Ancient Relics

Chapters

Intermission - Moment of Peace
Prologue - Dreams of Twilight
Chapter One - Welcome to Maretime Bay
Chapter Two - The Deputy, The Sun, and the Unicorn
Chapter Three - Early
Chapter Four - City in the Skies
Chapter Five - Best Worst Night Ever
Chapter Six - Over the Ravine
Chapter Seven - Inside a Midnight Library
Chapter Eight - Just Prance, Ponies!
Chapter Nine - Alone in the Dark
Chapter Ten - Magic of Friendship
Chapter Eleven - Visions of the Past
Chapter Twelve - Dream Brighthouse Makeover: Part I

Intermission - Moment of Peace

It was night, and the Mane Six were in their new lighthouse, which they had dubbed the "Crystal Brighthouse." They were in the Crystal Room, watching the stars on the balcony. Well, most of them were watching stars. Zipp, on the other hand, was buried in a book.

"Hey, Zipp! Check out the stars!" Pipp said, pointing to a constellation strangely shaped like her cutie mark. "It's my cutie mark! Is this a coincidence or what?!"

Zipp slammed the book shut as he groaned. "Pipp, I'm trying to figure this mystery out!" Zipp stood up and started pacing. "I mean, who was this evil alicorn of fire? Is she related to Midnight? Why did we shoot rainbow lasers? Are we connected to the Crystals?" At that last word, he looked at the Crystals floating in its place.

"Zipp, Zipp," Sunny said. "I already told you, Starlight said that we were the "ponies of prophecy," that must be it. Twilight Sparkle and her friends shot magic lasers."

Zipp groaned as he faced Sunny. "Yeah, but they had magic, we didn't! During the fight, the only source of magic out there was you and the crystals! So it would be understandable if only you shot rainbow lasers, but why us too? Is it because we're in a prophecy? Or did we always have magic?"

Sprout snorted. "Didn't Starlight tell Sunny that Twilight put all of the pony magic in those crystals?" Sprout asked. "I don't think we had magic, Zipp, but we certainly do now!"

"Yeah!" Izzy said. "I mean, look what I can do!" Izzy's horn glowed in a purple aura as a rock was lifted into the air. Though, it was only in the air for a second as it dropped back onto the ground. "Well, that was something!" Izzy said, humming a small tune.

"Zipp, I think you're making this more complicated than it needs to be," Hitch said. "And if it's coming from me, you know it's serious."

Zipp sighed as he slumped onto the floor next to Sunny. "You're probably right, but that still raises one question. What is Midnight's endgame? We need to find out what it is so we can prepare for a future attack!"

"If Midnight didn't want magic to return, that means it was important to her evil plan, right?" Izzy asked. "So, if you think about it, we stopped her by bringing back magic!"

"Hopefully, you're right, Izzy." Zipp hopefully said before he realized something. "Guys, you remember those three swirling horses in the sky? Y'know, the horses that came after Sprout jinxed us all?"

Sprout groaned. "Stop reminding me about that, it was an accident!"

"No! I didn't mean that! Well, technically I did... ugh, I'm getting off track!" Zipp said, sitting up straight. "So, as I was about to say, when we shot a rainbow laser into the sky, they just... disappeared. Where did they go? What were they?"

Sunny shrugged as she sat up straight. "I'm not sure, but I don't think they're our friends," Sunny said. "If we have time, we should go back to the library. Maybe there's something about those horses or Midnight."

"Maybe," Hitch said before a thought occurred to him. "Zipp, Pipp, what happened to that... Captain Horizontally? Didn't he try to start a war, what happened to him?"

"Captain Horizon," Pipp corrected. "Me and Zipp didn't hear much, but we did hear that he ran away. Mom's going to be reappointed as Queen, and her first order is to find Horizon."

"That's going to be hard," Izzy said. "I mean, he could be anywhere! Who knows if he's even in Equestria anymore? Shouldn't we help find him?"

"Of course!" Sunny said. "But, that's something for another day, Izzy. For now, let's just enjoy a moment of peace."

"No, no, NO!"

In a cave, Midnight's horn was glowing a bright magenta as she started scorching the walls in pure, unrestrained fury. "My plan was perfect!" Midnight said, shooting a beam at a rock which broke into small pieces. "How were they able to bring back magic?! How!?"

"It's the basic movie plot," Twilight shrugged, flying next to Midnight. "Good guys beat bad guys, light beats dark, nice beats mean..."

"We're not in a movie, Sparkle!" Midnight retorted. "Why couldn't things go right this time?! They always go right for you! You stopped a pony from breaking the timeline with friendship! Friendship!"

"Hey!" Twilight said, trying to speak up before closing her mouth. "Eh, it's not like you're wrong. A good speech can do wonders! I mean, I befriended Starlight, who was inches away from ripping a scroll with just a speech."

"Spare me your speech," Midnight said. "I'll just have to think of a better plan, one that those diet Elements can't foil! Maybe having magic back isn't so bad, I guess. Granted, it would make things much easier if I was the only one with it."

"Ugh," Twilight muttered. "I'm going to go to bed, see you in the morning." Twilight said, lying her translucent body on the rocky floor. "How can I feel the rocks, but other ponies can't see me?"

Midnight scoffed. "Like I know. I'll go to bed as well, I've got nothing better to do anyways." Midnight's horn lit up, and in seconds, a bed spawned in front of her. Midnight yawned as she lied onto the bed.

Once Twilight was sure she was asleep, she floated upwards as she gazed into the night sky. "Oh, Sunny, you have to beat her, you just have to." Twilight said. Her moment was broken as Midnight started snoring really loud.

Author's Note

Sorry this one is too short, but, it's an intermission chapter, so what do you expect? Anyways, I will be taking a break from this fanfic to focus on my other one, the one I mentioned in Chapter Nine, or was it Ten? Never mind, see you soon... probably. Also, here's the link to the story I was talking about.

EThe Mane 12 Adventures: Season 1

In another universe, Generation 4 and Generation 5 were merged. What would happen to the story?

Ponyfanatic · 46k words · 47 2 · 1.8k views

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Prologue - Dreams of Twilight

~-~ Arc 1: A New Generation ~-~

Somewhere, in the middle of Equestria, was a small town, filled with earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi! Just outside of it, was a giant crystal castle. The doors to the castle opened, and a purple alicorn walked outside of it, a purple and green dragon following behind her.

"Day 1 of my vacation in Ponyville! What's on the agenda today, Spike?" The alicorn asked, turning to her dragon companion. The dragon - Spike - took out a scroll and a quill pen from his loose scales before frowning. "Spike? What's wrong?"

"Um, there's nothing wrong, Twilight! It's just really weird that we have nothing to do for the day, our schedules are always packed." Spike said. His eyes lit up as he took out another scroll, "Oh, never mind! I forgot about the itinerary! So first, we'll be meeting up with Rainbow Dash and Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres. Then we'll head over to Carousel Boutique to help Rarity with her upcoming fashion show. After that, we'll be helping Fluttershy with her animals. And lastly, we'll all meet up as we spy on Pinkie Pie on her date with Cheese Sandwich!"

"...well! Spying should be fun, right?" Twilight joked, "Wait, where's Starlight? I'm sure she's in Ponyville, I thought you'd schedule something with her?"

Spike's eyes darted around, which Twilight quicky took notice of. "Oh, um, well, you see-" Spike stammered before Twilight put a hoof on Spike's mouth, smiling warmly.

"Spike, don't worry, it's probably because she's busy with the School of Friendship, right?" Twilight said, "I know how hard it is to get away from your duties, remember? We've been trying to get a vacation in for a month now!"

"Oh, yeah, right! The School of Friendship, duh! I mean, it's not like we're planning a secret party that's happening at midnight!" Spike said, clearly trying to lie. Twilight rolled her eyes before she and Spike started walking towards Sweet Apple Acres.

But just then, the sky started to flicker. The light blue sky turned a dark red, a bunch of gray clouds slowly covering it. Twilight turned around worriedly, and didn't see Spike there. "No... no! This... this isn't supposed to happen yet!" She screamed, tears slowly falling from her face.

Her horn lit up in a magenta aura as she teleported away, before reappearing in Sweet Apple Acres. "Applejack! Rainbow Dash!" She called out. No response. "Please! Aj, Rainbow! I... I need you!" She called out again, her voice cracking. Her horn lit up again, she disappeared.

She reappeared in front of the Carousel Boutique before she rushed inside to find the place completely in ruins. Dresses were on the floor, ripped. Each mirror, broken. But worse of all, no sign of Rarity anywhere. "R... Rarity! Rarity! It's me, Twilight Sparkle! Your good friend?" She laughed out, her tears slowly falling on the dresses below her as she tried to escape reality.

She walked up stairs, towards Rarity's room. Maybe she was sleeping? Maybe she rose the sun too early, maybe everyone was still sleeping! Yeah, that was it. She opened the door and saw... that it was in perfect condition, but no Rarity. In the center of the room was the first dress she wore to the Grand Galloping Gala, when she was just a unicorn! It was still in perfect condition, thankfully.

Her eyes widened when she saw the sticky note, pasted on the dress. She wiped her tears before running to the dress and taking the note.

Darling, you must move on. For us. We may not be here any more, but you know we're there, with you. Well, you get it, right? Oh, this is my first time writing a note from beyond the grave, I'm getting sidetracked! Just... please, move on. Equestria needs your help more than anything.

Signed, Rarity Belle.

She crumpled the paper as she threw it in the trashcan. "I'm sorry, Rarity, but I can't." Slowly, the dress started to deteriorate, before it was reduced to a pile of magenta ashes. Her horn lit up as she teleported out of the room, and towards Fluttershy's cottage.

She appeared inside, startling the animals. "Oh, who... who's there!?" She heard a soft voice yell out. Twilight turned around and saw...

"Fluttershy!" Twilight rushed in and hugged the yellow pegasus, who looked startled. "Please! Please..." She cried out, tears once again falling from her face. "Don't... don't leave, not yet." She said, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

Fluttershy returned the hug as she started stroking Twilight's hair, "Twilight, you know I- we can't stay long. It hurts us to see you suffer like this, me, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Starlight..." Fluttershy sighed, "You have to move on, this isn't healthy. You knew the consequences that came with becoming a Princess,"

"I know!" Twilight said, her voice a bit higher. "I just... I just wish I could see you all one last time. I don't know what to do, Equestria is... is in shambles! Everypony is seperated, and we have no magic! I just... I just feel so lost, I don't know what to do without all of you!"

"I know, we wish we could help you, but this is the only way we know how! Twilight, you have to move on and fix Equestria, the world needs you." Fluttershy said.

"But I need you!" Twilight retorted. "Fluttershy, please."

Fluttershy closed her eyes as the scene began to change. Twilight mentally gasped when she saw this happening. Even though she was, frankly, depressed, it was a sight to behold. "Where... where are we going?" Twilight asked, but Fluttershy didn't respond.

A few seconds later, they were in the caves where the Tree of Harmony once was. But now, it was there! "I... don't understand?" Twilight said. She turned around to find Fluttershy, but she was no longer there. "Woah!" Suddenly, vines started to sprout from the crystal tree, turning the crystals a moldy green.

Twilight gasped when she saw this, because she knew when this was! She had just came back from the Crystal Empire after the whole "crown got stolen, must get it back in another universe" fiasco. "I... remember this!" Twilight said.

"I know how we can save the Tree. We have to give it the Elements of Harmony."

Twilight turned around and saw a past version of herself and her friends. This is the moment when they gave the Elements to the Tree of Harmony!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. How are we supposed to protect Equestria?"

"How are we meant to rein Discord in if we can’t use the Elements to turn him back to stone?"

"We need the elements, Twilight! If we give it back, and some other threat comes into play, what will we do?"

Twilight blinked, she didn't remember Fluttershy talking here. Maybe she was remembering it wrong, that could be it.

"Twilight... the Elements of Harmony. They’re what keep us connected, no matter what."

"You’re right about one thing, Applejack. The Elements of Harmony did bring us together. But it isn't the Elements that will keep us connected."

"It’s our friendship, and it’s more important and more powerful than any magic. My new role in Equestria may mean I have to take on new responsibilities, and our friendships may be tested. But it will never, ever be broken. There’s no time to lose. Everypony ready?"

Twilight's eyes started watering, before she realized what she had to do. She turned to the Tree of Harmony, before she turned back to the version of herself and her friends. "I know what I have to do." She said firmly. The other her put the Elements back into the tree as it sent a rainbow wave through out Equestria, removing all the vines. Twilight disappeared as she woke up in the physical realm.

The other Fluttershy started manically laughing as her form started twisting into a new one. She turned into a twisted version of Twilight, who resembled Nightmare Moon.

Twilight woke up in a cave, which looked quite nice for a cave. She walked over to a chest and pulled out a key and inserted it. She twisted the key as the chest opened. Inside was a book, a familiar book, her friendship journal. "Don't worry, girls. I've got this."

Author's Note

Hello! So, first of all, this story will be a rewrite of Gen 5. Most things will stay the same, but some things, like plot, will change. This is the first part of the "Ancient Relics" series, as I've called it, so stay tuned! Also, just for some clarification, this chapter is a flashback.

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter One - Welcome to Maretime Bay

In the cramped room of an old light house, an orange earth pony mare was lying in her bed, snoring. Her alarm clock rung, which caused the mare to wake up with a groan. Her hoof wobbled trying to get it to stop before it did!.. by throwing it on the floor.

"Urgh..." She groaned, she lazily got up and looked at what time it was... only to realize she broke her alarm clock. "...right,"

She yawned for a good five seconds before she exited her bed, her magenta mane all over the place. She walked up to the calendar before her eyes widened, a smile appearing on her faces. On the calendar was the words "Canterlogic Annual Presentation" with red ink circled around it. "Oh, yes! Hitch and Sprout won't know what's coming!" She smirked.

She excitedly walked down the stairs, a small creak coming whenever she stepped on a plank. She entered her kitchen, pouring milk and cereal at the same time into a blue bowl with stripes. Okay, how do I infiltrate the Canterlogic building this year? She thought, Backdoor? No, it's guarded. Hide inside an incoming trunk of shipments? Maybe, but no. Disguises? Have I tried disguises? Well, I have nothing to lose!

A few minutes later, she tied her mane into a braid and put on some skating shoes. She put on a name tag that read: "Hi! I'm Sunny Starscout!" before she opted to throw it away. "Okay, first, I make an appearance, then disguises! Okay, Sunny, you can do this!" She said to her said, feeling full of determination.

She skated out of her house, slamming the door as she did so. Next to the door, was a photo of a young Sunny and what was presumed to be her father.

The lighthouse was on top of a hill, which gave Sunny an overhead view of her entire town - Maretime Bay. Somehow, she felt so overjoyed, that she could sing! But, for reasons I will not specify, she won't.

Sunny skated into town, waving at ponies as she did so. "Heya, Mayflower! Ooh, good morning, Jazz!" She greeted, to which she received a small wave back. "Hey, Sprout!"

Infront of Sunny, was a red stallion with a blonde mane. "Hey, Sunny," He rolled his eyes.

"So... Sprout! What're you doing here?" Sunny asked, putting on a small smile. "Shouldn't you be at Canterlogic for the annual presentation?"

Sprout narrowed his eyes on Sunny, who kept her small smile. "Oh, Hitch told me to keep an eye on you, we don't want another incident, do we?"

"Oh, come on, Sprout, lighten up!" Sunny laughed off, putting a hoof on Sprout's back, who pushed it away.

"I spent two hours getting the goo out of my head! Do you think that's fun!?" Sprout said to Sunny, who just laughed.

"And I said I was sorry!" Sunny defended, skating around Sprout. "So, if I'll be on my way..."

Sunny tried to skate away, but Sprout walked after her. "Yeah, no. I'm coming with you, today! Fun, right? A whole day, with me!"

"Right! Fun..." She said, mentally panicking. How was she going to get inside now?! "Well, I'm heading to the smoothie cart, but if you'd rather watch the show..."

"Eh, once you've seen it once, you've seen it twice." Sprout shrugged off. "Also, my mom ordered a smoothie delivery, so maybe you'll get inside after all."

"Wait, really?!" She shrieked, her eyes widening. "Sprout. If you're joking with me right now! I swear to Faust!"

"I spoke with mom, and she said you can come in, as long as you don't cause trouble!" Sprout said, "And you don't bring goo."

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Sunny said, hugging Sprout. Who, while uncomfortable, returned the hug. "Now, let's go! To the smoothie cart!" They seperated as the two started walking.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a blue smoothie cart. Sunny pulled out her keys before she unlocked the door to it. She entered the smoothie cart before coming out with a portable smoothie cart. "That's new," Sprout remarked.

"I made it myself, wonder why they don't sell these at Trotmart." Sunny thought, but it didn't last long as she strapped the cart to her back. "You know, Sprout... I do have another cart and an extra pair of wheels."

"Me? Skating? You'd have to be delusional if you think you're going to get those on me." Sprout said, but stopped after he saw the pleading look in his friend's eye. Knowing that he was going to budge sooner or later... he begrudgingly put on the skates and strapped on the smoothie cart. "This is the worst." He grumbled.

"Cheer up! You used to love skating!" Sunny said, elbowing Sprout.

"Keyword: used to." Sprout said, putting a hoof on his face. "Let's just get this over with,"

The two started skating towards the Canterlogic building, the two receiving stares from onlookers around them, which Sprout hated. "Ponies are looking at us!" He said though teeth. "Is it too late to stop!?"

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad!" Sunny said, doing nothing to dispel her friend's nervousness. "Hitch'll be there when we arrive, it's fine!"

"How do you know that!?" Sprout retorted, which caused Sunny to smirk.

"I've been doing this since I was twelve, I have six years of experience. Hitch isn't exactly unpredictable," Sunny countered with, which caused Sprout to quiet down and continue skating. "Ooh, we're almost here!"

After a few minutes, they arrived at a tall building with the words "Canterlogic" plastered onto it. Just then, a yellow stallion with a teal mane came out from behind a stop sign, along with two small seagulls and a crab.

"Hey, Hitch!" Sunny greeted, which Hitch responded with a small smile. "So... what brings you here?"

"Oh, haha, Sunny, we all know where this is going, and... why is Sprout wearing skates?" Hitch asked, noticing the skates on his partner's hooves and the annoyed look he gave him.

"Hitch, please, let's get the speech done with," Sprout said, groaning. "I really want to remove these now, like, now."

Hitch chuckled before he turned back to Sunny, he put on a stern (but calm) look as he spoke, "Listen, Sunny, we all know where this'll go. You try and sneak in, me or Sprout stop you, it happens every year! You never get in! Well, except for the time when-"

"You don't need to bring it up again!" Sprout said, who was taking off his skates. "Also, your wrong, Sunny's coming inside this year." He struggled on removing the last skate before he accidentally threw it to Faust knows where! "...I'll pay you back?"

"Wait, wait, wait! Sunny Starscout, the pony who tried to sneak in for six years, is allowed to go... inside?" Hitch asked, hesitantly. "Didn't Phyllis ban her the the third time?"

"Yup, buuuuuut! I talked to Mom, and she said Sunny can go in as long as I keep an eye on her!" Sprout said, which calmed down Hitch a little.

"So, now that's cleared up, can we go in?" Sunny asked. "I've also got a smoothie delivery inside, and if I'm late, I get paid less. I need the bits, Hitch! The bits!"

"Okay, okay, you two go on in. I'll enter the show later, I'll see you there." Hitch said.

"Alright, bye, Hitch!" Sunny said, walking up the steps to the Canterlogic building with Sprout.

"Sunny, please, for the love of Faust, don't do anything, okay?" Sprout begged Sunny, who only smiled.

"It's me, your friend? Trust me, I won't do anything!" Sunny lied, laughing it off. "And you'll be beside me for the whole showcase, so there's no way I'll do anything!" Sprout, I'm sorry, but I have to do this. You'll understand when we take the first steps to pony unity! She thought. The two entered the Canterlogic building, where multiple gadgets and gizmos were showcased.

"Where are the smoothies?!" In the C.E.O's office, a pink earth pony with a blonde mane and red glasses paced around, clearly looking stressed. She wore a name tag which read 'Hello, my name is Phyllis Cloverleaf' in cursive."Oh, why'd Appleloosa Vegan Chicken cancel on us?! They would've gotten here by now!" The mare cried out. "Sunny, if this is some sort of payback on banning you, I swear to Faust!" She said... to no one.

Just then, the doors of the office swung open. Phyllis turned around and saw Sunny, along with Sprout there. "Oh, finally! I was wondering when you'd get here, y'know!"

"Don't worry, Ms. Cloverleaf, me and Sprout have your deliveries right here," Sunny assured, moving her flank to show the smoothie cart hitched on. Sprout did the same, which caused Phyllis to calm down a lot.

"Thank you, Sunny." Phyllis took out a coin purse, and gave Sunny twenty gold bits. "If you'd be a dear and get them down to the showcase for me? Please?"

Sunny nodded, "Of course, Ms. Cloverleaf! I'm right on it!" Sunny dashed out of the room. Sprout was about to follow her, before Phyllis stopped him.

"Make sure she doesn't get into trouble, got it?" Phyllis said, which Sprout nodded to. "Good. This presentation has to be perfect, okay? The future of Canterlogic depends on this showcase, Sprout."

"Yes, I know. You've said it like, a hundred times already, mom!" Sprout said.

"It doesn't hurt to mention it one last time, dear." Phyllis walked up to a shelf with various trophies. "Now, go along, dear."

Sprout nodded before running to find Sunny, "Oh, Sunny, your just like your father, aren't you?" Phyllis said to herself, eying one trophy on the shelf.

"Best Invention Award: Phyllis Cloverleaf & Argyle Starshine"

A few hours later, after Sunny and Sprout dropped the smoothies off, the two (along with Hitch) were next to the stage where the live-presentation would be held. "It's much more... cramped then I remember it," Sunny squeaked out, the amount of ponies squeezing her.

"Yeah, they invited ponies from Appleloosa, Fillydelphia, Trotkyo, basically every earth pony civilization here." Hitch explained, "They should've gotten a bigger building, these much ponies under one roof has to be violating some law, right?"

"I've really got to go talk to Mom at some point about enlarging the building, like, yeesh, can't a pony have personal space?" Sprout said, rather annoyed at the amount of ponies in the building. "What I wouldn't give to go out and get some of that new "Hulyak" noodles!"

Sunny looked at the time, and saw that it was almost starting! She needed to go, now. So, she did the best thing a mare could do in a tight situation. "Sprout, Hitch, I need to go to the bathroom, tell me when it's going to start!" Sunny lied.

"Hm? Oh, right, sure," Sprout said nonchalantly, waving his hoof.

Sunny smirked as she made her way through the crowd. A few minutes later, she made it out. "Phew! Okay, now I just need to find the backstage... aha!" Sunny saw a door labeled "Hallway towards Backstage" and ran towards it.

With Sprout and Hitch, Sprout was drinking a smoothie he had randomly acquired from a pink earth pony with a bubbly personality. "Ah, this is goooooood! Who knew chocolate could be put in a smoothie with oranges and limes? Though, Sunny's is better,"

"Hey, wait, where is Sunny?" Hitch asked, which Sprout shrugged in response.

"She said she had to go to the bathroom? Why?" Sprout said, which made Hitch's eyes widen.

"And you didn't go with her?!"

"No? That's weird, Hitch! I'm not a pervert!" Sprout said, looking a bit offended. "You act like Sunny's going to go to the backstage... Oh, Faust, Sunny's going backstage!"

But just as he said that, the lights dimmed, indicating it was starting. Fog came from behind the stage as a stallion announcer’s voice is broadcast over the sound system, "Dear guests, valued guests, and other guests... it's the moment you've been waiting for! As the founder of Canterlogic, she's been keeping us safe for thirty seven years! It's... Phyllis Cloverleaf!"

A spotlight lit up as Phyllis walked on stage, holding a warm smile towards the crowd. "Oh, thank you, Mic Check! So, as you all know, we here at Canterlogic just love making products that protect you..." She pointed to two posters, one with unflattering pictures of unicorns, and the other with unflattering pictures of pegasi. "...from ponies like them." On the last word, Phyllis visibly shuddered in disgust.

"And like I always say, to be scared is to..." Phyllis indicated for the audience to complete the sentence, which they did "...be prepared!" The audience roared out, which made Phyllis let out a small laugh. "Oh, I love it! Well, let's head on to the main part of the show! The annual showcase!"

A light violet earth pony went on the stage, wearing a metal cap with a singular antenna pointing upwards. "Up first is Sugar Moonlight!" Phyllis announced as the said mare was posing while the cameras captured her photo. "Look at her absolutely killing our all new high-tech Anti-Mindreading Hat! Looks like those psychic unicorns are out of luck today, baby!"

Sprout and Hitch exchanged worried glances as the next pony walked up stage and Sugar Moonlight left. "Now, let's welcome Sparkle Chaser!" Sparkle Chaser, a light blue stallion, was wearing what appears to be a periscope wide enough to accommodate both eyes. "Look at him in our Pega-Periscope Goggles! It's an easy way to keep your eye on the sky! So watch out you pegasi!" At that moment, Sparkle Chaser accidentally fell off the stage, the goggles breaking upon impact. "Somepony get him to a hospital, and bring a ten thousand bits." Phyllis whispered to a security pony, who nodded. She turned back to the audience as she cleared her throat. "This is... all part of the show!"

As two ponies helped Sparkle Chaser into a trauma board, the next pony went on stage, a box strapped on his back. "Um, next up, the Earth Pony Balloon Escape Pack!" The stallion pulled at the rip cord, which opened and deployed a dozen of balloons, which lifted him off of the stage. Just then, an air current sweeps him considerable higher and pulls him towards an open window. Phyllis laughed awkwardly as the pony was swept outside and into the sky. "Uh, we take great care here at Canterlogic to ensure the safety of you, our loyal customers!"

"Shouldn't we look for him?" Sprout asked, momentarily forgetting about Sunny.

"Sprout, just exactly how are we going to do that? We don't exactly have the means to do it, anyway." Hitch said. "And, right now, we need to be on stand-by incase Sunny does something... Sunny!"

"Now, ponies, please stay back! This next part is fully automated, and we don't want anypony blocking another pony's view, do we?" Phyllis instructed. The ponies did so as Phyllis looked at her two workers - Toots and Sweets - who pressed a button on a machine.

The walls behind Phyllis opened, and inside were blank white walls decorated only with hash marks and burn/explosion smudges. In the center was a training dummy, wings and horns strapped on to it. Unexpectedly, Sunny pushes the dummy aside and takes it's place, wearing a unicorn horn and pegasus wings while holding a sign with a horseshoe, two pegasus wings, and a unicorn horn in an interlocking design.

"Earth ponies of Equestria! Fear is not your friend! But unicorns and pegasi can be!" Sunny shouted, eliciting gasps and murmurs in the crowd. "Let's extend the hoof of friendship to the other tribes!" As it was waiting for a cue, two pairs of boot-shaped steel clamps pop up from the platform. Three of the boot-shaped steel clamps secure themselves to the hooves not holding the sign, which momentarily shocked Sunny. "Okay, maybe this was a bad idea."

"Turn it off- turn it off!" Phyllis said under her breath. Toots and Sweets were rapidly pressing buttons, but none of them did any help. Sunny, however, was trying to break the clamps by hitting it with her sign. Phyllis forced a laugh out of her as she spoke up, "So, with our Anti-Pega-Lift Boots, no pegasi will be able to abduct you!"

Knowing that trying to free herself was proving to be a futile effort, Sunny continued with her speech. "Peace with Pegasi!" At that moment, a hatch opened in the ceiling, allowing a large clamp decorated with stylized wings and head to drop toward Sunny, which took her fake pegasus wings. "Unity with unicorns!" This time, it took her unicorn horn, which Sunny tried to get back. "No! Um, Empathy from Earth Ponies!" Lastly, it took her sign away.

"Give it back!" Sunny tried stomping on the clamps with her one free hoof, before it trapped that hoof as well. "No!" The clamps opened, and just as Sunny was about to escape, she was yanked up by a normal clamp. "Ugh! Somepony help!" Sunny shouted. Hitch and Sprout lept towards where Toots and Sweets were, who looked really, really stressed.

The podium where she used to be flipped around 180 degrees, showing a black square with a giant red X on it. "Uh, everypony! Look at our Unicorn Entrapment Device!" Phyllis stuttered out. A one-horned helmet is clapped onto Sunny’s head as she dropped down onto it. Reinforced panels sprung up from the floor around its perimeter, which effectively, trapped her in. Two flaps unfold and slam down around the horn to immobilize it, activating a built-in alarm and red strobe light. "Unity with unicorns!" Sunny shouted inside.

"Toots, Sweets, shut it down!" Hitch instructed, but the two were clearly trying to do so.

"I-I'm sorry, Sheriff Hitch, but we can't!" Toots said. "It's fully automated- it has to go through the whole cycle! And we're not even close to being done!"

The Unicorn Entrapment Device swiftly disassembles itself, whereupon another mechanism rams a pair of metal wings onto Sunny’s flanks, causing her to gasp in fright. The target panel under her hooves rotates 90 degrees so that she faces a heavy steel door, which hisses open to let a new contraption roll into view on a set of miniature tank treads. It consists of a central pole with a tank of greenish liquid mounted on one side and a vertically mounted wheel on the other, with six cups at the ends of radial shafts. "Oh, no." She said meekly.

As Sunny was yanked into the air once more, the contraption's wheel started to spin, firing green goo at Sunny, who was being spung in a circle while shouting out her slogans. "Empathy from Earth Ponies!" At that moment, a green glop struck her in the face, which Sunny wiped off. "Cease fire, cease fire!"

"Uh, and this is the Splat-A-Pult!" Phyllis said, her eyes flicking from the crowd to Sunny.

Back with Hitch and Sprout, the latter pushed Toots and Sweets out of their chairs as he started rapidly clicking the buttons. "Let me do this, I think I know how to!" Sprout pushed a red button, and just like that, it stopped. Sunny, who was covered in goo, fell down as slid forward towards the glass window. She had just enough force to knock one of the panels out of place, allowing her to skid to the end of the runway.

Sunny stood up as she sighed, "Aren't you tired of being scared all the time? We don't need any of this Canterlogic junk! Because, we're not in danger! It's... it's all a lie! And, I know it must be hard to believe, but I'm telling the truth. Unicorns and pegasi... they can be our friends!"

Phyllis scoffed, "Friends? Really? And what if they attack us, then what? How are we going to protect ourselves? With hugs? With magical rainbow lasers?"

