they know that their daughter who was always so full of life and energy would be bouncing off the walls even more then usual. As the young princess burst through the doors and into the dinning room though, shaking her two sleepy parents wide awake, they soon realized that today was going to be a very interesting and possibly stressed filled day.
Opening her eyes fully, Princess Cadence yawned once more before casting her magical aura around her daughter, thus forcing energetic princess to remain still for a moment. "Flurry, honey, what's gotten into you?"
Letting out a similar yawn to his wife, Shinning Armor sat down in his usual chair as a servant poured him a cut of freshly brewed coffee with two table spoons of cream and three of sugar. As the Prince stirred his coffee, he chuckled lightly to himself. "Yeah, I haven't you this excited since your birthday when we got you that pink chariot."
Dropping the magical aura Cadence cast on her daughter, she sat down across from her husband and turned her attention to Flurry Heart, who, once again, was bursting with energy.
"You two won't believe it! I can hardly believe it!" Flurry began to say as she danced in place, unable to keep we excitement in. "Today it the day! 'The' day!"
Obviously still confused, Cadence and Shining armor turned to each other, then beck to their daughter. Shinning Armor was the one to actually speak. "Ugh... 'the' day? You mean the day you get married?"
"Ugh, no dad! Ewww!" Flurry spat out her tung and made a face like she just took a bite of bad crystal berries. "No! Today I will finally find my first student!"
With slight concern, Cadence stood up and walked over to her daughter, putting a hoof on Flurry's shoulder. "How are you so sure, honey? I know Auntie Twilight and I have talked with you about it before, but that doesn't mean we want you to rush into things. You'll know who your first student is wren you see them."
"Well yeah! I totally know that mom" Flurry said, a grin still stretching from ear to ear. "But I was shown it in a dream! I know today I'll find that special student today! They'll be smart, well mannered, sweet, kind, popular, pure of heart, and the brightest student Equestria has ever seen!"
"Eh ahhhhh!" Sunny screamed as he was once again thrown into the large dumpster just not he other side of the orphanage's playground fence. Following soon after the yellow unicorn was his puppet like figure of a knight in black armor, which, as fate would have it, landed right on the unicorn foal's head right as soon as he popped up out of the heap of trash to catch his breath.
"What did I tell ya?" A little grey pegusas colt laughed as he puffed his chest up proudly at his work. "Cleared the fence in one shot! Now pay up!"
On the other side of the fence that Sunny just was flung over, a small group of orphans that resided in the Crystal Empire lined up to pay their lost bets to the grey bully, properly named Cynical Storm. He and his best friend, a large, muscular, and quiet earth-pony colt who was named Salted Carmel, enjoyed turning Sunny into their own personal punching bag. Either when they needed to release some stress from their classes or to earn some extra bits from various bets. Today it was seeing if Cynical can flip Sunny over his back, clear the playground fence, and land right in the open dumpster.
Looking at the yellow unicorn colt with the two toned orange mop of mane, one couldn't guess that he would be the joke of the orphanage. He was properly named Sunny, both for his looks and his normally cheerful outlook on life. But despite his upbeat attitude, and flaming determination in his eyes, he still ended up either in a trash can, head in a toilet, gum in his mane, trusted puppet tied to a flag pole, or just plain picked on with nasty or cruel comments. Sunny never really did anything to deserve the treatment that he did, so why the others picked on him, he had no idea. Maybe it was because his best friend happened to be the puppet figure he always carried around with him and occasionally talked to. Maybe it was the way he always spouted off how he was going to be a great wizard one day, or a gallant royal guard, always changing his dream day by day. But no matter what dream he changed it to, the little yellow colt always made sure to shot higher then any other orphan he lived with. Or maybe it was just Sunny's positive attitude in a sad old orphanage, surrounded by foals who were left without parents, that separates him and made him an outcast. But whatever it was, Sunny always felt alone and singled out.
Pulling himself and his little wooden friend out of the dumpster, yet again, Sunny began to wipe away the gross debris that clung to his fur as best he could, grossed out that a banana peel from his lunch the other day, and had found him and stuck to his horn.
