Sunny Starscout woke up.
This normally wouldn’t be a cause for anything, but this was waking up after restoring magic to the land of Equestria, which Sunny and her newfound friends had been integral to.
And her father hadn’t been there to see it.
Not for the first time, nor the last, Sunny took a deep shuddering breath and pressed her hooves to her eyes to push back the tears. She’d shed enough of them since he had passed, and she was determined to face each new day like her namesake.
Taking some breaths to steady herself, she sat up in bed and stretched, then went through her morning routine, washing up, freshening up-
She paused as she looked at herself in the mirror, at the new strands of color in her mane, each cutting through the purple strands like warning signs. Sunny wondered why she alone had been granted such a distinguishing feature, and why only she could manifest translucent wings and horns, each fully functional and capable of harnessing the newfound magic that suffused Equestria.
Magic.
That word had haunted her for the past two decades, ever since her father had told her stories about ancient Equestria, where magic, friendship, and harmony stretched from coast to coast, from north to south, and all over the world beyond the endless blue expanse to the east. Beyond the bay she had called home, where she and everyone she knew had been safe from the dangers beyond.
“Hi new friend!”
Her lips twitched reflexively at the mere echo of the memory, the first words her friend – her first unicorn friend – had spoken to her.
There had been other friends before that, during school, but they’d never been interested in what she had to say, usually being more interested in more grounded pleasures. She’d dated – disastrously, learning that her very much preferred members of her own sex to that of stallions, which may have been why she and Izzy had clicked to quickly.
Not to mention the awkward fumbling nights on their trip to Zephyr Heights, brought on by an interest in how other races…
She wrenched her mind away from those thoughts and noticed the dopey grin on her reddening face at the thought of Izzy’s intimacy (she hadn’t laughed at “Izzymacy.” Nope. Not a chortle, a giggle, a snort. Nothing at all) and she stepped away from the mirror, taking deep breaths to cool her heated ears and cheeks.
Sunny made her way downstairs and stood in the doorway that led to the front of the police station. Hitch had offered her the rooms above to stay in while they rebuilt the lighthouse. Or...Brighthouse, as they were tentatively calling the new design. She’d looked over it a few times and couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but had approved it. Most of her belongings had been destroyed when it collapsed, and everything else had been safely in storage, put there years ago after her father’s passing.
She locked the doors that led upstairs behind her, grabbed her saddlebag, and left the station, turning left to pick up her smoothie cart to begin her morning rounds.
It wasn’t there.
She caught herself mid-step and frowned. Rather than her cart, there was a note, telling her to take the week off, and that she’d still be paid her usual rates until things had settled down. Her brow furrowed more and she looked around, lost.
Sunny tucked the note into her saddlebag and set off down the street, passing by several ponies, some in groups, whispering together, or cleaning up the odd bit of rubble left over after the events of Sprout’s short-lived Empire.
There was still a lot of rubble lying around, and she stepped around some before stopping a few steps from a group of earth ponies.
Posey, Dahlia and Mayflower all glanced at her. Dahlia and Mayflower nodded politely, but Posey scowled at her and turned away with a huff. Sunny noticed Posey’s flower stand, or where it usually stood, only to see bits and pieces of broken wood and flower petals. Suppressing a wince, Sunny moved past them, heading into town.
Hitch was leading a team of his own in clearing rubble from the tram tracks, and he waved a hoof at Sunny before returning to it, guiding Ivory Cedar, Diggy, and Sander’s combined efforts.
Jazz Hooves and Sugar Moonlight were watching the proceedings, and they greeted Sunny.
“Have you heard?” Jazz asked shyly. “Pipp wants to open up a mane salon here, and has offered Rocky and I positions.”
Sunny had no idea who Rocky was, but smiled anyway. “That sounds lovely. I look forward to visiting it!” She glanced at Sugar Moonlight, who had pulled out her phone as it vibrated. Looking up, the glitter-bedecked pony arched a finely-curled brow.
