"Ta-daaaaa! Crystals! Crystals! Crystals! Crystals! Crystals! Crystals!"

"She does know we're just looking for the one, right?"

Zipp spoke to the others as they all walked into the main part of Bridlewood. Looking around, all the unicorns looked dull. Not just figuratively, but also literally. Their personalities all seemed nonexistent, replaced with monotone, borderline depressed voices. Even the children acted the same way the adults did, and that's even more alarming. Children should be cheery and somewhat annoying. Sunny Starscout made sure to note how all these unicorns seemed so distant, and yet Izzy… well, you know.

“These other unicorns seem so different from you.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot. My sparkle is a bit too sparkly for Bridlewood.”

Hitch Trailblazer started to look at some nearby crystals, inspecting them before turning to the others. “How can we tell which ones are magic?”

"Oooooh! You said a bad word!" Looking to the left, the group saw a green Unicorn Kid who sounded like he was British pointing at Hitch, who was entirely confused. Only a second after saying that, the British foal spoke again, bringing his friends into it nearby. His friends looked like they'd seen some shit. After a short snort, the unicorn started to dance to some kind of ritual, and it honestly looked freaky in every aspect.

"Hurry! Before we get jinxed! Ahhhhhh... Bing-bong-bing! Bing, bong! Bing, bong! Bing, bong! Bing, bong!"

"Ooooookay... I'm gonna need some context." Zipp said quite honestly before Izzy gave the reason why those unicorns were doing a weird dance.

"Unicorns are very superstitious. If a pony ever says a forbidden word, we have to do a ritual to ward off the jinxies."

"Jinxies?"

"Bad luck."

"Forbidden words?"

"Magic", "wing", "feather"... oh, and "mayonnaise"."

"What's wrong with may—?" Izzy jammed a hoof into his mouth before he could finish what he said as every unicorn in range was instantly alert. Eventually, they turned back to their mopey self, continuing on with their day. Once the crisis was averted, Izzy removed her hoof, prompting Hitch to gasp as Izzy led them towards a nearby building. There was a teapot-shaped sign on the front, and it read The Crystal Tea Room.

"The Crystal Tea Room?"

"There's a pony inside who collects crystals. Maybe he could help us."

"That's great, Izzy! Oh, and Hitch?"

"I know, I know. No forbidden words."

"Earth pony jinx. Something stinks. Pegasus neighs..." A unicorn was doing some standup while the crew entered. From there, Izzy looked around before spotting what she was looking for, a maroon pony with a red beret on his head was sitting down nearby, as Izzy whispered to Sunny that this was the pony she told them about. With that in mind, Sunny sat in front of him at the table to talk.

"So... word in the forest is you collect crystals."

"Yes, I do. Well, I mean, I did. I lost 'em all in a limbo contest with... Alphabittle!" That name instantly made Izzy worry Sunny did ask who Alphabittle was, but before Izzy could explain they heard a bell clanging from the bar. When they looked in that general direction, they saw two ponies. One in front of the bar, who was trying to solve a 2X2 Rubix cube, and the pony behind it, who seemed to own the bar in the first place from the looks of things. Alphabittle was a large, heavyset unicorn with a medium gray coat and dark gray hooves. He had a wispy white mane and tail, bushy eyebrows, sideburns, and a beard. He had freckles on his cheeks and brown eyes. His cutie mark was a teapot. And it also seemed he enjoyed games, especially when he could win, as evidenced by his huge collection of items behind him. Alphabittle also proved to be smart, as the pony he was facing off with had failed to complete the cube. Whereas Alphabittle solved it in mere seconds.

"Guess that makes me the winner. Again. Pay up."

"Ugh. Fine." The pony in question handed over what appeared to be a douglas fir tree covered in snow in a jar over to Alphabittle, who promptly put it on the shelf with the rest of his collection. It was there that Sunny saw the unicorn crystal sitting on one of the shelves.

"You could always try winning it back! All right, suit yourself."

"We won. We won! We actually won!" Sunny celebrated her narrow victory with her friends as they cheered for her, only for that to all come crashing down the moment that Sunny's fake horn came loose and fell to the floor, giving her away to Alphabittle almost immediately. With their cover blown, Hitch, Zipp, and Zipp also took off their fake horns, no longer hiding who they were.

