My little pony, a new generation: Friendship rebirth.

Chapters

Chapter I. One step at a time.
Chapter II. Old friendships.
Chapter III. Friend or foe?
Chapter IV. A new adventure.
Chapter V. I don't want to be a hero, I just want friends.
Chapter VI. The crown weight.

Chapter I. One step at a time.

My body felt warm. Above me, an explosion of rainbows invaded the evening sky as I levitated in the air. I saw my friends on the ground, with dumbfounded faces, not believing their eyes.

I couldn't believe it either, and I was living it. On my sides, two transparent orange wings were coming out on each side, a piece of my mane was now a rainbow, and I could see something pointy above my head, the only thing I could think of at that moment, was how disconcerting the whole thing was.

I began to slowly descend. My house, the home where I had grown up and housed my memories with my father was destroyed, and a Sprout shaped robot was buried in the rubble above, I breathed a sigh of relief to see that no ponies were hurt.

I don't know how fast I was descending, everything felt so slow. Izzy had a golden aura on her horn, while Zipp and Pipp had golden sparks coming from their wings. I could see both sisters take to the air, flying... freely through the air as they approached me.

"Sunny, we're flying!" - Zipp said excitedly, I couldn't help but let out a laugh.

The three of us landed next to Izzy and Hitch, both grinning from ear to ear.

"Now that's what I call a makeover"- Izzy said with a laugh.

"You did it Sunny"- Hitch blurted out excitedly.

"¡No, together we did it!" - Our bodies collided as he said it.

It had been a team effort; I couldn't have done it without my friends. These past three days had been the craziest of my life. I met a unicorn with more enthusiasm than would fit in her body, a pegasus princess with a dream of bringing flight back to her people, a pegasus princess who might have ruined her life, I still feel terribly guilty about what happened that night, and my childhood friend, who was coming in my arrest. Yes, certainly a crazy few days.

I put my hoof to the front and my four friends did the same, crashing.

"Hoof to the heart!" - We all said in unison.

We looked around, I could see Queen Haven flapping as she talked to Phyllis and Alphabitlle, the unicorns, pegasus and earth ponies talking quietly to each other, almost like a dream come true. That scared me. It scared me to wake up at any moment and see that it was all a dream.

I looked back at my house, or rather what was left of it. Dad. That fleeting thought hit me, if this was a dream, it was cruel to delude a mare like that, but if it wasn't, I wished Dad could have lived to see this day.

Next to the remains of my house, I saw the remains of Sprout's robot, the one with the cliché name and the one responsible for what I saw, but I didn't see the pony that operated it. I thought about Sprout, his actions, and the fact that he had almost crossed a dangerous line. I turned my head to look for him, I could see my mane and his new rainbow spinning with it. For a moment I feared he had escaped, but the reality was more forgiving. He was behind his mother, with his military green report and his medals. She was staring into the void, and I could see the anguish and fear in her eyes.

I was processing a lot of things at that moment, my new look, my destroyed house, the friends I gained, a childhood friend I felt I couldn't look at without feeling somewhat angry, the magic back in Equestria, and the scene that could only live in my wildest dreams and darkest paranoid nightmares.

My thoughts must have been reflected in my face. Hitch ever watchful must have noticed. He approached from my side, looking in the same direction. Silence lingered for a few seconds.

"Your father would be so proud of you Sunny... More than I am of me for not supporting you all these years"- He said, his ears falling back a sad smile settled on his face.

"Don't worry about it Hitch, you were just doing your job and... Honestly, I wasn't a good friend either, I never considered your situation as Sheriff. I appreciate the patience you had for me all these years"- We exchanged glances with a slight chuckle each.

Izzy interrupted our poignant moment of self-reflection appearing from Twilight knows where.

"I'm glad I met you guys, you're my first friends!" -with an infectious smile on her face and her unique joy.

Zipp and Pipp approached, they looked like they wanted to say something, and I wanted to apologize to Pipp for what happened on their big night, in fact, I also wanted to talk to Queen Haven to formally apologize. As if by the art of fate, six ponies approached us. Queen Haven, Alphabitlle, Phyllis, Sprout, and two pegasus guards. Sprout had her ears down and made it quite clear that she didn't want to make eye contact with us.

The first to speak was, to my surprise Phyllis, she had a pained expression, and I could see that rather than looking at me, she was looking at the ruins of my house.

"Sunny, Honey, I want to apologize to you for how things ended between you and my son," -Sprout reacted to that comment and his head lowered even more- "Rest assured Canterlogic will pay for the repairs to your house, it will be as good as new" -Phyllis said enthusiastically raising her two front hooves.

"Thank you, Phyllis, I really appreciate it."

"Sprout has something to tell you” She said looking at her son.

I furrowed my brows slightly as I looked at Sprout, he didn't seem to move and his breathing was beginning to quicken, his chest puffing out more and more visibly. Some time passed and silence took over.

"Sprout, we need to talk" The silence was broken by Hitch with a voice of authority and a hint of anger, giving Sprout a stern look. The latter made eye contact with Hitch before nodding his head.

"Sheriff Hitch, I know my son caused a lot of trouble, but no one was hurt, the repairs aren't just for Sunny's house, it also goes for the town's infrastructure that the robot destroyed" Phillips stepped in between Hitch and Sprout. I could only think of a mother protecting her child.

"Hitch, don't be so hard on..."

"That invitation goes for you too, Sunny, we still haven't solved your law evasion case" Hitch said cutting my sentence in half. Great, he's in sheriff mode. I grimaced, but nodded my head, as I did so I remembered I now had a horn, just as I wondered if I could do magic, Alphabitlle opened her mouth.

"Izzy, sorry to interrupt your meeting with your friends, but we need to get back to Bridlewood, whether I like it or not I have to report what happened and I need you. The sooner the better."

"You mean the return of magic?" Izzy asked eagerly. Alphabitlle let out a "Bing Bong" and bobbed up and down. We all laughed a little, which caused the huge unicorn to grimace and mutter that it's going to be complicated to explain everything.

Finally, still with a smile on my face I looked at Queen Haven, who was holding a stoic pose and an admirable poker face. I became serious and straightened my back. She was still a queen, and I didn't want to disrespect her, no more than I already had.

"Sunny Starscout" He said in a solemn tone, silence took over the place within seconds. I was impressed by his ability to control the atmosphere in an instant. "You have done a commendable thing today, and on behalf of all the pegasus of Zephyr Heights, you have my sincere thanks" he finished with a slight nod of his face.

"Thank you, your highness, but I didn't do it alone" I said turning to look at my four friends with a smile, they all returned it and I turned to Queen Haven. She put on a smile as she met her two daughters.

"Your highness, I would like to apologize for what happened the day of the Pipp concert, I was so focused on returning the magic that I didn't think of the consequences" I said as I bowed, her two guards seemed to react to my attempted apology somewhat aggressively, I could even see Hitch taking a step-in front of our group of friends.

Queen Haven brought her left hoof up to stop them, which caused them to back away. I didn't understand what had just happened, but the queen didn't give me time to think about it.

"I accept your apology, Sunny Starscout. I won't deny that I still hold animosity for that night, but the past is written in stone, and thanks to your actions, my people have regained the sky. Let us work to overcome the tribulations together as friends," he said with a smile.

That last word surprised me outright, I didn't expect to be called a friend by Queen Haven, not after what happened and not so quickly. I smiled back at her.

"Zephyrina, Pipp, we're going home. We have a lot of explaining to do and the work will only pile up if we put it off any longer" A solemn look came from her face.

It was the look of a leader. I didn't feel I knew her very well; our first impression was not very favorable.

"Yes, mom" replied the royal sisters in unison.

"Well Sheriff, it looks like we both have work to do in our homes" Zipp said with a professional look, but the smile of a friend was showing. "Come visit us later, but without a poorly made disguise this time" at the end with a chuckle.

Hitch sighed and assured her he would come if he had time, work awaited, which reminded me that we have a scheduled talk.

"Goodbye new friends, come visit me in the woods anytime, I'll visit you too as soon as possible" Izzy interrupted.

"Goodbye friends, I'd like to see one of your live concerts next time" Hitch said looking at Pipp, who smiled at him enthusiastically.

"And this time it will be no wires, 100% natural" Pipp replied enthusiastically. "I have an idea, let's take a group photo of the 5 of us, let's save the moment for posterity!"

"You know sis, that's a great idea" Zipp seemed to agree.

"Guards, take the picture with my cell phone" Pipp called out to one of the two guards accompanying Queen Haven. The sky blue guard waved and took Pipp's cell phone, he still didn't know how these cell phones worked, but they seemed convenient. Maybe I should buy one when I visit Zephyr Heights.

The 5 of us stood together, in the background was the destroyed lighthouse, my home, Pipp suggested changing it, but I refused, I wanted to remember this day, with its lights and shadows, when I look at the picture again, with my house repaired, I will remember that on this day harmony had returned to Equestria, not only thanks to me and my friends, but to the will to move forward, to forgive, and to make friends. One step at a time.

Author's Note

Hello and good morning. Thank you for taking the time to read the beginning of this story. As you can see it takes place right at the end of the movie with some changes. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Rest assured that this is just the beginning and I hope to tell a story that lives up to it.

Chapter II. Old friendships.

We spent our last moments together in laughter, it was time to go, and each pony had a job to do, I wasn't particularly excited about Hitch's talk, but I knew it was only fair, and a part of me felt guilty about what happened at Maretime bay.

In the distance, the two groups were getting smaller and smaller. The unicorns looked very happy with their horns lit up and trying to levitate anything they saw. Izzy and Alphabitlle looked like a father and his hyperactive daughter who won't pass up any opportunity to ask questions. The unicorn crystal was floating in Izzy's magical aura, spinning endlessly.

On the other hand, the pegasus group was headed for Queen Haven, she had her crown again with the pegasus crystal. Next to her, Zipp and Pipp were floating gently as they flapped their wings, quite close to the ground, they wanted to go flying to Zephyr Heights, but it was impossible to fly steady overnight, Haven wanted to get there as soon as possible to make sure no pegasus got too excited and tried to fly down the rocky cliffs of Zephyr Heights, but she knew that putting herself in danger would not be helpful, so she opted to trot.

I had on my hoof the earth crystal, all the Maretime bay ponies were waving their hooves and waving goodbye to the curious group of ponies. I hoped to see them again soon, but, just as they had work to do, I was no different. My house is going to be repaired by Canterlogic, along with the town's infrastructure, in the meantime, I had to figure out where I would stay in the meantime and tend to my smoothie stand. Unfortunately, fate doesn't always play in your favor.

"Okay Sunny, it's time, you and Sprout come to the police station with me." Hitch said as he stopped saying goodbye and turned to look at both me and Sprout.

"Sheriff, I don't think anyone will press charges and I don't think..."

"I know Phyllis, but still the three of us need to talk, he's still my deputy and his actions are my responsibility" Hitch said interrupting Phyllis, looking at her seriously. I hate it when he gets so serious, he's going to lecture me.

Phyllis said nothing more as she looked at Sprout, their gazes met.

"Sprout, honey, go with Hitch and be a good boy."

"Yes, Mommy."

It was the first time I had heard her voice since the incident, a part of me remembered our times together as children. Time at my house, the Canterlogic factory, the town square, karate and skating lessons, and scout colts.

Despite all the moments I remembered, most were of him mocking my thoughts or my father which made me angry. Part of me wanted to tell him ¡I TOLD YOU SO! At the top of my lungs, gloating that I was right, and he wasn't, but I knew there was nothing to be gained in doing so, not because I was better than him, but because I still saw him as my friend, and I didn't want to lose him.

"Let's go" Hitch said, as he led the way to the Sheriff's office, he had his usual patrol next to him. One crab and two birds.

We were walking down Main Street, three ponies, and awkward silence. All around us the streets were empty. I guess no pony had returned home. The trolley car that runs through town was overturned, badly bruised in the back. I'm so glad no ponies were hurt in all this. At a junction the big Canterlogic factory could be seen in the background, many happy and not so happy memories lived there.

We finally arrived at the town police station; Hitch's patrol dispersed leaving the 3 of us in front. Hitch had his sheriff's badge and Sprout had his emperor's outfit. I wonder where he got the medals, it was a good disguise, the problem was that it wasn't, it was very real, just like my horn and wings, they were still there. Everypony had tried to touch them, but always the hoof went right through them.

We were all in front of the police station, the first to step forward was Hitch, who opened the door and instructed us to enter. I followed his instruction, and went in first, I didn't look back until I heard Hitch's voice.

"Deputy Sprout, come in" His voice indicated clear anger, I couldn't see his expression, but Sprout's did. He was afraid. He walked at a slow pace, but eventually, he came in, the door closed, and I could see the station. It was a mess, desks in disarray, drawers open, even the number one almanac in Maretime bay was on the floor, with a few sheets here and there. The only thing in order was the jail cell.

Hitch looked around and let out a long sigh. He walked over to his desk and sat down.

"Have a seat you two" We both nodded and shuffled over a couple of chairs, Sprout sat down with no problem, but I didn't have it so easy. While my wings could go through, they still responded to my thoughts, or so it felt, and it was uncomfortable to sit thinking about it.

"Sprout," Hitch said looking at the red stallion to my right, his ears went down, as he lowered his head. "I told you not to start a war in my absence, and what did you do?" did he really tell him that? I couldn't help but think that it was so specific that if it were another pony I would have laughed at the situation.

"...I started a war" Sprout replied.

"No, you almost started a war, you were lucky no ponies got hurt..." Hitch returned as he leaned across his desk. "Or worse."

Hitch was right, we were lucky the only damage was to my house, even though Izzy and I fell off the end of the lighthouse practically unscathed. Faust was with us.

