Chapters Getting the Gang Together
“Tell me the story daddy!” Sunny said, hopping up into bed and holding her Twilight doll close to her chest.
Argyle Starshine could never refuse his daughters adorable puppy eyes she gave him when it was bedtime. It was the same story he told her almost every night.
“Okay okay,” he said, smiling and chuckling. Tucking in Sunny, he began the story.
“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together…”
*Argyles voice fades out*
~
“Sunny! Oh Sunnyyyyyy!!! Wake up you lazy bonehead!”
Sunny Starscout snorted awake and promptly fell off her bed, looking around tiredly and yawning. Standing up, she trotted to the window and looked outside. There on the ground, saddlebags packed and ready to go was Izzy. She was in her usual get up, frizzled mane with a hint of glitter on her beaming face.
“Izzy do you even know what time it is??” She called back down to her friend. Letting out another yawn as she leaned on the windowsill.
“Of course I do! It’s half past time to get your flank in gear missy! You told me to wake you up at 6 A.M. sharp so we would have enough time to stop for waffles on the way to the sheriffs office.”
Chuckling softly, Sunny smiled down at her friend and nodded.
“Hehehe.. fair enough. Come on inside, I’ll be right down.” Sunny said, turning and going to her dresser to tidy up her mane. Humming a tune she’d heard on the radio the other day, the apricot earth pony ran a brush through her mane. Carefully braiding her mane into a pigtail which she swept around in front of her right shoulder. Putting the brush away, Sunny lit her horn and trotted out of her room to the kitchen. When she had arrived, Izzy was busy stuffing her face with the banana nut bread Sunny had baked the night previously.
“Izzyyy,” she giggled, “slow down or you’ll make yourself sick.”
Looking up at Sunny, Izzy smiled and gulped down what she had in her mouth.
“Heh.. sorry Sunny. You make the best banana nut bread, I couldn’t help myself.”
Sunny giggled again and gave Izzy a big hug.
“It’s alright Izz, you know I don’t mind if you help yourself to whatever you want when youre visiting.”
Izzy smiled and took another mouthful of banana nut bread.
“I know,” she said in a muffled voice.
Sunny smiled and went to the fridge, getting out some milk. She and Izzy were preparing to round up the gang this morning for their adventure. Sunny had convinced her friends to join her on her quest to figure out what had happed hundreds of years ago to the two sisters who used to rule over Equestria. Taking in a mouthful of cereal, she checked to make sure that they had enough provisions packed for the trip.
“So, did Hitch say whether he was going to get Pipp and Zipp or not? Cause I can totally run ahead and grab them.” She said.
“I have no idea,” Sunny said, “let me check the group chat.”
Picking up her phone from the counter, she looked at the messages she had missed over the night. Scrolling down, she saw Hitch’s message from this morning.
HITCH
“He said he’d be here around 6:30 with Zipp and Pipp. Guess the new motel isn’t that far from the Sheriffs station.” Sunny said.
Izzy nodded and walked around the living room.
~
“Come onnn, why are you leaving Alphabittle as acting sheriff while you're gone Hitch!?” Sprout complained as he and Hitch trotted up the dirt path to Sunny’s lighthouse.
“Because last time I went out of town and left you in charge. You instilled fear and paranoia on the townsponys, got them to rise up as an angry mob, had them build a giant robotic version of you to attack Bridlewood, and destroyed Sunny’s house.” Hitch said matter-of-factly.
Sprout scoffed and scuffed the ground with his hoof.
“But I was only trying to protect Maretime Bay! I didn’t know that the unicorns and Pegasi were friendly. Plus I’ve helped rebuild her house and issued a formal apology to everypony!”
Hitch stepped in front of Sprout and sighed softly, putting a hoof on his shoulder.
“Look.. Sprout. You are one of my best friends and a good deputy. Yeah you made a mistake, and you apologized for it and learned from it. But I think you need a little more time to relax and learn some things. You know Sunny and I will always be here for you.”
Sprout sighed and nodded.
“Alright Hitch.. and.. thanks for not throwing me in jail for what I did,” he said smiling.
“You’re welcome Sprout. Now head to the station. Alphabittle was nice enough to volunteer to help teach you some things with his prior experience in law enforcement, and I don’t want you to be late for work”
“Yes sir Mr. Sheriff sir,” Sprout said heading in the direction of Maretime Bay.
Hitch shook his head softly and smiled a little, continuing to trot up the path to Sunnys house.
“Hey Hitch!” A voiced called from above. Looking up, Hitch saw Pipp and Zipp flying through the air above him.
"Oh hey Pipp, Zipp. I wondered where you two got off to."
"Ehhh.. personal business." Said Zipp. "At least for me."
Pipp spoke not even a second after Zipp was finished speaking.
"She means her peri-"
"Ah-babababababa," Zipp said, shoving a hoof against Pipps mouth, a small blush tinting her cheeks.
"I'm sure Hitch doesn't want to hear about that stuff." She said, taking her hoof away from her sisters muzzle. Pipp smirked.
"What? Embarrassed about a perfectly normal bodily function Zipp? And here I thought you were hard-core."
Zipp chuckled a little nervously and kicked Pipp in the shin with her hoof.
"Ow! Zipp!" And with that, Pipp started chasing her sister around the sky, Zipp easily out-meneauvering her.
Hitch rolled his eyes and knocked on Sunny's door.
"Come in!" A voice called from inside.
Hitch opened the door and trotted inside. At first glance he saw that Izzy was busy "glitterizing" their saddlebags, making them extremely shiny. And Sunny was.. well. Being Sunny. She was sitting at her father's desk in the living room, nose-deep in a book entitled "Ancient Equestria and What You Need To Know".
"Hey Sunny," Hitch said, trotting over to her and looking at the book she was reading. "Whatcha doing?"
Sunny looked up from her book, her dad's spectacles resting atop her muzzle in a very librarian way.
"Hey Hitch, I'm reading up on Ancient Equestria. Figured I'd get some knowledge in before we set off. Did you know that Unicorns were capable of-"
"Zipp! Get back here and take your beating like a grown mare!" Pipp yelled, swooshing up through the hole in the ceiling leading to Sunny's bedroom.
"Um..." Sunny said, confused and somewhat concerned about what just happened.
"Trust me," said Hitch, "you don't even want to know."
Sunny nodded slowly and turned to look back at Hitch.
"I'll take your word for it Hitch." She said, closing her book and sliding it into her now very glittery saddlebag.
"Oooooo, what's wrong with Pipp?" Izzy asked, getting up from her spot on the floor next to the fireplace. Her entire mane was covered in glitter, and she promptly blew a piece of hair from her face.
"I'll explain when we're on the road Izzy," Hitch said. He then turned to Sunny and gave her a tight hug.
"I've missed you you know." He said.
Sunny smiled and closed her eyes, hugging Hitch back and relaxing into his embrace.
"I missed you too Hitch."
"Awwwwwwwww, you two would be SUCH a cute couple!" Came Pipps voice from the hole in the ceiling.
Sunny folded her ears back and coughed a little, letting go of Hitch and hiding a small blush behind her mane. Hitch on the other hand just smiled more and gently ruffled Sunny’s mane.
"Sorry Pipp, were just best buds. Right Sunny?" He asked, doing a very good job to contain the flutters in his stomach whenever he looked at Sunny.
"R-right Hitch," She said, smiling softly and grabbing her saddlebags.
"Well if we're all ready to go, let's hit the road. We got a long trot to Zephyr Heights."
Journey (Not the 80s rock band)
Sunny looked at the map on her smartphone.
"According to this... we should be right on the edge of a huge forest." She said, looking up.
"Yikes.."
Yikes indeed. The giangantic forest that lay before them was tall, overgrown, and kind of menacing looking. The trees grew in weird twisted ways, and jet black vines curled up along their trunks, almost like long black serpents. The bushes were extremely thick, with thorns and a type of red berry growing on them.
"Ooooo! Berries! Yummy!" Squealed Izzy, hopping forward and snatching some in her magic.
"Izzy NO!" Sunny yelled, swatting the berries out of the Unicorns magical aura.
"It says in my dad's journal these berries are poisonous to ponies. They're called... 'Wandering Snazzleberries'." Sunny continued reading. "Beware of the red Wandering Snazzleberries. A single bite from one of these dangerous berries can turn anypony to stone. There is no known cure."
Zipp looked at the red berries on the ground and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Dang, talk about a sweet tooth for death," She said.
Sunny cleared her throat and turned toward her friends.
"Alright, from now on. Nopony eats anything from this forest or touches any plant that looks like it could kill you in your sleep and roast you over a fire."
The group nodded and Sunny turned back to the forest, using her magic to push aside the shrubbery covering the overgrown path. One by one, the ponies entered the forest and began trotting forward. It was dark inside, mostly due to the canopy of trees blocking out the sun.
"Wow... this is really creepy," said Pipp, recording a video for her Cantergram account.
Hitch nodded, "I couldn't agree more. Sunny? Are you sure this is safe? Maybe we could find a way around."
Sunny shook her head. "No, we need to follow this path. According to my dad's journal, there was an old town on the other side of this forest called Ponyville. It may hold the key to figuring out what happened to Twilight, and the two alicorn rulers."
The group continued on, stepping over vines and branches and fallen trees.
"Hey.. Sunny? Your dad, how come he knew so much about ancient Equestria?" Izzy asked.
The apricot earth pony-turned-alicorn, sighed a little remembering her father.
"My dad was an archeologist. He was fascinated by how ponies used to live hundreds, even thousands of years ago. He was well respected in the science community for his discovery of the lost chalice of Griffinstone."
Izzy looked at Sunny questioningly.
"Um.. what's Griffinstone?"
"Its an abandoned settlement on the cliffs overlooking the Lunar Sea. They found ancient text books that were still intact explaining the founding of the village and who lived there. Hundreds of years ago, real life Griffons used to live there."
Zipp looked at Izzy and Sunny
"You mean those winged creatures that look like a cross between an eagle and a lion?" The Pegasus asked. Sunny nodded.
"Yup, but no one knows what happened to them. Or any of the magical creatures of Equestria. My dad noted he knew of 6 different species. The Griffins, Dragons, Yaks, Changelings, Hippogriffs, and the Kirin."
Hitch spoke up. "So.. all these creatures. Just disappeared? Like into thin air?"
Sunny nodded and hopped over a fallen log.
"Mhm, at the ruins we have discovered. No bones or grave sites have ever been found."
Izzy was about to say something, when suddenly she tripped and fell forward, disappearing through a thicket of bushes and trees.
"Izzy!" Sunny shouted, jumping through the thicket after her.
"I'm okay! But wow!!! You guys need to see this!"
As the rest of the group emerged from the tree line. Each one of their jaws dropped at the sight before them. In a huge clearing, sat an enormous shiny looking castle. Some of its windows were broken, and it had many vines growing along its walls, but it was surprisingly still fully intact.
"Woah..." Sunny said in amazement. Looking at the structure before them. It was an impressive piece of architecture. The towers not looking like traditional towers, and the entire thing actually resembling a tree.
"Woah is right, this is incredible," said Pipp. Taking out her phone and snapping several pictures as well as a video.
The rest of the group looked on in amazement at the towering structure.
"Hey Sunny, how old do you think this thing is?" Asked Hitch.
Sunny shook her head slowly, turning to look at her friend.
"I.... I have no idea! Hundreds? Thousands??" Hitch! This is the discovery of the CENTURY!!!" She screamed, smiling and dancing around laughing and clutching her dad's journal to her chest. Zipp approached the closest wall and looked at the castle.
"Hey.. I'm no architect. But I think this isn't your traditional stonework." She said, running a hoof down it's smooth surface.
Izzy trotted over to join her and also felt it with a hoof.
"Shes right, this is pure crystal. But it's a hardened building crystal called Dalinite."
Sunny stopped dancing and looked at Izzy.
"What did you just say?" She asked. Her face lighting up with excitement.
"Its pure crystal Sunny. A crystal castle."
The alicorn practically fainted when she heard this and sat on the ground to steady herself.
"Oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God.... we just discovered Twilights Castle..." She whispered to herself, rocking on her haunches as she laughed softly.
"Who's castle?" Asked Zipp, turning and looking at Sunny.
"Twilight Sparkles castle.. they said it was lost long ago to time when the forest grew." Sunny said, slowly standing up and trotting to a pair of huge rotting wooden doors.
"I just can't believe we found it... this place could hold the key to what happened to Equestria all those years ago!" She said excitedly.
Izzy grabbed some camping gear they had brought with them.
"Not to ruin your excitement guys, but the sun's starting to go down. I think we should set up camp for tonight and explore the castle tomorrow." She said, starting to unpack a tent.
Zipp nodded in agreement.
"Shes right Sunny, we'll have plenty of time to explore the castle in the morning."
Sunny looked at Zipp, "you're right, it'll be safer too. Let's get some rest everypony."
Sunny awoke to the smell of a burning wood and talking. Sitting up from her air mattress. She looked over to see that Hitch was gone. Probably already up and making breakfast. She didn't mind sharing a bed with the stallion. Each pony kept to their respective sides, and neither were in a relationship. She'd never sleep in the same bed as someone else if they had a partner. It wasn't right. Yawning softly, she stretched and looked around the tent. It was a large military style tent. Used for both sleeping and desk work. On the walls of the tent, maps and notes were taped up, and diagrams of ancient pony text. It was her idea to bring along some notes to help identify any new artifacts they may come across. Getting up, Sunny trotted outside and looked around. Hitch and Zipp were talking next to the fire, and Pipp and Izzy were taking selfies with one another.
"Oh! Hey Sunny, breakfast is on the skillet and will be ready in a few minutes," Hitch said, looking up at her and smiling.
Sunny nodded and smiled her appreciation. Not much of a morning talker. Heading to a small table they had set up, she began reading and pouring over her dad's journal. Looking for any entries about the castle they had found yesterday.
"Hey Sunny?" Zipp said, trotting over to her.
"Mhm?" She said, not looking up from the journal.
"I think you and Hitch should head in first. Izzy, Pipp and I will watch camp out here."
"Alright," said Sunny, setting down the journal and going over to Hitch.
"So, you ready to explore the castle?" She asked, trying to keep the excitement she was feeling under control.
"Sure am," said Hitch, standing up and grabbing a flashlight.
Following Hitch up the stairs, Sunny looked up at the tall structure. It had to be at least 4 stories tall.
"Nghhhhh!" Hitch grunted as he tried to push the doors open. "The hinges are rusted over, this thing ain't opening."
"Stand aside," said Sunny, lighting her horn and concentrating. A purple ball of magical energy began to form at the tip as she swung her head back and literally ripped the door off its hinges.
"Woah," said Hitch, looking at Sunny in amazement.
"Heh.. I've.. been practicing... some spells my dad left... in his.... journal." She panted, wiping some sweat from her forehead.
"Well I'm impressed. I'm sure your dad would be too Sunny." Hitch said smiling.
Sunny smiled back at him and gave him a small nuzzle on his neck before trotting inside and turning on her flashlight. The entry hall was enormous. Easily twice the size of her own living room and kitchen combined. A decaying red carpet covered in green moss and tears lead the way towards an extravagant looking staircase. And the walls, although covered in dust were almost perfectly intact. Shining the flashlight around, Sunny noted that there were many doors leading to various rooms. Painted around the doorways were huge depictions of trees, and around others were mountains or clouds. Tall crystal spires shot up between the doors, creating a very beautiful contrast to the wooden doors and brass knobs. Looking to her left and right, she saw that two more hallways lead to unknown rooms.
"Wow... this place is massive." She said, trotting forward and running a hoof down one of the Crystal walls.
"That's an understatement," said Hitch peeking into one of the rooms. "Hey, this one's empty."
Sunny also opened a door and looked in an random room. It was also empty, but if she had to guess it used to be some sort of conference room judging by the tattered tapestries of a Six sided Magenta star with a smaller white star hiding behind it.
"That's Twilights cutie mark," Sunny said, pointing in the room as Hitch trotted over also peeking in.
"She must have been a really important pony to have her own tapestries and castle. What happened to her?"
Sunny shook her head,"I have no idea. Maybe we'll find out if we look around."
Hitch nodded and trotted along the hallway to the stairs.
"All castles have throne rooms. Do you think the throne room is up here?" He asked, pointing a hoof up at the second floor.
"It might be. Let's stay together though, I don't want us to get lost in here." Sunny said, trotting with Hitch up the stairs to the second floor.
Much like the first floor, the walls were similarly decorated. However all the rooms were just as empty. As they journied through the halls, they came upon a large double door made out of what looked like mahogany. The insignias of six different cutie marks carved into the wood. Sunny recognized Twilights but she didn't recognize the others.
"Think this is the throne room?" Hitch asked,
"More than likely, but there's only one way to find out." Sunny said, leaning against the doors and attempting to push them open. Hitch also leaned on them, and as they slowly creaked open, Sunny shined her flashlight inside.
"Oh my gosh..." said Sunny in awe.
The first thing both of them noticed was the enormous round table in the center of the room. The second thing was the 6 white crystal thrones surrounding it. As Sunny trotted forward, she shined a light on each chair. The one directly across from her bore Twilights cutie mark. Beside her throne however, sat a smaller chair.
"Maybe she had a dog?" Asked Sunny, shining her light on the rest of the chairs. To the left of the small throne was one the same size as Twilights, only this one had rainbow lighting bolt coming out of a cloud carved into the back. The next one was was a trio of pink butterflies, the one after that a mix of three balloons which were blue and yellow, then it was a trio of diamonds, and the final throne had 3 red apples.
"Wow," said Hitch, "who's cutie marks do think these are?" He asked looking at them.
"I dunno, maybe friends of hers? But..." her eyes widened, and she dug through her saddlebag, pulling out six miniature pony dolls.
"This is them!" She exclaimed happily. "These thrones blonged to these ponies! Her friends Hitch!"
Hitch smiled and gazed at Sunny as she pranced around excitedly. She was always so happy when she discovered something new and interesting.
"If only your dad was around to see this Sunny. I cant imagine how incredibly proud he would be of you," he said, giving Sunny a hug.
"I know he would," said Sunny, still smiling as she hugged him back and looked up at the ceiling. "Oh my gosh..."
Hitch also looked up and made an 'wow' motion with his muzzle. Hanging from the ceiling were crystals, and as Sunny shined the light at them, Pictures of ponies smiling appeared. Flying up, she gently took one in her hoof and looked at it. The picture was of a group of ponies, standing in front of the castle she and Hitch were currently in. However the castle looked brand new and instead of a forest, lush green fields ran behind it, a small pond off to the right. She recognized the ponies immediately, they were the same ones as her action figures. Untying the Crystal, she brought it down to show Hitch.
"Look, it's her friends. These ponies." Said Sunny, setting the dolls on the table. But as she did so, the castle shook a little and the table began to flash.
"Um... Sunny?? What did you do?" Asked Hitch, folding his ears down and looking at the table.
"I don't know!" She exclaimed, watching as the table began to spin slowly and a fuzzy 3D image of a map appeared.
"Is... that a map?" Asked Hitch, stepping forward and blowing off some dust. When the dust was cleared the picture became sharper and more clear. So with Sunnys help, they dusted off the table and stood in awe at the map displayed before them. It was a map of Equestria, various towns and cities displayed all over the continent.