"An Earth pony."

"And pegasi!"

"And a unicorn! Which... you knew already!"

"And one tall space-faring Saiyan!" The doors to the crystal tea room flew open as Cyre barged in, looking around before he saw his friends without their disguises. Cyre didn't even look at Aplhabittle, who was currently trying to process the fact there were pegasi, earth ponies, and a weird Hairless talking ape with clothes on in his bar. He instead walked over to Sunny to talk to her.

"I felt you get stressed and I came to see if you needed help. I take it you failed to keep cover? I hope you at least won... Also, hey everypony. No, I'm not a hallucination. Do not call me a hairless ape, I have a name, it's Cyre, thank you very much!"

There was some quiet murmuring in the bar before Sunny Starscout spoke to Alphabittle again.

"I know it doesn't look like it, but we're here to help."

"Help? We don't need help. Especially from ponies... and strange creatures from beyond the stars... like you. Give me the crystal."

"But I won."

"You tricked me. The crystal. Now!" The unicorns were all closing in on them. Cyre turned to the others as he let them lead this. He didn't wanna fight anypony and make a bad situation worse. Hitch had a solution to all that though, but Cyre didn't quite get it at all at first before he saw what the unicorns were doing, starting with Alphabittle.

"Uh... Magic! Wing! Feather! MAYONNAISE!!!"

"Bing!"

"Bong!"

"Bing-bong! Bing-bong! Bing-bong!"

"You'll pay for this!"

Sunny Starscout quickly grabbed the crystal before they all ran for it as the unicorns did their little dance. They managed to come to a small clearing in the forest as they came to a halt. Something was rustling in the bushes, which instinctively made Cyre take a defensive stance. However, he quickly dropped it when whatever it was came out of the brush... ass first. It turned out to be none other than Queen Haven, who had managed to escape. Both Pipp and Zipp were understandably happy to see that their mother was alright, save for her disheveled mane and tail.

"Mom?!"

"Oh, my darlings! Thank hoofness!"

"You escaped!"

"How did you find us?"

The answer was given when Hitch Trailblazer got tackled in the face by Cloudpuff, The family pomeranian of the royal family in Zephyr Heights. Seems that Cloudpuff managed to track them all the way here. And it also seems he had Hitch's badge, which made him happy it was in his possession once again.

"Ah! My badge! Yes!"

"Oh, I'm so glad I found my little fillies. Now, I know that if you just come back with me, we can explain everything. Spin the story, and they'll love us again. R-Right?"

Galloping could be heard from behind the group as Alphabittle was hot in their trail with three other unicorns. Before she could even talk to them, a group of pegasi Guards had arrived. The two groups continued to argue with each other. In Cyre's honest opinion, he wished he'd have packed popcorn, cause it was more entertaining than he'd thought it would be. That, and he felt the sexual tension between Aphabittle and Haven. Plus when the guards threw the tennis ball, as if it would work any better than it did before with Izzy. Eventually though, Sunny managed to calm everyone down enough for them to listen to her.

"There she is! Your Criminal Highness, you're coming with us!"

"Aah! Unicorns!"

"Give me back my crystals and leave Bridlewood!"

"Your crystals? That crystal belongs to me!"

"Not anymore, it doesn't! I won it fair and square!"

"Hah! I certainly doubt it! Unicorns are known to be cheaters!"

"You Pegasi always thought you were better than us!"

"Hey, that's our queen you're talking to!"

"She's not a queen here!"

"Who do you think you are?!"

"We're gonna zap you with our horns!"

"This is our land!"

"You're not welcome here!"

"Surrender the crystal, or I'll use my powers against you!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

"NOPONY HAS MAGIC!"

"....Bing-bong!"

"But we're here to bring it back."

"Is it possible?"

"Did she just say "magic"?"

"This is a trick."

"I know it sounds unbelievable, but please, just let us try."

"Please, Mom."

"Trust us."

"Wha... You two... Fine."

"You're wasting your time, kid."

