Chapters It was three days after the funeral. Sunny sat silently in her room. A length of rope seemed to stare deep into her soul. It sat across from her in the dresser.
How easy it would be to just hang myself from the balcony, she thought. I wouldn't have to live in this wretched world.
Three more days passed, and still the length of rope sat there. Sunny sat there, silently, tears brimming her eyes. Hitch was downstairs. Her heart screamed to end it, to let it all go. But she couldn't. She couldn't stop thinking about her father either. She loved him so much... and now? He was gone. All because of those idiots who said he couldn't do it.
A month ago...
"Like hell you could do it, Argie!" a grey pony called from the amassed crowd.
"Yeah, there ain't no place you could go to convince your lies to us!" another crowed.
Voices clamoured and Argyle felt his heart sink as his daughter looked toward him with hopeful eyes. They need to learn, Dad, she mouthed. Please teach them...
"Quiet!" Argyle bellowed. "You all refuse to change, don't you? You're all so caught up in your little fantasies that your brains refuse to accept the truth!" His voice began to crack. "You all need to learn, you damned fools! They ARE NOT our enemies! Please, don't let your children grow up in fear..." Argyle felt his heart sink as the crowd began to uproariously outrage.
"PROVE IT TO US, YOU COWARD!!" the grey pony raged. A chorus of agreements rang out, filled with anger and stubborn-headedness. Argyle knew there was nothing he could do.
"Very well," Argyle cried. "There seems to be no other way you could learn! I will travel to Zephyr Heights and bring back a true friend! Just you fools wait!!"
Sunny remembered that day all too well. She begged him not to go. But no, that damn bullheaded enthusiast just HAD to go running off! Sunny raged to herself. The anger welled up inside of her, damning her internal state. She felt something in her chest break. Like shattering glass, she felt her chest be consumed in a fit of blinding emotional pain. Sunny began to sob quietly, tears streaming from her eyes. Why did you have to leave me, Dad?" she looked toward the sky outside. "WHY????" she screamed, tears bursting free, racking sobs consuming her, as she bent over the railing.
Damn it, she couldn't take it!! She let herself feel helpless. There was nothing that could be done for her now. The rope that sat on her dresser maliciously beckoned her closer. She gulped.
"Come closer, give in!" it seemed to say. She took a step, and then another. And another, and just one more. The rope laid before her like some coiled snake ready to strike. She reached out, and began to tie it together...
Argyle felt a sense of connection with this pegasus. As if, she had some kind of role the universe had fated for her. What it was, he knew not. All he knew is that Zephyr Heights was the largest city he had ever seen. The sky seemed to gently rest atop the pristine gold and white towers and buildings, layered with sidewalks and filled with ponies. But Argyle noticed how the other pegasi, despite seeming very friendly, shot him wary glances and fearfully stayed away from him, as though he were wearing a large bubble. He felt uneasy.
All seemed to be going well until the young pegasus at his side began to limp to a group of guards by an alley. Argyle panicked. He knew that something horrible was going to happen. Be it to him or the young pegasus, it would nevertheless happen. Only a place with a monarchy held guards.
Argyle paced his cell. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, complete with a massage chair, a comfortable bed, and golden decor and even a bowl of fruit. Unbeknownst to him, the young pegasus was a royal princess. The queen had sentenced him with treason for hurting her daughter, despite his pleads against such a claim. Argyle wondered how he would even escape such a situation, and if he would ever return to his daughter. He tried to keep his hopes up, but he had been sentenced to life in this cell. If only-
"Psst."
Argyle whipped around to see the white pegasus there with her leg in a cast. "What are you doing here? Your mother-"
"Don't worry about her, she doesn't know I'm here. I want to... thank you... for your help back there."
Argyle smiled. "Of course. It's what friends do, after all, right?"
The pegasus's face struck a face of disgust. "Friends? With an Earth Pony?"
Argyle knew there was little he could do. He reached into his pack (the guards had let him keep it after seeing that there were not harmful materials inside) and pulled out a brown notebook. He hoofed it over to her and said gently, "If you read this, you'll understand everything."
The pegasus tenderly took the notebook and stared at the front. A small star decorated it's cover. She ran a hoof over it. "I recognize that star..."
Argyle felt a sense of trust overwash his system, and he knew she would easily understand the past. The young pegasus began to walk away. "Hey, wait, little one." She turned around.
"What's your name?"
"Zipp."
Please Don't Take My Sunshine Away
It was a long day in the hospital. Sunny was in a room by herself without any objects she could visibly hurt herself with. Hitch watched over her with Doctor Hammer Kneedock. "Is she going to be alright?" Hitch asked.
"Of course."
It was a long day in the prison cell. Argyle sat alone, jotting down mental notes on the pair pegasi guards before him. "Hey, what's your name?" he asked the blue mare.
Zipp sat in her room all by her lonesome, paging through the notebook the prisoner Argyle had given her. Are Earth Ponies really this nice? She thought to herself many similar thoughts, and then slammed the notebook shut. She knew what she had to do. It was time...
...to stage a breakout.
Zoom took a bite of the orange discreetly.dismissed ." Zipp's eyes filled with the same fire Argyle had seen before.
"What are you doing?" Argyle whispered.
Her hoof slammed the hoof recognition panel, opening the cell. "Come with me."
It wasn't long before they ran into trouble. There was Zoom and her partner standing in the corridor. "And just what do you think you're doing, missy?"
