It was all so... exhilarating to Sunny. Everything had happened so fast. She and her friends had finally defeated Opaline Arcana, ensuring she could never pose a threat to anypony or any other creature ever again. The world was safe once again (assuming there were no other threats lurking anywhere, and right now Sunny didn't know of any that did).
Granted, Sunny didn't know for sure what had become of that evil fire alicorn. But as long as she wouldn't be a threat to anyone, that was all that mattered. It helped that doing so also meant the ponies of Maretime Bay (as well as Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights) didn't have to worry about the possibility of having their cutie marks stolen from them.
Yet it wasn't long before the earth pony mare capable of becoming an alicorn found her excitement replaced by the same feeling she had experienced back when she'd first brought the unity crystals together: Curiosity. There was so much that nagged at her, refusing to leave her alone. Spike had explained what Twilight Sparkle had been trying to do with the crystals and why Opaline had come after dragons. But having glanced over her father's research again, Sunny found that nothing ever mentioned Spike leaving Equestria. And neither was there ever even a passing mention of Opaline.
The curiosity gave rise to questions: Why had Spike left Twilight after all the years spent at her side? How and why did he become dragon lord, a position he'd previously turned down years ago (albeit when he was still a baby dragon)? What exactly was it about Opaline that necessitated magic being sealed away when no other threat Twilight and her friends had encountered had ever required that?
The questions kept gnawing away at Sunny Starscout for days and nights on end. They floated around inside her head, refusing to leave. At last, the earth pony's mind was made up. There was only one creature who could answer her questions. She had to see Spike again. There had to be more to the story than what he'd told her last time.
So it was that, not even a week after Opaline's defeat, Sunny slipped away. She left only a note in her bedroom at the Brighthouse so that her friends wouldn't worry. They'd already been through so much because of her (Misty especially). They deserved a chance to carry on with their lives as usual, doing what they loved to do day in and day out. It was only Sunny herself who knew she wouldn't be satisfied until she'd gotten some answers. Call it what you will, she just had to find those answers the only way she knew how!
Rather than take the Marestream (which only Zipp really knew how to fly well), however, Sunny decided to fly to her destination another way: Via her alicorn transformation. By now, she'd learned how to do it almost at will. She just needed to be really happy and really excited. And nothing was more exciting than a research trip!
With that golden horn and golden wings on full display, Sunny took off! Her destination was clear in mind: The dragon lands.
Flying on her own power all the way to the dragon lands, and more specifically to the Isle of Scaly was very exhausting to Sunny. Even her enthusiasm could only do so much to help her maintain her alicorn form long enough to touch down safely on the island. "Okay, that was not a smart move. Definitely shouldn't do that again." She said to herself as she reverted back to her normal earth pony state. It would definitely be a while before she could even think of flying back to Maretime Bay.
All the more incentive for the mare to stick around. The dragons were much more friendly now compared to how they'd been during Sunny's last visit to the island. They knew who she was, some even bowed to her as a sign of respect. Clearly, they were most grateful to her for the role she'd played in defeating Opaline and enabling them to rescue their captured comrades.
Sunny couldn't help but giggle at the display. It still amused and tickled her to think that others looked up to her just because she could become an alicorn. Was this what it was like for Twilight Sparkle when she became an alicorn? How had she gotten used to it?
Well, you could add those to the growing list of questions the earth pony wished to ask Spike. There was no sense in beating around the bush. She cleared her throat and asked. "Does anydragon here know where Spike... I mean," She quickly corrected herself. "Dragon Lord Spike is? I want to talk to him."
But the mare needn't have asked. Almost as if by magic, Spike appeared in all his glory. From an outward glance, there was nothing to indicate his title of dragon lord. He didn't have a crown or a scepter. He wasn't any taller than any of the other dragons. Yet they all clearly deferred to him and parted ways as he drew closer and closer to Sunny. The look on his face was difficult to read: It was an odd mix of surprise, happiness, and most of all sadness.