"Manehattan, Canterlot, Ponyville, Appleloosa, Los Pegasus, Baltimare, Vanhoover, Cloudsdale?" Hitch read. "I've never heard of these cities before Sunny. Have you?"
"Only Ponyville and Canterlot," She said, studying the mountain where Canterlot was. "Say.... doesn't that mountain look familiar??" She asked.
Hitch leaned in closer and looked. "You're right, it does. Because that's the mountain Zephyr Heights sits on."
"But..." Sunny started, her word trailing off. "But Canterlot and Zephyr Heights can't be in the same place. Can they?"
Hitch began to think, looking from the map, to her pony action figures. "Unless.. Zephyr Heights is Canterlot?"
"But that's not possible.. is it?" Sunny asked.
Hitch shrugged, "I don't know, it's possible. We'll have to investigate once we're done here and with Ponyville."
Sunny walked over to a small bookshelf built into the wall behind Twilights throne. There were some books left surprisingly. Most of them decaying due to time. But one in particular caught her eye. It was a red book, extremely worn and had a gold spine. Taking it off the shelf, she opened it and looked at the words inside. It was strange because they weren't written in Ponish but another language her dad had taught her.
"Amik, jusfed fiedbal buyhur?" She read.
Hitch came over and looked at the book.
"What are you reading?"
Author's Note
Hey everypony! Thanks for reading my story! There will be more chapters coming out soon, so don't worry. I have big plans to make this easily a 20+ chapter story. All feedback and comments are welcome. Just make sure comments are appropriate. I fell in love with the new generation as soon as I saw it. And yes, there will be bubbling romance in this story hehe. I hope you enjoy the new chapters that will be coming out, as I enjoy writing them.
As Hitch asked that however, time froze and the book began to glow and pulsate before time restarted once more. Taking a step back and dropping the book, Sunny shook her head.
"Woah.. what just happened?" She asked, looking at Hitch.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you froze time." Hitch said, looking at the book.
Sunny also looked at the book, which was still pulsating. Taking a step towards it, Sunny poked it with a hoof and cried out as a lavender cloud of magic shot out and hovered in front of them.
"Um.. Sunny?" Hitch asked nervously.
Sunny however, wasn't listening to Hitch. She was entranced by this sparkling cloud, it was almost like a miniature rain cloud only lavender color. Reaching a hoof out, she softly touched it and watched as it began to take the form of a pony. Sunny couldn't believe her eyes, as she stared back at the tall slender form of Princess Twilight Sparkle. However she was shimmering as if she was a type of hologram.
"Greetings my fellow pony. If you're seeing this. It means you are next in line to rule Equestria and protect it and if necessary, restore harmony to the land. My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. I'll try to make this spell as interactive as I can."
There was a pause before the alicorn in front of her looked down at Sunny and smiled warmly.
"Oh, hello there. I am living part of Twilight, preserved in her spell book. What's your name?" Twilight asked.
Sunny, who was absolutely in shock, couldn't find words and felt like she was about to faint. Hitch however stepped in and helped her.
"I know how you must feel Sunny," he said helping her steady herself. "It isn't the full Twilight Sparkle, but you should talk to her."
Sunny regained her thoughts and nodded.
"M-my name is Sunny Starscout, your majesty." She said, bowing on shakey legs politely.
"Sunny Starscout, it's so nice to meet you. But.. what happened to the castle? Everything looks old and ruined. How long have I been in that book?" Twilight asked, looking around in shock.
"Well.. the farthest we can date any of this back to is 1,000 years" Sunny said.
"1,000..." the holographic Twilight said, sitting on her glowing haunches. "Then... they're all gone.. Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy..."
Twilights ears folded back and and she hung her head, tears dripping down her muzzle to disappear into nothingness on the ground. Sunny was shocked at how interactive this spell actually was. It was like Twilight had put a part of herself in the book.
"There there Princess, I'm sure they all lived full and happy lives with you. I don't think they could have asked for a better friend." Sunny said, gently patting Twilights shoulder.
"That's not what happened however.." Twilight said, standing and trotting to her throne, which she promptly sat on.
"Twilight created me as a clone of herself with memories and an active learning spell which keeps my consciousness going. What happened to Equestria while I was away? The last thing I remember learning from Twilight was the day Akira attacked Canterlot."
"Akira?" Sunny asked, sitting in the throne to Twilights right. The alicorn looked at Sunny and sighed.
"Many moons ago now, about 40 years into my reign as leader of Equestria. A pony by the name of Akira attacked Canterlot with an army of winged creatures called Despair Leviathans. Creatures born from hell who's purpose was to trap the souls of ponies in the Ether Realm."
Sunny listened to her carefully. "Whats the Ether realm?" She asked.
"Limbo, a dark place where you spend the rest of existence replaying your worst nightmares. When Akira attacked, we put up a fight but eventually lost. I'm guessing Twilight disabled my spell to hide me, and used the Unholy artifact as a last resort to rid Akira and the Despair Leviathans forever. However many ponies were lost to the Leviathans before she activated the artifact, and are still trapped in Limbo. I know you're about to ask what it is, but my knowledge on it is limited to only this. It's an enchanted necklace forged by Starswirled the Beared to rid the entire planet of evil entities. Unfortunately, it also takes anypony else with it."
"Where does it send them?" Sunny asked, folding her ears back.
"A placed called the Mirror world. Another universe which is parallel to ours in which everything is the opposite."
"So..." Sunny said, thinking. "They might still be alive then? If we can find a way to get them out."
Twilight nodded, "it's a possibility yes. But I don't know how. Only my full counterpart, the real Twilight does."
"Alright, but if everypony disappeared then how are we here?" Sunny asked.
"In the event that something happened to Equestria, Twilight created embryos of the best ponies from each race. She put them in a facility who's location I don't know. Tell me, what towns do the three races reside in?" Twilight asked.
"There are three we know of. Maretime Bay, which is where the earth ponies live, Bridlewood which is where the Unicorns live, and Zephyr Heights, which is where the pegasi live. But we're all united now. My friends and I reunited all three races, and we live together in harmony." Sunny explained.
Twilight thought for a moment before going to the map of Equestria on the table and pointing at it. "And this? Is it still accurate?"
Sunny looked at the map then pulled out a large map her father had made when he was was a young stallion exploring the country.
"Maretime Bay doesn't have a map of Equestria, but my dad was an archeologist. And in his spare time he specialized in mapping as well. When he was young, he went on an expedition around Equestria to try and get an accurate map of our country." Sunny said, setting the map on a wooden table next to the crystal table.
"And by the looks of it he was very successful. Almost every single one of these landmarks adds up to the elements map." Said Twilight.
And indeed they did. However, the badlands and dry desert that appeared on Twilights map were marked as a forest and cliffs now.
"The desert is gone?" Twilight asked.
"I guess so, my dad never ran into a desert on his journey. And what was once a Mesa of dry badlands, looks like a cliff face with mountains now. That's where Zephyr Heights is??" Asked Sunny. "I thought Zephyr Heights was built over Canterlot."
Twilight shook her head, "Oh no, the topography is all wrong for it to be Canterlot."
Sunny thought for a moment or two.
"Huh.. I guess that does make sense. But if your castle is here, then... where's Ponyville?"
Twilight went to a window, "Well it should be right out-" but stopped mid-sentence when she saw the vines and overgrown trees. "Oh no no no no no!"
Sunny looked at her worriedly. "What? What is it?"
Twilight sat and looked at the trees, "The Everfree Forest.. it took back Ponyville."
"The what now?" Asked Hitch.
"The Everfree Forest. That's the name of this forest. Its an enchanted piece of land filled with dangerous creatures and living vines." Twilight explained.
"But.. we haven't seen any dangerous creatures on our way through here. Actually, it's been pretty quiet." Said Sunny.
The lavender alicorn stood and trotted to the holographic table in the center of the room.
"Then that must mean whatever Twilight did worked," said the spirit version of Twilight. Folding her ears back, she sighed and turned to Hitch and Sunny.
"I will help you find the village. However after a thousand years of being abandoned, I cannot say for certain there's anything left..." Twilight said sadly, hanging her head softly.
Sunny gave the shimmering Twilight a tight hug.
"Thank you your majesty..." Sunny whispered.
"For what?" Asked the spirit Twilight, returning the hug gratefully and smiling a little.
"For being an amazing leader, and never giving up on friendship. You were my idol growing up. Besides my dad of course. He would have loved to meet you Princess." Sunny said, smiling and releasing from the hug, tears forming in her eyes.
"You are very welcome my little pony. Without my friends I could have never been the pony I wanted to be or done half the things I did to save Equestria from evil."
Twilight turned and nodded to Hitch and bowed a little.
"And thank you, Hitch. I can see you work in law enforcement. I have always held a soft spot in my hearts for guardians of our great country."
Hitch blushed a little and smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, uh, thank you Princess. I just like to keep ponies safe and make sure no one litters."
Sunny giggled, "Oh yeah, he's reallllll strict on the litter ordinance."
Twilight laughed a little and smiled some more.
"I had an old friend from Ponyville who used to say, 'A clean town is a town that attracts the good in ponies.'"
However as she said that, the book she appeared from began to pulse again. Looking at it, Twilight looked surprised.
"Oh gosh, we'd better hurry if I'm going to help you find Ponyville. I can only hold this form for 5 hours at a time. Its powerful magic but it has its limits." Said the Princess, trotting towards the double doors.
Hitch and Sunny followed her out into the hallway, not even noticing the new set of cutie marks appear on the map of Equestria as landmarks shifted and changed to the modern layout of Equestria.
Author's Note
Hello! Sorry this chapter took a little longer. Had to brush up on some knowledge of where the three settlements actually are. Realllllly wish Hasbro would have given us more to work with in terms of maps of modern Equestria. But then again us bronies in the fandom wouldn't have been able to write all these awesome stories speculating what happened to Equestria or how long it's actually been since Gen 4. See you in the next chapter everypony!
Trotting with the spirit Twilight, Sunny still had a million questions she wanted to ask. But she knew they didn't have the time.
"Hey.. Princess?" Sunny said, looking over at the glowing alicorn.
"Yeah?" Twilight said.
"You'll be able to come back right? I have a bunch of questions I wanna ask about ancient Equestria."
The Princess smiled, "of course I'll be able to. I might not know everything Twilight did, but I can answer some of your questions."
Sunny smiled and took out her phone, she was surprisingly getting one bar in the castle and she had received a text from Pipp.
Pipp:
Sunny:
Sunny put her phone away and trotted down the grand staircase to the foyer. Pipp, Zipp, and Izzy were all there, eagerly waiting for them to return. However when they saw the shimmering form of Princess Twilight, they gasped and all of them but Izzy took a step back. Smiling, Izzy squealed and hopped forward.
"Hi!! You must be Twilight! Sunny never shuts up about you but I thought you were dead? Ohhh, your sparkling!! That's so cool! Can you teach me to do that!? I wasn't expecting to see-"
Sunny shoved a hoof against Izzy's muzzle and chuckled.
"Calm down Izz, there will be time for questions later. I'll give you all the run down of what took place up in the throne room."
*Sometime later...*
"So, let me get this straight," said Zipp as the group trotted along the overgrown path.
"1,000 years ago, a pony named Akira attacked Canterlot, won, but Twilight used an artifact to wipe out all evil and took Equestria with it?"
The glowing alicorn nodded, "That's about the size of it. However I don't know the origin of the castle and magical table. I don't have knowledge before the day Princess Twilight activated me."
"But can you tell us what it's purpose is?" Asked Pipp.
"As far as I know, it was a map which displayed Twilights cutie mark, and her friends cutie marks at various locations where they were needed for a friendship problem. And I know that because of Luster Dawn's adventures before Akiras attack."
Izzy tilted her head in a very cute way and furrowed her brows questioningly.
"Who's Luster Dawn?" She asked.
Twilight smiled, having some of the memories from Twilights teachings implanted into her memory core.
"She was Twilights star pupil. Like Princess Celestia before her, Twilight took Luster under her wing personally to teach her about the magic of friendship."
Sunny looked at Twilight, "I can't even imagine how different things were back then.. I wish I could have met the mane 6."
"You still might be able to remember? IF, we can prove that they actually were teleported to another realm."
Sunny sighed, "And that's a BIG if."
The group continued trotting for another ten minutes, until Zipp noticed something strange.
"Hey guys, Is it just me, or did the ground become a lot more.. stonier?"
She was right however. Looking down, they could see that they were now on a very old, and very mossy cobblestone road. It was very hard to tell it was cobblestone due to the amount of vegetation growing over it, but it was. Looking around, Sunny attempted to see if there were any buildings standing. And, upon further investigation, she noticed walls and window frames covered in an insane amount of small green leafy vines.
"Hitch.. please tell me you also see a building when you look into those trees.." Sunny said quietly, in apparent shock.
Hitch squinted and his jaw dropped.
"Hitch?" Sunny said, turning and looking at him.
"Wha- bah hub huh..." He said, utterly speechless.
"I know this place." Said the shimmering Twilight, trotting towards the very dilapidated building and looking up to a rusted piece of metal sticking put of the wall. On it, unbelievably still hanging, was a wooden sign. However the words were obscured by the overgrowth of moss and vines. Lighting her horn, Izzy pulled away the vines and moss carefully as the words became visible.
"Dazzle Shines Quill and Stationary Shop"
On the sign below the words was a faded picture of an old fashioned writing quill, and a couch.
"This is where Twilight used to come to get her parchment and quills..." Twilight said, running a hoof along the doorframe. "So if that's here.. then it must be.." She turned and trotted a little back the way they came, turning to the left and pointing a hoof. "There."
The group went over and looked at the thing the shimmering Twilight was pointing at. It was a very very very large pit. Partially filled in from mudslides and rain water from over the years.
"What is it? It looks like an ordinary pit to me." Said Sunny.
"That's because you're not a unicorn silly. As a mare who's spent her whole life living in a tree, I can tell you with confidence. That this is where a huge tree used to sit," Said Izzy.
"A tree?" Said Pipp, "how can you tell?"
"How can you not?" Asked Izzy, smiling and hopping to the edge of the crater. "See all the torn roots along the edges?" She asked, pointing a hoof and directing it along the edge of the hole. "I'd say the stump or entire tree was pulled from the ground. And judging from the size.. it's the same kind mine is!" She exclaimed.
"Izzy how do you know so much about trees?" Pipp asked.
"Well when you've spent your whole life living in a forest of mega trees.. kinda hard not to forget." Izzy said smiling.
"True.." said Pipp, taking pictures of the pit to post to her Muzzlebook account.
"But Twilight, why are you showing us this hole where a tree once stood?" Sunny asked.
The alicorn smiled and cleared away a part of the forest floor with her hoof, "This is why."
Sunny looked down and was shocked to see a marble memorial plaque set in the ground. Taking a step closer, she pulled out a flashlight and shined it at the plaque.
"In this spot, in Ponyville's secondary town square, stood the majestic Golden Oaks Library. On September 15th, 1013 AD, a fierce battle between Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn turned alicorn princess from Canterlot, and Tirek an evil centaurian creature from the Ether realm broke out on the outskirts of Ponyville. The library was ultimately destroyed in the ensuing fight. It was most famously known for being the home of Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship and ruler of Equestria. The stump was removed by her friends and turned into a shining beacon of friendship, which now hangs from the ceiling of the royal throne room of the Crystal Castle. This plaque is dedicated to the memory of the library, and the amazing symbol of friendship it represented."
"Tirek.." Sunny said quietly. She was completely take aback by how much she was learning from this spirit Twilight. And she had a feeling she was going to learn even more.
As the group left the hole, they started to notice more and more buildings. Trees, vines, grass, and moss all growing around them, however nonetheless still visible. Entering a large clearing, they were shocked to see the most well preserved part of the town. It was large intersection with many stores and shops. Mossy, partially destroyed, wooden carts sat alongside some of the buildings and a large mossy fountain stood in the center. The most amazing looking building however, was the one on the far corner. Even though much of the paint was gone, you can tell that it was once a pink and white building. Hitch trotted over to it and looked up at a sign hanging above the door.
"Sugarcube Corner"
Twilight smiled and looked at it fondly.
"Ah yes.. the old sweets and bakery shop. Owned by Mr. And Mrs. Cake." She said peering in through the windowless window frames. Inside much of the furniture was gone apart from all the wooden chairs, tables, and counters which were still intact. Sunny trotted up to the shimmering Twilight.
"I... can imagine how hard it must be to see Ponyville like this Princess. Even if you are only a part of the real Princess Twilight. You still have feelings after all," She said.
Twilights ears folded down and she sighed a little, but started to smile and looked at Sunny, tears running down her glistening cheeks.
"It is hard, but In my heart are the memories. And there they will always be. No matter how much time passes."
Sunny gave her a hug as the rest of the gang followed suit. Piling around Sunny and Twilight in a big group hug.
"We should probably set up camp inside Sugarcube Corner," Zipp said, letting go of Twilight and looking at the sky. "It's gonna rain soon."
Sunny also looked up as the sky, "I agree, come on everypony, let's head inside."
Author's Note
Hey everyone! Hope you're liking the series so far. I'm doing my best not to reveal too much about Equestrias past too quickly to Sunny. And I'm hoping that you'll continue to read the chapters as they come out!
As Sunny stared into the fireplace at the end of the room. Her ears folded down a bit as the flames crackled and popped. Izzy looked over at her and approached Sunny.
"Hey... what's wrong Sunny? I thought you'd be happy we found Ponyville and learned a lot about what happened," Izzy said.
The earth pony turned alicorn looked up at her unicorn friend and sighed.
"I am... Izzy. Its just.." She paused, looking around at the room they were in. "I just can't stop thinking about what this place could have been right now, if that disaster hadn't befallen olden Equestria. Like.. what if Canterlot, Ponyville, Los Pegasus.. had a chance to grow and evolve over the years? It just makes me, so so so sad to see these old buildings and think about how amazing it must have been to live during that time." She sniffled and some tears formed in her eyes. Outside the sound of distant thunder rumbled across the empty streets and over the old bakery.
"Oh Sunny.." Izzy said quietly, sitting beside her friend and giving her a small hug before letting go. "You just have to think that, the ponies who did live in those times had wonderful lives. They had lots of different creatures to call their friends and the love they must of shared too. It's sad I know... to see all these ruins and think about what the future could have held for them. But maybe one day, we will rebuild Ponyville, and Canterlot, and restore a lot of these buildings to their former glory. Not changing one thing about them to keep them historical landmarks," said Izzy, smiling and looking at Sunny. Sunny smiled and wipes her eyes.
"Thanks Izzy... you're right. In fact, when we get back to Maretime Bay, I'm going to petition the Equestria Historical Society to do just that. Rebuild all the old towns that were abandoned and turn them into important historical sites. So ponies can learn about their history and learn about the past." The alicorn said, ears perking up as she smiled.
"I think that's a great idea," said Hitch, as he and the rest of the group joined Izzy and Sunny by the fireplace.
"I do too," said Pipp, "I can direct some money from the kingdom to help with the repairs. I'm sure my mom will agree."
"And I can get some unicorns to help with the heavy lifting," said Izzy.
