Sunny Starscout and The Mystery of Magic

Chapters

2 - A Unicorn Named Izzy
3 - Breakfast, Maretime Bay Style!
4 - Sunny's Favorite Spot
5 - Old Man Withers
6 - The Left Hoof
7 - Dog and Pony Show
9 - The Brimstone Barge
10 - The Drake
11 - Titan
12 - Of Potions and Ponies
13 - Castletown
14 - The Re-education Room
15 - Sunny's Big Mouth
16 - Prison Break
18 - Sunlight
19 - Yetis and Trolls
20 - To Grandmother's House We Go
21 - Tall Tale
22 - The Quest for Coffee
23 - Cerena
24 - Home
25 - Saviors
26 - The Underground Tree
27 - Down with the Sickness
28 - Rutabaga's Boy
29 - The Great Escape
30 - Prince Bhegan
8 - A Big Meathead Named Hitch Trailblazer
17 - Moonlight
Prologue
1 - The Tale of the Sun Goddess

2 - A Unicorn Named Izzy

“Please, everypony, listen to me! We don’t have to fear the unknown! We can embrace it!”

Sunny spoke with conviction and fervor, waving a hoof dramatically as she did, as if to ease her words along.

“ALL ponies can live in harmony, I know it!” she raised a hoof and curled it into something akin to a fist, huge open-mouthed grin on her face.

The boat she was on rocked from a turbulent patch of water and a wave crashed up onboard, soaking her from head to hoof, her black, rubber hat and coat doing little to ease her damaged pride. The sailors on the trawler, most of them older stallions, roared with laughter.

“Hey, Sunny, embrace that, ya loon!” one of them cried with a gnarly, raspy voice. The others laughed some more. Sunny spit out a stream of water and glared forward.

Sometimes I hate living in a fishing town…

The trawler was a modest vessel, with enough space below for tons of cargo, but not much surface area on the upper deck. Only eight ponies could man it at a time. A large stallion with multiple scars around his face turned the ship’s wheel from the upper platform and growled down at the sailors and Sunny.

“LANDLUBBERS! PIPE DOWN AND FOCUS! COMIN UP ON A SCHOOL RIGHT ABOUT… NOW!”

Everypony jumped to position, Sunny being the slowest among them. She leapt over to a rope attached to a pulley system. Sunny grabbed onto the rope for dear life and pulled down with clinched teeth.

“GET DOSE NETS INTO DA WATER! ARE YOU SNAILS ER ARE YOU EARTH PONIES?”

All the sailors roared back in response: “EARTH PONIES!!!” Sunny just rolled her eyes.

The multiple nets on either side of the boat crashed into the rolling waves of water. Sunny continued holding on with an iron grip, closing her eyes to focus on her task.

Just… a bit… more…

After a minute, the captain snapped again.

“ALRIGHT LADS AND LASSES, LET ER GO!”

Sunny did just that, with a heavy sigh of relief. She fell onto her rump as the counterweight in the pulley system gave away and sent her side of the net careening upwards out of the sea. Soon, all the nets were back up onto the ship and releasing mountains of wriggling, flopping fish, big and small. The sailors cheered as the deck filled with finned creatures.

“ALRIGHT, GIT THIS LOAD UNDER AND GIT BACK UP FOR ANUDDA!”

Everypony cheered again in response. Sunny just sighed and stared out into the dark sea.

I prefer when it’s bright and sunny like yesterday… although, this feels more my mood.

She frowned with a pouty lip.

I miss the Professor already…

* * *

After a few hours of strenuous work, Sunny was beat. Her back and shoulders felt bruised and battered, and every step forward was like a mini workout. She mumbled under her breath as she trudged over the boat’s gangplank and back onto the dock of Maretime Bay.

“Hey! Sunny Starshot!” yelled the captain after her, still up at his wheel. Sunny half-turned back with a glare.

“It’s Starscout. What is it?”

The captain chewed on the inside of his cheek. He was a gruesome example of somepony who spent a life on the sea, and some time of it under the sea as well. One of his eyes was grey and blind, the other piercing and ocean-blue. His light brown head was totally bald and most of his face was wrinkles and scars. His Cutie Mark was an anchor and chain.

“Don give me that sass, little girl. Ya cut tha ruckus out, the namby-pamby talk about harmony.” The captain returned Sunny’s glare with equal ire. “Yer a spring chicken, and ya don’t know nothin’ about what Equestria’s really like. Ya’d sing a different tune if ya did.”

Sunny scoffed and turned back around.

“Whatever! You old ponies are all the same — listen, I’m just here to do the bare minimum for the town’s sake. Don’t ask me to change who I am.”

The captain barked back as Sunny cantered off.

“I AIN’T ASKING YOU THAT, JUST KEEP IT ON DRY LAND AND AWAY FROM MY SHIP!”

The tide battered the rocks along the shore as Sunny stomped her way to the outside of town along the coast. She briefly swiveled her head out to the water when something caught her eye. Toward the farthest reaches of the bay, a whale came out of the waves before flopping down hard with an immense splash. In the overcast weather, the seagulls were still eager and hopeful, soaring in groups of 9 or 10 and crying their usual song. Sunny sighed.

The Professor said to be more subtle… but if I don’t use my voice, I have nothing else. I mean, am I going to draw a painting? Write a novel? I’m no good at any of that!

Sunny got off the path on the pier and onto the sand of the beach. She studied a nearby rock and figured it was good enough so she hopped on top and closed her eyes. She held her neck up high, letting the sea breeze flow through her ponytail and the rest of her mane. The salty wind kissed her shoulders and lightly touched her face. Sunny inhaled the sea’s aroma and breathed out, calmer than before.

Maybe I just need to go somewhere else. Somewhere where the ponies appreciate all the other ponies, whether Earth Pony, Unicorn, or Pegasus.

Sunny opened her eyesand looked up at the sky. More of the same grey and depressing nothingness. Grey, grey, grey. What a terribly depressing day. Sunny’s face slumped downwards and she contorted it into a deadpan expression.

“Bleh,” she said aloud, “I’m bored.”

A sailor back on the pier yelled, causing an involuntary jump in Sunny.

“GET ALL THE FISH READY! TRADE SHIPS ROLLING IN FROM ABYSSINNIA!”

Sunny looked back and watched all the ponies running about the pier to attend to the dockyard business. Crates of fish were being brought out of the numerous warehouses by the wagonful and rolled down the side of the pier to the docks, where Sunny could see foreign ships pulling in.

Tall, lean galleys, they were, tan in color (some sort of tropical wood, Sunny figured) with great big sails sporting images of a black cat’s paw. Sunny always found it funny how her fellow townsponies, who seemed to hate other ponies so much, were fine with trading with walking, talking cats so long as those cats also had an overabundance of hay and wheat.

If only Earth Ponies were any good at farming and not just having thick heads, Sunny jokingly lamented. The foghorns and ship bells started up again and she figured it was time to go.

“Yeaaah I’ve had enough of the sailor experience for another week.”

She jumped back onto the pathway on the pier and once again started walking towards the outside of town. If she continued, she’d do a half-loop around Maretime Bay and find a hidden trail that took her deep into the woods, and then up a hill that led to a cliff. And on the top of that cliff—

Sunny stopped dead in her tracks. Her heartrate picked up, her head started to vibrate. Her eyes became saucers. Something that she could never even fathom arriving in town… was casually walking towards her on the pier.

“U-U-Uni…” she stuttered.

Just a stone’s throw away, walking at an ever-so-slow shuffle, was a wobbly pony with a mulberry coat of fur. A bracelet of small gemstones was around her left hoof. Sunny was jealous of the Unicorn’s long, flowing blue mane, which had shades of almost-purple in it, but what stunned her the most, what really took her breath away, was the horn on the top of the mare’s head.

Sunny instantly remembered her words to Professor Tyson and her mouth dropped open.

IMPOSSIBLE!

Sunny shook her head, certain it was some kind of mirage. When she looked back in front of herself again, she confirmed that it was most certainly not a mirage. The Unicorn took notice of Sunny and opened her mouth to speak. Sunny rushed forward before she could.

“W-what are you DOING here?” Sunny asked in a hushed tizzy. The Unicorn cocked her head.

“I’m… I’m not sure.”

She had purple eyes, like an amethyst that the local gem dealer might have on display at the market. Sunny was jealous of those too, but more importantly, she was now face to face with a Unicorn who had just wandered into town.

Wait, a Unicorn just wandered into town… and I met her first… and nopony else is around…

Sunny’s eyes grew large again as the Unicorn just stared in confusion. The Unicorn waved her hoof gingerly in front of Sunny’s face.

“You okay, miss random stranger? You look like how I feel. By the way, what’s with the weird rubber hat and coat?”

Sunny grabbed the Unicorn’s shoulders and shook her, terror in her face.

“We gotta get out of here! Do you know what might happen if somepony SEES you? I mean, did you just crawl out from under a ROCK!?”

The Unicorn frowned.

“I’m really, really not sure, okay? I’m sorry to be an inconvenience.” The Unicorn’s ears perked up and she suddenly looked worried. “W-wait, why would anypony not want to see me? Did I do something wrong!?”

Sunny’s mouth dropped again.

“Wha — who” — Sunny shook her head until she felt her brain rattle — “Nevermind, crazy unicorn! Just — hold on!” Sunny looked around frantically for something, anything, to shove onto the Unicorn’s head to cover her horn. The Unicorn stared at her like she had five heads. Finally, Sunny bonked herself on the head and smiled wide.

“Of course! This stupid thing can actually be useful for once!” She removed her rubber fisherpony’s hat and plopped it onto the Unicorn’s head. The horn disappeared underneath, though the Unicorn did not look happy to have the waterlogged, dirty apparel sitting on top of her immaculate mane. Sunny didn’t blame her.

“Ucky…” the Unicorn said with an involuntary look of disgust. Sunny grabbed the Unicorn’s hoof and looked her in the eyes.

“Listen, we need to go back to my place. Follow me and don’t take that hat off NO MATTER WHAT, okay?” The Unicorn smiled and nodded. Sunny grumbled under her breath as she led the two of them away.

Once the two passed through the dockyard and into the less-fishy downtown core, the abundance of ponies increased exponentially. First there was the market to traverse, and the entire time Sunny’s blood pressure was threateningly high.

No need to panic, no need to panic! You’re just escorting a UNICORN to your APARTMENT in a town full of UNICORN-HATING Earth Ponies, who are renowned for their strength and anger!

Sunny wore a goofy smile and her eye twitched.

NO PRESSURE!

Sunny and the Unicorn navigated through the crowds of ponies, taking great care not to bump into anypony. The Unicorn looked all around as if she’d never seen another pony before.

“Wow…” she began amid the noise of the marketplace, “Is this stuff all for free?”

Sunny briefly looked back at the Unicorn with complete disbelief and a bit of annoyance.

“Of course not! And keep your voice down! Let’s not draw any more attention to ourselves than we need to—”

Sunny froze and locked eyes with none other than Old Man Withers, who was in front of the peanut stand collecting his daily dose of nutty delights. His one eye, bigger than the other, bulged out.

“Hey — YOU!” he cried, which led a few ponies in the crowd to turn toward Sunny. Her face turned red. Withers continued, “I got a BONE to pick with you!”

Sunny yelped and snatched one of the Unicorn’s hooves, dragging her away with a three-legged trot.

“Wh — hey now! Careful!” the Unicorn complained. Ponies in the market were starting to take notice. Sunny started to question her sanity.

WHAT AM I DOING?!? I MUST BE CRAZY!

“STOP!” Withers cried, following after the mares with his limping gait. Sunny and the Unicorn broke off into a thin alley. There was no time to stop and catch their breaths. Sunny was mad with determination. The Unicorn whined once more.

“If I promise to keep up, will you please let go?”

Sunny turned back briefly and shouted.

“NO! Old Man Withers will definitely spill the beans on you!” Sunny turned back around and focused on going as fast as she could while attached to another pony. “I once watched him catch a thief who was hiding some radishes in her mane! He’ll see right through the whole hat disguise — I mean, look at us! I’m wearing the coat and you have the hat… it’s too suspicious! I knew I should have…”

Sunny closed her eyes and groaned.

“Nevermind.”

“Sorry…’ the Unicorn said quietly.

The two came out of a string of alleyways onto a larger, dirt road. On the other side of the road was a three-story apartment complex. Sunny’s face lit up.

“Home sweet home!” she cheered. Her and the Unicorn rushed up the stairs and ran along the second story veranda that led to her apartment. They turned the corner of the veranda and—

“AHA! PREDICTABLE AS ALWAYS, SUNNY STARSCOUT!”

Old Man Withers. Sunny’s heart nearly bounced right up out of her throat.

“BAHH!” she screamed. The elder pony’s crooked smile gleamed with victory. Sunny’s demeanor quickly turned onto the defensive. “Old Man Withers! What do you want?”

The mushy, wrinkly features of Withers’ face pulled and flexed as he spoke.

“Don’t be worried, now, young lady. Back at the market… that was a joke! Just a joke! Hmm, who’s this here with you?”

Withers cocked his head and studied the Unicorn, who looked back with a blinking, blank expression. Sunny bit her bottom lip and started to sweat.

“T-this… this is… well, you see…” Sunny began, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.
Old Man Withers stepped closer and inspected every side of the Unicorn, who stared ahead blankly and blinked. Withers leaned in and sniffed the Unicorn.

“Aha! No doubt about it. You’re a Unicorn, aren’t you?”

Sunny’s stomach felt like it was knotting into a pretzel. She shot Withers a wavy smile, sweat streaking down her neck. The Unicorn just looked confused.

“W-what, ha ha?” Sunny said with a fake laugh, “Are you crazy, Old Man W-Withers? A Unicorn… here?” Her equally as fake smile started to twitch. “S-she’s just an Earth Pony from the next town over! An old pen pal — yeah!”

Sunny felt a huge, invisible weight start to crush her as Old Man Withers interrogated her with his surprisingly piercing, blue eyes. Sunny gulped.

I suck at lying!

Old Man Withers was unflinching. He took a step forward, scrutinizing Sunny with a single one of his honed eyeballs. A grumbly hum escaped his throat.

I’m gonna crack!

“Is that the truth, Sunny Starscout? Is it REALLY?”

Sunny only lasted another heartbeat or two before exploding, grabbing Old Man Withers by his shoulders and pleading with her aquamarine eyes.

“NoIt’sNot.TheTruthIsSheIsAUnicornAnd — OLD MAN WITHERS YOU CAN’T TELL ANYPONY! PLEASE!”

Withers shoved off Sunny’s hooves and backed away.

“Bah — why would I do something like that? Ehhh you youngins think I’m just an old curmudgeon, stuck in the past, and all that, right?” He looked at the Unicorn, did a quick once over, then scoffed. “What do I care if a Unicorn comes into town? After all,” he started before walking away, “Isn’t that how ponies used to live in the past?” He shot a smile at Sunny before turning the corner.

Sunny looked at the spot where Withers used to be with an open mouth. She blinked rapidly.

“T-that… happened?”

Sunny grabbed the Unicorn by her hoof and shoved her into Sunny’s apartment. The magenta-maned Earth Pony rushed inside after and slammed the door behind her, breathing like mad. The Unicorn slowly removed the rubber hat atop her head and put it on the floor.

“We’re safe!” Sunny cried, chest heaving in and out.

The Unicorn hung her head down.

“Sorry… this is all my fault…”

Sunny finally caught her breath and shuffled out of her rubber coat and threw it on a coatrack, then grabbed the rubber fisherpony’s hat and hung it up. She turned and studied the Unicorn. She found herself enraptured by the Unicorn’s blue horn, which had some lighter blue, thin lines running around it. After a moment, she looked down at the Unicorn’s face and narrowed her eyes.

“We need to have a chat.”

* * *

After making a quick supper of leftover wheat cakes and carrots for herself and the Unicorn, Sunny sat opposite her guest at the plain, wooden dining table and grilled her with her eyes, mouth and snout pulled towards the centre of her face.

“So! You’re a Unicorn, and you just thought it’d be a good idea to wander into an Earth Pony town without even trying to hide your horn?”

The Unicorn looked down at her plate of food and shuffled her hooves nervously underneath the table.

“S-sorry… but I don’t remember anything about — well, anything.”

She looked up with wet eyes.

“Am I… bad for being a Unicorn?”

Sunny’s heart relaxed and she eased her expression with a smile.

“That’s not it, not as far as I’m concerned. It’s just…” Sunny lifted her hoof into the air and paused midsentence. “This is weird to me, is all. Did you hit your head or something?”

The Unicorn rested her hoof under her chin and hummed in thought, looking up to the ceiling.

“Maayybe. But it doesn’t really hurt, so maybe not.”

She tentatively raised her hoof and touched it to her head. Nothing. She moved it around her scalp. Suddenly, she yelped in pain.

“AHHH! Umm, ouch, okay maybe I did hit my head” — the Unicorn slowly brought her hoof down to the table and her eyebrows pulled up — “Actually, now that I think about it, I think I can remember what happened!”

Sunny beamed.

“That’s good!” Sunny tapped her hoof against the table impatiently. “So, spill the beans already!”

The Unicorn looked over to the living space of the apartment, where two worn, cushioned hoofchairs sat. She blushed.

“Uhh, do you mind if we sit somewhere more comfortable first? I think it’s been a long day…”

Sunny zipped over and took her own seat in the living space.

“Yep! No problem! Sore butt? These bad boys are the solution, sister!” She smacked the arm of the chair a few times. “Saved these puppies from the dump! Nothing wrong with ‘em, and the smell’s nearly gone!” The Unicorn raised a hoof to say something, even opened her mouth, but she decided against it. She flashed a far-too-wide smile and nodded.

“O-ok! Coming!”

Once settled in, the Unicorn closed her eyes and sighed in pleasure.

“W-wow, that hits the spot. You don’t notice how sore your — ahem, uhh, backside is sometimes until you sit down in a nice chair.” She looked at Sunny and smiled, and again Sunny was envious of the Unicorn, at that time because of her white crescent that definitely made Sunny’s look dull in comparison.

“You see,” the Unicorn began, “I’ve been travelling for a little while. I can’t remember why, but I got off the road and went into the woods for some reason. And I must have tumbled off a drop I didn’t notice. The woods around here are quite thick.”

Sunny smacked one of her hooves into the other.

“Right! That would do it! An outsider wouldn’t know to be extra cautious in the Horseshoe Wood!”

The Unicorn replied.

“That’s what you call it? But I don’t remember seeing any horseshoes…”

Sunny giggled.

“Of course not, silly. The name comes from the shape. The woods form a sort of horseshoe around Maretime Bay. We’re pretty lucky, because there aren’t many other trees for miles around. Farther outside of town, it’s all craggy and rocky.”

The two mares engaged in what Sunny assumed small talk was, although it was mostly her talking the Unicorn’s ears off. But the Unicorn didn’t seem bored, instead listening the whole time with a genuine smile and a nod every few seconds to show she was listening. Sunny explained the fundamentals of such Maretime Bay entertainments as fishing, clam digging, bay prospecting, and constructing lobster cages. They continued until the light coming in from the windows was reduced to a dull, sunset orange. Sunny recognized how late it was and her ears flicked upwards.

“Oh, I guess we should get to bed. You’re probably pretty tired by now — come to think of it, so am I after working this afternoon on the trawler. You —” Sunny noticed the Unicorn was nodding off, her head sinking lower and lower, her eyelids becoming heavier and heavier. Sunny stifled her laugh behind a hoof. “Nevermind.”

Sunny nudged the Unicorn and helped her to her hooves.

“Hey,” she said softly, “The bed’s more comfortable. Come on.”

The Unicorn mumbled sweet nothings as Sunny led her to the bedroom. It didn’t take much effort to push the Unicorn onto the bed, and Sunny promptly tucked her in with a giddy excitement tickling her heart. She couldn’t help but beam.

This is kind of like… a layover!

Sunny rubbed her cheek.

No, no, wait, it’s a SLEEPOVER. Yeah! One of those!

She threw caution to the wind and watched the Unicorn breath in and out, appearing to be passed out. Part of Sunny couldn’t help but be a little ticked off that the Unicorn was so much prettier than her. It felt… unfair.

Maybe she’s royalty or something? I mean, she did forget who she was.

The other part of Sunny couldn’t contain her happiness and she quietly hopped around the room.

But! Somehow, I’m already fulfilling my promise to Professor Tyson! He’s gonna be so happy when he gets back!

A small voice came from the bed, making Sunny stop instantly and snap her head back like a startled animal.

“Izzy…” It was the Unicorn. “… my name’s Izzy…” She briefly opened her eyes a smidge and smiled at Sunny. “Sorry to be a burden… and thank you…” The Unicorn, whom Sunny learned was named Izzy, went back to sleep.

Sunny’s smile engulfed her face and she resumed her happy bouncing.

Izzy! My first friend’s name is Izzy!

Eventually, Sunny remembered she’d also had a busy day and her hooves started to vibrate and shake. She bit her lower lip through a smile and brushed her ponytail out of her eyes.

R-right. Sleep first, embarrassing displays of happiness tomorrow. Preferably with noearth — nopony around.

She carefully climbed into bed and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Sunny sighed as she snuggled into bed. She smacked her lips happily and closed her eyes.

After a few moments, she opened them again and frowned at the ceiling.

Oh yeah. I forgot to visit mom and dad.

Sunny just stared up at the ceiling for what felt like half an hour. Images of early foalhood played out in her mind. Finally, she turned to Izzy and let her eyes run over the sleek, blue strands of the Unicorn’s mane.

I’ll just go with Izzy tomorrow. It’ll be nice to be out of town so I don’t have to worry about anypony discovering she’s a Unicorn.

With her mind decided, Sunny gave into sleep’s embrace with a smile on her face.

3 - Breakfast, Maretime Bay Style!

The birds outside Sunny’s apartment sang a chirpy morning tune. Sunny herself, however, couldn’t hear them, as she was fast asleep and snoring, even when the sun’s light sat just behind her bedroom curtains.

Deep inside her mind, Sunny’s dreams created visions of an Equestria where Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies frolicked together in vast fields of sunflowers. A drooly smile was etched on her slumbering form. Then, for the second time in three days, she was woken with a start.

“SUNNY!”

Izzy shook Sunny with eager mulberry-furred hooves. Sunny’s eyes shot open and she sat up in a flash.

“WHAT WHAT!” she cried, catching her breath.

Izzy beamed and threw up her hooves in delight.

“I can remember some more things!”

Sunny stared at Izzy like she had just stolen her Famous Ponies of Equestria figurines.

“You woke me up for—”

Izzy started to frown, so Sunny forced a grin.

“I mean, that’s awesome, Izzy! Did you have any dreams that helped you remember?”

Izzy shook her head with a smile.

“Nope — and sorry to wake you like that, I got so excited. I don’t sleep much, and, well, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep that much with you snoring so loud anyway.” Sunny blushed, smiled awkwardly, and rubbed the back of her head. Izzy continued, “I do dream a lot, but —” Izzy tapped the top of her head and looked up at the ceiling — “I just can’t seem to recall what my dreams were last night. I know I had some, they’re just so foggy.”

Sunny cleared her throat and threw off her covers. She jumped off the bed with a yelp and moved for the door.

“You can tell me what you remembered over breakfast! Come on!”

Sunny walked into the main living area of her apartment and looked around with a hum of thought. She looked in cupboards and under furniture. Izzy stood and watched. Eventually, Sunny found what she was looking for in a closet and pulled it out.

“Aha! I knew I had this somewhere!”

It was a dusty, old sun hat. It was white with a pattern of yellow daisies. Clearly, not something a younger mare would wear, but Sunny plopped it on Izzy’s head all the same.

“Sorry, Earth Pony fashion leaves much to be desired, and this old thing belonged to my mom, but it’s better than the rubber hat that smells like a boat full of fish, right?”

Izzy smiled and nodded, giving Sunny a cute, affirmative ‘mhm’. Sunny grabbed a set of saddlebags from the coat rack by the door and the two set off. Once they were outside, Sunny leapt over her second story railing and landed with a thud on the dirt road below.

“Sunny!” Izzy cried with concern, throwing her head over the railing. Sunny looked back up with a wave.

“Hey! No worries, that’s my usual routine! Really gets the muscles warmed up! You try it!”

Izzy gulped and took a step back apprehensively.

“Jump off of… here? But it’s so high…”

Sunny jumped up and down.

“Come on! Trust me, you’ll be fine!”

Izzy closed her eyes and breathed out. She nodded confidently and leapt over the railing. She immediately started to flail her hooves about. A moment later she fell like a rock onto the dirt road. Sunny grimaced, and nearby ponies gasped.

“You, uh,” Sunny began, looking around, “You’re not very athletic or anything, are you?”

Izzy lifted her spinning head off the dirt, little rocks and pieces of sand stuck to her face and mane. Sunny snickered behind her hoof and went over to help Izzy up. Once back on four hooves, Izzy held her head with a hoof.

“Don’t ask me to do that again… please… ugh…”

Sunny’s eyebrows softened.

“Yeah, sorry about that, Izzy. I didn’t expect you to fall like” — Sunny opened her mouth to speak but didn’t. She looked over to the side and thought of the right words. She turned back with a smile — “Well let’s just say I can tell you don’t do things like that often.” Izzy shook her head.

“That’s one of the things I remember. I live in the big city, so most of the time, I’m —” Izzy thought for a couple seconds before replying — “Indoors.” Sunny gestured with her hoof and walked down the street towards the center of town. Izzy followed suit.

“It’s no big deal, Izzy! We’ll sort it out at some point!” Sunny said with a smile. Izzy copied the expression.

It was still early enough that most of the merchants were busy preparing their stalls and couldn’t give Sunny the time of day, which was fine by Sunny because normally that meant getting an earful. Though, she figured, the merchants would be getting an earful from her later, so it evened out!

Some merchants, however, caught sight of Sunny.

“You’re getting a start on the speeches early today, Sunny Starscout,” one merchant said with a huff, a larger stallion with bulging muscles, brown fur, and piercing grey irises. He was unloading his wagon full of horseshoes and other metalworks. Sunny stuck out her tongue.

“You wish! I’m just on the way to the shore for some breakfast with my new friend!” Sunny wrapped a hoof around Izzy’s neck and smiled smugly at the merchant. He rose a brow and laughed.

“Well I’ll be. Not everyearthpony in this town is repelled by your mannerisms. I’ll be!”

The merchant rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes at Izzy.

“Though, I haven’t seen you around before.”

Izzy was equal parts worried about the merchant and what Sunny had said about going to the shore for breakfast. She swallowed hard. Sunny shoved her along and kept smiling wide at the merchant.

“Don’t worry about it, Amos! You’re a busy stallion! Ponies come and go. Hey! I’ll see you later, big guy!” Sunny winked and made a clicking noise through her teeth before leaving with a wave. Amos squinted towards Izzy and hummed in thought.

* * *

The shore of Maretime Bay was littered with hundreds of clumps of sea weeds, ferns, moss balls, and driftwood. The upper part of the shore, which was made up of a blanket of smaller rocks and some larger ones, slowly turned into dark grey, black, and tan sand as it met the water. The tide came in and out at a leisurely pace. The sea was sparkling and twinkling, and of course, the seagulls overhead were frantic with their cries.

Sunny stepped onto the sand and took in a huge whiff. She exhaled happily.

“Gotta love that smell of saltwater on a beautiful day like today! Izzy?” she turned around and saw Izzy lightly kicking at a stone. She looked forlorn.

“I remember…” Izzy said sadly, “About the pony races… I remember now. Sorry that I didn’t remember earlier…”

Sunny briefly frowned, then smiled wide and hopped over to Izzy. She planted a swift smack to Izzy’s behind, generating a red, surprised face out of the Unicorn, before Sunny started laughing.

“Don’t worry about all of that, Izzy! I’m going to unite the Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies once more! It’s sort of my” — Sunny waved her hoof around, brow furrowed — “Y’know, goal, thingy.”

Izzy answered for her, rubbing her rump where Sunny had smacked it.

“You mean it’s your dream?”

Sunny stared out to sea and closed her eyes. A sea breeze lifted her ponytail and streamed it behind her like a thin flag.

“Yeah,” she said quietly, “It’s my dream.”

Izzy giggled and kicked a rock down towards the water. The morning sun was bright, yellow, and warm.

“I think that’s a great dream, Sunny. I can’t remember what mine is, if I have one. But, I can tell you more about what I DO remember during breakfast.” Izzy looked around and leaned in towards Sunny, a look of apprehensive disgust on her face. “It’s not going to be anything… ucky… is it?” Sunny laughed with an open mouth smile.

“Maretime Bay is renowned for many things, Izzy my friend,” Sunny replied, “And, sister, one of ‘ems the grub. Get ready to feast your eyes AND your stomach!” Sunny gestured with a flick of her neck and Izzy followed. The two walked towards the tide. When their hooves hit the water, Izzy stopped and blinked.

“Uhhh, Sunny?”

Sunny turned back around, half of her body submerged in the receding tide. She looked as if she were just interrupted doing the most normal thing of all time. Izzy pointed at the water with her head held up and away as if seeing something abnormal.

“You’re walking into the bay.”

Sunny chuckled.

“That I am, Izzy my friend. Come, follow me. You’ll see.”

Sunny turned back around and her smile devoured the lower part of her face.

I’ve called her my friend, like, five times already, and she hasn’t denied it!

Izzy only very slowly moved towards the water, quite sure that Sunny was mad. Eventually, though, Sunny’s body descended no deeper into the mild waves. She continued walking through the water at lower neck level, taking confident Earth Pony strides. Izzy’s eyes widened. Sunny looked back, noticed Izzy’s incredulity, and waved.

“It’s a sandbank! It’ll lead us right to breakfast!”

Izzy gulped then followed behind Sunny. When she got far enough that the water was up to her lower neck, the cool temperature did wonders for her body. After a few more steps, she felt strange, wavy fingers brush against her hooves, and she shrieked.

“A fish monster! Sunny, help!”

But Sunny just laughed some more and didn’t even turn back around to the pony a few paces behind her.

“No, Izzy, those are just sea weeds.”

Izzy waved one of her hooves around underwater, feeling the slimy texture of the seaweed. After testing its lack of sentience for a moment, Izzy was assured it was indeed just a plant. She smiled and resumed her trot into the water.

“Oh — sorry, Sunny! You can tell this is my first time doing something like this!”

Sunny chuckled and stopped at a seemingly random point out in the bay. Long stalks of dark green, slimy-looking sea weeds stuck out of the water and ebbed and bobbed with the tide.

“That’s good,” Sunny cried behind her, “That means this will be your first Maretime Bay breakfast!”

Izzy caught up and looked all around her. Water as far as the eye could see, except the stalks of seaweed, and the shore behind. The town of Maretime Bay rose ever so slightly towards the sky, and none of the buildings were like what Izzy was used to back home. Everything was constructed of wood, and generally not the best quality wood. The town was surrounded on two sides by medium-sized cliffs of red and pink rock, topped by trees. Izzy couldn’t see the side furthest from the shore.

In the water itself were the various docks and piers of Maretime Bay, floating atop the waves. Innumerable ships, most of them obviously fishing boats, came and went. Closer to the cliffs, to the south of town, were the warehouses and the walkway where Izzy and Sunny had met the day before.

“Well?” Sunny asked, drawing Izzy’s gaze back, “Not a bad place, don’t you think? The ponies could be a bit less, well, Earth Pony stubborn, but it’s home, and I love it!” Sunny rolled her eyes. “Course we need to make some changes, given that this will one day be a town where Unicorns AND Pegasi can come and explore.” Izzy smiled.

“Yeah… umm, so, about breakfast…”

Sunny smiled back, eyes aglow with excitement.

“Right! Breakfast!” There was a sing-songy tone to her voice and Sunny’s tail started to wag, causing mild ripples in the water. Sunny turned toward the sea weeds. Without any worry about her appearance, she jutted forward and snatched a collection of weeds in her mouth and started chewing. Izzy’s jaw dropped.

“Zhis ztuff’s a’azing,” Sunny said through mouthfuls of green, salty plants. She chomped off the stalks of seaweed and turned back to Izzy, happily chewing away. “Try some!”

Izzy grimaced and looked over Sunny’s shoulder to the clump of seaweeds.

“Uhhhhh I think I’m good… I lost my appetite…”

Izzy’s face turned a shade similar to the seaweed as she watched Sunny finish off the last of the food in her mouth. Sunny swallowed and sighed happily.

“Come on! I promise, it’ll be good! You can’t knock it before you try it, Izzy!”

Izzy gulped and waded forward through the water, feeling her hooves sink into mud-like sand beneath the waves. She got within a hair from the seaweeds and looked back anxiously at Sunny.

“I’ll try a nibble, o-okay?”

Sunny nodded and urged her friend forward with a flick of her head. Izzy leaned in and unceremoniously latched onto the upper part of a stalk and pulled back. It took some effort, but the upper part of the stalk tore off and Izzy tried not to gag with the initial flavor of salty, slimy weed.

She started to chew on the seaweed, bringing bit by bit of it further into her mouth. Her face slowly transformed from disgust into surprise. Her eyebrows rose and she smiled at Sunny, who nodded frantically in response.

“Good, right?” Sunny cried. Izzy swallowed and nodded.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding! That’s… not half bad! Pretty salty, but kind of like a fishy piece of hay.” She licked her lips and turned back around to munch on some more. “Sorry I didn’t believe you sooner!” Sunny followed suit.

After a moment of feeding, the stalks of seaweed were reduced by a couple dozen or so. Sunny scooped something up from the sandbank and held it up. Izzy stared with wonderment.

“This is a Maretime Bay fuzzclam!” Izzy cocked her head and studied the hard, white shell of the sizable mollusk. Sunny put her teeth around the top half of the fuzzclam and pulled with her left hoof. With little effort, the two parts of the shell cracked open, revealing a pale, yellow clump of shiny fuzz inside. Sunny tilted her head back, the clam up, and knocked against the bottom half of the shell until the fuzz toppled into her mouth. She gobbled it like it was candy and put the shell into her saddlebag.

“These are good too! We can take some to go and sit on the shore!” she said, scooping up another fuzzclam. Izzy’s mouth twitched on one side and she looked sick again. Nevertheless, she felt around for a clam of her own and, finding one, she struggled to scoop it up. It took a few attempts, but eventually her hoof came out of the water, a clam in its midst. She looked at it awkwardly, then at Sunny, who pantomimed bringing the clam up to her teeth. Izzy bit her lip.

“But aren’t these things… alive?”

Sunny stopped in the middle of eating another fuzzclam and giggled.

“No, silly. Fuzzclams aren’t like normal clams. They’re just plants that grow in the discarded shells of real clams.”

Izzy watched Sunny swallow another fuzzclam. Izzy slowly nodded with a quiet, drawn-out, “Ohhhhhh.” With a grunt of determination, she brought the fuzzclam up to her mouth and pried it open, with less grace than Sunny had.

“Here goes nothing, then!”

The fuzzclam tumbled into Izzy’s mouth. She noted the texture of the fuzzclam took even more getting used to then the seeweed. Izzy’s entire mouth became full of a slimy, mildly fuzzy substance that seemed to dissolve as it sat on her tongue. The taste was, surprisingly, closer to a custard than a plant. She hummed her approved once she finished her first fuzzclam.

“I can’t believe the taste, Sunny! That’s — wow! Sorry I ever doubted you!”

Sunny smiled wide.

“Let’s grab some more and head back. I’m starting to feel pruney.”

The two mares collected a dozen or so more fuzzclams and put them in Sunny’s saddlebags. They made their single-file trek back to the shore. Izzy looked to her left and noticed that, out on several other sandbanks, other Earth Ponies were doing the same thing Sunny and her had just done.

Back at shore, Sunny and Izzy walked up the sandy lower shore and sat down on some larger rocks from the upper shore. As they snacked away on fuzzclams, Sunny leaned back on her hooves and basked in the sun with a loud sigh.

“Yep, Maretime Bay living ain’t so bad! Bet it’s not what you’re used to, being a big city girl and all” — Sunny sat back up and looked at Izzy with eager eyes — “Which reminds me! Tell me what you remember! Do you remember what your home is like?”

Izzy finished off the fuzzclam in her mouth and set the empty shell down beside her. She swung her backhooves back and forth and laid her forehooves on her thighs. She stared out at the sea.

“Hmm, well, sort of,” she began, speaking slowly as if the images and memories were only coming back as she spoke. “Sire’s Hollow is nothing like this place, it’s—”

Sunny gasped and scooted back on her rock. She waved her hooves in front of her face.

“Wait wait wait, you live THERE?! Sire’s Hollow?” Izzy nodded, confused. Sunny bit her hoof and continued rambling, “B-b-but that’s where the Warlock King lives! How could you POSSIBLY live there? Doesn’t he order you around and make you do all sorts of nasty things?”

Izzy gawked at Sunny, quite sure her friend had gone mad. Izzy brushed a lock of sapphire mane out of her face and shook her head with a curious brow.

“No, I’ve never heard of a Warlock King before, sorry. Sire’s Hollow is run by the Council of Five Tribes, as are all the other places where Unicorns live.” Izzy held her hoof to her chin and stared up at a cloud. “Maybe Warlock King is what Earth Ponies call the Voice of the Five Tribes. But he’s not that bad…” Izzy pouted. “I still don’t like him, though. He’s ucky.”

Sunny caught her breath and scooted back to her position from before. She cleared her throat.

“W-well I also heard that in Sire’s Hollow, the Warlock King has a pack of evil timberwolves and frost spiders that do his bidding!”

Izzy giggled.

“I guess you Earth Ponies hear those kinds of stories too, huh?” She smiled at Sunny. “When us Unicorns were foals, our parents and the elders always told us that Earth Ponies were savage brutes who could barely even speak Ponish, and that you’d just get into fights at the drop of a pin!”

Sunny frowned and looked behind her. A group of sailors stood around a wooden crate, guffawing and chewing on wheat stalks, blabbing on about ships and fishing. She turned back to Izzy.

“Yeaaaah… that one’s not far off.”

Izzy laughed and tucked her hooves between her thighs and stared up at the sun.

“It sounds like our elders told us both a lot of things that weren’t true, I think. That’s why I came this far into Earth Pony territory. I wanted to see for myself what it was like.”

Sunny held her hoof up and shook her head. She spoke quieter as some sailors walked by on the road.

“But isn’t that super dangerous? If some of the soldiers who patrol the roads saw you, they’d take you to Castle Rockhoof.” Sunny got closer to Izzy and spoke with her hoof to the side of her mouth. “And FYI, it wouldn’t be because they wanted to give you a friendly tour, you know what I mean?”

Izzy reached into her mane with both her hooves and pulled out a rolled scroll. She waved it around and Sunny followed it with her eyes.

“This is a written permission scroll from the Voice of the Five Tribes. With this, I can basically go anywhere in Equestria with his protection. If the Earth Pony soldiers tried to arrest me, it’d cause a huge national incident, and, well, ponies aren’t looking to have any more of those after the last one.”

Sunny rose a brow.

“The last one? What, did a bunch of hoity toity Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi get together and throw a fit that somepony had the crazy idea to see the world a bit?” She laughed. Izzy looked at the ends of her hooves and shook her head solemnly.

“Not… exactly…” she said quietly. An old, gruff voice shouted from behind.

“If you had paid attention in history class, Sunny Starscout, you would know!”

Sunny and Izzy swiveled around. It was Old Man Withers. Sunny deadpanned and neighed in annoyance.

“Oh no, not you — listen, thanks for not blabbing yesterday about Izzy here, but I really don’t need a history lesson right now.”

Withers squinted off toward the sea and spoke as if he hadn’t heard Sunny.

“The Everfree Forest Incident happened twenty-five years ago, before either of you scamps were born. And it was no laughing matter, Sunny Starscout.” He turned his hard gaze to Sunny, who inadvertently frowned and shuffled back on her rock. He continued. “It sparked a war that caused over a thousand Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi to lose their lives.”

There was a heavy silence as Sunny’s mouth dropped. A sinking pit formed in her stomach and she looked at her rock. The only noise was the sound of the tide as it spread out over the shore and the cries of the seagulls.

Izzy broke the silence, “Yeah… that’s what we were taught, too, more or less…”

Sunny looked back up at Withers and opened her mouth to speak, her usual determination etched onto her face. Withers stopped her before she could.

“Ehhhh, save it. I don’t want to hear more of your incessant babbling about unity. What happened, happened. And neither love nor friendship nor any other collection of namby-pamby WORDS will take it back, or stop something else like it from happening in the future.”

Sunny stewed and bit her teeth. Withers continued.

“Now, moving on: I forgot to ask you what I wanted to ask you yesterday. Your friend here caught me off guard.” Withers searched inside Sunny’s eyes for the truth before he even asked the question.

“Where’d that Professor Tyson run off to? I saw him leave the town the day before yesterday.”

Sunny glared at Old Man Withers and crossed her forehooves.

“W-why should I tell you? You planning on telling somepony and getting him in trouble? I might not know a lot about pony race relations, but I do know that Earth Ponies aren’t supposed to wander out of the Realm without permission from Castle Rockhoof!”

Withers smirked.

“Heh, well I guess you told me all I needed to know anyway. I bet that fool went to the Forbidden Zone, didn’t he?”

Sunny roared, “Hey! Don’t call The Professor a fool!” Withers grumbled.

“But he DID go there, did he not?”

Sunny sucked in her lips and shook her head really fast. Withers laughed.

“So predictable. The truth is all over your face!”

Withers became serious once more.

“That Everfree Forest Incident I mentioned earlier, it happened in the Forbidden Zone. And those Rogue Unicorns that scare everyearthpony so much, that’s where they live.”

Izzy chimed in.

“I’ve even heard of them, though I can’t seem to remember anything specific, sorry…”

Withers grunted. Sunny was staring at her rock with sad eyes.

Professor Tyson…

“Cheer up, little miss.” She looked up to see Withers wearing a rare genuine smile. “I taught that crazy stallion when he was a colt. He’s got my stubbornness and strength of will. He’ll be fine.”

Sunny cocked her head.

“Wait, you were a teacher? You TAUGHT the professor? I just assumed he was always the town professor!”

Withers laughed and started walking away.

“This is why you PAY ATTENTION in history class, Sunny Starscout.”

Sunny glared at Wither’s old, grey-furred form limping away as Izzy poked her on the shoulder.

“So, what are the plans for the day?”

Sunny jumped in place as she remembered something. Her face lit up.

“Right! That Old Man Withers distracted me! Let’s go! It’s a bit of a trek, but you’ll love it! And—”

Sunny jumped off her rock and smiled with closed eyes.

“You can meet my parents!”

4 - Sunny's Favorite Spot

Sunny and Izzy were mid-trek through the Horseshoe Wood. The Earth Pony had a wide smile on her face, there was a jump in her step, and she hummed a tune. Izzy followed with her head on a swivel, admiring the scenery around them.

Horseshoe Wood was brightly lit, thanks to the sun pouring through the gaps in the canopy of leaves above. Its trees were solid maples, tall and thick with brown, lichen-covered bark. Bushy ferns jutted out of the soil all over the place, but a mostly clear path led the mares in a certain direction that seemed to be going uphill. The high-pitched clicking of cicadas filled the summer air.

“Wow, this is nothing like Sire’s Hollow, or anywhere close by!” Izzy remarked with a voice as joyful as her face. “It’s like something out of an old pony’s tale! A fantasy forest!”

Sunny looked back for a second with an incredulous smile.

“Haha, what? This is the most basic wood in all of the Realm — I mean, I imagine it is. I haven’t exactly been outside of Maretime Bay. I’m sure you Unicorns have all sorts of fantasy forests where you’re from!”

Izzy shook her head.

“That’s not true. All I can remember is the woods being full of dead trees and owls with really, really creepy hoots. Sort of like the other kind of old pony’s tale.” Izzy lowered her head, and her voice became a whisper. “The scary kind.”

The path through Horseshoe Wood became steeper and steeper until Izzy and Sunny were practically climbing up the side of a hill to continue.

“Oh right,” Sunny suddenly asked, “You haven’t told me your family’s name yet. Or did you forget it?” Izzy was huffing and puffing trying to keep up with Sunny, who deftly and quickly crested the hill. Izzy practically panted her response.

“F-family… name…?”

Sunny nodded, glancing down from the top of the hill.

“Yeah! You have a Cutie Mark so your family must have a name. But I guess you forgot about that aspect of Equestria since you sound unsure.”

Izzy clambered to the top finally and flopped down on her belly. Her mane was all frazzled. There was no room in her lungs to muster a response. Sunny chuckled.

“It’s fine, take your time. I like your Cutie Mark. The heart with the button in the middle, it’s cool.” She took another glance at Izzy’s flank. “But… I don’t know what’s up with the three nail thingies on the side.”

Izzy’s back went up and down as her breathing regulated. She turned onto her back and sighed. Sunny hid her smile behind a hoof.

“And you REALLY aren’t used to this sort of hiking thing, aren’t you?”

Izzy blushed and looked away. She cleared her throat and jumped back onto her four hooves.

“I can’t remember about my… Cutie Mark. I’m sorry. Or my family’s name. Yours is nice, too. The Cutie Mark, I mean.” She pointed at Sunny’s, and the owner of the Mark put her hoof to her heart and closed her eyes.

“Thank you. I’m proud to hold the Cutie Mark of the Starscout family. Blue trail and three magenta stars — Ah!”

Sunny stopped midsentence and ran away.

Izzy noticed that they were now on an open area of grass and shrubs. Further beyond it was clear that the area overlooked the sea, and as Izzy chased after Sunny and got close enough to the middle of the clearing, she noticed they were on a cliff overlooking the water on the other side of the Bay.

Sunny waved her hoof behind her and stopped in front of two slabs of stone sticking out of the ground. Izzy came after her.

“Come see this! This is my favorite spot!”

Izzy sat beside Sunny and looked at where she was pointing.

On the front of each weather-worn and salt-damaged stone slab was an indentation of Sunny’s Cutie Mark. A trail and three stars. A mound of dirt was carefully molded in front of each slab. Izzy hummed sadly.

“Oh…” she said quietly. Sunny, however, was all smiles.

“Izzy, meet mom and dad! Not much for talking anymore, but they have the best view in Maretime Bay, so that’s got to count for something!”

The cries of wayward gulls and the crashing of the tide against the cliff wall below filled the silence. Izzy adjusted her sunhat and ran her hoof around some locks of her sapphire mane. She looked over at Sunny, who didn’t seem even as remotely sad as the Unicorn herself. Instead, Sunny flopped onto her back and looked at the sky. Izzy followed suit.

“I’m sorry,” was all Izzy said. Sunny giggled.

“It’s fine. They’ve been gone since I was a filly. I’m used to it now! I’ve never really truly been alone, anyway.” Sunny rested her hooves behind her head. “Soon after mom and dad got lost at sea, Professor Tyson was selected to take over the maintenance of the town observatory. The Starscout family was always in charge of it, but the townsponies said I was too young, so the Professor took over instead. He always loved the stars and the planets as much as my parents, and spent as much time there as they did when they weren’t on the boat, so it was the best thing ever!”

She continued, “The Professor is sort of like my second dad, I guess, but — well…” Sunny nibbled her lip and she wiggled her lower hooves until they dug into the dirt and pushed away a small pile. She looked over at Izzy and covered his mouth with her forehooves “I-It’s nothing!” she stammered.

Izzy smiled wide not knowing what to say. Sunny changed the subject.

“H-How about you? Tell me more about your family, Izzy! You said you had a brother too? I don’t have any brothers or sisters, so you’re pretty lucky!”

Izzy hummed in thought and closed her eyes, feeling the calm of the warm, summer air wash over her. The smell of salt in the air was starting to become familiar and relaxing.

“I can’t remember his face or his name… sorry. It’s weird. I can see him as a colt, and I remember him being so nice. We were pretty close. But I don’t remember anything about the current him.” She smiled. “But I do remember what my parents are like! They’re really, really kind — maybe too kind. We’ve all always been so close.”

Izzy hugged herself with her hooves and rocked back and forth.

“It makes me feel thump thump.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

“Thump… thump?”

Izzy blushed, rubbing her belly with her hooves.

“W-well, my parents and I use words like that to describe certain feelings… thump thump is when you’re so happy and feel so loved that your heart goes thump thump… haha.”

Sunny laughed, turned over to face Izzy, and sat up halfway with her hoof keeping her aloft. Her long ponytail flopped around.

“That’s cute! You’re like a little doll or something, y’know that?”

Izzy blinked a few times. Her mouth was an O.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked curiously. Sunny rolled her eyes with another chuckle.

“Nothing, haha. So, what do your folks do? My mom and dad were sea astronomers! They sailed on the wide-open seas, tracking the paths of the stars and the planets and figuring out the best way to navigate with only the sky to guide you!”

Izzy sat up, face aglow, and turned toward Sunny, also hoisting herself up with a hoof. Sunny continued.

“It was their dream to one day travel all around the world and see all the different types of ponies! They always believed that we could come together and unite, all three pony races!”

Izzy’s ears flicked and twitched and her tail started to swish.

“Wow! That sounds so cool, Sunny! My parents are just boring old diplomats.” Izzy frowned. “Mostly, it’s a ceremonial position, if you ask me. The Voice of the Five Tribes runs Unicornia with a pretty heavy hoof, and as you can probably guess Unicorns aren’t exactly friends with any of the other two pony races, so diplomats aren’t really needed.”

Sunny beamed.

“Not yet! They haven’t got a load of me yet!” She jumped to her four hooves and thrust one of them against her chest. “I can be very convincing, you know!”

Izzy stood up as well.

“Is that so?” she asked. Sunny nodded.

“You haven’t heard any of my speeches yet, but you will! I’m going to go give one in the market later! And—”

Sunny winked.

“I’d like your help, if you would.”

Izzy gave a closed-eye smile and nodded. The two agreed it was best to head back to town to make preparations. While Izzy carefully stepped down the hill back into the wood, she asked Sunny a question.

“Umm, by the way, that old stallion from before… who was he?”

Sunny laughed a single laugh and replied.

“That was Old Man Withers. He’s older than the trees, seriously. He’s obsessed with the past and old legends. He seriously believes that there’s a Sun Goddess that lives in the sun, and I think he even mentioned a Moon Goddess once! Crazy, huh?”

Izzy grew quiet and hummed to herself in thought.

“Right… crazy…”

A distant memory tickled the inside of Izzy’s brain. A dark shadow, unclear to her mind’s eye, lurked. The two continued on the path back to Maretime Bay.

* * *

“THE THREE PONY RACES MUST COME TOGETHER!”

Sunny stood on a small box beside the statue of Rockhoof. She held up her hoof and matched the statue’s pose, only she did not hold a large shovel between her teeth like the Earth Pony demi-god of legend.

“THE TIME IS NOW FOR UNITY! FOR ACTION! WE FEAR THE UNKNOWN BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW ANY BETTER!”

Beside her, Izzy held a poster attached to a pole. She was shaking like a leaf and mostly hiding behind it. It read, “Stand for a brighter tomorrow today!” in big, messy red paint letters, and various, crude stick drawings of what a five-year-old would call Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies held hooves. Sunny shook her hoof with gusto toward the crowd, her brow sharply creased in fervor.

“COME ON! SAY IT WITH ME, EVERYPONY: WE CAN CHANGE! EVERYPONY CAN CHANGE! WE CAN MAKE EQUESTRIA A BETTER PLACE FOR EVERYPONY!”

Somepony in the crowd yelled.

“It’s everyearthpony, you nutbar!”

A few ponies laughed in response. Others hurried on their way, obviously not comfortable with the profanity they were hearing. Others stared at Sunny with silent hatred. The merchants, however, were used to ignoring Sunny, as it was the best way to avoid losing any more business than normal.

The Maretime Bay market saw travelers from across the Realm of the Earth Ponies. Many of them were not aware of Sunny Starscout and her, what most ponies called, “performances” before their first visits, but none of them forgot afterward. Sunny continued and spat back at her hecklers.

“WE CAN MAKE IT “EVERYPONY”! LANGUAGE IS AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR IMPROVING OUR SOCIETY! INSTEAD OF WORDS LIKE EVERYEARTHPONY, SAY EVERYPONY! INSTEAD OF HORNHEAD, SAY UNICORN!” Sunny leaned down to Izzy and whispered, “No offence.” Izzy just smiled awkwardly and moved her poster around.

At one end of the market, Amos the merchant was watching the mares with an eagle’s gaze. Experienced as he was at commercialism, it was no hard task to tend his shop while keeping an eye on the suspicious new comer that was Izzy.

Ponies in the crowd started to boo. Sunny noticed the usual suspects: her fellow students from school. At least, when they all used to be in school. Sunny was glad those years were behind her. Only, the worst part of them continued as if nothing had ever changed.

“Why don’t you just move to Unicornia or the Cloudlands if you love those other ponies so much!” one of them yelled. Sunny recognized the voice. Tamara. She always loved to pull Sunny’s ponytail and make her squeal. But Sunny always gave as good as she got.

A stallion whose voice was clear to Sunny roared.

“Go back to your little telescope thing and leave the rest of us alone! That’s what your family’s job is! Go look at the sky, Starscout!”

It was the voice of Hector. Tough stallion. Used to lose to Sunny at track and field all the time. Sunny glanced at her old classmates only briefly. A group of five, whoever had the luck of having the day off from town duties. Other days it was other students. No doubt their parents had encouraged their counterprotests.

Their faces were vicious, snouts pulled up in disgust, brows arranged into sharp Vs. It was par for the course. Sunny frowned for only a moment before resuming her normal demeanor.

“SAY WHAT YOU WANT! I KNOW THAT YOU’LL ALL UNDERSTAND ONE DAY! WE JUST NEED TO TRY! WHAT DO YOU SAY? LET’S GIVE UNITY A TRY, EVERYPONY!”

A rush of noise replied from the crowd.

“EVERYEARTHPONY!”

Izzy adjusted her floral-patterned sunhat and gulped. There was never a time she was happier to be going incognito as an Earth Pony. An old stallion busted a gut laughing off to the side, and Sunny turned to see who it was.

Old Man Withers.

He was munching on peanuts from a bag as he leaned against Rockhoof’s fountain. Clearly, he got a kick out of the entertainment.

“You!” Sunny hissed, pointing a hoof at the eldest of Maretime Bay’s inhabitants. “You’re the last pony I need to see right now! Can’t you see I’m busy?!”

Withers chuckled.

“By alllllllll means, Sunny Starscout, don’t let ME rain on your parade, ehhh?”

He cleared his throat in a gross old stallion sort of way and smiled. Sunny pouted and turned back to the crowd. Somewhere out in the mass of ponies a tomato soared through the air and landed on Sunny’s muzzle, showering her face with red mush. The crowd laughed. Sunny’s ear and eye twitched. Izzy took cover.

“Throw a few more!” somepony shouted. Sunny licked her snout and smiled.

“Delicious! Haven’t had a tomato in forever! Thanks!”

She rose a triumphant hoof once more and shouted in defiance at the crowd.

“YOU CAN’T STOP ME WITH YOUR TOMATOES! YOU COULDN’T STOP ME WITH POTATOES OR RADISHES EITHER!” She leaned back down and whispered to Izzy again, “Could stop me with some stone squash, but let’s not give ‘em any ideas!” Izzy laughed nervously. The crowd was booing again.

The afternoon dragged on (very, very slowly, from Izzy’s perspective). The travelers and locals came and went, entering the wide market area surrounding Rockhoof’s statute with empty saddlebags, and usually leaving with full bags bursting at the seams. Despite the disturbance of Sunny, most of the merchants left with chests full of bits. Eventually, as was always the case, the crowds of counterprotestors gathered around Sunny dwindled to zero. None could match her perseverance. By the time orange light was covering the market, she was still standing on her box beside the Rockhoof statue, hoof and head held high.

“DON’T FORGET! I’M HERE ALMOST EVERY DAY!” Sunny shouted to a barren market. “LET’S COMMIT TO A BETTER TOMORROW, EVERYPONY!” She hopped down, her mane just barely showing the signs of a long day. The odd piece of hair popped up on it, but mostly it looked the same as usual. Sunny’s face, however, was dirty when she looked at her reflection in the fountain. She looked back at Izzy and secretly cursed her Unicorn friend, whose face was immaculate and shining bright in the orange glow of sunset.

Sunny sighed happily. “Another day, another successful speech, I’d say!” Izzy’s eyelids were going up and down rapidly as she tried to stay awake. She mumbled a response.

“Sorry… if my poster holding was… bad.”

Izzy’s ears and hooves drooped, as did the poster. Sunny smacked her on the shoulder with a wide grin.

“Ya did great! As good as me! I have to say, my idea to use the poster was top notch! And the whole everypony thing? That’s a keeper!” Sunny turned away and closed her eyes. She breathed in then exhaled. She turned back to Izzy, just as happy as before. “I really feel like I’m winning over the ponies here, slowly but surely, you know?”

The corner of Izzy’s mouth twitched.

“Y-you think so, huh?”

Sunny ‘mhm’d!’ cheerfully and she broke off toward home.

“Come on! Let’s get back before it gets dark!”

Izzy nodded and followed after. Just as she approached the edge of the market, a pony standing on the side of the market whistled at her.

“Hey. Earth Pony,” the pony said. Izzy turned, instantly worried because of the tone. It turned out to be Old Man Withers, smiling. Izzy cocked her head.

“Y-Yes?” she nervously questioned.

Old Man Withers looked her right in the eyes.

“She’s special, that Sunny Starscout. I’ve been around here for a long time. Her parents were special, too — the whole family, really. You keep an eye on her from now on, okay?”

Izzy frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

Old Man Withers turned around and walked down an alley.

“Fate works in the strangest ways, young ‘Izzy’. Cute nickname, by the way.”

Izzy’s ears struck right up and she took a step back.

“W-who are you?” she asked the departing figure. He stopped and turned halfway.

“Ehhh, don’t worry about it. My time’s almost passed. Also, something about you reminds me of somepony I knew a long time ago. It’s refreshing. So, thank you.”

Withers made a pleasant grunting noise from his throat. He turned away with a chuckle and disappeared into the alley. Izzy stared, her mind racing to decipher fifteen mysteries at once. She was broken out of her trance by the shouting voice of Sunny in the distance

“HEYYY! IZZY! YOU GONNA SLEEP OUTSIDE OR SOMETHING?”

Izzy shook her head and followed after.

“C-coming!”

* * *

Sometime later, many miles to the north, at Castle Rockhoof…

A single page, no older than thirteen, ran with all his strength up the mighty, winding path that led to the eastern gatehouse of Castle Rockhoof. Tall torches along the path lit the way right up to the top. The top of the castle walls was also lit, though it was so far away from the page that the fires seemed like mere twinkles. He could never get over just how high the stone walls stood.

Two imposing Earth Pony guards, encrusted in stone plate armor and helmets, stood emotionless and stoic in front of the metal gate.

“Halt, who goes there?” one asked the page. The page took a moment to catch his breath and held out a hoof as if to ask for time to recover. The other guard snorted.

“Out with it, colt!”

The page swallowed hard.

“An urgent message from the south! There are reports of a rabblerouser spreading propaganda about Hornheads and Featherfreaks!”

The two guards exchanged a glance then nodded. One of them whistled an intricate pattern of sounds and a moment later the portcullis of the gatehouse slowly rose out of the ground with a groaning of metal. Clumps of dirt fell from the sharp spikes at the base of the gate. The page bowed to the guards and thanked them before rushing inside.

The page could scarcely stay focused to his tasks every time he journeyed to the Castle. The awe-inspiring, intricately painted stone statues of Earth Pony champions that lined the path to the keep inside the eastern bailey, illuminated by great, flaming cauldrons that also lined the path, engulfed the page’s vision. He smiled as he took in as much as he could while his hooves carried him at a fierce trot toward the eastern keep. Red fire danced and crackled about wherever he looked, casting moving shadows all around the bailey.

At the huge double doors that led to the inner keep, the page once again stopped to catch his breath. This time, a single guard was stationed at a guard station that was only as big and wide as a single stallion. A torch on the wall behind him lit up the back of his body, but the page couldn’t see his face.

“Yes, what is it? It’s late,” the guard asked with a yawn at the end. The page saluted.

“It’s Nate Chivaltarry, sir. Page to the Protector’s Left Hoof. He’ll want to hear my report, right away!”

The guard grunted.

“You mad? He’s most likely asleep and he’ll be up early for his trip to collect the newest batch of traitors and prisoners. I’m not going to be the one to wake him!”

The page pleaded with wide eyes and a desperate voice.

“But you don’t understand! I know my master! He will want to hear this, now and not later! Let me go to him, if you don’t want to!”

The guard sighed and rolled his eyes. He clopped his hoof against a hard stone three times. The double doors to the keep slowly opened.

“Fine. It’s your funeral,” the guard said, bored and turning away.

The page stood up straight and marched inside.

5 - Old Man Withers

It was another beautiful morning in Maretime Bay. Sunny stretched out her hooves with an egregiously loud yawn and a rapid smack of her lips. She wore a re-energized smile and pulled off her covers. The sun came through the drapes, seemingly in full force. Sunny had obviously slept in. Curiously, she looked beside her at an empty bed.

“Izzy?” she called out. Hoofsteps clattered on the wood flooring out in the main living area. Sunny sprang out of bed. She slowly made her way through her open bedroom door.

The door to the apartment was half-way open. Sunny’s ears shot up and she rushed forward around the furniture and burst through the door.

“IZZY!” she yelled. She ran out to the veranda that surrounded the second story of the complex, hung a left and looked over the railing. She spotted Izzy below on the dirt street, running towards Horseshoe Wood, swerving around any bewildered locals she came face to face with. She was making good time, too. Sunny fearlessly leapt over the railing of the second story veranda and landed like a cat, then quickly began to chase after Izzy with a vicious gallop.

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!” she cried after her new friend. While Izzy refused to relent, Sunny was much faster. The number of heads the pair turned wasn’t unusual, in Sunny’s case, but it was attention Sunny would have liked not to have had given she was chasing after a Unicorn. A Unicorn whose only safeguard was a tight-fitting sunhat, which could no doubt come loose while she ran.

Sunny followed after Izzy through the side streets and alleys that led to Pier Street. At one point Sunny had to squeeze past a couple of merchants meeting in one of the alleys, to which they yelped and hollered after her. It was merely business as usual – Sunny bothering a merchant. Nevertheless, Sunny continued unfettered, and when she broke onto Pier Street, she turned to see Izzy slowing down and hobbling. Sunny grinned and caught up with a cloud of dust behind her.

“Izzy! Stop! What’s going on?” Sunny asked, stopping beside the Unicorn who was doubled over and heaving for air. “Why did you run away without saying anything?”

Izzy shook her head, still in the throes of exhaustion.

“Y-you… you don’t… know anything…”

Sunny cringed with hurt and took a step back.

“What?”

Izzy looked up. Sunny saw a sadness so profound it sent a jolt through her body.

“I remember!” Izzy’s eyes became fearful, and she bit her lip. She continued with a shaky voice. “I remember everything, okay? I’m sorry, but I have to leave!” Izzy closed her eyes, exhaled, then started galloping again with a wince. Sunny chased after.

“Can you please just explain to me why you have to go? How much of a hurry can you BE in?”

Izzy didn’t stop to reply, nor did she waste precious air doing so at a run. Her mane blew behind her like so many strands of silk glistening in the midmorning sun. Gulls pierced the air with the delirious cry of hungry sea birds. Waves gently rested on the shore every so often as the tide came and went. Sailors and fisherponies went about their business. And Izzy the Unicorn was on a mission to leave as soon as she could. Sunny refused to accept it.

Izzy crashed into the treeline of Horseshoe Wood first, followed by Sunny. Izzy stopped, turning every which way as if not knowing where to go exactly. Sunny caught up without a problem.

“Just go home, Sunny!” Izzy protested. She whipped her head around and sounded like her lungs were on fire. There was sweat and dirt on her face. On HER face. Sunny was at a loss for words but managed to bluster out something of a retort.

“Tell me!”

Sunny gritted her teeth and reached out with a determined hoof. Izzy jumped at the touch, but Sunny swung her around and the two met eyes. Both sets of eyes had dizzy pupils. Sunny closed her eyes as she tensed her face, then she exploded.

“YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE ME IZZY! YOU’RE MY FIRST REAL FRIEND!”

Tears formed at the ends of Sunny’s eyes as she panted. Izzy’s face softened into a similar expression of sadness. She couldn’t help that the same liquid shimmered at the ends of her own eyes. Her lip quivered and she looked at the soil below.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Sunny…”

The mares stood for a minute, catching their breaths and processing their feelings. Izzy looked back up with a light smile.

“You’re not going to let me leave like this, are you?”

Sunny shook her head and smiled warmly.

“What do you think, little doll?”

Izzy pouted.

“Hey.”

Sunny tried to hide her giggle with a hoof.

“Sorry, bad joke.” Sunny blinked and looked around the Wood. “Were you looking for something, by the way?”

Izzy nodded and turned around.

“I remembered that I had saddlebags with me when I fell here. I need to find them before I go.” She turned back to Sunny and smiled, a hint of regret behind her amethyst eyes. “Give me a hoof, then we can talk.”

Sunny nodded with a grin.

An hour passed while the two mares searched for the lost saddlebags, paying particular attention to the rockier areas of the Wood. Most of the Wood was on uneven terrain, and at any point Sunny could imagine a delicate thing like Izzy walking out unsuspecting, over a drop, and bonking her head.

The investigation frequently brought little, nosy woodland critters out to watch - squirrels, rabbits, and the occasional deer. Whenever Sunny or Izzy would spot them looking, the furry observers would hide behind a nearby tree or inside a bush.

Finally, during the fifth search of the area, Izzy's hoof hit something hard and familiar.

“Oh — OH! Here it is, Sunny!”

Sunny was a stone’s throw away, hunched over and looking through a hollow, bug-ridden log. She smiled and immediately trotted to her friend’s side. Izzy picked up one of the saddlebags, then the other, dusted them off best she could, and threw them onto her haunches. The sound of jingling metal caught Sunny’s ears, which flickered in Izzy’s direction.

“I need to make sure everything’s still here,” Izzy said. A loud grumble rang out from her stomach region. She blushed a deep scarlet, apologized with a quick “Sorry!”, and Sunny laughed.

“Let’s get something to eat first,” Sunny suggested, “Then we can go by the shore and talk, okay?”

Izzy still looked unsure - her brow furrowed. Sunny pleaded.

“Please, Izzy? You know you want to try some more of Maretime Bay’s cuisine!”

* * *

Sunny had selected her favorite restaurant for lunch. It was located at the edge of the market, with a cozy eating area for locals and tourists. Izzy was getting a kick out of the rustic wooden table and chair. She looked around the market, admiring the look of the town.

“You’re so lucky to live here, Sunny,” Izzy said with a longing sigh. She moved her wheat goulash around with her spoon. “You seriously have no idea how… depressing where I’m from is.” Izzy looked around the immediate area. There were a few other ponies seated at the restaurant who didn’t pay Izzy and Sunny any mind, but some of the merchants in the market were staring. Izzy swallowed.

Sunny took a giant bite out of her hay sandwich and chewed with an open mouth.

“Yeah dere ‘ookin’ o’er ‘ere,” she said between chews. Izzy rested her head on a hoof and took a sip of the goulash, smiling sheepishly as Sunny continued talking with a full mouth, “I’nore ‘em.” Sunny swallowed her bite. “The merchants always stare at anyone new to town. We’ll talk once we’re done eating.”

But something strange occurred to Sunny as she got halfway through her sandwich. She swerved around in her seat and scanned the market, brow tight and jaw still going up and down as she chewed. Merchants were usually pretty open about how much they disliked having Sunny around, even when she was just eating lunch. And her schoolpony peers would generally have accosted her by that time. Sunny stopped chewing and swished her tongue against her cheek.

“What a bunch of weirdos today…” she said quietly. She locked eyes with Amos the merchant all the way on the other side of the market, past all the ponies who were shuffling by. Past the statue of Rockhoof. Amos was looking right at her. There was a look in his eye Sunny didn’t like one bit. It was as if he was looking at a ghost.

Despite the whole situation, though, Sunny finished her meal and Izzy was satisfied with only eating three quarters of hers. Sunny reached into her side satchel for some bits to plop onto the table when Izzy cut her off with a hoof.

“W-wait, I got it.”

Sunny looked up and cocked her head. Izzy smiled and reached down to her saddlebags. She rummaged through for a second. Sunny heard more jingling inside the saddlebags, and before long Izzy pulled out a hoofful of bits. Sunny’s eyes nearly jumped outside of her head.

“W-WHAT KIND OF TIP IS THAT?!” she shouted. The other patrons of the restaurant turned around to look and Izzy immediately flopped down the bounty of bits and turned red again. She glanced down between her hooves.

“S-sorry!” she stammered. “I-Is that a lot?”

Sunny counted them all with an unhinged jaw hanging from her chin. Forty bits. For a hay sandwich and wheat goulash. She counted twice, just to be sure. Then she counted thrice, because she couldn’t exactly pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. She looked up at Izzy, not realizing how much attention she was pulling toward the duo.

“The meal only costs 6 bits, Izzy!”

Izzy looked over both her shoulders. Ponies nearby were whispering. One stallion even got out of his seat and peered over with a craning neck. He gasped. Others followed suit. Sunny was still flabbergasted when Izzy cleared her throat as if to signal Sunny.

“We need to go,” Izzy said quietly.

Sunny shook her head and exhaled with incredulity.

“No kidding,” she joked with a laugh, “Ponies will start getting worried you’re going to buy the town and turn it into a Unicorn resort or something!”

Sunny’s throat closed up and her eyes immediately became pinpricks. Izzy lowered her head and her ears followed, becoming flat against her mane. Sunny had spoken a bit too loud. Some ponies had already been looking at the duo, but at the mention of “Unicorn”, every head within earshot was aimed at Sunny and Izzy. Sunny realized her mistake as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She gulped, and Izzy covered her open mouth with a hoof.

“G-get your saddlebags and let’s go,” Sunny said, smiling nervously in an attempt at looking normal.

Izzy ‘mhm’d’ quickly and the two mares jumped to their hooves. Izzy scooped up her saddlebags and secured them to her haunches as quick as she could. The waiter from the restaurant stepped forward and blocked Sunny’s path.

“What did you just say, Sunny Starscout? I thought we agreed you’d keep that language away from the restaurant or there’d be no more service!”

The waiter had gold-colored fur and a slicked back mane that was a slightly darker shade of gold. He wore a tight, fancy black vest with a white undershirt. His one eyebrow was raised so high it nearly touched his maneline.

"This is the fanciest establishment for many miles! We can't have talk of those other types of ponies being spoken out loud without restraint!"

The other patrons were whispering among one another while they glared at Sunny. A few stood up and started to move towards her. Sunny chewed her lip and looked around nervously. She snatched Izzy’s hoof and started galloping away with her friend in tow.

“Enjoy the tip!” Sunny called back. The waiter cried in protest.

“STOP!”

A few other ponies shouted the same thing, more or less. Sunny and Izzy did no such thing, of course. A feeling in the pit of Sunny’s stomach made her ill. Izzy whisper-shouted from behind.

“SORRY BUT… WHY DID YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?”

Sunny replied, “Well it’s not like I was thinking before I said it, okay?! It just came out! I got excited!”

As if right on cue, while the mares made their escape and turned into an alley that led to Pier Street, Sunny heard a loud, gruff throat clearing noise. She looked back for only a second to see who made the noise.

It was Old Man Withers.

“Sunny,” the elder pony said sternly. It was in a tone Withers never used before, and it was so surprising that Sunny stopped in her tracks. Izzy tapped her shoulder.

“Hey, we should ignore him and just leave!”

Sunny replied to Withers.

“What is it?”

Withers narrowed his eyes and gestured behind his shoulder with a flick of his head.

“I need to speak with you up where your parents are. Alone.”

Sunny looked back toward the market. Ponies were giving chase. Sunny turned back to Withers, who was walking away calmly. He called back, a frog clearly stuck in his old throat.

“Lose them and come meet me. It’s important.”

The cries of the ponies following Izzy and Sunny got louder and closer. The Earth Pony and Unicorn twosome galloped down the alley as fast as their hooves took them, Izzy struggling to keep up behind Sunny. They weaved and bobbed through the narrow passages then broke out onto Pier Street once more and sped off without turning back. They reached Horseshoe Wood in record time.

Once inside, the mares risked a moment to catch their breath. Izzy was wheezing and had to roll onto her back.

“So… much… running…”

Sunny was lathered in sweat. She peeked out from behind a tree back towards town and didn’t see any pursuers. Feeling safe in that moment, Sunny plopped onto her flank and sighed out with exasperation.

“You got that right, Izzy!”

Once both mares were confident they weren’t going to pass out from a lack of oxygen, Izzy stood up and Sunny turned to face the path as it winded up the hill and towards the cliff where her parents laid. She closed her eyes.

“Izzy, I’m going to see what Old Man Withers wants. He’s never talked to me that way before so I’m worried.” She turned to her new friend with an apprehensive smile and opened her eyes. “I understand if you want to leave town sooner rather than later… but if you could…” She dropped her gaze and looked at the soil. “Could you wait for me, just at the bottom of the hill? And when I’m done with Withers--”

Izzy laid a hoof on Sunny’s shoulder and nodded with a smile.

“I’ll wait.”

Sunny smirked and wrapped Izzy in a giant hug, taking the Unicorn off guard. For a moment she was stunned, unable to process the fact that an Earth Pony was hugging her. Then with a smile, she closed her eyes and returned the embrace.

“Wow,” Sunny said, “I hugged a Unicorn and didn’t explode. Or turn into a frog.”

The two pulled away from one another and Izzy giggled.

“Not yet. The frog spell is only for when you get on my nerves.”

Sunny closed her eyes and grinned wide. She opened them then cleared her throat.

“Okay, I’ll try not to be too long!”

* * *

The sun had passed the halfway mark in the sky, signifying noon. Its light and heat was as strong as it was going to be for the day, and it beat down on Sunny’s back as she trudged up the hill that led to the clearing in Horseshoe Wood on the cliff. She saw the familiar grey stones that marked where her parents were. She also spotted the wizened form of Old Man Withers seated in front of them. As Sunny got closer, he saw a smile on Withers’ face.

“They were good ponies, your folks.”

Sunny cocked her head. Old Man Withers wasn’t looking as old as she thought he normally looked. There weren’t as many heavy wrinkles as before, his jowls looked five years younger, and she could have sworn some of his bald spots had white hairs again. Stubble covered his chin.

Withers looked up at Sunny and gestured her to sit beside him. She did so.

“W-what’s this all about, Old Man Withers? And why are we here in front of mom and dad?”

Withers looked behind his shoulder, keeping his gaze on a lone seagull flying out into the Bay. Sunny turned around, too, trying to spot what Withers was transfixed on.

"Your parents," Withers began, "Made this place bearable for the many years I spent here while they were alive. Professor Tyson, too."

Sunny looked back at Withers and opened her mouth to speak, but the older pony of the two cut her off.

“Sunny Starscout, I’ve been around for a long time. A long time. We’re talking more than a lifetime, but still not as long as all of time.”

Sunny narrowed her gaze at the elderly Withers.

“Ya-huh. You feelin’ okay, Withers? You normally talk like a crazy pony, but this time it’s even worse.”

Withers looked over at Sunny and chuckled.

“I’m actually not feeling that great, now that you mention it. It’s almost time for me to go. But, I need to tell you a few things before I do.”

Sunny blinked rapidly.

“W-what?”

Withers laid his hoof on Sunny’s shoulder and looked her right in the eye. His light blue gaze seemed both as old as the sun and as recent as a new day’s vigor. He smiled.

“I am your grandfather, Sunny.”

Sunny’s eyes widened. Her mouth dropped and her lips quivered. Withers bit his lip. Then, he burst out laughing, grasped at his belly, and fell onto his back.

“JUST KIDDING HAHAHAHAHAHA!” he roared.

Sunny stared forward with a confused expression. She was still shocked and couldn’t move while Withers sat back up and wiped a tear from his eye.

“Oh goodness, I’ve become quite the jokester in my old age. Well, my advanced old age. If you had seen me before…” Withers trailed off. He cleared his throat. “Time is of the essence. Forgive me, Sunny Starscout. I’ll get down to business.”

He stared into Sunny’s eyes, as serious as the Earth Pony had ever seen him be. A thousand confused thoughts danced around in Sunny’s brain.

“The hoof of fate is closing in,” Withers said, “It’s coming here, to Maretime Bay. I can feel it. And it’s coming for you, Sunny Starscout.”

The thousand thoughts in Sunny’s head multiplied to a million. She jumped up and shouted.

“Okay, enough with the joking already! Just tell me why you brought me here!"

Withers breathed in deep and got onto his hooves as well.

“Alright,” he said, facing Sunny, who was still on the defensive, “Here it goes then.”

“My name isn’t Old Man Withers, it’s Star Swirl. I’m 1,500 years old, or thereabouts. The secret of my longevity is the last vestiges of my magic as the Element of Sorcery, which is about to run out. The reason I’ve been clinging to life all these years is… complicated, but most recently, I was tasked with watching your family, the Starscouts, and ensuring you were safe until the right time. And that time is now.”

Sunny’s expression had become deadpan.

“Another joke? Really?” She rolled her eyes and tossed her ponytail. “You read that old astrology book that the Professor has too, huh?” she said, sounding bored. "That's where you got that name, 'Star Swirl'." Withers chuckled and shook his head.

“Figured you wouldn’t take to that… okay, how’s this, then?”

He cleared his throat and became serious once more.

“Trust me when I say you’ll be leaving here soon. I can feel it. And I will be too. But I need to tell you two things first,” Withers raised his hoof and closed his eyes.

“One: ponies of ALL races lived together in harmony in the past. That is how ponies are meant to live. Forget what I've said in the past because that was just a cover! The pony races draw their respective powers from togetherness and unity, and it is also where magic comes from. Without unity, there will never be magic in Equestria again like there used to be.”

Sunny’s mouth dropped and her eyes widened. Withers continued, despite how clear it was by Sunny’s face that she wanted to say something.

“Number two: When you’ve discovered who you are, seek out who ponies call ‘The Wise One’. She can reveal the secrets that I cannot reveal to you - not yet. I’m out of time.”

“Wait!” Sunny blurted out, dancing on her hooves, wide grin on her face. “You know about magic? Tell me! Please! Tell me!” She changed her tune and glared at Withers. “Wait, if you know the secret about magic, why didn’t you tell the Professor, so he didn’t have to leave!”

Withers chuckled again and scratched the side of his old face.

“The Professor’s on a… different journey, I think. Magic is just one part of it. And no, I won’t and can’t tell you any more. That was it. You see—”

The faint sound of a bugle blowing rang from the direction of Maretime Bay. It was vaguely familiar to Sunny, but to Withers it made his ears shoot straight up. His tail briefly flicked upwards.

“That horn…” he said quietly.

The blowing of the horn rang out again. Izzy appeared at the top of the hill, waving her hoof at Sunny and Withers from a distance.

“Sorry… really sorry to interrupt," Izzy yelled out, "But I need to talk to Sunny RIGHT NOW, Mr. Old Man, sir!”

Sunny looked at Withers for some explanation of what was going on, but he only grumbled.

“So, it begins…”

6 - The Left Hoof

The brassy, boisterous call of a bugle pierced the air of Maretime Bay. The sound proclaimed the arrival of some rare but important visitors. It turned every head in the market. The main road that connected the rest of Equestria to Maretime Bay led right into the market, so anypony important from Castle Rockhoof would hit that important area of town first.

A behemoth of a stallion, encased in shiny, bronze armor, confidently strode down the dirt road into the market. Three smaller ponies, wearing similar armor but made out of stone, tried to keep up with the stallion, positioning themselves on either side of him, though his steps were like leaps to each of them.

One of the soldiers rushed out to the front of the entourage and placed a bugle to his lips and blew as hard as he could. The arrival tune sounded out once more, closer than before and much louder. The behemoth of a stallion in the middle of the group of soldiers cleared his throat and caught the bugle player’s attention with a look in his eye.

“That will do, young page,” he said firmly. A crescent smile covered the lower part of his face, constant and unflinching. The bushy, dirty blond moustache above his lip matched the slick, flat top mane on his head. His eyes were a piercing silver, and his fine tan coat was immaculate. There wasn’t a speck of dust on it, and the same was true for his thick, bronze armor.

The aforementioned young page yelped nervously and shuffled back to where the other soldiers were waiting. All of them let the behemoth of a stallion step forward into the market, right in front of the old fountain where the Rockhoof statue stood. The townsponies in the market held their breath, while all of the tourists oohed and awed at the sight of shiny, disciplined soldiers from the castle.

“Bahh – look at this, Nate!” the behemoth of a stallion cried while beckoning behind himself with a swoop of his huge forehoof. The young page scuttled forward.

“Y-yes, Sir Bastion?”

The one called Bastion laughed pompously and pointed at the statue of Rockhoof.

“This dirty little sculpture, Nate! The Protector of the Realm would be enraged if she saw this!” Bastion scoffed and shook his head with a closed-eye laugh. “Hohohoho… It is disgusting – a total disgrace to our national hero!” Bastion leaned down close to Nate’s face and raised a single eyebrow, his ever-present, off-putting smile gleaming in the midday sun. Nate felt sweat drip down his neck and he slunk back to escape the shadow of his superior. He rapidly nodded.

“Y-Yes, Sir Bastion! It’s a real eyesore!”

Bastion looked the statue up and down for a moment before undulating his throat muscles and spitting out a huge glob of saliva onto the statue. The crowd in the market gasped. Somepony stepped forward and protested: a stallion with a chestnut-colored coat and a black mane. He was somepony you could easily miss in a crowd.

“H-hey! You shouldn’t do that! That’s Rockhoof! Didn’t you just say he’s our national hero?!”

Bastion turned abruptly as if surprised and shot his signature grin at the protestor.

“Ah! Right you are, dear citizen!”

For a brief moment, Bastion locked eyes with the stallion and stared without moving a muscle. The protesting stallion gulped apprehensively and nervously stepped back. Bastion continued. He raised a hoof matter-of-factly.

“And that is why you are going to hoof polish this statue until it is sparkling clean! Since you have such a grand, eloquent mouth, I imagine your hoof muscles and cleaning skills are just as grand!”

The protesting stallion took a step back and turned every which way. The crowd around him whispered. He put a hoof to his chest and started to shake.

“M-Me, sir?” he whined.

Bastion roared with laughter.

“Well, I did not stutter, my lad! Get over here and polish the statue! Come! You are a big hero who steps forward and talks out of turn when he is not asked to speak — surely, you can polish this statue until it looks good as new!”

The protesting stallion gulped and stepped forward until he was standing under Bastion’s imposing form. Bastion was an entire head taller, and the protesting stallion wasn’t exactly short for an Earth Pony stallion.

“Now, polish!” Bastion said with a chuckle. He motioned with his head behind him and two of the soldiers from the road trotted forward. One of them pushed the protesting stallion into the fountain with a splash. The protesting stallion flopped around, not expecting to be knocked into the fountain. Water flew everywhere, as if the protesting stallion were a pigeon taking a messy bath. Finally, he caught his bearings and looked up at Bastion.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” he yelled, quite scared at that point. Bastion raised an eyebrow.

“Whatever do you mean, dear citizen? You asked for this, did you not? Unless — would you rather join the other traitors of the Realm in the prison wagon that awaits us back on the main road?”

The protesting stallion shook his head with a whimper and a quivering bottom lip. He turned around and faced the statue.

Rockhoof’s statue, even if it was by then battered by rain and wind to be a pale imitation of its original glory, stood tall and proud. The sun hovered just behind Rockhoof’s giant marble head from where the protesting stallion looked up. The pose of the statue was a common one in the Realm: Rockhoof with his famous shovel between his pearly whites as he dug the trench that saved all of Equestria from the great eruption of Mt. Veshoovius.

The protesting stallion looked downward and cringed when he saw the trail of Bastion’s spit slowly streak down the side of Rockhoof’s worn, rocky chest. He gulped again and reached out his bushy fetlocked hoof to the spit-streaked statue. Then he started to rub it around.

“Yes! There you go!” Bastion cheered with an excited clap of his forehooves. “That is how you polish a statue, young man! Keep going until I can see my face in that statue!” Bastion turned to the two soldiers who had approached and spoke to them, only slightly quieter than his usual booming voice. “Make sure this great champion of the Realm continues until you can see your faces, understood?” The two soldiers stared blankly forward and saluted.

Bastion leaned to his left and whispered to his page loud enough so everypony in the market could hear him.

“Nate, what is the name of this little podunk town again?”

Nate leaned up and into his superior as best he could, though he was much smaller.

“It’s Maretime Bay, Sir Bastion! Remember? This is the place with the mare who’s always talking about Hornheads and Featherfreaks!”

Bastion straightened out again: his neck was perpendicular to his hooves, his head pointed forward at the same angle as his body.

“Ah yes!” he said loudly, “The rabblerouser you woke me up about last night! I have been looking forward to this one all day!” He shot an even shinier grin than his usual at Nate, and Nate nervously smiled back. “You just knew I’d enjoy hauling this one off to the Castle, didn’t you?”

Bastion cleared his throat extremely loud and pretentiously. He looked around the market as he spoke.

“Take notice, dear citizens of the Realm! I am Sir Bastion Titaneous, Left Hoof to the Protector of the Realm of the Earth Ponies. I am here to apprehend a mare accused of spreading propaganda about Unicorns and Pegasi” — Bastion made a disgusted face and stuck out his tongue — “Forgive me for uttering such filth. But this is official business, so I must use the official terms.”

He searched the market, still smiling, a curious lone eyebrow stuck up on his brow’s ridge. There was a clearing around the fountain where everypony had made sure to stay well out of the soldiers’ ways. Out of the market crowd strode Amos the merchant. He bowed and cleared his throat in front of Bastion.

“Sir,” he said, “I was the one who contacted—”

“It is Sir Bastion, citizen. Address me properly.”

Amos corrected himself.

“Sir Bastion, I was the one who contacted a soldier about the filly the other day.” Amos looked up and frowned. “She’s not a bad mare, just misguided. She needs to be reformed. Her family was always—”

“Not a bad mare!” Bastion cut Amos off and the latter stallion bowed again and hid his face. Bastion broke into deep laughter. He closed his eyes and reared his head back in complete mirth. After some time left to his laughter, Bastion calmed down and looked down at Amos once more. The entire market was as quiet as a grave as Bastion wiped a tear away.