Sprout lowered his head, I expected him to apologize, but that wasn't the case.

"...It was your fault..." he said practically whispering, I opened my eyes as wide as I could, I didn't expect that answer. Hitch wasn't the one who almost crushed us with a giant robot with his own form.

"I'm aware of that" Hitch replied calmly.

That answer surprised not only me but also Sprout, raising her head for the first time in a long time. We both stared at Hitch in disbelief at the answer - his fault? That couldn't be true, Hitch just went to "arrest" me while leaving Sprout in charge for a few days, no one could have known that things would escalate to such an absurd degree in such a short time.

"Isn't that what you wanted to hear, Sprout? Yes, I was the one who used the excuse of going to arrest Sunny to go looking for her, I didn't want her to be brainwashed by a unicorn or thrown from too high up by a pegasus. When I had the chance to go back, I refused, thinking things were fine with you here, keeping order and calming the ponies down." Hitch let out a long sigh. "However, when I came back, I saw the town empty. Do you know what my first thought was?" he said as he looked at Sprout, Sprout shook his head, and I was curious to know. "I thought the pegasus had come to seek revenge for what happened at Zephyr Heights, that brief, a fleeting thought crossed my mind, Sprout." Hitch was shaking his head back and forth between his hooves as if that thought was tormenting him somehow.

Wow, did it really bother him that much to think that way about his new friends?

"And yet, reality trumps fiction, and it was my own deputy who caused all this fuss." Hitch emphasized that last part by tapping the desk a bit with his hoof.

He didn't know what to say, and apparently, Sprout felt the same way. Just as Hitch raised an eyebrow a thought came to my mind.

"Hitch, those thoughts are perfectly normal. When I helped Izzy escape from the floor trap and took her to my house, I got too close, and her horn was practically in my face. I freaked out and told her to be careful where she pointed... I guess forgetting everything you know is a tricky job."

I remembered the Izzy incident, it really hurt to think of her that way, as a danger, and more so now.

"Thank you, Sunny, it was rude of me to think that, but I didn't know what was going on" she said with a small smile on her face, I almost felt like the worst was over, but I forgot there was a third party in the room.

"¡That's it!?" shouted Sprout out of nowhere. For a second, I was startled and felt something move inside my body. "Your mare says a few nice words and you decide to forgive her? It's not fair!"

"I'm not forgiving her, all three of us are going to get punished, Sprout!" Hitch was startled to hear Sprout, I think I could see a little blush on his face, but I couldn't scoff, my face felt hotter than usual, and this wasn't a new topic for the two of us.

We had known each other since colts and Hitch the only friend I had left in Maretime bay, neither of us felt affection beyond friendship for each other, but I understood that from the outside it looked completely different. The fact that he was the respectable town sheriff, and I was the delinquent didn't help.

"You destroyed her house, you almost killed her, and not only her, but our friends as well, Sprout, I should fire you and lock you up." An awkward silence lingered for a few minutes. I noticed that the room was much colder than before. It was already dark and quite chilly.

"I almost ran over my mommy" Sprout blurted that out suddenly, both Hitch and I were surprised. "Just as I was about to deliver the final blow to the lighthouse, Mom got in the way and I..." I could see the sweat and the sad look on his face. "...I almost ran over her, if I had..."

Sprout suddenly shut down, I didn't know about that, it must have been before he fell with Izzy, right after the three crystals didn't work.

"Sprout" I said turning to look at him, but he didn't turn to look at me. "fortunately, nothing happened..." I put my hoof on his shoulder, only to have him forcefully and roughly push it away. We were finally looking into each other's eyes, anger, anger, and more anger.

"¡IT WAS YOUR FAULT! if you hadn't helped the unicorn, none of this would have happened, everything would still be the same, my life wouldn't be a mess!" he suddenly shouted. I was shocked, now he was blaming me for his mistakes? I was aware that I was somewhat to blame, but I wasn't the one who practically almost started a war, and I wasn't going to keep quiet.

"¡¿And you wanted nothing to change?!, now we can be friends with unicorns and pegasus, we no longer need fear or to resort to hatred, we can be friends with each other, ¡Can't you see that you wanted to be in charge so badly that you would start a war?!" I blurted out what I had to say, Sprout's attitude was starting to bother me, I still wanted to be her friend, but I felt she hated me for what was happening to her, and I felt it was unfair.

There was a silence, I felt I wanted to tell him more, I wanted him to open his eyes and see beyond what was in front of him. I just didn't understand why he was so stubborn; was it pride or was he already aware that it was wrong?

"Alright both of you, that's enough" Hitch interrupted us in our little staring contest. "You're going to spend the night in the cell and you're going to end up doing community service, one more than the other."

"¡You can't lock me in with her!" Sprout exclaimed, pointing at me. For the first time all day, she was right, I felt that, if we spent any more time together, we were going to hurt each other.

"There's only one cell, and personally I think you two could use a little time together and get whatever you have out of your systems."

What a terrible idea, but since I was bringing up the subject of spending the night...

"Speaking of which Hitch, do you think I could stay at your place until my home is repaired? I don't have anywhere to spend the night" Sprout snorted, questioning my decision.

"I don't think that will be necessary, mom will rent a hotel room for you or even worse... invited you home until then" He shuddered at the slightest possibility of us staying under the same roof. How rude.

"I can't abuse her like that, Sprout. Besides, I feel a little guilty about trying to break into her show every year." Except for the last time, Hitch had always stopped me. I had to give him credit, he was always one step ahead of me, it was kind of frustrating but fun.

"I don't mind, you're welcome. Just like old times" When Dad had died, about seven years ago, my only friend took care of me in my nights of agony. I would cry and have a hard time, but always the next day, I had a smile on my face. I really see Hitch as a big brother and the best kind.

Hitch opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out some keys. He stood up and quickly led us to the cell. He passed us a couple of blankets and locked us up.

"I have a lot of overdue and new paperwork, thanks to a pony" He said as he looked at Sprout with a frown, he was lying on one of the beds facing the wall and fully tucked in. "If you need anything, I'm here for you."

I was a little disappointed, I wanted to talk to Sprout, but he fell asleep as soon as he could, he didn't want to talk to me and at this point, I didn't want to say something I would regret for the rest of my life. The night passed without further ado, I fell asleep soon after, enjoying a good bed in days. I don't know at what point I fell asleep, but when I awoke, it was to a knock on the door. Sprout practically jumped out of bed screaming, Hitch at some point had fallen asleep, with a stack of papers to his left.

"Sheriff, we have a problem, !A fleet of airships are on their way, it's an emergency!" it was none other than Phyllis shaking her hooves.

"I knew we couldn't trust them" whispered Sprout before looking at me with a quizzical expression.

I didn't know what was going on, but I felt different like something was missing.

"Sunny, where are your wings and horn? Hitch asked with something sleepy on his face, but with a raised eyebrow.

Author's Note

A fleet arrives at Maretime bay. Friend or foe?

Chapter III. Friend or foe?

It was a beautiful morning in Maretime bay, the sun was shining, the birds were singing and a fleet of six airships was coming in our direction. Fortunately, they were coming from offshore, dismissing the nonsense Sprout had implied about the pegasus.

I didn't have time to think about my missing wings and horn; according to Hitch, I still had a rainbow in my mane. I wish my mane was combed at least.

The whole town was by the ruins of my house, Hitch was holding binoculars in the direction of the airships, according to him, he had the Commonwealth flags which reassured most of the citizens. Only I was afraid that the war that almost caused Sprout was now a likely future.

The commonwealth of earth ponies was our country, a collection of cities and towns united under the ideal of unity and protection. I could see the red and green flag flying proudly on every ship. I'm surprised I can see it from here without binoculars.

Another thing that amazed me was the center of the flag. It had a white diamond in the center. I had learned all this in school, but until now I had noticed that the crystal on the flag was the same as the one I had. Where did my father get it? Now I had more questions in my head than I had ever thought of before. The crystal, the mechanism in the lighthouse and thinking about it more, the crystal mosaic in that abandoned station with the other two tribes united, looking at Twilight Sparkle's Cuti Mark.

My thoughts were cut off when the fleet of airships was practically upon us. There were a total of six ships, three small-sized, two medium-sized, and not quite a bit larger than the rest. The five small and medium-sized ones had a sky blue paint job, with small white spots emulating clouds. The largest one was very different, the whole part of the balloon was a strong bright red, reflecting the sunlight, while the bottom part was dark green.

That huge airship descended, while the other five remained floating in the air. It wasn't long before it was fairly close to the ground. From below, several groups of earth ponies were descending with rather large ropes, dragging them to the sides and burying them with stakes the size of a full-grown pony.

Five minutes passed while all the ropes were secured.

"Hitch, what's going on?"

"I have no idea, I didn't know the army was on its way" Hitch replied as he shook his head.

A pony came to our mind and we both looked in the direction of Sprout and Phyllis. Phyllis had a frightened expression, she was nervous and almost looked like she wanted to run away, she extended her hoof to Sprout and pulled him towards her, hugging him with a now worried face. Sprout, on the other hand, looked confused, but I could almost see a smile on his face as if the expression "He bequeathed the cavalry" was his last chance. Please don't do anything stupid.

The cable ponies made two rows in front of what appeared to be a door, located to the side in front of us. They wore pixel gray uniforms, with matching caps and short mane. I had to admit, they looked cool.

What appeared to be the door began a somewhat dramatic descent. The Maretime bay ponies were excited from the spectacle, Hitch was adjusting his sheriff's badge, Sprout his dictator suit, but without the hat, Phyllis was adjusting her glasses while I was without anything worth mentioning, I didn't have my saddlebag and in fact, I was a bit disheveled, it had been four days since I had a bath, I was starting to get nervous.

The ramp had touched the ground and the inside had stairs with a red carpet in the middle. A dark blue pony with a short light blue mane, almost as big as Alphabitlle came out of the airship, he was wearing a gray military uniform, sunglasses, and a cap with golden embroidery on the front and loops on each shoulder. She calmly descended the stairs with a stoic gaze directed at the crowd of ponies. He perched on the right side of the entrance, climbing up and folding his right hoof in front of his cap, a classic military salute.

A much smaller gray pony with an almost shiny black mane was coming down the stairs, he had an affable smile, and beast a black cloth suit, with a white shirt and green tie. He looked like a typical politician on the campaign trail, but he looked somewhat familiar as if I had seen him before.

"Pss, Hitch, do you know who that is?" I asked Hitch without taking my eyes off the front.

"Sunny, he's the president of the commonwealth, don't you remember seeing him on TV at the beginning of the year?

I didn't have a TV at home and frankly, I didn't pay much attention to the news. It was almost always propaganda or warnings against unicorns and pegasus. The few times I saw it was with Hitch at his house or when I delivered my smoothies around town.

Once the pony touched down, he set course for the crowd, the blue stallion lowered his hoof and walked to his left a little behind, still maintaining his stoic look. It took a minute for them to approach. I wondered what kind of pony he would be, he looked friendly but looks can be deceiving. I could only hope he didn't want to start a conflict with the other tribes, I didn't want to see my dream fail without making it to the next weekend. But if that was his intention, what would I do? I quickly began to think of various ways to solve it, but once again, my thoughts were interrupted by a sweet and kind voice, it came from the chairman and was addressed to Phyllis.

"Phyllis, long time no see, and I see your colt is now an adult, good riddance" Did they know each other?

"Exel, long time no see, you haven't changed a bit since the day I met you, you must share your grooming secrets with the rest" Phyllis replied with a smile and a small grimace. It was clear that they were old friends, and that wasn't good, if he was as closed off as she had been until yesterday, she could already throw in the towel on trying to convince him of the path of friendship. "Sprout, say hello to the president."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Sprout said somewhat nervously and with a forced smile.

"The pleasure is mine. I see you have a curious costume, it's not even Nightmare Moon night." ¡It's real! I don't know how Phyllis is going to explain it, but I can feel my stomach starting to hurt.

"Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer, it's an honor to meet a pony as dedicated to the job as you are in person" I was looking at Hitch now, I could see an expression of amusement on his face, almost as if he was sizing him up.

"The honor is mine Mr. President" Hitch replied with a stoic pose and serious look, I found it curious that he knew his name. "Sorry for the curt question sir, but... What brings you to Maretime bay today?"

Hitch wasted no time and got straight to the point, I think the whole town would like to know that.

"Straight to the point huh?" Exel replied still with an amused smile, he turned to the stocky stallion and shook his head, indirectly telling him to explain. He nodded and began to speak.

"Sir, we received a call that unicorns and pegasus had invaded Maretime bay and were preparing for an attack on the commonwealth! In response, an advance fleet was deployed to examine the situation and repel the enemy!" The blue stallion had a gruff, raspy voice, quite loud, and answered all without taking his eyes off the front.

"There you have it, sheriff, that's my reason for coming, fortunately, I don't see that being the case" Exel replied.

"Well, it happened...stuff."

"And I want to hear that story, Phyllis, how about you, your son, the sheriff, and Sunny talk about this in private, inside the blimp," Exel said as he pointed at the huge airship behind him. There was only one thing that bothered me.

"Do you know my name?" I said as I took a small step forward, I hadn't left Hitch's side during the entire exchange. Looking at him, but not knowing that he had noticed me. Exel reacted a little to my question with a complicated smile.

"How would I not know the name of my good friend Argyle's daughter" He dropped that bombshell as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, he let out a chuckle as he turned around heading for the airship.

Was he an acquaintance of Dad's? Did I know him? I don't remember him at all. ¡And you can't just drop that and walk away! I want answers.

"Come, Sunny dear, he's an old friend of both mine and Argyle's, he's not a bad pony, I'd even go so far as to say he's more like your father."