"Oh how touching this is. Truly I haven't seen friendship like this in a millennium." Said a different voice, echoing around the room.
The group jumped and looked around for the source of the voice. But they couldn't spot anyone.
"W-whos there!?" Hitch called out, taking a defensive stance in front of his friends.
"Oh worry not my little ponies, I will do you no harm. I just like to have a little fun every once and a while. Allow me to introduce myself," the voice said. Just then, the room began to distort itself and all 5 ponies began floating as gravity reversed itself. Flying carrotdogs in buns with mustard, zipped around them, their little white wings beating the air. The fire that was in the fireplace became alive, and started tap dancing with a top hat and stick. And in the middle of all this, a figure poofed from out of nowhere. The mane 5 gasped at the creature who floated before them. It was dragon-like creature with two different kinds of antlers. It's large yellow eyes shone brightly and it's red pupils looked at the ponies with interest. It had one lion paw and one talon from a bird, one leg from a deer, and one claw from a dragon as its other leg. A white gotee hung from its chin and a single fang was visible from its toothy smile.
"I am Discord. Lord of Chaos. Bringer of tea," a tea set poofed into existence with a snap of his fingers, "and partier of the universe!" Confetti fell from the ceiling and a party hat appeared on everyponys head as they watched in awe as this strange creature started dancing.
"Uh...." Sunny said, absolutely speechless. Discord, looked over the group and poofed everything away, leaving them floating there awestruck.
"What? You act like you've never seen a God before." Said Discord, looking surprised.
"Well uh... that's because we haven't... Discord." Said Zipp, trying to set herself down on the floor again. "And uh.. can we have gravity back please?"
Discord sighed and looked away, "Oh very well, party poopers." He said distastefully, snapping his fingers as everything went back to the way it was.
"So.. you're the Lord of Chaos?" Sunny asked, looking at Discord.
"The one and only, what would you like signed?" He asked, poofing a sharpie and a table with pictures of him on it as he sat in the chair behind it.
"What? No, nothing. I'm just... extremely confused, and shocked. How did you get here?" She asked. Discord poofed everything away and flew around to her side. Pulling her into a side hug as he waved a paw in front of them majestically.
"Bu using extremely powerful magic that nopony could ever begin to comprehend... or control." He said, now examining his claws talons very pompously as he made a nail file appear and he began filing his claws. Sunny pulled free from his grip and looked up at him.
"So.. if you're very powerful, and The Lord of Chaos. Then are you evil?" She asked. To this, Discord raised and eyebrow and looked at her from the side as he continued filing his claws.
"No no no, I gave that up long ago. I'm reformed." He said, poofing the file away and examining his talons carefully.
"Then what are you doing here?" Asked Izzy, taking step towards Discord. The Lord of Chaos looked down at her and instantly smiled a little.
"Meeting my new friends of course. And might I say... your demeanor resembles that of another certain pink pony I knew centuries ago." Discord said, flying around Izzy and examining her. Izzy giggled.
"Well thank you!" She said, smiling and looking at Sunny. "I think we can trust him Sunny, he seems friendly enough. And his sparkle is super bright!"
Discord smiled and bowed gratefully, "well thank you! I learned all my friend making skills from my dear Fluttershy after all." But the smile vanished from his face and he slinked to the floor, ears folded down. "Oh how I miss her..." he said sadly, drawing a picture of her face in the dust on the floor.
Sunny looked at the picture, then at the dolls in her bag. Pulling one out, she showed it to Discord. "Is this her?" She asked.
The draconequus looked up at the yellow Pegasus doll with the butterfly cutie mark, and smiled a little, sniffling softly.
"Yes.. that's her. My dear Flutters," he said softly.
"I'm sorry for your loss Discord," said Pipp, also looking rather sad.
"She's not really gone you know.. I've kept our memories right here," he points to his chest.
"That's really sweet of you Discord. But.. it may be possible to bring her and the rest of them back from Limbo," Said Sunny.
Discord eyed her and gave her a look of distaste.
"Limbo?? Fluttershy passed away centuries ago in Ponyville General Hospital surrounded by her friends and me of course." He threw his arms up to emphasize his point. "I SAW her life slip away peacefully in my arms!"
"That's what I was afraid of Discord," said a voice all too familiar.
The draconequus turned and stared at the glowing form of Princess Twilight. His jaw literally dropping and hitting the floor, completely detached from his body.
"You look surprised to see me," she said softly, smiling.
"But.. but.. but.. b-b-b-b-but you were killed in battle!! Centuries ago! When the dragons declared war on us remember-"
Twilight began to giggle softly, but not in a lighthearted way, more of like a "I know something you don't" way.
"Why are you laughing!? This isn't funny at all!" Discord shouted.
"I do apologize Discord, when Twilight created me, she didn't intend for it to be a literal version of her. I'm an exact copy of Twilight, only I have half her memories. More like.. part of her spirit. So once again, I do apologize if some emotions are missing from my consciousness." The shimmering alicorn said, trotting and sitting down next to the fire.
"I... suppose that would make sense," said Discord, stroking his goatee. "But that doesn't explain why you were laughing when I said you were killed in battle."
Twilight's face took a more serious look, and she cleared her throat.
"That's because you've had your memories tampered with Discord."
~To be continued
Author's Note
Hey everyone, sorry this took a bit longer to finish. I took a short break because I'm going through some things in my personal life at the moment. If you spot some mistakes I may have made or have any input on the story so far. Don't be afraid to comment. Just remember to try and keep the comments respectful. See you all in the next chapter! I'm hoping to release it in a couple days or less.
"Tampered with?" Asked Discord, "how so?"
Twilight was about to answer when a loud boom shook the night air outside. A blinding flash of light followed and everyone in the group shielded their eyes from the windowless window frames.
"What the hell was that?" Hitch swore, getting up and trotting to the doorway. Looking around he didn't exactly spot anything out of the ordinary at first, until he looked up and noticed the moon.
"Uh.. hey guys, you might want to see this," he said in disbelief.
The rest of the gang got up and went outside, looking up Izzy let out an audible gasp.
"Woah ho hoahhh!" She exclaimed.
"Ummmm.. Sunny? What is this?" Zipp asked.
"I have no idea.." Sunny said, not really knowing how to respond.
The moon, once plain and filled with craters, now glistened with a dark blue aura. The picture of some type of unicorns head, imprinted on its surface. Everypony turned to look at Twilight who was equally surprised by these sudden turn of events. She turned and looked at the group.
"Don't look at me, for once I don't know what this is or what's going on. Remember I told you I have no memories of anything before I was activated?" She stated.
Sunny nodded and turned to look at Discord who was actually tapping his fingers together as though he was innocent.
"Eh heh heh..." he chuckled nervously.
"What? Discord do you know something about this?" Sunny questioned him.
The draconequus gave a short 'pffft' and waved a claw dismissively.
"Whaaaat? Who me? Nahhh. I don't know what's going on, do you know what's going on? Because I sure don't," he said. Poofing a cup of tea into existence and nervously dumping sugar into it.
However before Sunny could call him on his bluff, the wind began to pick up and howl, leaves blowing everywhere as lighting filled the sky. The group of ponies huddled closer and watched as swirling dark clouds filled the sky and a very loud laugh pierced the night, followed by an evil sounding voice.
"Hahahahahaha! Fools!! You thought getting rid of magic would banish me!? How incompetent do you think I am!? I RULE your nightmares!! I AM the darkness creeping in your bedroom at night!!"
The voice was followed by flash of a dark figure, tearing through the night sky. Everyone looked up in fear at the creature. Well.. everyone except for Discord that is. Who promptly began backing away into Sugarcube corner. The winged figure divebombed toward the ground and hit it with such force, it left a small impact crater in the creatures wake. As the wind died down however, Sunny could see that this creature was a pony. A... rather large one. In fact, it almost looked like..
"I.. am Nightmare Moon!" The pony said, raising her head slowly as her wings spread and she bared her fangs at the group. However, Sunny and the gang weren't as terrified of this evil mare as Nightmare Moon thought.
"Uh..." Zipp deadpanned, "are we.. supposed to be scared? No offense miss.... Nightmare Moon? But you aren't the scariest thing I've seen."
Nightmare looked completely taken aback and shocked by this.
"What do you mean I am not the scariest thing you've ever seen!? I HAUNT YOUR DREAMS!!!" She yelled.
While all of this was happening however, Sunny was busy flipping through her father's journal, looking for the name. After reaching near the end, she found a single page dedicated to Nightmare Moon.
"Nightmare Moon-
Sunny looked up to see Nightmare Moon now raging at the other 4 ponies.
"I'm sorry Nightmare, we just don't find you all that scary," said Hitch.
"But your armor and mane are super cool!" Said Izzy smiling.
Completely taken by surprise, the dark alicorn fumbled over her words.
"Wha- but- how- eh.."
She backed away slowly as her ears folded back. Instead of a look of anger, her face now showed a look of fear and confusion. It was like they didn't even care she was evil. Sunny spoke up.
"Princess Luna"
Nightmare Moon turned to face the apricot earth pony. "We do not go by that name any longer!" She snarled.
"You did a long time ago though, didn't you?" Sunny asked stepping toward the large alicorn. Nightmare Moon was backed against a wall of a dilapidated building. This was NOT how she had expected things to go with her return.
"You know nothing about me little pony!" She snapped at Sunny. Sunny, however, didn't flinch.
"Why are you so angry Luna? What happened to you that made you turn to the darkness like this?"
Nightmare Moon panted, fangs still bared at Sunny and the group. Discord had poofed away the moment the dark alicorn had arrived, and the spirit Twilight was watching from afar curiously. Nopony had ever asked her that before.
"You.. you could never understand! You're like that fool Celestia!! Showing compassion to your enemies is a flaw of weakness!!" She stomped the ground and snorted, glaring at Sunny. Sunny stopped moving forward when she was about a couple feet from Nightmare Moon.
"No, it's a sign of love Luna. Something Celestia didn't show you enough of, am I right?" The earth pony looked up at the alicorn, eyes shining softly with understanding.
"I.. I.." Nightmare Moon was at a loss for words. The darkness inside her told her to resist this pony's advancements of kindness, but there was a light... deep inside trying to escape.
"N... noooooooo!!!!" She screamed, her voice distorting from the deeper evil one, to a softer more sorrowful sounding one. "I will NOT let you break me!"
Sunny then did something rather unexpected. She wrapped her hooves around Nightmare's neck, and gave her a hug.
"I will be your friend Luna, you don't need the darkness."
Nightmare Moon was too shocked to throw this pony off her. Why would anypony just give love unconditionally?? It was absurd. The alicorn felt her heart soften and even as the darkness commanded her to hit the small pony hugging her, she couldn't. Slowly, her wings folded and a sound escaped her muzzle, one that nopony had ever heard Nightmare Moon make. She whimpered.
"I... I.. why are you being so nice to me when I'm nothing but darkness and evil?" She asked, voice breaking as tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. Sunny broke the hug and smiled up at her.
"Because that's the magic of friendship Luna."
Slowly, one by one, the features of Nightmare Moon began to melt away. Her eyes returned to their normal pony state, no longer slits. Her fangs receded, and her armor fell to the ground. Her body shrinking a bit and changing color. Now standing before them, was Princess Luna.
"Welcome back Luna," Sunny said smiling. The rest of the group smiled as well and went over to the Princess of the Night, each one giving her a much needed hug as they began to conversate and laugh. Sunny smiled and watched the group huddled around the now smiling Princess Luna.
"All I remember was a flash of light then darkness." Said Luna, sipping the tea Izzy had prepared for the group. After a lot of hugs and welcoming her back, the gang had went back inside Sugarcube Corner and huddled in front of the fireplace.
"I was with Celestia. We were on vacation in..." She paused to rack her brain for the memory.
Everyone listened to her story as she explained as much as she could about what she remembered.
"I don't know what happened to Celestia. I do however, know what happened to me. When this artifact was used, the darkness that had been banished from my body by the elements of harmony, took advantage of the loss of magic and took over my body once more. To save everypony from Nightmare Moon, I banished myself to the moon with what little willpower I had left in the final moments before everything went black."
Pipp listened intently, recording the entire story for her social media page.
"So like.. you're THE actual Luna? The one from tales and myths and foals bedtime stories?" She asked. Luna smiled and nodded.
"The very same. Although, straying from story telling, I must say how sad I feel seeing Ponyville in its current state. I made many friends here long ago." The alicorn smiled at the few memories she still had.
"Well.. Equestria needs a leader your highness. I cant think of anypony better than a former ruler to take the throne once more." Sunny said.
"Former CO-RULER..." Luna corrected her still smiling softly. "Tia was the ruler. I just handled the small stuff. Besides, I believe you would be a better fit than me my young pony."
"Me??" She asked surprised.
"Look.. Luna, I'm flattered you're considering me for the throne but I'm a smoothie delivery pony! I don't know the first thing about running a country," Sunny exclaimed.
Luna giggled softly.
"You will learn Sunny. And, you're not alone you know." The princess nodded towards Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, and Izzy. "You have a great group of friends here. And so long as you have them, nothing is impossible."
Hitch and the others joined Sunny in a group hug, smiling and laughing together.
~~~~~~
"I have a proposition for you Sprout."
Sprout stared at the box of pizza in front of him and looked up at the cloaked pony.
"Is that why we're meeting here?" He asked, looking around the dimly lit pizza parlor. It was almost empty, save for a few ponies catching a last minute dinner.
"In a sense, yes." Said the hooded figure, "but I also have to know if you'll betray everything you hold dear, before I give the proposal."
Sprouts ears flicked softly and he took a bite of pizza.
"What's in it for me?" He asked.
"You'll rule half of our kingdom. Have anyone you want, be anyone you want. No more having to take orders from Sheriff Hitch. You... will rule all." Said the pony in a sinister voice.
Sprout, always the optimist, finished off the slice of pizza and wiped his muzzle with a napkin.
"And my friends?"
"If you insist upon them being free, then it shall be done. I remember the days after you destroyed Sunny Starscouts home. I could see the hate building in your eyes as the other ponies mocked you and gave you nasty looks. You don't need to take that from them Sprout, you were meant for so much more than being a deputy."
Sprout grinned maniacally and crushed the pizza box with his hoof.
"A ruler... above everyone else. Everypony will bow before us," he said quietly, grinning at the cloaked pony. The unknown pony nodded, a small smile creeping across its scarred white muzzle.
"Excellent.. mwah hahahahaha.." he said, chuckling softly.
~~~~~~~~
"Well, I believe we should head back to Maretime Bay in the morning. I know Sprouts being supervised by Alphabittle, but I'd feel better if I was there personally." Said Hitch, laying down in his sleeping bag. Sunny nodded, laying beside him.
"I agree, Luna already agreed to come along. But.. have you seen Discord at all? I haven't seen him since Nightmare Moon showed up."
Hitch shook his head and turned to face Sunny, their sleeping bags were pretty close together and the apricot earth pony turned alicorn, was pretty sure he had done that on purpose. Sunny was starting to catch on Hitch had a thing for her, and to be honest, she reciprocated those feelings full circle. She supposed it had started about a month ago when she had done their secret hooveshake. She added the little nuzzle at the end as a way of hinting to Hitch she liked him. But she assumed that he either didn't notice or didn't understand. However as he turned, their muzzles came within inches of each other's and Sunny stared into Hitch's large green eyes.
"Hehe.." Hitch said nervously, staring back into Sunny's beautiful aqua green orbs.
"Hitch.." Sunny began, "there's uh.. something I've been wanting to tell you for a while." She said softly.
"I.. there's something I have to tell you too Sunny." Hitch said, ever so slowly leaning in closer to Sunny as she also leaned in closer to him.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"Yeah."
"What is it?" Sunny asked breathlessly, her lips centimeters away from Hitch's.
"Its hard to explain Sunny," he said, closing his eyes.
"Then express how it makes you feel..." Sunny closed her eyes as well, feeling her lips make contact with Hitch's. Heat ran through her cheeks as she felt the hooves of the stallion she held most dear, wrap around her body and pull her close. In that moment, that intense and intimate moment, mare and stallion became one. Hitch kissed her deeper, running a hoof up her neck and onto her cheek. Sunny blushed softly and kissed back as time slowed. In that instant it was only them. No Ponyville, no Pipp or Zipp or Luna. They only felt one another. And as Hitch slowly pulled away, Sunny leaned her head against his and nuzzled his cheek.
"How long have you felt this way?" She asked softly, leaning into his strong arms as she unzipped her bag and joined him in his.
"A long time.." he whispered in her ear, sliding a leg between hers, and allowing her to bury her muzzle in his neck as he held her against his body gently and zipped up his sleeping bag. Sunny could feel his heart beating quickly against her chest.
"I love you Hitch, more than just a friend.." She said quietly, yawning and starting to fall asleep, feeling the heat radiating off Hitch's body.
"I know Sunny, I love you too, more than a friend and more than you'll ever know." He said, kissing her head and letting sleep over take him as they slipped into unconsciousness together.
~
Zipp yawned, sitting up and cracking her back.
"Damn that was a good night's sleep, hey Sun-"
But Zipp didn't finish her sentence, as she looked over at Sunny's sleeping bag. It was empty, and instead, she was curled up in Hitch's arms inside his sleeping bag.
"Woah," she said trying to hold in a laugh. Pipp yawned and woke up next, blearily looking at Zipp.
"Zipp, what's so funny, ahhhh..." She said, yawning again.
"Hitch and Sunny are cuddling."
Pipp shot straight up in bed and looked at the two.
"Awwwww, you know I always felt he was sweet on her. I just didn't know if she felt the same," said Pipp. Pulling out her phone she took a quick picture and fluffed out her wings. "Gorgeousssss," she said, trilling her voice.
Izzy yawned and rolled over, right into Discords feet. He has returned in the middle of the night and fell asleep sitting in a chair he poofed for himself. Opening her eyes, she looked up at the Draconequus.
"Oh, well hello there," she said softly smiling.
"Hey Izzy!" Zipp whispered loud enough for her to hear.
"Hm?" The unicorn turned her head to look at Zipp.
"Check out Sunny and Hitch! Oh man.." She snickered quietly. Cuddling was something she was always too cool for. Izzy got up and went over to the pair cuddled up in the sleeping bag.
"Awwwwww, that's so adorable!" Izzy gasped and giggled softly, "eeeeee! You know what this means? It means I get to make my special couples tea!" Izzy happily skipped outside to make a small campfire, taking some tea and a kettle with her. Discord awoke with a start and looked around, cracking his back and floating into the air. Looking around he saw Sunny and Hitch cuddling and rolled his eyes.
"Oh please.. hardly breaking news. I could see they liked one another the moment I arrived." He said, scoffing to himself and flying over to Luna who was sitting in the corner drinking coffee. The princess looked up at him and sighed.
"Oh.. hello Discord."
The draconequus glared daggers for a second before folding his arms. "Is that any way to greet an old friend?" He questioned her. Luna looked away and stared into her cup of coffee.
"Sorry, just.. going through some things emotionally. I don't expect you to understand though. You're a God, you can throw away your feelings whenever you like." She sipped her coffee and closed her eyes. Discord remained silent to listen to her. "I suppose you're the one who released me from the moon?"