“My dear, dear villager.” Bastion shook his head. “You simple-minded stallion. Noearthpony who speaks positively of those other creatures is anything BUT bad! We need to root out these corrupt ponies that live among us before they spread more of their poison!”

“Now,” Bastion continued, and Amos looked back up, eyes wide and afraid, “tell me what her name is so that I can call her forth.” Bastion looked around, nostrils flaring as he scoped out every mane and flank in the market. Amos looked down at the dirt and cleared his throat.

“It’s Sunny Starscout, Sir Bastion. She lives just down the street here,” Amos motioned behind him and the crowd quickly parted out of the way in anticipation of Bastion. Amos continued with another clear of his throat, “B-but the Starscout family is also in charge of the local observatory — though, she’s the only Starscout who lives here at the moment. Anyway, we don’t know where she is at the moment.”

Bastion raised a hoof and shook his head with incredulity.

“So what?” He said with a laugh, “I don’t care where she lives, where she is, or what she does. You think I am going to march through this shanty town to grab one traitor of the Realm? No offence” — Bastion looked around and barely hid the disgust on his scrunched face — “But I will wait right here until someearthpony fetches her for me. In the meantime,” Bastion spotted a pie stall and he beamed, “Someearthpony, bring me one of those pies over there!”

He looked behind him.

“Nate! Get me one of those pies. Oh…” Bastion waved his hoof around dismissively. “And one for the rest of the solders to share as well, I suppose.”

Nate did as he was instructed. He approached the stall, pulled out his bit wallet, and started the transaction with the shaky mare stallowner. Bastion, back at the fountain, guffawed.

“Seriously, Nate, giving away your meager wages for some pies? We have every right to seize them as necessary Realm provisions, you know. You still have a long way to go before you can become a Knight of the Realm, dear lad!”

Nate raced back with two pies on his back. He stopped in front of Bastion, who flicked the pie off Nate’s back with a ‘hmph’ and into the air. Bastion opened his giant maw and gobbled the entire pie, crumbs flying out of his mouth every which way as he chewed his haughty jaws.

Meanwhile, Nate and the other soldiers took smaller bites out of their own pie, ever mindful of the protesting stallion cleaning the statue. The protesting stallion had used his own spit once Bastion’s had gone dry. Slowly but surely, the shine in the statue returned as the harsh sun beat down on the sweating, regretful stallion who dared protest.

* * *

Earlier

Izzy’s eyes were wide and her face pale. She held a vibrating hoof against her forehead. Sunny cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.

“What are you freaking out about? It’s just some trumpets — what,” she turned to Old Man Withers, who looked grave, “It must be some soldiers from Castle Rockhoof, right? I bet they’re just here to look for recruits. They always come around this time of year.”

Old Man Withers shook his head as Izzy grimaced and closed her eyes.

“No,” Withers began with a grizzled clearing of his throat, “That’s no recruiting squad. Those are” — The sound of the bugles rang out again from the direction of the market, cutting Withers off. He continued when they died down — “Knights’ bugles. It means one of the Knights of the Realm has arrived.”

A sudden rush of wind blew everypony’s mane aside. Sunny blinked at Withers, who stared at her with serious, grey eyes.

“It means, Sunny Starscout, that your destiny has come knocking, just like I said.”

Sunny rolled her eyes then shook her head, turning to Izzy.

“Yeah yeah, you can cut that out already, Withers. I’m not scared of some prophecy or whatever it is you were talking about before – Izzy!” Sunny shook her friend out of her frightened stupor. “What’s wrong? Why are you so afraid?”

Izzy gulped and stared at Sunny with wide violet eyes.

“T-that sound! The bugles! The last time I heard them…” She closed her eyes and hung her head. “Oh, it was so scary, Sunny! If Rye Rye wasn’t with me—” Izzy opened her eyes and protested up at Sunny. “It was a Knight, like Withers said! He came out from behind us and said he was going to take me to Castle Rockhoof!” Izzy pouted and looked at the ground. “I don’t really remember exactly when this was because of the memory loss… but I’ll never forget that feeling of dread. It was like I’d never see my parents again…”

Sunny raised her hoof, confusion plastered on her face.

“Well, what were you doing in Earth Pony territory in the first place?” Izzy looked at Sunny with eyes and replied.

“Sorry! I know, it’s stupid of me! But I long to get out of Sire’s Hollow whenever I can… so I sometimes take diplomatic trips in place of my parents. Not like anything ever happens… but I get to travel…”

Izzy frowned and looked toward the ground, while Sunny became anxious and angry.

“Then I bet the Knight is here for you! I’m not going to let him take you, Izzy! I don’t care what they do!”

Izzy looked up, moisture gathering in her eyes. She sniffled.

“I mean, I have my scroll… the permission from my” — Izzy stopped and bit her lip. She shook her head and continued, “F-from the Voice of the Five Tribes. That means none of the Knights or soldiers are supposed to bother me… but if it’s the same Knight as last time…”

Izzy looked past Sunny with a thousand-yard stare.

“He didn’t care at all about the scroll last time. Rye Rye had to physically fight him off. I don’t even want to remember how we got away…”

Withers cut in before Sunny could ask another question. The two mares turned to him. Withers’ eyes were wide with worry.

“Enough chatter! Listen, you two have to hide for now, and escape later when the soldiers leave! I can’t stay here any longer — and the both of you cannot afford to get caught, Sunny Starscout! If they take you to Castle Rockhoof, with your blabber mouth, you’ll end up in the dungeons for a lifetime!”

Sunny snapped back, aquamarine eyes ablaze.

“And I told you, old man, that they’re not after me! Also, you didn’t tell me about magic yet… don’t think I forgot! You’re not going anywhere!” She puffed up her cheeks and glared at Withers, urging him to spill the beans. The old, wrinkled stallion glared back and shouted.

“And I already told you, Sunny, that I can’t tell you anything else! There’s no time! Right now, I don’t even think I can — bahh! I have to go!”

Old Man Withers brushed past in as fast a trot as he could muster at his ripe old age. He half-turned back and forced a grin at the bewildered Izzy and fiery Sunny.

“Once more so you don’t forget: discover yourself, Sunny Starscout, then find the Wise One. You’ll learn all you want about magic – and more. Izzy Mo—” He stopped midsentence when he saw a pleading face from Izzy. Sunny looked over at Izzy, then back to Withers. She made a ‘huh?’ noise. Withers continued with a grumble. “Uhh, Izzy. I trust you’ll help Sunny for as long as you can. I know you will make a great friend.” He smiled again, and Izzy smiled back. Sunny looked just as confused as ever. Withers turned to Sunny.

“You’ll need more, though. Friends, I mean.”

Withers looked up through the canopy of leaves. A soft breeze blew through the remnants of his mane and he closed his eyes with a wrinkly smile.

“Yes… friends. Friendship. We used to talk about friendship quite a lot back in the day — it was like a lifetime ago. Hmm... I suppose it was longer than that, huh?”

He shook his head rapidly and Sunny shouted again.

“Wait, don’t go! You can’t just spout off all of that then leave conveniently so I can’t ask for clarification!”

Withers ignored the question. “Okay, I’m going, I mean it this time!” He cried. He sped off down into the Wood. Withers called out one last time from the base of the hill that led up to the clearing.

“Goodbye, Sunny Starscout!”

There was a silence. Only the wind could be heard lightly whispering. Sunny squinted up at the clouds which had begun to obscure the sun. Izzy nudged her shoulder.

“Sunny? What are we going to do?”

Sunny wasn’t sure how to answer at first. She looked at the big, innocent eyes of Izzy, then over her shoulder back towards the cliffside where her parents were. She felt a sense of dread fall over her and for the first, meaningful time in her life, she was unsure what to do. There was a feeling like she had to make a serious choice with lifechanging consequences. Finally, she steeled herself. Sunny turned to Izzy and gave a stiff nod, her brow furrowed.

“Izzy, I need you to trust me, okay?”

* * *

Sir Bastion Titaneous leaned back and smiled. He was seated in front of Rockhoof’s fountain, plot firmly planted into the fine plush of some townspony’s chair; it was another temporary acquisition for the sake of the Realm. Joining the chair was a hoofstool that Bastion used to prop up his hindhooves. He smacked his forehooves together decisively, created a loud, hollow shock of sound.

“Right!” he cried, sighing in pleasure as he stretched his neck from side to side, “Enough of the polishing, my good man.” He beckoned toward the fountain and the quite-soaked stallion who finally let his hoof rest from the rough rubbing he had given the Rockhoof statue. The protesting stallion turned back toward Bastion, panting with tired eyes. Bastion smiled back at him, as if nothing at all was amiss. There was a pause.

Bastion cocked his head, still smiling.

“Yes? Is there a reason why you are still standing in the water like a fool?”

The protesting stallion shook as if he was awoken from a trance, then scrambled out of the fountain and ran off back into the crowd, which had parted for him. Bastion laughed, loud and clear.

“Hah! Nate, do you think I would be able to see myself in that statute now?”

Nate left his superior’s side to investigate the now-polished Rockhoof statue. He blinked back at himself in the reflection, then turned back to Bastion with a bewildered nod.

“Y-yes, actually, it’s pretty amazing. I didn’t think he’d be abl—”

“Well of course he was able!” Bastion cut Nate off. The Left Hoof got out of his chair and stood up, tall and proud like a huge evergreen tree that surrounded the Smokey Mountains. “The power of the Earth Pony knows no bounds! How do you think I was able to fight off so many of those Hornheads at the Battle of Ghastly Gorge and cover our strategic withdrawal?” Bastion held up an armor-clad hoof that glimmered in the sunlight.

“Hark, citizens!” he roared, “And take heart! The same blood that flows through my varicose, heroic veins flows, too, through your smaller, peasantly ones!” Bastion looked around and raised a bushy blonde eyebrow.

“Now, where is this Starry Sunscatter we are waiting for?”

Nate returned to his superior’s side and cleared his throat.

“Sunny Starscout, Sir Bastion,” he corrected. “And you haven’t called out for her yet.” Bastion’s eyebrows shot up and he smiled even wider.

“Ah yes! Right you are, young page! I have not!” Nate turned away and rolled his eyes.

As if that tactic will ever work, Nate thought, changing his demeanor completely when his superior couldn’t see his face. He stared with annoyance to a random point in the crowd. This is going to go the same way as always… two or three hours waiting for this town to finally get fed up and drag the traitor to us…

Bastion cleared his throat with extreme extravagance, giving his best effort to ensure every pony in Maretime Bay heard him. Then, he shouted:

“Sunny Starscout, I order you to present yourself at once!”

Everypony in the crowd looked among one another. Whispers abounded, though they would dissipate as Bastion’s unnerving, hard gaze scanned the crowd. The market was silent save for the seagulls above. Nopony moved.

Nate quietly sighed to himself.

See? Sir Bastion can be a real foal sometimes…

Bastion took in a deep breath of air.

“Sunny Starscout, I order—”

A mare pushed aside the front of the crowd facing Rockhoof’s fountain and burst into the clearing. Her magenta mane, styled into a ponytail done up with three elastics, flopped to one side of her face. Her salmon furred coat was dirty and scruffy. A dangerous fire burned in her eyes. Bastion did not miss it. It was the first thing his equally as fiery eyes noticed.

“That’s me!” the mare yelled. “I’m Sunny Starscout! And who are you?”

A nervous hush went over the crowd. Even the seagulls seemed to stop their cries. Sir Bastion’s wide grin did not disappear, though a single, small vein popped up on his neck. His page, Nate, was picking up his unhinged jaw as he stared at Sunny with huge eyes.

“Why, my dear,” Bastion said with an amused chuckle and a bow, “I am Sir Bastion Titaneous, Left Hoof to the Protector of the Realm of the Earth Ponies and Knight extraordinaire! I hear that you have been shouting day in and day out about Hornheads and Featherfreaks, here in this very market square. Is that correct?”

Sunny eyed the stallion from mane to hoof. He was definitely not a local, looking more like the kind of Knights she saw in picture books as a filly. Tall. Armored. Strong. But unlike those Knights, this one seemed intimidating, not safe. She narrowed her gaze at the “Bastion” fellow.

“Of course, everypony in Maretime Bay knows that!” Sunny replied matter-of-factly. “Why’s that a big deal?”

Another vein jumped up on Bastion’s neck and he took a few, slow steps toward Sunny.

“Every… pony…?” he asked with a very brief hint of annoyance in his voice.

Sunny didn’t move or stop her glare. She stood transfixed to the dirt. The crowd was enraptured, except for a stallion who broke out into the clearing. Sunny looked over.

“Amos?” she asked, relaxing her muscles slightly. Amos stepped forward, looking exasperated and worried.

“Listen, Sunny, just go with Sir Bastion and the other soldiers! They came here to make sure you are taught properly about the way Equestria is, about why and how the Earth Ponies and… the others stay separate. It’s for your own good!”

Bastion produced a single, amused laugh.

“Something like that,” he said as he got as close as he could to Sunny without seriously invading her personal space. Looking up at him, Sunny thought he looked as large as the statue of Rockhoof. He cast a deep shadow over her. Sunny still didn’t budge.

Somepony else in the crowd, a female merchant, cried out.

“Go with the soldiers, Sunny! Enough is enough!”

Sunny turned toward the voice. Others in the crowd started to shout other, similar pieces of advice.

“We’re tired of it, Sunny! Go with the soldiers!”

“Don’t come back until you learn the difference between Earth Ponies and them!”

“You never paid enough attention in school, Sunny!”

The last voice was one of her old classmates. Sunny felt a pang in her chest. Her ears dropped downward against her mane, and she stared bitterly at the protesting crowd all around her, biting her teeth. Bastion guffawed from above.

“It is the same no matter where I go, little filly! Good Earth Ponies the Realm over know when a traitor is in their midst and they know where those traitors belong!” Bastion lowered the pitch of his voice in mock sympathy. “If you come now without further comment, I will permit you to travel alongside the prison wagon without needing to be in chains.”

Sunny closed her eyes.

I knew how everypony felt but… this??? They REALLY don’t want me around?

Tears welled behind her lids.

No. I’m not gonna…

Sunny opened her moist eyes and looked up at Bastion with fresh vigor. Their hard pupils fought for dominance within their entangled stare. Sunny unleashed her frustration with a waving hoof.

“What’s so wrong with Unicorns and Pegasi anyway that we have to keep them away?! Why do all you older ponies keep preaching about separation!? You talk like they’re MONSTERS or something! I’m tired of it! It makes no sense!”

Without even realizing it, Bastion had backed up a few steps as Sunny screamed. Another vein popped up on his neck. The end of his smile twitched and he stepped back into his previous location, having to physically force Sunny back with his armored chest.

“Your fellow villager is correct!” Bastion shouted down at Sunny, “You certainly did not pay enough attention in school! Everyearthpony with half a brain knows why we cannot live with and trust those creatures that, sadly, share our common ancestor.” Bastion turned back to his page, Nate, who was still awestruck.

“Nate, my dear lad! Come and untie my chestplate. I wish to give this young lady her first, proper lesson in pony relations!”

Sunny sneered up at Bastion, awaiting some kind of point to his actions. He turned back and grinned down at her while Nate quickly and with shaky hooves untied the leather straps holding Bastion’s heavy, bronze chestplate in place. First the left straps, then the right straps. Finally, the entire piece of armor fell to the dirt below with a thud. Sunny raised an eyebrow.

“So?” she demanded. Bastion tilted his body to the right to show Sunny his left side. Her vision shifted over and…

Sunny’s heart caught in her throat and her pupils became pinpricks. She shook with a chill, not knowing what to think, and involuntarily stepped back with an open mouth. Gasps escaped the crowd. Some of the ponies in the crowd even covered their eyes. One particularly squeamish stallion vomited.

The reason was a terrible scar etched messily into Bastion’s side. The fine, tan fur of Bastion’s otherwise perfect coat was interrupted in several places by the clear signs of a tearing of the flesh. It looked like some huge animal had raked various chunks out of Bastion’s chest.

“This side is from the Battle of the Soaring Plain.” Bastion announced, head held high. “The Featherfreaks were allied to Griffons, if you can believe it, and as you can see, the Griffons were not very friendly. And the Featherfreaks made no attempt to stop them from doing this to me, nor did they stop the Griffons from delivering three of my brothers to the Other World.”

Bastion turned to the left and showed Sunny his right side. She winced and looked away.

“This side,” Bastion began, referring to the bubbly, ruined mess of scarred flesh on his right side, “Is the result of the Hornhead weaponry at the Defense of the Hooffield Range. Even without the magic they lost centuries ago, the ingenuity of Hornheads in causing mayhem and misery is without equal. I lost my father that day, too, as well as any feeling in my right side.”

Bastion motioned with his head and neck and Nate began to do up the breastplate once again. Sunny Starscout bit her lip and stared at the dirt.

“This is not a game, my dear filly,” Bastion announced, “This is reality! The Realm lives in constant fear that at any moment, the evil ponies from elsewhere in Equestria will attack again! And through bravery and hard-won fighting alone we might prevail! And then again, perhaps we will not!” Bastion looked throughout the crowd and gestured here and there. Sunny followed along as if mesmerized.

“Haven’t you noticed among your fellow villagers? Stallions and mares just like me! Scars of a bitter fight in defense of one’s home! And you stand so bold as to ask me, ‘Why?’” Sunny noticed them, for the first time. She compared them to what she saw on Bastion.

One of the mares, a merchant of wool, who always used to wipe dirt off of Sunny’s face when she was a filly and chastise her about her ramblings, had a wooden leg. Sunny had never wondered why before or asked.

Another merchant, large and fat and white-furred, had half an ear.

And there was her boss, the captain of the fishing trawler. Sunny caught his light brown, scarred face hidden away in the crowd. He was frowning at her. She realized his scars were not decorations. They were not birth marks. They were the result of something… terrible.

“Now do you understand?” Bastion asked. He hadn’t backed up an inch, still within a breath of Sunny. Sunny, meanwhile, had shrunk toward the ground in stature, losing the tall poise of her defiant shoulders. Her ponytail nearly touched the dirt.

“I—” she said quietly. Her mind fought with itself. On one side were the images of the townsponies and Bastion. The wounds. The stark reality of what had occurred in those history books she never wanted to read. The tales she refused to listen to.

And, on the other side of her brain’s innerworkings, there were the images of Sunny’s own past, and her interpretation of the things she had been told by her parents. Dreams of a better tomorrow shared with smiling faces. Make believe stories of an Equestria where Unicorns used magic to push Earth Ponies around in carts while Pegasi flew up above and played with clouds like they were fluffy pillows. Stories her parents always told her they’d help make a reality one day. And there were also the stories Professor Tyson told her about how Unicorns lived and how Pegasi flew in modern Equestria. Stories that fascinated her. Things she wanted to see herself.

Those tales and the words of her parents conflicted with what Bastion showed her. What her own eyes showed her. Sunny’s breathing picked up. She felt her heart through her vibrating chest with a clammy hoof.

“WELL?” Bastion shouted, not giving Sunny much time to collect herself. She was fixated on the dirt, searching for answers that simply weren’t there. She closed her eyes and let her head drop so that her ponytail streaked across the dirty ground.

“D-Don’t give up Sunny!”

The voice was Izzy’s. Sunny’s head swung around towards the sound.

Little Izzy, who must have been hiding in the crowd, emerged into the middle of the market, her entire frame vibrating in abject fear. Her pupils were pinpricks and she had sucked in her lips, fully aware that she was in the center of an entire town’s worth of ponies. Bastion shifted his ever-searching gaze to her.

The weight of the gaze was not lost on Izzy. Sunny’s eyes became wide and her pupils shrunk. Her face awoke with terror.

“Izzy you were supposed to LEAVE!”

Izzy was wearing her sunhat, so her only “crime” was speaking out of turn, as Bastion would rue. However, it didn’t mean she avoided his ire. Bastion strode up to Izzy, his smile as strong as ever, and he beat her down with his stare.

“And who are you — another hero come to step forward?! This town seems full of them,” Bastion turned back to his page Nate, “Nate, make a note to come and investigate this town soon for mass treason!”

Sunny regulated her breathing and returned to the real world. The tangible world and the tangible little town within it. She remembered where she was and who she was. It was Maretime Bay. She grew up there. It wasn’t anything perfect, for sure, and she wished that she had had more time with her parents — but it was the life she was given. And she knew what she wanted. She always did. Her parents and her shared the same goals in life.

Sunny made her decision.

“I want to go to Castle Rockhoof!” she spat at Bastion, turning his hate away from poor Izzy, who had turned pale and was literally on the ground. Bastion’s smile grew wide and somewhat sinister. The crowd shirked back with surprise. Sunny continued, fresh energy in her voice and a new determination creased into her brow.

“Take me there so I can tell the Protector of the Realm herself that we should give Unicorns and Pegasi a chance — and that if she doesn’t agree, she’s as big an idiot as YOU!”

All of the previous veins that had calmed down on Bastion’s neck stood up again, plus an additional fifteen. They popped up like angry ghosts under a blanket of tan fur. The corners of his crescent smile wavered. Everypony in the crowd covered their open mouths. The page Nate secretly cheered in his brain.

L-Look at her go, telling off the Left Hoof!

The pause was excruciating for anypony except Sunny and Bastion. The crowd was silent and every single throat was dry. Izzy was gone to the world, completely frozen in fear from standing up to the one Knight of the Earth Pony Realm she had never wanted to see again.

Finally, Bastion broke the silence when he turned his head up and entered a fit of laughter. Sunny’s serious expression waned, and she raised a confused eyebrow.

“Very well!” Bastion cried with mirth once he regained his composure, wiping a tear away. “I am curious to see what punishment you earn for such foolishness.” Bastion turned around and shot Izzy a dire look.

“Oh, and you’re coming too, little hero!”

7 - Dog and Pony Show

The dirt road stretched on as far as Sunny could see into the rolling hills outside Maretime Bay. Sunny sighed. The rumbling wooden wheels of Sir Bastion’s prison wagon crushed the dirt below as it trudged along, two huge bulls pulling it from the front. Sunny leaned against the rickety wooden railing surrounding the wagon, feeling the chafe in her hooves from the chains she had been promised by Sir Bastion.

And Izzy?

Izzy was a teary mess. A quiet one, but teary all the same. She hugged her back hooves and rocked back and forth, her head hidden between her hooves. Sunny wished her remorseful stare could bathe Izzy in comfort, though it did nothing for the scared Unicorn. Sunny was thankful for the sunhat hiding Izzy’s horn – she dreaded the thought of Sir Bastion knowing one of his prisoners was a genuine Unicorn.

“Izzy…” Sunny whispered, quietly and then becoming louder, “Why’d you do it? Why didn’t you just leave town, like we planned? I was supposed to be the distraction!”

Izzy sniffled and raised her tear-stained face so Sunny could see. Izzy’s quivering eyes were as large as the saddest puppy eyes in Equestria. Izzy looked away.

“S-sorry… but it was… b-because…” Izzy said between sobs, “I couldn’t… I just couldn’t… watch you like that.”

Sunny cocked her head and frowned.

“Why?”

With another sniffle, Izzy wiped her snout with a hoof and continued.

“What I… mean is… you’re so… so confident… and when you talk… it makes me feel… strong…” She looked back and locked eyes with Sunny. “I couldn’t bare… to see you so beaten… you know?”

Sunny studied Izzy as she retreated into the comfort of her hooves once more. Before Sunny could open her mouth to reply, the roaring laughter of Sir Bastion erupted from the front of the wagon. Izzy yelped and buried herself even deeper into her safe space, while Sunny shot daggers at the haughty leader of the military entourage.

“My word!” Sir Bastion cried, and Sunny could see his perpetual, wide smile. He was directing his words to the bull to his left. “These creatures are quite extraordinary, are they not, Nate?”

The mentioned page sprang up to his master’s side, panting with the stress of keeping up with the entourage’s pace. Sunny saw sweat pour form underneath his bronze helmet (not as ornate as his master’s) and cake his light grey coat.

“Y-yes!” Nate replied, joining Sir Bastion in gazing at the huge brown bovine with horns. It trudged along at a lumbering trot, its partner bull beside it, stalwart eyes positioned straight ahead. Neither bull seemed phased by the huge wooden structure on wheels it was pulling. They paid no mind to the ponies looking at them.

“Pray tell,” Sir Bastion asked, in what Sunny imagined was genuine incredulity on his part, “What do we pay these beasts? Anything?”

Sunny watched Nate shake his head.

“I t-think they just get free room and board — as far as that goes, when we are talking about animals, master.”

Sir Bastion hum-laughed, loudly and smugly.

“Indeed! And they say these beasts used to be intelligent like ponies!”

Sunny pulled her attention back to her friend, who was peeking tentatively through her hooves with wide, mostly white eyes. Her pupils were shaky pinpricks. She continued to sniffle.

Seeing that, Sunny got down low so she was eyelevel with Izzy. She smiled the kind of way she remembered her mother would smile at her when she hurt herself or got bullied in school.

“Hey, little doll. It’s okay. We’re fine. Nothing’s going to happen, I won’t let it. That’s a promise!” Sunny stepped back and put her hoof to her chest. “Hoof to heart!”

Izzy just stared forward as if whatever she was looking at were a thousand miles away. Sunny nudged her with the top of her head. Izzy seemed to shake out of her fearful stupor and turn her glassy eyes toward her friend.

Sunny said one word.

“Hey.”

Izzy’s lip quivered and she leaned into Sunny with a whimper. Sunny awkwardly wrapped her in a cozy hug, not expecting the sudden intimacy, but not rejecting it either. She rested her head against the back of Izzy’s neck and smiled with closed eyes at the warm feeling.

“Did you forget about that scroll in your mane?” Sunny quietly reminded, “Just show the Protector of the Realm when we get to the castle and she’ll definitely let you go — like you said, nopony wants another incident involving all the pony races to happen.”

Izzy just sniffled quietly. Sunny rubbed her back with a hoof and continued.

“You don’t have to get involved with my stupid plan. I don’t want you to suffer because of me.”

The two mares maintained their embrace and the rocking motion of the wagon calmed both their sets of nerves. The sound of the wagon in motion, like a creaky wooden groan of despair, was oddly hypnotizing. Sunny heard whispers from behind her. The other prisoners. “Traitors of the Realm”, as Sir Bastion called them.

“What’s going to happen, do you think?” she heard one young male voice ask.

“Nuttin’ good, son. Nuttin’ good t’all,” was the response from an older stallion. “Ah heard stories. Tales for young foals, p’haps. An’ folks like us goin’ to Castle Rockhoof ain’t got a happy endin’ after them tales is told.”

Sunny felt Izzy shake as she continued to rub the Unicorn with a gentle hoof. Sunny stared straight forward with worry and swallowed hard. She closed her eyes and entered her thoughts.

Don’t forget what’s at stake. This is mom and dad’s dream — MY dream. It’s worth the risk!

Sunny opened her eyes and frowned at the cracked wooden inside of the wagon. After a minute or two, she moved her neck upward, and Izzy slowly slipped out of the embrace at the same time. Sunny could barely look over the side of the wagon and through the wooden railing.

The countryside, which she had only seen a few times in her sixteen years, was a craggy, rocky mess of grey and reddish-brown stones. Small cliffs and stoney hills were the “trees” of the Western Shield — the most barren and boring place in all Equestria, no doubt. Tufts of coarse yellow and off-green grass stuck up at places, but most of the ground was light-brown, dry dirt.

When Sunny hazarded a look over the other side of the wagon, over the heads of a few fellow traitors, she saw the sea in the distance. They weren’t too far from the coast and the salty shore.

Seeing the distant gulls created a tiny hint of a smile on Sunny’s face. A scraping sort of sound drew her gaze downward. She saw that Izzy was wearing strange contraptions on the ends of her forehooves. Long wooden needles with blunt points came out of the leather glove-like contraptions, and Izzy was using them to twirl dark green yarn around more dark green yarn from inside her seemingly bottomless saddlebags.

“Uhhhhh,” Sunny groaned in utter confusion, cocking her head. “What ARE those? And what are you doing?”

Izzy’s eyes were wide, and she fixated on her task, sniffling every so often.

“Knitting. I’m going to knit… so I won’t think about anything else.”

Sunny scrunched up her mouth and sat on her flank.

“Knit-ting? What’s that?”

Izzy replied quietly, still working diligently on her knitting.

“You loop the yarn with the needles around and around itself until it forms something. Sorry, my explanation isn’t very good.” An ever-so-tiny smile creeped onto Izzy’s face. “I like to make stuffies. My nana taught me how to knit. She always liked making clothes, but I prefer stuffies.”

Sunny watched with spinning pupils as Izzy’s needles spun around and around. Izzy’s movement looked like that of a pro, every twirl purposeful and exact. Izzy’s bottom lip quivered and Sunny looked up to see her friend’s eyes welling with tears again.

“I wish Rye Rye was here…” Izzy whimpered.

The wagon hit a large stone underneath and everypony was bounced into the air momentarily. Izzy yelped. Sunny forced a smile and stroked Izzy’s mane, unsure if her action was welcome at first. Sunny and Izzy met eyes, and Izzy also forced a smile. Sunny asked a question.

“Who is Rye Rye? You said that name before.”

Izzy’s smile transformed into an earnest one and her knitting picked up.

“Oh, Rye Rye is the family’s guardian – whenever one of us has to leave Sire’s Hollow, he comes, too. All the fam—” Izzy stopped midsentence and sucked in her lips. She shook her head and Sunny’s eyebrows curved downward.

“Izzy?”

Izzy cleared her throat and smiled again. She resumed speaking.

“Anyway, Rye Rye is my good chumchum. He really cares about me and the family. We sort of grew up together. I can tell him anything, and when someunic—”

Sunny leapt forward and corked Izzy’s mouth with her hoof. Sunny looked behing. None of the other prisoners had seemed to hear.

Sunny silently shushed Izzy and Izzy threw her hooves up to her mouth.

“Force of habit! Sorry!” Izzy whispered, her heart visibly pounding like a drum. She leaned into Sunny’s ear to finish her thoughts. “When someunicorn tries to cause us trouble on the road, Rye Rye steps in and takes care of it. I don’t like fighting.”

Izzy pulled back and Sunny smiled at her.

“You’re pretty lucky to have somepony like that as your… ‘guardian’, you said?” Izzy nodded. Sunny continued speaking quietly. “Wow, you really are royalty or something, aren’t you?! A guardian!” Sunny’s smile widened, and her eyes came alive. “Hey! You never did tell me your family’s name! You remember it now, right? What is it?”

Izzy’s pupils darted about and she sucked in her lips again. Sunny didn’t seem to notice the dodge and continued her questioning.

“Your Cutie Mark is so weird – like, in a cool way – so it must be interesting. It doesn’t have anything to do with going around and talking to ponies, so…” Sunny finally caught on to Izzy’s dismissiveness and pouted.

“Hey,” Sunny asked, “Is this you being worried still or are you keeping secrets from me?”

Izzy’s ears perked up and her mouth formed into a pearly-white smile.

“My Cutie Mark! Yeah, that’s right! It’s not about talking to ponies at all,” Izzy relaxed back against the wagon wall and closed her eyes with a contemplative hum. Sunny sat back as well next to Izzy. The Unicorn opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly opened her eyes and her brow curved. She leaned towards Sunny and whispered.

“Oops! Sorry! I almost forgot I’m telling a Unicorn story in the middle of the Dirt Realm.” Sunny frowned but didn’t press the subject, as she assumed Izzy used the derogatory term accidentally. Izzy continued, “My Cutie Mark symbolizes loving care and attention placed in the art of knitting. Long ago, my ancestor worked alongside the Gem Princess, and because of that, when the Unicorns came together as one tribe, the Gem Princess gave our family this Cutie Mark!”

Sunny blinked rapidly.

“She gave you the Cutie Mark? I heard that Cutie Marks just sort of… appear. Like, randomly.”

Izzy nodded.

“I don’t think anyuni — PONY! WAIT! I-I mean, anyearthpony…!”

Sunny bit her lip and studied the other prisoners. One of the other prisoners, perhaps the older stallion she heard earlier, did raise a bushy, white eyebrow. His wrinkled forest green form was worse than Old Man Withers. Sunny smiled sheepishly at him and he grumbled before returning to stare at nothing.

Sunny turned back to Izzy, whose hooves were up to her lips again. Izzy cleared her throat and tentatively leaned into Sunny.

“S-sorry! Only certain families get Cutie Marks now, because Unicorn magic is gone from Equestria. It passes on from generation to generation. But in the past, Cutie Marks were given to certain families for their service to the Gem Princess and the other important Unicorns. This was right after the Great Betrayal. I don’t know how Earth Ponies or Pegasi got their Cutie Marks.”

Sunny put a hoof up to her head and closed her eyes. She groaned.
“The Great… Betrayal? Is this another historical event I haven’t heard of?”

Izzy softened her expression as if looking at a sick pony.

“You really didn’t pay much attention in history class, did you?” Sunny shrugged. Izzy continued, “Well, I don’t know if Earth Ponies have the same story, but when I was growing up, I was taught that—”

A loud snore tore through the air. Sunny and Izzy peered around for the source and found Sir Bastion lying across the back of one of the bulls and sleeping. Even in his sleep he mocked those around him with an arrogant display of noise that nopony could possibly ignore. The other soldiers pretended not to notice or care, though the page, Nate, kept shooting a worried glance towards his slumbering superior.

“Ridiculous!” Sunny cried, gripping the wooden railing at the front of the wagon and closest to Sir Bastion’s snoring, heavily-breathing body. “Hey! Wake up! Are you seriously just going to sleep? Right NOW!?”

Izzy pulled at her friend’s hoof.

“Hey, uhh, maybe just let him sleep? Sorry, but I feel a lot more comfortable when he’s not awake…”

One of the soldiers approached Sunny and Izzy and tapped the railing with her spear.

“Hey! Quiet! You are lucky to not wake up the Left Hoof when he naps!”

Sunny glared at the mare soldier, and she glared back. Izzy pleaded.

“Sunny, s-stop!”

Sunny closed her eyes and plopped onto her behind with a huff, leaning against the wagon wall again.

“Fine, whatever! At least he stopped talking!”

On that que, Sir Bastion started to shout slurred words in his sleep.

“F-filthy… Unicorn… muhhh… TRAITORS… traitors to the… Realm…”

Sunny stewed and she heard some of the soldiers chuckle at their leader’s sleep talk. Izzy hurriedly began to knit her yarn creation once again while humming a tune.

Sunny closed her eyes. The wagon trudged along at its slow pace, the afternoon sun trying to keep up as it too made its way forward in the sky.

At some point, Sunny felt her body start to slide toward the back of the wagon. She opened her eyes, and indeed the other prisoners were sliding as well. Izzy was gripping the wagon wall, so Sunny did the same. She peeked over the wagon again and realized the bulls were taking the wagon up an incredibly steep hill.

The bulls, of course, took zero additional effort in climbing the massive hill, their tough, muscular hooves built for such journeys. Sunny did see, however, that the Earth Pony soldiers had lagged behind. Sir Bastion was not perturbed in the slightest by anything that was happening from his bed atop the bull, but Sunny and Izzy had to hold on tight to the railing to avoid falling out as the wagon’s angle became sharp.

The bulls reached the top of the hill and with sighs of relief the passengers in the wagon let go. Sunny scanned the wide swath of countryside on the left side of the wagon as the wooden vehicle descended the other side of the hill. With blinking realization, Sunny felt her body shift toward the front of the wagon, so her and Izzy had their faces pressed against the railing.

And behind them, the entire collection of prisoners slowly slid to the front. With a deadpan expression, Sunny felt all the Earth Pony bodies press against her. Somepony even apologised for his proximity.

As the wagon approached the bottom of the hill, Sunny managed to turn her head enough to see ahead on the dirt path. What she saw made all the other ponies gasp as they too noticed.

There were three ponies dressed in fine clothes — definitely traveling Earth Pony merchants, Sunny had no doubt — and… some other creatures.

Sunny’s heartbeat picked up. “What are those things?” she asked with her face still tight against the railing. Izzy grunted as she forced her own head to look down the dirt path. She saw the collection of creatures then produced a shrill, sharp cry.

“DIAMOND DOGS!”

The other prisoners’ ears perked up and the fear set in. A stallion screamed in Sunny’s ears and tried to scramble to the back of the wagon. Sunny was lost, trying without avail to move to see behind her but could not. The other prisoners, and Izzy, were all trying to get to the back, and eventually were able to as the bulls reached the flat terrain again.

Sunny alone stood at the front of the wagon, rubbing her sore, railing-indented face. She looked back at the terrified collection of prisoners and rose an eyebrow. She turned back toward the dirt path and scrutinized the approaching “Diamond Dog” forms as the wagon got closer.

There were three of them – one for each Earth Pony merchant on the road. The biggest of the Diamond Dogs, and the first that Sunny noticed, looked like a huge, bipedal dog with a droopy lower jaw and a fat upper maw with round cheeks that rested against the bottoms of his huge eyes. His muscles, whether the rippling biceps of his arms or his bulging leg muscles, reminded Sunny of fairy tales about monsters. He wore a simple tan vest and loose green trousers, and he was hunched over.

The other two Diamond Dogs were not as memorable, though they were muzzle to muzzle with one merchant each, and the Earth Ponies looked happy to see the wagon for a moment.

“Listen here, pony,” the largest of the Diamond Dogs said in a dumb, booming voice. The presence and volume of the Diamond Dog did not seem to bother the bulls in the least, nor did it wake the snoring Sir Bastion.

The largest Diamond Dog picked up one of the Earth Pony merchants and brought him in front of his massive canine face. “If you be good pony and show us where pony town is, then we—” The large Diamond Dog noticed the wagon. Sunny steeled herself as she heard hushed whimpering from the back.

Sunny narrowed her eyes and glared at the Diamond Dogs. She looked around and then back towards the hill – she didn’t see a single soldier. She turned back forward, and the Diamond Dogs were already trudging forward to say hello. The merchant Earth Ponies had run off.

“Ooooo,” the largest Diamond Dog cooed in a dimwitted voice, “Whole wagon of ponies. For Douggie? Douggie lucky day!”

Sunny noticed that the light-brown-furred dog creature had a star-shaped scar above his left eye. He scanned the entire wagon, then laid eyes on Sunny. She didn’t drop her glare. The two fought to maintain ocular dominance; neither won. A voice from a different Dog called out.

“More slaves! More slaves for Dog Empire!”

It was one of the smaller Diamond Dogs that had called out. The largest Dog, Douggie, broke his gaze with Sunny and looked to his companion instead. The smaller Diamond Dog, like a runty looking chihuahua, was jumping up and down and giggling.

“SHADDAP!” Douggie roared, and he smacked his yipping companion away. The third Diamond Dog, Sunny noticed, probably didn’t have many thoughts going on in his empty dalmatian head.

Sunny snapped.

“Hey! That was pretty mean! What way is that to treat your friend?”

Douggie’s head swiveled back toward Sunny and the Earth Pony noticed that his left eye was larger than his right. He snarled.

“He not my friend, slave! He just runt! You worse than runt; you be HIS slave soon! You shaddap too!”

Sunny shot back.

“Yeah right! That won’t happen, you big weird overgrown bulldog!”

Douggie stood in front of the bulls and they came to a stop noticing that something large blocked their path. Douggie looked into their eyes and grunted. The bulls started to sweat and Sunny noticed that their eyes looked fear struck. Douggie cocked his head and Sunny realized he had spotted Sir Bastion.

“Who dis pony? Weird pony who naps on cow.”

Douggie picked up Sir Bastion effortlessly, and Sunny felt a mix of joy and sorrow watching him get ponyhandled. Douggie had Sir Bastion in one big paw and was staring with deep focus. Finally, the Knight of the Realm opened his eyes to a rude awakening.

“What th — DISGUSTING! A MUTT BRAIN!”

Sunny watched as Douggie’s eyes widened and he cried out in pain as Sir Bastion forced his huge fist open and escaped with seemingly little effort. Sir Bastion made noises of disgust as he landed on his hooves and Douggie tried to wave away the pain in his hand.

“Utterly detestable! Despicable mongrel!” Sir Bastion cursed. “How dare you touch this armor with those furry sausages! Now it will have to be washed ten times VIGOROUSLY by my page! I hope you’re happy!”

The soldiers, including Nate, arrived, and Sunny figured Nate must have heard what his master said as he groaned with annoyance. The soldiers stood back from the altercation, but Sunny saw no fear in their eyes. They looked excited and expectant. The smaller Diamond Dogs were standing behind Douggie and glaring. Douggie roared.

“Me no care about pony troubles! Me take slaves now!”

Douggie reached down toward Sir Bastion and the Knight simply leapt out of the way. Sunny couldn’t believe that despite the situation, he was still smiling wide.

“Hah! Slaves, you say?” Sir Bastion said with a laugh. “What an interesting idea! You overpowering ME and taking us all as your slaves!”

Sir Bastion tossed his head back and laughed much like he did, pompously, back in Maretime Bay. Even in the situation, Sunny couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Izzy had crept over, shaking like a wet cat, and peeked over the edge of the wagon to see what was happening.

Once Sir Bastion was content that he had laughed enough, he shook his head.

“How about a challenge, mutt?” he asked Douggie, who had pulled back a bit out of a mix of surprise and fear when Sir Bastion began his fit of laughter. The large Dog stared blankly at Sir Bastion, who continued.

“I’ll let you hit me one hundred times, as hard as you can, right in my face. And if you make me move EVEN one inch, you can take us all back to your little mutt country and make us your slaves” — Sir Bastion put his hoof to his heart, closed his eyes, and smiled just a little wider — “Knight’s honor!”

Every single pony, even the soldiers who seemed to support Sir Bastion, gasped. Sunny couldn’t believe what she heard, her eyes darting between Douggie and the obviously insane Earth Pony Knight.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND YOU’LL DIE!” Sunny screamed. Sir Bastion didn’t look at her, but Sunny saw the gleam in his smile before he replied.

“If this big dumb mutt could kill me, I’d have died a hundred times before from the far worse things I endured. Just stand in there and watch!” Sir Bastion roared with laughter again. “Not that you can leave anyway, Sunny Starscout! Hah!”

Sunny went from actually being worried about Sir Bastion to hating his guts again. Douggie stepped forward, casting a shadow down over the stallion who usually casted shadows over others. Douggie chuckled a slow-brained chuckle.

“Fine, me turn you into pudding, then me take slaves. You too talky to be good slave anyway.”

Douggie swung one hammer-like fist behind his back. Sunny covered her eyes as she heard the dire “woosh” of him swinging forward. A blunt “thud” made it obvious to Sunny that the punch connected. She dared to look.

Sir Bastion did not seem to have moved. She still saw his smile. Douggie rose a fat eyebrow.

“What dis trick? Move!”

Douggie did the same as before and swung back then swiftly swung forward. Sunny swore she caught some wind from the sheer power of the swing. But when it again connected with Sir Bastion’s face with its dull “thud”, the Knight of the Realm didn’t budge. And his smile did not drop.

Douggie’s face reddened and he frothed at the mouth.

“STOP! ME HITTING HARD! WHY NO MOVE?!”

Again and again and again he swung. Sunny was in awe. 5… 10… 15… 20 hits connected. Sir Bastion, through it all, stood like the statue of Rockhoof.

Between what turned into a flurry of punches, Douggie snarled madly.

“DO YOU KNOW WHO ME IS? ME BIG SHOT! ME BIG TIME DOG! LEARN PLACE, PONY!”

Sir Bastion’s unwavering smile didn’t even twitch, from what Sunny could see. The stallion’s hard features barely moved as the flurry of dog fists pounded away. Douggie’s fat cheeks wobbled intensely as his entire body shifted with each rapid punch. The sheer force of each attack made Sunny cringe. If she had taken just one of those hits… well, she definitely wouldn’t be standing. For that matter, neither would most of the structures in Maretime Bay…

Sunny figured she had wandered into an old pony’s tale. What was that day she was even having? First, she was being told a whole load of nonsense by Old Man Withers (which she still didn’t completely believe), and the next thing she knew a giant dog man was wailing on an Earth Pony stallion covered in heavy bronze armor as if it were all just a foal’s game.

Eventually, Douggie got tired. He let his tree-trunk arms fall to his sides and caught his breath with heaves of his massive chest. Sweat poured down from his forehead. Sir Bastion didn’t move a muscle, save an entire inch.

Sunny scanned Bastion’s grinning face. It was definitely roughed up in spots, and there were cuts, bruises, and patches of red. But Bastion continued smiling. Eventually he ever-so-slightly shifted his body so that all four hooves splayed out further and he assumed an aggressive stance.

“That was your one hundred hits,” Bastion said clearly and loudly. Douggie continued to catch his breath. Every other creature was holding his or hers.

Suddenly, Sunny saw just a momentary flash of rage on Bastion’s face. He swiveled himself around on his forehooves and aligned his backhooves with Douggie’s face. Bastion contracted his backhoof muscles into his midsection and, without ritual or warning, he bucked Douggie’s face. It was like a cannon blast, and Sunny definitely felt the rush of air blow her back slightly.

The crunch of Sir Bastion’s hooves connecting with the Diamond Dog’s immense visage made Sunny physically cringe. The buck sent Douggie skyward like the fastest flying fish Sunny had ever seen. It was as if Douggie was just a basehoofball, and Bastion a home-run-hitter. The two smaller Diamond Dogs watched with unhinged jaws as their superior rapidly became a tumbling speck in the distance.

Bastion, without even breaking a sweat, continued smiling and chuckled.

“Do I know you are?” He answered the then-departed Dog in a mocking tone. “Who cares who you are, mutt?”

The soldiers were quick to cheer and call out to the Left Hoof. They vigorously chased away the smaller Diamond Dogs, who ran off like scared rabbits without their big boss to back them up. Izzy was fully upright and a strange, shocked noise escaped her open mouth as if her brain had misfired. Sunny didn’t think she’d ever be able to close her mouth again.

“Now,” Bastion asked his trusty page, Nate.

“When shall we reach the River Crossroads?”

9 - The Brimstone Barge

Meanwhile, at Castle Rockhoof…

An old stallion leaned against a grey stone wall. He was guarding the top of the Northeast Tower of Castle Rockhoof, his favorite corner of the complex as it was usually just him there and it was quiet. The parapet had shorter walls for archers such as himself. His pony bow was also leaning on the grey stone wall.

Yes, it was quiet. Just perfect for late afternoon naps. And mid-afternoon naps. Even late morning naps!

The old stallion liked to nap quite a bit.

He was a stallion of a gentle disposition, typically. His was a well-worn, smoky-grey coat that always looked a little dusty. A ghostly pale lavender mane sat on the top of his head like a hat, cut in the typical Earth Pony soldier’s flat top style. He wore no armor or anything fancy - just a belt around his midsection to which his quiver was attached. Fading copper-colored googles sat over his closed eyes. The old stallion snored in a whisper. Something about the crenellated walls of the Northeast Tower made him more comfortable than anywhere else.

A frantic clip-clop of hooves echoed upwards from the sole entrance to the top of tower. A female Earth Pony emerged, her face full of urgency.

“Sir Curio, I — Sir! You’re asleep again!”

Sir Curio grumbled himself awake. He blinked a few times and then removed his googles to rub his eyes.

“Oh, uhhh, Artemis. It’s you.”

Sir Curio yawned, wide but silent. He smacked his lips contently.

“That was a nice nap. I rate it 8/10, as far as naps go,” he said with a light chuckle at the end. Artemis stared deadpan at him.

“I hope you’re having fun with your little ‘sleep most of the day’ routine while the mountain trolls are coming down more and more frequently.”

Sir Curio smiled and winked. Artemis’s mouth became a line and her brows flexed downward with concern.

“If you kept awake at meetings, you’d know that, master.”

Artemis wore plates of thin bronze armor. Squires were not given the heavy kind of armor that Knights like Sir Bastion and Sir Curio received (though the latter never used it), but Artemis was happy not to be weighed down by eighty pounds of metal that rarely came in handy. Not, at least, for her.

Artemis had a coat of a dirty off-white color, and it was well-groomed for a soldier of Castle Rockhoof. Her dull brown irises sat over bored white eyes. Sir Curio yawned again and turned to look out over the tower.

“Look, no trolls,” he smiled. “Surprise, surprise! You know, by now, you ought to trust me!”

But Artemis was not convinced. The north side of the Northeast Tower looked out onto a large area of rolling hills dotted with evergreens, tall as the biggest troll. It wasn’t hard for mountain trolls to hide, the sneaky beasts who had come down from the Smokey Mountains to search for wayward Earth Ponies.

“Is that so, Sir Curio?” Artemis got right into her master’s face with a cheeky grin. Sir Curio leaned back, and half his mouth became a frown. Artemis continued, “Old age will catch up to anypony, eventually, ‘Eagle-eye’.”

Sir Curio puffed up his chest and cheeks. He grunted.

“Watch it, squire! I’ve got more life left in these hooves enough to beat you youngins without breaking a sweat!”

Artemis giggled. Sir Curio leaned back nonchalant against the stone wall. His next sentence was quieter and softer than the last.

“Sometimes I just find it important to…”

Another yawn. Soon his eyes were fluttering closed, and he exhaled sharply.

“…have a…”

Snoring. The squire laughed out loud.

“MASTER!” she shouted. Sir Curio jumped awake.

“Bah! Okay, I get your point! I’m getting old, Artemis! I need my—”

Artemis watched Sir Curio’s left ear twitch violently. His pupils became small. He twisted his body around in an instant, facing the crenellation in the stone wall, and at the same time dropped his goggles back over his eyes with a hoof. He leaned his head back toward his side to grab an arrow from his quiver. In a rapid, skilled motion, he snatched the arrow from the quiver with his teeth, secured it within his longbow secured to the tower floor, and masterfully pulled back the drawstring and arrow. The creaking, stretching sound of the string being pulled was tight and taut as if a rope under great pressure was about to snap in half.

Then, Sir Curio let the arrow fly, almost too quickly to even aim it first. But Artemis knew better. The force of the arrow being released shot some air into Artemis’s face, and the singing of the arrow was vicious. She raced over to the side of the stone wall to see it soar through the air, far into the distance. Eventually, she watched the arrow strike some tall, grey figure, and on impact the arrow exploded into a cloud of thick, light-blue dust. Artemis mouth dropped, though she wouldn’t let Sir Curio see. Not again.

“Those trolls…” Sir Curio said shaking his head and making a disapproving chirping noise, “They’re far too loud.” He turned to his squire and smirked. “Why, didn’t you hear the twig snap when he got within a mile of the Tower?”

Artemis collected herself before facing her master and rolling her eyes.

“Yes, good job, Sir Curio. Show off, why don’t you — you know, I came up here to talk to you about the prisoner that that blowhard Bastion is bringing from one of the southern fishing villages on the coast.”

Sir Curio moved his googles from his eyes to his forehead so his squire could see the crease in his brow. He shifted his head downward and raised those same, stern brows. Artemis cleared her throat.

“I mean Sir Bastion, master. Anyway! I overheard that one of the ones he is looking for is from the Starscout family. I thought you might want to know, beca—”

Sir Curio yawned incredibly loud. Artemis’s ear twitched and she glared at him. Sir Curio chomped his jaws a bit more before wiping a hoof against his snout with a sniff.

“Starscout? Don’t care about that.”

Sir Curio turned back around and looked out onto the surrounding area beyond the walls.

“What about the fishing village to the south? Isn’t there some problem with those ‘Mongrel Mutts’ in that area?”

Artemis pressed on, deftly dodging the distracting questions.

“Diamond Dogs — and yes, there is a problem with them coming into our territory, we discuss it at the meetings — but Sir Curio! Ponies used to tell me about that one Starscout you befriended when you were younger, and I thought… maybe this is the same one, or he or she knows your old friend!”

Sir Curio cleared his throat and replied in a less patient tone, still facing away from his squire.

“It wouldn’t matter if it was. That was a long time ago. Before you were born. I’m not interested in Starscouts or any family for that matter, none except my own and that of our Protector.”

Artemis took a step forward and shook her head. She turned to the side and breathed out with annoyance.

“But — Dad! This is—”

Sir Curio swerved around, his wrinkled face drawn into a vicious scowl. Artemis retreated.

“You will address me as Sir Curio,” he said quietly but firmly, with an expression that gave away his angrier feelings. “I am the Right Hoof of the Protector of the Realm — you could be flogged for less!” Sir Curio’s demeanor change caused Artemis to fall onto her flank. The Knight glared coldly at her from above.

“If Sir Bastion is bringing this Starscout here, then he or she is a traitor! Not a friend! Understood, squire?” Artemis returned all the ire she received, glaring back up at Sir Curio with the same stubborn irises. The same cantankerous stare. She quickly scooped herself up and trotted for the stairs.

Artemis had gritted her teeth but forced out a “Yes sir”, and before descending the stairs, stood tall and straight and hung her head briefly in salute. Sir Curio quickly did the same before turning around to face valley.

His squire returned mid-way through her stomping down the stairs. She spoke in a clear, slightly shaky voice. “Master, I noticed that you haven’t been bringing any flowers to my mother lately. I hope you are not starting to forget her.” Sir Curio heard Artemis become choked up. There was a sniffle, and then the telltale sound of a mare leaving down cobblestone steps.

Sir Curio screwed his face into a scowl and looked up and around at the generous peaks of the Smokey Mountains laid out before him. A lone crow cawed somewhere. The only noise except the breeze. Sir Curio closed his eyes and sighed, long and deep, then spoke softly to the wind.

“You said it yourself, Artemis… it’s because of the mountain trolls…”

He opened his eyes half-way and stared back out at the greens and the browns of the valley.

“That was the fifth one today I hit with the freeze powder arrow.”

Sir Curio looked up the orange-purple sky, and in the clouds found the face of a long-passed lover. Remembering that face always brought up another: an old friend. Somepony his daughter seemed to think he held in fond memories. Sir Curio bitterly shook his head to forget that face.

“Lorelei,” he began after refocusing on the lover in the clouds, “believing in stupid ponies full of dreams is what got you killed. It won’t get our daughter killed, not while I still have my strength.”

Sir Curio hung his head and stared at the stone of the wall.

The age of dreamers is over by now, certainly by now.

He resolved himself anew. His nostrils flared and he scowled at the valley.

We can only survive with our strength. The strength of the Earth Pony!

* * *

Back to Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch…

“Stupid Hitch…”

Sunny stared at her fellow villager with a dull glare. Hitch was mid-flirt with another female soldier after the last two had bonked him with their spears. The third was about to do the same thing just as Sunny sighed and looked up to the orange-purple sky.

“He’s not like you, Professor… none of these oafs are…”

Sunny smiled to herself.

“Smart, talented, thoughtful, quiet, hand—”

The realization of the thought made Sunny blush. She opened her eyes and saw that Izzy was staring at her with an “O” mouth and a cocked head. Sunny’s blush deepened and she twitched.

“W-what are you watching me for, Izzy?!”

Izzy giggled.

“You’re thinking about some…pony that makes you feel thump thump — I know that look.” Izzy’s face screwed into something snarky and cheeky. “You have a crush.” She smiled wickedly and twitched her head and pupils towards Hitch.

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

Sunny’s mouth dropped and her eyes became huge white saucers. A choking, surprised noise forced its way up her constricted throat. She brought a chained hoof as far up as it would go as if to point at Hitch, who was about to bravely pursue the fourth and last of the mare soldiers.

“THAT guy!?” Sunny shout-asked. The other soldiers took notice and came closer. Hitch fell onto his haunches from another blow. Sunny continued, “He’s an idiot! He flirts with everything that moves, and he got all buddy buddy with that jerk up front! Don’t even JOKE about me having a crush on HIM!”

Hitch, still in the dirt, raised a hoof.

“Hey! I resent that. I don’t flirt with everything that moves. I wouldn’t ever flirt with a Unicorn or Pegasus.” Hitch whispered the forbidden words and chuckled to himself as Sunny and Izzy exchanged a worried look. “I mean, a Unicorn? Yikes. No thank you. I prefer to have all my limbs firmly attached to my body.”

He leapt to his hooves and flexed in front of Sunny.

“You know: the Hitch bod! Gotta protect this national treasure — almost as valuable as Rockhoof’s shovel!”

A flying rock soared through the air like a bullet and plonked Hitch in his cranium with a hollow pop. He fell over once more. Sunny looked to the source of the projectile and found Sir Bastion, who’d stopped the caravan.

“Enough of all the blabber!” Sir Bastion commanded. Sunny looked over her shoulders and saw the soldiers approach her once more. She glared back at Sir Bastion, who continued.

“Re-gag our little traitor princess — and consider putting one on Casanova if he does not shut his trap or start using it for the purpose for which I am permitting his sad presence.”

Sunny gritted her teeth and growled as the soldiers approached. They were no less happy about her as she was towards them. Hitch got up and put a hoof to his spinning head. He noticed what was happening with Sunny and jumped over to help.

“Now, hold on—” he began, cut off by a mare soldier threatening him with the pointy end of her spear. He gulped and stepped back. Sunny shouted at Sir Bastion and drew his gaze back to her.

“What are you so scared of by letting me talk, huh?!” The soldiers stopped their advance. Sir Bastion’s ear twitched. “You scared that I might talk some sense into everypony?!”

Everypony froze. Sir Bastion opened his mouth and turned, facing Sunny with his open mouth formed into a crescent.

“No, Miss Starscout. I am not afraid of one little mare.”

He took his time walking back to where Sunny was, still positioned on the defensive.

“But when I hear you talk about the nonsense that you spew, it reminds me of a similar rabble rouser from twenty-five years ago.”

Sunny furrowed her brow and even her snout. Sir Bastion chuckled.

“Oh, glare all you want. You know, I do not remember faces or names – I typically do not care to.”

Sir Bastion got within an inch of Sunny. She noticed the smell on him for the first time: strong cologne like a musty swamp. She stepped back and cringed.

“What I remember, Miss Starscout, is things that upset me deeply. And two things alone upset me deeply.”

Sir Bastion rose a hoof.

“The first,” he said in his normal shouting tone, “Is those detestable creatures known as ‘Unicorns’” — most of the guards stuck out their tongues or fake gagged — “and ‘Pegasi’”. A few of the guards made mock puking noises.

In a flash, Sir Bastion snatched the ball gag from one of his soldiers, swerved around, forced Sunny’s mouth open, and shoved in the silence-granting device. Sunny blinked once and it was over.

“The second is traitors and the ponydung that comes out of their mouths.” Sir Bastion looked at Sunny for a minute while she tried to speak around the ball gag. She became so heated she closed her eyes and her face reddened. Sir Bastion roared with laughter and his soldiers joined in. Hitch glared at the Knight, as did Izzy, who surprisingly was not cowering and hiding for once.

“Now,” Sir Bastion cried, wiping away a joyful tear from his smiley face, Sunny raging all the while, held back by two soldiers. “You will not be able to spew any more filth, and the rest of us can have peace and quiet!”

Sir Bastion turned and walked away. Sunny stared at each of the soldiers near her in turn. They appeared like normal Earth Ponies, not unlike her fellow Maretime Bay denizens. One soldier was a brown-coated stallion, average height and build. Another was slightly taller and smoky-grey. One mare, a light blue. Another, off-yellow. Each one in the.

Each one looked normal but acted like the worse ponies that Sunny couldn’t stand. The type that laughed at her parents’ dream.

“One day,” Sunny heard Sir Bastion shout. Everypony turned toward the unignorable noise. “You will understand what I mean. You will face the reality of why us Earth Ponies are separate from the others. And you will remember what the great Bastion Titaneous told you.”

Another ringing of laughter filled the air. Sunny closed her eyes and tried to shut it out. Something hard smacked her on the rump and Sunny cried in pain through the ball gag. Turning, she saw the light blue mare soldier glaring at her, blunt end of her spear at the ready.

“Get a move on, traitor!”

Sunny tried to blow a raspberry but just ended up slobbering around the gag. She took a step forward, chains rattling. Her left backhoof gave out and she collapsed onto her knees. The soldiers laughed. Tears formed in her eyes.

“Hey.”

It was Hitch’s voice. Sunny shook her head. She almost started talking, then realized it would be fruitless. Hitch spoke again, nudging Sunny in the side.

“Get up.”

Sunny opened her eyes and moved her head to look up only she never got the chance. In a heartbeat Hitch scooped Sunny’s entire body up with a single hoof and stood her up. Sunny stared wide eyed at him with a hanging mouth, then quickly closed it and just blinked. Hitch had a different look to him, not so goofy and more reliable. A determined crease notched his brow.

“You okay?” he asked, and Sunny looked down at her sore hooves, raw where the chains were secured. She shrugged. Hitch smiled. “I figured. You always were tough.” He slapped Sunny hard on the back and she would have toppled over if he didn’t keep her in place.

Sunny tried to ask Hitch a question through the gag but Hitch just laughed.

“Not sure what you’re saying, but if it’s about me, I get it.” He flashed Sunny a flirtatious smile that shattered all the recent admiration the stallion had earned. “I’m a big slice of mulberry pie: soft, sweet, tender and chew…” Sunny headbutted the side of Hitch’s head and he grunted in pain.

“H— ow! Stop doing that!” he cried, rubbing his head. “I’ve gotten enough trauma for one day!” Sunny stared at him, deadpan. He rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay. I’ll be serious.”

Hitch got close again and whispered.

“Listen — I have a bone to pick with Ms. Hoity Toity Protector Mare at Castle Rockhoof, too. If you were wondering, I’m tagging along to get her ear, just like you.”

Sunny rose an eyebrow and Hitch continued.

“What I figured is: if I stick with Dirtbag up there and act like I’m helping get you to talk, maybe she’ll let me back in to the Castle. And, if so, I can talk to her again! You uhh might have heard that I got banished from Castle Rockhoof. It’s a long story. Don’t worry about it for now.”

Hitch moved over and talked normally again.

“Point is: we need each other! So, let’s work together, yeah?”

Sunny shook her head and left hoof. Hitch closed his eyes and nodded.

“Yes, I agree. My presence is mesmerizing.”

Sunny facehoofed. Hitch smiled. Both ponies heard a throat clearing to their left. Turning, they saw Izzy’s head poking up and visible through the wagon railing.

“Mister Hitch,” Izzy asked, “Sorry to be a bother but, what’s your Cutie Mark supposed to be?” She pointed down to his flank, and Hitch blinked. Sunny’s gaze followed Izzy’s and she studied the flank picture that she didn’t care to notice before.

The Cutie Mark was a golden shield, a slightly different shade than Hitch’s usual coat color, with a teal horseshoe in the middle. Two small hearts donned either side of the shield near the bottom. When Sunny saw it, memories from years ago came flooding back. Memories of a different stallion.

“HABLAHGAHGAH!” she spat through the gag. Hitch, mid conversation with Izzy, turned in disgust.

“Gross, Sunny!” he cried, “Don’t spit like that!” Izzy giggled. Sunny grumbled and stomped extra hard for effect. She moved her hoof about as if that might help her friends understand, but they just stared, confused and slightly scared.

“Uhhh, yeah,” Hitch said, one brow slightly raised. “So anyway,” he turned back to Izzy, who patiently and happily listened to his story. “My Cutie Mark is the crest of the Trailblazers! We’ve always been a family of tough Earth Ponies who watch the wilds of the Realm and protect it from danger!”

Hitch brandished the shovel that was normally strapped to his side, waving it about held between his teeth like some kind of sword. He threw it spinning into the air far above and struck a heroic pose, hoof to his puffed-out chest and a twinkle in his eye. Izzy’s mouth became an awe-inspired circle and she hoof-clopped. Sunny rolled her eyes.

“According to legend,” Hitch said with a haughty roll of his eyebrows, “The Trailblazers are descended from Rockhoof himself. But who’s to say…”

Izzy heard a noise and her head shot up towards the sky. Sunny did the same. The shovel was coming back, a rotating whoosh giving it away. Hitch showed no signs of worry, instead raising his head and opening his mouth, eyes closed. The shovel fell right between his teeth, and when he had it firmly within his jaws once more, he half-opened his eyes and shot a smoldering look at Izzy, who giggled in a totally playful, platonic way. Hitch rolled his eyebrows like wiggling caterpillars.

Sunny shoved past Hitch with an audible groan, albeit muffled from the gag. He blinked at her stomping form then looked to Izzy.

“What’s her issue, anyway?”

Izzy shrugged.

“Sorry, but I think she hates you,” Izzy spoke matter-of-factly. Hitch hummed with disappointment.

“That so?”

He threw his mane back and his face became cocksure once more.

“Wellll hey – it wouldn’t be the first time I got the cold shoulder. That old Sunny — she’ll come around.” Hitch flashed a smile at nopony in particular. “The mares always come around. Anyway, this old shovel of mine — don’t get excited, because it’s not Rockhoof’s. They keep his safe in—"

One of the mare soldiers whacked Hitch in the back with a spear and he yelped in pain.

“Enough!” the soldier commanded. “This is your last chance before Sir Bastion gags and chains YOU!” Hitch rubbed his back and looked to the mare soldier. The daggers in her eyes did not lie; he swallowed hard and looked back toward Sir Bastion. The crescent grin and dastardly eyebrow V that Hitch saw told him what the mare said was no joke. Hitch sighed.

“Alright, alright…”

With Sunny trudging along angrily halfway between where Hitch was and where the front of the caravan was, Hitch turned back to Izzy and finished his story.

“Anyway, the Trailblazers never stay in one place too long. I may be the sheriff of Maretime Bay, but it’s too boring to just put up my hooves and sit around for trouble to come.” Hitch shrugged naturally. “So, I guess I go looking for it. No shortage, these days.”

Izzy made an “ooo” noise then folded her hooves across the railing and laid her head on top.

“I never knew Earth Ponies could be so interesting!” she mused. Hitch’s face contorted as if he were confused.

“What?” he asked. Izzy sat back up, straight and tall, and looked around.

“I m-mean!” she began, “Boy, us Earth Ponies! Really quite a bunch of characters, aren’t w-we?”

Sunny looked back at Izzy and the hidden Unicorn must have felt the weight of the gaze and met eyes with Sunny. Sunny signalled with widened eyes and raised brows and Izzy nodded quietly. Hitch looked between the two and shook his head.

“Mares… just can’t understand ‘em…”

The entourage continued on their journey as night grew ever closer. Hitch tried to get information from Sunny, with half-hearted attempts to keep Sir Bastion happy, but to no avail. Of course, Sunny’s gag made talking impossible, but whenever Hitch thought she might say something useful, he eased it off Sunny’s mouth. And of course, when he did that, she let it rip.

“Sir Bastion’s a big jerk head idiot face!” she shouted at one opportunity. Hitch quickly shoved the ball gag back into Sunny’s mouth. The Knight of the Realm, still the head of the entourage, only gave a sideways glance. A single vein stood up on his tan-furred neck.

With the sun casting orange light all across the sky and the ground below, Sunny noticed that the land directly to the right of the dirt path the group had been traveling on had receded to the point that she could now see where the land ended and the water began. Before it was the sea, but Sunny realized that not too far away she saw land. It was the mouth of a river.

Some old words entered Sunny’s mind:

“Find the mouth of the river by travelling on the road that goes out of the town toward the northeast — ponies these days call it the Old Forest River. Follow the river and you’ll cross into the Forbidden Zone… but d-don’t ever go there, understood?!”

Professor Tyson’s nostalgic warning made Sunny smile. She poked Hitch on the shoulder, and when he turned, she then pointed at her ball gag with a grumble. Hitch frowned.

“Oh no, not that again.” He leaned in and whispered. “Bastion will put that thing in MY mouth if I let you have one of those outbursts again!”

Sunny sighed through her gag and closed her eyes. She placed a hoof on her heart then looked up at Hitch with pleading eyes. He looked away, blush on his face.

“A-aww jeez, the hoof to heart thing? Really? You’re gonna hit me with that?!”

Sunny brought her face closer to Hitch’s and really laid on the puppy dog eyes. He relented with a cry of frustration.

“Fine! You better not cost me my ability to speak because believe it or not, I’m quite fond of that particular ability!”

Sunny nodded as if it were obvious. Hitch slipped off Sunny’s ball gag and the mare Earth Pony took a deep breath.

“T-thanks,” she said to Hitch. He smiled.

“I’m too darn nice for my own good.”

Sunny pointed past Hitch toward the mouth of the river.

“Which river is this? Do you know what it’s called?”

Both ponies looked. The start of the river was a gentle stream of water, and across it was more land that laid out barren and craggy like back toward Maretime Bay. But looking up, Sunny saw that there were mountains in the distance, and trees as well. Hitch cleared his throat.

“Oh it’s called, uhhh, the ummm…” He scratched his ear and made a clicking noise with his tongue. “Must be the Old Forest River. Yeah! Because we’re almost at the edge of the Old Forest by the River Crossroads.”

Sunny felt a shiver go through her.

That means… if I follow this…

Her eyes softened and she watched as the sea turned into the river through a rushing, rolling stream of water.

Professor Tyson is near the Forbidden Zone right now. The ruins of Canterlot…

She looked ahead where the dirt road followed the Old Forest River. She tightened her eyes and scanned the horizon and the sky. She thought she might have seen a lone mountain in the distance, but it was hard to tell. Sunny sighed worriedly.

I hope he’s okay…

Hitch noticed Sunny’s distant expression.

“What’s got you looking so glum?”

Sunny opened her mouth to speak but decided against it. She momentarily glared at Hitch, who stumbled backward.

Better not tell him about the Professor. He is a sheriff, after all.

Sunny continued walking while Hitch collected himself. He called after Sunny.

“What did I do?! Hey — Sunny!”

It wasn’t too much longer that the entourage of prisoners and soldiers came to a small mountain bend. Sunny saw that the river branched off in a perpendicular direction, with the entrance to where the river branched off being barred from traveling ships by a large wooden gate that allowed the river through the gaps in its black bars that were not wide enough for anything but water.

Docked at the branching-off river, beside a series of dark brown piers, was a huge, black-metal ship. Sunny’s mouth would have dropped if she had the luxury.

“Yep, that’s it: the Brimstone Barge,” Hitch said, answering Sunny’s thoughts. Sunny’s eyes scanned every single inch of the boat. She had never seen one of metal before.

In terms of size, the Brimstone Barge was much larger overall than even the biggest fishing trawler of Maretime Bay. Two great, black-metal paddle wheels sat on either side of the barge, and from its back an immense smokestack rose toward the sky. Sunny spotted little figures moving about along the back deck of the boat.

She heard the groaning of her fellow prisoners, who had all no doubt spotted the Barge, and one whine in particular drew Sunny’s concerned gaze. Izzy’s wobbling, glistening eyes and pouty lip nearly broke Sunny’s heart. The Earth Pony softened her expression and conjured up the most motherly smile to cheer up her friend. Izzy stopped her sniffling and managed a tiny little grin. Hitch slapped Sunny on the shoulder, to which she yelped in pain.

“Chin up!” he said, “It’s not as bad as it looks! Quite a nice journey, the cruise to Castle Rockhoof.”

But Sunny wasn’t so convinced. Her eyes found the glint in Sir Bastion’s, back at the front of the caravan. He had his head turned back toward her.

“Almost to the Castle now, hero!” he shouted. “Your punishment awaits!”

10 - The Drake

Sunny hated the smug, evil grin on Sir Bastion’s face, but a large moving object distracted her from the corner of her eye. It was a wagon coming from the direction of the Forbidden Zone, if Sunny’s sense of geography was correct. Sunny’s expression became curious. Sir Bastion saw her face and turned toward the oncoming wagon.

“Make way, make way!” cried one of the stallions pulling the wagon. It was brand new, Sunny surmised, and definitely expensive.

It was a wagon of wood painted a blinding white, embellished with raised streaks of gold along its edges. It was shaped like a distorted gourd, with four well-coiffed stallions dressed in black suits, ties, and white undershirts pulling it. Somewhere inside the wagon, the door and windows of which were hidden to passersby by lush red velvet curtains, a pompous voice cried out.

“What’s the trouble, Cornelius?”

Sunny cringed at the snotty accent. She looked at Hitch who just shrugged. The white wagon came to a stop, the four stallions pulling it realizing that Sir Bastion and company were not going to move. Indeed, they may have been put off by the fact that Sir Bastion, encased in his bronze armor, didn’t move a single muscle.

“The trouble,” Sir Bastion replied, “Is that you are on a road of the Realm expecting to pass through a Knight’s caravan so rudely, without stating your purpose here.”

The pony inside the wagon hastily exited. He had one finely groomed black eyebrow pointed upward.

“W-who are you?” he asked, voice failing. Sunny scanned his appearance. He was odd looking, but perhaps only to Sunny, whose idea of rich was the merchants who wore silk robes with funny hats. The stallion before her wore a white suit instead, with a black tie and a white tophat to complete what must have been a dapper ensemble to other ponies. His coat was a dark grey, and his eyes a piercing green.

Sir Bastion closed his eyes and brought a hoof to his chest.

“Dear page, please tell this outsider who I am!”

Nate Chivaltarry seemed to emerge from nowhere as Sunny remembered he existed. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“T-This is Sir Bastion Titaneous, Left Hoof of the Protector of the Realm of the Earth Ponies!”

The rich pony frowned and shook an errant hoof.

“Excellent! Then I have a bone to pick with you!”

Sir Bastion rose an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

The rich pony raised his head so his chin was level with Sir Bastion’s eyes and he made a “hmph!” noise.

“Indeed. Why is the southern Realm so unprotected as of late? Those Diamond Dog raiders have become more than the monthly nuisance — I’ve lost 30% of my revenue because merchants trading under MY brand have been accosted, and Castle Rockhoof has done seemingly NOTHING to stop it!”

Sir Bastion, of course, did not break his signature smile, but Sunny saw a few veins pop up on his neck. He closed his eyes and shook his head, chuckling.

“Goodness me… and why, for the sake of all Equestria, would you think I care what some outsider from Trotonto has to say about what happens in the Realm?” Sir Bastion looked to his soldiers, who also chuckled. He turned back to the rich pony, who took a step back in response. “And what is worse — I am quite aware of who you are, White Hat. You trade with the Hornheads and Featherfreaks!”

Sunny’s eyebrows raised and her mouth opened. She knew that name, as uneducated as she maintained herself. White Hat’s stamp was all over Maretime Bay.

White Hat glared at Sir Bastion for a moment, before he realized that the stallion he glared at could pound his face into the dirt within a second and not break a sweat. White Hat swallowed hard and moved to re-enter his wagon.

“V-very well then… see if I care if you starve without the trade you so condemn! And I suppose you also think that if the Diamond Dog corsairs start to raid the Abyssinian trade ships, we’ll just plant our own wheat and oats?!”

Sir Bastion shrugged.

“We will make do, as we have always done. The Earth Pony, at least who lives in the Realm, is hardy and tough.” He yawned. “Now please get out of my way. Go back to where you came; you will go no farther today. You have upset me.”

White Hat gritted his teeth, a bead of sweat coming from under his namesake.

“B-But I’m expected in Bogharrow by tomorrow morning! If I don’t make it, the resigning of my contract wi—”

Sir Bastion sighed and ground a hoof into the dirt. He laughed once.

“But if you do not turn around right now, White Hat, I am going to send every single one of your beautiful little teeth flying through the air, and you after them.”

White Hat’s pupils shook like fried egg yolks. He stumbled into his wagon.

“You’re insane! You’ll condemn this entire country with your nonsense! I’ll be sending a strongly worded letter to your Protector, mark my words, and my associates will be at Castle Rockhoof by week’s end to lobby against your position! Cornelius, turn us around at once!”

And so the four stallions pulling the wagon pulled to the left and turned around, galloping back to where they came. Sir Bastion strode toward the Barge as if nothing had occurred, laughing heartily.

“Hey.”

Sunny felt Hitch nudge her shoulder. “Look behind us. That’s the result of Bastion’s moods.”

Sunny turned. Not too far behind, a long line of wagons and merchants and other travelers patiently waited. Hitch continued.

“If anyearthpony tries to get past Bastion — well, I guess I don’t have to explain it to you. That White Hat might have a point.”

“Why does everypony put up with him then? He’s a total jerk!”

Hitch made a sighing noise from his nose.

“You know Earth Ponies. If everyearthpony is safe, then they don’t really care what the Earth Pony doing the protecting does. Most, anyway. The ones who speak up are probably in that wagon.” Hitch motioned toward the prison wagon. He sighed. “I just wish he didn’t keep all the other travelers away… I’d like to talk to some new mares…”

Sunny rolled her eyes. She watched White Hat’s wagon rumble down the road back toward the Forbidden Zone. She turned to Hitch.

“I’ve heard of that guy. White Hat – so he lives outside the Realm? In Trotonto?”

Hitch nodded.

“Yeah, he has a place in one of those big uhhh skyshifter things. Whatever they’re called – I don’t like the big city. I take it that’s your dream home, since the Hornheads and Featherfreaks are nearby.”

Sunny glared at Hitch.

“Hey! They’re Unicorns and Pegasi; I’m trying to get ponies to use the correct terminology!”

Hitch chuckled and shook his head.

“Oh Sunny – sweet, innocent, naïve Sunny.”

Sunny fumed harder and Hitch threw his mane up.

“You have about as much a chance of getting anyearthpony to change how they talk about you know who as I do of getting Sir Bastion to stop smiling.”

Sunny puffed out her chest.

“We’ll see, Mr. Got Banished! And good luck convincing the Protector you should get to go back to the Castle! I bet you got the boot because you wouldn’t stop harassing all the mares!”

Hitch frowned.

“Hey, there were SEVERAL mares I did not flirt with! I have restraint, Sunny Starscout, I’m not an animal!”

Sunny groaned and shoved past. Izzy stared forlorn at her friend below. When Sunny calmed down and looked up to match the gaze, she winked at Izzy. The two shared a smile.

“Cheer up, little doll.”

Izzy grabbed something from her bag and held it up.

“Do you like it? Sorry, it’s a WIP, but it’s going to be a big stuffed rabbit when I’ve finished.”

Sunny cocked her head and forced a smile. It looked like a dark blue lump of yarn.

“Oh yeah Izzy! It looks, uhh, bunny-ish!”

Hitch caught up and made a face.

“Is that a deflated cat?”

Sunny hoofpunched Hitch in the side.

“Ow!”

Izzy giggled.

“It’s okay, Sunny; you ponies will see. It’s going to be my best one yet…” she giggled nervously. “Diamonds are formed under pressure, and all that.” Izzy gulped and looked ahead. Sunny and Hitch did the same.

The entourage reached the docks of the Brimstone Barge. The scent of brimstone assaulted Sunny’s nostrils. She coughed and gasped – others did the same. Luckily, since Sunny’s gag was gone, she could breathe through her mouth – but the air tasted foul all the same.

To board the Barge, ponies – and / or the wagons they rode on – would need to ascend a wide, metal gangplank that connected the dock and the Barge. Sir Bastion and his soldiers boarded ahead of the prison wagon, with the Knight ignoring all the salutes from the dock soldiers as he passed them.

“Ahhh,” Sir Bastion exhaled happily and put a hoof to his armored chest, then closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “Smell the air, prisoners? That musk of brimstone?” The only reply to Sir Bastion was glares — Sunny’s worst of all. The Knight continued. “That means we have boarded the Brimstone Barge: your one-way ticket to the punishment that awaits you!”

Nate the page, standing next to his master like a mouse beside a proud lion, cleared his throat.

“F-first there is the reeducation, and if that doesn’t work, then the punishment comes—”

“Yesyesyesyes, Mr. Correctorhooves.” Sir Bastion shoved a hoof in his page’s mouth. Sir Bastion sighed. “Why must you ruin the moment for me, dear page?”

Sir Bastion thrust a hoof in Sunny’s direction.

“Soldiers! I want her in the Special Happy Fun Cage!”

A few of the soldiers turned back to Sunny, who immediately became defensive.

“Fat chance!” Sunny protested. “I bet that cage is anything but happy and fun!”

Sir Bastion roared with laughter, head pulled back so far Sunny was sure it would snap off his neck. Once the Knight collected himself, he wiped a tear away.

“Nonsense! It is the picture of happy and fun - for me! That is why I named it the Special Happy Fun Cage, after all. Soldiers, hop to it!”

And so, after everypony, the wagon, and its bulls were brought up onto the Barge’s main deck, Sunny was shoved into a cage far too small even for a mare of her size. She felt rusty iron bars tight against her flank, and one of her hooves was awkwardly sticking out of the front. Sunny’s cheek pressed painfully against the bars.

“Bastion! This is cruel and unusual punishment, and I won’t stand for it! What about the Constitution? What about the Rights of Pony?! Nopony deserves this!”

Sir Bastion, from the other side of the Barge, chuckled and replied in his booming voice.

“Someearthponies do! Such as yourself, Ms. Starscout.” Sir Bastion turned to Hitch. “Trustblubber!”

Hitch’s face drooped downward. Sir Bastion continued.

“Get your former marefriend to apologize to me in a genuine tone and I will consider letting her out.” At that, Hitch turned and smiled cheekily at Sunny, who just growled. “If she starts shouting again, we will attach her cage to the loading crane and dunk her under the water until the bubbles stop!”

Sunny looked at the tall crane near the ship’s center, having learned what it was and what it was for. She gulped. Sunny tried her best to break out of the cage with pure muscle power — she strained her muscles until they were enflamed with pain, but to no success. She shriek-whined in her frustration. Hitch appeared and screwed his mouth into something of a confused grin.

“This isn’t your best look, is it?”

“Can it, Casanova! You think this is funny?”

“Hey! Y’know, you might think that’s an insult, but the real Casanova is an inspiration to flirtatious studs like me the world over! And no, as a matter of fact, I do NOT think you being stuck in the Special Happy Fun Cage is funny.” Hitch couldn’t hold back a muffled laugh from the back of his throat. Sunny glared. “Okay, fine, it’s kinda funny!”

Hitch cleared his throat and then looked at Sunny’s hooves, his demeanor becoming sad. “Even if I wanted to, what do you expect me to do in this situation? If I let you out, Bastion will dunk ME in the river, not to mention I’d have to kiss my reunion with the Protector goodbye!” Hitch hummed with realization and looked up. “I would much rather kiss the Protector. She’s a looker, but she has this serious thing going on. I’m more a fan of the cute and cuddly types.”

Sunny grunted and struggled against the cage.

“I don’t care what your type is. And I don’t care that I’m stuck in here. I will never, EVER apologize to THAT jerk! All I want is for you to take your almost-as-smug face somewhere else if you’re going to joke around.”

Hitch sat down and sighed.

“You’re right. It was in bad taste; I’m sorry.”

Sunny closed her eyes.

“No, it’s okay. I’d probably laugh at you too if you were stuck in this thing.”

“Hey now...”

Moments later, a long, deep blow of a ship horn erupted from above and behind the pair. Smoke began sputtering out of the smokestack at the other end of the Barge, not far from where Sir Bastion was standing with a smile on his face, looking out to the distance. Sunny took in her surroundings as best she could while being confined in the cage.

The deck was grey, crude steel, as were the low walls of the ship. Sunny could just barely see where the wagon was on the deck and it looked like it was chained to a large piece of steel where it was loaded — it would not be going anywhere. The bulls were laying down and resting. Sunny couldn’t see Izzy or any of the prisoners, but she imagined they were not all sunshine and smiles.

Beyond the left side of the Barge (from Sunny’s perspective) was the bank of the river. Evidently, the Barge was almost as wide as the span of the river. She could see a cobblestone road running adjacent to the river. Just beyond that, a thick line of trees created a wall of bark and dark shade, much more pronounced as all the land was tinted orange from the fading light of the setting sun.

Lastly, Sunny noticed the huge paddle wheel. She tried to relax by watching the great wheel lift up water as it creaked and turned. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the water and the wheel, and blocking out the talking of the soldiers. As much as Sunny wanted to give Sir Bastion a piece of her mind for the entirety of the boat ride, she knew he really would drown her if she tried.

That jerk isn’t changing his mind anytime soon, assuming there is a brain up there in his skull. I need to relax. Okay - my speech for the Protector. What am I going to say?

Sunny’s belly grumbled loudly, knocking her from her inner thoughts. She winced from the pain her body was in, but also relished that she no longer had to trudge along with irons around her hooves. Even being stuck in the most uncomfortable cage imaginable, she felt the urge to have a nap.

Maybe… just a quick… doze…

Sunny’s eyelids were so heavy that she couldn’t open them if she wanted to. The dream world came fast…

Foggy visions of a perfect Equestria, of Pegasi flyers making colorful streaks of cloud in the sky, of Unicorns raising the sun, and Earth Ponies (as crazy as Sunny thought it looked) tilling the ground and raising crops filled Sunny's dreams. A glowing white city appeared on a mountain, and the dream became so clear Sunny swore she was transported there. And then, in the dream, Sunny looked to the sun, and it flared up and became larger. Brighter. Sunny shielded her gaze and saw a winged figure flying in front of the sun. Flying toward her.

It got nearer and nearer, until...

A cry of terror rang out.

“OFF OF STARBOARD! LOOK OUT!”

Sunny’s eyes fluttered open and she strained to look around her, forgetting how impossible it was earlier. She moved her eyes and saw nothing but ponies moving to and fro. Then, on the river bank, something caught her eye.

A figure wearing a strange, full body outfit had shot a rope from its side at the Barge. The rope had a sharp end which connected with the Barge’s crane with a metal bang. The figure was pulled toward the Barge by the rope. Cries of the soldiers came from all directions.

Sunny heard Sir Bastion roar.

“UNICORN ATTACK! TO YOUR HOOVES, SOLDIERS!”

Sunny was frantic and strained as much as she could to see what was going on. She heard scurrying, shouting, and a weird wooshing noise followed by more screams. The bulls that pulled the wagon could be heard bellowing low pitched cries. Hitch shouted and rushed forward with a stomp.

“Unicorn attack! Charge!”

Sunny struggled some more and called after him.

“Wait — Hitch! Let me out!”

It was to no avail. Hitch’s cries continued for a few seconds, then they turned into fearful shouts as he galloped back to Sunny.

“Unicorn attack! Run away!”

“Let me out!” Sunny repeated. “I’m a sitting duck in this thing!”

Sunny waited for Hitch to decide what to do as the fighting continued near the middle of the deck. Eventually, she felt Hitch's hooves against her body on the side, but they were not grabbing her, as she discovered, but bending the bars of the cage. When they were opened enough, she slipped out. Quickly, Sunny collected herself and stared at Hitch with saucer eyes.

“I meant… I meant get the key! How the hay did you do that?!”

Hitch smiled sheepishly.

“Uhhh, I used to eat all my oat flakes as a kid?”

Sunny’s legs gave out and she collapsed in pain. Hitch hovered over her in worry.

“Sunny! What gives?”

