Many of the angels heavily doubted Clarence Oddbody's chances of earning his wings--even Clarence was nearly losing his faith that he could ever ascend to Angel First Class. But ever since that faithful night when he restored George Bailey's will to live, Clarence went from being an underestimated Angel Second Class to one of the most respected Angel First Class's in all of Heaven. After his first success, Clarence would go on to achieve even more outstanding feats that added up to a whopping grand total of a hundred and ninety-nine successful tasks. But it is his two hundredth task that serves as the concern for our story, which started when a recently arrived Angel Second Class by the name of Argyle paid Clarence a visit before setting off to earn his wings.
"Hello Clarence, I've come to return the book you lent me."
"Thank you very much, Argyle." Clarence graciously reclaimed his copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. "Are you nervous about your first assignment? Because if it helps ease your mind, I didn't earn my wings on my first try either."
"Oh no, I'm sure that helping Queen Haven with her empty nest syndrome won't prove too difficult. I was actually wondering if you could do me a favor?"
"What sort of favor?"
"It's about my daughter, Sunny Starscout. She's accomplished so much since my passing, but lately I've begun to notice that many of the townsponies still don't appreciate all the good things she has done to help better their lives."
"Oh dear, that does sound awful. Let me try to get a clear picture of the ponies in your world." Putting his newly earned abilities to good use, Clarence concentrated all of his thoughts into seeing the image of five ponies. "I'm seeing five ponies. The orange mare is Sunny if I remember your descriptions of her correctly. I see that she got to help unite all the pony kinds together and earned wings and a horn of her own; ponies with wings and a horn are known as alicorns if I recall. Now I'm seeing her telling the town about wanting to construct a community garden for the earth ponies to practice their newfound magic and start eating more vegetables in their diets, but many of them don't seem to care. Now I'm seeing those same ponies worshiping her while she's in her alicorn form, but it looks like Sunny doesn't feel like it's right. She's trying to inspire them to get involved in her noble causes while in her earth pony form, but now the ponies are booing her away. Oh dear, the poor thing looks completely heartbroken; but it appears that her friends are cheering her up, and they even constructed a community garden for her. Well there you have it, Argyle, your daughter is in good hooves as you ponies would say."
"I am relieved that my Sunny has true friends by her side, but that doesn't change the fact that the rest of Maretime Bay does not give her the appreciation she deserves. You saw everything she has accomplished up to that point, uniting all of pony kind together, restoring magic, and even providing means to harnessing that magic. Those ponies are completely ignorant towards Sunny's significance, and I was hoping that you could head down and help them realize that."
"Well that's quite a tall order, even for an Angel First Class. I saw just how many ponies weren't treating your daughter with the respect she more than earned, I don't even know where to possibly start."
"I can assist thee with that." The booming voice of the Lord answered.
"Why Heavenly Father, I didn't think you would consider us worthy of your time." Clarence replied to God as if he were begging his pardon.
"All angels are worthy of mine time," God assured him with a calm tone. "I am well aware of the request Argyle has beseeched thee. I also recognize that making an entire town understand the errors of their ways would be too great a task for a capable Angel First Class such as thyself. Hence why I have narrowed it down to four specific ponies as means of making the task easier for thou." By means of his wonderous powers, the Almighty presented Clarence images of the four ponies whose attitude towards Sunny that he'll have to rehabilitate. "This yellow mare is called Posey; she is the crankiest and most entitled pony in Maretime Bay, she'll more than likely pose the most difficult for thee. This pink mare is called Dahlia; while not intentionally cruel towards her fellow ponies, she can still be prone to taking their friendship and kindness for granted. This blue stallion is called Toots; he never appreciates Sunny's advice for adopting a healthier diet, but he'll soon eat his way to an early grave should his path in life remain unaltered. Finally, this purple filly is called Seashell; like many youths of her generation, her life is entirely fixated upon a small screen that blinds her to the important aspects of life. Take as much time as thou require to learn about these ponies, and then descend upon Equestria to provide them with the epiphany that they're in great need of."
...
"See ya, girls!" Seashell waved off to her best friends, Glory and Peach Fizz, as she made her way to a nearby table that is currently being occupied by Toots and Dahlia. "Can I join?"
"Sure you can," Toots permitted her request. "Posey is getting us some French fries and soda. Sweets was supposed to join us, but I got a text from her saying she has an appointment at Mane Melody for one of Jazz's hooficures, so you can help yourself to her meal if you'd like."
Arriving to the table as quickly as she was mentioned, Posey laid down the tray which carried enough cups of soda and boxes of fries for everypony when she finally noticed Seashell's presence. "Hey there Seashell, any new music videos from Pipp?"
"Not really," Seashell admitted glumly, "lately she's just been posting videos of herself mimicking Sparky. I didn't think the day Princess Pipp would run out of ideas would ever come."
"Eh, all influencers experience viral lag at some point." Posey shrugged while helping herself to a mouthful of fries. "So what big announcement did Sunny make this time?"
"Who cares?" Toots' mood suddenly soured. "I only showed up to see her in her alicorn form, and she couldn't be bothered to stay in it."
Dahlia stopped sipping her soda in order to add her own input. "Besides, even if she was in her alicorn form, she was probably just gonna preach about how we need to build a community garden and eat healthy."
"And why is that such a bad thing?"
Regaining their composure after the initial shock from hearing that voice, the four ponies directed their sights to find that the voice belonged to an elderly blue unicorn wearing a fedora and coat. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" Posey requested the strange unicorn's identity on behalf of her three peers.
"I am Clarence Oddbody A.F.1." The unicorn tipped his hat which revealed his white mane while he gave a courteous bow.
"Wait, A.F.1?" Dahlia voiced her confusion. "What does that stand for?"
"Angel First Class."
Toots had chosen an inopportune time to stuff his entire mouth with all of his fries as hearing Clarence's astounding explanation caused him to suffer a choking fit which would have most definitely killed him had he not quickly sucked up the entire soda that remained in his plastic cup to ease up the blockage in his throat. After exhaling for a few seconds, Toots took the chance to ask Clarence, "I'm sorry, but did you really just say 'angel'?"
"Don't my wings make it obvious?" Clarence hadn't noticed that the wings he rightfully earned were not plain to see until now. "Oops, you probably couldn't see them because of my coat. Let me remedy that." Discarding his coat, Clarence was finally permitted to unfold his angelic wings like an eagle preparing to soar, which left the four ponies stunned in absolute amazement.
"You were an alicorn this whole time?" Seashell spoke with the same admiration whenever she'd speak to Princess Pipp.
"Not an alicorn, an angel." Clarence corrected.
"Aren't angels supposed to have halos floating above their heads?" Toots asked as if he couldn't believe that this blue winged unicorn was really standing before him.
"Oh no, that's just a common misconception. Besides, I didn't come all the way from Heaven to educate you all about angels, but to fulfill a request that Argyle had asked of me."
"Argyle? As in Sunny's dad?" Dahlia yearned for some clarification.
"Of course. Do you have any reason to doubt the possibility that the soul of a loving father such as Argyle would be considered worthy of spending an eternity in Heaven?"
"Well no, nopony ever thought Argyle wasn't a nice pony." Dahlia answered the angel's question. "But why would he want an angel to speak to us?"
"The long and short of it is that Argyle was rather displeased with the contemptible way you all treated his daughter throughout today, and after all the time I spent watching Sunny's entire life up to this point I understood perfectly why he would ask me to aid his daughter. Of course, teaching all the ponies who were rude to Sunny would take too much time, so my superior utilized his divine knowledge to narrow you four down as the ponies who need to learn the error of their ways the most."
"So some ponies were mean to Sunny. So what?" Posey dismissed Clarence's account. "It's not like it'll be the death of her."
"Considering the thousands of souls in life who often contemplate ending their own lives' upon feeling so unloved by everyone around them, it's all the more fortunate that Sunny has true friends who appreciate her for the compassionate pony that she truly is, and not for the alicorn you--and everypony else--were overvaluing."
"It's not like it's our fault that Sunny's alicorn form is the only thing that matters to us." Dahlia attempted to justify hers'-and her fellow townsponies'--actions.
"You really think that being an alicorn is the only thing that makes Sunny important to all of you?" Clarence inquired.
"Well yeah," Dahlia insisted, "I mean, without her alicorn form, she's just the same preachy nag who constantly tries to get everypony involved in whatever silly causes that comes to her mind."