"But just imagine," Sunny said, "If you had a friend that could... that could fly? Or a friend that could-"

Phyllis cut her off, "-fry your brains with a single zap? Or a friend that could swoop down and snatch you away? Oh, please, Sunny. All those stories your dad told, they were lies. Because in reality, unicorns and pegasi don't want to be our friends, and neither do we. And the sooner you accept that Sunny, the sooner you won't be let down when you find out that those stories are just that. Stories."

Phyllis turned to Hitch and Sprout, "I'd advise you to do your job, sheriff. And Sprout? I think it would be best if you cut ties with her."

Hitch and Sprout walked towards Sunny, "Alright, Sunny, it's time to go." Sprout said, but Sunny shook her head.

"No! Everypony has to hear this!" Sunny said, moving away from the duo. "Phyllis is wrong! We can be friends! We were friends with the other tribes before, we can do it again!"

The crowd started booing, which caused Sunny to flinch. "Hey, we don’t need any of that around here!" A pony in the crowd shouted. "Get off the stage!" said another one.

"Come on, Sunny. Show's over," Hitch said. And reluctantly, Sunny complied. The three left the stage as more ponies made negative comments about her.

"Sunny, you’re just embarrassing yourself!"

"Is the poor widdle baby sad?"

"What an embarrasment!"

Sunny tried her best to block them out, but it just kept coming and coming. Sunny let out a few tears, which Sprout instantly noticed. Sprout went over to Sunny's side as he comforted her, "Don't worry about it, Sunny. Come on, let's get out of here."

Hitch, Sunny, and Sprout made it to the exit. "We're going to have a talk about this, Sunny." Hitch said in his sheriff's voice. Sprout glared at Hitch, which Sunny noticed.

"It's fine, Sprout." Sunny said, wiping her tears. "Let's just go," Her voice cracked as she left the building, Sprout and Hitch following behind.

"...Do you have any idea how many bylaws you broke in there?" Hitch said, pacing around. The three were infront of Sunny's smoothie truck.

"Hitch, go easy on her!" Sprout said. "She's had a long day!"

"No, Sprout, she needs to hear this!" Hitch said. "I can't keep associating with somepony who breaks every rule and causes chaos wherever she goes. I’m the sheriff!" He said, rubbing a hoof at his temple.

"Exactly! You could help! Ponies look up to you!" Sunny said, speaking up.

"Sunny, the law is the law. I have to uphold it and keep everypony safe!" Hitch said, rather annoyed.

"You said "everypony," which includes unicorns and pegasi!" Sunny said, a smile growing on her face.

"Sunny! What did you think was going to happen? You give some speech, then what? We all instantly welcome unicorns and pegasi into Maretime Bay? You say there's nothing to be scared of? Then prove it!" Hitch said, stomping his hooves the the ground. He took some time to breath before speaking up again, "Look, Sunny, I'm sorry. But me and Sprout are the last real friends you've got in this town. Do you really want to lose us too?"

Sunny sighed while Hitch turned to Sprout, "You coming?" He asked, but Sprout shook his head.

"Sunny needs a friend right now, and you're not exactly being one right now." Sprout said, firmly. "You go on ahead, I'll see you tomorrow."

Hitch nodded before he left. "Sunny, you alright?" Sprout asked, turning to Sunny, who wasn't there. He looked around and saw Sunny, sitting on a bench. He sat down on the bench as Sunny started talking.

"I wish Dad was here," Sunny said, her voice breaking. Sprout went closer to Sunny and hugged her as the mare started crying.

"Don't worry, Sunny, I'm here," Sprout said, rubbing a hoof on her back. "It's going to be all... right? What the?"

Sunny broke off from the hug and saw a stampede of ponies, running their way! "What's happening?" Sunny asked, taking a moment to wipe her tears. "Wait... is that...?" As everypony was freaking out, a mare walked up to her and Sprout.

She had light violet fur, a bright blue mane worn in untidy waves, and purple eyes. But what most stood out to Sunny, was the medium blue horn sticking out from the top of her head.

"Hi, new friend!"

Author's Note

Okay, so here is the second chapter! I'll try and get chapters out when I can, so don't expect it to be updated next week. And anyway, one of the major changes is Sprout! I really like Sprout, Sprout's a good character! Gen 5 could've done more than just make him that annoying character that doesn't change AT ALL. Like, they could've set him up for a redemption arc! I know that MLP transitioned back into a kids show, but forgiving is technically a life lesson! So, I made Sprout take Misty's place in the Mane Six! Sorry, Misty, but five girls and one boy is literally so unbalanced. Anyway, if your enjoying the series, stay tuned for more!

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter Two - The Deputy, The Sun, and the Unicorn

Okay, Sprout Cloverleaf could not believe what was happening today.

First, he had to wear skates. Fun. Second, there was this whole thing about unity that Sunny did. Oof. And thirdly, THERE WAS A UNICORN RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM! "U...U...U...Unicorn!" Sunny screamed. Which only made panic among the earth ponies increase tenfold. Ponies were running around town, trying to hide from the unicorn that was before them.

"Oh, you know what I am? I'm Izzy!" The unicorn - Izzy - greeted. "Ooh! Is everypony playing hide-and-seek? I see you!" She pointed to a stallion, who was hiding behind Sunny's smoothie truck. He screamed in terror before he scrambled to run away.

"What's going on in..." Hitch said to himself. His eyes widened when he saw the unicorn next to Sunny and Sprout, who gave him a weak smile. "... UNICORN ATTACK!" Next to him was a button encased in glass like a fire alarm pull. Hitch broke open the glass as he pressed the button, alarms ringing everywhere. "This is not a drill! I repeat! This is not a drill! Man the Splat-a-Pults! Man the Unicorn Entrapment Devices!"

Back with Sunny, Sprout, and Izzy, the unicorn was walking towards the railing behind Sunny's smoothie truck, unaware of the Unicorn Entrapment Device in front of her. "Wow... is that the sea?" Izzy said, her eyes widening in wonder. "I've never seen the sea!"

Just as the Unicorn Entrapment Device was about to trap Izzy, Sunny pushed her out of the way. "I've got to get you out of here! Sprout, come on!"

Sunny and Izzy stood up as they ran across the side street with Sprout following behind them. "Earth ponies are really, really serious about hide-and-seek, aren't they?"

"Hide-and-seek? They're not playing! They're terrified!" Sprout said plainly, which made Izzy tilt her head in confusion.

"Terrified? Of what?" Izzy asked.

"You!" Sunny answered, which made Izzy gasp in shock. "No offense, but you're a unicorn! Earth ponies hate unicorns!"

"Hate? Really? That seems a little... harsh," Izzy said. The trio arrived on the main road, where green goo was being shot at them! Sunny was able to pull Sprout and Izzy back just in time, barely dodging it. "Woah! Dodged a bullet there!" Izzy remarked.

Sunny saw Phyllis, Toots, and Sweets, all baring Anti-Mindreading hats as the latter two were working the artillery by cranking it. "Get that unicorn!" Phyllis barked out. Toots and Sweets nodded as they shot more and more goo at them.

"Let's go!" Sunny instructed as she, Sprout and Izzy tried to run inside an alleyway, only to be stopped when the green goo barely misses them and hits the barrel in front of them. "Not there! Not there!"

"Head to the shoreline! They can't reach us there!" Sprout said. The trio ran towards the shoreline, where the road was covered with Unicorn Entrapment Devices. Sunny and Sprout nimbly bob and weave past it, while Izzy just bounced after them as if she was playing hopscotch. "Okay, I can't lie, that's kind of impressive." Sprout remarked. "Wait, where's..."

Sunny looked around for Izzy, and saw her in front of a movie theater. "Ooh, Judgement Neigh? What's this?" On one side, Hitch emerged, spotting Izzy. The purple unicorn, unaware of the Unicorn Entrapment Device in front of her, accidentally walked on it as it captures her. "Hey, what happened?"

Hitch sighed as he looked at the crowd that was forming, "All right, citizens, you can calm down! The unicorn has been captured, threat has been neutralized!" The crowd cheered as Sunny and Sprout stepped towards the device.

"Sunny! Sprout! What do you two think your doing?" Hitch asked, which caused Sunny and Sprout to freeze in their place. Sunny took a moment to catch her breath before taking another step closer. Not a second later, Sprout did so too. "What are you doing?" The two were now only a few feet apart from the device. "Don't even think about it!" Sunny eyed the glowing red button on the side closest to her. "Don't you dare! Sprout, stop her!" He ordered. But Sprout didn't listen as he whispered something into Sunny's ear. "No, no, no, no, no, no! Sunny! Sprout! Stop!" Sunny pressed the glowing red button as the trap dismantled, leaving a smiling Izzy in it's place.

"Your names are Sunny and Sprout, huh? Neat!" Izzy said. At that moment, even more chaos ensued. Ponies ran all over the town, most intentionally trapping themselves in those devices. Sunny pulled Izzy away as the three ran towards the lighthouse. "Bye! It was really nice meeting you all!"

"Sunny Starscout, you have really done it this time!" Hitch growled out as he ran back to the sheriff's station. "We've got a situation 47-B, ponies! 47-B!"

At the lighthouse, Sunny, Sprout, and Izzy rushed inside as the orange earth pony closed the blinds of every window. The unicorn, however, took the time to gaze upon her surroundings. Once each window was blocked off, Sunny took a good look at Izzy as she caught her breath.

"Okay, okay! This is... this is crazy!" Sprout said, pacing back and forth across the lighthouse. "What are we going to do? What are we going to do?!"

"Uh, what do earth ponies usually do?" Izzy asked, trotting towards Sprout, who gave her a terrified (but friendly) smile. "Ooh! Do you have any board games?"

"There's a unicorn in my house... this is so cool!" Sunny said before she paused and put on a worried look. "Wait, no, this is very, very bad! What have we done, Sprout?!"

"You tell me! I didn't think I would meet a unicorn today!" Sprout said, rummaging through the refrigerator before coming out with a bucket of ice-cream and plopping on the floor. "Are we on the run now? Are we fugitives? What am I going to do?! What are we going to do?!"

"I've never met an earth pony before, let alone two!" Izzy said, bouncing around the room. "We look exactly the same! Well, 'cept for this, of course!" Izzy pointed to her horn, which made Sunny step back.

"Woah, hey! Careful where you point that thing!" Sunny awkwardly said, which confused Izzy a little.

"Why?"

"No one wants to get zapped with a wayward laser beam," Sprout said, eating ice-cream. "Of course, you probably knew that. You've probably been reading our minds the whole time, right? Because if so, we really need more ice-cream. Like, only one tub?"

"Yeah, what Sprout said." Sunny said before she noticed something. "Isn't it supposed to glow, by the way? Or does that only happen when you levitate stuff?"

"Well, actually-" Izzy was cut off as the optimistic earth pony put a hoof to her mouth.

"Wait! Don't answer that!" Sunny galloped to the kitchen, rummaging through the drawers before pulling out a small journal with the emblem of a six pointed star on it. "Okay, wow! A Hundred and Forty-Two Questions for a Unicorn. Question one: Where do you live?"

"Bridlewood," Izzy answered nonchalantly. "Ooh, mint-chip ice-cream!" Izzy said, spotting the tub in Sprout's hooves.

"No! This is my ice-cream to wallow my sorrows in!" Sprout said, pulling the ice-cream tub away from her.

"Bridlewood, I knew it!" Sunny cheered, pumping her hoof in the air. "Do unicorns really live in trees? Do they eat pizza? If so, what toppings do they like? Can you actually fry brains with a single horn zap?" She gasped as she pulled out a can of beans, "Can you make this float?"

"Yes, yes, varies, no, and... well, I can do this instead!" She flipped the can up in the air as it landed on her horn, keeping it balanced. Though, it didn't last long as the can fell onto the floor, the contents spilling out on the hardwood. "Ta-da!"

"Huh, that was actually kind of entertaining," Sprout said before he ate more ice-cream. He only frowned when he realized there wasn't any left. "No more ice-cream?! How did I finish it in like, five minutes?!"

"Wait, you don't have any magic?" Sunny asked, frowning. She was about to speak again when she heard Hitch's voice, amplified.

"Sunny Starscout, Sprout Cloverleaf, I know you're in there with that unicorn! Come out with your hooves up and surrender! You three are under arrest!"

"Sheriff Hitch, why exactly do I have to be here?"

"Because, Sweets, I can't do this alone! And, next to Sprout, your the most relievable pony I know!"

"This is bad!" Sprout said, getting up from where he was eating. "What are we going to do?"

"Uh... uh..." Sunny stammered, trying to think of a solution. "Uh... I got it! Izzy, Sprout, block the door!" She instructed. Izzy and Sprout pushed a drawer in front of the door, effectively blocking it. "Okay, first, we're going to need camping materials, food, bits, and other miscellaneous stuff now!"

Izzy and Sprout nodded as the three searched the house, looking for the requested materials. A few minutes later, they dumped the items inside of three camping bags. "Okay, okay! We're going to need a distraction... but what? Unfortunately, the lighthouse doesn't have a backdoor, so we're going to have to distract Hitch and Sweets."

Izzy thought for a moment when it came to her, "Hey, what if I talk to them?"

"What? Izzy, you can't!" Sprout said, worried for the purple unicorn. "Hitch will arrest you!"

"You said it yourselves, earth ponies are afraid of unicorns, so hopefully, maybe they'll get scared and run away?" Izzy suggested.

"That... that could work! Okay, Izzy, here's what I'll want you to say..." Sunny said, smirking.

Izzy walked out of the lighthouse wearing a friendly smile. "Hey, guys! Now, I know what you're thinking..." At the mention of "know" Sweets bailed and ran away.

"She's reading our minds! She's reading our minds!" She screamed as she got farther and farther away from the lighthouse. "I can't do this! I can't do this!"

"Wha- Sweets! Get back here!" Hitch shouted, temporarily taking his eyes off the lighthouse. In that small timeslot, Sunny, Izzy, and Sprout took the opportunity and bolted away. Hitch turned his head back to the lighthouse, and realized that the unicorn was gone, along with Sunny and Sprout. "Huh? Aw, come on!"

Sunny, Sprout, and Izzy ran away from the lighthouse, only stopping when they reached the "Now Leaving Maretime Bay" sign, which, quite frankly, looked like it's seen better days. The three stood in silence before Sunny spoke up. "You really don't have any magic?"

"Nope," Izzy said, which caused Sunny to slump on the ground.

"No magic?" Sprout asked. "But, Sunny said you did have magic..."

"Well, we used to have magic, but that was many, many, many moons ago. A thousand years, give or take." Izzy shrugged, "But, it just one day disappeared! Like, poof! Everypony in Bridlewood thinks the pesky pegasi had something to do with it, but..." She looked at Sunny, who looked woozy. "...Sunny? You alright? You kind of... woozy?"

"We are on the run with a unicorn with no magic. What are we going to do?! We can't go back to Maretime Bay!" Sunny said, standing up.

Izzy took a deep sniff from Sunny, and then Sprout before letting a smile creep up on her face. "What... what is this? This is weird," Sprout said, slightly unnerved.

"You two don't smell, well, not that much, at least." Izzy commented.

"Thanks? Wait, what?" Sunny asked as Izzy watched a blue butterfly flutter around.

"Oh, I was told earth ponies smelled like rotten sardines, but you two do not!" Izzy said. "Well, Sprout smells like... sausage pizza, which is the best kind of pizza, if you ask me!"

"What else do unicorns say about earth ponies?" Sprout asked.

"Oh, just that you're lazy and not exactly the brightest crystals in the forest," Izzy said, humming.

"Charming," Sprout said flatly.

"No, just those three!" Izzy said, bouncing around the duo now. "So, what's the plan?"

Sunny thought for a moment before it hit her, "I got it! Izzy, Sprout, we're going on a quest. A quest to Zephyr Heights!" Sunny pulled out her journal and flipped through it before stopping on a page with a map taped on. She pulled out the map before showing it to the others, whose eyes widened. On the map, Bridlewood looked like a forest, while Zephyr Heights was a mountain with clouds surrounding it.

"Zephyr Heights? The pegasus city?" Sprout asked hesitantly. "Why would we go there?"

"To find out what happened to magic and bring it back! I'm sure they have magic, maybe they could help!" Sunny answered enthusiastically.

"But the pegasi are bad news," Izzy and Sprout said, weirdly at the same time.

"What if you're wrong about them?" Sunny said, putting her journal back in her bag. "Earth ponies were clearly wrong about unicorns, pegasi could welcome us with open wings!"

"But what if they don't?" Izzy asked.

"Yeah, I don't think they'll be thrilled to see two earth ponies and a unicorn randomly appear there," Sprout added. "What do we do then?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is... we'll face it. Together." Sunny said. Izzy pulled Sunny and Sprout into a tight hug, the latter looking uncomfortable but clearly growing accustomed to it.

Sprout pulled out as he paced around. "Okay if we're going to do this, we have to go now! Let's try to make it to Zephyr Heights by tomorrow, alright?"

Sunny nodded, "Right! Okay, so first, we follow the path until the..." Sunny continued on as the Mane Three walked along the path outside of Maretime Bay.

Back in Maretime Bay, Hitch was pacing around his office, talking to himself. "I told her so many times! No more favors, no more bailing her out. She gave me no choice! And Sprout? Has he been infected with the crazies, too? I need to bring them back and make them face the full force of the law, okay?"

He turned to his desk, where a photo of him, Sunny, and Sprout was placed. "That, and the fact the unicorn might hurt them."

He grabbed his saddlebag as he put multiple camping materials in it. When he was satisfied, he put it on as he left his office. "Okay, knowing Sunny, she must have gone to Zephyr Heights. So, that's where I'll be going too."

At the Canterlogic building, Phyllis was being bombarded with questions by the crowd of worried earth ponies. "Phyllis Cloverleaf, what do you plan to do now that your son, along with Sunny Starscout, has gone on the run with a unicorn?" Somepony asked. "Do you plan to apprehend them? Will Canterlogic be making more machines for defense? What if the unicorn brings more unicorns? Or worse, pegasi?!"

"I... well..." Phyllis stammered out before she cleared her throat and put on her business mare face. "Listen up! Here is what we'll do. First, we'll clean the mess made by that disgusting unicorn, and second, I will be talking to Sheriff Hitch tomorrow morning on what to do now. Now that we've seen a unicorn in pony, Canterlogic will be doing it's best to provide more machines for each and every one of you to protect yourselves from that evil unicorn."

"But, that unicorn, she didn't look threatening. She looked, well, I don't know, nice? She didn't zap her laser beams at us." Jazz Hooves - a teal mare - said, "She didn't do anything to harm us. We were the ones trying to harm her!"

"Yeah! What if Sunny was right? What if the unicorns and pegasi can be our friends? Maybe we judged her too harshly."

As the crowd began to discuss this new revolution, Phyllis stomped her hooves on the ground, taking the attention of everypony there. "Enough! This unicorn must've been trying to trick us! So that we would walk right into their trap which would allow them to feast our brains! To be scared is to be prepared! If we're not scared, we won't be prepared when the unicorns attack! Or even the pegasi!"

Murmurs of agreement worked through the crowd as Phyllis smirked. "Now, I don't want to hear any of this unity nonsense, okay?" Phyllis went inside the Canterlogic building as the sun began to set. "I'll see you all tomorrow morning for my next speech. See you then."

That night, the Mane Three took shelter in a small cave as Izzy was cooking food with a pot and some herbs and ingredients she got from Sunny's house. "You know, this is absolutely crazy!" Sprout said. "What if the pegasi don't know what to do?"

"Well, Zephyr Heights was built from the ruins of Canterlot, the capital of the olden age." Sunny said, before pausing. "They have to have something there!"

"Yeah, but, how are we going to get in?" Izzy asked, taking a sip from her soup. "Mmm! Spicy, but also sweet at the same time!"

"Maybe we could craft some pegasus wings and try to blend in?" Sunny suggested. "Or we can wear cloaks!"

"Ooh, cloaks! They just have such a mysterious vibe to them, y'know?" Izzy said.

Sprout groaned, "I've said it once, and I'll say it again! This is crazy!" Just as Sunny was about to speak up again, Sprout stopped her. "But! I guess it just might work, like, a one percent chance. It's better than nothing, right?"

"Still don't know how his personality fluctuates like that..." Izzy whispered to Sunny, who snickered.

"Hey! I heard that!" Sprout shouted, his face turning a brighter red in embarrassment. "Shouldn't you be supervising the food or something?"

Izzy and Sunny burst out into laughter as the unicorn went back to her soup, pouring it into three separate bowls. "Ta-da! Soup!"

Sprout hesitantly took the bowl before drinking a small amount, his eyes widening in pleasure as it hit his mouth. "Okay... this soup is something else,"

Sunny drank some soup as well. "Sprout's right! Izzy, when did you learn how to make soup this good?"

Izzy shrugged as she put on a sly grin. "It's just one of my many, many mysteries!"

As the three continued to talk, they were unaware of the figure behind them, watching them. The figure narrowed its eyes before walking away, hiding in the shadows.

Author's Note

Okay... this chapter came out quicker than I expected! Who's ready for the heist of a lifetime? Because next time, we're going to meet two pegasus royalties who are totally not lying about flying! :facehoof:

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter Three - Early

"I've got it! I've got it!"

In a cave, Twilight Sparkle spun around as she held a small seed in her hooves. "I've finally made it - the seed of Harmony!" Twilight stopped as she sat down and inspected the seed. "It took me a long time, but I did it! Just need to find a place to plant it..."

Twilight thought about just planting it outside, but it was too obvious. She needed a place to plant it that wasn't too obvious, but easily rememberable - just as the Pillars did when they planted it under the Castle of the Two Sisters! "Not too obvious but it has to be memorable... Ponyville? Wait, no. That place is covered in vines, it would be impossible to plant stuff there! What about... aha!"

Twilight packed her saddlebags as she made her way out of the cave. "Next stop, Canterlot!"

Okay, this was not how she expected it would look like.

Granted, it has been around a hundred years since Equestria entered a new age. But Canterlot didn't even look like Canterlot! It had... pegasi? Shouldn't it be unicorns? Whatever. She had one job, and one job only! She entered deep within the crystal caves under the mountain, it was a miracle it was still here!

After she found a spacious spot, she settled down as she thought out loud. "Okay, trees need... water, sunlight, nutritious soil..." She grabbed a bottle of water before gently dousing the area with it. "Sunlight... sunlight..." She paced around, trying to find a way to get sunlight in the cave.

She eyed the ceiling of the cave before she gasped. She rummaged in her saddlebag before she found a shovel and a ladder. Perfect. Carefully and slowly, she dug out the ceiling. A twelve hours later, a small hole of sunlight made it's way into the cave, just big enough to be enough!

She grabbed some fertilizer that she stole and mined a hole in the ground and poured it in. She doused the area with water again before finally planting the seed. "Okay! Harmony Seeds don't need that much to grow. not dirt. So it should sprout any time now... any time now..." She sat down, prepared to wait.

She waited for a few hours before she groaned, "Tree! It's time to grow! Tree, please! I need your Elements to bring back my friends!" Okay, why was she talking to it now? Has she finally gone crazy!? Twilight sighed as she stood up. "This is pointless! I know you can hear me, Tree! I've researched all about you, I know you're sentient and can hear me!"

"Tree, please!" Twilight begged, "I need the Elements, it's the only way to make my mistake right! I- woah!" The ground began to rumble as a giant crystal tree sprouted from the ground. In the center was a magenta, six-pointed star. Around it, was a pink butterfly, a red lightning bolt, an orange apple, a light blue balloon, and a purple diamond. "The Tree of Harmony! Yes, yes, yes! Let's go!"

As Twilight left the cave, going back to her other cave to retrieve her other stuff, the Tree of Harmony swiftly glowed rainbow as the crystal in the center shot out a projection of Twilight. "No... this... it's too early!" The projection said, it's form flickering in and out of reality. "I wasn't supposed to sprout yet, this is impossible! Unless... no, it can't be!"

The projection of Twilight faced the Tree of Harmony, "Twilight Sparkle, just what are you holding inside you?"

Author's Note

A small flashback chapter, that's basically it.

Chapter Four - City in the Skies

The next morning, the trio traveled across the bottom of a misty ravine. "Okay, we're almost there," Sprout smiled. "I, for one, am excited to see this city!"

"Yeah, not to burst your bubble or anything, but uh," Izzy said, "You do know that pegasi can steal your luminescence, don't you?"

"Our lumi-what?" Sunny asked.

"Your luminescence, you know, like your sparkle?" Izzy said, saying it as if it was obvious. She peered at Sunny before she smiled, "Your sparkle's lavender! And the happier you are, the brighter it smiles!"

"What's my sparkle?" Sprout asked.

Izzy also peered at him before she smiled, "Yours is... green! Like your eyes!"

"Green? Huh," Sprout remarked. "Maybe I should wear more green clothes when this is done, it is my sparkle color after all."

Sunny giggled before her ears perked up. She thought she heard something hit the rocky walls, but... there was nopony there. "Did you hear that?" Sunny asked, to which her friends shook her head.

The trio continued along the path, but Sunny couldn't shake her uneasy feeling. A few seconds later, a dark figure zipped over them, leaping from wall to wall, which they all saw. "Okay, you can't tell me you didn't see that!" Sunny shrieked.

"Ruuuuuuuuuuun!" Sprout wailed as the Mane Three ran across the ravine, the figure slowly getting closer to them. "I'm too young to die! Well, I'm twenty, but I just experienced adulthood!"

"Wait, wait, wait, stop!" Sunny screamed as the three skid to a stop. In front of them was a very steep ramp made of collapsed rocks. "Up, up!" Sunny ordered. Sprout was the first to climb up, then Izzy.

And last but not least, was Sunny. As she reached the top, she made the one mistake nopony should make in these situations: look back. Because when she did, she saw the figure getting closer, and that's when she lost her grip. "No!" Sunny screamed. Just when all her hooves lost contact with the rocks, Sprout and Izzy grabbed her and pulled her up.

As the three caught their breath, Sprout looked over at the ravine now covered in a thick mist. And unexpectedly, the figure erupted from the mists and was seen high in the sky. The figure was only in the sky briefly before they somersaulted to a ledge.

"A real-life pegasus!" Sunny exclaimed. The pegasus was a stallion with white fur and a hot pink mane with a streak of teal. The ends of his wings were colored blue, purple, and pink. His eyes were pale blue-green and his cutie mark was a hot pink lightning bolt with a crown on top.

"And a really hot one at that," Sprout whispered to Izzy, who only chuckled.

"Two earth ponies and a unicorn? Together?" The pegasus exclaimed. "This day has just got a whole lot more interesting."

The pegasus' ears twitched as the sound of clanking metal caught him off guard. He glanced to one side and saw two pegasi in royal armor, no doubt guards. "Don't tell them you saw me, please." He said in a hushed tone. He unfurled his wings as he glided off the ledge of the cliff.

"There's no way we could!" Izzy said. "We don't even know your name!"

Behind them were two royal guards each in royal armor. "AH!" The group turned around and saw a pale green guard terrified. The other one - a light blue mare - elbowed him as she whispered into his ear.

"Thunder! Get it together!" The light blue guard whispered.

"But... but! Those are earth ponies, Zoom!" Thunder said, quivering. "What do we do?!"

Zoom rolled her eyes. "The earth ponies can't do anything to us, remember? Now for the unicorn, on the other hoof..." she trailed off. "Did you bring... The Unicorn Shield?"

Unicorn shield? Sunny thought, Well, at least it isn't some sort of mini jail box! And... are they pulling out a tennis ball? And did they just put it on Izzy's horn? And did they just pull out some hoof cuffs? And... yeah, we're screwed.

Back in Maretime Bay, a disgruntled Phyllis Cloverleaf entered the sheriff's station. "Hitch? Sheriff Hitch?" She called out, but there was nopony there. "Hello? Is anypony here?"

She trotted around the station, looking at fallen papers on the floor. "Hm, that's weird. Knowing Hitch, he wouldn't leave the station like this unless he was in a hurry!" She exclaimed. At that moment, she saw a security camera. "Aha! The security logs! That must have some knowledge on where Hitch is."

She briskly walked over to the computer and started typing. "Passcode... passcode... what would be his passcode?" She looked around his desk, trying to find some sort of paper with his passcode on it. "Wait, what's this?" Underneath some papers, was a golden key. "A key? Now what could this unlock?"

Her eyes darted around the room, trying to find a lock anywhere until she saw a drawer, along with a padlock. "Yes!" She scurried to the drawer and held the padlock up, only to frown when she saw it was a four-digit numerical combination. "Hitch, I swear to Faust, this is not an escape room!" She angrily muttered.

She looked around the room again, finding nothing except for the mini jail cell, which was locked. Sighing, she trotted over to it and put the key into the lock, only to gasp when she found out it fit. She opened the jail cell's door and started searching for anything inside it.

She looked under the pillows, only to find a circle along with the number seven. She looked around the jail cell, finding some sort of two-sided shape along with the number three, a triangle with the number six, and a square with a one. "Hm, circle, weird oval thing, triangle, square... now what could these all have in common? Wait! Circle has one round side, this weird oval thing has two sides, the triangle has three sides, and the square has four sides!"

She ran back to the padlock and put the code seven-three-six-one and lo and behold, it opened! Phyllis pulled out a small piece of paper with the password: deputysprout!!! written on it. Phyllis smiled as she trotted back into the computer and typed in the code, which when entered, saw the entire security logs. "Hitch, when you get back, I swear..." Phyllis muttered to herself as she clicked on the logs for today.

Unfortunately, it didn't transmit any sounds, but from Phyllis' point of view, Hitch packed up his bags and left Maretime Bay. She closed the computer and her face turned blood red as she stormed out of the station. "If that sheriff thinks he can abandon Maretime Bay to... to... die! He's got another thing coming," Phyllis growled out. "If he won't protect Maretime Bay, then I'll have to."

A few minutes later, Phyllis walked on stage, for it was time for her speech. "Earth ponies of Maretime Bay, I have terrible news to tell you all," Phyllis said, putting on a sad expression. "Sheriff Hitch has abandoned us," Phyllis said, which elicited shocked gasps and murmurs throughout the crowd. "Yes, yes, I know. It also came out as quite a shock to me, but it also gave me some... insight, shall I say."

Phyllis cleared her throat, "We must be on the offense! Sheriff Hitch knew what a danger these unicorns were, and if they came with more, no doubt they would bring the pegasi as well. So while Canterlogic has been working on products for defense, I say that we change it into offense. Earth ponies don't have magic like they do, so we'd be outnumbered by a landslide! So by making products on the offense, it would only make it fair, right?"

Sounds of agreement came from the crowd as Phyllis resumed talking, "Now, everypony who knows a thing or two about engineering, come with me inside Canterlogic. The rest of you can continue your day as usual. We'll have another scheduled speech for later tonight, so don't be late!"