Sunny groaned and Hitch noticed the marks near the ends of Sunny’s hooves from the chains Sir Bastion had put her in. He looked back to the commotion, then at Sunny.

“We need to get you out of here,” he decided.

A screaming cry broke through the air. It was Izzy.

“RYE RYEEEEE!”

Sunny’s ear twitched as she remembered the name – she forced herself onto her knees and looked toward the center of the ship.

Seeing the figure up close, it looked more like a pony-sized dragon - at least, what Sunny figured real dragons looked like. Picture books had large creatures with huge wings, talons, tails and rows of teeth. The figure in front of her had green scales covering its body and four legs, down to its booted hooves. It had no wings, but its head had large yellow eyes with green irises and large black pupils. A tall mane of light brown came up from either side of its head. It took a defensive stance and bared its large fangs.

Sunny saw that a strange bark colored, dual pronged horn came out of the figure’s head.

Is that what a male Unicorn horn looks like? That’s definitely not the same as…

“IZZY!”

The figure’s roar was fiercesome, and strained, as if it was in great pain. Sunny felt like cowering before it, though. Then she remembered the situation.

“Rye Rye! That must be the guy that Izzy was talking about!” she thought out loud. Hitch swallowed hard.

“Oh yeah? W-was that a demon from her nightmares!?”

Rye Rye was flanked on all sides by soldiers keeping their distance from him. Reddish-purple flames erupted from his horn, covered his entire body, and reached out toward the soldiers. With another roar Rye Rye’s flames enveloped several soldiers and shoved them backward hard enough to cause dull metal thuds when some of them hit the Barge wall. Afterward, thin purple flames covered their bodies.

“ARGGGH GET IT OFF!” one soldier cried, patting herself all over to no avail. The others screamed and hollered. Sunny noticed others rolling around with the flames on them. No matter how much they rolled, the flames seemed to continue to burn the soldiers without relent. Their stone armor did little to soothe the pain.

“Wh— MAGIC?!” Sunny screamed, sounding way more excited than worried. Hitch answered just as frantic - but definitely more worried than excited.

“No! Hornhead trickery! It’s got to be his suit. Hornheads don’t have magic anymore!”

“IT’S THE DRAKE!” Sir Bastion shouted and leapt down from the upper deck of the stern. He was all smiles.

Hitch grabbed Sunny and pulled her towards him, up some stairs, and onto the upper deck closest to them. Sunny complained.

“Hey what gives! Izzy is down there!”

Hitch’s disposition became serious. His pupils shook.

“If we stay down there, we’re going to die. That’s no Rye Rye – that’s Rylar the Drake! He’s one of the Guardians that protect the Five Tribes!”

Rylar pointed a hoof at Sir Bastion, who stared back with a wide-eyed, insane expression. Smoke and vapor poured out from Rylar’s maw as the soldiers followed suit with Sunny and Hitch and cleared the main deck – the wagon prisoners were at the mercy of their position. Izzy was hanging tight to the wagon and sobbing, watching the events unfold.

“Release her!” Rylar’s voice sounded demonic, Sunny could not deny. “Release the Honored Voice’s sister, and I will stop the flames on your soldiers from burning them down to their bones!”

A glint hit Sir Bastion’s eye. He seemed to stand a little taller, a little prouder. The heat did not seem to bother him at all, even as he stood just a few feet from its source. He spat out a reply.

“Foal! You truly think my soldiers would not give their LIVES for the good of the Realm?! And you must be mad! There is no Hornhead FILTH among us here!”

Rylar pointed a hoof at the prison wagon.

“Don’t be mad, Titan! She’s right there! Do you think I’m stupid?”

Sunny swallowed hard. Dread slithered through her veins. The idea that Sir Bastion was going to find out about Izzy turned Sunny’s blood cold. Sir Bastion slowly turned to the wagon. His eyes fixated on Izzy.

“IZZY!”

Sunny screamed and broke into a trot. She rushed down the stairs, ignoring the heat. Sir Bastion ignored Sunny and narrowed his eyes at Izzy. In a single second he rushed at the wagon and tackled the Unicorn mare through the wood, sending her flying into the Barge’s wall. Both Rylar and Sunny shouted her name again.

A white sunhat flew up and then gently hovered down onto the main deck of the Barge. Sir Bastion stared at Izzy’s revealed horn. His neck stood up with veins, and his smile strained to grow larger.

“Hornhead! Right under my snout! A Hornhead!”

Rylar roared. A fireball of purple and red flame shot from his maw, as well as a sustained pulse of flames from his strange horn, all towards Sir Bastion on the remains of the wagon. The prisoners jumped out of the way, but Sir Bastion half-turned toward the incoming flames and took them head on.

Sunny ran as fast as she could to Izzy’s side. The Unicorn’s eyes were closed, and her body limp, but she was still breathing. Sunny scooped Izzy onto her back and hobbled back to the stairs of the bow’s upper deck. Hitch waited at the top.

“Are you crazy?! Sunny, she’s a Hornhead, and Rylar wants her!”

As if on cue Rylar leapt at Sunny with a demonic shout. Hitch’s face became pure fear.

“SUNNY!”

Sunny turned just in time to see Sir Bastion jump in front of her and take the full brunt of Rylar’s attack. But though the Drake could have crashed right through the Barge as if it were paper, he did not make Sir Bastion move an inch. Rylar grunted and collected himself.

“I remember her horn now! And your horn, too, Drake! It was a few months ago… I should have pursued you then!” The two stared each other down. “This time, you will both be dragged off to the castle and I will personally ensure your interrogation and punishment!”

Sunny couldn’t move. Despite the heat, her body felt cold. The heat and flames from Rylar grew, and so too did his anger, if the grumbling and growling within his throat was any indication. His draconic face changed form and shape – instead of green, it became dark blue, and its mane glowed and pulsed as if on fire, purple and blue.

“I’LL BURN YOU TO CINDERS IF YOU HURT HER! THIS IS GOING TO BE WAR, TITAN!”

Sunny scurried up the stairs and collapsed at the top, Izzy falling from her back onto Hitch.

“Bah – g-get off!”

Rylar’s roars were truly monstrous, and Sunny felt at that time more afraid of him than Sir Bastion. She could scarcely look down at the two figures, as Rylar’s flames were just that bright. But Sir Bastion stood tall and unwavering at the base of the stairs. He laughed his usual mocking laughter, as if he were facing an ant and not the terrifying beast that Sunny saw.

“If I am not mistaken, that Hornhead wench must be Isabella Moonbow – and that would make her the Warlock King’s sister!”

Sunny turned to Izzy. The small, sleeping face of her new friend looked suddenly regal and majestic. Or maybe it always had, and only then did Sunny understand why. Sir Bastion shouted again.

“This is perfect! Just perfect! I have been looking for something to really give my muscles a workout! But let us not destroy the Barge.”

Sir Bastion cracked his neck as Rylar glared at him, waiting for the right moment to strike.

“Will you come fight me on the river bank willingly, or shall I force you there?”

11 - Titan

Rylar screamed, his darkened face becoming rife with anger.

“You have no right to foalnap her! Did she not show you her scroll?”

Sir Bastion rose a single eyebrow – Rylar continued, his eyes becoming cavities of white fire.

“That scroll is proof that our presence in the Realm of the Earth Ponies is purely diplomatic! Your actions will start an open war!”

Sir Bastion chuckled.

“I can only hope it will! Then I can single-hoofedly destroy every last one of you filth and keep our borders safe for a thousand years!”

Rylar screamed again as the dark blue and purple flames that covered him from hoof to mane became larger and hotter. He threw himself at Sir Bastion, but before he could make contact, Sir Bastion effortlessly dodged, turned, and bucked Rylar away with a fierce kick. He flew over the river, the bank, the cobblestone road, and finally crashed into the forest. Dozens of birds took to the skies to escape the woody wreckage, squawking as they did.

“Force it is.”

Sir Bastion chuckled then leapt off the Barge with such power that a thin dust cloud shot up after him. Sunny blinked rapidly.

“C-crazy…”

Hitch scooped up his jaw.

“Y-yeah you think?!”

He looked at Izzy’s passed out form and cringed.

“Listen… she’s cute Sunny, but she’s a Hornhead. It’s — wait, did you know she was a Hornhead?!”

Sunny snapped.

“Of course I did! Why’s that even a problem – you were talking to her just fine when you thought she was an Earth Pony!”

“Yeah that’s because I thought she was one! If she’s a Hornhead, then that’s totally different!”

“Why?!”

“Not to mention, uhh, HELLO?! She’s the SISTER of the WARLOCK KING! Maybe she’s been tricking you this whole time. I know even YOU listened to the stories about the Warlock King!”

“Yeah I did — so what?”

Hitch shrugged and waved a hoof as if it was obvious what his point was.

“So MAYBE just MAYBE it’s dangerous to be trusting her?!”

Sunny softened her expression.

“I trust my friend – that’s all that matters. I know when ponies are lying to me – Hitch, she didn’t lie to me! She wanted to visit the Realm see what it’s like! I would do the same thing if I was her!”

Hitch stared at Sunny. His face did not rest on a single emotion, but was stuck in transition between anger, confusion, and remorse.

“Sunny… it could be dangerous for all of us.”

Sunny was resolute. She moved to the side of the ship and looked to the horizon and the sinking orange sun.

“It’s scary to me, too. The idea of the Warlock King – all the things we heard as foals. All the horrible tales. But I’m sure of this, Hitch, I’ve made my choice.” When Sunny turned and Hitch saw the determined look, the sparkle in Sunny’s aquamarine eyes, he knew arguing was a lost cause. Sunny continued. “Izzy is my friend, and I’m not backing down. I know we can have peace, we can live together! We—”

Hitch’s ear twitched and he walked to the wall facing the lower deck. Looking down, his face became alive with worry.

“Uhhh, can that wait, Sunny? We’re about to have company.”

Sunny moved to see what Hitch was talking about and saw soldiers approaching the stairs, spears in their hooves.

“I assume that’s not the welcoming committee,” Sunny said with a gulp.

“Prisoner and Hitch Trailblazer! Give up that Hornhead or face the consequences!”

Sunny shouted back at the soldier.

“You’re throwing me in jail anyway, I don’t care! Izzy’s my friend, I’m going to keep watch over her until I can ensure the Protector lets her go home!”

Hitch looked around as if to escape. He groaned.

“Aww, hay and oats. I can’t leave a pretty mare to be imprisoned and tortured… what would Casanova think if I did?”

“Casa — Is that even really a real pony?” Sunny asked incredulously.

“What, you never heard of him? He’s my idol, I thought we went over this!”

“Yeah but I thought you were just being an idiot!”

“W-when am I ever an idiot!”

The two returned their focus to the soldiers, now at the top of the deck. Three of the soldiers aimed their pointy spearheads at Sunny, and one at Hitch.

“Give us the Hornhead – NOW!”

* * *

Sir Bastion waited patiently just outside the forest by the river. His silver irises twinkled with excitement, and his tight cheeks shook with anticipation.

“Come out, little dragon. I know that my one attack was not enou—”

The roar of a fast approaching fireball cut Sir Bastion off. Instinct forced his muscles and he jumped out of the way. The fireball was a dark purple, darker than the last few. It whizzed by and then past the departing Barge to crash through the trees on the other side of the river. The fireball blew through the trees for some distance, torching all it touched, before it exploded into a ball of purple light. The wind from the explosion violently shook the bronze plates of Sir Bastion’s armor, and almost tore his moustache clean off.

“Hmph!” He roared amidst the blast. “That attack might have actually hurt! Cheeky, Drake, cheeky!”

Sir Bastion dodged again as the Drake leapt out of the trees for a vicious follow-up attack. His dagger-lined jaws snapped shut right where Sir Bastion had been a second ago.

“Mangy animals that bite should be put DOWN!”

Sir Bastion reared onto his hindhooves and then brought the full brunt of his power down onto the Drake with a slam of his front hooves. The force of the attack crushed the Drake into the dirt and partially into the earth itself.
The Drake strained against the weight of Sir Bastion and shouted with rage but could not budge. Sir Bastion chuckled.

“You cretin. I am going to break you in two.”

Sir Bastion pushed himself off the Drake and into the air. The Drake caught his breath and quickly scurried out of the way as Sir Bastion flew back toward the earth. He rotated during his fall so upon landing he would slam into the earth with one of his backhooves – a sort of aerial kick.

The immediate effect of the attack was an explosion of rock, grass, and dirt. Where once there was a huge chunk of land, the Drake saw only a massive gap when the dust literally settled. Part of the river bank broke off and floated in chunks down the river.

The Drake kept at a distance. Sweat trickled down his neck, the flesh underneath his suit becoming suddenly hot and stifled. He focused his attention and strain on his horn for a minute, and it turned from black to a solid amethyst purple. He closed his eyes, a growling hum of focus escaping his maw. Sir Bastion lodged himself free from the earth and shouted.

“I will not let you prepare another of those fireballs, foal!”

Sir Bastion charged head on, but a few feet away from impact, the Drake opened his eyes and from his scaly suit an opening appeared beside both shoulders. Two ropes with sharp ends shot out, finding the gaps in Sir Bastion’s armor and wrapping around the Knight himself just as he slammed into the Drake. The Drake cried out in pain, but his plan was a success. Both he and Sir Bastion flew backward.

“Damned Hornhead machinery…” Sir Bastion complained, soaring through the air with his opponent. Something inside the Drake’s suit whirred with noise and the ropes tightened around Sir Bastion and brought him closer. The two careened through the air with no way for Sir Bastion to escape. The Drake’s horn blew up with intense purple light, and then…

* * *

Sunny, Hitch, and the soldiers fell to their flanks as another explosion rocked the Barge.

“Not again!” a soldier cried out.

Sunny hovered a hoof over her eyes to shield from dust as she watched the sky in the distance turn purple.

“I hope he’s giving that big jerk what he deserves!”

“We need to focus on our own flanks, Sunny! And don’t cheer on the enemy!”

Hitch unstrapped his shovel and placed it between his hooves like the soldiers had their spears – in such a way that it could be waved about, but not to prevent movement of the legs. The soldiers got up and surrounded Hitch and Sunny, who as best they could guarded Izzy’s sleeping body. Sunny turned to face the two soldiers behind them.

“We aren’t going to hesitate if you don’t surrender,” a soldier declared.

“We’ll spear you!” cried another.

“Just give her up! She’s a Hornhead and you’re Earth Ponies! Don’t you know what that means?!” said one more.

Sunny widened her stance and glared at the two soldiers in front of her.

“She’s my friend! Do YOU know what THAT means?”

Hitch spoke up from behind her.

“Friend today, sure, but what about tomorrow? Can you really trust this Horn— U-Unicorn?”

Sunny nodded swiftly one time. Hitch, looking back, groaned.

“Alright then…”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

“Won’t you have more control of that shovel if you put it in your mouth?”

“Err… maybe it’s better if I just use it this way. Don’t want to go overboard, haha…”

“ENOUGH!” a soldier cried, and she lunged forward at Sunny, spear hoisted to her side. Sunny stumbled out of the way while Hitch quickly put up his shovel’s grey metal head to deflect the spear and the soldier. He then brought his shovel down and snapped the spear in half.

“Nice!” Sunny cheered. “I’m still not sure why you’re so strong but hey! It works!” Sunny then glared at the other soldier, who was awestruck, and jumped at him. He raised his spear too late so that Sunny pounced on him without being skewered. She winced as her hooves hit the soldier’s hard stone armor, however.

Behind Sunny, Hitch swiveled around as the front soldiers shouted and tried to spear him as well. He flicked his shovel head around to knock both spear tips out of his face, then bonked both soldiers on their heads with it. They crumbled.

Sunny screamed from behind Hitch.

“UHH A LITTLE HELP, MR. KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR?!”

While Sunny wrestled on the ground with the soldier she had tackled, the other soldier grabbed the spear on the ground and quickly inserted in into her hoister on the side. She roared and charged forward, but Hitch put a stop to her with a bonk from his shovel.

“That’s not nice.” He frowned. “Awww, she’s a cutie. I feel bad. Sunny, I’m not going to hit anymore of the mares, okay?”

Sunny and the last soldier grunted and grumbled as they rolled around.

“S-sure… thing…” Sunny managed. She got on top of the soldier, pulled off his helmet, and bit his ear. He yelped in pain.

“Ow ow ow stop!”

“LWEAVE MWY FWEND AWONE!”

“Okay okay!”

Hitch cleared his throat then knocked the soldier out with a shovel bonk. Sunny sat up, panting and sweating.

“I… had… him…”

“Yeaaaaaah I could see that, but the whole biting the ear thing and being all crazy isn’t cute. I couldn’t watch.”

Hitch gave Sunny a look.

“You’re a bit of a rough and tumble mare, aren’t you?”

Sunny, still catching her breath, shrugged.

“Maybe you do stand a chance against the Protector. You’re stubborn like her.” Hitch frowned. “I’ve decided you’re not as cute as I thought you were in Halfway, though.”

Sunny smirked.

“Good, because I decided a while ago that you’re definitely a weirdo and a creep. But, thanks for helping out.”

Hitch struck a pose and smiled wide.

“Hitch doesn’t let the ladies get hurt.” He faltered and looked around at the passed out soldiers. “Errr, usually.” A realization hit him and Hitch’s pupils shrunk.

“Oh no! What have I done?”

Sunny ran to Izzy and shook her. Izzy’s long, silky blue streaks covered most of her pretty, calm face. Sunny lamented the scuffs and marks on Izzy’ mulberry coat, so often covered in a beautiful sheen.

“Hey! Izzy! Wake up!”

Hitch trotted to the side of the upper deck facing the lower level. He watched the soldiers down below toss their burning comrades into the river.

“The water doesn’t get rid of the flames but it keeps them from burning you!” one of the bigger, older soldiers shouted. Soon only a hoofful of unburnt soldiers remained on the main deck. Hitch saw Nate Chivaltarry running about like a headless chicken, while the eight or so prisoners stood and watched and waited, well away from any wayward purple flames.

Sunny appeared beside Hitch.

“Hey you ponies!” Her brows pointed downward. “Don’t just stand there – knock the soldiers into the river! It’s time for a mutiny!”

* * *

The cloud of purple smoke surrounding ground zero of Rylar’s second fireball cleared up slowly. All around the immediate area was black and purple-tinted, burnt ground and ashes. In the middle of the explosion site stood Sir Bastion, purple flames covering his entire form.

Before the flames could burn the remainder of his armor (several pieces were blasted away from the explosion) and flesh, he retrieved a vial from under the side of his chest plate and broke it against his head. A mist of glowing lime green enveloped him, and the purple flames dissipated. He panted deep and long. Cuts and bruises covered his body, and everywhere dark red streaks smeared down his fur.

“So that’s how you got rid of the flames before, Titan.”

“Aye… it is. Earth Ponies… are not all… muscle and brawn.” Sir Bastion spat out a glob of blood. “That will… wake me up… tomorrow… that blast… of yours…”

Sir Bastion grinned.

“Well done… whelpling…”

The Drake stood just inside the forest and away from the blast, though some of the flames had licked the trees and left purple, oozing scars. The Drake was visibly chewing on something. Having calmed himself, he lowered his head and bent his knees.

“I’ll admit that I was afraid last time we fought. That’s why I couldn’t beat you.”

Sir Bastion chuckled, having caught most of his breath.

“You would be an even bigger foal if you were not afraid of me. You stupid Hornheads do not call me the Titan for nothing!”

The Drake shook his head.

“Not afraid of you – afraid that you would hurt Izzy! But she’s not here now to distract me!”

The Drake galloped at Sir Bastion. The Knight blew air out of the side of his mouth.

“You brainless demon, you think I am going to stand here and let you tackle me?”

Sir Bastion stared down his opponent with a sinister grin. The Drake continued his charge. Halfway to Sir Bastion, he spit out something so fast even Sir Bastion did not react in time. Though the Knight made to leap away, the purple substance from the Drake’s mouth slammed into the bottom of his hooves. Sir Bastion was caught off guard, and though his smile did not break, veins of strain popped up on his neck. One single bead of sweat flicked down from his mane.

“WHAT?”

Sir Bastion could not move in time. He looked back up. The Drake pounced, maw wide and knife-like teeth glimmering in the orange light of sunset. His teeth broke through Sir Bastion’s armor with a sound like smashing vases. Sir Bastion cried out in pain, his smile wavering for only a second, where the involuntary cry of pain took over his senses. The Drake’s fangs were long, and half of every one of them was embedded into Sir Bastion’s chest.

The Drake and Sir Bastion both grunted as they struggled – the Drake to get his fangs deeper, and Sir Bastion to keep his muscles tight so that that could not happen. Sir Bastion’s eyes widened.

“Congratulations… indeed… little serpent… puny cretin… you…”

Sir Bastion straightened his body. The sheer force of his flex pushed the Drake off of him. Thick red liquid seeped out of the stallion’s wounds.

“But that… was not enough!”

The Drake felt a shiver as in the span of a second Sir Bastion ripped his hooves out of the purple ooze with a pained grunt, kicked himself forward, and planted his front hooves firmly into the black ground beside The Drake. Sir Bastion swiveled his lower body around and lined up his back hooves for a buck.

“Farewell, Rylar the Drake!”

* * *

The victorious prisoners on the Brimstone Barge cheered with their hooves up high. Nopony heard the object soaring through the sky some distance away.

“Three cheers fer Ms. Starscout!” the eldest of the prisoners cheered.

“We’re free!” another cried.

Hitch put a hoof to his chin.

“That easily? Wait, who is controlling this ship? I’ve never bothered to go below deck before. And what about that little stallion who’s always following Bastion?”

Sunny shrugged. She stood above the prisoners on top of the remains of the wagon. The bulls were sleeping peacefully again off to one side.

“It doesn’t matter. This is good enough.” Sunny turned as she addressed the prisoners. “Listen! All of you need to go! Escape before Bastion gets back!”

Everypony looked to the port side of the Barge – on that side of the river, the forest went right up to the bank. And of course on the starboard side, there was the cobblestone road. The elder prisoner nodded.

“Ah suppose a life of hidin’ s’better than what’s waitin’ at tha castle – and ye, Ms. Starscout? Will ye come with us?”

The other prisoners repeated the same sentiment. Sunny shook her head.

“I’m still going to Castle Rockhoof! I have something I have to do there!”

The prisoners whispered forebodingly. The eldest prisoner shook his head.

“What madness possesses ye? If ye go there they’ll string y’up, whip ye, an’ then let Sir Bastion do Rockhoof-knows-what to ye…”

Sunny paused.

“Equestria.”

Everypony looked up. Sunny stood as tall and proud as she could in her damaged state, and looked up toward the sun.

“I want to see all of Equestria together – Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi. I’m going to convince the Protector that the Realm should embrace that dream, too.”

Most of the prisoners replied with various levels of confusion. One laughed out loud.

“You kidding me?” He mocked. “We got all riled up for this crazy mare? Listen, I might not like Castle Rockhoof, but I hate the Hornheads more. My father died fighting them!”

Some others agreed. The eldest prisoner looked down and sighed. Sunny remained steadfast and spoke steadily.

“I’ve heard that before from other ponies. I know it’s a scary idea, and I know that you’ve all lost ponies you love. I might not have any personal connection to the past wars, but—”

One of the younger prisoners snapped at Sunny. A colt with white fur and a short brown mane.

“Then don’t talk!”

Tears filled his small eyes. The colt shouted at Sunny with all of his heart.

“I lost my mom and dad because of the Hornheads! All we did was walk over the border to pick the tastiest berries, and they took them away! The Hornheads almost got me, too! I said bad things about the Realm because noearthpony wanted to help me save my parents – that doesn’t mean I want to help make it so the Hornheads get to come here! I hate them!”

The other prisoners all agreed in unison. The eldest one shook his head.

“Ms. Starscout… ye’d have ta bring the Warlock King here and get ‘im to beg us for peace ‘fore any of us would agree to that — no, even more than that. He and all the other Hornheads would have to rebuild everythin’ they broke, an’ bring back everyone they took from us! And that’s to say nothin’ of the Featherfreaks… just as bad, them.”

Sunny paused while the prisoners ripped into her. Hitch backed up uneasily.

Then, Sunny found an answer.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do – I’ll get the Warlock King to come here and apologize! And the leader of the Pegasi, too!”

The prisoners either laughed or glared.

“Rubbish!”

“Stop talking already, I’m leaving. Bleh!”

“Crazy mare…”

The prisoners abandoned ship, a few even spry enough to jump right onto the river bank from the Barge. The eldest of them looked at Sunny and shook his head, sighing.

“We need new leadership… more protection from Hornheads an’ those dogs from the south… but not this craziness. Not again…”

Sunny blinked in rapid succession.

“Again?”

The eldest prisoner, even old as he was, crawled over the ship wall and swam to the shore. Sunny shook and bit her lip. She winced and fell to her knees, the pain having returned. Hitch took a step closer.

“Sunny…”

Her mane covered her face so Hitch could see nothing but a magenta mane. Sunny sniffled.

“It’s possible, Hitch. I know it is.”

Hitch’s mouth became a line and he rubbed his left hoof against his right.

“It just sounds like a foalish dream though, Sunny.” Hitch sighed and hung his head. “We all grow out of them, eventually. I did. I think it’s time for you to, too.”

Sunny looked up. Hitch saw fierce aquamarine eyes without a shred of doubt.

“The only thing I have left of my parents is my memories with them, talking about the perfect paradise where all ponies could play and learn and laugh together! Don’t you ever want more, Hitch? I’m tired of seeing everypony so down in the dumps all the time! It’s all because we separate ourselves and worry about the evil Unicorns or Pegasi like they’re monsters! But they’re just like us, only with horns and wings, aren’t they?”

Hitch looked away in thought, brow furrowed. Sunny continued.

“Us, those soldiers, we’re all Earth Ponies, but we just got in a fight because they had spears pointed in our faces! Isn’t it the same thing with the wars involving the Pegasi and the Unicorns?”

Hitch closed his eyes and sighed.

“Sunny I get what you’re saying, but it doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. The Earth Ponies we lost aren’t coming back, no matter what happens. Even if we all join hooves and sing and dance and throw big parties with cake and balloons! The resentment won’t go away.” Hitch opened his eyes. They were wet. “We’ve lost too much. I’ve…” Hitch looked away and grumble-sighed. His ears drooped and he hung his head. Sunny’s ears twitched and her mouth opened.

“Oh, Hitch, I — I remember. Your parents, I—”

The sound of breaking glass rang through the air. Hitch and Sunny looked up at the upper deck toward the sound, then back at one another, then raced up the stairs. Sunny had to stop at the base of the stairs as pain in her stomach, hooves, and lungs forced her to stop herself before she collapsed. She shook her head and continued upward.

On the upper deck Sunny and Hitch found Nate Chivaltarry, holding a strange lizard in his hoof. Beside him was a pedestal and a bunch of broken glass. Nate threw the wriggling creature into the water and turned to Sunny and Hitch with all the confidence he could muster.

“I-It’s a Warning Skink! It’s going to warn the second dock!” Nate stood up as tall as he could. “This e-ends now!” Sunny and Hitch shared a look once again then ran to the side of the upper deck. Sure enough, up the river, they saw the strange lizard swimming rapidly upstream. Its iridescent scales were hard to miss.

“Sunny,” Hitch said seriously. “Please knock me out so I can pretend not to be a part of this.”

Sunny shook her head.

“It’s too late for that, Hitch. The soldiers already saw you knock them out. Plus, there’s him.” Sunny motioned toward a shaking Nate Chivaltarry. When mentioned he lowered his head and kicked his hoof as if preparing to charge.

“I-If you want to fight… I’ll fight you!”

Hitch sighed. “Ahh, right. Them. Poop.”

“D-Don’t ignore me!”

Izzy groaned and stirred. Sunny lit up. She ran and put a hoof on her friend.

“Izzy! You’re okay!”

Hitch followed behind, leaving Nate Chivaltarry to shiver and stare with worried eyes. Sunny cried with relief and hugged her Unicorn pal.

“Oof.” Izzy groaned. “N-not really. I’m feeling… owwy wowy…”

Sunny chuckled and hugged Izzy tighter. The Unicorn managed to return the embrace. Hitch looked skyward and groaned.

“What a disaster! Here I am with a Hornhead, a—”
“Unicorn!”

“R-right, a Unicorn. A Unicorn, a fugitive Earth Pony who wants to talk everyearthpony into peace, and a couple of soldiers who are going to get me put into stockades for a month. Oh, and then there’s that guy!” He pointed at Nate, who jumped back and yelped. “Well, this couldn’t get any worse!”

Izzy sat up straight, fear in her eyes and voice.

“Wait, w-where’s Rye Rye?!”

A metal bang resounded from the main deck. Hitch’s eyes became pin pricks.

“Oh no. Please, don’t tell me that’s—”

A large blur rushed up the stairs and tackled Hitch. The screaming form of Hitch flew into the air like he weighed nothing. He twirled far down the river, eventually fading away. To where, Sunny couldn’t guess. But she and Izzy had a much bigger problem to worry about.

“Ms. Starscout…”

Sir Bastion, what was left of him in his post-battle state, stood tall above the laying mares. Sunny saw a lot of blood, mashed up armor, dirt, and purple soot. Not one part of Sir Bastion’s otherwise immaculate coat was still tan – it was brown, black, red, or purple.

“You are… quite… the troublemaker… indeed…”

Sunny snarled at the Knight of the Realm. Her vision went foggy. Pangs of pain in her stomach returned, with a vengeance, and she groaned in agony. Izzy looked at her with wet eyes.

“Sunny?”

Sunny’s weary body collapsed, and to the backdrop of Sir Bastion’s strained laughter and Nate’s cry of relief, the waking world disappeared.

12 - Of Potions and Ponies

An emerald field of grass stretched out before Sunny, and everywhere a pink, yellow, or baby blue flower moved with the breeze. Sometimes, the ground curved upward and became a hill, and on top there would be a huge oak tree. Sunny smiled.

She ran through the field and laughed with abandon. Bumblebees flew from flowers when she disturbed them, and tiny blue jays chirped and sang and followed her. Sunny jumped into the grass, turned onto her back, and watched the clouds above sail by. The air was warm on her fur, and Sunny could smell pollen.

Something in the air caught Sunny’s eye, creating streaks of rainbow behind it. It was nearly as blue as the sky, so Sunny could only catch a glimpse of it whenever it passed in front of a cloud, but she quickly realized it was a Pegasus.

Sunny gasped.

“It’s the figurine! The mare from my figurines!”

The Pegasus zipped and zooped in the sky, performed a loop-de-loop, then changed course and flew at Sunny.

“W-whoa, watch out!”

Sunny leapt out of the way and landed in a bed of yellow flowers. She shook her head as she got up. She turned around and saw the Pegasus had landed not far away.

“Hey. Sup?”

The Pegasus had magenta eyes that reminded Sunny of her own mane color. The Pegasus’s mane was rainbow-colored like the streaks she had left in the sky, and she was indeed as blue as that endless sea above. The Pegasus looked confident and proud, just like the figurine Sunny knew all too well. Sunny beamed and bounced in place.

“I can’t believe it’s you — oh I have so many questions! I uhh — can you tell me your name? I always made up names for you six, but I really want to know if—”

The Pegasus corked Sunny’s mouth with a hoof and chuckled.

“Hey kid, calm down. One thing at a time.”

The Pegasus thrust her head up and threw her mane out of her eyes.

“I can’t tell you my name buuut I can tell you I’m a super awesome pony who flies around and can kick clouds a mile away!”

The Pegasus assumed an excited stance as if ready to pounce.

“You wanna see?”

Sunny lit up.

“Do I!?”

Sunny watched the Pegasus fly about for what must have been hours, although Sunny stopped caring about time. She lied back in the grass, inhaled the fresh scent of summer, and closed her eyes with a sigh.

Somepony whistled in the distance. Sunny opened one eye.

“Sunny Bunny, are you out there?”

Sunny’s mouth dropped. She scrambled to her hooves.

“D-Dad?”

Sure enough Sunny spotted a pony at the top of a distant hill with another pony by his side. Sunny’s lips quivered.

“Dad, Mom, I’m over here!”

Sunny broke into a full gallop, tears streaming down her face. As she got closer, there could be no doubt it was them.

Her father had a tall mane of blue, swept back and revealing his spectacles. His coat was a similar shade to the Pegasus’s, with a pair of mutton chops sitting just below his cheeks. He wore an emblem made of wood around his neck with a six pointed star carved into it. It was unmistakably him.

Sunny’s mother, on the other hoof, looked more like Sunny. Her mane was a similar color but darker and shorter, and her fur was more yellow than salmon. She chuckled as her daughter closed in.

“Get ready, Argyle, she’s going to—”

Sunny tackled her mom and dad to the ground and hugged them tight and sobbed.

“I missed you guys so much!”

The three ponies embraced. Sunny’s mother brushed her daughter’s hair and shushed her while Sunny’s father patted Sunny’s back.

“Sunny Bunny, we’ve been here the whole time. It’s you who we haven’t seen in a long time.”

Sunny sniffled and pulled off of her parents. They stood up and smiled at her.

“But mom, dad, where are we?”

Sunny’s mother looked up to the sky. Sunny followed the gaze and spotted the Pegasus floating on a cloud not far away, waving at the three Earth Ponies below.

“In short,” Sunny’s father said, “We’re inside your mind. This is a dream.”

Sunny frowned as the Pegasus leapt off her cloud and dived toward Sunny and her parents.

“O-oh… I guess that makes sense…”

Sunny looked down at the grass swaying in the gentle breeze. It was a beautiful day in her dreams – the sun was big and heavy with light. It seemed so perfect. Sunny felt fresh tears building at the corners of her eyes.

“I just hoped… I mean, I guess I—”

“Listen kid!”

The Pegasus landed beside the three Earth Ponies with a gust of air and Sunny looked up.

“You’ve got a job to do! There’s no time for dreaming! Equestria has been waiting for way too long!”

Sunny looked at the Pegasus and then at her parents. Everypony smiled at her. Such resolute smiles. Sunny shook her head.

“All I do is dream – even when I’m awake. I’m not sure what I’m really doing, I’m just doing what feels right. It’s like a gut feeling. I know, it’s insane, but I—”

Sunny’s mother put a hoof on her daughter’s shoulder.

“That’s exactly what we raised you to do.”

Sunny’s father put a hoof to his chest.

“Remember what we used to say? ‘Anything you do, do it hoof to heart!’” Sunny’s father closed his eyes and patted his chest. Sunny sniffled and did the same thing. “You didn’t forget what it means, did you Sunny Bunny?”

Sunny shook her head and smiled.

“It means we put our heart into everything.”

“And that’s enough. You’ll see. But you can’t lose your way.”

The world started to shake. Sunny looked around frantically.

“W-what’s happening? Mom? Dad?”

The Pegasus and Sunny’s parents flickered like dying candles. Still, everypony smiled at Sunny. Her mother spoke, so close physically yet she sounded far away.

“Don’t forget what Old Man Withers told you — find yourself! And then, find the Wise One. She can explain everything to you.”

Sunny’s body suddenly shot into the sky as if some invisible force pulled her up. The earth below continued to quake. Sunny reached out.

“No! Mom, dad! I can’t do this alone!”

Sunny flew up higher and higher. She heard the voice of the Pegasus shouting far below.

“You’re not alone, Sunny Starscout! You’ve got your pals now, remember?!”

A flash of light and a huge gust of wind hit Sunny.

* * *

Sunny returned to the waking world with a jolt. She sat upright in the bed she was lying in and felt cold sweat mat her mane and fur. She looked around.

The room had dull white walls and a few small windows letting in enough light to see what was inside. There was the bare-bones bed with the thin sheet that Sunny was laying in, and a rickety wooden table against the wall opposite the bed. On it was a tray full of little clay jars and vials. Sunny panted and held her beating chest. She whimpered and closed her eyes.

“Mom, dad, I—”

The door creaked open. A mare walked in.

“Oh! You’re awake, Ms. Starscout!”

The mare smiled in such a genuine way, and given Sunny’s predicament, it threw her off. Sunny made to leave the bed but discovered a tight chain around her left forehoof, attached to a piece of metal on the wall. She groaned when she accidentally yanked at the sore hoof.

Sunny glared at the wall, her forehoof, and then at the mare.

“Where am I?”

She’s pretty too, like Izzy… jeez… and I thought school was bad…

The mare’s eyes twinkled with amber irises brought to life by her full, black lashes. Her mane was a lime green twisted into so many braids - her coat a daisy yellow. Her dimples popped when she smiled. The mare wore a vest that contained slots for vials and things to be inserted and carried on her chest and on her side, and an off-white handkerchief with a pattern of flowers hung around her neck.

“This is one of the respite lodges – you’re halfway to Castle Rockhoof.” The mare closed the door behind her, walked to the table, and placed a few vials from her vest on it. Sunny saw all colors of fluids inside. The mare continued. “When the Barge arrived at our dock, Sir Bastion was in bad shape but still carried you with one hoof! I’ve had to tend to both of you all night” — the mare covered her mouth with a hoof, closed her eyes, and giggled — “If you can believe it, they don’t have any apothecaries at the Castle. Not a one!”

Sunny did not relax her glare.

“And you? Who are you? And where’s Izzy?!”

The mare did a curtsy and cleared her throat daintily.

“My name is Layla Grassroots. I’m an apothecary from Tall Tale. The Protector sent for me a week ago, and lucky for you and Sir Bastion — umm, well, he seems pretty tough, so he probably would have been fine. But you - if I wasn’t here…” Layla giggled. “I’m afraid you might have lost your hooves! They were getting pretty bad from those chains.”

Sunny quickly pulled her hooves from under the covers. Bandages marked where Sir Bastion’s chains had been previously. The newest chain was in a different spot. Sunny breathed a sigh of relief.

“It still hurts a bit but… wow. I didn’t realize it was that bad.” Sunny mock coughed. “Thanks…”

Layla smiled warmly and cocked her head.

“You’re very welcome, Ms. Starscout! The Protector will want you in one piece.” Sunny noticed a slight change in Layla’s demeanor. “If you fail to take to the reeducation, well…” Layla frowned. “I’m afraid she may have to resort to Sir Bastion’s way of doing things.”

Layla’s whole body twitched as if she had remembered something.

“Oh, right! The Warlock King’s sister.” Layla sighed and closed her eyes in a pensive expression. “Unfortunately, I don’t think happy times await her. She’s outside in a cage now, but there is no reeducation offered to Hornheads. I believe Sir Bastion will interrogate her for secrets, and then the Protector will probably want me to make some Fluidius Forgetius before we send her back to her brother.”

Layla smiled and the end of her tongue poked out of her mouth.

“We wouldn’t want the Hornhead to spill the beans about the interrogation – that really WOULD cause an incident!”

Layla grabbed a vial off the table and moved beside Sunny’s bed, humming while she did so. Sunny shuffled back until the chain would not permit her to go back any further. Her stare was as hateful as any she had given to Sir Bastion.

“None of you are going to put a hoof on Izzy — get that stuff away from me! I’m not drinking it!”

Layla frowned.

“But if you won’t let me give you the Treesap Tincture, I’ll have to get Sir Bastion to do it.” Her mouth screwed into a worried, diagonal line. “Annnd if he has to do it, it won’t be very pretty. As an apothecary, I really must see that your treatment is done properly. Any rough behavior could cause the healing process to rebound.”

Sunny struggled to pull her hoof out of the chain. Layla uncorked the vial and emerald green mist came out of the top, the same color as the slightly glowing fluid inside. Sunny gritted her teeth and turned her head.

“Come on,” Layla assured, “It will make you feel better. It numbs the body for a few hours and lets it heal faster. Don’t worry – you’ll be riding on the Barge, so no need for walking or trying to escape!”

Layla brought the vial to Sunny’s lips but she refused to open up. The smell of the fluid hit the back of Sunny’s nostrils – an invigorating aroma of tree bark, sap, and wood chips. Sunny involuntarily opened her lips and Layla quickly poured the Tincture inside.

Sunny hacked and gagged but the fluid made its way down her throat nonetheless. It was cool and refreshing, Sunny had to admit to herself, but try as she might there was nothing left to cough up when she tried, so instead she rubbed her hooves against her tongue. Layla giggled.

“There! Not so bad, is it? My, you’re like a foal getting some medicine from her mother!”

Layla smiled and turned to leave, getting to the door when Sunny spoke.

“Wait! Izzy has a scroll from the Voice of the Five Tribes! You need to let her go!”

Layla sighed.

“That thing... it can’t save the Hornhead now. Sir Bastion has confiscated the fake scroll.” Layla made a sad noise, then left, closing the door behind her.

“Wait! WAIT! IT’S NOT FAKE! DON’T TOUCH IZZY! LEAVE HER ALONE! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO LET HER GO!”

Sunny struggled against her chain for a few minutes until the Tincture, just as Layla said, began to take effect. Sunny’s vision spun, and her body numbed to the point that, while she could move all her extremities, it was like doing so after sitting on a leg for a long time. It was the same tingling sensation, albeit not unpleasant.

Sunny fell back, head onto the pillow, her body reacting against her wishes. She stared at the ceiling, letting her thoughts ruminate.

“This is… not good… I have to… save Izzy…”

After a long time, the door burst open and flew to the other side of the room, right beside Sunny’s bed, shattering against the wall. Sunny forced her upper half up to see who it was. Her face soured and the stallion at the doorway smirked, as he always did.

“Oops.”

* * *

Little blue birds chirped in the sky and the hot sun looked down upon the world with its furious, boiling glance. Bumblebees flew from flower to flower, collecting pollen for their hives. Truly it was a remarkable day – Sir Bastion breathed the air. He closed his eyes and savored the taste of the Realm’s scent. For once his wide smile betrayed his emotions in their entirety.

“Ahh, perfection. Truly, truly perfection, this day.”

Sir Bastion, in a new set of fancy bronze armor, and looking as if the previous day’s fight had not occurred, stood tall and proud in the center of a ring of Earth Pony soldiers, plus Layla Grassroots and another mare, much larger and bulkier than even Sir Bastion.

Sunny Starscout and her friends, as luck would have it, were in little cages just beyond. They had front row seats to the meeting Sir Bastion was holding, and just behind were a number of little boring grey buildings with thatch roofs – the “respite lodges” Layla had mentioned. And further back was a similar albeit larger building – the barracks, or so Sunny reckoned. And beyond that still was the dock and Rockhoof’s River.

And, at the end of Rockhoof’s River…

Sunny sighed. The Tincture made her body sluggish – and she didn’t feel like moving anyway, so she laid and stared at the cage bars.

At least I’m not in pain anymore… and I got to eat.

Luckily for Sunny, Layla Grassroots intervened on her behalf and Sir Bastion permitted her to eat enough soldier gruel (the only food available at that halfway point to the Castle – Sir Bastion’s orders) to fill her stomach.

“Thank goodness you’re okay Sunny!” It was Izzy in the adjacent cage. “I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault, I…” She trailed off. Hitch, on the other side, chuckled.

“Yes, now you’ll be awake for the whole ride to the Castle! And look!”

Hitch threw up a hoof.

“Now I get to come with you as a prisoner! Oh, by the way, Sir Bastion revoked my sheriff status! Thanks, Sunny!”

Izzy awkwardly shuffled out of the way so Sunny could glare at Hitch once she shifted her body and looked up, with great effort. Sunny saw that all of Hitch's things were taken, including his sheriff’s star and shovel. Her speaking was slower and strained.

“I don’t recall ever… asking for your help! But you’re welcome; next time maybe… don’t let that creep push you… into the river! Why didn’t you… escape?”

Hitch pointed back toward Sir Bastion.

“With him on my tail? Even after his fight I didn’t stand a chance trying to run away! And that big one, Crusharra, would have turned me into jelly if Sir Bastion didn’t buck me into this cage!” Hitch smiled flirtatiously and flipped his mane up. “But, uhh, at one point they did have that cute mare with the green braids take a look at me and I got to go to the bathroom behind a tree. So it’s not all bad.” Hitch chuckled and stared at Layla Grassroots. “Cute as a button. ♪Layla oooo Laaaaayla♫.”

Sunny’s face turned red. She wanted to kick Hitch, or at least throw something at him, but there was nothing to throw and no way to kick his flank. Sunny was too numb and released her anger with a sigh and looked up at Izzy. Seeing the Unicorn with a tiny smile on her face made Sunny smile in turn.

“I’m glad you’re okay, too, Izzy.” Sunny’s face contorted into worry. “But, your things… the scroll…”

“Don’t worry Sunny! It will be okay. I’m sorry to be so much trouble.” Izzy looked to the dirt. “But I won’t cause you any more soon enough, I suppose.” Sunny’s brows pointed downward.

“Izzy, I absolutely won’t let… Sir Bastion lay a hoof on you! I promise - hoof to heart!” Sunny struggled to turn onto her side so she could actually put her hoof to her chest.

Hitch blew air out of his mouth.

“Hoof to heart – really? That corny gesture again?”

Sunny glared at Hitch.

“Your brother always… seemed to like it!”

Hitch jumped back, looking like a little colt. Sunny smirked.

“Yep, I remember Halter. Never forgot him… in fact. I heard he went… to Castle Rockhoof… ages ago… and I bet you got kicked out… because you were trying… to one-up him like… when we were in school.”

Hitch glared back at Sunny, his lips closed and puffed, ears sticking straight up. Sunny continued, letting her neck relax and resting her head against the grass and dirt.

“It all makes… sense to me now. I forgot you… were his brother. To me you were… always the whiny little colt… who couldn’t accept that everypony liked… his big brother more than him.”

Hitch stopped glaring and looked away. Sunny waited for a response and, failing to get one, she forced herself to look up again. Hitch’s brows were sad. He sighed.

“Halter’s not at the castle. Noearthpony knows where he is.”

Sunny frowned. She opened her mouth, but Sir Bastion’s voice assaulted her ears and cut off any hopes of a reply.

“Now my dearest Crusharra: I have been, against my will, healing for a half day now. Tell me — why are you here and not your page?”

Sunny strained her neck and head so she could watch the meeting, though from a sideways angle. The giant mare bowed for Sir Bastion, her maroon ponytail reaching her chest as she leaned forward. Her coat was a peachy shade, and like Sir Bastion, most of it was covered up by thick bronze armor. She was taller than even Sir Bastion, and was so bulky she looked more like an elephant than a pony. Her voice was deep and loud for a mare.

“Sir Bastion! I’m sorry! My page quit!” She bowed her head and kicked the dirt. “I, umm, accidentally slammed her… into a tree… so I was told to come perform my page’s duties until they find me another one.”

Sir Bastion looked up at his compatriot with a look of disdain.

“Honestly? Crusharra, that is the third page in months. I appreciate your vigor, but good pages are hard to come by. Like my Nate Chivaltarry, for example!”

Sir Bastion turned around and around. He spotted his page off to the side, staring at Layla Grassroots. Sir Bastion cleared his throat, and the blushing page scurried to his master’s side.

“S-s-sorry Sir Bastion! I was uhh…”

The soldiers laughed. Sir Bastion, smiling as always, patted his page on the back hard enough to rattle his armor.

“Nevermind that, dear page! You released the Warning Skink on the boat, despite your cowardly fear! If something, Protector-willing, had happened to me, that would have been the only way to stop those prisoners. Although, you DID fail in preventing the bulk of them from escaping.”

Sir Bastion leaned close to his page. Nate avoided looking at the giant crescent smile and sucked in his lips. Sir Bastion chuckled.

“Anyway, we have the Starscout, Trashblamer, and most importantly the Hornhead. I would say this is an excellent haul. I will hunt down the escapees and punish them accordingly soon enough.”

Dame Crusharra stomped her hoof.

“But Sir, Sir! The Drake is still out there! Give me the order and I will capture him myself!”

Sir Bastion hmphed.

“Vigor only counts for so much, Crusharra. The Drake is weakened, but he could still best you, I am afraid. He has the aid of his Hornhead trickery and machines.” He turned to the caged Sunny, and so did the others. “I will track down and deal with the Drake once I ensure that one is safely inside the dungeons of Castle Rockhoof.” Nate Chivaltarry poked his master with a hoof. Sir Bastion raised an eyebrow.

“B-but master, p-perhaps a general alert should be issued? T-to protect the Earth Ponies in the n-nearby villages and towns.”

Sir Bastion stamped a single hoof against the dirt.

“Right you are, dear page! Right you are!” Sir Bastion turned to a random soldier. “You! Sound the general alert – a Hornhead villain is in the area. Do not approach under any circumstances.”

The soldier quickly saluted and was off. Sir Bastion, and then everypony else, turned back to Sunny.

“Ms. Starscout,” Sir Bastion asked, “How has your stay been? Relaxing? Comforting?” Sunny glared a response. Sir Bastion laughed. “You look like you are taking a nap - are you tired? I should have thought you would be well rested by now. Our dear little apothecary Ms. Grassroots patched you up on my request, you know. Enjoy it while it lasts.” Sir Bastion narrowed his eyes and his smile widened. “What awaits you at the Castle will more than make up for the suffering that I endured knowing you were being healed.”

Sunny strained again to look up. She spit toward Sir Bastion. It landed unceremoniously some feet away. A single vein popped up on Sir Bastion’s neck.

“Charming mare. We will see how charming you are after I am done with you.”

Layla Grassroots chimed in with a giggle.

“Don’t forget, Sir Bastion! The reeducation comes first!”

Sir Bastion sighed.

“No, I cannot forget, because ponies keep reminding me.” Sir Bastion stared at his page, who himself was again lost in Layla’s eyes. “Nate, you and this one would make a great pair — you are both little nuisances.” Nate barely seemed to notice the words, but Layla frowned. Sir Bastion noticed and bowed.

“Ahh, my apologies, dear apothecary. I did not mean much offence. We do appreciate your potions and your healing abilities.” Sir Bastion raised his neck and addressed the soldiers with a louder voice. “All of you! Do not forget to give Ms. Grassroots your utmost thanks for sharing with us her knowledge and application of Meadowbrook’s secret potion arts! Never forget what we must defend from the Hornheads and Featherfreaks!”

“YES SIR BASTION!” was the resounding cry in response.

Suddenly, Dame Crusharra locked eyes with Hitch and stomped up to his cage. He scurried back as much he could, looking like a mouse in front of the angry cat that was Dame Crusharra. She leaned down so she could look at Hitch.

“YOU!” She looked back at Sir Bastion. “Sir Bastion, I know what you said earlier, but permission to beat this one up, please? He made Castle Rockhoof look bad! And his brother, the head sheriff! He just died a few weeks ago!”

Hitch took a step forward, emboldened from anger.

“Don’t you dare talk about my brother as if any of you actually care! And he’s not dead!”

Sir Bastion approached Hitch’s cage but stopped a foot or so away.

“Crusharra, the idiot needs to be in one piece as well. I want to watch his pleas before the Protector fail utterly, and then I want to be the one to break him.” He looked up at Dame Crusharra, who was nearly frothing. If Sunny thought Sir Bastion’s neck veins looked like little worms then Dame Crusharra’s were huge, angry snakes. Sir Bastion continued. “Although, perhaps I will let you smack him around a few times. You have always been a good and loyal Knight of the Realm.”

Dame Crusharra smiled sinisterly.

“Thank you, Sir Bastion.”

Sunny could hold in her emotions no longer. She brought up her head again.

“Hey jerkface!” Everypony looked at her. Sunny forced a strained, defiant smile. “Just so you know… you’re never going to break me… and I’m not going to let you touch a hair… on Izzy’s head!”

Sunny stuck out her tongue and wagged it around. Sir Bastion’s neck veins popped up again. One of the soldiers snickered. Sir Bastion marched over and bucked the terrified soldier into the trees. Everypony else remained silent after that, everypony except Sunny, whose temper flared.

“Hey! Stop doing that to your fellow soldiers! What is wrong with you, you jerk?!”

Sir Bastion snorted out as if holding in a great stress. Dame Crushara roared with rage.

“YOU PUKE! HOW DARE YOU TALK TO SIR BASTION THAT WAY!”

She prepared to tackle the cage, but Sir Bastion held up a hoof. He stared at Sunny, no part of his face twitching. Sunny felt the weight of the creepy smile on her and was forced to look away.

“Soon, Ms. Starscout. Soon. If I did not respect the Protector, her family, and the hierarchy that keeps this Realm intact, trust me when I say you would be getting what you deserve right this second.”

Sir Bastion turned to a random soldier.

“Get a gag on her – and new chains to keep her from removing it. And this time, no exceptions.”

Sir Bastion addressed everypony else.

“It’s time to leave! To Castle Rockhoof!”

13 - Castletown

Soldiers of the Realm tossed the bruised body of Hitch back into his cage. Sunny and her friends were back on the Barge – her inside the Special Happy Fun Cage, the bars bent back into place by Sir Bastion, and the others in cages newly placed beside her on either side. Sunny had a gag in her mouth, so she could only spit and moan about Hitch’s state. It was still difficult to raise her head.

The Barge kicked into motion as Dame Crusharra crossed back over the gangplank.

“If it wasn’t for Sir Bastion, I would do worse.”

Hitch’s body had been well worked over by the Knight. Scrapes and scuffs marked his body and disturbed his fur, and his breathing was shaky. He forced himself up to his shaky hooves.

“Ahh whatever, Sunny,” he said with labored breath. “Guess I deserve it. What was I thinking…”

He looked down at Sunny, eyes wet.

“This whole thing is a joke. Maybe I should return to Maretime Bay and just accept—” He gritted his teeth and turned away with a grunt. Izzy’s bottom lip shook and she whimpered.

“Oh Mr. Trailblazer, I know how you feel. I mean… sorry, kind of.”

Hitch just sulked to a corner of his cage and Sunny listened from her numb state on the floor of the Barge. Izzy continued.

“My brother hasn’t been the same since we were younger – in a way, it’s sort of like he’s… you know…”.

“No, Hornhead, I don’t know! My brother isn’t dead!”

Izzy yelped and covered her face. Hitch sighed. He looked over at Izzy.

“I’m sorry. I just…”

Hitch lowered his head.

“Halter disappeared about a month ago. Everyearthpony at the Castle wrote it off because of the rule that if an Earth Pony goes missing after leaving the Realm or entering Hornhead territory – y’know, Unicornia, or whatever you call it — well, they just consider them dead.”

Hitch rested his head against the bars of the cage. Izzy’s eyes twinkled with wetness. Sunny listened quietly. Hitch continued.

“I tried talking the Protector into sending a search party, or an investigator, or something! If I went myself I’d just end up the same way – if my brother couldn’t cut the mustard, how could I? But it didn’t work, no matter what I did. No matter if I begged or offered to take on more duties. I just kept asking and asking and I got fed up with her. So, she banished me from the Castle, and now I refuse to perform my duties or anything else until he’s back.”

He opened his eyes and slowly looked up again, at Izzy and then down at Sunny.

“I guess we’re not too different, Sunny and me. Both stupid with stupid dreams.”

Izzy ears flicked. She shook her head.

“No Mr. Trailblazer, I don’t think—” Hitch looked at her, and Izzy covered her mouth. “S-sorry…”

Hitch couldn’t hold back a chuckle and a smile.

“You don’t have to apologize all the time – you make me feel bad and YOU’RE the enemy.” He chuckled again as if it might lighten the awkward mood, but it didn’t help. Izzy looked away – Hitch bit his lip.

“This is weird. You’re a Horn—Unicorn. I thought you’d be snarling at me, or trying to eat me, or casting a spell. Is this really you? Is this a trick?”

Izzy and Hitch locked eyes, Hitch’s determined and Izzy’s glassy. Izzy’s mouth became a thin awkward line – her pupils darted from side to side. She struck a pose with one hoof in the air.

“Ta da!” she cried.

Hitch cringed.

“Yep, that was definitely a sincere gesture… and a corny one.” The two ponies laughed. One of the soldiers came to Hitch’s cage and jabbed him with the blunt end of a spear.

“No merriment among prisoners!”

Hitch fell to his knees and winced. Izzy’s cheeks puffed up.

“M-meanie hooves!” she cried.

The soldier turned and prepared to hit Izzy.

“You want some too, monster?!”

A loud voice from the other end of the Barge stopped the soldier in his tracks.

“Surely, young soldier, you are not disobeying my explicit orders to refrain from injuring the prisoners further?”

Izzy watched the soldier’s pupils grow small and sweat start to drip from his face. He swiveled around, saluted, and shakily replied.

“N-No S-Sir Bastion, sir! Never!”

Sir Bastion pulled out a flask from his armor.

“See that you do not.”

The soldier scurried away to some other part of the boat. Izzy tried to glare at Sir Bastion, like she had seen Sunny do, but had to immediately look away. Whatever Sir Bastion had in his flask, he took a big long swig of it and then returned the flask to under his chest piece.

“Spooky wooky…” Izzy said. Hitch breathed in sharply.

“Yeaaaah, I’ve heard rumors - rumors that he has been drinking forbidden potions that give him his freakish strength. I’ve also heard that he trains sixteen hours a day, basically whenever he’s not out capturing Earth Pony traitors or stealing furniture from the locals, but I don’t really now for sure. I don’t know if anyearthpony does. I try to stay away from anywhere Sir Bastion goes, for obvious reasons.”

“R-Right. Forbidden potions?”

“Yeah. Some potions are expressly forbidden from consumption by the Protector because they can lead to ponies going cuckoo bananas.”

“C-cuckoo bananas?”

“Crazy.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, Meadowbrook was able to make all kinds of potions, even some that she regretted. The ponies she taught must have wrote down some of the recipes and continued to make them.”

Izzy shuddered.

“I heard that that Meadowbrook pony used to forcefeed ponies all kinds of weird things to see how it affected them, and once she even made a zombie pony come alive!”

“That must just be some dumb Unicorn legend. Meadowbrook was a healer and a hero of the Earth Ponies who saved hundreds of lives. And anyway, you’re not one to talk, Ms. Warlock King’s Sister!”

Hitch’s expression shifted from neutral to a glare.

“By the way, if you Unicorns are holding my brother in a cell, you better let him go.”

“H-how should I know, I don’t work with the Border Guard!”

“You’re the Warlock King’s sister” — Hitch squinted at an uneasy Izzy — “You should know who the prisoners are.”

Izzy puffed up her chest and cheeks.

“Well, sorry, I don’t! If prisoners are caught they get ransomed back eventually, if your leaders will pay the price. And my brother is not a warlock or a king, he’s the Voice of the Five Tribes…” Izzy lay down and sighed sadly. “He’s going to be so furious when I go back – if I do go back.”

Hitch turned away, anger still weighing on his brow.

“Ransom? There’s a fat chance of that happening. Guess I’ll have to deal with this myself…”

“Are you sure he’s in Unicornia? Maybe he went to a neutral city, or somewhere else.”

Hitch shook his head.

“My brother wouldn’t just leave. Everyearthpony loves him, and he has a high ranking position. Not to mention he and I are the only family either of us has – there’s no way he would just leave. He was foalnapped, I know it.”

Some time passed. Hitch lay down to rest his damaged hooves and troubled mind, and Izzy squinted at the sun in the sky as she tried to relax and think happy thoughts. A loud noise like a dying animal shook both ponies out of their respective stupors.

“Is that—”

Hitch looked over. Sunny was snoring loudly.

“She’s such a charmer, isn’t she?” Hitch asked with a laugh. Izzy giggled.

“She was like that back in Maretime Bay, too. She’s a snorer. Just like an Ursa Major!”

Hitch cocked his head.

“A whosawhatnow?”

Izzy’s tail wagged like a happy dog.

“An Ursa Major is said to be as big as a mountain and with a snore that can be heard a mile away! No Unicorn has ever seen one for over a hundred years, but I always liked to hear stories about them from my grandma. She said that they used to be more common, but they’ve been disappearing.”

Izzy pouted.

“All the magical creatures have been disappearing. The only ones we have left are Night Owls.”

Hitch readjusted himself as if listening intently. Izzy did a double take and blinked.

“O-oh, you want to hear more?”

Hitch chuckled, hints of a blush flecking his cheeks.

“Well, not like there is much else going on, right?”

Izzy beamed.

“Guess not! Umm, Night Owls. Okay, so…”

* * *

As the sun reached the center of the sky, the Brimstone Barge passed into the Heart of the Realm. Izzy’s head was on a swivel, while Hitch rested his eyes.

“Wowwy…”

On both sides of the river small, grey-stone walls stood right up against the bank. But beyond the walls - and the Barge was tall enough so Izzy could see - were grey stone or wooden buildings of different shapes and sizes, all closely packed together. They reminded Izzy a lot of Maretime Bay – shanty homes, roofs made of scrap or rusty metal, and ponies going every which way about their business with stalwart expressions. Some ponies had Cutie Marks, but many did not. Mountains that appeared bluish-brown touched the sky in the distance.

“So this is the capital of the Dirt Realm—umm! S-sorry, I m-mean, the Earth Realm!”

Hitch shrugged.

“You’re not offending me, dollface. I don’t have any particular love for this place.” Hitch glared at his hooves. “In fact, if anything, I hate it. The Protector and the Knights only care about preserving order – they’re not interested in ponies who go missing or who lose their families.” He sighed and readjusted his position so his hooves were under his chin. “I get where Sunny is coming from, and I wish we could have peace, too. It’s just that it’s not going to happen.”

Izzy looked at Hitch and frowned. Hitch continued.

“Sunny has always been that way though. Her parents were always telling her stories about a magic place where all the ponies lived and played together. She would come to school and tell everyearthpony about it, like it was Show and Tell Day every day, and you can imagine how they reacted. How I reacted. But, she never cared about being teased like I—”

Izzy looked with remorseful brows at Hitch. He noticed her staring and blushed.

“A-anyway, her dreams of peace are just that: dreams. You can agree with me, I’m sure. You guys don’t like us any more than we like you.”

“I just don’t know any of you Earth Ponies, except Sunny. She’s super nice, and when she talks, it’s like… don’t you feel like maybe it is possible to have peace? Sunny is so sure of it, it makes me kind of want to believe in it, too. I never thought about it seriously before meeting her…” Izzy looked up at the sun. “Maybe there is a chance.”

Hitch whinnied.

“The only thing there is a chance of is us getting our flanks whipped. A 99.9% chance.”

Izzy grimaced.

“99.9% h-huh?”

Layla Grassroots appeared with a red-faced and sweaty Nate Chivaltarry. The ever-happy mare hummed as she investigated Sunny’s snoring form.

“Looks like this one is still recovering, but otherwise maintaining a non-critical state of health!”

Layla turned to Izzy. The apothecary’s brows drooped and her smile faltered.

“Umm, Hornhead… I have to ask if you’re feeling okay.”

Izzy managed an awkward smile.

“Errr, I’m in a cage and about to be thrown into a dungeon buuuut… yes?”

Layla smiled and quickly turned away.

“Excellent! Good enough for me!”

Layla scowled at Hitch. He looked up and flashed a weary smile, and her scowl became an involuntary sneer.

“You’ve seen some better days, haven’t you, Mr. Trailblazer?”

“Have I seen better days, lovely? Oh yes, I have. But even cuter mares than you? Never. You’re a shining beacon of beauty, if I may be so bold as to say.”

Nate gasped and looked to the apothecary, who forced a smile and closed her eyes.

“Why thank you, Mr. Trailblazer. For that, I will sign off on your good health after all. You are ready to stand before the Judicator and argue your case!” Hitch gulped. “You better make it good because if you don’t convince her, it’s off to the reeducation!”

Layla giggled and winked at Hitch before she walked away, Nate in tow. Hitch let his face fall against the floor. His voice became muffled.

“Oh great. Things just keep getting better and better!”

Izzy hummed sadly.

“S-sorry but… I guess we’re in a tough spot, aren’t we?”

“Ya think?!”

A loud blast of the Barge’s horn shook the boat. Izzy and Hitch looked around. The movement of the paddle wheels slowed to a near halt. Sir Bastion shouted.

“Soldiers! Prepare the prisoners for transport by land - we will be taking the scenic route.”

One soldier saluted.

“Uhh, Sir Bastion? Are we not to go through the river gate and continue right to the Castle Docks?”

Sir Bastion’s smile gleamed in the midday sun and he waved his hoof as he spoke.

“You take the Barge straight through after we get off. Nate and I will escort the prisoners through Castletown to show them off. I am sure everyearthpony will be ecstatic to meet the newest advocate for embracing Hornheads and Featherfreaks!”

Hitch looked from Sir Bastion to Sunny, still fast asleep. His mouth became a slanted line.

“At least she’s not awake to see or hear any of this.”

Izzy swallowed hard.

“Is this gonna be… scary?”

Izzy’s fears were realized not long after landing. Soldiers placed her and Hitch in connected chains and led them away. Sunny, meanwhile, remained on the Barge while Sir Bastion seized another item “for the good of the Realm” – a dockworker’s cart. He returned to the Barge and retrieved a key from under his armor, which opened the Special Happy Fun Cage. Sunny flopped out like a log. Sir Bastion effortlessly tossed Sunny into one of the larger cages and then bucked it and her onto the cart on the pier. It was the perfect size for the cage.

Sir Bastion rejoined the group.

“Excellent! Nate, get one of those bulls over here and strap him to the cart. Ms. Starscout will be the guest of honor today!” Sir Bastion turned to another soldier. “You, go ahead of us and alert the Earth Ponies of Castletown that I am bringing another believer in peace with the Hornheads and Featherfreaks. Tell them it’s another fool like back then. Also, we have a Hornhead in the flesh.” The soldier nodded and ran two steps forward before Sir Bastion stopped her with a hoof. “Make sure they have lots of rotten vegetables available.”

The soldier saluted and ran off. Nate came back breathlessly, pulling on a rope attached to one of the bull’s harnesses. Sir Bastion looked Nate up and down.

“Don’t just stand there, dear page! Hop to it!”

Nate squeaked and did as commanded, attaching the bull to the cart. Layla Grassroots had joined the group, too — she giggled and watched Nate hurry with his task. Izzy shuffled nervously in place, eyes glued to Sunny in the cage. Hitch was behind her in the chain line and poked her. She looked back.

“Hey. It won’t be that bad. Most Earth Ponies don’t even care about prisoners coming through Castletown — it’s a common occurrence!”

* * *

Another stinky tomato burst against Izzy’s red face. Her big puppy dog eyes were wide and wet.

“Hornhead menace!”

“Monster! Villain!”

“Put her in the pillory! The pillory, Sir Bastion!”

The townsponies of Castletown were wild with rage, though they knew better than to step in front of Sir Bastion and his entourage’s path. The Knight of the Realm was alive with laughter as the barely-kept-at-bay mob shouted and threw things at the prisoners.

“Now, now, dear citizens of the Realm! Leave some of them intact so there is something left for me to punish properly!”

Hitch glared all around.

Castletown was no paradise, certainly not even compared to Maretime Bay. Cramped, crowded, dirty, and filled with the roughest types of Earth Ponies – at least in most of its districts. They were a tough, hard-working folk, for sure, but nopony Hitch wanted to spend his spare time with. As he scanned the faces in the crowd, they were all either snarling with hate or lit up with ill-intentioned excitement. A turnip cracked Hitch on the forehead and he shook it off.

“Hah!” he laughed. “It’s 100 points if you can get it in my mouth!”

An onion soared through the air and corked up Hitch’s mouth. The crowd laughed and Hitch quickly spit out the smelly red vegetable.

“Blah!”

Sir Bastion yanked on the chain and both Hitch and Izzy cried out as their bodies lurched forward.

“Come now, prisoners! Come now!”

The first destination for anypony leaving the Castletown Docks (itself a muddy, soot-smelling affair, with far too many burly sailor types) and heading for the Castle would be the Stone District. Ponies there tended to work with stones, in one way or another – many of them would be recruited for the mining operations in the nearby Smokey Mountains, or even to work with the Sappers. But Sir Bastion always forbade them from actually throwing their stones lest the prisoners become too injured to receive “the proper justice”.

The Stone District, like most of Castletown, consisted of one main dirt path cutting through rows and rows of shanties and some nicer stone buildings, which at many points veered off into some side road or shady alley. On that day, many of the Earth Ponies of the Stone District were lined up and taking part in what many referred to as the “festivities”.

“Three cheers for the Knights for capturing the traitor and the Hornhead!”

And the crowd made their three cheers. Hitch stared defiantly at everypony as he trudged along; Izzy kept her head down, her beautiful mane soaked with rotten vegetable juices. Tears streaked down her cheeks and she sniffled pathetically.

After the entourage left the Stone District through the soldier-guarded district gate, next was the Market District, and it was there that the projectiles were most plentiful. Hitch could have eaten his fill of squash, if they hadn’t yet spoiled.

“Do you ponies just keep piles of gross vegetables around for this?”

Hitch spotted a busy stand over the heads of the crowd with a sigh that read, “Prisoner Presents – 2 bits”. The “Presents” were boxes upon boxes of fly-covered, smelly vegetables. Hitch deadpanned.

“Oh, you do. You literally do.” Another tomato hit him in the forehead. “Sorry Izzy, I guess I was wrong. These ponies really like tormenting prisoners.” He noticed Izzy’s sniffling and that her gait was forced and pained. He shouted at Sir Bastion. “Come on, Sir Bastion! I can take this, but her? She might be a Unicorn but she’s also a mare!”

The crowd gasped and then shouted profanities at Hitch. Sir Bastion half-turned back with disgust.

“You dare so brazenly use that word?! Hash Trambler, has that former flame of yours made you fall for her traitorous rhetoric already?”

Hitch just growled. Izzy looked back at Hitch. He smiled genuinely at her and urged her on with a flick of his head. Layla Grassroots addressed the crowds.

“Don’t throw anything harder than a tomato or the prisoners may suffer grave injuries!”

After the Market District was the smaller Entertainment District – there were less ponies there waiting to throw things. Izzy dared to look around.

Many open-air pubs lined the dirt road, so that she could see the Earth Ponies inside drinking their ciders and fermented wheat beverages and carrying on with all sorts of rambunctious activities: darts, cards, dice, hoof-wrestling. One such “athlete” took a swig from a vial of red liquid while his opponent looked away, then a second later when the hoof-wrestling commenced, the “athlete” slammed his opponent’s hoof down with such force the table cracked, and the onlookers cheered.

“O-oh hay crackers…”

Hitch whispered from behind.

“That stuff’s called Liquid Power. That’s not the forbidden kind of potion – it gives you a burst of strength for a few minutes, but then you get really tired afterward. The forbidden ones are much worse.”

Izzy gulped and reluctantly continued her trudge through the muddy road.

Finally, upon leaving the Entertainment District out of the larger, more heavily-guarded district gate leading to the Castle, the entourage entered a nicer-looking part of the city with large oaks lining the road. While the road was not paved, it was made up of small grey stones instead of just dirt. The imposing Castle Rockhoof loomed not far in the distance. Izzy closed her eyes.

“It’s like an evil castle from the story books—my teacher was right!”

“Castle Rockhoof, at last…” Hitch lamented.

The enormous stone structure was divided into two parts – one on either side of Rockhoof’s River, which continued past where Sir Bastion had made the prisoners debark and even continued beyond the Castle, although gates on the river prevented unwanted traffic from heading upstream.

Each of Castle Rockhoof’s two “parts” rested on top of a huge cliff-like hill, almost mountainous in their own rights. Izzy looked over to her right where the River widened more like a lake. The Brimstone Barge was up ahead, docked under the Castle at a nicer looking pier than the one they had stopped at.

The outside walls of the Castle were gargantuan, as if a giant had stacked stones to build himself a fence. Hitch couldn’t help but admire the walls, even though he had seen them so many times before. The flag of the Realm hung on both “parts” of the Castle – a brown flag with a green image of an Earth Pony reared onto its hind hooves, ready to strike. As the entourage got closer to the hill that swerved upward, steeper as it got to the very large Western Gate, Sir Bastion called to his page.

“Nate! The bugle! Sound off!”

Nate searched his things and pulled out a small brass instrument. He held the bugle to his lips and blew a few rusty notes in a welcome flourish.

That bugle call, and not the hundreds of other noises before it, finally knocked Sunny out of her slumber. Her eyelids fluttered. The feeling and movement in her body returned. When Sunny realized it, she jumped up and down and moved around in a circle, so much as she could in the cage, larger than the Special Happy Fun Cage, but still not huge.

“Brhhlllhh! Brrrrhhhrrbbr!”

She spat around her gag in an attempt to talk.

“Brlhr!”

Hitch and Izzy noticed and lit up.

“Sunny! Thank goodness—oh but look where we are…”

“Yeah, talk about a rude awakening. Welcome to Castle Rockhoof, Sunny Starscout.”

Sunny looked up, up, up to the very top of Castle Rockhoof. The crenelated walls at the top of the tower on the corner closest to Sunny seemed to touch the clouds. She saw the huge flag of the Realm, the multiple window slits in the stone, and the awesomely huge portcullis and brown, wooden gate that led inside.

Sunny and her friends were not far from where she, admittedly, had feared going those last two days. She swallowed hard (awkward as it was with the gag).

Something caught Sunny’s eye at the top of the walls. It looked sort of like a pony, and when the thing moved and disappeared, she knew it was at least something living. Sir Bastion chuckled his arrogant laughter.

“All set for your reeducation, Ms. Starscout? I am praying that you fail. I will be waiting when you do.”

Sunny glared and spat around the gag at him as the entourage climbed the hill. A few stray soldiers on the way up were hoof clapping or hollering as the prisoners shuffled upward. At the very top, Sunny and friends realized just how big the gate was – many, many times taller than Sir Bastion, who himself was outrageously tall for a stallion.

At the top of the hill were several guards, but also two ponies: a mare wearing the same type of armor as Sir Bastion, and a stallion wearing a lighter variety like Nate Chivaltarry.

The mare, looking far sterner than Sunny had seen even Old Man Withers on a bad day, chastised Sir Bastion.

“Sir Bastion! You are half a day late, which is unacceptable! Are you finally getting rusty? Is that it?”

Sir Bastion’s smile, at the ends, curved down. It was the first time Sunny saw him frown, although it was his own variation of a frown, and it looked like a slightly less happy smile, being Sir Bastion and all.

“Must you pester me as soon as we arrive, Terra? Say what you have come to say so we can be on our way.”

Terra was the same height as Sunny, and for once it was something of a relief to meet a Knight that wasn’t freakishly large. The female Knight appeared to be the same age Sunny’s mother would have been, and a set of crescent-shaped glasses sat on her snout. Two sharp, brown eyes scanned Sir Bastion’s armor and his hooves. Terra had her mane cut into a short brunette bob cut – very proper. Her coat was tan but lighter than Sir Bastion’s.

“Pester? No no no, I am not pestering you, Sir Bastion. I am informing you that you are half a day late, and because you are late, the schedule has been thrown completely off kilter, which is unacceptable!”

She turned back to her stallion companion.

“Cabot, please refer to today’s schedule for Sir Bastion.”

Sunny saw Cabot rife through the pages on a tray connected to a device around his neck. It looked like it was used to read and write documents on the fly, using one’s mouth to turn pages or use a pencil, as the case might have been. Cabot was taller than his mistress, Sunny noticed, but other than that his brown coat and lighter shade of brown mane were totally unmemorable.

“Today’s schedule…”

Sunny laughed at the nasally, whiny voice of Cabot, although around the gag it just sounded like she was making fart noises. Izzy and Hitch looked up at her and giggled themselves. Even Nate Chivaltarry was forced to cover his smile when Cabot spoke.

“… is as follows: The prisoners transported from the River Crossroads were to arrive in the early hours of the morning after only a brief rest at the barracks near Jasperseed. Alternatively, they would arrive in the middle of the night if Sir Bastion did not take a break. And then…”

Sunny drowned out the annoying voice of Cabot. She looked behind her.

The view of Castletown from the cliffs where Castle Rockhoof was built upon was, despite Sunny’s dire situation, quite breathtaking and beautiful. While the individual buildings inside the walls far below looked no nicer than the ones in Maretime Bay (except one portion of Castletown which appeared to be filled with fine brick buildings with little chimneys), there was a definite Earth Pony charm to the vast, walled town.

The town aside, the rest of the landscape was bathed in the afternoon sunlight and reflected on the peaceful, gentle nature of the Heart of the Realm. Fields of grass, flowers, and the occasional tree were seen throughout the valley, being surrounded on two sides by mountains. One set of mountains were taller on Sunny’s left, and she assumed they were the Smokey Mountains she had heard about.

Sunny tasted a gross tomato-y flavor on her lips and rubbed her cheek. Half-dried rotten tomato came off onto her hoof and she blinked rapidly. She tested other parts of her body and, indeed, there was grosser vegetable residue. She rapidly scraped it all off of herself.

The wagon jostled forward as the bull moved again. The imposing portcullis of Castle Rockhoof slowly rose higher and higher, dirt falling from its massive metal spikes as it did. The wooden door just behind it was also creaking open.

“…Yes, yes, yes,” Sir Bastion interrupted his junior Knight, “That is all just great. We have business inside — are you able to walk AND talk, Terra? Can you manage that?”

Terra adjusted her spectacles and furrowed her brow.

“Sir Bastion, you’re unacceptable! And I can, of course, ambulate AND communicate! How rude! Vulgar! Unacceptable!”

Sir Bastion was by then halfway through the Western Gatehouse. He turned back to look at Nate, who hurriedly led the bull and by extension the wagon forward. The entourage passed Terra and Cabot, who quickly caught up to Sir Bastion.

The inside courtyard of Castle Rockhoof’s western half was filled with finely-groomed green grass, aside from areas where a path of rich, brown soil led toward the center of the entire complex. Presumably, the inner keep of the Castle was built where the two “parts” met, so that it would be hovering over Rockhoof’s River.

The inner keep shot up toward the sky, higher than the outside walls, like a fat ivory pillar. The stone, painted white, was much more reminiscent of a fairy tale castle that Sunny knew from her foalhood, and seeing it, it forced a smile onto her face. The stark contrast between those fairy tales of her foal days and the reality made her frown though – and then, as she looked at Sir Bastion’s dumb, smiling face, she scowled.

Hitch whispered to her.

“Hey. You okay?”

Sunny nodded. As the entourage passed a huge statue on their right, Sunny inspected it. The path branched out and surrounded the statue, and little stone benches and flower bushes were placed about. It was a statue of Rockhoof, so much larger and nicer than Maretime Bay’s – and painted too! Sunny had never seen Rockhoof in color before. She finally realized that his oval shaped head had a red beard, not a strange, craggy-looking chin. A giant shovel with a triangular head was raised toward the sky with one hoof.

And on the left side, further down the main path, was a giant statue of somepony Sunny had not seen before. The stone mare had her auburn-painted hair done up into a conical style, with a few tiers turning around and around on her head until it ended with a tuff at the top. A beige headscarf kept her mane out of her eyes, which had irises painted a brilliant sky blue. The mare herself was painted a turquoise sort of color, and covered with a green dress. She wore a smile.

Sunny cocked her head. Izzy audibly “Wow’d” when the group passed. Hitch sighed.

“I wish I lived back when Meadowbrook was still around. I bet I could have made her my wife…”

“Silence, fool.”

It was Sir Bastion. He roared with laughter.

“You and the hero Meadowbrook? That is as unlikely as Ms. Starscout’s little plan. Perhaps even more unlikely.”

Terra and Cabot followed Sir Bastion, Cabot hurriedly writing whatever was being said. Terra continued her verbal barrage.

“… you need to explain yourself! The Lady Protector will not be pleased that we had to wait for you! And what’s just as worse, Mr. Hoofield and Mrs. McColt have been made to wait! This isn’t the first time, Sir Bastion, and we cannot—”

Sir Bastion yawned and turned to Layla Grassroots, who had been cheerfully and quietly following along the whole while.

“Dear apothecary, I am positively pooped from our excursion. Could you whip up something to fix that?"

Layla giggled.

“Of course, Sir Bastion, but I am sure there are injured Earth Ponies that need my attention, too. Shall I seek them out first?”

“…no, I believe they will be fine to wait. This is more important.”

Sir Bastion stopped.

“Oh, right. Terra…” He turned to the mentioned mare. “Can you do the judgment on these three?” He referred to his prisoners. “We must stick to the formalities and all.”

Terra scanned the bodies of Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy. Hitch flashed her a smile. Terra sneered.

“That one is guilty. The Starscout is guilty, of course, from what I have heard. And need I say more about the Hornhead?”

Sir Bastion beamed (moreso than usual).

“Splendid! On we go, then.”

Layla turned to Terra as they all walked.

“And I can attest to their clean bills of health! Especially Mr. Trailblazer!”

Hitch protested.

“W-wait! That was it? We didn’t even get to argue our cases!” Sunny protested as well, with a spitting noise and a stomp of her hooves. Terra adjusted her glasses and continued walking.

“Your behavior is unacceptable – that is enough for a conviction.”

“Uhhh, sweetheart, I don’t think the Rule of Law works that wa—”

Terra turned around. She bucked Hitch under his chin and sent him onto his flank, pulling Izzy down as well since they were connected. Hitch rubbed his sore chin as the entourage sans Sir Bastion stopped to watch.

“You… you wretch.” Terra glared at him with an intense hate. Sunny wondered if that was how she herself looked at Sir Bastion. “Everything about you reminds me of your brother, only stupider, less charming, and unsophisticated.” Hitch glared back at Terra and gritted his teeth. “How utterly unacceptable.”

“I. Am. Not. Halter.”

Terra frowned.

“Clearly. Get up. You are your brother’s kin; therefore, I know your constitution would not allow my little tap to incapacitate you.”

Terra addressed Sir Bastion.

“Let’s get them processed with Reeducation. We need to get to the Table Chambers – the meeting of the Stone Table can commence as soon as you are ready.”

14 - The Re-education Room

Sunny and her friends passed through the guardhouse and stepped into the Western Entrance of the inner keep. Guards with crested stone helmets stood watch inside. Sunny glared at each of them, and they glared back.

The guards stepped forward.

“H-Hey! Watch the goods!” Hitch cried as one began to frisk him. Izzy yipped and yelped as two guards passed her around, investigating her for any contraband. When they noticed her horn they gasped and stepped back. Looking to Sir Bastion, they found him urging them on with a flick of his head.

“Go on. She has no laser beams to zap you with.”

Sunny snarled the best snarl she could through her gag as the guards approached. She pushed one of them, who pushed her back harder so that she collapsed onto the stone floor with a pained cry.

Sir Bastion clapped against the stones below.

“Excellent, excellent! I cannot wait to see all of that energy and enthusiasm turn to despair, Ms. Starscout!” He turned to his peer. “Terra, this one has brought me great joy. Even you can appreciate breaking down such types.”

Terra adjusted her glasses, jostling her fine-cut bob.

“Hmph. I derive no great pleasure from any of this. Mine is simply a job that is required to keep the Realm safe – it’s unacceptable to think beyond that.”

Sir Bastion sighed.

“How fun you are.”

He turned to his page as the prisoner frisking continued.

“Nate, my lad; escort the apothecary to our meagre potion supplies room.” Sir Bastion hummed. “Which is to say: if we even have one of those. In any event, you can at least show her to the garden.”

Nate jumped at the chance, cheeks burning, and he walked away down a corridor. Layla Grassroots giggled and followed him. The prisoners, meanwhile, were led down a different corridor by two of the guards. Sir Bastion kept a close eye on them. He made to follow, but Terra stopped him.

“Sir Bastion! Can we try to stick to the schedule now that you are here? Surely you don’t think they can escape now that they are here?”

Sir Bastion snorted and pointed at Sunny.

“I know that one by now, Terra! She is capable of anything – ponies will listen to her.”

The guards saluted and one of them stepped forward.

“We will ensure the prisoners are escorted straight to the Re-education Room, Sir Bastion!”

“See that you do, or that is where you will be going if you fail.”

Sir Bastion leaned into Terra, who backed up uneasily. His smile didn’t twitch.

“She’s just like that traitor from around the time of the last war – do you remember? You were young then but surely you must. Starscout is almost the same...”

And so Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy were at last separated from Sir Bastion. Despite that great fact, however, the latter two were still in their hoof bondage, and Sunny in hers, including the ball gag in her mouth. Hitch sighed.

“Listen, buddy,” he asked one of the bulky, crest-helmed guards with a chuckle, “How about loosening these chains and getting the gag off of my pal here, huh?” The guard looked back. Hitch worked his charming smile and bushy brows.

The guard shoved Hitch into a wall. Hitch groaned.

“O-Okay then, I-I guess t-that’s a no…”

Sunny looked around as the prisoners were led further into the inner keep. Wide slits in the wall to her right let in ample light, although the castle corridor looked ancient and dank regardless. It was not the castle of Sunny’s dreams, despite its outward appearances. Sconces for torches were hammered with iron nails into the wall to the left, and every so often the prisoners and guards would pass a thick wooden door with inlaid metal patterned into it. The high ceiling was criss-crossed with wooden beams, and the floor was mere stone blocks that caused everypony’s hooves to clip and clip loudly.

In addition to all of that, Sunny found as she sneezed, there was a lot of dust and dirt.

The guards stopped on either side of two double doors with the same metal patterning as all the others. They were slightly ajar and a youthful female voice could be hear talking inside. One of the guards spoke with gruff succinctness.

“Go inside and do as you are told.”

The other guard did a double take at Sunny and tore off her gag. She cried in pain, rubbed her jaw, and quickly took advantage of her new-found oral freedom.

“Some Soldiers of the Realm you two are! Leading prisoners to some form of messed up torture – I can’t believe this! I never knew it co—”

Hitch covered her mouth and smiled sheepishly at the guards.

“Heh, she’s a rambunctious one, huh?”

He whispered right into Sunny’s ear as the guard worked at releasing the chain attaching Izzy and Hitch.

“Sunny, please – this is not some story book where the smarty pants main character can just make quips without getting her plot AND her friends’ plots whipped until they’re red and sore so can you just go through the door, sit quietly, and drown out the ‘Education’ stuff. Trust me – this is the way to do it!”

The guard grabbed Izzy and dragged her down the hallway once she was released. Izzy looked back with a heartbreaking frown as the guard barked.

“This one goes right to the dungeons.”

Sunny immediately chased after.

“I don’t think so! She’s staying with me!”

Hitch was able to grab Sunny’s tail before she got out of reach. Sunny’s back shot up from the pain.

“Ow! Hitch, let me go!”

“Sunny, no!”

The other guard slammed Sunny into the rightmost wall. She struggled as much as she could against him, though he was a head taller. Hitch reached out a hoof.

“Hey man! That’s not necessary!”

The guard gritted his teeth as Sunny put up a valiant effort.

“Butt… out… pretty boy! Get in… the room!”