A glimmer of light crossed my mind, dispersing the storm of negative thoughts that had swirled in my brain. If that was true, I wouldn't have to worry about war and my friends would be safe.

The four of us set off, almost at a trot, behind the five of us, the muscular stallion followed.

"You know Phyllis, on the walk into town we rescued a pony with a balloon backpack strapped to his back, he said he worked for Canterlogic. You have something to say" Exel asked the question without looking back, as Phyllis let out a panicked laugh, fie Hitch who got involved.

"His name is DreamWorks, we had a little accident with an open window at the last Canterlogic show. I was going to start doing the paperwork to request support and rescue him, but the attack... I mean, Izzy's visit caused something of a panic."

"Izzy is the unicorn that 'attacked' the village?" I could see him making quotation marks with his hooves. That was a good sign, I'm sure when we explain everything to him, there won't be any problems.

"Yes" Hitch replied bluntly. Only then did Sprout open his mouth only to throw a metaphorical stone at me.

"Sunny let her escape after catching her, sir." At that point Exel stopped, causing the other five to do so. "I think she deserves some sort of punishment, don't you?" Do you hate me that much now Sprout? That comment hurt and made my chest burn, I lowered my head a little only to have Phyllis scold Sprout.

"Honey, watch how you talk to the president."

"Sunny" Exel called to me as she turned her head, she had a beaming smile. "I'm sure your father would be proud of what you did, be sure of that." She turned her head and kept walking. Sprout had his jaw down, his mother was trying to pull it up as she told him that was rude. Hitch looked at me in shock.

Warmth ran through my body, I couldn't believe it. I really knew my father, I felt a tear of happiness come out of my eyes, I didn't regret what I had done, and I would do it again if I had to, but no one had congratulated me for doing it.

"Thank you, Mr. President." It came naturally out of my mouth.

The interior of the aircraft was quite luxurious, with a gleaming wood finish on the walls, carpet on the floor, and decorated with pictures of landscapes I had never seen before. I was struck by one of a giant tree on a mountain with small houses scattered at its roots.

I had so many questions swirling around in my mind, so many that I wasn't paying attention to the conversation of friends of the president and Phyllis. We arrived at a room with large double doors, only the pony in military uniform accompanied us, I was tempted to ask him his name, but it seemed I would have no answer.

When I opened the door I managed to see a rather elegant office. A decorated wooden desk with paperwork on it. In the back, the wall was glass only, giving way to a huge window. On the walls were shelves with more papers and closed drawers, there was even a painted picture of a huge coastal city, with skyscrapers and factories, it almost reminded me a bit of Zephyr Heights. In the center was a small wooden table with a glass panel on top, it had several cup holders and a small vase in the center, on the sides, two rather long sofas.

"Take a seat. General, stand guard at the door and see that no one interrupts us."

We followed his instructions, apparently, the big stallion was a general, and if he wasn't mistaken it was the highest rank within the army. Hitch, Sprout, and I took a seat on one of the couches, they were quite comfortable, across from us, were Phyllis and Exel.

It's now or never Sunny, you need answers.

"So Mr. President, how did you meet my Dad?"

"Please call me Exel in private places, no need to be so formal. And to answer your question, I met him thirty years ago, when I first came to Maretime bay. I was struck by the fact that he believed in friendship with the other tribes and said so openly, we started talking and since then we became good friends."

"Did you share Dad's opinion?" I wanted to know if he thought the same way Dad did. I was starting to remember the happy times I had with him, which increased my mood.

"Indeed I do, I'm just more reserved with expressing it, you know how stubborn some people are, right Phyllis?" Knowing that there were more ponies willing to bring friendship to the other tribes brought a smile to my face. Phyllis fidgeted beside her.

"That's the past, it really hurt me to see Sprout causing so much harm to other ponies, it was my fault for encouraging him in the beginning, but not stopping him when he took it too far" Phyllis let out a sigh as she looked at Sprout sadly, he seemed dismayed by that statement.

"Then I assume your company will take care of the damages, right?" Phyllis nodded with her classic business smile.

"I have to ask Exel, who called you and told you about the unicorn attack?"

"He identified himself as Toots, he said he was a Canterlogic employee, is that true?"

"It is, I can't believe he didn't inform me of that" Phyllis grumbled. Looks like Toots is in for a long talk later.

We were getting a little sidetracked from the important thing, Exel's history with my father.

"So what brought him to Maretime bay back then?"

"This was the closest town to Zephyr Heights, I had business there so I was just passing through. It was nice to meet him, he even accompanied me to the pegasus city. What memories" ¡He dropped another bombshell! Never heard of it, even Phyllis had a surprised expression. Hitch and Sprout who remained silent until now couldn't believe what they had heard. And Exel says it with such a calm smile.

"Weren't you afraid of being attacked by pegasus?" asked Sprout. While she didn't share that opinion, it was well known to earth ponies that pegasus would drop you out of the sky if they had the chance.

"Of course not, they couldn't fly, except for the royal family, although I had my doubts about that" He said the final part with a chuckle. Now that really surprised us all, did he and Dad know that pegasus and Unicorns didn't have magic?

"Wait a minute, if you knew, why didn't you tell me? I found out yesterday that neither had magic" Phyllis asked a good question if our president knew there was no magic, why didn't he try to befriend us? I mean, he's the head of state right?

"First, I doubt he would have believed me or Argyle, second, if word got out that they had no magic, I'm sure some ponies would have opted to invade them, taking advantage" He said as he pointed at Sprout. "And third, fear was necessary to keep the peace between the tribes." That last made me angry, I had learned that fear and hatred only begets more fear and hatred, I was ready to answer him, but he suddenly turned to me, almost as if he sensed my anger.

"Let me give you your first lesson in friendship Sunny. Friendship is two-way, you can't force it. While you want to be friends with unicorns and pegasus, they must also be willing to be your friends. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case back then, and even now I'm sure some stubborn old oligarchs celebrated the deployment of military forces" I sigh at the end. "That doesn't just apply to earth ponies, I'm sure you've met pegasus and unicorns that friendship is last in their minds, right?"

I immediately opened my mouth to rebut, but nothing came out. I remembered how a pegasus guard said we had small brains, a pegasus on the news blaming earth ponies and unicorns for the royal family lie, and finally Alphabitlle, who almost attacked us for tricking him. I didn't want to believe it but ignoring it wouldn't make it stop being real, there was hate in this world.

"Don't get depressed Sunny, I'm sure they are in the minority. We've lived so many years apart that they're just afraid of a sudden change in their lives. And it's not like you're going to give up, is it?"

He was right, there were a few grumpy ponies out there, but I wasn't going to give up, I was going to go to great lengths to bring harmony back to Equestria, just as Twilight and her friends had done so many years ago. With my determination renewed I looked him straight in the eye and nodded my head. He returned it and we both smiled.

"I still have a question Mr. President, what business did you have in Zephyr Heights?" Hitch lifted his helmet and asked.

"I was looking for business partners for the country, I will say no more than that. Argyle accompanied me as I invited him and thought it appropriate to have him around for first contact with the pegasus. He was very helpful, Haven had a special interest in him, I would even venture to say there was more to it" THE THIRD OF THE DAY! This time we were all surprised, how, when, and why? I wanted answers, but he raised his helmet to shut us up.

"If you want to know more, ask her when you see her, it's not my place to talk about her personal business" He says it as if seeing a queen is the most normal thing in the world. "Enough of the past for now. I want to know the story of these past few days, it sounds exciting."

Now I had more questions than answers in my mind and I guess I needed time to process all this new knowledge. It was only fair, he had answered a few questions. We started recounting what happened from four days ago, from the day of the Canterlogic show, to when we joined the crystals and returned the magic to Equestria. It was a very pleasant conversation.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, soon it was time for lunch, it had been days since I had eaten so well. It was a simple but delicious lunch, cold cider with fried hay sandwiches, not bad. Once lunch was over, Exel's expression was serious, one I hadn't seen until now.

"So, I wonder how to deal with you, Sprout." Sprout's happy expression collapsed in an instant, all through lunch she had been happy eating next to Phyllis, who responded instantly.

"Canterlogic will pay for all repairs to the town and Sunny's house."

"You were lucky no one got hurt or worse, young colt."

"I am aware Mr. President, I was told that last night." He said as he pointed to Hitch.

"So, what was the punishment you were planning to apply sheriff?"

"Sunny spent the night in the cell along with Deputy Sprout, I will receive a fine for abandoning my duty, they are both going to do community service and...I am considering firing Sprout, sir" I was amazed at how formal he could still be.

"Forget community service for both of them, I'll take care of bailing them both out" In a turn of events, we were apparently being released from community service. It's not like I cared, I was already determined to do it.

"Sir, I don't think it's fair, we both..."

"I know, but I need Sunny released as soon as possible, and I will enforce Sprout's punishment here and now." Do you need me for anything?

"Sunny Starscout, I hereby appoint you, ambassador of friendship for the commonwealth of earth ponies, you will ensure that relations with all creatures outside the country are as good as possible. Good riddance." She was clapping her hooves with her cases, it was the only sound in the room, otherwise, all was deathly silent.

For a moment I thought about refusing, but did I really want to refuse? It's practically a dream job, I remembered the determination I felt earlier.

"I accept the position, Mr. President, I won't let you down."

"I hope so" He said nodding. "Now Sprout, your charges are practically treason and uprising, disorderly conduct, destruction of private property, and if we take it to the extreme, attempted murder." He held nothing back, he said those last words so fluently I found it hard to believe, Phyllis was horrified and seemed to want to jump up and down to protect her son. "Nevertheless, you are very young and fortunately nothing serious happened, and if I had to punish you, so would the whole town for cooperating with you. I believe in second chances, but I'm one of those who believe they have to be earned. Sprout, are you willing to change your thinking, or do you want to stay as you are?"

No one said anything, I could see Hitch nudging her a little to get her to speak. In the end, it was Phyllis who broke the silence.

"Sprout, my sweet little boy, it's my fault you grew up thinking that, I was a bad mother and it hurts me to be the one to blame for what happened yesterday. I should have stopped you when I knew you were taking it too far, but I didn't. Please give change a chance even if it's hard" Phyllis was hugging Sprout, while he stood silently, looking at each pony inside the room. It was a few minutes before Phyllis released her son from his bear hug.

"Mr. President, I accept the opportunity, sir."

"Good. Now, Sunny, I charge you with the duty of visiting each pony tribe and requesting a meeting with their leaders, this is going to be the first step in reuniting Equestria, it won't be easy, but I trust the friends you made on your adventure will help you. Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer and Deputy Sprout Cloverleaf will accompany you as your escorts. Sprout, this is your first job to make amends, make the most of it, and apologize to the ponies you almost hurt."

Hitch and I nodded, only Sprout was a little tense.

I couldn't believe it, I would see my friends sooner than I thought. Today was anything but what I expected. I still had a lot of questions about my father, but Exel promised to talk more when we had more time for both of us. I had a job I could be proud of and an adventure awaiting me, the four of us left the office for town, I can't wait.

"Phyllis, keep an eye out for any cretins with bad intentions to get near Sprout, it could be the trigger for a war if they use it." I whispered that last to Phyllis before the group of four left my office.

What a day.

"What do you think Ferdinand?"

"This was all certainly unexpected."

Apparently, my good friend shared my thoughts, who knew that in less than a week the course of Equestria would change so radically. But what surprised me most was the fact that magic was returning. I knew that the pegasus lost their ability to fly hundreds of years ago and that the unicorns had lost the last of their magic a few decades ago.

This was going to be a pain in the ass to handle, but it was a good pain, one that I was happy to handle and another day more thankful that I had run away from home.

"But it really surprises me. Argyle, your daughter almost turned into an alicorn." An unexpected twist even for me, Sunny transformed for a moment into an alicorn, just like Twilight in her day, only the transformation was temporary.

"Do you really believe that sir?" asked Ferdinand, I knew it was hard to believe, but there were many witnesses.

"I know it's hard to believe, but even Phyllis and Sprout confirmed it."

"Luck with the official report, sir." That was his way of teasing me, what a great friend. Explain that an earth pony suddenly sprouted horns and wings. If this wasn't explained properly, I'd bet some would think it was a new disease. "But you're okay with sending just the three of them?"

"They need time alone. I'm worried about Sprout. If he's not able to change his point of view, one of the more belligerent ponies might use him. I don't want that for him."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen, Mr. President." I nodded in response. It's good to have such reliable friends.

Argyle, your daughter grew up for the best. You can be sure I won't let anything bad happen to her.

Looking out my office window, I saw the group of four ponies exiting the airship, two looked happy while the other two were somewhat downcast. I could only pray to Faust that all would go well, but if a career in politics has taught me anything, it's that plans rarely go the way you expect them to.

"Well, hooves to the work, there's a lot to do."

"Sir!"

Author's Note

Thanks for giving this story a chance until the third chapter.
A new pony appeared with quite a few secrets and a mysterious past, fortunately, he seems to be friendly and is willing to help Sunny.
Lastly, I would like to apologize to the reader, I had the comments and feedback disabled. Rookie mistake.
Once again thank you for reading this story and see you in the next chapter, a new adventure.

Chapter IV. A new adventure.

"Can you believe it Hitch, my father went to Zephyr Heights before us."

Sunny was very excited after concluding the meeting with the president. My emotions unlike hers would be more of awe and curiosity. I never expected Mr. Argyle to have a whole secret life, not even Sunny, his daughter, knew about it.

We were on our way back to town on our way to the police station. Sunny, Sprout, and Phyllis had been surrounded by a crowd of ponies as we entered the city, there was some panic and curiosity mixed in. Unlike Sprout, I reassured them and explained that both Sunny, Sprout, and I would be going on a diplomatic mission to Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights for a while. They wondered who would handle the order, but that was already arranged, President Exel and the army would remain in town until formal meetings with the other races were finalized. One less problem to worry about.

