1 Once upon a time, in Equestria...
A long time ago, millions of moons passed...
Two princesses, both baptized under the same steeple of the same church, were the ones who took care of the harmony between their kingdom. They were, no more than the sun and the moon in the whole world.
World rulers? I don't think so, but their power was magnificent and gigantic.
Raised both from foals, like princesses who cared for their little worshippers... They would be the ones who would give warmth in the day, and shelter at night.
More princesses would come; the princess of love, and the princess of friendship.
Together they would be the ones who would make all the subjects of their respective kingdoms live together in peace, love and harmony, living during the day, and resting during the night.
... Or at least that was how it was.
And that was how they all lived in harmony united with each other, before a horrible war led to chaos and destruction...
In a world mostly populated by ponies, each with different qualities, accompanied by other races, they were the ones who went to war, once Princess Twilight's school of friendship began to fail.
And the slightest hint of discord would be the one that would cause a whole cold war full of death, blood and dishonor.
There was no more laughter, no more loyalty between them.
There was no honesty left, all was lies and envy. There was no generosity.
There was no one who was kind in that corrupt world anymore.
There was no more magic.
Princess Twilight Sparkle did her best to reclaim the last shred of magic that lay between the hearts of her race... Before she succumbed to the clutches of death, unable to deal with so much disorder. So much discord.
A story that would never be told in the modern schools of this crude present day.
She looked up from the book she found hidden in her father's desk once she heard that special knock on the downstairs door.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she could do nothing but put the book back in its place, and then trotted out of her father's office.
"I'm home Sunnybunny, and I brought the marshmallows you wanted."
The sire smiled cheerfully, closing the door behind him, with two bags dangling from his back, as he futilely disguised a large bruise that adorned the area around his left eye.
Sunny twisted her head, looking at him worriedly...
"Did you fight with the bad ponies again, Daddy?"
The pony's smile faded, and he soon put the bags down on the table, trying to pretend.
"Things are really hard these days, my little one... But soon this will be over, okay? Soon daddy will stop fighting with bad ponies all the time."
However, even with his understanding and kind tone, he wasn't able to wipe the worried expression off his daughter's face.
She simply walked away a bit, grabbed the marshmallows and set out to climb the stairs again...
When at last she could hear...
"It's a promise, my sunny sky... From hoof to heart."
A few tears overflowed down her face, before she ran up the stairs trying to pretend she was living in that beautiful fantasy world.
Of love, friendship...
Of days without fights, of nights without danger.
Reading that book that her father was hiding was perhaps not the best idea in the world either...
Now unconsciously she also knew the truth.
Would the bad ponies be looking for her to finish her off too?
The alarm clock went off. It was a sunny day in Maritime Bay, the sun shining brightly like hundreds of unicorn horns working magic.
Or at least that's what Sunny thought as she watched the sun and moon.
Inevitably her thoughts redirected to the princesses of ancient Equestria. Doubts arose, such as how they died, whether ponies with horns -or wings- really existed, or why exactly those powerful horns ceased to have control over the sun and moon.
Who was moving the sun and moon now?
If there was no one else in this world who could move both astral bodies, did that mean that they now moved by natural cause?
Or were the celestial bodies of both princesses now part of these astral bodies?
... Or were they both actually hidden?
She wouldn't be surprised by any of the three options on the table. And, truth be told, she wished it was that last one, to think that there was still a shred of decency left in the world.
She thought for a long, long time... About the shiny hair of the princesses, about how nice it would be to be a subject of them in old Equestria and...
On her father.
She let her eyelids droop, as she hid in the blankets...
She truly missed her father, and very much so.
Her hooves began to tremble as tears streamed down her eyes, wetting the pillow she was lying on. Her messy pink hair only deigned to tangle the more she moved...
Sadness and overwhelm were beginning to embrace her heart, quite tightly.
But then, her silent crying was abruptly stopped, when she heard a couple of "special knocks" at the front door.
"Knock knock knock..."
She grunted in annoyance once she realized who it was. She didn't want to get up, she didn't want to go to work, and she didn't want to hear his sermons again for not getting up early. Though in a way, deep down she was grateful that pony still cared about her, even if she knew how dangerous it was to be around her.