Hitch glared at the soldier, then looked to Sunny, and finally Izzy down the hallway. As he decided what to do, Sunny shouted after her Unicorn friend.

“IZZY! I’M… COMING!”

Hitch’s brow furrowed.

“Listen buddy, let her go and I’ll calm her down and we’ll go in, okay?”

“Not… happening… backup should be—” Sunny found an angle and bit the soldier’s neck. He yelped in pain.

“BAAAAH!”

Hitch sighed as Sunny ran off. He quickly sprinted forward and tackled her down. She struggled fruitlessly against Hitch.

“Hitch… get off me… NOW!”

“No, Sunny! Listen! If you want a chance to talk to the Protector, just do what they say for now!” He leaned closer and whispered to Sunny. “The Protector’s little sister is the one who teaches here. If you butter up to her and work your word magic, she might just get you an audience with the Protector!” Sunny struggled to get Hitch off as he continued. “If you just fight the guards, at some point one of the Knights or even Bastion will come, and then what?”

Tears gathered at the ends of Sunny’s eyes. When she looked up at Hitch, it almost made him let her go.

“But it’s Izzy! Hitch, she’s my first real friend! And it’s my fault she’s here, I convinced her to come! I can’t let them—”

“Sunny, I get that! But you gotta do this right - for all of us! I’m stuck here too, y’know? But I wanted to be here!”

Sunny looked at Hitch. He forced a smile. The floor echoed behind them as the soldier caught up.

“PRISONERS GE—”

Hitch reared onto his back legs and smacked the soldier with his front hooves, knocking him back against the floor. He hit his head off the stones, his helmet flew off, and his tongue flopped out of his mouth, a dazed mumble escaping his lips. Hitch came back down with a heavy breath. Sunny just blinked.

“As I was saying, I just went along with your crazy plans because you made me feel like I might be able to convince the Protector about my brother after all. We both have silly dreams, Sunny, but you’re the one who makes them seem possible! But doing this?” He motioned all around them. “THIS is silly. Trying to fight them hoof to hoof. You can’t play the game their way - you have to fight in your own way!”

Sunny got up and sniffled. Anger still flashed in her eyes.

“My way doesn’t work, don’t you get it? Look where it’s gotten me! Hitch, if I don’t do something right now, Izzy will…”

Sunny pleaded with wide eyes. Hitch frowned.

“If you keep this up, all three of us will be in the dungeons and then you won’t have ANY way to save her. Besides, what are you saying about your way not working? I remember being so jealous of you when we were younger… because you could stand up and talk about what you believed in. And ponies would listen! Sure, they thought you were annoying most of the time, but when you talked about those stories. And then there was me, I—anyway, this isn’t about me.”

He sat on his rump and grabbed Sunny by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.

“If anypony has a chance to pull off what you’re trying to pull off, it’s you. You just have to stop worrying and do it! That’s what I – you know, that’s what I try to do” Hitch shrugged. “I’m sort of an idiot so, I couldn’t cut the mustard before. But I think you can do it Sunny! And if you can talk the Protector into giving the Unicorns and FeatherIMean Pegasi a chance, well, I’m sure I can talk her into searching for Halter! And honestly, I don’t even know why that is, it’s just…” Hitch became flustered and shot his hoof up. “Can you just trust me here?!”

Sunny looked at him deadpan.

“Why should I? I don’t remember you sticking up for me when we were kids. Couldn’t trust you much then.”

Hitch made a grumpy face and pointed at the gagging soldier writhing on the ground, then turned back to Sunny and raised his eyebrows as high as they could go.

“Need I say anymore? That alone could lose me prisoner rations for a week!”

Sunny slowly smiled.

“And you wouldn’t want that, right?”

“Are you serious? If I don’t get enough food, Sunny, my coat gets all pale and I look like a ghost or something – that is NOT a good look for the Hitch bod!”

Sunny giggled and then Hitch laughed. Sunny sniffled.

“You actually think I can do it now?”

Hitch groaned in frustration and hung his head.

“Yes, Sunny, I really, really do. Do I need to do a song and dance or something to convince you?

“Depends on how good you can sing and dance.”

“Well actually I’ve always wanted to—SUNNY! No! Come on!”

Sunny laughed.

“Fine, fine. But this better not take that long. Every second that passes, Sun Goddess knows what they’re doing to Izzy!”

“Sun Goddess?”

“Errr, something Old Man Withers said before… I’m starting to think it wasn’t just an old pony’s tale.”

“Gross, Old Man Withers? That bag of wrinkles? Just looking at him makes me start to dry up—OW why’d you hit me?”

Sunny headed back to the double doors, stepping over the soldier Hitch had knocked out. Hitch rubbed his shoulder and followed.

“It’s just,” Sunny began, “I have a lot more respect for him now. Withers.” Just before she pushed open the double doors, Hitch stopped her with a hoof.

“Fine. Enough about the old pony though. Listen - the big one inside is called Herk – he doesn’t say much, he’s there to scare everypony into submission. The little one is Aura – like I said, her sister is the Protector of the Realm. She’s small, cutesy, and really takes advantage of her position as baby sister to the leader of this whole freaking place, so don’t offend her and you might just have a shot at working your magic with the Protector. At the very least, don’t fall asleep, okay? The Protector’s the only one that’s a step above Bastion in the pecking order around here, so if you can’t convince her, then we’re—”

The door Hitch was in front of swung open and smacked him in the face. He fell backwards with a thud. A large black hoof reached from inside the room and pulled Sunny inside.

Once inside the Re-education room, a filly’s voice called out.

“Prisoner! We were expecting you hours ago! You must be the Starscout.”

The room was not overly large – about ten Earth Ponies, chained to the desks they were seated at, laid out like the typical classroom, had pencils in their mouths and were hastily copying down line after line of text posted on the front wall. In front of that wall was a large teacher’s desk, and on top of the desk was a little pink filly with a tiny wave of a mane colored in streaks of light blue and green. Sunny spotted a Cutie Mark – a silver shield with a flaming orange heart in the middle.

“Herk! Get her in a desk – we will start from the very beginning! We can’t go easy on this one!”

All the other prisoners groaned. Hitch crawled inside the room.

“Oh – Hitch Trailblazer.” The little filly stuck out her tongue. “Blah! They still let you in the Castle? Don’t tell me you’re a prisoner now.”

The one that Sunny supposed was “Herk” carried her and shoved her into a chair attached to a desk. He brutally wrapped a chain around her belly.

“Hey!” Sunny protested. She went quiet as she saw Herk’s face – one eye was greyed out, the other barely open with a vicious scar going through it. His lips were cracked and scars covered his entire face – not unlike the ship captain Sunny worked alongside back in Maretime Bay. Herk had a short, white tuft of a mane, and his fur was thick and black like a shaggy blanket. No Cutie Mark graced his flank.

Herk quickly scooped up Hitch and shoved him into his own desk. Aura cleared his tiny filly throat.

“Here are the rules, newbies: one no talking, two write everything down, three don’t annoy me, four don’t annoy Herk and five if you fail a test you’re DONE and that means Sir Bastion gets you – got it?”

Sunny already wanted to shove the filly’s face into the ground. The filly leaned forward and smiled, fluttering her eyes.

“Oh, and I’mmmmmm Aura Shieldheart, and my sister is the Protector of the Realm, so don’t be mean or I’ll make her throw you off the roof! Get it? Got it? Good!”

Herk zipped right up to the front, grabbed a large sheet of paper from a scrollshelf filled with big scrolls, and tacked it to the wall. Sunny couldn’t possibly make sense of all the text, the arrows pointing at pictures, and the symbols – it was clearly hoof-drawn by a child in crayon. Aura continued.

“Let’s start all the way back when Rockhoof and Meadowbrook first came to the Smokey Mountains!”

* * *

Sir Bastion stomped up the stairs, yawning loudly. Free at last of Dame Terra and all other nuisances, he made his way to the Knight’s Lounge for some snacks which, if the chef wanted to live another day outside of the dungeons, Sir Bastion knew would be waiting for him. He reached the top of the stairs leading down the Knights’ Corridor – a much fancier, carpet-lined portion of the keep. A face that angered him, attached to an old stallion body, made him do a Bastion frown.

“Oh. Curio. It is you.”

Sir Curio was no happier to see his fellow Hoof of the Protector. He sighed.

“Bastion. Back so soon, huh? My daughter tells me they’re still waiting for you to have their meeting.”

“Hmm? Really? Well, I care not - you know, after all, who runs things around here.”

“That supposed to be you?”

“I think you know that Curio.”

“Do I?”

Curio yawned and smacked his lips together.

“I spend a lot of time napping or looking out at the valley. I don’t know nothin’. But you know that, don’t you, Little B?”

Sir Bastion’s neck veins popped up. His bushy brows flicked up as far as they could go.

“You have been warned. Noearthpony calls me that.”

“Yeahhh… except for me. I’m older than you and I’ve been around longer. You’re always going to be second to me, Little B. All your bluster…”

Sir Bastion shoved his hoof at Sir Curio’s face, but fast as he was, Sir Curio was able to get out of the way. The older stallion smirked.

“All your huffing and puffing. Hah!”

Again and again Sir Bastion tried to tackle or smack his fellow Knight, and each time couldn’t land a single blow.

“What, you think because I don’t have my bow you can beat me? How long have you been on your little potion diet – it must be getting close to twenty five years by now.” Sir Curio smiled wide, the wrinkles around his eyes disappearing. “You think that’s made you better than me? I got to where I am the old fashioned way.”

Sir Bastion glared for a moment, but slowly returned to his usual smile with a chuckle. Sir Curio frowned, his rival not taking the bait. Sir Bastion closed his eyes and shook his head.

“You have always been able to get on my nerves like noearthpony else, Curio.” He walked past his fellow Knight toward the Lounge, calling out as he did. “If you are heading to the meeting for once, you can tell the others I won’t be in attendance – after a quick respite I will be returning to the wilderness to capture the Drake.” Sir Bastion stopped and half-turned around. “Did you hear? I encountered him as I was bringing a most valuable prize to the castle – the Warlock King’s sister - and one of the Starscouts! I had not realized that the troublemaker from that time, your little pal, was also a Starscout.”

Sir Curio narrowed his eyes.

“Now hold on, Little B. That’s a lot to take in. Last time you beat up the Drake and sent him and his Hornhead friends away – this time you leave him in the Realm and take his ward, the sister of the Warlock King, prisoner? And I bet she had a scroll that you ignored, too?”

Sir Bastion turned around again. Sir Curio could not see his smile gleam.

“She most certainly did! What of it?”

“If you’re trying to start a war, go into neutral territory and make it your own war. We don’t want any more of that! Bastion! I would think you of all Earth Ponies would feel the same way!”

Sir Bastion’s smile wavered at the ends and Sir Curio continued.

“Don’t think I’ve taken your joking manner as lightly as everyearthpony else – I know you, Bastion. Whatever insane thing you have planned, you better drop it, because nothing you do is ever going to bring back your family, or my wife, or any—”

But Sir Curio decided to stop. The particular tenseness in Sir Bastion’s shoulders gave away his anger. It was the silent rage akin to that of a wild dog backed into a corner. If pushed to the last straw, it would be forced to lash out. Sir Curio grunted.

“Anyway, you should go and report all of this at the meeting and see what the others thin—”

“What I do I do for the good of the Realm, Curio. I operate my way. You owe much to me - you all do.”

There was a pause. Some tale from long ago sat just behind Curio’s eyes. Bitter anguish was forced to hide behind Bastion’s.

“I know what I am doing. Let me do what is best for all of us.”

After another pause, Sir Bastion broke the silence with a roar of laughter and waved a dismissive hoof as he turned around.

“Come now, Eagle Eye! Enough of that drab political discussion! What of the Starscout I captured? Surely it is nostalgic for you to hear – I recall all those years ago you frolicking with that young colt. You two stupid lads, playing at heroes!”

Sir Curio sighed and shook his head.

“Enough. Even twenty five years ago I was a stallion, and older than you, Little B.”

Sir Bastion tested his peer’s reflexes by leaping forward and head-butting, fully intending to cause as much harm as he would have, had not Sir Curio dodged. The older stallion continued without so much as an extra breath.

“I don’t care about the Starscout from before nor do I care about whoever this new Starscout is. As far as I am concerned they all ought to stay in Tall Tale and keep their weirdness to themselves.”

“Ah but did you not hear? This one is from the south, along the coast somewhere. I cannot remember what the name of the scrapheap was, but apparently the Starscouts there ran a lighthouse or something.”

“Observatory.”

Sir Bastion raised an eyebrow.

“Yes… it was exactly that. How did you know?” He took a step forward and Sir Curio smirked.
“What secrets have you learned in your dusty old tomes, Curio?”

Sir Curio laughed once and walked away.

“I don’t learn all my secrets from books – that one I learned from someearthpony who went north. You can hear a lot of interesting things in Tall Tale. Maybe find some time in your schedule for something other than exercise, doping, and prisoner capturing and you can go visit.”

Sir Bastion howled with laughter.

“Yes, yes, yes—and boulder boars will fly, as they say! I take it neither of us will be attending the meeting, then?”

“Same as always, Little B. I’ve got some sleeping to catch up on.”

The passioned laughter of Sir Bastion did not subside until he entered the lounge at the far end of the corridor. Sir Curio stopped at the top of the stairs leading back to the lower levels, the darkness in the corner obscuring his face.

Unfortunately, that was a lie. There is something much more important I have to attend to. Just like you said, Bastion – this is for the good of the Realm.

* * *

One hour passed since Sunny and Hitch joined the Re-education class. Sunny had finally lost her struggle against sleep and was snoring up a storm and leaning against her hoof on the desk.

The teacher, little filly Aura, was not amused. All the prisoners in the classroom were hastily copying a long list titled “Why Unciorns Suck!” (they also copied the spelling mistake and backwards letters), even Hitch with his slow writing. But Sunny was drooling into a puddle. Aura hopped up and down with exasperation.

“No no no! Herk, the Starscout fell asleep! Put her in a cell and Sir Bastion can deal with her later!”

The called-for stallion nodded and lumbered forward, the desks on either side of him shoving away as he trudged to Sunny’s spot. Hitch noticed and shook her.

“Sunny – Sunny! Wake up! Come on!”

Sunny grumbled awake.

“I can’t help it!” Sunny said with a yawn. “Classrooms make me sleepy, and this stuff is so BORING!” She looked at the chart. In the dimly lit room she was reminded of history class, the roar of the projector, and how comfortable it felt to just snooze the afternoon away.

Sunny became frantic when she saw the look of abject fear on Hitch’s face. Herk grabbed at her chains to release them.

“I m-mean uhhh sorry! I am just exhausted from the trip, I really want to learn all of this Y-Your” — Sunny searched for some appropriate defining feature of Aura to compliment — “Shortness?” Hitch facehoofed.

Herk picked Sunny up with one hoof, laid her on his back and made for the door. Aura smugly stood up straight on the desk as the entire class of prisoners watched and kept quiet. Sunny’s pupils darted with fear.

“Let me go! I will pay attention, I will! Sorry, did I say Shortness, I meant Cuteness! Smartness? Bestlittlefillyness?”

Aura closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Too late now, Starscout. That last one might have earned you some brownie points if you started with it!”

Right before he reached for the doorknob, Herk had to step back as the door swung open. Aura saw the new arrival and smiled wide.

“Hello uncle Curio!” Her mood soured again. “Don’t worry about the Starscout – she is being sent to the dungeons. She’s a lost cause!”

The new arrival, a pony who Sunny thought looked like he could be Old Man Withers’ brother, stepped inside and looked around. His coat was smoky grey and his short mane a lavender color similiar to a fading flower. He finally rested his eyes on Sunny – she blinked a few times. The eyes that she saw were not old pony eyes but alert, ready, wide, and calculating. His rich brown eyes were striking – even for such a plain shade.

“You the Starscout?”

“I am! I’m going to do better, I was just tired, I pro—.”

“Hercules, put that mare down. She’s coming with me.”

Herk did as instructed. Aura puffed out her chest and cheeks.

“Hey! Uncle! That’s not fair, I was going to send her to the dungeons!”

Curios whipped around and snapped.

“Quiet you! I’m not your uncle and this ain’t a game!” Aura whimpered. The prisoners were all staring when Curio scanned the audience, and they all turned back around and resumed their scribbling when they saw Curio’s scowl. Hitch, however, looked back up at Sunny with a grimace. She was catching her breath.

“I’ll go back and copy all the stuff I missed, I can be a good student, I—!”

Curio looked at her coldly. Something about the look made Sunny feel miserable, as if she were to blame. Her ears fell.

“Just follow me. No talking.”

So Sunny did, with one last look back at Hitch, who made a face like he was trying to look brave, but in reality wanted to be anywhere else but the dim Re-education room. Sunny forced a smile and turned back and straightened her posture as she marched forward beside the older stallion.

“Please, I have to speak with the Protector! If you’re taking me to the dungeons, at least tell the Protector to come see me!”

“Not taking you to any dungeons, at least for now. Quiet.”

“O-oh... oh good!”

Sunny’s face became neutral. Once she allowed herself to relax, she took a look at the stallion she was following.

“Who are you supposed to be, some kind of tracker or something? Or is that the latest Castle Rockhoof fashion?” Sunny cocked her head at the belts and holsters wrapped around Curio’s midsection. Strange arrows and other things that looked like rocks were poking out of one holster. A leather knapsack hung on the side closest to Sunny – it was closed, but it bulged with whatever was inside. Sunny saw a Cutie Mark of a plot of brown soil and an orange circle.

“I said quiet. I’m missing my favorite nap for this, so at the very least, let me have my precious silence.”

Sunny continued to scan the appearance of the stallion. There was something spry about him. By all outward appearances, Curio was an elderly stallion, but he did not move like an elder. His strides reminded Sunny of Hitch’s: confident, but unlike the former sheriff Curio strode without the added smugness. Each step was precise, as if Curio never walked to anywhere he didn’t absolutely need to be at.

Eventually Sunny and Curio came close to the same entrance lobby through which Sunny had entered earlier, but instead of continuing straight they turned down a smaller hallway and climbed up circular stairs.

The stairs went on and on, and Sunny felt like normally she would be asking the elder if he needed a hoof, but he was just as energetic as her – even moreso, since she was getting out of breath when they finally reached the final steps some minutes later but Curio was not.

“You-you’ve got a lot of energy… old man…”

Curios grumbled.

“You sound like my kid. Be quiet already, would you? I’ll let you speak once we’re inside.”

At the top of the stairs a single hallway led to another of the wooden doors. As Sunny and Curio walked down the hallway, Sunny looked out the slit windows to her left. Straight ahead was more of the inner keep’s white stone walls – but looking below Sunny saw the middle area of the keep – a garden, albeit a sparse one. The bushes, trees, vines, and shrubs looked barren, either well picked or lacking much fruit altogether. Sunny managed a smile, because it was nice to see greenery. Her smile faded when she spotted Layla Grassroots and the page Nate Chivaltarry conversing by a bush. Curio cleared his throat.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll call for you when I’m ready.”

“I don’t have time to wait! Sir Bastion foalnapped a Unicorn, her name is Izzy Moonbow, she’s—”

“She’s completely fine, for now. Shut up already, would ya?”

Sunny glared at the back of the stallion as he disappeared through the door, which he only opened enough to squeeze through. She growled to herself.

“Telling me to shut up… these ponies don’t know me very well! Shut up they say! Have you SEEN me in Maretime Bay, or HEARD me? Isn’t that why I’m here in the first place, because of all those speeches?”

“I can still hear you!”

Sunny covered her mouth with a hoof and jumped back.

I wasn’t talking that loud… was I?

Sunny smiled.

But at least Izzy is okay!

Sunny took to looking outside the other windows while she waited. Outside, on either of the three white-stone walls, were rows and rows of slit windows, spaced out to denote the different floors of the inner keep. Looking up, Sunny saw that the sky was still blue and that birds were still basking in the warmth of the sun.

Behind Sunny, there were no windows, but instead objects hung on the wall: a large, curved horn, a painting of a farmstead with a sunrise behind it, and a small rectangular flag of green with Curio’s Cutie Mark on it: only by seeing the larger image did Sunny realize that it was a sunrise.

“What family is that?” she whispered to herself.

“Brightland.”

Sunny jumped at the muffled cry from inside the room. Her fur stood up on the back of her neck.

“Come inside, Starscout. We need to have a chat.”

Author's Note

I apologize for the delay this week - enjoy! New chapter still this Thursday :)

15 - Sunny's Big Mouth

The Table Chamber of Castle Rockhoof was so named because at the center of that large, octagonal room was a table made of stone. Nopony truly knew where it came from, but what was known was that it had been brought by Rockhoof when he left the territory known as the Forbidden Zone after the Fall. Evidently it was a relic important enough for Rockhoof to bring with him after escaping that old land where the Unicorns and Pegasi waged their war, but history never spoke of what that importance might have been.

But, because it was Rockhoof’s treasure, it became the Realm’s treasure, and every so often the Knights of the Realm and their Protector would gather around it, all 12 of them (or as many as could be gathered), and hold the meeting of the Stone Table. It was around that same table where Rockhoof and Meadowbrook, and the original Knights of the Realm, shared First Bread – their pledge to one another to create and defend a land where Earth Ponies could live freely and safely away from their more war-minded cousins.

On that day when Sunny Starscout was brought to the castle, the 3,999th such meeting occurred.

Artemis Brightland, daughter of the Protector’s Right Hoof, and a squire in her own right, awaited nervously outside the imposing double doors of the Table Chamber. They rose like two tall slabs of marble, careful patterns etched into their frames. Each door had the mark of the Realm of the Earth Ponies painted on it – a green Earth Pony standing on his back hooves, ready to strike. They faced away from one another. Artemis nibbled her lip.

“Ohhhh they’re all going to be so upset – why is father like this?”

She fidgeted in her light bronze armor. A guard with a crested stone helmet cleared his throat.

“Ms. Brightland? Are you okay?”

She turned and wore a fake smile.

“Yes, of course. Nervous jitters and all. I am filling in for Sir Curio, the Right Hoof, after all.”

Uncomfortable laughter. The guard raised an eyebrow before awkwardly turning back around to resume his straight and professional pose. Artemis looked at the other guards in the long, carpet-lined hallway leading to the Table Chamber. The light from the stain glass windows (showing all manner of Earth Pony history – including First Bread) behind them revealed their stares – they all snapped back to professionalism once caught. Artemis closed her eyes and sighed.

The Table Chamber doors groaned open, as if two giants had been prodded with forks. A golden figure emerged, blinding Artemis momentarily. Her voice lodged in the back of her dry throat. She shrinked before the towering goddess before her.

“L-Lady Protector!”

Artemis bowed hastily. It was too glorious an image - words could do no justice. The guards, who saw the Protector more often out of necessity given their position, were more relaxed and smiled as they basked in the very real glow – not just from the glimmering golden armor that the Protector wore, but her coat, as well, seemed to glow bright and warm.

And that coat – had a more marvellous shade of light pink fur ever existed? And so finely groomed was it that it looked like iridescent pearl if you caught it at the right angle. A scent like fruity sugar filled the nostrils of everypony, including Artemis, who closed her eyes and sighed happily. Such a scent was a rarity in Castle Rockhoof, Castletown, and indeed anywhere in the Realm.

Nopony quite knew why the Shieldheart family had manes and tails made up of multiple colors. It was an anomaly among the Earth Ponies, though nonetheless something to be appreciated in such a bleak place as the Realm. Those colors - blue, green, indigo and pink - melded together to form a perfect combination that immediately struck the eye, and if one looked long enough, it almost appeared as if the different colors moved in waves.

When the Protector spoke, Artemis froze.

“Where are my Hooves? What good are they if they are never around for counsel!”

She turned and looked down to notice Artemis, who was shaking in the corner. The Protector was so tall that Artemis seemed like a filly.

“Artemis?”

The Protector sighed, becoming pensive.

“I suspect you are here on behalf of your father again…”

“Y-yes, Lady Protector.”

The Protector saw the wobbly apprehension of the mare beneath her and blinked. She relaxed her shoulders. Her irises would seem sharp, hot pink when she was upset, but soften to a pale magenta when she calmed herself. She breathed, then smiled.

“I’m sorry Artemis. There’s a lot going on right now, not least of which is that Mr. Hooffield and Mrs. McColt are still waiting. You can imagine what that is like.”

The hallway lit up from the sheen radiating off the Protector’s pink fur. The guards closed their eyes and sighed. Joy poured into Artemis like a drug in her veins. She straightened into a full standing position. When she spoke to the Protector, it was clear and confident.

“If the Lady Protector agrees, we can start now and I can speak on behalf of Sir Curio! I have memorized all his questions and comments!”

The Protector’s mouth screwed into a line. Her brow curved downward. Artemis felt a motherly presence, although the Protector was not much older.

“Is your father taking an extended nap again?” Artemis’s sheepish smile gave it away. The Protector made a worried noise. “He’s my Right Hoof, it doesn’t look good to the others that he sleeps all the time…” She facehoofed gently, careful not to boop herself with her golden horseshoe. “Let’s just… get this underway.” She winked at Artemis. “Just between you and me, I would rather deal with you at the meeting than either your father or Bastion.” She groaned. “Especially Bastion.”

Artemis beamed, blushed, and giggled fillyishly. She followed alongside but just behind the Protector as the two entered the chambers. A loud female voice called from inside.

“Lady Aurelia, are we fiiiinally gonna begin?”

Sunny was confident the room she entered was Curio’s office – it would be odd for it to be anything else, given how many things had his family’s Cutie Mark on them. Little sunrises – and bigger sunrises – adorned every wall in the form of a flag, a painting, or the large shield above Curio’s head, on a stone atop the large glass window that flooded the room with light.

It was not a huge room – the rich mahogany table Curio sat at took up a lot of space, as did his large, comfy-looking chair. He looked ready to nap just sitting in it. The rest of the room was occupied by books – either put away within the many shelves, resting atop one another in piles, or simply sprawled out on the stone floor. Sunny didn’t bother to keep her hooves off them, though Curio cringed with every step she made.

“Do your eyes work? Can’t you at least feel what you’re stepping on?”

Sunny shrugged and smirked.

“If you cared about them that much you wouldn’t leave them on the floor.”

Curio sighed for a very long time. He frowned at Sunny, an old stallion kind of frown that made his cheeks droop and which revealed the age-worn wrinkles of Curio’s smoky grey face. Enhancing the ancient effect were the copper-colored goggles sitting on the elder’s forehead. Curio stared at Sunny with his big brown eyes and breathed every so often. She sucked in her lips and stared from side to side.

“Soooooo are you going to give me an audience with the Protector?”

A pause. Curio frowned.

“You look like your uncle.”

Sunny’s brow lowered.

“Who? I don’t have an uncle.”

“As far as you know, which is not much, apparently.”

“You calling me stupid?”

“I ain’t calling you a genius.”

Sunny glared. Curio hummed thoughtfully.

“Ah but that’s not what Willder was like at all. He was always smiling, like a foal.”

Sunny stomped her hooves.

“Listen you old coot! I don’t know any uncles or Willders and I’ve had to deal with a lot of crazy stuff from a whole bunch of old stallions in the past few days, so if we could skip to the part where I get to talk to the Protector, I would really appreciate that!”

Curio frowned his grumpy old stallion frown again.

“Why do you want to talk to her? Got some kind of crush? Get in line - Aurelia’s a pretty girl.”

Sunny blushed.

“Je-pe-what?! No I don’t even know what she looks like! I’m here to convince her to give peace a chance! To reunite with the Pegasi and Unicorns!”

Curio chuckle-hmphed, still looking dour.

“Is that so? And how many of these Pegasi or Unicorns have you even met?”

“Just one. Her name is Izzy. She’s a Unicorn, and she’s my friend, and if you sat down and talked to her, you’d see that she’s not evil, she has no magic, and she doesn’t want to gobble anypony up!”

“Anyearthpony is what we say. It’s important to differentiate; they’re not like us. And I’ve met dozens – none of them wanted to do anything except kill me, my family, or my fellow Earth Ponies.”

“On a battlefield?”

Sunny looked down, then back up with resolve. Curio’s left eyebrow raised a little.

“If you meet on a battlefield with weapons and anger, of course anypony will want to kill! That’s just common sense! But if you tried to meet for peace, if you came together and—”

Curio interrupted loudly.

“You’re under the impression we haven’t tried that before.”

Sunny’s mouth was ajar as if she wanted to but couldn’t speak. Curio closed his eyes, a long sigh escaping his nostrils.

“Twenty-five years ago your uncle Willder Starscout came to Castletown. I don’t feel like recalling the whole story, but suffice to say he drew the wonder of everyearthpony. We were in the midst of a war after the Everfree Incident – do you at least have an idea of what that was before I continue?”

Sunny nodded. Curio continued.

“Right. So, you’re aware it wasn’t a good time. You think we hate your little horned, winged friends now, you should have seen what it was like back then. And yet…” Curio looked up at the ceiling wistfully. He quietly continued, gently shaking the thoughts out of his head and looking at Sunny once more. “Willder was able to get almost everyearthpony to agree to send for peace: myself, the Protector of the Realm, and all the Knights… my wife Lorelei, with recent child, too. All of us travelled to the Forbidden Zone. Arrangements were made with the Hornheads and the Featherfreaks to have a talk. A chat – for peace.”

Curio said the last word bitterly. He rubbed his face with his hooves. Stress like an invisible weight made his shoulders tense, his movements strained.

“When we got there, it was a trap. The leader of the Hornheads at that time, Kaygn Oncefolly, decided to use us putting our guard down to his advantage. As I understand it, the Featherfreaks never even showed up. Kaygn Oncefolly and his forces killed the Protector, almost every last Knight of the Realm, and every other Earth Pony who had attended, including your uncle… and also…” Curio struggled to swallow. Sunny watched his eyes focus on something that wasn’t there. “My wife.” Sunny saw the old stallion shrink in his seat as a lull in his words created an uncomfortable silence. “She was just a nurse. Thank Rockhoof our infant daughter was here at the Castle.”

Sunny struggled to understand what she was hearing. She tried to picture such brutality, but couldn’t find the right images. What would such a thing look like? And she had never lost a member of her family in such a way – her parents were lost at sea. Curio smoothed down the wrinkles on his jowls, his gaze placed on the floor in front of him.

“The Realm would have fallen after that, guaranteed, if it weren’t for one squire’s courage. Do you know who that squire was?”

Curio looked up. Sunny couldn’t hold his gaze – the stare of those brown eyes was like a flurry of daggers, showering Sunny as if to punish her foolishness.

“It was Bastion Titaneous. He was only your age at the time, I would reckon. And while I and another Knight were struck with fear, frozen in place, and prepared to die, Bastion threw himself at Kaygn Oncefolly and destroyed him. When the Hornheads lost their leader, they broke, and the ones brave enough to stay were chased away by Bastion. The war ended on that day – at least for us. None of those others dared attack after they heard about the Titan.”

“You may hate him — and make no mistake I am no friend of his. But Sir Bastion is a hero in the Realm, and if it wasn’t for his actions that day, the war would have continued and we would have lost everything we held dear because we were stupid enough to believe a silly dreamer who told us to wave an olive branch and ask for peace.”

Sunny snapped.

“So that jerk saved everypony a million years ago – that doesn’t give him the right to abuse ponies over some sick, twisted sense of justice!”

“It gives him that right more than you have a right to belittle everyearthpony who has suffered and died by talking about some silly peace!”

Curio sighed with frustration.

“Anyway, now that you have heard that little history lesson – and I am shocked you were able to listen the whole way through without interrupting – I want to give you a choice.”

Sunny glared. Curio continued.

“Leave this place. Go to Tall Tale and introduce yourself to the family you have there. I don’t imagine your folks told you about the other Starscouts – I heard they left after news broke of what Willder did. Embarassed, perhaps. But your family will find a place for you in Tall Tale — they’re the kind of folk that run game stands and fortune telling, that sort of thing. Your grandmother has a high position among the Earth Ponies there.”

“You’ll let me go? Why?”

Curio adjusted himself with a tired grumble and rested his chin on his hooves, elbows on his desk.

“Because I don’t want you to spread any more of your poisonous talk about peace. And don’t think I’m stupid - you have to leave and NEVER return. If I hear even a whisper about you causing trouble again, I will personally come and bring you to the dungeons to rot.”

Sunny looked past Curio, to outside. The clouds looked like giant puffy marshmellows, the sky a clear blue as long as the sea, but not shiny or rich in blueness like its salty, wet cousin. Sunny closed her eyes. She considered what was being said – of course she did.

“I know how much Earth Ponies have lost. That’s all I’ve heard about in the last few days – and it’s not like I’ve never heard about it before.”

Curio raised an eyebrow as Sunny walked and talked.

“Of course I’ve heard of the history - the wars, the suffering, all of that – ponies think I don’t know but I do. It’s just that I don’t FOCUS on that. I focus on the future!” She pointed at herself and Curio laughed. “What we can still have if we try hard enough! If we go forward even if it IS scary! And I think… I think the best way to heal is to talk about it with the Unicorns and Pegasi, eye to eye!”

Curio scoffed.

“So they can gloat?”

Sunny’s eyes widened.

“So they can cry with us! Do you think we’re the only ones who have lost?!”

Sunny looked at Curio, conviction swelling up within. Curio’s face showed no signs of emotional wear.

“I want to ask them for their side of the story. I want them to tell the Earth Ponies why they did what they did. Did all the Unicorns decide to betray peace, or was it only their leader? Do you know that for sure?”

Sunny laid a hoof on her forehead in frustration and shook her head.

“Why am I the only one asking these questions? Why am I the only one wondering about what we could HAVE not just focusing on what we LOST?!”

Curio nearly spat.

“Because YOU didn’t lose anyearthpony! You never watched your loved one die before your eyes! You never had to sit up at night after not sleeping for weeks because you were afraid if you did something would come and take away your child, the only thing you have left in the world that’s yours! Only someearthpony as young, stupid, and foolish as you could possibly—”

“I AM young, I AM foolish, and MAYBE I’m even stupid! But I’ll be all of those things before I’ll be a coward like you! You’re just scared, you’re not—!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Curio slammed his hoof on the table. Sunny took a step back, her courage faltering momentarily. She regained it and stepped forward, brow lined with conviction. Curio shook his head.

“I won’t sit and hear this nonsense! Not again! When I believed Willder it cost far too much – almost more than I was able to bear! I thought you would see reason but this?”

Sunny retorted immediately.

“Let me do it! I’ll go to the Unicorn and Pegasi lands and convince them that peace is possible! I’ll bring the Warlock King and the Pegasi leader here and show everypony that they want peace just as much as we do! You don’t have to do anything - you don’t have to risk ANYTHING!”

Curio leaned against his hoof on the desk and shook his head.

“No - not happening. You either take my generous deal or I’ll leave you in the dungeons for Sir Bastion.”

“What are you so afraid of?”

“I mean it… my patience is wearing thin.”

“If you’re too chicken to make the decision, then leave it to the Protector. Let her decide – I’ll make her see!”

Curio simply glared. Sunny continued.

“Even if you let me go, you wouldn’t let Izzy come too, would you?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?!”

Curio jumped off his chair.

“BECAUSE SHE’S THE ENEMY!”

“SHE’S MY FRIEND! YOU DON’T KNOW HER!”

“I know what her and her kind are capable of! Do you?”

Sunny did not back down. Her face changed to a snarl.

“I haven’t had much of a chance to learn about her thanks to Sir Bastion!”

“Big deal. It was a meeting that never should have happened in the first place. What exactly was a Hornhead doing so far into our territory anyway?”

“I don’t care if it never should have happened – I am happy it did! I’m not going anywhere without Izzy – I need to bring her home and convince the Warlock King to forgive her, to forgive Earth Ponies, to accept peace! Let me show you what I mean!”

“That’s stupid, and if you had any idea how stupid it sounded, you would never utter such idiocy. The Warlock King would tear you apart! You might be able to convince me his sister is a kind mare, but the King himself is utterly deranged. He sits in a throne room filled with all manner of grotesque Hornhead creations. Monsters that can crawl inside you, make you do things to other Earth Ponies that you never thought you’d be capable of with your own two hooves.”

Sunny never forgot the old stories – though she was no friend to “history”, she had always lent an ear to fairy tales, or whatever one would call the scary ones. A shiver went up her spine as she imagined the worst of what she remembered about the Warlock King. She looked at her hooves. Curio continued.

“Real life is not a fairy tale. Your parents came from Tall Tale – they were able to make up nonsense and make it sound reasonable. That’s a great talent. But here in the real world, we have to consider what the actual consequences of our actions will be. If you go to Unicornia, with a Hornhead pal beside you or not, regardless of who she is the sister of, you’ll wind up a science experiment and nothing more. A blip in the annals of history – a freak, maybe, or at worst a puddle of goo in a dark chamber of some evil spire in Sire’s Hollow! That the fate you want? Is it?!”

Sunny was silent. Two warring factions inside her brain vied for control. She wanted to run away, tears streaming down her face on the one hoof, and she wanted to stand up and scream to the sky on the other. Finally, she decided. Sunny looked up, eyes afire with conviction. Curio leaned back.

“I’ll take that risk, for the sake of my dream!” She smacked her chest with her hoof and held it there. “Hoof to heart!”

Curio became quiet. He considered what he saw in Sunny’s eyes – sparkling lights of passion swirling about to the backdrop of rich magenta irises. Irises that looked a lot like her uncle’s – Curio did not forget the wonder he had seen so long ago. It was something he had never seen since, until that day when Sunny Starscout stood in his office.

Curio got up and moved around his desk. Sunny backed away uneasily.

“Well?!?

Curio sighed.

“Come. To the dungeons. There’s no convincing you.”

“No!”

Sunny fought back as Curio tried to tie her with a rope from his bag. Both grunted and strained. Curio was faster and he was experienced with hogtying Earth Ponies who needed hogtying.

“No – no… let… me… go!”

“Give it… up… Starscout! I’m… ending it… now. The madness… ends now! No… more!”

Curio managed to get some of the rope around Sunny’s hoof and chest and he tightened it with his teeth. Sunny felt her anger rise from the tips of her hooves to the beating organ within her chest. It balled up and swelled inside. She remembered being so helpless the whole way to the Castle – Sir Bastion’s gags, his chains, his cages.

His stupid laugh.

Sunny grit her teeth as the ropes tightened even more. Something throbbed in her throat and grew in size until it could be contained no more. She screamed.

“GET OFF ME!”

The scream took an almost physical form – a visible sound wave that pushed Curio back toward his desk, the rope flinging harmlessly against a wall. Scrolls and books flapped as the scream moved outward, and the glass window behind Curio shattered with a loud crash. Sir Curio’s eyes widened, his pupils shaky, his chest still, his limbs frozen. He finally looked to Sunny like a frail, old stallion.

Everything stopped moving. The only noises were Sunny’s pants and Curio’s struggled breathing. Sunny looked at the ground.

W-what was that?!

16 - Prison Break

Sunny could barely get a sound out before Curio pulled a blue object out of his knapsack, fear in his eyes. The object looked like a big blueberry. Sunny tensed up as Curio threw the object at her. A screeching burst of icy blue particles enveloped her and froze her senses. A feeling akin to sleep overtook her.

* * *

When Sunny came to, her body was still cold. She shivered. Sunny was lying on cold stone. There was some straw, and one might call it a bed, but only if they had never seen a proper one before. Sunny investigated her new surroundings.

She was finally in the dungeons, just as Sir Bastion had promised. There was ample room for her to move about should she wish, and enough orange light from the tiny, barred windows near the tops of the walls so she could see. A tin tray with some wheat on it, and some old vegetables, was nearby. She looked past the iron bars in front of her.

“Hitch?!”

Sure enough, Hitch Trailblazer was in the cell opposite hers. He was staring with wide eyes blankly through the bars.

“Ah, you are awake Sunny Starscout. That is good. Did you know that there are 68 different reasons why Hornheads are evil? I will list them now—”

He droned on and on. Sunny tried to interrupt.

“Uhh Hitch?”

“… 5, they smell; 6, they are loud; 7, they have no taste in upholstery; 8…”

Sunny readjusted so she was sitting on her rump. She hugged herself and rubbed the upper portion of her legs, her teeth chattering. There was a bluish hue to her coat, as if she were still defrosting.

“…19, they can kill you with one zap of their horn; 20, they are dumb; 21, Hornheads do not recycle…”

“Hitch – Hitch! Snap out of it!”

Hitch’s eye twitched and he stopped mid-sentence.

“Uhhh… Sunny! M-my brain… so much… education… so many… lists…”

Hitch groaned and fell over. He sighed loudly like a tired old dog laying down for a nap.

“I take it… you didn’t succeed with Curio?”

Sunny closed her eyes and shook her head sadly.

“I spoke from the heart - but it wasn’t enough. At least, not for him.” She looked up and cocked her head. “Curio, you said? I never did ask him who he was. Is he one of the Knights?”

He shook his head as if waking up and swivelled around on his butt, sitting like Sunny.

“You didn’t know? Sunny, he’s the Right Hoof! Like Bastion but, well, not Bastion – but the same rank! Did you give him the business? The full song and dance—jeez I hope not literally Sunny!”

Sunny’s mouth screwed into a diagonal line and she slowly shook her head. Hitch smacked the ground.

“Darn. But maybe you can still sway the Protector! She’s a lot like you, she might be able to understand you better than old Curio Brightland. He’s older than the Smokey Mountains.
You—” Hitch blinked. “Wait, why are you blue?”

Sunny rubbed her hoof.

“Well, you see, I sort of screamed really loud and it uhhh became like this wave thing and pushed that guy into his desk and shattered his window… hehe.”

She looked back at Hitch with a big, guilty grin. Hitch shook his head and blinked.

“Waitwaitwait… HUH?!”

“Ummm… Sunny?”

It was Izzy’s voice. Sunny wanted to press against the bars to look for her friend, but her hooves were too cold and her body too tired. When she shifted to get up, she instead fell down chin first onto the stone, grunting from the throbbing pain that spread from her jaw.

“Ow – Izzy?! You’re in here somewhere?”

Izzy mhm’d loud enough so they could hear. Hitch went up to the bars and tried his best to look down the hall to the left, towards the noise.

“Oh I see her! It’s the Unicorn!”

He waved.

“Heh, never thought I’d be glad to see a Unicorn before.”

Sunny slowly moved her body toward the bars with her chin. When she was as close as possible she smushed her face against the bars and could barely see Izzy’s hoof waving down the hall, from behind her own cell bars.

“Izzy! I’m so glad you’re here too! Did they hurt you at all? Because if they did ohhhh man I’m gonna—”

“No, no. I’m okay, Sunny. Sorry to make you worry…”

Sunny and Hitch heard a quiet sigh.

“But they weren’t very nice, either. What happened to you?! Some guards brought you in earlier and you were covered in ice!”

Sunny glared at the stone floor.

“I was speaking with one of the top Knights around here, and then like I said – did you hear about the scream thing?”

“Y-yeah… I did.”

“After I did that he freaked out and threw this blue orb at me, and then I got all cold. It must have turned me into ice like you said.”

Hitch chimed in.

“We should all conserve our energy. Tomorrow we need to learn more about the glorious nation of the Real—I mean we need to try again! Sunny, you can still go through Re-Education, and, well, Izzy—”

“Izzy will be fine.”

Sunny was determined.

“I’ll get us out of here. I think I need to change the plan, because I don’t think there is any hope in convincing the Protector at this point. If we stay too long, Bastion’s going to get involved again – and we all know what that will mean. Has anypony seen him?”

“Not me Sunny.”

Hitch responded too.

“I haven’t either. I think the Knights had their meeting earlier, or maybe they still are, but Bastion usually doesn’t go to those. He basically just spends all his time training or capturing ponies. If I had to guess, he was probably chomping at the bit to go get those prisoners we helped escape.”

Izzy made a yelping noise.

“Oh no! Maybe he went to go find Rye Rye! When we were in those cages yesterday I heard the soldiers talk about how that meaniehooves bucked him away…”

Izzy whimpered.

“Sorry… I’m just so worried…”

Hitch chuckled.

“I think the Drake can handle himself just fine. I heard that he can turn into a huge dragon, like the ones in the old fairy tales. I bet he could eat Bastion in one bite if he really wanted to – but I think he’d be looking for you, don’t you think Izzy?”

“M-Maybe…”

Sunny’s ear twitched. She looked back up, through the bars and down the hall. Something caught her eye. It was white and floating in the air. Sunny squinted, and whatever the thing was it looked more like a smile.

“Huh?”

The smile disappeared. Sunny blinked a few times.

“…Sunny? Are you listening?”

It was Hitch. Sunny cleared her throat.

“No, s-sorry, I thought I saw something.”

“Was it a mouse? There’s nothing down here except us and them – I have a few in my cell here.”

Sunny looked over. Four tiny mice were lined up in Hitch’s cell, staring up at him. When she met his eyes, Hitch shrugged.

“Yeah I dunno, animals love me for some reason. If we weren’t so close to Bastion on our way here, you’d have seen a little group of them following me.” He smiled smugly. “Must be my Hitch charm, don’t ya think?”

Sunny whinnied and looked away again.

“Okay okay Sunny, I’m joking. I was just saying – why do you think my plan to hold out and convince the Protector’s sister won’t work?”

Sunny’s shoulders tensed and she breathed out as if deep in thought. A moment passed before she continued.

“I think… I think I made another enemy with my big mouth.”

Hitch went deadpan.

“Oh now two Hooves hate you.”

“Both Hooves.”

“The set, huh?”

“You got it.”

Hitch facehoofed.

“I shouldn’t be surprised. I would probably react the same way if you magically moved me w—”

“YouThinkIt’sMagic?!”

Sunny’s tail was wagging, her face becoming like a filly’s. Hitch forced a tiny grin.

“Figure of speech! Earth Ponies can’t do magic! I just meant—”

“ButWeDon’TKnowThatForSureHitch!”

She pressed her face to the bars, grinning wide.

“Hitch, I’m magical!”

Hitch waved his hoof incredulously.

“Apparently!”

Sunny’s grin got bigger.

“Maybe maybe maybe I’m like descended from Unicorns or something and there’s still some magic left in my blood! You know?”

Izzy giggled. Hitch frowned.

“Maybe that’s exactly what the Right Hoof thinks.” Hitch put a hoof to his cheek and hummed. “We should probably get out of here and figure this out when we have more free time.” He spoke quieter. “I can bend these bars and break us out of here. I could try to get you to the Protector, if you think you have a shot at turning this all around, but if you can’t convince her I think we – and my chances of finding Halter – are toast.”

“You’d risk the chance to find your brother for me?”

Hitch smiled and shrugged.

“Ehhh, I haven’t had any luck going solo. And I don’t want to have to go look for him myself.” He swallowed. “In Unicorn land.”

Izzy spoke up, louder and more enthusiastic than before.

“We’ll help you, Mr. Hitch! I know Unicornia like the back of my hoof. If your big brother is there, we’ll find him!” She paused. “Sorry, is that okay Sunny? I just figured, since we are going there anyway.”

Sunny shot Hitch a grin and wrapped a hoof around one of the bars, her warmth and strength returning.

“Of course it is Izzy, but I didn’t know you decided to come with me now! You could get in a lot of trouble for helping me with this, couldn’t you?”

Izzy did not speak right away.

“I think I’m in trouble no matter what I do…”

Izzy sighed. Sunny looked over to Hitch who reassured her with his smile.

“I would be honoured to have your help, you two. I know I seem like a courageous, handsome lion and all” — Sunny rolled her eyes, Izzy fake giggled — “But the thought of going into Unicorn territory alone was honestly pretty terrifying.”

Sunny hummed with thought.

“Okay, that’s great, but I’m not sure if I should try to get the Protector’s blessing, or if we should just break out. Could you manage the escape, Hitch?”

Hitch nodded, seriousness weighing his brow.

“It’s possible – but I mean only just possible. Getting out of the dungeons and up to the Protector’s Chambers, yes I can do that for sure. But once we bust out of the dungeons, it won’t be long before the alarm is sounded, and escaping the Castle entirely is a different bucket of oats.”

Sunny shook her head.

“I’m not going to risk you two on my convincing the Protector. I’m zero for three so far on convincing ponies – or maybe even worse than that, I think I lost count. At least with escaping the Castle, we have a shot at all getting free.”

She paused.

“If I want to convince the stubborn Earth Ponies, I’ll have to get the Unicorns and Pegasi on board first. They should be more reasonable. Right, Izzy?”

Izzy made a worried noise.

“W-well…”

Sunny jumped to her hooves, not realizing she had regained enough strength to do so. She smiled at her hooves and jiggled them around. She shared the smile with Hitch though he was still apprehensive. She continued happily.

“Once we get out of here, we can head north to Tall Tale. Whatshisface said that I have a grandmother there, and family! I think they can help us out, and maybe I can learn more about that shout power thing I may or may not have.”

Hitch rubbed his chin.

“Yeah… Tall Tale IS the place to be to hear all kinds of rumors. Or so the rumors say.” He shot Sunny a cheeky grin and she chuckled. “We may even hear about Halter, too! I never thought to go there before since it seems like a long shot. I mean, Halter never went to Tall Tale – he hates that superstition stuff. But it’s worth a shot, and as long as you two are headed to Unitopia eventually, I’m where you are.”

Sunny snickered.

“Unicornia.”

Hitch rolled his eyes.

“Cut me some slack. It was crazy Hornhead land a few days ago.”

He laid down, hooves behind his head.

“And hey! Maybe Halter didn’t get foalnapped after all! Maybe he went up north to be where it’s colder. Maybe he just forgot to send a postcard.”

Sunny saw the struggle in her new friend’s face to maintain his happy look. She frowned.

“Sorry you two, but before we go anywhere, can we rest first? I’m not a fast runner, and I think we’ll have to do a lot of that.”

Sunny smiled.

“I remember Izzy. Okay, let’s just relax for now. And if we hear them try to take you in the meantime, Izzy, we’ll jump in.” Sunny laid down. “Sound good?”

Izzy agreed. Hitch nodded.

“I’ll have to try and remember the layout from here to the closest exit, and the best way to go. I mean it when I say this will be a close call.”

Sunny curled into a laying down position.

“Right… okay.”

* * *

Sir Curio Brightland finished his speech to the individuals gathered around the Stone Table. He had been surprised to see so few – when he used to appear at such meetings, there would have been all or close to all 12 Knights gathered (back when there WAS a full set of 12), plus the heads of the Hooffield and McColt families. But that day, after his exchange with Sunny Starscout, after his frantic fear led him to actually attend a meeting, there were only 2 Knights present – and that included Curio himself.

The page Cabot was standing off to one side, patiently recording even the murmurs in the room onto his parchment.

“That’s—” Aurelia Shieldheart, Protector of the Realm and the pony seated at the largest of the chairs, looked to her Right Hoof with scrutiny. “Sir Curio, is what you said true? Maybe it was some trick, or…”

“Aurelia, would I have missed my nap to come here if I wasn’t ABSOLUTELY sure it was real? That Starscout mare used some form of magic with her voice – and she has been cohorting with a Unicorn! This is dangerous. I have no idea what it might be, but we should use the Blackmire Brew on her.” The others in the room gasped, though Lady Aurelia merely stared with a resolute gaze, sitting tall and poised on her chair, her magenta irises bright with focus. “I know, we only have one dose left, and it might not be possible to make any more. But if my fears are correct, this will save the Realm from another incident like the Everfree one.”

Dame Terra spoke up with a clop of her hoof against the table.

“My Lady, Sir Curio, I concur with that proposal. It would be unacceptable to let such a threat persist here unabated.”

Orson Roundplot, a fat and jubilant page appearing on behalf of two Knights, rose his chunky purple hoof. His armor barely fit – his curly dark purple mane bounced as he waved.

“Yea yea, vee agree! Errr, zhat is to say, I agree for Sirs McColt und Hooffield – I do!”

Nate Chivaltarry shakily raised his hoof.

“I t-think we should wait to hear what Sir Bastion has to say…”

A well-to-do mare seated beside the Protector waved a fan in front of her face and hummed in agreement with the page, nodding her head toward him. Her hair was done up into a style common among the McColt and Hooffield mares – a swooping style that made her dark blue-grey mane look like a wavy sculpture made of blueberry pudding. Her mane was typical of the McColt families, being a darker shade of teal. A beauty mark sat on her right cheek – the least intrusive part of the make-up plastering her face. When she spoke, nopony could ignore the volume and fire in her tone.

“Yes, no decisions on this here matter ought to be made without Sir Bastion’s say. He’s our hero after all.”

A masculine guffaw on the other side of the Protector was followed by a hoof clap.

“Here here! Mary-Ellen McColt, you most certainly are a mare after my own heart. Ah agree as well. Sir Bastion will probably side with the proposal, but” — He winked and chuckled at Sir Curio, who did not hide his contempt — “Just in case.”

Henry Hooffield wore a ten gallon hat of pure alabaster faux leather – a gift from the famous White Hat. That same material covered his body in a gold-button-studded outfit. His bushy brown moustache rivalled Sir Bastion’s – he liked to compare the two, though the Left Hoof really could care less about such things. Henry, like most Hooffields, had a light brown coat of fur.

Sir Curio looked around at the various faces before settling on Aurelia’s, his stare loosening its grumpy state.

“Aurelia – please. The Drake is still at large! This can’t all be a coincidence! Something is going to happen, I just know it, and that Starscout is involved!”

Mary-Ellen McColt chuckled.

“Dear ol’ Curio, little miss Starscout is locked up in the dungeons, and Sir Bastion is heading back to get that big mean and nasty Hornhead freakazoid as we speak. Won’t be an issue for much longer, plus we’ll get another valuable little prize to use against that dreadful Warlock King. You of all ponies ought to trust Sir Bastion more!”

Henry Hooffield agreed.

“Indeed. Those Hornheads do have their shiny toys, and their trinkets, and their machines, what have you…”

He slammed his hoof on the Table.

“But hay in a hoofbasket, we have good ol’ Earth Pony power and stubbornosity! That’s worth more than all the gold in my mansion, Ah'd reckon!”

Orson Roundplot hoofclapped rapidly.

“Bravo! Vee agree! I mean, I change my mind – Sirs McColt and Hooffield side vith Sir Bastion – err, Mr. Hooffield. Yeah!”

Nate Chivaltarry forced a toothy smile when the head of the Hooffields looked his way. Nate slowly turned to Sir Curio, who was bearing into him with a glare. Nate quickly looked down. When Henry Hooffield looked at Dame Terra, she cleared her throat and stared straight ahead.

“Perhaps I will… reserve my decision – for now.”

Aurelia Shieldheart facehoofed. Her reaction was muffled.

“We will postpone the remainder of the meeting until two days from now – to ensure we have Sir Bastion’s presence.”

Sir Curio stood up.

“Aurelia that’s nonsense! We need to—”

Glares from the heads of the two most important families in the Realm stopped him.

“WE,” Mary-Ellen McColt began, “Need to remind ourselves, Curio – and I mean YOU in particular – that WE ain’t in charge all by our lonesome.”

Henry Hooffield grumbled.

“Yes. That Blackmire Brew could buy up all the land in the Realm - save for Hooffield Heights and McColt Manor, mind you - what with how valuable it is. And you want to go around using it like it’s just any old common sarsaparilla!” He lowered his brow. “What would your mentor think of you now, Curio, talkin’ so hastily like?”

Sir Curio growled and left the Table. His daughter held out a hoof as he stomped by. She looked at the Earth Ponies gathered for the meeting, her brow tightening near the bridge of her snout. She quickly followed her father out of the room and the guards closed the groaning double doors shut with a thud.

When the awkward silence dissipated, Henry Hooffield turned to the Protector.

“Shucks – where were we? Talkin’ bout your brother up Vanhoover way, ah think?”

* * *

Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy rested for a few hours, until the light from the barred windows became muted. There was some moonlight, but not nearly enough to illuminate the darkened dungeons. She ate the petty morsels that had been provided to feed her brain. It was better than the gruel she had eaten earlier that day, but not by much. Twice a guard came by to check on the prisoners, and each time that particular guard chastised Izzy. Sunny, of course, paid him back twice as bad.

Eventually, Sunny felt sleep trying to wrap its tendrils around her, but she fought back. Hitch wasn’t far off either.

“Izzy?”

“I’m still awake Sunny.”

Sunny breathed out uneasily.

“Okay, let’s do it Hitch.” She looked at where she thought he was, and when the sparse moonlight caught his eyes staring back she knew he was there. “Time to initiate Plan—”

A siren bell clanged outside the castle, and then it spread inside the dungeons. The metal screamed and echoed throughout the cells – Sunny covered her ears. Even still, she could still hear the jarring noise – and, also, shouting and a creaking metallic noise. She removed her hooves and strained to listen closely.

“What the hay?” Hitch exclaimed.

A whirling noise that Sunny couldn’t quite place, like a small but vicious tornado, seemed to come from not far away beyond the walls. Izzy cried out.

“Get down!”

Sunny had no time to do so, nor Hitch. An explosion rocked the dungeons, instantly throwing dust and tiny rocks into every cell and blinding the ponies even more than the dark of night already had done. A constant, loud whirring was throbbing in Sunny’s ears. Disoriented, Sunny searched with her hooves to find the bars. When she did, she used a hoof to rub her eyes and ventured a look around. Amidst the falling dust a figure stood outside the bent bars of Sunny’s.

The figure’s smile looked just like the floating white object Sunny had seen previously. The pony-shaped figure laughed before speaking, loud enough to be heard over the whirring nearby but muffled as if behind a mask.

“Buenas noches, my little pony. Joo stay put while we take back our little hermana.”

The dust was subsiding and a bright white light coming from the source of the explosion down the hall revealed more of the pony – and made it clear that she was indeed a Unicorn, albeit one in a suit like the Drake. The suit was a hot pick color with black lines criss-crossing the material, and it looked shiny and metallic almost. The Unicorn’s face itself could not be seen but the mask covering it made her look like a lizard with ridges over her giant, spherical eyes.

Hitch screamed.

“Unicorn attack! Again!”

Sunny glared.

“They want Izzy! Hitch, get us out of here!”

The Unicorn frowned, then its suit lost its color and she slowly disappeared – literally, as if into thin air. Her voice could still be heard.

“Diablo! Joo will not keep her here any longer! This is prison break – have funnn!”

From the spot where the Unicorn previously was a loud popping sound and then a whizzing noise rang out. Something shot at Sunny and, when it hit her, it took her breath away and cast out an entire net of rope. The net surrounded Sunny’s body and tightened immediately, folding her up into the closest thing to a little Earth Pony ball she could become without crushing her completely.

“Hitch!” she cried with a very strained, very wheezy voice. Hitch quickly bent his cell bars, though it took some effort, then tackled through Sunny’s where they were already damaged from the blast. He worked at getting off the ropes, and even with his strength he was grunting while ripping them from Sunny. He was able to loosen them enough for Sunny to crawl out. She regained her breath then looked down the hallway.

“IZZY!”

It was the Drake – there could be no doubt as Sunny watched the pony-sized dragon-suited Unicorn with the funny horn wrap Izzy with his leather-like green suit wing. It was clear she was struggling as he tried to move back toward the blown out wall.

“No Rye Rye, I’m going to stay! Please!”

Bluish flames like the ones Sunny saw the day before sat just behind his suit’s eye sockets.

“You’re insane, Izzy! We have to go! Eagle Eye already took out one of the Crawlers, and the soldiers will be here any minute! We’re losing ponies here!”

Sunny turned to the loud whirring device half-lodged in the broken dungeon wall and hovered a hoof over her brow, the bright white light coming from it almost blinding her. Whatever it was, seeing its odd and off-putting appearance made Sunny take a step back.

It was some sort of machine she had never seen before – certainly something she could have never conceived in her own mind. Its body — like a spider’s, or maybe even an octopus’s — was constructed of a shiny, silver metal and it had multiple, long limbs coming out from it in all directions. Many of them were attached to the outside of the castle, holding the machine in place, while a few limbs were floating about inside the dungeons. One such limb was flashing the bright white light.

Inside the spherical body of the octo-spider (as Sunny had named it in her head) was enough room for ponies to go inside – a few Unicorns were already there, dressed in similar suits of a grey material contrasted to the more colourful Drake and whoever the other Unicorn with the accent was.

Sunny felt Hitch beside her, and heard his confusion.

“OKAY SOMEEARTHPONY – OR UNICORN – TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ON!”

An invisible force smacked into Hitch and sent him back to the other end of the hall, slamming against the wall with a thud.

“C-can everyearthpony – and Unicorn – please stop slamming me into things…”

Sunny looked around. She knew that that other Unicorn was hiding somewhere but had become invisible somehow. More importantly, though, her head snapped to Izzy being dragged off. The Drake turned his massive, draconic face toward Sunny, and if looks could kill, Sunny would have been a goner.

“Go back into your cell, dirthorse! You don’t see anything!”

Something grabbed Sunny by the scruff of her neck and pulled her forward.

“No Rylar – let us take this little chicka with us. Maybe she knows something worth telling the Honored Voice.”

Izzy shouted. Sunny saw a look of abject terror on the face of her friend, as if it took all her courage to speak.

“No, let Sunny go! I’ll come with you, just don’t—”

A burst of bluish flames shot out from the Drake’s mask.

“ENOUGH! Izzy, don’t you get the trouble we’re in? Forget about your brother – all Five Tribes are going to be in an uproar about this!”

Heavy clipclopping from behind drew Sunny’s gaze, despite the tight hold on her neck.

“Hitch to the rescue, baby!”

Hitch slammed into the invisible Unicorn and sent her flying backward, her hot pink suit coming back into the visible world as she slammed into the Drake. Right after, Sunny was yanked and throw onto Hitch’s back, then he rushed over, grabbed Izzy with one of his hooves, and trotted as fast as his remaining three hooves could go toward the exit.

“You girls… need to… continue the… rest of the way… after I break… the door!”

Sunny looked back – one of the octo-spider’s long limbs was slithering toward them. The Drake appeared as well.

“NO! IZZY!”

Hitch stopped in front of the huge wooden door leading out of the dungeons, reared onto his hind legs, and smashed through it. In the aftermath, his head spun.

“O-okay… Hitch rescue… successful… w-whoa…”

Everypony ran up the stairs outside the dungeon door, Izzy whimpering and remaining to watch her friend in the distance only momentarily. Here and there a torch on the wall illuminated their upward journey. The ringing siren was still blaring, seemingly everywhere in the castle at once, and soldiers were shouting from somewhere beyond the top of the long stairs.

“Right!” Hitch shouted. “This is gonna be hairy, but we need to find the booking room before we split! Our stuff might be in there!”

“Our stuff?” Sunny asked, just as loud.

“Our stuff that Bastion took at the barracks yesterday! My stuff, your stuff, Izzy’s bag of bits!!! Don’t think I didn’t notice, Moneyhooves!”

Izzy found it hard to breathe.

“You guys… I’m sorry. I know I’m… so much trouble… but I can’t… I can’t go back… now…”

Sunny looked at Izzy as she ran, brazen with worry.

“But Izzy you’ll be safe if you go with them! They’re your ponies, aren’t they?”

Izzy looked at the steps just in front of her galloping hooves.

“My brother… isn’t well. He’s mean. If I go back… it’s just…”

Sunny nodded.

“Okay, I understand. Save your breath! We’ll go back to Unicornia together and talk some sense into him!” Izzy looked over, the tiniest smile gracing her lips. Sunny grinned. “I’m sure the Drake will be fine, Sir Bastion isn’t at the Castle right now.”

Hitch spoke up from the front of the pack.

“You’re assuming that Eagle Eye isn’t more dangerous. Didn’t you hear? He already took down one of those metal machine thingajiggers! He actually sleeps up on the Northeast tower! Unless those Unicorns are planning on going underground, Sir Curio can hit them.” Hitch looked back as he ran. “Once I saw him hit the narrow side of a barn – from a mile away – with a slingshot!”

Sunny glared.

“Hitch that’s not exactly going to make Izzy feel better!”

She looked over to her Unicorn friend. Izzy’s brow was curved downward.

“It’s okay… Sunny. I won’t worry… about Rye Rye… anymore!”

All three ponies finally reached the top of the stairs. There was no physical door separating the dungeon stairs and the main corridor, so they all tumbled through the opening at once. Earth Pony soldiers wearing stone armor were waiting for them.

“The Prisoners!” one cried. Hitch hit them with his twinkling smile.

“Oh, hey there everyearthpony. Looking good – especially you on the right, cutie.”

“Hitch!”

“Right, right…”

The soldiers pounced, spears at the ready. Hitch grimaced and pushed Sunny and Izzy aside, then flopped onto the ground as five spears stabbed through his mane. Sunny turned back around and tackled into the closest soldier. Izzy stood still, shaking.

Hitch got up with a yelp and sent all five soldiers flying back in various directions using his head. He rubbed the top of it and his hoof flinched back touching a sore spot.

“Ow! That stone armor is really hard! Let’s get going, this kind of thing really takes its toll on me!”

Sunny cracked a grin.

“Not really all that much like Rockhoof, are you, Casanova?”

“Distant relative! Very distant!!!”

Hitch went first, then Sunny followed after. She turned back to the stationary Unicorn looking sadly back down the stairs.

“Izzy! We have to hurry!”

Izzy snapped out of it and caught up, her breath failing her.

“I’m not… the best… runner… remember?”

Sunny stopped, scurried underneath Izzy, and scooped her onto her back. Izzy blushed – Sunny’s hooves were shaky, but she ran forward nonetheless. Hitch stretched a hoof out after her.

“Hey – Hey! I could carry her!”

“Well… you didn’t… so let’s… go!”

Izzy was frantic.

“Sunny please! You can’t! I’m being too troublesome, I only wanted to help you but now I’m a burden! I’m sorry!”

Sunny gritted her teeth from the physical stress. Hitch stopped in front of a huge door and Sunny followed suit.

“You… will. In your… own way. Trust me…”

She gingerly lowered Izzy by bending her knees and letting Izzy dismount.

“Hitch, hurry up in there!” Sunny cried.

Hitch had smashed the door of the booking room with a grunt and ran inside. He came back out a moment later, saddlebags in tow, as shouting down the hall made Izzy’s skin crawl and Sunny’s hair stand up.

“See! I told you ladies! I knew Bastion wouldn’t leave this stuff by the river!”

Sunny blinked and grabbed her side bag. Izzy quickly snapped hers to her behind. Hitch held his things in his mouth.

“We’ll talk later!” He said, the words muffled. “Let’s get out of here!”

Nopony had to be told twice. Hitch tossed Izzy onto his back and stuck out his tongue at Sunny, who grinned back. They set off even faster than before, hearing commotion at their backs. When Sunny hazarded a backward glance, she gasped.

The octo-spider was hot on their tails, crawling down the hallway just as fast as Sunny and Hitch could run, tearing up the stones as it did so. The Earth Pony soldiers had been incapacitated and the wall blown away behind them. A voice called out from the body of the octo-spider.

“I won’t let them take you, Izzy!”

Sunny watched in terror as the end of one of the limbs opened up, revealing a steadily growing ball of green energy.

“Keep your head down – this is the only way to save you!”

18 - Sunlight

Sunny’s snores shook the cave from its front to its back. Hitch and Izzy were awake and had been for some time. Their half-closed eyes were bloodshot, and their unkempt manes stuck up, splotched with soot and green ooze.

“She… she like this every morning?” Hitch asked.

Izzy quietly yawned.

“Yeppers.”

Hitch groan-sighed.

“And I even went through the effort of putting a rock in her mouth. But she spit it out sometime in the night.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. It hit me right in the face.”

“Ouchies…”

“Ouchies is right.”

Izzy laid down and her eyelids fluttered, as if she were unconsciously falling back asleep.

“I was awake the one morning…”

Hitch looked over at Izzy.

“Huh?”

Izzy shook her head and forced her lids up.

“S-sorry! What I meant was, because of the snoring, back at Maretime Bay, I was up really early one morning. I told Sunny I couldn’t remember anything but, that was a lie.” Izzy straightened up and stretched, like a cat waking from a long sleep. Hitch wished he had some coffee. “I was watching her sleep. She’s… expressive.”

At that, Sunny smiled in her sleep and her leg twitched. She looked like a dog embroiled in a dream. Hitch chuckled.

“Yeah, she sure is…”

He trailed off. The light outside the cave, still an early orange glow, pulsated. He squinted.

“Uhhh, you see that too, Izzy?”

Izzy tip-toed toward the opening of the cave. She looked at the reflection of the light on the stone ground. It went from darker to light every few seconds. She squinted up at the orange sun itself, and every so often it would brighten and turn a lighter shade of orange. Suddenly, Sunny’s snoring was interrupted, and she sat up.

“Wha-HUH!?”

Both of the other ponies exchanged a glance. Hitch cleared his throat.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty. You make a good alarm clock - thanks for that.”

Sunny stretched and smacked her dry lips.

“What uhh what are you going on about, Hitch?”

Izzy stepped forward, a tiny grin on her face.

“The snoring, Sunny. Your very loud snoring.”

Sunny seemed to be drifting back to sleep. She dopily leaned to one side. When the words registered, she jumped up and turned red.

“Oh! Guys, I’m so sorry! I really can’t help it, it’s just—”

Hitch gave her a slight shove.

“It’s fine, Sunny. Look!”

He pointed toward the sun. Sunny followed his hoof.

“It’s happening already. Remember when it only did that once a year, and then it happened twice a year? Seems like it’s twice a month now.”

Sunny’s mouth opened. She walked outside of the cave to get a better look and stared directly at the orange orb in the sky, just at the top of the mountain wall.

“The Sun Goddess!”

She looked back at her friends inside the cave.

“Maybe it’s a sign, telling us to get a move on!”

Hitch shrugged and smirked. He couldn’t stop an obnoxious yawn shooting past his lips.

“Sure, since we’re already awake and all.”

Izzy giggled. Sunny forced an awkward smile at her friends. Her brow furrowed when she saw the state of everypony’s coat – she looked at herself and grimaced.

“I don’t mean to sound like you, Hitch, but I’m not digging the ‘science experiment gone wrong’ look. Ohhhh – and my head!”

Sunny sat on her rump and rubbed her temples while cooing to herself. Hitch nodded.

“We DID get hit with a green blastie Unicorn lazer thing and fall out of a castle and into a tree last night. If it hadn’t been for my Lickity Splitlixir, we would be waking up in the dungeons again.”

Izzy pointed up at Hitch’s head and snickered.

“But at least your bad mane day is over, Hitch!”

Hitch seemed surprised. He felt his coiffure and, being assured each strand was in its rightful place, he sighed contently.

“Thank Rockhoof… let’s get out of the boonies and wash up. I don’t want the mares in Tall Tale thinking I’m some weirdo mountain stallion.”

Hitch yawned so loud it matched one of Sunny’s snores. Sunny craned her neck toward the sun then looked back at her hooves as Hitch looked at his belt.

“Hey wait,” Sunny said. She looked up with concern. “Why don’t we use this green stuff?”

Izzy looked at Hitch, then at Sunny. Hitch looked up at Sunny.

“For what, a science experiment?”

“For a disguise!”

Sunny licked her lips thoughtfully. She moved her ponytail in front of her face, snagged at the hair elastics one by one with her teeth and pulled them out. With her mane down, she tentatively grabbed a glob of the green on her side and rubbed it into her hair. Hitch jumped back.

“Yow! Are you sure that’s safe? What if it melts your mane off or something?!”

“Relax. Risk not, want not.”

“Sunny that’s not how that saying goes.”

“What’s all around is good around, Hitch.”

“Stop that.”

Izzy copied her female friend, scooping off the green goo from her coat and mixing it into her mane. Before long both mares had dyed their manes neon green. Hitch made a wry face.

“Eugh. Seriously?”

Sunny motioned her Unicorn pal over.

“Mind doing mine into a bun? I have trouble doing it myself.”

Izzy lit up.

“Ohmigosh! Sure! And can you do mine into pigtails after?”

Sunny got just as excited.

“Yeah! Just like little fillies do at layovers!”

Izzy frowned.

“You mean… sleepover?”

“Oh yeah, that!”

Hitch stuck out his tongue.

“Yuck, you’re gonna get all girly on me now? Come on, none of the namby pamby stuff, this group has a stallion in it, there will be none of that.”

Sunny looked over cheekily as Izzy got to work on her mane.

“Lighten up, Trashblazer. We’ll do you next.”

Hitch pouted.

“…you better.”

After a second, his ear twitched.

“Actually, I wanted to go through our things before we go. Do you mind if I check your bag, Izzy? And yours, Sunny?”

Neither mare was phased by the suggestion. Sunny commented.

“Mine has nothing useful – sorry, I didn’t know to pack for everything.”

Hitch smiled.

“No worries, Sunny Starscout. I am a sheriff… err, was. I’m always prepared.”

He turned his belt over, revealing a few hidden compartments. He pulled out a blue vial, then a green one.

“I have two Aqua Vivas and two rough mixes of Treesap Tincture. It’s my own batch, but it should do the trick. Problem is, it’s the stuff that takes you out of commission, but the healing power is top notch. You should know and all, Sunny.” The named mare rolled her eyes. Hitch continued with a chuckle. “Anyway, if one of us gets bad enough that we need the Tincture, the others will have to carry her. Or him. So hopefully, I’m not the one that gets the booboo.”

Izzy asked inquisitively.

“And what does the Aqua Viva do, that blue one?”

Hitch put the vials back into their compartments.

“Keeps you hydrated all day long – if water is scarce, this is your lifeline in the wild. As long as you have a good collection of them. I need to restock, though. Good thing we are going to Tall Tale. I’ve heard the potion scene ain’t too bad there.” Hitch hummed. “But we definitely will need to keep a low profile.

Hitch turned his attention to Izzy’s bag as Sunny felt her bun and shot the Unicorn an approving smile. Izzy sat down, her tail wagging, as Sunny started on her pigtails.

“Let’s see,” Hitch began. He peered into the faux leather, tan colored saddlebags. All he saw was the gold glint of bits. “Wowzers. You really are the Warlo” — He saw Sunny glaring, and Izzy looking dejected, and stopped — “I mean, wow, your family is really rich, huh.”

Izzy talked as Sunny put her mane into position. “I guess so? I only use the bits outside of Unicornia. I’ve never had to pay for anything in my own country. If I go to a store I just show them my special card, and they let me take it.”

Hitch scoffed and motioned forward with his hoof.

“Well ladie dah! Your ‘special card’! That sounds like something the McColts and Hooffields would have.”

Sunny shrugged. She was gripping part of Izzy’s mane and wrapping an elastic around it.

“Hey, is it any different from how things back home are? All you have to do in Maretime Bay is put in some work a few times a week, hauling crate or fishing, and you get all the rations you can eat.”

A family of birds landed on Hitch’s back. The mares laughed, watching them stare at Hitch. He ignored them for the most part and looked grim.

“Yeah, rations. And if you want more than scraps, you need to put in some serious effort. No ‘special cards’ for us working Earth Ponies.”

Izzy screwed her mouth into a concerned line. Sunny put up the first pigtail and then nudged Izzy. While Hitch returned his focus to the saddlebag, Sunny pointed at him and made a mocking face. Izzy giggled. Hitch spoke, unawares.

“Other than bits you have… uhhh, a ball of yarn and some weird sticks?”

Izzy nearly leapt forward, though remembered Sunny’s grip on the other part of her mane. She whined.

“Hitch, be careful please. Sorry but those are very important to me. They’re my knitting hooves, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get any new ones between here and Sire’s Hollow!”

“Knee-ting?”

Sunny answered that.

“She spins the yarn around until it makes a thing, a doll or a coat or whatever. It’s really cool!”

Hitch slowly shook his head.

“If you say so…”

After that, Hitch pulled out a picture. He turned it around a few times then smiled.

“Aww, is that your family?” He saw something on the picture and did a double take. “Wait, is THAT your brother? The – the You-Know-Who?”

Izzy struggled free from Sunny as soon as the latter finalized the neon green pigtails. Izzy took the picture from Hitch but stood next to him so they could both observe, and Sunny joined as well.

“Yeah,” Izzy said with a melancholy sigh. “That was him. Ten years ago, before he became a meanie bo beanie.”

The picture showed a filly Izzy, smile taking up half her face, with two older ponies behind her and a young stallion beside her. The younger stallion had a much more reserved smile. His fur was a midnight blue, and his mane looked like a lighter shade of the same color, and it appeared almost like a starry sky contained in a short, stout style. Izzy’s father was short, plump, and had a bushy moustache and wore glasses – her mother was taller, with lavender fur, and a done-up mane of sparkly amber. They all wore snazzy-looking, purple cotton outfits with a badge on the breast that showed Izzy’s Cutie Mark.

“His name is Darius. Not Warlock King. Darius Moonbow. My big brother.” Izzy made a happy noise, and Sunny saw a big grin on her face. She couldn’t help but smile as well. Then, Izzy became sad.

“A-anyway, like I said, ten years ago.” She cleared her throat. “There’s nothing else in my bag. Sorry, I didn’t pack for a useful journey, either.”

Sunny hopped over to where her little bag was laying inside the cave. She snatched it, went back to the others, and dumped it out.

“Nothing useful for me also!”

The contents were a note pad, a pencil, and various loose bits. Sunny shrugged.

“I use my bag when I bring something to the Professor, or if it’s needed for my speeches in the market. Otherwise, it’s just got my notepad – for writing down speeches and ideas for speeches, of course.”

She sighed.

“Too bad I didn’t know we’d be going on a journey, or I would have brought my Famous Ponies of Equestria figurines!”

Hitch made a noise of disgust.

“Blah. I’ve heard of those. I thought the townsearthponies threw all of those out.”

Sunny smiled, closed her eyes, and stood up proud, as if the sun were glowing down on her.

“They did, that’s how I found them, thank you very much. And my couch, too – ask Izzy, that thing smelled just fine!”

Izzy cocked her head.

“Famous Ponies of Equestria? Like Starswirl, or Princess Luna?”

Sunny grinned wide.

“Yeah! Starswirl! I heard the professor and Old Man Withers mention him! Do Unicorns know Starswirl too?”

Izzy sat on her rump as Hitch squinted and looked at all their supplies, which he had gathered in the middle of the group.

“Of course we know about Starswirl. According to the legends, after the Great Betrayal, it was Starswirl who led the Unicorns to safety. I’m guessing your stories say that Rockhoof did the same thing for the Earth Ponies.”

Sunny looked enthralled, her eyes fixed on Izzy’s.

“Yeah, yeah! Uhh, I think. Hitch?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, more or less. And there’s something about a table too. Just a second, I’m thinking.”

“Don’t strain yourself.”

“Thanks I wo—heeeyyy.”

Sunny snickered. Izzy put a hoof to her chin and hummed.

“I’m surprised that Starswirl isn’t viewed as a villain then. We call Rockhoof the Great Evil. It’s said that he turned bad a long time ago and tried to use his strength to subjugate the other races.”

More birds flew onto Hitch’s back, and a few mountain gerbils hopped up as well. He looked back at them with annoyance. Sunny replied to Izzy.

“I think that’s because most Earth Ponies don’t know about Starswirl, I only heard about him from the professor and Old Man Withers. I don’t think my Famous Ponies are Starswirl, and I don’t think any of them is a princess, so that rules out your Luna pony.”

Sunny drew six crude figures in the dirt – Izzy watched with enthusiasm.

“The Famous Ponies Figurines, the ones I have, are two Earth Ponies, two Unicorns, and two Pegasi. I don’t know their names, but I think that they used to be great heroes and friends. It’s one of the reasons why I love my parents’ dream so much, because I see those six and I think it must be so cool to have a bunch of friends that are different!”

She suddenly became very thoughtful.

“But you know, it’s weird – one of the Pegasi has a defect. They put a horn on her.”

Izzy looked at the drawing Sunny made, the one with the crude wings and the crude horn.

“Maybe she was a Unicorn, and they added wings by mistake?”

Sunny’s mouth widened.

“You’re a genius, Izzy! I bet that’s exactly what happened!”

Hitch scoffed.

“Why would you add wings to a Unicorn? That’s just… silly. If I had bought that figurine and saw wings on a Unicorn, I would be pretty disappointed. That’s freakish.”

Some pebbles and larger rocks rumbled down the side of the mountain wall and fell nearby. All three ponies looked over, then up. Hitch commented.

“Must have been a slight shift, we should be fine.”

Izzy looked nervous.

“A-are you sure? Will there be another rockslide, you think?”

“Nah. But we should head out you two. If we follow the path, and climb the rockslide, we’ll get to a side of the mountain I’m sure the soldiers from the castle won’t check. Then if my knowledge of geography is worth anything, we should have tree cover all the way to Tall Tale.”

Hitch stood up and strapped his belt on.

“After that, we will have to put our heads together, because I have no idea how we are going to sneak into the city and find Sunny’s grandmother.”

Hitch frowned. He dipped a hoof in some sooty green goo on his chest and rubbed it into his mane. He continued until his mane poofed up into a neon afro. The mares giggled.

“Heh, laugh all you want, but I know it looks good.”

More rocks rolled down from above. It didn’t help Izzy’s skittishness – Sunny wrapped her hoof around Izzy and brought her in close. Sunny did the same with Hitch.

“We’ll figure it out! Together!”

Hitch rolled his eyes but smiled. Izzy’s eyes were glued to the sky. She shivered.

“M-M-M-M-M—”

Hitch and Sunny looked at Izzy.

“What is it Izzy?”

“Is this another Unicorn thing?”

A loud thud landed behind the ponies, casting a dark shadow over them. With Sunny’s hooves still around them, everypony shuffled around, their pupils tiny. Three hearts caught inside three throats.

Their screams made all the animals on Hitch’s back scatter. What they saw was a giant, grey troll.

All of Castle Rockhoof was in disarray. The higher ups were trying to decide what to do, and who to order to do what, while the lower ranks made knee-jerk decisions and sent their lackeys off to complete tasks elsewhere. Away from all the noise and confusion, within her private chambers, stood a tall, light pink-furred mare, released from her golden armor, and nervously chewing on the stem of a wide, puffy, white flower.

“Curio,” she said. “I’m worried. I’m very worried about all of this.”

She stared at an emblem hanging on her wall. Two long pony shapes formed a circle – one pony was darker, the other lighter. Each had a horn and wings. Long ago, a traveller gave the emblem to Aurelia’s grandfather, along with a book with the same emblem on its cover. Never before had she studied that symbol so closely.

“Curio?”

She turned, and at the same time let the flower fall from her mouth onto her desk.

Curio was leaning against his own hoof, snoring quietly. He was in his armor, although it was more understandable, given that it was just faux leather.

“Curio!”

The oldest of the Knights grumbled himself awake. He ran a hoof through his light lavender mane and looked around.

“W-what? D-don’t—Aurelia, I need to sleep! This is serious!”

“So why are you sleeping?!”

“Because I can’t think if I’m exhausted! I’m an old stallion!”

Curio jumped up and out of the old armchair. He cracked his neck from one side to the next and growled deep in his throat. Aurelia paced.

“They’re going to want action. McColt, Hooffield, Bastion, the Realm. Curio, Hornheads attacked the Castle! That hasn’t happened in decades!”

Curio chuckled, though his expression made it clear that he did so in spite of the dire situation.

“Don’t forget, we also lost the Starscout and Isabella Moonbow, perhaps the best bargaining chip we could hope for. If that Starscout was working with the Hornheads, or even if she wasn’t, they have her voice magic to themselves now. It’s about as bad as it can be. I thought we would have at least recaptured the prisoners by now.”

Aurelia’s pink irises vibrated with worry.

“What shall I do? Tell me – what would father have done? And grandfather?”

“Your father would have been worse off than you. He probably would have just cried and shut himself up in here, with the way he was by the end—and by the way you will NOT be doing the same thing in this crisis.” Curio smiled warmly, but Aurelia could hardly think of returning one. Curio switched to a frown. “And your grandfather Aurelius would have had us marching to Sire’s Hollow by now, ready to all die for the sake of revenge.”

Curio took hold of the Realm’s Protector with his stern gaze.

“What we need right now is YOUR decision. Not your father’s, and not your grandfather’s. Aurelia Shieldheart is who we need right now.”

Aurelia controlled her breathing. She nodded, and Curio nodded as well.

“Right.” She breathed in sharp. “For now, we wait for Bastion and the others. Messenger eagles were sent, were they not? We need a full meeting, all the Knights.”

Curio hacked out a cough.

“Exactly. Let the Stone Table decide how the Realm moves forward.”

“Yes. Just as Rockhoof would have wanted.”

Curio smiled.

“This is why I am happy to serve as your Right Hoof. I think somewhere in his mind Bastion feels the same way. But, Aurelia, we have drifted far apart indeed. I know, in my heart.”

He scared Aurelia with the look he gave her. A sadness and a dread weighed his brow.

“Sir Bastion has something planned, and I’m terrified because I think this is just what he was hoping for.”

Aurelia’s pupils widened.

“You don’t think he…?”

“I don’t know anymore. But he has the full support of the McColts and the Hooffields, and about half the Knights, either out of respect or fear. And he does not hide the fact that he wants another war.”

Curio closed his eyes and sighed for a very long time.

“I think… I think we need to try and maintain our position, but ultimately if the meeting goes one way, you need to side with the majority. The Realm as it stands will not survive a civil war, especially when the threat of a very real one with the Hornheads looms over us.”

Before Aurelia could convert her thoughts into words, a loud knocking at the door disturbed the silence inside.

“Come i—”

A panting stallion burst inside. His sweaty blonde mane covered his neck.

“L-Lady Protector, I! I!”

Curio barked.

“Out with it!”

The stallion, Curio recognized, was one of the guards of the Relic Room. The stallion stumbled on his words, trying to find the grace to turn his tongue movements into proper sentences.

“T-The… R-Rockhoof’s… It’s g-gone…”

Curio and Aurelia swapped glances. Curio stepped closer to the stallion.

“What?”

The stallion blurted it out all at once.

“After the emergency in the castle died down, I went to the Relic Room to swap shifts with the other guard. A-And I got inside, and she – and she was… I couldn’t wake her up! And then I saw… I saw…”

The stallion fell to his knees.

“Rockhoof’s shovel is gone!”

The stallion sobbed, covering his face. Curio grabbed him and shook.

“What do you mean, gone? What does that mean!?”

Aurelia’s jaw hung. She stared around her room. When she was a filly, she spent many days pouring through old books, old scrolls, and strategic maps, trying her best to learn how to be the best Protector she could be when her time came, if it came at all. She grew up watching her father fail, and knew she had to do better, like her grandfather had been.

She wondered how she could have ever been so foolish to think reading and strategy would solve anything.

Curio pressed the stallion further.