But there was one issue I was concerned about that I had not yet told Sunny.

"I told you Hitch would be back safe and sound."

"Sprout sure went crazy with power."

"You were right, we shouldn't have helped him."

After the explosion of magic, I began to understand my squad. At first, I thought it was my imagination caused by the battle with Sprout's robot, but even after that, I could understand their conversations. They didn't know I could understand them, as deep down I didn't know why I could, so I assumed it would go away eventually, but that wasn't the case.

"Now I feel bad about tipping over the stands in the square."

"Yeah, we got carried away with Sprout's song."

"It's a shame about Sunny's smoothie cart. Good thing they'll never know it was us."

¡They tipped over the carts?! I thought.

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at them instantly. They seemed to react as they stood at attention, which worried me, I didn't want them to know I could understand them. I said nothing and moved on.

"Is something wrong, Hitch?" Sunny asked me after my abrupt stop.

"No, everything's fine, I thought I saw something."

The four of us continued on our way, only my squadron was silent. Those three were a mystery to me. I had known them since I rescued them from small accidents on the beach, and since then they stayed with me, regardless of the situation. They slept outside the commissary and from time to time I gave them food. They even had the same greeting that Sunny and I had. Strange.

We reached the main street of Maretime bay, and it was time to split up. Sprout had to get ready to leave and would go with Phyllis to get ready. I wanted her to open her mind and wondered why he had acted that way. They said goodbye to us and we agreed to meet in an hour, we had already had lunch, so we figured it would be a good time.

Sunny and I walked into the station, my squad stayed outside as usual. I looked around, my desk was tidied up, I had done it last night. On the other hand, the rest was a complete mess, including Sprout's desk, I don't think he had even cleaned up the pizza grease he had made to avoid joining me. How I regretted not forcing him to come with me.

I walked over to my desk and looked for my house keys. It was a small one-story house with the basics. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. I also had a basement where I had a small home gym, so I didn't lose touch.

"Here you go Sunny." I said extending the keys to Sunny, they had a key ring with a crab on it. My other copy had a seagull on it. I guess I got a little attached to the boys.

"Your house keys, what for?"

"I think you need a good bath Sunny, I didn't want to tell you, but you're starting to smell a little." I said with a wry smile. Sunny wasted no time and sniffed. He grimaced a little. Hahaha.

"You're such a bully, you should say that in a more discreet way."

"It's just the two of us and we don't have time to play detective, didn't you want to leave as soon as possible?"

"You're right." He agreed.

"You go first, I have to do some paperwork and organize this mess a bit."

Sunny nodded and hurried out of the police station. Now for the first time in a while, I was really on my own. I had to leave a list of patrols and schedules for the army, as well as leave a map of the city, I'd bet they already had one, but better safe than sorry.

I was expecting a list from Phyllis of the damage done to the city by Sprout, but, it would come out of my pocket to repair the carts that overturned my squadron. It's not fair for Sprout to be blamed for something he didn't do. I'll have a talk with them later.

I started gathering the necessary information along with the map. I marked some points of interest, in case the president wanted to see how much the city had changed in seven years. The advantage of knowing this city so well is that this guy's work is pretty fast.

Once the paperwork was done, I concentrated on organizing the office, I didn't want strangers to think that we don't work seriously here. I started organizing the drawers, there were some that were open and one that had a kicker engraved on a drawer. What the hell did Sprout do here? I really didn't understand why he acted the way he did.

The almanac I did every year for charity was scattered here and there, I hadn't noticed it, but... Sprout had pasted her face on the pictures. I looked at the vandalized pages for a moment, I didn't know what expression I had, but I knew what I felt. Grief, I could only feel sorry for my childhood friend and co-worker.

I filed the vandalized calendar in a drawer in my desk and put a new one on the wall, I always kept a few extra copies just in case, I had to as they always ran out. I looked around, straight at Sprout's desk, and noticed something that made me angry.

I trotted over as we were in a hurry, we wanted to get to Bridlewood before dark, with some haste we would be there by dusk. Near the desk was a pizza box with the slice that had stained the desk, normally it would be a cause for anger that Sprout hadn't even cleaned her desk, but my attention was elsewhere.

A folded piece of paper that said deputy. I began to remember the old days. Sprout's dream was to be the sheriff of Maretime bay and protect it from pegasus and unicorns, and to some extent, those who thought like Mr. Argyle and Sunny.

Fortunately, Sprout was anything but helpful. He was cowardly, lazy, and I honestly believed he lacked the muscle for the job. I applied for the sheriff's position at Sprout's request, he told me it would help him a lot to have a friend as a deputy, so I accepted.

I would never forget the look on Sprout's face when I was elected Sheriff in his place. He had failed almost every test, both physical and intellectual. The first to congratulate me was Sunny, I remember her telling me that I could now help her to help the other ponies see that friendship was the way. I never did it, and in fact, our relationship grew more complicated over the years. I would venture to say that this year might have been the last year of our friendship if Izzy had not come. I wasn't at all proud of how I had treated her that day, and even more so now, but I didn't want her to keep getting into trouble.

Back to Sprout, he didn't even qualify as a deputy. No one else ran for the position, so I pushed the machine a little and got him the job. I could really use the extra help. I knew Sprout wasn't an idiot, in fact, he was pretty smart when it came to scientific stuff, I guess that's Phyllis' genes at work. He had a bucket of puzzles on his desk, he was always taking it apart and putting it together, I could never deal with that. The fact that he could design and assemble a working robot in three days had merit. It was a shame the reasons why he built it.

At some point, I picked up the paper that provoked the current thoughts. I looked at his wall, only to see a customer of the month certificate. I turned to see my own wall, and it was full of diplomas and certificates. I also had some sports trophies from my youth, karate competitions, school trophies, and none for skating, I could never beat Sunny at that. A smile settled on my face.

At this moment, I had two polar opposites in my mind. Sunny and Sprout. Why did I now see them as so different? Sunny always stuck to her ideals, no matter how difficult the situation. I could feel it had broken at Bridlewood when the two crystals failed and nothing happened. I was heartbroken and it hurt to see her like that, however, when she found out about the third crystal, she didn't hesitate to try one more time, and to everyone's surprise, it worked. I really admired Sunny.

Sprout's face the day I was elected to the position came back to my mind. It wasn't one of anger, it was frustration, I guess she could only see how her childhood friend had stolen her life's work. At that moment I understood. While Sunny was still trying, Sprout had given up too quickly. I hadn't told her, but he didn't get better over the years, in fact, she got worse.

I pulled out the vandalized almanac, only to see Sprout smiling in the pictures. I saw the paper with the word deputy on it on his desk, and finally the client of the month certificate. It was my fault. I knew there was a factor of Sprout himself for not moving forward, but, what had I done for him? I had never set him up for training, never commissioned him to do a major job, so he never got to practice or prove to himself that he could. I had not commissioned him with a badge commensurate with his position. I had disrespected my childhood friend and neglected him. I just sighed at that moment.

Sunny trotted into the office, flinging open the doors and startling me. I quickly put the calendar away on my desk, not wanting to cause Sprout any more trouble. Sunny looked in the direction of Sprout's desk, almost surprised to see that he hadn't cleaned up.

"Hitch, did something happen?" asked Sunny, I walked over somewhat dejectedly. The first thing I noticed was that he no longer smelled nasty, I think he used some of my shampoo as I recognized the smell. I also noticed that her hair retained the rainbow, which gave me to understanding that it was permanent. I wonder if my ability to understand animals will be permanent as well. She had her saddlebag with the Cuti Mark pins from her filly toys.

"Sunny, I'm a bad friend." I said, acknowledging my mistake.

"What, why do you say that?"

"It's because of Sprout, I feel like I'm the cause of her behavior."

"Why do you think that? It wasn't you who incited him to build a war robot."

"I don't mean the robot, I mean before, remember he wanted the sheriff's job? Come to think of it, he never made an effort to do his job as a deputy, and I never helped him get over himself." I said, pointing to what was bothering me most of all. That piece of paper with the word deputy on it. When I saw it I thought about how I had treated him.

Sunny took the piece of paper, then looked at the client of the month certificate, as well as my wall of certifications and diplomas.

"Do you think all these years you've looked down on him?" Sunny said, and it was only part of what I was thinking.

"Not only that, but I also feel like he's belittled himself, locking himself in his bubble and refusing to try to improve. Like he's given up because of... Because of me."

"Hitch..." I felt like Sunny wanted to tell me something, but that's what I felt, even if the ultimate responsibility for some change lies with Sprout himself. What kind of friend wouldn't help him? I'm a terrible friend. "I think that's a conversation you have...no, we should, have with Sprout." Sunny finished, looking at me with a smile.

She was right, I wanted to talk it over with Sprout and apologize, but at the same time, I wanted an apology for her actions. I guess we'll talk this afternoon.

"Luckily the three of us are going to Bridlewood together. I'll take the opportunity."

"Hitch, I'll take care of the grooming here, it's getting late and you don't exactly smell like flowers either." Sunny had hit back. And she was right, I hadn't had a good shower in days. I smiled at her, "Go home and take a nice bath. I left your saddlebag on the table, I don't know where you keep your stuff, so I thought it was for the best."

"Thanks. You're right, it's best to talk it over with him too." Sunny handed me the keyring and I put it in my drawer, I had mine hanging on the wall.

Relax friend, we'll talk to all three of us, I just hope I don't make things worse.

Time passed in the blink of an eye. I bathed, got my saddlebag ready, and even had time to polish my badge, I was going as Sunny's escort, so I had to be in uniform.

We had arranged to meet at Sunny's house, or rather his remains. When I arrived, Sunny was already there, talking to President Exel. I had stopped by the commissary and picked up the paperwork I did earlier, and I had Sunny to thank, he cleaned up the office very well.

I went over to the general to hand him the paperwork. I don't know why, but I was getting nervous just looking at him, even before I knew his position.

"General, here are the documents with all the information about the town. I included a map with points of interest in case needed." I said as I handed over the documents. He simply nodded.

"Thank you, sheriff, your city is in good hands. I can guarantee it." He had a stoic look on his face. I really admired the fact that I kept seeing his emotions.

I walked over to Sunny and the president. They seemed to get along very well together.

"I promise to come and talk more when your house is repaired, you have my word."

"Thanks, Exel. Oh, Hitch, you made it!" said Sunny running in my direction, he extended his right hoof, signifying only one thing.

"Up high! Down low! Hitch it to a pot! Flip it Sunny side up and on a piece of toast!"

We bumped together as we laughed. I really enjoyed our greeting and for a brief moment, I forgot my worries. Unfortunately, a voice brought me back to reality.

"Youth is wonderful." Exel's calm voice brought us back to reality. I was a little embarrassed that we had been spotted, but only a little.

"Oh my, looks like we're the last ones."

Phyllis and Sprout bequeathed. I wanted to tell them they were late, but it was no big deal and I didn't want to argue. Sprout no longer had his emperor's suit on, instead, he had his deputy's badge, a saddlebag, and a groomed mane. That was the Sprout I had left in charge of Maretime bay.

We were together and ready to go. I wasn't going to deny it, I was a little uncomfortable with Sprout being my subordinate again, but those were orders, and I was going to take advantage of them to settle this matter.

"Well, looks like we're ready to go." I said. I wanted to leave as soon as possible. Even if we arrived in Bridlewood on time, we were not guaranteed accommodation. I think we were somewhat optimistic in believing we could rent a hotel room or, at worst, stay at Izzy's house. It was rude to arrive unannounced, so I wished there was a hotel.

"Looks like it's about time, Ambassador Sunny." Exel said this apparently intending to annoy Sunny, but she was too excited to notice his tone of voice. "Take this, it's two letters. One is for the unicorn representative and the other for Queen Haven, it details the whole situation and the fact that we want to start friendly talks."

Exel handed over the two letters, and Sunny wasted no time in putting them away.

"¡What are you waiting for, let's go!" Sunny practically shot off, I was going to run after her, but I remembered that Sprout was coming with us. He still hadn't said anything. I turned to look at him, and he seemed to react as he started to move, only to be stopped by the president.

"Here Sprout, a little present from me for the trip." He said as he held something out to him, I couldn't see what it was. "It's a tape recorder. Believe me when I tell you that listening to your past self helps you grow for the better."

Apparently, he had handed her a portable recorder, did he want me to record a diary or something? I didn't understand, maybe it was an adult thing.

"Thank you, Mr. President." Sprout answered him somewhat dryly, maybe it was something too old for him, but it was rude not to accept a gift from him the public. He stowed the recorder in his saddlebag in a hurry, only to be hugged by Phyllis.

"¡Oh, my baby is getting away from Mommy! Don't get separated from the group and obey Hitch, okay?" That last part made Sprout flustered, I could see a frown, but she quickly nodded.

"Yes, mommy." That was all her answer. We were leaving for a few days, so I thought the goodbye would be something more emotional, but that wasn't the case. Sprout started walking and quickly caught up with me. He just stood next to me, looking in the direction of Sunny, who was still running.

The last I saw of Maretime bay was goodbyes and the army airships. I started to move forward with Sprout, we quickly picked up the pace to catch up with Sunny, after all, we were her bodyguards.

Sunny had slowed down, and now all three of us were going at the same pace. I was in the center, Sunny to my right and Sprout to my left. No one was saying anything, the silence was deadly. We were already some distance away from Maretime bay and Sunny seemed to notice this, as she nudged me as she looked in Sprout's direction. I guess the time had come.

I plucked up my courage and opened my mouth, it was time to settle our business.