As the two guards brought Izzy, Sunny, and Sprout inside the royal city, they couldn't help but awe in wonder. It looked like pegasi were much more advanced than Earth Ponies were, there were even these big televisions on walls! However, what was strange was that no pegasi were flying, not even one.

Each building had two main colors: gold and white, which looked quite expensive, to say the least. The two guards, Zoom and Thunder, escorted them inside a lift as each of the big televisions opened automatically. "Good morning, Zephyr Heights!" On the television were two reporter pegasi, one male, and one female. The male one had an orange coat with a silver mane, while the female one had a lilac coat with a blonde mane. "It's another beautiful day in the big city, ain't it, Dazzle?" The male one said, turning to his news partner.

"Oh, yes, Skye! Perfect for Queen Haven's annual royal bash! Everypony who's anypony will be there, including us!" The lilac pegasus - Dazzle - said.

"Royal celebration? We came on the eve of a royal celebration?!" Sprout said incredulously. "Now this "Queen Haven" will think we're spies! And she'll have us thrown in pegasus jail!"

"But the real jewel in the crown, is our very own Princess Pipp's live performance~" Dazzle said in a sing-song tune. "Aren't you excited, Skye?"

"Oh, I am, Dazzle, I am!" Skye said, fanning his face with his hoof. "And this just in, an exclusive video from the said princess herself, lucky for all of you loyal fans in the Heights!"

The video on the screen changed as a pink pegasus with a purple mane and tail appeared on the screen. "What is up, everypony!?" The pink mare said, which erupted a massive cheer from Zephyr Heights. "Big shout-out to all my fans, the Pippsqueaks!" Most of Zephyr Heights erupted in another massive cheer with would've likely made Sunny go deaf if she wasn't in the lift. "So, tonight's the night! I can't wait to debut my new song! It, of course, has a special place in my heart... but not as much as you guys!"

Suddenly, another voice came from the screen. "Pipp? Pipp! I've been calling you for a whole minute now!" It was a mare's voice, so it had to have been the Queen, which we can infer is Queen Haven. The said mare moved towards the screen, she had a light lilac coat, along with a blue mane with the occasional purple stripe. "Oh? Am I on the air? Hello, my fellow ponies!"

Pipp blushed as she covered the camera, abruptly ending the video. "Woof, now that's what I call an ending," Izzy whispered.

"Uh, so!" Sunny took out her journal (somehow) as she started reading questions. "What's it like to fly? Is your wingspan the same as your height? Do you need a license to fly? How far can you go?"

"Can you go to the moon?" Izzy asked, her eyes full of curiosity.

"Well, uh..." Zoom stammered, not comprehending the questions she had been asked.

"Why don't you ask them if they collect horseshoes while you're at it?" Sprout said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I do collect sneakers..." Thunder said, unaware of the implied sarcasm.

"Thunder! You can't answer their questions," Zoom criticized. "They might be spies!"

"And here it is," Sprout grumbled. "Oh? Looks like we're here, I think?"

"Move it!" Zoom said, pushing the three out of the lift. They arrive at a castle, which looks to be one of the tallest buildings in the world! It looked so familiar, though she couldn't put her hoof on it... "Izzy, Sprout!" Sunny said softly. "Have you seen anypony flying?"

"Nope, it looks like pegasi don't have magic either," Sprout said, not that anyone noticed.

"Sunny, Sprout, look! They have a castle! A castle!" Izzy said, letting out an ecstatic gasp. "It's so fancy!" As the two guards escorted the three inside the castle, they were greeted by a light yellow stallion with a pink mane.

"Ah, Thunder and Zoom, how are you today?" The stallion asked, not minding the three. "I see you have... intruders with you."

"Hey, Windcheck!" Thunder greeted. "Can we get a meeting with the Queen?"

"Well, of course," Windcheck responded. "It won't take long, just a few minutes."

"Um, Mr. Windcheck, sir? Why exactly have we not seen pegasi... flying?" Sunny asked. "Isn't this the city of the pegasi? Shouldn't all of you be in the sky?"

Windcheck raised an eyebrow, "I'm sure you wouldn't understand, due to your very small brain, dirt pony." Windcheck harshly said. He turned around and left, looking forward to leaving.

"...he seemed nice!" Izzy happily said, which caused Sprout to groan.

A few minutes later, Windcheck came back. "Alright, the Queen and the Prince and Princess will be arriving soon, you may go inside the throne room."

"Thank you, Windcheck!" Zoom replied as the two guards escorted the group into the throne room.

"You know what would be crazy? If that pegasus we met earlier was actually the crown prince!" Sprout said. "Though, that's probably not going to happen." As the three entered the throne room, they were greeted by the blaring of trumpets.

"Please bow before our queen!" Thunder said. Exactly as he said that a small white dog ran up onto the throne.

"Your majesty," Izzy dramatically said as she bowed down.

Just then, pop music started to play as Queen Haven, Pipp, holding a phone, along with the white pegasus from earlier flew into the room from above. Queen Haven sat on the center throne, Pipp was on the left, while said white pegasus sat on the right. "I could say that we'd have to dance to get some sort of weird crystal and it would be correct!" Sprout incredulously said.

"Hi, new friend!" Izzy said, to which the pegasus quickly shook his head, mouthing the words "shut it" to her. Izzy nodded as she made the "zipping" notion of her mouth with her hoof. Zoom and Thunder stepped in front of Sunny, Izzy, and Sprout, blocking them from view.

"Guards Zoom and Thunder, please state your business." Queen Haven said. "We're on a very tight schedule today, Pipp needs to rehearse, Zipp needs to practice looking happy, and I need to practice my laugh." As she said that, she let out a forced laugh before pausing. "Hmmm... still not right."

Zoom and Thunder stepped aside as Sunny, Izzy, and Sprout came into full view. "Your Majesty Queen Haven, we've found two earth ponies along with a unicorn inside our territory."

"Two earth ponies and a unicorn... in Zephyr Heights!?" Queen Haven stammered, looking aghast.

"Don't worry your majesty, we deployed the Unicorn Shield!" Thunder said, pointing to the tennis ball.

"Is this an attack? On the eve of the royal celebration, which is conveniently the longest day of the one-thousandth year?! Are you spies? Who sent you!?" Queen Haven said, peering at them as if she were looking into their souls. "Nopony must know they are here!"

"Check it out, Pippsqueaks!" Pipp said, recording on her phone, which was broadcast to the entirety of Zephyr Heights. "Live from the royal castle..." She turned the camera to Sunny, Izzy, and Sprout, the former earth pony mare awkwardly waving. "...it's a unicorn and two earth ponies! This is so not a filter!"

"Pipp!" Queen Haven scolded, taking the phone as she looked into the camera. "My dear citizens of Zephyr Heights, you have nothing to fear. These nasty little ponies have been captured, your Queen will protect you!" Queen Haven warmly said before she turned to Pipp. "Shut it off," Queen Haven said, giving the phone back to Pipp, who turned off the broadcast.

Sunny stiffened as she worked up the courage to speak. She pulled out her journal as she asked, "Your majesty? Would it be okay if I asked some questions about your pony magic? I- we only need-" Sunny was cut off as Queen Haven spoke.

"Guards! Take these three to the royal dungeons until after the event! Then, we will interrogate them and put an end to whatever their plan is!" Queen Haven said. "Oh, and take the book!"

Zoom yanked the journal out of Sunny's hooves as Thunder and a few other guards escorted them out of the throne room. "Wait! Your majesty! I just wanted to ask a few questions!"

Queen Haven donned sunglasses as the royal family flew out of the throne room, Zipp giving them one last glance as he flew away. "Royal dungeons? Of course! What else could go wrong today?" Sprout said, annoyed.

"This isn't so dungeon-y at all!" Izzy remarked.

The dungeons looked a lot nicer than what Sunny originally thought. It had two massage chairs, a bowl of fruits, and even a nice window, which was gold. "Well, at least we'll die in fanciness," Sprout said, slumping onto one massage chair.

"Something isn't right," Sunny said. "We haven't seen anypony flying! Except for the royal family, of course." Sunny turned around and saw Izzy and Sprout, looking blissed out on the massage chair. "And... you're not listening."

"Sunny, you've got to try it!" Izzy said, her voice vibrating. The tennis ball was still on her horn as Izzy let out a relieved sigh. "It's so relaxing!"

"Makes a pony forget they're in pegasus jail," Sprout said. "And the fact that they're going to die here, all alone with little to no chance of escaping."

"Yo, that's kind of dark," a voice said. The group turned to find Zipp, behind the bars of the dungeon. "Hey?"

"Prince Zipp!" Sunny exclaimed, immediately bowing.

"Uh, no need to do all that," Zipp said, pulling Sunny up from outside the cell. "And, by the way, you can call me Zipp."

"Wow, okay, Zipp, what are you doing here?" Sunny asked, questioning the pegasus prince. "Shouldn't you be practicing for that royal celebration?"

"Yeah, your Mom made it sound so important," Sprout said, his voice a mix of relaxation and confusion.

Zipp rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well, it's just a party, us pegasi have them often."

"Um, I'm Sunny, and these are my friends, Izzy Moonbow and Sprout Cloverleaf," Sunny said, her voice high-pitched.

"Charmed to make your acquaintance," Izzy said, mimicking a fancy tone.

"Okay, Sunny, Izzy, Sprout, I need to ask you three something important," Zipp said, discreetly looking around her to make sure no one was watching before she leaned in. "Something about magic."

"Magic?!" Sunny squealed. "That's why we're here! Maybe you can tell us how yours works? I mean, us earth ponies don't have magic, and we've just found out the unicorns lost theirs, so maybe-"

Zipp cut her off, "What do you mean "lost theirs"? You mean, you don't have magic?" Zipp turned to Izzy, who just nodded. "Well, this changes things... a lot. I think I have some info, but you'll need to tell me about this first."

Zipp pulled out Sunny's journal from his saddlebag, which caused Sunny's eyes to widen. "My journal! You got it back? I... thank you, Zipp, truly. This journal means so much to me, like, a lot."

Zipp warmly smiled, "No problem, I could tell from the reaction you made when Zoom took it from you. But, I needed to ask, where did it come from?"

Sunny tilted her head in confusion, staring at the pegasus prince. "From my dad? Why?"

"The star," Zipp pointed to the emblem of a six-pointed star with smile small stars surrounding it. "I know it from somewhere."

Sunny was about to talk when she heard the blare of a trumpet... well, something like a trumpet. A red carpet rolled onto the floor as Pipp, holding her phone, walked up to the cell. "Zipp!" She silently hissed, appearing to not want the three to hear them. "What are you doing here? Mom said we can't go down here!"

"Uh, what's your point?" Zipp asked, raising her eyebrow. "Why are you here then? Hm?"

"For the content," Pipp said, taking a few pictures of her and Sunny. "I was just going to take like, a few pictures then I would be out of here!"

"Um, Princess Pipp," Sunny sighed. "Why isn't aren't the pegasi flying? I mean, it's the pegasus city, shouldn't they be... flying?"

"Flying?" Pipp said, pausing for a moment before she let out a casual laugh. "Everypony knows only the royals can fly, duh."

"What?" Sunny, Izzy, and Sprout said, at the same time. The latter two got out of their massage chairs as each of them showed a surprised look.

"I know, it's not fair, but it's just the way it is!" Pipp said, putting a hoof around Sprout in the cell, who looked a little unnerved. She took some pictures before she spoke again. "If we could, we would teach our fellow pegasi how to fly in a wingbeat, right, Zipp?"

Her brother sighed as he flatly said, "Yeah, in a wingbeat."

"Well, TTYL MLP!" Pipp said, momentarily confusing the Mane Three. "Oh, that means talk to you later, my little ponies! It's dress rehearsals, so see you all later! Subscribe to my channel if you have phones!"

Pipp left as Zipp put a hoof to his face. "Excuse my sister, she clearly has a case of content-itis. I need to show you three something important."

Beside the cell was a hoofscanner, Zipp put his hoof on it as the doors to the cell swung open. "Come on, follow me!" Zipp ran away with an excited Sunny and Izzy, and a worried Sprout following him.

Zipp pushed back some old poorly glued-on planks as a wooden door was shown. Zipp opened it as an abandoned station came into view. "Welcome... to the station!"

Sunny walked inside, writing down everything in her journal that Zipp had given her back. "Woah, this is abandoned?"

"Yup," Zipp said, walking down the once-golden stairs with Izzy and Sprout. "Found it one day, and since then, it's been my hideout."

Sprout walked up to a pegasus poster with the words "See the Wonderbolts today! Only 199.99 bits!" on it. "This feels like something from an old movie..."

"Ooh!" Izzy bounced around, looking at everything she saw. Her eyes were fixated on a small, white circular glass that resembled a crystal. "Woah! What is this thing?"

"This was a station, right? And from the looks of it, this must have been abandoned around... a thousand years ago, give or take." Sunny said. "So, that means this is from the era of Twilight Sparkle!"

"Twilight Sparkle?" Zipp asked, sitting on a beanbag. "Who's that?"

"Twilight Sparkle was once the ruler of Equestria - when earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi all lived together in unity! This is proof we all used to be united, used to be friends!" Sunny explained. "But, something must have happened, otherwise the unicorns would still have their magic, and other pegasi could still fly. "

Zipp winced, "Yeah... about that... you see, the royals can't fly either. What Pipp told you was a lie, well, a good lie, but still a lie."

"What?!" Sunny shrieked. "What do you mean you can't fly? We saw you flying earlier!"

"It's impressive what wires and good lighting can do," Zipp said. "Look, we have to lie so we can keep peace throughout the city, but I'm just so tired of living that lie, I'm tired of lying to our citizens! I come down here to get away from all of that, this is a place where I can truly be myself, to not have to lie."

"So, why'd you bring us down here?" Sprout asked. "I mean, it's not like this isn't a cool hideout, but there's no reason we should be here."

"Oh, right," Zipp led them to two stained glasses with a hole in the middle, on the top was Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark. On one side was a unicorn with lots of gaps in the glass, and on the other side was a pegasus with a teal crystal that was shaped like spread wings. "This was made a long, long time ago. All of the pieces are here somewhere, but it's not like I could put them back together."

"Oh, my Faust!" Sprout said, astonished. "This, this is a work of art! A unicorn and a pegasi... but no earth pony?"

"You see that hole between them?" Zipp asked. "There are remnants of shards between them, meaning there used to be an earth pony glass, but there isn't."

"Hey," Sunny looked at the pegasus glass, noticing the pegasus crystal. "What is that?"

"Oh, that?" Zipp said. "That's the pegasus crystal, it's been in our family for generations! It's part of my mom's crown, and somehow, hasn't broken."

"If there's a pegasus crystal..." Sunny looked around on the floor until she spotted an indigo crystal, shaped like a unicorn horn. "...then there's a unicorn crystal!" She ran over to it and grabbed the glass crystal. She noticed a reflection of the pegasus crystal on the floor and carefully slid it in the gaps between the wings. Sunny gasped as she realized that they fit, but, there was a big hole in the middle.

"Woah, it looks like they match!" Izzy pointed out. "But, yeesh, there's a big hole in the middle. Ooh, wait!" Izzy ran over and took the white, circular glass she found earlier and put it in the gap, which fit! "Ta-da! It fits!"

"That crystal," Sprout pointed to the white shard of glass. "If there's a pegasi and unicorn crystal, this should be the earth pony crystal, right?"

"Yeah, they look like they fit," Zipp said. "It's almost like... they were made for each other."

"Three crystals, three tribes..." Sunny murmured. She paced around the station before she gasped. "I got it! Maybe we lost our magic because the crystals were separated! It's like Zipp said, they were made for each other! Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark is above them, so that must mean something at least! Maybe she made the crystals, and she put magic inside them!"

"So, if we find the crystals..." Sprout started.

"...and we put them back together..." Izzy added.

"...then magic will come back?" Zipp finished.

"And all three pony kinds will get along again! Well, it's technically a hypothesis, but we have to try!" Sunny said.

"This sounds like it could work," Zipp said before his mood quickly darkened. "But the unicorn and earth pony crystals, how will we find them?"

"Oh! Back in Bridlewood, we have lots of crystals lying around! We know what the unicorn crystal looks like, it must be somewhere around there!" Izzy said.

"Sunny's father was an archeologist, his research must have some clue on where the earth pony crystal is," Sprout said.

"It looks like we've got a plan, we'll head to Bridlewood, then back to Maretime Bay," Sunny turned to Zipp. "After we get the pegasus crystal from your mom."

Zipp winced as he furrowed his eyebrows, "Oof, that'll be tricky, my mom never takes her crown off.

"So, what'll we do?" Sprout asked. "It's not like we have magic we can use to become invisible and steal the crown."

Zipp stomped his hooves as his eyes brightened. "I got it! During the royal celebration tonight, Pipp will be performing for most of the night. That means, all eyes will be on her, creating the perfect distraction for you to steal the crown."

"But she'll notice. We're going to need a fake crown to replace the real one," Sprout pointed out.

"Most jewelry stores in Zephyr Heights sell replicas of the crown's crystal, I could just get one," Zipp said. "We've just got to figure out how to get you three inside."

"We'll figure that out later, the celebration is tonight, we've still got some time," Sunny said. "Hopefully, by then, we'll have a solid plan on what to do."

"Don't you all just love it when a plan comes together?" Izzy asked, her smile beaming brightly. "Come on, team! It's go time!"

Somewhere, just outside the station, the cloaked figure was watching the group talk. "Hm, so they're planning on reuniting the crystals? Whatever. It's not like they'll actually succeed."

"You won't get away with this, Midnight Sparkle."

Midnight turned around, seeing a holographic version of Twilight Sparkle, floating. "These ponies will reunite the crystals, and your evil plan will be foiled."

Midnight smiled menacingly, "And what will they do to stop me? Shoot magical rainbow lasers at me? Ha! Give me a break, Sparkle. I'm in control of your body now, and you nor they can do anything to stop me! Because all I need to do is find the Elements, which you've hidden from me."

The holographic version of Twilight shook her head. "Mark my words, friendship will always succeed, for friendship is the greatest magic of all!"

Midnight scoffed, "Then where was that friendship when Opaline was here? Hm? That's what I thought," She turned back to the Mane Four. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I might have a party to crash."

Author's Note

Okay! Here it is, Chapter 5! So, we've met a genderbent Zipp! I mean, three mares and three stallions, that sounds equalized enough! We've met Midnight Sparkle and Twilight Sparkle? Huh? Well, you'll find out the reason for that... not in the next chapter! I've got a solid plan on how to change the movie arc, which is to go and make three renditions of an angry mob!

Well, if anyone wants the backstory on why Twilight is a hologram and there's Midnight Sparkle... I'm not going to tell yet even though I could. See you all next time!

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter Five - Best Worst Night Ever

"Hey, ponies, I'm back!"

Zipp walked down the stairs, holding a paper bag in his hooves. Sunny, Izzy, and Sprout were sitting down on the floors of the station. "And... bam!" Zipp pulled out a perfect replica of the pegasus crystal, shocking the three. "Nice, right? I got this one from the best jewelry maker in town."

"That looks so real!" Izzy said, walking up to the white pegasus. "The amount of time it took to make this must've been crazy!"

"Yeah," Sprout agreed, walking up to the two. "If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that was the real deal."

Sunny stood up and walked towards the three. "Okay, I think I have a plan, but I'm not sure if it'll work, I don't exactly know the castle's layout."

Sunny took out her journal and opened it. "Here's the plan..."

Outside Zephyr Heights, a tired Hitch was climbing up the mountain. "Sunny, Sprout!" He gasped. "When I catch you, I'll... I'll..." He carefully took out a water bottle and opened it... then, he poured it all over himself. "Ah, that's better!" A few minutes later, Hitch arrived at the top of the mountain.

From his view, most of Zephyr Heights was covered in a thick mist, and the only source of indication he had was the top of the golden buildings. "Sunny Starscout, Sprout Cloverleaf, a unicorn whose name I don't know, I'm coming for you!"

"You may think you've escaped, but Sheriff Hitch is coming after you! I will not run, I will not hide, I will not eat, I will not sleep!" He paused. "Well, maybe a quick power nap if I don't find you in between four to five hours, but after that, nothing will stop me!"

Just then, a small animal audience formed around him. "Hm?" Hitch said, noticing one of the animals. "Aww!" Hitch cleared his throat as he resumed talking. "And also, well, I'll follow you through the harshest of deserts, the coldest tundras, the, uh, hottest... forests? Anyways!"

As he kept saying his, probably justifiable speech, the mist around Zephyr Heights cleared, and photos of Izzy, Sunny, and Sprout were projected on the large screens. He turned around as he spotted the large screens. He smirked as he said, "...And gotcha."

"Okay, so when it's time for the royal celebration, we have to find our way into the grand hall, which, as we know, is where it's being held."

It was nighttime. Sunny, Izzy and Sprout stealthily made their way through the palace. They were all wearing fake pegasus wings for safe measure.

"Obviously, because it's a royal celebration, there'll be loads of guards around, so Zipp will distract them as we make our way through the crowd."

The Mane Three entered the grand hall, and as they expected, there were a couple of guards stationed at the door. Zipp, seeing this, walked up to the guards as he talked to them about security. Seeing the distraction, Sunny, Izzy, and Sprout made their way behind the guards and through the crowd.

"If we're lucky, nopony will notice us and we'll make it behind the thrones."

Izzy, Sunny, and Sprout ducked behind the refreshment tables as they found their way to behind the thrones.

"Based on what Zipp told us, at the peak of the celebration, the royal family "flies" from the top of the palace, so there's no reason to fear getting caught by Queen Haven or Pipp. And even in the slight chance that they do notice, Zipp will distract them until we find a way to stay behind the throne and not get caught."

Sunny, Izzy, and Sprout hid behind the thrones while Zipp, along with Queen Haven and Pipp, were preparing on top. "I hear you paid our guests a visit," Queen Haven said, securing the wires on her.

"What!?" Zipp said, surprised. "How'd you find out?!"

"Pipp told me," Queen Haven said. "She tells me everything, y'know. That, and she films almost everything, and I get an alert whenever she does one of those live things. But, I wish you'd tell me more."

Queen Haven turned to the window, rearranging her crown properly. "You're going to be king one day, Zipp. You'll wear the crown, which, is a lot heavier than it looks."

Zipp sighed. "Look, Mom, I need to tell you something. The unicorns, they don't have magic, I learned that from Izzy- uh, I mean, the unicorn. The point is, I think it's tied to why we can't fly, and-"

Queen Haven turned around, sporting an angry look. "Zephyrin Storm! I don't know what silly ideas that unicorn put into your head! The unicorns obviously have magic, and they used it to steal ours! We, the royal family, have a duty to protect our citizens. The city, along with others, is happy enough to know that we can fly. Why would you want to disrupt things, Zipp?"

"It's a lie!" Zipp retorted back. "If we don't tell them now, who knows what could happen if they found out! The pegasi are happy now, but when they find out we don't have magic as well, they'll be mad. You know this, Mom! It's because of Grandpa Horizon that you're so comfortable with lying!"

"Now, listen here, Zephyrin!" Queen Haven snapped. "You will not talk about your grandfather that way! We lie because we have to, you know what happened a thousand years ago! It makes them feel safe, knowing that the royal family can fly!"

Queen Haven sighed. "Once you wear this crown, you'll understand. Your sister certainly does," Queen Haven turned to Pipp, who was applying makeup while humming to herself. "Now, I don't want to hear any more of this. If it'll make you feel better, tomorrow, I'll bring you and Pipp with me for questioning."

"I-" Zipp was about to retort before she sighed in resignation. "Fine, whatever."

"Now," Queen Haven put on a smile. "It's showtime, darlings."

"Ready for launch, Queen Haven," a pony said, wearing a microphone. "In three... two... one... go!" the pony pulled a lever as the light shone above them. Queen Haven and Zipp "flew" to the thrones, while Pipp started her song. When Zipp sat down, he turned around to lock eyes with Sunny. He nodded as he turned back to the performance. Sunny turned to Izzy and Sprout as Sunny stepped on Izzy, balancing on her.

[Pipp]: Glowin’ up kinda love, dip and slide through the cut
Glowin’ up kinda love, we say “hi,” you say, “what?"

As Pipp flew around, Sunny tried to retrieve the crown as Izzy kept wobbling. "Ack! Izzy!" Sunny quietly hissed.

"Sorry!" Izzy apologized. "It's kind of hard to stay still when an earth pony is on top of me right now!"

"I'll help, Sunny, move your left hooves to my back," Sprout instructed. Sunny did so as she found it was easier to stay still. "Okay, get the crown and make the swap."

[Pipp]: We got the light, we’re coming in stronger!
We’re in it together, if you want it, it’s all inside your mind!

As Sunny reached for the crown, a passing spotlight almost hit her. Sunny ducked as she, unknowingly, hurt Izzy and Sprout. "Ow, ow, ow! What's with the duck?!" Sprout said, his voice strained.

"Sorry!" Sunny said as she reached for the crown once again.

[Pipp]: We got the light, won’t wait any longer.
We’ll get it together if you want it, then you can paint the sky!

Sunny hastily took the crown, removed the crystal, placed the fake one in it, and put it back on Queen Haven's head. Zipp sighed in relief when he realized Sunny swapped it without Queen Haven noticing. "Got it! Let's go!" Sunny said, jumping off Sprout and Izzy.

"Okay, that's phase two, phase three is escaping, right?" Sprout said, sighing in relief while Sunny put the pegasus crystal into her saddlebag.

"What's phase one?" Izzy asked.

"Uh, getting inside the grand hall?" Sprout said, not exactly sure of his response. "That, or it's getting to Zephyr Heights." The Mane Three left their spot as they hid in the crowd.

[Pipp]: I used to care what they’d say, let ’em into my brain.
But I found the new way! [Ooh-ooh]
Every time I fall down, I pick it up like rebound!
Gotta get through somehow.

After a few minutes, the Mane Three made it to the exit. Sunny carefully opened the doors... and a guard was there, on the phone, so thankfully, he didn't notice a thing. Sunny quickly shut the door as Pipp continued with her performance.

[Pipp]: We don’t fly like we used to, we take what we’ve been through
And we can feel brand-new [Ooh-ooh-ooh]

"Okay, so... not that way," Sprout said. "What do we do now?!"

"Uh... uh... there!" Sunny pointed to a door next to two golden beams. The three ran to it and when Sunny opened the door, Hitch was there, wearing yellow wings with a terrible mustache.

"Sunny Starscout, Sprout Cloverleaf, you two are under-" Before Hitch was finished talking, Sprout slammed the door on him.

"Okay, I am not going to another jail!" Sprout defended himself as the three took off. An angry Hitch burst through the doors looking around for the three.

Sunny sighed in relief. "Let's try the other door again, maybe he's-" Sunny was cut off as the fluffy, white dog ran up to them. "-uh, hey?" the dog instantly started snarling as it dived for Sunny's saddlebag. The dog got the crystal as it ran away with the crystal in its teeth. "No!"

[Pipp]: I know I'm a fighter, I feel the fire!
I’m shining brighter! [Ooh-ooh-ooh]

"Sunny Starscout!" Hitch's voice rang through the Mane Three's ears as they chased the dog.

The dog made its way to the throne, causing Zipp to gasp in panic when he noticed the crystal in its teeth. "Come on, Cloudpuff, give it here..." Zipp muttered as he got out of the throne and started walking slowly towards Cloudpuff, who started snarling. "Ah, now I'm going to have to chase you, aren't I?"

Before Cloudpuff was able to run away, Zipp lunged for the crystal as he and Cloudpuff played a game of tug of war, except, instead of a rope, it was a crystal that could bring back magic and unity. "Cloudpuff! I swear to Faust!" At that moment, the crystal slipped out of Cloudpuff's mouth as Zipp retrieved the crystal. "Alright! Sunny, catch!" Zipp threw the crystal at Sunny, who caught it in the nick of time.

"Yes! Got the crystal! Come on ponies!" Sunny said, putting the crystal into her saddle bag again.

"Not so fast!" Hitch said, running towards them. "You're not going anywhere!"

Sunny yelped as she pulled Izzy and Sprout away. They zigzagged around the room, the fake wings accidentally coming off as they did so. Sunny ran into the control room, with Izzy and Sprout behind her.

"Okay, we should be safe here," Sunny sighed a breath of relief... until she realized where she was, along with the shocked pegasus in front of her. "Uh, hello?"

"The prisoners!"

"Whaaaat? Nah, we're just ordinary..." Sprout noticed that his, along with Sunny and Izzy's fake wings were gone. "...pegasi?"

"We won't hurt you!" Izzy said, which did nothing to alleviate the pegasus' fear.

[Pipp]: Glowin’ up kinda love, dip, and slide through the cut.
Glowin’ up kinda love, dip, and slide through the cut.
Glowin’ up kinda love, we say, “Hi,” you say, “What?”

Everywhere that I've been,
Yeah, they say I'm different.
But I'm good in my skin.
Ooh-hoo! (hey)
If it doesn't feel right,
Break it in with tie-dye.
And don't you stop 'til sunrise!

Outside the control room in the grand hall, Zipp ran around the room, trying to find his friends. "Sunny? Izzy? Sprout?" He called out, to no response. Only then did he realize where they were when the spotlight changed from Pipp to Hitch, who stiffened on the spot. "Oh, buck." He silently said.

"Uh, uh..." Hitch stammered before he broke out into a terrible song.

[Hitch]: Throwin’ up, find a glove, fly around, up above.
Doin’ stuff that I love, you’re like, “Why?” I’m like, “What?”

As Pipp stayed in the air, she silently asked, "What is happening?!"

[Hitch]: Crisp and dry, eat some mud, glowing up, lovey-dove.

Back in the control room, Zipp ran inside, seeing the exchange of words between Izzy and the tech-pony. "It's okay! We won't fry your brain, or anything!" Izzy said, making the tech pony run behind the console. "Wow, unbelieving much."

"Don't worry, they're with me," Zipp said, comforting the tech-pony only a little bit. "Now, why don't we just fix the show, and just forget this ever happened."

The tech-pony slowly nodded as he came out from his hiding spot, he was about to pull the lever when a magenta arrow hit the console, immediately frying it. "Where did that come from?!" Sprout indignantly said. "Why can't we have nice things for once, world?"

A shriek of fear came from the grand hall, making Zipp's face go a whiter pale. Zipp, along with the Mane Three, ran outside the room, seeing Pipp being flung around the room, accidentally removing Hitch's fake wings, before being dangled by the wires. The light made it visible to everypony as she was hung over the throne.

"No! Pipp!" Zipp screamed, tears forming in his eyes.

"She... she's a fake!"

"The royals can’t fly either?"

"They lied to us!"

"We have to get out of here!" Sunny said, urging Zipp to follow them. Hitch, in a short amount of time, had run over to them.