Discord nodded, "indeed, however I wasn't expecting Sunny to be able to change you with no elements to back her up," he said. Luna smiled a little and looked at the sleeping earth pony.
"Shes an alicorn, I know. She hides her horn and wings from us because she's afraid of what we'll think."
Discord blinked and looked at Sunny.
"Do you really think it was wise for Twilight to put all her magic into those crystals? I mean.. anypony could have found them and discovered their secret," he said.
Luna stood up and stretched her wings.
"Then let's be glad it was Sunny who discovered it. Besides, I have feeling that she's meant for a lot more than just restoring magic and friendship."
Discord followed the group through the forest. He had agreed to go home with them since, well... there wasn't really anything left for him in Ponyville. Or rather.. anyone. Since he lost Fluttershy, he was only half the draconequus he used to be. He spent most of his days keeping her cottage kept up and clean. There wasn't much for him to do when magic vanished. He had lost most of his powers, but retained his bloodline abilities. The things he was able to do that his parents and their parents had before him. He could make plants grow, poof basic necessities, but most of his chaotic abilities were lost when magic disappeared.
"Discord?" Said a voice behind him, he recognized it as Luna's. The draconequus flew to the back of the group of ponies and started walking beside her.
"Yes your majesty?" He said, bowing as he walked and poofing a top hat and bow tie onto himself. Luna laughed softly, but stopped short, her tone becoming more questioning.
"Why did you free me from the moon knowing I would return as Nightmare Moon?" She asked.
Discord stared at her for a few seconds before putting an arm around her and holding her back from the rest of the group so they were out of earshot of Sunny and the others.
"There is something amazing within Sunny. Something I haven't sensed in over 10,000 years Luna. A powerful type of magic, that didn't come from Twilight," Discord whispered, beginning to show worry on his face.
"What do you mean?" Luna asked.
Discord leaned in close and whispered in her ear.
"I think she's the one Luna. The one you and Celestia prophesized would come in the new millennium."
Luna stopped trotting and furrowed her brows.
"You don't mean..."
"I'm afraid so.. and the entire thing, with you being reformed in SECONDS. By a single act of kindness, with no elements!" Discord looked Luna directly in the face. "There's no doubt Luna, she is the one. The Elemental Queen."
"B-but that prophecy is a myth Discord.." Luna whispered, starting to trot again. "Ponylore said only to have existed in Pre-Equestrian times. How can you be so sure?"
Discord looked toward the front at Sunny who was busy talking to Izzy.
"Remember the ancient texts. 'Thou showest thyself only when the millennium is new, and thine year is started with a bang by a pony hailing from eastern seas. Thouest mane shall shine brilliantly of ruby purple and thine coat shall glimmer of a peaches hew.'" Discord recited.
Luna took a moment to process all of this and looked at Discord.
"So what do we do? Twilights gone Discord, trapped in Limbo most likely. How are we supposed to guide her?" She asked.
"Leave it to me," said Discord, "I did it with Twilight, I can do it with Sunny but I will need your help from time to time until we find a way to bring back Twilight and the others."
"And you shall have it, old friend," Luna said, smiling softly.
"Hey! Keep your flanks in gear back there! We don't want to get split up!" Called Hitch from the front.
"Cominggg!" Called Discord, poofing to the front beginning his usual shenanigans to keep everypony entertained.
~~~~~~~
"You're sure it's secure?" Said a deep voice.
The Pegasus in royal armor standing before the cloaked figure sitting upon the throne nodded quickly.
"Y-yes Lord Gust, all forces have secured Bridlewood, they didn't even put up a fight."
The white stallion sitting in the throne that once belonged to the Queen of Zephyr Heights smiled.
"Excellent, notify me when our troops have taken Maretime Bay, they seem to be putting up more of a fight. Then again, I didn't expect Sprout to turn against me so quickly."
The guard nodded, "Yes Lord Gust." He turned to leave but was stopped by a red magical aura.
"Oh, and one more thing. I may be evil and hateful, but there is to be no bloodshed. Use nonlethal tactics only. If a single pony is killed its your flank Captain."
The guard nodded once more and saluted before taking flight into the air and out of the nearest window.
~~~~~~~
"Come on everypony, Maretime Bay is just over this-" Sunny was cut short by the sound of explosions and yelling. "What the hay?" The earth pony galloped over the hill and gasped at the scene before her. The rest of the group joined and all stopped short, too shocked to say anything. Pillars of smoke rose from the small coastal town, fires raged in some businesses and battlements made out of metal and wood surrounded the towns borders. Ponies and all black winged creatures that resembled bat ponies were engaged in hoof to hoof combat while air raid sirens went off. It was a full scale invasion. Overhead, the roar of jet engines could be heard as canisters of tear gas were dropped on the small town, creating clouds of smoke as ponies fought.
"What the fuck is going on!?" Zipp yelled over the roaring of the planes. Sunnys ears folded down and she began galloping full speed toward Maretime Bay.
"Sunny wait!!" Hitch yelled, following her. The rest of the gang followed as they rushed toward town. Luna and Discord stood on the hill, watching the battle.
"What is this Discord?" Luna asked, looking up at him.
"Don't look at me, in all honesty I had nothing to do with this I swear!" He said, looking just as panicked as Luna was.
"Sunny!! Stop!" Izzy yelled, panting as she followed her friend into town and past battling ponies.
"Sprout!!" She called out, "Sprout!!!! Where are you!?" She was more worried about Sprout than anything else at the moment. Sure he destroyed her house out of fear but he was her friend. And she WOULDNT let anything happen to him.
"INCOMING!!!" Screamed an earth pony dressed in a camouflage uniform as a high pitched whistling was heard overhead. Sunny looked up in time to see a falling canister of tear gas heading straight for her.
"Oh no.." She said quietly. But before she was able to say anything else, a red blur tackled her and made them fall through a shop window as the canister exploded in the street. Coughing, Sunny sat up to look at her savior.
"Sprout??" She said, trotting over to him and helping him up. "You saved me."
Sprout stood up and coughed, dusting himself off. He was wearing some sort of fancy military uniform Sunny had never seen before. However it had the same markings as the ponies in black who were fighting the townsfolk.
"Yeah, and we don't have long. We have to get to the front line and push them out of Maretime Bay!" He yelled over the sounds of the raging battle.
"Sprout!!" Sunny shouted, "Why are you dressed like the ponies attacking Maretime Bay!?"
The red earth pony paused for a second, panting as he stared at Sunny, beads of sweat dripping down his face.
"Sunny... it's a long-"
"Sunny!! There you are!" Hitch yelled, rushing into the shop and looking at the pair of them. He was followed closely by Zipp, Pipp, and Izzy, who were all looking just as scared as Hitch was. "We need to activate the towns defenses! The splatapults will help drive their planes and ground forces back!"
Sunny looked at the others, Pipp was tapping away on her screen hoping to get ahold of their mother, Izzy was looking around timidly at the battle, and Zipp was standing next to Pipp, wings flared and ready to use in an attack.
"Alright, you three stay here, Hitch and I are going to drive back whoever these ponies are." Sunny said, jumping out of the destroyed storefront and heading in the direction of the main battle.
As they reached the main intersection at the factory, a loud explosion was heard and looking up, Sunny saw a plane falling from the sky as ponies jumped from it with parachutes. Needless to say, this was extremely overwhelming for her to handle. Sunny closed her eyes and lay down, covering her ears as tears ran down her cheeks. Hitch, who had just noticed Sunny on the ground, quickly rushed to her side.
"Sunny are you ok-"
"EVERYPONY STOP!!!!!!!" She screamed, her voice becoming louder than Hitch had ever heard. The ponies nearest to them covered their ears in pain at the sheer volume of Sunny's voice, and everyone who had been fighting stopped mid-swing, looking at the earth pony. Sunny's alicorn wings formed on her back and her horn sprouted from her head. Standing up, she spread her wings and slammed her hooves into the ground, eyes shining completely white. Discord who was still standing on the hill watching all of this unfold with Luna, smiled.
"The royal Canterlot voice. What an effective method for stopping ponies in their tracks," he said, smiling impressively.
"Discord don't you think we should go down there and calm her down?" Luna asked, looking at the enraged Sunny.
"Nope. She needs to understand her power this way. Guidance will come after she's gotten rid of the baddies in town."
"HOW DARE YOU!!!" She yelled at the ponies in black. "HOW DARE YOU ATTACK OUR PEACEFUL TOWN!!!" Sunny's body began to glow with swirls of magic as she floated into the air.
"Discord I really think we should-"
"No, not yet."
Sunny turned to the ponies in black who looked absolutely petrified, and flew towards them, causing them to scream and run for the hills.
"LEAVE!! OR I WILL MAKE YOU LEAVE!!" She commanded, her glow shining brighter and brighter.
"Discordddddd."
"Wait for it Luna."
The ponies who didn't run away and were not as afraid, charged at her, stun guns at the ready. Sunny growled in a very unlady-like way and charged her horn, forming a ball of magical energy on the tip.
"Discord!!" Luna shouted.
"Luna watch!"
Sunny yelled and fired a huge volley of magical energy at the charging ponies, sending them flying backwards into the air and out of town. The townsponys watched in awe as Sunny floated down and panted, her eyes returning to normal and her wings and horn disappearing. Hitch rushed to her side once more as she collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Sunny!" He yelled. Zipp who had decided to back her earth pony friend up, saw the entire thing and flew to Hitch, landing beside him.
"Hitch Hitch, relax man. She's okay, just unconscious. Let's get her to the lighthouse."
Hitch nodded and stood up, setting his marefriend on his back and slowly trotting away with Zipp.
Luna looked at Discord and frowned.
"How did you know she wasn't going to kill them?" She asked. Discord turned to her and smiled.
"Because she's the Elemental Queen."
Author's Note
Hey everyone, big chapter I know. Lots of different stuff happening all at once. New characters, queens, etc. Still wondering who Tampered with a gods memories? Don't worry all that and more is coming to light in the next chapter
When Sunny came to, she was warm, extremely warm. It was the type of warm you feel under the blanket when it's the perfect temperature. But she also felt a pair of arms around her and a muzzle in her mane. Looking down and rubbing her eyes, she saw it was Hitch's arms around her. He was fast asleep, spooning her from behind and holding her close to him. Smiling, Sunny gently wiggled out of his grasp and sat up, stretching. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was using an extremely powerful magic spell against the ponies attacking Maretime Bay. Oh shit, the others! Sunny fell out of bed in her haste to find her friends.
"Ow.." She groaned, rubbing her side and sitting up.
"Now now, stay in bed sugarcube. Ah'll be right back with some ice fer yer bruises and what-not," said a very country sounding voice.
"Sugarcube? What?" Sunny mumbled, looking up at the pony talking to her. She was a red earth pony mare with sparkling green eyes and a long brown mane. On her head perched a very very very very old and worn cowmare hat. Her cutie mark was an apple that was sliced into pieces.
"W-who are you??" Sunny asked, getting back up into the bed. The earth pony extended a hoof.
"Names Appleslice, please tah make your acquaintance. You must be Sunneh" Sunny took Appleslice's hoof and shook it.
"Yeah, my names Sunny. Nice to meet you Appleslice."
The earth pony tipped her hat kindly and trotted to the platform that led to the first floor.
"Hey, wait."
Appleslice turned around, "Hm?"
"Your cutie mark... are you an.. Apple?" Sunny asked, her face lighting up. The mare smiled and reared up on her hind legs.
"YEEEEEHAW!! Ah sure am, Apple to the core," she said with pride. Sunny beamed.
"That's so cool!! You must have known Applejack then, right?? Oh.. wait.. that was before your time, wasn't it?" Sunny asked, her smile vanishing just as fast as it appeared. Appleslice nodded.
"Yeahhh.. she was around many many many many many MANY moons ago. In fact, she was mah great great great great great great great great grandmare. Many a story about her, lemme tell you," said Appleslice chuckling.
"Like?" Asked Sunny, now intrigued by this pony.
"Well now, let's see..." Appleslice rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Oh! I know. There was this one time according to meh grandmare, that Applejack had Rainbow Dash watch Granny Smith and her friends when they went to Los Pegasus. She was afraid they'd hurt themselves by doing too many strenuous things. Boy did granny Applejack learn her lesson," Appleslice chuckled. "Ah could probably go on for HOURS telling stories about meh famileh. But you need to rest fer now. Ah'm gonna go get you some ice fer those bruises." Appleslice tipped her hat politely and disappeared down the lift into the kitchen.
Turning over, Sunny gently shook Hitch awake.
"Hitch, Hitch!" She whispered. The stallion opened his eyes groggily and smiled.
"Well hello there Sunny," he said, kissing her head softly. "You okay?" Sunny nodded.
"Yeah, thanks to you," Sunny said, smiling and burying her muzzle in his mane.
"I take it you met Appleslice?" He asked. The apricot mare nodded.
"Yeah, she's uh.."
"Wacky?" Hitch filled in for her.
"Yeah, wacky. But, in a nice way. You know she's a descendant of Applejack?" Sunny said.
"Really? She didn't tell me that," said Hitch.
"Apparently so, she told me a story about Applejack. It seems she was pretty protective over her Granny Smith, but... why is Appleslice here?"
Hitch looked out the window at Maretime Bay. Ponies were trotting around, surveying the damage and making repair plans.
"She arrived as I was taking you inside your house. From off the main trail out of town. She offered help, and Izzy and the others thought it'd be a good idea to have somepony like her to help take care of you." Hitch said.
"Alright, but do you know who is behind the attack on Maretime Bay? Why would anypony want to capture our town?" Sunny asked, a hint of sadness trailing in her voice.
"I do not... ponies are still pretty shocked by what happened. We're lucky nopony was hurt, or killed." Said Hitch, holding Sunny close to him. Sunny closed her eyes and yawned.
"What happened though? Before I passed out, I remember becoming extremely angry... but I didn't want to hurt anypony. I just wanted them to leave me and our town alone." Sunny said softly.
"You used a magic spell to literally throw the bad guys out of town. I've never seen anything like it before Sunny."
Sunny smiled, teetering on the edge of sleep.
"Heh.. my dad always said I was destined for something much bigger."
Hitch nuzzled her chest softly and smiled.
"He was right, about everything. Including what an amazing mare you are..." Silence followed his statement. "Sunny?"
The only answer he got was a soft snore from above his head.
~~~~~~~~~
"RAHHHHH" Screamed Gust, bucking the wooden table in front of him across the room and into a wall, where it exploded into a million splintery pieces. "How the FUCK, did they repel our attack!!!??" He yelled, looking at the cowering guards in the doorway to the war-room. One of the guards spoke up.
"T-t-they had help from a m-mare. And a-alicorn mare."
Gust teleported over to the guard and got in his face.
"Impossible, I AM the last alicorn! There can be no other alicorns!!! I SAW Luna fade away IN MY ARMS!!" He screamed, bucking the closest wall, and creating a massive hole in it. One of the guards spoke up.
"Um.. s-sir? Luna isn't gone. Our scouts spotted her on a hill overlooking the battle and-"
Gust grabbed the guard by the neck with his magic pulled him close, his eyes turning completely red as flames erupted from his mane.
"How long ago," he asked in a deep sinister voice.
"F-f-f-f-f-four-four-"
"SPEAK MOTHERFUCKER!! DONT STUTTER!" Winter yelled, panting softly.
"Fourty minutes ago s-sir."
Lord Gust released the guard and turned away. Clearing his throat he let out a deep sigh.
"I need to be alone now, leave me..."
"But sir shouldn't we attack aga-"
"No, pull the troops back. Leave the Bay alone. We don't need it to conquer this land," he said softly. The guard nodded.
"Yes sir" and with that, the guards left and shut the door behind them.
Gust trotted over to a window and looked out at the city. He had a spectacular view of Zephyr Heights, but that was the last thing on his mind. Closing his eyes, tears began to run freely down his face as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a picture. Opening his eyes, Gust looked down at the faded, worn, and water damaged picture of him and Luna in their wedding clothes. Smiles on both their faces.
"I miss you..." he whispered softly, holding the picture close to his heart as he cried quietly.
~~~~~~~~
"Luna is it possible you had your memory tampered with too?" Asked Discord, looking out at the ocean. The Draconequus and princess were sitting on a bench overlooking the calm bay as the Sun set below the horizon. Luna looked at him.
"Its possible yes, anyone's memories could have been effected by the artifact," she said.
"Well don't you remember him?" Discord asked. Luna looked at him.
"Who?"
"Your husband."
Luna looked quite shocked by this and shifted on the bench.
"I have a husband?" She asked, racking her brain for any memory she might have.
"You do, before Twilight activated the artifact you gave me this when you left to find your sister in Los Pegasus." Discord pulled out an extremely old looking picture of Luna and an all white alicorn stallion. They were both smiling as Luna kissed his cheek in the picture. The princess looked at the picture.
"You said that if anything happened to you to hold onto this," Discord said, handing the photo to Luna. Luna took it.
"We look happy," she said softly.
"You were happy. You were the happiest couple I've ever met. Perfect for one another. I have a theory this attack is by him."
Luna looked up at the draconequus.
"How do you know?" She asked. Discord sighed sadly and snapped his fingers, a live view of Gust in his room appearing before them. He was crying, curled up on a bed clutching a very worn picture. Luna watched quietly.
"Can he see us?" She asked.
"No, this is a one way portal. However if you stuck your hoof through it will appear and he'll probably see it."
Luna hesitantly reached a hoof toward the portal when discord stopped her.
"Here, drink this, it'll help with the memory loss." The draconequus handed her a small vial of purple liquid. Luna took it and sniffed it for a second before gulping it down.
"Thank you Discord," she said, smiling softly and standing up.
"Anything for an old friend."
Taking a deep breath, Luna stepped forward and through the portal. She looked around at her new surroundings and then down at Gust. Trying to remember his full name and more about their past.
"Luna... I miss you so much..." he said, sniffling and shivering softly. "Where are you...."
"I am here, my love."
Gust shot his head up and wiped his tears away.
"L..... Luna?"
"Winter Gust," she said smiling softly as more memories flooded back to her.
"I am home honey."
Author's Note
Hey everyone, hope you're liking the chapters. Can't wait to write the next one so stay tuned!
"But.. but.. I saw you fade away," Winter said, folding his ears back and standing up. Luna smiled softly.
"I was never really gone Winter, I banished myself to the moon to protect Equestria from Nightmare Moon."
The princess stepped forward and embraced the white stallion in a hug. The potion Discord had given her apparently worked extremely well. It took a second for Winter to understand what was happening and when he did, he relaxed into her and hugged back.
"I looked everywhere for you.. for centuries.." he whispered.
"I know.. but why are you doing this Winter? The war, the battles, the seizing control." Luna let go of him and looked up at him. Winter couldn't look her eyes and turned his head, hiding his shame.
"I turned over every nook and cranny on this planet trying to find you. When I realized you weren't coming back.. I became a shell of what I once was." The stallion turned around and trotted to a mirror on the wall. "I even tried looking for you in the mirror world, refitted the old mirror with new technology to work more effectively." He ran his hoof down the glass and looked at his reflection. "Obviously it didn't work.. and after that." Winter hung his head and stomped a hoof into the floor with such force, it created a large hole in it. "My sorrow and pain turned to rage and hate." Some flames whipped up his back as his breathing increased. Luna sighed quietly and slowly trotted over to him. Winter flinched as she lay a hoof on his back.