"Maybe now you'll learn not to spout your mouth off!" A white Pegasus filly with a blue and pink mane, named Silver Sky, and her friend, another Pegasus by the name of White Out, trotted over to him on the other side of the fence.
"Although, it's kinda funny to see you get tossed into the dumpster every day" White Out commented as she giggled into her white hoof. Unlike the rest of her coat, which was a light grey, White Out's hooves were white.
"You'll see!" Sunny turned around and began speaking loud enough to catch the attention of everypony on the playground, causing the line of foals who were paying Cynical to stop temporarily and give their attention now to the mouthy yellow colt. "One day I'm going be be a great wizard! Then you'll all be coming to me for help! And maybe, maybe if you're really nice and say you're sorry or how mean you were to me, I might think of helping you! I'll be even greater then... then... then Star-Swirl the bearded!"
But the bold statement only brought about the laughter of the entire playground full of foals. Even the normally quiet Salted Carmel couldn't help but snicker along side Cynical, who quite literally, was holding his sides together.
Unable to keep his thoughts to himself, Cynical walked over to the fence and looked Sunny right in the eye. "You?! A great anything?! Man, if you weren't so serious, I would think it was a bad joke! But it's just too sad to be a joke! You can't even levitate a feather! A freaking feather! Charming over there can already turn an orange into an apple!"
The grey Pegasus was referring to the orphanage's top student, Charming, who recently started going by the name Alister. He received A's in every subject, was a natural at casting spells, read every book in the library at least three times, was a pro at all sports that were available to play at the orphanage, and was of course, he was the heart throb of every filly in the orphanage. The grey unicorn with the dark grey and white mane just looked up when he heard his name, sighed, closed the book he was reading, and teleported away. When he did, all the fillies let out a disappointing 'awwww'.
"Y-yeah! W-well you're just upset because he can't do anything to fix your eyes!" Sunny spat out the first insult that came to mind, but instantly regretted it when everypony let out an 'ohhhh!'
Cynical froze for a moment, almost not believing what he had heard. Part of what made the grey colt so fierce, so respected, and so feared were his eyes. No Doctor he was take to could figure it out, but for some odd reason, since the day he brought to orphanage, Cynical's eyes had been discolored. The normally white color of his eyes was black as coal, making his bright yellow irises seem to glow with a dark fury. It was a very sensitive subject since Ponies looking to adopt took one look at him and turned away, saying he was too frightening to adopt.
A subtle anger began to build within the grey Pegasus with the enraged eyes as he glared at Sunny. "You have three seconds."
Gulping and instantly regretting what he had just spat out, Sunny grabbed his puppet figure and began to run as fast as his little legs could carry him. He was too afraid to look back but could already guess what was going on. Cynical counted to three, then hopped the fence, quickly fallowed by Salted as they planned to chase Sunny down and teach him another lesson.
Meanwhile, at the Crystal Empire Castle, the royal family had gathered everypony in the Empire for an announcement. Flurry Heart and her parents waited at the balcony for all ponies to finish being seated. Once everypony had settled in, eager to hear the big announcement, Princess Flurry Heart stepped forward, casting a spell on her vocal cords to amplify her voice.
"Thank you everypony for coming" the young princess began, a large smile still showing strong on her muzzle. "I have great news. I have been shown in a dream that today, i shall meet very first student and take them under my wing to begin their training! Just as my great Aunt, Princess Celestia, my aunt, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and my own mother, Princess Cadence, have all done before me!"
The crowd erupted into a sea of cheers and conversation. At that time, before anything got out of hand, Shinning Armor took to the stage. "Tonight there shall be a ball. Everypony in the Empire is invited. You don't need to dress your best, just come as you are. My daughter doesn't plan to choose her student based on how they look, rather by a how she feels around them. And remember, have fun!"
The conversing words broke up as the crowd once again cheered and ponies began rushing home to prepare themselves and their foals for the ball. It was more then likely that the princess was going to choose a foal to teach, seeing as how all the other students taught by royalty were foals themselves. But that wouldn't stop the teenaged ponies from trying anyways. To be taken in as a student of a royal family member, an alicorn princess especially, was a sure sign that the foal would be destined for greatness and alive rich with wonder.