“OUT WITH IT - WHERE’S THE SHOVEL!? WHO KNOWS ABOUT THIS?”

“N-NOEARTHPONY, J-JUST ME! I LOCKED THE ROOM AND CAME STRAIGHT HERE! I DIDN’T W-WANT ANYEARTHPONY TO SEE UNTIL I TOLD THE LADY PROTECTOR!”

Aurelia looked back at her wall. The symbol of the two long ponies forming a circle. A memory entered Aurelia’s head – one of peace, of serenity, of butterflies in her stomach sitting with two forbidden friends. She could almost hear her grandfather’s voice again from when he made the discovery – she had never heard an Earth Pony scream so loud, or seen an Earth Pony get so mad.

When the Relic Room guard talked about the shovel, Aurelia remembered hearing her grandfather tell her about its importance.

“Aurelia! Don’t ever let those Hornheads or the Featherfreaks get their dirty hooves on Rockhoof’s shovel! That’s the shovel that helped carve this piece of land out of Equestria for Earth Ponies! It’s OUR land, it’s OUR history! Guard it with your life! Guard it with all the lives in the Realm!”

She gritted her teeth and swung around, dangerous fires burning behind her fierce pink irises.

“Mobilize the troops and call up the reserves! We must find Rockhoof’s shovel at all costs!”

19 - Yetis and Trolls

It was Sunny who moved first against the lumbering troll. She tackled one of his long, grey legs.

“Run you guys!” she shouted.

However, her attack failed to even make the troll twitch. He just stared at her with his faraway eyes, vacant and bored, as if she were an annoying ant taking a tiny piece of his picnic. Hitch leapt forward as well – Izzy was frozen to the ground.

“Geronimo!” Hitch roared as he too tackled the troll, targeting the other leg. When his body crashed into the troll’s, the troll actually stumbled backward. He balanced himself with a wave of both arms and caught himself before he fell. His deep voice responded slowly and with exactness.

“Hey, that wasn’t very nice. What was that for?”

Hitch and Sunny exchanged a surprised glance. Izzy’s frozen state became a shaky one. The troll patted himself with a few slow smacks of his spotty grey fur coat. The act caused a cloud of dust to float down. The ponies coughed and covered their faces. The troll cocked his head.

“Did I scare you? I’m sorry if I did. I was bored, so I came to say hello. I’m not going to eat you.”

When the dust literally settled, Sunny looked up and the troll had sat crosslegged a few feet away, so that even though he was very tall, she didn’t have to crane her neck so much to see his face. It was troll-y, meaning he had a big bulbous nose of silverish gray flesh, and his eyes were wide and big pupiled. No ounce of trickery rested on his features, which were on full display as his hair stuck up in tufts and was not a full mane of grey fur, but a sporadic patching of it. He wore spectacles with a wooden frame – it was somewhat silly to Sunny, who only knew of trolls from scary stories. The troll in front of her looked like he was ready to crack open a book and recite factoids. The naked patches of his coat revealed his more silver flesh below.

Hitch stepped forward.

“Why didn’t you say that before we hit you!”

Sunny looked at Hitch, then back at the troll, who smiled in a way that trolls must have thought looked nice, but it made the ponies shiver. The troll’s sharp, long canine teeth were on full display. The troll scratched the back of his neck.

“Should I have said something? I’m only used to being around other trolls. Trolls don’t scare so easily.”

Izzy walked forward as well, standing beside Hitch. Sunny held out a hoof from behind but couldn’t produce any words from her mouth. She looked at the troll again, unable to believe what was happening.

“Umm, Mr. Troll? Y-you sure you a-aren’t going to eat us… sir?”
The troll produced a heavy sigh.

“I don’t think ponies would taste any good. I would not want you to eat me, so I won’t eat you.”

Izzy looked nervously at Hitch, who was guarded, but his face relaxed. Then Izzy turned to Sunny, whose mouth was still agape. The troll smiled.

“Earlier I ate a bear for my lunch. I’m not hungry now.”

Izzy gasped. The troll laughed, and the sound made Sunny jump back. It was like the deepest stallion laugh she had ever heard, lowered a few octaves. It pounded the walls of the mountain pass. By virtue of the sheer volume of the laugh, the ponies shook.

“I made a joke. That one goes over well with trolls. My name’s Robert.”

Hitch held up his hoof.

“Uhh Robert? Your name’s Robert?”

“Were you expecting something else?”

Hitch looked unsure.

“Yeeeessss? If you had said Bonegrinder or something, that would make more sense for a troll.”

Robert placed a long, bony finger on his chin and hummed.

“Do you think so? I would prefer Leslie. Maybe even Gerald. But not Bonegrinder. I don’t know any Bonegrinders. I do know a Paul, though.”

Hitch looked at Izzy and shook his head. The Unicorn giggled. Sunny finally joined her friends closer to Robert.

“Okay okay this is officially the weirdest thing that has happened to me so far. I would have thought a troll would smash us into butter and put us on toast.”

Robert cringed.

“That sounds disgusting. I don’t like butter.”

He stuck out his tongue – it was a pale red and layered with scars.

“But most of the other trolls do. They also like to eat ponies. I’m a weird troll – I prefer berries.”

Hitch walked closer.

“You’d be pretty normal for a pony, then. I prefer berries to ponies too!”

Izzy chimed in.

“Yes me as well!”

She turned to Sunny.

“How about you Sunny?”

Sunny’s eyes widened. She looked at Izzy for a second, wondering if the Unicorn was being serious. She appeared to be waiting with genuine apprehension. Hitch raised one eyebrow. Sunny replied with exasperation.

“I think it’s obvious!”

Robert frowned.

“It is. You like to eat other ponies, right? That’s even weirder than me, but I guess the world is full of weird creatures.”

Hitch and Izzy laughed. Sunny went deadpan. A few seconds later, Hitch flashed Robert his signature smile.

“So Rob, if you love berries so much, I take it you know a good spot around here where we can get some?”

Robert smiled.

“Yes I do! Can I take you there?”

Hitch shrugged.

“Only if you want to” — he winked — “friend.”

Robert lit up. He clapped his hands together.

“Friend! We are friends! Okay!”

He jumped up, causing the ground to shake. The ponies braced themselves. Robert danced around a bit, causing a mini avalanche of pebbles and rocks nearby. Hitch looked up and all around. When Robert noticed what he was doing, he stopped and stood up straight.

“Sorry ponies! I got too excited! I’ve never had a friend before!”

Sunny giggled at that.

“You can join the club. I just had my first a few days ago.”

Robert nodded.

“That makes sense. You do eat ponies, after all.”

Sunny whinnied grumpily as her friends started to laugh again.

The ponies grabbed their supplies and then Robert the troll led them down the mountain path. He watched the mountain wall as the ponies struggled to keep up with his long strides. Eventually, he stopped and started to climb the wall. Sunny and the others exchanged worried looks. Robert looked back down at the ponies when he realized he was alone.

“You don’t climb?”

Hitch shouted in reply.

“No, we are lacking in the opposable thumbs department! And sadly we don’t have that whole mountain goat thing going on that lets them just zip right up.” He turned to Izzy and Sunny. “Seriously, I have no idea how they can do that. You ever hear about mountain goats?”

Izzy smiled.

“Oh yes, mountain goats are impressive. There is a species that lives on our side of the Unicorn Range.”

Sunny shrugged.

“A goat’s a goat to me, I’m more concerned with ponies.”

Robert jumped down onto the path, knocking the ponies over in a cloud of dirt. They shouted as the troll scooped them up in his hand. When they realized what was happening, they hung on tight as Robert scaled the mountain wall with one hand.

“Now you can climb, ponies.”

Before long Sunny and her friends adjusted to being ponyhandled. It was nice to not have to walk, Sunny thought with a smile. The wind, unfettered by any obstacles, was a step above a breeze and slipped through the pony manes, gently tossing them about depending on the wind’s mood. Robert the troll was a very good one-handed climber and swung around a lot when he got to a part of the mountain wall that was difficult to traverse. He placed his open palm next to a ledge on the mountain, close to one of the peaks, and the ponies saw they could walk forward. A mess of berry vines, carrying little white fruits, covered most of the ledge.

“Jackpot!” Hitch proclaimed. He ran forward and started to chow on the berries. Sunny followed after, almost as excited. Izzy hummed.

“Are they safe for ponies to eat?”

The question hung in the air. Hitch’s jaw hung as well, clear berry juices dripping from his chin, as he pondered the ominous question. Sunny was mid-bite and stopped as well. Robert’s response seemed even louder in the small crevice.

“Sometimes ponies will take the berries that grow closer to the ground. I have not seen the berries make them sick.”

That seemed to sit well with Hitch, who nodded with a pleasant grunt. He continued his berry feast. Sunny tried a few, also acknowledging her approval with a happy noise, then tried a few more as she scooped some off of a vine into her bag. Izzy trotted over to another part of the vine and filled her saddlebag. She tried one.

“Tangy! They’re very good!”

Robert was all smiles.

“I am a good friend! See? I showed you the best place for berries! Are you on a long journey, ponies?”

Sunny stopped chewing to reply. She explained the entire situation of Equestria and the pony races, as she understood it, and Izzy filled in from the Unicorn perspective. Then they talked about what had happened at Castle Rockhoof. Hitch just stuffed his face. After some time, Robert nodded.

“I see. Ponies are like trolls. Trolls fight with other trolls a lot, over silly things. But that is how trolls are.” He patted his chest near his heart and shook his head. “I do not think ponies are that way. You are all so nice. Ponies should all be friends, not enemies.”

Sunny’s head bobbed up and down.

“Right? I totally agree!”

Sunny ate a few more berries before deciding to check out the view provided by their position on the mountain. Robert say patiently off to one side as Hitch filled his own bags. Izzy sat beside Robert.

“Wow!” Sunny exclaimed, looking out, the wind entering the crevice pushing her mane around in strands.

The Heart of the Realm far away and below was brightly lit by the sun, which had turned into its usual yellow color from its early morning orange. Sunny could see the two parts of Castle Rockhoof standing on its two cliffs, Rockhoof’s River running under it, the walled outline of Castletown just beyond. A dirt road stretched into the distance as well, both away from the mountain and seeming to go towards and beyond it as well. The rest of what Sunny could see was a vast sea of light green grass and the darker evergreen trees that dotted the valley reminded Sunny of the very real blue sea she grew up near. Though, she missed the smell of salt, and had to make do with the mountain-y scent of dew and dandelions.

Sunny spotted a small ship on Rockhoof’s River.

“Hey, Hitch, is that ship going toward Tall Tale or the River Crossroads?”

Hitch wiped his wet mouth and moaned in pleasure.

“Oh man thems are good eats… uhh, what’s that – oh wow! Check out the view!”

“Hitch, the ship?”

Hitch pointed toward Castle Rockhoof. “See that? From where we are, Castle Rockhoof is in front of Castletown. Ergo, that ship is going the same direction that we are – north. That means Tall Tale. If it goes further, it will wind up in Vanhoover. After that, it can keep going north until the river ends, which is right before the Frozen North. Noearthpony wants a river that freezes, after all.”

Izzy mock shivered.

“Brr! I heard there’s a constant snowstorm up north and it blows like an angry Windigo!”

Sunny’s brow furrowed.

“Wait Hitch, you said the river ends right before the Frozen North?”

Hitch nodded. Sunny pressed on.

“That’s weird. If it doesn’t go all the way to the sea, then it starts at the Old Forest River?”

Hitch frowned.

“Since when have you been a geography expert? Anyway, none of that stuff matters because Rockhoof’s River is pony-made.”

Sunny’s eyes widened. Izzy “ooo’d”.

“EARTH PONIES made that whole river? How the hay did they do that!”

Hitch shrugged.

“We are EARTH Ponies, after all. I don’t know, it must have been Rockhoof or his sons, based on the name. It’s been around forever. Halter told me about it, he said that long ago, before Rockhoof’s River, Equestria had these things called tray-ains, and they ran on these pieces of metal that went all across the country.”

Sunny sat on her rump and listened intently, as did Izzy. Hitch continued and motioned out toward the landscape.

“Yeah, I guess it would have been pretty cool. A tray-ain is like a big ship or something, it can take a bunch of ponies and things from one place to another, but it only travels on the metal pieces. Halter travelled on one once, up north.”

Izzy waved her hoof around. Robert the troll just stared and listened.

“Oo oo! Those are train tracks! You’re talking about a train! We still have those!”

Sunny grabbed her friend, smiling all the while.

“What’s the tray-ain like?! Does it go really fast?”

Izzy nodded, smiling as well.

“They go so fast that if you blink, you’ll miss it! I get to ride them sometimes, but they never go to the Earth Realm. When we have to pass through the Earth Realm, we need to go on hoof.”

Hitch nodded.

“Right, because Earth Ponies like Bastion decided long ago that if we used the tray-ains, it would connect us to the ‘others’. So, they tore most of the track thingies down. But if you do enough exploring like I do, you can still see some of them under the grass.”

Sunny bounced in place.

“It’s settled then, guys: we are 100% riding a tray-ain when we go to Unicornia!”

Izzy frowned.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Sunny. Wearing hats won’t work as a disguise - my brother’s soldiers are always looking for spies. We should travel cross country.”

Sunny closed her eyes and put her hoof to her chest.

“Then we’ll ride the train after we convince your brother to help us unite Equestria – that’s a promise, hoof to heart!”

Hitch rolled his eyes.

“Ahh jeez THAT again…”

Robert laughed, and it rumbled out from the crevice, echoing down the side of the mountain.

“You ponies are weird. Your homes have weird names. We call our old home ‘Home’. We call our new home ‘Home 2’.”

Hitch feigned interest.

“How cool! Listen Robert, do you mind if we head back down the mountain now? We should get a move on. Remember what my friends said about those soldiers that are after us?”

Robert nodded and picked up the ponies. He clawed his way around the mountain wall to the other side of the mountain peak. A question lingered in Sunny’s mind until she brought it up to Robert.

“Hey, why did you move from your old home – err, Home?”

Robert made a worried noise.

“The yetis have come down from the place where it is colder. They chased us out of Home. Yetis are good at using things that have sharp, pointy ends. Trolls don’t use things like that, we just use our hands. Yetis are good at chasing us away. The trolls I was with left Home and found Home 2 here. The other trolls that were already here.”

When Robert reached the other side of the peak, Sunny could see north toward Tall Tale. As they were so high, she could even see the tiny buildings of the city far in the distance. In between was a long forest that seemed to go on forever. Even further beyond, grey peaks even higher than the Smokey Mountains could be seen, but only just so, as the air seemed to be filtered a bluish-grey color. Rockhoof’s River ran alongside the forest and partially through it, as did the dirt road. To the far left – which must have been the west, Sunny reasoned – was the coastline of the sea, beyond another ocean of greens on the land.

Hitch chimed in.

“That would explain all the trolls coming down lately. You think you could tell your pals to stop taking our things? Especially the mares!”

Robert replied bluntly.

“I don’t have pals. And I can’t tell the other trolls that. They wouldn’t listen to me. Trolls get hungry, trolls find things to eat. Trolls can eat a lot of different things, including ponies.”

Hitch swallowed.

“Y-yeah, so you’ve mentioned.”

Izzy looked downtrodden.

“That’s terrible about the yetis! Did you try to talk to them? Maybe something is making them migrate as well! A common foe!”

Sunny agreed.

“Yeah! I can help you talk to them, if you think the other trolls would go for it!”

Robert started climbing down the other side of the peak. Whenever his hand gripped at a part of the rock that was stable enough for a big, furry troll hand to grasp, pebbles would roll down and create echoing taps against the mountain wall. Sometimes, the ponies saw a mountain goat, who would stare and chew on his mountain grass. Robert eventually huffed a reply.

“Trolls don’t talk a lot. I talk more than most trolls. We can’t talk to the yetis. They are a lot like trolls, so they don’t talk a lot either. Trolls don’t listen to other trolls very well. But yetis are good at listening to other yetis, and now there is a yeti called the Yeti Prince, and he tells them to come to our lands. We can only run. We can’t fight back. The trolls that fight back don’t win. Those trolls die. Trolls don’t like to die.”

Hitch frowned.

“I don’t like to die either, so I can relate.”

Izzy whimpered.

“M-me too…”

Sunny jumped up.

“Then we have to go talk to the Yeti Prince and get him to stop forcing the trolls away from their homes and let you back in your old home. I mean ‘Home’. It’s causing problems for Earth Ponies too, and I bet a lot of other creatures!” She turned to her friends, her dangerous resolve causing Hitch to groan. “Hitch, Izzy, the trolls can’t do it for themselves – we need to go!”

Izzy nodded and smiled. Hitch was more hesitant. Robert and his mitt full of ponies slowly climbed closer and closer to the base of the mountain as Hitch replied.

“Before we do the whole hero thing, I think it’s a good idea to get into Tall Tale and talk to your grandmother first. We can decide what to do and where to go then. We still don’t even know what to expect once we get to the city, let alone the troll home!”

Sunny nodded.

“Maybe the ponies at Tall Tale will know more. We’ll go to the yetis afterward.” She looked up at Robert. “Umm, where are the yetis, Robert?”

Robert stopped climbing for a moment and held his hand carrying the ponies out toward Tall Tale. He pointed with one of his fingers.

“That way. That is where I came from. Home is beyond that pony city and the other pony city. Home is where the snow comes down.”

Hitch filled in the gaps.

“It’s north of Vanhoover then. That’s what it sounds like.” He sighed. “Lucky you have all those bits, Izzy. Sounds like we will need to stop in Vanhoover and get warmer clothes.”

Sunny vibrated and Izzy looked just as happy, but not as unreserved. Sunny smushed her cheek against her Unicorn friend’s.

“Izzy this is going to be AWESOME! Oh.” — Sunny backed up, blushing, and crossed her hooves in front of her — “Don’t worry – Hitch and I will pay you back: promise. Hoo-” Hitch reached out and stopped Sunny from doing her usual gesture.

“She gets it, Sunny. Please. Don’t do the hoof and heart thing.”

Izzy giggled.

“It’s okay you guys. My family has a lot of bits, and I don’t need them. I’m just glad I brought so many that it can help us out.”

Sunny looked north. The tops of the buildings in Tall Tale were disappearing as the group descended the mountain. A large house – more like a mansion, really – by itself, closer to the mountain than Tall Tale, caught Sunny’s eyes. She squinted.

“What’s that Hitch? That one over there.” She pointed at it. Hitch moved closer on Robert’s hand. He secured himself with one hoof against the troll’s finger and hovered his other hoof over his brow.

“Not sure Sunny. A few of the Earth Pony families have estates and family homes out in the countryside. It must be one of them.”

“It’s humongous!”

Izzy yelped.

“G-guys?!”

Hitch and Sunny looked over to her – Izzy was on her stomach, peering over the side of Robert’s hand. When the others joined her and looked down, they made similar worried noises. Hitch complained quietly.

“Crud! Soldiers!”

Four soldiers from the Castle, dressed in the rock armor normal of their type, were a dozen or so feet away, as Robert had climbed almost down to one of the mountain paths. Robert blinked.

“They are small. I can swat them away.”

The soldiers looked up. Sunny and her friends scooted back, shushing Robert. He blinked again.

“What is wrong?”

One of the soldiers shouted from below.

“A troll! Run!”

And so the soldiers did, with their tails literally between their running legs, their cries bouncing all about the walls of the mountain path. Robert chuckled.

“Like I said, you ponies are weird.”

Sunny shot back.

“Robert please be quiet! We need to be sneaky!”

Izzy added.

“Yeah! Like pony ninjas! Pinjas! Ponjas? Nonies?”

Hitch raised a hoof.

“I’m partial to ponjas, myself.”

“Ponjas it is!”

Robert shook his head.

“This must be why the other trolls eat ponies.”

* * *

Some time later, with the sun reaching its apex in the sky, the ponies and Robert reached the edge of the forest at the base of the mountain. The three ponies stood and looked up at their newest, largest friend.

“Did you want to come with us Robert?” Sunny asked happily. Hitch coughed and bumped her.

“Sunny, uhh…”

But Robert shook his head.

“I will stay with the other trolls. This is Home 2. You have to enjoy your home in case something happens to it. I am sure we can find a Home 3, but I like Home 2.”

Sunny turned more serious.

“Okay. But I promise we’ll stop the yetis – hoof to heart!”

Hitch groaned.

“You said it. You HAD to say it.”

Robert smiled so wide he closed his eyes.

“You are really nice. I am glad I do not eat ponies.”

Izzy nodded.

“So are we!”

After their goodbyes, Robert turned to leave but stopped. He turned back around.

“Why do you ponies all have green hair?”

The three ponies had forgotten. Hitch groaned, while Sunny and Izzy looked at one another’s manes, then their coats. Sunny looked at Robert.

“We, uhh, need to have baths.”

Robert nodded thoughtfully.

“Okay. There is a pond in that forest that you can have a bath in. Just go forward and you will find it.” With that, Robert turned and waved as he left, and the ponies waved back.

Hitch chuckled.

“What a weird fellow, that Rob.”

Sunny scoffed.

“You’re one to talk!”

"W-who, me?!"

Izzy giggled. Sunny turned toward the inner part of the forest, her breast swelling with excitement.

“Okay! Onward to Tall Tale!”

20 - To Grandmother's House We Go

Somewhere far away…

A stallion stumbled into a flowery clearing. Around him were thick trees of an overgrown forest. He had a grey, smoky coat of fur, and a mop of a white mane shot up, out, and down from his scalp. His eyes lacked the sharpness and luster of bygone days, but their light blue irises nonetheless held an ancient wit to them. He had a Cutie Mark of a backwards, blue crescent moon with a yellow star on its bottom end. It was faded – Cutie Marks were not meant to last so long.

Not long before, ponies used to call him Old Man Withers. It was just one of many names he had taken over the years.

He sighed for a long time as he threw his tired body down in the small field of pink and yellow flowers. They were shaped like bells and smelled like fruity pollen. He smiled. It would have been nicer, in the old days, to relax in that field. There were no more animals about, no more ponies, not even any insects. How the flowers even bloomed, the stallion hadn’t a clue.

The sun shined as bright as it would for the day and sat at its highest point in the sky. Its angle was perfect – it shined down right into the clearing. The stallion closed his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, wetting his dry lips first.

“I know you’re out there.”

The reply was a whisper of the wind. The stallion coughed in a fit, no longer able to keep his lungs from suffering their old age. When he finished, he shivered.

“I’m in no state to be good company I’m afraid, but I am glad you are there. You’re one of the last still around.”

The stallion smiled nostalgically.

“We never were best friends or anything, were we? I’m not even sure if we ever had a decent conversation. You would think I would have been more curious – you’re even older than I am!”

The stallion chuckled. If there was something or someone the stallion was talking to, they did not make their presence known amid all the tall, bulky trees surrounding the clearing. The stallion frowned.

“I remember now – goodness, did you really mean to hold yourself to that vow of silence after…”

The stallion shifted and looked around him, as much as he could without getting up. Still, nothing. He got comfortable again.

“The old you would not have been so committed to principles. But I guess it has been a long time since then.”

Another breeze. The stallion could barely feel the kiss of the wind by then. His breathing became shallow.

“Well… I’m almost spent. I am glad I got to see Canterlot once more. The tall spires, the sun peeking over the horizon, gently resting on the dew and the raindrops…”

He paused.

“I had not been there since everything fell apart. This year marks the five hundredth anniversary. It’s been five hundred years.”

A stick cracked. The stallion looked back but did not see what caused the noise. He smirked.

“And shy too. You’re so shy now. Don’t tell me you’ve just been sulking here since—that would have been before the fall.”

Again, he thought of what to say before the words emerged.

“Our longevity is quite the curse, isn’t it?”

The stallion’s brows faltered. Tears entered his old eyes.

“I’m not sure if I did enough though. I tried my best. I hope, if there is an afterlife, that Twilight and the others greet me with open hooves…”

He opened his mouth. A groan escaped. Glowing particles that flickered purple, and sometimes silver, left his pores and travelled upward. They soared through the air, creating a trail of sparkles into the distance. He looked at his hoof, which was becoming transparent.

“Fascinating… so this is the result when the Element of Sorcery loses the last of its power…”

He coughed another fit.

“My body isn’t even corporeal anymore. The final spell I cast is wearing off. And there was a time when I could do anything, make anything, change anything with my magic.”

The stallion looked up toward the sun, hazarding the occasion peek at it but not able to stare directly at it with his wizened gaze. He admired the sparkles leaving his bodies, twinkling like tiny purple and silver stars. He smacked his cracking lips.

“I’ve been watching an Earth Pony named Sunny Starscout. I hope she’s as special as I have betted on. I left her to her own devices, but she has a friend to keep her steady, and I am sure she will find more.” The stallion looked around again, in case the someone or something he spoke to revealed itself. It did not. “I think you will have some part to play before the end. Don’t worry, I don’t think you will need your magic back for it. I’m counting on Sunny to be the one that can help restore things, to how they used to be.”

The stallion chuckled. His face began to fade away into the trail of sparkles.

“Maybe the magic will come back, and you can do something outrageous again, like before. I used to hate that about you, but—”

Tears streaked down the stallion’s cheeks.

“Now I really miss it. I miss a lot of things, here at the end. It was a lonely five hundred years.”

The stallion spotted a tiny orange dot in the sky. His old pupil Tyson had warned him about it. He had even seen it through the observatory telescope. The stallion squinted and spoke quietly so only he could hear.

“It’s up to you now, Sunny. You and the others. There was only so much we who came before could do, only so much preparing we could provide and assist with…”

Footsteps from behind drew the stallion’s greying gaze. With watery eyes he finally saw the old familiar shape of a long-missed acquaintance. The stallion smiled one last time.

“There you are. Goodbye.”

The final vestiges of the Element of Sorcery flared up into the sky and drifted away far into the distance. The millions of tiny purple and silver stars remained visible for a long time afterward, filling up the sky, like so many memories lost to the ages.

* * *

“Hitch! Sunny! Look!”

Izzy beamed. She pointed at a patch of red, white-dotted mushrooms sticking out at the base of a tall cedar.

“What do you think? Can we eat them? They look really tasty!”

Hitch shook his head.

“Not unless you want indigestion for a week. But…” Hitch trotted over and snagged one. It made a pop when he pulled it from the ground. Izzy cocked her head. “It could be useful. Watch.”

He shoved it onto Izzy’s horn, and it fit perfectly, so that it looked like she had a mushroom growing out of her head, and not a horn. She looked up at it with a curious stare. Sunny giggled.

“Hitch that’s not very inconspicuous.”

He shrugged.

“If ponies see a mushroom on her head that won’t cause soldiers to chase us around - the horn will. Plus, we don’t have any hats.”

Sunny frowned.

“If that jerkface hadn’t taken her scroll she wouldn’t need a disguise.”

Sunny walked ahead of the others. The trees inside the forest were spaced out enough so one could see for a distance in all directions, but the canopy above blocked out all light save just enough of the sun to brighten the path. The land rolled up then down then up again, a hilly blanket on the earth. Sunny hovered a hoof over her brow and squinted.

“Hey! I think I can see that pond Robert was talking about!”

She raced forward, and Izzy followed soon after, twigs snapping underneath them. The forest floor was littered with leaves and pine needles as well. Hitch inhaled the scent of soil and bark.

“I could really get used to this…” He exhaled happily. “You don’t get many trees around Maretime Bay, or even the Castle.”

As Hitch casually caught up to the laughing mares, a collection of squirrels and woodland birds with yellow and black feathers hopped behind him. He turned at one point and smiled.

“Hey little fellas – and fellettes. Do you want to join us?”

All the little heads nodded rapidly. Hitch assumed a pre-run pose.

“Alright! Let’s go!”

Moments later, all three ponies sighed in relief as they enjoyed the water on their fur. The tiny woodland critters floated leisurely on their backs and the birds rode in style on tiny pieces of bark. Sunny took to cleaning her mane as soon as she could, and Izzy did the same, albeit it with more grace. Hitch ran a hoof around his.

“I don’t know gals, I might keep this look. It’s not so bad, right?”

His neon green afro bounced when he tapped it. Sunny grimaced, watching it. Hers had returned to its usual color, its green floating away in the pond water as well as all the mess on her coat. It was the same for Izzy, who hummed while staring at Hitch’s mane.

“It looks like a shrub. A green shrub on your head.”

Sunny threw her hair back with a wet smack against her shoulder.

“Hitch, I would really stick with your usual look. Not to mention, we have no idea what this stuff would do to our bodies if we left it in any longer.”

Izzy made a worried noise.

“I’m sorry, if I knew I would say, but anything the Weapons Facility creates is a big secret, even to the Moonbow tribe. I know for sure it’s never anything good, though.”

Sunny placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. Hitch whinnied in frustration. He lowered himself into the water. Some bubbles popped on the surface of the water, then he came back up and his mane was back to its normal shade of turquoise, albeit stuck to his face and head all over. The mares laughed at the sight. He spit up like a fountain.

“Okay it’s very funny. My mane does this when I have a bath. Ha ha. It will dry later.”

Everypony let their manes dry while they finished clearing the grime off their coats. When the task was complete, Izzy played with the critters while Sunny and Hitch spoke.

“Have you met your grandmother before Sunny?”

She shook her head.

“Never. I didn’t know I had one – I mean, obviously I do but, you know?”

Hitch’s face scrunched.

“Oh no, I wonder if she’s just like you: big mouth, crazy, no filter.”

Sunny rolled her eyes with a smile.

“We can only hope!”

Hitch smiled as well and rubbed the back of his head.

“The only thing I know about your family is that your parents moved to Maretime Bay and took over the observatory before we were born. Before that, it was empty as far as I know - noearthponyelse cared about looking at the sky. I always thought your folks and you were all the Starscouts there were.”

“So did I. Mom and dad never talked about it, and I never really thought to ask.”

A mushroom in the water sped toward Hitch. He deadpanned.

“Oh. I wonder who that could be.”

Hitch lowered his guard – it was a fatal error. The mushroom came out of the water to reveal a squirrel was holding it. Hitch did a double take. From his blind side, a victorious Izzy claimed her prey with a tackle.

“Ta da! Hehe, sorry, couldn’t resist.”

When he emerged from the pond, Hitch spit up more water. Sunny hollered.

“Good one Izzy! Sheriff Hitch, you’re not very good at self-defense are you?”

He coughed.

“I underestimated the Unicorn.”

Sunny smiled and shook her head.

“Never underestimate the Unicorn.”

Izzy giggled.

“Never, ever amigo!”

Sunny leaned back against the pond bank and put her front hooves behind her head.

“Should I be worried? I mean she’s my grandma, right? Family. That pony at the Castle, the one that took me from the Reeducation Room, he told me my parents left Tall Tale twenty-five years ago. I bet my grandma can’t wait for me to come through the door! I’ll say ‘it’s me, your long-lost grandchild’ and we’ll have a touching moment!”

Izzy lit up.

“Hey, yeah! That’s what my nana would do! Nanas love their grandchildren.” She looked at Hitch. “That’s common knowledge.”

Hitch stroked his chin.

“Sure but let’s not forget, your folks left. Noearthpony leaves their home for no reason.”

Sunny shrugged.

“They probably caught wind of the observatory that wasn’t being used. They’ve always been into navigation, astronomy. Where else can you find a big telescope?”

“Yes but they never went back for visits, never told you about where they were from. Why?”

Sunny launched herself back into the water again.

“Hitch you’re too negative! You need to vibe a little bit more positively here!” She splashed toward Hitch. “If there’s one place that we have to consider safe for us now, it’s with my family in my hometown. We don’t exactly have many other options safe havens.”

Izzy waved.

“Oh oh! What about that Vancozy place?!”

Hitch corrected.

“Vanhoover. We’ll need to get some warm clothing from there before going north, if we are still doing that—”

“We are.”

“—but I wouldn’t call it a safe haven. There’s a more solid Realm presence there than in Tall Tale. I’m all for going to Tall Tale still, I’m just saying let’s plan for the worst but hope for the best, yeah?”

Sunny smiled brazenly.

“I’m more a ‘fly by the seat of my fetlocks’ sort of pony.”

Hitch mock smiled in the same manner.

“And I’m more of a ‘let’s not get thrown into the dungeons for a hundred years’ sort of pony.”

Izzy was making bubbles in the water with her mouth. She floated back upward.

“I’m more of a ‘let’s eat a big pile of tacos and stay up late watching movies’ sort of pony!”

Sunny and Hitch looked to her, confused. She smiled with a blush upon her cheeks.

“Hehe. Sorry, I felt left out.”

Hitch raised a hoof.

“Uhhh question: what’s a movie?”

Sunny did the same thing.

“And what’s a taco?”

* * *

By the time everypony got out of the pond, they felt refreshed and clean and ready to begin the journey anew. The light sneaking through the forest canopy was still strong as it poured through the tree leaves. Sunny and her friends made good time on their trek through the woods. Hitch made sure he had the road just within his sight as they travelled, to ensure they were going in the right direction.

At some point, he hurried them all behind a big bush.

“What’s up?” Sunny whispered.

Hitch held a hoof to his lips. He waved away the critters that were following him. When that didn’t work he gave them a mean stare, and they scattered. Sunny grew impatient as time edged on. A cicada somewhere was performing its screeching mating sound. Then, hoofsteps crunching against leaves and the dirt could be heard getting closer.

Sunny and Hitch peered through the bush. A number of figures were walking quietly through the woods, though it was not clear who they were. The two Earth Ponies exchanged a concerned look. Izzy was laying down quietly, trying to remain calm.

When the sound of hoofsteps was gone, Hitch hazarded a look from outside their cover, and Sunny did the same. In the distance four soldiers of the Realm creeped away. Hitch sighed in frustration.

“There’s no way any soldiers would be in this forest unless they were looking for someearthpony. We have wasted too much time, we need to move. We’re in their search net now.”

Izzy, mushroom still upon her horn, stood up.

“Right! Let’s go ponies!”

Sunny turned and smiled.

“That was pretty confident, Izzy!”

The Unicorn beamed.

“I’ve always been confident around my friends. It’s uhh with other ponies I don’t know that makes my heart all wishy wooshy.”

Hitch smiled as well.

“Come on. They’re heading more toward the road, if we give them a wider berth, we shouldn’t have any issues.”

The three headed away from the road and then back in the same direction once the soldiers were no longer in sight, although from the new angle Hitch had to strain to see the end of the forest and the beginning of the road. Izzy whisper-shouted as they galloped.

“JUST LIKE PONJAS RIGHT?!”

Hitch looked back and grinned.

“Sneak levels are off the charts! They’d never see us coming!”

Sunny smiled. A feeling in her chest warmed her body. She looked from one friend to the other. It felt like anything was possible, there in that forest, with her friends by her side.

* * *

The only thing Nate Chivaltarry felt like doing was throwing up. He paced a line in the dirt in front of the eastern gatehouse of Castle Rockhoof. The guards peered uneasily at one another.

“Oh no no no no no this is gonna be… oh jeez oh no…”

Nate the page tried to control his breathing. He put a hoof to his armor-encased chest.

“It’s fine it’s fine. Sir Bastion won’t fly off the handle. Right?”

He looked to the guards, frantic for a positive response. They stared back quietly and solemnly.

“You can’t talk?”

One of the guards grunted.

“Don’t wanna.”

Nate hung his head and sighed breathlessly.

“Why me WHY ME!”

Hooves could be heard cantering up the sharp hill that led to the gatehouse. Nate’s head snapped up and he began to shake. Five thousand theoretical conversations entered his brain – he truthfully only saw it going one way once he told Sir Bastion that Sunny Starscout had escaped and Rockhoof’s shovel was gone.

Nate thought he had prepared himself, though when the top of Sir Bastion’s tan-colored mane appeared over the hill, his heart caught in his throat. His pupils became specks. Sweat came out of all pores.

Sir Bastion stopped in front of him. He raised a single bushy eyebrow. His smile gleamed in the strong daylight.

“Dear page! Are you waiting for my return at the door, like a loyal pup? Excellent! I knew I chose you well as my page!”

Nate turned white. He couldn’t look his master in the eyes (not that that was different from norm).

“You look sick, boy. It is the cooking from that Earth Pony who calls himself a chef – a liability, that one! Come now, I heard the good news from old Eagle Eye – they caught the Drake trying to break out the Warlock King’s sister! Let us go pay him a visit, hmm? And after that the little hero, Ms. Starscout!”

Nate’s eyes widened.

THAT’S WHAT SIR CURIO TOLD HIM?!

“What, what is it?”

Sir Bastion picked up his page with a single hoof and forced him to look him in the eyes.

“Out with it, you are trying my patience!”

The guards had deftly moved their posts further away to avoid any spillover of the inevitable rage to come. Nate was nearly in tears.

“M-master, I d-d-d-don’t know w-what the message said but… but…”

He told Sir Bastion everything. Every detail that he had been informed of. Every mishap and mistake and failure of the Castle. At the end of it, Sir Bastion lowered his page. Surprisingly, all seemed well. Nate held his breath. The guards crept back into position.

Then, Sir Bastion’s breathing picked up. His nostrils flared wider and wider. Veins poked up on his neck. The ends of his crescent smile weren’t sure if they wanted to stick up or droop down. He gritted his teeth.

“If this gate is not opened within the next minute, I am going to break it into pieces using your heads.”

His gaze flicked to the two guards. They started frantically whistling the secret song. Not long after, the gate rose. Sir Bastion ran so fast the resulting dust cloud blinded the three remaining ponies and caused them to cough. After it had settled, Nate Chivaltarry cradled his head in one of his hooves.

“Oh jeez this is not good this is super absolutely not good at all!”

21 - Tall Tale

Sir Curio grunted, the air being pushed from his lungs as his fellow Hoof slammed him into the wall of his personal chamber.

“You foal!”

Sir Bastion maintained his signature smile, but only just so. Its ends vibrated. Veins popped up all over his neck. Sir Curio maintained his grumpy stare.

“How could you let them escape?! Not just the prisoners, but TWO of the Hornhead Guardians as well!”

Sir Curio’s mouth curled upward.

“Are you going to cry, Little B?”

Sir Bastion released his hold on Sir Curio and aimed a shove at his head, but the elder stallion was quicker and dodged. Sir Bastion’s attack left a hoof-shaped hole in the stone wall. Sir Curio scoffed as he turned and grabbed something from the burlap sack sitting on his desk.

“Heel, dog!”

He threw a lumpy, green mass at Sir Bastion’s hooves, which blew up into a brown mist before Sir Bastion could react. The aftermath was a hundred green vines latched onto Sir Bastion, coming from a clump of dirt and soil where the ball exploded. Sir Curio exhaled. Sir Bastion struggled to get away from the ever-tightening snare.

“Trap Weed.” Sir Curio pulled another green lumpy ball from his bag and tossed it up and down. “Even you can’t contend with it. Now that you aren’t trying to pound my face, let me explain.”

And so he did, though Sir Bastion never stopped trying to escape. Sir Curio had to throw another Trap Weed halfway through his explanation, and only when Sir Bastion could barely breathe and most of his body was covered with rope-like vines did he finally stop moving. He glared at Sir Curio, from start to finish.

“Essentially, we’re at a crossroads. The Knights, all of us, have to help Aurelia make a decision. It’s not for just you or me to decide. You know that’s not how we do things.”

Sir Curio yawned, smacked his lips, and leisurely cozied back into his hoofchair, looking at the mass of vines surrounding Sir Bastion with amusement. Though his body was immobilized

“We are going to wait for the other Knights to arrive, and then we will have a meeting around the Stone Table. Like the old days. Lorna and Pepper will take a few more days to get here, Aurum and Seamus should arrive tomorrow. Uhh, and the loudmouth one, I thought she’d be with yo—”

Loud hoof stomps pounded from outside Curio’s door. He grumbled dryly.

“Oh. Speak of the devil.”

Somepony cleared his throat, and then a light knock came at the door.

“SIR CURIO SIR! ARE YOU IN THERE SIR? IS SIR BASTION ALSO IN THERE, SIR?”

The called-for stallion turned to Sir Bastion.

“What’s her name again?” he asked quietly.

“Crusharra.”

“Ah right—seriously? That’s what her parents named her? Parents these days…”

Sir Bastion glared. Sir Curio chuckled.

“Yes, Crusharra. I am here. Sir Bastion is not, however. Go check the Lounge.”

A shuffle of hooves clip clopped outside the room.

“YES SIR SIR YES SIR I WILL THANK YOU SIR HAVE A GOOD DAY SIR GOODBYE SIR!”

And more stomping, quieting as the mare doing the stomping got farther and farther away. Sir Curio looked back to his comrade, who glared questioningly.

“What?” Sir Curio answered the look. “Don’t worry Little B, I won’t let anyearthpony else see you like this. It’s bad for the overall morale.”

He sat down with an old stallion’s sigh and closed his eyes.

“Y’know, I can’t even think of a time we just enjoyed one another’s silent company.”

Sir Bastion’s responses were strained.

“Sadly… it is no longer… silent.”

“Oh, does that bother you? Would you like it if I shut up?”

Sir Bastion exhaled sharply from his nostrils.

“The novelty… of this arrangement is… wearing off. Release me… or I will free myself… and turn every last bone… in your pathetic old body… into dust.”

Sir Curio scoffed and chuckled.

“Goodness, pretty cocky for an Earth Pony with enough Trap Weed vines surrounding him to choke a mammoth.”

Sir Bastion’s smile became full and confident again, and a gleam hit his eye like when he fought the Drake days before.

“Curio… you sincerely misunderstand… the balance of power here. I am only entertaining… this fantasy that you outmatch me… nothing more. I am not going to… ask you again.”

Sir Curio sighed.

“Yeah yeah, okay, hold your ponies…”

He looked around his desk and bags.

“Uhh just a… second… my Vine Biters have to be—there we go!”

Sir Curio pulled a tiny cage from the corner of one of his desk drawers. A few small creatures were curled up inside, and when they saw the light, they stirred awake and snapped their diminutive yet sharp jaws about. Each creature was green and had leafy frills about its body. They looked like skinny little walking fish. Sir Curio opened the cage with his teeth and the ‘Vine Biters’ leapt onto Sir Bastion, devouring the vines around him in short order. The sound of their eating was incredibly noisy for such small things.

“Good thing they only eat the vines, huh?”

Sir Bastion exhaled deep once he was finally free enough to pull the remaining vines off. He shimmied in place to let the remaining pieces of vine fall off. The Vine Biters, content with their big, full tummies, curled back up inside the cage, and Sir Curio replaced it in his desk. He and Sir Bastion locked eyes.

“I am going to go find Starscout, Moonbow, and even Tramblower, break their hooves, and drag them back here. Then I will go to Sire’s Hollow and level every building I lay my eyes on before I tackle the Warlock King so hard his grandchildren feel it. And if that does not kill him, I will use his chest as a bucking bag until there is nothing left to kick.”

Sir Curio shook his head.

“And where will your search start? You think you are going to make a difference when we have over a hundred soldiers and volunteers already branching out and searching? The prisoners might be with the Hornheads, and they might not be. We have no idea. Bastion, didn’t this whole event teach you that running off like a madpony is NOT the way we should be doing things? Hay, we don’t even really know if the Hornheads escaped, they might be waiting to see if you skip town again! You’re not being very reliable!”

“The ONLY reliable thing to do right now is to destroy the Hornheads and afford them no opportunity to do any more damage to Rockhoof’s castle, to his realm, to his PONIES!”

Sir Bastion’s brow creased downward.

“How could you insult his memory so vehemently, so egregiously, by letting that disaster occur? The old Curio Brightland would have been able to handle things. You are slipping, old man.” Sir Bastion pointed his hoof at the elder stallion’s chest. “And it has cost the Realm dearly as a result. It is no wonder that the Hooffields and McColts place so much trust in me and my decisions. I suspect the meeting will go in my favor, and I suspect you also know what it is I will propose.”

Sir Curio looked away, becoming sour in the face.

“Aye, I have some ideas. You’re the one slipping. You would leave this place unguarded to go and vent twenty-five years of unresolved frustration, and for what?”

“I will put a stop to everything.”

“Are you going to kill every single Hornhead there is? What about the Featherfreaks, them too? You’re not that strong! Get a grip Bastion!”

“I can, and I will. You simply have to stay here to protect the Castle—that is, only if you think you are up to it.”

“If they attack with a big enough force, I won’t be able to! Noearthpony will, not with you gone! You couldn’t protect it alone either! Bastion, we need to work together to protect what we still have! Stop focusing on what we lost, you can’t bring them back! We only have what’s left!”

Sir Bastion moved so fast even the nimble Eagle Eye did not react in time. He thrust his hoof against Sir Curio’s throat and pressed him against the stone wall, both sets of their teeth gritted. After a moment of gasping for air and strained breathing, Sir Bastion backed off.

There was a heavy pause. Sir Curio broke the silence.

“Please. I don’t want to lose my daughter, or anyearthpony else I care about. If you attack the Hornheads, you’re going to start another war! A war that the rest of us have to fight! Stay here, at least until the meeting. We’ll figure out what to do, the proper way, as Rockhoof intended!”

Sir Bastion inhaled deeply. He straightened himself and his smile. He strode toward the door.

“You speak of Rockhoof as if you are following his wishes.”

Before leaving, he stopped, his hoof on the door handle.

“I will keep the Realm safe by eliminating its threats. And that is all there is to say about that.”

He slammed the door behind him. Sir Curio flopped forward onto his desk, his eyes closed.

That was about what I expected, but at least I got him here. No matter - I already prepared for this.

Sir Curio looked to a small portrait on his desk of a tiny, off-white filly. She had her mother’s eyes. Sir Curio forced a smile.

There isn’t a chance I will lose you. No matter the cost.

He groaned.

“I do wish I could get a decent nap in these days though. I wonder how the sunlight and breeze is up on my tower right about now?”

* * *

The day approached its end amidst a fiery orange sunset. The vast sky, bathed in all shades of purple and red, stretched on and on above Sunny Starscout. She looked behind her to the forest.

“Do you think we’re being followed?” she asked the others. Hitch looked back and shook his head.

“I didn’t see or hear any signs of a tracker. This doesn’t look like a path normally taken to the city either. Those soldiers veered way off awhile ago.”

Sunny squinted. She scanned the forest, which had become darker as the sun’s light above the canopy died down. Here and there a bird called out, or an insect clicked as it flew about, or a woodland critter (one that wasn’t following Hitch) scurried around. But nothing else stirred.

All three ponies looked forward. Tall Tale was laid out before them, with only a steep, wooded hill separating the space between. The city stretched into the distance, its many lamps and lanterns starting to glow orange with tiny fires as dusk approached. Most of the buildings, none larger than what Sunny was used to in Maretime Bay, had purple clay tile roofs, and those that did not had flat roofs where, sometimes, a pony or two could be seen.

Sunny homed in on one rooftop, where a small foal and a parent were excitedly preparing a telescope. Sunny smiled warmly. Hitch breathed in.

“No reason standing around here, ladies. Let’s get back into the cover of trees and decide our approach. As much as I love trekking, I need to see some mares other than you two for once, and not a mare who can beat me with a sharp stick.”

“Hitch, we’ve been out for like one day.”

“That’s a long time for me! I’m going into withdrawals over here…”

Sunny rolled her eyes at Izzy, who giggled.

The three were at an open field of space between the forest behind and the wooded hill that led to Tall Tale. Though the sky was a pretty sight to be admired, they were exposed. Izzy stepped in front of the others, smiling.

“I agree. We don’t make very good ponjas standing in the open.”

Sunny smiled as well.

“Nope! Alright, onward ponies!”

Hitch raised a hoof.

“You know Izzy, the mushroom makes it really hard to take you seriously.”

Izzy stroked her newest appendage.

“Don’t insult Shroomie!”

They made down the hill slowly, picking up the pace somewhat once they hit the wooded area, where the trees could be used for stability purposes. Hitch was ever vigilant with watching around them. He called to the tiny critters following him.

“You guys better be helping out if you want to tag along! Holler if you smell something weird, okay?”

The squirrels and birdies chirped and chittered excitedly. Hitch smiled. Sunny patted his shoulder.

“Why’d you choose sheriff? You could have done better as a forest ranger!”

Hitch shrugged.

“I pretty much am one anyway, despite being sheriff.” He cleared his throat. “Former sheriff.”

He paused.

“I’m not sure how widely known it is in Maretime Bay, and anyway you never listened much to anything except your parents’ crazy stories.” He smiled sideways at Sunny who puffed her chest out and smirked back. “But my family’s always been made up rangers and explorers, that sort of thing. It was only the last few generations we have switched to the law enforcement field – what with how things have been going here. The Realm doesn’t really need rangers anymore. And I guess I wanted to be… y’know… Halter…”

Sunny hung her head and ‘mhm’d’ a response. Izzy looked between the two of them. Hitch noticed and managed a smile.

“Ah, did we mention it before? I don’t like to be a sob story – I mean it works well with the ladies, don’t get me wrong but… anyway, I never knew my folks, so Halter is all I got. And I just wanted to stay close to him and whatever he was doing.”

Hitch looked up toward the sky as the last fingers of the sun’s light broke through the tree leaves. Izzy’s face drooped sadly and her ears flopped over.

“Halter is a few years older than me. He knew mom and dad, and they told him all about it. Trailblazer used to mean something. Of course, with Halter gone, I’m just muddying that name up, as usual.”

Sunny shoved him.

“Hey! Keep the Hitch confidence up, buster! We’ll find Halter, don’t worry!”

He smiled at his companion, and Sunny’s own smile became cheeky. She leaned in.

“And you Trailblazers are fine - it’s the Trashbashers that need to watch out.”

The mares giggled and Hitch went deadpan.

“Yeah that whole shtick is getting really old. I bet he’s still doing it, that Bastion. He just met you a few days ago and doesn’t forget your name, but me?” Hitch worked himself into a frenzy. “You think he could remember it just once, just once! Oh why do I even care about that guy anyway?!”

WHOOOOOOOOO

Everypony stopped. Hitch’s pupils shrank. He deftly looked around the wooded hill. Izzy bent down somewhat as if to get lower and safer. Sunny did not hide the fact she was prepared to buck whoever made themselves known.

WHOOO WHOOOOOOO

“It’s an owl…” Hitch whispered. “Just an owl.”

“Then why are you whispering?” Sunny replied.

“T-the moment just seemed… whispery.”

Izzy chimed in.

“I like whispery moments!”

WHOOOO I AM NOT AN OWL WHOOOOO

All three ponies jumped up like frightened cats, Izzy yelping. The Earth Ponies made defensive stances. No matter where they looked, they saw nothing but leaves or branches. No sign of anything up high, despite the voice coming from higher.

“W-well, what are you then? You sound like one?”

Izzy stepped forward, her ears twitching.

“C-could it be…?”

Sunny and Hitch looked at one another and then back to Izzy, who was sniffing around.

WHOOO ARE YOU SUNNY OF THE STARSCOUT FAMILY WHOOO?

Sunny put a hoof to her chest.

“I might be. Who’s asking?”

Hitch grabbed her shoulder.

“Hey don’t be giving your name out so freely! Unlike me, ponies actually know yours!”

The strange voice cried out again.

WHOOOOO I AM A FRIEND WHOOO

Some twigs snapped and leaves crunched nearby. All three pony heads turned to see but saw nothing. More snapping and crunching at another spot behind them drew their gazes there, and again all they saw was empty space.

“Whoo. Hello ponies.”

All three jumped up as the voice came from behind. Sunny looked, holding her heaving chest.

“C-can you NOT?!”

The creature before them, by all appearances, was in fact an owl – although it was about the same height as a pony, and he had a monocle over his one eye for some reason. His face was plain and owl-like – he had a neutral expression upon his face. His down was a milky blue, and his eyes were completely black except for a ring of yellow around his massive pupils. He bowed and stretched a wing across his chest.

“I am Westley. Whoo.”

Izzy’s mouth dropped. She hopped around on her hooves and shuffled around as if unsure what to do.

“Y-you guys! I can’t believe it but, he’s a Night Owl! Here, in the Earth Pony Realm!”

Hitch scoffed.

“What? It’s not even dark yet, I’d hardly call him a night owl.”

“No I mean… remember I told you about them? From Unicornia!”

Hitch blinked, then his face lit up with remembrance.

“Oh! I do, I do remember! Wait, WHAT?! Why here?”

Sunny looked from friend to friend, her face hiding nothing of her confusion. Westley saw this and mimicked her expressions.

“Someone care to fill me in – what’s with the talking bird?”

“Whoo. I resent that, whoo.”

Izzy smiled at Westley and scratched the area under his chin. He cooed and closed his eyes, his little talons thumping against the ground. Izzy giggled.

“Yep! He’s a Night Owl alright! They’ve been disappearing all over! How did you get here, cutie patootie feathers?”

Sunny waved a hoof in front of Izzy’s face, and when the Unicorn noticed, she blushed.

“S-sorry Sunny! They’re a species of magical creature from Unicornia, they look like normal owls, but they can mimic ponies and other creatures, even the way we speak. I think they understand it, too, for the most part.”

Sunny lit up.

“MAGICAL?!”

Her tail wagged excessively. Westley’s bushy brows creased above his worried eyes.

“Oh no, whoo. She scares me.”

He turned to Izzy.

“To answer your question, whoo, I escaped from one of the science facilities where the Voice is testing on my kin, whoo.” He looked down sadly. “I could not escape with any of them, whoo…”

Izzy pouted.

“Poor guy. I’m sorry to hear that… my brothhhhher’s friend, who uhh knows the Voice, would say that he is a pretty mean guy sometimes.” She looked back to Sunny and winked without a shred of subtlety. Sunny rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop her giant grin.

“Listen! Why don’t you come with us, Westley? You can tell us all about your magicalness! Do you do any magic, like, can you cast SPELLS?!”

Westly cocked his head.

“Whoo. Me? No. No spells. Whoo.”

Sunny frowned.

“Awww…”

Hitch rubbed his face.

“We’re talking to an owl. A talking owl. This is never going to be a normal journey, is it?”

Sunny jumped and turned.

“I know, right?! It’s great!”

Westley twitched and threw up his wings.

“Whoo but there is no time! Sunny of the Starscouts, we must go! It is not safe, not safe at all! We have to get you to safety, whoo!”

Sunny shook her head and raised an eyebrow. The sun’s light was all but spent.

“Inside the city?”

Westley rapidly nodded.

Whoo yes! Come, we must go! Your grandmother will explain, whoo!”

Hitch rubbed one of his temples.

“I hope she will explain who, I am very confused. Is anyone else very confused?”

Sunny hopped between looking at Hitch and Izzy and Westley.

“Confused? Definitely! Excited? Also definitely! Lead the way magical talking owl!”

Westley smiled an owly smile and started waddling away. Sunny happily followed behind, Izzy in tow soon after. Hitch couldn’t find the right words.

“B-you—ahhh forget it Hitch, just go with the flow. Remember: mares are in the city. Mares. Real mares! Just keep the mares in mind.”

As the ponies followed their slow-moving guide, Sunny leaned into Izzy.

“Umm, Izzy, what makes these guys magical if they can’t cast spells?”

Izzy’s mouth became a slanted line.

“You don’t need to cast spells to be magical, Sunny. Remember my horn?” Sunny nodded. “That’s magical, wouldn’t you say?”

“I guess so, yeah.”

“The Night Owls are magical in another way, that they can talk and learn what other animals do.” Izzy looked further down and frowned. “Sadly, that’s why my brother wants to have the scientists perform experiments on them…”

Hitch trailed back with the others as Westley took the lead further ahead.

“How the horseshoe did he get all the way this far west? First chance an Earth Pony got I’m sure they’d throw this guy in a cage and make a killing charging bits to see him and hear him. And I bet you could teach him to do funny dances and sing songs!”

Sunny shook her head.

“I’m not sure. Maybe we will find out, but I am almost positive he is telling the truthl.”

Hitch squinted.

“Oh, that another one of your powers, lie detecting? That goes along with the voice thing?”

Sunny flipped her mane and smiled.

“Might be.”

“Joking aside, Sunny, we need to be careful. We can’t rely on a Unicorn attack involving giant metal octopuses to get us out of the next mess.”

“Octopi.”

“What’s an octo pie, is it food? Yuck, we don’t eat meat, Sunny.”

“No it’s—bahh!”

Sunny picked up the pace, then Izzy after. Hitch shook his head.

“Mares… seriously.”

The three ponies and their owl guide reached the end of the wooded area after slowly making the way down the hill. A tight alley led right into the city from the woods. They could hear voices down the alley.

“Whoo. We need to be quiet from now on, whoo.”

Westley led the ponies down a few different alleyways, all lined on either side by red brick walls. He was careful not to expose the ponies to the streets, where citygoers were still abundant. The lanterns lighting the cobblestones would have exposed any ponies sneaking past.

Finally, Westley led the ponies to a wooden door in a dark corner of a backalley.

“Whoo, in here!”

Hitch stopped Sunny.

“Sunny… you sure about this?”

She beamed.

“Nope!”

She rushed inside, Hitch and Izzy entering more slowly. It was pitch dark, but Westley shuffled about and eventually blew in the dark. A fire sparked at the end of a wick in a lantern and filled the tiny room with light. Izzy ooo’d. Sunny was like a frantic puppy.

“See see! Magic! He just started that fire!”

Hitch looked sideways at Sunny.

“Actually Ms. Starscout that’s what we call a blow wick. Pretty simple Earth Pony design – you blow on it, it ignites.”

“Earth Ponies have magic?”

“It’s not magic, it’s science!”

“How does it work then?”

“I don’t know I’m not a scientist!”

“Whoo, shh! We must keep quiet until morning, whoo.” Westley moved over to a cupboard and retrieved some loaves of bread. “Sorry but this is all that is in this safehouse, whoo. Everything will be explained tomorrow. For now, whoo, stay here and rest. Do NOT go outside!”

The ponies settled into some cots strewn about the room. The square windows were shuttered, and the walls were bare panel. Westley opened the door to leave.

“I mean it, whoo. Stay inside. I will be back tomorrow.”

Sunny went into her bags. She pulled out some of the berries from the mountain. Hitch gasped.

“Hey hey! Don’t eat those yet, they’re supposed to be for when we don’t have anything else!”

Sunny frowned and put the berries back.

“Aww, but they’re so fruity.”

Hitch comfied himself on the cot and curled his hooves by his belly.

“I think we should take turns keeping watch – just in case.”

Izzy raised her hoof.

“I can take first shift. I’m not really all that tired.” She grabbed a piece of bread and stuffed it in her mouth. “Pwus Iwm rwellwy hwungwry.”

Sunny reassured Hitch with a smile.

“It’s okay buddy, you go to sleep, I’m not tired either. When we are ready for bed, Izzy can take the first shift, then I will, and I’ll wake you for yours.”

Hitch yawned and turned over.

“Oh alright then… you just… lemme know…”

Sunny and Izzy giggled. They went on for some time that night, talking about their lives before their adventure began and snacking on bread.

22 - The Quest for Coffee

Sunny woke to the sound of an accordion. The wavy metal doots and scratches from the instrument seemed close, and because Sunny forgot at first where she and her friends were, it was a dizzying affair. When Sunny did open her eyes, Izzy’s face was right above the cot.

“Ahhh!”

Sunny tumbled out in a tizzy. Izzy apologized profusely.

“Sorry sorry sorry! You were just talking in your sleep for once, so I was wondering what was going on!”

Sunny looked up.

“Did you have to be so close?!”

Izzy smiled sheepishly. Sunny rubbed her eyes and groaned.

“That cot is somehow even less comfortable than the cave… so wait, does that mean I didn’t snore last night?”

Hitch answered; Sunny saw the bags under his eyes.

“No, Sunny… it does not mean you did not snore last night. Because…” He yawned loudly. “You did… you definitely, definitely did…”

Izzy smiled.

“It’s okay, Sunny. We’ll just go find him some coffee!”

Hitch grumbled to himself for a moment before snapping to attention.

“Right, right! Let’s go exploring! Sunny, I NEED to see some mares and I NEED some coffee.”

Sunny stood up, her mouth becoming a slanted line.

“Should we leave though? Westley said not to leave.”

Hitch struggled to keep his eyes open.

“Sunny… I’ve gotten this far in life without listening to talking owls. I think it will be fine.”

Izzy beamed.

“It’s okay Sunny, we will be super duper sneaky! We’re ponjas, remember?”

Sunny smiled lightly at each of her friends in turn. She rubbed her neck.

“I know we’ve talked about it before, and I know you both say you’re on board, but I don’t want to get you into more trouble than you’ve bargained for. You don’t need to follow me on my quest… I know it’s a crazy one.”

Hitch groaned loudly.

“Comon Sunny, we are here for the long haul—trust me! Let’s go already!”

Izzy nodded.

“What he said!”

Sunny forced a wider smile.

“Okay then.” Her brow creased when she saw the red and white mushroom still front and center on Izzy’s head. “Izzy you… sure about that disguise? Maybe we can find you a hat and bring it back to you before you head out.”

Izzy poked the mushroom and hummed with thought.

“I do love Shroomie but… better to be safe rather than sorry. A hat or two is a good idea. I will come with you.”

Sunny mouth twitched.

“O-or two?!”

Hitch was at the door and tapping on one of his hooves.

“Come on, come on! My heart’s racing here, I need my fix. I need some MARES! Uhh and some coffee! Yes coffee too!”

Sunny deadpanned.

“Please don’t make the rest of us look like weirdos too. Keep the flirting at least six feet away.”

Izzy giggled.

“I think it will be funny. Let’s go!”

The three grabbed some bread for they left, eating as they went. Hitch opened the door tentatively and peeked around. Light poured in and blinded all three ponies, but once their eyes adjusted they tiphoofed out into the alley. Once outside, the sounds of flutes and guitars were also heard alongside the accordion. Sunny looked from the left to the right. They had to choose one of two directions.

“So, are we going to go toward or away from the impromptu band practice noises?” Hitch asked before a yawn. Sunny thrust her hoof up.

“Band practice! It sounds like a lot of fun!”

Izzy’s tail was shaking.

“Yeah, yeah! I agree, let’s go!”

Hitch shrugged.

“Fine, but once I find a mug of bean water I’m turning on the charm and getting my flirt on.”

The three left the alleyway and entered one of the streets of Tall Tale. It was wide enough that a cart was parked off to one side in front of a store, and there was still space for another cart to pass it. The streets were made of black-grey cobblestones flecked with white pebbles, and as passersby were abundant on the streets, the constant noise of clipclopping hooves accompanied the instruments.

Sunny spotted the band of Earth Ponies playing their instruments, though she frowned when she saw them. Each of the musicians, a stallion with a moustache of one color or another, had droopy cheeks and frowny faces. They played a joyful tune, although they looked like they were performing at a funeral. When Sunny looked at the other faces around the street, it was much the same.

“Uhhh, did somepony die?” She asked her friends.

“Some pony?” Hitch added with a dry chuckle. “It looks like half the city died from how everyearthpony looks.”

Izzy’s mouth became a pouty, upside-down crescent.

“That’s so sad!”

Sunny shifted her gaze from one end of the street to the other. She leaned into her friends.

“This doesn’t seem like a normal place. Let’s ask my grandmother when we find her.”

Hitch exhaled deeply.

“Before we do that, can I find some coffee, please?” His eyes were drawn to a mare he spotted window shopping. She had a reddish-brown mane that hung straight down, and a grey coat of fur. Her face looked totally uninterested, almost sad. Hitch’s mouth screwed into a worried line. “This is almost as worse as no mares at all. I don’t like to see a sad mare…”

Hitch forced a charming, gleaming smile.

“Guess I really need to lay it on thick and make them laugh.”

Sunny and Izzy had already walked away, looking for signs that might show a coffee mug or something else giving away its purpose. Ponies broke their depressed state to stare bewildered at Izzy’s mushroom. Hitch caught up and whispered.

“Hey, we should be sticking together!”

“Then don’t be weird!”

The street went on and on, as did the number of depressed-looking ponies, it was not a direct straight line – there were swerves and curves and turns. Tall Tale was not as compact as Castletown and seemed to afford more air for its denizens to breath. But Sunny could see that all of them, even the ones that did not frown or look sullen, still wore smiles or happy expressions that seemed false.

“I wonder what’s up…”

Hitch shot his grin at the mares that he passed, but usually earned a worried expression or ignorance altogether of his gesture. He frowned.

“Must be this depression thing they all have – could it be an illness?”

Sunny rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, THAT’S why they’re ignoring you, Casanova.”

Hitch ignored the slight as they passed a group of young fillies, who instead of giggling, sighed, one after the other. Hitch turned to Izzy.

“Izzy, you ought to know Casanova – you know, the real one? I heard he’s pretty famous as a ladies’ stallion in the Unicorn lands.”

Izzy made a contemplative face.

“I’ve heard of him but… sorry, I don’t know much.”

Hitch flicked Sunny with his hoof.

“See! He IS real. One day, we’ll run into him, and you’re going to be sorry you used his name in vain.”

“That’s stupid. Hitch, focus. Coffee!”

“Trust me… I am all eyes for the coffee.”

Suddenly, Izzy whisked Sunny and Hitch away to the other side of the street, nearly slamming right into a passing wagon. They cried out.

“Izzy!” Sunny whisper-shouted. “This isn’t exactly keeping a low profile!”

But the Unicorn was on a mission. She led her friends inside of a shop – a cramped affair, and very clearly a clothing shop. General sizes hung from the display racks. A bored, bushy-stached stallion was looking particularly dead at the counter.

“Disguises!” Izzy whispered. She winked and took off to see what was in stock. Hitch sighed and shrugged.

“I mean sure, it will be fun to dress up. Not a bad idea, right?”

Sunny chuckled.

“What, coming from you? You’re usually the voice of reason and stick-in-the-mudness.”

Hitch’s eyes widened and he leaned in.

“Sunny I’m going to SNAP and I’m trying to ignore it. I forgot to get a rock or something to stuff your mouth with last night. I barely slept!”

Sunny shrugged.

“Sorry Hitch. I will think of something for tonight.”

Hitch grabbed a brown faux-leather hat off of a rack and donned it. Sunny looked around and saw a wide brimmed purple hat with a feather attached. She fit it onto her head and nodded at Hitch.

“We be stylin!”

Izzy ran over, covered in all manner of clothing items and a stack of hats. Shroomie was nestled safely in her saddlebags.

“I’m set!” she announced. “Ta da!”

Hitch and Sunny didn’t know where to look first. Various cheap feather leis of various colors hung around Izzy’s neck. The outer layer of clothing around her midsection ended with a scratchy-looking brown sweater but poking out of the collar was evidence of a white shirt and a tie dye long sleeve underneath. The hats on her head were, in order from bottom to top, a tight woolen hat, a bucket hat, a cowpony hat, and then a hat covered in black fur that stood up like a garbage bin.

The shopkeeper tapped his hoof impatiently.

“Ehhhhh… you gonna pay for dose?”

Izzy tentatively turned around and rapidly nodded, a blush flecking her cheeks. She raced over and scooped out some bits, letting them clank on the countertop. The shopkeep’s eyes bulged out. He couldn’t breathe.

“Y-You sure?! That is a LOT of bits, ma’am!”

Izzy smiled uneasily and zipped back to the others. She hurried them away as soon as they had grabbed what they needed.

Once outside the shop after their purchases were safely on their bodies, the three strode down the street in style. Izzy had a pair of purple plastic shades. Hitch had a fake moustache and a big set of brown robes to accompany his hat. Sunny had a high collared black faux-leather jacket and some flowy grey pants to cover her Cutie Mark.

“Now we are totally inconspicuous!” Izzy declared as a mare hurried her foal along after seeing the display. Hitch covered half his face with his hoof and laughed.

“I can’t believe I’m wearing this. This seems worse than just going as our normal selves.”

Sunny raised her hoof.

“Embrace it, Trashbasher! Let’s go get you something to drink, Mr. Sleepy Hooves, then we can go find my grandmother!”

Hitch rolled his eyes.

“Yeah okay Sunny.”

Izzy grabbed his shoulder and shook.

“Look Hitch! That’s a big one, right?”

Down the street, a wooden stand with a giant sign that looked like a disposable coffee cup complete with lid stuck out of the crowd. Izzy waved her hoof as she pointed.

“Coffee!”

“It is indeed. Let’s go!”

They were off but not for long – the street became so crowded that they had to slow down. There was not enough room to barge through without causing a scene. The street widened and on one side sat a folded-out wagon that created a theatrical stage. Red curtains were drawn, and the hushed crowd murmured among itself. Hitch, Sunny, and Izzy all looked to one another, confused.

A male showpony’s voice rang out.

“Step forward one and all! Despair no more, for Tall Tale’s bringer of happiness and joy has arrived! Miss Lumina!”

The male showpony had a black top hat and suit on. His fur was sleek white and a blonde mane underneath was only just visible given the size of his hat. He did a flourish with his hoof as he backed up and away behind the curtains, which began to open to reveal a shadowy pony figure.

An explosion of fireworks and a whizzing sound like a rocket firing coincided with a spotlight turning on, pointing on the shadowy figure. It was the so-called Miss Lumina, a mare with light orange fur and a curved-top, wide brimmed black hat covering a silver mane that flowed back against her neck like a waterfall. She wore black robes that covered everything below her neck including her hooves. She was all smiles and got onto her hind hooves to strike a pose. The crowd gave half-hearted cries, almost approaching mirth.

“EVERYEARTHPONY! WELCOME!”

Sunny squinted. Miss Lumina had bright magenta eyes.

“Maybe that’s my grandmother!” Sunny whispered. Hitch hushed her.

“Let’s find out!”

Miss Lumina continued, her voice the first that Sunny and her friends heard in the town that didn’t sound depressed.

“For my first trick, I need a volunteer! Don’t be shy now!”

The crowd talked quietly, one pony to another. Sunny and her friends looked among themselves. Izzy looked ready to explode with enthusiasm. She couldn’t hold it.

“OOO OOO I’LL DO IT! I WANT TO DO IT!”

Izzy was off like a filly at a candy store, shoving past the others. Sunny and Hitch exchanged a fearful look but were paralyzed with indecision. The crowd seemed taken aback by Izzy’s excitement, moving aside for her to get up the steps of the stage, her hats bobbing up and down as she did. Sunny chewed the end of her hoof watching the hats, expecting them to tumble off at any moment.

“We have an eager one today, folks!” Miss Lumina announced with a giggle at the end. Izzy stood next to her, knees bouncing along with her, an empty sort of look on her face though she was smiling. Then, she noticed the crowd.

Izzy’s eyes widened. She started to shake, her knees wobbling instead of bouncing.

Hitch leaned into Sunny.

“This could be bad – get ready to jump in.”

“I’m ready, don’t worry.”

Miss Lumina laid a hoof on Izzy’s clothing-covered back.

“And what’s your name, eager beaver?”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhh…”

Izzy held the single tone for quite some time, to the extent that even Miss Lumina frowned and looked concerned. Finally, Izzy spoke.

“…Iz—NO I MEAN IT’SSSSS UHHHHHHHHH Joey! Joeysephine! Yeah! I-I’m Joeysephine!”

She forced the most crooked, forced smile she could and turned to Miss Lumina. The showmare smiled back just as awkwardly.

“Oookay, Joeysephine. Uhh, say hello to Joeysephine, everyearthpony!”

The crowd just stared. Some ponies near Sunny and Hitch whispered.

“Must have got her brains messed up at the Castle. Another one that Sir Bastion got to, no doubt.”

“Yeah, this is the worst case yet, he must have dropped her from the roof.”

Sunny’s face became a neutral line and she stared at her friend, waiting for something to happen. Hitch looked around them. He got closer to Sunny.

“Don’t look but there is someearthpony watching us from an alley. Real shady type, too.”

Sunny of course looked. She saw a stickbug of a stallion dressed in only a sideways ballcap and chewing on a toothpick, his eyes glued to Sunny. He half-smiled as he saw her look his way. She cringed.

“Eww! A pervert, you think?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I’ve done the same thing and I’m not a pervert.”

Sunny did a double take.

“Seriously?!”

“Sunny, it’s not illegal to look, it’s only illegal to touch.”

“It’s still gross!”

Up on the stage, Miss Lumina moved Izzy into place, which was a difficult task given the Unicorn had completely locked up. Miss Lumina made the best of the situation, then pulled a wand from her robes with her teeth. She spoke through the wand.

“Watch closely, everyearthpony, as I make Joeysephine DISAPPEAR! OOOOOO!”

Izzy lit up.

“WHAT REALLY?!”

Sunny’s reaction was similar.

“Wow is she going to do some real magic?!”

Hitch nudged her.

“Oi, it’s just a make-believe show.”

Miss Lumina reared back and waved the wand about, then jolted forward. A loud blast of sound and smoke burst from Izzy’s location made Sunny jump back. She was bewildered, her eyes white saucers.

“WHAT THE HAY WHOA DID YOU SEE THAT HITCH?!”

Everypony nearby looked at Sunny with raised brows. Hitch facehoofed as Sunny hoofclapped and cheered.

“S-she’s just under the stage, Sunny…”

When the smoke cleared, Izzy was gone. Miss Lumina took a bow.

“Thank you, thank you, I’m here all week!”

Somepony booed in the back. Another cried out.

“You did the same thing yesterday! We already know this trick!”

Another pony shouted.

“Are you going to do the pigeons flying out of a hat one next? You did that the day before yesterday!”

Somepony lifted up their child, a toothless little filly with a lisp.

“This disssplay of impossssible featssss is a ssssham, and I persssonally will not sssstand for it!”

The crowd agreed in a monotonous drone. Miss Lumina stepped back and sweatdrops fell from underneath her witch-like hat. Something knocked underneath the stage.

“GUYS GUYS I’M IN A BLACK VOID! PLEASE HELP! I HATE THE DARK I’M SCARED!”

The crowd booed in earnest, and Miss Lumina frantically searched for an answer. Her assistant poked his head out from behind the stage and looked just as confused. Sunny pushed past the crowd to the front of the stage.

“Hey! How do I get my friend out of there? How could you pretend to do magic like this, you got my hopes up for nothing!”

Miss Lumina pointed to a spot by the stage not far from Sunny and smiled with a blush. Sunny looked around and saw an obvious switch, only vaguely colored the same as the rest of the light brown stage wood. Sunny pushed it and a trapdoor opened. Izzy rolled out, head spinning. Only one of the hats still clung to her head, and barely at that.

“W-whoa… no more magic for me… owwie…”

Hitch sped through the crowd, a wake of yelping ponies behind him, and scooped his friends onto his back.

“Time to go!”

Sunny protested.

“Just hold on, I didn’t get to talk to Miss Lumina yet! What if she’s my grandmother, or at least a cousin or something?”

“Wrong place, wrong time Sunny! Way too much attention got drawn to us, plus that weirdo in the alley! He might just be admiring the goods, sure, and that’s totally fine and not perverted!” Sunny went deadpan. “But he also might be someone who wants to make some bits giving us up to the soldiers. I bet you didn’t notice them around, but I did.”

At that, Sunny looked around. She spotted no stone helmets, armor, or spears among any of the many passersby.

“What are you talking about Hitch?”

Hitch skidded to a halt and let his friends off his back. He wrapped a hoof around Sunny’s neck and pointed upward. Sure enough, two soldiers were scanning the street from a position on a flat roof nearby. Sunny gasped.

“See?” Hitch said, “I don’t know the town at all, but I am willing to bet they don’t normally do that, not unless they are looking for somearthpony.”

Sunny corrected him.

“Somepony, Hitch. Somepony!”

“I’m working on it! Now come on!”

Izzy groaned.

“I feel woozy… blah…” She smiled. “But did you two see the magic!? It was so dark… but wow!”

“Izzy you fell through a trap door, you were just underneath the stage.”

“O-ohh… s-sorry it seemed so real…”

Hitch nearly dragged his friends to the coffee stand. At last he approached the counter to get his drink, his face like an excited colt’s. He pulled a bit from out of his belt.

“Hey!” Izzy cried. “I can pay for it, it’s no problem!”

“That’s fine Izzy, I do have some money. You save that for an emergency. Also, we still need some clothes for the cold in Vanhoover and I don’t know how much those cost. Just in case we do go.”

Sunny interjected. “We areeeeeee.”

Hitch paid for his coffee and took the handle with his teeth. He, Sunny, and Izzy sat in some café chairs. Hitch grasped the disposable cup with both hooves, blew some of the steam away, and hazarded a sip. After he swallowed, he sighed contentedly.

“Oh that’s the stuff.”

Sunny leaned forward.

“Okay, once you’re done with the coffee, I think the best thing is for us to go back and talk to Miss Lumina. I have a feeling about her. I think she’s a Starscout – maybe not my grandmother, but family! She’ll help us!”

Izzy nodded.

“That makes sense to me. Hitch?”

Hitch’s head was craned back and his gaze elsewhere. Sunny and Izzy looked at one another, oblivious at that moment to how strange they both looked in their mismatched attire, then they looked at Hitch.

“Earth to former sheriff Hitch, yoo hoo.”

Hitch snapped back.

“W-what? I’m looking out for mar-SOLDIERS! I’m looking out for soldiers.” He cleared his throat and took another sip. Sunny jabbed him with her hoof.

“Stay focused! Now do you agree with my plan or not?”

Hitch took another sip and smacked his lips.

“Hmmm… no, I don’t think so. What we should do is find somewhere to stock up on supplies. We don’t know how long we have before something goes wrong and we have to make a run for it or hide somewhere. Best to get everything we need now.”

Izzy looked to Sunny.

“Okay now I agree with Hitch, that sounds better.”

Sunny nodded.

“Alright. And after that, we backtrack to Miss Lumina?”

Hitch finished off his coffee with a big gulp. He sighed loud and happy as he put it back down.

“Sure! She was pretty cute, too! I’ll work my magic on her and she’ll be dough in my hooves.”

He turned and shot one of his smiles at a nearby mare, flicking his head up at the same time. She took one look, grimaced, and turned back the other way. Izzy giggled. Sunny jabbed Hitch again.

“Smooth, Casanova. Smooth.”

Hitch found a wastebasket for his empty cup and the three continued on their way. They took a separate street perpendicular to the one they were on before, as it appeared to have more store signs above the buildings. At one point, a bored-looking stallion on stilts lumbered by. Izzy ‘ooo’d’ at that, and ‘awe’d’ later when she saw a mare breath fire, looking just as bored as anypony else in town.

“These ponies do so many neato things but they all look like they’re being forced to read about the Cheddar Mare Uprising of the Year 339 AGB!” Izzy exclaimed. Hitch and Sunny looked at her funny. “W-what?”

“What the HECK is the Cheddar Mare Uprising?”

“O-oh… s-sorry, uhh, nothing. Unicorn thing. Anyway, I mean, they look really bored!”

Eventually a sign caught Sunny’s eye: it was worn, brown, and cracked with a crude drawing of a purple potion bottle with bubbles coming out. She lit up.

“That looks like a potion shop, right? Either that or they sell purple drinks in potion bottles.”

Hitch chuckled.

“Sunny Sunny Sunny… don’t be ridiculous. It’s clearly a potion shop.”

The three entered. Moments later, they emerged, each holding a purple drink.

“Huh. Guess it was a purple drink store.” Hitch exclaimed. He noticed another sign across the street, this time the potion on the sign was a dark green. “Let’s try that one!”

Everypony gulped down their drinks, threw them out, and then filed into the store across the street. Inside, the windows were shuttered and the only light was from a large candle near the center of the room and one smaller candle on a counter at the back of the long room. A mare was seated there, beside a bubbling cauldron. The rest of the room had all types of odds and ends that would not be out of place in a witch’s hovel, like something out of a pony fairy tale. Sunny beamed.

“Cool! I bet she has eye of newt!”

Hitch looked around.

“Broom stick, look for a broom stick – guys, this must be a witch. We should go somewhere less evil looking!”

Izzy gasped loudly and zipped over to a table. A jar of tiny eyeballs sat next to a few other jars filled with thick hair of different colors.

“You were right, Sunny! These must be eyes of newt, right?”

Sunny jumped to her friend’s side, and they were both ecstatic, tails waving.

“I have no idea Izzy, but it’s so creepy, it’s really cool!”

A witch’s cackle echoed from the other side of the room. Sunny and her friends jumped out of their skins - Hitch screamed.

“EVIL WITCH! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!”

But before he could stop running in place, the old mare lowered her hood. She chuckled again, but less witch-like than before.

“I ain’t no witch! I just like to do that to mess with Earth Ponies.” Hitch tripped over his hooves and flopped forward. Sunny and Izzy got closer to the old mare. “Name’s Sue. Sue Grassroots. This is my family shop – grab whatever you like, I’ll give you a good deal because hot stuff over there made me laugh!” She pointed at Hitch and laughed again. His tongue was flopped out and his head spun. Izzy giggled and Sunny rolled her eyes, smiling.

“Thanks, Sue. We will.” She leaned into Izzy and whispered. “She is from the same family as that apothecary from back at the Castle. Remember that really annoyingly pretty one, Layla?”

“Oh yeah. You really think she was pretty?”

“Yeah it really bugged me. I wish I could have dunked her in that river.”

“R-really?!”

Hitch collected himself, got up, and raised a hoof.

“Okay, if you promise not to turn me into a toad, can I buy some potions, please?”

Sue cackled again.

“I’m not promising anything, sugar buns, but you take your fine self over here and we can talk about some potions.” Hitch gulped. Sunny shot him googoo eyes and made kissy faces.

“Go get ‘im, tiger!”

Hitch looked at Izzy briefly, who was already en route to his side. She took off her saddlebags and gave them to Hitch with a smile.

“You might as well the bits, I don’t know what need anyway.”

“You sure? I really don’t want to lose it or anything. I promise I won’t spend it all!”

Izzy grinned with puffy cheeks.

“Don’t worry HitchyWitchy! I’ve got like 50 bags of the same size just sitting around my room at home.”

Hitch’s mouth dropped and he was at a loss for words.

“T-th… wh… REALLY?! This is more than I make in a year! Two years!”

Sunny raised her hoof.

“Made. You got fired, remember?”

Hitch sighed.

“I do now…”

He strapped the saddlebags on and approached the counter. Sue batted her ancient eyelashes at him – he forced a smile. Her coat was a similar shade to Layla Grassroots’s, although worn from age. Her irises were a dull yellow. Robes covered everything but her face. Izzy and Sunny giggled some more and browsed the inventory while Hitch did his haggling, made easier due to Sue’s infatuation.

“Uhhh by the way,” Hitch asked as he put some vials into his belt, underneath his outfit. “We met Layla in Castletown. The cutie with the braided hair?”

Sue frowned.

“My granddaughter. Why do you want to talk about her when you’ve got me, studmuffin?”

Hitch shuddered, then produced a pearly-white smile, accented by the faux moustache above his lip.

“Oh I just wanted to say, if she’s looking for a coltfriend – well, I’m definitely available.”

Sue frowned, her bushy white brows pointing downward.

“Hah! Good luck with her, she’s all about her potions. Something of a loyalist too, to Castle Rockhoof. You seem like more of a free spirit – why not just stay here with me?”

Hitch adjusted the neck of his robes. Sunny snuck up and nudged his side.

“Hey studmuffin, we ready to go already?”

“YES! I mean uhh, sure. Haha. Nice to meet you, Sue.”

Sue winked.

“Don’t let it be the last time.”

As Sunny and her friends left the Grassroots shop, a greasy voice called out from a side alley nearby, laughter hiding behind every word it uttered.

“Heeyyyyy if it isn’t Sunny Starscout, Isabella Moonbow, and Hitch Trackbreaker.”

All three turned, pupils growing small. Hitch protested.

“Come on! It’s Trailblazer. TRAILBLAZER!”

Sunny shoved him.

“O-oh, I mean, uhhh, NO THAT’S NOT MY NAME!”

It was the “pervert” stallion from before. He grinned like a sly fox, his yellow teeth making the mares step back.

“Let’s go have a chat about how much it costs for me to keep a secret!”

23 - Cerena

Hitch leaned into Sunny.

“Listen, I bought a potion earlier that we can use on this guy. It will put him to sleep long enough for us to get whatever else we need, talk to your grandma, and get out of here!”

“Let’s hear what he has to say first. If things go sour, we have options. He might have more information on my family!”

Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch filed behind the giggling, ballcap’d stranger leading them further into the alley. After reaching a wider area in the back alleys, with a backdoor of some building off to one side, and on the other side a dumpster, the stranger turned around. He had a cocksure, sideways grin on his face. He chewed the end of his toothpick.

“Here’s the deal, you three: I know who you are, and I know who’s after you. I want you to each cough up 20 bits to keep me quiet! That’s all!”

Sunny protested.

“Wait a second! There’s no way we are giving you anything before you tell us who you are and how you know who we are!”

The stranger closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Wha, you think those silly costumes hide who you are? Fine, the name’s Jay, that’s all I’m sayin—now hoof over the bits before I lose control over the volume of my voice.” He looked around toward the rooftops. “Awful lot of soldiers scouting out the town right now. Can’t say for certain but I’m sure a few of them would hear me if I shouted.”

Hitch took a step forward.

“Sunny this is ridiculous, we have to—”

“No! I’ll handle it, Hitch!”

Izzy was staying behind and being as quiet as possible. She continued to look back and forth between the two exits to their location, the alleyway they took to get there and another one just ahead. Sunny maintained her composure.

“We’ve run away from Realm soldiers before, even fought some of them, and we could do it again. I don’t believe that you just noticed who we are.” She narrowed her eyes and her brows curved downward. “Now who are you? How do you know who we are?”

Jay looked from one pony to the next, chuckling incredulously.

“You really think some urchin turned vagabond like me is anything more than a petty swindler? Heh, you really is dumber than I thought. First you wander into town like you ain’t sticking out like a couple of coughing whales, then you take me for some sort of ehhhh.” He waved his hoof around, searching for the right word. “Private investigator or something.”

Sunny stared right into his eyes. Jay held the stare. It didn’t take long for sweat to trickle down his neck. He looked away, his voice becoming shaky.

“J-jeez you’re a real oddball, you know that? What’s with you? Cough up the bits already… I’ll go easy on ya – 10 bits each!”

“If I give you the bits, will you tell us what we want to know?”

Jay still didn’t look at Sunny, but he shrugged.

“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.”

Sunny looked at her friends. She whispered.

“Izzy, can we spare the 30 bits? I don’t want to just put him to sleep – he knows something, I know it!”

Izzy smiled.

“Whatever you think is a good idea, Sunny, that’s what we’ll do. We still have hundreds of bits in here.”

Hitch sighed.

“Would it matter if I said it’s a bad use of Izzy’s money? He’s probably telling us the truth that he’s just a criminal trying to make a quick bit!”