Still, she pulled the covers over herself even more once the front door was heard to open, accompanied by the sound of a gallop she already knew all too well...
"Sunny!"
She wanted her curtains to be a dark color now, so the light wouldn't bother her and she could go back to sleep. She didn't want to get up, she felt so tired... Maybe it wasn't a good idea to stay awake on a working Monday.
The galloping stopped right in front of her door, and immediately another special knock was heard, accompanying the sweet melody he had played before...
"Good morning, it's getting late, it's time to get up!"
He shouted with as much encouragement as he could find within himself, and then opened the door almost slamming it with a bang.
She couldn't see him, but she could tell that this idiot had a big, long smile on his face, accompanied by his classic little squad.
He walked in the direction of the pony still lying on her bed. On the way he picked up several dolls and stuffed animals from the floor that were lying everywhere to make his way over, leaving them on the only piece of furniture that wasn't full of dirty dishes with leftover food. The little animals, for their part, were looking at Sunny's dolls with interest...
"It's been a while since we've cleaned up here... Shall we do it when you come back from work?"
He only received a grunt of annoyance.
"Oh, come on Sunny... There's a lot to do today, we can have fun together, as friends!"
"A lot to do today means doing the same old thing."
The boy's smile faded, and little by little his gaze wandered to the animals who were looking at the dolls, curious...
Then he sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked the other's shoulder in a friendly way, trying to cheer her up.
"I consider it a lot to do to hang out with you."
Sunny's face under the covers only warmed gently after that comment from her best friend. Comments like that only lifted her spirits and made her want to keep going.
She really appreciated that guy, even if...
Well...
"Yeah, well, what are you planning to do today, Mr. Hitch?"
She said with mock annoyance, pulling back the blankets on top of her, and looking at the blue-haired looking at himself in the mirror, triumphant at his act.
"I'll look for work, at your workplace."
"You plan to work where I work?"
The boy nodded.
"If your boss admitted you with all that bad aura you have, I don't think he'd dare turn me down."
Sunny smiled at him a little more cheerfully, trying to comb her tousled hair.
"Maybe, but I'm not sure... It's just that since you were fired..."
But her smile was erased, once Hitch hissed at her, putting his hoof over the other's muzzle.
"Don't even... Mention it."
The subject of Hitch's dismissal was always a touchy one for him. Even if she tried to talk nicely about it with him, he always refused and his face turned into an annoyed one.
Sometimes Sunny felt quite guilty about it, but she never dared to say anything.
He got up, as if ignoring the fact that they had just talked about a subject that hurt the ex-sheriff very much, and set about lifting a couple of things in the room with the help of his little friends.
Sunny, for her part, just looked at him with a worried face, trying to get out of bed without falling into the clutches of sleep.
She tried to comb her hair, while she watched her friend putting the dirty blankets in the basket, arranging the dirty plates and glasses in piles and then taking them down to the kitchen, and carefully arranging the pony's dolls...
Until all six heroines were together as best friends.
"I should be a housewife one day..."
She couldn't help but let out a giggle at such a comment, pulling the covers off her after a long time of thinking about it and getting off the bed at last.
"You could be the housekeeper while I work."
Hitch laughed.
"Are you suggesting I come live with you?"
But Sunny's smile, for the thousandth time, faded at that comment.
She didn't say anything, just finished making her mane into a braid, fastening it with a blue garter...
It was amazing how at this point anything could put Sunny off, even teasing comments about living together.
Hitch was like her brother, her best friend, the only one who stayed by her side even with so many bad stares all around. She really had seriously thought about inviting him to live with her once she found out he'd been fired and had been trying to survive all that time.
But she lived in fear... That the stares would aggressively turn on them... And something would happen to Hitch.
She denied to herself, as she plunged into thought... And started to walk out of the room.
"Hey, wait! I'm not done yet!"
He yelled at her still from the room, trying to carry as much of the dishes with him to leave them minimally in the dishwasher before leaving the house, but Sunny didn't stop to listen.
She simply went downstairs, approached the kitchen and grabbed a marshmallow she had in a bag tucked inside one of the drawers closest to the stairs.
So, she made her way to the door... Ready to see what she always saw every morning.
A huge gray cloud over Maritime Bay... Surrounded by the glowing brightness of the sun.