Half way across the Empire, just a few blocks away from the orphanage, Sunny was running for his life with Cynival and Salted quickly gaining on him. For a moment, Sunny thought he could lose them. The young unicorn had spent a lot of time walking around town, learning the streets as he ventured out beyond the fence of the orphanage playground. Sunny thought he could get a jump on the two bullies by slipping away from them down a thin alley way and slipping into a near by sewer drain. Not the most glamorous escape, and he would need a bath defiantly. But it was far better then being caught by Cynical and Salted.
Unfortunately, Sunny's puppet friend got caught on a garbage can and was yanked out of the yellow unicorn colt's mouth. When Sunny noticed this, he stopped immediately, almost falling over as he did, and went back for the sodden figure in the black royal armor without hesitation.
"Looking for something?" Cynical asked with a toothy grin on his muzzle as Salted held Sunny's puppet underneath his large and muscular hoof.
Sunny froze, stricken with fear as his emerald green eyes fell upon his puppet, then to Cynical. "P-p-please, Cynival! Please don't hurt him! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean any of it!"
The grey Pegasus's smile nearly doubled in size, having the upper hand on the loud mouth. "Oh? Didn't you learn to share? Salted and I just want to plan with your stupid doll."
With a nod from Cynical, Salted began too apply pressure, causing the puppet beneath his hooves to crack slightly across his body piece.
"No! Please! He's the only friend I have!" Sunny begged and jumped at Salted, only to be intercepted and thrown into a trash can by Cynical.
"How pathetic! Your only friend?! He's a stupid toy!" Cynical began to close the space between him and Sunny. "It's no wonder you don't have any 'real' friends! You act so smug and cool when you can't even cast one spell! Your only friend is a doll that you talk to! And on top of all that, you still think you'll be anything, ANYTHING, more then just a nopony!"
Cracking his eyes open and forcing himself to look at Cynival, Sunny spat out. "You're just jealous that I'm-"
Cynical didn't want to hear more of his speal, and decided to silence Sunny by emptying the contents of an overflowing trash can onto the yellow unicorn. Once the trash can was empty, shaken completely out, Cynical tossed the can aside. "Reality check, Sunny-no-pony! No pony wants you! They might be afraid of me, but at least when I grow up I can work in the weather factory, or be a storm chaser, heck, even a royal guard! But look at you!
"You're nothing! Just a whinny little crybaby who cries whenever someone breaks his toy!" Cynical then motioned for Salted to finish it.
Salted put all of his might into crushing the puppet figure, braking it into several pieces, then kicked them over to Sunny, who remained hidden in the pile of garbage.
"See what happens when you open your mouth and talk a big game, but you're just a loser!" Cynical spat out at Sunny. "Hope you learned something from this, Sunny Nopony! No pony wants a useless, talentless, hopeless, no pony like you! A unicorn who can't get anything right!"
Laughing as he walked away,
Cynical and Salted made their way out of the back alleyway and started back to the orphanage where someponies still owed them money, and they intended to collect. Once he was sure they were gone, the little yellow colt emerged from the garbage, eyes watering, ready to burst as he walked over to the broken bits of his only friend. Sunny kept moving to keep the tears back, but one or two escaped as Sunny grabbed an old cloth from the garbage and collected the pieces of his broken friend up. It was times like this that the cruel words of Cynical, the other orphans, and even the potential adopters would ring in his head.
Holding the dirty sack in his mouth that contained his puppet's pieces, Sunny began walking down the street to the toy maker's shop.
But even walking to his one sanctuary, Sunny couldn't escape the painful images in his mind. He could see the couples walking in and around the orphanage, watching all the orphans as they played, studied, worked with arts and crafts, some of the orphans with their cutie marks even performed with their special talents. But not Sunny. Sunny did his best, tried to appear presentable and polite.
