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.