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.