But every time somepony seemed
interested in him, the little yellow colt was over shadowed by somepony else. He couldn't keep count of the number of times somepony else was chosen over him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sunny saw a filly with two parents on either side of her. Sunny saw how happy she was, Laughing and enjoying just a simple outing with her parents. All three of them just seemed so happy.
"It must be nice to have somepony like that..." Sunny began talking. To the debris of his puppet figure. "To have somepony love you, care for you, pick you up when you're down, to make you feel special... even... even if you aren't..."
Shaking his head clear, mainly to stop tears from falling from his watery eyes, Sunny picked up his dirty sack that contained his black armor wearing puppet figure, and began running with all his might to the old toy shop. He couldn't let those thoughts catch up to him. Not yet. Maybe when he was alone, maybe before he fell asleep at night, maybe even when he got himself cleaned up and was alone in a bathtub, but not here. Not where ponies could see him. Cynical was right about a few things. No pony would ever want to adopt a crybaby. What if ponies who would want to adopt Sunny would come in and recognize him from the streets as the colt who was covered in trash and crying his eyes out. No parent would want a foal like that. So to prevent such a cruel twist of fate, Sunny bit his lip and pressed on.
Along he way, even though he couldn't see it, Sunny could guess other ponies turned up their noses to him. To them, he was just some smelly, dirty orphan, running around with a dirty bag of trash. They didn't know him. But a part of Sunny was glad for that. Being known as orphan covered in trash, could be erased. To fight back the tears, Sunny pushed the thoughts of becoming somepony great! To one day becoming a great wizard and learning all kinds of spells! Ones that could not only surpass Star-Swirl the bearded, but maybe the princesses too! Maybe he could one day move the sun and moon all by himself! Maybe even move them both at the same time! If you dream, dream big! That was one of the first things Sunny read about in one of his first books at the orphanage.
Running the rest of the way, Sunny made it to the toy store he was all too familiar with. The sign read 'Pappy's Toy Chest' in big bold red letters, letters that had to be repainted at least twice a year. The shop never had too many customers, mainly a tourist or a business pony looking to pick up a cheap and unique gift. Which is why the owner, a thin earth-pony by the name of Pappy, was more then happy to have Sunny around. When the young unicorn colt didn't smell like garbage, of course. But even when Sunny did reek, the youngster was always welcome to use the upstairs tub.
As the bell hanging on the front door rang, letting Pappy know that somepony had entered the shop and woke the elderly stallion from his light nap behind the counter, Sunny couldn't help but notice the lights were all off. Before Sunny could begin wondering why that was, Pappy popped up, rubbing his eyes and trying to see who had come in.
"Eh?! Who's there- oh! Sunny! Well if it ain't my favorite customer!" The old stallion began to laugh when his laughter was cut off by a foul stench that forced its way up his nose. "Oh sweet Celestia! You smell worse then my ex-wife's hooves after a rainy day! Ugh! Get upstairs and get yourself cleaned up."
Before Sunny did as he was told, he carefully placed the dirty bag on the counter in front of Pappy. "Pappy.... Black Knight had an accident..."
The old earth-pony stopped and opened the dirty rag, shocked by the sight of the broken puppet. "Oh my! What happened this time?!"
Ears falling to his side, Sunny looked away from Pappy as he admitted "... I made fun of Cynical's eyes... after he chucked me in the dumpster..."
"What?!" Pappy could hardly believe his ears. "Do you have a death wish?! Making fun of that crazy little colt?! Even I wouldn't do that!"
"It was his fault! He's just a jerk!" Sunny said, his cheeks puffed up as he got angry at the thought of Cynical. The sadness Sunny was suppressing was coated over by burning fury for the aggravating grey Pegasus colt.
"That may be, but you aren't, Sunny" Pappy said as he walked around the counter to the young colt. "You're a sweet, kind, gentle colt. You shouldn't lower yourself to his level."
"If I'm so great, who doesn't anypony want to adopt me!" Sunny spat out as he hung his head, the fury cooling as the saddened tears began to leak through the cracks.