"I might have known you'd show up here again so soon, Sunny," Spike greeted, speaking slowly and deeply. Taking a quick look around, he asked what he needn't have asked but felt like asking anyway. "Did you really come here all by yourself? Just to see me?"
Sunny Starscout happily nodded. "Yup," She blushed a bit. "I kind of underestimated how long of a trip it would be. But I just had to see you," She quickly recovered, locking eyes with the old dragon. "There's so much I want to ask you. So many questions I want to have answered."
The dragon lord let out a sigh. Whether it was because of impatience or because of something else was hard to tell. "I told you all you needed to know when we first met: About Opaline and about Twilight."
"But I get the feeling you didn't tell me everything!" Sunny protested, standing her ground. "I'm sure you have your reasons, but I just have to know! Before I met you, all I ever knew about you and Twilight and the others was through my dad's research. Looking back over it, it's clear that he never found anything about either Opaline or the crystals, let alone you dragons. If he had, I'm sure he would've written it down somewhere."
Spike's expression and tone of voice didn't change in the slightest. It didn't sound like he was annoyed by Sunny's insistent questioning, even as he continued to be evasive in his replies. "Look, nothing lasts forever, okay? I became dragon lord because I felt I had to. Twilight gave me her blessing: She said I was old enough to decide for myself what I wanted to be. So I became dragon lord and left Equestria with the other dragons. Then I fell into that deep sleep because of the dragon stone and the spell Twilight cast on it. Next thing I knew, I woke up and everything had changed."
The earth pony mare refused to back down. "There has to be more to the story than that! You and Twilight were family! She hatched you for hoffness' sake! Why would you just leave her side out of the blue because you wanted to be dragon lord? It doesn't make sense."
The dragon lord snorted. "I'm sorry, Sunny," His tone of voice seemed to become regretful, perhaps even remorseful. "I can't tell you any more. Why do you need to know? You defeated Opaline, right?"
Sunny nodded quite slowly. "Yes. At least, I'm pretty sure my friends and I did. And it's not like she'd be in a mood to tell us anything anyway," She pressed again. "There has to be more to the story than just her wanting power. Something that necessitated Twilight taking the extreme measures that she did. You must know something!"
Spike groaned and grit his teeth. "You're just like Twilight in that regard, Sunny. She always wanted to know everything, no matter what. She was never satisfied with just a simple explanation," A sigh of longing escaped his lips. "That's one of the things I miss most about her: Her thirst for knowledge led her to discoveries nopony ever thought possible. It's why she made friends out of so many enemies. She could see what others couldn't or wouldn't see," A lone tear came into his eyes. "But that could be just as much of a curse as it was a blessing."
At that, Sunny let out a gasp! She was surprised to see that she had brought the mighty dragon lord to the brink of tears, in front of his subjects no less. Hitch had always warned her in the past about this. How many times had he scolded her for wanting to get her point across no matter what? How many times had he told her that you shouldn't try to force others to talk even if they'd rather keep quiet about something? Immediately, guilt washed over her body like a wave. "Spike... I... I didn't mean to..."
Spike lifted up a huge claw to silence the earth pony. "No, it's alright," He spoke in a tone of voice barely above a whisper. "You remind me a lot of her, actually. You're the one who succeeded even where she couldn't. Of course you wouldn't be satisfied without knowing the whole story. She wouldn't be satisfied either."
"Spike, if you'd rather not talk about it, then..." Sunny began.
"-No, Sunny," Spike shook his head from side to side. "I realize I've been keeping it to myself for long enough. And one of my other pony friends taught me long ago what can happen if we keep things bottled up inside for too long," Regaining his composure, he motioned to her. "Come with me. I'll tell you everything." Then he slowly walked away, all the while the other dragons were left speechless at the display. None of them had ever known their dragon lord to be emotionally overpowered by a pony before. Just who was this Sunny Starscout?