"Oh honey.. I cant even imagine the pain you must have went through. But if I had to guess it was similar to the pain I went through for a thousand years on the moon. I may have lost my memories of us but deep down, I sort of always knew I had somepony special in my life. I never lost that connection with you Winter."
The large white stallion slowly sat on his haunches and looked into the mirror once more. His pupils were dilated into serpentine slits, the rest of his eyes completely red.
"But I am a monster Luna."
The princess put a hoof under his chin and gently brought his face up to look at hers.
"You're my monster Winter. And there's no one else I'd rather be married to." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the nose. Winter pompfed out his wings and wrapped them around her, hugging her tightly.
"There was no one else.. I made a vow that I would be yours for eternity. And I've kept that vow." He said quietly.
"I know honey, I trust you. Demons only have one mate for life. You're the most loyal pony I know." Luna smiled and leaned back a little rubbing his cheek with a hoof. Winter, for the first time in years, smiled. Ever since she had disappeared, he never had any reason to smile.
"Luna.. I'll call back my forces and give myself up, for you. And.. I'm so so so sorry that-"
"Shut up and kiss me you big ass handsome brute"
Winter blushed slightly but leaned in and kissed her deeply. Holding her tightly against his chest.
~~~~~
"Look! The enemy forces are retreating!" Shouted a pony in uniform, pointing a hoof toward the retreating planes, tanks, and soldiers. The rest of the uniformed ponies cheered and started hugging one another.
"Do you think Luna did it?" Asked Zipp.
"I think its safe to assume she did Zipp," said Hitch, taking off the combat helmet loaned to him by a soldier.
"You know, I know they're supposed to be the enemy but why don't we welcome them into our town and get to know them?" Asked Izzy.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Pipp asked the blue unicorn, "because you know they just attempted to enslave us all. I just got off the phone with my mom, and she said they had forced them into cages to await relocation."
Izzy turned at looked at Pipp, "If we dont offer them friendship, how much better are we?" Hitch looked at Pipp as well and sighed.
"As much as I want to agree with you Pipp, Izzy has a point. We need to be the better ponies and help them by offering them friendship and love."
From out of nowhere, Discord poofed next to Hitch and wrapped a scaly arm around his neck in a side hug.
"I couldn't agree more! Oh look how touching this is. I believe this calls for some celebratory tea!" Discord poofed a tea set into existence and began sipping some.
"Sheriff, we found the traitor," said a voice behind Hitch. Turning around, the stallion was shocked to see Sprout in hoofcuffs, being escorted by two soldiers.
"Sprout?" Hitch asked, taking a step toward the red earth pony. Sprout said nothing as his head hung low and his ears lay flat against his head.
"What should we do with him sir?" Asked one guard. The sheriff looked at his best friend and deputy, not saying anything for a few seconds.
"Take.. take him to the jail. Put him in a cell and I will speak with him when I return." The guards nodded and trotted off with Sprout. Izzy folded her ears back and took a couple steps towards Hitch.
"Hitch.. I'm, so sorry about Sprout." She said quietly. The sheriff of Maretime Bay sighed softly and looked at Izzy.
"Its okay Izz. I'll.. have a heart to heart with him before he undergoes trial."
"Sunny still asleep?" Asked Zipp, landing next to Hitch and looking over at him. He nodded.
"Yeah, I imagine she is. She isn't used to using that much magic at once."
~~~~~
"Sunnyyyyy" a distant and soft voice called out. The earth pony mare sat up slowly, rubbing her head and looking around. She wasn't in her room at the lighthouse. In fact, she didn't know where she was. She was laying in some type of hallway, completely painted white. Every 5 or 6 feet, there was a door that lead to an unknown room.
"Hello??" She called out, her voice echoing off the walls as if she were in a cave.
"Sunnyyyyy, follow the light Sunny," said the voice again. Getting up, Sunny began trotting down the hallway, her hooves making clip clopping sounds as they reverberated off the walls. She saw a door at the end of the hallway, it was a lit up with a bright light but was a ways away however. As she passed the doors, she could voices and laughter coming from behind them. Trotting up to a door, Sunny slowly turned the knob and opened it. She was surprised at what she saw. It was her and Izzy, singing as they made their way to Zephyr Heights, weeks ago.
"I'm looking out for you, when your off track. I've got your back. You can rely on me, I'm looking out for you. Back at home it was earth ponies first-"
Sunny shut the door and took a second to calm her breathing down, clutching her chest and looking around. Where the hell was she?? Once she had regained her composure, the apricot earth pony continued down the hall to another door, opening it she almost collapsed as she looked inside. It was her and her dad when she was a filly, they had just finished making the note Izzy would find eventually.
"Can we send it?" Her younger self asked. Argyle chuckled.
"I think its our duty," he said, releasing the balloon with her as they watched it take off.
Sunny began to cry and ran into the room, trying to wrap her hooves around her father but instead she fell through him and landed against the railing of the lighthouse. Looking up, she noticed neither of them had seen her, and reaching out, she watched as her hoof just phased right through her dad's arm.
"W-what.. is this??" She stuttered, getting up and backing away to the hallway. "Where am I!? Let me out!!! Let me out!!" She screamed, tripping over her hooves as she fell into the hallway. "Oof!!" She grunted, as her head hit the wall and she began to sob. The door slowly closed and once more she was alone in the hallway.
"Sunny, get up my child. You have to get up."
Sunny felt a hoof on her shoulder, but she shook it off.
"No! Leave me alone! I want to go home!" She shouted. Again she felt the hoof on her shoulder.
"But my child, you are home," said the voice.
Looking up, Sunny gasped.
"P... Princess Celestia!?"
The large white alicorn smiled and nodded.
"Yes, however... I am not the real Celestia." The princess helped Sunny to her hooves and looked down at her. "I am the keeper you created." Sunny looked confused.
"Keeper? What? Celestia, what is going on? Where am I? I don't like it here." Sunny said, looking around as quiet laughter bounced off the walls along the hallway.
"This is the hallway of your memories. And I am the keeper of your memories my queen." Princess Celestia bowed to Sunny.
"Wh- wha- what??" Sunny stammered. This was all very... sudden and shocking to her. "Queen? Your highness you must have me mistaken for somepony else, I'm not a queen. Not even a leader."
Celestia looked up at Sunny and regained her stature, smiling and beginning to laugh. Sunny frowned and snorted as horses do.
"This is NOT funny princess!"
Celestia however continued to laugh until she eventually calmed down and chuckled softly. Looking into Sunny's eyes, the tall slender alicorn bent down to meet her height.
"My little one, you make me laugh. If you were not the queen, you could not possibly be here. And I could not possibly exist," Celestia said matter-of-factly. Sunny, who was now staring at Celestia confused, sat on her haunches.
"Where is here??" The earth pony mare inquired.
"The realm of past, present, and future of course. Only the Elemental Queen can access it and view the memories and futures of each and every creature to exist."
Sunny continued to look around the hallway.
"So... you mean this is the hallway of my memories?" She asked. Celestia nodded and began trotting down it toward the end with the light.
"Yes"
Sunny got up and followed her the doors, she now noticed, were marked with dates and different colors. There ones with green, red, orange, and yellow.
"Princess what do those colors on the doors mean?" Sunny asked. Celestia looked down at her.
"They stand for the degree of the memory. Green is a good memory filled with happiness, yellow is an okay memory, orange means to take caution on entering because it might be hard to watch, and red means the memory is a traumatic one."
Sunny reached a hoof out to a door with a red square on it. But before she could open it Celestia put a hoof on hers and stopped her.
"Some memories aren't worth remembering my child." The princess said.
"Why? Which one is it?" Sunny asked.
"Your most painful one... enter at your own risk little one." Celestia took her hoof away from Sunny's and watched her. Slowly, Sunny opened the door and peeked inside. It was a hospital room. A large hospital bed sat in the corner of the room next to a window. Outside the sun was setting on the horizon, and sitting next to the bed was a slightly younger Sunny, she had to be about 19. The apricot earth pony paused at the doorway. She knew what memory this was. Did she want to enter? Looking behind her, she saw Celestia was watching her. The Princess gave a small nod, and turning her head back around, Sunny entered the room. A doctor was busy checking vitals on a monitor as Sunny stared at the scene before her. Her dad lay in the bed, a breathing machine hooked up to his muzzle as the heart monitor beeped slowly. Tears were dripping down the mares cheeks as she held her father's hoof. Sunny pressed forward and went closer to her younger self and her dad.
"Daddy... I don't want you to go." Her younger self said quietly. Argyle was asleep while she held his hoof. From behind the present day Sunny, the door to the room opened and looking back, she saw it was Hitch.
"Hey... Sunny," he said softly, trotting over to her slowly and sitting next to her. Sunny sniffled and looked up at Hitch.
"I know what I have to do, he told me what he wanted me to do. But I don't know if I have the strength to do it..." She said quietly.
The present day Sunny teared up and tried to look away but couldn't.
"Then let me give you the strength Sunny. Your dad was an amazing pony. One of the best I ever knew. He knew when his time came he could trust you to let him go." Hitch took her hoof in his and hugged her. The past Sunny sniffled and nodded, taking another look at her dad. "The machines are the only thing keeping him from moving on to the next life. You will meet him again Sunny, it may be a long time from now. But you two will be reunited again." Sunny looked up at Hitch and pressed her face into his chest as he held her. After a short hug, Sunny got up and went over to the life support machine. The doctor stepped to the side.
"Whenever you're ready miss," he said softly.
Sunny couldn't watch anymore, she shut her eyes and ran out of the room. Crying loudly, she felt a pair of hooves catch her as she burst through the door.
"There there child... shhh, it's okay, it's okay." Celestia said quietly, hugging Sunny.
~~~~~~~
It took a while for Sunny to calm down but she eventually regained her composure and wiped her eyes, looking up at Princess Celestia.
"It was the hardest and most painful thing I've ever had to do.." Sunny whispered. The alicorn nodded and wiped some of her tears away.
"I know little one, the saddest memories are usually the hardest to make go away. But that is why we have our friends to help us through those times. Friendship will always be the real magic, the real bond between ponies, the truest form of family." Celestia said quietly, standing once more.
"Now go ahead and wake up, your friends need you right now. You may return any time you seek advice or comfort where there are no others to comfort you my little pony."
Sunny smiled and stood up shakily, nodding and hugging the tall princess.
~~~~~~~
Sunny woke up in a cold sweat. Panting, she looked over and saw Hitch was gone. And looking around the room, she saw Luna was sitting in a chair watching over her reading a book. Noticing that Sunny was awake, the Princess of the Night looked up and smiled.
"Welcome back young one."
All Hail the Queen of the Elements
"Luna? What are you doing here? What happened? Was I dreaming?" Sunny bombarded the princess with questions. Luna smiled softly.
"You were not dreaming Sunny. You are the Elemental Queen, remember? Only you can access the realm of the past, present, and future."
"Oh.. where's Hitch?" She asked.
"He's downstairs making dinner for everyone, you've been asleep most of the day," said Luna.
Sunny sat up and stretched, she felt extremely well rested.
"That was some of the best sleep I've ever gotten. How is that possible? Same old bed, same old pillow." She said, fluffing her pillow and pushing down into the mattress. Luna chuckled.
"You have a lot to learn about being the Queen of the Elements of Harmony." Sunny chuckled as well, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Hehe.. yeah, I guess so."
Getting out of bed, Sunny trotted to the lift and pulled the lever. As she descended, the sound of laughter and chatter could be heard coming from the kitchen. Stepping off, she headed into the kitchen smiling. Zipp, Pipp, Izzy, Hitch, Discord, and Appleslice were all standing around talking as Hitch cooked on the stove. Izzy was the first to notice Sunny standing there and promptly hopped over and gave her a big hug.
"We missed you Sunny! You were out cold all day," said the unicorn. The rest of the gang came over and each gave her a hug. Luna watched from the doorway and smiled softly,
"You know this reminds me of a certain group of ponies from long ago, that also learned the value of friendship." Said Discord, poofing next to Luna. A sudden flapping of wings and Winter flew down, landing on the other side of the princess.
"Twilight and her friends," Winter said, looking at Sunny as she smiled and talked with Izzy, Hitch, Zipp and Pipp.
"Yeah, and you know despite so many years having passed. It's refreshing to see that magic and harmony never lost its place in this world," said Discord. Winter laid a wing over Luna's back and pulled her close to him.
"They remind me a lot of us when we were younger honey, don't you think?" Winter asked, looking down at Luna.
"Sunny and Hitch?" She asked, looking at the new two earth ponies as Hitch nuzzled her side and hugged her.
"Yeah.. oh to be young again," the large stallion said, smiling softly.
"Technically neither of us age mister." Said Luna, giving her husband a colorful look and smirking.
"Yeahhhh, I know," Winter said, nuzzling her mane. "But you remember when we first met don't you?"
Luna giggled, "How could I not? Mr. "Get off the ladies back or ill buck you through that wall."
Discord looked at the two of them.
"You know, I don't recall you ever telling me how you two met," he said. Winter smiled.
"Well, it was about a year after Luna returned from the moon. She was in line at that old burger joint in Ponyville... oh.. what was the name?" The alicorn stallion said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Café Hay," said Discord.
"That's the name! Anyway, I'm standing in line in front of her, and this dude behind us starts getting impatient and rude. Not even REALISING who he was being rude to. So I turn around and say-" Luna cut Winter off.
"Listen dude, get off the ladies back or ill buck you through the wall."
At this point, Discord had regretted asking. He had assumed it would be an epic story filled with heroism and an epic battle. Yet now he was about ready to shoot himself.
"WELLLLL!! Would you look at the time! It's nearly time for my tea with.. with.." Discord stuttered and poofed a slimy green blob thing into existence. "The Smoooozemeister. How about it old friend? Some tea at my place?" The Smooze looked extremely confused but smiled and drooled at the sight of a golden necklace sitting on Sunny's desk. Discord chuckled nervously, poofing away with a snap of his fingers. Luna and Winter looked at one another.
"He could have just told us it wasn't very interesting..." Winter deadpanned. Luna giggled and punched his shoulder playfully.
"Oh lighten up big guy, I think it was pretty funny how he tried to cover up his boredom."
Meanwhile, over in the kitchen, Izzy was flapping her gums at lighting speed the moment she found out Sunny would be ruling Equestria.
"OOOOOOOOO, ARE YOU GONNA HAVE A BIG CASTLE? IF SO WHAT KIND OF CASTLE?? MAYBE IT SHOULD BE A CRYSTAL ONE LIKE TWILIGHTS! OR OR OR, AN ELEGANT MARBLE ONE! WILL YOU BE CHOOSING AMBASSADORS FOR OTHER COUNTRIES!? OOOOOO!! CAN I BE THE AMBASSADOR TO-"
Hitch stuck a hoof against Izzys mouth.
"Izzy! Calm down, you're gonna go into a sugar crash. How many chocolate eclairs did you have??" The sheriff asked, looking at the empty box on the counter top.
"Ehehe.. just one?" She squeaked quietly. Hitch held up the empty box that nopony else had touched and gave her a look that said 'Are you serious?'
"Ooookay. Mayyyybe I had a few too many," she said blushing a little. Hitch chuckled and started laughing with everyone else, Izzy joining in too. Sunny smiled and looked around at her friends.
"Well I think if Hitch is just about done with dinner. We call all sit down to eat and talk about the last few weeks and the future."
Hitch nodded and finished cooking his special homemade chili. A few minutes later, everypony was seated around the table (Discord and the Smooze too per Sunny's request) happily talking and eating.
"So, Sunny. Tell all of us what you're plannin to do when yah take over as ruler," said Appleslice. Sunny nodded and set her spoon down. Wiping her muzzle with a napkin.
"Well, I don't quite know just yet. But I guess my first act would be to try and reach out to the other countries and kingdoms we lost touch with over the years and reconnect with them. Let them know they are welcomed into our land with open hooves and wings."
Zipp thumped the table twice with a hoof, "Here here."
Everyone all nodded and agreed with what Sunny had proposed. Pipp spoke up.
"If we are all united as one and not separated by petty differences and terrible fashion, friendship and love should keep magic throughout the land glowing stronger than ever," she said. Sunny smiled.
"Its been a strange few weeks I agree. But look at us now. The new friends we made, the love we share. It was something my father dreamed of seeing one day. And.." She paused, "If he were here he would be so happy for all of us."
"He would be proud of you Sunny," said Hitch raising a glass of cider, "To Queen Sunny, ruler of Equestria and the best friend and marefriend a stallion could ever ask for."
The rest of the group raised their glasses as well and toasted.
"To Sunny Starscout, All hail the Elemental Queen of Magic, Friendship, and Harmony!"
Author's Note
A bit of a shorter chapter I know. I've been pretty busy personally with Christmas tomorrow. I'll be releasing a special Hearths Warming chapter tomorrow as well. See you later everyone
Hearths Warming? What's That?
It'd been a month since Sunny had ventured to Ponyville with her friends. Snow had begun to fall in Maretime Bay and the weather began to grow colder. Many things had changed and happened since the day Winter surrendered himself to Equestrian Forces. Hitch had visited Sprout frequently in the jail to check on him and talk to him. A court date was set for after the New Year began and things weren't looking too good for him. He had been charged with treason, which is not a crime to be taken lightly.
However, as Queen of Equestria, Sunny would be representing him in his defense against the jury. He was, after all, still one of her best friends. Even if he did have a lot of mental health issues, she would support him no matter what. Repairs to the town were fully completed a week ago, and repairs to Ponyville were underway currently. Sunny planned to live in Twilights old castle. At least until they found Canterlot.
The ruined city was so lost to time, that the pegasi scouting parties could not find it on the overgrown mountain north of Ponyville. The castle was just barely visible through the foliage, with a tower or two rising above the tall trees and the waterfall still functioning perfectly. Sunny had plans to send Explorers and archeologists to the ancient city. So that many of the artifacts would be properly preserved. Scouting parties from Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights had also reported finding another town way out to West of Zephyr Heights in the desert region. However it too was abandoned. They'd sent back pictures of the buildings including one with the name of the town on it. "Appleloosa Sheriffs Office".
After looking back through archives in Maretime Bays historical society. She found it was a small earth pony town founded hundreds of years ago by settlers moving west from another town in the woods called Saddle Junction. These were the same woods Izzy had lived in most her life, and after asking the unicorn, Izzy had stated there was no abandoned town in the Bridlewood forest called Saddle Junction. So, forever the optimist, Sunny had sent a small team from Bridlewood out to investigate the coordinates listed in the archive.
The earth pony/alicorn, was sitting at her desk writing down notes she might need later on. She was so busy with her work in fact, she didn't even notice Discord poofing in front of her sipping a mug of hot chocolate.
"Working hard are we?" He asked, snapping his fingers as another mug appeared and filled with hot chocolate for Sunny.
"Huh?" She said, looking up from her journal. "O-oh, yeah. Thanks Discord." Sunny took the hot chocolate and sipped some before going back to writing. The draconequus, who had closed his eyes and smiled, now let one peek open at her as a scowl crossed his face.