"Oh, don't say that Sunny..." Pappy stretched out his arms, forgetting that the yellow colt was covered in garbage, and pulled him in for a hug. "One day you'll find a family. One that sees you for the special pony that you are. I wish I could adopt you myself, but I'm old. I'm about to retire and move into a retirement home with some of my friends. There's a better home out there just waiting for you. One with parents who will love you and guide you through life. Don't let those other foals get you down."
Not wanting to think about it anymore, Sunny looked over at Black Knight who remained in pieces on Pappy's counter, took a deep breath, then put on a forced smile. "Thanks Pappy. Do you think you can fix him... please?..."
Looking from the yellow colt over to the puppet, Pappy walked over and examined the nieces of the broken figure, guessing Sunny was careful and gathered every piece. "Well... I might have to give him a new body piece, but he was due for a new one soon anyway. Especially after that incident with the electric mixer."
"Can you fix him... please?" The words began to gently trickle out of Sunny's mouth, carrying with fear and slight sorrow.
Turning back to the little yellow colt, Pappy gave him a bright and confident smile. "You bet! Now go get cleaned up. I'll have him ready for battle by the time you are done. But don't rush. You don't want to smell like garbage. What if you go back to the orphanage and a new family is waiting for you? Don't want you meeting your new folks smelling like old socks and rotten eggs, right?"
"He he, right..." Sunny lightly chuckled, having little no no real enthusiasm in his reply.
After Pappy told Sunny that he would have Black Knight fixed by the time he got out of the bath, the little pony was more then too enthusiastic to hop in the tub and get cleaned up. After running himself a tub full of warm soapy water and slowly submerging himself inside, Sunny sat there for a moment, just soaking in the wonderful feeling of hot water. A luxury the orphanage didn't often have. The troubles almost seemed too far away to bother Sunny now. Almost.
'I'm tired of being told that somepony would want me... I just want it to happen already...' after submerging himself under the water and scrubbing his mane clean, the yellow colt popped his read out of the tub and took in a deep breath to refill his lungs. 'I just can't give up. I can't let Cynical and the rest win... I'm not a nopony. I'm a somepony. I'll show them all one day! Somepony out there will want me, and I'll make them proud to adopt me as their son!'
Back at the Crystal Empire Castle, the ball was just beginning and well under way. Normally for the occasion, the royal family would dress up in their very best. But for this occasion, and to further push for the idea that putting on airs wouldn't help you be selected, Flurry Heart and her parents attended in their casual attire. Sad to say, not everypony fallowed the young princess's instructions, and instead, showed up in their flashiest and most eye catching outfits. Halfway into the ball, fillies and colts began to line up, ready to meet the princess and hopped to be the lucky pony picked to be her first student.
"Now remember, Flurry" Cadence said in a hushed tone so only she and her daughter could hear. "Don't just pick somepony because you think you have too. If we don't find 'the one' today, I'm sure we'll find them tomorrow or even the next day."
"Yeah, and maybe pick a colt" Shinning charmed in. "You know, ugh, change of pace?"
"You just don't want to be out numbered, do you?" Flurry and Cadence both raised a brow, but smiled, at the white unicorn prince.
"I'm just saying, your first student could be a colt or a filly. Who's to say?" Shinning chuckled as he and Cadence took their respective seats behind Flurry Heart who began meeting with all the possible students, one by one as a long line began to move. One by one, Flurry greeted and spoke briefly with each filly and colt. Each of them doing their best to wow the young princess.
Back at Pappy's Toy Chest, the elderly stallion finished popping the last of Black Knight's legs back into place just as the yellow colt hopped down the stairs, now clean as a whistle. Seeing Sunny's face light up at the sight of his fixed up puppet figure, brought joy back into the old stallion's heart. Sunny ran right up to him, making Pappy think that he meant to grab his puppet right out of his old hooves. But the little colt surprised Pappy
with a hug instead. Most colts would have dove for the toy, but not Sunny. And he may never know it, but the little fella gave the best hugs in all of Equestria.
"Thanks Pappy! You're the best!" Sunny squeezed even harder, but not quite hard enough to hurt the old stallion.