"And yet this so called 'preachy nag' is more worthy of being an alicorn than any of you." Clarence reminded Dahlia and her three peers. "Also, if I recall correctly, you all thought that the notion of earth ponies being friends with pegasi and unicorns was ludicrous, but that never stopped Sunny from believing that dream could become a reality, even when you and the rest of Maretime Bay ostracized her for it. And now you all see that living a life where all pony kind are united in harmony didn't turn out to be as bad as you were originally led to believe."
"Yeah, so long as you don't include the days when my garden gets vandalized, my mane getting covered in smoothies, and when my life becomes a general inconvenience the moment I come into contact with any unicorn or pegasi (especially Izzy)." Posey gripped about her various woes.
"Yes, I'm well aware about your dislike towards non-earth ponies." Clarence informed the town grump. "Especially that time you practically convinced your fellow earth ponies that the pegasi and unicorns were intentionally trying to harm all of you; even though it was your own magic envy that was causing pegasi to plummet from the sky and unicorns to drop whatever objects they were carrying with their magic in the first place."
"Well wouldn't you feel the same way if you had to walk around town and see unicorns and pegasi do all of these amazing things while you feel like somepony who got the short end of the stick? It's not like I'm the one who made it so that earth ponies would always be magicless."
"So you figured that if you couldn't possess unique magic of your own then nopony should, even if it meant fracturing the very unity and harmony that Sunny and her friends worked so hard to revitalize in the first place. And you can most certainly count yourself blessed that Sunny was even able to extricate you and Windy out of that bottomless pit in spite of the encumbrances you unknowingly caused."
"So Sunny had managed to be a hero once in a while," Toots spoke up, "I still don't see why we need to treat her like she's anything special."
"And yet you had no qualms about treating her as such when she was in her alicorn form," Clarence countered. "You were so captivated by her alicorn form that you couldn't recognize Sunny without it, even though you've known her since kindergarten."
"And she was just as annoying in school as she is right now; especially during all the lunches when she'd make me eat an entire bowl of salad before letting me eat the doughnuts and pudding cups that I actually wanted to eat."
"And the thought never occurred to you that the reason Sunny made you include some vegetables in your diet was so that you don't end up dying from diabetes as it happens to all ponies who consume nothing but sweets and other junk food their entire lives?"
"So what if eating nothing but the good stuff kills me? At least my last meal would be a delicious one."
"Besides, my friends and I did participate in some of the causes Sunny wanted us to get involved in." Seashell joined in. "We even treated her like royalty. Why would anypony not like that?"
"Probably because Sunny is the kind of pony who prefers to view herself as being on the same level as the rest of you instead of above you all." Clarence answered. "Do you think that Princess Pipp only cares about Sunny because of her alicorn form? And how do you suppose Pipp would react if she ever knew that you and your friends weren't appreciating one of her friends for who they are?"
"Well we can't all be like Pipp," Dahlia responded, "and if you ask me, I'd say that our lives would be just the same without Sunny Starscout."
"Oh, you mustn't think something so callous." Clarence shook his head. "Why, who would ever make you your favorite chunky smoothie whenever you had a rough day or help you learn to harness your plant magic if Sunny was never around?"
"Pfft! Anypony could've done what Sunny did." Posey downplayed Sunny's value. "In fact, I'd stake my entire life's savings on our lives being no different without Sunny."
"Same here," Toots seconded Posey's notion. "Hay, our lives might even be ten times better if we never had to deal with Sunny's constant nagging."
Maintaining an expression of disappointment towards these apathetic sentiments, Clarence turned to the purple filly who has returned to scrolling through her cell phone and asked, "What about you, my dear? Do you also share the mindsets of these three?"
"I guess so," Seashell nonchalantly responded all the while never once removing her gaze from the portable screen. "I mean, it's not like Glory and Peach Fizz would disappear if Sunny suddenly vanished."
"If that is indeed what you four wish, then so be it." Powering up his horn, Clarence let loose a large shockwave of magic that went through all of Equestria.
"What just happened?!" Dahlia asked with slight panic in her voice.
"I went ahead and used my divine powers as an Angel First Class to grant you your wish; you'll never have to worry about Sunny getting you involved in causes or telling you to eat healthy ever again."
"Right..." Posey dragged out that single word while picking up the leftovers. "It's been swell chatting with you, Clarence, but my garden needs tending. So I'll just go ahead and throw this trash away and..." while stepping towards the nearest trash can with her eyes closed, Posey was completely caught off guard when she felt the sudden sensation of bumping into solid metal, which caused her to drop her trash and fall on her flank only to find herself surrounded by darkness.
Screaming for help as if her life depended on it, Posey took solace in the immediate rescue from whatever dark abyss she found herself in once light had been restored and her eyes could perceive the all too familiar--as well as appreciated--presence of Sheriff Hitch. "You're lucky I was around to hear you; you probably would've been stuck in that unicorn trap much longer if I hadn't."
"Did you say, 'unicorn trap'?" Posey couldn't believe what the sheriff stated. "I thought you took them all down."
"Take them down? And make it easier for unicorns to invade Maretime Bay?"
"Besides, Canterlogic will never run out of defenses any time soon."
Nopony had noticed Sprout's presence until they heard his declaration, nor did any of them recognize his deputy regalia. The only thing plaguing Toots' mind at the moment was Sprout's statement. "I'm sorry, did you say 'Canterlogic'? Wasn't that factory shut down?"
"No, it hasn't shut down," Sprout denied that notion. "See for yourself."
Following the red stallion's instruction, Toots--along with his three peers--looked toward where the dilapidated factory stood, only to find it in prime condition along with its trademark glasses. Seeing the building made Toots want to rub the temple of his head while questioning his own sanity. "What kind of spell did Clarence cast upon us?"
"Who's Clarence?" Hitch inquired.
"He's this old pony who..." as Toots pointed the sheriff to Clarence's location, he--and his three peers--were astonished to find the elderly looking angel to be nowhere in sight.
"I don't get it; he was just right there alongside us!" Seashell insisted in a frantic manner. "Where could he have gone?!"
"I'm sure this Clarence fella couldn't have gone too far." Hitch placed a soothing hoof over the distraught filly's shoulder. "Now then, if there's nothing else that requires my attention I'll just head back to the station."
"Oh, is it almost Sparky's nap time?" Dahlia wondered.
"Uh, Sparky?"
"You know, the baby dragon that you adopted as your son?"
Taking a moment to let Dahlia's claim sink in, Hitch suddenly let out a burst of laughter. "Imagine that, me having a baby dragon for a son. You can be a real hoot sometimes, Dahlia; you should do stand-up sometime. Anywho, please pick up the litter before you all go about the rest of your day, and I'll see you all later."
Once Hitch and Sprout made their exit, the four ponies went about cleaning up the litter that Posey accidentally scattered after being stuck in the unicorn trap. After discarding the last item of trash into the nearest bin, Posey attempted to rationalize their current predicament. "OK, so some things are a bit off, but I'm sure that we're all just experiencing a morbid dream right now. So maybe if we just close our eyes for a bit, maybe we'll wake up and things will go back to normal."
Failing to think of a better alternative, the others opted to go along with Posey's plan as they each closed their eyes while remaining still as statues. Their attempt at waking themselves up barely even lasted a minute before the sounds of voices calling out for Seashell caused them to open their eyes and turned their sights to where the voices were coming from, only to find an orange colt named Plucky Pumpkin and a pink filly wearing a bucket hat named Peppy Primrose trotting towards the purple filly.
"Where were you, Seashell?" Peppy inquired. "We've been waiting for you at the Ice Cream Store all day."
"I...didn't know you were waiting for me." The purple filly quickly thought up a plausible pretext.
"But we always hang out at the Ice Cream Store after school." Plucky brought her up to speed. "Are you having amnesia?"
"No, it's just that I'd usually hang out with Glory and Peach Fizz after school."
"Who?" Plucky said with legit confusion.
Taking care not to divulge the fact the two aforementioned ponies were a pegasus and unicorn, Seashell explained in her own way, "They're my other friends besides you two; we would watch ClipTrot and YouHoof videos from Princess Pipp."
"You're right Plucky, Seashell must have amnesia." Peppy affirmed with the colt's notion. "Why else would she think she's friends with two ponies we've never heard or met before?"
"You really don't know them?" Seashell queried.
"Nope," Peppy confirmed, "and I also know nothing about a 'Princess Pipp', seeing as how the only videos we ever watch together are from the Filly Four. But I'm sure whatever's ailing you will go away by tomorrow. Laters!"