"You know it would be nice if you'd pay attention to the creature that's talking to you and giving you hot chocolate, rather then sticking your snout in a musty journal," he said.
Sunny looked up again at Discord, one ear folding down slightly.
"Oh.. I'm sorry Discord. It's just that these notes could help in the future with rescuing Princess Celestia and the others. I didn't mean to not pay attention to you. Thank you for the hot chocolate, I really do appreciate it."
The draconequus face softened and he smiled a little.
"You're quite welcome, now I must be off, there's Hearths Warming decorations to put up!" He was about to poof away when Sunny stopped him.
"Wait." Discord looked at her again.
"Hearths... Warming? What's that?" She asked. The draconequus stared at her incredulously.
"You mean to tell me you ponies don't celebrate Hearths Warming anymore?" He asked. Sunny shrugged.
"I don't know, the only holiday we've ever celebrated during winter is New Years."
"Well then, this simply mustn't do. Come with me." And with with that, Discord poofed the both of them into the town square. Having now gotten used to unicorns popping in and out of places, nopony gave them a second look. Sunny looked up at Discord and was about to say something when he interrupted her.
"May I have your attention please my little ponies!" He called out, poofing a Santa Hooves suit onto himself. One by one, ponies stopped what they were doing and formed a crowd in front of the draconequus.
"My friends, it has come to my attention that you no longer celebrate Hearths Warming."
Everyone looked at each other confused.
"What's Hearths Warming?" Called out a Pegasus from the crowd. Discord smiled and poofed a chair for him to sit on as well as one for everyone in the audience.
"I'm glad you asked, refreshments anypony?" He asked, materializing dozens of mugs of hot chocolate for everypony. The crowd "oooed" softly and smiled looking around at one another as Discord pulled out a book from a portal to his house and set a pair of reading glasses on his nose.
"Long ago, before Equestria as we knew was founded. There lived three tribes of ponies. Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and Pegasi. The Unicorns together, were responsible for the raising and setting of the moon and sun so that a new day may come. However they demanded payment from the earth ponies in food for their hard work. The Earth ponies were master builders and farmers, and provided food for all three tribes. And the pegasi were in charge of controlling the weather, so that crops may flourish, and the seasons could come in time. The pegasi too however, also demanded food for their hard work creating weather." Discord flipped a page.
"None of the tribes cared for one another or if something happened to them. The fragile relationship continued until one day, a terrible snow storm descended upon the land. The unicorns and earth ponies were surprised and outraged at the Pegasi. The storm ruined their crops and caused a food shortage. With no food the leaders from each tribe met in a Summit to discuss what to do. The leader of the Earth Pony tribe: Chancellor Puddinghead. Leader of the Pegasi: Commander Hurricane. And leader of the Unicorns: Princess Platinum."
Sunny sat and listened while Discord continued reading on, fascinated by this part of history she had never heard of.
"The meeting however, went horribly and each leader left after blaming the situation on each other. Each of the leaders returned home to their advisors. Smart Cookie, who was Puddingheads advisor, told the Chancellor that they were out of food. And in an effort to grow more, the two of them decided to set out and find new land to grow crops.
Commander Hurricane and her second in command, Private Pansy of the pegasi also decided that they needed to find new land. And the unicorns lead by Princess Platinum and her advisor Clover the Clever, also set out to find new land.
Later on, each tribe had found their own land. The pegasi claimed it as Pegasopolis, the unicorns naming it Unicornia, and the earth ponies naming it Earth. However, it turns out each tribe had claimed the same land, and as a result. Arguments ensued over who got the new land. Commander Hurricane suggested a fight for the land. But each of the advisors managed to calm their leaders down. By this time, the raging snow storm had followed them and begun battering the new land. They discover that the storm is being caused by Windigos. Powerful beings who feed off of anger, hatred, and distrust. Taking refuge in a cave from the ice blizzard, Clover the Clever, having learned about the creatures from her mentor Starswirl the Bearded, tells the leaders that the windigos are feeding off the leaders constant arguing. They however continue to argue as their bodies start to freeze. The advisors, who didn't see a point in arguing became friends and believed that it didn't matter what tribe you hailed from. They begin to tell stories and sing songs which later became the carols that are still sung in Equestria to this day.
Due to their display of friendship, the ice begins to melt and free the leaders as the literal fire of friendship destroyed the windigos and melted the snow and ice. All three tribes learned that the warmth of harmony and love they shared, could always conquer cold and bitterness of hatred and grief. The leaders came together and founded the land we know, as Equestria."
Discord set down the book as cheers erupted from the crowd. Smiling Sunny looked up the draconequus.
"Wow.. that story was amazing. They never taught us about any of that stuff in school. We were taught Earth ponies founded Equestria and allowed the pegasi and unicorns to live here so long as they left us alone." She said. Discord scoffed.
"That's ridiculous, the story I just read is how Equestria was founded and why we celebrate Hearths Warming to this very day." Discord stood up.
"Now! Let's get this town decorated and go spread the love and cheer of Hearths Warming to Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights!"
The crowd cheered and "oooed" and "ahhhed" as dozens upon dozens of boxes of decorations poofed into existence.
~~~~~~
Sunny sat around the table in the throne room of Zephyr Heights castle with her friends. Having finished decorating Maretime Bay and Bridlewood, they were celebrating and singing the carols that Discord had taught them. Outside pegasi and unicorns worked together to help hang up streamers, wreaths, bows, and lights in the snow covered streets of Zephyr Heights. While earth ponies baked delicious sweets and desserts for everypony.
"I gotta say Sunny, I like Hearths Warming more than New Years," said Hitch, sipping his hot chocolate.
"Here here," said Izzy, stuffing her face with Hearths Warming tree cookies. Zipp and Pipp chuckled at Izzy and started tossing cupcakes at one another. From the other side of the room Luna and Winter watched the ponies celebrate and share stories.
"You know I'm happy Discord brought Hearths Warming back." Luna said smiling. Winter nodded.
"Me too, should we tell them about the gifts? Or let them freak out when they wake up tomorrow?" He asked smirking.
"Let's wait, I wanna see their faces," said Luna smiling.
Author's Note
Hey y'all, I know Christmas was yesterday, but Happy Hearths Warming to all y'all. 🎄
Things Explained More Clearly
Izzy, Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, Luna, Discord, and of course Appleslice and Winter all sat around the large table in the dining room of Zephyr Heights Castle. After celebrating Hearths Warming with family and friends, they were now all gathered in a meeting to discuss what they knew and how to get Celestia and the others back from Limbo.
"So.. what do we know?" Asked Sunny, preparing to write down notes in her journal. Hitch spoke up.
"Well, I believe we should start from the beginning when we traveled to Ponyville, and work our way to now," he said. Sunny nodded in agreement.
"Good idea Hitch. Alright everypony, what happened when we traveled to Ponyville?" Sunny asked.
"Well, I'd say that when we found Twilights Castle, it was a huge step forward in learning about Akira and the attack on Equestria." Said Izzy.
"Speaking of which, where's the spirit Twilight? I haven't seen her in a while." Said Zipp. Sunny pulled out the book from Twilights Castle from her saddlebag and set it on the table.
"She's right here. She agreed to travel with me to help study any artifacts we come across in Canterlot. She may not have all of the original Twilights memories, but she's still useful," said Sunny. Now it was Pipps turn to speak up.
"So, did like anypony else find that table in the throne room weird? Maybe we should head back and check it out," said the Pegasus.
"A splendid idea!" Discord shouted from the end of the table, opening a portal to the castles throne room. Sunny waved a hoof.
"No, not now. We need to focus on tracking the chain of events for the last 2 months in case we missed something."
Discord frowned and looked through the portal at the glowing table. Sunny's, Izzy's, Pipp's, Zipp's, and Hitch's cutie marks all hovering over the maps curent location. From across the table, Luna smiled and nodded towards Discord.
"Patience Discord, she needs to figure it out on her own," the princess said.
"Figure out what?" Sunny asked.
"You'll see little one." Luna said smiling. Discord closed the portal as Sunny stared at Luna for a second before going back to writing.
"Alright then, moving on from the castle. We know how I was able to reform Luna so fast. Elemental Queen and all. But what I don't get is who tampered with Discords memories?"
"And mine for that matter," said Luna. Sunny looked at Discord.
"You restored all of her memories with a single potion.. were you lieing to us about anything?"
The draconequus held up a claw, "I swear on Celestia that I did not take away her memories. Or lie about losing mine."
Sunny could tell he was being genuinely honest.
"Alright, then that is one mystery we have to solve. Moving on," she said quietly, writing in the journal.
"What about your alicorn earth pony transformation thing?" Said Hitch. "You only seem to sprout the wings and horn when its necessary."
Sunny pondered this for a moment.
"You're right, I don't understand why I keep switching back and forth," she looked at Luna. "You know more about the Elemental Queen than anypony else Luna, do you know why?"
The blue alicorn shook her head, "I haven't the faintest clue. Sorry Sunny," said Luna.
"So... so far, we traveled to Ponyville, found the book. Met the spirit Twilight, met Discord, I reformed Luna after Discord released her from the moon. Came back, Equestria was being invaded by Winter. Defeated him, reunited Luna and Winter back together. Had that crazy ass dream about the realm of the past, present, and future. Which wasn't a dream and was a real place. Then celebrated Hearths Warming, and now we're here. Sounds about right?" Sunny said, flipping through her journal. Everyone around the table nodded and murmured "yeahs" and "yups".
"So what's next?" Appleslice asked, taking her hat off and brushing some dust off it.
Sunny thought for a few minutes while everyone waited for her to respond.
"Everypony is still trapped in Limbo, right?" She asked, grabbing a marker and starting to draw on a large sheet of paper. "All we know is that this artifact used by Twilight trapped them all, then disappeared without a trace." Sunny began drawing the world, represented by a circle with ponies in it. Then Limbo, represented by a fire with ponies in it.
"Sunny," Zipp spoke up.
"Hm?" The Queen looked up at her friend.
"If all of Equestria was sent to Limbo, where did our ancestors come from? Wouldn't there have been nopony left?"
Discord began coughing violently and procured a glass of water out of thin air, beating his chest with a claw. Everyone looked at him as beads of sweat ran down his face.
"Discord," said Sunny, "is there something you'd like to tell us?"
The draconequus looked around nervously at everyone sitting at the table.
"What? Me? Why if course not, I have nothing to share at all." Discord took a sip of water as Luna stared daggers at him.
"Discord you know that information is classified, don't you dare say a word." The princess scolded.
"Say a word about what? If there's something we need to know Luna. Now is the time to tell us." Everypony nodded in agreement. Luna let out a sigh.
"Go ahead Discord. Tell them."
The draconequus stood up and poofed to the middle of the table floating in the center.
"Years ago, when Twilight was ruler of Equestria. She begun a program to preserve ponykind in the event of a natural disaster or apocalyptic scenario." The draconequus snapped his fingers and the room around them morphed into a laboratory room of some kind.
"To enable the survival of your species, she had the best minds in Equestria work for years to develope these."
Two scientific looking ponies in lab coats entered the laboratory and clicked a button on the sleek white wall. A door built into it sliding back as a pod was revealed with a pony inside.
"Cryogenic stasis pods. Invented to keep anypony in a suspended animation until the world outside was deemed suitable enough to live in. This is where you came from after the incident."
The room faded back to normal and Discord sat back down in his seat.
"Woah woah woah, hang on," said Hitch. "You're telling us that we are descendants of ponies who were put into cryostasis pods in the event of a major disaster?"
Luna nodded, "Im afraid so Sheriff. You are the 4th generation of ponies since the originals were awoken by Discord."
"How did Twilight even get that kind of technology??" Asked Pipp.
"Years of magical research and advancement. The ponies in stasis were not affected by the artifact because they weren't registered as alive. Their bodies were completely frozen in time. Heartbeats, brain activity, blood flow, breathing, all suspended mid-second." Luna said.
Everyone around the table took a moment to take all of this in. Sunny looked around at her friends. Izzy looked at Sunny.
"How do we get the others back Sunny?" The unicorn asked. The apricot earth pony thought for a minute.
"With magic of course." She said smiling.
Leaves blew freely in the wind, adding a veil of foreboding darkness to the abandoned cottage that stood deep in the Everfree Forest. It was a cold night, colder than most to hit this region of Equestria. However, nopony was around to feel it. This area had been long abandoned years ago when magic vanished. Snow never reached this part of the Everfree while magic was present in Equestria. And with the return of it, snow once again failed to fall in the dense acres of trees and shrubbery.
The cottage nestled deep to the north of the main path leading through the Everfree Forest, was in complete disrepair. Shingles missing, holes in the walls and roof, and the front door hanging off its hinges as the quiet wind echoed its song through the creaking dilapidated wooden structure. It was a place of unrelenting solitude, and... a place where the darkest spirits rested from their long hauntings. So it would make perfect sense she would return here.
As a crow shrieked in the distance, the wind began to pick up. Leaves swirling around in a tornadic spiral of high speed wind. Frogs and rabbits alike scampered away to the safety of their hideaways, as a glowing figure began to take shape, rising from the ground. A low growling pierced the night, the figure forming the body of a pony from whisps of black smoke.
As the figure opened its red eyes, a loud booming voice ruptured the otherwise stagnant silence.
"SUNNY..... STARSCOUT..."
~~~~~~
A heavy wind blew in from the swelling seas of Maretime Bay. Bringing with it icey seaspray and thick puffs of snowflakes. The streets were mostly empty, save for a few ponies trotting around doing their weekly shopping. Nopony else was crazy enough to be out in this weather. Not even Zipp who loved a good windy challenge. She instead, was nestled under the covers of the blankets Sunny had lent her while she stayed in Maretime Bay.
The Pegasus snored quietly as the wind battered the old lighthouse. After the repairs had been completed, the building was more structurally sound than before Sprout had collapsed it. So, Sunny had guessed she needed to thank him for that. However, even after representing him in the case of his treason, he still received punishment for his actions. The court found prison to be too harsh for a pony with as clean a record as Sprout had. So they opted for him to spend the next year taking friendship lessons under the supervision of Sunny herself. His duties as deputy were terminated immediately upon his arrest, however, Hitch had been able to convince the mayor to hire him as a security guard for the lumber yard on the south end of town. It was.. demeaning according to Sprout, but, still better than prison.
Across the room from Zipp, Sunny was seated at her desk, eagerly writing. Since her first encounter with the realm of past, present, and future, she had been practicing going back to view past events and learn as much history as she could. Being the Elemental Queen, there weren't exactly a set of papers with the job description. So she opted to learn from the guardian Celestia she had created. Apparently the previous Elemental Queen deemed the halls of the future too mentally challenging for anypony to handle, so rule number one was:
"NEVER view the events of the halls of the future."
Which seemed reasonable to her. Alongside the scratching of her pen, the only other sounds were Zipp's snoring and the crackling fire. Hitch had turned in for the night and was sleeping upstairs in Sunny's room. So far, she had come across several spells that were close to being what she needed to open Limbo, but not close enough. And the more she poured through the books stacked on her desk, the more she wondered if all this research was paying off. Her thoughts were interrupted however as a loud bang, sounded from the kitchen area.
Looking up, the earth pony raised an eyebrow and then shrugged. It must have been one of the shutters slamming against the lighthouse wall. A few minutes later however, another loud bang sounded in the kitchen. This time, it wasn't the familiar sound of a shutter hitting the wall. Sunny set her pen down and stood up, staring into the inky blackness that was the kitchen.
"Hello?" She called out, "is anypony there?"
No response.
Sunny wasn't surprised the banging didn't wake up Zipp, that mare could sleep through a war. Taking a few tentative steps forward, she called out again, but was cut off halfway when the banging happened again.
"Hello-"
She jumped in surprise, and grabbed the earth globe sitting on her desk. Holding it in her muzzle, Sunny continued forward towards the kitchen as the banging became more and more frequent.
"W-who's there??" She called out again, shaking a little. This entire thing was extremely off putting. The lighthouse wasn't haunted, at least not to her knowledge. And the banging was too rhythmic sounding to be the wind. Reaching over to the lightswitch, Sunny slowly flicked it up. The bright overhead light lit up the kitchen, showering the area in brightness. Upon seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she sighed in relief. The banging had stopped when the light came on, and upon further investigation, she found that a pot lay on the floor. Leaning down, she picked it up with a hoof and turned to set it on the table when she stopped dead.
Standing on the other side of the table was a dark shadowy pony figure with glowing red eyes. The air around Sunny grew colder as she stared at the creature. Too scared to move or scream. Smiling, the dark creature brought a hoof to its muzzle and made a "shhhh" motion.
"Quiet now, we mustn't wake Zipp," said the creature in a deep voice. Sunny stood there frozen in fear as a lump formed in her throat.
"What's the matter my queen? Fear got you frozen in place?" The figure let out a quietly low chuckle. "Hehehe, goooood... it'll make it easier for us to become one." Swallowing, Sunny found her voice.
"W-w-w-what are you?" She stammered softly, taking a small step backwards. The figure trotted forward tentatively, phasing through the wooden table separating them.
"I am the darkness that lurks deep in your soul. The fear that preys upon your every doubt. The shadows that crawl along your bedroom walls as the moonlight pierces the clouds."
The black figure's eyes bore into Sunny's, causing her to back into the wall as the pony of shadows stepped closer. "S-so.... cold.." she whimpered, panting softly as she tried to remain conscious while strings of smoke wrapped around her body.
"I do apologize, I tend to have that effect on my hosts. You might remember my last one. You should know, you freed her from me."
Sunny slid to the floor looking up at the wicked pony standing above her, tears forming in her eyes as she grasped at her throat. The darkness wrapping around it tightly, however just loose enough to allow her to breathe.
"P-please.." she whispered quietly. The dark mare grinned and leaned in close to her face.
"There was so much HATRED in her heart, so much bitterness and RAGE... such a delicious host Luna was. But.. alas.." The shadow pony looked away for a moment. "Our cooperative was broken by your... FRIENDSHIP" She spat out the last word with anger.
Sunny felt herself slipping into unconsciousness as her body shivered from the cold.
"Surrender to me Sunny... and I will make you more powerful than you could EVER imagine." A lick of smoke ran down her cheek and towards her nostrils.
"N-no..." She gasped out, looking over to Zipp's sleeping form. "Z-Zipp.."
The last thing Sunny remembered before everything going black, was the rush of coldness as the dark mare turned to smoke and filled the earth pony's body, and the quiet words that followed.
"I am. You're nightmare..."
~~~~~~~
Zipp yawned as she stretched and opened her eyes. Looking around she sat up and cracked her back.
"Damn, that was a good night's sleep. Thanks for letting me sleep over Sunny," she said, peeking over the back of the couch. However, the earth pony was nowhere in sight. "Sunny?" Zipp got up and flew into the kitchen. The light was on and a single empty pot sat on the table. Raising an eyebrow, the Pegasus looked at the pot confused. Peering around the rest of the first floor, Zipp scanned it for her friend. "Sunny??" She called out.
Sunny gasped and sat up, the last thing she remembered, she was being choked by a demonic being before being-
"Ow! Grrrrr!" She growled, rubbing her head.
"If you're going to be my host, you shall obey me like the good mare you are Sunny."