"He he... aw, you're just buttering me up" Pappy said as he returned the hug. Reluctantly, Pappy broke off the hug as he looked at his wall clock. "Oh my! Look at the time! You better be getting back to the orphanage! Or that teacher of yours will have both our backsides for it!"
Grabbing Black Knight again, Sunny turned back and smiled as he ran out the door, waving to Pappy, "See you later, Pappy! And thanks again!"
"Eh! Get out of here, you little scamp!" Pappy smiled as he shoed Sunny away, but was happy to have had a visitor as pleasant and sweet as Sunny. The old colt just wish he could do more for the little yellow colt. Pappy wished he could find somepony who could take the fella in. But the old colt had a feeling that something was going to happen. He just hopped something was good. Sunny already dealt with more then enough bad.
Running as fast as his little legs could carry him, Sunny crossed several streets, snuck between several tight alleyways, and took a few more short cuts before arriving at his destination. The 'Treasure Times' book store.
Putting Black Knight on the ground beside him, Sunny looked into the front display window of the shop, just the same as he had done countless times before. The shop owner didn't much care for foals who ran around making loud noise, scaring off customers, then coming into his shop, making a mess, then not buy anything. Which is part of the reason why the shop owner never let Sunny even touch the book that was the center piece of the whole display. 'Twilight's Sparkle's Magic Made Easy; a guide to make the toughest spells easy!'
Sunny gawked at the book in the case for a moment before turning to his puppet who stood up right and gave Sunny a questioning look with his painted on green eyes.
"I know, I know" Sunny began to explain himself to his only real friend. "We need to get back, but I just want to look at it for a moment. I mean, look at it! If I had that book, I could do any spell! I could learn all the spells in all the books back at the orphanage! I could even outdo Alister! I'd get adopted in no time!"
Black Knight just continued to stair at the yellow colt.
"Yes I would so!" Sunny went on to say. "Who wouldn't want a genius like Twilight as a son, er, child... point is, if I had that book I could be a real somepony! Parents would line up from all over the Empire, maybe even all over Equestria, to adopt me!"
The puppet figure continued to stair at his owner, never saying a would out loud.
"Of course they would! No pony wants an kid who isn't good at anything. You know how many ponies have lined up to adopt Alister? All I want is just one parent. Two would be great. All I need to do is show them that I'm a somepony. Everypony wants a 'somepony'.... and with that book, I'd be one too. Because..." Sunny continued to repeat himself, but his voice began to grow weaker and weaker. "Because... because it's no fun... not being wanted... to be looked over and pushed aside because you can't even do the easiest spell...
"I just want a family... ponies who want me for me.Who I can laugh with, eat meals with, get to know and grow up with, who can... who can see me for what I 'could' be, and not for what I'm 'not'..." Sunny continued to confess to his puppet, not noticing somepony else was hiding in the shadows, also listening. ".... I don't want my own room, or fancy toys,... even if I had to share a room with 10 other brothers and sisters, or even an older pony who snores in their sleep, I could get used to that. Because they'd be family... a real family..."
Sunny then looked back at Black Knight and half smiled. "I know. I know I'll always have you, Black Knight... you've always been there for me. It's just... some times I wish I was good enough for somepony else, anypony else..."
"Is that why you want that book so much?" A tall pony emerged from the shadows. Their body was hidden beneath a light brown cloak that covered everything, even her muzzle. But by the sound of the voice, the pony was a young mare.
Sunny was surprised by the sudden appearance of the mare and taken back. Without hesitating, Sunny grabbed his puppet figure and took a defensive stance, ready to run away if need be. "Ugh, I-I'm sorry ma'am! I didn't mean to bother you! I wasn't going to do anything. I-i-i got to go-"
"Please don't leave" The cloaked mare pleaded, her voice shaking. "I've been waiting quite a while to find you. Please don't leave."
Hearing this shocked Sunny. He never in his wildest dreams ever thought he would hear somepony string those words together and direct it at him. "Y-you have?... why?"