Seashell couldn't believe that nopony knew anything about Glory or Peach Fizz, let alone Princess Pipp. Searching through the contact list within her phone, Seashell became distraught upon discovering the names of her two best friends entirely missing as if their phone numbers were never added. Shaking off the lingering pang that these turns of events are inflicting upon her, Seashell turned her sights to ClipTrot and YouHoof in search of any content from Princess Pipp, only to find videos for a foals' series called Princess Pupp and commercials for an energy drink called Pip-Up.
When the purple filly finally began to accept that what Plucky and Peppy were telling her was indeed true, she quickly found herself hyperventilating into a full-blown panic attack which Dahlia was quick to subdue. "Take it easy, Seashell. Just breath in and out." Once the filly's nerves were finally calmed down, the pink mare immediately suggested, "Why don't I buy you a Strawberry-Ripple? You always like drinking Pipp's favorite smoothie."
It was truly convenient that the four ponies happened to have been close to the Sheriff's office, since it happens to be right next to the movie theater where Sunny's smoothie cart can always be found right across from it. The trips these ponies would take whenever they felt like wetting their whistles with one of Sunny's refreshing smoothies were so frequent that they could've easily have reached the cart with their eyes completely shut. It was only when the ponies actually paid attention to their surroundings that they finally became aware of the fact that the smoothie cart was nowhere to be seen; there was not even a single trace that would suggest that there once was a smoothie cart upon this very spot.
"Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me," Dahlia surmised, "because I know for a fact that Sunny's smoothie cart has always been right here."
"What are you talking about?" The gruff voice of the pale aqua stallion known as Rufus spoke up.
"The smoothie cart which typically stands across from the cinema," Dahlia elaborated. "The same cart where Sunny Starscout sells her delicious fruit smoothies. Don't you remember?"
"Never in all of my days in Maretime Bay have I ever seen a smoothie cart around here; and I certainly never heard of anypony named 'Sunny Starscout' before. Now if you'll excuse me, the Great Hoofdini has a birthday party to get to."
With those words ringing inside Dahlia's head, the pink mare was beginning to find herself succumbing to the same trepidation that previously got a hold of Seashell twenty seconds ago, and she more than likely would've flipped out had Toots not taken her mind off with his own suggestion. "OK, so some things are slightly different than they were a moment ago, but since when has Rufus ever been known to give reliable information? Why don't we head over to Mane Melody and ask Sweets instead?"
Much like Sunny's smoothie cart, Mane Melody was another locale that the ponies can easily arrive to with their eyes completely shut. Even on the worst days of their lives, the ponies could always get themselves out of any despondency with just one trip to Mane Melody; whether it be to purchase a new beauty product that Pipp concocted, or having their hooves painted with one of Jazz's spectacular hooficure designs, or receiving an out of this world mane style from Rocky, or even experiencing all three at the same time while being treated to a free singing performance from Pipp.
It wasn't until the four ponies had trotted inside the building did they discover that the entire establishment had changed. Gone were the entrancingly pink walls, the pristine tiled floors, or any semblance that this workplace was ever a beauty salon; the furnishing consisted of a few round tables each containing four chairs, a long food table which held rows of pizza of every topping, a soda fountain, and four arcade machines. While Mane Melody could make even the dirtiest of ponies feel clean with its ambience, this environment practically had squalor written all over it, what with its brown carpet infested with cockroaches and the ghastly red painted walls that gave the impression that it was literally painted with tomato sauce.
But fortunately, the ponies didn't have to let the unsanitary sights sink in much further once Toots finally spotted his taffy-colored friend drinking grape soda out of a big gulp cup. "Sweets, thank hoofness we've found you! You cannot believe the weird day we're all having right now!"
"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Sweets inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"It's me, Toots; we first met when we were foals, and we even work together at Canterlogic."
"Well I know that's not true," Sweets hiccupped before continuing, "seeing as how Toots died from diabetes at the age of nine; and I should know, considering the fact that I was there to see my friend suffer a heart attack after finishing the last bite of his doughnut at fifth grade."
"How horrible," Dahlia commented.
"That it was," Sweets resumed, "the worst part of losing him so soon is that I always thought he was kinda cute and would've liked to have had him as my special somepony. But that dream died when he did, so now I'll have to spend the rest of my life drowning my sorrows all by my lonesome. Speaking of which, I'm in need of a refill."
Once Sweets took leave of her table, the other ponies were quick to discern the flabbergasted state Toots was currently in upon letting all of Sweets' revelations sink into his subconscious. "Are you still with us, Toots?" Posey waved her hoof to shake her friend out of his stupor.
"Yeah, I'm just having a hard time grasping everything Sweets just said."
"You mean about you apparently being dead, or about her secret crush towards you?" Dahlia wondered.
"Probably both, but could one of you try poking me to make sure I'm not a ghost?"
Upon obliging the stallions' request with three pokes to his chest, Posey's sights drifted off until she spotted a familiar pony from behind. "Is that who I think it is?"
Turning their respective gazes towards the counter that took the place of Pipp's stage, the other's spotted the employee who caught Posey's interest. The pony of interest was a mare with light turquoise fur, a mane with the gradient of brilliant red and brilliant mulberry, donning a work uniform comprised of a red cap and collared shirt, who was currently filing her hooves in a blasé manner. What really stood out about this mare was the exquisitely designed hooficure pattern that adorned her hooves; there of course was only one pony in Maretime Bay who could paint hooves like a work of art, and it wasn't until the four ponies got close enough to read said pony's name tag that their suspicions over the mare's identity were finally confirmed.
"Jazz, is that you?!" Posey exclaimed on everypony's behalf.
Upon hearing her name being called, the mare known as Jazz hastily hid her hoof file inside her hat while maintaining an attentive stance and plastering her face with a forced grin. "Hi there, welcome to Pepe's Free-All-You-Can-Eat-Pizza! I'm Jazz Hooves; how may I serve you today?"
"You can start by explaining to us why Mane Melody is now a pizza restaurant," Posey made her first request.
"I don't think I'm familiar with this 'Mane Melody' you speak of."
"It's the beauty salon where you style our manes and give us amazing hooficures," Dahlia attempted to jog Jazz's memory.
"You also would sing songs with Princess Pipp." Seashell added.
Hearing these unusual claims left Jazz awestruck for a moment before responding with, "I think you might be confusing me for somepony else, because I've never sang in public before, or even tried providing hooficures to anypony but myself; and I most certainly have never heard of a 'Princess Pipp' in all my life."
"But are you even happy working as a pizza mare?" Dahlia asked the question that Jazz had never asked herself.
"Well...I do often dream of one day being a stylist, especially since I earned my cutie mark by giving my mom a makeover to help her look pretty for her date. But a part of me is convinced that beautifying ponies for a living wouldn't be practical, and something tells me that most ponies prefer free pizza to hooficures anyway."
"Jazz, the soda fountain is on the fritz again!" Sweets hollered with her empty cup in hoof.
Letting out a sigh of weariness, Jazz picked up a toolbox as she made her way to the soda fountain that was in desperate need of repair. The four ponies watched as Jazz's efforts in fixing the machine resulted in her face being splattered with grape soda, followed by her previous fake smile dissolving into a gloomy frown of somepony who is clearly dissatisfied with her life but is unable to alter it for the better.
Unable to bear this location any further, the four ponies immediately rushed outside as if they were running out of oxygen. "OK, now I'm beginning to think this might not be a dream." Toots conceded to the reality that surrounded him and his peers.
"And I also think that Sunny really is gone for good; just look at the Crystal Brighthouse." Dahlia pointed towards the distant abode of Sunny and her friends that always stood upon the cliff across from Maretime Bay. Only the ponies were quick to notice that the prism beam that would normally shoot upwards to the sky was nowhere in sight. It wasn't even until the four ponies galloped straight over to the other side that they discovered that it was actually Sunny's old Lighthouse before it was destroyed by Sprout's war machine. Peering through the nearby windows, the four ponies found the inside to be entirely bereft of furniture and littered with dust and cobwebs.
The four ponies cried out for Sunny's name in the hopes that she was simply hiding herself from the world, until their ears picked up a voice they hadn't expected to hear again. "It's crazy to think how a single pony can touch the lives of so many, and the giant hole that gets left behind when that same pony is gone."
The sight of Clarence standing in the flesh left feelings of bewilderment inside Seashell, Dahlia, and Toots, but the only feeling welling up inside of Posey was seething anger. "YOU! You're the one who brought us to this twisted dimension! If this is supposed to be some kind of dream, I demand that you wake us all up this instant!"
The only thing the enraged mare received for her trouble was a firm smack to the top of her head by Clarence's book. "Did that hurt?" The angel inquired.
"OF COURSE IT HURT!" Posey roared while rubbing her aching cranium.
"Then you must not be dreaming."