"I'm inclined to agree! If there was a pegasus and a unicorn crystal, there's gotta be a-" Cyre was once again ignored as Izzy and Sunny prepared to unite the crystals. Cyre just threw his hand up in the air in frustration and just sat down in a fit. He was consistently being ignored, and if they didn't want his help concerning the matter, so be it.

"Ready, Izzy?"

"Ready."

With everyone staring hopefully, and the area brightened up in anticipation, Sunny and Izzy put the two crystals together... only for nothing to happen. The area dampened due to this, and Izzy tried to no avail to get it to work, she overheard a unicorn child ask their father why it didn't work, only to respond that it was all make-believe. The others weren't feeling much better either. The only one who didn't feel super sad is Cyre because he knew it wasn't gonna work at all. He still, did feel sad though.

"We can try it again! Maybe... Maybe w-we did it wrong somehow. Wait. Wait, don't go. Oh, come on. Work. Work! Please work! Come on!"

"Sunny. It's okay. You did everything you could."

"I... I thought it would work. I was so, so sure of it."

"What do we do now, Sunny?"

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you."

"Sunny! We can't give up!"

"I thought that I could make a difference. But everywhere I go, I just make things worse."

"That's not true. We're all in this together, right?"

"Yeah."

"Of course."

"I'm so sorry I let you all down."

Hitch Trailblazer looked towards Sunny and sighed, before turning back to the others.

"I guess this is goodbye... friends."

Zipp Storm made one last comment to him before he left with Sunny.

"Better hurry... sheriff."

After Hitch and Sunny left, Zipp felt a tap on her shoulder. It turns out Cyre was handing her his scouter, which confused her. Cyre then pushed it onto her, smiling somewhat happily as he backed away from her.

"I'll be back for that... Don't you dare misplace it, you hear?" Cyre said as Zipp quickly began to understand what he was doing.

"I won't... don't forget to teach me... you got that, you overgrown starpony?"

"I'll teach you one of these days, I promised you that much... until we meet again, toothpaste hair..." Cyre then began to walk away, following Sunny and Hitch back to Maretime Bay. Zipp looked at him walk away, and she could've sworn for a second she saw a tear roll down Cyre's face.

MARETIME BAY

The trip back to Maretime Bay was a silent one. When they arrived, the weather was cloudy. Cyre and Sunny made their way to the lighthouse after Hitch attempted to console her failed. Once they were inside, Sunny went into her room and packed up things she revered in the past, bringing them up to the lighthouse portion of the house. Cyre followed her up to speak with her.

“So… that’s it? That’s all you’ve got? Optimistic and never-quit earth pony Sunny Starscout, goes home empty? It can’t be how this story ends! It’s not what I want, I know deep down that’s not what you want, Sunny… and I never knew what he was like, but I’m sure… I’m sure you’re father would’ve wanted you to keep pushing for friendship and harmony with other ponies. Are you gonna let everything he worked for… you worked for… just fall apart?”

“…..”

“…there’s another saying I feel like you should know from my home on earth… well, a few you should know. The first one I’ll have to shorten a little bit “…we choose to go to the moon… not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.” Humans in my world didn’t have magic, we didn’t have any super-powered skills yet. We had technology, courage, and skill. And we eventually did make it to the moon. It took many failures… many mishaps to finally make it… but all of it paid off in the end. We put a man on the moon. An object thousands of miles away from Earth. Compare to yourself. You knew from the start that getting ponies to like each other wouldn’t be easy, but you did it anyway. All for a future of a world that nobody would believe in. And you didn’t think it’d be easy. You knew it would be hard. But you pushed on anyway, in the hood it could be done. I won’t let you nope around like this Sunny, it doesn’t suit you. Besides, I know why it likely didn’t work back in Bridlewood.”

This made Sunny look up at Cyre, starting to listen to what he had to say.

“You saw that the Pegasi and Unicorns both had separate crystals, right? Well, would it make sense for the earth ponies not to have one? Think about it? Do you honestly think they’d be left out? A third Crystal is out there somewhere. It might even be here. Your father collected artifacts, so he may have put the Crystal somewhere… and… there appears to be something here resembling the crystals on this table as well. Take a look…”

Having a look at the table as Cyre moved drawings out of the way, an engraved picture of the crystals was there. It was then that they both noticed that there was light shining in the room that caused there to be pony silhouettes everywhere. And the source? The gem in Sunny’s lamp. This made Cyre smile triumphantly.