"Sprout." I said, causing him to stop on the spot, Sunny and I followed. "There's something I want to tell you and I'd like you to listen to me."

"Sunny, Hitch, there is also something I want to tell you." To our surprise, Sprout had something to tell us. I had known him since childhood, and the tone he had just used was one completely foreign to him. It was gentle and with a hint of regret. The three of us were looking at each other, waiting for someone to start. I thought it had to be me, but Sprout beat me to it.

"Sunny, Mom told me to apologize for what happened yesterday, and I...I don't know how to do that. I thought I was doing the right thing, protecting the town, and when they gave me the chance to stop I... I ignored them and kept going, to the point where I almost crossed the line." He didn't take his eyes off Sunny at any point. She seemed to mean it, and he was right, apologizing wasn't easy.

"Sprout, I'm really happy that the only damage was my house, we can rebuild it with no problem. I won't deny that I'm still a little angry about what happened, but I think starting with an apology is a good start. Friends?" Sunny extended her hoof forward. She had a charming smile.

"Friends." Sprout replied on the spot, extending her hoof next to Sunny's. He also had a smile, somewhat forced, but it was there. Nonetheless, I felt her somewhat anticlimactic apology was easier than expected.

"Sprout, what made you change your mind so quickly? This morning you wanted Sunny punished for releasing Izzy." I knew it was adding wood to the fire, but I wanted to hear her reason. Sprout lowered his hoof and looked directly at me.

"When I came home, my mom told me something I thought I'd never heard." He turned to look at Sunny. "When your father died seven years ago, Mom felt horribly guilty for almost a year. She told me that he was still her childhood friend, and the fact that he left while they were having an argument hurt her very much." Sprout bowed his head, looking at the floor for a few moments. Sunny and I were listening to him intently. "At that moment, I saw you fall from the lighthouse, and I wondered What if something had happened to you. Could I live with the guilt?"

Sprout was shaking his head, and I could honestly empathize with him. That day I was standing next to Zipp, watching my two friends fall next to the top of the lighthouse. At that moment I thought the worst could have happened, and luckily that was not the case. Both Sunny and Izzy, and Sprout, who was inside his robot, were fine.

"Sprout." Sunny hugged Sprout. That must have surprised him because he reacted a little. After a while, he let go. "Let's work together to make sure that doesn't happen to any ponies, be they earth ponies, unicorns, or pegasus." Sprout nodded.

It was my moment, Sprout was not the only one who had an apology to give. He had given an apology, that showed me that he was capable of learning from his mistakes. It was my turn to do the same.

"Sprout, I have an apology to make to you too." That surprised him, as he had a raised eyebrow. I guess he wasn't expecting that. "I was cleaning the office today and noticed that I haven't treated you as you deserved, Sprout. I've belittled you all these years and I wanted you to know that I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."

I lowered my head looking down at the floor. I was a coward, I didn't want to look him in the eye, while he and Sunny could do it, I was incapable. I felt like a bad boss, and on top of that, a bad friend.

"Hitch I..."

I wasn't able to go on, I could only lift my head and look him in the eyes, it was all I could do, and what I saw shocked me. His eyes were watery, almost as if he was going to cry. He quickly swiped his hoof across his eyes, wiping away the tears.

"When you were picked as sheriff, I felt empty, I remembered how you were always better than me at everything, I even thought Sunny would be a better sheriff than me. When you appointed me deputy, I felt sorry for my for depending on you so much."

"Sprout, that was never my intention, and I'm sorry if I made you think it was. It's true that you weren't capable at the time, but I feel guilty that I didn't help you get better, it's what a friend would have done." I still had a lot to say, but I felt a lump forming in my throat. I couldn't put my thoughts into words.

My body moved on its own, when I realized, I was giving a hug to a tearful Sprout. It felt warm and comforting. We stood like that for a while, only to be interrupted by Sunny, who joined in the hug.

"Well friends, it's time to move on, Bridlewood is still far away." I said we had to keep going, and so we did.

"Hold on guys." Sunny said, extending his right hoof, for a moment I thought he wanted to do our salute, but that didn't seem to be the case. I went along with her idea and put my helmet next to hers. She then looked at Sprout as she smiled and nodded her head. He ended up doing the same thing we did, only then did she know what she wanted to do.

"¡Hooves to hearts!" Sunny and I raised our hooves and shouted, Sprout just raised his hoof, still confused. I couldn't blame him, this was so spontaneous.

"That was embarrassing." Sprout said. I agreed with him, just a little. Sunny pouted, making us both laugh.

We decided to continue.

"Speaking of embarrassing Sprout, a little birdie told me you sing really well. Good enough to inspire a whole town." I said with a chuckle. Sprout turned red as a tomato, and that's saying a lot, given his natural color.

Sunny laughed out loud, while Sprout asked me who the birdie had been. I guess this is a good time.

"Sunny, Sprout," I called to them both. "When the rainbow blast returned the magic and you got your temporary horn and wings, I began to understand animals. More specifically my squadron. It was with them that I learned of your performance and that they had overturned the carts, including yours Sunny. I will pay for them, I promise."

"¡WHAT!" They both exclaimed at the same time.

"You can talk to the animals... Wait a minute, couldn't you do that already?" Sunny said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"I didn't understand them, I'm like an animal magnet, but since yesterday, I can understand what they're saying."

"Wow, that's amazing." Sprout said. Was it amazing to be able to understand animals? According to him, yes. "I wonder if I'll have any magic." Sprout whispered to himself something I couldn't understand.

"We all have magic within us, Sprout. Our friendship is the most powerful magic." Sunny said proudly, Sprout smiled and nodded. For the first time, the three of us were smiling, marching off to a new adventure.

We set off with our friendship renewed and one less weight on us.

Author's Note

This time the chapter is from Hitch's point of view. While Sunny was hurt the most by Sprout's actions, I think one of the main causes of Sprout's behavior was being belittled by Hitch. That's my opinion of the movie. The other cause was his mother, but I will address that another time.
I honestly apologize for the orthographic mistakes, my native language is Spanish, and writing in English is a real odyssey for me, I know it's not an excuse, but it's a good exercise to improve, mistakes make you stronger :v
In the next chapter, our group finally arrives to Bridlewood, where our favorite unicorn will return.
Thanks for reading the chapter, see you in the next one.

Chapter V. I don't want to be a hero, I just want friends.

The trip had been pleasant and the weather nice. Both Hitch and Sprout were talking about a new training regimen upon our return to Maretime bay. It seemed that our talk had paid off, and the three of us had put our problems behind us.

Sprout had apologized for his actions, and I had accepted it. I didn't want to lose a childhood friend, I didn't want the three tribes to be separated, and if my home was what was needed for that, I was more than happy to accept it, all for a greater cause.

We walked for hours, and the sun was already in its twilight, so we didn't have much time left to get to Bridlewood.

We arrived at a recognizable pink tree, surrounded by a field of flowers. The night we left Zephyr Heights had been crazy, who knew Pipp would know the city streets so well. According to her, sometimes it was necessary to know the streets to avoid a crowd of fans or the press. Even Zipp was surprised to learn that her sister knew the city so well, which made her a little angry, but I couldn't blame her given what we did at her big concert.

This tree looks like something magical. I thought. It was strange, to say the least.

The fallen bridge was close, and with it so was Izzy. We were a little tired from running, but we needed one last push.

As we got closer, we could see something unusual. There was a group of unicorns levitating planks over the fallen bridge. There were approximately seven unicorns, all with an aura on their horn as they worked, and fortunately, one of them was an acquaintance.

"¡Alphabitlle, hello!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Sprout and Hitch were a little surprised by my shout, but Hitch pulled himself together quickly, Sprout, on the other hand, was a little nervous. I guess it was a little awkward for him, but I was confident he would accept an apology.

The unicorn in question heard my shout, as he motioned with his hoof and all the other unicorns stopped working. At this point, there were enough planks to be able to cross the fallen bridge, which still retained some of its stone structure on both sides. I wondered how old the bridge had been.

Only Alphabitlle crossed the bridge, addressing our group.

"Sprout, this one must be a little awkward, but we're Sunny's bodyguards now, act like it." Hitch whispered to Sprout. I wanted to protest but remembered that was his job. Hitch just wanted to do it right.

"¡Sunny! I didn't think you'd come so quickly for a little visit, and I see you come with company..." Her smile turned into a frown when he noticed Sprout. Hitch remained stoic, but Sprout seemed afraid. "What's he doing here?"

I put on a somewhat forced smile.

"Hitch and Sprout are my bodyguards." I wanted to continue the greeting, but he seemed to be a little angry, and I could understand that. From what my friends told me, Sprout almost crushed Alphabitlle with his robot, only being saved by Queen Haven at the last second.

Alphabitlle raised an eyebrow. I guess it was strange to see the pony who destroyed my house and almost caused a war now being the escort for the owner of the house he destroyed.

"A lot happened in the last day." I said with a chuckle. I proceeded to explain what happened from the time they left Maretime bay, to our meeting with Exel. "Here is a letter from President Exel to the Bridlewood representative, do you know who I should deliver it to?" I tried to divert his thoughts from Sprout as much as I could, but in the whole conversation, he barely looked at me.

He sighed.

"You can hand her over to me, I'll gather the elders of the other villages to discuss the matter." He finished with another sigh. Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. Were there more towns within the forest? He must have noticed my surprise, for he began to explain.

"The forest itself is called Bridlewood, our town is named after the forest as it was the first to be founded. Over the years more unicorns settled within the forest, each village is independent, so we don't have a representative as such. I'm sorry Sunny, but that answer may take a while."

It was fascinating to hear that there were more unicorn villages throughout the forest, I thought there was only Bridlewood, and unfortunate to know that the answer might take a while, and even more so to think that it might be a resounding no.

"Alphabitlle, do you really think they can agree to accept the invitation?"

"Don't worry, as soon as they hear that you're applying, they'll most likely say yes." That surprised me, they didn't know me, they had no reason to accept a request from a stranger.

He must have noticed my strangeness, so he started talking. I was beginning to believe they really could read minds.

"Sunny, you are a hero. You brought back a part of us that we thought we would never see or feel again. While not all earth ponies can be good" He pointed at Sprout. "I am more than willing to help you for what you did." He finished with a smile.

Me, a hero? The word hero echoed in my head, and I didn't think myself worthy of such an honor. I had done what I had done because I believed it was the right thing to do, not because I expected anything in return. I wondered if Twilight and her friends had been called heroes in their time, and if so, what had they felt?

"It wasn't just me Alphabitlle. My friends, and Queen Haven, Phyllis, and you helped bring back the magic, I'm sure." I said. I didn't want to be a hero, or at least I didn't feel like one.

"I see you're pretty humble. That's good, but don't be surprised that everyone in town treats you like one. Izzy hasn't stopped telling the story over and over and over again." He said as he massaged his face with his hooves.

The mention of Izzy shot a smile on my face, I couldn't wait to see her. Last time it was her who came as a surprise, so now it would be me, and without scaring a village in between.

Alphabitlle led the way. We crossed the new bridge and greeted six other unicorns; I recognized some who had accompanied Alphabitlle to Maretime bay. The mere fact of being greeted by unicorns was unusual just thinking about it until a few days ago, and here we were. Well, maybe Sprout not so much, I could see some frowns in her direction, but he was trying hard to look professional.

"Alright guys, we'll call it a day so far, let's head back to town." All the unicorns nodded, and that's how we made our way into the forest.

The first thing I could notice was the fact that there were no longer threatening signs at the entrance, which helped to not have a gloomy atmosphere; the second thing I noticed was as we went deeper into the forest, the large, almost buried crystals were now glowing with a dim but constant light. I wasn't sure if it was because of the time, but last time they weren't glowing.

The sun was practically gone, and the moon was beginning to rise, the crystals illuminating our path. I remember my dad saying that unicorns could make light with their horns, but none of the seven unicorns present did. I guess it will take them some time.

Lost in my thoughts we heard a familiar voice, it was Izzy. My body moved on its own, and I was about to jump in her direction, but Alphabitlle stopped me by raising her hoof and told me to be quiet. Not just me, but everyone present.

We crept closer, and Izzy's voice was getting louder and louder, only when we got close enough, did we see Izzy. She was in a park, surrounded by colts and fillies in the front row, and some adults in the back. Everypony had smiles on their faces, even the kids were letting out sighs of excitement, and not for nothing less, Izzy was telling the story of our adventure, and had already gotten to the part about the giant robot.

Do they know it's a robot? I didn't want to discriminate against their technological advancements, but Bridlewood didn't seem very advanced, at least not what I had seen.

"So, out of nowhere came a giant red metal pony, with a red pony inside," Izzy said as she waved her hooves up and down. "The pegasus queen said we didn't want to fight, but the red pony wouldn't listen, that's when Sunny mustered up the courage to ask for the unicorn and pegasus crystals, to join with the earth pony crystal, to defeat the evil emperor."

Laughing I thought I was over summarizing the story, which I guess had to do with the fact that there were children present. Sprout was grimacing and redder than usual, Alphabitlle was scowling at Sprout from her height, and Hitch was in work mode.

"The five of us headed towards the lighthouse, while Hitch and Zipp faced the emperor, who could shoot a very sticky slime, which caught ponies left and right, and then... ate them!" Finished Izzy as she gave a little hop towards the children, who backed away. The adults on the other hand were laughing.

"Hey, I never said that!" shouted Sprout next to me, startling both the kids and the adults. They all turned to look at us, or rather to look at the "emperor" who was being accused of things he didn't say. There were mixed reactions, terrified children and parents confused to see three earth ponies.

"He came to eat us."

"I thought it was just a story."

"I want my mommy."

"I'm going to defeat it to protect us."

"It's kind of cute."