In spite of having the dream hypothesis being completely debunked, that didn't stop Posey from pressing the angel with further queries. "Then how do you explain all of these bizarre altercations?! Like, why are there unicorn traps all other Maretime Bay again?!"
"And why is Canterlogic back in business and my best friend claiming that I'm dead?" Toots joined in.
"And why is Mane Melody a pizza restaurant and Sparky not with Hitch?" Dahlia contributed.
"And why can't I find any of Princess Pipps' content or any sight of Peach Fizz or Glory?" Seashell added.
"You all seemed awfully confident that your lives would be no different without Sunny, so I used my powers as an Angel First Class to transport you four into an Equestria where Sunny Starscout never existed; and it seems that you've already noticed some stark differences around Maretime Bay."
"So where is Sunny if she's not in Maretime Bay?" Toots wondered.
"She's nowhere, she was just never born." Clarence reiterated. "She has no birth certificate, no yearbook photo, no home address, no ClipTrot account, not even an obituary. They're not there either, Seashell."
"What's not?" The filly asked with her phone in hoof.
"The 'My Banana's' videos."
Returning her attention to her phone, she discovered that searching for "My Banana's" has only resulted in recipe videos for Mike's Banana Pudding. "There really is no trace of Sunny," the realization finally dawned on the filly.
"That and a great many other things," Clarence elaborated. "Argyle dedicated his whole life to studying ancient Equestria alongside his wife--up until her sudden disappearance in her search for magic--in the hopes that the former harmony between all pony races could be restored, but lymphoma would end up claiming his life and thus his dream had to live on through his daughter. And since Sunny never came into being, his dreams of a united Equestria simply died along with him, while Canterlogic continued to thrive off of the earth ponies' paranoia towards pegasi and unicorns. In addition to not being around to carry on her father's vision, Sunny's absence also resulted in Toots dying of diabetes due to nopony else being willing to make him eat salads in order to counter the junk food he consumed; but more importantly, without Sunny Starscout around to gain the friendship of Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp, the three crystals were never united and thus magic was never restored."
"Does this mean that our plant magic no longer works?" Dahlia suspected with a tinge of foreboding. To the pink mare's dismay, she found that she was unable to magic up a single flower with a stomp of her hooves. (Not even when performing a little dance before bringing her hoof down to the grass.) In turn, the other three stomped their hooves in attempt to conjure just a single flower, but to no avail.
"And since magic and the harmony between everypony was never restored," Clarence carried on, "Posey was never able to develop her deeply rooted magic envy that caused the pegasi to plummet from the sky and unicorns to drop whatever objects they were carrying with their magic. Which meant that Sheriff Hitch had no reason to investigate the beach where he stumbled upon Sparky's egg; so, having never been found, the egg remained unnoticed until a rising tide swept it up, where it now lies forever unhatched at the deepest depths of the sea."
"My hoofness, that's just awful," Dahlia wept for the poor baby dragon that never got to experience the wonderful gift of life.
"That it is," Clarence agreed, "and it's not just Sparky's life whose had a negative altercation due to Sunny's absence. Since Sunny was never around to befriend Princess Pipp, she never had a reason to move to Maretime Bay and start Mane Melody, which means she and Rocky were never there to provide Jazz with the training and confidence she required to become the talented stylist that she was destined to become. And you can bet your fur that life in Zephyr Heights is just as dismal as it is in Maretime Bay. Let me show you."
With a spark of his horn, Clarence effortlessly teleported the four ponies along with him to the pegasus kingdom. Considering the fact that earth ponies and pegasi are not friends in this timeline, it was best that Clarence brought the four ponies to an alleyway where they could not be noticed. While peeking out safely without drawing unwanted attention to themselves, the ponies didn't see much of a difference in Zephyr Heights' environment, aside from the fact that not a single pegasus was soaring in the sky.
"I don't get it, why aren't any of the pegasi flying?" Seashell openly pondered.
"How could they fly when the unity crystals were never restored?" Clarence immediately explained.
"Wait a second, is that who I think it is?" Dahlia pointed a hoof towards a nearby beauty salon across from them where a slightly familiar pegasus could be seen through the window.
Wanting a closer look, Dahlia disregarded their essential concealment as she trotted towards the establishment with her three peers following in suit--none of them caring for the alarmed reactions of the walking pegasi who just witnessed four earth ponies roaming around Zephyr Heights. Upon setting hoof inside, the patrons and employees of this salon froze stiff as if they were experiencing a bank robbery while staring upon Dahlia and her fellow earth ponies. The tense reticence did not last too long once the pink coated mare spotted the cream coated stallion with the slick, mulberry mane.
"Rocky, is that you?" Dahlia approached the pegasus who used to be Jazz's coworker.
"Stay back!" The frightened stallion aimed his mane dryer upon the pink mare. "Don't make me use this!"
"I won't hurt you," Dahlia raised up both of her hooves to convey herself as harmless. "You may not remember, but you would do my mane whenever I'd pay a visit to Mane Melody; and I did that mostly as an excuse to be around you, because I always thought you were handsome."
"Oh, well I'm flattered that you find me attractive," Rocky quickly shook off his blushing feeling in order to regain his guard. "But that doesn't change the fact that I've never met you a day in my life until now!"
Shifting her gaze away from the wary stallion, Dahlia was quick to recognize the pink mare whom Rocky was styling upon. "Windy, you may not recognize me, but perhaps you recognize Posey? You two did become friends after Sunny rescued you both from that bottomless pit in Maretime Bay."
"Sorry strange earth pony, but I don't recall ever setting hoof in Maretime Bay before," Windy apologized while still holding onto the same fear that was gripping Rocky. "I also don't remember befriending any earth pony."
"I know that you're scarred of daisies," Posey divulged some of her knowledge in attempt to jog Windy's memory.
"And how do you know that?!"
"Because you told me that one time you visited my home, and I also told you about my allergic reaction to pasta."
"GLORY!" Any further bid at convincing Windy that Posey is indeed her friend was abruptly halted by Seashell's shrill cry upon spotting the light blue pegasus filly who was her friend in another life. Fearing that the pegasus filly that she's seeing with her own eyes may be a mirage, Seashell galloped at full speed as she lunged towards Glory with a binding hug; the awareness of Glory indeed being physically real caused the purple filly to snuggle her cheek against Glory's while saying, "I almost thought I'd never find you!"
Expecting to receive a hug in return from her friend, Seashell felt her heart cracking when Glory began to violently jerk away from the filly's grasp while shrieking in terror. As if these chance meetings couldn't be even more coincidental, the salon was suddenly graced by the presence of Princess Pipp livestreaming herself with the royal guards, Thunder and Zoom beside her. Seeing her idol was enough to make Seashell loosen her embrace on the spooked Glory, who frantically rushed towards the princess while crying, "Princess Pipp, we need your help! These four earth ponies barged into the salon, and one of them tried to attack me!"
"Attack you?!" Seashell responded with great offense. "All I did was hug you like I would to any of my other friends."
"Stay away!" Glory cowered behind Pipp's foreleg. "I don't know how you found me or know my name, but you are absolutely no friend of mine!"
"You were the one who introduced me to Princess Pipp and made me into a Pippsqueak." Sensing that convincing Glory was getting her nowhere, Seashell attempted to appeal her case before her idol. "Princess Pipp, surely you remember that time you let me make wing glitter with you, Glory, and Peach Fizz, right?"
Remembering that her cell phone was still livestreaming this entire ordeal, Pipp swiftly turned the camera on her as she relayed to all of her followers, "Wow, quite a day this is turning out to be, am I right? Rest assured that I, Princess Pipp Petals, have never once been associated with any earth ponies in all of my life; nor will I abide any earth ponies to trespass on our great kingdom and terrorize my Pippsqueaks. Guards, would you kindly detain these four interlopers?"
"Have no fear, Your Majesty," Zoom quelled Pipp's alarm with her dutiful assurance, "earth ponies are completely harmless; they have very tiny brains, after all."
"Strong words coming from a feather brain!" Posey retaliated with her own brand of bigotry.
"Posey, I don't think insulting them will make them ease off on us," Toots desperately tried to quench the mare's Karen side before she could make things worse.
"What's to worry?" Posey scoffed off the stallion's apprehension. "It's not like any of them can fly in this timeline. What's the worst that flightless pegasi can possibly do to us? Tickle us to death with their wings?"
"We were going to just lock you four in the dungeon." Zoom confided her--and Thunders'--intentions to the aggravating mare and her companions. "But I think we'll just hurl you four off a cliff instead!"
