G5 Adventures in Wish

If you thought things couldn’t get worse for Sunny and her Equestrian friends… it did.

While they were able to sneak inside the castle and get Sabino’s wish back from King Magnifico’s study, the unthinkable happened-- the king’s anger and greed caused him to turn to the ways of forbidden magic, and he was out to get whichever traitor summoned the great light from the sky…

…which the ponies knew was Star.

On the other side, Allura seemed to be remembering things about her past that seemed almost too much to bear-- losing her mother to a terrible sickness, her abusive father that forced his ways onto his cubs… being separated from her brother for the crimes they committed against their people many years after their own father had died…

…and even she was beginning to think that Magnifico was starting to lose his marbles, so to speak.

Could this mean that Allura is finally going to switch to the side of right?

And what would King Magnifico do if he found out about Star and the Mane 6?

Well… that’s what we’re about to find out.

XXXXXXXX

Not long after Asha, Valentino, the ponies and Star left the castle with Sabino’s wish, they raced right home, where Asha revealed Star and the ponies to her mother and grandfather, and revealed that Valentino could talk thanks to Star’s magic.

Needless to say… it took a little while for Sakina and Sabino to try and comprehend what they were seeing and hearing.

Nevertheless, they welcomed the ponies and Star with open arms, despite the scary circumstances, and even came to accept that Valentino now could speak.

“I was not afraid, Sakina,” Valentino reassured Asha’s mother as he began to climb the cabinets with precision and grace. “Because, like all goats, I believe the greater the challenge we are willing to face, the greater the life we live.”

Izzy and Hitch yelped as they caught the plates that fell as Valentino climbed the cabinet, eventually sighing in relief alongside Sakina, who helped Valentino down while Izzy and Hitch put the plates back.

At the same time, Zipp came outside from doing a patrol, shutting the door behind her and locking it. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary outside,” she told the others. “We’ll be safe here for now.”

“That’s a relief,” Pipp sighed. “I was getting ready to start blogging about our terrifying experiences, but… I think I’ll save that for another time.”

“Good call, Pippster,” Izzy said, patting Pipp’s shoulder with her hoof. “Good call.”

Asha, on the other hand, sat on the floor with her grandfather, Misty and Sunny, and Ashe held Sabino’s wish in her hands. “Saba…” she began, handing her grandfather’s wish to him. “I know you said you didn’t want to know a wish that could never be. But now, you can make it be.”

Sabino looked at the glowing wish in his hands with happiness and remembrance in his gaze. “It’s so simple…” he muttered. “So pure.”

“Asha,” Sakina began as she sat down next to her daughter, “I know you think you and your friends have done a good thing, but…”

“I should never have given Magnifico my wish,” Sabino interrupted his daughter-in-law, continuing to stare longingly at his wish. “This… this belongs to me.”

Sabino placed the orb with his wish inside against his chest and gently pushed it in, causing his chest to glow as the others stared in awe, a part of Sabino somehow being restored once his wish was back. “Saba…” Sakina smiled with happiness. After a moment, Sabino laughed joyously. “Oh, Asha, I may never actually inspire anybody,” he said, “but thanks to you and your little friends, at least I have the chance to try.”

“Hey… your granddaughter has been so open and welcoming to us,” Misty said, smiling at Sabino and at Asha. “Getting your wish back is the least we can do.”

Asha glanced at her mother when this was said. “We’re going to go back for your wish next, Mama.”

“I’m all for it,” Zipp said rather boldly before shuddering. “I, uh… just hope we don’t run into King Magnifico and Allura anytime soon… right, Sunny?”

However… when she turned to look at Sunny, she found that the apricot-colored earth pony mare was deep in thought, having seen Allura’s fear when King Magnifico’s sanity began to decline. “Sunny?” Asha said in concern, snapping Sunny out of her trance. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Asha,” Sunny nodded solemnly. “I guess… I’m just thinking about Allura.”

“That creepy cat?” Pipp scoffed. “Why would you wanna think about her? Unless you’re thinking about how we’re gonna kick her butt next time we face her-- those thoughts are valid.”

“Well, yeah, there’s that,” Sunny said with a shrug, “but… didn’t anypony else think that Allura looked kinda… scared when she was with King Magnifico? Like… she was afraid of what he was becoming?”

Hitch hummed, tapping his hoof with his chin. “Now that you mention it… yeah. I guess she did look kinda out of sorts.”