“I’ve opened up auditions for the Filly Four again.” The delicate nostrils flared in an undignified snort. “Our fourth slot opened up again. She bailed after the whole Sprout thing. Coward.”
Sunny had no idea who “she” was, but nodded politely. She’d gone to school with Sugar, and she was as prickly as she was beautiful on a good day. Their one date had been spectacularly dreadful, by both of their standards, and Sugar had banned Sunny from ever singing with her again.
“How’s-” Sunny thought frantically for a few moments. “Rosedust, and...Lily?”
“Scouting new talent in Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood respectively,” Sugar said with a shrug. “We don’t have much hope, and I suspect they did it just to get out of town, and I really can’t blame them, ya know?”
Sunny didn’t have to look around to agree with her, and she continued on.
Everywhere she went, she saw signs of Sprout’s handiwork. He had worked remarkably fast in the days after Hitch had struck out after Sunny and Izzy, defacing much of Maretime Bay with his image. Ponies were still finding posters of his face stuck up in the oddest of places, ranging from alleys, sewer lids, lampposts, and even the newly-constructed relay towers that connected the three settlements’ internet and phone lines.
Sprout was currently serving parole, with several thousand hours of community service to pay off. He spent most of his time up at Canterlogic, restoring it back to a generalized factory rather than the safety hazard-fest it had devolved into while constructing his absurd machine. His mother had completely withdrawn from public appearances, resigning from her many positions on boards and committees, and had donated to the relief efforts extensively.
Sunny reached the end of town, staring out down the road she’d traveled with Izzy, and wondered what the rest of her friends were currently doing with their newly uprooted lives, and she hoped they were doing well.
She saw someone coming up the road and blinked as Izzy came into focus, trotting without a care in the world. When the unicorn spotted Sunny, her pace increased, and the distance between them rapidly melted until they were only a few body-lengths apart.
Izzy’s eyes searched Sunny’s face silently for a few moments before she leaned forward. “Are we doing another staring contest? You haven’t blinked since you saw me.” She then leaned back as Sunny blinked in bemusement. “Ha! I win! That’s one each!”
Her smile faded somewhat as she watched her friend. “You’re not happy to see me?”
“I am! I am! Really!” Sunny reached out a hoof toward her, almost pleadingly. “I just…” Sunny hated that the words refused to come out, and she forced herself onward. “...Didn’t expect you to come back.”
The words hung in the air between them and Izzy stared at them for a moment, then back at Sunny.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Sunny had only ever heard words describing people becoming “small” in books, and she was shocked at how much Izzy seemed to shrink into herself as she looked down at her hooves, ears and tail drooping low.
“That didn’t come out right. What I meant was… I’m glad to see you. Honestly. Really. Truly. I promise. Please-”
Don’t go.
Sunny moved forward, angling herself, and her head slid beside Izzy’s, cheek brushing against hers before her hooves wrapped themselves around the unicorn in a tight hug.
She’d forgotten how large the unicorn was up close, and she had to lift her head so her lips could reach the ear.
“Thank you.”
Izzy’s mane smelled pleasant as it tickled Sunny’s nose, and the earth pony could feel the unicorn trembling under her hooves. A few moments later, and the unicorn returned the embrace, then gently held Sunny out in front of her before placing her back down.
Magenta eyes met aqua, and the gaze lingered for several heartbeats before Izzy moved past Sunny, tail brushing affectionately against the earth pony.
“So, what’s new in Maretime Bay?” The unicorn looked around. “It looks better than the last time I was here, at least.”
Sunny turned and followed her, quickly moving up beside her. “Yeah, we’ve been making some headway into the mess, but there’s a lot of things going on, between everyone figuring out everything new, the new infrastructure, and...probably a lot more things, like the education, puzzling out what is and isn’t okay to say anymore…”
“You can say anything,” Izzy mused. “But it’s not always okay to say it.”
“Yeah…”
The two stopped and looked at each other, before Izzy took a breath. “Is it okay for me to be here?”
Sunny tilted her head. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
Izzy was staring at the ground in front of her, at a metal sheet with a red X emblazoned on it. Most of the unicorn traps had been disabled, but they were widespread and ponies still wandered into them from time to time.