Ignoring all the commotion, Izzy ran at us in record time, tearing through kids and adults alike. My brain didn't react in time to dodge her, I might as well not have wanted to dodge her, Izzy jumped at me, knocking me down on the spot. I could only laugh and hug her. I was so excited to see her so soon.

"¡Sunny!"

"It's good to see you too, Izzy."

"¡What are you doing here! I didn't expect to see you so soon, it's not that I'm complaining it's just... it's sudden." I had a smirk on my face and didn't want to tell her, but it was a little heavy. Thankfully my escort came out to help me.

"It's good to see you too Izzy." Hitch said.

Izzy seemed to notice my two companions. She quickly released me from my embrace and was now shaking Hitch's right hoof.

"I can't believe you all came, ¡Even Sprout!" she finished greeting Hitch and was now doing the same to Sprout. It was amazing to see how much redder Sprout could be than he already was, he kept seeing Izzy's horn. Alphabitlle, on the other hand, was throwing daggers out of her eyes, with a much bigger scowl than before. Finally, Izzy let go of Sprout and looked at me.

"Where's Zipp and Pipp, oh, don't tell me, they're planning a surprise party, aren't they?" She said with a big grin. At some point, he had practically stood on top of my face.

"Not really Izzy." I proceeded to explain my current job. As a friendship ambassador, I was to deliver two letters, one for the unicorns, and one for the pegasus. We had decided to come to Bridlewood first, so our next stop would be Zephyr Heights.

"Oh, I see." For some reason, she seemed down, so I tried to cheer her up.

"Don't worry, we're spending the night here, and I was thinking..." Dramatic pause. "Why don't you come with us?"

Her face lit up, I could even see some purple magical aura in her horn, only to be shot into the sky in the form of a ball of light. Everypony, including the unicorns, looked up into the sky with a shocked look on their faces. A few seconds later, it exploded into the sky in a huge purple explosion, with blue hues, only to be followed by a loud explosion sound.

I couldn't believe it, it was... beautiful. It was the most magical thing I had ever seen in my life, minus the fact that I had grown wings and a temporary horn, of course. Izzy was still hopping around on all four legs, completely oblivious to what I had done.

"¡Alphabitlle, can I go, say yes, please! I'll even help more in the tearoom if you let me go!" Izzy was jumping around Alphabitlle, while Alphabitlle was still looking at the sky. Izzy's fireworks were great, they were still in the air, slowly disappearing.

On the other hand, I was wondering one thing, why did I need Alphabitlle permission? I wanted to take advantage of the visit to meet her parents, I was curious what kind of ponies they were. Maybe they lived in another town, just like Hitch's parents, who had moved to the capital shortly after Hitch's appointment as sheriff.

Alphabitlle pulled herself together, leaving the night sky behind with the explosion, and looking at Izzy.

"I don't know Izzy, you were already asking my permission to go to Maretime bay, which wouldn't be a problem, but Zephyr Heights is...I think too much."

"Please Alphabitlle, it'll be the four of us and we'll be joined by Zipp and Pipp, I promise nothing will happen to you, right Hitch?" I decided to jump into the conversation after Izzy made puppy dog eyes at me. I wanted her to come, and I would do anything to take her with us.

"You'll be in good hooves, sir. I've only been there once, but Zephyr Heights looked pretty safe." He had the backing of the voice of reason. Sprout opened his mouth only to close it without saying anything, he probably knew it would only make things worse. I thanked her silently.

"Fine but listen Sunny...listen to Hitch." That hurts, Alphabitlle. I can be as responsible as he is, I'll show him.

"Thanks a lot, Alphabitlle, and you too Hitch!" I wanted his thanks too, but hey, that works.

The heat of the afternoon was beginning to fade, and the cold was beginning to dominate the atmosphere. I wanted to ask Izzy if we could spend the night at her place, or failing that, that we could rent a hotel room, I just hoped they would take money from the Commonwealth. But the problem answered itself, or rather, Izzy fixed it.

"Party at Crystal tearoom!" all the unicorns seemed excited, except for one, the owner.

"Wait, what?"

I had to give Izzy credit, before I knew it, I was at a party surrounded by unicorns.

Alphabitlle was at the bar serving drinks, with the help of her animal friends, who kept approaching Hitch. Speaking of Hitch, he was at the bar and, to no one's surprise, being waited on by animals. He had originally refused to move away from me along with Sprout, claiming they were my escort. I quickly dismissed them from their duties for the day, which was not easy.

Sprout, on the other hand, was enjoying tea, unfortunately for him, so were the village children, who kept asking him questions about his short career as a villain, some even laughing at him. Children can be very cruel.

I for one was on the dance floor with Izzy, enjoying the moment. Further down the hall, there was poetry, somewhat depressing to my taste, but it seemed to be quite popular. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk more about Izzy's parents.

"So, Izzy, do you think I can meet your parents?"

"What are you talking about, you know him." She said, pointing at Alphabitlle. She had to agree that they weren't much alike, Alphabitlle was kind of grumpy, and Izzy was..., well, Izzy. I was going to leave it at that, but Izzy kept talking.

"He told me I showed up in a basket in front of his store when I was really little, so he took me in." She said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. I had stopped dancing, but she hadn't, she was still dancing, which made me think one thing.

"Wait a minute, if he's your father, why didn't you tell us? We could have asked him for the unicorn crystal without going through the whole dance contest thing." This new information had left me thinking of a completely different scenario, one where we would get the unicorn crystal without almost ending up in a classic saloon fight.

"Alphabitlle told me when I got friends and took them to the saloon, not to tell them it was my father. He said something about judging them, ¡Oh!, he even told me to tell them he could smell fear." She was still dancing. I, on the other hand, had my hoof in my face. I admired that Izzy was keeping her word, but...

"I need a drink; I'll be right back." I said as I walked away from her, heading for the bar.

"Have fun." Izzy was still dancing.

I was going to question Alphabitlle, something didn't feel right. When my horn went quiet, revealing our secret, I remember several adult unicorns surrounded us, and they looked ready for a fight, including him. If not for Hitch's brilliant and rare idea to say the forbidden words, I wondered what would have happened to Izzy, after all, she was Alphabitlle, daughter.

I sat on one of the benches near Alphabitlle. He was cleaning some glasses with his hooves, I guess it's hard to undo old habits.

"Tea, no milk." He reacted the same way as when we first met. Only this time I was waited on by him, his friends were too busy with Hitch. He levitated a glass placing it in front of me, then, levitated a pot of tea and poured me tea. I forgot to specify the taste, so I could only hope it was good. And now that I think about it... I don't even like tea.

"So, how was the party, I see you having fun with Izzy." He said to me, as he continued to clean more glasses.

" It's so much fun." I said as I sipped some tea. It tasted sweet, but I didn't recognize the flavor. "So... Izzy told me you're her father." He stopped moving, to give me a look.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"A few days ago, when the whole contest thing happened, I really thought we'd end up in a saloon fight, and well, now that I know Izzy is your daughter, I wanted to know what would have happened? I'm just curious." I took another sip of tea.

"To answer your question, at the time, I just wanted to kick the asses of you, your friend over there," He pointed to Hitch. "And your pegasus friends. I wanted to save Izzy from their bad influences."

Fair enough, I didn't share the sentiment, but I guess it was a formal line of thinking. I knew Hitch could handle it, I could to some extent too, but I didn't know if Zipp or Pipp would. I doubted Pipp, but little people are dangerous. I was starting to think strange things, but Alphabitlle brought me back to reality.

"If it makes you feel any better, I was so happy to see Izzy with four friends for the first time, my heart was pounding with happiness. But, when I found out they weren't unicorns, I swore they were extorting Izzy or threatening her, I don't know."

"Wait, you actually thought that?"

"Yeah, Izzy's not the smartest tree in the forest, if you know what I mean." We both looked at Izzy. At some point, she had joined the kids picking on Sprout, she was touching him on the side with her hoof while laughing. Sprout was grumpily telling him to stop. I could both see he was having fun.

"But I know he's not a good influence."

"He's trying, believe me."

"Well, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, just for you."

"I appreciate it, it really means a lot to me." We both gave a smile.

"I have one last question if you don't mind, how did Izzy get to your house, aren't their orphanages in Bridlewood?" It was clearly a personal matter, but contritely he answered me as if it didn't matter.

"I'd bet it was the spirit of the forest." I didn't know what that was, he had a look of utter confusion on his face. "I know you don't know this, but inside the great Bridlewood Forest, there is a castle made of crystal, many say that's where the spirit of the forest lives."

"I don't understand how a castle relates to Izzy."

"It is said that the guardian that lives inside watches over us all. There have been cases of newborn unicorns being left in homes that can keep them. It never fails."

"So, this guardian rescues orphans and helps them find homes?" That was amazing, he would have to be a very kind and generous unicorn. I'd like to meet him.

"He does more than that, let me tell you a story." He stopped cleaning glasses and looked at me. "About two hundred years ago or so, a young village had been founded not far from the castle, Good Oak. Things were going smoothly, but one night of heavy rains, the guardian appeared, warning them that they had to leave this place right then and there." I hadn't noticed, but a crowd had gathered to listen to Alphabitlle. Even Hitch and Sprout were attentive.

"What did the unicorns do?" I asked.

"They didn't listen to him. The guardian said a landslide was going to happen, but they didn't listen. That night, an entire village, with its inhabitants, ponies, mares, and children, was wiped off the map, with no survivors."

That was pretty hard to digest, the festive mood had died down.

"If there were no survivors, how do they know about the guardian?" Sprout asked. Alphabitlle threw him a scowl but continued to tell the story.

"The guardian had gone to the neighboring villages, asking them to help Good Oak, most refused, some even attacked the guardian, only one was willing to cooperate. But it was too late, by the time they arrived, there was nothing to do. Eventually, word spread, and now everypony knows about the guardian of the forest. Many claim to see him, but no one has been able to confirm it."

Wow, what an incredible story, tragic, but incredible. I wanted to meet him, plus, a castle made of crystals? Surely it had to be quite a sight.

"Don't forget the most important thing, the appearance of the guardian!" Izzy broke through the dense atmosphere with her endless joy. "A light blue insect pony with a horn, turquoise eyes, and a red mane. That's the guardian of the forest." Izzy finished with a smile, totally unlike the adults.

"Izzy, I told you, it's just a story told to the foals, no one knows what the guardian looks like." A bug pony? Ridiculous. Izzy looked a little sad, which Alphabitlle seemed to notice.

"You know, I think I'm going to liven up the party. I'm going to bring out the ultimate challenge." That got me excited, I had really liked the game, and now I could play it with everypony. Sunny doesn't play, Sunny wins.

Alphabitlle brought out the dancing machine, Sprout seemed impressed the more he looked at it, after all, it was powered by a pair of small animals.

"Who wants to go first!" Alphabitlle asked, I instinctively lifted my hoof, only to be surprised at who my opponent would be. Hitch.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going to beat you, after all, I have the advantage of experience." I gloated at my earlier victory, deciding to forget the fact that I had almost lost. Hitch said nothing and went up to the ring.

The first round was mine. The cheers erupted, Izzy was pumping me up, while Sprout was rooting for Hitch. The night had gotten interesting.

It was a massacre.

There was no other way to describe it. I ended up losing to Hitch, next to challenge him was Izzy, who didn't even beat him once. Sprout didn't want to participate but ended up doing so, only to be crushed just like Izzy. Even Alphabitlle was no match. He had demanded a rematch all night but to no avail. A few unicorns were encouraged to challenge him, to no avail, of course.

The night was getting late. And, fortunately, it was time for bed. I knew it was the time when a group of mares started calling Hitch Sexy Stallion. They didn't say it out loud, but already the night was getting weird.

"I can't believe it, I'm having a sleepover with my friends, ¡It's the happiest day of my life!" Izzy kept screaming, luckily the whole town was close, or else there would have been complaints by now.

We had decided to spend the night at Izzy's house, unfortunately, as we were about to leave, we were interrupted by Alphabitlle, who suddenly levitated Hitch and Sprout. Hitch struggled a bit, but it was no use.

"You two are spending the night with me, I could use a little help cleaning up the place." He said as he had an amused smile on his face. The place was a mess.

"We're Sunny's bodyguards, we can't leave her alone." Hitch said, only to be answered by Alphabitlle.

"And I'm Izzy's father, I won't leave her with two...a stallion and a punk. I will answer if anything happens, you have my word." Hitch was surprised. I remembered that I hadn't told him that Izzy was Alphabitlle's daughter. He looked between the two of us and Alphabitlle, wanting to debate her argument, but couldn't. He ended up giving in.

"You two, stay out of trouble."

"Same thing Hitch, just remember we're still on to Zephyr Heights tomorrow, don't try too hard."

And just like that, our accommodations were decided, I was going to have a sleepover with Izzy, I couldn't believe it, we might not even sleep. Soon we reached the outskirts of town, and despite it being night, Izzy's house remained lit up.

"Izzy, why don't you live with your dad?" I was curious.

"I wanted my own space for unicycling, and when I told him about it, he gave me this house. From what I know, it's pretty old, but it's very cozy."

We wasted no time and went inside. It was pretty much the same as last time, very colorful, there was just something strange. On a table, there were some wooden figures of the six of us, and I say six because Sprout is included, he even has his dictator uniform.

Izzy showed me her room, she said we were going to sleep there, but there was only one bed. I blushed a little. Only for Izzy to come back with a levitated mattress, I guess that was my bed. Not bad, considering I spent the last night in prison.

"Sunny, I'd like to ask for your help with something." She winked at me with her hoof to get me to come closer, then whispered in my ear. He seemed to forget that it was just the two of us in the whole house.