Sensing imminent peril, Toots was the first to crack as he frantically cried out for Clarence's aid while Zoom and Thunder prepared to apprehend him and his three peers. Just as the two guards were about to pounce on the four earth ponies, the four were swiftly transported to a different location in the blink of an eye, although Toots would not completely get out of his panic mode until Posey delivered a hard smack to the back of his head and dryly commenting, "And here I thought Sprout was the biggest scaredy cat in Maretime Bay."
"Well I wouldn't have lost my nerves if you hadn't aggravated those guards!" Toots retaliated with his own remark.
"So I pushed a few buttons," the entitled mare brushed off her own agitation, "it's not like Clarence was going to let any harm come to us anyway. Where even are we for that matter?"
"This is the abandoned hot-air balloon station where Sunny, Izzy, and Zipp discovered the stained-glass windows depicting the unity crystals which inspired them to unite all three together to restore magic and harmony to Equestria," Clarence provided them with necessary context as he appeared alongside them. "Or at least the series of events I mentioned would have occurred had you four not wished Sunny Starscout out of existence."
Before Posey even had a chance to respond, the sound of Seashell's voice had beaten her to the punch. "She said that I was no friend of hers, not even Princess Pipp wanted anything to do with me." Everypony took note of the filly bowing her head down to the floor while wetting the stone floor with heartbroken tears. "How could this happen?"
"Because Sunny wasn't around to unite all of ponykind together," Clarence elucidate for her sake. "Which means Glory and Pipp never got to befriend you, nor did Windy ever befriend Posey, nor did Dahlia ever become smitten with Rocky."
"Speaking of which, what did you see in him exactly?" Toots immediately changed the subject by requesting Dahlia to connect the dots to her secret crush towards the fashionable stallion.
"I simply love it whenever he does my mane or make me look beautiful. What kind of a mare wouldn't fall for a stallion who beautifies her now and then?"
"What makes you so certain that Rocky even likes mares?" Posey soured Dahlia's gushing with an intentionally cheeky inquiry. "I mean, that stallion just seems way too in touch with his feminine side to not be a colt-cuddler."
"Oh come off it, Posey!" The pink mare stomped her hoof with an offended huff, "Not all stallions who are into fashion and mane styling are attracted to other stallions!"
"What are you ponies doing here?!"
The ears of the four ponies easily recognized that voice, but their trust remained exclusively to their eyes; and it wasn't until said eyes caught sight of the white pegasus with a spiky hot-pink mane with aqua and light pink streaks did the ponies cried out in unison, "Zipp?!"
"How do you know my name?" The elder princess cautiously inquired.
Hoping that the more analytical minded of Sunny's friends could be more sympathetic towards their predicament, Posey took the lead when saying, "This is going to sound pretty weird, but the four of us come from an alternate Equestria where ponies of all kinds live in friendship and harmony."
"And the reason why we know your name," Dahlia interject, "is because you're Maretime Bay's detective."
Zipp's face held onto an expression that bordered between skeptical and perplexed before following up with, "And I suppose that pegasi could fly in this 'alternate Equestria' of yours?"
"Actually yes they do," Toots confirmed. "Although I understand if this sounds bizarre."
"No, no, no, my pet dog having the ability to speak is bizarre." The elder princess immediately countered Toots' statement. "Four earth ponies with a colorful imagination who somehow snuck into my secret hideout and claiming to live in an Equestria that will never be a reality is downright insane. I'd have the guards throw the four of you in the dungeon, but that would mean disclosing the location of the only place in Zephyr Heights where I can have a break from maintaining the royals-being-able-to-fly-lie to my mom and sister; so I'll simply go back to my room and trust that you'll all disappear by tomorrow."
"Wait!" Posey desperately searched for any means of inducing the unconvinced princess to the possibility that their fantastic statements are true when her brain compelled the mare to point out the stained-glass windows. "Those windows over there depict each of the pony tribes having their own crystals. Doesn't your inner detective feel the least bit intrigued by this mystery?"
"Just seems like shattered up windows to me."
"You're really not open at all to the idea of ponies of all kinds working together?" Seashell finally made her attempt to get through to Zipp.
"I mean, I could consider it a possibility if there was at least a unicorn in your group."
"How about Clarence?" Dahlia turned the focus over to the Angel First Class. "He does have a horn on his forehead after all."
"What exactly are you pointing at?"
Hearing that sudden query come out of Zipp's muzzle was enough to take all four ponies aback, but not enough for Dahlia to relent. "I'm pointing to Clarence; the blue angel in a pony's body who's literally standing right beside me. Can't you see?"
Zipp held onto the gaze that was directed right at the aforementioned angel for a few seconds more before saying, "Yeah, all I'm seeing is empty space."
Before the four ponies could continue to wrap their heads around over why Zipp could possibly be unable to see a pony that is standing right in front of her, Clarence decided to speak up, "My apologies, I completely allowed the fact that I have the ability to pick and choose whoever can see and hear me to slip from my mind; I maybe an Angel First Class, but even I'm still prone to the occasional gaffe here and then."
"Well you certainly chose one hay of a time to mention that little convenient selective invisibility of yours!" Posey vociferated while violently shaking Clarence by the collar of his coat all the while her face began to boil into a fiery red. "Now let Zipp see that you really do exist before she thinks we're insane!"
"Uh, Posey." Seashell carefully attempted to steer the enraged mare's attention to her.
"WHAT?!"
The filly flinched in fright before pointing out, "Zipp's gone."
Scanning the environment with her own eyes, Posey's vexation expeditiously dissolved into bafflement when she detected that Seashell's claim of Zipp no longer being present to be accurate. "When did she leave?"
"She bolted away the moment you started yelling at Clarence," Dahlia filled Posey in.
"Ugh, this is so ridiculous!" Posey ranted some more. "What difference would seeing a unicorn alongside us even make for her?!"
"Because," Clarence interjected with another explanation, "the sight of Sunny Starscout and Izzy Moonbow traveling together was something so astonishing to a pony raised to believe that all pony kinds could never coexist with each other that it inspired her to challenge her entire worldview by aiding Sunny's and Izzy's journey to restore the crystals. But since Zipp never got to meet them, she, her sister, and her mother continued to perpetuate their facade of being the only pegasi who could fly, even though it tore her apart every day. If you four are still convinced that life in Equestria is better without Sunny, then wait until you see how her absence has affected the unicorns of Bridlewood."
Without any further delays, Clarence let his horn spark once more to teleport himself and the four ponies away from the metropolitan splendor of Zephyr Heights to the agrestal forest of Bridlewood. The four ponies stood surrounded by a vast community of trees, bushes, and various plants that have been untouched by deforestation for generations, with a single tree being adorned with windows and a door being the most eye-catching point of interest within this section of the woods.
"Who lives in this tree?" Dahlia beat the other three for the chance of asking.
"This is the abode of Izzy Moonbow." Clarence answered.
"Why am I scared to ask how bad Izzy's life could be without Sunny?" Posey gulped.
"Why ask when you can simply knock on her door and see for yourselves?" Clarence stood aside so they may indeed approach Izzy's literal tree house.
Unable to resist their collective morbid curiosity, the ponies trepidatiously trotted towards the tree, with Posey being the only one bold enough to knock upon the door. Her request for entry was responded with the door gradually opening with a sonorous creaking noise that added to the four ponies' already rising unease. The door revealed nothing aside from utter blackness when it finally stopped in place, which made it all the more alarming for the others when the head of a familiar lilac coated unicorn with a cerulean blue mane with a violet ombre suddenly sprung out.
"Wow! I never thought the day when ponies would pay me a visit would ever come, and I especially didn't think I'd find earth ponies on my doorstep! My apologies, I just got so excited at finally having company that I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is..."
"Izzy Moonbow." Posey finished the overtly happy unicorn's introduction which elicited a cartoonishly gasp of surprise from said unicorn.
"Wow! Who would have thought that earth ponies are psychic?! Then again, I've never met any earth ponies until today; and the only knowledge I even have about earth ponies are from my schoolteachers telling me that they're all nothing but stupid slackers who smell like sardines. But I can't be too picky with what kind of guests arrive to my abode, please come in."
Taking a collective gulp, the four ponies tentatively entered Izzy Moonbow's abode. Upon getting a clear look of their current surroundings, each pony had their own respective reaction towards the plethora of junk that cluttered up the entire cottage.
"Oh my, and I thought my room could be a mess at times." Seashell shared her comparison of her own cleaning habits.
"It's even worse than I could imagine." Dahlia commented.
"I guess you never had any real company before we showed up?" Toots inquired.
"Well I don't know what I expected." Posey shrugged off the unsightly environment as if the idea of Izzy living in a messy room was absolutely no surprise to her.