At least the sirens and flashing lights usually led to swift releases, but there had been a few that took a while, and sometimes opening them led to a swift backpedal as the smell was released alongside the pony within…
“Ah…” Sunny said eloquently. “Uhm…” followed suit, with a few extra words in tow. “Yes, it it’s fine for you to be here. And if not, then I’ll make it fine for you to be here.”
Izzy’s ears flicked at the shift in Sunny’s tone, and she was surprised at the fire in the earth pony’s eyes.
No one in Bridlewood had the same kind of eyes, and Izzy felt her face stretch in a way that was becoming more familiar to her with each passing day.
“I saw Hitch over this way. Should probably let him know you’re here…” Sunny murmured, half to herself. “Did...anyone else come with you?”
“No one wanted to come. It’s...quiet in Bridlewood.”
Sunny paused at the somber note in Izzy’s voice and she turned to look at the purple unicorn, whose face was mostly obscured by blue hair.
“Well, maybe not quiet,” Izzy corrected. “There’s...a lot of bing-bonging going on. Generations of tradition is hard to break.” She shook her head. “Alphabittle’s working with the Queen to establish communications lines and it’s been very slow going.”
“Queen Haven’s visiting Bridlewood?”
She hadn’t returned to Maretime Bay; pegasi Sunny didn’t recognize had set up the preliminary relay tower and phone lines. Usually at night when everyone else was asleep and Sunny wasn’t because her mind was still trying to process events.
“I see…”
“She seems interested in how we do things. Bridlewood is very different from her home and yours, and she’s very keen on our hospitality and entertainment for some reason.”
Sunny remembered said entertainment and hospitality and privately wondered what Queen Haven was getting out of it, but took Izzy’s previous statement on words to heart and kept them to herself.
“Well, whatever she’s doing, hopefully it’ll mean the tribes will be better connected, right?” Sunny said aloud. “Communication is key to unification, and we’ll be able to better understand and grow and learn from one another this way.”
“Together,” Izzy murmured, so quietly Sunny wondered if she was supposed to have heard it, and she flicked her ears toward the unicorn curiously. Izzy blinked, blushed, and looked away. “I mean, if that’s alright with you?”
Sunny reached out with a hoof. “Please. I want to take more steps with you, if you’ll let me?”
Izzy’s smile was brighter and warmer than any sunrise Sunny had ever seen.
Izzy trotted after Sunny as the little earth pony mare led her back into Maretime Bay.
Memories of her first visit came flooding back and she kept a wary eye on the ground in front of her, though Sunny was doing a good job of leading her around the metal squares.
“So why did ponies agree to having these installed?” Izzy asked as she hopped over one.
Sunny’s face darkened slightly and her ears went flat. “We didn’t. They were installed at some point before the presentation on them at Canterlogic.”
“Canter…?”
Sunny pointed to a tall building on a hill ahead and slightly to the west. Izzy gazed at it, then frowned. “Doesn’t really seem like what they did was logical.”
“At the time, to the pony in charge, it was.” Sunny’s voice was… It reminded Izzy a lot of the voices back home, just before they started shouting angrily at her, and she went quiet, ears low.
Sunny kept going for a few steps, then stopped and looked back at her. “What’s wrong?” She saw Izzy’s expression and stepped back towards her, lowering herself – rather unneeded given her stature compared to Izzy – and slowly reached out for her. “Hey, hey...it’s okay. You haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not angry at you, I promise. Only at the ponies that did this.” She sighed heavily. “And at myself, I suppose, for not being good enough at trying to unify the races.”
“You were just one pony,” Izzy said softly, staring at Sunny’s hoof, leaning towards it ever-so-slightly. “That isn’t a burden you should carry yourself.” The unicorn pulled back and looked around the street, at the structures, the shops and homes, the livelihood of a community. “They were just doing what they thought was right at the time.” Her tail twitched from side to side. “We all were.”
“Were you scared, coming out here by yourself?” Sunny asked.