Against her better judgment, Sunny followed after the dragon lord. A nagging voice in the back of her head told her that she wouldn't like what she was going to hear. But she'd come all this way. For better or for worse, she had to hear Spike out.
Pony and dragon walked along in silence for a while. Neither of them spoke a word.
At last, however, Spike led Sunny to a large cave. She recognized it at once as the cave in which he had dwelt when she and her friends had first met him mere days ago. Had it been that long already since she'd come to ask for his aid in defeating Opaline?
Now alone in the cave with Sunny, the mighty dragon lord let out a deep sigh and shut his eyes. "I can still remember it clear as day, like it was yesterday. It all happened so fast."
"Spike-" Sunny began, only to trail off as she found that she couldn't think of anything to say to him.
Spike just replied. "Close your eyes, Sunny. Try to picture if you can what I'm about to tell you. Maybe then you'll understand why I was so hesitant to talk about it."
The earth pony mare obeyed without hesitation, shuting her eyes tightly and concentrating on the words the old dragon was telling her.
Spike's mind began to replay the memories as he narrated to Sunny. "It started with Opaline herself. She stormed in one day, seeing fit to challenge Twilight Sparkle's rule. We didn't know it then, but she'd already begun spreading seeds of discontent: Making ponies feel like they couldn't trust each other."
Spike could still remember where he had been when the trouble had started. He'd been in the throne room of the castle in Canterlot with Twilight, having a chat with her. The exact nature of the topic had been forgotten. He just knew they'd been talking about something, something important.
Then, out of the blue, the throne room doors quite literally exploded off their hinges! In strolled a tall, slender, dark purple coated alicorn with a ghostly white mane and tail. Her cobalt blue eyes looked cold and merciless. Yet strangely, her cutie mark depicted a horn surrounded by two light blue flames (one on each side).
Twilight immediately gazed upon the intruder, uncertain what exactly to make of this alicorn of unknown origin. "Who in the wide world of Equestria are you?" She questioned. "And why do you look like an alicorn?"
The alicorn chuckled and cackled with fiendish glee. "That's because I am an alicorn!" She unfolded her wings, proudly proclaiming! "I am the mighty Opaline Arcana! And you, Twilight Sparkle, have stolen that which should be rightfully mine!"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "You must be crazy. I've never heard of you before, Opaline. If you wanted an audience with me, you should have just asked. You didn't have to damage my castle."
Opaline snarled, her horn glowing rather ominously. "It's not supposed to be your castle, Twilight Sparkle," Her voice seemed to be dripping with venom and malice. "I was an alicorn long before you ever became one! I came from the same place as Celestia and Luna! It is I who should be ruling Equestria, not you!"
"What are you talking about?" Twilight inquired of her fellow alicorn as she trotted forward, her horn glowing and at the ready. "Celestia and Luna never mentioned you, Opaline. If they had, I would've known."
Opaline growled, stomping a hoof down! "Of course they never told you! They've probably forgotten all about how they ignored me and shunned me as a filly! All I ever wanted was some recognition, but they thought they were too good for me! They thought I was nothing but trouble!" She hissed as she fired off a blast from her horn, destroying one of the stain glass window displays with the greatest of ease! "It's not fair! I didn't deserve to be banished from Skyros! So what if I wanted power?! Alicorns are supposed to be all powerful! Ponies are supposed to fear them and worship them!"
Twilight only replied in a scolding tone of voice. "I see you're no different than any of the other threats I've had to deal with, Opaline. You only think about yourself. Celestia and Luna understood that being an alicorn isn't about being powerful. The fact that you were banished from... whatever that place was you mentioned only means that you're here because you're trying to start trouble," She fired off a blast from her horn, pushing Opaline back. "Let me make it perfectly clear: I'm not going to give up my throne just because you want me to. You came here, attacking my castle. If you thought you could scare me so easily, you're wrong."