"But my sister!" Zipp retorted. "We can't leave her! She could get killed!"

"I..." Sunny was cut off by the clicking of heels, walking towards them. In front of the five, was Midnight, wearing a devious grin. No one else but the Mane Four, along with Hitch, noticed the alicorn in front of her.

"Hello, little ponies!" Midnight cooed, putting a bow back into her saddleback. "Did you like the show? I was waiting for the right timing, y'know?"

"You're... you're..." Sprout stuttered, walking behind Hitch, who glared daggers at the alicorn. "...an alicorn, right?"

"Correct!" Midnight said, swinging her hair around, which annoyed Zipp. "My name's Midnight, the alicorn of shadows, pleasure to meet you!"

"Uh, okay, Midnight," Sunny said, unsure. "First question I want to ask is... why are you here?!"

"Yeah, and judging from that bow you put in your saddlebag, I'm assuming you're the one who shot that arrow," Zipp said, his tone a mix of anger and guilt.

"Simple, because that crystal," Midnight pointed to Sunny's saddlebag, ignoring Zipp. "Can bring back magic and unity! And, if you're going to ask why I'm against it like I said, I'm the alicorn of shadows, darling, It's a no-brainer I'm supposed to be evil."

"Crystal? Magic? Unity?" Hitch asked. "Sunny, what's going on?"

"I'll explain later, but for now, we have to get out of here!" Sunny said, turning to Hitch and then back to Midnight.

"Hmm, nope," Midnight said. "If I let you leave with that crystal, there's a small chance you'd actually bring back magic! And that would ruin my plan, so, no, you five aren't going anywhere."

"And what makes you think you can stop us, Midnight?" Izzy said, speaking up. "You don't have magic, and right now, you're just a pony with a horn and wings!"

"Don't I?" Midnight cackled as her horn lit up in a magenta glow. "Here's a tip, alicorns always have some sort of magic with them. Granted, not a lot, but just enough for a spell!" Green fog spread everywhere across the room, infecting everypony except for Sunny, Izzy, Sprout, Zipp, Hitch, and Pipp, who was still hung over the audience.

"What did you do to them?!" Zipp asked, swatting some of the green fog away with her wing.

"Oh, just some hallucinating fog," Midnight shrugged. "Everypony infected now sees other pegasi as unicorns or earth ponies. Due to high emotions, the fog also makes them very violent. Now, if I were you, I'd hand over the crystal and you can all go out, no bruises or scrapes."

Midnight reached for the saddle bag, but Sunny instinctively pulled it away from her. "No! This crystal is our only chance at unity! You're not getting your hooves on it!"

"Fine, whatever," Midnight scoffed, her horn lighting up once more. "If you end up dying, don't blame me! Well, you could, but just know that you had a chance of living." She disappeared in a flash of magenta, leaving the Mane Four and Hitch bewildered.

Sunny reached for the door in front of them, only to find out it was locked. "So, that's a problem."

Hitch groaned before he walked over to Sunny. "Sunny Starscout! What is the meaning of all this?! Crystals? Magic? Alicorns?!"

"I told you, Hitch, I'll explain later! For now, we have to find a way out!" Sunny said, rubbing her temples. "Zipp, you're an expert on the castle's layout, do you know any other way out of the grand hall?"

"No, not that I'm aware of. The other exit is probably locked too, so that's no use," Zipp admitted. "The only other exit is the emergency one, and it can only be unlocked by the hoofprints of the crown prince and the princess. And Pipp is currently dangling over the room."

Sunny paced around for a while, making sure not to get infected by the green smoke. "Wait! I've got it!" Sunny said, a smile forming. "Zipp, you said the wires get reeled back into the preparation room, right?"

"Yeah?" Zipp said, unsure of her point. "The door to the stairs is somewhere in this room, but there's no exit there."

"That's not what I meant," Sunny said. "If the wires get reeled back there, we can use those wires to get Pipp!"

"Yeah, but, counterpoint, the console is fried," Sprout said. "So, there's no way for us to control the wires."

"Wrong," Zipp said. "There's a spare console up there as well, we could use that!"

"Come on, gang, let's go!" Sunny said. She was about to run to the run when Izzy pulled her back.

"Woah, there!" Izzy said. "Uh, did you forget about the green fog? How're we supposed to get there without getting infected?"

"As much as I would hate to help unicorns and pegasi," Hitch sighed. "The control room I saw you guys run out of must have some sort of equipment."

"It's not too far, just hold your breath and hope you don't get infected," Sunny said. "Alright?"

The others nodded as the five ventured into the green fog. It didn't take them long until they entered the control room, which was luckily safe. "Phew!" Izzy breathed. "If I had done that any longer, that would be bad."

Zipp walked over to a cabinet and opened it, revealing... five small vacuum cleaners. "That's it? Nothing else?" Sprout asked, taking a vacuum.

"The consoles have to stay clean, otherwise it could malfunction," Zipp explained. "This is useful, though. We could use this to suck up the fog to make a path!"

"Yeah, and, can you do it soon?" Hitch asked, looking at the green fog that was slowly entering the room. "I don't want to become insane and start stealing foals like you pegasi!"

Zipp rolled his eyes as he grabbed a vacuum cleaner. "Geez, when Sunny said you earth ponies had stereotypes for pegasi, I didn't think it would be this." He turned on the vacuum cleaner as it sucked up the green fog in the room and a small perimeter outside. "Grab a vacuum and start sucking."

"I'll start sucking alright," Sprout muttered as he turned his on.

Each of the Mane Four, along with Hitch had turned on vacuums as they exited the room. The green fog was slowly entering the vacuum as they made their way to the door that led up to the preparation room.

Sunny put her hoof on the knob as she slowly opened it. She rushed inside the room as the others followed behind. Sunny quickly shut the door as she sucked up any smoke that was inside. "Come on, everypony, up here!" Zipp motioned for them to follow him up the stairs, which they did.

Once they reached the top, Zipp opened the door as he led the group to where the wires were. "Sprout, Hitch, you man the console. Izzy, you help Zipp with the wires, I'll find a safe path to Pipp." Sunny instructed.

Sprout and Hitch went to the console, Izzy grabbed some of the wires, and Sunny grabbed binoculars from her saddlebag. At the console, Sprout was pressing buttons and pulling levers. "Hmm, it's going to take time to start up, but I think I can..." Sprout pressed a big, red, shiny button as the screen opened. "Yes! It looks outdated, but I think I can work with this."

Hitch sighed. "Sprout, why are you doing this?" Hitch asked.

"Because we could die, Hitch?" Sprout incredulously said. "Did you not hear the alicorn?"

"No! I meant, why did you join Sunny on that quest to Zephyr Heights? I'm sure she gave you a choice, why didn't you take it?" Hitch said, sitting down on the chair next to him.

"Hitch," Sprout sighed, not taking his eyes off the screen. "We have a chance to bring back magic. I mean, at first, I didn't believe it, but now? We have a chance! A solid chance at changing the world. I have a chance... to impress my mom."

"But, Sprout, this is crazy! From what I've been able to infer, Sunny somehow thinks that putting together crystals can just... unite the world?" Hitch said.

"Maybe she isn't wrong, Hitch. I have faith in Sunny, maybe you should too." Sprout said. "Alright, is Zipp secured?"

"Secured!" Izzy replied.

"Alright, it's go time!" Sprout said. "In three... two... one... now!" Sprout pulled a lever as Zipp was pulled away from Izzy. "Sunny, direction?"

"Okay! Just tilt Zipp a little to the right, and lower her a little," Sunny said. "The wires holding Pipp won't hold her for long, so, Zipp, you'll have to grab her!" Sunny shouted, making sure Zipp heard her.

"Right!" Zipp said. A few seconds later, he was only a few centimeters away from Pipp. At the right time, he grabbed Pipp as the ropes holding Pipp broke. "Got her! Bring us back, Sprout!" Zipp shouted.

"Aw, Zipp! You saved me!" Pipp said. "I knew you'd come back for me, I like, had no doubt!"

"Yeah, don't worry, sis," Zipp said. "I'd never leave you hanging."

As the two returned to the preparation room, Izzy quickly removed Zipp's wires. "Come on, let's go! Sunny and the others are waiting for us downstairs."

Zipp nodded as the three exited the preparation room. "Wait, where's Mom?!" Pipp asked, her face changing from one of relief to one of fear.

"There's no time!" Zipp said as the three reached the bottom of the stairs, where Sunny, Hitch, and Sprout were waiting for them. "Come on, we have to leave!"

Sunny opened the door as she sucked up the remaining green fog. Unknowingly, a rip in Sunny's saddlebag formed a hole, and the pegasus crystal fell out of her bag. As the six ran to the emergency exit, Pipp snatched the crystal, somehow knowing it was useful.

On the streets, helicopters roamed the city as the six ran into a nearby alley. "That... was... insane!" Sunny said, alternating between breathing and talking.

"Who was that mysterious alicorn anyway?" Pipp asked. "That green fog seemed kinda, what's the word, poisonous? I saw pegasi... well, to put it lightly, getting violent."

Sprout nodded. "Yeah, Midnight said it was infectious, it made everypony who breathed it in hallucinate. We're just lucky that none of us breathed it in."

"Midnight? Oh! Was that her name?" Pipp asked. "Ooh, that sounds so spooky! I love it!"

"I'm kind of surprised you aren't freaking out, Princess," Sunny said. "I mean, we did, kinda, accidentally, crash your show."

"Eh," Pipp shrugged. "Could've been better, but at least you didn't leave me up there."

"BREAKING NEWS!"

The group turned around and saw Dazzle and Sky, next to a picture of Pipp with the wires tangled around her. "This just in, Zephyr Heights is in turmoil after the shocking revolution that the royal family cannot fly." Skye said. "What's your opinion on this, Dazzle?"

"Oh, Skye," He laughed for a moment before his face became serious. "I feel lied to! Betrayed by our own Queen Haven! Zipp was my favorite, always said the truth, but now we know, he doesn't!"

"This just in," Dazzle said, being given some papers. "Queen Haven was arrested for being a... phony, pony, full of balony?" The video on the screen changed to Queen Haven, dirty and wearing hoofcuffs.

"No comment and no photos!" Queen Haven said before she paused. "Okay, maybe just one photo," Queen Haven stroked a pose for the camera before she was escorted into the lift.

"The screen turned black as Zipp and Pipp started tearing up. "Mom!" Pipp said, bursting out into tears. Zipp hugged her tightly as Hitch turned to Sunny.

"Was stealing this crystal necessary? I mean, look at the pegasus!" Hitch said, pointing to Pipp. "I know earth ponies aren't exactly on good terms with the other tribes, but even she doesn't deserve this!"

Sunny's face showed guilt as she turned to Pipp, who looked very distraught. "I'm so, so sorry, Pipp, I didn't mean to. I-"

Sunny was cut off by Pipp, who gave her a small smile. "Sunny - that's your name, right? - it's fine. You didn't mean to, I know. It was because of that evil alicorn, not you. But I just wanted to know..." Pipp pulled out the pegasus crystal, shocking Sunny. Sunny looked at her saddlebag and noticed the hole inside. "...what is exactly so important about this crystal?"

The screen lit up again as Skye was reading papers. "This just in, again, a warrant is out for the arrest of Zephyrin Storm and Philomena Petals."

"That crystal - the pegasus crystal - is one of three crystals that is theorized to bring back magic," Sunny explained. "This is why we had to steal the crystal, because if we can bring back magic, then maybe, we can bring back unity."

Pipp nodded as she handed the crystal over to Sunny, who rearranged some stuff to make sure that the pegasus crystal wouldn't fall out in her saddlebag. "We need to get out of here," Pipp said. "Come on, I know a way out."

"Wait, what?" Zipp asked, Pipp, leaving their embrace. "I didn't take you for somepony who sneaks out."

"Oh, trust me, Zipp. There's lots of stuff you don't know about me," Pipp said. "If we hurry, we can make it out of the city in like, five minutes."

As the five walked away, Hitch followed after them incredulously. "What?! You can't just leave! I'm the sheriff!"

"Last that I heard, your jurisdiction stayed in Maretime Bay," Zipp smirked. "That, and I'm pretty sure that being royalty is higher on the food chain than a sheriff."

"Ugh," Hitch groaned as the six entered a sewer. Unbeknownst to them, Midnight was watching them from afar.

"WHAT?!" Midnight shrieked. "How did they get out?! It was perfect!"

"You see, Midnight, friendship will always prevail! Because together, they saved Pipp and escaped," said Twilight, who floated around her. "That, and because something's going to happen with magic rainbow lasers."

"Oh, shut up, Sparkle!" Midnight spat, glaring daggers at the holographic alicorn. "They're going to Bridlewood, no doubt. And I'll be there to stop them from getting the unicorn crystal. And for your information, rainbow lasers will not happen!"

Twilight shrugged. "Denial is a one way river, Midnight."

Author's Note

Three days after the last chapter, I get this one released... woohoo! So, Pipp is much more understanding due to the Mane Five saving her, so, no Pipp rage in this chapter! Somehow, I was able to write 70% in a day, so I should probably take a break... not!

So, if anyone's wondering why Midnight has magic, let me explain. Basically, alicorns are beings with godlike magic, as magic is what gives them alicornhood. When taking away the magic, it would essentially take away their alicornhood if they weren't born alicorn. But, since Twilight was the one who took magic, it didn't take all of her magic and left her with 5% of her alicorn magic, keeping her an alicorn with the magic power of Season 1 Sweetie Belle. When Twilight had turned Midnight, the hatred the three tribes had for each other took that 5% and made it into 10%, so Sweetie Belle in Season 5. So... that's the reason why, I hope you understand it. :twilightblush:

So, yeah. Anyway, can anyone guess what trope I made Sprout? :pinkiecrazy: Kinda sad that Gen 5 is ending, I mean, it wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad! The rest of Season 2 would've been so good, and the crossover comic between Gen 4 and Gen 5. :ajsleepy: Now we'll never know what happens to Allura, damn you Hasbro! Let's hope Gen 5 isn't cancelled, and that they're just remaking it from the ground up! I'm turning delulu...

See you all soon for Chapter 6! :pinkiehappy:

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter Six - Over the Ravine

In the building of Canterlogic, construction ponies were walking around, carrying metal, tools, or other equipment or just lazily slouching around. Phyllis entered the room, wearing a general's hat and gown. "Ponies!" She snapped, each construction worker turned to her as she spoke. "We have to get this done now! You all are useless! Utterly useless!"

Phyllis walked forward as she took a smoothie from a pink pony, whose frizzy mane instantly turned straight. "The unicorns or the pegasi could attack at any moment, and they'll use their magical prowess to eliminate us! Do you want that to happen? You!" She again faced the pink pony, who put on a confused expression. "What's your name?"

"Uh... Pinkamena?" The pink mare said, her straight hair turning bubbly once more. "Why?"

"Well, Pinkamena, do you want the unicorns and pegasi to come and invade our town? Kill your relatives? Friends?" Phyllis asked.

"No! I would never want that!" Pinkamena said, waving her hooves in an x manner. "I love my Mom and Dad!"

Phyllis nodded as she turned back to the construction ponies. "Now, if you want none of your friends or family to get harmed, I suggest you stop lazing around!"

The construction ponies quickly went back to work, each with a look of fear in their eyes. Phyllis turned to a curtain as she went under it. "Toots, Sweets, how's production on the Phyllisbot going?"

The next day, the group was walking through a field, everyone except Hitch looked amazed by the beauty. "Woah! The beauty! Eee! I have to get a picture!" Pipp said, pulling out her phone as she took many photos. "Ooh, does the lighting look good on me? I'm not sure..."

"Pipp!" Zipp snapped. "We're out in the wild, nopony's going to see or like these photos!"

Pipp scoffed, briefly taking a photo before returning it from where she pulled it. "And? I can't have memories? Besides, the land is so, so beautiful!"

Further on the path, Sprout noticed Hitch's... well, not-so-pleased look. Sprout, who had nothing better to do, slowed his pace a little to join him. "Yo, what's wrong?" Sprout asked. "No offense, but that look ain't good."

"Sprout, you know what's wrong," Hitch said. "We're on a crazy quest to get some crystals that don't work! And the worst part of it all is that my jurisdiction has little to no matter out here!"

Sprout chuckled, noticing the problem. "Oh, I see. You're homesick! That explains it!" Sprout said. "That, and you're just Hitch-ing."

"Hitch-ing?" Hitch asked. "What!? I am not Hitch-ing! Whatever that is. I'll let you know that I'm doing the opposite of Hitch-ing!"

"Yeah, sure, buddy," Sprout said. "Come on, this quest isn't so bad! I mean, we're traveling to places we've never seen! I mean, a city in the skies? That's amazing!"

"You're right, the whole heist and the drug fog really captured the city's ever-so-amazing beauty!" Hitch sarcastically said. "Come on, if we hurry, we can drag go back home and drag Sunny with us. I mean, Phyllis is probably worried sick about you!"

Sprout raised his voice to talk, only to stop himself. What was the point? Sprout sighed as he jogged forward, leaving Hitch alone. "What!? You can't do that! I'm the sheriff! I have a badge!"

Just then, Izzy walked over to him as she whispered, "Yeah, didn't we establish that your jurisdiction didn't matter out here? Also, your badge fell off like, a few hours ago. And between you and me, that badge might've been giving you an unhealthy power dynamic." Izzy finished as she bounced forward, landing next to Sunny.

Hitch's eyes widened as he touched his sash, and his badge wasn't there to his disappointment. "What?! No, no, no! My badge! My shiny badge!"

"We're almost to the river everypony!" Sunny shouted, pulling out her father's journal, along with the map she put inside.

Hitch groaned as he stomped towards Sunny, who noticed but didn't act. "Listen, Hitch, I know what you're going to say."

"Then you know what I'm going to tell you," Hitch said, pacing around Sunny, who looked at the map. "After this little escapade, quest, whatever, I'll be dragging you and Sprout back to Maretime Bay, where I can arrest you. Crystal?"

"What? Oh, clear," Sunny said, waving her hoof absentmindedly. "Now, I think we're just over..." She took her eyes off the map, revealing not a river, but a massive gap in front of them "...here."

"Woah, this is one large river!" Izzy said, taking the map. "Who names a river a... ra-vene? That sounds weird, raa-vine? Ra-vine? Ra-viné?"

"A ravine?!" Sunny hurriedly retook the map, and she pointed to where they were. On the map, there was a giant crack with the words "RAVINE", well, the text was smudged, so it really looked like river, not ravine. "Oh, no, no, no, no! How could I notice!?"

"Well, that's the end of that, time to go home!" Hitch said, smiling as he turned around and started walking. Sprout, on the other back, pulled him back as he turned him forward.

"Hey, shouldn't there be a bridge?" Zipp asked, trailing his hoof on the map.

"There should be one, but the only one I see is that one," Sunny pointed to a broken bridge, a gap in between two stone ledges. "And I don't think we'll be able to hop, skip, and jump our way across."

"Hey, why don't we just make our own bridge?"

The five turned and saw Sprout, next to a tree with no leaves. "I mean, this tree looks long enough to reach the other side. If we work together, we could topple this tree down."

"Yeah, but what if it doesn't hold us?" Pipp asked. "I, for one, do not want to freefall to my death!"

"Oh, wait!" Sunny rummaged in her bag as she pulled out a lasso. "I brought this along, never know when it could be useful. We could tie this on Sprout and let him go across, and if it breaks, we can just pull him up!"

"Wait, why me?!" Sprout asked, his face starting to sweat. "Why not Hitch?! He's the sheriff here, he should do it!"

Sunny, Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp turned to Hitch, who sighed dejectedly. "I'm going to have to get forced to do this, aren't I?"

A few minutes later, the lasso was tied on Hitch's back as Sunny and Zipp lifted him onto the tree. "If I die, I'm haunting you to the grave," Hitch sharply said.

"Don't worry, Hitch, you won't die," Sunny assured before she paused. "Well, hopefully, you won't."

"Was that supposed to assure me?!" Hitch asked, gulping as he looked down below him. "Here I go, I guess." Hitch took a deep breath as he walked forward. The Mane Five held on to the rope tightly as Hitch walked across. At the midpoint, Sunny's breath hitched, the lasso wasn't long enough to make it across.

"Hitch! Stop!" Sunny shouted, and that was enough to stop Hitch. "The lasso won't be able to reach the other side. We'll have to, well, let go."

"WHAT?!" Hitch screamed. "No, no! I'm turning around!" Hitch was about to turn around before he heard the tree creak. "Scratch that."

"Just keep heading forward, don't look down, don't look back, got it?" Zipp instructed. Hitch nodded as he took a step forward. Then another one. "Good, good, just keep doing that, alright?"

As Hitch kept walking forward, the tree started to creak more, but Hitch was already past the midpoint, so he kept going. A few steps later, Hitch jumped down to the other side as he took deep breaths. "I did it! I did it!" Hitch cheered, untying the lasso from his body.

"Yes, you did," Sprout said. He walked over to the edge of the cliff, before slowly backing away. "But, quick question, how are we supposed to get across?"

"We could... walk on the tree again?" Sunny said, drawing lines in the dirt. "If it supported Hitch, it can support us, right?"

"Uh, did you not hear the creaks it made?" Zipp asked, raising his hooves in the air. "It could break!"

"I see your point, but..." Izzy walked over to the tree and jumped on it. "...I could just try!" Izzy smiled.

"Wait, Izzy, no!" Pipp said, reaching out for her friend, but she had already started walking. Izzy, somehow, didn't look troubled at all, it looked like she was weightless because it didn't creak, not even once. "And, woah, Izzy's got skills!" Pipp complimented. A few seconds later, Izzy jumped down next to Hitch, who looked surprised.

"How did you..." Hitch trailed off. And in response, Izzy only shrugged as she followed a butterfly.

"Well, I think that's settled," Sunny said, facing Sprout, Pipp, and Zipp. "Now, who wants to go first?"

Pipp, Zipp, and Sprout exchanged glances as they pointed to Sunny. "...Right! Yep, I've got this!" Sunny gulped as she jumped onto the tree, it creaking slightly. She took some time to stabilize herself as she took a deep breath and walked forward. She took small but careful steps. "Come on, come on..." She muttered to herself as she passed the halfway point.

"Yeah! You can do this, Sunny!" Sprout said, cheering her on. "Don't look down! Because that's the worst mistake somepony could do!" A few minutes later, Sunny jumped down next to Hitch, breathing long and deep breaths.

"That was the most terrifying experience I've ever had..." Sunny said, breathing in and out. "...and I survived."

Pipp and Zipp now faced Sprout, who backed away slowly. "And it comes down to me, doesn't it?" Sprout said plainly, to which the two siblings nodded in unison. "I get it, you're royalty, ponies die for you." Sprout jumped on the tree and walked on it, sporting a nonchalant expression. A few seconds later, he jumped down next to Sunny and Hitch. "But now you have to pick who goes first!"

Pipp and Zipp looked at each other, narrowing their eyes at each other. "You go first!" They both said, strangely at the same time. "No, you go first! Stop copying me!" They said.

"You were the one who ruined my show, and to make up for it, you go first." Pipp smugly said.

"Yeah? But I was the one who saved you, and if I hadn't, you could've fallen to your death. That, or you would've gotten infected by that crazy fog." Zipp retorted back, a smirk growing on his face. "So, come on, Pipp! You go first!"

"Ugh! Fine!" Pipp groaned, jumping on the tree graciously. "If I'm going to die, I'll die graciously!" Pipp said. As she walked, she danced. Which, in hindsight, wasn't exactly smart for her. "I call this one, the leaping pegasus!" She said she jumped into the air, her wings unfurling for a second as she landed graciously back down. The tree creaked a little, but it was surprising (and relieving) that it hadn't broken. "And now... my landing!" Pipp jumped down next to Izzy as she bowed down. "Tada!"

"Alright, now, it's my turn," Zipp said. "I can do this, I can do this!" Zipp jumped onto the tree as she unfurled his wings, turning them sideways to balance herself.

"Aww, why didn't I think of that?" Pipp asked, frowning. "But, it gives me a lot of new ideas! So, yay!"

A few seconds later, Zipp jumped down onto the ground, and just in time too! The tree broke in half as both of its ends fell inside the ravine. "Huh, looks like I was lucky," Zipp said, turning to her friends. "Now, are we going to go? Or what?"

The five looked at each other before turning back to Zipp. "We won't make it to Bridlewood today, as the trip between Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood is much longer than from Maretime Bay, so we'll stop in a cave tonight."

"Ooh! Camping!" Pipp clapped her hooves, her face brightening up. "I've always wanted to go camping, eek!"

"Yeah, you've got to try Sprout's homemade soup! It is amazing!" Izzy said, patting Sprout on the back, to which the stallion blushed in embarrassment.

"Sprout can cook?" Hitch disbelievingly asked, his eyes widening. "That's pretty cool, in my opinion."

Sprout's face turned from embarrassment red to blushing red. "You think so?" Sprout asked, clearly trying to keep his cool.

"Uh, yeah?" Hitch asked, tilting his head a little. "I mean, every stallion should know how to cook, it shouldn't only be a mares job."

"Nice to know you aren't sexist," Pipp smiled. "Maybe you're not a bad of an earth pony, Mr. Sheriff."

"Oh, haha," Hitch rolled his eyes muttering something to himself. "Come on, I don't want to stay here any longer. Thinking of my near-death makes me paranoid."

Back in Zephyr Heights, Queen Haven stared out of her barred window. "Oh, my darling kids, where are you?" She quietly asked. Her cell was one of the royal ones, as it was the only one they had, so Queen Haven could live peacefully... for now.

"Ex-Queen Haven! You have a visitor!"

~~Queen~~ Haven turned around as a light blue pegasus with silver hair with yellow stands walked towards her. His cutie mark was a gold sword with wisps of air around it. "Peris?" Haven asked, her voice trembling. "Gosh, I haven't seen you since..."

"Since Whisper's funeral?" The pegasus - Peris - asked. "It's... nice to see you too, Haven. Even if we're standing in a prison cell." Peris and Haven shared a laugh before Peris' expression turned serious. "Haven, take a walk with me."

"Walk? Peris, I'm in jail, I can't get out!" Haven said, only for Peris to hold up the replica of the pegasus crystal, which made Haven gasp. The pegasus crystal was given to the current ruler, the pony which the Heights respected and trusted. "Peris... is that?"

Peris nodded, his face showing a small smile. "It is! You see, after the whole fiasco yesterday, I gave a speech, and the next thing I knew, I was given this! Zephyr Heights is still in turmoil, but maybe I can get them to listen! You can have your throne back!"

Haven gasped. "I... really? I don't think they'd accept me back, to say the least. And besides! If they gave you the pegasus crystal, then that means they trust you! You can be the next king of Zephyr Heights! Why would you not want that?"

"Because it's your destiny, look at your cutie mark!" Peris pointed to Haven's cutie mark, which was a combined pair of indigo wings with a gold crown floating above it. "It represents you, being a leader! How did you get your cutie mark again?"

"It's when I, well, lead my team to victory during a school-wide competition," Haven said, blushing in embarrassment. "I got my cutie mark when I realized I had a natural talent for leadership. But it's not your cutie mark that defines how you are as a leader, it's how you act that does. If they trust you, then you're the new leader."

Haven sighed, looking into Peris' eyes. "You can be a good leader. If they trust you, then you have to do it. Be a leader, lead Zephyr Heights before it goes into turmoil! I can't be that leader, since I've broken their trust." She winced. "Please, do this for me."

"Very well," Peris hesitantly nodded. "But at the very least, I can get you out of this cell, even if it'll only be today. I need you to meet someone, he requested for both of us."

Haven's ears twitched at the mention of someone. "Who?" She asked.

"You may know him as the leader of the Royal Guard," Peris said. "Captain Horizon."

"Horizon? What does he want?" Haven asked.

"I'm... not sure, he said it would be a surprise," Peris said, his ears drooping. "But he seemed quite happy, so it must be good!"

"Alright, let's go then, shall we?" Haven asked, holding her hoof out, which Peris took. "Just make sure not to let the ponies take pictures of me, I look dreadful like this."

"Dreadful? I wouldn't say that," Peris said, noting the ex-queen's half-frizzy mane with some trash particles. "...Maybe a little, but there's nothing a little soap and water won't fix!"

Back with the Mane Six, the group was trudging through a dark forest. "Ick! Ew!" Pipp said, wet dirt getting on her hooves. "Why did we have to go through this dark forest? I can't even see anything!" Pipp swatted the leaves around her, which hit Hitch.

"Ow!" Hitch complained, rubbing a hoof on his left eye. "Couldn't we go through another route? We didn't have to go through the creepy forest!"

"Hitch, you were the one who traveled to Zephyr Heights to arrest me and Sprout," Sunny said, rolling her eyes, though, in the dark, no one could see it. "You didn't have to come either, y'know?"

"At least we have a new friend now!" Izzy said, bouncing on each of the mud puddles. "And is it just me, or are these muddy puddles super fun to jump on?"

"I think that's just you, Iz," Zipp said, somehow seeing his sister's desperate attempt to get the mud off her hooves. "Pipp, even if you clean your hooves now, it'll still get dirty later."

Pipp raised her hoof in retort but quickly put it back down, Zipp had a point after all. "Ugh, fine! But when we get out of this creepy forest, expect me to be wiping my hooves off for a solid five minutes!"

Zipp rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure thing."

Sunny chuckled as she rearranged some leaves in front of her until she gasped. They had made it out of the forest! Sunny turned around to face her friends. "We made it out!"

"Ugh, finally!" Pipp said, walking out of the forest and basking in the light of the sun. "Dirt. Goes. Off. Now!" Pipp started picking at her hooves, removing the mud and grime that was on them.

"Yeesh, that scene was short," Izzy remarked, spinning around in a circle. "Well, let's move on to the time skip!"

"Time... skip?" Sunny asked. "Izzy, we're not in a movie, nor are we in a fanfiction."

"Uh, you don't know about the..." Izzy began before she paused. "...Nevermind!" Izzy trotted away, leaving only a confused Sunny.

That night, the group took refuge inside a cave. Sunny, Izzy, Zipp, Pipp, and Sprout were around a campfire, whilst Hitch was all alone, trying and failing to make a fire. "Come on, come on..." Hitch muttered, rubbing two sticks together. And to his joy, a small spark of fire lit up!.. Only to be distinguished by a small drop of water from the sky. "Aw, dang it."

"Ooh, sparkle? What is that?" Hitch turned around to see the five, all chatting around their fire eating marshmallows. Hitch didn't know why, but he felt... jealous seeing them. Maybe a little sadness in there, but jealousy nonetheless. "Is it how sparkly my mane is?" Pipp asked.