She had asked me for help with something, and I had remembered that last time, I had been in such a hurry, I hadn't delivered them, so I decided to help her.

It was quite a productive night.

It was already morning. Fortunately, we slept well enough after finishing Izzy's craftwork, we were cleaned up and had breakfast. I hesitated to eat breakfast without Hitch and Sprout, but Izzy affirmed that Alphabitlle would give them breakfast. I could only hope it was true.

We set off for the entrance to the village. We had our saddlebags, ready for the trip, which, fortunately, would only last half a day. Hitch and Sprout were already waiting for us along with Alphabitlle. Hitch seemed fine, but Sprout looked a bit tired, I just hoped Alphabitlle hadn't done something to him.

"Good morning, Sunny."

"Sheriff, Deputy, it's good to see you well." I said, wanting to sound serious, but it wasn't my strong suit.

"Guys, we got you a present." Izzy said, gaining the attention of the three stallions. I just hoped Alphabitlle wasn't disappointed since none of them were for him.

"Ta-da." Izzy said as he extended our night's work. Friendship bracelets are made with crystals. We had forgotten the last time; it wouldn't happen again.

Izzy went through each one, handing a bracelet to each friend, myself included. I didn't want to ruin the surprise, so I wasn't wearing it.

"Even me?" Sprout asked with a raised eyebrow. He was looking at the bracelet not understanding what was going on.

"Of course! We're friends." Sprout's eyes widened, I guess he didn't expect to be forgiven so quickly by Izzy.

"I... I don't know what to say."

"Say thank you." Alphabitlle said.

"Thank you." Sprout repeated, he went from nervous to wearing a smile. "I'll get you something as soon as I can."

"You don't have to, don't worry."

"Izzy, listen to Hitch, take care of yourself, have fun and most importantly, come back soon." Alphabitlle was hugging Izzy, who was returning the hug with a smile. It was kind of surreal to see such a big pony hugging a little one, which made me wonder how surreal Pipp would look in this scene, considering how small she was.

We set off as soon as we could, Alphabitlle escorting us to the entrance, only to say goodbye again to Izzy. Our group of four had set out early in the day. I turned to look into the forest, where Alphabitlle was still shaking her hoof.

My eyes almost popped out of position, right behind him was a blue pony, or at least pony was the word I could most describe him with. He had a sort of blue carapace by her body, eyes bigger than mine, a horn curved upward, and instead of a mane, he had something red on both his nape and his back.

Was it the guardian? was it really an insect pony? I could just see it, I was surprised Alphabitlle didn't see it, considering it was practically all over him. In the end, the creature smiled at me. I didn't know what to think, I didn't know if what I saw was real, but something inside me knew what I had to do. I lifted my hoof and waved goodbye with a big smile.

"Sunny, everything okay?" Hitch asked me.

"Yeah, I just saw a new friend." I finished with a smile.

We had finally arrived in Zephyr Heights, only what we found was not what we expected. The bustling city looked like a desert as if it was in a blackout.

Author's Note

The royal sisters return in the next chapter, blackout.
Thanks for reading this chapter, see you in the next one.

Chapter VI. The crown weight.

"Come on Pipp, you're doing good, you're almost there."

I was flying. I still couldn't believe it; I was unable to process all of this. I had dedicated my entire life to my flight research, evading my actual duties as much as possible, only to lock myself in my lab night after night. The most I could manage was gliding, autonomous impulse was impossible, no matter how hard I tried it just wouldn't get off the ground naturally, almost as if it were a curse.

When I first met Sunny and Izzy, I was testing boosters I had installed across the mountain, and perhaps I would have escaped, again. My first impression was one of disbelief, to see a lone earth pony or unicorn was almost impossible, as they never left their territories, but to see two together was impossible. I wanted to stay and talk, my curiosity as a researcher was guiding me, but I remembered that I was being searched by the royal guard.

That thought played against me, it seemed that they were getting better and better at tracking me, which had its merit, I considered myself quite elusive. I wanted to tell them to run, but I thought they might end up in Zephyr Heights, which would give me all the time to interrogate them. I knew they would possibly end up locked up, which was convenient and safe for them.

It wasn't illegal for earth ponies or unicorns to enter the city per se, but I had a hunch how our subjects would react.

As I jumped to flee, I thought I heard a voice, but I didn't quite catch it properly, the wind was blowing hard in my face, which was something I enjoyed. I wasn't proud of sending innocent ponies to jail, but it was for their own good, and knowing mom, she would make sure no one else knew.

Nothing went as I expected. My mother reacted strangely at the mention of the word "magic", my little sister, had shown the whole kingdom to the intruders, only for mom to intervene again. They ended up in prison, prosecuted as criminals if they had done anything deserving. I felt horribly guilty.

I slipped through their belongings, which were meager for a trip. Only one of them caught my eye. A notebook with a familiar purple star. I had already seen it in the stained-glass window in my lab, the one with the unicorn and the pegasus with our crown looking at the star. Instinctively my curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to take them to investigate it. Maybe they could help me recover the magic.

I didn't want to admit it, but I was starting to give up on getting our flight back, why? The answer was easy. It didn't make sense. No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't get off the ground unless I used an external element, I was somewhat desperate, so I agreed easily enough when I heard Sunny's hypothesis. Joining the two crystals together would restore the magic.

Thinking about it scientifically, it didn't make much sense, but neither did it make sense to be unable to lift yourself up when it was physically possible. I agreed to steal mom's crystal because what could go wrong? I had to stop thinking about that phrase, it all went wrong.

The hardest part of the night was leaving Pipp behind when it all went wrong. I felt horrible, she had revealed our secret to the whole kingdom, leaving us as fugitives. I also didn't understand how Mom had been arrested, I mean, she's the queen. While we had lied for generations, there were many noble houses who knew the truth, even some subjects who helped us.

Pipp had managed to escape, and to my surprise helped us get out of the city. I was a little jealous that he knew the streets of our kingdom better, but we managed to get out thanks to that. The rest of the trip was uncomfortable, at least at first. Pipp and I argued every chance we got, but everything changed the second night.

It was a surprise to learn that unicorns had no magic, but that didn't stop Izzy from saying that my sister had a seawater-colored aura. I refrained from asking, as I wasn't interested. I liked to tease Hitch as much as possible, watching him try to make fire was funny in its own way. But I do recognize the fact that once the fire was out, he walked away from us a bit, quite gentlemanly.

Sunny and Izzy's story touched me, and I thought it from the bottom of my heart. We pegasus believed that earth ponies practically lived in caves and were somewhat wild. Unicorns were just dangerous for the simple fact that they had magic. After getting to know Sunny and Izzy more I decided I would help them, no longer just because I wanted to restore our flight, or rescue mom, I wanted to believe in Sunny's vision of a united Equestria.

At Bridlewood, things could have gone better. We almost ended up in a saloon fight if it weren't for Hitch. I knew I could have helped somewhat, but Alphabitlle was too big, and I had to protect my little sister. I often joined the royal guard training for exercise, I needed muscle for my experiments. I knew Zipp had a good physique, his dance classes were no joke, I remember how she once invited me to join and I couldn't stand it, it didn't make sense.

To my surprise, Mom had found us, apparently with the help of Cloudpuff, who had tracked Hitch thanks to her badge. At that moment a fight almost broke out, had it not been for Sunny, who wasted no time and joined the two crystals together, just so nothing would happen.

I don't think I had ever seen someone break down like that, I felt helpless, useless, unable to help a friend. The last thing I saw her do was to apologize to mom for all the trouble she had caused. Hitch had verbally said goodbye to us, and it hurt me to see them leave like that. Was I going to keep quiet just like that? No, of course not. Sunny and Hitch were my friends, true friends, who were not with us because we were princesses. Thinking about it, I can say that they were my first friends.

Mom was talking to the guards, who seemed a little worried about something. I could hear a name I didn't like, the first minister of the kingdom, Dark Strike. I was more curious now about the conversation, but I had more important matters now. Pipp, Izzy, and I fled to Maretime bay.

Who cares about magic? I wanted my friends to be okay, and fortunately, my sister and Izzy felt the same way. When we got to Maretime bay it was easy to find Sunny and Hitch, they were literally coming right at us. Mom, the royal guards, and some unicorns caught up with us, and on Sunny and Hitch's side a giant robot, piloted by a red pony with a golden mane, caught up with them.

I will never forget that afternoon. Sunny and Hitch's childhood friend had a screw loose, nearly crushed Alphabitlle, and destroyed Sunny's house. In the end, Mom, Alphabitlle, and a mare I didn't recognize chose reconciliation.

Our group had left Maretime bay behind, after saying goodbye to Sunny and the others. Sunny had transformed into something with wings and a horn, I didn't know what name to refer to, and from what I could gather it seemed temporary. None of us could touch her wings or horn.

We were on the road heading for Zephyr Heights, about to enter a forest. I was flying, three feet off the ground, but flying, nonetheless. It was strange, all my life I felt like I had been doing it just like this, flapping my wings, but nothing ever happened, until today. Thanks to my experiments with ventilators, I was used to hovering, which was a great help.

"Zipp, this is more complicated than you make it look." My sister was complaining, but I could see her looking pretty good.

"I've practiced for years, but this is as new to me as it is to you." It wasn't a lie.

Mom was below us, along with Cloudpuff. She had two guards in front of her and two behind. I recognized two of them, one was Lieutenant Zoom Zephyrwing, mainly in charge of guarding me, I had known her since I was ten, when she was assigned as my personal guard, a great honor in her words, but she never went over the line of duty. She was quite serious.

The other one I recognized was Thunder. Unlike Zoom, he didn't come from a noble house, he was a commoner. But he was recommended for the royal guard by the commander Hummingbird of the guard, so Mom assigned him as Zoom's subordinate when he was 12 years old. Other than that, I didn't know much about them, Thunder was quite talkative, but Zoom always reprimanded him for that.

We headed into the forest, fortunately, the trees were far enough away from the road that the branches didn't get in the way of our attempted flight.

"I can't wait to get to the castle and take a nice bath." I agreed. But something caught my attention, Pipp looked a little worried, and I could sense why.

"Are you scared to go back to the kingdom?" I asked.

"...Yes, I'm afraid they won't spare us."

"Everything will be fine. We brought the flight back to our kingdom, it may be difficult at first, but I'm sure they will forgive us eventually."

"I think you have become too disconnected from your citizens. It's not so easy to be accepted and forgiven, not from my point of view."

I wanted to retort, but I didn't know-how. I hadn't paid much attention to the media in recent years beyond what was necessary. I trusted Pipp for that. I wanted to keep talking, but Mom called out to us.

"Zipp, Pipp, we're going to spend the night in this clearing, we'll continue in the morning."

We landed next to the group, three of the four guards split up, leaving Thunder watching Mom. They went to get firewood and food. Fortunately, apple trees were everywhere, I had only eaten apples the last two days, but I understood our situation.

We approached mom, who looked at us with one of her smiles.

"I see you were having fun up there."

"Yes, flying really does feel amazing."

"Certainly, the wires were a bit annoying."

"Glad to hear it." I could see her smile fade, now staring off into nothingness.

"Mom, are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about." I was lying, I knew her well enough to realize that. I wanted to dig into the matter, but I had to do it slowly.

"So, mom, how did you escape from prison?" I knew it was a touchy subject, especially with me being the culprit, but it seemed like a good place to start.

"Mom's cute little baby came to my rescue." She said as she petted Cloudpuff. "After escaping, Cloudpuff found a badge and we followed the track to Bridlewood." During our journey, I could see that Hitch was an animal magnet, I wouldn't be surprised if Cloudpuff fell for his charms.

"Mom." Pipp interrupted. "Why did they lock you up? You're the queen." He asked a good question; I was curious too.

Mom was silent for a second, then started talking.

"Prime Minister Dark Strike told me it was the best way to defuse the situation, and I thought he was right. During Pipp's presentation I was the one who took her down from the wires, but when I came out to rescue you, you were gone, and I was surrounded by outraged pegasus. I thought they had taken you to hurt you, or worse." I could see a tear fall from his right eye. "At that moment Lieutenant Zoom and Thunder rescued me from the crowd, it was at that moment that Strike told me he was putting me under house arrest to defuse the situation."

I felt horrible. I never thought our citizens could do something like that to Pipp, lie or not, his voice was real.

"I was so scared of you two that I decided to run away, but if it wasn't for Cloudpuff, it wouldn't have been so easy." Cloudpuff barked in response. He was quite adorable when he didn't get in the way of my plans.

"Mom, I'm so sorry about what happened at the concert, I didn't think things would escalate like that." I lowered my head. "The fact that I didn't agree to lie wasn't reason enough to ruin your lives. I'm really sorry." I felt my chest inflate and deflate rather quickly. I could feel that I was about to cry when a warm hug came unexpectedly from Mom.

"Zephyrina, I'm the one who needs to apologize." I raised my head; I couldn't believe what I had heard. "Our family has lied to our kingdom for generations, the weight of the crown means carrying on that lie and protecting our subjects, and I almost handed it to you even though you didn't share that lie. Sometimes being in charge, means doing things you don't want to, for the greater good."

Still holding me in her embrace, I felt a drop fall on my face. I wanted to look Mom in the eye, but the more I moved, the tighter she hugged me.

"The common good became our lie, we tried to fool ourselves into believing that truth, and I'm sure everypony who has passed through the crown thinks if a better world isn't possible. But the status quo is very tempting, happiness intoxicates us, and we stop thinking about improving."

That made me wonder what would happen if I hadn't met my friends? I probably would have become my mother, just as she became hers. I couldn't blame her; we were both victims of a chain that bound our kingdom for hundreds of years.

The other guards were starting to arrive, two were bringing apples and Zoom was bringing firewood. I could see how Thunder had a small tear on his stoic face, probably listening to our conversation. I forgot you were there, buddy.