The voice spoke in her mind, sounding more like an echo in the distance. Looking around, Sunny noticed she was in a wet and cold forest.
"Where am I, what did you do to me??" She asked, standing up and looking at her legs. The earth pony's legs were a darker shade of apricot, with red pulsing patterns swirling up towards her chest. Her chest, she noticed was covered by a heavy piece of metal armor, marked with a burning star.
"I made you better. And the more you resist your anger and rage, the more painful our relationship will be."
Sunny began running in a random direction, jumping over rocks and fallen trees.
"Get out of my head!!" She yelled.
"Oh my little pony, I am not in your head. I am you. We are one."
Sunny let out an evil laugh as she stopped and stared down into a puddle. The reflection she saw made her want to scream in terror but instead she smiled wickedly. Her eyes were black serpentine slits, surrounded by complete red. Fangs hung from the front of her muzzle as her mane billowed, seemingly on fire yet, it didn't feel hot. Flames lept up around and along her body. She looked bigger, and meaner. She felt... stronger, and more athletic somehow. And, deep inside, she felt it. The burning rage, hatred for what the world had done to her father. How it had buried him from stress and harassment because of his work.
"Yesssss... gooood. Let your anger control you, feel it flow through your veins my host. Use it. Hurt the ones who took your father from YOU."
Sunny fought for control over her mind but was beaten down by hatred and sorrow. The world had taken her dad away from her, and now she would make them burn for what they did.
"I'll kill them.. kill them all!!" She yelled, slamming her hooves into the ground. Flapping her flaming wings, Nightmare Starkiller took the early morning sky and made way for Maretime Bay.
~~~~~~~
Sunny blinked and looked around. She was standing in all blackness. A literal void of nothing. Bringing a hoof to her face she noticed it was normal looking. Normal? But then where the hell was she?
"Hello????" She called out, her voice echoing off in the distance.
"Hello Sunny," said a voice behind her. Turning around, she saw that it was the demon pony.
"Where am I?" She asked. The figure smiled.
"Your consciousness. I've taken over your motor functions and mind. The good part of you, this part," the mare pointed a hoof at Sunny. "Is locked away in your mind."
The earth pony sat down and looked at the evil entity. It was obvious she wouldn't get anywhere by threatening it. So she tried a more unorthodox approach.
"So, why do you do this?" Sunny asked in a completely normal way. The shadow pony eyed her.
"To survive of course. I cannot survive without a host."
"So... you're like a parasite?" The pony of shadows snorted at this.
"I'm more than a parasite you whimpering welp. I am evil itself, darkness in the purest form. I care for no one and hate everyone."
"But why?"
The figure looked in surprise at Sunny.
"Why do you hate everyone?"
She had never been asked that before. The question caught her off guard and for the first time, her bad mare facade dropped for a minute.
"I-i uh.. well.. I don't know. I just do." She said.
"But no creature is born evil. Something made you this way. I can feel it." Sunny said, reaching out a hoof and placing it on the figures shoulder. Shaking her hoof off, the creature moved away looking at her scowling.
"You don't know anything about my past pitiful pony!"
"Well I know enough to figure out somepony hurt you. Long ago. Maybe turned you into a creature of darkness?"
The pony of shadows stood there scowling at her for a moment before turning and vanishing into thin air.
~~~~~~~
"She's no where in town," said Hitch, "I have everypony looking. It's not like her to just take off without leaving a note or telling someone." The sheriff turned to Zipp. "Are you sure you didn't see or hear anything last night?" Zipp shook her head.
"I was dead asleep, nothing could've woken me up."
Hitch folded his ears down, he was worried sick about her. He loved Sunny and didn't want anything to happen to her.
"Hey guys, come check this out!" Izzy called from outside. Zipp and Hitch ran outside and looked at what Izzy was pointing at.
"What the hell is that?" Zipp asked. Hitch squinted his eyes.
"Sunny???"
A flaming ball of fire was streaking through the sky at a high speed, heading straight for Maretime Bay.
~~~~~~
(Cue music, "Book of Heavy Metal" by Dream Evil)
Nightmare Starkiller slammed into the ground at the town square, panting as she glared at the ponies staring at her in confusion and fear. Growling, she lit her horn and began firing bursts of magic at random buildings, causing dust and debris to go flying. Ponies screamed and ran away, attempting to find cover as she began her march through town.
"YOU KILLED MY DAD!!"
A burst of magic later and a nearby storefront was completely blown away, a couple ponies falling out into the street, scampering away toward an alley. Nightmare laughed and began firing randomly at fleeing ponies. Destroying windows, corners of buildings, and sending sparks from downed powerlines arching into the air.
"AND NOW ILL KILL YOU!"
Ponies screamed as bright orange laser beams flew this way and that, all the while Nightmare Starkiller continuing her March through the streets.
Luna poofed into the remains of the town square, biting her lip, folding her ears down, and looking at the rampaging Sunny.
"Oh no... no no no no no no," she said softly.
Winter appeared next to her.
"Honey?? What the fuck's happening?" The princess pointed a hoof.
"Sunny's been taken over by the same evil entity that consumed me and made me Nightmare Moon!"
"What!? How's that even possible?? I thought you said she banished it?" Winter asked.
"She did," Luna said, going over to a hurt pony and helping them up. "But the pony of shadows must have found a way to return to our world, and infected her. We need to find the elements!"
~~~~~~~
Nightmare charged her horn, glaring at the factory standing on the hill overlooking town.
"YOU HARRASSED HIM INTO A HEART ATTACK YOU BITCH!!"
Debris and stones began to tremble on the ground and float into the air as Starkiller snarled, driven by rage and sorrow. From around the corner of a building, Izzy, Hitch, Zipp, and Pipp appeared.
"Sunny wai-" Hitch tried to yell but he was cut off by a huge brilliant stream of orange magical energy shooting through the air. Swirls of electricity crackled around the beam. Watching in horror, Hitch saw the beam disappear, and for a second it looked as if she missed. But one second later a blinding flash cut through the sky as the factory exploded from the inside out.
Nightmare Starkiller screamed at the explosion. She only felt hatred for the ones who took her father from her. The one pony who loved her and took care of her after her mom had died when she was a newborn.
"BURN!!"
Izzy, Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch reeled backwards from the heat and looked at the enraged Sunny.
"Hitch.. was there anyone in the factory.." Zipp asked softly.
"No.. thankfully. Its Sunday. The building is empty." The sheriff said, getting up and taking a step toward Sunny.
"Sunny?" He said.
Nightmare turned and snarled at him, lighting her horn.
"Do you want to die!?" She yelled at Hitch, panting softly as occasionally bolts of electricity crackled across her body.
"No..." the sheriff said quietly, stepping forward some more. "But Sunny.. this isn't you. Whatever happened to you.... this is not you, the Sunny I know would never hurt her friends or destroy her hometown."
Nightmare growled, "There is NO Sunny anymore! Only Nightmare Starkiller, and I will conquer this land, and create a glorious empire of my own. Ponies and creatures shall do my bidding or DIE!!"
"Sunny," Hitch said, taking a step towards the enraged mare. "Losing your dad was hard. I know because you came to my house after the funeral and spent 7 hours crying into my chest on the couch."
Nightmare Starkiller continue glaring at Hitch.
"Is this what your dad would have wanted... is it? To hurt and destroy?"
The glowing mare shook her head, looking away for a moment before looking back.
"Hitch! Please! Help me! She has me trapped in my consciousness. I'm trying to fight her but she's really strong-"
Sunny hit herself across the face with a hoof.
"Quiet you! There's no escaping this deathgrip!"
Hitch watched Sunny as Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp continued to watch the scene before them unfold.
~~~~~~~
"Come on. Come on Discord!!" Luna yelled, watching Sunny talk to Hitch from down the street. Discord was busy rummaging through a chest in his house, a two way portal hovering in the town square.
"I'm looking as fast I can!" Discord said back, tossing various things over his shoulder. "They're not here!"
~~~~~~
"YOU" Sunny snarled, now glaring at Phyllis Cloverleaf who had come running around the corner heading towards the factory. "YOU MOCKED HIM AND RIDICULED HIM!!" Charging her horn, Nightmare fired several magical bursts at Phyllis. The blonde mare covered her head and ducked preparing for the hits, but they never came. Looking up, she stared in awe at the magical yellow forcefield pulsing in front of her.
"SUNNY STARSCOUT! THAT IS ENOUGH!!"
Everyone turned toward the voice including Nightmare Starkiller. Standing in front of the ruins of Canterlogic was a tall slender white alicorn. Her billowing mane ruffled in the wind as she trotted forward slowly. The alicorn was decked out in full body golden armor, a bright yellow sun emblem sketched into the chest piece and helmet.
"Oh my stars..." Hitch whispered softly.
From down the street, Luna covered her mouth as tears formed in her eyes.
"SISTER!!!!"
Princess Celestia glanced down the road at her younger sister, giving her a small nod before closing the face plate on her helmet. A different voice now came out of Sunny, a deeper and darker one.
"YOU!!!! YOU'RE THE BITCH WHO SEPARATED ME FROM LUNA!!" Nightmare took a battle stance and fired a large pulse of magic. Celestia didn't even flinch and procured a scythe from behind her. Slicing the magical beam in two as it exploded behind her.
"Nightmare, a pleasure to see you again," said Celestia calmly, "I see you still haven't let go of your anger. I told you one day it would destroy you for good. And now it will."
Behind Celestia from the ruins emerged 6 figures who were also completely decked out in battle armor. Though their bodies were completely covered, their chest plates bore 6 different symbols. An apple, a balloon, a butterfly, a rainbow lighting bolt, a diamond, and a purple six pointed star.
"I've brought a little backup with me."
The pony wearing the armor with the six pointed star was noticeably taller than the other five. And as her face plate retracted, Izzy and the others saw why. Princess Twilight Sparkle, ruler of Equestria and Princess of Friendship, was smiling down at Hitch and the others.
"Need some backup sheriff?" She asked.
Hitch smiled, and began laughing in relief.
"Absolutely," he said, resting on the ground.
Nightmare looked at the 7 ponies standing before her and scowled.
"NO!! IT CAN'T BE! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"
Celestia looked to Twilight and the others and nodded once. Standing together, Twilight and her friends shoved their chests out as the elements embedded in their armor began glowing.
"NO!!! NO NO NO NO!!" Sunny yelled, charging her horn and firing at the mane 6. However it was deflected by the bright rainbow colored beam of magic that shot out at her. Nightmare screamed and writhed on the ground as a bright flash of light lit up the sky and a magnificent explosion of rainbows showered across the town.
Hitch watched in awe as Sunny's body began returning to normal as an inky black smoke billowed out of her, being caught in the rainbow laser.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!" The smoke screamed, disappearing into nothingness.
A few seconds later and the rainbow had disappeared, leaving only Sunny laying on the street. Hitch ran up to her side and fell to his rump, picking up Sunny and holding her close to him.
"Oh Sunny... I thought you were a goner." He whispered. The earth pony coughed and looked up at him smiling.
"Itll take more than a demonic spirit to take me down Hitch," She said weakly, chuckling and rubbing her head as the chuckles turned to "ows"
"Dang.. I feel like I just got hit by a train. My heads throbbing."
Hitch smiled and gently rubbed her mane.
"Then let's get you somewhere quiet," he said, helping her up onto her hooves.
"Wait, I want to see who saved me," said Sunny. The earth pony turned and looked up at the 7 ponies now trotting towards her. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash had all removed their helmets and were smiling as they looked down at Sunny.
"Oh my gosh" was all the Queen was able to say before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out in Hitch's arms.
"Whoops," said Fluttershy, "we're terribly sorry. We didn't mean to make her faint."
"Its alright, you 6 are just... really big idols to her."
Hitch set Sunny on her bed at the lighthouse. The mane 6 had been kind enough to escort them back and were waiting outside her bedroom. Covering her with a blanket, Hitch left the room and shut the door quietly.
"She'll be a'right? Won't she?" Asked Applejack. Twilight nodded.
"She'll be fine AJ, but first, I feel like we owe Hitch here and the others an explanation for our timely return."
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Got anywhere we can all sit and down and talk for a while?" The Princess of Friendship asked. Hitch nodded.
"Yeah, we can use the old town hall meeting building. It's on the south end of town, follow me." Hitch trotted over to the door and put a note on it for Sunny, looking back at Twilight.
"Could you possibly have somepony stay here and guard Sunny your majesty?"
"Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! I'll do it!!" Yelled Pinkie, slamming her helmet on and saluting Hitch. "I won't let her out of my sight Mr. Sheriff sir."
Hitch nodded and smiled.
"Thank you Pinkie, if you need help, radio to one of us on this," the sheriff said, tossing her a walkie talkie. "You just push the button on the side and talk into it." Pinkie nodded firmly and saluted before beginning to pace back and forth.
Hitch let out a quiet chuckle and trotted out with Twilight and the rest of the group.
~~~~~~
"This is the second attack on Maretime Bay in the last 3 months!!" Shouted a random pony from the large crowd gathered in front of the Sheriffs Office. "How are we supposed to defend ourselves from that level of magic!?" The pony pointed to a smoldering building that used to be a store. Hitch raised his hooves and tried to calm the crowd of ponies.
"Okay okay everypony, calm down. I will have answers for you in a few hours. I am personally meeting with Princess Celestia to discuss the safety and security of Maretime Bay and all of Equestria. Now please, go home and be with your loved ones while we sort this out."
There was a grumbling amongst the crowd of ponies, but slowly one by one they began to disperse and return to their homes. Hitch let out a sigh and looked out at the bay. It had always looked so beautiful this time of day. The way the sun reflected off the water.
"Everything okay there sheriff?" Asked a scratchy voice from above him. Looking up, Hitch saw it was a rainbow maned Pegasus.
"Oh.. you must be Rainbow Dash. It's, well.. an honor to meet you I guess." The sheriff said quietly, trotting forward to the railing across the street. Rainbow Dash landed beside him and stared out at the water as well.
"I'm guessing the stress of protecting your town from new and powerful threats is getting to you, huh?" She said.
"You could say that," said Hitch, shaking his head softly. "When Sunny restored magic to Equestria, I had no idea how many dangerous creatures and magical artifacts there were in our land. Before magic, the most I ever had to deal with was littering and Sunny's shenanigans with the Canterlogic Factory."
Rainbow smiled a little gave the sheriff a playful punch on the shoulder.
"You know Hitch, when I was your age, I was much faster and cooler than I am now. I was born in Cloudsdale, but Ponyville was my home. I loved it, and there wasn't anything I wouldn't do to protect it." The pegasus flew over the edge of the railing, reclining in midair as if she was laying on a couch. "But I realized that protecting Ponyville didn't solely rest on my hooves. I met Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight and realized that together, we could protect not only Ponyville but all of Equestria."
The sheriff looked up at her.
"But there's six of you, how could you protect an entire country all at once??" He asked. Rainbow chuckled a few times and put on a pair of black sunglasses.
"Friendship of course, oh, and also by being 20% cooler than the rest of Equestria."
Hitch rolled his eyes but thought about what she said. Could it be possible.. that they kept harmony and peace by befriending other species that lived close to Equestria? It seemed absurd but not farfetched.
"Your right Rainbow, thank you," said Hitch smiling, turning and trotting down the road to the meeting building.
"Anytime," she said, taking off at high speed toward the meeting hall as well.
~~~~~
"All I'm saying Twilight is that Equestria is extremely vulnerable to attacks from the other kingdoms and-" Pipp tried to say but she was cut off.
"No no no, while I understand it's important to protect our borders. It's also important to be diplomatic towards our allies as well." Said the Princess.
The doors to the town hall meeting building burst open as Rainbow Dash zoomed inside, followed closely by Hitch.
"Alright everyone. Before we start pulling each other's manes out, I believe we need an explanation from Princess Celestia about how they escaped and how many escaped with them."
Everyone around the table quieted down and looked at Celestia.
"An excellent idea Hitch," said the tall alicorn. Taking a sip of tea, Celestia cleared her throat.
"I will not lie to you my little ponies. Limbo was a terrible place. The void we were cast into was designed specifically to make us relive our worst fears. It drained us of all hope, and filled our hearts with sadness.." the princess hung her head a little. "However, it wasn't me who made escape possible. But Sunny."
"What???" Everyone said in unison.
"Okayyyyyy, now I'm really confused" said Zipp.
"The moment she was taken by the pony of shadows, a rift was opened up in spacetime. The dark spirits who imprisoned us there tried to close it but not before many of us escaped."
"So how many escaped with you Princess?" Asked Izzy.
"I'm afraid.. only a third of Equestria's original population." There were gasps around the room as Winter spoke up.
"What of the other species? The Kirin, Yaks, Griffins?" Celestia shook her head.
"I'm afraid not, they were captured separately and forced to live in other areas. Until Twilight finds a spell to free them, I'm afraid there are no other kingdoms. The artifact trapped the entire world in Limbo. Getting them out would require a magic so powerful, not even my sister and I could bring them back."
"Okay," said Fluttershy, "but that doesn't explain why the bat ponies weren't affected." The pegasus pointed to Winter. "Twilight never put bat ponies into the cryo chamber."
Twilight lit her horn and shined a projection of a bat pony on the table.
"According to ancient history, bat ponies magical ability to fly came from another part of the galaxy. The origin of the magic has never been found. But it is theorized that many many thousands of years ago, our planet was visited by celestial gods. Nopony knows who they were, and the only evidence that has ever been found of their existence is-"
Luna gasped.
"The Amulet of Cleansing..."
Everyone looked at Luna as she also projected an image, however it was of an ancient looking artifact. The amulet was square, with the symbol of a unicorn horn engraved into the center. The entire thing was made out of what looked like, silver.
"That's the amulet on the necklace that I used to rid Akira of our world. From my studies, I had discovered it carried the ultimate power of ridding the planet of all evil. But, the ultimate price was the amulet also sent any being with a heartbeat to Limbo. As always... there is a cost when it comes to using dark magic." Said Twilight.
The mane 5 looked around at one another and then at Twilight.
"So.. what do we do?" Asked Hitch. "We need to rebuild Equestria and rescue the ponies and other kingdoms still trapped in Limbo."
Celestia set a hoof on his shoulder, "All in due time sheriff."
Everyone around the table was silent for a few minutes. Each thinking about what to do.
"You know.." said Izzy, "Sunny's dad was extremely obsessed with ancient Equestrian history. When Sunny went looking for Twilight's castle, she had said her goal was to bring back Luna and Celestia. I guess it was because they were very important."
Twilight looked at her mentor, then at Luna.
"Princesses, do you know why you're so important to Sunny's fathers research? Because I sure don't."
Celestia looked at Luna, and Luna looked at Celestia.
"Sister, we mustn't. We promised mother and father." Said Luna.
Princess Celestia furrowed her brows and closed her eyes.
"I'm afraid my dear sister, that the time has come for Equestria to know the truth about us."
Luna shook her head and unfolded her wings.
"But Tia!-"
"No, no buts Luna. I understand well the promise we made to mom and dad, but the information about us will help bring back the rest of Equestria and the other kingdoms."
Celestia stood up and lit her horn. Luna looked around nervously at the bewildered looks the rest of the ponies were giving her.
"Honey?" Winter said, looking up at Luna.