“Bingo.”

He grabbed the oval-shaped Crystal, carefully taking it out of the lamp and placing it in the spot where the gem would sit in the picture. A second later, it sunk into the ground revealing where the Pegasus and unicorn crystals would go. Cyre turned to Sunny who looked in realization.

A minute later, Izzy was galloping full speed with her smile and optimism increased tenfold, as Cyre followed closely behind her as they made their way to Hitch’s precinct, who came over to them when he saw them racing towards him.

“Sunny! Cyre!”

“Hitch! Hitch! We figured it out! There's actually a third—!” A spray of fireworks interrupted them as they saw marching ponies pass them by. Sunny gasped as Hitch asked what was going on.

“Huh? Hey, w-wait. What is going on here?”

“We can't tell you. We've signed the Official Sprout Act.”

“Official Sprout what?” The three of them made their way to Canterlogic, where the townsfolk were gathered together. They were all wearing the anti-mind-reading caps and were all standing in formation.

“The Stallion-in-Chief!” A pony said as drumming started showing as it was revealed sprout wearing a full-on dictator outfit.

“Sprout?!”

Sprout stepped on another pony’s head before reaching the pedestal, before reminding one of the ponies to raise his chair to be seen. He attempted to speak but ended up being muffled by his banner flapping and falling on him.

“Citizens of Maretime—! Can we try that again?”

“Sprout! What are you doing?”

“Awwww. Little Sheriff Hitchy came trotting back. Waaaah. Just in time to see me do what you couldn't – attack our enemies!”

“Ugh. Wait, wait, no, Sprout, listen to me. Listen to me. The Pegasi and unicorns can be our friends. There's no need to be afraid of them. Besides, they don't even have any magic.”

“What?” Phyllis was surprised to learn that they didn’t have magic. Sprout wasn’t swayed though, he just laughed. That didn’t stop sunny from trying to convince him though.

"No magic? Hah! That's even better!"

"But we can bring magic back! Bring friendship back!"

Sparkle Chaser, the pony that still wearing the goggles from the Canterlogic show, sighed.

"So we don't have to fight? That's a relief."

Sprout rallied to keep the ponies loyal to him before pushing a button, which caused the floor to pen up and a giant, Sprout-themed robot pony appeared.

"W-Wait, what! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't listen! They've been brainwashed! You'll all be next if we don't end this now! Say hello... to Sprouticus Maximus!"

Phyllis Cloverleaf was starting to think her son was a little crazy for doing this, though she honestly should've noticed it far sooner than she did.

"Maybe this is a bit too much, dear!"

Sprout hopped into his war machine, revved up the engine, and gave a little honk before moving forwards. "Troops! On to Bridlewood!"

"We have to warn them!" Sunny and Hitch were preparing to run, but before they could, Cyre grabbed them both and took off into the air Headed in Bridlewood's general direction. However, before he got far, he spotted something heading for the lighthouse. It appeared to be The rest of their friends, and they seemed to have spotted Cyre as well since they were waving their hooves at him. With that in mind, Cyre flew back towards the lighthouse, landing nearby as their friends made their way there moments later. Izzy was the first to say anything as Cyre set Sunny and hitch back on the ground.

"Sunny!"

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We don't care what anypony says!"

"Yeah! We just want to stay friends!"

"Pipp! Zipp! I know you're upset, darlings, my sweet little darlings, but it's time to go home now."

"Izzy Moonbow, you're gonna get us all jinxed! Come back to Bridlewood!"

"Excuse me! Do you see my mouth still moving? That means I'm still a-talking!"

"You're all in danger!"

"I'm sorry, what?" It was just then that sprout's war machine, along with a couple of earth ponies, had arrived on the cliff leading to the lighthouse, before being dumbfounded when they saw the other ponies. Sprout was happy that they'd come to him though.

"Would you look at this? Our enemies delivered themselves to us!"

"No, no, no, we're not here to fight, Mr. Big Robot Pony."

