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!