"Because..." the mare smiled as a golden magical aura pulled her hood back and revealed the head of a pink coated mare with a light purple and light blue mane. Her blue eyes looked gently at the little yellow colt as she smiled easily at him. "You are the student I've been looking for.... and, well, maybe a little bit more."
Realizing who the mysterious mare was, Sunny dropped to his knees and bowed. "Y-your highness! I'm so so so sorry for sounding so mean! I-i-i didn't it was you, and-and-"
"Oh, come on and stand up, you don't have to bow to me" the young princess coated Sunny in her golden aura and set him up on his hooves. "Now tell me, what do you say? Will you become my student?"
Sunny looked from the princess to the book store's front case and back. He sighed heavily before answering. "I'm sorry... but I can't... if I do, I'll never find a family. Besides, you don't want a nopony like me. You want somepony stronger, faster, cooler, who's better with magic."
"Like this 'Alister'?" Flurry commented as she walked over and stood by the down trotted colt, taking a seat beside him. "My heart is telling me you are to be my student. That I to guide you and teach you. Like, there is some unknown force pulling us together, you know?"
"Ugh, I guess?" Sunny replied, not really understanding what she was saying, thinking the princess was sounding a little crazy.
"Besides, I have a surprise for you" Flurry said, retaining the smile on her face as she motioned over to the alleyway where Prince Shinning Armor and Princess Cadence appeared.
Sunny didn't know what to say or do, bust was starting to feel nervous and slightly sick. It was bad enough that princess Flurry Heart was here and overheard him talking to Dark Knight, but did her parents hear all of that too?! That would be so embarrassing! They must think he's a bigger loser then Cynical does! Embarrassed, Sunny ducked his head and tried to hide behind his mane, putting his puppet back on the ground.
"Who is this cool guy?" Shinning Armor asked as he levitates Black Knight up with his purple magical aura.
Sunny looked up, not worrying if the prince would hurt his only friend, and answered his question. "His name's Black Knight. He's my best friend..."
"He is?" Shinning asked, not sounding degrading, but remembering how his little sister had a similar 'friend'. A parched up doll he made her years and years ago for her birthday named 'smarty pants'. "Is he a good Knight or a bad one?"
"He's good" Sunny said as he approached the prince. "He wears black armor because he doesn't want to worry about cleaning it."
"Why wouldn't he want to clean his armor?" Shinning Armor asked, intrigued by the colt's explanation.
"Because, see, he has more important things to worry about" Sunny began to explain. "Like saving princesses, defeating evil kings, protecting the Empire. He wears black also to scare the bad guys! The armor was made of dragon scales so they protect him from fire and stuff too!"
"Wow, he sounds like a really cool guy" Shinning smiled at the colt. "Do you want to be just like him when you grow up?"
"Maybe..." Sunny had never thought about it. Sure he talked about becoming a wizard or a royal guard, but a Knight? That's way above a normal guard. Below a captain, but still, he's never even talked about becoming a knight. But not a bad dream to have, either.
"Sunny, was it? I'm not going to tell you what to do" Flurry Heart stepped forward, pulling her cloak of, no longer needing to hide. "I know you are supposed to be my first student. I can feel it. But I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. But at the same time, maybe you are also meant to be much more."
"More?" Sunny's head was trying to piece together what the young princess was hinting at.
"What Flurry is trying to say" Cadence now chimed in, stepping closer to the little colt. "I was taken in by princess Celestia and raised like a niece. Twilight became her student after that and became like a sister to me, even before Shinning Armor and I got married."
"So..." Sunny was still confused, and looked to the older ponies for clarification.
"Sunny" Flurry Heart smiled as him again. "How would you like to be adopted?"
Right then Sunny's little heart began beating as fast as a humming bird's wings as his mind went blank. Not only had Princess Flurry Heart approach him and ask to be his teacher and mentor, but now... now she was suggesting something Sunny never dared to dream about, not in a million years!
"A-are you all sure?!" Was the first thing that popped out of Sunny's mouth, skipping past his brain. "I-I mean, I don't even have my cutie mark yet. Even Princess Twilight had hers when she became Celestia's student..."