She sighed.
How much she wanted to live in old Equestria, Sunny thought, before pulling her skates out of the underbrush growing outside her house.
"Stop it... Ruffian!"
Hitch shouted, coming out of the house half-breathing. Sunny didn't even ask and just adjusted her skates.
"It's very rude of you... Running off like that... And, besides-... Ah... Ignoring me."
"I'm sorry."
She said without much feeling of being really sorry, and started to skate towards town. Her friend, already a bit harassed by her friend's attitude, didn't continue complaining and started to run after her to follow her before she got lost...
Sunny was a special case.
The colts were running in the street smiling. Ordinary colts, without any skills such as wings or horns... According to Argyle's stories.
He slid his hoof over his mane as he sighed, thoughtfully.
He didn't want to take his friend for a lunatic, but... He still didn't understand how much it disturbed her after her father's disappearance, beyond how cruel a disappearance itself is. Sometimes he questioned how much she was hiding, and what was this thing that Sunny didn't want anyone to know. He didn't know what was going through his friend's head all the time.
Phyllis had recently told him that there was nothing to worry about, that what she and her father had between hooves was nothing serious... However, every time he asked her friend what her father's story was, she became very upset...
He seriously wondered if she was right in the head.
But at the same time, he also wondered... So why did Phyllis always hate Mr. Argyle?...
Why did she do what she did...?
He let out a grunt.
Even if he thought he had to be realistic... At the same time he wished Mr. Starshine's fantasy story was real, it sounded so much better than the world they currently lived in.
He denied to himself.
"What's wrong Hitch?"
He heard from his right a voice he recognized all too well.
"Ah, Sprout, I didn't think I'd see you here. Weren't you on duty?"
The blond-haired one simply smiled and sat down next to him. Both ponies remained seated on that bench, while they watched the sunset over the sea... On the horizon.
"Yes, but now there's nothing really important to attend to. Let's just say... The sheriff is on his free hour."
Sprout smiled at him, teasingly, but Hitch didn't take that well at all...
"Yeah, well... Whatever. What do you want?"
And all joking aside, the other settled down, sitting sideways on the bench, ready to talk about something that looked important.
"Why do you still associate with Sunny?"
Hitch looked at him, obvious annoyance reflecting in the shadow of his eyes... As if wondering if he was serious about his question.
Sprout didn't even flinch, and stood firmly in front of him...
So, Hitch turned away almost gnashing his teeth, as he let out a rather heavy sigh.
"After all she's been through, what we put her through, and you still dare to ask that?"
The sun was slowly hiding in the distance, in the sea..
"Yes, because you're quite protective of her... She's an adult, Hitch! She's in her twenties, she can take care of herself and-..."
"Shut up, I don't want to... I don't want to... I don't even want to hear you. You really are heartless."
Now Sprout is the one who showed the annoyance in his actions. He stood up almost with a stomp. He was showing in his annoyance phase.
So, he placed his front hoof on the bench, to one side of where Hitch remained seated and stared at him...
"This is why you were fired."
"Better that than being sent to kill someone I care about again."
Hitch put his back hoof on Sprout's chest and shoved him away. If the younger boy hadn't been on the lookout for that, he probably would have fallen into the sea...
An angry expression came over his face, and he was about to launch himself at Hitch until Sunny approached on her skates.
They both stood still, staring at the female latecomer...
"... Am I interrupting something?"
Sprout snorted, and ducked his head and walked away from the duo, leaving the two childhood friends alone.
... A somewhat awkward silence fell as the moon slowly rose behind them. Sunny glanced curiously at Sprout, who was making his way annoyed toward the town police station.
Hitch sighed.
"How long have you been here?"
Sunny took off her skates and left them on the side of the bench, approaching Hitch and sitting down next to him.
"I just got here. What happened?"
Hitch kept his eyes down, and denied more to himself than to her. It took him a few seconds to react, for the bright moonlight that was beginning to make its presence known was disturbing him.
He looked up, now smiling.
"Sprout came to annoy only. You know, he's been terribly annoying since he took over as sheriff."
However, the other pony did nothing but twist her head with a worried gesture.