"Uh, no." Izzy giggled, pulling out another marshmallow from her hair. "Your sparkle is like... hm, a representation of your emotions, to put it lightly."

"What? Didn't you say it represented how... happy a pony was?" Sprout asked, spinning his hoof around. "Wait, I'm stupid. Joy is an emotion."

"Yup!" Izzy said. "Only a particular few unicorns can see others sparkle, I'm one of them! They call us..." Izzy waved her hooves around, trying to be scary. "...Sparkleseers."

"Sparkleseers? No offense, Izzy. But that sounds like a dumb name," Zipp bluntly said, eating his roasted marshmallow. "But unicorns do unicorns, so I can't judge them."

"Each pony's sparkle is unique, it being a color that represents them the most!" Izzy explained. "Sunny's lavender, Sprout's green, and I'm indigo!"

"What's mine? What's mine?" Pipp asked, her face looking like one of a filly who was on a sugar rush.

"Yours is... an aquamarine!" Izzy said, Pipp immediately squealing.

"Aquamarine? That's like, my sixth favorite color! After pink, purple, yellow, gold, and green, of course!" Pipp said. "Zipp, if you remark how that's like, my color scheme, I will not hesitate to punch you!"

Zipp chuckled, wiping the crumbs off his face. "No, Pipp, I won't... this time," Zipp said. "Izzy, what's mine?"

"Yours is... a hot pink! Like your mane!" Izzy revealed, somehow appearing beside Zipp as she touched his mane. "So silky..."

"Izzy!" Zipp screeched, pushing Izzy's hooves off his mane, which caused the others to laugh.

"We've done everyone except... Hitch!" Sunny pointed to Hitch, who only groaned in response. "What color is his sparkle?"

"Right now? It's pretty dull," Izzy said. "But I can just make out a yellow... I think."

"Dull? But that would mean..." Sunny took a closer look at Hitch's expression, which showed a mix of sadness, jealousy, and for some reason, frustration. "...I'll be right back."

Sunny stood up from where she sat as she walked over to Hitch, who kept on struggling to make a small fire. "Hey, Hitch," Sunny said, sitting next to him. "So... what're you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, Sunny?" Hitch asked, groaning in anger before snapping the sticks and chucking them away. "Well, I'm not doing anything now."

"Okay, this is just... sad," Zipp remarked, looking at the show before them. "Yo, Hitch, get your flank over here!"

"No. No way." Hitch said, crossing his hooves. "Sunny, are you sure about this? We can just go back to Maretime Bay, forget this ever happened..."

"Hitch, what do we have to lose?" Sunny asked.

"Oh, I don't know... oh, wait, everything!" Hitch said, standing up. "We could lose everything if we give magic back to our enemies!"

"Do they look like enemies to you?" Sunny asked, gesturing to the Mane Four. "And they certainly weren't enemies when we tried to escape Zephyr Heights."

"Look, I don't know," Hitch sighed. "Maybe I should go back to Maretime Bay, where I'm needed. I don't even know if I left a note."

"I... If that's what you want, fine, I won't stop you." Sunny said, giving him a small smile. "But... I'm really glad you're here, Hitch." She turned back to the fire, looking at each of her friend's faces, especially Sprout's. "And I think they are too." Sunny trotted back to the fire and sat down in her spot. She looked at Hitch as she gave him a warm smile and beckoned for him to come sit next to her.

Hitch sighed as he sat down between Sunny and Sprout. "I might regret this... but whatever," Hitch said.

"So, I think we should set off at first light, so... six?" Sunny asked, receiving approving nods. "If my time estimate is right, we should arrive in Bridlewood at eight."

Izzy face falls, which Sunny immediately notices. "Oh, Izzy... what's wrong?" Sunny asked.

"I guess... I don't want our adventure to end," Izzy said. "Being with you ponies is one of the best things to happen to me, I finally feel like I fit in."

"But Izzy, you'll get your magic back," Sunny said, trying to cheer Izzy up, which she did if only a little.

"Izzy... can I ask you a question?" Hitch asked. "Why did you come to Maretime Bay?"

"Well, even while I was just a little filly, I've always wanted to visit the other pony lands," Izzy admitted. "I found this lantern, and it had a message inside!" Izzy pulled out a folded-up paper from her mane, which Sunny recognized. "It said I had friends in Maretime Bay, and I thought... maybe there were others like me?"

Sunny hesitantly reached out for the note, that Izzy gently gave to her. Sunny started tearing up as she looked at the crayon drawings and the misspelled words inside. It didn't take long for the others to realize that... "It... it was you, wasn't it? You were the one who made that note!" Izzy asked.

"I made it with my Dad," Sunny revealed. "I promised him that someday, we would prove that all pony kinds were meant to be friends. And... just by us, being here together, I think I did." Sunny said, smiling. ""We'll do our part, hoof to heart." That was his motto in life, he always said that. I wish he was here now, to see us, all of us, together."

Hitch sighed as he hesitantly spoke up. "Listen, um, I want to do my part," Hitch said, to the group's surprise. "I mean, what do we have to lose, right?"

Sunny, Pipp, Izzy, and Zipp stomped their hooves on the ground in excitement as Sprout, unknowingly, pulled Hitch into the hug. The sheriff blushed a light red before Sprout quickly realized what he was doing as he pulled away. "Oh, Faust!" Sprout said, his face a brighter red. "I didn't mean to, I was just excited that you finally joined, and I..."

Hitch laughed as he stopped Sprout. "I know, Sprout. And it's not like I was exactly against it." Hitch said.

"Are they dating? Because if not, this will be a very hard thing to watch." Pipp whispered to Izzy, who only smiled in response.

"I have to admit, a unicorn forest does sound a little magical, even with no magic," Hitch said.

"It is!" Izzy answered.

Back in Zephyr Heights, Haven looked at the roof of her cell, pondering over something. "Horizon... wouldn't do that, he couldn't!"

"But then again... he would, wouldn't he?" Haven turned to the cell and saw Peris standing there with a frown on his face. "I wouldn't put it past him. And that's why we need you out there."

Author's Note

Hey! Sorry for the wait on this one, there was some stuff that happened in real life. Had to expose a girl who kept lying... and her lies did NOT make sense, and people BELIEVED HER? I wish I could say I was joking, but I was not. Well, originally, this chapter was going to be a LOT longer, but I moved some stuff to the next chapter, one of them being the "Haven, Peris, and General Horizon" talk. I'm sure you can guess what had happened between those three... maybe not.

Anyway, next chapter... unicorns! Mayonnaise, wing, feather, and magic! :pinkiecrazy: And songs! Because I can and I will.

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter Seven - Inside a Midnight Library

Haven and Peris walked inside a golden room. There were multiple jet planes, missiles, weaponry, and more inside. A male lavender pegasus with a golden mane walked towards them. He wore the royal guard's armor, except it was much fancier. On the right flank of his armor was an emblem version of his cutie mark: the rising sun above a cloud with a sword behind it. One could only assume this was Captain Horizon, the leader of the Royal Guard.

Horizon turned around as he saw the two approach. He smiled warmly at them as he spoke. "Ah, Haven, Peris! What a nice surprise!" he said, smiling. "Though I already knew you were coming here, so it's not really surprising."

Haven awkwardly nodded. "So, Captain Horizon, why did you want me and Peris here?" She asked, tilting her head. "And... why are there so many weaponry out? Shouldn't they be in the reserve room?"

"Oh, right. You don't know!" Captain Horizon said, smiling like a little colt. "Now, here's what I propose..."

"This is not magical at all."

The next day, the Mane Six were in front of Bridlewood. The leaves were purple-pink, and even from their distance, they could see dull teal crystals. In front of them, were multiple signs telling them to leave. "Hitch! Don't be like that," Sunny said, lightly punching her friend. "I'm sure it's... better on the inside."

"Uh, doesn't look like it," Zipp said, his face contorting into a frown. "You see those dull crystals? Those don't look like indications of a magical forest, Sunny."

"I agree with Sunny, maybe the crystals are on... break?" Pipp said, only then did she notice the mud on the dirt floor of the forest. "And, ew, ew, ew! Mud?! Yeah, never mind, I changed my mind!"

"Oh, please," Sprout scoffed. "Pipp, we were in a dark forest for like, fifteen minutes. And there isn't mud everywhere, just... some of it."

Suddenly, Izzy pulled out a can of something called "Mud-B-Gone (50% Off!)" as she sprayed it everywhere. "Mud-B-Gone, perfect for those who hate the mud. Now 50% off!" Izzy said calmly, holding the can up with one hoof.

"Uh, Izzy?" Sunny asked, snapping Izzy out of whatever trance she was in. "The mud's still there, and... why are you acting like we're in a commercial?"

"Sunny, it's Izzy," Zipp reminded her. "She can be kind of... y'know, unpredictable?"

"Yeah!" Izzy said, putting the can back in her mane, which Sunny didn't understand. "Come on, ponies! My house isn't too far from here! Just make sure to wear..." Izzy then pulled out five cloaks from her mane, each a different color. "...these!" Izzy gave Sunny the orange one, Hitch the yellow one, Zipp the white one, Pipp the pink one, and Sprout the red one. Izzy then got another cloak, which was a light purple.

"Okay, Izzy, we need to talk about that whole..." Sunny gestured to Izzy's mane. "...thing you've got in your mane."

"...Sure thing, Sunny-O!" Izzy said. "Now, follow me, comrades! To Villa Izzy!" Izzy ran into the forest with the other members of the Mane Six following her.

Inside the forest, Sunny immediately realized something was wrong. Each of the unicorns looked... well, sad. She swore she saw a filly sighing on the slide, a filly shouldn't be that sad! "Uh, Izzy?" She moved closer to Izzy, who turned to her smiling. "Why aren't the unicorns... y'know, happy?"

"Oh, that?" Izzy shrugged. "It's been like that since... forever! I'm sure other unicorn civilizations aren't like this, but most of the unicorns in Equestria live here."

"Yeah, we could tell," Sprout said, motioning to the many treehouses in Bridlewood. "I counted like, sixty of them in the short time we've been here."

"Well, add one to your list because..." Izzy led them to a big light pink treehouse. It looked much different than the rest of them in Bridlewood, mainly because there was sun hitting it, causing it to look more majestic than the rest. "We made it!" Izzy opened the door as the rest of the Mane Six made their way inside and threw their cloaks on the floor.

"Ooh, I love the vibe, Izzy." Pipp complimented. Pipp's eyes were immediately fixated on a small, flower-themed teapot thing. Izzy trotted over to it as she pressed a small red button. The flower bud bloomed as there were six teacups on each of the petals and a teapot in the center. "O-M-G, Iz! Did you make this?! It's soo cute!"

"I know, right?" Izzy said. Hitch walked over to a macaroni painting of Izzy, which looked in good shape. "Oh, Hitch~," Izzy said in a singsong tone, walking over to the sheriff. "You see something you like?"

"Uh, I guess?" Hitch said, his eyes turning from the painting to Izzy. "I've got a few... suggestions, though." On the painting, the paper eyelashes were insanely big, there was an ice cream cone that looked glued on with pink glue and the eyes? Yeah, they looked really creepy with how the pupils looked. "Scratch that, a lot of suggestions."

"Did you make all of these?" Zipp asked, holding a butterfly origami that looked way too real in his hooves. "Nice craftsmanship, I thought this was a real butterfly."

Sprout took the butterfly origami from Zipp's hooves as he inspected it. "Wow," He said, putting the butterfly origami down. "I don't see anything wrong with it. No rips, no loose papers, no nothing! Izzy, you are a true artist." Sprout complimented, turning to Izzy.

"Uh, guys?" Sunny raised her hoof, getting the attention of the rest of the Mane Six. "As much as I love Izzy's house, we should really get to work on finding the Unicorn Crystal." Sunny pulled the Pegasus Crystal out of her bag, showing it to her friends. "We only have one out of three, and I don't think the unicorns would like it if they found out we were here."

"Oh! That gives me an idea!" Izzy went to a closet as she pulled out five cardboard boxes. "My artsy stuff! We can use these to help you five blend in!"

"Izzy, that's a great idea!" Zipp said before he realized something. "But, what about our wings? I mean, they would know instantly with these things sticking out." Zipp said, spreading his wings.

"Uh, our cloaks? Duh." Sprout said, pointing to the cloaks on the floor of the treehouse. "We can use those to help you and Pipp blend in! Just, say that you don't like showing off your fur or something."

Izzy rummaged through the cardboard boxes, finding everything but cardboard, the one thing she needed to make a fake horn. "Aw, I don't have cardboard anymore, which is the one thing I need to make a horn."

"Can't you use something else? Like, ooh, that clay you've got there!" Pipp said, holding up the packet of clay.

Izzy shook her head, taking the packet of clay back. "Sorry, but somepony could recognize it wasn't a real horn if it's made out of clay! That, or it might fall off. Don't worry! I'll be super quick! Faster than you can say superultraluminescentcrystals!"

"Superultraluminescentcrystals." Zipp jokingly said. "Look, it's either Izzy can go alone to find the Unicorn Crystal, or we wait a little and join her."

Sunny sighed in resignation. "Okay, fine. It's just that... I don't really want to stay in Bridlewood for much longer, no offense, Izzy. But after what happened in Zephyr Heights? I'm afraid to think about what will happen if the unicorns find out." Sunny shuddered in fear. "And the evil alicorn could've followed us! I mean, she cast a spell that could've driven us crazy, or worse, killed!"

"Sunny! Sunny," Izzy walked over to her friend and gave her a comforting tap. "I'll try my best to be super quick! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Izzy recited, eliciting a small laugh from her friend. "And besides, the market is just on the other side of the forest, it's not like I'm going to Prance." Izzy laughed.

"Yeah, yeah... you're right," Sunny took a deep breath as she continued. "But by any chance, is there a library in Bridlewood?"

"Yup! It's not too far from here, actually! Why?" Izzy asked. "Are you planning to do some reasearchy stuff?"

"...Maybe."

Izzy was silent for a few moments before she spoke up. "Okay! Bye!" Izzy took a saddlebag and exited the house, waving to her friends as she did so. Once she was sure she was away, Sunny put on her cloak.

"Woah, Sunny, you're not thinking of going to that library, are you?" Sprout nervously asked. "Shouldn't we wait for Izzy to make us horns?"

Sunny shook her head. "Izzy said that most of the unicorns live in Bridlewood, and from my map, Bridlewood is really big. And when we came in, the unicorns didn't seem to mind the cloaks. Though it could be because of their, uh, funk." Sunny explained. "The library isn't exactly far from here from what Izzy said. I'll do some research then get back here before Izzy gets back, boom!"

"But what if they find out?" Sprout asked, causing Sunny to go quiet. "Look, Sunny, you had a point earlier. So you should know that the safest option is to stay here."

"Yeah, but..." Sunny took out her journal, running her hoof through the pages. "We could find out what happened to magic, and it could help us find the crystals!"

"You seem more hopeful than before," Zipp noticed. "I won't allow you to go there alone, I mean, in the chance they find out, you're going to need backup."

"Ooh! Bridlewood adventure! Let's do it!" Pipp said, cheering. "This will be such good content!"

"What content?" Zipp asked, walking next to his sister. "I mean, it's not like you have internet here."

Hitch sighed as he stood next to Zipp. "I said I'd do my part, so count me in." Hitch firmly said.

"Well, we did venture into a pegasus city without any knowledge... ugh, fine, I'll join," Sprout said, acting like he was forced to do it. "The worst thing that can happen is us dying by unicorn horns."

"Okay, then it's settled!" Sunny clapped her hooves as she stashed the Pegasus Crystal - which she forgot about - into her saddlebag. "We'll head out in five minutes, bring anything you could find useful with you. I'm sure Izzy won't mind, I mean, we did leave all our stuff in Zephyr Heights."

"Including the leftovers of that soup, Izzy made," Sprout pouted. "If we get through this, Izzy's making it for all of us."

"When we get through this," Sunny corrected. "C'mon, hurry, hurry!"

"You want to do what?!" Haven shrieked. Horizon had told him all about his master plan to... eliminate the earth ponies and the unicorns, then take their land. "Captain Horizon- this is insane!"

"Insane? Ha!" Horizon cackled, which made Peris take a step back in fear. "Let's take a walk, shall we?"

Haven and Peris shared worried glances as they followed Horizon. He led them to multiple fighting jets, each with their own pilot and crew. "You saw what they did, didn't you? They exposed you in front of everypony!"

"Well, yes..." Haven said, unable to deny that fact. "But I'm sure they didn't mean to!"

"Haven, they escaped with your children, why are you defending them?!" Horizon asked, slowly getting angrier.

"Because," Peris interjected. "Prince Zipp and Princess Pipp, they did it willingly. That means they aren't a threat! Captain Horizon, I'll tell you what Haven just said, this is insane!"

"Insane? Ha!" Horizon's look immediately became one of anger as he stepped towards Haven, who glared at him. "I'm just protecting my citizens, am I wrong for doing so? The unicorns could zap us with one of their laser beams and the earth ponies could... well, do whatever they do!"

"Well, I'm not the queen anymore, so answer me this: Why did you bring me down here?" Haven asked, shooting him another glare. "I can understand Peris, as he was the one the citizens chose, but why me?"

"Because, Haven, you started this... trend on all the Pegasi communication platforms!" Horizon took out his phone as he showed Haven and Peris some of the posts of the ponies.

Tad StrangePosted 9:32AM
Bring back the Queen!!! #ReturnHaven, #WronglyJailed
2 Dislikes | 152 Likes

Twilight Twinkle Posted 10:54PM
As much as I like Peris, Queen Haven didn't do anything wrong. I mean, a thousand years ago, her family stepped on to take the role as leader. And even though they lied, they probably did it to keep us going. #ReturnHaven, #Justthefacts, #WeLovePerisButHaven4Life
17 Dislikes | 2819 Likes

Pinkamena Diane Pie Posted 10:23PM
Yeah, Queen Haven was super DUPER FUN!!!! She was like the BEST QUEEN EVA!! #ParTAY!, #ReturnHaven, #superultraluminescentcrystals, #notanearthpony, #fromgen4, #pinkiepromise
6 Dislikes | 7053 Likes

As Haven scrolled through the posts, she couldn't help but feel overwhelming joy. "The ponies care about you Haven, they want you back. You're the one that inspires them, leads them. You can protect your ponies by joining me, or you can doom them all, your choice."

Haven was silent for a few seconds before she made her choice. "There has to be another way," She said, turning away from him.

"So be it." Captain Horizon said, a look of disgust forming on his face. "Peris, take her back to her cell. Now."

"Yes, Captain Horizon," Peris said. Even though he had more power than him, he listened, for whatever reason.

The Mane Five left Izzy's home, making sure nopony saw them. "Okay, how are we going to do this?" Zipp asked, his eyes darting around the forest. "I mean, it's not like we exactly know the place, Sunny!"

"Oh, relax, Zipp!" Sunny walked onto the dirt path as her friends followed her. "I'm sure we can find it. I mean, there must be a sign on it."

"And if there isn't?" Hitch asked, kicking a rock under him with his hoof.

"...We ask for help?" Sunny meekly responded, which caused Hitch to sigh. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Hitch!"

"I mean, is Hitch wrong?" Sprout asked. "They take one look under our cloak, and boom! Our disguises are blown, and we either get chased out of Bridlewood and leave Izzy, or we die. Each way is a lose-lose situation."

"Oh, don't be such a worry-wart, Sprout!" Pipp said, walking around him. "If you think confidently, you're sure to succeed! I mean, you believed you could do it when you... heh, ruined my show, right?"

"I guess," Sprout shrugged. "Let's just look around."

The Mane Five nodded to each other as they walked around Bridlewood, the unicorns around them not even noticing them. Sunny's eyes widened when she thought she saw the word "LIBRARY" on one of the trees, but immediately frowned when it was a closed library. There were dusty wood planks on the doors, so unless they wanted to attract attention to themselves, which they didn't, they left.

A few minutes later, the Mane Five were walking on a dirt road, each of them (except Sunny) looking bored. "Library... library..." Sunny muttered to herself, putting a hoof on a tree. "Izzy said it was close!" Sunny said, turning to her friends.

"I think this plan was a bust, Sunny." Zipp said, shaking his body. "Come on, let's go back to Izzy's house. She'll be back soon, if she isn't already there."

"Okay..." Sunny pouted... until she saw it, the library! It was large treehouse with a gold streamers around it. There were two blue crystals beside the giant doors. Above the doors, was the word "Library" inscribed with a gold ink. "I found it! It was convenient, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, real convenient," Pipp said, walking towards the doors. "Well, come on, ponies! Let's go in!" Pipp and Zipp opened the doors to the library as Sunny's eyes widened in awe. In the library, there were multiple shelves filled to the brim with books. There weren't any unicorns inside, so they didn't have to worry about blowing their cover, at least. There were around two floors, so this had to be the biggest library in Bridlewood.

"Woah...." Sprout muttered. "There's so many books."

"Well," Sunny smiled, turning to her friends. "Let's get digging! Well, reading- you know what I mean!" Sunny ran across the library, eagerly taking books and browsing through their pages.

Zipp pulled out a bright blue book, a golden symbol of a pony's head on the front. The title was "Predictions and Prophecies," written in a big bold font. Zipp shrugged as he turned to a random page. "The Mare in the Moon...? Oh, this is just some filly's tales book."

Zipp put the book back in the shelf as he continued browsing. On the other side of the library, Pipp held a dark purple journal with a crystal of a six-pointed magenta star on the front. "Ooh, shiny!" Pipp turned to the first page as her eyes fixated on the first few words. "'The Friendship Journal: Take Two, written by Princess Tw... Sp...kl'" The last words were blurred out, but if it was written by a princess, this had to be a good read.

On the second floor, Hitch and Sprout were side-by-side, taking books off the shelf that they deemed important. "'The Elements of Harmony: A Rewritten Reference Guide.' Well, does this look important to you, Sprout?" Hitch asked, holding the book in front of his friend's face.

"Uh, probably, I guess? I remember Sunny mentioning something about Elements and Harmony once." Sprout said, taking the book. "Take the book, and- ooh, what's this?" Sprout pulled out what seemed to be an action novel with the words "Eclipse Do and the Swarm of the Chaos Ruby, Book I" on it.

"Yeah, I don't think that's useful," Hitch said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know, Hitch." Sprout said, rolling his eyes. "But you never know, it might be useful." Sprout put the book next to the pile of books they had. Hitch chuckled as he resumed browsing.

With Sunny, she seemed to be in heaven with the amount of joy she seemed to be having. "So... fascinating... eek!" She muttered out, her eyes flickering from book to book. "Comic book... magazine... cook book... history book... diction- history book!" Sunny took the history book, which looked to be a thousand years old. Perfect.

As she opened the book, there were a lot of dust on the pages. Sunny blew the smoke away as she read the first few words.

"Equestria's Golden Age"
A thousand years ago, Equestria was ruled by five alicorns, each representing a specific trait: Day, Night, Love, Friendship, and Light. The Alicorn of Friendship, the current ruler, wasn't always an alicorn. In fact, she used to be a unicorn in the quaint town of Ponyville. She, along with her five other friends, represented magic jewels known as the Elements of Harmony. Together, they fought great evil and came back victorious. But, twenty years after the Alicorn of Friendship was deemed Ruler of Equestria, a new, powerful evil came to exist. She was known as the Alicorn of Fire. She wanted power, and she wanted all of it. So in a last ditch resort, the Alicorn of Friendship placed Equestria's magic into three crystals. The Pegasus Crystal of Flight, the Unicorn Crystal of Float, and the Earth Pony Crystal of Flora. When magic was contained, each of the three pony tribes began to separate from each other, taking their respective jewel with them. When all three are reunited, it is said that magic and light will come back to Equestria, and the evil alicorn's effects will be no more.

Sunny closed the book, setting it on the ground beside her. So that was the reason why Equestria fell, and the three pony tribes were separated! She carefully tore off the page as she stuffed it into her saddlebag. "Come on, guys! Bring anything you might find useful and stuff it into your saddlebag! We've got enough, let's go!"

Zipp, Pipp, Hitch, and Sprout walked down next to Sunny as the earth pony mare put the books back. "Alright, let's go." Sunny turned for the door, before stopping. The knob on the door was turning, meaning that somepony was behind it. "Change of plans, hide!"

The Mane Five hid behind a shelf as the doors to the library creaked open. Sunny took a deep breath as she tried to see who it was. When she did, however, her heart stopped. It was Midnight. She followed them.

"Who is it?" Sprout asked, whispering in Sunny's ear.

"It's... it's Midnight," Sunny said, taking deep breaths. "She... she followed us to Bridlewood. She's in the library right now."

"Midnight?! You mean, the evil alicorn?" Pipp asked, taking a book and covering her face with it. "Ugh, I'm so not ready for this!" Pipp said, whimpering. "Do I look okay? Is my mane alright?"

"Pipp!" Zipp silently scolded. "We have much bigger problems than mane problems! If Midnight finds us... I don't want to think about what will happen."

"How are we going to get out of here?" Hitch asked, sweating. "She has magic, ponies. Magic!" Hitch said, shuddering. "We need an exit out now!"

"Oh, ponies!" Midnight's voice rang through the library, making the Mane Five freeze in place. "Where are you, little ponies! Come out, come out!"

"What if we try the door again? Once Midnight is far enough, we leave." Sunny suggested, her friends nodding in agreement. "Okay, we've got a plan. Now? We just have to execute it." Sunny pulled out a small, gray rock as she chucked it onto the second floor.

"Found you!"

As Midnight ran up the stairs, the Mane Five made their way to the door. Just as Sunny was about to put her hoof on the knob, a magenta aura surrounded it. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should've known better than to trick an alicorn." Midnight said with mock hurt. "Especially one who can blast you to smithereens!" Midnight shot a beam of pure magic to the five ponies, each barely dodging it. "Give me the Pegasus Crystal."

"No!" Sunny said, dodging another blast. "You'll never get your hooves on this crystal, Midnight. Not as long as we have friendship!"

"Friendship? You're right about that. But what good is friendship in a divided world?!" Sunny was surrounded by a magenta aura as she was slowly being lifted up into the air. "The Pegasus Crystal."

"I'll never give it to you!" Sunny said through choked breaths. "Equestria needs unity, Midnight. I won't let you stop our goal for a better future!"

"But Equestria certainly doesn't need you, does it?" Midnight grinned as the aura surrounding Sunny began to tighten. Slowly, Sunny felt like she was being suffocated. "Bye, Sunny."

"Stop!" Midnight turned around as her hold on Sunny disappeared, the earth pony mare dropping to the ground, catching her breath. Pipp took a deep breath as she continued. "We don't have the Pegasus Crystal on us, we'd be idiots to do so in a forest where we could lose it. But... but we have the Unicorn Crystal."

"Uh, y...yeah! We do!" Hitch stuttered out, unsure of why he was playing along. "We'll give you it in exchange for Sunny."

"Hm, well, as long as you don't have all three, I suppose..." Midnight muttered. "Fine. Show me the crystal."

Pipp awkwardly laughed as she rummaged through her saddlebag. Pipp's hooves hit the Friendship Journal as she felt the magenta crystal on it. Pipp pulled the crystal out as she lifted it up, Midnight's eyebrow raising. "Here it is! The Unicorn Crystal, in all it's unicorn-y glory!" She awkwardly said, averting her eyes away from Midnight's.

Midnight's turned away as she appeared to be discussing something with... nopony. "Is this the Unicorn Crystal?" Midnight asked.

Unknown to the five ponies, Midnight was talking to Twilight Sparkle, which they couldn't see, of course. Twilight put on a defeated face as she spoke. "Yes..." She lied. "Let them go, you owe them that for giving it to you."

Midnight's face turned to one of victory as she turned back to Pipp. "Give me the crystal, and you and your friends can go." Pipp walked to Midnight and gave her the crystal, Pipp putting on a face of loss. "Good. You can go now."

Hitch propped Sunny up as the group left the library. Outside the library, Pipp breathed a sigh of relief. "I did not think that would work."

"Yeah, well, we can talk about it more back in Villa Izzy." Sunny said, looking thankful. "Come on, let's go back before Midnight realizes you tricked her."

"Finally... finally! I've won!" Midnight said, before she paused. "Well, I wasn't exactly a villain for long. But, y'know, a victory is a victory!" Midnight dropped the crystal onto the floor, magenta shards lying on the floor. "Now, how do you feel Sparkle?!"

"Eh, I feel fine." Twilight said, a look of accomplishment and relief on her face. "Sucks to be you, but that wasn't the real Unicorn Crystal, ha! I lied!"

It was silent for a few seconds before Midnight spoke up again. "So... that was embarrassing." Midnight said, a light pink blush forming on her face. "Ugh! I have to chase after them again?! Villainy is so hard these days! Back then, all you needed to do was invade a wedding! Or use magic to change Equestria into a chaotic playground! I'm having second thoughts about having you as my vessel."

"You know one thing that hasn't changed?" Twilight smiled. "That evil never wins! The thing that just happened proves it! Score one for Twilight!"

"Yes, yes, I know." Midnight scoffed. "Time for Plan B."

Author's Note

Seventh chapter! Woo! So, I know I said there would be a song... but... oops? The whole library thing came to me! It was a flash of creative goodness! I estimate that Chapter Nine will be the end for the first arc of Part One, and it's coming soon. Anyway... I wrote half of this chapter in a day, so tell me if there is ANY spelling mistakes, because I was pushing myself. Anyway, see you next chapter! Because... Alphabittle! Just Prance! Mobs! Anyway, Izzy was absent for half the episode, yeesh.

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter Eight - Just Prance, Ponies!

The Mane Five entered Izzy's house as they each threw their own cloaks on the floor. "Woo! That was such a rush!" Pipp cheered, shaking her body. "I must admit, I was a little scared for a second."

"A little?" Zipp asked, nudging his sister. "You were practically sweating, Pipp. I don't even know how Midnight believed that!" He laughed as his sister started laughing with him.

"Oh, I'm so glad that we're back!" Sprout said, falling face-first onto the floor. "The joy of safety..." He muttered, sighing in delight.

"Uh, guys?" Sunny called out, raising her hoof. "Did you bring anything with you? I have this paper from a history book." Sunny pulled out the paper from her saddlebag, raising it.

"I have this book about... Elements!" Hitch pulled the "The Elements of Harmony: A Revised Reference Guide" from his saddlebag. "I figured it might've been useful."

"And I got this... friendship journal!" Pipp said, pulling out her book. "It said it was written by a princess, ooh! There was this big magenta crystal of a six-pointed star on it. Oh, I took the crystal from the book, so it's a shame you couldn't see it for yourselves. But!" Pipp flipped through the pages. "There's all these letters from someone named "Twilight" to somepony called "Princess Celestia.""

