Sugar Moonlight stepped into Alphabittle's home with a bulging saddlebag.
"Excuse me? Mr. Alphabittle?" the earth pony mare asked aloud as she looked around for the unicorn.
Before long, Alphabittle came in from the back of the home and stepped into view. He quickly recognized the mare as an earth pony, and he put on a friendly smile and said, "Hello there, miss. What can I do for you?"
Sugar Moonlight's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the very large unicorn. She had heard that Alphabittle was a very large stallion, but seeing him in person was quite the experience. She was rather impressed by how muscular and strong the stallion looked. She also found his facial hair quite becoming.
She finally snapped back into reality and said, "Ahem. Hello, Mr. Alphabittle. I heard that you had quite a collection of treasures and other such valuables, so I thought that you might tell me something about this."
Sugar Moonlight shrugged off her saddlebag and revealed what was inside. It was a mid sized collar made of shiny black onyx, with a moonstone carved in the shape of a moon set in the center.
"It's been in the Moonlight family for generations," the mare explained, "But I'm afraid it's significance has been lost to time. Do you know anything about it?"
Alphabittle stared at the piece of regalia for a moment, then his eyes widened and his bushy eyebrows rose. "I don't believe it! Wait right there! You need to see this!"
Alphabittle ran off to the back of the home, and several loud crashing noises could be heard as he rapidly moved things around.
"Ah-HA!" his voice cried, and he quickly came back out holding something with his magic. It was another collar, similar in design to the one in Sugar Moonlight's possession. However, this one was much larger, was made of gold, and was set with a purple amethyst cut into a perfect diamond shape.
Sugar Moonlight's eyes widened as she beheld the golden regalia. "I don't believe it! They make a perfectly contrasting pair! Like night and day! And believe me, as a fashion model, I know what I'm talking about!"
However, the surprises would not end there, for as soon as Alphabittle set the golden collar down, sparks of magic jumped between the moonstone and the amethyst. Then, with a flash of light, the holographic figures of two winged unicorns appeared, a short blue one and a taller white one.
"Alicorns!" Alphabittle exclaimed, stumbling backwards in shock.
"Look at their manes!" Sugar Moonlight practically squealed, and indeed the alicorns' manes were a sight to behold. The shorter one's mane was like a flowing blue starfield, while the taller one's was a gorgeous rainbow like the aurora borealis.
"Greetings, oh so fortunate creatures. I am Princess Celestia," the tall one said with a serene smile.
"And I am Princess Luna," the smaller one said with a grin.
"If you are seeing and hearing this, we have been dead for a long time," Celestia mused with a sad smile.
"However, some of our magic remains in the pieces of our regalia you have found, due to our alicorn magic permeating into it," Luna said.
"Therefore, we have decided that this magic should be put to use. Namely, to grant two creatures the deepest, most desired wish within their hearts," Celestia declared earnestly.
"However, such a reward must be earned," Luna added.
"Indeed, and here is the way to earn this reward: you must each perform a favor for each other. Not just any favor. A truly thoughtful and meaningful act. You yourselves must help each other a achieve one strong desire the other has," Celestia explained.
"Keep our regalias close as you perform this task, as the magic within will sense when you have successfully passes the test, and subsequently grant you your heart's wishes," Luna went on.
"We both wish you the best of luck in this endeavor. And remember, friendship is magic," Celestia concluded.
And with a flash, the holographic princess disappeared.
Alphabittle blinked, and he said, "Woah. . . .so, that happened. . ." He then shook the shock out of his head and addressed the earth pony in the room, "Well then, Miss Moonlight. I certainly don't intend on passing down a free wish. So, what strong desire do you have that I can help you out with?"
Sugar Moonlight bit her lip for a moment as she thought. Then she finally said, "Well. . .as I said, I'm a fashion model. I love fashion. I love clothes, style, and not just stuff from pony culture. I've researched dresses and armor of griffons, hippogriffs, even abyssinians. But there's one type of clothing, one type of accessory that I've been dying to get my hooves on. I know where it is, but I could never get there on my own. Could you maybe help me get there? . . .Please?"
As Sugar Moonlight pouted and looked at him with big, moist eyes, Alphabittle began to feel slightly nervous and warm. This was strange for him, given how much bigger he was than her. And yet, something felt rather odd inside him when she looked at him like that.
Nevertheless, he overcame these strange emotions and said, "Oh, sure. Certainly. No trouble at all. Now, where exactly is this place?"
Alphabittle trudged through the howling blizzard, bundled up in winter clothes with a heavy pack on his back. The pack contained not only the Celestia's collar, but also plenty of other supplies needed for hiking through extreme weather. Sugar Moonlight followed behind him, taking shelter in the windbreak the larger unicorn was making. Her burden was much lighter, consisting of only her own winter clothes and Luna's collar in her saddlebag.
"Couldn't you. . .have wanted. . .something. . .from somewhere. . .tropical!?" Alphabittle panted out in exasperation.
"Maybe we should go back and wait?" Sugar Moonlight shouted out.
"NO!" Alphabittle shouted back over the storm, "We've come so far already! We're almost there! We can't give up now!"
"Alphabittle! Alphy! I can't see you!"
"What!?"
"I can't see you Alphy!"
"WHAT!? I CAN BARELY HEAR YOU, SUGAR!"
Nothing but the roaring wind. . .
"SUGAR!?"
Only the storm. . .
"MOONY!!" Alphabittle shouted as he whirled around and saw only whiteness.
Terror gripped his heart, and he trudged back through the snow, carefully scanning the ground so as not to trample the buried earth pony mare.