Yet it was then that Opaline's eyes took on a sadistic glint, an evil smirk spread across her face. "If you think I just came here to threaten you, you obviously haven't been paying attention. I've been hiding under your nose the whole time, princess. Or have the recent 'incidents' between the pony tribes not caught your attention yet?"
At that, the supreme princess gasped as her eyes went wide! "Wait, that was you?! You've been scaring my subjects by pretending to be evil pegasi and unicorns?! Do you even realize what you're doing?!"
The evil alicorn's smirk deepened. "Oh, I most certainly do. It's so sickening to think that ponies believe they're stronger together. They're not. All it takes is enough fear, and they turn on each other," She then added. "But none of that would've been possible if I hadn't had help. I'm not your average, ordinary alicorn, after all. I'm a fire alicorn." To demonstrate this fact, she used her horn to conjure up a massive flame and held it aloft. Then, just as easily as she had produced it, she snuffed it out.
Spike, who up to this point had been standing on the sidelines, suddenly realized something! "So, you're the one behind that reported attack in the dragon lands! I thought something was up when Ember suddenly stopped replying to my messages and Twilight's letters," He glared at the fire alicorn as his wings unfolded, quickly getting up in her face. "What did you do to the dragons, Opaline?!"
Opaline coldly and cruely replied. "Nothing, compared to what I'm going to do to you and those precious ponies you care so much about."
"If you're thinking of threatening or harming my subjects, you'll answer to me!" Twilight bellowed as her eyes began to glow brightly! "I won't let you do as you please, Opaline!"
Opaline merely ran up and locked horns with Twilight. She then boasted. "Try to stop me if you can! Don't think I'll make it easy on you! I already have a ton of dragon fire magic powering me! You as a mere ascended alicorn can't possibly hope to match me!"
"We'll see about that, won't we?!" Twilight replied, and then shot off a beam from her horn!
From that exchange of words and threats had come a battle that had quickly escalated. Opaline had indeed proven to be stronger than one might have expected from first glance.
Only when Twilight's friends joined the battle, aided by the arrival of a large number of dragons led by Ember, did the tide turn.
Even in defeat, however, Opaline remained defiant. "Don't think you've won, Twilight Sparkle! I will return to take back what's rightfully mine! Everyone will bow down to me in the end!"
Twilight Sparkle simply glared at the fire alicorn after the dust had settled on the final battle, standing amidst what had been a lush and vibrant forest. The fight with Opaline had reduced it to a smoldering ruin. Had the fight taken place in a populated area, who knows how much worse the damage could've been? Spike, her friends, and of course the dragons were all standing by her on either side. "You don't understand, Opaline. Power alone doesn't make a good ruler. Equestria isn't yours, never was and never will be!"
Opaline simply snarled as she strained against the magical chains holding her in place, preventing her from using her horn or even unfolding her wings. "So you say, but do you really think that 'friendship' will keep Equestria together? You've seen it yourself, princess," She snarled with a sneer. "Friendships can be broken. Trust can be misplaced," Then she proclaimed. "It doesn't matter what you do to me or where you send me. I'll be back. You can be sure of that!"
Twilight replied by tapping her horn against Opaline's forehead, telling the fire alicorn. "If power's all you think about, let's see how well you manage without it." She visibly strained as she slowly but surely drained her foe of all the magic within her: Not just pony magic but also dragon fire magic. Even for an experienced pony like Twilight, it was a lot to take in.
At last, however, the magic had been drained completely from Opaline. The fire alicorn fell to the ground, struggling to get back up on her hooves. "What have you done to me?!" She roared in defiance!
"I've taken away the magic you stole," Twilight explained. "You'll never get it back, Opaline. Think of this as a chance to atone, a chance to start life anew. Then someday, just maybe, you'll be a better pony."
Just like that, it all seemed to be over. It seemed like things would go back to the way they had been before.
Alas, Spike was soon to learn that was not to be the case.