"Wait, Twilight? Princess Celestia? Pipp! Let me see that!" Sunny took the book from Pipp's hooves, which annoyed the pegasus princess a little. "Oh, Faust! This is the friendship journal! I've heard about these! Princess Twilight and her friends wrote stuff in it a long time ago. I have one at home but the text is unreadable." Sunny explained, flipping to another page. "This one is in pretty good shape, to say the least!"

"Hey, guys! I'm back!"

The five turned to see Izzy at the door, two paper bags on her back. "Can you believe it? I got all of these for 50% off! Ah, bargaining~" She said, only to realize something was off. "Wait a minute..." She eyed the books in Sunny's hooves as she came to a conclusion. "Gasp! Did you five... go to the library?!"

"Uh... no?" Sprout said, standing up. "Wait, did you literally say "gasp?""

"Are any of you hurt?!" Izzy said, checking Sunny for bruises. And to Izzy's disappointment, Sunny had scrapes over her body, along with the rest of her friends. "What happened?! Tell me everything!"

"Do you want the quick version? Or do you want the long one while you tend to our wounds?" Hitch asked, somehow holding up a med kit. "And before you ask, I brought it with me when I left Maretime Bay."

"Long version!" Izzy said, motioning them to sit on some chairs. "I mean, what could've possibly happened?" As Izzy tended to Sprout's wounds, the red stallion gulped nervously.

"Well, we met Midnight," Sprout said, Izzy's face becoming one of shock. "Yeah, she tried to kill Sunny, but Pipp tricked her. Which was a one in a million chance, but, y'know, we did it!"

"Say what!? You fought Midnight!? Without me?! Aw, I feel so left out!" Izzy moped, finished with Sprout as she moved to Sunny.

"It's a good thing you weren't there, Izzy. We didn't want all of us potentially dying," Sunny said. "And now, we can make our way to find the Unicorn Crystal! You have the supplies, right?"

"Uh, duh!" Izzy said, the paper bags she had now on the floor. After she finished tending to the other's wounds, Izzy checked the time. "It's 2:30! Yeesh, we've been here for that long?"

"Wait, we got here at around ten..." Sunny calculated the math in her head. "We've been here for four hours?! And we haven't even made any progress with the Unicorn Crystal! Izzy, can you make our disguises fast?"

"I don't know, how fast can you sing, Sunny?" Izzy said, moving over to Sunny. "Everyone knows that time moves faster in a musical montage, am I right, Pipp?!" She pointed to Pipp, who smiled in anticipation.

"Oh, you know it, Iz! Musical time~!" Pipp said. Izzy held a music box as she put on glasses. She retrieved a slide projector and put it on a stool. She pressed a button, which presented an unflattering picture of the earth ponies. She and each of her friends - minus Hitch - started to dance as a small tune started to fill the air.

[Izzy]: I thought Earth ponies were the pony ladder's bottom rung.
I heard that pegasi were brutes, you'd hate to be among!
You smell like fishes (you're vicious), I bet you eat your young.
Meet any one of you, the thing to do is run away.

[Sunny]: But although, I know we're all a bunch of different breeds!
Take away our wings and horns, and we're just frightened steeds!

[Sprout]: So let's put aside our differences just 'cause what we need's a win, oh-oh-oh!

[Zipp]: Come on, rip out all the pages of your history books.
Just because we're undercover doesn't mean we're crooks!

[Pipp]: When we walk you through the crowd and give your brand-new looks a spin!
You're gonna fit right in!

Izzy helped Hitch on a salon chair as she started combing his mane. "This is a new low," Hitch said, the unicorn applying makeup on his face. "I mean, singing? Dancing? How is any of this going to speed up the "unicornication" process? If anything, this might even slow us down."

"Come on, Hitch! The music magic doesn't work unless all of us sing!" Izzy begged, holding up a hairbrush in front of his mouth. Hitch, who begrudgingly sighed, stood up as the screen turned into one of the unicorns.

[Hitch]: They taught us unicorns were super scary maniacs!
With horns like razors! And tongues like tasers! And teeth like tacks!
They take your hooves and then they grind 'em into midnight snacks!
The basic gist of it is unicorns are not okay.

[Sunny]: Look, I know we're risking everything for this endeavor.
But look at us, we're brave and strong and weird and clever!
We're running out of options and we're desperate to begin!

[Pipp & Izzy]: You're gonna fit right in!

Izzy styled fake unicorn horns insanely fast as she fitted them on each of her friend's heads. "Woah, this is fast," Hitch remarked, nudging his. "Color me surprised. But, I mean, will we fit in? I mean, we don't know anything about unicorn culture."

[Izzy]: I know you will, now watch and learn!
This is how a unicorn walks, (walks)
This is how a unicorn talks, (talks)
This is how a unicorn hoops, (hoops!)
This is how a unicorn-

The music screeched to a halt as Hitch accidentally found his hooves inside a paint jar. "Oops?" Hitch meekly said, getting one hoof out. As the music replayed, Izzy shrugged it off as she restarted singing.

[Izzy]: This is how a unicorn struts!
Oh, watch us shake our unicorn butts!
Now you're in the unicorn know!
Soon you'll be a unicorn pro!

Oh, a unicorn horn makes a unicorn stride,
It's the more-head on your forehead, it's the source of your pride!
Every unicorn who's born has worn a horn that's unique!
So I'll whip them up as we speak, you be lookin' très magnifique!
And with those rocks in our pocket, we'll reap the rewards,
And folks'll be floored, we'll strike a new chord
Our magic restored!

[Sunny, Izzy, Zipp]: Lately all of Equestria has lost its heart,
But if we can help to find it we should play our part!

[Hitch & Sprout]: If we fail, we’ll go to prison!

[Sunny]: But if not we'll start to grin!

[Pipp]: So let's begin!

[Izzy]: You're gonna fit right in!

[Mane Six]: This is how a unicorn walks!
This is how a unicorn talks!
Now you're looking unicorn strong.
This is how a unicorn ends this song.

At the end of the song, each of the Mane Six - minus Izzy - had a horn that complimented their fur, Pipp and Zipp having cloaks to cover their wings. Izzy opened the door as each of them left the house, slamming it as she left.

"And... two minutes and twenty-five seconds!" Izzy cheered, holding up a stopwatch, somehow acquiring it from her mane. "You see that? That is the power of music!" Izzy said.

As the group progressed further through Bridlewood, they noticed the same thing. Depressed unicorns. "Ow," An old mare said, not an emotion in her voice as apples fell on her head. "Ow." Sunny turned and saw two unicorn teens, who looked like the stereotypical emo teen in those 2000 movies.

"This is... cheerful," Hitch said, looking at the sad fillies and colts on the slide. The unicorn filly slid down it, only letting out a small cheer. "Yeah, it's depressing."

"The only unicorn that's not depressing is... Izzy," Pipp said. "Hey, Iz? Why are all of these unicorns so much different than you? Like, you're a literal bundle of joy, and they're... well, a sack of sadness."

"Well, my sparkle shines a little too bright for Bridlewood," Izzy said, walking up to a dull, blue crystal. "And... crystal!"

"I don't think this one is the crystal, Izzy," Hitch said, tapping on its surface a little. "And I don't think it even has any magic in it."

"Ooooh!" The Mane Six whipped their heads around to see a small, unicorn colt pointing their hoof at them. "You said a bad word! Hurry! Before we get the jinxies!"

"Uh, jinx...ies?" Sunny asked. The fillies, along with some of the adults, started standing on two of their hooves as they said... "Bing bong?" Sunny shook her head as she turned to Izzy, who was doing the same thing. "Izzy? What is happening?"

"Bing bong!" Izzy quickly said before she turned to the Mane Five. "What? Don't you five have jinxie rituals in your civilizations?" Sunny, Hitch, Sprout, Zipp, and Pipp shook their heads, leading Izzy to sigh in disappointment. "Unicorns are very superstitious, so if anypony says a forbidden word, we have to do a super special dance to ward off the bad omen, or as we like to call them, the jinxies!"

"Forbidden words?" Hitch repeaded, twirling his hoof. "Uh, what forbidden words?"

"Oh, y'know..." Izzy briefly looked around her, making sure that no unicorns were close by. "Magic, wing, feather... oh, and mayonnaise!"

"Uh, what's wrong with mayon-" Zipp's words were instantly cut short as Izzy put her hoof over his mouth, a unicorn next to them about to do the "ritual." "Right, got it," Zipp said, pulling Izzy's hoof off his mouth. "But you still haven't answered my question."

"Oh, y'know, something happened a thousand years ago." Izzy shrugged. "Anyway, we're here! I think this is the best lead on how to find the Unicorn Crystal!" Izzy led them to a moderate-sized treehouse. There was a sign next to the door, advertising appetizers and tea. Above that sign, was another sign shaped like a teapot. The words on it read "Crystal Tea Room." Izzy opened the doors for them, leading them all to see various unicorns, each at a table or on the stage.

"I don't see how being in a tea room helps us, Izzy," Zipp said, looking unsure. "I mean, unless we're going to get food that somehow symbolizes unity, I don't see a reason for being here."

"Oh, Zipp," Izzy laughed, waving her hoof at a unicorn, who only gave her a smile in return. "There's a pony here that collects crystals, he's a usual here. He's our biggest lead on finding the Unicorn Crystal!"

"Oh, that's great, Izzy!" Sunny said, eagerly looking around with her head. "So, where is he?"

"Right at that table," Izzy said, pointing to a table that was only occupied by one unicorn. "Just don't mention anything about his ex-wife, if you ask me, he still hasn't moved on. She left him a year ago!"

"Ooh, unicorn lore!" Pipp said, clapping her hooves. "Let's see if we can get him to spill some details."

"I'll handle this," Sunny said, sitting on the seat directly across from him. "So, the word in the forest is, you collect crystals. Best of them all."

"Yes, I do," The unicorn said, slamming his hoof on the table. "But I lost them all to Alphabittle in a game of... limbo. It's going to take years for me to mine all of that again!"

"Alphabittle?" Sunny repeated, turning to Izzy. "Who's Alphabittle?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" Izzy said, her face turning to one of complete sadness. "Alphabittle is the biggest game player in Bridlewood. If he has the Unicorn Crystal..."

Just then, a bell loudly rang as the Mane Six turned to the location. A big gray stallion with a white mane smirked as he held his hoof out. "Time's up, Jasper. Pass it over." The mentioned stallion - Jasper - dejectedly handed over a Rubix cube, which looked only a couple steps away from being solved, and put it on the stallion's hoof.

The stallion quickly solved the Rubix cube in under five seconds, startling Sunny. "Well, we all know who won now, huh?" The stallion said, putting the cube down. "Pay up." Jasper slid over a snow globe to him as the stallion put it on one of the shelves behind him. There were various shelves behind him, each with various knick-knacks on them. "You could always try winning it back, y'know?"

"I'm going to guess that's Alphabittle?" Zipp asked, walking over to the two. Sunny's eyes widened as she spotted a bright, indigo crystal, shaped like a unicorn horn on one of the shelves.

"Guys, look!" Sunny said, pointing to what she believed to be the Unicorn Crystal. "The Unicorn Crystal - it's there! We found it!"

"So, we found the Unicorn Crystal, but..." Sprout pointed to Jasper, who moped as he drank a bottle of alcohol. "...How're we supposed to get it? I don't think any of us can beat Alphabittle. We could try stealing it?"

"No, that won't be necessary," Sunny said, smiling. "I can beat that Rubix cube with my eyes closed and with one hoof, I can beat him, I know it."

"Sunny," Pipp spoke, her face unsure. "What if we lose? I mean, I'm sure that for a crystal that glamorous, he'd need something of the same value. Something like..." Pipp pointed to Sunny's saddlebag, which contained the Pegasus Crystal. "...the Pegasus Crystal. If we lose, we'll have no crystals!"

"Pipp! Pipp," Sunny said, giving her friend a comforting smile. "I can do this, I know I can. I have five wonderful friends by my side, and with you all, I can do anything."

"Geez, that was corny," Hitch said, scoffing playfully. "Just make sure not to lose, I'm a sheriff, after all! I am not going to be involved in a heist!"

"I won't, Hitch. I promise," Sunny said, putting a hoof on his chest. "Now, let's hope I don't lose." Sunny held her head high as she made her way to the bar Alphabittle was running. The stallion was busy cleaning an empty glass as Sunny gained the courage to talk. "Tea, please."

Alphabittle raised his eyebrow as he slid over a cup of tea to Sunny. "Hold the milk, please," Sunny said, noticing two armadillos holding a small packet of milk coming towards her. "So, I heard you're quite the game player, correct?" Sunny said, taking a sip of her tea.

"It passes the time," Alphabittle responded, a sly smile coming on his face. "Why? Do you play?"

"Oh, I don't play," Sunny finished her tea and slid it back to him. "I win."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is. And I challenge you... for that!" Sunny pointed at the Unicorn Crystal, which made Alphabittle's eyes widen.

"You think you can beat me? Alphabittle? The king of games?" Alphabittle asked, leaning towards Sunny.

"Only one way to find out."

"Big talk for a little pony."

"I think you'll find that I'm average height," Sunny said, her determined smile not faltering. "So, what do you say? Tick-tock."

"Hm, whatever you're betting, it better be special." Sunny's smile still didn't falter as she opened her saddlebag and put the Pegasus Crystal on the table.

"Special enough for you?" Sunny asked, noticing the stallion's awed look. "I hear it goes with that one perfectly."

"Well, it looks like we have a deal," Alphabittle said, the Pegasus Crystal glimmering in the confines of the room.

"Good! Now, hand me that cube." Sunny said, holding her hoof out proudly... until she heard what Alphabittle said next.

"Oh, no, no, no, no. A special prize calls for a special challenge," Alphabittle said, raising his hoof. "Bring forth... the ultimate challenge!" Sunny turned around to see that two unicorns pulled a rope next to a red curtain, it unfurling a second later. Behind the curtain was a contraption, which Sunny looked amazed at. There were two metal pads, which Sunny assumed were where they would play. Inside the pads were nine metal squares, though, only the center one had nothing. The eight squares around it had different horseshoe colors, each a different color. The north, south, east, and west ones were the only ones glowing. The pads were connected to a screen, which had four squares in the middle, each having a horseshoe on it that represented a horseshoe on the pads. On both sides of the screen were two bars, the arrows at the bottom green. On top of the screen was the label, which read "Just Prance" with a wooden version of Alphabittle, wearing sunglasses, on it while fire was around him. Alphabittle put the two crystals on separate stands, the Pegasus Crystal next to the right pad, whilst the Unicorn Crystal was next to the left.

The gears in Sunny's head turned as she realized what game this would be, and her amazed expression turned into unimpressed. "A dancing game? Seriously?" Sunny said, looking at Alphabittle in complete disbelief.

"Don't worry, I'll make this easy on you. You just have to win one out of three." Alphabittle said, taking his place on the left pad. Sunny took a deep breath as she stood on the right pad, glancing at her friends, who each had a worried expression on their faces.

An armadillo pulled a lever as the horseshoes on the four squares quickly changed color. Music started playing as Alphabittle and Sunny started their game. Alphabittle smirked as he was able to stomp his hooves on the right colors, Sunny sighed as she was too late. Alphabittle's bar went up while Sunny's... well, stayed down. The game on for three minutes before there was a clear victor: Alphabittle.

"Sunny, it's okay!" Izzy said, trying to cheer up her crestfallen friend. "You're just getting warmed up, that's all!" Sunny smiled gratefully as she turned back to the screen. Round Two started as both of the competitors started competing, Sunny grit her teeth as she sped up. After a few minutes, it was a close finish as Alphabittle won again, Sunny just behind him.

"Yeah! Get my crystal polish ready, will ya, critters?" Alphabittle said, turning to his critter companions, who scurried away.

"Uh, uh, time out!" Sprout quickly said, pulling Sunny off the pad. Leaving Alphabittle to roll his eyes as he stepped off of his pad, getting a cup of water.

"Come on, Sunny! You have to do this!" Sprout said, his eyes darting from the crystal polish, that the critters now had, to the pegasus crystal. "Everything depends on this game!"

"You hear that, Sun-Sun?" Pipp said, moving her ears a little. "Feel the rhythm take you over! Yeah!" Pipp danced in her place as Sunny felt rejuvenated.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm feeling it! I'm feeling it!" Sunny and Alphabittle stepped on their pads as the game started again. This was the last round, the one that could determine what happens next. As Sunny and Alphabittle competed, both of their arrows stayed in the same position as Sunny could feel herself growing tired.

"No!" Sunny said, the arrow on Alphabittle's bar growing higher. "This can't happen!" Sunny sped up as her bar went up to the same position Alphabittle's was in. "I... can't... keep... going!" Sunny said, the orange mare staring to sweat.

"Believe."

Sunny blinked, did she hear a voice in her head?

"Friendship is magic, Sunny Starscout. You will prevail! Believe in yourself! You can't let Midnight win!"

Sunny, who didn't know what was going on, except for the fact that she had to win, slowly nodded. "Right! Friendship. Is. Magic!" Sunny sped up as slowly, as her bar went higher. Alphabittle struggled to keep up with Sunny's place - it was like she was rejuvenated with energy, an energy Alphabittle did not have anymore. A bell's alarm filled the room as the victor was now clear. Sunny Starscout had won the game.

"I... did it? I did it!" Sunny cheered, running towards her friends, who cheered alongside her.

Alphabittle sighed as he got both crystals and handed them over to Sunny. "Well, you won fair and square. You certainly gave me a run for my money." Alphabittle laughed. "If you ever pass by again, I challenge you to a rematch."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Sunny said, putting the crystals into her saddlebag. "Come on," Sunny turned to her friends, smiling. "Let's go! We still have a long journey ahead of us."

"Bye, Alphabittle!" Izzy said, she and her friends left the Crystal Tea Room. Alphabittle waved them goodbye as Sunny closed the door.

"I can't believe we did it!" Hitch said. "I kind of thought that your horn would've fallen off."

"Yeah, well, at least that didn't happen," Sunny said, pulling the Unicorn Crystal out from her saddlebag and taking a good look at it. "Come on, we still need to get back to Maretime Bay."

As the six ponies left, a cloaked Midnight entered the Crystal Tea Room as her horn began to glow a dim magenta.

Peris walked through the halls of the castle, looking at each of the family portraits on the walls. He walked down a flight of stairs as he made his way to Haven's cell. Haven was moving her hoof over the floor, sighing sadly. "Hey, Haven?" Peris called out, Haven's attention immediately shooting up.

"It's time," Peris quickly said, pressing the scanner next to the cell. "Come on!" Peris turned around and ran away, Haven being quick to follow him.

"Where are we going?" Haven asked. "I mean, I know we're escaping Zephyr Heights, but... what's next?" She and Peris ran up a flight of stairs, making it into the throne room.

"We warn the other tribes," Peris simply said, opening a door for her as they ran. "Zephyr Heights is much more advanced than them. Maretime Bay is quick behind, yes. But Zephyr Heights has literal missiles, spaceships!" Peris and Haven took a sharp turn. "We're going to Maretime Bay first because no doubt Horizon's going there first as well. Maretime Bay could rival Zephyr Heights, with the Earth Ponies' natural strength along with that... uh, Cantergizmo?"

Haven nodded. "So I'll assume we'll go to Bridlewood next?"

"Mhm, let's hope they don't blast us to bits on sight though," Peris said, taking a quick laugh. "If we survive, let's hope we can find your children."

"When we survive," Haven corrected, giving the male pegasus a warm smile. "Hope is a wonderful thing, it lights up the darkness, Peris. So never lose hope, we can do this."

"Let's hope you're right," Peris said, the two making their way to the castle doors. "I find it weird that we haven't seen not one guard."

"Weird? Well, it looks like fate wants us to escape," Haven said, pushing one of the doors open. "Come on, to Maretime Bay it is!"

Peris gave Haven a small smile as he pushed the other door open. "To Maretime Bay it is."

As the two exited the Royal Castle, Horizon peered at them from a balcony. "Aren't you going to do anything about that? Captain Horizon?" one guard asked.

"Why should I? It would make things so much more interesting." Horizon responded, turning away from the balcony. "And besides, with them gone, I can finally take charge of Zephyr Heights." Horizon pulled out the fake Pegasus Crystal, the teal gem shimmering in the sun's bask. "Now, I think we're ready to go. Call everypony for an emergency meeting."

In Maretime Bay, Phyllis sat on the chair in her office, writing something on some papers. Sweets barged into the room as Phyllis' gaze quickly shot up. "Miss Cloverleaf, the "Phyllisbot" has just finished the testing phase. It's done, ready to go." Sweets said.

"Ah, good! Call everypony in town for an emergency meeting!" Phyllis said, getting out of her chair. "Our attack on the other tribes starts today! Amazing, isn't it?" As Phyllis left the room, Sweets was left to ponder.

"Amazing? I'm... I'm not sure," Sweets muttered, exiting the room.

Author's Note

Okay, woo! It's almost time for the final chapters! Woo! So, I didn't think this was going to reach 4k words, but it somehow did. We're nearing the end of the Movie Arc, and after that, I'll be taking a short break on this story! Why? Because, I'm going to finish a chapter of my first story: The Mane Twelve Adventures! Really need to get Boast Busters done, as it's going to be one of the BEST ones ever!

Anyway, enough about breaks and stuff. It's going to be a while until the next chapter, because on Wednesday, I will be having my final exams for first sem! Kinda scared, but, I'm smart anyway. And after that, I'll be having my sem break, where I will be going to another country for four days, which leaves... November! So, expect the next chapter in November!

Now, more notes! So, I haven't revealed Midnight's plan yet. But it's obviously clear it's going to be revealed next chapter, I mean, she walked into the Crystal Tea Room with a lit horn! She could commit mass genocide! But hey, what do I know? I'm just the author, who can't spoil! So anyway, what does it take to get a TV Tropes page? Because I'm willing to start posting on Ao3. Even if I get a headache trying to make a story on there.

Since I'm trying to make a long author's note, let's discuss Tell Your Tale. I can't BELIEVE, they just ended it like that! Like, the Boardtrot didn't need a water slide! But! We still have Issue 2 for "The Storm of Zephyr Heights" releasing on October 30... I still haven't read the first issue, but that's besides the point! Also, I've heard about comics, continuing Tell Your Tale... please, PLEASE, give Allura a good ending! With something involving rainbow lasers!

Also, if anyone's wondering why I changed the song format, it's because when I was writing the song, I liked the quote format better. I'll change it for the other song as well tomorrow, because I'm tired.

Anyway, was there anything I forgot to mention? Eh, probably not. Should I publish on Ao3, though? Really need to know. Well, see you in November! Bye! Here's to hoping my grades are higher than 88.

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter Nine - Alone in the Dark

Midnight stepped into the Crystal Tea Room, keeping her lit horn under her cloak. "Ah, hello there, Miss!" Alphabittle said, trotting back to his stand. "What can I get you, you tall mare?" Alphabittle asked, laughing a little under his breath.

"Oh, just a cup of tea and whatever appetizers you have," Midnight answered, trying to act as nice as possible. "I'm not going to be staying for long anyway."

"Alright," Alphabittle said, grabbing a small blue teacup with his hoof. "Do you have a name, mysterious mare?" Alphabittle asked, pouring tea into her teacup and sliding it over to her.

"My name is Midnight," Midnight responded, taking the tea and gulping it down in one drink. "And, uh, can I get more of that? Preferably in a larger cup." Alphabittle turned away, and suddenly, the room was filled with magenta light. "On second thought, I'm not that hungry anymore." Midnight said, each of the unicorns in the Crystal Tea Room eyes glowing magenta.

"Midnight! No! Why!?" Twilight asked, floating next to the midnight alicorn. "You know what happened the last time we had a war!"

"I didn't want to do it, Sparkle, but I had no choice! Those little friendship ponies were getting too close to their end goal." Midnight said, her cloak falling off, not that it mattered anymore. "I know for a fact that Phyllis Cloverleaf is starting a war in Maretime Bay, and so is Captain Horizon Flint in Zephyr Heights. If I could avoid it, I would. But magic coming back cannot happen, Princess."

It was sunset. The Mane Six entered Maretime Bay as Sunny quickly opened the door to her lighthouse and ushered everypony in. Once they were all inside, Sunny promptly closed all the blinds. "Ooh, I love the place you have, Sunny!" Pipp complimented, taking a handmade cup. At least, that's what Pipp presumed it was.

"Thanks," Sunny responded, quickly walking up the stairs to her room. She opened the door as she opened her closet and took a box out. Zipp followed Sunny as the pegasus prince analyzed the room.

"So," Zipp started, plopping on Sunny's bed. "You've got a nice room, huh?" Sunny let out a small chuckle as she retrieved the scissors and opened the box. "Hey, what's that you've got there?" Zipp asked, pointing at the cardboard box.

"Hm? Oh! This? This is my Dad's research," Sunny said, getting another box from her closet. "Hopefully, there's something here about the location of the Earth Pony Crystal. I've got a few more boxes inside. Would you mind helping me out?" Sunny asked, throwing her head to the closet.

Zipp chuckled as he made his way to the closet and carried two other boxes out. "You think your Dad has research on the location of the Earth Pony Crystal?" Zipp asked, opening a cardboard box. "I don't mean any disrespect, I'm sure he was a great pony, but I doubt he would know the location of a thousand-year-old crystal."

"Zipp, my dad was an archeologist, he knows more about Ancient Equestria than what your libraries in Zephyr Heights could provide," Sunny answered, taking a piece of paper out before putting it back. "If there's still anything on the crystals around, then it's probably in here."

"Oh, my glitter! The view! It's gorgeous!" Izzy called out, her voice reaching the duo.

"Well, looks like someone found the lightroom," Sunny said, she and Zipp laughing for a bit. "Come on, let's get our flanks over there. It'll be nice to have a few more extra hooves."

"Yup, come on, Starscout!" Zipp said, putting the boxes on his back before running towards the lightroom. Sunny put her boxes on her back and followed Zipp.

In the lightroom, Izzy and Pipp looked amazed at the view of the sunset before them. Hitch and Sprout were on the floor, playing a game of tic-tac-toe. "Ha! I won!" Sprout said, puffing his chest up.

"Oh, come on, Sprout!" Hitch said, crumpling the paper and throwing it in the trashcan. "Two out of three!" He challenged.

"Ponies, let's not get distracted from our goal here," Sunny said, she and Zipp putting the boxes on the floor. "We need all hooves on deck! We just need the Earth Pony Crystal! And then, boom! Magic restored!"

The Mane Six all looked at each other as they nodded in unison. There were six boxes in front of them, so each of them took one as they started searching. Izzy pulled out a small book but frowned when she realized it was a children's book. The search went on for an hour before each of the boxes was empty, including the ones Sunny had brought up during their search.

"Ugh! Still no sign of, well, anything!" Sunny groaned, lying on her back on the ground. "There's nothing except the paper I found in the Bridlewood Library!" Sunny said, pointing to the history paper she had ripped out. It was now taped on the wall, red question marks surrounding it. "Which, need I remind you, has been utterly useless in finding answers!"

"I think this is going nowhere," Hitch said, stoking his face. "Come on, we'll continue in the morning. For now, we should find some dinner."

"Ooh! Can we try that new ramen place? I've been dying to go there!" Sprout piped up. "I'm sure we can find a hat to cover Izzy's horn, as for Zipp and Pipp, wear those cloaks you used. Ramen!" Sprout excitedly walked down back to the living area, Izzy, Hitch, and Pipp following him.

"Are you coming, Sunny?" Zipp asked, putting his cloak back on.

"Oh, yeah! Yeah, just..." Sunny looked at the lightroom, which was in a complete mess. "Thinking."

The six left the lighthouse, Izzy wearing a sunhat, Zipp and Pipp wearing their cloaks from Bridlewood. "Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!" Izzy and Sprout chanted, the two of them pumping their hooves.

"Looks like a storm's brewing," Sunny noted, looking at the gray clouds forming in the sky. For a second, she thought she saw three ethereal blue horses, swirling in the clouds, but when she blinked, it wasn't there. Shrugging it off, she turned back to her friends. "Hopefully no one recognizes you, Izzy," Sunny said.

"Nah! I look like a new person!" Izzy said, spinning her sun hat. "Now, to the ramen restaurant!"

"I can't wait to try Earth Pony cuisine! The tastes! The culture! The rate!" Pipp said, walking around Zipp. "Aren't you so excited, Zipp?!"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Eee!" Pipp said, bouncing up and down. "Hey, look! Fireworks! So gorgeous!" Pipp pointed at the sky, where sure enough, there were fireworks. "What's the occasion, Sunny?"

"Wait, fireworks?" Sunny asked, looking at the sky as well. "Nothing is going on today, not that I know of. No holidays, festivals, parties..."

"Do they even have a permit for that?! You're supposed to get one from the sheriff's office, and as far as I know, I wasn't there to sign the official documents!" Hitch said. "Come on, we need to get to the bottom of this."

The six ran into Maretime Bay, seeing the town abandoned. "Woah, where is everypony?" Izzy asked, lifting a knocked-over table. "How could they light fireworks unless... is Maretime Bay a ghost town now!?"

"Spooky," Zipp said, picking up a crumpled flyer on the ground. "'Emergency Town Meeting at CanterLogic Studios, be there or be square.'" He read, throwing it in the trash once he was done. "I'm assuming they're at this "CanterLogic" right now."

"CanterLogic? For an emergency meeting?" Sprout said, holding up another flyer. "Meetings are supposed to happen in front of the sheriff's office, not there!"

"This is creepy, and not the good kind of creepy!" Pipp said, also holding a flyer. "Why are there so many flyers?! I mean, I like promoting stuff, but this is a little much."

"Something weird is going on," Sunny said. At that moment, more fireworks were being shot into the sky as the six ran towards CanterLogic Studios. Where they saw everypony in Maretime Bay, each wearing Anti-Mindreading Hats in front of CanterLogic.

"...Wow, okay! This is, well, concerning." Hitch said. "And is that..." Phyllis walked onto the stage, wearing a purple business suit with the CanterLogic logo on it. "...Phyllis!?"

"Mom?!" Sprout said, looking dumbfounded. "She's the leader of this whole thing!? Granted, she did always have a leader complex..."

"Ponies!" Phyllis shouted, a banner of herself wearing a crown and some jewelry unfurling behind her. "Tonight will be the start of a new era for Equestria! No more do we have to live in fear of the Unicorns and the Pegasi, no more! For tonight, we declare war!"

"War!?" Sunny repeated. "We have to stop her!" Sunny ran towards the stage, the others following her. "Phyllis! What are you doing!?" Sunny asked.

"Mom, what is all of this?!" Sprout asked, his eyes flickering between the crowd and his mom. "Did you start a cult?!"