"MOONY! MOONY!" he shouted as loud as he could over the blizzard. With no luck in calling out to him, Alphabittle used his magic to search through the snow. Luckily, he managed to grab hold of something, and Sugar Moonlight's tail was lifted up out of the snow.
Alphabittle dived at the spot and dug the freezing mare out. He pulled her close and held her tightly, frozen tears running down his face as he whispered to her, "I'm sorry, Moony. I'm so sorry. . ."
Alphabittle closed his eyes, exhaustion and freezing cold eating away at his consciousness. Then everything went black.
Warmth.
Alphabittle opened his eyes, and he found himself in a rather cozy looking shelted with a roaring fire going nearby. He heard a soft moan, and he realized that Sugar Moonlight was still in his hooves, and was both safe and alive.
The mare opened her eyes and looked up at Alphabittle. "You. . .you saved me," she whispered in awe.
Alphabittle shook his head and said, "No, no, no. I couldn't do anything. I don't even know how we got here."
"Ponies awake?"
The pair turned around to see a young yak standing at the door to the shelter.
Sugar Moonlight's eyes widened and she said, "We made it to Yakyakistan?"
The yak nodded and said, "Yes. Ponies in Yakyakistan. Prince Emerson want to see ponies now. Follow now, please."
Alphabittle and Sugar Moonlight exchanged glances, then nodded and got up to follow the young yak.
Prince Emerson was a very large yak with silver grey fur and long braids that reached all the way to the ground. He wore a blanket with threads of gold weaved into it, as well as horned helmet, also made of gold, which complemented his own horns, each of which had two large gold rings on them.
When the ponies entered the Great Hall, the prince didn't give them a chance to speak before cutting right to the chase. "Yaks see two ponies approaching Yakyakistan. Yaks watch ponies. Tiny pony fall down in snow. Huge pony go back and dig tiny pony out. Huge pony try to keep tiny pony warm but fail. Huge pony not leave tiny pony behind. Yak get close and see huge pony is unicorn and tiny pony is earth pony. All three pony tribes supposed to hate each other. Why unicorn and earth pony no fight?"
The pair was caught of guard by the prince's bluntness, but then Alphabittle cleared his throat and said, "Well. . .a group of very stubborn and determined young ponies were able to show us the error of our ways. Now, the pony tribes are coming back together again. We've even gotten our magic back too."
Alphabittle demonstrated this by using his unicorn magic to levitated the hat he was wearing. Not to be outdone, Sugar Moonlight pressed her right forehoof onto the floor and lifted it up, revealing a hoof print glowing with earth pony magic.
Prince Emerson looked on amazement, his eyes wide with wonder, and he said, "Ponies used to have harmony. When harmony died, magic died. If magic is back, then harmony must be back too. Yaks and ponies were friends once, perhaps it time for yaks and ponies to be friends again."
Prince Emerson nodded and said, "Prince Emerson happy ponies come here. But still want to know why ponies come here in first place?"
Sugar Moonlight smiled bashfully and said, "I heard about the beautiful blankets the yaks make and wear. I just really wanted to have one of my very own. Is there anywhere I could buy one or trade for one?"
". . . . . Follow yak."
The Prince stood up from his throne and walked over to one of the doors to his left. The ponies quickly followed him down the passageway until they came upon a very surprising sight.
Standing in a wide, circular room was a larger-than-life statue of a female yak holding hooves with a male earth pony. The earth pony's Cutie Mark was plain to see: three sea turtles. Both creatures were shown to be very happy as they stared into each others' eyes.
"Yona the Great and Sandy the Small love each other very much," Emerson explained as he stared at the statue, his eyes never leaving it as he spoke, "They from many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many moons ago. From time long before ponies lost harmony and magic. Yona and Sandy were heroes of Equestria. Stop world from being destroyed. Stopped Yakhala from falling. If ponies have harmony and magic again, there still is hope for future of world."
Prince Emerson then walked forwards towards a shrine-like box at the feet of the statue. He opened the box and took out a pale green yak blanket. He turned to the awestruck ponies and said, "This is Yona's blanket. Yaks keep it save and whole for many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many moons. Ponies will take blanket as symbol of renewed friendship between yaks and ponies."
Sugar Moonlight shied away from the blanket and said, "I don't know if I can accept this. This is a priceless treasure of your people."
Prince Emerson actually smile jovially at this and said, "Take it. Yona and Sandy would want you to have it. You just like them. Yona huge yak and Sandy tiny boy. He huge pony and you tiny girl!"
Sugar Moonlight blushed, and she took a glance at Alphabittle, who was also blushing. She then looked back at the smiling face of Prince Emerson and said, "Well, if you insist your majesty, it would be rude of me to say no."
Back down at the pony settlement below the mountains of Yakyakistan, the two ponies sat drinking hot cocoa in the lodge. The pair was silent for a moment, mostly thinking about how the yak prince had compared them to the two lovers from the distance past.
Finally, Sugar Moonlight broke the silence and said, "So. . .you did me a serious favor. . .What favor can I do for you?"
Alphabittle thought for a moment, then he made up his mind, "Well. . .I've always wanted to go on a date with a beautiful filly. Somepony adventurous and with a good sense of style. . ." He then wagged his eyebrows up and down and said with a sly grin, "Do you think you might be able to set me up with somepony like that?"
Sugar Moonlight paid back the slyness in full and remarked with a big grin, "Maaaaaaaaaaybe. . ."
It was only after said date that the pair realized that the deepest desires of their hearts was fulfilled through these two favors, not after them.