“But didn’t you say that she was a vicious, unruly monster who deserves no justice whatsoever?” Valentino asked bluntly.

“Valentino!” Asha scolded. “Language!”

“Honestly… I'm not sure what to think of her anymore,” Sunny said, gazing at the wide, open world outside the window. “At first, I did think she was a monster, but… what happened today and what happened at B.O.O.T.S Laboratory with our Bikini Bottom pals… I think we jumped to a lot of conclusions about her without really understanding WHY she was doing all of these things.”

Izzy looked at her in confusion. “Really?”

“I'm not so sure about that, Sunny,” Zipp said in suspicion. “My instincts are 95% right at times, and she could have been faking that fear in order for us to let out guard down, and so she can try and take the star shards from us.”

“Either way, with Allura still potentially working with Magnifico,” Misty spoke seriously to her friends, “we need to be super careful when we go back for Sakina's wish.”

But that’s when the unthinkable happened.

The door suddenly flew open, causing the candles lighting the cottage to suddenly go out. The Mane 6 gasped before Izzy and Misty used the spell to make them go invisible, and Valentino hid Star in a yarn basket in the corner.

And who was at the cottage seemed to make the situation that much worse.

King Magnifico was standing in the doorway with Allura and Twitch, and while the king glanced maliciously at Asha and her family, Allura and Twitch seemed to be putting on brave faces.

“That’s right, Asha. You’ve been turned in,” said the king as they entered the cottage. “Where are they? Where is the star?”

“And where are the ponies?” Allura asked, trying to regain her shaking confidence. “We know they’re here!”

Pipp gasped quietly under the cover of the invisibility spell. “How did they know we were here?!”

“And how did they know about Star?!” Hitch asked in quiet panic. “I don’t know, but we don’t have time to find out!” Zipp whispered back. “Stay quiet!”

As the ponies tried to calm themselves, Sabino boldly stood up to the king as he got closer. “There is nothing here for you!”

King Magnifico ignored Asha’s grandfather and looked her dead in the eye, as if he could see right through her. “How did you do it, huh? What sorcery did you use?”

“I know NO sorcery,” Asha said boldly. “Oh, you must know some form of it,” Allura scoffed. “You and those meddlesome ponies ripped a star from the sky to use it to steal from your king!”

“He was never going to grant my Saba’s wish, Allura!” Asha shouted back in defiance. “And he deserves to have it back. They ALL deserve…”

“I told you,” King Magnifico interrupted bitterly, “I decide what everyone deserves.”

But while she and her friends were in hiding, Misty could see what Sunny meant before-- Allura was trying to hide it, but even SHE could see that Allura was growing more and more uncomfortable around the king, and Twitch was beyond nervous.

That made her wonder… what if Sunny was right? What if Allura could be reformed?

Suddenly, Sakina took a step forward to try and clear the air. “Please, Your Majesty. I don't know what ponies are around here, but, I assure you, my daughter just made a mistake. She won’t do it again.”

“Oh, I know she won’t,” King Magnifico said before glancing at Allura, who began to reach for something under her wing. “Does this feel familiar, Sakina?”

Sakina gasped as Allura held a wish orb in her paw, feeling the magic radiating off of it. “My wish…”

“Yes…” King Magnifico said as Allura slowly handed the wish over. “Your wish that you gave to me for safekeeping, because we all know what happens to wishes out in this… this real world. They get… crushed.”

“Wait…” Izzy felt her fear growing. “W-What does that mean…?”

But before any of the ponies could question this, King Magnifico gripped Sakina’s wish tighter and tighter in his hands until… it shattered, its energy flowing into him.

As for Sakina, she felt something terrible enter her heart, a sense of dread and sadness, almost, and gasped, trying to get a handle on herself. “Mama?!” Asha looked stunned. “Sakina!” Sabino exclaimed. “No!”

The ponies each gasped out of horror-- did that just happen or were they just imagining things?

As Sabino and Asha tried to help Sakina, Allura and Twitch backed up out of pure fear upon seeing the energy of the wish being absorbed by the king, whose eyes glowed green in response. “What is this…?” he asked just before the wish was absorbed completely, causing him to smile wickedly. “What a gift. All this time, I’ve protected the wishes not knowing the power they yield. I feel as if I can do… anything…”

But before King Magnifico could further advance on Asha and her family, a yarn ball hit him and Allura upside their heads, causing them to turn and see Star floating out of the yarn basket, glaring angrily at them.