"Ah, Sprout! You're back!" Phyllis said, walking down the stairs. "Good! You can finally witness the birth of a new era! Did you hear that speech? I'm not exactly in the mood to repeat my plan."

"Phyllis, starting a war?! You're insane!" Hitch said, pointing to the crowd of ponies. "The pegasi and unicorns don't have magic! They're our friends! There's no need to attack them!"

"Yeah, Mom! Hitch is right!" Sprout said. "The pegasi, the unicorns, they can be our friends! They're like us! Except they have horns and wings."

"They don't have magic?" Phyllis asked, to which Sunny, Hitch, and Sprout nodded. "That's even better!" Phyllis said, her eyes lighting up.

"But," Sunny said, turning to the crowd. "We can bring friendship back! Magic back! We don't have to be afraid anymore, because we'll be together!"

Murmurs of speculation and agreement formulated in the crowd as they slowly started removing their hats. "Wait, no, no!" Phyllis said, the crowd's attention turning to her. "Don't listen to them! They've been gallivanting with unicorns! Heck, maybe even pegasi!" Zipp and Pipp glared at Phyllis, while Izzy just frowned. "They've been brainwashed, ponies! And when they invade, you'll all be next if you don't put those back on!"

"How could we brainwash them if we don't even have magic?" Izzy whispered to Zipp, who chuckled.

"Say hello..." A big, rectangular hole opened up in the middle of the stage, and the Phyllisbot was lifted onto it. Two ponies placed a ramp in front of the stairs. "...To the Phyllisbot!" Phyllis introduced, and at that moment, there was a crackle of lightning.

"Oof, looks like somepony has a big ego," Zipp said.

"We have to warn the other tribes!" Sunny said, turning to her friends. As Phyllis entered the Phyllisbot, the Mane Six ran outside of Maretime Bay, and on the road to Bridlewood.

"Bridlewood is the closest, so no doubt they'll head there first," Sunny advised. "Oh, why did Phyllis have to make a big giant robot version of herself!?" Sunny groaned.

"Zipp! Pipp!" Zipp and Pipp's eyes widened when they saw their mother, running towards them with Peris following behind her. "I can't believe you're here! I missed you all so much!" Haven said, embracing her children in a big hug.

"Mom?! What are you doing here?!" Zipp asked, pulling away from the hug.

"Oh, Zipp! It was horrible, they locked me up!" Haven said, dramatically putting a hoof on her head. "But never mind that! Captain Horizon's planning on doing something terrible, he's trying to start a war! He's heading to Maretime Bay first, and we need to warn them!"

"We need to talk with the leader of this town," Peris said, noticing the three other earth ponies and the unicorn. "You can bring your friends along with you. It's going to be good if we have three earth ponies on our side."

"Wait, Captain Horizon's trying to start a war?!" Zipp asked, looking dumbfounded. "We're headed to Bridlewood because Phyllis Cloverleaf is trying to start one as well!"

"Oh, dear, this is quite the predicament," Haven muttered. That was when she noticed the giant robot pony coming towards them.

"Well, will you look at that?" Phyllis' voice boomed through the robot, her face twisting into one of twisted glee. "Our enemies delivered themselves to us!"

"What? Oh, no! We're not your enemies, Ms. Giant Robot Pony." Peris said, walking towards the robot. "We need to warn you about Captain Horizon, the leader of our royal guard!"

Phyllis was about to respond, but the noise from the airship above them canceled it out. "Oh, Maretime Bay~!" Captain Horizon's voice boomed. And to make matters worse, a parade of unicorns marched towards them.

"Could this get any worse?" Sprout asked, and since that's the forbidden word, the silhouettes of three blue horses started swirling in the storm above them. Sunny, Hitch, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, Peris, and Haven glared at him as he let out a sheepish chuckle. "Uh, color me wrong?"

"We need to stop them!" Zipp said. "But how?"

"With magic!" Sunny said, her face lighting up. "Come on, we need to go back to the lighthouse!" The six ran towards the lighthouse, the Phyllisbot following them. Pegasi jumped out of the airship, landing in front of the lighthouse. The pegasi charged at the other tribes, and so did the unicorns and the earth ponies. It wasn't long before Captain Horizon joined in, donning a sword and a shield.

But, between the mess, the Phyllisbot still charged towards the lighthouse. "I've got to rein that thing in!" Hitch said, turning around and running towards the robot.

"I've got your back, Hitch!" Zipp said, following the yellow stallion.

"Wait for me!" Sprout said, following the duo as well. "If anyone can stop my mom, it's me."

Sunny, Pipp, and Izzy ran up the lighthouse and made their way to the lightroom. The three frantically searched the lighthouse, either looking at notes or throwing stuff around. Pipp held the Pegasus Crystal while Izzy held the Unicorn Crystal. But at that moment, the Phyllisbot hit the ground floor of the lighthouse, knocking the crystals out of their hooves and creating a giant crack in the lighthouse. The unicorn crystal landed on the table in the center, and to Sunny's surprise, there was a hole in the middle of it now.

It looked like it fit the crystals, so Sunny put the Unicorn Crystal on the top. "Pegasus Crystal! Where is it?!" Sunny asked, and after some searching, Izzy threw the Pegasus Crystal at Sunny, who caught it. Sunny put it in, but now, there was a hole in the center of the two crystals put together. "No! We need the Earth Pony Crystal!"

At the ground of the lighthouse, the Phyllisbot backed up as Hitch and Sprout climbed on it. "Mom, this has to stop!" Sprout said, jumping on the windshield. Phyllis only shook her head as she pulled a lever inside. Outside the Phyllisbot, two Splat-A-Pults came out from it as they started spinning, shooting green goo at the lighthouse. Luckily, the top of the lighthouse was covered in glass, so the three were safe.

"Ack!" Pipp said, backing away from the mirror as her rear hoof hit something. An old lantern. When the hoof hit it, the lantern was accidentally turned on. Silhouettes of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi filled the room in bright light, each of the three ponies inside looking equally amazed at the sight. But, that's when Sunny saw it: a white circular crystal, embedded in the lantern.

"The Earth Pony Crystal!" Sunny said, her eyes widening in recognition. Sunny quickly got the crystal from it and was about to put it in when the Phyllisbot crashed into it. This time, the force it gave caused even more cracks to form in the lighthouse. The top of the lighthouse was close to falling into the ocean as the two other crystals shot out of their place. Hitch and Sprout were thrown off the robot as they fell to the ground, Zipp quickly coming to their aid.

Sunny put the Earth Pony Crystal in the hole as she started frantically searching for the other two. "Come on, come on... aha!" Pipp picked up the Pegasus Crystal and threw it to Sunny, who caught it instantly. But a crack formed under Pipp as she fell through the floor and hit the ground of the lighthouse. "I'm okay! I'll just, uh, stay down here!" Pipp shouted, noticing the worried looks of Sunny and Izzy.

"Alright!" Sunny shouted back, returning to her search. Izzy stumbled across the room as her hoof hit the Unicorn Crystal, which she and Sunny noticed. "Izzy, to me!"

"Got it!" Izzy threw the crystal at Sunny, who caught it and placed it in the hole. Sunny looked expectantly at the crystals... but they didn't do anything.

At the ground, the Phyllisbot backed away from the lighthouse and started charging at it again. Sprout, who shook off his fear, stepped in front of it. "Mom, stop!" He shouted, expecting the robot to stop there and then. But, Phyllis didn't stop nor try to dodge Sprout. Just as the Phyllisbot was about to run Sprout over, Hitch got up and pushed Sprout out of the way, barely dodging it himself.

"It... it didn't work," Sunny said, her ears drooping. But at that moment, when the Phyllisbot hit the lighthouse, it had just enough force to break it in two. The top of the lighthouse started to fall into the water, the crystals being shot out of the hole. Izzy, fortunately, fell into the hole Pipp made and landed next to her. Sunny, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. As the top of the lighthouse fell into the water, she fell along with it, the crystals falling next to her.

"SUNNY!" Was the last thing she heard, her friends calling out for her. She didn't know why she could hear them, but it gave her peace, knowing that her friends were safe. She closed her eyes as she let the darkness surround her.

Is this... how it ends? Sunny thought. I guess... I guess I'll see you soon, Dad.

Author's Note

So... hey. I know I said I was going to post the next chapter in November, but, uh, I got kinda bored. And the next thing I know, I finished the chapter. So, here it is! :D

Well, I'm going to leave you all on a cliffhanger on what happened to Sunny! Because, cliffhangers are amazing! Well, when I'm not on the receiving side.

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter Ten - Magic of Friendship

"Hurry, friends! Time for another adventure!"

"Adventure? I'm in!"

"Yee-haw! Let's go, ponies!"

"Earth ponies, take the lead! Pegasi, fly beside me! Unicorns, horns at the ready!"

"FOR EQUESTRIA!"

"What fantastical foe awaits us, Princess?"

"Is it something scary?"

"Or is it something awesome?"

"No matter what it is, we’ll face it together, for we are the guardians of friendship! With the power of our friendship and magic, we will…"

"Spread love!"

"Give hugs!"

"Fry brains! Yeah, I’m a unicorn and we’re evil! I’m gonna zap everypony with my horn lasers!"

"What? No! No, no,no! It’s all wrong!"

Ten years ago, a young Sunny, Hitch, and Sprout were playing in the lighthouse's lightroom. Sunny held a figure of Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, Hitch with Applejack and Fluttershy, and Sprout with Rainbow Dash and Rarity. "The ponies are all supposed to get along, remember?" Sunny said, putting the figures down on the center table.

"Yeah, but that's so boring!" Sprout said, jumping on the table. "Why can't we do it the right way for once? When unicorns zap us with laser beams, and pegasi fly to steal our friends!"

"But this is the right way," Sunny insisted. "Back in the olden times, earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi were all friends! They never used their magic to hurt each other! They used it to spread friendship!"

"You're wrong, Sunny!" Sprout said. "My mommy said that the unicorns tried to zap us with their evil horn lasers to steal our food! And when we don't give them food, the pegasi come and snatch the colts and fillies up and take them away to feast on them!"

"Stop lying, Sprout! They would never do that!" Sunny said.

"So the earth ponies kicked their butts in an epic battle, and if they ever try to come back to Maretime Bay, we’ll kick their butts again!" Sprout grabbed the Applejack figure from Hitch and used it to knock the Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight figures down.

"Your mom is lying! Hitch, tell him!" Sunny turned to Hitch, who gave off a weak smile.

"Well, that is how our history teacher said it happened..." Hitch said, but quickly noticed Sunny's decreasing smile. "...but, hey, oh! We can play the game your way, Sunny, I don't mind!"

"Well, I do!" Sprout said, causing Hitch to frown. "It's a boring game! Why don't we play Pegasus Barbecue instead? Or how about Zap, Zap Revolution?"

Sunny groaned. "Sprout, stop!"

"Earth pony burgers!"

"I'm going to tell my dad!"

In another room, Argyle Starshine - Sunny's father - was looking at a framed map of Ancient Equestria, pictures of Twilight Sparkle and her friends' cutie marks taped to the wall. The room was cluttered with books and papers on the ground. Argyle sat on a stool as he grabbed a paintbrush and started painting a lantern. Next to the lantern was a circular white crystal. He was focused on the lantern until the two colts and filly ran into his room.

Sprout held the Rarity figure while Hitch held the Twilight figure, each of them making "pew-pew" sounds as they pretended to shoot horn beams at the Applejack and Pinkie figures. Sunny had make-shift wings and horn as she ran to her dad. "Dad! Tell them that's not what they do!" Sunny said.

Argyle chuckled as he got out of his chair. "Hitch, Sprout, don't you think it's time to head on home? It's getting late, and you need to eat dinner soon."

Still playing, Hitch and Sprout headed to the door, but before Hitch could open it, Phyllis did. "Mom?" Sprout asked, shocked.

"Hi, Mrs. Cloverleaf!" Hitch said, waving at the adult mare, who just ignored him.

"Sprout, I've told you so many times that you cannot go trotting off without my permission!" Phyllis said, her gaze fixated on Sprout. "Especially not here," Phyllis said under her breath.

"And why is that, Phyllis?" Argyle asked, trotting to the door.

"Because you are brainwashing them with all of your... nonsensical stories!" Phyllis retorted. "Excuse me for wanting to protect my colt from your "unity" nonsense."

"It's called research, Phyllis." Argyle corrected. "All of my "nonsense" is proven to be true, it's just you and Maretime Bay that can't accept it. If you really wanted to talk about brainwashing, we'd be talking about CanterLogic." Argyle coolly said. "Now, unicorn cupcake?"

Sunny held up a tray of unicorn cupcakes, to which Phyllis scoffed. "You know, Argyle, you're an earth pony. It's high time you start acting like one." As Phyllis walked away, so did Sprout. Hitch ran back home, saying goodbye to Sunny and Sprout before he did.

Argyle closed the door and turned around to see Sunny nowhere to be found. He looked around the house before he found Sunny in the kitchen, looking at her Rainbow Dash and her Rarity figures. Argyle sighed as he made his way to his daughter. "What's wrong, Sunny-Bunny?"

"Hitch and Sprout, they still don't believe me!" Sunny said, crossing her hooves.

"Are you sure about that?" Argyle asked, causing Sunny to look at him in confusion. "Yes, they don't show it, but I know they're starting to believe, Sunny. There will always be ponies in the world that will want to push you down, but as long as you have your friends, you can stand for what you believe in, okay?"

"Well, when I grow up, I'm going to show everypony that we're right!" Sunny said, standing up with a determined look. "And someday, we'll both meet a unicorn and a pegasus, and we'll be the bestest of friends forever!"

"Then, maybe today's that day?" Argyle said, rubbing his daughter's mane, causing her to laugh.

"Wait, Dad! I have an idea!" Sunny said, her eyes lighting up.

That night, Sunny was drawing with her crayons on a piece of paper. Argyle walked over to her as he took a look at her drawing. "'Dear Unicorns and Pegasi, you have friends here in Maretime Bay! Come visit us!'" He read.

"Can we send it? Pretty please?" Sunny asked, looking at her father with puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, alright! It's our duty after all." Argyle said. The blue stallion grabbed a paper lantern and placed the note inside. He lit up a candle as he let it go into the sky, the candle from the lantern lighting the night up. "Well, there it is."

"Can you tell me the story again?" Sunny asked.

"Again?"

"Pleeeeease?" Sunny pleaded, running towards her bed and jumping on it. Argyle chuckled as he made his way to his daughter's bed.

"Alright," Argyle said, the filly getting into her bed as she looked at him. "Once upon a time, many, many moons ago in ancient Equestria, there lived a very special-"

"-Unicorn!" Sunny cut him off.

"The unicorn was very bright."

"As bright as the sun!"

"One day, the Princess summoned her to the castle for an important assignment."

"To learn about friendship!"

"She soon made lots of new friends."

"Earth ponies, pegasuses, and unicorns."

"Pegasi." Argyle corrected. "Together, they showed everypony the magic of friendship, and how to live in harmony." Argyle lifted up the lantern he was working on earlier, surprising Sunny.

"You finished it?" Sunny asked.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Argyle asked. "Earth ponies watched in wonder as pegasi painted rainbows across the sky. The nights were lit up by a hundred unicorn horns." Argyle turned on the lantern, and silhouettes of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi lit up the room.

"It's beautiful," Sunny said, looking amazed. "I wish... I wish I had a friend that could fly, or float things. Why can't we be friends anymore?" Sunny said, yawning a second later.

"That, my darling, is a big question," Argyle said. "And maybe one day we'll figure it out. Together. We'll do our part.."

"Hoof to heart!" Sunny and Argyle said, laughing together.

Sunny's eyes snapped open. She lunged forward as she took deep, shaky breaths. "Where... where am I?" Sunny hesitantly stood up and realized she wasn't wet, somehow. "Hello? Is this... the afterlife?" Sunny looked around at where she was, some sort of world with only stars.

Shaking her head, she walked around. "Is anypony here? Hello?" Sunny called out, no response. "So, I'm alone- woah!" Below her was a trail of stars, but the stars started to disperse as they formed six symbols around her. "Are those... cutie marks?" Sunny asked, and sure enough, they were. A six-pointed star, three apples, a lightning cloud, three balloons, three diamonds, and three butterflies.

"Wait! These are Twilight Sparkle and her friend's cutie marks!" Sunny said. The cutie marks started to spin in their place until it became a blur for Sunny to tell what was going on. Once they stopped, six new cutie marks were in its place. A shooting star, a heart pin cushion, a music note shaped like an 'M' with a crown, a lightning bolt with a crown on it, a sheriff's badge, and a turnip. "Those are... me and my friend's cutie marks!"

Suddenly, the stars came together as they formed... a pony? She had curly hair, a light violet coat, and a purple mane with teal stripes. "Ack, what... oh!" The mare noticed, walking up to Sunny.

"Who... are you?" Sunny hesitantly asked. "Are you... Twilight Sparkle? Because if so, you look a lot more different than what I imagined."

The mare started laughing. "Hah! Me? Twilight? Please, do I look like an alicorn to you?" The mare asked, to which Sunny blushed. "My name is Starlight Glimmer, Twilight's first student of friendship. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sunny Starscout."

"You're Starlight Glimmer?!" Sunny asked, shocked. "And you know who I am?! Eek!"

"Yup! Well, everypony does up there." Starlight said. "We know you and your friends, Izzy Moonbow, Zipp Storm, Pipp Petals, Hitch Trailblazer, and Sprout Cloverleaf! You six are the ponies of prophecy, after all."

"Ponies... of prophecy?" Sunny asked. "What is that?"

Starlight shrugged. "Beats me, that's what Princess Celestia calls you six. She said you six were going to bring back magic and friendship, so, is that it?"

Sunny's ears flattened. "It isn't. I... failed. I wasn't able to bring back magic or friendship." Starlight gasped as she walked over to Sunny. "I don't understand! We had all of the crystals! Why didn't it work?! Is... magic really gone?"

Starlight was silent for a while before she spoke up. "Come walk with me, Sunny." Starlight started to walk away, the orange mare quickly following her.

"Where are we going?" Sunny asked.

"Oh, to the 'Hall of Memories!'" Starlight revealed. "And, oh! We're here!" The two reached a door with Twilight's cutie mark on it. Starlight opened the door as a scene formed in it. Sunny couldn't tell what Twilight was saying, but only that it was important. Three groups were levitated in a white aura, Twilight's friends, a group of different creatures, and another group that Sunny didn't recognize. Each of the groups sent a rainbow beam at Twilight, who in turn, sent it to three villains.

Starlight shut the door. "What... what was that?" Sunny asked.

"It was our battle with the Legion of Doom," Starlight wistfully replied. "It feels as if that was a thousand years ago! Wait, it was."

"I... don't get it. Why are we here? Why are you showing this to me?" Sunny asked.

"During that fight, Twilight had little to no hope that Equestria would be fine, but we still prevailed! During the day Equestria fell, Twilight put all of the magic in those three crystals. No one can break Twilight's spells, so, don't feel bad when it didn't work." Starlight comforted, though it didn't exactly help Sunny. "And besides, you're going to love it in the afterlife! Trixie has a show this weekend, wanna come?"

Sunny was about to accept when she got something. A spark of realization. "No thanks, but that won't be necessary," Sunny said. "You said it yourself, when you fought the 'Legion of Doom,' Twilight had little to no hope, but you still prevailed! So, right now, I'm going to hold on to my hope! Even if I can't bring magic back, who said anything about not bringing unity back as well? It won't be easy, but Twilight didn't lock all the magic in the crystals. We still have the most powerful magic of all!"

Starlight smiled. "And that is?"

"The magic of friendship!" Sunny said. Starlight nodded as Sunny was slowly lifted into the air. Orange wisps started to revolve around her as a wind started to blow at her. "What's happening?!" The orange wisps started to spin faster before they touched Sunny's body.

In Maretime Bay, the five friends mourned their friend at the cliff. "Sunny... no..." Izzy muttered. "She was so young... twenty! Twenty!" Izzy said, crying.

Zipp looked over at the edge as he noticed something. He wiped away his tears as he started to inspect it more, there was a glowing orange light in the water! "Uh, ponies? Come over here, there's something you all need to see." Zipp said. Izzy, Hitch, Pipp, and Sprout scurried to where Zipp was, and sure enough, there was an orange light in the water, which seemed to get... bigger.

Just then, Sunny shot out of the water, the Unity Crystals revolving around her. She wasn't an earth pony anymore, she had translucent orange wings and a translucent orange horn. Her wings flapped as she stayed in the sky, her horn glowing an orange aura.

"Sunny!" Her friends said in unison, relieved for their friend's safety.

Sunny's horn let out an orange shockwave, stopping the three tribes from fighting, and releasing the unicorns from their spell. "PONIES OF EQUESTRIA!" Sunny said, her voice louder than before. "Stop your fighting and listen to me!" Sunny said.

"Is Sunny... an alicorn?" Hitch asked, noticing the orange wings and horn.

Sunny took a deep breath before resuming. "When I was young, my father used to tell me stories about a time of peace, when the three tribes were all united. And I know for a fact that those stories were true, we really were all united in peace. Why fight a war when we can be friends? Our differences don't make us wrong, they make us stronger, better! You say earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi can't be friends? Well, you're wrong! Me and my friends proved that fact!"

Izzy, Sprout, Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch were surrounded by a white aura as they were levitated under Sunny. "I thought, if I united the crystals together, magic would come back, friendship could come back, and that... and that I could achieve my father's dream. But it didn't, because the crystals are just symbols, instead of uniting the crystals, I should've tried and unite the three tribes. We can enter a new world era, an era of peace! Or, we can stay separated by our own fears and prejudices."

"I'm... willing to try," Haven said, speaking up. "I admit, I'm not so sure about this whole "unity" thing, but, if my children can make friends with other tribes, why can't I?"

The Pegasus Crystal stopped revolving around Sunny and started to float in the sky. Alphabittle sighed as he spoke up as well. "Before, a thousand years ago, unicorns were known to be of noble ranking. But when... magic disappeared, our city was overthrown by pegasi and we retreated into the forests. If you say we can be united again, I say... what the heck, I'm in."

The Unicorn Crystal floated into its place on the Pegasus Crystal, and the only crystal left was the Earth Pony one. Nopony from the Earth pony tribe spoke up... until Phyllis did, surprisingly. She got out of her robot and looked her son in the eyes, but he diverted his. She sighed as she spoke. "Growing up, I was taught that we had to fear unicorns and pegasi. That was... until I met Sunny's father, Argyle Starshine. His optimism was so infectious, it somehow made me think, 'Maybe the other tribes aren't so bad?' And for a few years, I believed him. That was, until I met my husband, Haywire. I loved him as much as I cared for Argyle. So one night, when I found out he died... to a unicorn, I was heartbroken. Sprout was just a little colt at the time, so he has no memories of his father. At the time, CanterLogic was a side project for me to work on, but after his death, I worked harder than ever before. I made machines, gadgets, to protect ourselves from the other tribes, to value him, but..."

Phyllis started to tear up. "If he was here now, he wouldn't condone my behavior. Sprout, I'm so, so, sorry. I'll do anything to make it up to you because you and your friends showed me that the other tribes aren't so bad. I'm in, I'll do whatever it takes to fix my mistakes."

The Earth Pony Crystal made its way inside the two other crystals. Each of the Mane Six's eyes glowed an ethereal white as a rainbow wisp connected them, starting from Sprout to Hitch, to Izzy, to Zipp, to Pipp, and then to Sunny, and then back to Sprout. The six shot a rainbow beam towards the Unity Crystals, which started shaking violently before... it stopped.

The Unity Crystals shot a rainbow beam into the sky as rainbow lights colored the night sky. Unicorn horns started glowing, pegasus wings started flapping, earth pony crops started flourishing... magic had returned! But, the Unity Crystals weren't done yet. The beam came down on the remains of the lighthouse as the ground started to shake. Suddenly, a new lighthouse appeared, one more modern. The Unity Crystals floated down into the top room as the rainbow beam covered the crystals.

The six were levitated onto the ground as Sunny folded her wings. "OMG! Sunny!" Pipp said. "I love the new look! It's so ethereal!"

"Ooh, glowy!" Izzy complimented, touching Sunny's wings. "Are you a princess now?" Izzy gasped. "Do we call you Princess Sunny now!?"

"Uh, no? Just because I'm an alicorn doesn't make me a princess." Sunny nervously said. "At least, I think not."

"Aw, I was really hoping to have somepony to keep me cheered up during boring meetings," Zipp said, the corners of his face turning to a smile. "Oh, well! Guess I'll have to ditch like I normally do."

"Hey, Sunny! Have you noticed the new lighthouse?" Sprout asked, pointing to the new lighthouse. "Wonder why it's so big."

"Yeah, I think that's a little too big for a single earth pony mare," Hitch added. "Unless the new lighthouse counts as a castle?"

"No, I think it's because..." Sunny eyed the Unity Crystals, which were inside the rainbow beam on the top. "The lighthouse serves as a testament to our friendship! I think we're supposed to live together, in unity!"

"Aw, what the heck? Why not?" Zipp said, chuckling.

"I can't miss out on the perfect opportunity for some new videos! Eee! Lighthouse tour!" Pipp said, pulling out her phone.

"Living with my best friends! Oh, this sounds awesome!" Izzy said, dragging Pipp and Sprout into a hug. "We're going to be together forever!"

"Normally, I would decline to stay a lighthouse but..." Sprout eyed his mother. "Can I join? I'm not exactly in a rush to get back home?"

"Uh, yeah! Oh, you're going to love it here, Sprout! We're gonna have game nights!" Izzy said. "And how about you, Hitch?"

"Well, unlike you all, I have a place in Maretime Bay," Hitch said, puffing his chest up. "One that didn't just magically pop up from the ground. Wait, is the lighthouse even safe? I better go check it." Hitch jogged to the lighthouse, a chuckling Sprout following him.

"We're going to talk to our Mom, see ya later, Sunny!" Zipp said. He and Pipp walked towards Haven, who gave her children a warm embrace. Sunny smiled wistfully at the scene, wishing that was her and her father.

"So, what's next, Sunny?" Izzy asked, trotting next to her friend. "Do we go on another crazy adventure?! Do we all become princesses!? I can imagine it now, Princess Hitch! Princess Sprout! Princess Izzy!"

Sunny laughed at her friend's excitement. "For now, we just enjoy the moment. Besides, we can deal with all this stuff later, right? We have magic back, and we're on the first steps to unity! Let's celebrate! I know I'm hungry!"

"Ramen?" Izzy asked.

"Ramen."

"I'm going to get Sprout!" Izzy ran towards the lighthouse as Sunny chuckled.

"I did it, Dad. I hope you're proud of me." Sunny said. Zipp and Pipp walked up to her as the three became airborne and flew to the lighthouse.

End of Arc 1.

Author's Note

AAAAAA! So, my exams been moved to November, so now I have more time! It was about high time I finished Arc 1! The intermission chapter will be coming soon, just let me take a break. :twilightsheepish:

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter Eleven - Visions of the Past

~-~ Arc 2: Slice of Unity ~-~

Twilight Sparkle walked on the streets of Ponyville, Spike was nowhere to be found, as it was just her. Twilight had a grin on her face as, eventually, she made it to a small cottage just outside of Ponyville. She knocked on the door three times as a yellow pegasus answered it, accompanied by a small white bunny.

"Ah, Fluttershy! It's nice to see you today, or tonight, I guess." Twilight greeted. "Anyways, can I come in? I've got fascinating news to share with you!"

"Of course," Fluttershy said, opening the door fully. Twilight made her way inside. She sat on the green couch while Fluttershy sat on the chair across from her. "So, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight's horn lit up in a magenta aura as a hologram of the Tree of Harmony spawned before the yellow pegasus, surprising her. "I did it! I regrew the Tree of Harmony! Isn't it exciting?! I can finally have you and the girls back, after... uh, a hundred years? Dang, how much time has passed?"

"This is wonderful, Twilight!" Fluttershy said, getting up from her chair. "We just have to celebrate! I'll call the girls over to tell them what you've done, alright? You just stay here, I'll be back soon."

Twilight nodded as Fluttershy made her way to the door. "Oh, and Twilight? I've got some treats in the fridge, you can go get them if you'd like." Fluttershy said before opening the door and exiting her cottage, discreetly locking it.

Twilight hummed to herself as she waited, occasionally grabbing a treat from Fluttershy's refrigerator. She waited for minutes, which turned to hours, and before she knew it, it was night! Midnight, if you wanted to be specific. "Okay, where are they? It's been too long, Fluttershy won't mind it if I just... yeah."

Twilight got out of the couch as she made her way to the door. The knob was surrounded in a light magenta as Twilight turned it and pulled... okay, it wasn't opening. "That's weird," Twilight said, her grip over the knob disappearing as she tried doing it manually. She tried a few more times before she groaned in frustration.

"Come on, dream! This is my dream, I command you!" Twilight said, pointing upwards. "Open the door!" The ground below her shook, and the door swung open. But, Twilight didn't see the night sky, she saw a portal. Twilight took a deep breath as she stepped inside.

Inside the portal, Twilight was in a void, darkness everywhere around her, "Uh... hello?" Twilight called out. As if it was waiting for her, black goo started to form a shape, or more specifically, a pony. The black goo slowly disappeared, and now standing there was a replica of Twilight Sparkle.

"Ack!" The two Twilights said, both of them mimicking the other's actions. "Who are you? What are you? And... why are you copying me?" They both said, cautiously stepping forward. Suddenly, the other Twilight pulled herself back, surprising Twilight.

Twilight sighed as she held her hoof out. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, though, uh, you probably already knew that." Twilight greeted, smiling sheepishly. The other Twilight put her hoof on Twilight's hoof, eliciting a sigh of relief from Twilight. "So, do you know where we are?"

"We're in your mindscape," The other Twilight replied. "Though, there's supposed to be memories in here, wonder why they're all gone."

"We're in the mindscape?!" Twilight said, her voice echoing throughout her dream. "But, why am I- uh, we here? I didn't want to go here, nor did I dream about being here." Twilight turned to look at her other self, but when she looked, she was gone. "Okay, that's weird. Where are you, uh, Twilight Two? Sparkle Squared? Two-light?"

Twilight groaned as she started exploring her mindscape, which was weirdly nonexistent. "If this is supposed to be my mindscape, where are all the memories? And why is it so black and... gooey?" Twilight raised one of her hooves, revealing dripping black goo on it. "Ick." She shook the goo off as she resumed searching.

Twilight walked for, what seemed like hours, until she reached something, a door. Ecstatic to find something, she hurriedly ran over and opened the door, and inside was... a memory, a bad one. "Ugh, not this one," Twilight muttered. She was about to close the door when some, unforeseen being stopped her and pushed her in. Twilight fell onto the dirt ground as she groaned.