Only a day after Opaline's defeat, Spike was more than a little bit surprised to be suddenly summoned to the throne room. It still bore the scars from Opaline's unexpected arrival, the stained glass window displays still remained shattered and the carpet still had those singe marks.
Much to the dragon's surprise, Twilight immediately ushered him in and locked the doors tightly behind him. She took a quick look around to determine that she was indeed alone with him. That struck Spike as most odd, almost as if the alicorn he'd known for so long had seen a ghost or something. "What's the matter, Twilight? Why did you want to see me so soon after Opaline's defeat? Everything should be just fine now."
The alicorn could only shake her head from side to side, somberly stating. "No, Spike, it isn't. There are some things that even magic can't fix."
"What are you talking about?" Spike asked, before a sudden sense of dread struck him square in the face. "No! You can't possibly mean...!"
"-I wish it weren't so, Spike. But it's true," Twilight explained as she draped a wing over her heart. "Ember's gone. Opaline didn't just drain her of her dragon fire magic. She wanted Ember out of the picture so that she couldn't warn us that Opaline was coming."
Spike let out a gasp, stumbling back in shock! "Why didn't you tell me this sooner, Twilight?!" His shock and grief quickly turned to anger! "When I get my claws on that no good Opaline, I'll make her wish she was never born!"
Twilight immediately lifted up a hoof, motioning to Spike. "No, Spike. Revenge is not the answer. It won't bring Ember back," She went on to explain. "The other dragons are still recovering from what Opaline did. They need someone to lead them now that Ember's gone. And they've all made it perfectly clear who they want. They want you."
Spike was quick to protest. "Absolutely not! I'm not leaving you, Twilight! The dragons will just have to find someone else!"
The alicorn trotted over to Spike, hoofing him a large stone with swirls carved into it. "There isn't time, Spike. You must understand, Opaline isn't going away. I took away her magic, but she'll inevitably try to get it back. And the magic she took is too powerful to leave lying around. I wasn't able to restore it, put it back where it belongs. So I concentrated the dragon fire magic into this: The Dragon Stone."
"What do you want me to do with it?" The green scaled dragon asked as he eyed the stone quite carefully.
Twilight replied by lighting up her horn again, visibly straining to do so. Soon, three large and shiny crystals appeared before pony and dragon. "All the magic I drained from Opaline went into the stone and these crystals. I want them all to be split up, scattered to the farthest quarters of Equestria! No, the entire world! They must be hidden away so that Opaline won't be able to find them! You and the dragons will have to guard the Dragon Stone, keep it out of Opaline's clutches."
"What about you, Twilight?" Spike questioned.
"My friends and I will see to it that the crystals are hidden and well protected," Twilight explained. "Then we're going to work on repairing the damage Opaline did to the bonds between pony tribes," A confident smile formed on her face. "I'm sure we can remind them of what they're capable of if we all work together. And if not," Her smile faded. "The crystals are designed to respond to pony magic and to the trust ponies have in each other. They will ensure the magic remains stable, so long as ponies remember the bonds of friendship. Should those bonds be broken, not by some sinister power but by our own lack of trust, the magic will fade away."
Spike unhappily sighed. "Is there really no other way to keep Equestria safe? To make sure Opaline can't hurt anyone else?"
The alicorn somberly and glumly replied. "I wish there was, Spike. But if even Celestia and Luna never knew about Opaline or what she was capable of, there's no guarantee we'll be able to win if she ever becomes that strong again. I can't take chances. I fear Opaline may be a threat like the Legion of Doom, it may not be possible to reform her. A pony willing to hurt or even kill other creatures, willing to turn ponies against each other, I've never dealt with that before."
"So, what?" Spike questioned as he held the Dragon Stone in his clutches. "You want me to just flee Equestria with the other dragons, hide the Dragon Stone, and then do nothing?"
Twilight shook her head again. "No, Spike. You will return to Equestria eventually, once things calm down. But for now, I need you to do this in case my friends and I really can't undo what Opaline has done."