“But how would he know us? Maybe he’s from Maretime Bay and knows you and me, but Izzy?”

“He probably guessed! I’m sure the soldiers have been asking around for our names. He saw three weird looking strangers and took a gamble – and you gave it away that we were who he said we were!”

“Uhhh you did as soon as he said your name wrong!”

“N-no!”

Jay interjected.

“Might I hurry up your little discussion? I ain’t got all day.”

Sunny had a determined look on her face and looked Hitch in the eye.

“I’m good at telling what’s a lie and what’s not. That pony is lying. He knows something. We can spare 30 bits to get him to spill the beans.”

After a moment, Hitch’s mouth screwed into a diagonal line.

“Fine.”

They all turned back. Jay looked expectantly with raise eyebrows.

“You gonna pay the toll or am I gonna sing like the fat opera mare?”

Sunny looked to Hitch, who reluctantly presented the saddlebag. Sunny scooped out the bits, a few more than asked for, and as she did Jay held open a sack.

“That’s right, come to papa!”

He quickly pulled it away once Sunny had placed 10 bits inside.

“Wait! I said 10 bits each. You can’t pay for them.”

Sunny shook her head.

“That’s ridiculous! My friend is loaning us the money!”

Jay made a clicking noise and looked off to the side.

“Guess if they can’t pay I’m just telling the soldiers that Hitch Trapizzi and Isabella Moonbow are here.”

Hitch raised his hoof.

“Now that one doesn’t even sound like Trailblazer, seriously!”

Sunny lowered Hitch’s hoof and addressed Jay again.

“Why does it matter where you get the bits from? There are 30 bits, right here!”

Jay turned his nose up at them.

“It’s gotta be the way I say or no deal.”

Sunny looked to her friends, then back at Jay.

“If that’s the way you’re going to be, give me back the bits I gave you. I will take the fall with my friends.”

Hitch and Izzy smiled. Jay laughed as if Sunny had said the craziest thing he had ever heard.

“Are you off your rocker, little girl? You gonna let me sic the soldiers on you over some ‘friends’? What good they ever do for you – anyearthpony I ever called a friend ended up stabbing me in the back. One guy did it literally – with an old sausage!”

Sunny turned to each of her friends in turn, then shook her head.

“They wouldn’t do it to me. I won’t do it to them. There’s no deal. You can shout as much as you want.”

Jay gritted his teeth. He looked all around as if to find something that wasn’t there.

“You… you silly… you… ARGGGH!”

Somepony called out from the alleyway.

“Umm hello? Is there someone over there?”

Jay jumped up out of fright. He took off the way they had all come. Hitch shouted.

“HEY, OUR BITS!”

Before Hitch got far, Sunny grabbed his backside.

“Stop! Let him go!”

“Why would we do that?”

As the pony who called out earlier turned the corner, Sunny smiled and replied to her friend.

“He probably needs those bits more than us.”

A new stranger emerged. He was around the same age as Professor Tyson, if Sunny reckoned correctly. He had a slightly aged but not leathery look, such as Curio or Old Man Withers. His body was bony and skinny, and he wore a sash-type garment of checkered forest green and brownish red, which rested on his chest. His mane and bushy beard were fiery red, and his coat an olive green.

“Ack, I thought I heard somepony! What are ye three doin’ back here?”

Sunny grinned.

“Hey you said somepony! Wow!”

Hitch answered.

“We’re just minding our own business. What uhh what are you doing back here?”

The old pony scratched the back of his head.

“Ehh, t’be honest, I can’t remember, really.”

He spoke with an accent that neither Sunny nor Izzy had heard before. Hitch’s ear twitched.

“Say,” Hitch asked. “You sound like somepony I know.”

The old pony put his hoof across his chest.

“Not a might bit sure who that would be, laddy. Name’s Regan, though. Nice ta be makin’ your acquaintance.”

Sunny smiled.

“My name is Su—” Hitch shoved her hard. She grunted.

“Hey! Why’d yo…” He looked at her, forcing a smile, and raised his eyebrows a few times. Sunny’s mouth opened. “Ohhhh.”

Regan cocked his head.

“Yer name is who now?”

Sunny cleared her throat.

“My name is Su… Su… Sushi! My name is Sushi.”

Hitch facehoofed. Izzy came forward, waving her hoof.

“Oh oh oh and I’m uhhhhhh Steak! My name’s Steak!”

Regan chuckled.

“Sushi and Steak, huh? Lad if yer name’s Cider we’ll have ourselves a party!”

Hitch deadpanned.

“Yeah no it’s Carl.”

Regan looked to each of the ponies before nodding and continuing on his way.

“Well nice to say hello to ya – bye now!”

“Wait!” Sunny cried. She blocked Regan’s exit, and he raised an eyebrow. “You seem nice and we are sort of lost. Can you tell us where the Starscouts live?”

“I can. Why do ye want to know? Are they friends of yours? Are ye related?”

Sunny locked up. Sweat trickled down her forehead and neck.

“R-related? N-n-no… haha no haha that’s silly!”

She laughed too hard. Hitch off to the side facehoofed; Izzy hid herself behind her mane. Regan rubbed his chin.

“So you’re friends with the Starscouts?”

Sunny sucked in her lips. Her cheeks bulged like she had to struggle to keep in the secret. She shook her head. Regan chuckled.

“You’re an odd one Sushi, but then again ye do have an odd name. All right, old Regan’ll show you the way. Come!”

As he passed Sunny, she breathed out in a sigh of relief, her chest heaving and her pupils tiny dots. Hitch patted her on the back.

“Good job Sunny, you managed not to explode.”

Izzy bumped her plot into Sunny’s. She spoke when Regan was out of earshot.

“Come on, let’s go see your nana!”

Sunny managed a smile and nodded.

Regin returned Sunny and her friends to the main street. The three out of towners kept their eyes open for any signs of trouble – while the coast seemed clear, it could have been any minute until soldiers turned up. Hitch was constantly shifting his gaze over the herds of ponies, his throat seizing up into a ball whenever one of the rooftop soldiers so much as looked his way. He leaned into Sunny.

“I hope we don’t end up regretting letting that guy leave!”

Sunny winked at him. Izzy leaned in on the other side.

“Hey, where do you think Westley went? I really wanted to ask him some more questions.”

Sunny looked straight forward, Regan just in front.

“I’m not sure. We don’t really have the time to find out, do we?”

Everypony turned off into a part of town where the streetlamps had rectangular purple flags attached to them, and in the middle of the flags was Sunny’s Cutie Mark. Izzy tapped her pal.

“Look, look! It’s your Cu—gahbahbahgah!”

Hitch corked her mouth with his hoof and shook his head, his face erratic. Izzy nodded rapidly and talked behind his hoof.

“I meant wow look it’s a cool purple flag!”

Regan smiled and looked back at the others. The part of town they entered had a narrower street and less passersby. The buildings appeared to be residential, each having a flower box in the front and a mailbox as well.

“Aye, that’s the flag of the Starscout family. That’s their Cutie Mark, that symbol there.” He pointed up. “Ye, it’s pretty neat. Cerena Starscout, the head of the family, used to put on a show every year, big festivities, lots of fun. All manner of things ye could think of! This town used to be a riot too!” Regan spoke with such enthusiasm that the others grinned as well. “Games, great food—course it wasn’t so kind to your tummy later, heh—prizes, music, and mysterious tricks! Almost like real magic!”

At that, Sunny’s eyes seemed to glow. She imagined the spectacle in her mind. She bounced at the knees.

“Wow when is it? Is it soon?!”

Regan frowned. The homes on either side of the street gave way to solid brick walls on either side of the street. Just ahead was a large house on an open clearing.

“Ack, no. Not anymore. Ms. Starscout doesn’t do it anymore. The Starscouts have become very reclusive in the last few years. Some of them have left town, along with a lot of other ponies.”

Sunny became crestfallen.

“But why? Did something happen?!”

Everypony entered the grassy clearing. It was like a large fairground, marked off by tall, thick fir trees which formed a square around its perimeter. At the other end of the clearing was a three-story home made entirely of chestnut-colored wood, its roof sticking up in three spots: the left, the right, and the middle. Three huge triangles. An embossed Starscout Cutie Mark sat just above the middle section, and shuttered windows marked the outside front. The front yard was partially fenced off, and its empty, dirty planters looked like they used to hold actual flowers, and not just dry soil.

There was a silence. Then, Regan sighed.

“Nopony knows, really.” He turned and lit up. “But hey! P’haps she will be delighted to see her friends an’ that’ll cheer her up, back to her old self!” Hitch looked to Sunny, who couldn’t smile more than a lazy half-attempt, while Izzy jumped from friend to friend and shook them.

“Let’s go let’s go!”

Regan smiled at Sunny, and when she saw how earnest and wide it was, she couldn’t help it herself.

“I’ll be off, then. Hope ya have a good time! Be seeing you, Sushi, Steak, and Carl.”

Izzy waved.

“Bye Regan!” She turned back to her friends. “What a nice pony, right?”

Hitch's eyes were glued to the huge home at the end of the clearing.

"Geez, nice digs! You didn't tell me you guys were rich, Sunny!"

"How was I supposed to even know? And it looks sort of... run down, doesn't it?"

Izzy sighed longingly.

"It looks so much better than any of our places in Sire's Hollow. They're all gloomy and skyscraper-y. We don't have big yards like this, either! I think it's perfect!"

Sunny looked around the clearing, at the fir trees, at the various landmarks that caught her eye – a pony-shaped fountain off to one side, a tiny sitting area with a pond and some shrubs. It was the height of noon, and the sun’s light hid nothing in Sunny’s family courtyard. She nodded.

“Okay! Let’s go meet my grandmother!”

“Hey you!”

A stallion’s voice cried out from behind. The three turned to see an orange furred Earth Pony, some spiky grass-colored hair on his head. He wore a cape that looked like the sky at dusk, tied in the front with a clasp that had the Starscout Cutie Mark on it. He looked concerned.

“What are you doing here? Speak your business!”

He got closer and eyed the three up and down. Sunny noticed his eyes were magenta.

“You look like you might be here for the festival, but I’m sorry to tell you that my grandmother doesn’t organize those anymore.”

Sunny gasped.

“You said grandmother!”

She beamed. The stallion looked frightened.

“I uhh I did, yes…”

“That’s amazing! So you must be my cousin then!”

Hitch choked. He pounded on his chest with his hoof. Izzy was at his side.

“Oh no, Hitch!”

The Starscout stallion looked from Sunny, to Hitch choking, to Izzy, quite unsure if he was dreaming after all. Sunny joined her friend’s side.

“Are you okay Hitch?!”

Hitch regained his composure and his breath, holding up his hoof to signal he was fine. Sunny turned back to the Starscout stallion.

“Like I was saying, we’re cousins! Cerena Starscout is my grandmother!”

The Starscout’s eyes widened. Hitch rushed to Sunny’s side and covered her mouth, trying to save face. He forced a wavy smile at the other stallion.

“Did she say grandmother? Haha she meant grand…moth-er. Moth-ER! They’re moth enthusiasts!”

The Starscout stallion shook his head, looking grave.

“That’s impossible. Who are you? Who are your parents? What about your Cutie Mark?” He looked Sunny up and down.

For a moment Sunny regretted ever going to Tale Tall. She wanted to turn around and forget about the whole thing – meeting her grandmother, the family she never knew, and seeing the strange new place. She stepped back, but after tracing the line of the grass below and feeling the breeze through her mane, she looked back up with conviction.

“My name is Sunny Starscout, my parents’ names were Argyle and Caela and my Cutie Mark” — she shook off all of her clothes and her hat — “Is the same as yours!” She presented the side of her flank. The other Starscout’s eyes opened up further, taking in the image of the purple shooting star with the light blue trail. The only sounds he could produce were the beginnings of multiple words, though he could not settle on what to say.

“C-Caela. You said Caela. I have an aunt Caela – I mean, she died a long time ago.” Sunny frowned. Her cousin looked down, chest heaving. His lips moved but no words came out. “Uhhh uhhh wait you uhh…” He looked back up and studied Sunny’s eyes. “We have the same eyes!”

“Yeah isn’t it cool? That must be our thing, right? The purple eyes?”

“It’s more of a magenta, really… but… yeah…”

The Starscout sat on his flank and held a hoof to his head.

“Holy moly…”

Sunny jumped around.

“Wow I can’t believe it! You’re my cousin, my cousin! I have a cousin! Yippee!”

Hitch sat next to the male Starscout and sighed.

“Sorry brother. I know, she’s a lot to take in.” Hitch patted him on the shoulder. “Just wait until she starts shouting.”

Izzy nodded.

“She does have a big mouth—s-sorry, Sunny.” She shot a grin at Sunny, who took it in stride as she performed a cartwheel.

“That’s okay Izzy! Hey, hey! What’s your name, cuz?”

The male Starscout looked at the grass.

“Feryl. It’s Feryl Starscout.”

He leapt to his hooves.

“But wait! Why did you just decide to come now? You look like you’re my age!”

Sunny shrugged.

“I didn’t know about you guys until recently. I brought my friends too. They wanted to see the town.”

Hitch and Izzy waved at Feryl, awkwardly smiling. Feryl scratched his neck.

“And the disguises? Or is that just the fashion from where you live?”

“Fashion!” all three cried. Feryl blinked.

“R-right, okay. I don’t keep up with fashion or news or anything.”

Sunny couldn’t help herself anymore. She tackled Feryl and wrapped him into a huge hug. Feryl fell backwards and the two tumbled on the grass.

“H-hey now!” Feryl cried. Hitch and Izzy laughed from the sidelines. Hitch glanced back toward the town proper and saw some distant soldiers on rooftops. Their gazes panned over to the Starscout property. Hitch almost jumped out of his fur.

“C-can we continue the cousinly love inside? I-if that’s okay – I uhh I have to pee!” Hitch looked at Izzy, who smiled and stared blankly at Sunny. “So does she. Really bad.”

Izzy was in her own little world at first, then realized she was addressed and snapped to it.

“Oh yeah, I do uhhhh I have to pee so bad that it’s gonna EXPLODE if I don’t go right now!”

Sunny let Feryl up, smoothing a strand of mane behind her ear.

“Right, I guess we should go meet Grandmother, too!”

Feryl’s mouth screwed up into a bunched-up expression.

“She is inside. She never leaves much these days, but…”

He shook his head.

“I’m not sure what her reaction is going to be. Whenever I brought up my aunt Caela or uncle Argyle she’d get mad. I mostly learned about them from mom. Maybe we should go see her first?”

Hitch pointed toward the town.

“Is your mom in town, because we uhhh have to go pee! Uuuuhhhh we’re going to die if we don’t go already!” He fake-groaned. Izzy copied his mannerisms. Looking at the two oddball ponies, Feryl blushed and nodded.

“S-sure, come with me.”

Sunny’s eyes spotted the soldiers on the rooftops. They were beginning to take notice of the group. The others continued their pretend urgency. Feryl walked past everypony across the field, and they all followed after.

Feryl looked to the side.

“Until Grandmother allows the others to come in, I just want you to come in Sunny.” He pointed toward the side of the Starscout home. “You two can use the outhouse over there, while you wait.” Hitch groaned. Izzy sped off.

“Thankyou!” she said very fast. Hitch watched her zip inside the wooden structure.

“Wait, she actually had to go?”

Sunny chuckled. She skipped all the way to the front yard.

“I’m so excited! What’s Grandmother like, Feryl?

He stopped at the double doors of the home.

“She’s… different now.” He turned around, a tiny smile gracing his lips and a concern etched into his brow. “But I’m hoping seeing you alive and well will make her happy again.” He opened the door. Hitch stopped Sunny before she went inside.

“Scream if you need help. We’ll come.”

Sunny rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Silly. This is my family; what do you think they’re going to do to me?”

Hitch shook his head.

“I’m not sure. This just feels weird.”

Sunny stepped inside the home of her family and turned back.

“Grandmother will let you in shortly, I’m sure. Just stay put! Don’t get into trouble.”

“Hey that’s my line for you!”

Sunny closed the door behind her.

“Wow…”

The foyer of the home was incredibly wide and tall, spanning all three floors of the middle part of the building. A large, orange-carpetted staircase went up to the second floor and continued to the third. The walls and railings were all dark brown, shiny wood, and the base boards were etched in fancy designs that looked like flowing stars. No natural light entered the building – instead, purple and orange flames were strewn about at different parts, either standing in floor lamp or fixed to the wall in sconces. Feryl was going upstairs when a large stallion came out of the rooms down the hall.

“Feryl! Who is th—”

The stallion had the magenta eyes – that was the first thing Sunny noticed. She grinned at him. His lip quivered.

“You’re…”

He smiled. Sunny smiled wider, somewhat awkwardly, as the stallion nearly crushed her in a hug. He smelled like smoky, burning firewood.

“You must be Argyle and Caela’s daughter! You look just like her!”

“T-that’s… me…” she managed through her strained voice. The stallion released the hold and apologized, his cheeks blushed. His fur was dark brown, and his mane a fancy, swept back purple wave. He, too, had the family Cutie Mark. Wrinkles sat under his eyes. He was dressed in an old off-yellow suit with black squares patterned all over.

“Sunny – you’ve come home!”

Sunny nodded and laughed.

“Umm, you are?”

“Your great uncle Argus! Your grandmother is going to be so happy to see you.”

A painting at the top of the stairs caught Sunny’s eye. She walked to the base of the stairs to get a better look at it, illuminated quite well by purple and orange flames nearby.

“What’s that supposed to be?”

Argus trotted up to Sunny, and his face coming alive.

“That’s a dream that our great ancestor Moontwinkle had once upon a time. He had an artist immortalize it in that painting, or so the family story goes.”

The painting showed a swirling sky of pink, blue, green and purple. Sunny cocked her head. It reminded her of something, though she could not recall what. Below the swirling sky were fiery eyes that seemed to have no form behind them, but another wave of the bright colors of the sky flew off to one side just beside. The rest of the painting was various shades and intensities of orange and purple. Sunny squinted.

“Is it… supposed to be a monster?”

Argus chuckled once.

“Only Moontwinkle knows, and perhaps not even he knew. I guess it just fills the space in here, huh? Family heirlooms, right?”

Sunny looked at him.

“I’m not really a fan of that old timey stuff, to be honest with you. Who are the other family members around here?”

Argus rubbed the back of his head and hummed.

“First, Cerena will want to have her time with you. If she comes down. I might have to go convince her, if Feryl can’t. There will be time to meet the others later.”

A door creaked open from some hallway on the third floor. It echoed all the way to the foyer. Slow hoofsteps were heard getting closer and closer. Argus stepped back.

“Ahh that’s her. I’ll leave you to it for now.”

Sunny looked back and Argus had already left. She turned to face the top of the stairs. A pony stood in front of the illuminated painting, its face shadowed by the positioning of the various flames, though Sunny saw the outline of a mane that swooped up and parted in the middle. She heard labored breathing, followed by a choked voice.

“Y-you look just like your mother… oh Sunny.”

24 - Home

Grandmother Cerena hurried down the stairs. Sunny’s heart fluttered inside her ribcage, its every thump shaking her entire body. She wanted to scream, cry, run, fall over, and be sick all at once. Her grandmother wrapped her in her embrace.

The scent of lilies and cinnamon overtook Sunny’s senses. She closed her eyes with a pleasant sigh. Her grandmother’s hug was warm and inviting, like falling into a bed of marshmallows. Sunny snuggled into the crook of her neck.

“It’s you Grandmother…”

Grandmother Cerena held her granddaughter tight. She stared with wide, wet eyes at some random part of the floor ahead. Her voice was far more sophisticated and aged than Sunny had imagined.

“I cannot believe it. I cannot believe it’s true. I heard the rumors, but for it to actually be true is—”

She quietly sobbed. Sunny was a mixture of happy and teary.

“Grandmother! I never knew, I never knew I’m sorry, I would have come a long time ago if I only knew!”

The two hugged until their crying turned to sniffles, and then silence.

Sunny slowly opened her eyes and watched the purple and orange flames flicker nearby. She didn’t know if she should pull away from the embrace or if it would seem like she didn’t like the hug. Eventually, Grandmother Cerena did.

Sunny saw in her grandmother the same things she remembered about her mother, and that alone made her tear up again. Grandmother Cerena had a darker yellow fur coat than her daughter and her mane was the same shade as Sunny’s but styled in a tall coiffure that parted in the middle, revealing all of her grandmother’s creased forehead and especially her shiny eyeshadow. There was also a purple jewel inset in a brooch tucked away on the left side of her mane. Her wrinkles and age lines covered the space under her eyes, though Sunny thought she still looked good for her age. A clasp of a shiny material shaped into the Starscout Cutie Mark held together a purple silk robe that wrapped around her grandmother.

“You remind me a lot of mom, too.”

Grandmother Cerena smiled warmly and spoke softly.

“I suppose that makes sense, given our relation.” They exchanged a laugh and a huge smile. Grandmother Cerena smoothed a piece of mane down on her granddaughter’s forehead. “Your mother was so very dear to me, Sunny. Your father too…” Grandmother Cerena looked away, forlorn. “I’m so sorry that you have been alone all this time.” Sunny frowned.
“I don’t understand though… why didn’t mom and dad tell me about you, about the family. Why did you never come see us, see me? I mean at least when they…” Sunny’s voice broke. “You could have come then. I needed you.” Grandmother Cerena held her granddaughter’s chin with a hoof and smiled, tears still in her eyes. “Oh my sweet girl, I had no idea Caela and Argyle had a child. If I had…” Grandmother Cerena closed her eyes, tears coming out of their ends. She wiped the salty water away and exhaled carefully. Sunny’s eyes were full of longing, and her head hung a bit lower than usual.

“I will answer your questions, in time.” She cleared her moist throat and descended the remaining stairs. Her demeanor shifted to happier, less serious. “Come, we will fix you something to eat. Noearthpony can have serious discussions on an empty stomach. And I’ll have Argus fetch my stylist - she will have you looking like a proper Starscout.”

Sunny stood for a moment, watching her grandmother move within the shadowy foyer. Sunny looked around again; the wide, echoey space was quiet and still. It was almost like a funeral home. Grandmother Cerena called out.

“Sunny?”

Sunny looked back down, a slightly dour look on her face.

“O-oh… coming.”

Her ear twitched.

“Wait – my friends! They’re still waiting outside. I was going to invite them inside, is that okay?”

Grandmother Cerena kept her back turned. She cleared her throat and spoke plainly.

“Your cousin Furyis will be attending to them. He will take them for a tour of the back garden.”

Sunny descended the stairs and followed her grandmother down the western hallway. She shook her head.

“Why would he do that, don’t you want to meet them? We sort of have a long story to share…”

Grandmother Cerena did not immediately reply.

“Later. Come.”

She led Sunny past several closed doors to a larger one at the end of the hallway. Grandmother Cerena walked through it easily, as Sunny discovered it was a swivel door. From inside the room, Sunny heard her grandmother’s cheery command.

“Hop to it, Spencer! We have company again, for once. My granddaughter is here! Could you prepare something fitting, please?”

Sunny pushed through the swivel door. Her breathing stopped.

The long room was, as the rest of the home seemed to be, illuminated solely by various purple and orange flames. All the windows Sunny could see were bordered up and shuttered. The light in the room was enough that Sunny could see the grandeur of the kitchen – a long, marble top island sat in the middle, hanging rows of utensils from the wood drop ceiling were above, and cabinets of fine mahogany lined the walls. A grinning stallion trotted from one part of the countertops to another, all in a tizzy.

The stallion, whom Grandmother Cerena referred to as Spencer, wore the traditional outfit of chefs Equestria-over—that is, a white shirt, pants, and a big, poofy white hat. He was stout and his bushy black moustache looked like a thick caterpillar. His eyes were strikingly wide and white.

“Yes of course Madame Cerena! Right away Madame Cerena!”

Sunny’s grandmother looked back at her with a light smile.

“Spencer is an irreplaceable servant to our family. He cooked your mother her first meal here, too.”

Sunny beamed, looking like a filly at her first carnival. Her previous worries and doubts took a backseat.

“Really? What was it?!”

Grandmother Cerena smiled.

“Spencer can tell you, if you wish to ask.” She moved to take her leave from whence she and Sunny had come, stopping right before leaving. “You can relax in the room adjacent to the kitchen while you wait, should you wish – I am sure you are weary from your travels.”

“Wait!”

Sunny reached out and snagged a hoof on her grandmother’s robes. Grandmother Cerena looked back with a pleasant yet neutral look.

“I have so much to say! Where are you going?”

Grandmother Cerena tussled Sunny’s mane.

“I have to attend to a matter. I am sure you have so many questions, but please, rest for now. We will talk later. We have all the time in the world. Trust me; you are safe here.”

Sunny looked in her grandmother’s eyes – the same magenta eyes that she had. Nothing seemed off. Nothing worried Sunny.

Perhaps that worried her most of all. Could things be so perfect – so safe? It didn’t make sense. Her Grandmother wanted to leave as soon as they met? Sunny looked down.

“I don’t understand.”

“Sunny.”

Grandmother Cerena did not sound angry, but she was blunt, and her tone reflected that same energy that grandfoals throughout the world recognized well. She cleared her throat.

“We will talk of such things later.”

She half-turned back to her granddaughter and winked.

“Eat some of Spencer’s food, and we will see if you still wish to talk.”

Grandmother Cerena finally left after that. Sunny watched the swivel kitchen door flick back and forth. She felt her mouth draw into a line that only slightly curved down at one end.

“She is right.”

It was a quiet voice from behind. Sunny turned to Spencer. He smiled, showing off the straight, white teeth underneath his big moustache.

“Once you’ve had my cooking, nothing else will bother you. It will put you in your Zen.”

He stared at Sunny, long enough that she got somewhat awkward. She brushed her mane back behind her ear.

“W-what?”

Spencer sighed contently and placed his hoof on Sunny’s shoulder.

“It’s great to meet you, Miss Sunny. You really look like your mom…” He turned his head to the side and his mouth straighted. “Ehhh not so much like Argyle, but I’m sure you at least have his love of books, right?” Sunny shook her head and smiled wide.

“Nope! I hate ‘em! Mostly history books. I don’t mind the ones with pictures.”

Spencer made a worried expression.

“O-oh… I see.”

He nodded, chuckled, then returned to his task, the wavy flames casting shadows all over the spice jars and sacks strewn about the counter, as well as the glass containers of leaves and oats and the loaves of bread. Sunny sighed.

“I doubt that… what are you making exactly?”

He explained as he went from one counter to another, seemingly preparing a few different dishes all at once. His movements seemed like a choreographed solo dance, except in a kitchen and sometimes involving a knife.

“Let’s just say you won’t be disappointed. Your mother certainly never was.” He chuckled. Sunny smiled at that. Spencer looked over at her and stopped what he was doing for a second to return the smile warmly. He laughed once. “Of course, your father tended to be a bit pickier. Some of the spices—umm, no, I guess almost all of them—they gave him bad reactions.”

Sunny giggled.

“I can see my dad worrying about something like that.”

Spencer continued, speaking in a nostalgic, happy rhythm.

“He was always over a lot, even before your mother and him dated. They were almost always together. Argyle and Caela! They’d run in and out, in and out, talking about some adventure or another that Caela had in mind for them. It would give your great grandfather a fright every time.” Sunny took a seat on a stool by the island countertop and watched Spencer work, a grin on her face the whole time as she listened. “Your grandmother loved your father like her own son.” Spencer paused. “I’m glad you’re here. It feels like they are back, in a sense.”

He was like a quick culinary shadow, and given the lighting situation in the kitchen, that was more factual than metaphorical at times. Sunny leaned on her hoof and sighed and traced her other hoof along the top of the counter.

“I wish they really were back… sometimes.”

“Not all the time?”

“I miss them, but they wouldn’t want me living in the past. I don’t want to live there either.” She looked up, confident and proud. Spencer saw and he grinned. “They always taught me to look forward, so that’s what I do! That’s partially why I’m here, well, it’s connected anyway.”

Sunny yawned. Spencer hummed.

“Perhaps your tale can wait. Go and rest, I will be some time still.”

Sunny blinked slowly.

“M-maybe…”

Spencer threw a mass of red spices into the air and into a bowl.

“Madame Cerena will have your friends brought in by the time you wake up, I am sure. Sometimes, the vetting process can be long. She is wary about any newcomers. You know how things are these days, I am sure.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

“Vetting process? I thought she said that my cousin was showing them the back garden.”

“Indeed. That is another way of saying ‘seeing what they’re like’. Noearthpony comes in here unless Furyis says so, or unless you are family.” He laughed. “Stop worrying – it’s only customary. If they are your friends, it won’t be an issue.”

Sunny nodded and looked away. She yawned again and jumped off her stool.

“Okay, let me know when the food is done. It already smells great!”

Spencer held up a cleaver like a goodbye wave. Sunny left the kitchen and entered the room next door. She inhaled the scent of ginger that floated about and closed her eyes. It had been a few days since she had been in such a cozy little room, and that one was even better than her own rinky-dink apartment.

Her family home—Sunny was beginning to think of it as a mansion—was so expansive and lavish that even the tiny resting room had a lounge couch of red velvet with golden trimmings, a fine desk for writing, and a small coffee table with a plant on it. One orange flame alone illuminated the entire room, flickering from a fat candle on a ledge opposite the door.

Sunny sighed and flopped onto the couch. She stared at the smooth etchings on the shiny wooden panelling – it didn’t hold one speck of dust, not at least that could be seen with the low lighting. The couch was comfortable, and Sunny felt like sleep would take over if her mind could be turned off. Instead, she blinked and mingled with her thoughts.

This is a big deal for everypony in the family. Nopony has seen my mom or dad in twenty-five years – they didn’t even know I existed! I can’t even imagine how Grandmother is feeling. She must be wary of strangers, and that’s assuming she doesn’t know about what’s going on.

Sunny closed her eyes.

It will all be okay – yeah. Yeah! It will.

She smiled and let a nap take hold of her tired brain.

* * *

A knock at the door made Sunny shoot up.

“Wha-whosit?!”

“Dinner is served, Miss Sunny.”

Sunny rubbed her eyes. She had had another dream involving her parents. She could feel the presence of a memory she could not recall pester her from the front of her head. Whatever it was, Sunny remembered something about a worried expression on her mother’s face.

“Ugghh thinking isn’t my strong suit…” she said out loud to herself.

“Miss Sunny?”

“Yes! Sorry, I’m coming.”

Sunny followed Spencer from the hallway, through the kitchen, and into the adjoining dining room. By that point, and especially following her odd dreams, the length and sumptuous nature of the dining room did not shock Sunny or even pique her interest. Instead, she felt her cheeks and ears hang sadly.

What good is a room like this without the ponies to share it with?

A sprinkling of sorrow pestered Sunny. Spencer brought her to a seat that was set for her. There was no sign of Grandmother Cerena, great-uncle Argus, or even Feryl. Spencer’s food looked so tasty, and plentiful, and Sunny hadn’t had such a scrumptious looking meal since her last before leaving Maretime Bay, that she almost sat down to dig in. But the memory of the restaurant in Maretime Bay also reminded her of her friend.

Izzy…

Sunny frowned. She thought of Hitch, too, and his silly antics and mannerisms.

He’d probably question the lack of natural light here and how bad it makes his mane look.

“Spencer… why aren’t my friends here yet?”

Spencer smiled wide and closed his eyes.

“Your grandmother is speaking with them presently. She has to ensure noearthpony comes here that might want to harm the family. Furyis is one thing, but Madame Cerena herself must personally ensure the ponies that come here are not up to any trouble” He opened his eyes and sighed with a frown. “It’s unfortunate, I know, but it must be done.” He gestured to the food, Sunny’s face showing she was still unsure. “Try it – please! I want to see and hear your reaction! Everyearthpony loves my cooking.”

Sunny hummed, her mouth a slanted line reflecting torn thoughts. She sat down reluctantly, at first, but when the scent of the food tickled the inside of her muzzle, she closed her eyes and sighed happily.

“Wow… I forgot about that amazing smell…”

Spencer lit up and chuckled.

“Thank you! I have worked so very hard to please the Starscouts since I was young! Your parents loved my cooking, Sunny. Please, eat! I want to see if you will feel the same way!”

And so, Sunny did. The first bite was slow and measured, but once Sunny realized just how good the food was, her dainty foray turned into a savage conquest. The plates and bowls of bread, soup, goulash, and so many other dishes were quickly devoured with chomps and slurps. Sunny smacked her cheeks and sucked in a sharp breath.

“TWHIS IWS AMWAZING SPWENCER!”

Spencer’s round, rosy cheeks shined with joy. He sat down next to Sunny, vibrantly interested in her eating.

“Tell me, tell me: what is your favorite part? Your mother loved my dumplings, and your father was a big fan of the soup—I used a bit more spice with yours, as you can imagine. Is it okay?”

Sunny looked down at the two food items mentioned. There were other dishes before her as well. She pointed at a plate with just one half remaining of a steamed golden-brown loaf covered in an orange sauce.

“That orange bread stuff seriously kicked my flank.”

Spencer closed his eyes and inhaled.

“Orange marmalade moist bread… ahhhh that one is always well received. I learned the recipe when I was very young. The old family chef took me under his wing, when your great grandfather was the head of the family. That old chef was very sick, and your great grandfather wanted him to secure a replacement.” Spencer leaned back and looked to the ceiling. He removed his hat. “Back then, I would have done anything to be given the opportunity to cook for your family – and I did, I really did do everything!”

He jumped up and pretended to run. “I got up early every day to get groceries and bring them back here to Greasy Spoon, the old chef. He had one of the old Equestrian-style names.” Spencer pantomimed hauling large sacks of groceries. Sunny giggled. “All I did for the longest time was move groceries and boxes, day in and day out, then I got to learn how to peel and boil and mash and sauté and filet and chop and slice and…” He was out of breath. Sunny took a slurp of soup. “And THEN I got to cook.” Wonder and stars filled his old eyes with the youth and vigor of bygone days. Sunny smiled. “Your family was always the center of this place, always the light of Tall Tale. Those days were always full of joy.” Spencer sighed nostalgically and caught his breath. Sunny swallowed her previous bite.

“What happened to make things so gloomy? I mean look at this place – boarded up windows, the front yard looks like it hasn’t been cut in forever. It’s like a haunted house.”

Spencer secured his chef’s hat to his head and sat back down. He looked at Sunny’s lap.

“Well… I will let your grandmother explain everything herself. I’m afraid it’s not my place to tell you that, Miss Sunny. I wouldn’t want to put words in her mouth.”

Sunny nodded.

“That’s okay, I understand. I just hope she can be happy again now that I’m here. That’s what everypony keeps saying, anyway.”

Spencer flinched. He cleared his throat awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“O-oh, you said everypony.” He whispered the last word. “T-That’s rather taboo.”

Sunny put her hoof to her chest.

“It sure is! That’s me! Mom and dad were all about pony unity, Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies living in Equestria together, free of borders.” Spencer turned pale. Sunny beamed. “That’s my dream, too!”

Spencer stumbled out of his chair, his breathing erratic. Sunny looked worried.

“W-what is it? Are you okay?!”

Spencer walked toward the kitchen but stopped halfway. His response was shaky.

“D-dishes. I have so many to do. Please excuse me, Miss Sunny.”

Sunny leapt to her feet.

“Come on, I can tell that something’s wrong! Let me help!”

“No miss please! Just…” Spencer breathed out slowly. “Please relax. Dishes are a job for a servant. You go and rest some more when you are done eating. Brayleen the maid is out dusting the foyer. Go see her and she can show you to your chambers.” He motioned behind Sunny, and she looked and saw another door. “That leads right to the foyer.” He left without another sound, though Sunny protested.

“That’s definitely strange…” Sunny said to herself.

But maybe not. It’s not like ponies have ever been that receptive to my ideas before. Still…

She rested her head on her hoof and stared at the closest orange flame on the dining table.

I thought my family and the ponies that worked alongside them would be more open about it. Isn’t that why mom and dad were so pro-unity?

Sunny looked at the plates she had all but licked clean. The realization of how much she had eaten hit her at the same time as the mass of food hit her colon. She groaned and held her stomach.

Wow… ooooof…

With a huge exhale, Sunny stumbled up and piled plates and bowls. Before she could balance all the dirty dishes onto her back, another servant entered the room. He was a brown stallion with a youthful face and dimples. He rushed over.

“No Miss Starscout, I will do it! Oh please, don’t trouble yourself please!”

Sunny snapped.

“Comon! Let me help already! I’m not royalty, you know. Why are you all like this?”

The servant beamed.

“We love your family! It’s no trouble. We love to work for the Starscouts! It’s an honor.” He had wide, blue eyes. Sunny smiled awkwardly. “I’m going to be the next chef, but for now I help Mr. Spencer.” He leaned in and whispered. “If I can’t even do THIS by myself, he might consider a different replacement!” Sunny rubbed her neck.

“Then I guess if this is practice… I better leave you to it, right?”

The stallion nodded profusely.

“Thank you thank you Miss. Starscout! Go find Bayleen and she’ll show you to your room. It’s got a big bed, clean sheets - everything!”

Sunny nodded and did as suggested. The door nearby led to the foyer, right behind the massive staircase. A purple flame on a candle holder right outside the dining room revealed a small painting.

A white-yellow stallion with a square jaw, a medium-length curly mane of pink and a long, thin moustache was standing in front of a fountain. He wore robes similar to Grandmother Cerena, the Starscout Cutie Mark fixing it in the middle near his chest. Sunny’s mouth widened.

“Oh, hey, that’s the fountain outside!”

Behind the stallion and the fountain appeared to be stalls and ponies of all shapes and sizes. Balloons flew into the sky and smiles were on every face. Mirthful fillies and colts ran in a circle nearby. Sunny smiled.

That does look like fun… wonder who that old fella is. Or was.

A quiet throat clearing brought Sunny’s gaze forward. It was a tiny little mare in a maid uniform, her reddish fur hiding her blush as she half looked down, half peered at Sunny.

“H-Hi… Miss Starscout. Umm I think you… I think you want to go to bed now? I think…”

Sunny glanced back to the painting.

“Is this guy my great-grandfather?”

The maid mare’s tail swished back and forth and she hopped over.

“Yes! That is Argyle Starscout. He was the best head of the family ever, or so the old ponies say!” The maid gasped and closed her mouth. “Sorry, I didn’t mean your grandmother isn’t—she’s wonderful! The best!” Sunny waved her away.

“It’s fine, I don’t even know my grandmother, let alone my great-grandfather. His name was Argyle?” The maid ‘mhm’d’ cheerfully. Sunny cocked her head.

“That’s an odd coincidence because my dad’s name was Argyle too.”

“Oh, that is odd. I never knew your father or your mother. I’ve only been a maid here for a year.”

Sunny breathed out with finality.

“No use pondering over all these questions. There’s only one thing to do to get the answers.” She looked straight into the maid mare’s green eyes. The maid looked down.

“You’re Bayleen, right?” The maid nodded. “Can you show me to my grandmother’s room?”

Bayleen cleared her throat.

“I c-could but… she wanted you to go rest as soon as possible…”

“I had a cat nap earlier! I want to talk to her, that’s why I came. My friends should be there, too.”

“F-friends?”

Sunny narrowed her eyes.

“Yes, Spencer said my grandmother is talking with them right now.”

Bayleen’s head lowered even more.

“O-oh yes—oh t-that’s right, she is!”

There was a pause. Sunny shook her head.

“Okay and where are they?!”

Bayleen took a step back. Her head almost touched the floor.

“Ummm…”

The stairs creaked and dust drifted down from underneath the staircase beside Sunny. She trotted to the front of the foyer and saw her grandmother leisurely descending the stairs.

“Oh, Sunny.”

“Grandmother! Where are my friends?”

Grandmother Cerena smiled warmly.

“I sent them on an errand. And don’t worry”— Grandmother Cerena winked —“the ‘you-know-whos’ are taken care of while you are staying in Tall Tale.” Sunny blinked a few times, shifting her head back.

“O-oh.” She looked away and paused to process what had been said, then looked back. “What kind of errand?”

Grandmother Cerena cackled an old granny’s laugh and rolled her aged eyes.

“Sunny, you are as inquisitive as your father. He was always a busy body, trying to find all the answers. You need to keep somesurprise in your life! How was the meal?”

For the next few minutes, they made small talk, but Sunny managed to steer the conversation aside finally.

“Grandmother, I love to talk about food, the weather, and acorns as much as the next pony, but we need to talk about why I am here.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

Grandmother Cerena looked away and cleared her throat. She flexed her mouth muscles about before settling on a tiny line of a smile when she looked back to her granddaughter.

“We will have that discussion tomorrow. We both know where it might lead… let’s enjoy today. Okay?” Sunny was concerned, as her brow showed. Her ears pulled closer to her mane. Grandmother Cerena was so genuine with her warm expression that Sunny found herself pulled in. Her mouth lost the battle to happiness and drew up at its corner.

“Fine, okay. Just for one day. What did you have in mind?”

Grandmother Cerena smiled a closed-eye grin.

“The stylist I talked about should be here shortly. Let’s get our manes done together! Come, we will go to the second-floor salon.”

Sunny followed up the stairs and just behind her grandmother. Standing at the top of the second-floor foyer stairs, Sunny got a much better perspective on just how large the mansion was. She wasn’t even at the top-most floor yet it appeared so expansive, so vast.

A question tumbled into Sunny’s mind. “Grandmother, what’s with the fires? Are they magical?” Her tail swished around and her face came alive with excitement. Grandmother Cerena gave a curt response.

“No. Magical things are dangerous. The color comes from a simple powder in the wick. They are special candles – the firekeeper oversees them.”

Sunny smirked as she followed her grandmother down another candle-lit, orange-and-purple hallway.

“Why not just open the windows in the daytime? Seems like a waste of candles, and it’s kind of spooky in here. You’re not a witch are you Grandmother?”

After a pause, Grandmother Cerena replied with as much enthusiasm as last time.

“Please do not insult the aesthetic of our home. It has been in our family for hundreds of years, through countless generations.” Sunny hung her head, her ears drooped. “I have my reasons for keeping it this way.”

Grandmother Cerena pushed open one of the doors and held it open with a back hoof to let Sunny inside. She looked back, letting a smile push away her dourness.

“Come.”

* * *

The remainder of the day flew by as Sunny and her grandmother had their manes washed, styled, and their coats brushed and groomed. The second-floor had fancy chairs for ponies to sit in that could be maneuvered to any angle. The stylist eventually arrived and worked with Sunny and Grandmother Cerena all afternoon.

They talked a lot, but never about anything too serious. Never about what Sunny really wanted to talk about. If she tried to broach such subjects, her grandmother either ignored the implication or became close to what Sunny could sense was upset. Sunny rolled over in the guest bed, listening to the crickets chirping outside past the boarded-up window / door.

Sunny sighed and sat up. The candlelight in her room was strong enough to reveal her new mane to her in the mirror on the vanity against the wall near the end of her bed. She turned in different directions, admiring that it looked so fancy. Barrettes and broaches adorned the mane, made into a double braided style. Sunny glared aggressively at her reflection.

“Let’s see that Layla Grassroots now. I look a lot better with this style than her!” Sunny pushed her hoof up next to her mane and made a kissy face. She giggled at her silliness and flopped down onto the bed. She frowned, looking up at the top of her bedcovering.

I wish Izzy were here. I could play with her mane and tell her how much I wished it was mine.

She turned onto her side and snort-sighed. With determination, she leapt up and moved to her door.

“This is all wrong. It makes no sense! Hitch and Izzy should be here by now.”

Sunny strained to turn the doorknob leading to the third-floor hallway, but it did not budge. She strained until she was positioned with a backhoof against the door frame and yanking with all her might. Eventually she slipped and tumbled backwards with a rambunctious flop.

“Ouch…”

Sunny glared at the doorknob.

“What the hay gives!”

She pounded on the door.

“Grandmother! Somepony! Why am I locked inside?”

She pounded more and more.

“Hey!”

A voice responded from just outside.

“Just go to sleep. You and Grandmother will talk tomorrow.”

The voice was not familiar at all and sounded young, albeit uncommonly deep. Sunny continued.

“I’ll break this door down if you don’t open it! Why am I locked in the guest room of my own family home?!”

Sunny knocked on the door more, gritting her teeth.

“Last chance to open this door before I do, by force!”

“I wouldn’t recommend that.”

Sunny backed up to the other side of the room and galloped full speed at the door, roaring as she launched herself into a flying tackle. The lock clink-clanked and the door opened right before Sunny made contact. The result was that instead of barging through the door Sunny flew into the hallway and slammed into the opposite wall. Her head spun and spun as she fell to the ground, groaning.

The last thing she saw was a figure above her. She thought she heard it sigh.

“Why did you… that… seriously…”

Then, sleep took over.

25 - Saviors

Sunny’s dreams were filled with nightmarish rushes of wind and dust. She strained to hear what message, if any, the air carried on its currents, but there was nothing perceptible. Sunny’s own form wasn’t even there, though somehow she could still see. She floated within a nothingness, a void like the eye of a hurricane.

At one point the rushing wind turned into so many various colors. They swirled upward, swished in a perpetual pattern, then formed the vaguest outline of a figure. The colors were blue, green, light pink and indigo. She saw a strong glow light up to fill in the space between the outline.

A whisper in the gale repeated itself every time the wind blew, sometimes more than once.

The seed… the seed… the seed…

Another gust carried a different whisper. Sunny recognized the voice instantly.

We love you Sunny Bunny… stay strong…

Even though the windy void seemed eternal, having lasted so long and all night, it faded into nothing within a few high-pitched seconds. It was as if the entire void was sucked into an invisible box at its center, and it shrieked as it was devoured. Afterward, images and color from the waking world came into slow focus, at first blurry, and then clear.

Sunny blinked.

Birds chirped from somewhere outside the boarded window of her family home’s guest room. Shadows danced on anything and everything, created by glowing orange and purple firelight. Seeing the same thing that she saw when she went to bed, without the comfort of the morning light, made Sunny disoriented. She brought a hoof to her slow heaving chest, moving aside the soft blankets covering her body up to her neck.

“Wha-what happened?”

Sunny’s head throbbed. She couldn’t remember exactly, but something about what was going on did not sit right with her. Nothing in the room appeared out of the ordinary. The four-post guest bed had its bedcovers drawn though they were sheer. The room was empty and undisturbed.

With a groan and a touch of her head, Sunny stumbled out of bed and bumbled her way over to the door. When she struggled to open the door because the knob wouldn’t turn all the way, she recalled the night before. Her angry poundings were quick to follow.

“HEY! Let me out already! WHAT IS GOING ON?!”

Sunny prepared another full gallop from the other city of the room.

“If there’s somepony on the other side who is going to open the door, you better tell me now, otherwise, here I come!”

She did not hear the faint hoofsteps as she charged. The door opened as Sunny bent her knees to launch into a flying tackle. Her grandmother’s surprised expression made her stop, however, and instead she scramble-slid over the wooden flooring toward the doorway. Grandmother Cerena backed up and let Sunny slide out and all the way to the opposite wall. The aftermath of that impact was far less severe than the night before.

Still, Sunny was in pain.

“W-why…”

Grandmother Cerena cleared her throat and dusted off the front of her robes.

“Sunny. It’s time for that talk now.”

A large, young stallion stood just behind Sunny’s grandmother. He looked like Feryl, but with a barrel chest – he had a similar spiky plant-colored mane, a red-orange coat, and of course magenta eyes. He had a tight brown vest on.

“Sunny, chill, okay?” he said in his deep voice. Sunny got to her hooves and glared at him.

“No, YOU chill. Actually, nopony chill – the time for chill is over. Where are my friends?”

Grandmother Cerena looked at the large stallion, who nodded in response to the look. He approached Sunny.

“Come easy or come in a sack, your choice.”

Sunny assumed a defensive position. As she prepared to dodge the stallion’s grasp, something snagged her from behind.

“Crud!”

Two other stallions had snuck up. Sunny was quickly wrapped up, and right before she could unleash her “voice magic”, one of the ponies shoved an old rag in her mouth. She protested as loudly and as vulgarly as the rag permitted.

The large, young stallion that looked like Feryl looked worriedly at Grandmother Cerena as the other ponies led the kicking, mumble-screaming Sunny away.

“This really what you want Grandmother?”

“Quiet Furyis. Grandchildren should be seen and not heard.” She sighed. “I am doing what I must.”

As the dragging continued, one of the stallions put a bag over Sunny’s head. Though she could not see, it was obvious she was being led down the foyer stairs, and then a few turns later, a creaky door whined as it was opened and Sunny was then led down more stairs. A lot more stairs. She struggled all the way, as did the stallions who had to force her below.

In the brief intervals where she stopped to regain her stubborn strength, she heard heavy breathing and clip-clop hoofy sounds. There was also a drip-drop like water against stone. The air got colder and colder. The ponies led her around more turns and bends, and finally, they tossed her and ripped off the bag on her head. One of the stallions ripped out the gag.

The area Sunny found herself in was a large open cave, well lit from more of the orange and purple lights her grandmother favored so highly. A bend in the cave seemingly led back up the stairs, but as for what Sunny could see, it was a clearing with some spots of shadow at its edges. Behind her were the two pony goons who had accosted her, her cousin Furyis, and Grandmother Cerena. It was the first time since Sunny arrived that her Grandmother looked so terrifyingly stern.

Grandmother Cerena’s stern look, however, gave way to a more understanding one when Sunny glared at her.

“Oh my dear… please don’t look at me that way.”

“WHAT THE HAY IS ALL OF THIS?”

Furyis chuckled cockily. He motioned to the clearing around them.

“Pretty cool, right? These are the family catacombs. I guess there are secret tunnels and stuff, too.”

“Furyis.”

Grandmother Cerena used her “grandmother” voice again, and Furyis stepped back. Sunny glared at him.

“So you’re Furyis! I didn’t think you’d look so big and dumb.”

Furyis frowned, genuinely sad.

“Hey that hurts you know. I’m just doing what our grandmother asked me to do.” He turned his expression into one of anger. “Y’know, I put the family first, not some common sheriff and a Hornhead.”

“Furyis, be quiet.”

Sunny scoffed.

“So that’s what this is – you found out Izzy is a Unicorn and you’re just as prejudiced as everypony else, is that it?! Seriously??” She could only maintain her anger for so long until the sadness overtook her. Sunny’s head fell. Her heart wrenched in her chest. Grandmother Cerena sighed, long and low.

“No sweet Sunny, that is not what it is. Not entirely. I am, however, disappointed that you helped that villain get into our Realm and helped her escape justice. I did not want to believe Sir Curio, but now I can tell his messages were true.”

Sunny’s eyes widened and, if it were possible, they would have burned huge holes into the cave floor. She shook with rage and looked up again.

“THAT guy?! I thought I hated Sir Bastion more than anypony else in the world but NOW?! What did he tell you – I don’t get it, why are you on THEIR side?”

“I am on OUR side, Sunny! And it is not just about that!”

Grandmother Cerena walked back and forth, her brow creased.

“I wasn’t sure what to do about you when you came yesterday, but after talking with you and then with your friends…”

Sunny interjected.

“Where are they? Where are Hitch and Izzy!”

Grandmother Cerena continued her walking and talking.

“I just couldn’t leave you to your own devices. I know what you’re like now. You’re just like Caela… just like Willder… at least, the stubbornness.”

Grandmother Cerena turned back, her eyes filled with a lustrous conviction no less powerful than Sunny’s own, despite their gap in age.

“I have lost my only son and one of my daughters to this… foolishness about Equestria. Equestria…” She hissed the word and looked away. “A stupid dream, it’s a dream that gets Earth Ponies killed! The only place that matters is your home, where your family is! I learned that myself, and it’s my duty to instill it in my progeny.”

She pleaded to Sunny with her eyes.

“Please Sunny, my sweet granddaughter. Give up this madness about going to the Unicorn lands and stay HERE with us! Don’t you know what will happen if you continue this quest?”

Sunny couldn’t decide where to look, or who to look to. She could hardly breathe.

“I…”

Furyis sighed impatiently.

“Listen cos, it’s like this: Grandmother is not letting another member of the family run off and get killed because of dreams of adventure or unity or anything. You can decide to stay willingly or—”

“Hush Furyis!”

Furyis hung his head to escape Grandmother Cerena’s ire. Her piercing glare turned back to Sunny, but it quickly softened.

“Give me your response. Will you stay here with us and abandon your quest?”

Sunny barely kept herself up, one hoof on the ground and another on her sweating forehead.

“How… I mean, no, no I’m not abandoning my friends – No! There’s no way you’re letting Izzy go, not after what you both just said! My answer is NO! I still can’t even—why aren’t you happy to see me? Why are you trying to get me to change, you don’t even know me!”

Grandmother Cerena smiled through wet, teary eyes.

“But I’d like to get to know you. We’ll spend every day talking, in the study and in the back garden. You can share your hobbies with me and tell me about your life growing up, and I can tell you about our family’s hist—”

“I don’t want to do any of that stuff! I want to go on adventures with my friends. I want to see Izzy’s home and meet Unicorns, and Pegasi too! And other creatures, weird ones, big scary spooky monster ones!” Sunny got up and looked at everypony, one at a time, challenging them with her gaze. “And I want to march right up to the Warlock King and tell him that he can come here anytime he wants and he’ll have at least one friend: me!” She shivered and closed her eyes briefly. “Even if the idea is terrifying, I know it’s the right thing to do. And I’ll do the same for the Pegasus leader!” She waved her hoof about. “Whatever his name is. Or her. The point is, I’m not letting fear or history or anything else change my mind! That’s a promise – hoof to heart!”

Sunny glared at Grandmother Cerena, her hoof firmly planted in the middle of her chest. The old mare looked down at the gesture, her open mouth twitching. More tears came out of her eyes. Furyis stumbled backward.

“You’re doing that TOO?! Oh no—Grandmother, that’s just like the Society! They must have gotten to her first!”

Grandmother Cerena shook her head slowly.

“No. That she learned from her father, without a doubt.”

Sunny snapped back.

“That’s right! Now where are my friends?! I want to see them! I’m not sure if anypony told you, but I can be pretty persuasive if I really need to be…”

Grandmother Cerena turned away, sullen and dejected. Furyis looked to a stallion behind Sunny, nodded away in a direction, and the stallion moved toward some dark corner of the cave.

“Just one second, cos,” Furyis began, “We have someone for you to meet. He’s going to shed some light on this whole mess.”

Sunny turned around. A little figure waddled into the light. Sunny’s mouth dropped.

“W-Westley?!”

Indeed, it was the little Night Owl. He bowed and spoke in his usual high-pitched-yet-still-distinguished voice.

“Whoo. Sunny Starscout. I am glad everything worked out whoo. I was worried you had wised up when I came back to the safehouse and you were gone, whoo.” Westly cocked his heaed from one side to the other. Sunny looked away, confused. Westley continued. “You see Sunny, I am in the employ of Sir Curio Brightland, whoo. He is my savior.”

Westley looked up and the firelight caught his eyes, twinkling with majesty.

“I barely escaped from the Warlock King with my life and my wits, whoo, and it was Sir Curio who found me. Raised me. Took me in and found a place for me, found me work that only I could do, whoo. When I never thought I could move past what happened, whoo, he saw the strength in me to continue and brought it out. So I am devoted to him.” He bowed again. “And I must admit I hate the Hornhead menace just as much as the Earth Ponies do, whoo.” He squinted. “They are evil, for what they did and what they still do. They must PAY.”

Sunny was rabid.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you Westley and the other Night Owls but that’s NOT all Unicorns, it’s the Warlock King – and anyway, I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding! We can talk about it, but this is not the ans—”

Westley held up a wing, his eyes closed.

“Whoo. I waited, hoping you and your friends would come my way. Whoo and you came. If Sir Curio told me about Isabella Moonbow before I met you, I” —Westley shuddered, his pupils shrinking— “I would have clawed her eyes out!” He shrieked an owl’s cry. It echoed all the way across the cave system. Furyis turned his hoof around and around.

“Yeah yeah bird brain, cut to the chase already.”

Westley cleared his throat.

“Sorry, whoo. Sunny Starscout, this is the answer to all your troubles.” He pulled a strangely shaped bottle, just big enough to contain a few drops, from under his wing. It was completely black. “Whoo. This is the Blackmire Brew. You are lucky that Sir Curio has provided this. It is the last one the Realm possesses.”

Furyis nearly fell back onto his rump.

“W-whoa, is that really…?”

The other stallions gasped. Grandmother Cerena came to her senses and glared at the potion.

“How can I be sure that is the real thing? Sir Curio might have sent you off with a regular poison.”

Westley raised his wings and shrugged.

“Whoo. Sir Curio wants to use Sunny’s strange powers for the good of the Realm. He does not seek to kill her. We discussed this already, whoo.”

Grandmother Cerena walked up to Westley and peered closely at the Brew. Sunny shook her head.

“What is this…WHAT IS THIS?!” She screamed. Grandmother Cerena looked up at her, eyes wide. Sunny started to hyperventilate. “You… you’re my grandmother… and you’re my cousin… what is this… you’re family…” Furyis gulped. He stepped forward and moved a hoof as he explained.

“Listen Sunny, this is how it’s got to be! If it’s that hard for you just… drink the Brew! It won’t hurt you, and you won’t have to worry about anything anymore.”

“What does it do?”

Furyis started to speak but Westley stopped him with a held-up wing and a sharp whistle.

“I will handle it, whoo. Sir Curio asked me to.”

Westley adjusted his monocle.

“The Blackmire Brew, whoo, is a potion which is extremely difficult to brew, made from the elusive Blackmire Bell Trap. It takes at least five years to ferment, whoo. Once ingested, the imbiber will no longer be able to reject the commands of the first individual who addresses them, whoo.” Sunny’s eyes widened. Grandmother Cerena looked away. “In short, you will no longer have free will, whoo, at least not unless the pony or creature who commands you gives it to you.” Westley gestured toward the matriarch of the Starscouts. “It will be her, whoo. That was the deal.”

Sunny stared at her grandmother. Tears filled her eyes.

“W-why… why would you do th—” But Sunny was too choked. Grandmother Cerena steeled herself, her eyes moist and vibrating.

“I have to do what is necessary to protect my family. Sunny, your quest can only lead to your death – or worse! Because I wasn’t strong enough, I lost your mother, your father, and your uncle Willder! It was my fault! I should have been able to convince them to stay here, but I wasn’t!” Grandmother Cerena walked away. “I won’t make that mistake again. You need to decide, or I will decide for you.”

Furyis sighed. He gestured to the stallion in the back near Westley.

“Go on, bring her friends in now.”

The stallion nodded and walked into the darkness near the back of the cave. Moments later a door creaked open amidst the shadows. Sunny was paralyzed by her quiet sobbing. Grandmother Cerena dared not look directly at her granddaughter, but she maintained her iron resolute expression. Sunny heard Hitch complain as the sound of hooves and jingling chains entered the cave from the darkness.

“…if you think putting ponies in this many chains is a totally reasonable thing to do, then why don’t you do it to yourself, huh?”

Coming into the light from the nearby candles, Hitch and Izzy saw their friend and lit up.

“Sunny!” they both cheered. Hitch was covered with big chains, with enough give only to shuffle his hooves forward. His head poked up out of the chains like a foal wearing a sweater two sizes too big.

“Thank goodness! We were pretty worried you know! Look what they did, my coat is going to look dull for days now because of these chains. And my mane?”

Sunny sniffled and wiped her eyes, smiling. Hitch’s mane hung over to one side. “This thing is very sensitive, the humidity is insane here. Can you get your grandmother to clear all this up?” Izzy looked beaten, and quietly whined like a hurt puppy. One of the hats still covered her horn. She toughened herself up though and snorted.

“H-Hey!” she said to Grandmother Cerena, who did look at her. Izzy looked at the mare’s chest and continued. “H-How could you be so m-mean to your own p-pookies?” Grandmother Cerena raised one of her eyebrows.

“What is that, a pookie?”

Sunny was just as confused. Izzy sucked in her lips and kicked the cave floor.

“Y-you know… grandfilly or grandfoal…”

Grandmother Cerena shook her head and turned to Sunny, who was staring at her friends.

“I know you think this one is your friend, and maybe she is.” She raised her hoof sternly toward Izzy, who flinched in response. “But Sunny, she will get you killed!” Sunny bit her lip, feeling that same old anger well up inside. “We don’t live in a world where Hornheads and Earth Ponies can be friends! You need to wake u—"

“THEN I’M GOING TO MAKE IT THAT KIND OF WORLD!”

Within the confines of the cave, the power of Sunny’s voice seemed tenfold. The ponies all flew backward, their manes and ears flopping as if they had entered a wind tunnel. The visible air wave bounced around before leaving the cave through the various exits. Grandmother Cerena was on her knees, completely bewildered. Nopony could speak for a solid minute. Sunny panted then spoke.

“You don’t have to do anything except sit here and be miserable! I will make Equestria whole again, with my friends! I’ll come back when we’re done, but only if you apologize to my friends and say you were wrong!”

Grandmother Cerena shook as she rose to her hooves properly. Her breathing was spotty.

“W-what was that…?”

Hitch, knocked to his side underneath all the chains, could not get himself rightside up again so that he was much like a turtle on its shell. He whinnied.

“Well, this is humiliating.”

Meanwhile, Izzy’s hat had been blown off. When Westley got back up, he spotted Izzy's horn, twinkling against the backdrop of the fires. The little owl screeched and the ponies still recovering from the auditory attack were again barraged by sound. Sunny covered one of her ears and her eyelids dropped. Westley took to the air, and looked like a feral animal. His talons were out, sharp as razors, and his pupils were beady little things. His tiny wormish tongue flopped about as he screeched.

“NEVER AGAIN!” he cried animalistically. “NO MORE UNICORN NO MORE UNICORN NO MORE UNICORN…” He went on and on. The stallions were covering their ears, but Furyis roared.

“PUT A STOP TO THAT! ANYMORE NOISE MIGHT CAUSE A CAVE-IN!”

The stallions were shaking from fright, and everyponyelse was immobilized from the shrill noise. Furyis managed to crawl over, reach up, and pull Westley down. He forced his beak closed, panting.

Hoof stomping noises echoed from around the bend in the catacombs. Two figures appeared: Sunny’s cousin Feryl and the magic mare from earlier, Miss Lumina.

“Mom, what is this? Who are these ponies??”

Lumina was just as confused as almost any other pony in the cave at that point. Feryl looked between all the faces, his own flexed up in disbelief.

Sunny seeing Lumina up so close, with the firelight glowing on her features, was shocked she hadn’t seen the resemblance before. Lumina was her aunt. The Cutie Mark visible on her flank, not covered by the magician’s robes, made it obvious, if the eyes and the demeanor hadn’t already. Great uncle Argus slowly and carefully waltzed into the clearing from around the bend. He stood beside Grandmother Cerena, whose turn it was finally to be as alarmed as Sunny was previously.

“Cerena,” he said plainly. “I do believe that was the same ‘voice power’ that our father produced those many years ago. Wasn’t it?”

Grandmother Cerena snarled at Lumina.

“Lumina, take Feryl and go! This isn’t anything that you two need to see!”

Lumina looked at Sunny and seemed to understand who she was. Her gaze softened.

“You look like—” Sunny nodded at her with an understanding smile. Lumina’s eyes become glassy as she confirmed her thoughts with a glance at Sunny’s flank. Izzy and Hitch exchanged a confused, worried look. “Oh my goodness.”

Hitch struggled and grunted. He gave up with a deep breath.

“Izzy, can you raise your hoof for me, please?”

Izzy lifted her hoof and pointed it toward the center of everypony. Hitch cleared his throat.

“Would someearthpony PLEASE explain what in Equestria is going on!?”

Furyis stepped forward, his stallion accomplices having taken his place in holding down and silencing the insane Night Owl. Furyis glared at Hitch, then turned to his mother and brother.

“What’s going on is that someearthponies are about to leave.”

Lumina puffed up her chest.

“I beg your pardon but I’m not going anywhere, mister! If your father were here…”

“Oh please. Dad’s selling trinkets right now, and he would listen to Grandmother the same as me! The same as we all should do!” He patted his chest. “This family owes its existence to her! I trust her judgment. Sunny has to stay here, with us. She can do it willingly or with a little help. I for one don’t want to miss out on another chance to know one of my family members!”

Sunny shook her head, exasperated.

“And you think you’ll get to know me if my brain’s all scrambled up?!”

Hitch flopped about and grunted in place, jiggling and jangling like a winter sleigh going through the country.

“Exposition… break… time! I have… zero clue… what you’re all… talking about!”

Izzy looked frozen at Sunny. Furyis went back to Westley and snatched the Blackmire Brew from his wing.

“Time to put an end to this. Grandmother, she isn’t going to stop. And we can’t let her do that weird thing she does with her voice again!”

Lumina grabbed her mother.

“Mom, stop this. This isn’t the way! You’re not thinking straight!”

Great uncle Argus answered instead, gently pushing his niece aside.

“This power that Sunny has is something we need to contain. It must be controlled. We can’t let her wander into Unicorn lands and hand it over to the enemy.” He turned to Grandmother Cerena and reassured her. “Give the word, sister.”

Furyis and Sunny were at a standoff – when one moved, the other followed the same but opposite movement. Their glares made the air so tense it was almost palpable.

“You don’t have to stress, Sunny! This will make it all go away! If you feel like going on an adventure again, Grandmother will tell you to stop thinking about it, and you will! It won’t hurt, you won’t be sad!”

“Shut up!”

Izzy’s eyes darted about before she mustered the courage to jump forward and run for the vial in Furyis’ hoof. He moved it out of the way and Izzy flopped onto the cave floor, flailing about. Furyis held her down. His great uncle lumbered over.

“I’ve got her, boy. You finish this.”

Furyis looked to Grandmother Cerena, her eyes wide and unblinking.

“Just use the potion already… please…”

Lumina protested.

“Furyis, put that down. Let’s talk about this!”

Great uncle Argus sighed.

“Forget it, Lumina. Take your son out of here, he doesn’t need to see any more of this.”

Furyis ventured a step closer to Sunny, who felt the familiar feeling of the ‘voice’ rising up in her. But Furyis sneered.

“How fast can you talk, cos?”

Sunny continued to glare. She opened her mouth as Furyis put the Brew vial in one of his vest pockets and retrieved another. He tossed it as Sunny’s first word escaped.

“GET—”

Whatever Furyis threw burst in front of Sunny and produced a whirring torrent of orange flickers, like tiny insects. They flew into Sunny’s eyes and mouth, forcing her to look away and step back. Without warning, Furyis was upon her. He knocked her to the ground.

“Those were Bitter Snappers. Nasty spores. They’re pretty good at keeping ponies quiet, huh? But that was a small dose.” He covered Sunny’s mouth, retrieved the Brew, and uncorked it with his teeth. A thick black miasma escaped in the vague shape of a skull. Furyis looked at Sunny with a neutral expression.

“I’m sorry, okay? This is messed up, I know. But we have to do what we have to do.”

Sunny struggled against Furyis but he was too big. He did grunt however as he held her in place – she was a fighter, no weaker than any of the stallions he had kept down before. He motioned back to Westley with a twist of his neck.

“You see what the Hornheads have done to an animal like him?” Sunny could turn her head just enough to see the crazed Night Owl shuffling about on the cave floor, the stallions holding him down. “He’s demented, because of how the Hornheads tortured him! Why do you want to be friends with her, with THEM?!”

Feryl was completely paralyzed. He could only stare at his big brother’s hooves. Lumina made to step forward.

“I’m stopping this, Furyis!”

Grandmother Cerena snapped.

“Lumina Starscout if you step a hoof forward you will be banished from this home for the rest of your days.”

The words were true. Lumina looked at her mother, then to the cave floor. She bit her lip and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. She stepped back into place beside her frozen son.

Hitch was rolling about.

“Not sure… what going on… but need to… save Sunny!”

Furyis positioned himself so he could drop the contents of the vial into Sunny’s mouth, as soon as he moved his hoof. He swallowed.

“Try to talk and this goes right inside. But I’ll make sure it goes in anyway, don’t worry.”

Grandmother Cerena forced herself to watch, unblinking. Lumina quietly sobbed into her youngest son who couldn’t take his eyes off his brother’s hooves. Hitch struggled to do more than meander about, and Izzy was unable to get Argus off of herself. Westley's restrained cries filled the cave. There was nothing Sunny could do – she was pinned down.

Izzy pleaded.

“L-Let Sunny go, y-you can just take me! She won’t try to escape, right Sunny? Right?!”

The words fell flat against Grandmother Cerena’s ears, against Furyis’s. They even fell flat against Sunny’s.

Furyis removed his hold on Sunny’s mouth and twisted his other hoof. But two things happened at that moment in perfect unison to cause him to toss the vial some distance away instead of emptying it into Sunny’s mouth: a high-pitched noise beat upon the rock walls and a burst of thick, grey smoke filled the cave.

Sunny coughed up a fit and heard the other ponies doing the same. It was as disorienting as their flight from Castle Rockhoof. Something grabbed Sunny and carried her away in some direction she couldn’t see.

“Wha—” she felt her mouth produce.

The noise and smoke cleared up as Sunny and whatever was carrying her exited the cave, seemingly through some kind of secret passage. Sunny realized the only light forward was attached to a pony in whose hoof she was being held. A sort of hoof flashlight.

“Y-You? What the hay?!”

It was none other than Regan, the wily old stallion from the alley. He had Sunny effortless in the air above him, on top of his hoof, the other three of his hooves in a mad dash. He was panting profusely.

“H-Howdy, l-lass. Bit… bit outta breath… let’s talk… after…”

Regan’s hooves scrambled as he sharply turned down the dirt tunnel toward an exit far away, appearing as a rectangle of greenish light revealing the outside world. Sunny was so taken aback by the entire experience she couldn’t say anything else or even struggle. She heard her friends from behind.

“WHAT IS GOING ON ALREADY?!” Hitch screamed.

“Weee!” cheered Izzy.

Two other ponies were holding them – one, a pony covered from head to hoof in black, had Izzy (who had her hooves stretched out like a bird), whereas a fiery-maned, white-furred mare was galloping forward with the chained-up Hitch on her back.

“Can it… pretty boy…” the fiery mare shouted with a strained voice, a bite present in her tone. “You are… really… heavy!”

Regan laugh-panted.

“S-sorry we… took so… long. Wanted ta… hear as much as… we could before… intervening…”

The three pony saviors ran with their wards through the exit tunnel to the outside world confidently and without losing speed. Tons of greenery covered the area and Sunny had to cover her face as different shrubs, bushes, and tiny trees had to be cleared in order for the ponies to break through. Shortly after, the warmth of the summer air hit her coat and Sunny quickly adjusted to the bright sunset lighting. She looked around. They were in the courtyard of somepony’s mansion.

The saviors wasted no time in entering cover once more – the inside of the mansion. They slowed down once inside the double doors, and the pony in black closed the doors behind them. Regan put Sunny down, and the others put down her friends, Hitch dropping with a grunt and a thud.

“Careful with the goods, lady!”

The fiery mare scoffed.

“You’re pretty demanding, pretty boy.”

Regan knocked on a nearby bookcase. Sunny quickly scanned the mansion’s lobby – sparse light from the open windows revealed what had to be an abandoned, dusty home. Next to Regan, the bookcase creaked and slid to the side, revealing yet another passage.

“C’mon then ponies! Let’s go, in the tunnel!”

Sunny stopped everypony with a shout.

“WAIT!”

They had no choice but to do so. The fiery mare and the pony in black were shocked, but Regan looked pleased that his body was frozen and shaking in place. He grinned widely at Sunny, who continued her tirade. “What is this? Why should we leave one set of crazy ponies to come with you – whoever you are!?”

Regan wiped the sweat from his brow and his chest heaved up and down, his hooves shaking. Sunny squinted. She was sure she saw traces of red appear just underneath the ponies’ fur, like they had glowing veins. She blinked. Regan laughed an old, crazy stallion’s chuckle.

“We’re on yer side, Sunny. I knew ye gave a fake name before, in tha alley. I knew who ye were tha’whole time!”

Sunny took a step back.

“Do you work with that Curio guy too?”

Regan chuckled again and removed his cotton flat hat with a bow.

“No Miss Starscout – we’re tha Society of tha Sun.” The fiery mare and the pony in black walked and stood beside Regan, and all of them put their hooves on their chests. “We’re here for ye, for Equestria, and for tha dream of a united country tha never should have been broken in tha first place.”

Sunny’s mouth dropped. Regan released his bow with a huge smile on his face.

“Convincing enough for ye?”

26 - The Underground Tree

Sunny bounced down the dimly lit path that started behind the strange mansion bookshelf. All worries and fears were lost as she thought of what she had just witnessed: ponies who knew her dad, who knew “hoof to heart”, claiming to be part of a secret society dedicated to Equestrian unity?!

“Comon already! Tell me what this is all about! Were you guys friends of my dad?”

The tunnel was lined by tiny orange flames. Sunny looked back and forth as if the fires were at any time going to turn into giant blazing pyres of magical light. Her tail was swishing back and forth wildly.

Regan, who led the group down into the earth, chuckled.

“Of course! Argyle loved ta come here and read the books we’ve got at tha Tree.”

Regan was followed by his two accomplices, the mare with the fiery mane and the pony covered in black clothing revealing only his eyes, and then by Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy. Izzy was rolling Hitch down the tunnel, as he was still covered in what amounted to a big ball of chains with a padlock on it.

“Geez this is fun.” Hitch sighed. “Good thing I don’t normally get motion sickness.”

Izzy hummed in a quiet, singsongy way. Sunny bounced next to Regan.

“The Tree?” she asked.

“Heh. Ye’ll see. The hoof to the chest thing is ours, ya know. The Society taught yer dad, not the other way round.”

Izzy chimed in.

“W-wow that’s pretty neat, huh Sunny?” Sunny of course happily agreed. Izzy peered over at Regan, craning her neck around Hitch’s large chains. “Umm, Mr. Regan, sir? Sorry… you said ‘read the books at the Tree’… what kind of books do you have?”

“All kinds. What tickles yer fancy young Unicorn?”

Izzy and Sunny were reminded of the horn on Izzy’s head. They exchanged a glance, but Sunny smiled back. Izzy cleared her throat.

“W-well, I like to read books on knitting or crocheting usually, but sometimes if the cover is interesting, I’ll choose a book about animals or history.”

“Ahhhh so ye like history books? We’ve got a whole library full of ‘em!”

Izzy’s tail wagged. Hitch groaned, his eyes spinning and his mane all over the place.

“Please tell me you have a giant hammer or something that can break these chains…”

The fiery mare chimed in with a cheeky scoff.

“Those are Whitemetal chains, Unicorn-made. No way we can break them with what we got. Though, this fella can break out of the lock easy enough.” She motioned toward the pony in black. He nodded at Sunny and Izzy. Hitch sighed heavily.

“That’s good news. When is that going to happen?”

The fiery mare smiled.

“I’m not sure. What do you think, should we make him wait?” she directed to her all-black accomplice. His smile was evident through his eyes, and he nodded. Sunny looked back at Hitch and giggled.

“It’s okay Hitch. You just relax!”

Sunny sneezed. The sound echoed up and down the path, highlighting its true length. The angle was not as steep as the cave system of the moles Sunny and friends had used back at Castle Rockhoof, and the tunnel was clearly made for ponies in mind, not blind rodent-like mammals.

Not long afterwards the group reached a level part of the cave system. The tunnel opened into a much larger area, the ground changing from dirt to a wide layer of inlaid slabs of turquoise stone. Sunny and Izzy looked all around them and gasped.

It was difficult to decide on where to look first, but Sunny settled on the glowing spots on the cave walls and ceiling, so far away among the distant stalactites of the cave. They were unlike anything she had seen before – light captured within the stones, glittering pink, red, blue, green, yellow, all the colors, at one spot or another, and bright enough to give the inside of the cave an appearance like it was outside world.

“Magic!” Sunny cheered. She became the picture of an excited filly. Izzy responded just as loud, and not quite as energetic.

“I think it’s just phosphorescent gemstone, actually! But it’s still so beautiful!”

Sunny sneezed again and rubbed her snout. Regan chuckled mirthfully.

In the centre of the giant cave was a tree – or rather, a mess of roots that had been shaped somehow into a tree-like structure. The “tree” had a big, round door painted red, and numerous windows with flower planters sitting on their sills that showed light coming from inside the “tree” dotted all around its frame – more glowing stones, Sunny figured. Various accoutrements made it seem homey, such as a mailbox outside the door, a row of planters with colorful flowers in front, and a group of windchimes hanging from one of the branches next to what was ostensibly a balcony about one floor up. The “tree” had upper branches that reached to the ceiling so very far away. The branches were filled with green moss and vines that gave the illusion of leaves, though closer inspection gave it away. Still, the general effect was to give the appearance of a tree underground, and it worked on Sunny and Izzy.

Izzy’s eyes shined like sapphires as she got onto her tippy hooves. Her and Sunny couldn’t decide where to go or look, every single thing seemed so interesting. They scuttled about trying to take it all in.

“Hey!” Hitch inside his ball of chains complained. “I can’t see, I can’t see, turn me around!” He grunted as he flexed his muscles. “W-wish I could… break these chains.”

The fiery mare shook her head and mocked him.

“You can’t break those chains.”

Hitch grunted again, louder.

“Ahhhh!”

The fiery mare chuckled and rolled the Hitch ball around. Regan waved a hoof.

“Now now Firecracker, don’t tease.” Firecracked rolled her eyes and turned Hitch around until he could see the “tree”. He saw the same things his friends did, and his mouth dropped.

“Wowzers t-that’s a… wow!”

Regan cleared his throat and threw his hoof up as if to present the “tree” to Sunny and her friends. “Welcome to tha Underground Treehouse of Friendship! The official headquarters of the Society of tha Sun: Earth Pony branch!” He coughed. “We uhh we just call it the Tree though.”

The pony in black whispered to Sunny and Izzy.

“And keep this in mind: this is kinda a secret sort of place if you didn’t realize. So, no snitchin’…”

Sunny and Izzy looked at one another and gulped. Firecracker spoke up with a flick of her head and her mesmerizing orange mane, curving up like a wave of lava.

“Enough with the act, already, Jay. Just show ‘em!”

Sunny glared.

“Wait, JAY?”

Her voice had transitioned into being nasally and congested, hiding the anger behind her words. The pony in black sighed and removed his full-face covering. Indeed, the same pony from the alley stared back at Sunny. Jay forced a half-smile.

“Ya ya, it’s me.”

Sunny would have tackled him to the ground but for the mare named Firecracker holding her back.

“Okay now I’m really not feeling this place! You know this guy robbed us, right?”

Jay took a step back and sucked air through his teeth. Regan put up a hoof as if to try and diffuse the situation

“Now now ponies! Ease off, ease off. Jay was puttin’ on airs, lass. That was a test of ours.” He smiled at Sunny, who sniffled sickly in response. “And ye passed!”

“Test?”

Regan nodded eagerly.

“Aye! Jay told ye to pay for just yerself an’ he’d let ye pass, but ye’d have ta leave yer friends. But ye refused. Ye weren’t prepared to give up on yer friends.” Sunny looked to Izzy and Hitch in turn, each of them smiling (Hitch from an upside-down position). Regan chuckled. “If ye had, well, we wouldna helped ye at all!”

Izzy put her hoof on Sunny’s shoulder.

“So everything Jay said and did was just part of the test, right Jay?”

Jay shrugged.

“Ehh maybe. I’ve always been a bit of a jerk.” He flashed Sunny a smile that made her frown. “Guess I did want to see how you’d react if I bugged you enough.”

Sunny snorted, which made her cough her congested throat, and Jay laughed and threw his head back as if it his own words were the funniest he had heard in months. Izzy stood awkwardly beside a quietly stewing Sunny. Regan clopped his hooves on the stone slabs and sighed contently.

“Right, no use standing out here an’ I suppose you’ll all be wantin’ an explanation. We got food inside and tea and coffee, so let’s set yer minds to rest, hmm?”

Hitch waved his head back and forth, jingling the chains in the process.

“And me, you got to get me out of this, too!”

Jay walked up to Hitch and flicked his mane.

“Do I though? I ain’t so sure. I’m liking this look, Hitch Trailblazer.”

“Ha Ha very funny,yo—wait, what did you call me?”

Jay grinned sincerely.

“Ya thought I didn’t know your name? I just like messin’ with folks sometimes.” Jay motioned with a twist of his neck. “Comon let’s get you out of there, hairdo.” Jay walked away and Hitch nodded.

“Awesome!” When he went to step forward, Hitch remembered his predicament. “HEY!”

Jay laughed from the belly. Sunny’s nose was feeling a bit tender, and the inside of her chest soured with wooziness. Despite that she worried more about something else. She did not follow after Regan, Firecracker and Jay as they made for the front door of the Tree. Izzy stopped as well.

“Sunny?” the Unicorn asked.

Sunny inhaled a large burst of air.
“IzzyI’mSuperExcitedAndIWantToRunInsideAndAskAMillionQuestionsAndSeeAllTheAwesomeMagicalThingsI’mSURETheyHaveInside BUT” — she weezed. Izzy’s head was cocked, her mouth somewhat ajar — “I’m… I’m worried about… about you two. I don’t want… want anything like… like last time to… to happen again.”

Izzy frowned.

“I get that but, you okay? You sound sort of yucky wucky…”

Sunny caught her breath and raised a hoof.

“Y-Yea it’s just… the journey catching… up to me…”

Izzy nudged Sunny with a smile.

“Listen, we made it out last time, and all the other times. We’ll be fine!” Izzy’s eyes twinkled. “I mean, when I’m with you I just feel so confident! Like nothing’s gonna go wrong! Or if it does, we’ll beat it, right Hitch?”

“Less pep talk, more breaky outty of the Hitchy!”

Izzy continued. “I’m honestly not afraid at all, for the first time in”— Izzy looked down and shook her head incredulously— “I don’t even know how long! So, let’s go already!” She ran in place. Sunny, not altogether convinced, looked sidelong at Hitch.

“Hitch?”

To his credit Hitch kept his cool and breathed out slowly. He smiled at Sunny.

“Sunny Starscout, trust me when I say that if I had any doubts about joining you on your journey, I would be long gone. Now can we PLEASE get me out of this mess?”

Sunny wanted to smile, but she sighed and turned away.

“I know you two keep saying that but… I’m so worried… you’re my two first real friends, you know? I don’t want to mess up. And I don’t want you to get hurt either.”

Izzy hugged Sunny from behind, knocking her off guard. She blushed.

“Sunny I’m not letting go of this hug until you accept that we are here to stay!”

Sunny couldn’t hold onto her doubts and fears for very long with a warm, cuddly Unicorn attached to her body. She broke into a fit of laughter, as did Izzy, and the two swerved around back toward the Tree. Izzy let go and Sunny sniffled again, her voice still dry and cracky.

“Fine, fine, you’ve convinced me!”

Hitch strained with all his might.

“Sunny… I promise to give you a super convincing hug too… just as soon as I get out of here!”

Sunny nodded. Izzy ran in place again.

“Now, can we go? Please please please?! I want to see the library! I’ve read every single book on knitting in Sire’s Hollow, maybe they have one here I haven’t read before!”

Sunny allowed her joy to pierce through her doubts, and she joined Izzy’s display of energetic excitement.

“Forget the books, I KNOW they’ve got those magic crystals in there!”

Izzy’s brow creased somewhat.

“S-Sunny, like I said, the crystals—”

Sunny broke off toward the Tree.

“RaceYaToTheTree!”

Izzy giggled and went after the wily Earth Pony.

“H-Hey!”

Hitch called after.

“Girls! GIRLS! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE!”

* * *

Jay turned his lockpick until it clicked. The giant padlock released, and Hitch pushed himself out of the chains that bound him.

“I’m free!” He cheered. He ran around in a circle around the other ponies. They were all situated in a large, open foyer just inside the Tree. “FREEDOM!” Firecracker reached out a hoof.

“Alright pretty boy simmer down.” Hitch stopped in front of her hoof. He looked at it, cocked his head, then grabbed it with one of his own. Firecracker flinched. “W-what?”

Hitch looked closer at the hoof.

“It’s so clean and… perfect. Wow.”

Firecracker yanked her hoof away and turned around.

“W-weirdo…”

Hitch scratched his head. Sunny nudged him hard enough to ilicit a grunt from the former sherrif.

“Ow! Sunny I thought we were past that phase of our relationship!”

“Hardly! You get out of the chains and the first think you do is flirt! Get a grip Casanova!”

“But didn’t you see her hoof? It really is perfect, I’ve never seen anything like it before!”

Regan sighed. He seemed to be exasperated.

“C-can we hurry this… little whatever it is… up, lass, laddy?”

It was then that Sunny noticed that Regan, Jay, and Firecracker were all sweating and panting. Sunny looked to Izzy, and Hitch stared at Firecracker with worry. His ears flicked and his head jolted.

“Hold on, that’s—did you three drink some Liquid Power by any chance?”

Regan stumbled about until he fell to his knees. The sweat poured from his forehead.

“Aye… how else were we gonna rescue you louts huh? Haha…”

Sunny looked to Hitch who had an uncharacteristically grave face.

“What’s Liquid Power, a potion?”

“Yes. It makes you stronger for a very short time, like as strong as me.” He sniffed nonchalantly and Sunny’s expression turned deadpan momentarily. “Only after the potion wears off you’re pretty much down for the count for a few hours.”

Izzy frowned.

“We saw someearthpony drink it in Castletown, that red stuff, didn’t we?”

Hitch nodded.

“That’s right. These three need to rest right away.”

Sunny saw Regan smiling at her despite his condition. She looked away uneasily.

“You didn’t have to… I mean, why? Just for us?”

Regan flopped down entirely, his tongue rolling out.

“N-not for ‘us’ but f-for ye, Sunny. No offence to… yer friends. Ack, c-can this… can it wai—”

Regan’s eyes came to a close and he started to gently snore. His breathing was ragged. Hitch nodded resolutely.

“Let’s move them to someplace they can rest. The sooner, the better. They need good rest to recover to the full extent.”

He looked at Firecracker and smiled. Even in her state she remained with her usual temperament. She shook her head.

“Don’t even… think about it… pretty boy! You grab… Jay… he’s the bigger… pony.”

Jay was wobbling. He held up a hoof.

“Nah nah I’m good, I’m good.”

After a few more seconds of spinning around, he collapsed. Firecracker sneered.

“I win…”

She too fell. Izzy cleared her throat.

“Umm. Where are we supposed to bring them?”

