Eternally This Second

by overlord-flinx

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: A New Generation, Other, Sunny Starscout, Adventure
Length: 1315

Moment upon moment reflects upon the next in brilliant and often times distorted ways. But the longer you look at the reflection, the more you see what it once was.

The winding path leads us often back to where we once were; even as we have forgotten where that was. It was Sunny Starscout who had chartered that return trip once more for Equestria. Returning to them not just their magic and not just their history, but their long lost connection to something far greater.

It was against the discourse that harmony was reawakened, arms outstretched to welcome its lost herd.

Published 2021-10-01 23:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2021-10-01 23:40:02 UTC

An Instant

It would have been an epic for the ages if it had happened amidst the fires of conflict. Generations beyond would have remembered the great triumph of once divided races banding together to overcome ignorance and fear---their stage that fateful lighthouse and their true star the joined crystals. But it had not ended in thunderous victory. It was not amidst the war of light and dark that the day was won.

In the somber of defeat, cloistered close by friends and once misguided leaders, did the tone of hope come. Differences aside and forgiveness given a chance again. Then did the crystals hear the pain of those there and spark with the life that once flowed freely through Equestria ages past. And so it would again, because of her. With tender touches it uplifted the one who never doubted until the darkest hour and whispered its eternal thanks for but a moment...

...I can't believe it...

Wha-! Hey! What's going on? Where--?!

Years... Centuries... So... So long...

Everything feels weird. Why does everything feel weird. Where am I?

Ah-hah! I knew it! I KNEW IT! I knew it'd be you! Your faith! Your tenacity! I just...!

Hey, sorry, can I interrupt?

Forgive me. This is your moment. I should... Let you talk.

Thank you. So... What the hay is any of this?

Hm-hm... The million bit question... Do you still use bits? Things have been blurry for the last... many years.

Y-Yeah we use bits sometimes. We mostly use---wait a second! What do you mean everything's been blurry?

Oh, you will love this one. And thankfully, it ties right back into your first question. Are you familiar with the story of ancient Equestria?

Dad told me all about it. The Elements of Unity, twin princesses, a serpent that could twist reality, ponies that were made of crystal and others that could transform into anything!

A few details lost in the ledgers there, but pretty much as close to the mark you can get all things considered. To wit, I am happy that even that much made it this far...

Are you... from those times? Are you something from ancient Equestria?

We'll be at this game of "you know-I know" for all eternity at this rate. Hah. To answer: yes and no... Parts of me are, but parts of me were from beyond even what you consider ancient.

Are--?

Did your father never teach you that dominating a conversation is rude?

Oh! Uh... Did you want to ask me something?

...How did you do it?

Well, I tried putting the two crystals together at first, but obviously there were three, so---.

Not the trivial little puzzle. And not bringing them all together. Time immemorial have the races come together even against petty squabbles. No offense.

I did lose my house over it.

Point taken. What I meant to ask is how was it that you... hung in there? It has been... so, so, so long... I had started to lose my own faith... And I am it. Hm... But you? You hadn't a stone to start on, only faith of another of what might have been. Yet you had the will to amend something so lost. How?

...Those stories of princesses long ago were something else. Of ponies so beyond anything we could've ever dreamed of that they could move the sky! They could defeat monsters that ate through their magic. They were all such amazing stories, that maybe they couldn't be made up. Nobody could've had that kind of imagination, right? They had to see it with their own eyes. And I wanted to be one of those people too, maybe.

Sound reasoning...

But more important than any of that was, well... I really kinda wanted to have a friend that could fly me higher than the clouds.

...Hm... I like you, Sunny... You're a lot more earnest than the last few who came through here, that's for sure. You don't have their wit or talent, but an unshakable will is something you're born with.

I'll take that as a compliment?

Trust me, nobody was as smart as the last one; it's an impossible standard.

Yeah, speaking of 'here'. Where is that? And where is everyone?

You're still exactly where you were before. Just sort of... nowhere, also. Everyone is exactly where you left them, and I imagine you will be coming back to a new world. Hopefully one that will blossom into as good as the 'ancient' one before.

Wait. So the magic is coming back?!

For simplicity's sake, yes.

Aaaand the not simple way?

The magic never truly left. Magic is... You are familiar with the ancient ways? Certainly I do not need to recite the old adage? I never liked the way she put it. It was so... hokey.

"Kindness is enlightening"?

That is much worse, oh my. Suffice to say, the unity between all creatures of this world is the catalyst of all magic in this realm. So long as unity exists, magic flourishes and flows through all things.

...So friendship is magic?

...Yes... Friendship is magic.

I knew dad got that one wrong.

Then you be sure to correct his notes. Because you have a great responsibility before you.

Huh?

For harmony to continue, I would have an envoy. Someone to serve as the link between the three tribes once more. A unifier.

...Who? Me? Noooooo.

Yeeeees. Yes you. It has been an eternity since one such as yourself was available. However, I do recognize it is a massive load to bear. That is why I would not force it upon you...

...If I don't, what happens?

Perhaps with the link returned, ponies will once again start towards what once was. But as likely, divides may form once more as the dust settles.

So... what would I have to do?

Be there. Stand proud with horn and wing upon the---

I get to be a pegacorn!?

I prefer to call it ali--

I'm in.

The magic is also still a bit thin, so--

No matter what, I'm in.

...Of course. I had not a doubt in my mind. Now go, Sunny Starscout... Rekindle the harmony in all pony hearts once more.

Musty books long put aside in favor of more palatable truths would tell of an awe-inspiring phenomena that could do near unimaginable feats called a "rainboom". It was a brilliant display that would set the heavens aglow with every hue of a rainbow which brought with it a litany of magical boons. But today, its greatest boon was not even the reawakening of magic across Equestria; it was the proof that myth existed for all to see.

As dread was sent banishing beyond the horizon, life seethed through those present and far beyond. Horns sparked for the first time in moons, wings caught wind for the first time in suns, and the earth bore witness to it all in all its splendor. Yet to those present beside the wreckage of that lighthouse--beneath the core of the magical awakening--they too saw a second myth given life.

"Sunny! Check you out!" Friends gathered in bewildered praise at the one who brought them together: Sunny Starscout. The unicorns present had a shimmer to their horns, but not the brilliant weave of magic like Sunny. The pegasi there had wings glitter at each flap, but none as iridescently as she. Like a princess of myth, Starscout now fashioned the feats of all the tribes.

"I can't believe it!" Though the memory of that moment would remain a distant, distant dream at the furthest reaches of the mares mind, the burning echo of a promise remained: to stand proud. To be the envoy of a new, brighter future.

I hope she's fine with half-baked wings and a horn... Oh well... Should've woke me up sooner. Hm-hm. Next time.