Hesitantly, Spike obeyed. "A-alright," He tried to sound brave and confident as he headed towards the throne room doors. "But if you ever run into trouble, Twilight, just say the word and I'll drop everything to come help you again! This won't be how our story ends!"
"That's what I told myself the day I left Equestria," Spike explained to Sunny as he opened his eyes, the flashback coming to an end. "Yet it was a promise I couldn't keep. As soon as I hid the dragon stone and built this colony, the other dragons and I were forced into that deep sleep," He shuddered. "When I woke up, I could sense it already: Twilight was gone. The Equestria I knew was gone."
Sunny opened her own eyes very slowly, quickly taking notice of the fact that Spike was now crying and weeping openly. "I... I'm sorry. Really," She insisted, trying her best to sound sincere. "I didn't imagine it could be that complicated. I should've guessed that you wouldn't leave Twilight without a reason."
"It's fine," The dragon lord insisted even though his tone of voice betrayed his intentions. "What matters is that thanks to you and your friends, Opaline was defeated for good. Twilight's plan ultimately did work. Just not in the way she intended," A sad smile formed on his face as he added. "It's funny, she really tried to be different from Celestia and Luna. But in the end, she became just like them whether she intended to or not."
"That would explain the warning in the crystals," Sunny realized. "She probably figured somepony would bring them together again when magic started fading," She hung her head in shame. "If only I had realized sooner that's what she was trying to tell me. Then I wouldn't have needed to have you put yourself and your fellow dragons in danger, or allowed them to be captured by Opaline."
Spike strolled over, using a claw to lift Sunny's chin and look her in the eyes. "Don't blame yourself over what happened, Sunny. You couldn't have known what was going to happen any more than Twilight did. What matters most is that together we protected Equestria, just like Twilight wanted."
"I... guess so," Sunny blinked quite slowly, the earth pony mare trying to take in what the dragon was telling her. Then an idea came to her. "Hey, now that Opaline is no longer around, that means you don't have to be dragon lord anymore. You can come back to Equestria. Maybe together we could find Canterlot, or even Ponyville! We could rebuild Equestria back to the way it was before all of this!"
The dragon lord immediately shook his head from side to side to dispel the suggestion. "The Equestria I knew is no more. Nothing you or I do can bring it back, no matter how much we might wish it was possible. I might come visit Maretime Bay from time to time, or see some other places in the new Equestria. But my home is here now, on this island. I don't know what might have become of the old Equestria," He shut his eyes again, shuddering slightly. "Nor do I really want to know," Opening his eyes back up, he concluded. "The only thing I can do is trust you to carry on Twilight's legacy: For me and for all those who knew her."
Sunny gave a firm nod, vowing! "You can count on me, Spike! My friends and I will do our part to make Equestria as good as it was! No, even better! We'll do our part," She motioned to her heart as she ended. "Hoof to heart." As soon as she had finished speaking those words, her body gave off a bright glow! In a puff of glitter, her golden horn and golden wings returned as she once again took on her alicorn state of appearance.
A bright smile formed on Spike's face when he saw Sunny's transformation. "You really remind me a lot of her, Sunny. Twilight couldn't have asked for a better pony than you to carry on her legacy. I know you'll make me proud."
Author's Note
I know I already did a story kind of like this over a year ago. But with "Make Your Mark" now having wrapped up for good, I felt like it wouldn't be a bad idea to try to fill in some of the gaps still remaining. I know part of the problem was the inability to actually use any G4 characters due to Discovery Family still partially owning the rights to them (even though they only broadcast the show and were never involved in its creation as far as I know). Yet I still feel like there's more they weren't able to show.
I decided it best to keep it between Sunny and Spike, since aside from maybe Hitch and Zipp, I can't see any of the others taking an interest in wanting to know more after Opaline's defeat.
And yes, the episode title is a reference to the classic Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends episode "The Sad Story of Henry".