"Yeah, having to live in my cozy little cottage without any friends to talk to made life in Bridlewood a tad depressing." Izzy popped up right beside Posey--much to her annoyance. "Which is why I used my particular set of skills to unicycle friends out of any junk I could find lying around. For instance, this is Sir Hugs-a-lot, who I unicycled out of a pillow, some twigs, and feathers, and glitter, and two potatoes. And the two sitting beside him next to the flower contraption that I use for tea parties are Lady Lemon-Cake (who I unicycled out of a rolling pin, two couch cushions, a rubber hose, some spaghetti noodles, and two lemons) and Madame Marigold (who I unicycled out of a plunger, a gumball machine, a diving fin, some marbles, and permanent marker). And over by the corner is Senorita Buttermilk (who I unicycled out of a fire hydrant, a lunch box, some bubblegum, some gardening tools, some confetti, two googly eyes, and a birthday party hat); she's my emotional support companion who helps me lull the inner anguish I keep buried away in the deepest recesses of my subconscious every day, especially whenever I look upon that bowl full of friendship bracelets that I make for my actual pony friends...IF I HAD ANY! Sorry, sometimes that pesky depression tries to eke out of me; but it's nothing that a little anti-depressant herbal tea can't fix!" With the speed of a lightning bolt, Izzy immediately brewed up a tea that can curb her inner lugubriosity. Upon completion, Izzy only required one sip to make her face change from looking visibly upset to having an emotional mask consisting of a forced grin and noticeable twitch in her left eye. "There we go! Euphoria now, depression never!" The sound of a nearby ringing bell directed her attention towards the kitchen. "Ooh, my stress-eating cookies are done baking!"
As soon as Izzy was out of sight, Clarence seized the opportunity to break the ice amongst the four ponies. "Sounds like Argyle just earned his wings."
"How do you know that?" Toots raised an eyebrow.
"It's a well-known fact in Heaven that whenever a bell rings, it means that an angel has earned his wings; and judging by the sound of the bell in Izzy's kitchen, it would appear that Argyle has succeeded in helping Queen Haven to cope with her empty nest syndrome."
Posey's face held onto a quizzical expression as she said, "You know Clarence, had I not already seen most of these mind-boggling doings throughout this alternate timeline, I would've considered that to be the strangest thing you've said today."
"Who's Clarence?" Izzy interjected with a plate full of cookies in hoof. "Is he your imaginary friend? Mine is called Kiff; in fact, she's standing on your head right now."
Letting out a frightful squeak, Posey frantically darted her head upwards to only find absolutely nothing was standing atop her cranium; a fact which resulted in the young filly beside her to gaze upon the full-grown mare with an unimpressed raised eyebrow while saying, "You know that imaginary friends are non-existent, right?"
"Clam it, Seashell!" Posey hissed back.
"Oh ha ha ha, you'll have to excuse Kiff; I'm sure you know how off the wall squirrels can be." Izzy simultaneously laughed off and apologized for her imaginary friends' antics while giving each pony a cookie. "So, what's Maretime Bay like? It must be truly magnificent to live near the ocean."
"Well you should already know what Maretime Bay is like, considering the fact that you got to set hoof there yourself." Toots attempted to jog the unicorn's remembrance of her unexpected visit.
Izzy, for her part, remained mum for a few seconds while letting this claim sink into her subconscious before bursting out laughing as if she were told the world's funniest joke. "Imagine that, me, trotting all the way to Maretime Bay; I can hardly work up the nerve to show my face around everypony in Bridlewood, much less attempt to leave Bridlewood altogether."
"You mean, you never even considered visiting Maretime Bay at least once?" Dahlia asked an inquiry which gave Izzy cause to tap her chin in contemplation.
"Hmm, actually...nope! But what does it matter? The important thing is that I have real ponies to talk to, which means I can finally do every item in my list of one billion and one things that I've always wanted to do with real friends!" Without wasting a moment's thought, Izzy pulled a folded list out from her mane which completely entangled everypony within reach the moment said list was unfolded. If the four ponies were timorous about the prospect of listening to all one billion and one items on Izzy's wishlist, they were immediately relieved to find themselves transported out of Izzy's abode by Clarence's powers by the time the unicorn had reached the twentieth item on her list.
Safely delivered to a more secluded area in Bridlewood, the four ponies were permitted a moment of silence to contemplate what they had just witnessed inside Izzy's cottage; a silence that was soon shattered by Dahlia's voice. "I don't get it, Izzy's sudden arrival to Maretime Bay was one of the most eventful days in our lives. How could she have not even considered visiting just once?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Clarence piped in. "Izzy never paid Maretime Bay a visit because Sunny was never around to send her a letter saying she had friends there, hence why she lives out her life as an isolated recluse who has to literally make friends out of any junk that she can scrounge up. And she's not the only unicorn whose life has changed for the worse due to Sunny's absence." Pushing his hoof into a bush that the angel happened to have been standing next to, he parted the assortment of leaves in order to gift the four ponies with a clear view of the other unicorns of Bridlewood, who all went about their day with the energy of snails crawling on a puddle of molasses.
"Clarence, why do all the unicorns look so sad?" Seashell made her approach.
"The long and short of it is that magic is to unicorns what flight is to pegasi, an intricate part of themselves that makes them unique. But since Sunny is no longer around to bring magic back, all the unicorns--aside from Izzy--simply live out their days as lifeless shells without any reason to be happy."
The daunting revelation left the four ponies in a solemn pause to permit the sheer gravitas to weigh in on their minds until Dahlia attempted to point out a silver lining. "OK, so nopony will ever gain magic in this Equestria, at least I won't have to worry about my flower business becoming obsolete."
"Wasn't Sunny the one who taught you how to utilize your floral magic when it looked like nopony would want to buy flowers from you again?" Clarence brought up another instance where Sunny made a positive impact on the pink mare's life.
"Yeah, and then I ended up growing giant flowers that gave everypony hay fever." Dahlia shot back with her own retort.
"But wasn't Sunny also the one to give you the idea of selling color changing flower necklaces as a way of redeeming yourself?" The sight of Dahlia lowering head was all Clarence required to know that the florist conceded this debate to him. "If I may ask all of you a hypothetical question, can any of you fathom the idea of wanting to encourage everyone to change the world for the better, even it means having to spend most of your lives being shunned by the rest of your community? From what I've seen from each of your respective life stories before meeting you, all of you seemed perfectly content with how things stand in Maretime Bay; I doubt any of you could even endure half of the castigating that Sunny had to take most of her life for being the only pony to dare to question the town's status quo. Most ponies would've easily given in to such severe peer pressure, but Sunny was willing to bear that hardship no matter how painful it was, and she was rewarded for her patience with true friends who love her for who she is.
"Life is considered the greatest gift, but ponies like Sunny are the second greatest gift; ponies who selfishly put the needs of others before their own, even when it can be so easy for those same ponies to indulge their own interest. I even earned my wings by helping a fellow who was also a great gift to his community as much as Sunny is to yours; his name was George Bailey, and when I first met him, he was prepared to jump off a bridge so his life insurance could save his family business from bankruptcy. After I saved him by letting him save me, I explained how I was assigned to be his guardian angel and that only by permitting me to help him could I ever hope to win my wings. George had completely convinced himself that the lives of his friends and family would be better if he had never born; so with the aid of my superiors, we transported him to an alternate timeline where he never existed, and he quickly realized that without him around the entire town would've fallen into the hands of a greedy banker, his business would have shut down, and his friends and family would have either be miserable, lonely, or even dead. Upon wishing to live again, George had a substantial appreciation for his life, and I had earned my wings.
"Ever since I had become an Angel First Class, I found myself having to utilize the exact same technique of showing folks alternate timelines in order to set them straight. Normally it would be Sunny who sees this alternate life; I have never had to use this method on those who are affected by the one person's existence, until today. And after witnessing the various discrepancies in this alternate Equestria, it's plain to see that you ponies really had wonderful lives thanks to Sunny Starscout. Do you finally realize what a tremendous loss it would be if the only pony who cared about making the world a better place just never came into being?"
While the ponies were pondering Clarence's armor piercing question, Seashell's attention became focused on a passing by orange figure across from the bush. Squinting her eyes for a clearer picture, the purple filly was astonished to discover that she was gazing upon her unicorn friend, Peach Fizz. Disregarding the protests of the three grown ponies, Seashell dashed out of the foliage that kept her--and her peers--hidden as she made a beeline straight to an unsuspecting Peach Fizz who became quite alarmed when the teary-eyed filly wrapped her hooves around her in a hug.