“A little. But I knew I had a friend waiting for me at the end, which made it not seem as scary,” Izzy said. “Although immediately running into you certainly helped.”
“There was a lot of running involved, wasn’t there.” Sunny shook her head. “Probably the most lively the town’s been since…” She trailed off, ears flicking, before shrugging. “I really can’t say when. It’s usually pretty quiet here-”
“Ugh.”
Both ponies jumped in surprise, before turning to see Posey Bloom staring at them. Which was a pretty impressive feat given her nose was also in the air.
“What is she doing here?”
Sunny stepped in front of Izzy as the unicorn shrank back, despite being larger than the yellow earth pony. The two ponies stared at each other, before Posey snorted again, ears coming forward even as she stepped back.
“You better watch yourself, unicorn. We don’t want another crazy pony running around in our town. We don’t want to have to rebuild another building due to a wayward laser blast.”
“Pretty sure that’s not even a thing unicorns can do,” Sunny pointed out through gritted teeth.
“Have you tried?” Posey shot back. “You can turn into one, can’t you? And fly? Haven’t you been learning their secrets and powers?”
“Erm...no? I...don’t really know...how?” Sunny said meekly. Posey stared at her blankly. Abruptly, she turned on her hoof and stomped off, sparks flashing from her hooves as they kicked against the stone.
The street fell silent and Sunny sat down, entire body going limp.
“She seems upset,” Izzy remarked, stepping closer. Sunny twisted an ear in her direction before letting out a shaky laugh.
“Posey’s... usually not like that. Prickly, sure, but...” Sunny replied, watching Posey stomp away. “We’re all jumpy, it seems. We don’t know where we’re going, or really what we’re even doing. There’s nothing in the books about this, since no one wanted there to be, so…”
Izzy’s hair brushed against Sunny’s neck and back as the unicorn leaned over the earth pony’s shoulder. “Wouldn’t your father have something in his notes? Or that journal of yours? Historical documents? Surely those would be tucked away somewhere?”
Sunny looked at her in surprise. “Maybe…” It had been a while since she’d looked, and with everything that happened, it had slipped her mind. “Probably gonna be a while before we can unearth any of that though. No one’s going to want to sift through history until all this is cleared out, cleaned up, and things settle down.”
Sunny slowly got to her hooves with Izzy’s support and shook her hooves one at a time before flicking her tail. “So...where were we?”
“Hitch, I think?” Izzy suggested.
Sunny wanted to smack herself. “Right, right, of course.” She looked around, reorienting herself. “This way.”
Hitch had finished up with his task and was making his way towards the station when the mares caught up with him.
“Hey Sunny. Izzy,” the sheriff said, blinking blearily at them before looking at the unicorn again. Izzy watched him tense up before visibly forcing himself to relax, with a painful-looking smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, though it came closer than most ponies she’d seen. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Izzy’s come to visit, and might... need a place to stay?” Sunny looked at Izzy, who shrugged.
“Hadn’t really thought that far ahead, to be honest. ‘Visit Sunny’ was the only real thing on my list.”
Hitch bit his lip in thought, eyes focusing inwards. “Pretty sure there’s a pull-out couch in the apartment.” He looked at Sunny, who nodded, vaguely remembering the layout. “Hotel’s always an option-”
“I’d rather stay with Sunny,” Izzy said quickly, hooves twisting on the ground.
Hitch blinked, eyes darting towards Sunny, who coughed into a hoof as her ears went flat and turned a soft pink. Hitch bit back a smile. “That’s fine.”
Sunny cleared her throat. “Glad that’s settled then.” She paused, looking at Izzy for a moment. The unicorn’s eyes were darting around nervously, and she could swear the mare’s mane was starting to curl. “We’ll leave you to your work.”
They bid Hitch farewell and Izzy followed Sunny once again, shortening her steps so she wouldn’t overtake the other mare. Despite Sunny’s small size, there were times she was all Izzy could see, and she wasn’t sure why.
The earth pony was... something special, even that much was plain to see, yet there was also something there under the surface that reminded Izzy of herself.