Allura gasped softly, her golden eyes widening in awe. “The star… an actual star, living and breathing on its own…”

But while Allura and Twitch were filled with awe, King Magnifico’s eyes glazed over with nothing except pure jealousy and intent. “I must have it!”

“Oh no you don’t, Magnifico!”

The sound of Sunny’s voice caught everyone offguard, and before anyone could blink, the Mane 6 appeared in front of Star, glaring in anger and hatred. “If you wanna hurt Star,” Zipp declared, “you’re gonna have to get through us first!”

“Aha!” Allura shouted, her gaze narrowing slightly. “The equine culprits reveal themselves at last.”

“Please, both of you, it doesn’t have to be like this!” Hitch protested. “There’s still a way to fix things!”

“Hitch is right,” Misty said. “Neither of you have to be on the dark side-- there’s still time to make things right!”

“Just look at you…” the king mumbled, taking in the sight of the ponies as he ignored their desperate pleas. “Powerful magic radiates off of your bones, your horns, your… everything! Just imagine the power I could have if I took YOUR wishes.”

“Magnifico, wait a moment!” Allura said, getting in front of him. “I thought you told me that I could do whatever I wanted to those meddlesome ponies if you could keep your kingdom in line!”

“Silence, Allura! I am the king of Rosas, I decide what everyone deserves!” King Magnifico snapped in her face before smirking back at the ponies. “Now… come to me, pony wishes…”

“Split up! Scatter!” Sunny shouted. “Make sure they don’t grab us!”

The ponies split off in several different directions, prompting King Magnifico, Allura and Twitch to try and grab them while Star retreated over to Asha and her family to stay out of harm’s way.

Izzy and Misty were able to go out of sight rather easily, but Hitch, Zipp, Pipp and Sunny were having a hard time trying their best not to get captured.

That’s when Allura finally had enough, using her icy magic to bind Sunny’s hooves together, causing her to scream and fall to the floor, trying to get loose. “Hey!”

Izzy gasped and removed the spell over herself at this. “Sunny!”

“Hang on!” Zipp cried. “We’re coming!”

“Oh no you don’t!” Allura cried and summoned more ice magic, binding the hooves of Hitch, Izzy and the pegasus sisters in one swoop. “Sunny, guys! No!” Asha cried and tried to rush to them, but Allura snarled at her to keep her in her place. “Stay back, Asha,” the snow leopard warned with a solemn look on her face. “This isn’t your fight any longer.”

“Now…” said King Magnifico as he approached the five ponies that had been captured. “Where were we?”

“No!” Sunny said desperately as she tried to get free. “Please!”

King Magnifico placed his hands on Sunny and Izzy’s chest despite their desperate pleas, and a golden light spread through their chests. Izzy and Sunny strained and tried to hold onto their wishes as tightly as they could, but even then, they couldn’t hold onto them any longer, and their wishes appeared in orbs in King Magnifico’s hands, causing him to smirk. “Perfect…”

“Sunny! Izzy!” Pipp gasped in shock. “Your cutie marks! T-They’re gone!”

“What?!” Sunny looked down at her flank and realized Pipp was right-- their cutie marks had vanished alongside their wishes, causing her to shakingly gasp. “No…”

As Sunny and Izzy tried their best to recover, King Magnifico proceeded to remove the wishes from Pipp and Zipp, leaving them exhausted, tired and cutie mark-less. However… as King Magnifico finished taking Hitch’s wish, taking his cutie mark as well, Allura noticed something was off. “Magnifico… there were six ponies here but you only got five wishes. Where’s the other unicorn?!”

It took Sunny and the others a moment, but they realized that Allura was right-- Misty was the only one of them not captured.

But before anyone could try and find Misty, she appeared in front of her friends, looking at the king almost pleadingly. “King Magnifico… please… give my friends their wishes back. They need to remember who they are and who they stand for,” she said softly. “Without those wishes… they can’t.”

“Does it look like I care, little unicorn?” King Magnifico scoffed. “These wishes will provide me with even more power than even you can imagine in your rinky dink horn of yours.”

“Misty, get out of here! Save yourself while you can!” Hitch said. “You can’t lose your wish too!”

“...no, Hitch. I’m not leaving you,” Misty told her friends with certainty. “He can do his worst, but I’m not leaving you all behind.”

Allura paused and looked at Misty with a bit of surprise, but also… admiration? It almost… reminded her of how confident she was when she was a cub.