"Peach Fizz, it's me, Seashell! You and I are best friends back at Maretime Bay; please remember, I was devasted when Glory forgot about me, I can't bear to lose you too!"
In her mind, Seashell's heartfelt plea was enough to move Peach Fizz to tears and earned her a much-needed hug from a good friend. But in reality, the purple filly's ears were rocked by a shrill cry of terror that brought the rest of Bridlewood to their immediate location. Seeing the oncoming mob was enough to make Seashell loosen her embrace on Peach Fizz, thus enabling the orange coated filly to rush over to the domineering Alphabittle.
"I don't know how you earth ponies managed to get here," the gray stallion looked over the four ponies, "but you better go back to where you came from if you know what's good for you."
Seashell, Dahlia, and Toots were already trembling over what Alphabittle and the other unicorns might do to them, except for Posey, who immediately took the chance to call their bluff. "Pfft! What's to worry? Unicorns can't even perform magic, so their horns are pretty much useless."
Taken aback at how this random earth pony somehow knew about the unicorn's magic deficiency, Alphabittle maintained his stoic demeanor before saying, "It's true that our horns can't cast magic of any kind, but they still have practical purposes."
The sight of the unicorns lowering their heads with their horns being treated as makeshift spears made it dawn on Posey that she probably should've kept her mouth shut, along with the irritated expressions on the other three ponies' that were being directed towards the yellow mare's solecism. The four ponies would've been turned into walking pin cushions had Clarence not teleported them away in the nick of time. Letting out sighs of relief, the fours ponies finally realized that they were standing in a cemetery; but a cemetery in which location was something they weren't certain of.
"Where are we supposed to be now, Clarence?" Dahlia asked the angel.
"I've returned you all to Maretime Bay."
"OK, but why did you have to drop us off in the cemetery of all places?" Posey followed up with an inquiry of her own.
"My hoofness!" The sound of Toots shrieking gave the ponies cause to swivel their bodies to find the blue stallion staring upon a gravestone. Getting a closer look, the two mares and filly were as stunned as Toots when they saw his own name engraved on the tombstone, along with his birth and death date and an epitaph which read, "Here lies a young pony who loved his sweets too much."
"So it's true, I really am dead." The blue stallion confessed all the while his eyes maintained a gaze of utter disbelief.
"That you did." Clarence confirmed. "But so what if eating nothing but the good stuff killed you? At least your last meal was a delicious one."
Toots rubbed the back of his head over feeling the twinge of his own disregarding remarks thrown back to him like a boomerang. Taking the chance to deter the gloom of the blue stallion's death from overcoming them any further, Dahlia struck a conversation with the angel. "OK, you've made your point that our lives are not better off without Sunny. Now can you please set everything back to normal?"
"No, I don't think I will."
His dissenting response struck the four ponies harder than anything they had seen before. "I don't understand," Dahlia sought clarification, "I thought the whole point of bringing us to this alternate Equestria was to make us appreciate Sunny, and you don't intend to bring us back?"
"Why should that surprise you?" Clarence responded. "After all, the four of you did wish for Sunny Starscout to not be around to nag you all into eating healthy or getting involved in causes, and you all got exactly what you asked for." The angel turned to Seashell and said, "And you were right about one thing, little one. Glory and Peach Fizz never vanished from existence due to Sunny's absence."
"But what good is it to have them around when they don't even want to be my friends?"
"If it's that important to you, then you can all try to restore magic and harmony to Equestria. Posey did say that 'anypony could've done what Sunny did', so I'm sure it shouldn't be difficult for you four. And by the time the four of you get turned into alicorns, I'm sure the rest of Maretime Bay will be far more appreciative when you all try to get them involved in causes that will benefit the community than you ever were towards Sunny."
The ponies were taken aback when they saw the angel in a pony's body suddenly vanish in the blink of an eye, they even called out for Clarence just to make sure he truly is gone for good. Awkward silence took hold over the four ponies for a while until Posey took the initiative to say, "If Clarence wants us to do what Sunny did, then I say let's go for it. I mean, we only have to send a letter to Izzy and wait for her to come to us. How hard can it possibly be?"
Realizing that their list of options is limited, the others decided that it wouldn't hurt to try bringing magic and harmony back on their own. Following Posey to her home, the three grown ponies patiently rested on Posey's couch while Seashell was working on the letter to send to Izzy. Upon completion, the filly took her work to the others for peer review.
"This will do nicely Seashell," Dahlia commended the filly's labor, "I especially liked the drawings of Sunny and her friends."
"Thanks."
"All right, we have the letter ready." Said Toots. "Now how do we send it?"
All of them felt as if a lightbulb had crashed on their heads when it suddenly dawned on them that they have no clue how to send a letter to a unicorn in a time when all pony kinds are divided. "Shoot!" Posey exclaimed. "I can't believe we didn't think to ask Clarence how Sunny delivered her letter to Izzy! She couldn't have been able to rely on the Post Office during this time, so how else can we possibly send...? Wait! I think I have an idea."
Swiping the letter from Seashell, Posey led the others back to Maretime Bay, specifically to the Sheriff's Department where two seagulls can be seen perched upon the gold badge that served as the building's sign. Trying her best not to draw unwanted attention to themselves, Posey spoke to the birds in a light whisper. "Excuse me, but which one of you is Kenneth?" The seagull with the tin can on his head flew down to meet the yellow mare up close as he chirped as a way of answering her inquiry. "My friends and I written a letter for a unicorn named Izzy Moonbow who lives by herself inside of a tree in Bridlewood, and we were wondering if you could deliver this to her?"
Extending the letter towards the bird, Posey felt a jolt of surprise when the paper was immediately pilfered by a swooping hoof. Directing her gaze towards the thief, her annoyance quickly turned to dread when she saw that the letter was in the hooves of Sprout. "And what sort of letter would you need a bird to deliver instead of a mailpony?" Bullets of sweat began pulsating out of the four ponies as they could do nothing but observe in horror as Sprout unfolded the letter and read the contents that were inside. "So, you've been trading letters with a unicorn, and thought you could slip this right under my muzzle? You shall all be imprisoned for this!"
His outburst made everypony pause their daily routines to come near to see what the fuss was about, and Sheriff Hitch was quick to arrive as well. "What are you shouting for, Sprout?"
"I caught these four ponies trying to send a letter to a unicorn requesting her to come to Maretime Bay! See for yourself, Sheriff."
Giving the letter to Hitch, the Sheriff's eyes looked like they were about to burst from their sockets when he saw that everything Sprout said was true. "I just can't believe that you four ponies were plotting against your own town all this time."
"It's not what it looks like!" Posey attempted to reason with the Sheriff. "We're just trying to bring magic back to Equestria the same way Sunny Starscout did."
"Uh, Sunny Starscout?"
"She's Argyle's daughter who shared her dad's vision of a united Equestria." Dahlia elaborated. "You were also the only friend she had in Maretime Bay. Surely you remember that, Sheriff?"
"That might be the wildest story you've ever told today, Dahlia." Hitch dismissed the pink mare. "Everypony knows that raving conspiracy theorist never had a daughter; and I especially would never be friends with somepony who would have Argyle's radical views. It pains me to do this, but I have no choice but to place the four of you under arrest."
If this were all just a shared nightmare, the four ponies wouldn't hesitate to wake up right now. But they all knew that this is really happening to them, and they had nopony to blame but themselves for bringing themselves to an Equestria where Sunny Starscout was never around to change things for the better on their behalf. Hitch and Sprout were in position to spring upon them if they attempted to make a run for it, and the surrounding crowds of ponies behind them were in the perfect spot to block any attempt of escaping as well.
It definitely looked as if the four ponies were doomed to be imprisoned, that is until Toots suddenly cried out, "Look, an army of pegasi swooping down from the sky!"
Forgetting about the four fugitives, everypony was in an immediate panic as they kept their eyes directed towards the sky for the nonexistent pegasi army that Toots fabricated at the last minute. The collective hysteria of the townsponies was exactly what the four ponies needed to slip by and escape their appending arrest, all while being unaware of Sweets being the only pony who spotted them amongst the crazed crowd.
Thinking of no better place to run to, the four ponies found themselves returning to the cemetery and stopping in front of Toots' tombstone while they are tilted their heads up to the sky and cried out for Clarence.
"Clarence, help us!" Posey begged. "Please Clarence! Bring Sunny back! I take everything back, nopony could've done what Sunny did! We all realize that now!"
"We're all sorry for never appreciating her!" Dahlia repented. "We'll never take her for granted again, we swear!"