She suspected that they had fought because of her, and that dirty feeling began to take hold of her. Slowly, as the moon rose in the cloudy sky and the wind stirred her already messy hair.
She felt Hitch's gaze on her...
"Sunny...? Is something wrong?"
It was funny... How they were both best friends and yet they lived by hiding things from each other all the time.
"No... Let's go home, it must have been a hard day for you."
"So, four hours?"
Sunny nodded as she washed the dishes in silence, already exhausted from even standing up.
"You should sleep more, I think it goes without saying that it's harmful to your health..."
Sunny sighed, annoyed, dropping the dishes into the dishwasher without much remorse. The sound of pottery clanging against cold metal made the stallion jump with fright. The water kept running, the mare just kept walking until she dropped onto the couch in the living room.
Hitch looked at her worriedly... And he went over to turn off the water faucet, which was still dripping incessantly.
"Are you feeling all right?"
The worst part of being Sunny's friend was knowing that she was unwell, that she was getting more depressed day by day, and that there was no skillful way between his hooves to make her feel better.
His company was the only thing he could bestow on her now...
She never answered his question.
But then, a magnificent idea came to his mind.
With a huge smile, he turned to look happily at his squad of little friends pointing his eyes up the stairs. As if he had a strange connection with them, they quickly climbed up, understanding the pony's plan at once.
Then he walked up to his friend, picking up the typical blue bag she always carried with her all the time.
"Hey, not to be a bother, but... We still haven't played with your ponies toys like you promised me months ago... Are you up for it?"
Sunny raised her head in confusion at her friend's strange proposal. He just smiled and nodded.
"I've always been interested in the.... Pink-haired "pegasus", would you tell me about her?"
She spent a while in silence, as if wondering if Hitch was serious about his proposal.
She sat duly in her seat on the sofa, while Hitch settled himself on the one in front of her.
"I don't have my dolls around..."
Hitch, almost as a reflex, smiled at her.
"Are you sure about that?"
His little friends appeared at Sunny's side, quite happy to help a -strangely- good cause. Her emotions then slowly began to flow...
Really? Was he... Was he being serious?
She felt... Happy. A strange feeling that hadn't touched her heart in a long time, a feeling that no one had stopped to make her feel more than her father.
Her eyes began to fill with tears unconsciously. Her heart seemed to be stabbed. She felt happy, but also quite depressed. What kind of feeling was she feeling?
... Maybe... Maybe it was time to tell Hitch the story.
After all, it's not like the city didn't already hate him.
She smiled, let out a chuckle, and picked up that pink-haired pegasus that Hitch had mentioned.
"Her name... Her name is Fluttershy."
Author's Note
Hello! Let me introduce myself, my name is Soul and I'm a big fan of making fanfictions of my favorite things in the world. I wanted to leave this note just to clarify that my native language is not english, I use spanish in all my stories, but I wanted to venture to translate this one manually. I hope you forgive me for any mistakes in the translation. I did my best anyway!
Thanks for having me, I hope you have a nice day!
Edit: Thank you for correcting me, I will keep that in mind from now on!<3
2 The magic... It's real?
"Are you playing with your deformed ponies again?"
A shrill, annoyed voice exclaimed, kicking her wooden ponies without much remorse. She looked up, only to see a rather sturdy pony for his age staring at her.
Her expression changed to a completely depressed one.
"N-no... I was just... I was..."
The other laughed.
"Do you like fantasy stories?"
Sunny remained with her eyes down, feeling a strange sensation in her chest, ever growing. The other colt waited patiently for her answer... Which didn't seem to be coming any time soon.
"Sunny, don't be rude, or I'll tell the teacher that you're misbehaving again."
The little pony looked up, drawing her mane six toys to her. She smiled at him, more forcibly than for pleasure, and tried to get up to give an explanation.
"Fantasy stories are very pretty, I honestly really like them and they make me feel happy... T-they may be a little childish, but... They’re... Cute..."
Her classmate cocked his head, curious.
And then he laughed.
"I like normal things."
Sunny's ears fell at those words, accompanied by her eyelids... Which tried to hide the tears from the other's sight.
He just laughed, and sat down in front of her.
"Ponies with wings... Ponies with... Horns? Is that some kind of tumor or something?"