"I do not accept your surrender! Load the Splat-a-pult!" What few earth ponies remained had chickened out of the whole thing, running back to town, which made Sprout groan in annoyance.

"Why do I have to do everything myself?!"

"We have to stop that thing!" Zipp said to the others.

"But how?"

"With magic! Quick! I need your crystals!" Though the two of them were confused, They didn't argue. They quickly gave Sunny the two crystals and she spoke to her friends.

"There's a third crystal! Follow me!"

"What?"

Sprout immediately turned the robot in their direction and started to drive up to stop them. "Oh, no, you don't!"

"I've gotta rein that thing in!"

"I've got your back, Hitch!"

"Count me in on the action too!"

Hitch, Zipp, and Cyre began to race towards the war machine, determined to stop it. Meanwhile, Pipp, Izzy, and Sunny were inside the lighthouse. Sunny was about to put the crystals in their proper place, but they all bounced out of their place when sprout drove his war machine into the lighthouse, causing cracks to appear in the structure.

"Where are the other crystals?"

Hitch Trailblazer eventually made his way to the front to talk to Sprout, who promptly threw him off the front and onto the back, before Sprout activated two splat-a-pults that were built into the war machine.

"This... ends... now!"

"What, and let them have magic?! Never!"

Ponies everywhere were doing their best to avoid the goo the best they could. Alphabittle ended up getting caught on one protecting his animal friends. They were also hitting the lighthouse windows, which made Pipp shriek. However, this did unintentionally lead to finding the earth pony crystal, which was quickly tossed over to sunny and put in the mold.

"Aah! Sunny!"

"Got it! We need the Unicorn Crystal!"

"I'm looking, I'm looking!" As Izzy continued to search, Sprout revved up the war machine again. This time though, Cyre was on the window shield, and with a single punch, broke through it as he tried to grab Sprout, who somehow managed to duck and dodge him every time. Due to this, they were swerving, which almost made Hitch end up hitting one of the splat-a-pults, which would've happened had Zipp not pulled him back on.

"You are experiencing a car accident!" Cyre said to Sprout. As Izzy found the unicorn crystal, Sprout crashed the war machine into the house again, throwing Cyre off of it and causing him to fly into the lighthouse, further compromising the structure. It also made the Unicorn crystal fall out of Izzy's grasp, and almost fall off the lighthouse. Pipp's part of the floor broke, which caused her to scream as she fell. Turns out it was just the part of the floor that elevates you to the top, so Pipp ended up being okay. She managed to get back outside by quickly making her way out of the door. Izzy made her way onto part of the top of the lighthouse and grabbed the crystal, only to have that part collapse and for Izzy to barely hold on, as she constantly tried to grab the crystal Phyllis, who was arriving on the scene, was now officially done standing by. as for Aplhabittle, he was about to be crushed by the war machine. Well, he would have been crushed, had it not been for Queen Haven tackling him at the last minute. Sunny and Izzy had managed to get the crystal back and get Izzy back inside, but not before almost being hit by one of the splat-a-pult cannons, which was pulled off its frame by Hitch. It was at this point that Phyllis spoke with her son.

"Sprout! Let's put the toy away!"

"Mommy, please! I'm in the middle of something!"

"You come down from there right now!"

"I've almost got it! Whoa! Oof!"

"But, Mommy, I'm... in... chaaaaarge!"

"I... said... STOP!"

Sprout narrowly managed to avoid hitting his mother, turning quickly to the right which threw Hitch and Zipp of the machine. Cyre had managed to find his way out of the hole he got into and shook himself off, only to look up and see the war machine about to crash into him... again.

"Oh, for the LOVE OF-OOOOOOFFFFF!!!!" He got driven right back into the house as the lighthouse started falling apart entirely. Sunny managed to climb her way back up to the table and put the unicorn crystal into it, but nothing happened.

"It... It didn't work."

"No, no, no!" It was at this point that the top of the lighthouse separated completely as it began to fall to the ground, the crystals likely being lost in the rubble as soon as the dust cleared. Sunny looked at what remained of her home as Sprout and Cyre alike managed to get out of the rubble fairly unscathed. Izzy looked over to Sunny, who saw that the portrait and picture of Sunny and her father were either broken or damaged. It was here that Sunny finally began to understand it all as Izzy attempted to comfort her.