All three ponies looked up at the foyer of the Tree – it was much taller, Sunny noted, than even the lobby of her family mansion. The centre of the Tree was marked with a curved wall covered in bark. One finely carved wooden door on either side of the foyer, one leading to the left and one to the right, were the only exits besides the big red round one behind the ponies. The foyer was lit by a bundle of tree roots that jutted from the ceiling with inlaid white crystals like the ones outside on the cave ceiling.

At various places, small statues sat on mid-sized marble pedestals, adding some flair to the tall room inside the Tree. But otherwise, it was empty. Nothing seemed to indicate the direction of the sleeping quarters, if there were any to begin with. Sunny weakly pointed to the door to their right. She sneezed and shook her head.

“Let’s just… find a place!”

Hitch looked at her.

“Sunny maybe you should rest too…”

“I am fine, it’s them we need to get to some beds!”

She sneezed again. Hitch and Izzy looked at one another worriedly. Hitch went to grab Firecracker. Sunny clopped her hoof against the wooden floor.

“Hitch!”

He turned around and feigned ignorance.

“What… what?!” Izzy shook her head and Sunny glared. Hitch sighed. “Okay fine, I’ll take the street urchin.”

* * *

Izzy was awestruck – she couldn’t lift her fallen jaw that hung with solid shock.

“L-Look! Books! So many books!”

She moved forward, then turned and stepped in that direction. After seeing the hundreds of different colored tomes lining the shelves of the Tree’s library’s left wall, she again shifted to the other side and beheld the texts on the right.

“I can’t believe it, I mean, I just—sorry but, how can there be more books than we have in the biggest library in Sire’s Hollow?!”

She turned back to Hitch and Sunny, who both briefly looked at each other, less than enthused, and then back to their chipper Unicorn pal.

“We call it the Star Study,” Izzy explained. “It’s a big place where all the old books are kept. But it’s not nearly as big as this…” She ran right up to the right wall. Further forward was a wooden spiral staircase, which led to the second floor of the library. One could spot the signs that the library continued, so too did all its many shelves and countless books, though from the entrance, nopony could see where it ended, and anyway too many shelves blocked the view. More crystals from the ceiling cast such a clear light below, as if from all places at once a persistent glow was being cast.

Hitch shook his head and stepped forward, making for a cushiony chair.

“I’m not really into books. I’m waiting for them to wake up already so we can ask them what this is all about. A big tree underground? Glowing crystals?”

Sunny tried to smile with her teeth, but her brow was drenched in sweat and she felt woozy, so settled with a wavy closed-mouth one instead. Hitch sat down, worried, as Izzy wandered the library.

“Right?! I feel the same way, but at least we found a bed for them all to share. They’ll… forgive us for the tight squeeze.” She rubbed the back of her head. “They were heavy and everything…”

“I could have carried Firecracker and Jay.”

“Yeah that wasn’t going to happen.”

Hitch frowned at Sunny.

“You should go lay down too. You look sick, Sunny.”

Sunny felt her forehead and panted. She shook her head and managed a big smile after all.

“Hitch, please, I’m good! I get this way sometimes.”

“Uhhh, I know you, remember? You don’t.”

“You just forgot, and you’ve been gone from town for a long time!”

Sunny challenged Hitch’s stern look with the happiest face she could muster in her state.

“I’m fine, o-okay?”

Hitch facehoofed.

“It’s not like I can convince you to do anything Sunny Starscout. Anyway, I’m still not so sure about all of this. If Izzy wants to explore the library, I’m staying here to keep an eye on her. Just in case. If you want to go rest, which I strongly recommend, I have this covered.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“You worried about the Hornhead Hitch?”

Hitch looked back at Izzy, zipping about from one part of one shelf to another shelf somewhere else. He let himself grin.

“I guess I am.” He cleared his throat, turned back, and crossed his hooves. “I will call one Unicorn my friend. For now. But no Featherfreaks—” Sunny protested with short breath. Hitch hushed her with a held-out hoof— “Uhpuhpuh, baby pony steps, Sunny. I have accepted Izzy as my friend. These things take time, okay? I’m still worried about where Halter is, and I can’t rule out that he’s in Unicornia right now. You saw what was up with the Night Owl, didn’t you?”

Hitch glared.

“Whatever Izzy’s brother is doing right now… the Warlock King… if it’s happening to my own brother…”

Sunny shot back.

“It’s not! We’ll find him, okay? I’m sure one of these ponies knows something.” Sudden remembered grief struck Sunny. “Maybe they can tell me more about what’s going on with my family, too…”

Hitch’s brows softened and flexed upward. He opened his mouth to speak, but Izzy’s sharp gasp from some corner of the library drew the two Earth Ponies’ nervous glances.

“S-Sunny, Hitch! C-Come here!”

They were up in a flash. Hitch hollered ahead.

“Izzy! I knew it, Sunny! This was all a trick!”

“IZZY!”

They winded down a literal maze of shelves and found Izzy… looking at an open book on the floor. They panted.

“W-w-what, y-you’re okay?” Hitch managed. Izzy nodded super fast. She pointed down at the book.

“This book on knitting, I’ve never read it before! A-A-And it’s… the pictures… the Unicorns in here are using magic!”

Hitch hung his head down and groaned his complaint. Sunny sprang forward.

“W-what, magic?! Lemme see!”

“Yeah look!”

The two mares “ooo’d” and “aww’d” as they flipped through the pages. Hitch leaned against a shelf.

“I got all defensive and sheriff-y for nothin…”

After that, Sunny followed Izzy around as she found various books that looked interesting. Her enthusiasm for magic helped hide her slowly deteriorating state. Sunny rarely cared except when magic, in one way or another, was involved. Hitch eyeballed a novel here and there but for the most part simply stayed nearby in case something happened. Something caught his eye between two shelves near the back of the library.

“W-whoa…”

It was a large rectangular painting, obvious signs of age reflected in the raised flecks of paint coming off it. In the painting sat a yellow-furred mare with a long, silky, pink mane done in an intricate style and held in place with a teal barrette of sorts. Wrinkles sat below her eyelids, but despite that, Hitch was smitten – she was breath-takingly pretty, even being clearly old enough to have been his grandmother. The yellow mare’s eyes seemed to twinkle right off the ancient painting. She was seated in a field and surrounded by some animals. Hitch saw a squirrel, a rabbit, even a bear. The upper right portion of the painting was horribly burnt, but it looked like another creature was also in the painting once upon a time.

“Hubba hubba…” Hitch said quietly. He sat down and stared at the yellow mare in the painting. Sunny nudged him after what seemed like hours to Hitch. Hitch flinched.

“Look at her with all the animals, she’s just like you, H-Hitcheroo!” Sunny snickered. Underneath her eyes was puffy and swollen. “Guess you were born too late to find your dream mare…”

They both did a double-take at the same time.

The yellow mare had fluffy yellow wings.

"Or... maybe not?"

Hitch seemed in a trance.

"A... Pegasus? Wow..."

Hitch broke his stare and looked at Sunny. His brow pointed toward his snout.

“Sunny, l-look at you! Okay, that’s it: I’m taking you to a bed—”

A cry broke out. Hitch’s ears perked up and he ran toward the source, Sunny in tow as fast as her sore hooves could take her.

“Izzy!” Hitch shouted. “This better be a real emergency!”

But when he navigated through a couple more rows of bookshelves, he discovered that Izzy was again simply enraptured by a book. It was the cover of the book that had her gobsmacked. Sunny cocked her head and Hitch stood beside her, catching his breath once more.

“Who is that?” Sunny asked breathlessly. Izzy lit up.

“T-That’s Starswirl! That’s him, that’s his picture!”

Sunny turned to Izzy.

“There’s a book about Starswirl here, in the Realm?”

Hitch made a spitting noise out of the side of his mouth.

“So what, I saw a book about cabbages earlier! There’s lots of weird books here!” He put a hoof on Sunny’s back. “More importantly, you’re coming with me!”

The mares were in a world of their own. Izzy looked at the cover closer and approached the book. She pointed at it.

“Sorry, you don’t understand. See that symbol up in the top left of the cover?” Sunny stepped closer out of Hitch’s grasp and saw the cover clearer. Sure enough, a strange symbol that looked like a bunch of squiggly lines was exactly where Izzy said it would be. The old stallion Starswirl looked even more distinguished from up close – Sunny peered into the drawn Unicorn’s piercing grey eyes. When she did, something like a jolt ran through her. For a split second she thought she saw a bunch of pictures in her head, as if a bunch of images ran by super quick. She shook her head and Izzy continued. “That’s Old Ponish. I only know because my nana taught me what that symbol means – it means Equestria!”

Sunny’s mouth opened into a circle.

“Oooo… so what does it mean?”

“It’s a history book about Starswirl! From when they used Old Ponish! From when Equestria was whole!”

Sunny smiled briefly, then frowned.

“Oh, that’s boring. I hate history.”

Izzy fell over from the shock alone. Sunny sneezed a few more times. Hitch stepped forward again. Somepony cleared his throat nearby. Sunny, Hitch, and even Izzy (after she scrambled up to her hooves) all turned to the sound.

“Aye tha’s Starswirl alrigh’.”

Sunny smiled weakly, her puffy eyes fluttering. She wobbled about. Regan rubbed his still-sore head, now hatless and allowing his meagre red curls to breath easy.

“Sadly, we don’t know tha Old Ponish neither, but there’s an image in that book that’s very interesting to our Society…”

Sunny sneezed super loud, not just once, but multiple times. Her nose had reddened considerably, and she had a sort of nasally open-mouth breathing thing going on as if she were very ill. Regan raised an eyebrow.

“That…”

Hitch held Sunny as her eyes closed and her breathing slowed to a dangerous wheeze. Izzy panicked; Hitch glared at Regan.

“What’s happening to her?!”

Regan looked to the floor, himself still recovering. He looked up with an open expression as if realization had hit him all at once.

“S-she’s—I know what’s goin’ on! Let’s bring her to tha infirmary! Cam on!”

27 - Down with the Sickness

Hitch rushed into the Tree’s infirmary and looked to see what shape in the darkness might be a bed, Sunny limp upon his broad back. She was burning up so hot that it was uncomfortable for him to have her on his back. Their mixed sweat dripped down from his midsection. Izzy ran in next, followed by Regan.

“J-jus a sec! Jus a sec!” Regan stammered. He ran from one spot of the room to the next tapping on the wall. A moment later a crystal on the wall at each spot where he had tapped glowed a bright white. Eventually enough crystals glowed to reveal the medium-sized infirmary, though Hitch was focused on the bed. He put Sunny down as quickly yet gently as he could, and Regan was to her side immediately.

“I knew it… aye, look at her nose… it’s like the book said…”

Hitch and Izzy got closer. Sunny’s nose throbbed a sore red. Her breathing, both the sound and the rise and fall of her chest, was clearly hampered. Her eyelids were closed shut and underneath dark dreams made her eyes flutter.

“Come on! What do we do to help her?” Hitch shouted. Izzy paced back and forth, tears filling her eyes.

“Oh Sunny… is it my fault? I’m so sorry… I gave you some kind of Unicorn illness. That’s it, right Regan? This is why we’re divided, this is why, because we get the others sick… it’s all our—”

Regan held out a hoof to stop the mare. Hitch was about to throttle him but stopped when Regan turned stern and determined.

“Hol it lass.” He turned to Hitch, and the face Hitch saw made him straighten up with purpose. “Lad, go into that drawer over there with tha red X tape on it. That’s tha really important medicine in there.” He turned to Izzy, whose tears streamed past her puffy, wobbling lower lip. “I need ye to run up to my chambers, I can’t give ye good advice on how ta get there right now, ye gotta find yer way up there! When ye do, go inta my bedside table and bring me tha li’l lockbox! Go fast!” He turned back around to instruct Hitch as Izzy hesitated, hopped in place, then ran off out of the room. “You, lad, grab me tha li’l vial o’ gre—”

Hitch was already there, a clear vial of a forest green liquid in his mouth. Regan took it.

“Treesap Tincture, right? This was the strongest potion in there I saw for healing.”

Regan nodded and uncorked it with his teeth, then hovered it over Sunny’s mouth.

“Lad, ye need to open her mouth an’ get her ta drink it.”

Hitch swallowed hard and did as instructed. Sunny’s flesh burnt to his touch. Her entire face flushed a deep scarlet. Still, Hitch maintained his cool. Regan hovered the Tincture over Sunny’s mouth and administered a few drops at a time, some minutes later having emptied the entire bottle. Hitch looked to Regan.

“Was that it? Will that heal her?”

Regan was solemn.

“’Fraid not, not withou’ what tha Unicorn lass is ganna get. That’s what Sunny really needs.”

“And what is that exactly?”

Regan walked over to another cabinet and took out a blue vial. He returned and with a knowing flick of his head toward Hitch, the two worked to get Sunny to drink the newest potion, just as slow as before. A satisfying mist of cyan came out of the bottle. It was as clear as the clearest water imaginable. Hitch let his held in stress and breath come out at once.

“Aqua Viva. Okay.”

Sunny’s breathing slowly but surely calmed down and her flush seemed to lessen. Hitch started to smile but when he looked at the continuously somber Regan he frowned.

“T-Tell me what’s wrong! Isn’t she getting better?”

“Aye perhaps… but I’d feel better if tha Unicorn lass got back with tha Harmony Seed.”

“Harmony Seed?”

An exasperated Izzy burst into the infirmary, mane frazzled and eyes wide, lungs burning hotter than Sunny’s temperature. A tiny black lockbox was fixed into her hair. She collapsed with her tongue flopping out and Regan removed the lockbox with a quick nod.

“Bless ye lass, ye found it. Sorry ‘bout that, but emergencies an’ all.”

Hitch tended to Izzy while Regan brought the lockbox up to his mouth. He opened his mouth and revealed his jagged lower tooth that stuck out somewhat from the rest. He positioned it with the lock on the box and shoved it inside – the box clicked after that.

When it opened, Hitch and a partially recovered Izzy got up to take a look.

“Ooo…” Izzy said in aww. Hitch cocked his head.

“Is that some sort of cure-all?”

Just the tiniest little mound of seeds sat in the middle of the box’s inside, surrounded by white cotton. The seeds faintly glowed a mesmerizing pinkish white. Regan gingerly placed the box over on a portion of the white, pristine countertop and motioned back with his hoof.

“Can one a’ ye grab, out of tha drawer there by those incubatin’ flowers, a new vial for me and then a mortar n’ pestle?”

Regan set to work crushing up the seeds and mixing a new potion once he had what he needed. Hitch and Izzy stood near Sunny, who looked more peaceful than before albeit still sicker than the average cold stricken mare. Izzy whimpered quietly as she put her hooves onto the bed and stared at Sunny’s sleeping face like a dog awaiting its friend.

Finally, Regan turned around, a fresh vial of potion in his left hoof.

“Make way – this potion is more valuable than a hundred Blackmire Brews.”

He tentatively stepped forward. Hitch chewed his hoof, while Izzy bit her lip until it turned white. Regan, as slow as a dry snail, placed the vial near Sunny’s mouth.

“Lad… some help.”

Hitch tip-hoofed over and opened Sunny’s mouth and adjusted her head position. Regan poured the meagre potion inside. The deep hot pink glow of the potion was almost blinding. It ran down Sunny’s throat and her body involuntarily swallowed. Hitch laid her head back down.

“Alright…” Regan breathed, letting out his held-in air. “Let me explain…”

He fell forward onto his knees, coughing. Hitch helped him up.

“Not you too! Tell us what’s going on first so we can help!”

“Ack it’s not like that, lad. I’m just still sick from the side-effects of tha Liquid Power earlier… don’t worry. As for Sunny, she should be fine now. But let’s sit down and I’ll tell ye what’s goin’ on.”

And so they did. On one side of the infirmary were chairs, luckily three of them. Regan sat down slowly, exhaling in a pained way when he finally got comfortable.

“Not as young as I used to be, if ye didn’t notice.”

Izzy was in better spirits and smiled.

“I didn’t sir! The way you zipped around and did all that – you saved Sunny! Thank you! Sorry that I couldn’t be more help…”

Regan managed a smile despite his discomfort. He nodded.

“I wasn’t about to let Sunny Starscout pass into the Other World. No, no, that was necessary. You see…” Regan adjusted himself so he was leaning into the other two, who leaned closer as a result. “What Sunny must be going through is called alicorn sickness, or more to the point, an illness on account of her voice powers.”

Hitch raised an eyebrow; Izzy’s face lit up.

“Alicorn?”

“ALICORN!?”

Regan tried to calm the Unicorn down with a wave of his hoof.

“Aye aye. Ye’ve heard of them before, no doubt?”

Izzy nodded so many times all at once Hitch was sure her head was going to fly off. She looked back at him as she explained.

“The alicorns used to rule Equestria. They had the magic of Unicorns, the power of flight of the Pegasi, and the ability to tend nature like the Earth Ponies. But their powers were taken from them by jealous Earth Ponies and Pegasi” — seeing Regan’s and Hitch’s faces made her clear her throat, blush, and correct herself — “S-sorry, that’s just how the story goes from the Unicorn perspective!” She smiled a toothy grin. “Are you saying Sunny is an alicorn? Is she magical?!”

Hitch rubbed his head.

“Guess that would explain the voice thing… but Sunny Starscout? Magical?!”

Regan shook his head.

“That’s not it, silly. Well I don’t claim to know what it is, but if Sunny were an alicorn she’d have a horn and wings, dontcha think?!” Izzy put a hoof to her chin and looked away. She looked back up and giggled.

“Oh yeah!”

Hitch spoke.

“So, she’s sick because of that voice magic power thing, right?”

“Right. I don’t know why she has that power, but I do know that Gusty the Great described in her diary long, long ago that she saw young alicorns using their voice projection for the first time and getting deathly ill afterward. Only much rest and the help of Drink of Harmony, made from those seeds you saw earlier, could truly make them better. Not all the young reacted that way, but some did. It was a great and terrible power they had been given, the alicorns.”

Hitch put a hoof against his forehead and shook it.

“I’m not even going to try to figure all of that out but, essentially, you think Sunny’s voice magic and that alicorn voice magic is the same?”

“What else could it be, lad?”

Izzy looked up to the ceiling quizzically.

“I thought I heard of all the famous figures of the past, at least Unicorn ones, but I haven’t heard of a Gusty the Great.”

“Wouldn’t a’ thought so, lass. We in tha Society only know of her through a recording of some diary entries that Star Swirl had access to. The originals are long forgotten. But luckily for us, Star Swirl wrote as many books as he did! He’s the foremost scholar from the old times – there’s even evidence he lived to be over a thousand years old!”

Izzy nearly fell out of her chair, and Regan shared in her enthusiasm, his aged smile becoming wide and gleaming. Hitch placed his things beside his chair and Izzy did the same, remembering her large saddle bags. When they smacked with a loud metal thud, Regan’s eyes widened.

“G-Got yerself quite a load of bits, huh?”

Izzy nodded.

“Yeppers! Oh umm I mean…” she sucked in her lips and looked to Hitch. He exhaled as if holding in a great question. Regan looked up, worried.

“Listen, Regan… we’re a bit… on edge still. After what happened at Sunny’s family’s place. This is all happening pretty fast.”

Regan scrambled up and out of his chair.

“Say no more, say no more! Please uhhh I’ll get out of yer manes so ye can be in peace!”

Hitch waved his hooves.

“No, I didn’t really mean that, what I meant was, we don’t exactly… trust you. Completely.”

Regan looked to his hooves.

“Oh… I see…”

He looked back up with a smile.

“Not sure what I can do ta convince ye. I suspect Sunny is a good judge of character – ask her when she wakes up. If she says we can’t be trusted, we won’t keep ye. We can let ye out through a path that leads outside of town, toward Vanhoover way. OR there’s a path that leads closer to the Luna Ocean.”

That seemed to satisfy Hitch and excite Izzy again.

“Wow there’s a sea over here named after Princess Luna?”

“Earth Ponies don’t call it that no more; now it’s Ragnar’s Ocean, named after a famous sailor from a few centuries back. A Rockhoof-type; all muscle, no brains, as it were.” He winked at Izzy. “But I like to keep the nomenclature to the historical, proper terms.” Izzy’s tail wagged. Regan cleared his throat.

“I’ll leave you ponies to it for now! Firecracker an’ Jay are probably wonderin’ what the fuss was about. Sunny should be up and about in three hours, give or take. If not, I trust ye can come find me?”

Hitch and Izzy nodded.

“Will do,” Hitch added. “Could you uhh maybe send up some food too? We don’t want to leave her side even for a minute.”

Regan smiled truly from the heart, and it was so warm and grandfatherly that Hitch blushed and had to look away.

“Aye lad, I can do that.”

No colorful dreams of fields or dead relatives filled Sunny’s head – instead, a constant thumping bombardment and low-pitched whir filled her darkened thoughts. It was as if everything that she knew ceased to exist, and in its place was a realm of uncomfortable visions. Her body in that void throbbed like the environment it floated in – a throb of pain that felt like it reached into her soul itself. She wanted to cry out, and to shed tears, though there was no way she could without having a face.

But light eventually came, a slow trickle at first, then a pouring of soft glowing pink. It had the appearance of runny goop. Sunny saw herself come into shape and take form in the void, which turned from pitch black to pure white. The river of pink was like a silk soup – she giggled as she ran her hoof in the knee-deep substance too thick to be called water.

She gasped and jumped up when she saw another creature staring at her from a stone’s throw away. It seemed to float above the pink, and while it looked vaguely like a pony, it was much larger than any Sunny had seen (even compared to Bastion). Its eyes were bigger than a pony’s with nothing inside them save for black sclera and two tiny white pupils, and it had a longer, larger mouth which was drawn into an unflinching smile. It had four legs with fetlocks shaven at the ends near its golden hooves. A giant, sharp horn grew out of the middle of its white head, and fluffy wings like great big clouds hung at its side. Its mane was a trailing of stars and tiny hot suns contained within an outline of prismatic clarity. Something like an aura or a glow of faint white light formed a circle around the creature, as if some spotlight was aimed at it. No features gave away if it was a male or a female.

Sunny couldn’t help but smile back, although it quickly became an awkward affair as the creature was unmoving like a statue. It didn’t even blink, but it did calmly breath in and out. A voice, which was all at once high pitched like a filly but deep like a stallion, came from its unmoving mouth.

“Wake up. You passed the test, with a little help from your friends.”

As a screech entered Sunny’s ears, like the ringing from suffering a blow to the head, she watched the realm and the creature disappear and heard the strange voice one final time.

“There will be more. Be ready.”

Instantly Sunny was gasping for air in some strange room. She looked to the left and the right in quick succession, her eyes drawn to the crystals on the walls. A gentle hoof held her in place.

“Calm, lass, calm.”

It was Regan. Sunny had never been happier to see his old olive-green face, his wrinkles muted but present when somepony like Sunny was so close. His orange-red facial hair and mane were rather prominent, Sunny realized. Hairs stuck out at odd places giving him a rough sort of appearance, but his smile was so “grandpa” that there could be no mistake he was a kind soul. That image was made complete by the checkered cap that he wore, its forest green and mahogany red matching the appearance of his chest sash. He chuckled.

“Gave us a scare, ye did. Yer friends haven’t left yer side – look.”

Sunny was sweating, her chest heaving. But she could sit up and turn her head. Izzy and Hitch were resting on a couch that looked out of place in what must have been an infirmary, a long blanket covering their slowly breathing forms. Plates of mostly eaten food were nearby on a shiny countertop. Sunny spotted one plate that had yet to be touched.

“Hungry? Fixed ye a plate too, I think ye noticed.”

Sunny felt the moisture on her lips. She made some light smacking noises and her brow furrowed.

“Actually… yeah. I’m starving. Wow I am REALLY hungry!”

She jumped out of the bed and gobbled up as much of the vegetables and oats and wheat as she could within a five second span. Regan’s eye twitched.

“L-Lass ye didn’t have ta…”

Sunny turned back around, panting.

“WOW I can’t believe how much I just” — she burped— “ate!”

Regan lit up.

“That’s good lass, that’s good! Means yer recoverin’!”

“Yeah!” she looked back at her friends sleeping, then to Regan. “So, what happened to me? I had this weird dream while I was passed out…”

Regan explained same as he had to Izzy and Hitch. By the end of it, Sunny was pacing, trying to figure it all out.

“Does that mean I’m magical?” A realization hit her and a smile consumed her face, her tail flopping up and down like a motorized featherduster. “Wait I’m magical Regan!”

Regan tried his best to calm her with a motion of his hoof.

“Now now, Sunny, we don’t know what’s goin’ on, but ye definitely need ta control yer use of ‘the voice’ or learn how ta use it without getting’ sick. Anyway, let me finish, would ye?”

Sunny sat on the ground and nodded, assuming a perfectly postured stance like a schoolfilly sitting in class. Her ears flicked every now and again. Regan quietly cleared his old throat.

“What I can say for certain is that old Rutabaga has told me your great-grandfather, Argyle, once used that same voice magic as a youth. But that fact has been repressed, and those who saw and heard it sworn to secrecy. All else who speak of it are written off as crazy.”

“Old… Rutabaga?” Sunny’s head cocked. Regan chuckled.

“Ack, ye’ll have to meet her. She’ll tell ye about yer dad and all sorts of things it ain’t my place to say. Ye can go see her after, she—” Sunny cut him off.

“Before that, I NEED to know what’s going on with my family. What was all that at the house about? And for that matter, what’s this tree, and who are you? Also WHY is my dad’s name also Argyle? My head’s going to EXPLODE!”

Regan flicked his head toward Sunny’s friends.

“Alright but, suppose we should let them sleep in peace, and go somewhere more comfortable to discuss?”

“Fine. I don’t want to actually explode and wake them up.”

Regan laughed with a high pitch typical of an old soul hearing a youthful remark. Sunny turned before departing the room and smiled a giant crescent toward her sleeping friends.

“Wow I can’t believe they care that much! My friends…”

She hopped out of the room. Regan led her out of the infirmary.

“Oh, better make it a bit dimmer fer them.”

He doubled back and gently rubbed the crystals to lower the brightness of their light to almost nothing. They were off again. They followed the long, wooden path inside the tree around its circumference. Faintly glowing crystals now and again lit up the paths just enough so one could navigate, but not bright enough to bother the eyes. Then they went closer to the center of the tree down a path that led to a small chamber with a single bed, a nightside table, and two hoofchairs. A bookshelf with some books stood across from the chairs. All throughout the tree and in the room, too, the walls and ceiling reflected the fact that they were indeed inside a tree.

Regan flopped into a hoofchair with a heavy sigh. He closed his eyes and laid his head back.

“Oh, I’m gonna miss this, let me tell ye…”

Sunny sat down too, her brows causing creases of confusion on her forehead.

“Why, where are you going?”

Regan put his hooves behind his head and inhaled. He smiled. Sunny’s patience wore thin quickly and she grunted.

“Never mind then, have your secrets! But tell me about my family already! I can’t be held responsible if I do explode and you’re caught up in it!”

“Alright, alright, let’s see… ahhh, first thing’s first...”

28 - Rutabaga's Boy

“What I know of tha Starscouts, what history can yet afford us, is that they were one of tha original families chosen to advise Rockhoof and Meadowbrook when Equestria fell apart.” Sunny’s brows pointed down, but she did not protest right away. Regan cleared his throat and continued. “Ye see, many of our founders came to tha Realm from elsewhere in tha country, specifically to tha Smokey Mountains. That’s where they found tha Hooffields and McColts, who each already had a large homestead protected by walls. With their permission Rockhoof and his entourage were allowed to stay. There were many refugees, but tha Starscout patriarch or matriarch – history doesn’t tell us which, lass…” Sunny’s eyelids were dangerously close to shutting completely. Regan shook his head. “Ack, fine, I’ll skip tha history lesson!”

He shuffled his chair closer to Sunny’s. It was a rather cozy affair, the two of them in the small room lit only by the crystal on the wall.

“At some point, tha Starscouts lost their position at tha side of tha realm’s Protector, superseded by tha Hooffields and McColts alone. They gained a lot of power from their estates, which tha Realm was founded on of course. Still, tha Starscout family never lost their spark to dream for a united Equestria. That was until your great-grandfather took ill.”

Sunny swayed sleepily. She stayed awake but barely. Regan, impatiently, sighed.

“Right, let me try and condense this further: yer great-grandfather liked to go on adventures, and he took his only daughter—aye, yer grandmother—with him everywhere he went. As for your great uncle, well, I guess he wasn’t tha type for it. Anyway, Argyle used his voice a lot in tha encounters they’d have with tha wildlife, especially to tha west – nasty sort out there.”

Sunny’s interest piqued.

“Yeah? Like what, like monsters?”

“Ack, oh ye. Great big grizzlies, mosquito flies as big as a stallion” — Regan stretched his hooves out from either side of him as far as he could, and Sunny lit up — “and tha timberwolves! Vicious runts, them. Course they’re not like tha old magical ones, these ones are just normal wolves, bu—”

“Did you say magic?!”

Regan facehoofed.

“No—well yes but… ack, I’m digressin’ ‘ere, I’m digressin’!”

He motioned with two hooves straight forward as if to compartmentalize the discussion.

“Listen, tha point is, your great-grandfather got ill, very ill, and now I’m starting to believe it was from using that voice of his! When he finally passed, well, he was very beloved, most of all by your grandmother. An’ that broke her, a lot.”

Sunny looked down. She imagined her grandmother’s sad old face and felt bad for the anger she held towards her. Then Sunny remembered what her grandmother had said earlier that very day and Sunny soured. Regan continued.

“Plus, imagine too, she later lost one of her daughters and her only son, your mother and uncle. And on top of that, after thinking for so long that your father and mother were living quietly in some corner of tha Realm, she learned that they died! It was crushing for her! Tall Tale was never tha same after that. But it got even worse when she learned about you.”

“Me?”

“Aye, she never knew about ye for tha longest time. Nopony here did. Tha pony who reported tha deaths of your mother and father to yer grandmother didn’t realize they had a daughter. They’d only heard about tha accident. So, Cerena only learned about you when news of a Starscout being hauled off to Castle Rockhoof hit Tall Tale, and you can imagine it didn’t take long for that rumor to get ‘ere!”

Sunny cradled her head and slowly shook it side to side.

“I’m confused… so she knew where mom and dad were but never came to say sorry?”

“She didn’t know, or so tha rumors say. She only barely found out about tha ship accident. Maretime Bay is tucked away in a corner of tha Realm, rarely even considered. That’s why tha rumors travelled so fast when news broke that Tha Titan was personally travelling to take you for questioning. Usually, tha Realm neglects that part of tha land.

“Moving on, I can’t say more than that about your grandmother, I don’t know her personally. But I think that gives a good description about why she acted tha way she did. Can you still blame her, after hearing that?”

Sunny snapped.

“Uhh… YEAH?! She tried to brainwash me with a potion, and she wanted to give Izzy up to those jerks at the Castle! Seriously Regan?”

Regan sighed and leaned back, his head against the chair.

“I don’t proclaim to agree with her actions. But I understand them.” He sat back up and looked at Sunny. His face looked so gentle and simple that Sunny calmed down. “Ponies have lost a lot, Sunny. Not just from tha last war, but from tha society we live in. We need each other to survive and to thrive, at least that’s what I believe.” He smiled so wide the tops of his cheeks closed his eyes. “Try and have an even hoof – everypony’s got two eyes that see differently than ye, and a heart that beats to its own tune.”

He tilted his head and looked at Sunny seriously.

“Or is it that ye think ye have all tha answers, Sunny Starscout?”

Sunny thought for a moment and responded in her usual impassioned way, but with the occasional vocal trip.

“O-obviously I don’t! But I wouldn’t do that… I wouldn’t hurt the ones I love… like that!” She looked down right away and silently stewed. Regan nodded.

“Okay, okay. I understand, ye’re yer own mare. Just… give it thought, ye?” He stretched, and Sunny heard his bones creak. He grumbled tiredly. “I’m spent. Ye don’t mind if I hit tha hay, do ye? Ye can go see Rutabega, near tha top o’ tha tree. She can tell ye more about yer father.”

Sunny broke out of her thoughts and scowled at Regan.

“Hey! But you still didn’t tell me about this tree and the secret club!”

Regan grinned.

“But I thought all tha learnin’ stuff bored ye.”

Sunny closed her eyes and crossed her hooves.

“If it can help me accomplish my dream, I’ll take the chance at being bored to death!” She opened one eye. “So tell me!”

Regan laughed.

“Alrigh’. I think ye might like what I have to say. But—” He yawned loudly and smacked his dry lips. “I’ll tell ye tomorrow with tha rest of tha crew. Before we go off on that journey of yers.”

Sunny leaned forward to get up and follow the departing Regan.

“Wait, WE?”

Regan waved goodnight. Sunny took off after him and pestered him all the way to his personal chambers – a good two-minute stroll through the Tree. Even as he went to close his door, Sunny stuck her head through the door.

“I’m not tired anymore! You can’t leave me hanging like this Regan!”

Regan’s jovial patience became a less-than-ecstatic one.

“Go see Rutabaga, Sunny! She’ll keep ye entertained until bedtime – don’t stay up too late though! Big day tomorrow!”

Then he closed, and locked, his tree-ring-patterned wooden door. Sunny grumbled at the door and stomped her hoof down.

“That should be illegal, getting a mare all excited about something then just saying ‘oh ack, now ah’m goin’ ta go ta bed’!”

Regan complained from the other side of the door.

“Ack, I don’t sound like that!”

“Tell me Regan!”

“Go see Rutabaga, Sunny!”

Sunny pouted angrily then wandered off aimlessly down the dim wooden hallway. She eventually stumbled upon a staircase and went up it. It turned and turned, a spiral that surely took her all the way to the top floor of the Tree.

Sunny meandered around the top floor, noticing outside of the sparse few windows when she came upon them that she was indeed very high up on the tree based on the distance to the cave floor. Sometimes a closed wooden door like Regan’s would appear, but Sunny tried the doorknobs and they did not budge. By the third one she tried she became frustrated.

“Fine! Bed it is!”

But a soft, orange glow caught her eye near the end of the hall. Sunny reasoned it was candlelight, since the wavy glow reminded her of the sort that flames produced in the dark.

Sunny silently strode down the hall and peered into the room.

“Hello,” she said plainly. Tucked away at the edge of the tiny room, on an old rocking chair, was a scrunched up, wrinkled mare. A poofy grey bonnet adorned her crown, where no mane could be seen around the hat. Her fur was pale and peachy, and the aged lines on her face and especially around her mouth made her seem severely dehydrated or dried out like a raisin left in the sun for days.

Despite that, the mare, covered in her grey shawl, had a kindly disposition. She looked up with greyed-out eyes, her body naturally shaking as Sunny saw happen a lot with the elderly. The old mare stopped the slow movement of the needle between her teeth and spit it out onto her lap. She had been sewing a cushion.

“O-Oh. The voice of a y-young filly. Who are y-you, my deary?”

The room was indeed lit by candlelight, coming from a single candle to Sunny’s left. She walked further inside. There was a bed with a thick checkered-pattern comforter (the same pattern as Regan’s sash) and a wardrobe as well.

“My name is Sunny. Sunny Starscout. Are you Rutabaga?”

Rutabaga’s face slowly lit up into the picture of wizened jubilation. She cackled joyfully and patted her knee.

“Yes child yes. And you’re Argyle’s girl aren’t you? My my! I can… hear your mother in your voice!”

Sunny nodded and smiled.

“That’s right! Argyle was my dad and Caela was my mom.”

Rutabaga’s head lowered and she tsked.

“Was… oh, my boy. I forget sometimes that he’s gone. Imagine that—an old bird like me, forgetting something.”

Sunny stepped closer.

“Wait, YOUR boy!?” Rutabaga nodded. “That means you’re his mom so that means you’re…” Sunny inhaled sharply. “My grandmother! My other grandmother! N-Not other like lesser than my OTHER grandmother, but…”

Sunny anxiously hopped in place, an electric smile on her face. Rutabaga cackled again.

“Suppose I am, aren’t I? I was Argyle’s mother but, have a seat deary, there’s a tale to tell first.”

Sunny did as suggested in the wink of an eye. The bed squeaked constantly as she failed to contain her happiness.

“Oohhhh can I hug you granny? Or do you prefer grandma? Grandmother? Nanny? Nana? Oma?”

Rutabaga rocked back and forth and waved a decrepit hoof.

“You call me what you will deary, just don’t call me late to dinner!” She cackled. Sunny frowned.

“I don’t get it.”

Rutabaga regained herself and wiped at her eyes.

“Nothing, deary. Okay, come give me a hug – but be gentle with my old bones.”

Sunny managed to only squeeze the old mare a tiny bit. She smelled of moth balls, as did the room – it was a rather stereotypical grandmotherly smell.

Sunny sat back down.

“You said there was a story, and I want to hear more about my dad, but you have to know granny, history puts me to sleep.”

Rutabaga overenthusiastically replied.

“Ohhh, is that so, deary? Well let me cut to the chase then.”

Sunny got an idea in her head. She waved her hoof just in front of Rutabaga’s face. The mare didn’t flinch or react. Rutabaga opened her mouth and Sunny sat back, smiling wide and guiltily.

“Your father was an orphan. I was not his birth mother.”

Sunny’s brow tightened close to her snout, though she wasn’t exactly sure how to feel. She leaned imperceptibly closer.

“It’s a sad affair. You said no history but… hmm… how to tell it… hmmm… ahh, okay. It happened when Argyle was just a foal…”

40 Years Ago…

Sideways rain pounded against the concrete structures of Trotonto. Many of them were half-built and covered with various tarps that blew in the harsh winds. The dirt and pebble streets, about two wagons wide, were filthy and wet, with visibility reduced due to the storm. A mare, umbrella tight within the grasp of her free hoof, hurried down the street.

“How could I delay so much? Mister Argyle is going to fire me for sure! There must surely be an end to his patience! Ohhh…”

She never liked Trotonto much. It was an up-and-coming city, built out of necessity, or so the rumors back in Tall Tale said. Apparently, each of the pony races needed to trade with one another to keep food on the collective tables, to keep the populations happy despite the constant on and off battles and wars between the races.

“Nothing to do with me,” Rutabaga thought. “But Mister Argyle asked me to come here on an errand—and here I am getting soaked because of it. Ohhhhh but it’s Mister Argyle! I couldn’t say no to him!”

The only ponies who would risk it in the torrential rain were the soldiers, who had no choice. Their stone helmets did little to stop the rain, and altogether may have made it worse for them. Rutabaga passed two of them standing outside an alleyway. A couple of young ponies were huddled under a piece of cardboard opposite the soldiers, and down the alleyway Rutabaga could see the signs of tiny fires desperately clinging to life amidst the dripping rainwater. She saw more young ponies. Something made her stop.

“This is…” she thought out loud. One of the soldiers barked at her.

“Orphan Alley, yep! Listen lady, it’s bad enough having to be posted here during a rainstorm. Move along unless you’re feeling like taking a ticking timebomb into your house!”

The other soldier chuckled.

“Heh, yeah ma’am, here. Look at this one!” He pointed his spear down at a shaking pony. “The freak was dropped off by Hornheads, one of theirs, and no horn! Looks like a flipping Earth Pony! You wouldn’t even know any better!”

Rutabaga’s eyes followed the direction of the pointed spear to see the foal, green-furred, shivering from the cold, but a bitterness and an edge made him snap back. His companions also glared at the soldiers.

“Whatever, jerkhead! I bet we could all beat you up if we tried!”

The other ponies agreed. The soldier stepped forward.

“What did you say, freak?”

His fellow soldier stopped him.

“Relax Carl, it’s not worth it. If Sir Aurelius found out that you caused an incident, you KNOW you’d be getting a hundred lashes! Imagine if one of the Featherfreak or Hornhead troops came through here when we weren’t looking!”

The soldier grumbled and positioned himself back into place. Rutabaga’s mouth hung down.

“So it’s true! An alley where they put all the abandoned ponies born of a different race than their parents!”

As Rutabaga had heard, many ponies of all three races were happy to have a place they could dump their unwanted offspring off but not spell their guaranteed doom by doing so. Even evil parents hold some glimmer of kindness, Rutabaga supposed. She glared at the soldiers.

“Shame on you! These children should be housed in proper orphanages!”

“These freaks? Get out of here, lady! Don’t you know where we are?”

A tiny throat clearing down the alley drew Rutabaga’s attention. A small foal, his fur a light blue, a wave of striking midnight-colored hair swept up for a mane on his head, stepped forward. A little blob of snot hung from his nostril. A wooden necklace hung on his neck—Rutabaga surmised that the symbol was some sort of star. He had a Cutie Mark of a falling yellow star. The foal adjusted his dirty, crooked glasses.

“Actually, ma’am, I s-suppose they have reason. These soldiers here. Well, you see…” He stumbled over his words somewhat. Rutabaga was intrigued. “T-The orphanages are horribly run, very expensive to the Realm, which has to pay for half the cost. It’s much more commercially viable to keep us here in this, well, hmmm, s-slum.”

The foal sniffed his snot back into his nose. He hazarded a glance up to Rutabaga, but quickly looked down.

“Hello, I don’t have a name but, might you stay for a chat, f-for a minute or two? I’m very bored, the other ponies here don’t really—”

“Can it Starbrain!”

The other foals laughed and prodded.

“Yeah! Take your stupid necklace and your fancy words and get back there with the garbage—you both belong there!”

They all laughed. One of the soldiers chuckled quietly until his buddy flicked him. Rutabaga glared at the foals.

“You treat your own misfortunate companion this way? Shame on you as well!”

The bespeckled foal adjusted his glasses again and looked down to the wet pavement.

“N-no, they are quite right, ma’am. As I am smaller and weaker and I have a more advanced vocabulary—well, the nail which sticks out tends to get hammered, as they s-say.”

Rutabaga glared first at the foal, then her gaze softened. She drowned out the laughter of the others, the pitter patter of the rain, the occasional creaking of a passing wagon. The foal looked up at her, and their eyes truly met. His were grey but vibrated with a hidden passion tainted by a longing sadness.

She wanted a foal more than anything else. She had wanted one when she was pregnant the first time, and the second time as well. When both of those failed, she had still wanted one. Even after her husband passed of the pony pox, even then, she had still wanted one.

Fate works in mysterious ways, my dear Rutabaga, is what her master Mister Argyle would say. Apparently, a wandering hermit taught him that.

She risked a tiny smile.

“Okay. I’m going to do it! I hope Mister Argyle doesn’t really fire me after all!”

The little foal cocked his head.

“Uhh ‘M-Mister Argyle’, ma’am?”

She snatched up that little foal, and never again did she willing let go of him. She placed him on her back and ran as fast as she could away from the Alley. He clung to her tight.

“P-PARDON MY INQUISITION BUT… W-WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?” the foal roared about the downpout. Rutabaga smiled from the heart.

“Home.”

Sunny smiled from cheek to cheek, her tail swishing and her ears flickering. She had heard something about a concrete city, some rain, and some giant jerkface soldiers of the Realm, but most importantly she heard that Rutabaga had found her dad in a scary alley and saved him.

Rutabaga cackled nostalgically.

“Ah yesss it was so long ago now. Before the last of the wars, mind you. Scary times, but Argyle made it worth it. It wasn’t always easy… especially at the start, hmm. We never had a dull day, him and I. Between the work I had to perform for your family, and Argyle, and the fun times we all had together, it was a life worthy of recounting.”

Sunny opened her eyes.

“So that’s why my dad has the same name as my great-grandfather! You named my dad after him, right?”

Rutabaga nodded.

“But of course! I named all my pet gerbils after him, too. And my cat, Argyle Fussywhiskers. Your father and I lived just down the street from the Starscout home, back when that street used to be filled with all sorts of ponies down on their luck. Your family always helped the less fortunate, always made everypony seem wanted.” Rutabaga sighed, and hearing such an old, kind soul make such a sad noise made Sunny’s heart throb. “But such things are in the past. So, I am here now, with the Society, in this Tree.” She smiled. “I have learned a lot about Equestria’s past, what with having all the time in the world now that I am retired. I like being here.”

Sunny shuffled in place on the bed.

“Were my dad’s parents Unicorns or Pegasi? Did you ever find out?”

Rutabaga sighed for a long time.

“Argyle was a Unicorn child. That necklace, I learned not long ago, has an image of a Cutie Mark that is very important to the Unicorns. A famous princess of theirs once had it.” She paused to swallow. “T-though none of the books here go into much more detail. Argyle said that necklace was the last thing he had of his family. We never learned what his family name was, so I gave him Starshine.”

Sunny looked down sadly.

“The necklace… he never took it off. It was lost… in the accident.”

Rutabaga made a pleasing noise.

“But you know, I am happy that he pursued what he loved. Oh your mother—he was quite taken with her, as you can guess.” Sunny smiled. “But what they did, taking to the sea, charting the sky and navigating—that was always what Argyle wanted to do. To be free from the land, to see the oceans and the clear blue yonder. Your mother loved adventures as much as your great-grandfather, and I suppose everyday was an adventure on the sea.” She closed her eyes and sat back, humming joyfully to herself.

“What was it like, that place where you lived?” Rutabaga asked. Sunny scratched her cheek.

“Where to start? Maretime Bay… hmm…”

Sunny and Rutabaga went on and on into the night talking about Sunny’s foalhood, where she was raised, and what she remembered of her parents. And Rutabaga shared all manner of insights and stories about Sunny’s parents. Rutabaga was the head servant of the Starscouts, though from her recollection of her exciting life it sounded like she was a servant only by title. Sunny envied the position by the time she dozed off during Rutabaga’s recital of her family history.

Rutabaga nudged Sunny under the covers of the bed. She was accustomed to sleeping in her rocker anyway, Rutabaga reasoned. She watched (and heard) Sunny’s snoring. She cackled quietly.

“Just like Mister Argyle.”

She got up, snuffed out the flame, and retrieved her ancient earbuds from her wardrobe.

“Never thought I would use these again…ohoho… extra insulated.”

And then she joined the world of sleep alongside the rest of the ponies inside the Tree.

Cerena’s room was thoroughly trashed. She had upturned every dresser’s drawer, spewed all the contents of her wardrobe over the floor, broken all the valuable picture frames of all the photographs she had yet remaining on her vanity. They were rare things—an Earth Pony did not come upon the means to produce Unicorn-grade photographs every single day.

But Cerena had not cared. She found herself heaving, staring at the ceiling, all her earthy robes cast upon the floor. She looked at her hooves. Then she looked over at the mirror of her vanity. She got up as she did and saw herself.

It was like her mother looked back in the old times. Her stern mother—it was always a mystery why she chose Cerena’s father as her life partner. Perhaps it was his status.

Perhaps his good looks.

Perhaps his infectious personality. His charm. His kindness. His love of life and his humor. Cerena teared up.

“Mother would ensure me I am doing the right thing right about now. Father would—” Cerena bit back her tears. “It does not matter.”

She descended her double box spring bed and searched for a photograph among the mess on the floor. Finding the one she had in mind, she straightened it out on her bed and observed.

Willder, Caela and Argyle, her daughter’s husband, smiled up at her. Three youthful faces, laughing, almost mocking the old crone. Cerena sighed sadly.

“Did I fail you?”

A knock at the door.

“Grandmother? We haven’t had any luck yet finding them. My guys want to go home now. Uhh, I’m kind of tired too… and hungry…”

“Furyis!”

Cerena was startled. She rubbed her eyes and looked about her room as if she could clean it all up in a jiffy with the right plan. She realized her foolishness and collapsed onto her haunches with a defeated sigh.

“Very well. Call them off for tonight. Come up here with tomorrow morning, please.”

Cerena heard the sound of hoofsteps gradually diminish. She looked at a bunched-up dress not far away. She smiled. It was white and of an intricate design. Many ponies saw it one day long ago, but only one stallion saw it in on her in that room. Cerena felt rage welling up inside.

“You just had to go off and fight in that stupid battle! Why?”

Cerena looked around and saw a clean-cut suit hanging in her wardrobe. She hadn’t touched that one. She went up and grabbed the suit at its neck.

“Why did you leave me to go fight when the other Earth Ponies could have done it? You should have been here with me, if you had stayed, everything could have been different, and now I’m alone and look at all the mistakes I made!”

She shook the suit as her crying resumed.

“Why did you go, my love? I—”

Cerena let herself fall to the floor in front of her wardrobe. She quietly sobbed into a scarf. In her head she once again watched her father pass away, reduced to nothing but skin and bones by the end. Then she relived seeing the bundled remains of her husband come back to the Starscout mansion. She relived the looks of her children that day, the sadness and the horror. She relived seeing them leave her, one by one. Even Lumina had become so distant…

Or… has it been me?

Cerena was beside herself. The light waned on. Her eyes and throat sore, the scarf she had cried into thoroughly drenched in salty water, Cerena looked up and caught a glimpse of a drawing at the corner of her vision. She sniffled and reached for it. She held it up.

The young mare was sketched out in pencil—whoever it was that gave the report to Cerena, he was an excellent artist. He had captured her granddaughter well.

He did a great job getting the fire in her eyes.

“Oh Sunny…”

Cerena traced her hoof along the cheek.

“What have I done?”

29 - The Great Escape

Author's Note

Sorry! Everyone must have thought the new chapter was coming yesterday but when I wrote my blog post I thought "tomorrow" was Saturday. My bad!

Enjoy this extra long chapter to wrap up Arc 3!

29 - The Great Escape

Sunny stretched her hooves and groaned groggily. The thick bed cover was clumped over to one side, so Sunny flopped around to hug it. She sighed contently and smacked her lips. She hadn’t yet really woken up. It was one of the best sleeps she had had in a long time.

As she laid in the relative silence, a faint, persistent creaking hit her ears and made them twitch. Her eyes burst open when she remembered herself.

“O-Oh! Granny! I’m s-so sorry, I fell asleep on your bed!”

Sure enough the old soul was still in her rocking chair, Rockhoof knows how many hours after Sunny passed out. Though, Rutabaga looked pleased.

“Hush now deary, it’s okay. I always sleep in my chair, you see.”

Sunny protested.

“But my snoring! I’m just… listen, I’m going to go, okay?”

Rutabaga cackled.

“Deary deary deary, I used to be around your great-grandfather most of the day and when he took his naps, he snored even louder than you.” She patted her lap and Sunny saw some little spongy things there. “I took my ear plugs out earlier so I could hear you snore. It was nostalgic, believe it or not. Only a Starscout can snore that loud.”

Sunny looked down and blushed, a goofy smile on her face. She smoothed as best she could the stray strands of magenta hair in front of her face back behind her ear. Her mane was a mess – the Prench braids her grandmother had given her two days prior had become loose and the whole thing was a write-off. Sunny whinnied.

“My mane....”

Rutabaga chuckled.

“Well, deary, you best go down and find your friend then, hmm?”

Sunny got out of bed and resigned herself to her fate that she would need Izzy to fix her mane. She quickly looked and felt to her side for her little knapsack though could not find it. Rutabaga’s body jolted and she reached down beside her rocking chair. She pulled up Sunny’s knapsack and handed it to her.

“Here, deary. You run off now. Have fun, but don’t get lost! Your great-grandfather loved his journeys—your mother too, once upon a time. My Argyle did too so long as the journey went over water. But I think it’s in your blood to want to go see new lands and new ponies. And you have friends with you, too, to keep you company and keep you safe.” She smiled wide. “How exciting.”

Sunny beamed and wrapped her other grandmother up in a snug embrace before turning to leave the room. Rutabaga called after her.

“Take your time but hurry back! My door’s always open deary!”

Sunny turned back one final time.

“I wish I could stay but, this journey…”

“Say no more deary. I understand the call of adventure.” She sighed longingly, looked to the ceiling, and shook her head. “It never did reach out to me, that call, but I love to see how much joy it brings to ponies. And after all, aren’t we here to enjoy life while we can?” She cackled. Sunny and Rutabaga shared one final mutual smile. Then, Sunny left.

“Goodbye granny!”

She made for the spiral stairs at the other end of the hall that wrapped around the tree. She breathed in and then breathed out. A frown plastered her face as she descended the stairs.

There’s no way I was going to tell grandma about everything about the journey. I’ll see her when I get back and explain what it was all about! It won’t take that long to unite Equestria! How big can one country be?

She kept trying to force herself to smile and forget her nagging thoughts.

Listen, brain, if I told her and she made me feel bad or said I shouldn’t go, I might hav—

Sunny closed her eyes and grunted loudly.

“Nope, this is how it’s got to be. Plus, I’ll have so many cool things to share with her when I get back! And then they won’t have to hide underground in this big, weird tree anymore, once the races are all united!”

She descended the last step and entered the floor where the infirmary was. At the bottom was Hitch, looking particularly smug.

“Your body seems finr Sunny but talking to yourself? I think all that alicorn stuff made you crazy.”

His eyes shifted to her mane.

“Whoa uhhh… yeah it made your hair crazy too…”

Sunny hoofpunched his shoulder and he yelped.

“Good to see you, Mr. Trailblazer!”

Hitch rubbed his shoulder and squinted.

“Uhuh, seems like it. Sleep well?”

“Like a foal! You?”

He flashed his signature smile.

“You betcha. Come on, let’s get some grub!” They began to walk and talk. “I was thinking: if that owl thing Westley is best buds with Curio, then he’s probably already told Castle Rockhoof that we’re here. If they have the town surrounded, maybe it’s best to lay low for some time?”

Sunny looked up at Hitch, a downward curve in her brow.

“We don’t have time to spare though! Did you forget about the yetis?”

“No, I didn’t, but I’m trying to prevent us from getting thrown in those jail cells again! It won’t be so nice if it happens again Sunny!”

“Relax. I’m well rested, I’m over the voice / alicorn sickness, and right after we eat, I’ll be nice and full!” Sunny glared with determination straight ahead and hoof pumped the air. “Come and get me, jerkfaces! Sunny Starscout is back in action!” Hitch rolled his eyes but couldn’t help smiling.

“Alright, alright, fine. Hey, keep your mane like that and maybe you’ll just scare them all to death.”

Sunny stuck her tongue back at her friend who smiled proudly at his jest. They wound up at some more stairs and, having descended them about halfway, they ran into Izzy, who literally tackled Sunny to the ground in a huge Unihug.

“Sunny! You’re okay! I’m so glad you’re okay, I’m SO SO sorry, I didn’t sleep well the other night, you know, at your grandmother’s place, so I just—”

“It’s okay little doll.” Sunny squeezed tight and felt Izzy’s warmth. “I’m glad you two are here with me.”

Izzy’s little tears rolled down her face as she held her friend. Hitch didn’t quite get to that level though he was smiling cheek to cheek. He chuckled.

“Alright fillies let’s break it up, come on now.”

Sunny looked over at him and quickly scooped him up into a big group hug. He gasped for air.

“T-too much… l-love…”

Sunny squeezed harder and harder. Izzy waved a hoof.

“H-He’s right, S-Sunny… sorry…”

Sunny let go and blushed.

“I’m embarrassed! Oh my gosh I just—”

Sunny watched her panting friends. They all looked at one another for a moment. Then they burst into laughter for a few minutes. Just when the cacophony started dying down, it restarted due to Izzy’s uncontrolled snortlaughter at Sunny’s mane once Hitch pointed it out. Thinking they had all gone mad, a curious Regan peeked his head down the staircase.

“Errr, y’all alrigh’? Do ye want any eats or?”

Stomping hooves clambering up the stairs was the response. Sunny’s bright, wide-eyed face greeted Regan.

“Do I!”

Izzy sat back, content as can be, and patted her bloated stomach. A little burp escaped her lips and she looked around nervously to see if any other diners had heard. When she saw nopony looking her way, she closed her eyes and sighed.

“That was… wow…”

Hitch and Sunny (whose mane was back to its normal self thanks to Izzy’s hard brushing) were in similar states of post-gorging bliss.

The Underground Treehouse of Friendship had a large, grandiose dining hall, with roots hanging from the ceiling that contained clear crystals twinkling with prismatic light. Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch were seated near the end of the long table, with their hosts Jay, Firecracker, and Regan also feasting across from them. Another pony was constantly moving back and forth from the dining hall to an adjacent room behind a swiveling wooden door, huffing in a frustrated tizzy.

“Ate enough, didja?”

Regan waved him away.

“Now now Chaucer, ye know it’s a special occasion. These three are off on tha journey that will unite Equestria!”

Sunny watched the one called Chaucer turn back and stumble into what she imagined was a kitchen. He was a husky smoke-colored stallion, much plumper than she had seen before. A tight, black mustache hung above his perpetually frowny lip. His eyes, black, matched his short, slicked-to-the-side and balding mane. Clearly, he was some type of chef, given his attire. Regan saw Sunny looking and nodded knowingly toward her.

“That’s Chaucer, he’s our chef. Wanted to be your family’s chef but he lost tha job to that Spencer fella! Didja meet him at yer place?”

Sunny nodded.

“Yeah, he was super nice. But we’re full now, Regan—it’s time to spill the beans!” Sunny motioned around her as she continued. “What is all of this?”

Firecracker interjected. “Regan, should we really tell them? I was thinking about it and—” Sunny felt her brow dip down, a bit annoyed another mare was as impetuous as she. Regan held up his hoof to Firecracker silencing her but just barely.

“Firecracker, and ye too, Jay.” He looked over at the slowest eating of the group, who stared directly at his food looking rather unsure about everything. “We need to trust somepony. We have spent too much time scrutinizin’ every Tom, Dick, and Harry who shows promise and enthusiasm. Nothing is going to change if we keep held up in tha Tree forever, only leavin’ once or twice a day. Sooner or later, the Realm’s soldiers’ll find this place now that we lost tha support o’ the Starscouts.”

Sunny flashed an eager smile.

“Not this Starscout!” Regan smiled back and raised his glass of cider. “Now, answer time!”

Firecracker cut Regan off with her hoof.

“I’ll go first.” She looked Sunny up and down, both mares looking somewhat sour having to see the other. “The Society of the Sun has existed since the fall of Equestria. We live and operate in secret, the only ponies who openly investigate the true history of the nation. This is the Underground Treehouse of Friendship, planted long ago to carry on the legacy of the Treehouse of Harmony.” Sunny’s ear twitched. Her eyelids got heavy. Firecracker pushed back the fiery, rambunctious mane from her lily-white face and opened her mouth to continue, but Izzy waved her hoof.

“Oo oo what’s a Treehouse of Harmony?”

Jay answered before Firecracker could.

“It used to be an important place for many different ponies and races to meet in old Equestria, but it was lost centuries ago. Apparently, it shined bright like a diamond.”

Izzy looked to her friends, her eyes twinkling. That brought Sunny back from her bored slump. Hitch was patiently and quietly taking it all in. Firecracker resumed her explanation.

“We have a chapter here in the Realm of the Earth Ponies, but there is also one in Unicornia and one in the Cloudlands. Far away somewhere south, we also apparently have a correspondent in the jungle.” She looked at Regan. “Right?”

Regan chuckled.

“Aye, fancies himself the Daring Do of the modern era—well, none of that will make sense. Ack, he’s a right lad, him. I seen him once, and we write at least once a year. Same goes for the rest of the chapters.”

Jay chimed in.

“This is all VERY secret. Like, the kind of secret that, if the wrong pony hears, we’re all going to the castle dungeons until the end of time… maybe even beyond that! I hope you three understand! Especially you, Starscout, you have a big mouth!”

Sunny shouted.

“Do not!”

Hitch and Izzy looked at her and, feeling the gazes of everypony, Sunny sheepishly sat back.

“Heh heh okay maybe a little…”

Hitch joined in.

“We get it: mum’s the word. So, you guys have been living underground and communicating with Unicorns and Feath” — He changed the course of his words seeing Sunny and even Regan glaring— “Pegasi… you’ve been doing all that all this time and nopony has found this place? What about the other chapters?”

Izzy nodded, clearly engaged in the conversation.

“Yeah, I’ve never, ever heard of this Society thing!”

Regan smiled.

“Well, if tha sister of tha Voice of the Five Tribes doesn’t know we exist, ye can imagine how secretive we really are, hmm?” He changed his tone and expression to more serious. “We only revealed ourselves to ye because of Sunny, and because of what we heard. Not just Sir Bastion goin’ all the way to Ponedunk to get ye—it was when one of our ears on tha ground brought news of that voice of yers!” He looked at Sunny and flicked his eyebrows. The other two looked at Sunny with curiosity. She patted her chest.

“I guess I’m sort of a big deal, huh?”

Hitch took the opportunity to tap her shoulder, and she rubbed it much the same as he had done earlier.

“Oi, we already have a pony full of him or herself in this friendship threesome.”

“Yeah but I have a good reason to be!”

“What, and I don’t? Noearthpony has even talked about how I have super strength yet!”

Jay replied.

“All the descendants of Rockhoof do, to some degree. Your brother is the same way you know…” Jay rolled his eyes. Hitch became serious and nearly jumped out of his seat.

“Wait, my brother? Have you met him… you see him lately?!”

Jay sighed.

“Don’t get excited, Trailblazer, I haven’t seen him in months. He used to come up for the festival sometimes. Might have met him two or three times total. But he always liked to show off in that ‘Hey let me compete in the Strongpony contest just for fun—oh look I won’ way.” Firecracker jabbed him.

“Pretty sure that’s just called ‘being modest’.” Firecracker, usually tomfoalish, wrapped her forehooves together and gushed. “Halter is… amazing.” She sighed longingly. “That’s what a Knight should act like, and look like!” She looked at Hitch with a deadpan expression. “Then there’s you, pretty boy.”

“W-what about me?” Hitch seemed genuinely hurt. Sunny tapped his shoulder.

“There there Casanova. There are plenty of fish in the sea, remember?”

Izzy tapped Hitch’s other shoulder and he looked dejectedly to her.

“It’s okay Hitchy—you can’t please everycorn.” Hitch and Sunny both looked at Izzy. She blushed. “Pony. Everypony, heheh… sorry!”

Regan cleared his throat.

“Are ye lookin’ fer yer brother?”

Hitch nodded, a melancholy about him making him appear like a lost foal.

“I didn’t expect to hear any news all the way here in Tall Tale… he went east about a month ago, towards the Unicorn lands…”

“So ye think he was foalnapped?”

“By the Hornhe—b-by the Unicorns, yes.”

“Ack, nasty business. Sorry to hear, I can’t provide any information about that ‘cept stuff ye probably don’t want to hear…”

“About what they… could be doing to him?”

“Aye lad… aye.”

Jay crossed his hooves and sat back, his defiant face turned up in a scowl.

“If it ain’t the Unicorns it’s the Diamond Dogs. The Realm is getting it from all sides.”

Regan added.

“Don’t forget now there’re tha yetis, too.”

“Exactly. It’s a tough spot. Even if we evade the soldiers and the Knights, it might be somepony else that finds this place and destroys it.” Jay rubbed his face roughly. “Argghhh…”

Hitch rested against one of his hooves on the table, pushing his half-empty plate in front of him. He sighed.

“I know it wasn’t yetis because Halter hated the cold. And Diamond Dogs are too stupid to get him”— he turned to Sunny and Izzy — “You remember those dopes on the road to the Castle?” Sunny nodded and Izzy shivered. Hitch continued after another long sigh. “He’s in the Unicorn lands. We’ll just… find him when we get there.” Sunny and Izzy each offered a reassuring touch and Hitch smiled at each of them in turn.

“Hoof to heart!” Sunny exclaimed and took the hoof she had on Hitch’s shoulder and rested it on her chest. This made Jay and Firecracker smile, and Regan clapped.

“Aye, aye! Hoof to heart, all of us now!” And the three members of the Society of the Sun made the same gesture. “The very first member of tha Society was a pony named Brightlee Dawn. The charter of our Society, err”— Regan looked around, a confused look on his face— “Ack, where’d we put that thing anyway?”

Jay spun the end of his hoof around in the air nonchalantly.

“Chaucer, he tried to use it as a bib, remember?”

Regan smacked one of his hooves against the other.

“Right! He did, didn’t he!” Regan chuckled at that, then returned to his serious state. “Anyway, our charter states that tha members must perform their duties as Brightlee Dawn did: with excitement, enthusiasm, and a desire always to help with a smile!” He chuckled again and leaned over to nudge Jay. “Some of us are more smiley and enthusiastic than others, eh Jay?”

Jay rolled his eyes but smiled.

“Ehh I always did want to be an actor, not a member of a secret society. But, that’s life, and all that.”

Sunny yawned and sat back.

“That’s great and all, but for me, hoof to heart means you do everything with all your heart. You make a promise on your words! They can’t just be words, they have to be actions, too!”

Hitch looked sidelong at Sunny.

“Wasn’t that pretty much all you did in Maretime Bay was talk all the time?”

“Protest is not just talking, it’s a lot more than that! It is action!” Sunny crossed her hooves and nodded once. “Anyway, I’m here now.” She looked with determination at Regan. “We need to start heading north. We might have spent a bit too much time here.” She looked at Hitch and Izzy meekly. Izzy smiled back but Hitch had wide eyes.

“Oh, ya think? I’m glad we learned all that we did but this place has got to be surrounded now! It’s been three whole days since that thing at the castle!” He looked at Regan. “Please tell me you have some sort of escape route that leads all the way to the Frozen North?” Hitch clasped his hooves in a pleading gesture. Regan chuckled.

“Aye, somethin’ like that, lad. Though, it’ll only take us to tha outskirts o’ town.”

Jay jumped in.

“And it probably won’t be much use. With the theft of Rockhoof’s Shovel, the Realm has volunteers and reservists out searching, not just the usual soldiers. They’re all over. There are bound to be ponies on the road.”

Sunny and Izzy gasped; Hitch jumped onto his hooves.

“What?” he roared. “Rockhoof’s Shovel is GONE?!”

The three Society members looked at one another. Regan scratched the top of his head. He opened his mouth to speak and looked up behind Sunny at the wall.

“Ack, ye didn’t know—OI WE GOT TO GO!”

Regan leapt out of his chair, so much in a hurry he was running in place in the air trying to scramble forward. He was like a lightning bolt, zipping through the Tree gathering things. Jay and Firecracker got up as well and ran to one of the exits. Sunny and her friends got up as well.

“I—what?!” Hitch looked to Sunny, his face totally lost to confusion. Izzy also looked to Sunny. Sunny trotted after the departing Society members.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

Jay ran ahead through the door, but Firecracker remained for a brief moment.

“It’s time for you to go! 9 o’clock, this is your best shot!”

Before anypony really knew what was going on, Sunny, Hitch and Izzy had their things and were loading them into a wagon. It was big enough inside for all of their things. They were outside in the cave, near a tunnel that went steeply upwards. A tiny wooden building with some fences built around it and something like a stable was positioned nearby.

“Wait for Regan, he will be here once he’s packed!” said Jay, once again in his full black outfit. Firecracker pointed a hoof at Hitch.

“You! You better bring back your brother and tell him to come marry me!”

Hitch gulped and flashed a wide, shaky grin.

“W-what, you uhhh want me as your stepbrother t-that bad?”

Firecracker returned the cocky expression without the loss of confidence, almost getting snout to snout with Hitch.

“He’s such a hot slice of stallion, yeah, I could live with his dopey little baby brother as my family.”

Hitch’s ears fell down.

“Ouch… d-dopey?”

Firecracker pushed air out of the side of her mouth and turned away.

“Don’t start crying, I was just joking! You go and unite Equestria, pretty boy!”

Sunny patted Hitch.

“That was rather meek of you. You’re normally a bit more tougher than that, Hitch!”

Hitch rubbed the back of his neck.

“I don’t know what it is about her but…” he cocked his head as he watched her retreat at a trotting pace beside Jay, her red-orange tail dancing about like the fire at the end of a torch. “She seems different. You know?” He rubbed his chin. “I think because she’s more like a stallion than a mare, I mean besides being madly in love with Halter.” Sunny raised her hoof and shook her head.

“Sure friend, whatever you say. Now, where is that—”

As if on cue, Regan galloped into view, briefly speaking to his friends as they crossed paths. A big sack of goods was on his back. He was completely out of breath when he finally got all his things piled into the wagon, leaving on himself only his usual chest sash and some weird mechanical device strapped to his side.

“Alrigh’ – we’re ready to go ponies! Onward and outward, aye?”

Sunny pointed a hoof at his chest.

“YOU’RE coming too?! I knew something was up! This is a serious journey to unite Equestria, are you sure you can keep up?!”

Regan nodded and jumped in the wagon.

“Ack, of course I can! Let’s go! Lad,” he said, looking at Hitch. “Get yerself strapped in so we can go!”

“Me?! Why me?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted some attention because ye’re related to Rockhoof? Well, now is tha time to put up or shut up, Willy Jim!”

“Willy Jim?”

Hitch looked at the ground, puzzled. “W-wait, I’ve heard that before! And your accent! Oh I can almost remember now—you must have a cousin or something that I’ve met before!”

Regan smirked.

“We’ll talk later. Enough exposition, let’s blow this joint and get to tha North already!” He looked at Sunny. “That still the plan, fearless leader.”

Sunny blushed and felt the glow of respect emanating from her. Hitch whinnied and Izzy boarded the wagon, smiling gently at her friend.

“Why yes,” Sunny said, hoping aboard and placing her hoof on the top of her chest. “Yes, it is our plan. Onward, noble steed!” she said to Hitch. He had just finished strapping himself in. He glared back at her.

“Okay you get that one joke but next time you say something like that I’m dumping this thing in a huge puddle of mud, got it?”

Sunny sheepishly giggled and waved.

“Yes! Sorry! I couldn’t help it! Can you please take us out of here, Hitch?”

Izzy joined in.

“Only you can do it Hitch! We’re not strong enough!”

Regan also added his own voice, which he made high-pitched like a filly’s.

“Oh yes Mr. Hitch the Hero, please oh please save us.”

Hitch shook in uncomfortable horror as Regan burst out laughing.

“N-Never do that again Regan.”

Regan wrapped his hooves around the mares.

“ADVENTURE AND ROMANCE AWAITS LAD AND LASSES! AWAY WITH US! AWAY TO THE UNKNOWN!”

Izzy and Sunny both cheered.

“ADVENTURE!”

Hitch rolled his eyes with a smile.

“Yeah yeah… just, hold on, okay?”

He started at a great pace, despite the steepness of the path. They eventually leveled out and the tunnel became pitch black. Regan activated a hooflight on his leg which amplified the light of one of the underground crystals contained inside. It illuminated the remainder of their tunnel trek; Izzy clapped.

“A hooflight! Wow!”

Regan grinned.

“Nifty, ye? We at tha Society don’t reject Unicorn technology, especially the best of it!”

The end of the new tunnel had some light at what appeared to be its exit, though it also looked like something was blocking it.

“Right! This is going to be our great escape, party members!” Regan announced. He unstrapped the device to his side and started wrapping it around Sunny, who flinched.

“W-what is this?”

“Our ticket out of this jam! The soldiers’ll be waiting for us, I’m sure. They’ve got Tall Tale surrounded.”

Regan held up the device once strapped to Sunny properly. It looked like a weirdly shaped disc attached to a metal rectangle, which had a funny looking mesh part at the end closest to Sunny’s mouth. However, what was really attractive was the faint glow of a green crystal inside of the semi-transparent casing. Regan saw Sunny’s expression and explained.

“Aye, it’s the same as the crystals we have in the cave. They’re Eldridge crystals; the Unicorns call them magic batteries.” He looked at Izzy, who was mesmerized by the glowing green. “Surprised ye didn’t realize, Ms. Moonbow.”

Sunny began to bounce.

“Magic? So, they ARE magic?!”

“Ack, sort of. Izzy?”

Izzy covered her cheeks with her hooves.

“Pony smokes, seriously? I didn’t think you’d have any here in the Dirt Realm! I just thought they were the false batteries…”

Regan finished her thought.

“The bioglow crystal? Aye we have some of those. But this one is an Eldridge. It’s almost spent, but there’s enough juice in her for one more use, Sunny!”

Sunny shrugged.

“Okay but what the hay is it?!”

Izzy raised her hoof and waved.

“Oo oo I know this one! That’s a voice magnifier! You can talk really really loud with one of those! Like, so loud it breaks glass and gets you in trouble with your grandmother!” She laughed nervously and both Sunny and Regan looked at her. She sucked in her lips, her eyes darting side to side. “Or uhh so I’ve heard.”

Sunny felt the machine and tapped on it. She smiled wide.

“Are you serious? This thing would have been amazing to have for my protesting about Equestrian unity back in Maretime Bay!”

Hitch had brought the party almost to the exit, the streaks of light coming through the cracks evident. Some kind of wooden structure blocked the exit, however. Hitch stopped.

“Right,” he whispered. “Finish explaining whatever that is—when we’re out there, I’m legging it and you all have to keep quiet!”

“No use for that, Hitch Trailblazer!” Regan exclaimed. “Subterfuge won’t save us now! That’s what this is for!” He patted Sunny’s side. “Let’s go out with a bang, Ms. Starscout! Shout your lungs out! Tell the town how you feel! And—” He held up his hoof beside her head. “At tha same time, we’ll be gettin’ rid of any soldiers that are waiting for us!”

Sunny looked down toward the mouthpiece of the contraption and thought. Hitch trotted in place.

“You sure that’s a good idea? Can’t we just escape quietly?”

“No! Not possible! Our adventure can’t start that way, no chance Trailblazer!”

“Uhh wait are you saying we can’t or you don’t WANT us to?!”

Sunny interrupted.

“He’s right, Hitch. We need to go out with a bang.”

Regan roared with laughter.

“Yes! YES! SUNNY LET THEM HEAR YE!”

“How do I get it to turn on?!”

“The button on the side, the green one!” Regan directed Hitch. “Move the door blocking the tunnel! All of Tall Tale needs to hear this!”

The party urged Hitch on. He whinnied one last time in frustration and facehoofed.

“Okay fine. Fine!”

He bucked the door open and it flew into a tree some metres away. Regan coughed.

“J-jeez ye didn’t have to buck it that hard! We just paid it off!”

“Be careful what you wish for Regan!”

The outside light poured in in earnest. Hitch brought the wagon out. They were inside a thick patch of trees within a forest.

“Give it all ye got Sunny! Now’s the time!” Regan cheered.

Sunny closed her eyes. She saw her grandmother’s dour expression, she saw the looks on all the faces again from the catacombs under her family’s house. Then she saw pictures of Bastion and Curio: a wide, smug and evil grin and an old calculating scowl. She saw the darkness and the terror. But she also saw an image of her parents. And her friends. She saw the light for what it was. She opened her eyes and clicked the green button.

In the center of Tall Tale sat a stage. It was beginning its first performance of the day. Miss Lumina was donning her hat and cape. She sniffed back her tears.

“Ohh sister…”

She spoke to her reflection in her dressing room mirror. With a final heavy sigh, she got up and practiced smiling. She worked her face muscles in every direction and practiced the projection of her voice.

“La la laaaaaaa… mi re doooooo…”

With a final throat clearing, she appeared on stage behind the curtain. Her accomplice was giving the usual spiel just beyond.

“Despair no more, for Tall Tale’s bringer of happiness and joy has arrived!”

Lumina closed her eyes and the curtain drew open. She stepped forward. Her accomplice began.

“Miss—”

A loud voice crashed through the street like a tidal wave of sound.

“LISTEN UP! MY NAME IS SUNNY STARSCOUT AND I’M GOING TO UNITE EQUESTRIA! UNICORNS, EARTH PONIES, AND PEGASI WILL LIVE TOGETHER! THAT’S MY PROMISE, HOOF TO HEART! NO MATTER WHAT, JUST WAIT AND SEE!”

Lumina fell like all the others, and for at least a minute couldn’t move. When she was able to, she stood up and looked to the sky. The sun was peeking out from some clouds.

Sunny…

She smiled. Her eyes filled with tears.

Wow. That voice is something else.

The townsponies all scrambled about.

“What was that?”

“WAS THAT A UNICORN ATTACK?!”

“WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!”

“Did she say Starscout?? The Starscouts are attacking us?!”

Miss Lumina’s stage accomplice looked to her, completely paralyzed with confusion and fear. Miss Lumina laid her hoof on his shoulder and addressed the crowd.

“That was my niece, Sunny Starscout.”

The crowd collectively gasped. The same little filly from the other day was raised in the crowd.

“She’s the traitor! We must all be vigilant around such a threat!” The crowd barked in agreement. Lumina shook her head.

“No! It’s not like that! I don’t know the full story, but the truth is like this…”

Cerena was nearly toppled over by the sound of her granddaughter’s voice, amplified to a level Cerena had never heard before. Even being beside her father during his own shouts, never did the noise rattle her very bones. Cerena picked herself off her floor, disoriented.

It’s impossible… she thought to herself. She tackled into the boarded-up balcony door of her bedroom. There’s no way you can do it, Sunny! You and your friends are going to—she was interrupted from her thoughts when at last her tackles brought her crashing through the wood. Sunny’s voice had already shattered the glass doors on the other side leading to the balcony. Cerena, feeling the summer air on her fur, got up and looked toward the source of the commotion. She knew where they would be heading—the secret northern exit.

But it’s trapped!

Cerena looked out to the distance. To her left was Tall Tale, from where there were dogs barking, babies crying and ponies asking loudly about what they had just heard (and felt). To the right was the forest, surrounding the city on all sides. Directly ahead, though Cerena could not see it clearly, was a tiny trail that nopony ever used.

A trail used by the Society, and her father. He had told Cerena about it, but even after her change of heart she had never been able to tell the soldiers about it. Something stopped her from that final betrayal of everything her father tried to teach her. She looked down, still catching her breath.

I have to—

“Grandmother!”

Cerena shot around. Furyis looked frantic.

“That was Sunny! If we go now, I think we can stop them before they leave!”

Behind him appeared Argus, looking particularly stern. Cerena couldn’t hold his gaze.

“Cerena,” he barked.

Furyis looked to his great uncle, seeing a different look on his face than he usually had. With his fine suit and bushy eyebrows, he looked much more patriarchal than normal. Cerena turned back toward the north.

“Furyis,” she began. Cerena bit her lip hard. She remembered the last time she saw Willder’s smile, and Caela’s. They both were smiling the last time she saw them. They were happy. She breathed in deep before exhaling. She commanded her grandson and gave him instructions. When he finally ran away in a daze, Argus stepped into the room.

Positioned among the trees outside of Tall Tale was a contingency of soldiers of the Realm. They were on an overgrown trail—seemingly nothing more than a hoofpath for explorers or hikers. The head of that group of soldiers, a mare in a copper-color set of armor, narrowed her eyes forward. She repositioned her crossbow, mounted on a wooden stand.

“Right! Keep focus, men and mares!” she commanded, loud enough to be heard despite the giant globs of wax in everypony’s ears. “My promotion depends on it!” She had a dark teal fur coat and piercing green eyes and barely stood still. She was hopping in place and slapping the top of her weapon. “Don’t be afraid of that voice as long as your ears are clogged! Remember what the bird said: if we capture the Starscout, Sir Curio will reward us all! And I’ll finally get my promotion!”

Her sergeant leaned in and spoke loudly. The other soldiers returned to their original positions, somewhat rattled by the shouting that had occurred, but mostly okay thanks to the ear wax.

“Ms. Seaside, are you sure you’re going to get a promotion, err—”

“Yes! Don’t ruin my moment! Get ready!”

The sound of hooves trampling the dirt ahead gave away their quarry. Ms. Seaside, the Page, widened her toothy grin. “Any second now men and mares! Aim those crossbows!”

About ten of the soldiers had weapons similar to that of their superior, each hidden partially behind a tree. The tips of each of their arrows were rounded and blunt but glowed a-cold looking blue. They were presents from Sir Curio the Right Hoof himself.

The sergeant placed a string of thick rope between his teeth and carried the rest of the rope in one of his hooves and wrapped partially around his body. He was poised to leap out.

Just down the path, Sunny Starscout dropped the Unicorn device, the light of its crystals having gone from dim to nonexistent. Regan was hooting and hollering.

“An excellent cry of adventure! Marvelous! HEE HAW! Pick it up, Trailblazer, let’s get out of ‘ere!”

Hitch was at the top of his game and at a full gallop. The wagon rumbled behind him—Izzy was gripping tight to the side, unable to hide her shaky grin. Sunny was more unabashed about her mood and screamed at the top of her lungs.

“HERE WE COME YETI PRINCE! YOU BETTER BE READY, BUDDY!”

The second wave of sound, impressive though much smaller than the previous one, went ahead of them, bouncing off the trees as it went. Her friends all cringed—Hitch barely stopped himself from wiping out and taking everypony with him. He stopped and glared back at Sunny, his voice shaky.

“C-can you not? F-Friendly fire, Sunny!’

“Hehe, sorry Hitch.”

Hitch shook his head and trotted in place to warm up again.

“Alright, alright, Hitch, you’re the descendant of a great hero. A champion! Just run right through!”

Regan leaned down and patted Hitch’s rump.

“Aye lad just lower yer head an’ charge. We’ve abandoned all reason, all fear!” He rose a hoof toward the heavens. “We’re rushing into danger and adventure! No space for mice now—only predators!”

Izzy hoofpunched the air.

“Yeah! Predators!”

Sunny did the same.

“Weird word choice but… yeah! Let’s go!”

Hitch groaned one final time then steeled himself.

“Here goes! Hang on everypony!”

Hitch launched himself forward and his gallop caused a cloud of dust behind the wagon. All three of the passengers had to hang on for dear life—if they stuck out their head, their open cheeks would be waving in the wind behind them.

Eventually, Hitch noticed a figure in the trees. Then he noticed several.

“Oh no… OH NO GUYS, DUCK! THEY HAVE CROSSBOWS!”

The passengers did as commanded, Sunny only because Regan was holding her down.

“Let me go I can… I have to…”

“Stop ye crazy lass!”

Hitch pushed forward. He heard shouting and grunting and struggling on either side of him as he ran and ran, daring not to look up. Once he was past the disturbance, he looked back.

The soldiers had been accosted by a number of stallions, some of them familiar to Sunny and her friends. One of them was her cousin, Furyis, waving at them. Sunny looked up from her hiding spot and glared.

“Furyis!”

Her cousin was all smiles.

“Hey cos! I guess Grandmother had a change of heart! Well, I’m not fully on board but what she says goes!” One of the soldiers tried to get back up and Furyis bucked him, causing his helmet to shatter. “Have a safe trip! You better come back in one piece so I can tell you about your crazy family!”

Sunny couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but Hitch started galloping once more.

“We can figure out what the hay that was once we’re outta here!” he explained. Sunny turned back around. A small smile appeared on her face. Regan leaned forward and laughed.

“Ack, like I said Sunny: yer grandmother has her reasons fer actin’ tha way she does!”

The entourage burst out of the forest and onto a dirt road that led across a wide-open field toward even more forest up ahead. They caught a fine glimpse of the cloudy, white sky and the immense mountains beyond, obscured by the apparent fog that lingered in the distance. Sunny looked up, her mouth becoming wide.

“Tha Frozen North!” Regan exclaimed. “Ye’re gonna love Vanhoover—I know we can’t stay long, but there is one thing I want to show ye’s before we leave!”

And so, they were off, their party of eager adventurers having increased by one.

Argus stood beside his sister. They both peered off into the distance, toward the lumbering Frozen North mountains far away where the air was as cold as ice. He sighed.

“I can’t be too surprised. Despite how you’ve been all these years, you’re still our father’s daughter.”

Cerena snapped back.

“I made a mistake before. This was the right thing to do.”

“For the family?”

“For Sunny. For Equestria.”

Argus turned to her, still upset.

“What about what we decided, that we would put the family first, no matter what? Y’know, half the reason I never married and had my own foals was because I didn’t have to go through what you did!”

Cerena teared up, but she smiled and looked back toward the distant snow-capped peaks, little more than some matte painting of blurry, foggy triangles against a grey-blue backdrop.

“It’s not too late for you. Just like it wasn’t for me.”

She sniffed.

“I’m really afraid brother, I am. But I am also happy because I know she is happy.” She breathed out uneasily. “She’ll return. She’ll complete her mission. We have to trust her now. When I thought about doing things the other way I—” She bit her lip. “I thought of what father’s face would be if he was alive to see what we did to our own blood. Can you imagine it, Argus? Father would be so disappointed…”

Argus maintained his angry stare for a little while longer before reason chipped away at his resolve and he sighed, leaning over the balcony.

“Yeah, you’re right…”

He looked over.

“What about that voice? If things go sour and the Hornheads or Featherfreaks get that power…”

A cold rush of air blew from the north. Both older ponies shivered. Argus grumbled.

“A grim omen…”

Cerena smiled.

“We have to hope that won’t happen. We have no choice now, Argus.” She turned to him and smiled even wider. Argus hadn’t seen that since before his nephew Willder left. “It’s out of our hooves!”

She rushed away like she was young and spry again. Argus held out his hoof.

“S-sister! Let’s not go crazy here, you—”

“The festival!” she exclaimed. “We need to get ready! We can still put one on, right?”

30 - Prince Bhegan

Author's Note

Please go check out the new Prologue I added to draw in new readers!

30 - Prince Bhegan

A cold wind, the fiercest in many decades, swept across the frozen reaches of the Peaks of Sacanas. The shout of winter blew against the craggy, snowy lumps of land that made up the mountainous region. The ghostly drone of the gale warned all travelers without a thick fur coat (if they dared): this is not a safe place to be. The sky was saturated with a grey darkness like that within the height of a snowstorm.

Bhegan, the so-called Yeti Prince, stepped over another mound of snow to inspect the warriors before him, all of them yetis of various sizes positioned in the snow-kissed, icy clearing. Some were tall and lanky, like him, and others were short, stout, and fat. Some were even small like pets, but just as ferocious as their bigger breathren. Others looked more like monsters, with great big fangs and giant sharp-fingernailed mitts. Most carried a spear that matched his size – they had solid oak handles and diamond-shaped rock tips. But they all shared the same trait: a coat of white fur revealing a leathery brownish-black face.

Beside Bhegan stood a gigantic hulk of muscle with his arms crossed. He looked down with beady little eyes at his superior. Bhegan looked up at him and nodded. The giant yeti took in air before roaring so loud a nearby peak began to avalanche. Once the clearing was silent, only the wind and the distant crashing of snow could be heard. All the other yetis looked at the giant yeti, and then at Bhegan.

“Thank you, Ajax,” Bhegan said to his friend, and Ajax nodded. “Noble yetis of the land of Sacanas,” Bhegan addressed the others, raising his free hand to the air, his voice clear and powerful, but giving away his youth. The end of his white flowing coat, made up of the down of the great winter lark, flopped and blew with the wind.

“I thank you for coming to this summit.”