Sunny dropped to the ground, as she took one of the ponies between her hooves, staring at it. The other just kept watching the remaining ponies, bumping them into each other in obscene ways, and making weird noises.
Sunny didn't even deign to take them off. It had happened so many times that she didn't even bother to do so.
Tears fell as she felt the rejection and mockery affect her feelings and beliefs. Her thoughts could only make her cry in complete silence at that moment.
In front of the other pony, who only mocked her and her likes.
Not caring that the ground beneath them would begin to get wet from small drops... That were falling from little Sunny's face.
She still had hope that things would get better, her hopes were the only good thing she had left, she couldn't lose them, not now.
Her father was waiting for her at home with a bunch of unicorn cupcakes to celebrate her A+ at school.
So why did she feel so bad?
"Are you... Crying?"
Sunny didn't say anything, she just stared at the purple unicorn...
"What, are you feeling bad that your little fantasy games aren't going the way you want?"
She still didn’t answer, making the other colt angry...
"Then you won't mind if I burn them, will you!?"
She raised her head and tried to snatch the other five ponies that were now between his dirty hooves. She tried to do something, but by then her classmate had already pushed her back to the ground.
Her tears came out harder, as she screamed at him to stop.
The five ponies fell to the ground, and were trampled by the hooves of that bully, while she cried behind, trying to beg him to stop.
But he didn't.
Not until he appeared.
"Hey, stop!"
It was him, her best friend.
He galloped quickly up to the spot, skidding across the ground until he was face to face with the bully... He stood firm, with his hooves firmly planted in the ground and his head held high.
Then, Hitch spoke in a strong and authoritative tone...
"Leave her alone."
All was silent for a long time. The other foals only watched, some deigned to mutter... But there was no one but them doing anything to help Sunny who was still on the ground. No one wanted to get involved in the staring match between the foals.
The sturdiest colt narrowed his eyes, and walked away in annoyance, leaving the toys alone on the ground. They weren't broken, thank heaven, they were just a bit dented...
Hitch thus took the opportunity to pick them up one by one, and approached Sunny, leaving them in front of her. She just looked at them, a bit surprised to tell the truth. She looked up, and there was Hitch holding out his helmet, offering to help her...
... She thought about it for a while, but in the end decided to accept the help...
Thus, Hitch was the only one of them who agreed to help and protect the poor filly.... Who was now standing there trying to wipe away her tears any way She could.
She began to sob.
"Thank you Hitch... Thank you so much."
Ears drooping and head down, little Hitch walked over to the other filly, so he could give her a hug and show her she wasn't alone.
Everyone was still watching. Without saying anything.
"I... I can't let them hurt you like this. You're my best friend. I would feel bad if I didn't protect you."
At those words, Sunny felt helpless, unable to defend herself, but to tell the truth it didn't really bother her. She was just grateful that Hitch was able to do so much for someone like her. Feeling helpless was not always a bad thing, so she returned the embrace with a smile, while the sun was slowly setting not far from the horizon, beyond the sea.
However, her tranquility was interrupted when a glow appeared on Hitch's white side. A shimmer, a glow... That little piece of magic appeared in front of everyone.
And everyone was a witness.
Hitch was getting his cutie mark.
Sunny stood back, wide-eyed, staring at Hitch's side, impatiently. What would it be? A shield? A sword? Or a shield and a sword? The cutie mark was coming out after Hitch said he had to protect her, it had to be a protection thing, right?
But the glow wouldn't stop, the glow became so strong that it ended up lifting Hitch into the air, something no other pony had ever seen. Because their cutie marks only appeared from one day to the next, they didn't do an act of... Magic.
Magic, so magic was real? Sunny's eyes lit up, and her whole soul came to it’s senses. But of course magic was real! And the last thing that would fall now would be her hopes! She was witnessing something that would unconsciously become one of her reasons for moving on as well, what if Hitch was full of magic? What if unicorns were real? What if pegasus lived in the clouds?
And better yet, were there still alicorns alive?
The gleam in her eyes grew even bigger.
While Hitch began to panic.
"E-eh... Sunny?"
He pointed, acting normal even though his blank was glowing quite brightly, and Sunny turned to where his friend had pointed.
Her blank side was glowing too... Her blank side was glowing too!