"And I'll never complain when she encourages us to eat healthy again!" Toots promised. "I want to be in an Equestria where I'm alive and can tell Sweets that I love her too, and I have Sunny to thank for keeping me alive!"
"None of our lives are better without Sunny!" Seashell admitted. "I never would've had Glory and Peach Fizz as my friends if Sunny hadn't change Equestria for the better with her friends; please bring Sunny back so we can all give her the thanks she deserves!"
Each of them kept on crying out to the sky in hope that Clarence would hear them and take them back to an Equestria with Sunny Starscout, but none of them could notice any change around their environment; when the notion that Clarence did not hear their pleas began to sink in, the four ponies could do nothing but hug each other and lower their heads as they collectively shed tears of sorrow. They were all so caught up in their anguish that they didn't even hear Sweets trot up to them until she spoke to them.
"Why are you all crying for?"
"Because Sunny's gone," Toots explained, "and we're gonna be arrested."
"What are you talking about, Toots?" Sweets raised an eyebrow. "Nopony is trying to arrest you all, and Sunny is at the Crystal Brighthouse."
"Oh but it's true, Sweets. A mob of ponies found out we were trying to get Izzy to come to Maretime Bay, and now...wait, you just called me Toots. Does this mean I'm not dead?"
"Of course you're not dead, how else would I be speaking to you?"
Swiveling his body to look back at his tombstone, Toots felt a newfound elation swell within him when he found it missing. "Look at that, I really am alive again! Wait, what about our magic?" Along with the other three ponies, the four of them brought their hooves down to magic up four flowers. "We have our magic back; Clarence really did bring Sunny back!" Sweets could only watch in confusion as the four ponies standing before her were on cloud nine for something so little, and her confusion intensified when she felt her lips being kissed by Toots, who quickly parted from her in order to tell her, "Yeah, I guess I couldn't think of a better way of telling you that I love you. Would you maybe like to go on a date with me tonight?"
"I...thought you'd never ask."
Finding themselves overcome with joy, the four ponies had the urge to trot around Maretime Bay to see everything that was missing before; from the dissipated building that used to be Canterlogic, to the tile roads that don't have a single unicorn trap on them, to even Sunny's smoothie cart. Seashell was so caught up in the shared bliss of returning to their normal timeline that she flinched when Glory and Peach Fizz got her attention.
"Hey Seashell, I earned enough points to redeem them for a free ice cream." Glory filled her friend in.
"Sea salt is still your favorite flavor, right?" Peach Fizz extended a cone holding a scoop of Seashell's favorite ice cream to her.
Feeling tears of joy well up inside her, Seashell latched the pegasus and unicorn filly into a vice grip of a hug while completely pouring herself out to them. "I'm so happy to have you two as my friends."
"We feel the same way," Glory assured her, "now can you loosen your grip on us?"
After releasing her friends from her hug, Seashell graciously accepted the free ice cream and said, "I have a few things to do with these three, but will you still come to my place for our sleepover?"
"Pippsqueaks stick together." Peach Fizz confirmed in her own way.
With that taken care of, the four ponies galloped their way straight to Mane Melody, where they were all relieved to find that it was no longer a pizza restaurant. Spotting Jazz working on a hooficure, Posey and Dahlia both beelined straight to her to deliver a double glomp on her.
"We just want to thank you for always being the best stylist in Maretime Bay." Posey offered her gratitude to the somewhat bewildered Jazz.
"I'm glad to be of service to you," Jazz responded in turn.
The ponies were about to depart when Dahlia suddenly remembered, "Before I go, there's something that I've always wanted to do." Without missing a beat, the pink mare pulled an unsuspecting Rocky towards her for a deep kiss that left him dazed.
With the ponies finally gone, Jazz had to ask her coworker, "I take it that was your first kiss?"
"Well, from a mare that is." Rocky explained.
The four ponies continued onward to the Crystal Brighthouse to confirm with their own eyes that Sunny Starscout has truly returned. They made it halfway when a new sight made them stop dead in their tracks; it appeared to be a community garden that Sunny always talked about constructing, and the four ponies could notice five other ponies inside of it. Getting a closer look, the four ponies discovered that it was Sunny--in her alicorn form--along with her four friends.
Wanting to test Sunny's existence, the four ponies galloped towards her and engulfed her in a collective hug. "We're so glad you're back!" Seashell spoke for the other three ponies.
"Yes, I'm sure you all terribly missed the alicorn." Sunny gave a snide reply to four of the many townsponies who were only interested in her alicorn form.
"No, no, it's not about that." Dahlia attempted to elaborate their intentions with Sunny. "Look, we're all sorry for the way we treated you today."
"Not just that, but we're also sorry for never being nice to you back when ponykind was divided." Toots added. "It couldn't have been easy for you having to live with the entire town against you, especially after losing your dad."
"You're right, it wasn't easy at all." Sunny agreed. "But what exactly made you all have a change of heart?"
"This is going to sound crazy, but an angel named Clarence took us to an alternate Equestria where you were never born." Posey answered.
"An Equestria without Sunny?!" Izzy exclaimed. "That's not crazy, that's horrifying!"
"I know, we saw so many bad things happened because of Sunny's absence." Posey continued. "Like how you became a lonely recluse who made friends out of junk, and how Jazz had to work as a pizza mare, and how Hitch never got to find Sparky's egg on the beach. Wait, is Sparky around?" As if on cue, Sparky jumped from behind Sunny and latched onto Posey's face, catching her by surprise. "Oh good, your egg didn't sink into the bottom of the ocean!" Posey wrapped her hooves around the baby dragon while nuzzling his face with hers. "Oh, I never thought I'd be so happy to see your scaly little face again!" No sooner did she say that did the mischievous dragon poof up an oversized, gaudy looking hairpin, similar to the one Pipp is currently wearing, onto Posey's mane with his dragon fire. "And the tender moment's ruined."
Sparky let out an impish giggle that was soon joined by the other ponies. "It sounds like you four have been on quite a journey today." Zipp observed.
"And I take it you four learned something important?" Hitch asked.
"We did," Dahlia affirmed, "we learned that our lives would've been worse off if Sunny hadn't been around to change Equestria for the better."
"And that I would've died from diabetes a long time ago had Sunny not been around to make me eat healthy when I needed to." Said Toots.
"And that I never would've had Glory and Peach Fizz for friends if Sunny wasn't around to restore harmony amongst ponykind." Seashell added.
"I guess what we're all trying to say is thank you Sunny, for always caring about everypony." Posey concluded.
"This all means quite a lot to me," Sunny accepted their apologies, "from gaining your appreciation, to my friends building a community garden for me, it's truly wonderful when other ponies help each other, which is why my alicorn form only appears whenever I'm thinking about helping others."
"And you inspiring us to be better ponies is what we love most about you, Sunny." Zipp chimed in.
"Sunny!" Everypony gasped in surprise to hear Sparky saying Sunny's name. "Sunny!" The baby dragon wiggled out of Posey's grasped to run over to Sunny.
"Aw, Sparky's first word!" Pipp gushed while filming the baby dragon jumping up and down with clinging claws that were begging to hug Sunny.
"Sunny!"
"Yes, I'm Sunny!" The helpful mare picked up the bouncing dragon who proceeded to wrap his arms around her face in a wholesome hug that elicited "aw's" from everypony.
"Aw, it's like you're his mommy." Seashell commented.
"Well, I guess I have a way with babies like Hitch does." Sunny confessed. "Well, it's been nice chatting with you all; I hope to see you here tomorrow to practice your magic." Once everypony bid their farewells, Sunny and her friends returned to the Crystal Brighthouse with each pony returning to their respective activities, with Sunny going to the kitchen with Sparky still in her hooves. "I'm feeling a little hungry. Would you like me to make you some mac n cheese Sparky?"
Receiving an enthusiastic nod from Sparky, Sunny went about cooking a meal for them to share. Being released by Sunny so she can have more hooves to work in the kitchen, Sparky found himself being drawn towards the door when his ears picked up a light knocking. Upon opening said door, Sparky could only find a single book entitled The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that was left on the doorstep. Knowing of Sunny's love for books, the baby dragon carried it over to her.
"What you got there Sparky?" Taking the book from his claws, Sunny opened the book up which had a personal inscription inside which read as follows:
Dear Sunny,
I'm sorry I couldn't meet you in person, but I hope that ponies around here start treating you better from now on. Always remember that nopony is a failure who has friends.
Your guardian angel, Clarence.
P.S. Your father says hello.
A tear trickled down Sunny's cheek as she looked up to the sky and took joy in knowing that her dad is always watching out for her.