The guards quickly lit the fire, today's dinner was freshly picked apples. Dinner happened in silence, no one said anything, I was beginning to question what my reign would have been like without knowing my friends. Could I have required my children to lie? I didn't know, and fortunately, I hoped I would never know. My expression must have looked grim, as Mom broke the silence rather abruptly.

"You know, shortly after I was crowned, I met Sunny's father, Argyle Starshine." I dropped the apple, Pipp choked a little, which caused our guards to look at us in surprise.

"Do you remember the great hunger thirty years ago?" Mom asked. I knew I had learned about it in school.

The great hunger had come thirty years ago, just in the year of Mom's coronation. Some took it as a bad omen, but Mom had dealt with it masterfully, just as it came it went, making the bad omens a test of her leadership skills. Or so they taught in school.

"The cause was simply, a massive increase in population, we were producing too little food and consuming too much. The geography of Zephyr Heights made it difficult to produce, there are few fertile areas, and we couldn't farm in the mountain valley for fear of an attack by earth ponies or unicorns. I received a letter from a representative of the earth pony commonwealth, his name was Exel Carina, expressing his wishes to have an audience with me. Both Strike and Hummingbird refused, as it seemed very suspicious, but I ended up agreeing." She was moving the fire with a twig, watching the flames with a smile on his face. Both Pipp and I, and the guards had their eyes open.

"We gathered outside, and I was only accompanied by Strike and Hummingbird, as the meeting was confidential. We found only Exel Carina and another earth pony, he introduced himself as Argyle Starshine. He was a light blue-colored earth pony, purple eyes, and a cuti mark with a golden shooting star. Summing up the conversation, Exel proposed to me that the commonwealth would sell food to Zephyr Heights, of course being a secret deal for both countries. Strike was opposed, while Hummingbird agreed. In the end, I agreed and since then, approximately forty percent of the food consumed in Zephyr Heights comes from the earth ponies."

Our guards were in shock, and I couldn't blame them. In my entire life, the fact that I was eating food imported from earth ponies never crossed my mind. It's not like I cared where the food came from, but this was certainly unexpected.

"Every half year, Argyle would come to a secret meeting to file paperwork, it was at those meetings that we got to know each other better and ended up becoming friends, in fact... he was the first pony I ever felt anything special for."

"We're Sunny's sisters?" Pipp asked abruptly.

"Of course not!" replied Mom. I caught a hint of a blush on her face, which surprised me. Mom had a crush on Sunny's father before she met Dad?

"Argyle used to tell me about ancient Equestria every chance he got, he really believed in unity, which I must admit was quite fanciful, until he told me about an ancient alicorn princess named Twilight Sparkle. She had the title of princess of friendship, which made her sound even more unrealistic. But I changed my mind when he showed me her cuti mark, it was the same one that was in the old balloon station, better known as your lab, Zipp."

I could sympathize with the sentiment, it was Sunny's book that inspired me to talk to him, nowhere else, I had seen that star. Now that he thought about it, if the stained-glass window had the pegasus and unicorns with their crystals, perhaps the center originally had an earth pony with its crystal. It was not unthinkable.

"Years passed, and at one point he was replaced by another pony, it was very sudden and I felt very lonely when I didn't see him again. I wanted to ask his whereabouts, but I was never told, our agreement was just that, a deal."

"Was that when you met dad?" I asked. Mom's affable face turned into a frown. I knew she hated our father and was trying everything she could to avoid telling us where he went. We only knew he was alive.

"...Yes, Mr. Orange Wing reminded me a bit of Argyle, I wanted to get the flight back for the pegasus, but I just stopped there, if only I had known him better myself..."

You wouldn't have married him. My mother had told me I took after my father, I knew she didn't mean it as a good thing, and she always tried to keep me away from my research, but I couldn't let that dream die, one that was now a reality. I lowered my head, understanding what she meant, but then I saw how she looked at me.

"Zephyrina, Pipp, you are my pride and joy, never doubt that. I just can't forgive him for abandoning them at their young age." Mom hugged us and we hugged her back. I wanted to know more, but I didn't want her to feel sad. We didn't grow up are one parent, Mom is worth two, and that's what matters.

"Enough talk for today. We'll get to the kingdom first thing tomorrow morning; I just hope no pegasus got hurt or worse from trying to fly." We all nodded; guards included.

With that, we went to bed. The guards would take turns protecting us while the three of us plus Cloudpuff were curled up on top of each other. All my worries slowly went away as I lost consciousness. For the first time in a long time, I was happy to be with my family.

It dawned without a problem, we had a quick breakfast of apples and set off to the kingdom. I can't deny being a bit scared, I don't think the pegasus would forgive us so easily, but I was hoping the flight would be a strong bargaining chip to appease them.

We were currently on a somewhat steep road heading to the top of the mountain, where Zephyr Heights is located. I will never get bored of the views, they are truly beautiful, being as high as possible in luxury our kingdom has every day. And more so now that they can fly through skies, it just takes some practice.

"This is strange, we haven't run into any patrols, any ideas lieutenant Zoom?" mom started talking to the guards, but she had a point, we hadn't seen any patrols. I usually tried to avoid them, but that wasn't the case today.

"None your highness. Several teams were deployed to arrest you, but patrols should be running their normal course." I was glad to know that Mom was still referred to as "her highness." I remembered that Zoom was the only one who stood up for Mom in front of the unicorns. Maybe there was still a chance that everything would end well.

We kept walking, and soon we passed a cluster of clouds that always settled near the city, however, this time it was different, it was... difficult. Usually, we passed through with no problems, but today they seemed almost solid, like a somewhat soft wall. There were also several rabbits hopping here and there.

Soon we reached the entrance to the town. It looked like a ghost town. The big billboards were out. There wasn't a single pony on the streets, even the big newsreel screens were off. Mom looked really worried now, a feeling I shared.

"Let's go to the palace, something's wrong." Zoom and Thunder nodded, the other two guards were still wearing blank expressions, which I found somewhat disturbing.

We walked through the sprawling streets of the city; it was strange. They were empty but very orderly, there was no trash, and everything was very tidy, contrasting with the day we fled the city. Not even looking inside the buildings, we could not see a single soul.

We arrived at the elevator that communicated with the castle, the highest point of the mountain. To our surprise, two guards stood guard at the entrance to the elevator. They seemed surprised to see us, more the royal family together than the guards.

"Guards, what's going on, what happened to the kingdom?" mom asked. She was in queen mode, having her eyes narrowed and a dignified pose.

They said nothing, just looked at each other, fortunately, Zoom intervened.

"¡Soldiers! The queen asked you a question, answer it." The guards were startled but eventually relented.

"Prime Minister Dark Strike awaits you." They were downright rude, omitted the royal titles, and simply tucked us inside the elevator. Something smelled fishy.

"Zipp, I'm scared." Pipp whispered in my ear as we rode up, getting an overview of the city. It was totally blacked out, only now we could see some guard patrols. I guess they limited them inside the city.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine, mom will take care of everything." I replied, but I was the one who was probably more scared. At best we would be exiled, and at worst we would be locked up for life...or worse. I shook my head, pushing those negative thoughts out of my mind, nothing we did warranted the second option.

The elevator stopped at the highest part and opened the doors, the two guards that accompanied us the whole trip got out first as if it was the most normal thing in the world and perched on both sides of the door. In front of us stood Prime Minister Dark Strike, along with Hummingbird and six royal guards.

Dark Strike was a rather tall stallion. He had a strong yellow coat, dark blue mane, light blue eyes, and a cuti mark of a black hoof raising a white feather. Hummingbird was the captain of the royal guard, she had a whitish-green coat, black mane, yellow eyes, and a cuti mark with two crossed spears and a sword in the middle.

Strike had a vain smile on his face, while Hummingbird showed more concern, not for us, his eyes were riveted on Thunder, to my right.

"Haven, I'm glad to see you well and it fills me with joy that your daughters are doing well." He didn't call Mom by her title, which was a bad sign, Zoom moved to the front, but Mom extended her hoof to stop her, without looking at her. A frown was beginning to form.

"Prime Minister Strike, what happened to my city? There seems to be a state of emergency."

"Very sharp as always. And that's the answer, while we found the traitorous family, no one is allowed to leave their homes. Except for the royal guard."

"A somewhat extreme measure if I may say so. But we're here now, aren't we? I'm going to put an end to this... state of emergency."

"Very funny Haven, coming in as if nothing has happened and giving orders as if you were the queen." He said with a chuckle. Oh no, I already knew what was going on, I assume mom knows, while Pipp was in shock at the way she was talking to her mother, the queen.

"I am the queen, and while my family may have gained some animosity lately, it's not reason enough to depose us, we've been taking care of this kingdom for half a millennium." Mom was starting to get angry. "Furthermore, I will take full responsibility for my family, relinquish the throne and crown Zephyrina as the new queen."

WHAT! I couldn't believe it. She hadn't said any of this before. I was shaking, not from excitement, but because I didn't want the crown, I didn't feel ready.

"Hahaha, very funny Haven. They're all guilty of lying, while it's not a crime per se, I don't see any pegasus in the city supporting them." I wanted to refute, but I knew I couldn't, the only ones on our side were Zoom and Thunder, who kept looking Hummingbird in the eye.

"Let's skip the game, Strike, should I take your actions as an act of betrayal?"

"The traitor talking about treason, ironic."

What to do. We lacked popular support, Pipp was scared, and we only had two guards with us. We needed reinforcements, I considered flying out and asking my friends for help, but I didn't want to involve them in this. It was our problem. And on the other hand, I didn't want to abandon Pipp, not again. Maybe...

"Also, it occurred to me that maybe your family had something to do with the fact that we couldn't fly, as soon as they left town, several pegasus was able to fly away, almost as if it was magic."

Now that was it. We were being framed for something we didn't do and with a lie so obvious that it made me sick to my stomach just to think that any pony would believe such a lie.

"You know perfectly well that's a lie, no one could fly, not even us."

"The people will believe what I tell them." He made an unpleasant smile. "Perhaps if you hadn't chosen Orange instead of me, maybe your little secret would still be in the shadows."

"Watch your words, I may hate him for abandoning us, but given the situation, I'm glad I chose him over you. Do you want the crown that badly?" Mom said pointing her hoof at the crown. Mom finally asked him point-blank. This was a full-fledged coup.

"Indeed, but that crown is a symbol of the old monarchy, I'll make one of my own, but thank you for offering it." He slowly approached Mom with his smug, nasty grin. Cloudpuff, Zoom, and Thunder stepped in front of Mom and took up fighting positions. Quickly the other six guards accompanying Strike did the same, but what was striking was that the two guards accompanying us did nothing.

"I see. Zipp, here." Mom took off her crown and handed it to me. I blinked in confusion not understanding what was going on. "Seek help or political asylum with your sister in the commonwealth, Mom will be fine," She whispered as she kissed me on the forehead, then Pipp.

"Mom, I don't want to leave you..." Pipp told her practically crying.

"No time for goodbye, fly away and forgive me for being such a bad mother." She said as she joined Zoom and Thunder. I wasn't sure what to expect from mom, but I knew it would hurt to see her get hurt.

"Come on Pipp, let's go get help." I put the heavy crown away as I looked at Pipp.

"I don't want to part with..." She couldn't finish the sentence, we watched as two guards subdued Mom. Zoom and Thunder were fighting with three others, while another had run through them in our direction.

I wasted no time and pulled my sister, I didn't want to say it, but I felt her a little heavier than before. We ran with tears in our eyes ready to fly away. And we did, unfortunately not for long, the guard had managed to bite Pipp's tail, holding her tightly and making her let out a squeal.

I quickly pulled her along, I noticed how some of the guards were surprised to see us flying without wires, which backfired on them, as Zoom and Thunder hit them pretty hard.

"I won't let you again, Pipp!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, I couldn't bear to do that to my sister, again, even if it meant being captured along with her. The two guards that had suppressed Mom were now coming to help their partner, Zoom and Thunder tried to intercept them, but Hummingbird joined the fray and was strong enough to suppress them both.

I was pulling with all my might on Pipp as I looked into her eyes, I could see my reflection in her kiwi green eyes, she had an anguished look on her face. I was pathetic. The two guards came to her aid, and I could quickly see more guards leaving the castle. Even if she was desperate, I wouldn't let her go.

Surprisingly it was Pipp who let go of me, she had tears on his face, but now she accompanied it with a smile.

"Pipp!" I shouted at her.

"Get help, majesty." She answered me. Releasing her, she shot off along with the guard who was dragging her, taking the other two with her. I wanted to jump in and rescue her, but it would be useless. I felt my chest burning, perhaps out of impotence, anger or simply Pipp's determination had gotten to me. I didn't want to do it; I didn't want them to see my flank running. But jumping in there wouldn't help anyone.

I accepted his determination, knowing that I wasn't abandoning them, I was coming back, one way or another. While flying was still new to me, I knew how to plan. I was gliding all over the city, I could see some pegasus from the higher windows, surprised to see their criminal princess flying, some even took out their cell phones.

Unlike the night before I felt lighter than before, and scared, as soon as I left the city behind, I could see a landscape I had never seen before, a beautiful blue sky with no clouds, a big forest in the distance, the crystal-clear ocean and the forest we had come through.

I was frightened by the height, making me hesitate and starting to descend abruptly, I tried to level myself, but the wind roared in my face, making it difficult for me to think. Reaching the forest, I flapped my wings to land, unfortunately, the trees were not very friendly, I felt my consciousness fading. My sister's face came to my mind with her last word, "majesty", damn, I was beginning to hate that word. With that last thought, the world went black, and my consciousness shut down.