"Your cutie mark will come in time. And I'll teach you everything incan about magic." Flurry Heart said. "No pony is born great, sometimes we need to be shown the way."
"What do you say, Kid?" Shinning said as he flopped Sunny's mane around with his hoof as the prince pulled the colt in for a nugie. "Want me for a dad?"
As Sunny remained in the light grip of Shinning Armor's front left leg, tears began to flow from his eyes once more, but these were tears of pure joy. "W-will we spend time together? And tell each other good night before bed? Will we spend holidays together! I-I don't need any gifts or anything. Just somepony to spend the holiday with..."
Shinning stopped rubbing the colt's scalp, released him and turned the little yellow unicorn around to face him. Never before had Shinning Armor seen a colt so longing for a family to call his own. As he looked into Sunny's green and bloodshot eyes, Shinning couldn't help but smile and begin to cry a little as well.
"You bet we will!" the prince told Sunny. "All that and more. And you can call me daddy, father, pop, whatever you want."
Without a second thought, Sunny jumped out of Shinning's hooves and tackle hugged the white unicorn prince. Immediately they both started crying as soon as the words escaped the little colt's lips. "I'll make you proud... d-dad."
Cadence and Flurry Heart watched and smiled as their newest family member and Shinning cried together, both of the princess shaking their heads at the touching, warm and fuzzy sight.
"Do all boys cry this much?" Flurry Heart asked her mother, a half smile still on her face.
"You get used to it" she answered honestly from experience. "So you ready to be a big sister and a teacher?"
Flurry Heart bowed her head for a moment then reopened her eyes to catch Shinning Armor and Sunny playing together with Sunny's puppet. "You know, I feel like I've been waiting my entire life for this. I think I'm more then ready. Even if it won't always be easy, I think it'll be worth it."
"Hey, I just thought about something!" Shinning Armor spoke up, Catching Cadence and Flurry's attention. "Sunny, you need a second part to your name, right? Don't most ponies do they when they get adopted?"
"Yeah" Sunny smiled, having a million different ideas lined up for a second part to his name before hand.
"How do you like 'Knight'?" Shinning asked the young colt. "'Sunny Knight'! Doesn't that sound cool?"
"What do you think, Sunny?" Cadence asked, smiling at the little yellow foal.
He looked back and forth between his new parents and smiled. "Your my parents, so you should get to name... but 'Sunny Knight' does sound really super cool!"
"Sunny Knight it is then!" Flurry spoke up, cheering with a smile. Now her family was whole, and the student she had dreams about was now found. Flurry Heart knew that Sunny would have many trials to overcome in the future, but he would make many friends along the way to help him. He wouldn't have to face them alone. They, along with his new family and her guidance, Flurry knew without a doubt that Sunny would grow up and become a pony worthy of a crown.
The next day at the orphanage,
Cynical sat in the shared bed room, sitting on the old mattress that was there long before him, just starting out the window. A rain storm had been scheduled to help with the harvest in a few weeks, so the black and yellow eyed pegasus watched as raindrop after raindrop hit the glass and slid down, never hitting him. Word had spread through the orphanage quickly about Sunny. Heck, the entire Empire knew of his adoption into the royal family! Hey planned to have a coronation for him once the storm ended.
"The royal family..." the words clawed their way out of Cynical's throat as his anger began to build up again. "What makes that mustard stain any better the the rest of us?! There's nothing special about him! YOU HEAR ME?! NOTHING! SPECIAL!"
Unable to control his anger, Cynical jumped up and kicked his bed as hard as he could, sending it flying right into another bed as it scratched up the floor. In the corner, Cynical's best friend, Salted Carmel, stood in the corner at a safe distance and watched as Cynical's envy began to boil over. The quiet earth-pony colt watched as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky behind Cynical as a glowing mark appeared on the grey Pegasus's flank. An image of a thunder cloud with glowing green eyes, stricken out at the ground below with two lightning bolts. Salted didn't know what Cynical's destiny had to do with his new cutie mark. But he knew one thing for sure, Cynical was going to need him by his side. Something about Cynical Storm and Salted Carmel just sounded right.