"I thought you weren't supposed to feel pain in dreams, ugh." Twilight groaned. After a few seconds, she got up. "I didn't think I'd be here again," Twilight said, noticing her surroundings. She was in Canterlot, a hundred years ago. The sky was a dull orange, there were cracks on the rocky road, and she was extremely close to the royal castle.

Twilight's horn lit up in a bright magenta, which startled the alicorn because... she didn't even want to do it. "Uh, horn! Where are you-" In a flash, she appeared inside the broken halls of the royal castle. "-taking me?" Twilight shook her head. Her ears twitched as she picked up on sounds of magic, groans, and blasts. Twilight ran towards the source, which was the throne room.

Her aura surrounded the knob as she pushed the doors open. Inside the throne room, Twilight saw a magenta alicorn shooting blasts at the other versions of her and her friends. "So you took me to the day we tried to fight Opaline, isn't that just amazing, subconscious?" Twilight said. "I already know how this goes, so why am I here?!"

"Give it up! You've already lost!"

"No, we haven't! Not yet!"

"Yeah! We're still standing, and we're still fighting, Opaline!"

Rainbow took to the sky and tackled Opaline, sending Rainbow and her falling to the ground.

"Applejack! Do it!"

"You've got it, partner!"

Opaline knocked Rainbow off of her and stood up, about to go airborne again as a lasso was thrown around her. Opaline let out a pained cry as Applejack tightened the lasso.

"Twilight, darling, hurry! Use your spell!"

"Right!"

The other Twilight's horn lit up as translucent versions of the Elements of Harmony revolved around her. Each of the Elements flew to their owner as golden necklaces were formed. The Mane Six were lifted into the sky, the hold on Opaline loosening as the magenta alicorn looked furiously at the six.

"Opaline Arcana! You've been beaten! You tried to steal Equestria's magic, but you couldn't because you cannot control the most powerful magic known to ponykind!"

"We get it, Twilight, you've said the same "friendship speech" over and over and over and over again! Light er' up, ladies!"

Each of the Mane Six's eyes glowed an ethereal white as our Twilight looked away, covering her eyes with her hoof. As the six shot a rainbow beam at Opaline, the magenta alicorn's horn lit up as she teleported away and appeared above them.

"Sorry, you little pesks! But it seems like your friendship magic isn't going to prevail this time!"

Opaline's horn lit up as she shot a beam directly at the other Twilight. With a pained scream, Twilight, along with the rest of her friends, fell to the ground, the translucent versions of the Elements disappearing. "No, no..." Twilight muttered.

Opaline's horn charged up as she tried to shoot a beam at the other Twilight, but Rainbow jumped and took the shot, releasing a pained groan from the blue pegasus.

"Rainbow! You... you meanie!"

Fluttershy pounced on Opaline as she, surprisingly, started punching the alicorn in a fit of rage. Opaline growled as Fluttershy was enveloped by magic as Opaline threw her towards a wall. One by one, each of the Mane Six grew increasingly hurt as eventually, each of them - except Twilight - were on the ground, bleeding out as Opaline stomped closer towards the purple princess.

"Well, how does it feel to have lost, hm, Princess? It seems that, after all of your adventures, all of your victories, your winning streak has finally ended. Friendship is magic? Friendship is weakness!"

"No, I'll... I'll never lose to you, Opaline. Equestria depends on us."

The other Twilight's horn lit up, and so did Opaline's. Each of her friends was surrounded by a magenta aura as Opaline shot a beam at Twilight, but before it could hit her, she and her friends teleported away.

"No... no... NO!"

As Opaline formed cracks on the throne room's floor, Twilight scoffed as she turned around, expecting the door out when the scenery changed. "What the..." Twilight muttered, and before she knew it, she was in Ponyville's hospital. She heard noise from a room close to her, so curiously, she entered. Inside the room was the other her, covered in bandages, and an older Nurse Redheart.

"Give it to me straight, Nurse Redheart. Will they be okay?"

"It's... hard to say at this point, Princess Twilight. Opaline really did a number on them. At this time... I don't know if they'll live. Their injuries are pretty severe, and they lost a lot of blood when you teleported here."

"But isn't there anything you can do to help them? I'm sure some of the doctors here still have their magic."

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but none of us have our magic anymore. The only magic we have left is our cutie mark magic, and they're only appearing on one side now. I'm truly sorry we couldn't do anything more to help."

"No, don't be. You tried your best, but... but I guess it's too late, huh?"

"I... ugh! Why are you making me go through this again?!" Twilight shouted, a few tears streaming down her cheeks. "I never wanted to think of the day I had lost my friends! Why?!" Twilight closed her eyes, and when she opened it... she was back in the mindscape. "Are you done? Ugh, I'll just wake up." Twilight took a deep breath as she... punched herself in the face.

"Ack! Ow!" Twilight said, rubbing her cheek as realization set in. She punched herself in a dream, and she... she didn't wake up. This shouldn't be possible. Once a pony feels pain in a dream, the brain subconsciously wakes them up. Unless...

"Alright, there is something, or someone, in my brain! This must be the reason why I was sent into my mindscape, to find whatever's in my brain! Hah! This thing must be what's making all my bad memories resurface, it can't be me thinking this!"

"Are you sure about that?"

Twilight jumped as she turned around. Her "other" self was behind her, except, she didn't look like Twilight, she looked... evil, like "Midnight Sparkle," as Sunset had described evil Human Twilight. "Uh, what?" Twilight asked, tilting her head. "Other me, what are you talking about? Why would I make myself re-experience bad memories? It has to be the work of some, alien thing!"

"As far as I know, there's no one here except you and me, and you created me," the other Twilight said, teleporting behind Twilight. "The mind works in mysterious ways, maybe you, I don't know, subconsciously made yourself think about it? Cause' you know that you were the reason for their deaths, Twilight Sparkle. You've just been repressing it."

"Me? Repressing it?" Twilight asked, almost in disbelief. "I don't repress! I accept that... that I failed my friends, that's the opposite of repression!" Twilight said, her eyes darting away nervously.

The other Twilight shrugged as she teleported in front of her and said, "Well, that is true. I mean, there isn't any other way to hide the fact that you failed your friends, Equestria, Princess Celestia, the list goes on!" the other Twilight said, smiling maliciously.

Suddenly, before Twilight had a chance to respond, the other Twilight disappeared as her friends surrounded her, each looking the way they did before Opaline came. "Girls? What are you doing here?!" Twilight asked, a smile forming on her face, but it was quickly broken when her friends started to talk.

"We're probably here cause' you screwed up," Rainbow nonchalantly said. "But, I mean, eh. You already failed us, Equestria, and probably some other ponies. So if it makes you feel better, it's not like you can fail again."

"Yeah!" Pinkie said, a bit too cheerful for Twilight. "While you placed all of Equestria's magic into teeny-tiny crystals, my child and husband had to grieve over me! Isn't that so much fun, Twilight? I bet it was all a game to you, right? Right!?"

"What? No! I didn't mean to, I-" Twilight was interrupted by Rarity, who gave her a mean look.

"You didn't mean to? That's what they all say," Rarity scoffed as she stormed towards Twilight. "You call yourself the "Princess of Friendship," yet, you failed your five best friends? Did we even matter to you, Twilight? Did Equestria even matter to you? Because, it seems that, you allowed earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi to grow apart."

"You meant the world to me," Twilight said, a few tears streaming down her cheeks. "I... I don't know how you could've gotten this idea! I loved all of you!"

"And yet, you didn't love us enough, did you?" Applejack said, shooting a glare at Twilight that would've killed her if possible. "You allowed Opaline to use her magic on us - you didn't even try to help us! You just lied there as we took the shot for you! And the only time you did something was when you teleported us when we were shot half to death!"

"I... I..." Twilight stuttered as she averted her eyes away from Applejack. She was right, she did do nothing, and she didn't see that. "My magic was drained, I couldn't do anything!" Twilight said, hoping for a way out of this excruciating conversation.

"'What happened to 'friendship is magic,' hm?" Fluttershy asked, not looking like the shy pony from good times. "We had friendship, Twilight! And you had magic! You chose to let us die! You chose to fail us! You chose to doom Equestria!"

As Twilight was about to respond, each of her friends' bodies started to shake as they... decomposed into black goo and started moving toward her. "Ack!" With no time to waste, Twilight spread her wings and took to the sky as the black goo formed a pony in the center.

Twilight dropped back down as the "goo pony" started to turn into an alicorn, which looked like a mix of her and... Nightmare Moon. "Okay, what are you?" Twilight asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. "First, you looked like me, then, you looked like evil me! And now, you look like a mix of me and Princess Luna when she was Nightmare Moon."

"Oh, it's simple, really, but first," the alicorn teleported to Twiight's side, who startled her. "I'm Midnight Sparkle, an alicorn of shadow! It's a pleasure to meet you, Twilight."

"Midnight... Sparkle?" Twilight asked, the dots connecting in her mind. "That was the name the me from the human world was called when she became a demon! And if you're here, that means you're going to..."

"Corrupt you? Bingo!" Midnight said, cracking a smile. "You see, when Opaline separated the tribes, and you placed magic into the Unity Crystals, there was a void. And after like, five years, I was formed out of the hatred and mistrust of the world! I knew that, if I wanted to rule Equestria, I would need a vessel, and you, Twilight Sparkle, are the perfect one! You were an alicorn, an Element of Harmony, and you still have your magic!"

Twilight was silent for a few seconds before she realized something. Twilight glared at Midnight as she said, "Oh, I see... you were the one who made me relieve my worst memories, weren't you? And I'll bet that it wasn't Fluttershy who I talked to, but you, am I right?"

"Well, aren't you smart?" Midnight said, grinning. "I was Fluttershy! And, in hindsight, you should've realized it was me the moment you sensed something was wrong with the memory of you and your friends next to the Tree of Harmony."

"Tree of Harmony..." Twilight muttered. "Okay, I get the part about me being your, uh, "vessel," but how does the Tree of Harmony play in all of this? The Elements are a force for good, and you're not good."

"Another question? You really are smart." Midnight said. "Well, you see, once I take hold of your body, I'll get the Elements from the Tree and get their magic, which will return my magic." Midnight spun around Twilight as her mane hit Twilight in the face. "Oh, and by the way, while you are smart, there's one thing you forgot."

"And that is?" Twilight asked.

"During Starswirl's time, he and the Pillars created the Tree of Harmony to fight Discord. I'm sure in that book you read, it said that it sprouted instantly! But, what you forgot was, in the book, it also mentioned that Starswirl found out it takes a thousand years to grow a Tree of Harmony." Midnight explained. "But, if there's a great evil close to it, it sprouts almost instantly! That should've been your sign to find a way, but, you were so consumed by the idea of having your friends back that logical thinking was out of the option."

"No... no!" Twilight shouted, backing away from the shadow alicorn. "I may have accidentally brought you into this world, but I'll make sure I'll defeat you!"

"And how are you going to do that? With your friendship?" Midnight taunted, spreading her wings to make her look more villainous. "You don't have friendship anymore, you have very little magic, and soon, you'll have no more body! Give up, it'll make things easier!"

"Never!"

"Then so be it." Midnight scoffed. The shadow alicorn took to the skies as her horn glowed in a menacing magenta. Translucent golden chains were wrapped around Twilight's hooves and wings, preventing her from escaping. Twilight tried to light up her horn, but strangely, she couldn't.

"What the?!" Twilight muttered, trying to move herself free. "Let me go!"

"Nah, I don't think I will," Midnight said. "Ta-ta, Princess!" Midnight shot a beam of dark magic at Twilight as the purple alicorn closed her eyes and braced herself for the impending hit, but, it never came. Twilight hesitantly opened her eyes to see five silhouettes of ponies dancing around her, shielding her from the blast. "What?!" Midnight said, putting more energy into the spell. Twilight peered at each of the ponies as she slowly came to a realization.

They were her friends.

"Girls?!" Twilight asked, and slowly, each of the silhouettes started to become more visible to Twilight. In the figure's place were now Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, the real ones. "Is... it really you?"

"Uh, duh!" Rainbow said, doing a backflip at the end of her word. "I mean, could the fake me do something that awesome?"

"I... can't believe it, it's really you!" Twilight said, tears of joy streaming down her face. "I thought..."

"We died?" Applejack finished, shooting the alicorn not a glare, but a warm smile. "Actually, we didn't! Well, we are now, but... you get it, right?"

"What Applejack is trying to say is that," Rarity explained. "Not too long after you left to make the crystals, Flurry Heart had arrived to help us. She came to visit you but found us instead. And, since she still had her magic, she was able to help us."

"We tried to find you after we were discharged, but you were busy with your super awesome battle with Opaline!" Pinkie said. "Hey! We should have an "Afterlife Celebration" party! Ooh, I just know Clover has some stuff he can show!"

"Twilight, you didn't fail us, you saved us!" Fluttershy added. "If you didn't teleport us out, we wouldn't have lived, and Opaline would've won. We protected you on our own accord, if we got hurt, that's our fault, not yours, so stop blaming yourself for something you couldn't have stopped. We would risk our lives for you, Twilight."

"Yeah! So stop moping around and try to find a way to stop Midnight!" Rainbow said. "And, can you do it quick? I'm getting tired from dancing around like this!"

"Right," Twilight said. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath and exhaled. Slowly, the chains around her started to disappear, and her horn slowly glowed in a magenta light. "I've said this once, and I'll say this again! Darkness will not win, for the light of friendship beats the darkness!"

Twilight's eyes glowed an ethereal white as her magenta aura slowly started to turn a rainbow. "I don't think that'll stop you, not by a long shot, but I can push you back long enough so I can get the Elements away from you." Twilight shot a rainbow beam at Midnight, who slowly started to evaporate.

"No... NO!"

A bright light filled her mindscape as suddenly, the black void started to gain color and shape, and a sense of... calmness wash around her. "Oh, is this what it looks like?" She heard Pinkie remark.

"Yes, Pinkie, I think this is what it-" Twilight widened her eyes. Her friends weren't there anymore. "-looks like." Twilight said, finishing sadly. Though she felt sad, mainly because of the reason she couldn't say goodbye to her friends this time, she felt a bit of peace.

"I'll make you proud, I promise, friends."

Author's Note

Okay, so, here it is... the first chapter for the second arc! Woohoo! So, in case ya'll didn't know, or didn't check my most recent blog, after I'm finished with Arc 2, I'll be releasing my third fanfic. And, after I finish Arc 3, aka the final arc, I'll be releasing my rewrite of my first fanfic, The Mane Twelve Adventures!

Anyway, in this chapter, we've got some information on how Equestria fell, but not all. And, we've learned how Twilight turned into Midnight, which I'll probably explain more on future chapters.

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage:

Chapter Twelve - Dream Brighthouse Makeover: Part I

"Woo!" Zipp Storm zoomed through the skies, his mane unkept as he breezed over Maretime Bay. "Got to say, this feels so good!" Zipp said, a smile forming on his face. It's just been three days since magic returned, and Zipp was in heaven. He was finally able to fly after dreaming for so, so long.

He looked at the ground and saw earth ponies, and some unicorns and pegasi, watching him. When magic returned, unity came along with it, and each of the three tribes was revisiting each other again! Though, even if there weren't many ponies who did, it was still progress.

Zipp chuckled as he landed next to Sunny's smoothie cart. Zipp walked towards the "ordering station," as Izzy had dubbed it, and saw Sunny Starscout, putting fruits into a blender and... blending them. It wasn't long before Sunny noticed the arrival of her friend.

"Oh, Zipp! What brings you here?" Sunny asked. "Shouldn't you be in Zephyr Heights? Since, y'know, we haven't finished decorating the Crystal Brighthouse?"

Zipp shrugged as he sat on a close bench. "Nope. With each of the three pony kinds interacting with each other again, Mom's been... busy, to say the least. Slowly, unicorns and earth ponies are visiting Zephyr Heights, and some of the citizens aren't exactly pleased about it."

"Right," Sunny said, taking the blender and pouring the smoothie into a cup. "I know most of Equestria agrees on pony unity now, but there are still some who aren't, right?" Sunny asked.

"It's going to take a while for everyone to accept it, that's for sure," Zipp said. Sunny slid the smoothie to him as Zipp took it and instinctively drank it. As the liquid hit his taste buds, Zipp's eyes widened in amazement as he drank it all in one gulp. "This. Is. Amazing!"

"I knew you'd like it," Sunny said. "Anyway, have you seen the others? I know Hitch and Sprout are in Zephyr Heights because of a meeting, but how about Izzy and Pipp?"

"I don't know about Izzy, but Pipp?" Zipp took out his phone. "Ever since we were exposed as frauds, Pipp's subscribers went down a lot. Pipp's busy filming an apology video to get some of them back. She said she needed a ukulele... wonder why." Zipp tried to scroll on an app called "MuzzleBook," but all it showed was "No Internet."

"Aw, no internet?" Zipp moped. "Didn't they build networking towers in Maretime Bay yet? I thought I heard Mom mention it once... or was that Pipp?"

"Well, it's going to take some time for Zephyr Heights to send construction ponies here," Sunny said. "If Phyllis hadn't been removed from her position of C.E.O of CanterLogic, construction would have already started! Heck, it might've already been done."

"Wait, so what happened to CanterLogic?" Zipp asked. "I mean, I don't approve of what they made there, but there were ponies who relied on it for bits! From what Sprout told me before, it was the biggest business in Maretime Bay. All those ponies who worked there are now out of a job."

"CanterLogic isn't closed," Sunny said, eliciting a sigh of relief from Zipp. "For now, Sweets is the C.E.O. while they decide on what to do with it. Because, since Phyllis isn't the owner anymore, the judge will either decide on if it'll be closed indefinitely or be given to her son, which is..."

"Sprout," Zipp finished. "Looks like the deputy is turning into a C.E.O., huh?" Zipp joked, getting a chuckle out of Sunny. "Seriously though, we really need networking towers in Maretime Bay."

In Zephyr Heights, Pipp Petals was busy in her room, looking somber as she recorded a video with Izzy Moonbow beside her. "And... that's why I'm so, so sorry for lying to you all!" Pipp said, wiping her eyes with a tissue, which Izzy had pulled out from her mane. "I love each and every one of you, and I promise, I'll never do that again. Hoof to heart!"

Pipp grabbed her phone and pressed the stop button, her face immediately turned to one of relief once she did. "Do you think they'll believe you? I mean, I know you feel super bad, but will they believe that?"

"Hopefully," Pipp said, shrugging. "I don't know how I could deal with a bunch of haters in Zephyr Heights all pointed at me. Like, I could get why they're mad, but having to endure the belittlement of my subjects every day? Yeah, no, nuh-uh."

Pipp turned to Izzy, who seemed to be struggling with her phone, which Pipp had gifted each of her new friends, of course. "Uh, Izzy? You doing alright there?" Pipp asked.

"Yup! I just need to figure out how to... aha!" Izzy smiled as she showed Pipp her screen, which was a photo of her with a bunch of stickers on it. "Do ya like it?" Izzy asked.

"Um, obviously!" Pipp said, spreading her wings. "I love that little heart you added! So cute!" Pipp said, pointing to a sticker of a crown on Izzy's head. Pipp was about to say something else when she felt her phone vibrate. Checking her phone, a notification from Hitch had popped up. "Oh, it looks like Hitch finally figured out how to send texts! Aw, you all are coming along so fast!"

Hitch Trailblazer Now
Dear Pipp,

Me and Sprout have finished our meeting with Queen Haven and Alphabittle at the Zephyr Height's Town Hall. I and Sprout require your assistance in finding our way to the Royal Castle, as Queen Haven forgot about us and the ride she promised. Please note that Sprout is going through something, the cause being the mention of his mother, which you know to be Phyllis Cloverleaf, a.k.a, the one who destroyed Sunny's lighthouse.

With best regards, Sheriff Hitch Strike Trailblazer of Maretime Bay PD.

Sprout Cloverleaf Now
Yeah, btw, we're hungry. We saw a McWings. We'll be there. Also, uh, can you bring some bits? We didn't know Earth Pony money wasn't accepted in ZH.

"...We're going to McWings, Izzy!" Pipp said, putting her phone in a saddlebag.

"Yay!"

A few minutes later, Izzy and Pipp stood in front of a tall, red building with a yellow "M" on it next to a wing. "Ooh, so this is McWings?! It's so... colorful!" Izzy remarked, walking up to the glass doors, which opened automatically. "Pipp! I didn't know you had magic doors!"

"That's because we don't, Izzy," Pipp said, dragging Izzy inside McWings. "Because we have something a little thing we call... technology!"

"Ohh," Izzy said, widening her eyes. "I forgot you pegasi were more...what was it? Oh, right, advanced! Yeah, that's it!" Izzy looked around the room, seeing multiple pegasi, some with unicorns and earth ponies, before finding... "Hitch! Sprout!" Izzy called out, waving to her friends, who waved back.

"Oh, there you guys are!" Pipp said, she and Izzy trotting over to their friends' table. "Probably should've mentioned the whole, "we're at McWings," in Hitch's letter-text." Pipp sat on one of the chairs of the table, Izzy sitting next to her. "You do know that texts aren't meant to be formal, right, Hitch?"

"Well... uh, yes?" Hitch said, not convincing his friends at all, heck, not even himself as well. "Okay, no, it's just, it's so... confusing! The only technology that comes close to Zephyr Height's tech is... well, I guess the "Phyllisbot," in a way."

"Eh," Sprout shrugged. "I mean, I've lived with technology my whole life, it was pretty easy to get used to phones. Anyways, can we actually order something now? I'm starving!"

"Makes sense," Izzy said. "I mean, you are the son of Phyllis Cloverleaf, who's the C.E.O. of CanterLogic, a multimillion company in Maretime Bay! Hey, what happened to CanterLogic? Wasn't it transferred to-" Before Izzy could finish her sentence, Pipp nudged her as Izzy stopped. "Uh, sorry?"

"Hm? Oh, uh, it's alright, Iz," Sprout said, dragging his hoof over the table they were at. "Just thinking bout' something. Hey, did we order yet?"

Just then, as if the world was waiting for a cue, a light pink pegasus dressed in the joint's uniform came up to them. "Hello! I'll be your server, Divisha, for today! What would you four like to order?" Divisha said. Only then did it register to her who she was talking to, and gasped. "Oh. My. Hoofness! You're Princess Pipp Petals! And you three! You're some of the ponies who brought back magic!"

"Uh... yes?" Pipp said, shrugging. "It's a pleasure to meet you! Well, assuming you're not one of my fans who, y'know, still hate me for lying to the entirety of Zephyr Heights?"

"What? Oh, no, no, no! I could never hate you, Princess!" Divisha said, moving a little towards the pegasus princess. "I just have a few questions for you and your friends, if that's alright?" Divisha pulled out a small leather book, or what Pipp assumed to be a journal, like Sunny's.

"Aw, of course! We'd be happy to!" Pipp said, smiling at the pegasus. "So, what are you going to ask?"

"Well," Divisha said as she started asking questions at an incredibly fast pace. "What does it feel like to have that magic around you? What were those icy horses in the sky? What happened to Captain Horizon? What's the origin of those strange crystals? And-"

Before Divisha could continue, Sprout quickly stopped her, grinning nervously. "That is a lot, and we're happy to answer them... never! So, I'd like two cheeseburgers, large fries, a bucket of spicy chicken, a medium-sized soda, and a chocolate cake. Oh, and get these three a salad, or something." Sprout said.

"Uh, no. Not happening." Pipp said, shooting a small glare at Sprout. "Anyway, for your questions, uh, it felt good, we don't know, we also don't know, and an alicorn from Ancient Equestria made them. And for our order... I'd like large fries, a small soda, one cheeseburger without the pickles, and another bucket of chicken."

"Ooh! I'd like the same thing as Pipp, but for the cheeseburgers... give me all the toppings you got!" Izzy said, smiling brightly. "Oh, and a larger drink, please?"

"For me, two buckets of chicken, one spicy and the other regular, spicy powdered fries, medium-sized soda, and an ice cream sundae." Hitch said before quickly adding, "And a salad, to be on the safe side, y'know?"

"Of course! I'll get your orders right away!" Divisha said, stretching her wings. "And thanks for answering some of my questions!"

"You're welcome!" Pipp said. Her phone lit up as she checked her new notification before she put it down and added, "Oh, and could you change it from "dine in" to "to go?" Turns out we're not going to be eating here anymore!" Pipp asked, and Divisha nodded before trotting away.

"Pipp, why'd you do that?" Sprout grumbled, crossing his hooves. "I am not going to trot somewhere else to eat my food, which I have been waiting for for so long!"

"Because, dear Sprout," Pipp pulled out her phone and showed it to him. "I am not going to be missing out on a potential video idea! That, and because we're going to be decorating our new lighthouse! Eek!"

Sunny Starscout Now
Hey, Pipp! I just wanted to let you and our friends know that our new furniture for the "Crystal Brighthouse" has arrived! Get back here ASAP!

At the Crystal Brighthouse, Pipp, Izzy, Hitch, and Sprout walked towards the tall building, each carrying a "McWings" takeout bag on their backs. There, Sunny and Zipp were waiting for them, various cardboard boxes, paint buckets, and paint brushes next to them.

"Hey, sis!" Zipp said, flying towards his sister. "I take it you haven't had lunch yet?" Zipp asked, eyeing the bags on their backs.

"No, we haven't, Zipp," Sprout said, taking the bag from his back and placing it on a nearby wooden table. "Can we eat already? I've been waiting for so, so long," Sprout grumbled, taking the burger from his bag and taking a deep bite, he mumbled, "Oh, the joys of food."

"Hey! Let me have some!" Zipp said, taking the other burger from the bag. "I'll pay you back... eventually." Zipp then proceeded to take a bite of the cheeseburger, which elicited a glare from Sprout. "What? I'm the crown prince, it's not like I'm broke. I'll pay you back eventually, dude."

"Mhm, sure," Sprout said, rolling his eyes.

"Um, anyways," Sunny pulled out a miniature model of the Crystal Brighthouse. "So, first, I say to put the beds in the room with the elevator to the Crystal Room. I made sure to add a hoof-sensor to the elevator, but by being near the elevator, we can stop them."

"It stops them if they were an earth pony," Sprout said. "What keeps a pegasi from flying to the Crystal Room, or a unicorn from teleporting in it? It's not like we have some sort of, I don't know, shield around the Brighthouse, Sunny."

"Good point! But magic just came back, remember? Pegasi are still getting used to their magic, so if they tried to fly to the Crystal Room, they could... fall! And the unicorns aren't skilled enough to perform advanced spells, so teleportation is out of the option." Sunny explained. "But Midnight's still on the loose, and since we kind of, ruined her plan, she's probably going to try and shatter the crystals, so we better find a way to protect the Brighthouse soon."

"Ooh, ooh! We can search Bridlewood and try to find some sort of ancient spell book!" Izzy suggested. "I'm sure we have something lying around somewhere!"

"Or, we could try and find that "Canterlot" place you told us about!" Pipp added. "It sounds absolutely dazzling from the way you described it, Sunny!"

"Well," Sunny smiled, looking at each of her friends. "We should just focus on one thing at a time, and besides, we have a lighthouse to decorate!"

"I call designing the kitchen! Oof, this is heavy." Izzy said, using her horn to levitate one of the boxes and carrying them inside.

"I call fashioning the bathroom!" Pipp said, flying inside right after Izzy. "I can't do my morning routine videos in an... ugly bathroom! Ew, ew, ew!"

"I'm going... to help Izzy with the kitchen!" Sprout said, propping a box on his back as he ran inside.

"Me too!" Zipp said, zooming after Izzy and Sprout. "Sorry, Pipp, but I ain't doing bathrooms."

Sunny turned to Hitch, who simply shrugged. "Well, the kitchen is more important than the bathroom, so... Sprout, wait up!" Hitch turned and ran inside the lighthouse. Sunny smiled as she chuckled to herself before following her friends.

Inside the lighthouse, each of the Mane Six brought every box inside as they inspected the Brighthouse. "I see the potential in this! This is going to be the best D.I.Y Home Makeover video!" Pipp said, stars appearing in her eyes. "I have big dreams for this tiny lighthouse! Big dreams!"

"I wouldn't consider the Crystal Brighthouse tiny, it's gigantic!" Izzy said. "I mean, look at how big it is!" Izzy twirled around the living room, accidentally tripping over one of the smaller boxes, and fell to the floor. "I'm okay! I'm okay, guys!"

Sunny trotted over to Izzy and helped her up. "Anyways, let's get designing, ponies! We don't have all day!" Sunny said. She took out a paintbrush and a paint bucket as she smiled at her friends.

"Be wild! Be free! Let your creative juices fly!" Izzy said, taking the paint bucket and opening it, revealing light pink paint inside. Izzy pulled a paintbrush from inside her mane and dipped it in and stroked the wall with it.

"Fly, eh?" Zipp took another paintbrush, smirking to himself. "You think we can do this in under a day? That'll be quite a challenge."

"Oh, my glitter!" Pipp squealed as she clapped her hooves together. "What if we try to design this Crystal Brighthouse in under a day?! It'll be so fun! Six ponies who met in the weirdest circumstances, work together to design the ultimate, dream lighthouse makeover! Eek!"

"What's the worst that can go wrong, right?" Sprout asked, shrugging. "We're all sane adults here, it's not like we're going to destroy the Crystal Brighthouse in one day, right?"

"Of course not, because I'm going to make..." Hitch pulled out a small book on how to make shelves. "...a shelf! It's not like I live here anyway." Hitch said.

"Then let's do this, team!" Sunny said.

"Ooh, ooh! We should have a name for our group! I mean, you said Twilight Sparkle and her group had a name, how about us?" Izzy asked. "What about... the Guardians of Equestria's Unity and Harmony? I like it!"

"What about..." Sunny trailed off as her eyes caught sight of her figures of the Mane Six. She turned to her friends as she said, "...the Mane Six? It fits, doesn't it? Twilight Sparkle and her friends met on an adventure to save Equestria, and we met on an adventure to reunite Equestria."

"Mane Six? I don't like it, I love it!" Pipp said. "Come on! Let's design this lighthouse already! We don't have all day!" Pipp spun around and grabbed a light pink music box with her cutie mark stamped onto it. "Musical time~!" Pipp sung.

To be continued... in Part II!

Author's Note

Here it is... Chapter 12! Sorry this took so long, but... stuff happened, I don't want to get into the details. Anyways, we have a "Dream Brighthouse Makeover!" Isn't it going to be fun? Anyways, get ready for the second part, which will release... somewhere in December!

If there's any problems, spelling errors, or anything, please comment it or private message me so I can change it! Hate comments will be deleted, so don't even try and hate! :flutterrage: