Standing side by side, Sunny Starscout and Izzy Moonbow stood between the two pegasi guards who had captured them in the confines of the elevator. Sunny with her book in one hoof and Izzy with a tennis ball attached to the end of her horn, the two were somewhat aware that they were in a pickle. And yet, they were both grinning ear to ear as they would see the royal pegasi of Zephyr Heights. They had no idea how many there were, guessing it was just a few select ponies within one family, but Sunny had hope that she could reach through to at least one of them and bring unity to all of Equestria. Taking a deep breath, Sunny only calmed her pounding heart a little as the elevator doors opened.
Being led by Thunder and Zoom into the room with the royal throne, they were greeted by a dozen pegasi ringing trumpets and announcing the royals’ would be in the room shortly. All of the trumpet-wielding ponies then left the room, leaving Sunny to flip through the pages in her book while Izzy bounced in place and giggled.
“Hey! Chill out, don’t make any sudden moves!” Zoom hissed at Izzy. “You may not be able to read our minds, but we know you’re up to something!”
Izzy opened her mouth to respond when she heard a loud bump against one of the pillars in the building. Stumbling into view, a mint green pegasus with bright blue eyes shook his head and walked towards the two mares with a wide-eyed gaze.
“An earth pony and a unicorn?” the green pegasus gasped. “Well, I’ll be darned. My name is Trip! Looks like the two of you are contained, so I can be near them?”
“Well, the earth ponies have strong bodies even though they’re dumb,” Zoom explained. “So maybe don’t get close to her.”
“Did you say an earth pony and a unicorn?!” a similar voice yelled from across the room, and Sunny and Izzy gasped as a bright pink pegasus stallion with a blonde mane skipped into the room, radiating pure excitement as he stopped beside Trip. “Hi, my name is Skip. I’m Trip’s brother, but you probably assumed that already. Did I miss anything?! I can’t believe we get to see an earth pony and a unicorn in the flesh!”
“Skip, are you stupid?!” Trip glared up at his taller and svelte brother. “There’s a reason that we didn’t see any of them, they’d be dangerous if they weren’t contained!”
“Perhaps we need our other brother for extra protection,” Skip pondered, placing a hoof to his lips.
“Hey! Are we chopped liver over here?!” Thunder and Zoom protested nearly at the same time.
“How many of you are there?” Sunny’s eyes were as wide as saucers as she looked above the two stallions expectedly.
“Well, you’re about to find out!” Skip assured her, turning his back to the two mares and skipping back where he came from. “Whip! We’re going to need you out here!”
With bated breath, Sunny and Izzy watched as Skip proceeded to skip his way back to Trip’s side. Only a few moments later, a bulkier dark orange stallion with black stripes and a whip held with his muzzle stepped out with piercing green eyes. With a boxing glove and a whip as his cutie mark, Sunny and Izzy gulped in unison as the biggest pony in the room stopped and sat in the corner away from the rest of them.
“...Hi new friend?” Izzy peeped up, following the greeting with a nervous giggle as the stallion named Whip didn’t respond, quietly holding the whip as the only indication that he heard Izzy was a brief flicker of his ears. Walking out was a tall pale pink mare with a crown and a pregnant belly, with a pink pegasus and a familiar white pegasus walking out behind her.
“What is the meaning of this?” the Queen scowled at Trip and Skip. “Didn’t I tell you two to wait with the other brothers while we diffused this situation?”
“Wait, why aren’t you scolding Whip?! That’s not fair!” Trip whined at his mother.
“There’s more of them?!” Sunny gawked.
“Whip is just minding his own business over there,” the Queen shrugged. While she was speaking to her sons, Izzy made eye contact with Zipp, who shook her head frantically. Getting the hint, Sunny and Izzy gave a small nod that the Queen didn’t notice before her eyes landed on Sunny and Izzy.
“Hi, Queen…” Sunny drifted off, allowing the mare to finish the sentence.
“Queen Haven,” Haven spat out the two words, glaring at the earth pony before looking to her guards. “What is the meaning of this? Is this an invasion from the other pony species? Speak up, you two!”
“We found them near Zephyr Heights,” Zoom explained, bowing to her Queen before explaining pointing at Izzy’s tenni ball. “It’s okay, we deployed the shield with the unicorn here! Everything is under control.”
“I still need to know how many more of you there are,” Sunny insisted. “Is there a Blip? Slip? Rip? Oh my goodness, this needs to go in my book!”
“No!” Haven shouted. “Take these two to the dungeon, nopony can know they’re here!”
“Hey Pipsqueaks~” Haven’s blood ran cold as she heard her daughter Pipp’s sing-song voice behind her. Turning around, she saw Pipp holding her phone for a livestream as she recorded Sunny and Izzy behind her. “Can you guys believe it? An earth pony and a unicorn are in Zephyr Heights! I-hey!”
“There’s nothing to worry about, my little ponies,” Queen Haven assured her subjects as she grabbed the phone and pointed it to her face. “They’re captured and none of you have anything to worry about-OW!”
Queen Haven dropped the phone and turned around, glaring down at the smaller dark blue pegasus stallion with a black mane who had walked in the room. Moving back, the pegasus’ ears flattened as he looked down at the ground.
“Sorry, Mom, you know I can’t help it,” the pegasus whimpered.
“You’re forgiven, Nip,” Haven sighed, picking up the phone and signing off.
“We’re just here to ask some questions,” Sunny reassured the mare. “Like, what will you be naming the foal in your belly? Quip? Flip? Chip?”
“I told you two to escort this earth pony and unicorn to the dungeon!” Queen Haven ordered. “And confiscate the book!”
“Wait, no!” Sunny protested, watching as Thunder took the book away from her, the two leading them down to the dungeons. “I didn’t even get to meet all the brothers yet!”
The dungeon room Sunny and Izzy shared was significantly nicer than either of them expected, with a bowl of fruits and plants in the golden room, Sunny’s main concern was getting her questions answered and getting her book back. Laying on a couch and shaking her head, the mare heard hoofsteps approaching. Seeing an ordinary brown and white pegasus stallion walk into view on the other side of the bars, Sunny got up and rushed up to him.
“Are you another one of the brothers?!” Sunny grinned.
“Y-Yeah? My name is Blip,” the stallion shrugged. “I know, I don’t look as flashy as my other siblings. But I can answer your questions if you’d like, just don’t tell Mom.”
“Yes!” Izzy squealed, bouncing to Sunny’s side as the two mares grinned at Blip, causing the taller stallion to get nervous and blush.
“We have so many questions!” Sunny gushed. “But we need to know first, what is Queen Haven going to be naming her new foal?”
“If you must know,” Blip looked to his left and right, making sure no other pegasus was listening before he leaned in and whispered. “His name is going to be Dave.”
Sunny and Izzy stared at Blip with their muzzles scrunched up as they silently stared at the stallion for the longest time before speaking up at once.
“What?!”