Zephyr Heights Police Department
Reporting: Officer Reporting: Deputy Martin Strongwing
Department Chief: Chief Gordon Stormstrike
Regiment: 12th
Details: Date: 04/06/2098 (April 6, 2098)
Time Reported: 09:23
Victim: Argyle Starshine
Race: Earth
Sex: Male
The prisoner was let free by Princess Zephyrina Storm, and reports from her say he fell off the edge of the cliff. When we arrived, his body was mangled and blood was spattered all over the rocks. We sent a minister to the Earth Ponies and agreed to put aside our differences momentarily to deliver the corpse of Argyle to them. We were lucky nothing happened.
You are my sunshine, My only sunshine; You make me happy When skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, How much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away.
The clouds hung dark in the sky, blotting out the sun. The wind blew softly in lament, a grave dug and open, ready to claim the lost soul which had passed on. Young Sunny sat quietly, tears brimming her eyes.
"We are here to mourn the loss of our beloved Argyle Starshine," the priest began. "He was a loving father and caring stallion that none could surpass. May we have his spirit in our hearts as we keep his legacy close."
Silence fell over the small crowd gathered. Hitch put his hoof over Sunny shoulder, as she began to cry softly. "Shh, shh, it's okay.." Hitch pulled Sunny close to him, hugging her as she erupted into a bawling, tormented pony.
Sprout sat behind them, feeling Sunny's agony and hoping to hold her and comfort her broken heart. He began to stand, but his mother, Phyllis, held him in place. "We will show no sympathy to an idealist like her ," she snapped. "Do you understand?" Sprout nodded and hung his head in silence as Sunny's racking sobs filled his ears.
The priest continued his eulogy, his own voice beginning to crack. "Argyle fought to find the lost eras of our past, living on his legends passed down from his ancestors. He was curious... But curiosity always kills the cat.."
"Just a little further!" Argyle grunted as he pulled himself up a rocky mountainside. The legend of Canterlot engraved in his mind, he was determined to find the fabled lost city on the mountaintop. He continued to struggle up the loose rocks, pebbles bouncing down into the canyon behind him. "Almost there..." he heaved as he crawled up onto the flat surface before him. Breathing heavily, he stood, and admired the view as the glory of the clouds stood almost within hoof's reach.
"It's... beautiful.." he sighed. It was everything he had wished and more. Suddenly, a loud thud sounded behind him. A soft whimper followed by a wail of pain made Argyle whip around to see what had happened.
A teenage pony, almost the size of his daughter, Sunny, laid on the ground. Her fur shone white in the morning light, and her hair whipped up into a bulb of magenta strands, a soft cyan stripe running up the side. Her bright blue eyes glinted with a fire Argyle had never seen, a flame of kindness, yet still fierce. He attempted to come closer, to help her.
The teenage pony flared her wings outward, the light dancing them with violet and blue. Argyle gasped softly, a kind smile upon his face. "Get away from me, you dirty Earth Pony!" she yelled. Argyle was taken aback. The pegasus began to stand, but collapsed before she could get upright. She howled in pain as she fell down, her right foreleg limp as a bag of oats.
Argyle winced as the pony before him forced herself to stand again. He rushed to her side and let her lean against his side. The pegasus reluctantly put a wing over Argyle's back for stability.
Sunny's eyes filled with tears as she placed the stool. The rope hung from the ceiling, smiling maliciously and laughing at her despair. She climbed upon the wooden equipment and fitted the noose over her head. I'm coming, Daddy. She kicked the stool out from under her and dropped with a scream. A singular tear drained from her eye, as her neck strained under her body weight. "Hck-- Hcckkkk---!!" Sunny tried to gasp as her eyes began to overflow, her lungs burning.
No, wait, I don't want this!! She began to choke out little sobs as she flailed in the air, trying to escape her self-ordained fate. The rope whispered in her ears, telling her to stop resisting. No! I can't! I never should have done this!
She thought of all the wonderful things she could have done. All the smoothies she could have tried. All the little children she could have helped. All the ponies she could have helped save from fear. All those dreams faded away because she decided to end it all. The rope whispered again. "Give up," it cackled, "give up and succumb to the darkness!"
Sunny hacked and suffered as she felt the rope constrict tighter and tighter. Her coat began to wear away and began to cause rope burn. Sunny's eyes blinked over and over, the light filling her room turning green and grey. Everything was over. She could do nothing. Her hooves flopped crazily as she felt her brain begin to ache. Sunny's vision began to fade as she fought to stay conscious. No.. please... not like this.... And still, the rope laughed. Sunny's body fell limp, the summer sun flooding her room illuminating her unconscious body.
Hitch heard a yelp from upstairs, as something fell down with a loud clunk . He thought Sunny was up to some shenanigans again and decided he would go and try to help her out. Sunny, you always did the strangest things, he thought. You always knew how to make someone happy. He smiled softly to himself as he climbed the steps. Something felt off. Creaking was heard as he took steps. He stopped a moment, and the creaking continued. It's not the stairs.. Hitch thought. He began to walk faster, and faster, until he was sprinting up the staircase for reasons he knew not.
And then he saw her. Hanging. Her head was limp, her body hanging below. "SUNNY!!" Hitch screamed, and immediately began to pull her down, tears filling his eyes. "No, no, no, no, no!!!" His voice cracked as he sobbed over her. "Sunny, please, wake up, don't leave me like this, please!!"