The magic then... For Sunny it was becoming more of a reality than a farce. Every tale told by her father now seemed more like historical accounts, now she had one more proof to say.
Magic is real!
Happiness ruled her heart, as she floated in front of her best friend. His only friend. The one who had shown him that the last thing you lose is hope.
Hope...
A bang erupted, a whitish glow traveled across much of Maritime Bay, leaving the school they were in. Then, hooves on the ground again, they both rubbed their eyes after that act of magic.
Sunny was the first to peek out to see Hitch's new cutie mark. Hitch simply let out a sigh from the fright he gave himself.
His cutie mark... It was beautiful.
It was hard to describe it, but she could tell it was about the whole protecting others thing.
She smiled.
"Your cutie mark is amazing, Hitch."
He looked at her, and smiled more than happy about it.
"Yours too!"
He exclaimed, pleased, as Sunny finally deigned to look at the mark on his side.
A shooting star, traveling in the sky.
That mark would now be her reminder to never give up hope.
The galloping of the two foals playing in the central plaza of the bay could be heard. They were laughing, happy. It had been a strange way to get their marks, but at least it made them special. They felt special, like the only land ponies who had flown and had been surrounded in glitter and an incredible explosion.
They would both tell their parents, and believe them or not, they couldn't take away the joy of their new brand.
Sunny ran down an alley and Hitch followed.
"You'll never catch me!"
The other sped up his gallop just to try to catch up with Sunny. Their games were always the best when they were together.
And so it would have been that time, except that he ended up pulling Sunny's tail to stop her from going any further. She whined, but he immediately covered her muzzle.
"Wait, I heard something."
And sure enough, they were hearing murmurs not far away.
They both stealthily peeked through all the streets nearby, until they managed to find the cause of the murmurs. There were three men talking, for a moment they thought it was about business, but the idea was dismissed when one of them punched another in the face.
It was then that they both saw Sunny's father fall to the ground, while his nose was bleeding.
Sunny backed away, but Hitch stopped her. The men were suspicious that someone was watching them.
They hid.
And silently, the poor filly's sobs could be heard...
"Sunny..."
He whispered, pulling her close for a hug, and she didn't refuse. At the end of the day, he didn't want to make things harder than it already was for her.
A while passed, until the men decided to stop talking. "If you keep hiding it, we'll deal with you, Argyle." It was the last thing they said before walking away.
The pony picked up his glasses, broken again because of the blows. He stood up and ran his hoof over his nose. He didn't know what to do at that point. He had a daughter to take care of, and he couldn't go on with his magic games because he might end up dying, leaving his poor sunny sky alone.
He felt his heart ache. He didn't want to give up everything he had fought for, but he also didn't want to give up his only reason for staying alive. His little daughter didn't have to pay the consequences of his actions, but...
There had to be a way to bring the magic back. And he knew it.
He looked up, meeting his little girl face to face, staring with tears falling from her eyes...
His eyes widened, and he put his glasses back on to strike a more animated pose.
"S-Sunny-bunny... What are you doing here?"
She didn't answer, only showed her blank side, which was now covered with a magical mark on it. Argyle felt his heart breaking... Shattering into a thousand pieces as the girl ran away from there.
Hitch tried to stop her, but was unable to follow. He felt he had to leave her alone for a moment.
Now the two stared at each other.
Argyle just flashed a sad smile.
"Got her cutie mark at last, huh?"
He remembered a couple of hours ago a beautiful glow traveled across the bay, leaving a trail of stars in its path. He knew his daughter was special, but he didn't know that at these levels.
"... Actually..."
Hitch whispered, approaching the man, pointing to his also new cutie mark.
The two of them... They had gotten them together. Were his beliefs still real? That meant... There was still hope? But if so... How much time would he have to help his daughter become the salvation of all ponies?
He looked down, with a smile more than sad on his face.
"Please... Protect my daughter... When I’m gone."
Perhaps it was a very big command for a little pony...
But he also knew what he was capable of.
"... I promise, sir."
Author's Note
It took me too long to update, but I do what I can. I still have to attend to my many fanfics in Spanish so it's getting hard, but I won't abandon this story! I hope you enjoy it, I really appreciate your support and comments.
See you soon<3