"Oh, Sunny..."

"I understand now. It's not the crystals that need to be brought together. It's us. We can bring back everything that was lost, but it's up to us. We can stay separated by fear and distrust, or we can choose friendship. We can choose love. That's the true magic."

Haven came close and puts one of the broken frame pieces of Sunny and her father. Alphabittle comes puts one of the other pieces and Phyllis and Cyre together do the same with the last piece, straightening the picture. All of them smiling solemnly. Suddenly the crystals start to glow and float out of the rubble, spinning around Sunny as they lift her off the ground. Hitch, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, and Cyre look up in amazement. Sunny starts to spin while wondering what's happening. Suddenly, astral like wings appear on her back. A long astral horn with the same color as the wings appears on her head. Sunny was now an alicorn as the crystals rise further into the sky and connect together, causing a stream of light to burst out. A beautiful colorful aura spreads throughout the sky and across the land. Hitch and the other girls close their eyes and open them again as he watches the girls' magic is added to them. Izzy's horn glows while Pipp's and Zipp's wings glow and star flying. The magic also spread to the other Pegasi and Unicorn that present from the event, including Haven with her wings and Alphabittle's horn glow while Phyllis and Sprout watch in amazement.

"We're actually flying!"

"Whoo!"

As Sunny flies down using her new wings, the Pegasus princess twins, as well as Cyre, fly around her getting a good look at her new astral wings, as well as the new rainbow stripe in her hair. Cyre was almost tempted to go Super Saiyan to try and up her but chose not to. He'd let Sunny have her moment in the spotlight, she deserved it. Another time for what he'd wanna do would come later. he left that thought for later as they landed on the ground.

"Whoa, Sunny! Check you out!"

"Whoo!"

"What?!"

Sunny Starscout finally looked herself over to see what happened. "I can't believe it!"

"Now that's what I call a glow-up!"

"I'll admit it, that rainbow stripe hair of yours is a rather nice aesthetic for you, Sunny."

"Look!" Pipp pointed into the sky as the aura spread all over, giving the Unicorn their magic, the Pegasus the ability to fly, and even the creatures and crystals gain magic.

MARETIME BAY, TOWN SQUARE

Cloudpuff was barking as an Earth Pony Filly chased him, laughing the whole way before finally leading the filly to Queen Haven.

"Aw, I see you've made a new friend."

Alphabittle was busy with another earth pony filly, who had been admiring his horn.

"Hi there, buddy."

The tram that got turned over earlier is seen in the air with a glowing aura covering it as it suddenly floats down. It reveals that Izzy and another unicorn were using their magic to put the tram back on the tracks. Earth ponies cheered nearby as Zipp, Cyre, and a group of ponies strike a pose as Pipp takes a selfie, calling it "stunning". Sprout and his mother were also walking together, though not for very long since Sprout asked a fateful question.

"Mommy? Was I a good sheriff?"

"Uh, uh... Look! A flying dog!" Phyllis quickly walked away as Sprout looked for her, only to look disappointed. Sunny looks on proud and happy with the mission she and her friends complete, as they all come together as a complete group.

"You did it, Sunny."

"No. We did it. Together."

"Now we never have to be apart!" Izzy laughed as the group came together and put their hand/hooves together and lifted them up high, as they all chanted:

"Hooves to hearts!"

It was just then that a pony being carried by a few ballons had landed in front of them. when he spoke, Cyre immediately caught on. It was the same pony who had yelled for help earlier. Cyre just smiled. Mostly because he ended up okay, and also because of the reaction.

"Whew! Hey, guys. What did I miss?"

After looking at the group, he promptly screams.

END OF THE FILM

Author's Note

And that's that! The movie is now complete, which means it's time to get into the real story now that the setting is established. I'm not gonna start writing that though till Thursday, cause today is my birthday, and I need that day off. I wanted to finish this yesterday but fell asleep due to a headache. That said, what do you think I should do for this story next? leave your opinions in the comments below, and I'll look at them when I can. that's all I've got to say for now! Until next time, stay safe!

Pony Power Levels

Sunny Starscout (Alicorn): 1,225