Princess Luna sighed and closed her eyes. Lighting her horn, she leaned over and crossed her horn with Celestias. Almost immediately, a bright white blinding light enveloped the two Princesses, pulsing around them. And then, almost as quickly as it appeared, the magic vanished. However, it wasn't Celestia and Luna standing there. Two, all white, large pony shaped beings were hovering next to the table. Their elegant manes billowing like silk sheets in the wind, and their horns were curved. The wings on their backs were massive and twice as fluffy as their alicorn ones. Their eyes were almost completely white, with golden irises as they peered at the group of ponies. Rarity was the first react. Letting out a slightly crazed laugh and proceeded to fall out of her chair in a faint.
"Simply DIVINE!!" *WHUMP*
Celestia looked to her sister.
"Luna and I, are the children of the celestial beings who visited Equestria thousands of years ago."
Hitch was the only one of the group who said anything rational.
"Well shit. That explains a lot."
Celestia and Luna sat back in their chairs. Around the table, the mane 5 and the mane 6 (minus Pinkie Pie) were all still staring in shock at Celestia and Luna. Even Discord, who had appeared the moment he felt the surge of magical energy during their transformation, was in shock.
"Celestia, you never TOLD me you were descended from Gods! Oh how this changes things!" Said Discord, morphing another Discord out of his body. Both Discords wrapped an arm around Luna and Celestia. "Why with all the knowledge and things we can talk about, I'll need two of me!"
Winter growled and slapped Discords arm off of Luna lighting his horn.
"Claws off my wife you clutzy shape-shifting jerk off!"
Discord frowned, "you dare speak to Lord of Chaos in such a manner??" He said in a sinister voice. Winter, unfettered, unfolded his wings and spoke in a deep demonic voice.
"You know not the powers at play you challenge thou ungrateful welp!"
Luna got up and frowned at two of them.
"Boys!"
Discord scoffed and rose higher into the air, his eyes literally catching fire.
Winter snarled as his eyes began to glow red.
"Boys!!!" Luna shouted.
"I shall take nothing back!!" Yelled Discord.
"Bring it!!" Shouted Winter, lunging at Discord. The draconequus powered up his magic, but before either of them could do anything, another voice screamed from across the table.
"BOYS!! THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!!!"
Winter and Discord froze, and looked toward the voice, as did everypony else. Fluttershy was standing on the table glaring angrily at Winter and Discord. However it wasn't any ordinary stare, it was THE stare. Discord and Winter looked away.
"Discord! You need to calm yourself down before I come over there and make you calm down Mr!"
The draconequus shriveled up into a worm and landed on the table. Winter however was grabbed by Luna's magic and pulled aside to a corner of the room. Everyone else was silent.
"Winter, I understand you love me and want to protect me. But Discord is not a threat honey. Trust me, if he had tried to touch me wrong in anyway, I would have wiped the floor with his chaotic ass."
Winter panted softly and breathed deeply, his eyes returning to normal as he looked away from his wife.
"I.. I am sorry LuLu. Being part demon.. it is hard for me not to be protective of my mate. Especially against other males.."
Luna reached out a white hoof and gently turned his head back to look at her.
"And that is one of the things I admire most about you my love. Your loyalty and sense of duty to us, our marriage, and our relationship. There are so many amazing things about you Winter. Sure you are very protective, and quick to anger. But never once have you turned that anger towards me. I understand what you went through being raised by Satan. All the things he tried to teach you, I'm sure he wasn't the best father. But your mother is what gave you your good side. A simple pegasus from Cloudsdale. You are nothing like your father." The princess said, smiling at the white alicorn.
Winter bit back tears but some ran down his cheeks anyway.
"When I found you, you taught me to be the best pony/demon I could be. Your beauty, kindness, loyalty, and caring nature is what made me fall in love with you sweetheart." Winter said, hugging Luna tightly. The princess hugged him back tightly and buried her muzzle in his mane.
Fluttershy grabbed Discord by the ear and pulled him over to where she was sitting.
"Now look here mister, what did I tell you about letting ponies get to you?"
The draconequus tapped his index fingers together and gave Fluttershy a guilty look.
"You said.. to be the better pony and kill them with kindness. Not feed their anger." Fluttershy nodded.
"That's right, I worked so hard to help you be the amazing and gentle Lord of Chaos you are now. And while I know Winter can be protective sometimes over Luna. Maybe it's best that you talk to them about what makes him and Luna more comfortable when it comes to physical contact. Its in his nature to be competitive and protective. So it isn't entirely his fault."
Discord sighed and folded his ears back.
"I suppose you are right Flutters," the draconequus said. Fluttershy wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the nose.
"There's the Discord I know and love." She said, smiling.
Celestia, who had been watching this entire event unfold, smiled. Hitch, Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp, who had all taken cover under the table, peeked out.
"So.. they're not gonna fight?" Asked Pipp.
Twilight shook her head.
"Oh no, I knew Fluttershy would step in if Luna couldn't get through to Winter. She has a way with Discord no other pony or creature has. He really only listens to her."
Discord looked over at Hitch and the others, and waved a paw. Hitch looked up at Twilight.
"Phew... that's a relief. I don't know if Maretime Bay can handle another large scale fight. We were lucky nopony was seriously hurt or killed in Nightmare Starkillers rampage."
Celestia stood and put a large hoof on the table.
"Which is why we must bring back the other kingdoms and reunite our world. Equestria stands strong united as one with every creature. And while our magic may not be enough, the amulet used to rid the world of evil can return them. However it comes with a price." The sun princess lit her horn and projected a holographic video of what would happen when the amulet was used. "All evil, taken away when we were sent to Limbo, will return to Equestria."
Everyone gasped and Rarity, who had fully recovered from her faint, simply laughed incredulously.
"Ahahahaha, DARLINGGG... surely you're JOKING when you say all the evil creatures that made Equestria a living nightmare will return."
Celestia gave Rarity a serious look. The white unicorn, who had been filing her hooves, looked up at Celestia, the smile vanishing from her muzzle. "You aren't kidding are you?"
The princess shook her head.
"I'm afraid I'm not Rarity."
"Well then we'll just have to face it together," said a voice from the corner of the room. Everyone turned to look as Spike walked into the conference room.
"Sorry everycreature, did I miss anything?"
Rarity squealed like a foal and jumped up to hug the dragon.
"Spikey Wikey! Where have you been? You didn't get trapped in Limbo with us!" The unicorn said, hugging Spike. The purple dragon chuckled and hugged Rarity back.
"I've been around. I was in Ponyville when Sunny and her friends went exploring. So, I decided to wait until the right time to make my presence known."
Twilight stood up and smiled, trotting over to Spike and hugging him tightly.
"I missed you so so much my old friend," said Twilight, tears forming in her eyes.
"As I missed you Twilight, it's been a hard several hundred years. I'd only hoped someday somepony would figure out the true meaning of friendship and reunite the magical gems you gave to each race."
Princess Twilight looked up at Spike and smiled.
"And it seems that it worked. I know it was risky leaving all of Equestria's magic in those three gems. But the magic of friendship will always prevail over darkness."
"BOY you wouldn't believe how much Sunny can TALK when she's frantic. Almost like you Twilight!!" Said a high squeaky voice behind Spike.
The dragon moved aside to let Pinkie Pie enter the room, followed shortly by Sunny.
"Sunny!" Hitch shouted, running over to her and wrapping his hooves around her in a big hug. "I'm so glad you're okay."
The apricot earth pony hugged the sheriff back, but she wasn't smiling.
"Its great to be back to myself Hitch, I didn't know what to think when the darkness took me. I was so scared I'd end up hurting you or worse." Sunny said, sniffling.
Hitch pulled back and placed a hoof on her cheek.
"And you didn't. That Nightmare version of you, wasn't you Sunny. I know the real you."
Rainbow Dash from the other side of the room fake vomited.
"Blehhh..."
Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Twilight all gathered around Spike in a group hug. They were happy he was back.
"Ahhhh, the gangs all together again. How Wonderful," said Discord, also joining in the hug.
Sunny looked towards Celestia and Luna, bowing her head.
"I'm sorry I let myself be taken by the darkness. I'm the Elemental Queen, it shouldn't have happened it-"
"Could have happened to anyone," said Celestia, changing back to her pony form and flying over to the earth pony. The white alicorn laid a wing across her back as she landed.
"What matters is not the past, but the present. And what the future holds. And from where I'm standing, I see we have everything we need to start building Equestria once more." Said Celestia, pointing to all the ponies and creatures gathered around the table.
"But.." said Sunny, "how do we rebuild? Where do we go from here?"
Princess Celestia smiled.
"We rebuild using the magic of friendship"
Several weeks had passed since the defeat of Nightmare Starkiller. The rebuilding of Maretime Bay was going well. As well as the rebuild of Canterlot. Within the first week of searching, Sunny and Twilight had found the amulet used to banish evil. It had been hidden in the gemstone cave outside Ponyville. With the artifact in their possession, Twilight was able to bring back everyone who had been lost hundreds of years ago. She knew it would be a huge adjustment to make for everyone who had been lost to time to suddenly be thrust into the future. But she knew that with the help of her friends, it would be a smooth transition.
Sprout in the meantime, had been offered a deal by the district court upon Sunny's request. The city would grant him his status as deputy once more, in exchange, he would have to attend Princess Twilight's school of friendship to help fully reform him.
Sunny had fully taken over as the Elemental Queen and had become the ruler of Equestria. Occasionally she would enter the realm of past, present, and future and seek advice from the guardian Celestia she had created. Using past memories from ponies of the olden days to help encourage her and help unite the kingdoms once more. Luna and Winter had moved fully into Maretime Bay, settling in a cottage along the shoreline among the many shops. Winters army, which he had used to invade Equestria, had been disbanded and the bat ponies had returned to their native lands on the outskirts of Equestria to be with their families.
As for Celestia, Discord, and the mane 6. They had all returned to their previous lives duties and passions. With the help of Hitch and Fluttershy, Applejack was able to clear the orchards of critters and insects so that Sweet Apple Acres could thrive once more. It'd been Fluttershy who had discovered Hitch shared her ability to talk to animals, and had agreed when he wasn't busy, to help her fix up the animals sanctuary in Ponyville.
Rarity had gone back to dress making and had reopened all of her boutiques across Equestria. Fluttershy had employed the help of Alphabittle to open a new sanctuary for animals in Bridlewood. After she had found out he loved animals just as much as she did. Discord, being his, well... usual chaotic self. Had moved in with Fluttershy to help her take care of the animals. Of course this meant her cottage would be a little disheveled due to the occasional lack of gravity and the singing tea bags. But she wouldn't have it any other way.
Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich had continued to throw parties and spread laughter across Equestria. Helping establish connections with the friendlier kingdoms such as the Yaks, Changelings, Hippogriffs, and Kirin.
Rainbow Dash had once more taken up her duties as head of the Wonderbolts. Immediately enlisting Zipp into the academy upon seeing her flying abilities. She was also in charge of training cadets in the new military branch Sunny had created. The Equestrian Air Defense Force. They would be comprised of over 2,000 well trained, well armed, Wonderbolts. It was a push to increase Equestria's security in case of another invasion or hostile takeover.
This had also been the same for each one of the different kingdoms. Of course each kingdom still retained its sovereignty and ideals, however they were now part of a massive peace keeping agency called, The United Kingdoms of Earth. The UKE consisted of Equestria, Yakyakistan, The Griffin Kingdom, The Dragonlands, The Changeling Collective, The Crystal Empire, Britaly, Coltypt, Maretonia, Saddle Arabia, The Kirin Empire, Trotsylvania, Great Britony, and the Diamond Dog Empire.
Each country would send a delegate or ambassador to conferences and meetings where Queen Sunny would help solve disputes between them and enstill harmony across the globe. Each country was also to have their own military for protection. This also meant that if one Kingdom was in trouble, another could offer assistance.
Among all this change, Sunny was busy getting much needed relaxation after the hell she had just been put through several weeks ago. Which is why she was visiting Mount Aris, home of the Hippogriffs. Almost immediately after the meeting with the mane 6 and mane 5 had been adjourned, Sunny had traveled to Canterlot with her friends to assess the damages and how long it would take to rebuild the capital. She had also began taking notes and planning how she would run an entire country. Twilight had been busy spending much needed time with her favorite dragon so it was just Sunny and her friends. It was Izzy's idea that she needed a vacation away from all the work she was putting in and so here they were.
"Woahhh," said Izzy, looking out the window as the Friendship Express chugged along the tracks towards Mount Aris. The tall snow covered mountain loomed over the entire area as snowflakes fell rapidly.
"It was a good thing I packed extra scarves!" Said Pipp, pulling out some sparkly scarves for her friends to wear from her suitcase. "A celebrity never leaves home without her wardrobe."
Sunny and the others let out happy noises and gladly accepted the scarves.
"Thanks Pipp, I never knew you were so into fashion." Said Sunny, wrapping the magenta scarf around her neck. The pink pegasus smiled and waved a hoof dismissively.
"Bahhh, its just something you pick up when you're famous. I'm TERRIBLE at making anything clothing related. But I do know my fashion. Rarity made them for us!"
Everyone admired the scarves. Sunny's had been magenta, the same color as Twilights fur since she was basically Sunny's hero. Pipps was a white one with diamonds and microphones weaved into it, because she shared a close bond to Rarity. Zipps was rainbow colored with hints of her mane color here and there. Izzy's was pink with cupcakes and tea cups because of her bubbly personality that she shared with Pinkie Pie. Hitch's was yellow with pink hues. It had sheriff badges and animals patterned into the fabric because of his relation to Fluttershys ability to talk to animals. And surprisingly, Sprout's was a rustic orange one. It had apples woven into it.
"I don't see why you wanted me to come along Hitch," said Sprout, taking his scarf and wrapping it around his neck.
"Because you're our friend Sprout. Even if you made mistakes in the past, it doesn't mean you stop being our pal," said Hitch.
Everyone nodded in agreement and smiled at Sprout who blushed slightly and smiled as well.
"Thanks guys, I'll try not to ruin our fun though while we're here," he said.
"Hey look!" Shouted Zipp, pointing a hoof down the tracks.
Everyone gathered at the windows and poked their heads out. A ways down on the tracks, was a herd of four legged creatures stampeding across the path. The train slowed and blew its whistle, eventually coming to a stop in front of the galloping creatures.
"What are they?" Asked Pipp, watching the herd continue on across the tracks. The creatures were skinny, white and very tall. In fact they kind of looked like-
"Why they are a very special outcome of chaos magic. Used to be bunnies you know." Said an all too familiar voice behind them. The group turned and saw Discord sitting on a seat, drinking tea and wearing a monocle.
"Discord? What are you doing here?" Asked Sunny. The draconnequus smiled and poofed away the tea cup and monocle.
"Well when I heard about your little vacay, I decided that I could use some time off too," he said.
Hitch looked at him then at the mutated rabbits.
"Discorddd, return those rabbits to normal," the sheriff said.
"But they look positively better don't you-"
"Discord."
The draconequus sighed and snapped his fingers, the herd of mutant rabbits now having been returned to normal and scampering away. Discord folded his arms and flopped onto the bench as the whistle sounded, and the train lurched forward, picking up speed.
"You're no fun, you know that?" The draconequus said, mumbling to himself.
Sunny looked at Hitch who looked at her and shrugged his shoulders. Everyone sat back in their seats as the Friendship Express chugged toward Mt. Aris station.
~~~~~
"Mt. Aris Station! End of the line!" Called the conductor. Sunny and her friends took their baggage from above them and stepped out onto the platform.
"So," said Sunny, "what should we do first?"
Pipp immediately raised a hoof.
"Why don't we all go to the spa and get massages?"
Everyone muttered their agreements. Everyone except for Hitch and Sunny. Izzy turned and looked at Sunny.
"Hey, you alright Sunny? You do want to go to the spa don't you?"
The alicorn rustled her wings and shifted on her hooves, looking at Hitch.
"Well... actually.. Hitch and I aren't really, comfortable. Letting somepony else massage us. Since we got together, we both agreed to some things and one thing we mutually agreed on, was we would only massage one another."
Hitch nodded and looked back at Sunny.
"We both felt uncomfortable having someone else massage us. But, we wouldn't mind joining you for a mud bath or hooficure," said the sheriff.
Izzy smiled and hopped ahead of the group.
"Well alrighty then, let's make some ground ponies!"
Sunny, Hitch, Zipp, Pipp, and Sprout all followed Izzy up the mountain towards the village.
"Alright everypony I've got my luggage and-"
Discord stopped short when he noticed the group was gone. Frowning and snapping his fingers so his bags floated behind him, the draconequus followed their path.
"How rude, leaving a good friend behind."
~~~~~
"Hello! And welcome to Mt. Aris! How can we help you today?" Asked a bubbly hippogriff standing behind the hotel counter.
"I'd like a room for 7 please-"
"Oh that won't be necessary Sunny, as the Lord of Chaos I packed my own room." Said Discord, floating up behind the group and tossing his suitcase at a bellhop. Who proceeded to fall over due to its weight.
"I can't get a signalllll," complained Pipp, raising her phone into the air. The hotel clerk spoke up.
"We do apologize, our cellphone towers are still being put up. We expect to have wide coverage of 5P speeds soon enough however. Might I interest you in our complimentary wifi?"
Pipp nodded quickly and zipped over to the piece of paper taped to the desk with the password. Sunny giggled and looked at Hitch who smiled at her. Sprout was currently looking at a decorative fish tank on the wall. There were all kinds of colorful fish inside as well as a larger and more sinister looking fish. Who scared the hell out of the poor red earth pony by appearing out of nowhere.
"Ahhh!" The deputy exclaimed, falling backwards over some suitcases.
"Oh don't worry about Rufus, he's our exotic guest. A Uniwegian Razorback Ridge, rare in these waters. They're harmless despite their mean look," said the hotel clerk. "Now, let me see what I have available for a party of 6..."
"You named that thing Rufus????" Sprout asked incredulously, staring up at the piranha-like fish.
While the clerk was checking her computer, Izzy pulled out a plastic tube of tennis balls and trotted over to a fruit bowl on the coffee table in the middle of the room. Snickering, she began swapping out the oranges for the tennis balls. Putting the juicy fruit into her saddlebag.
"Izzy!" Shouted Hitch, making the unicorn jump. "What do you think your doing?"
Izzy slowly turned around and smiled, hiding the tube of tennis balls behind her with her magic.
"Nothinnnn," she replied innocently.
Hitch scoffed and trotted over to her. Peeking his head around her to see what she was hiding. Upon seeing the tennis balls, the stallion gave the unicorn a quirky look.
"Izzzzy, did Pinkie Pie give those to you?" He asked.
"Give what to me?" Izzy asked, tossing the container in a random direction. Hitting the poor bellhop on the head, who was just recovering from Disocrd's suitcase.
Hitch sighed and smiled. "That mare, I swear she's a bad influence on you Izzy," he said, chuckling.
"Okayyyy, so I like a few pranks. Who doesn't?" She asked, smiling and biting into an orange she materialized from her saddlebag.
"Looks like deluxe suite 6 is available. I'll have Jeremy here take your luggage up for you," said the receptionist, handing Sunny the key. "Enjoy your stay at Mt. Aris Spa and Resort."