“Righ’,” a yeti with one eye and a scarred-up hole next to it responded. “We’re ‘ere. Now what?” He cocked his monstrous head and narrowed his eyes, shifting away from the big snow-topped rock he was leaning against. Bhegan stood still and stared the yeti down. Before he could reply, his detractor pressed forward. “Say, you look pr’tty scrawny for a yeti what calls himself a prince. An’ you talk too fancy like for a prince of yetis. I don’t like ye.”

The one-eyed yeti stood to his tallest height, revealing no less than ten solid feet of hard muscle hidden just underneath white fur, waving with the form of the cold air. His mouth fangs curled up to just underneath his piercing blue eyes. Bhegan was nearly the opposite: tall, thin, and clothed in his white down coat. A necklace of bones and precious stones sat on his neck, and on top of his flat top white hair sat a black crown of ancient rock.

The one-eyed yeti got on all fours and kicked a foot back, preparing to charge.

“This was a waste of time! Let’s make this here meeting short and get back to the hunt!”

He cried out loud enough for the mountain peaks to hear his echo and he pounded forward on all fours, destroying the snow and rock underneath him like it was nothing. Ajax moved to defend his superior, but Bhegan held up his other hand. His other hand held a staff that looked like a purple-brown root. Bhegan pointed it at the charging one-eyed yeti and the long gem at its end glowed bright and yellow. A zap of yellow energy from the staff hit the giant yeti and threw him backwards as if he weighed nothing, knocking up a cloud of snow in all directions as he travelled out of sight over the uneven terrain of the Peaks, his bellows eventually dissipating into faint echoes of despair.

The other yetis flinched, jumped back, whispered fearfully, or hollered like scared animals. Bhegan slammed the end of the staff down on a rock near him, and it lit up a bright yellow, drawing every set of eyes in the clearing.

“I had no desire to do that. Snowfist One-Eye forced my hand.”

Bhegan walked forward and looked each of the yetis in the face, craning his neck down to see the smaller ones that looked like rabid hedgehogs mixed with winter hares. When he turned his coat flapped in the wind separately, giving him a rather regal look for a yeti as his attire blew all around him. His teal eyes scanned the number gathered around him.

One in the crowd, not quite as big as One-Eye, stepped forward. He wore a belt made of sinew and bone.

“Oi, that was some dark sorcery there! And ye speak of Sacanas—we no longer follow ‘im! We haven’t in generations! Why shouldn’t we rip ye limb from limb? That funny sorcery can’t stop us all!”

Another yeti, a smaller one, squeaked up.

“Yeh! We needs ta get back to tha hunt, the snowzelles and mountain goats will be gone soon!”

More of the yetis screamed in agreement.

Bhegan looked at each of them in turn.

“Hear my words, then choose your actions. You have already seen what I can do with the Staff of Sacanas, yet you doubt my power?”

He had them at his word, but for how long Bhegan couldn’t know for sure. He pushed on with his speech.

“This is the day where you decide what you want your tribes, your yetis, to do. You can choose to continue to live in the places you have been forced into…” He motioned back toward the Peaks with two outstretched arms. Then he turned back another direction and held out his staff. The blowing wind started to dissipate. “… or you can choose a new path!”

When the wind cleared enough, the yetis all shifted or moved to get a better look. Their clearing overlooked a vast valley, and all the way in the distance they could see trees down below the treeline of the Frozen North. Beyond even that they saw a distant city that looked tiny from where it was.

“Long ago our brethren were forced into hiding in these mountains by the ponies. It is said that at the height of our power the yetis suffered a great defeat and humiliation, thanks to pony creatures! And with their magic and their numbers they were able to chase us here!”

The yetis grumbled angrily and shouted.

“Me hate ponies!”

“Crush ‘im, eat ‘im!”

“Yeh!”

A needle-like yeti, taller than even Ajax but with barely any girth, stumbled into the clearing. He sneezed then spoke in an odd combination of high-pitched and gravelly.

“B-b-but the ponies, small as theys be, has the magics. A-a-and they have so many. Thousands of warriors! The old sage of me village said that long ago, even with the power of Sacanas, the strongest yeti lost against the ponies!” He tried to reason with the crowd as Bhegan did. “If wes fight them again, wes will lose the last of what wes have!”

The yetis began to murmur and grumble. Bhegan pointed his staff at this newcomer.

“That was before! My tribe has chased out the trolls that moved into our ancient territory at the foot of one of the peaks, and we have launched raids into their lands. We can continue that momentum all the way into the pony lands and beyond!” Bhegan continued his speech with great flourish of his becloaked arms. “We cannot survive with just the hunt anymore! You all know that; our numbers are falling, not growing!”

Bhegan gestured back behind a snowy mound and a small yeti that looked like a spooky little doll emerged. She had a spiky pink and purple head of hair, with one “spike” drooped down next to her eyes, which were surrounded with a course, smudgy makeup of magenta pasta. Her nose was a little beady snout, and her remaining teeth were long and yellow. Her walk was a decrepit waddle, helped by a stump of a cane.

“This is the old soothsayer from my tribe. She has seen visions of the pony lands – scattered, weak, without their magic!” Bhegan made a fist with his free hand and raised it. “Now is the time for us to strike!”

The yetis gruffly murmured amng one another. The tall, lanky one stepped back uneasily. Bhegan moved about the clearing as if he had been born to lead.

“This is what they deserve: injustice will be met with justice! We will expand the reaches of our new yeti nation to the southern lands, where new breeds of our kind can live and prosper!”

The old soothesayer waddled up to Bhegan’s foot. She leapt up and, with her gnarly claw, gripped tight to his shoulder. She whispered with a smile into his ear.

“Uhh…” Bhegan cleared his throat somewhat nervously and out of character. “Also we can hit ‘a lot of things and eat lots of meat, too’”.

The yetis roared and cheered, pounding on the snow and rock below them. Their combined echo shook the Peaks and joined with the scary howl of the wind to become a war cry too terrifying for even the hardiest of pony stallions to endure. Bhegan looked down to the old soothsayer, his brow unsure. The soothsayer’s old yeti face contorted into what was probably evil joy, though to Bhegan it just looked sinister.

“This is your destiny, Bhegan! Heehee, remember my prophecy! You’re the one to carry on the legacy of Sacanas!”

Bhegan looked at the tip of his staff, faintly glowing yellow. He squinted.

“Yes… as you said, this boon was given to us not by those hooded ponies… but by destiny itself. They were surely messengers of Sacanas himself.” He looked down. “You would not lead me astray?”

The old soothsayer cackled.

“Listen to your warriors! They are ready to help you achieve your destiny! Who else but Sacanas could provide this to you, the last of the line of princes?”

Bhegan closed his eyes and listened to the wind. The old priests said that if you did so, you could hear the voices of your ancestors calling out to you. Bhegan heard nothing but the wind. He opened his eyes and pulled his brow down in determination.

“Very well…”

He stepped forward, raising half his body higher by stepping onto a rock.

“YETIS!” He roared. “Return to your villages and caves! Gather your provisions and your warriors! We march south one final time at tomorrow’s light!”

They all cried back to him, some slamming the ground, some beating their chests, and the smaller ones jumped into the air swiping at nothing, raring to go. Bhegan lifted his staff toward the clouds and a beam of yellow zapped the sky. It opened up to reveal a black circular cloud. Out of the cloud a rain of lightning bolts slammed into the peaks in the distance, lighting up where they hit as well as turning the sky into a constant array of yellow flashes. The yetis were awestruck.

“BHEGAN! BHEGAN! BHEGAN!” they cheered. Bhegan looked to the old soothsayer, who was urging him on with a nod and a smile. Bhegan hazarded his own little grin and looked to the pony city far away.

As all the yetis made to leave, Bhegan singled one out. The tall one from before.

“You! I need your help.”

“Y-yes? M-me?”

The impossibly thin, sniffling yeti lumbered over. Bhegan nodded. In a quiet voice he instructed his fellow yeti.

“I have heard you are rather quiet and sneaky, for a yeti.”

The tall yeti scratched his neck.

“S-sorry I couldn’t hear ye…”

Bhegan snorted softly. He motioned the yeti to lean down, and he did.

“I was saying, if you are as sneaky as they say, then I have a task I will entrust solely to you.”

Sunny and her friends were a few minutes into a thick forest, a part of the wilderness between Tall Tale and Vanhoover. Once they had escaped the city of rumors, Regan guided Hitch onto a trail that led to their beaten path, as it were. Hitch was all grumbles.

“How am I supposed to get a wagon through this?” he asked, gesturing in front of them. Though a hoof path was clearly etched into the ground, weaving forward through the vines, roots, bushes and trees, it was so uneven and covered with snares that Hitch had had trouble just getting a half-mile in. Regan shrugged.

“Ack, surely tha descendant of Rockhoof will figure a way! He and his sons built Rockhoof’s River—ye can’t bring a lil’ wagon through tha woods, lad?”

Hitch looked away and down.

“So it was Rockhoof and his sons…” he looked back at Regan and frowned. “That’s easy for you to say! And I get it, be careful what you wish for, that’s my lesson, right?”

Sunny tapped on the wagon.

“Come on Hitch, you got this!”

Izzy cheerfully cried and raised a hoof to the air.

“Woowhoo Hitchy! You da stallion!”

Regan cleared his throat and made a high-pitched noise and opened his mouth. Hitch pointed a hoof at him.

“NO! Not that creepy voice again! Remember what I said.”

Regan’s mouth remained open for a second. Then he closed it and cleared his throat against.

“A-alrigh’ t-then, fine…”

The girls giggled. Sunny leaned down and smirked.

“Hey, Hitch, it’s fine, I’ll get out and help you push. It’ll be a great story for the mares.” Sunny brought her hoof in front of her and moved it with each word she said. “Hitch, mare’s stallion. Needs mare to help him.”

Hitch protested.

“N-No I don’t! I can do it, I can! Just… cut me some slack, okay?”

Hitch pressed on. The passengers might have escaped the physical labor but could not escape the rumblings and thuds. Every so often somepony did have to get out to help push the wagon over a root or something similar. Though Hitch was strong, the wagon was not invulnerable, and groaned under the stress of Hitch trying to muscle it through something it was caught on.

Sunny raised her hoof at one point.

“Hey, don’t we have a bunch of potions now? Let’s just drink some potions so we’re really strong and fast and we can run all the way to Vanhoover!”

Hitch responded with a grunt as he squeezed the wagon between two trees.

“Absol…UTEly not. Potions are… SUPposed to… be USED only in… emergencies…”

He caught his breath once the wagon scrapped through.

“All potions have minor side effects and long-term side effects. Even the basic ones. Maybe not ‘your face falls off’ kind of side effects, but still. They’re not good for you.”

Sunny continued.

“But we’re in a hurry! We don’t know when the yetis could attack again! Robert’s family could be in trouble, and what about any of the ponies that live up there? And all the other creatures?”

Regan sighed in despair.

“Aye it’s a real shame… and they used to get along so well… yetis and trolls, that is.”

Izzy looked at Regan.

“You know about the yetis and the trolls, Regan?”

Regan nodded.

“There’s some history about how Fluttershy, a renowned animal expert, traveled to tha northern lands to bring tha trolls and yetis together. She was able to get them to put aside their differences and share tha land!”

The girls looked at eachother and smiled. Izzy cheered.

“Yay!”

Regan tapped Hitch’s flank.

“If yer tha kind of letch I think ye are, I’m sure ye saw her portrait in tha library.”

Hitch looked back, wide-eyed.

“THAT was Fluttershy?” Hitch made a clicking noise. “Hay and oats, Regan, that was one fine mare. Even for an older one!”

“Ack, we old ponies have our charms, ye?!”

Regan smoothed the sash on his chest down. Hitch leapt over a root on the ground and the wagon bounced over it.

“There have been problems recently with tha yetis, thanks to some prince of tha yetis or some such. One of tha Knights of tha Realm, Sir Seamus, has always been a big fan of tha North. He went up there to try and smooth things out with them. I don’t know what it is, but he—”

Hitch stopped.

“WAIT!” he turned around as if he discovered a great secret. “That’s it! You sound JUST like Sir Seamus! And that sash thing!” Everypony looked at Regan, who smiled like a guilty pony. Hitch rubbed his chin and looked at Regan’s flank. “But you don’t have the same Cutie Mark. Are you from the same place, where they all talk funny, is that it?”

Regan cleared his throat and rubbed at his flank.

“Well, no that ain’t it at all lad…”

After some rubbing a Cutie Mark slowly came to appear on Regan’s flank. It was an image of a featureless pony head talking with a smile. Regan bowed.

“Regan Kiltenstern, at yer service my dear ponies.”

Hitch gasped.

“Then you’ve got to be his father!”

Regan glared and shouted.

“ACK I’m not that old ye darn potato! We’re brothers, darn it!”

Izzy ‘ooo’d’ and leaned into Sunny.

“I don’t really know who that is but it must be really intriguing and mysterious, right?”

Sunny looked at her and nodded. She questioned Regan.

“Why did you hide your Cutie Mark?”

Regan scoffed.

“Wha, and let everypony in Tall Tale know who I was? I don’t think so lass!”

Hitch unsecured himself from the wagon and accused Regan. He glanced at Sunny.

“This guy has been the brother of one of the Knights all along! Sunny, we need to ditch him pronto!”

Sunny looked from Hitch to Regan to Izzy. Neither pony had settled on just one emotion, except Hitch who was resolutely against Regan.

“O-Oi, now let me explain myself—”

Sunny glared at Hitch.

“If he was trying to trick us, why would he tell us his brother is a Knight? Why would he help us escape Tall Tale?”

Izzy nodded.

“I agree with Sunny.”

Hitch still stared down Regan, but he whinnied and let the older pony continue.

“Fine. Talk.”

Regan spoke after a long sigh.

“I appreciate the opportunity, lad.” He looked to Sunny and they exchanged a light smile. “I know yer not big on history or long stories so I’ll just cut to it: my brother is indeed a Knight, but we don’t see eye to eye anymore because of that! I don’t support what he does at all!” Regan teared. “Ack, but he’s me little brother, ye? I can’t leave him up there! He went up to talk to the yetis not long ago, and never made it back. It can’t be nothin’ but trouble—I know it!”

Hitch raised an eyebrow.

“So you’re using us to save your Knight brother, is that it?”

Sunny interjected.

“Hitch stop it! Did you forget!?”

“Forget what?”

“You’re looking for your own lost brother, aren’t you?”

Hitch opened his mouth, then exhaled. His ears and expression drooped. Sunny looked to Regan.

“Still, I wish you had told us.” She scrutinized Regan with her narrowed gaze. “Is there anything else that you’re hiding.” She pointed at him. “I’ll know if you’re lying!”

Regan put his hoof to his chest, his eyes wide and his bushy red brows high.

“Honest! Hoof to heart, lass! I’ll even do a Pinkie Promise!”

Everypony looked at one another. Izzy was the most intrigued.

“What’s a ‘Pinkie Promise’?”

Regan shrugged.

“Ehh… I don’t really know.” There was a collective sigh of disappointment. “It’s mentioned in an old book. It’s supposed to be used only when you really, really mean something!” He put his hoof to his chest and smiled. “Cross my heart…”

Regan made a flying motion with his hooves, “hoping to fly…”

Then he reached for something in the wagon. He looked around. “Ack well I don’t have a cupcake… but I’d stick one in my eye if I could!”

Hitch made a worried, confused face to Sunny and shook his head. Sunny looked torn.

“Umm… okay. I believe you… I think.”

Izzy clapped.

“Yay! That was funny! Have you read about other weird old rituals?”

Regan sat on his rump, crossed his hooves, and nodded once.

“As a matter of fact, Ms. Moonbow, yes! Let me tell you about ummm… hmmm…” He tapped a hoof on his scraggly red beard. He decided on an idea with a lift of his hoof. “Ahh yes!” He turned to Izzy, giving her his complete attention. He drew her in with a bright expression and an outstretch of his hooves. “This one’s called the cute-ceañera!”

Izzy lit up and watched with completely enthrallment. Sunny rolled her eyes and shared a little smile with Hitch, who began to trudge forward again with a sigh of resolve.

“At least I get to go back to the city for a little bit and see some mares.”

8 - A Big Meathead Named Hitch Trailblazer

“We’re doomed! DOOMED!”

The stallion prisoner shouted and wept. All of the prisoners in the prison wagon whined and groaned. Izzy laid down and stared at nothing on the floor, sniffling in defeat. But Sunny alone remained stalwart. Her brow curved downward, she snorted and addressed the other prisoners.

“Now hold on! Just becau—”

A particularly whiny stallion hollered directly into her ear.

“DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMEDDDD!” he whined, high-pitched and nasally. Sunny winced and waved him away.

“Q-quiet, I’m saying just wai—”

“DOOOOMED DOOOOOMED DOOOOOMED!”

Sunny looked out around the wagon. The soldiers were looking up at their prisoners and chuckling. Sunny caught the smug eye of Sir Bastion. Sunny’s rage scrunched her face towards its center into a snarl.

She turned back around toward the whiny stallion, who was still crying.

“DON’T YOU GET THAT WE’RE DOO—”

“ENOUGH!” Sunny roared. All the prisoners stopped crying and looked up at Sunny, knocked out of their stupor. Izzy stood up and stared at Sunny with amazement. Sunny continued.

“So this Bastion fellow can take a few swings from a Diamond Dog. So we can’t escape. So what!” She glanced around at the prisoners, who were all ears and wide-eyed. “I’m telling you, I’ll make this all right! You DON’T have to be afraid.”

The prisoners stopped sniffling and sobbing. The elderly stallion from earlier lightly smiled at Sunny.

“Bless ya, lass. Thas the kinda talk we need righ now.”

His young companion nodded. The other prisoners put on their strongest expressions and sat back down, no longer crying. Izzy tapped Sunny’s shoulder.

“Wow! That was pretty amazing! I don’t even feel all that scared anymore!”

Sunny blinked.

“Yeah uhhh I guess I have a way with words after all, or something.” Sunny cocked her head. “Honestly didn’t realize that would work so well. I just got so mad seeing that stupid Bastion’s face.”

Izzy and Sunny sat on their haunches near the front of the wagon. Izzy smiled, her smile bright and white despite the shadow cast by her sunhat.

“Sometimes, all a Uni—PONY needs is something to snap them out of their fear! Rye Rye’s always really good at that with me.”

The wagon came to a stop and a few of the soldiers appeared at the back of the wagon and opened its back door, which became a ramp down to the ground once lowered.

“You!” said one female soldier, pointing at Sunny. The soldier wore bronze armor, like Sir Bastion’s, although without the intricate patterns etched in. Sunny glared back at her. The soldier continued. “Come with me! Sir Bastion wants you walking alongside him in the front!”

Sunny growled back.

“Why?! And with these chains on? No way!” she shook the tight iron contraptions in front of her as if it weren’t already obvious. The guard stepped onto the wagon and waved her spear, which was skillfully balanced with one hoof over her shoulder.

“Come willingly or we’ll force you!”

Sunny gritted her teeth and then turned to Izzy, who had a pouty lip.

“Y-you better go… don’t worry about me…”

Some of the prisoners stood up and glared at the soldier.

“Why does she have to go?” one prisoner demanded. Another standing across from him repeated the same sentiment.

“Yeah! We can barely move with these things on! That’s torture!”

“QUIET!” screamed a male soldier. He spun around his spear and jabbed one of the prisoners with the blunt end, eliciting a grunt of pain. Sunny motioned the prisoners to stop and left the wagon.

“Don’t worry, everypony! I bet he just wants to talk!”

* * *

Sunny grunted wildly. She could feel the saliva pooling behind the ball gag that Sir Bastion had ordered placed into her mouth (but not without a lot of struggle, and Sunny was proud of that). Her legs were on fire from the friction of her hoof chains. Sir Bastion found it hilarious.

“Now then! No more of that big mouth of yours flapping away!” he smugly shouted. “The worse type of traitor is one that incites rebellion! Ohhhh, I hope the Protector chooses one of the fun punishments for you!”

The sun was well past the middle of the sky, but it wasn’t much less scorching hot than at noon. Sunny desperately wanted room to open her mouth and pant like a dog, but her tongue was firmly trapped behind the ball gag. She looked at the dirt below to avoid watching the haze that covered the top of the road. She hadn’t noticed the heat when it was the wagon moving her forward and not her own, tired hooves.

While Sunny slowed down and struggled to keep up, Sir Bastion and the other soldiers moved along at their usual pace. Eventually Sunny looked up and saw the Knight of the Realm speaking to his page, and he beckoned him back to where Sunny was trudging.

“Go make sure she does not talk to anyearthpony. Especially that friend of hers.”

Sunny and Sir Bastion looked at one another at a distance, and the Knight’s smile grew wider and smugger.

“Of course, there is the gag — but I do not like to take chances with prisoners like her!”

And so, Nate the page did as ordered. Sunny took notice of him properly for the first time – he seemed timid, and the coat underneath his set of bronze armor was an unusual light pink (most soldiers had more earth-toned coats). His mane was hidden underneath a spotless bronze helmet and cut short, or at least Sunny couldn’t see a single strand of hair. As he approached Sunny, they met eyes. Nate turned his hazelnut eyes away as soon as it happened.

“Y-you heard Sir Bastion!” Nate said, mustering all his courage. There was a little blaze behind his eyes, Sunny thought. But nothing more than a tiny flame that quickly extinguished when she glared back at him. Nate gulped.

“A-anyway…” he stuttered, trailing off. Sunny looked up to the side of the wagon. Izzy, like a sad puppy, was staring down with a pouty lip. Sunny attempted what she thought would at least resemble a smile. Izzy grimaced. Nate noticed and gasped.

“A-are you going to be sick or…?” he asked Sunny. Sunny deadpanned and sighed. It sounded like a grumbly moan. She looked over to her right, back toward the coast that was still not far off.

Sunny imagined lying on a rock on the sandy beach of Maretime Bay, letting the smell of the sea carry her worries away with the tide. Even laying on the dirt would ease the fire in her legs.

“Hey, uh.”

Sunny’s left ear twitched. A quiet voice had escaped from the page beside her. He cleared his throat and half-turned so that he was staring past her as they trotted.

“Don’t think I’m p-praising you, but… it’s crazy what you have been saying to Sir Bastion,” Nate stared wide-eyed at his master, who was joking around with his subordinates at the front of the wagon. Nate continued shakily, “Earth Ponies… Earth Ponies who talk that way — Earth P-Ponies don’t ever talk that way to him. I couldn’t even imagine it…”

Nate fully turned and looked Sunny in her eyes, and she saw looking back at her a yearning desire.

“Aren’t you a-afraid of him? Of what he can do to you if you make him mad — not that I’ve ever seen him get mad or anything.”

Sunny mumbled and pointed at her ball gag, then flicked her eyebrows up as if to signal Nate. The corner of his lips screwed upward and he hummed.

“Right, you can’t reply. Well…”

Nate cleared his throat.

“Y-you might think you’re some kind of hero, or whatever, but you don’t know what’s going on. There’s no way. If you did, you’d be scared just like all the rest. And I’ve seen hundreds of them already in the last year since I became Sir Bastion’s page.”

Nate looked up at the wagon. Izzy lowered her head when she saw the page turn. Sunny followed the page’s gaze and saw the prisoners’ looks, mixtures of apprehension and fear in their eyes. While Sunny had given them a second wind of sorts earlier, it only went so far. Still, they were clearly tough stallions. Strong ponies who were probably fisherponies or laborers. Merchants’ assistants, perhaps.

Nate shook his head.

“And you say you want to talk sense into the Protector of the Realm?!”

Nate closed his eyes.

“You’re crazier than Sir Bastion! You don’t know anything, Sunny Starscout! She’d never in a million years be friends with a hornhead or a featherfreak!”

Sunny noticed the tops of some buildings further ahead on the road while Nate continued in a huff.

“The Protector of the Realm comes from an old family, one of the first families of the Stone Table! They shared First Bread with Rockhoof and Meadowbrook. They’re Earth Pony heroes —real heroes!”

Sunny rolled her eyes and nudged into Nate. He shook his head and snapped out of his tirade. Sunny motioned towards the buildings. Nate blinked rapidly.

“O-oh. That’s, uhh, Halfway.”

Sunny rose a single eyebrow. Nate continued.

“Yeah, it’s a tiny village called Halfway. We restock there with supplies whenever we have to come out this way – and that’s not often, trust me. The bulls need to eat, too.”

Sunny hoped beyond hopes that she’d get a chance to sit on her tired rump, even for a minute, and alleviate some pain in her hooves where the chains were attached. The wooden buildings on the horizon slowly became larger and taller as the entourage got closer, and each step Sunny felt the laughter and smug voice of Sir Bastion become more distant and distant as she fixated on the thought of getting to rest.

* * *

Sunny stood shaking with rage, ball gag still in her sore mouth. A rope, tied around her neck at one end and tied around a worn, wooden hitching post, at the other, kept her from moving too far. Sir Bastion, on the other side of the road, entered a building as he laugh-shouted back at Sunny.

“Now don’t sit on those tired legs of yours, Sunny Starscout — that would be admitting defeat. You’re far too stubborn a little Earth Pony for that, my dear!”

Sunny attempted to shoot a slew of explicit statements at Sir Bastion but all that came out was “GBURGAPLURGABLAHHAJHAJAH!” Nate reared his head back to avoid the spit and the end of his mouth rose up in disgust.

“C-can you not?” he pleaded, “Just let me watch you and I’ll explain where we’re going, okay?” Sunny grumbled and half-closed her eyelids in anger. Nate slightly smiled. “You know Ms. Starscout, it’s kind of nice to talk to someone who can’t talk back. Usually, the other soldiers don’t let me talk for very long…”

Sunny’s eyelids rose up and her eyes became huge, remembering Nate’s rant earlier. She tried to shout, “NO KIDDING!” at Nate, but what came out was nothing close. Nate chuckled.

“Yeah, tell me about it!” he said, hearing something completely different. Sunny’s eyes wandered over to the parked prison wagon sitting in the middle of the village.

The bulls had been let off their harnesses and were drinking and eating somewhere else. In the wagon itself, Sunny spotted a sad Izzy laying her head against the railing. Izzy’s big, pouty lip continued to quiver as Sunny provided her with an inspiring facial expression.

Well, that was the hope. Izzy grimaced, thinking Sunny was going insane with the odd way she continued trying to contort her face.

“You okay?” Izzy asked from a distance.

Sunny shrieked in frustration at nopony in particular. She closed her eyes and stomped around. Nate reached toward her with a hoof.

“H-hey, relax! That will just make the chafing worse! If you just be quiet and calm down, maybe Sir Bastion will—”

But Nate dared not continue. The sheer hatred emanating from Sunny’s glare nearly burned a hole right through his forehead. He took a step back and half-covered his face with a hoof.

“O-ok, have it your way!”

A stallion’s animal-like roar erupted and bounced around inside the single street of Halfway. Sunny turned toward the source of the sound and saw nothing but a blur as something or somepony cut the rope securing her to the hitching post and lifted her into the air.

Swinging through the air, Sunny turned to the right and up to see the thing holding her.

He was a stallion, clearly around her age. His bright turquoise mane went up like a wave and fell to one side of his face, just above one of two brown eyes. The stallion’s eyes seemed to sparkle to Sunny. The rest of the stallion’s face was, quite honestly, handsome. Chiselled features and, most importantly, a bright, wide smile.

Sunny became hot in the face. The stallion leaned down, gripped the ball gag with his teeth, and tore it off Sunny’s mouth. She didn’t feel the pain of the action, instead more focused on the relief of being able to move her jaw and talk.

“Ummm…” was all she could manage as she beheld the heroic visage of her savior. His light amber furred face seemed to glow, as did his gleaming grin. Sunny looked around and realized that the stallion was gripping a rope with one hoof and Sunny with the other. The other end of the rope was attached to the jutting roof of one of the nearby buildings. Once the two reached the apex of the rope’s trajectory, the stallion let go and the two tumbled toward the ground below.

“AHHHH!” Sunny screamed, hanging onto the stallion tighter. Seemingly effortlessly, the stallion held her firmly with one hoof and then landed them both with only a mild tumble.

Sunny admired the stallion with awe. He didn’t break much of a sweat on the dismount. He retrieved the length of rope and quickly rolled it up. Sunny then noticed a shovel tied to the stallion’s side, secured to a thin leather belt that wrapped around his midsection.

“Long time no see, Sunny Starscout,” the stallion said in a charming voice. Sunny blushed again and looked up to the dashing hero. His smile twinkled in the midday sun.

“Hiiiii,” Sunny said in a trance, “Do I know youuuuu?”

The stallion opened his mouth to speak but something caught his eye. Sunny followed the stare and realized it was a somepony. Specifically, a mare. Sunny’s heart caught in her throat.

“My, my,” the stallion cooed, offering a hoof to the other mare. He wore a goofy, stupid expression. Sunny didn’t even bother to look at the mare. The stallion continued, “Don’t step in that mud puddle, miss. You’ll get those perfect hooves all dirty.”

Sunny stewed and grit her teeth. The stupid stallion was giving the mare the same smile he has just given Sunny. The mare took the stallion’s hoof and accepted the help with a thank you. As she walked away, the stallion smiled after her.

“Just doin’ a sheriff’s job, ma’am. You look a peach today, by the by,” he called after. Sunny rose onto her hindhooves with a wicked grunt and pounded the stallion with one of her hooves. The stallion tumbled into the dirt, a dusty cloud rising up in response. Sunny heaved with frustration.

“YOU DUMMY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR AND YOU’RE JUST SOME IDIOT!”

The stallion was tongue tied as he staggered to his hooves.

“Bh — that’s not true! That’s no way to talk to an old chum!”

Sunny snorted.

“Old chum? Have you lost your mind?!”

The stallion brought a hoof to his chest and pleaded.

“It’s me: Hitch Trailblazer! We come from the same town! Maretime Bay! Sunny, how could you forget me!”

The so-called Hitch looked around Sunny as if missing something that he failed to see on her before.

“How could you forget about ol’ Hitch! We were in the same class for a few years! Sunny, I was practically the only Earth Pony who never made fun of you for being weird!”

Ignoring the fact that Hitch implied Sunny was weird, the Earth Pony mare shot back in a quick response.

“Yeah? Well, I definitely don’t remember you ever standing up for me, Mister Knight! That’s the only thing I’d bother to remember!” Sunny shouted, ending in a mocking tone. Hitch was at a loss for words. He looked to the dirt.

“Y-yeah but…”

A darkish blur slammed into Hitch and launched him far down the road back toward where the prison wagon had come from. Sunny couldn’t even react before that same blur threw a noose around her neck and pulled her back toward the prison wagon. When the blur had slowed to a trot, Sunny saw that it was Sir Bastion.

“There are far, FAR too many Earth Ponies I now have to punish,” the Knight began, somehow able to rant with his usual unphased smile present. “First, there is that no-good page of mine, Nate Chivaltarry. He will get latrine duty for a week! And that even-worse sheriff, Hetch Trackblaster… I’ll have him whipped at Castletown so all those mares he loves can see!”

Sir Bastion looked back at Sunny with a more sinister smile than usual (Sunny was becoming accustomed to the various smiles of Sir Bastion).

“But you, Sunny Starscout! For this insubordination, this rebellious nature of yours…”

Sir Bastion chuckle-snorted as if at that very moment thirty different punishment ideas danced about in his mind.

“Oh, it will be something for the books! You know, we keep books for this sort of thing: the written annals of the best way to punish traitors!”

Try as she might, Sunny couldn’t hope to slow down Sir Bastion’s advance. She felt like a little filly being pony-handled by a parent. It was like being a little rambunctious brat all over again, from back when her mom and dad were around.

“Let – me – go. I’ll – walk – back….” Sunny managed to utter as she struggled fruitlessly against Sir Bastion. His response was a single smug laugh.

“You are lucky to be walking at all right now. Quiet.”

Sir Bastion all but dragged Sunny back to the prison wagon before wandering off to the front of the transport. Izzy, just as exasperated from all the excitement as Sunny, peered over the side of the wagon.

“S-Sunny! Are you alright?!” she cried. Sunny caught her breath and shot Izzy a warm smile.

“Yep! Don’t worry about it, that was just uhhh…” Sunny looked back towards where Hitch had been sent flying. She saw the faint shape of a stallion in the distance running towards the village and waving. She sighed. “I guess a failed rescue. Maybe?”

Sir Bastion returned with a fresh smile and a fresh ballgag. Sunny saw it and became instantly hostile towards the Knight.

“Are we going to do this again?” Sunny asked with a threatening bark. She bit in Sir Bastion’s direction, fire alive in her eyes. “I’ll bite anypony that gets near me!”

A few of the soldiers gathered around. Sir Bastion motioned with a light jerk of his head and movement of his eyeballs, and the four soldiers moved toward Sunny. Sunny lowered her head and spread her hooves out like a dog on the defensive, glancing 360 degrees around her while the soldiers advanced. Sir Bastion could not have been happier.

“W-wait…!”

Everypony besides Sunny took notice of the voice in the distance that was getting closer. Sir Bastion chuckled. Hitch Trailblazer caught up to the group and hung his head down low, holding up a hoof momentarily and then bringing it to his heaving chest.

“J-just… just wait… a sec…” he managed to let out, sweat matting his mane down against his head. Sunny turned off defensive move and noticed that Hitch suddenly looked dirty, and smaller than before, and not even close to heroic after being treated like a foal by Sir Bastion.

She deadpanned.

Yep. This guy is no Knight, that’s for sure.

Sir Bastion slammed his hoof against the dirt.

“What could it possibly be, sheriff?” the last word was said in a mocking tone, and the soldiers around Sunny laughed. Hitch caught his breath and brought his head up once more.

“Do not ballgag the prisoner! I wish to question her, as sheriff of Maretime Bay!”

The soldiers continued to laugh and looked at one another, before turning to Sir Bastion, who, while smiling as he always did, was clearly annoyed. A single vein stood up on his neck.

“The sheriff of Maretime Bay who spends all his time galivanting about the Realm searching for a ghost!? The sheriff who has been banished from Castle Rockhoof for an outburst against the Protector!? The sheriff who is a giant disgrace to every other sheriff in the Realm!? Is that the sheriff that wants to question my prisoner!?”

The soldiers stifled their laughs before turning to Hitch to beat him down with their serious stares. Hitch seemed to shrink as Sunny watched him flash an uneasy smile.

“Ummm… yes?” he replied, unsure.

Sir Bastion spoke.

“I am willing to forgive what you did with my prisoner. I know you are an idiot and that you never would have let her go, since you love that pretty face of yours so much. That does not mean I want you to have her ear in private. You come from the same traitorous town, after all.”

Hitch frowned and looked at Sunny.

“Traitorous?” he asked quietly. Sunny’s fire returned to her eyes, and she turned her head away in a huff. Hitch shook his head and turned back to Sir Bastion.

“L-listen, it’s like this…”

Hitch looked around for a second then walked close to Sir Bastion.

Mid-trot, a mare caught Hitch’s eye and he stopped to wink and smile. Sunny rolled her eyes.

Sir Bastion took a step back when Hitch snapped out of it and leaned in, not quite understanding the reason for the invasion of personal space. Hitch whispered something, but Sunny was not able to make out what. Sir Bastion’s smile widened ever so slightly, Hitch leaned back, and the two exchanged a nod.

“It’s like that, is it?” the Knight mocked, looking at Sunny. She turned to Hitch and motioned with a hoof that she was confused. Hitch smiled uneasily back at her.

“Very well,” Sir Bastion said with a loud chuckle. He motioned toward his soldiers, they saluted, and followed him back to the front of the wagon. Hitch and Sunny heard Sir Bastion shout commands.

“Get those beasts strapped to the wagon so we can make it to the Barge before sunset!”

Sunny looked uneasy at Hitch.

“What did you tell that jerk?!”

Hitch flashed Sunny a big smile.

“I said we used to go out together so I could get you to tell me anything if I laid on the Hitch Charm!”

Sunny groaned and facehoofed. Hitch protested.

“Hey! It’s not that farfetched! Y’know, I’ve seen the way you look at me…”

Sunny held up a confused hoof, eyes wide.

“I didn’t even remember who you WERE until like five minutes ago!” She continued, brows flexed downward, “Where the hay did you even disappear to? How are you sheriff when you’re NEVER in town?”

Hitch looked around nervously and twiddled his hooves.

“Well, uhh, you SEE…”

Somepony cleared their throat nearby. It was Nate.

“W-we are leaving now. Sir Bastion will be upset if you tarry, so let’s get a move on.”

And so, the entourage continued once more, its beasts of burden full on wheat and oats, and so too were the soldiers guarding it. The prisoners had been given a mere pittance in comparison. Sunny chatted with Izzy as the village of Halfway became a distant speck behind the entourage.

Sir Bastion looked back at Hitch and the stare alone made a chill run up the sheriff’s spine. Hitch sped up and trotted next to Sunny, interrupting her talk with Izzy.

“L-Listen,” Hitch whispered, “I gotta make this look like I’m working, okay? So, let’s talk.”

Sunny turned from her Unicorn friend. She scanned Hitch up and down with annoyance.

“Fine,” she spat. “Why are you so interested in me?”

The sun was getting quite close to the horizon, the sky becoming an oh-so light shade of orange. Hitch blinked at Sunny, then his mouth transformed into a cocky grin.

“Ohhhhhhh, you’re wondering why the Hitchster has a soft spot for you? Well sweetheart —”
Sunny headbutted Hitch and he tumbled onto the ground. He coughed out a lump of dirt and stood up with a grunt.

“No, you foal!” Sunny grumbled in frustration. “I mean all of this! The thing with the rope, helping me get out of the ballgag situation again — why are you helping me? If you’re a sheriff, you’re on HIS side!”

Hitch snorted and brushed himself off, catching back up with the entourage.

“Because I’m just an upstanding stallion, that’s why!” He smiled a charming crescent and brought a hoof to his chest. “You might even say I’m something of a hero! Like good ol’ Rockhoof!” Hitch tapped the shovel strapped to his side. “I even got the same tool of justice!” Hitch said the last word in a heavy emphasis with a deep voice and pulled out his shovel, twirling it around first with a hoof then placing it in his mouth.

Hitch planned to strike a cool pose and shoot Sunny his prized “Hitch look”, but she had moved on and didn’t even look back.

Hitch caught up in protest.

“Okay, okay! I’m just kidding! S-sort of!”

Sunny sighed and shook her head. Hitch continued.

“Fine!” he leaned in closer to Sunny and spoke quietly, “Once I saw you and that Bastion had taken a personal interest in you — y’know, the ball gag, tethering you to the hitching post?” Sunny groaned and looked down to her still-chained hooves. Hitch continued, “Well, I had to see what it was all about. And then when he got directly involved,” Sunny looked at Hitch and he explained, “I mean, when he tackled me into next week, haha… uhh, well, he never does that.”

Hitch rose an eyebrow.

“What exactly did you do that was so bad?”

Sunny closed her eyes and held her head high.

“All I did was speak my mind, and I’ll be doing it right in front of the Protector of the Realm as well!”

Hitch didn’t look any less confused.

“What the hay’s that supposed to mean?”

A hoof tapping against wood drew Hitch and Sunny’s gazes upward. Izzy waved with an awkward smile.

“Sorry, uhh, hi Mr. Sheriff, sir, uhh,” Izzy asked. She cocked her head. “S-sorry but, what’s ‘the Barge’?”

Hitch blinked for a moment and then his mouth became an “O”.

“Oh! The Barge!”

Izzy smiled.

“Yeah, that meanie hooves Sir Bastion mentioned it. Is that where we’re going?”

Sunny turned to Hitch to listen. The stallion looked straight ahead as he explained.

“That would be the Brimstone Barge. It’s moored at the River Crosswords, and it’ll take us all the way to the Heart of the Realm via Rockhoof’s River.” Hitch looked back and glanced at both mares uneasily. “Listen, it’s no pleasure cruise, so don’t get excited.” He focused on Izzy and his eyebrows rose. “By the way, nice sunhat, cutie.”

Hitch quickly looked away and then back at Izzy, attempting the Hitch look. He wiggled his eyebrows and tightened his lips as if preparing to kiss. Izzy turned her head the other way, confused.

“Uhh, sorry Mr. Sheriff, but are you some kind of weirdo eccentric or something?”

Hitch deflated and whined.

“N-No! It’s the Hitch Look! The mares LOVE the Hitch Look… s-sometimes!”

Sunny ignored her friend and Hitch and stared at the dirt below.

“The Heart of the Realm…” she said quietly, “That’s where Castle Rockhoof is, right?”

Hitch “mhm’d”. Sunny looked up toward the sun and steeled herself.

This Protector of the Realm… I wonder what she’s like?

17 - Moonlight

The green energy mass at the end of the octo-spider’s limb grew steadily into a huge, wobbling ball, and Sunny’s pupils matched it in size.

“HITCH!”

Hitch looked back. The veins on his neck stood out and he wailed with fright through the shovel handle and other things in his mouth. Izzy craned her neck back as much as she could and called out to her friend.

“Rye Rye stop! You have to stop!”

A cold voice called from inside.

“No. They’ve done something to you. It will all be over soon – this won’t hurt too much, I promise Izzy.”

Hitch looked left than right. He saw a door ahead, veered, and smashed through it with a slash from his shovel. Sunny followed behind but an intense green glow and a loud hiss preceded an explosion that ruined the escape.

Every fibre of Sunny’s body vibrated with pain. She knew her eyes were wide open – but the blast’s neon green glow was such that there was simply nothing to see except that egregious shade of green. Her mouth opened, yet no scream could escape when the screeching explosion flooded the crumbling hallway. With the pain came steadily a feeling of falling.

When Sunny could see and hear again (but only just so), she wished she couldn’t. She was plummeting through the night sky, giant pieces of blown up castle stone falling alongside her, as well as dust, mortar, and Hitch Trailblazer with a motionless Izzy Moonbow clinging to his chest. Hitch’s things were wrapping around his lower neck, his shovel entangled in the leather belts and harness, flapping in the air. Sunny’s body felt weak, and despite the situation all she wanted to do was sleep.

She did not, however, allow slumber to overcome her senses.

“HITCH, IZZY, WAKE UP!”

Hitch and Izzy’s silently twirled downward not far from Sunny, who was falling in a different rotation so she rarely saw anypony’s head the right way up. She painstakingly brought her hooves to either side of her mouth and shouted again. Her throat felt raw as for the second time she produced the “voice magic”.

“WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!”

And so they did, each of them with a jolt. The shout pushed Hitch and Izzy flying back some distance. They began to shout in terror.

“WHAT DID YOU DO SUNNY?!” Hitch cried, Izzy hanging on with conscious tightness. Sunny watched Hitch search for his rope and other things when a screeching noise from up near the castle drew her gaze. She managed to look back up, and growled when she saw what it was.

The octo-spider had followed, and it was hurtling toward Hitch and Izzy much faster than anypony was falling.

“Almost there Izzy! Hang on!”

But the octo-spider’s reaching snake-like limbs did not get as close as the Drake desired. An object slammed into the body of the machine and began to cover the impact area with a growing mass of grey substance. It grew and grew – Sunny thought it must have been some kind of magical stone, or at least she silently hoped it was magical. The stone grew to such a size that its weight caused the octo-spider to fall much faster and at a lower trajectory, and when the limbs tried to extend to reach Izzy from farther away, the stone caused them to lock up.

“No! NO!!!”

Sunny did not cheer as the greater threat to everypony was the hard earth quickly approaching below. Hitch by then had grabbed his rope, formed a loop in it, and tossed it with a Rockhoof-like throw to Sunny – she did not hesitate to scramble forward, almost missing it, and wrap it around her. The three were seconds from becoming bright splats on the tree-dotted valley.

“WHAT’S THE BIG PLAN CASANOVA?”

“IT’S BONKERS – SUNNY, YOU REALLY GOTTA TRY NOT TO PUKE, OKAY?”

“THAT’S THE LEAST OF OUR CONCERNS, DONTCHA THINK?!”

Sunny gulped. She watched and felt Hitch grab his end of the rope and yank it. The effect was that Sunny was thrown, mid-air, toward a large tree, with Hitch and Izzy tied around the other end of the rope. Sunny thought he was throwing her into one of the tall evergreens – but the objective soon clear as she soared past the tree and felt her body turning. She tensed her body and her stomach.

The middle of the rope began wrapping around the trunk of the tree, snapping off branches as it did so. Meanwhile Sunny was trapped in a seemingly endless loop of spinning around and around the tree trunk. She dared not open her eyes and suffer even more dizziness. She heard her friends enjoy the same predicament.

Somehow, once the sickening whirlwind halted after the rope entangled itself in dozens of branches, and snapping off many more, the ponies came to a quiet stop. Sunny shook from her hooves to her mane, and when she risked opening a single eye, all she saw was grass colored a very dark blue from the filter of night. She felt her breath’s warmth bounce back at her. She could physically feel her adrenaline pumping through her veins.

“IM ALIVE IM ALIVE IM ALIVE IM ALIVE IM—”

It was a long time before Sunny stopped repeating the mantra, and it was an even longer time before she detached herself from the rope and flopped to the ground, still catching her breath. Sunny only allowed herself a fleeting second to rest, as she remembered that Hitch and Izzy – hopefully – were on the other side of the evergreen’s tall, thick trunk.

Snapped branches and needles covered the dark ground. Sunny’s ears registered the castle alarm high above, but her brain could not discern what the sound entailed. She galloped around the trunk and saw Hitch cutting himself and Izzy loose. Izzy clung to him, eyes wide and shaking profusely. Everypony gasped for air. Hitch’s shovel sliced the rope and both ponies came down with a thud. Luckily, Izzy landed on Hitch. The former sheriff’s head was spinning.

“We… gotta… go… not… safe… yet…”

Sunny was still disoriented. She nodded, but she wasn’t sure why. She lifted a hoof to walk closer to her friends, but all her pain returned at once from the blast and she instead stumbled forward. Her head sprang up like she was a wounded animal, and it was then that she noticed her friends had charred coats matted with neon green patches from the explosion. But Sunny paid little mind to anything as pain coursed through her like a thousand crabs had pinched her all over at the same time. She cried out, almost fell over entirely, but closed her eyes instead and took the pain. She wobbled but did not crumble, and shouted with gritted teeth.

“OKAY! LET’S… GO…”

She stood up straight and saw stars. Still, she forced her limbs forward.

“Wait…” Hitch held out a hoof. “I… have… something…”

He grabbed at his belt, the loose strip of faux leather still hanging around his neck. Hitch detached a small vial from a normally hidden part of the belt. He uncorked it with his mouth – steam and bubbles came out the top, and the liquid turned a glowing orange.

“This… will energize… us enough… for a few hours…”

He took a small sip and held it out to Sunny. Hitch’s body shook as the ichor slithered down his throat. Sunny winced in pain but managed to take a sip, leaving some for Izzy.

Everypony shivered, shook, and moved their limbs as the potion’s effect filled them with a temporary vigor – but only to restore them to their previous states, nothing more. Hitch looked from Izzy to Sunny and nodded.

“Right, so are we good to continue? We need to get out of here!”

Sunny and Izzy looked at Hitch’s mane. It stuck straight up, like a big tongue had licked it. The mares snickered.

“What – WHAT? Is something –”

Hitch felt his mane and groaned.

“Noooo my mane! That look takes a long time to get just the way I want it, you know!”

After a few giggles, Sunny became more serious.

“What about Curio? If he’s as good as you say he is, as soon as we leave the cover of this tree he’s going to be able to hit us with something that will freeze us or cover us in stones!”

Hitch flashed her a smile and chuckled.

“Oh, don’t worry about that Sunny. I know a few guys who have a secret passage we can use.”

Sunny and Izzy exchanged glances as Hitch snagged his shovel, flicked up his eyebrows at the others, and started to tap the ground around the tree. Sunny hugged Izzy tight.

“I’m really glad we’re all okay!”

“M-me too…”

Izzy sobbed.

“This is all my fault I’m so sorry I—”

Sunny pulled her friend away and cleared all the Unicorn’s doubt with her resolute stare.

“Izzy we are all here because we want to be! You have nothing to apologize for!”

Izzy’s bottom lip quivered. She nodded profusely while the tears slowly streaked down her cheeks. Sunny smiled so wide her cheeks covered her eyes and she rubbed Izzy’s mane. Hitch hit his shovel against the dirt in a particular spot and he made an “aha!” noise.

“Right here!”

He balanced the shovel in his hoofs and dug it into the ground. With a heave he brought up a massive scoop of dirt and threw it nearby. There was so much dirt that Sunny’s and Izzy’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. In the wake was left a hole. Hitch held out his hoof toward it.

“These tunnels are big enough for us to squeeze down and walk through – the ceilings are a bit low, but the tunnels themselves are at least wide. The grassland moles always want me to play down here. They won’t mind us using them!”

Sunny lit up even more, and even Izzy looked positive.

“Hitch you’re a genius! Underground, just like you said!”

Hitch shrugged and smiled.

“If the Unicorns find about the tunnels, we’re doomed. But I think we should be fine.” Hitch flinched. “Oh, right! It’s completely dark down there, and I don’t have a torch! Any ideas?”

Sunny sadly nodded. Izzy stepped back. The other two watched her hobble to the edge of where the evergreen’s remaining branches provided everypony with shelter. Beyond the evergreen, the moonlight was pouring out into the landscape – it was a full moon. Hitch hiss-cried after Izzy.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! CURIO WILL SEE YOU!”

Izzy looked back.

“Sorry, I have to risk it. I can get us some light.”

Izzy inhaled sharply before closing her eyes and poking her head out past the tree cover, bathing her head in the thick moonlight. Sunny jumped forward and laid her hoof on Izzy’s lower back.

“Izzy?”

“GUYS GET BACK HERE!”

Izzy retracted after a minute. Sunny’s eyes nearly popped out – her mouth became the biggest half-moon smile.

“YOUR HORN! IT’S MAGIC!”

Izzy smiled sheepishly. The little appendage on her head was glowing an off-white, almost yellow.

“Umm, this is really the only magic we have left, if you can even call it that. It’s something that only happens to my family. It won’t last very long though, since I didn’t have my horn out for very long.”

“Let’s go then!” Hitch was chewing at the ends of his hooves. “The soldiers’ll probably be out soo—”

“IZZY WHERE ARE YOU?!”

The Drake. Everypony exchanged glances, then hurried into the hole in the ground. Hitch went first, followed by Izzy, and then Sunny at the rear. Izzy had to squat somewhat once inside, whereas the other two ponies did not, though all three had to be mindful of jutting roots or rocks from the dirt ceiling. Hitch squeezed past the others, back to the hole.

“Need to cover this up,” he explained. He reached up with his shovel and scooped the dirt back inside. Eventually, he managed to cover it pretty good, considering he was doing so from inside the hole. “Okay, let’s go. And no loud talking from now on because we’re not that deep underground!”

Guided by the light from Izzy’s horn, the three made their way through the mole tunnels. There were many turns and different paths, although Hitch seemed to know which direction to take.

“North is where we want to head – the moles mark the different tunnels for direction, since they can’t see,” he explained quietly at once instance. He tapped a particular rock with a smooth end with his shovel. “This one means north.” Izzy “ooo’d” with interest while Sunny shot Hitch a sideways smile.

“Nice one Trailblazer – guess the name is worth something.”

“Thanks. I’m still waiting to see if Starscout is, too.”

The three ventured on. Sunny was surprised by how good her body felt, given the experience she had just been subjected to and the damage she had taken. Thanks to the bright light from Izzy’s horn, it was even more apparent they had all taken a beating from the octo-spider’s explosion. They looked like what Sunny pictured the Warlock King’s test subjects looked like after a particularly horrifying science experiment. She thought out loud.

“Those potions are really something else. How come I’ve never heard of potions before?”

Hitch looked back incredulously.

“You don’t read or pay attention to school things, Sunny! Of course you haven’t heard about potions!” Sunny covered her snicker as she looked at Hitch’s ruined mane smushed up against the ceiling. “Plus, Maretime Bay IS a podunk town – that’s one thing Bastion got right. I don’t think they ever get many potions. Those things are hard to make, even the simple ones.”

Izzy chimed in.

“I’ve heard of Earth Pony potions. Unicorns say they’re filled with pure evil – and Earth Ponies will pour them down your throat so they can make you say whatever they want, and if you don’t do what they say, they’ll give you a poison that turns your insides into jelly!”

Hitch scoffed.

“Old pony’s tale!”

Sunny remembered her own experience the day before with the apothecary and being forcefed.

“There miiiiight be more truth to those old pony tales than we think, Hitch.”

Eventually the three came across a big furry obstacle. It was brown and round. Hitch cleared his throat quietly.

“Hey! Big guy!”

The creature stumbled around, revealing its gentle face and cute little nose that stuck up like a little hairy carrot. Sunny stuck out her tongue with a “bleh!” face, but Izzy lit up.

“Aww what a cutie pie! This must be the grassland mole you talked about!”

Hitch scratched the mole’s nose and it cooed.

“It sure is.” He addressed the mole alone. “Listen, fella, it’s very important that we get as far north as we can as fast as we can! I’m not so familiar with this part of the system – mind showing us the way?”

The mole squeezed and nodded rapidly. Hitch smiled.

“Well alright, lead on!”

More twists and turns awaited the three. Later, Sunny called out to Hitch, barely able to contain her excitement.

“Hey Hitch! I was thinking that maybe – y’know, just maybe – that you have the magic of controlling animals! And like maybe - maybe there is some ancient Earth Pony power that’s only just awakening for the first time! It could have something to do with the sun flare ups and Professor Tyson going to the Forbidden Zone!”

Hitch stopped and turned around, concern creasing his brow.

“Wait what? Professor Tyson went THERE? What about the Rogue Unicorns!”

The mole hurried on, and Izzy rushed past the others to catch up.

“Umm guys, the mole isn’t stopping!”

Hitch and Sunny walked and talked. Sunny answered her friend, who was sneaking worried glances back at Sunny.

“Professor Tyson knows what he’s doing! He said he might discover something about where all the magic went! I’m beginning to think Earth Ponies have a power too! Wouldn’t that be cool?”

Hitch shook his head.

“It’s not a magic power, silly. Animals just think I’m awesome, that’s all. And these little fellas helped me out once when I was evading a pack of angry stallions – I sort of… flirted with their mares. It was an overreaction, clearly.” Sunny went deadpan as Hitch continued. “A-anyway, uhh, the moles let me escape through their tunnel. Every so often I’ll come help them dig through a big patch of clay or stone with my shovel. It’s a mutual partnership - no magic involved.”

Sunny was still unimpressed.

“Right. Just the magic of your charm, huh?”

Hitch chuckled.

“Exactly! Now you’re getting it!”

Sunny didn’t hear a comment from Izzy, so she glanced back and smile.

“Izzy? What do you think? Wouldn’t it be cool if we had magic too?”

Izzy forced a smile, but only for a minute before it became a sincere frown. Sunny frowned as well.

“Izzy?”

“It’s just… when you talk like that, about magic… it reminds me of back home. Sire’s Hollow.”

Sunny instantly thought of a cackling Warlock King and crashes of thunder in the background. A chill ran up her back. Izzy continued with a sigh.

“My big brother and I used to talk about magic when we were younger.”

Izzy’s head drooped. Sunny did not press the subject, remembering Izzy and her brother were a contentious issue. Sunny lit up suddenly.

“Hey! Chin up, little doll! We’ll solve the mystery. Once all the races work together, we can go everywhere in Equestria, and we’ll be able to figure out where it went! And everypony will have magic!”

Izzy looked up, Sunny’s enthusiasm having piqued her interest. Hitch rolled his eyes ahead; Sunny continued.

“Yeah Izzy! The Earth Ponies, Unicorns – of course – and the Pegasi! Pegasi, Izzy! Just imagine! I bet they have magic to make rainstorms, and tornados – and SNOW! Real snow!”

Hitch laughed once.

“Everyearthpony knows that Featherfreaks change the weather by tossing their young into huge vats in their giant weather factories. They make rainbows using the colors from the ponies they toss in their great big machine!”

Sunny was livid.

“I thought you were past this Hitch!”

He threw up a hoof.

“Hey! Unicorns, okay I can get behind. But Featherfreaks – come on Sunny, just because Unicorns might be okay, doesn’t mean that—”

“What do you mean might?”

“Sunny that’s not what I…”

Izzy lowered her head and shuffled past the others.

“Izzy!”

Sunny punched Hitch’s shoulder.

“Ow!”

“You can be a real jerk, you know?”

“T-bah-Sunny!”

Izzy stopped and shook her head.

“It’s not Hitch, Sunny. It’s because… I agree with him.”

Sunny’s mouth opened. Izzy lowered her head again.

“I can’t help it either! The Fea—the Pegasi are… scary.”

She sniffed.

“I’m sorry Sunny, I try to ignore those thoughts. I know it’s your dream to unite every pony.”

Izzy quickly caught up to the mole, and Hitch did the same, looking back at Sunny with his mouth in a neutral line. Sunny looked to the side for a moment, and when Izzy’s horn light got further away, she remembered where she was. She caught up to the others.

The three plus the mole turned off to a tunnel that one could miss very easily if they went too fast. That tunnel zigzagged, then began to go down deeper into the ground.

Eventually everypony came to a large, open area. Izzy’s horn was not bright enough to illuminate the whole area from one wall to the other, and the ceiling was much higher though still only about as high as a normal building on the surface. Various roots, like hairy tendrils, were at all places sticking out of the ceiling.

“We’re passing through their home,” Hitch explained. “They must really trust you two if they’re letting you through. Me, they know me.”

Sunny replied.

“That could be why they’re letting us pass.”

Izzy looked around. She spotted a wide-eyed, baby mole sucking on a little root pacifier. It brought her out of her slump.

“Awww!”

Elsewhere, a couple of baby moles were clamoring on their mother’s back as she and the other adult moles tried to get back to sleep. Izzy brought a hoof to her cheek.

“Aww that’s even cuter!”

Lastly, as the three neared what must have been the exit tunnel, Izzy stopped to watch a mother mole rock her baby back and forth, the baby softly mumbling. Izzy got onto her hind legs and squished her cheeks toward her mouth.

“Oh Sunny I’m going to die! Sorry but, can we just stay here forever?!”

Sunny smirked.

“No can do. Unless, that’s what you want to do. I’m not going to force you to follow me.”

Izzy whined as if torn with what to do, but reluctantly followed her friends up the exit tunnel. Sunny laughed.

“But I guess without you, we wouldn’t be able to find our way through here.”

She turned back to her friend, and they both smiled.

“Thanks Izzy. For being here.”

Izzy smiled even wider and giggled.

“Are you kidding me? This is AWESOME! I’ve never seen anything like those moles before! We don’t have such cute creatures in Unicornia. They’re all…” Her ears drooped. “Well let’s just say that THOSE old pony tales might have some truth to them…”

Sunny reassured her friend with a chin touch and they continued on their way. Izzy’s horn began to flicker.

“Uhhh how much longer is it Hitch? Sorry but I think the batteries are running out…”

Hitch shrugged.

“We get there when we get there. The tunnels only go so far, so we’ll have to leg it on the surface again at some point. The farther we can go this way the better though.” He turned back around and frowned. “I hope you ladies are prepared for the worst. It’s us against the entire Realm at this point.” He swallowed hard.

Sunny had a particular bounce in her step.

“Isn’t it exciting though? It’s our very own adventure! I thought you were the rough, outdoorsy type Hitch?”

He whinnied.

“I am. But I’m not the guy-on-the-run type. I’ll sacrifice the “make the mares go wild” bad boy image for my freedom any day.”

Izzy puffed out her chest.

“We’ll be fine everypony! We have Sunny Starscout, after all!”

She quickly covered her mouth as the words echoed down and up the tunnel – Hitch rushed over and added his own hoof to the mix, his chest heaving up and down.

“We are close to the surface. Qui-et.”

Izzy went red in the face.

“S-s-sorry, I got so excited!”

The mole did not stop for anypony, and so while the twosome whispered to eachother he and Sunny moved on. Sunny waved from ahead.

“Let’s go already before Izzy’s horn goes out!”

By luck alone the three reached the end of the northernmost tunnel, and the mole helped them excavate the ground to reach the outside world, just as Izzy’s light fizzled out and died. The last spark of its glow disappeared with a disappointing pop of air.

Hitch carefully raised his head up out of the hole, the mole waiting patiently on standby to fill in the hole once the ponies left.

“Okay you two, keep it quiet still.”

He cautiously scanned the full 360 degrees outside the hole, eyes squinted and focused. The moonlight was heavy on the Realm – when Izzy squeezed her way close enough, it caught her horn and it started to glow again.

“Ah!” Hitch said with a jump. “Can’t you turn that thing off? Now it’s just going to get us in trouble!”

Izzy frowned, slunk back, and it almost seemed like her horn drooped down as well. Sunny came to her rescue, and by then all three ponies were tightly packed in the opening to the surface the mole had made.

“Hitch! She can’t help it!”

“W-well I don’t know, maybe she has an off switch! I mean talk about sticking out like a sore hoof – luckily we’re not in view of the Castle anymore, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t already soldiers looking for us. The normal ones are no trouble, but they can tell the Knights where we are headed.” Hitch came back down and looked serious. “If we run into Curio or Bastion, or probably any of the other Knights, we’re done for. It’s that simple.”

Sunny shook her head.

“We just have to risk it. We need to put as much distance as we can between us and the Castle before that potion wears off! How long do you think we have?”

Hitch groaned and smeared his face with his hoof.

“Forgot about that little detail—uhhh, normally the potion lasts eight hours on me. We took about one third each so, maybe 2 and a half hours? I have no clue how long we were underground for.”

Izzy replied immediately.

“One hour, sixteen minutes.”

Sunny and Hitch looked at her, wide eyed. Izzy smiled nervously.

“T-The moon. I can tell, based on where it’s at, what the time is.”

Hitch slowly nodded and Sunny smiled.

“No use standing around here, then, ponies! Let’s go!”

She leapt out of the hole and was off. Hitch watched her leave, his jaw hanging. Izzy scrambled up and followed her friend. Hitch pulled at his mane.

“Guys! Ahhhh wait! Just – just a minute!”

Hitch clambered up. Before he bolted, he turned back to the mole, who was already busy covering the hole.

“Thanks friend! I’ll pay you back somehow!”

The mole nodded and Hitch broke off into a gallop. He caught up to Sunny and Izzy and slowed his pace to their brisk trot.

“You crazy?!”

“Oh, stop whispering, they will hear our hooves anyway. There’s nopony around - relax Casanova.”

Izzy giggled.

“Th-this is sort of exciting, isn’t it?”

Hitch gave up with a sigh and slowly smirked.

“Fine, fine. It’s your funeral.”

Sunny shot him a wide grin.

“Our funeral, friend!”

The moonlight cast a pale white glow on the scenery. Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy climbed a big, craggy hill and nearly slid down on its other side, which was a smooth plain of grass. Next was a dense collection of tall pines and evergreens, almost a miniature forest, with ground that was littered with tiny needles.

It was a part of the countryside Sunny had never seen before – it was not a fantasy land, like from old pony tales, but it was new and different. And she was with a Unicorn!

Sunny picked up speed, relished the wind in her mane, and hollered to the night air.

“LET’S GO EVERYPONY! TO TALE TALL! TO ADVENTURE!”

Hitch caught up, his face stern.

“Sunny, just – reign it in a bit, alright?”

Izzy pushed herself further and galloped alongside Sunny.

“To… freedom, and uhh… adventure - again!”

“That’s the spirit, girl!”

Sunny started making wolf noises, and Izzy followed suit with quieter ones. Hitch seriously reconsidered his life prospects. But eventually he grew tired of being worried and joined in on the insanity.

“Fine, fine!” he said between laughs. “Might as well make this interesting!”

All three were laughing before long. The run evolved into a slower trot once the three sets of lungs became enflamed (Izzy’s worst of all) but their spirits were high, and they giggled as they caught their breaths. Hitch led them into a narrowing path that seemed to head higher, gently sloping toward the mountain range that surrounded the valley they were departing.

“Through here, ya crazy mares.”

He beckoned with a hoof. Izzy stopped for a second to better take in air, and when she did, Sunny gave her a quick noogie. Sunny stuck the tip of her tongue out through her teeth and ran off after Hitch. Izzy fixed her mane back into place.

“Meanie hooves!” Izzy called after with a laugh. Hitch and Sunny waited for Izzy, who caught up after a few more pants. Hitch adjusted his own mane with the back of his hoof, trying to get it into its usual style without any luck.

“This is an old path trolls used to use to come down from the mountains and terrorize the valley.” Sunny and Izzy looked at eachother with worry. “But don’t worry! They don’t come this way now, on account of a rockslide a few months ago. They’re not as agile as ponies and can’t climb over it. We can, though.”

He shot the mares a gleaming, confident smile.

“That is, if you think you can handle it.”

Sunny returned the smile.

“I’ll be up and over it before you have a chance to say ‘Wowwy that Sunny is a piece of work’”

She took off laughing up the path, Izzy giggling after her. Hitch shook his head, brow furrowed.

“Hey, I don’t sound like that! You did a deep voice thing – my voice isn’t like that! It’s much more charming, a-and calming!”

The sound of pony hooves and constant talking / laughter reverberated off the rock as it closed in around the three, as they got deeper up and into the mountain pass. Moonlight could only sneak so far into such curves – a lot of the time, it was mostly dark, save for Izzy’s horn light.

“Best part is,” Hitch said at some point, “Soldiers don’t EVER use this path. At least, as far as I know, since everypony is afraid of the trolls. But I know better. They absolutely won’t come here.”

“T-trolls, huh?” Izzy said. “That name sounds… scary.”

Eventually the three switched to a slower canter, and not long after that, the canter became an even slower walk. Hitch slowed only because the mares did, and looked over at their slumped, lumbering bodies with worry.

Sunny suddenly realized her eyelids had become very heavy without her realizing, until she could barely stay awake. Her hooves, as well, became harder to move without causing pain around her shoulders.

“Uhh, Hitch?” She stopped and breathed out. Izzy collapsed, her tongue flopping out. Hitch kicked his hooves in place as if raring to go.

“What, what?”

Sunny fell back onto her rump.

“I think – I think we should rest until morning.” She looked around. “Is there a cave or something nearby?”

Hitch looked quickly from Izzy to Sunny and several times back and forth.

“Wha – maybe. I don’t know! You want to stop NOW?! We aren’t that far from the Castle, you know!”

Sunny was half asleep and leaning to one side. She caught herself before she fell over.

“Huh… yeah but, that potion is going to wear off. And then we’ll be out here like sitting gulls…”

Izzy moaned.

“So… sweeepy… hmmm…”

Hitch sighed and pressed a hoof to his forehead.

“Okay, okay. There are a few spots in the rock where you can squeeze in, kinda like a cave I guess. For now, let’s keep going until we fi—”

Both mares were already snoring, Sunny loud enough that Hitch feared they’d be heard all the way back at Maretime Bay. He looked around and, seeing nothing but a decent-sized rock, he jammed it in Sunny’s open mouth. She continued making gurgling sounds around the rock, but all was quiet again except Izzy’s much quieter, lighter snoring. Hitch wiped some sweat from his brow and scooped Izzy onto his back, then Sunny after.

He continued down the path until Izzy’s horn illuminated a crack in the wall. It was not huge, but when he got inside there was space to lay Sunny and Izzy down, take off their saddlebags, and lay them against the rock, and still enough left over so he could comfortably fold his hooves up and rest. He chuckled quietly.

“Mares — throw a little action their way and it tuckers them right out.”

A few seconds later, Hitch’s head flopped down and smacked the dirt, his own quiet snores adding to the other sleepy pony noises. Sunny’s hooves splayed out in all directions, and Hitch mumbled when Sunny hit him in the nose. She smiled in her sleep.

It was six hours until morning.

Prologue

Long Ago…

Star Swirl looked back at the smoldering ruin of Canterlot in the distance. A tear fell from his eye, its silver iris having lost the lustre of his quick wit. There were no more anecdotes, parables, or intelligent sayings he could conjure. No magical retorts to the loss of the greatest magic of all.

“What now?” he said quietly.

He had fallen behind the group of Unicorns he was leading. One of his oldest friends trotted close. Her well-worn voice was as defeated as his.

“Star Swirl?” Mistmane asked, as if she didn’t already know what was on the old wizard’s mind. Star Swirl closed his eyes, sighed, and shook his head.

“It is done. Come, we have to keep moving.”

Mistmane nodded. Her mane and tail usually flowed in graceful movements of jade green, something like a magical fairy-tale made manifest. But it had turned boring, stale, stiff, and still. Mistmane’s ear’s drooped down, and when she turned to walk away, they bobbed with each of her elderly strides. Star Swirl sniffed deep and exhaled, then he too began again. The caravan of Unicorns, their bags and satchels on their backs or their wagons in tow behind them, all slumped forward and shuffled the same way.

The last twinkling of twilight that Star Swirl would ever see above Canterlot phased out slowly. It was truly beautiful, somewhat ironically given that the beauty stemmed from how the purple sky matched the red and orange of the flames. The black smoke marred the picturesque imagery and reminded Star Swirl that despite nature’s hues being as gorgeous as ever, the tiny actors on the ball of dirt they all called home had all parted ways.

Equestria was broken.

Some crazy hope sprung in Star Swirl’s heart. He hazarded a smile—he imagined what those six would have done. He bounced a little as he took to walking side by side with Mistmane.

“Say,” he started, “Perhaps Rockhoof and the others will come around. Maybe it just takes time. That was one of the lessons, wasn’t it?” He waited to see if his friend would show approval with her expression. She smiled back, though the warmth that she would usually give was lost because Star Swirl knew it wasn’t genuine. Nevertheless, he smiled even wider. “Twilight would say we can’t give up! If there’s a will, there’s a way, Mistmane!”

Mistmane closed her eyes and hummed, looking away.

“I should… believe that. We should… right?”

“Right! We’re the Pillars of Equestria! These ponies are counting on us! Equestria is counting on us!”

Star Swirl stopped and addressed the mass of Unicorns mincing past at their snail’s pace.

“Everypony! Fear not, fear not! We will be back someday and reunite with our friends! I promise, this is just for now!”

Some of the Unicorns glared at Star Swirl, and he felt a pang of hurt deep inside when he saw it. Especially the foals and fillies. One stallion spoke up directly.

“There’s no going back! They showed their true colors, Mr. Star Swirl!”

Some replies of “yeah!” or “that’s right!” rang out. A mare further away, a swaddling, crying baby to her side forcing her to shout her response, had a bitter expression.

“Look what’s going on! We can never go back, we just have to keep moving forward!”

Then a murmur snaked its way through the caravan, and various discussions of differing volumes and tones reaching from one end of the multitude of Unicorn ponies to the other. Star Swirl hung his head and sighed.

“Not much of a leader, am I?”

Mistmane rested a hoof on his back.

“There there. We’ll get things back on track.”

She lifted his chin, and Star Swirl saw a genuine smile on her ancient face.

“Eventually. Together. Like they taught us.”

“Right…” Star Swirl felt pride and hope swell in his breast. He stood up straight. “Together!”

But that was the last day he would ever stand in the city of Canterlot and stare with wonder at its tall spires. Its wonderous walls. The charming denizens (and the not-so-charming, smug elite). He would never again get to dine at his favorite café. He’d never peruse the books of the library, going over for the ninth (or would it have been tenth?) time the "ancient histories" section. He would never see the throne room again.

He would never see the princesses again.

Equestria had fallen.

1 - The Tale of the Sun Goddess

OneLonelyPickle Presents...

SUNNY STARSCOUT AND THE MYSTERY OF MAGIC

The seagulls pitched a delirious cry above the salty shores of Maretime Bay. The morning sun peeked shyly above the horizon far out into the sea, a beacon of light that helped send off the fishers and clam diggers of the quiet little Earth Pony town. Ships bells donged as the sailors took off, the gleam of hope and success just sitting behind their tired eyes. And somewhere on the other side of town, a snoring mare was about to have the awakening of a lifetime.

Sunny Starscout was sprawled out on her bed, sheets haphazardly piled up at the foot of the mattress. Her chest heaved up and down as her throat produced heavy sounds like an angry polar bear. A ray of sunlight snuck in through the crack in her drawn curtains. The room was dark enough to hide the tiny figurines sitting on a shelf on the wall next to Sunny’s bed. Six figurines saved from a dusty old box at a rummage sale. No doubt those six figures were part of her dreams at that very—

The light outside became hotter, bolder, brighter. It became so bright that it shot through the curtains and painted a huge golden square right onto Sunny’s face. She briefly cringed in her sleep and flexed her eye muscles before being awoken properly.

“Huh — WHAT? Why is it so bright?”

Sunny sat up quickly. The light shone on her messy magenta mane and salmon coat, illuminating quite clearly the fact that she was NOT a morning pony. It also nearly revealed her skeletal structure, the sunlight was so invigorating. Sunny had to cover her eyes with her hooves.

“What the hay?” she whispered, still groggy from the rude awakening. Sunny jumped out of bed, one hoof always hovered above her eyes. She quickly scooped up a nearby hairbrush on the ground and fixed her mane as best she could. Sunny then snatched a few mane elastics and fixed her hair into its usual style: three mane elastics fixed it into place on her right side, hanging down in a single ponytail that reached the middle of her hooves.

She looked at her aquamarine irises in the mirror, having turned away from the bright sun coming in from the opposite wall’s window. She carefully flicked away any sleep and set off out of her apartment.

Upon leaving the complex, she once again had to hide her eyes. The sun was still shining brighter, more ferociously than she’d seen it in her entire life. Which was not to say it never did that before, because the sun was prone to flare up every year or so, but that time was different.

Sunny noticed a pony next to her.

“This is the worst time yet, huh?” she said with a grunt. The pony agreed.

“Yeah, it’s getting worse every year! What do you think it is?”

Clopping of hooves reverberated off the cement from the side. An old, cantankerous voice cried out.

“Ehhhh I know EXACTLY what this is…”

Sunny recognized the voice and went deadpan. The sun started to die down and return to normal, so Sunny released her hoof from her brow. She turned to the source of the voice.

“Old Man Withers… what a pleasant surprise…” Sunny sighed. “Let me guess, more about the Sun Goddess, right?” Old Man Withers’ squinty eyes bulged. The wrinkles on his worn, grey face were legendary. A scar traced its way from the right side of his forehead where his hairline started, to down past his chin. His mane was nothing more than random tuffs of pure white hair.

“More about the Sun Goddess…” — Old Man Withers scoffed as if insulted and glared at Sunny — “You’d do well to listen to an old pony’s warning! You young mares and stallions have no regard for the past!” Withers cleared his throat and hacked away phlegm as only a stallion of his years could. “The Sun Goddess is no myth! She’s angry because of the way Equestria has turned out! It never used to be this way!”

Sunny rolled her eyes.

“Listen, we need to focus on TODAY! And the future! The past is just the past… and old pony tales…” Sunny quickly turned away and spoke under her breath, “Literally in this case…” She turned back to Withers and produced an over exaggerated smile. Withers continued his glare and breathed out with ragged pants.

“You’ll see the truth with your own eyes one day, young lady. Then you’ll wish you hadn’t disregarded Old Man Withers’ words!”

Sunny rolled her eyes again and Withers continued his slow trot down the lane. Sunny turned back to the sun, now as bright as normal. It sat just above the orange skyline, shining on the crystal-clear bay that gave the town its name. Ships were visible in the distance, and the gulls were wild above the town, as they usually were.

Closer to Sunny was the main street of town, just outside her doorstep, which led right to the square. Sunny hopped off the second story apartment balcony with a yelp, landing like a cat on all her four hooves. With a flip of her mane she was off at a leisurely pace, past the square and the fountain that sat in the middle of it. The old carved stone was sculpted into an image of Rockhoof, the hero of the Earth Ponies. Sunny smiled as she studied its worn edges and greening paintjob.

That Old Man Withers... stuck in the past like all the old ponies! What a joke! I'll show them...

There was a skip in Sunny’s step as she thought about where her hooves were taking her.

Bit of a bad start to the day, but no matter. I get to help Professor Tyson with his research today!

A flash of heat and pink burned over Sunny’s cheeks. She giggled.

Professor Tyson would never believe such silly old stories about goddesses living in the sun!

As she passed a fish stall, the owner stepped out from behind it and shook his hoof.

“Sunny! Stop right there! Your little speech the other day drove away business for the ENTIRE AFTERNOON!”

Sunny stopped and faced the stall owner, stalwart with conviction, her brow curved downward, ears completely erect.

“I was only trying to help foster a better opinion of other ponies! And why would it be bad for your business if a Unicorn or Pegasus came around?”

Ponies in the marketplace started to whisper among themselves. A few started to shout.

“Sunny don’t mention them out loud in public like that!”

“There are fillies and colts out here, young lady!”

Sunny frowned.

“What’s the big deal? All of you need to stop being so ridiculous! I mean, have you even SEEN a Pegasus or Unicorn before? They MIGHT just not want to gobble you up in one bite if you get to know them!”

Another stallowner came forward, a mare with an apron and a particularly intense, angry expression.

“There you go again, Sunny! Noearthpony wants to shop here when you’re going off about your precious — I’m not even going to say the words!”

A crowd started to form around Sunny, and not because they were eager to hear more of her inspiring words. Sunny looked around defensively, her mouth drawn upwards in defiance.

“Fine! Whatever!” she broke off towards the outside of town, head hung down as she ran. She bit down on her teeth.

They don’t get it! What’s wrong with everyearthpony — no, everyPONY!

Sunny ran right past a group of seagulls picking away at a hay bun, scaring them all into the sky as she stomped by. She swerved down a narrow alley, then another, and entered a wider street. It led all the way out of town and up a hill that overlooked the bay. At the top of the hill sat a large structure with a domed top and something that jutted outside of the dome. She smiled wide as she saw the observatory, and her tail swished at Mach 5.

Professor Tyson will agree with me!

With new pep in her trot, Sunny climbed the hill and knocked on the door to the observatory.

“Ohhhh Professor Tyyssson! I’m here to help you with your research! Can I come in?”

A minute passed. There was no answer. Sunny hummed in thought.

“Okay!” she cried, smile returning, “I’m just comin’ in anyway!”

She opened the creaky wooden door and was greeted with abject darkness.The winding spiral staircase that led to the top was as dusty as always. The living quarters of the lower level were faintly illuminated by a single candle in the middle of the worn dining table. Sunny trotted past and made her way up the stairs.

At the top, more candles created more light in the top-most room, though it was still quite dark. The ceiling was a dome, with one side of the dome opened up so a large telescope could sit and face the sky. At a small table littered with old tomes and scientific instruments, a stallion sat, deep in thought and focus.

“H-heya, Professor!” Sunny squealed. She brought one front hoof over the other and smiled awkwardly. The Professor didn’t look up but grumbled a response.

“Morning… Sunny…”

He was old enough to be Sunny’s father, but his short, brown mane and piercing emerald eyes showed no signs of advanced age. His lime colored coat still held a sheen, though it wasn’t very visible in the darkness of the observatory. Ancient spectacles hung at the end of his snout. Sunny cleared her throat and moved to the other side of the table.

“So, umm, what can I do for you, Professor?” she asked eagerly. The Professor raised a hoof. Sunny got the hint and sucked in her lips, staring around and humming as she waited to be called on. She started to tap her hooves on the table and whistle. The Professor stopped and slowly looked up.

“Sunny, if you don’t mind, my dear.”

Sunny blushed and stepped back.

“S-sorry, Professor!”

Minutes passed by excruciatingly slow. Sunny bit her lip and started to sweat. A clock somewhere on the wall ticked by each second as if it were a million years. The Professor continued his slow, steady writing and studying. Sunny started to shake from the lack of movement.

Finally, she burst out.

“OkayProfessorIKnowYou’reBusyButI’mSUPERBoredAndIWantToHelpYouSoWhyDon’tYouGiveMeSomethingToDoAndThenYouCanGetBackToYourWork?!”

Sunny caught her breath as the Professor lowered his pen and looked up at her.

“Alright. Can you pack my bags for an extended journey, please?”

Sunny took the words like a gutpunch. Her mouth dropped and she involuntarily whined. She took a step back, ears tight against her magenta mane.

“W-w-wait, an extended journey?”

Professor Tyson smiled warmly.

“Yes, dear. I’m sorry, I know how much you love to help me here at the observatory. But this is important…”

He narrowed his eyes and became serious.

“These sun flare ups are no laughing matter. There’s something I need to investigate near the ruins of Canterlot.”

Sunny jumped closer and her eyes became wide and fearful.

“B-but that’d bring you close to the Rogue Unicorns! Y-you’ll be foalnapped… or worse!”

Tears started to well in the corner of Sunny’s bright blue eyes. Professor Tyson walked around the table and hugged Sunny, shushing her.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, kiddo. You’re still young, focus on your life here. Don’t think too big.”

He pulled back and smiled down at Sunny’s wet eyes.

“You need to start making some friends. You can’t change the world all by yourself.”

The Professor patted Sunny on the shoulder. She sniffed and looked away.

“Friends… I mean, I’m not against having friends. But noearth — nopony wants me around. They’re all just…” Sunny waved her hoof around dramatically as she spoke, “So hardheaded! Like it’s the worst idea in the world if we just TRY to say hello to a Unicorn or a Pegasus!”

Professor Tyson raised a single eyebrow.

“Oh? But didn’t you just tell me to beware of the sccarrrry Rogue Unicorns?”

He smiled and Sunny became annoyed, puffing out her lips and blushing.

“T-that’s different! E-everypony has heard stories about how they attack anypony that goes by old Canterlot! That’s not just some crazy tale that Old Man Withers tells!”

Professor Tyson turned away and looked out towards the sky through the opening in the dome.

“You may find more truth behind his words than you’re willing to believe, Sunny Starscout. Come, I want to show you something.”

Even Professor Tyson… Sunny thought with a pout. She followed behind her beloved mentor, and watched as he adjusted the telescope to a new point in the sky.

“Here, look through this,” he said, carefully moving the telescope as he looked in the viewfinder. He pulled back and motioned Sunny forward. She tentatively stepped up and looked down into the glass cylinder.

The massive telescope showed her an image of a distant, orange planet just faintly visible in the now-blue, late morning sky.

“W-what is that?” Sunny asked, pulling back. Professor Tyson was serious again.

“That’s not a natural planet. An old encyclopedia by a stallion named Star Swirl lists all the celestial bodies, and that one isn’t included. And I’ve been watching the skies for a long time, as you know.” The Professor tightened his brow. “I only noticed its appearance a few days ago. Maybe it just appears every few centuries, maybe not. But it’s got me curious.”

Sunny cocked her head.

“So what does that have to do with you going to Canterlot?”

Professor Tyson walked over to a leather-bound knapsack and started to fill it with scrolls sitting in a pile by his desk.

“Don’t worry, Sunny. I’ll explain when I get back, it’s not something I want to get into in case my hunches are incorrect… which I hope they are. Can you give me a hoof?”

The two ponies walked back and forth throughout the observatory office collecting various goods that Professor Tyson wanted for his journey. By the end of it his leather knapsack was filled to the brim. He adjusted it to his flanks and strapped it in.

“Come, see me off,” he said to Sunny, who was sniffling again.

“Alright…” she grumbled.

Once outside, Professor Tyson stretched out his body and sighed out loud happily. He cranked his neck from side to side, briefly stood on his hindhooves, and bent backwards to crack his back.

“Oh yeah… that’s the spot… whoa, not as limber as I used to be,” he said with a laugh. He turned back to Sunny, who was rubbing her left hoof and looking somberly at a patch of dirt.

“I’m gonna miss you…” she said sadly. Professor Tyson lifted her chin with his hoof and looked into her eyes. He reminded Sunny of how her father used to look at her.

“Hey,” The Professor said warmly, “Don’t be sad, okay? We’ll meet again, sooner than you think. And I might have a thing or two to tell you about…” He leaned in close and whispered in Sunny’s ear, “MAGIC!” Sunny gasped and her face grew full of mirth.

“MAGIC! Really, Professor!? You think you’re going to find out about magic?!”

Professor Tyson cringed and quickly covered Sunny’s mouth. He looked behind him; a group of stallions was walking by at the base of the hill. They hadn’t seemed to notice Sunny’s shouting.

“Quiet, Sunny! That’s not something we talk about, remember? That and the Unicorn / Pegasus talk.” The Professor pulled back and sighed, smiling at Sunny like a slightly annoyed parent. “You really need to learn to be more subtle about these things. You can’t effect change by forcing everything down everyearthpony’s throat.”

“Everypony.” Sunny corrected, head held high. “I’m going to say everypony from now on!”
There was no give in her confidence, so the Professor just sighed again and shook his head.

“Fine, fine, there’s no stopping you when you’ve got that mindset of yours. Anyway, I need to be off.” Sunny pouted again, her bottom lip quivering. The Professor stepped forward and wrapped her in a big, warm hug. Sunny rested her head on his shoulder.

“Y’k-know…” Sunny sniffled, “I’m going to be all alone once you go.”

Professor Tyson chuckled.

“What about Old Man Withers? And those marketponies that seem to love you so much?!”

Sunny scoffed.

“Real funny, Professor… how about this…”

She pulled back and shot the Professor a confident grin.

“The next Pegasus or Unicorn I meet, I’ll make sure to be their friend! Okay?”

The Professor smiled nervously.

“Hah… sure, Sunny. You might be waiting a while though.”

He started walking away and half-turned back.

“Then again… maybe not. Fate works in mysterious ways.”

Seagulls squawked above and a foghorn bellowed from out in the bay. Professor Tyson shot Sunny a smile before setting off.

“Goodbye, kiddo. See you soon.”

Sunny waved her mentor off with wet eyes.

“Bye P-Professor! Please be safe! And come back AS SOON AS YOU CAN! ALSO, ALSO, DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME! JUST FOCUS ON YOUR—” She continued shouting well after he was gone out of earshot. Sunny sighed sadly and stepped over to the edge of the hill, more like a cliff as it hung over the bay. Another foghorn sounded off and rattled through the town.

Friends, huh?

Sunny forced a smile.

Never had a friend before… but I made a promise to the Professor!

She pushed a gush of air out of one side of her mouth.

“Pfff but it’s not like a Pegasus or Unicorn is just going to wander into town! Haha!”

She threw herself back under the shadow of the observatory, spreading out all four limbs and sighing with bliss. She briefly closed her eyes, then opened them to watch the titanic white clouds above slowly sail through the crisp, blue sky.

“Well,” she said to herself, “Time to get to work on my next speech about pony unity and the future of Equestria!”