However, King Magnifico merely smirked at her. “If that’s what you want…”

Misty yelped out of surprise as the king pushed his hand onto her chest and tried to feel for her wish so he could pull it out, but after a moment… he pulled his hand back in confusion. “What?”

Once again, the king tried to feel for Misty’s wish, but for the second time, he felt nothing. “What kind of deception is this? WHERE IS YOUR WISH?!”

“It’s not there,” Misty said with certainty in her solemn look. “Because… I never had one.”

“Misty?” Asha looked stunned, as did the others. “What do you mean you don’t have a wish? Everyone has one.”

“...not me,” Misty said. “If you’ve lived your whole life with a fire alicorn who wanted nothing but unbridled power, you would have wished every day for a chance to escape, to finally earn your cutie mark, to make a better life for yourself. Well… I did. But then, I escaped from Opaline on my own, got my cutie mark by helping my friends and then… I made a better life for myself all on my own.”

At this, she glanced at her friends, who smiled softly as she turned to King Magnifico and Allura and Twitch again. “So… now you know. I don’t have a wish because all my wishes have already been fulfilled. So that means… I’m immune to your power.”

King Magnifico growled in frustration, his eyes burning with fury. “Allura, freeze her solid!”

“Y-Yes, your highness,” Allura bowed her head. “As you wish.”

Seeing that Misty was in danger, Asha made a bold decision and pushed a heavy bookshelf right onto the villains, trapping them. “Let’s go!” Asha exclaimed as Sabino helped Sakina to her feet, and as Misty helped the other ponies. “Now!”

“Can you guys stand?” Misty asked her friends urgently. “How are you feeling?”

“Forget about us!” Zipp said as she and the others finally stood. “Let’s get Asha and her family outta here!”

Misty and Valentino did their best to help the downed ponies out through the door. Asha and Sabino held Sakina by the hands as they carefully led her out. Unfortunately, two royal guards were there to cut them off. “Aw, nuts!” Izzy whined. “Now what do we do?!”

However, the guards were more distracted by Star, who zipped out into the open.

“What is that?!”

“Hey!”

But as the ponies felt their fear slowly rising, Star was the one to take action. He zipped around the two guardsmen, entangling them in the yarn, and the guards, now out of balance, tipped and fell onto the ground before they squirmed, trying to get free. "Is this yarn?" one of them asked incredulously. “Hurry!” Sabino urged. “Hurry!”

“How are we going to get away?” Zipp asked with worry. “There's no way we'll be able to outrun the king or Allura with Sakina so weak and a lot of us ponies without our powers!”

“Look!” Sunny said, pointing to three horses standing not far from the house. “Maybe those horses can give us a lift!”

“Come on!” Asha said. “We don’t have time to waste!”

Valentino galloped up to the three waiting horses. "From one domesticated animal to another... help us!"

And the shock of everyone, the guards horses enthusiastically neighed in agreement and lowered to their knees to help Asha and her family onto their backs. “Careful,” Pipp warned. “That's it, Sakina. Hold on,” Sabino helped his daughter-in-law onto the waiting horse. “Can you guys still run?” Asha turned to the Mane 6. “Argh… I think so,” Sunny said. “We may not have our magic or our wishes anymore, but we're not completely helpless.”

“Speak for yourself…” Zipp mumbled before trying to get herself off the ground. “So much for an airborne escape.”

“How will I ever do my freestyle, flying livestreams?!” Zipp’s younger sister wailed. “The Pippsqueaks love those!”

“There are more trying issues than your publicity,” Valentino fruitlessly tried climbing up one of the palace horses. “Besides, it might do you some good to get some blood pumping in your legs instead of your wings.”

“Hurry up!” Misty cried as Asha got onto one of the horses. “Come on!”

Once Asha and her family were safely aboard, the horses took off into the starry night with the Mane 6 following directly behind. While being smaller ponies, they were able to keep up, much to their adrenalin-fueled relief.

“Wow,” Hitch commented. “Those horses are fast!”

“Yeah, and apparently, so are we!” Pipp panted, causing Zipp to giggle to herself. “Heh, that's surprising considering you have the stubbiest legs.”

Pipp glared at her older sister in rebuttal. “Oh, you want to talk about detrimental body proportions, Ms. Stilt-Legs?”

“Girls, enough arguing!” Sunny hollered. “Have you forgotten we're being hunted down by Magnifico and Allura?”

“We have their guard horses, though,” Izzy pointed out. “No way they'll catch up to us now! Though, Allura can fly.”

The escaping group raced through the thin, dank forest, with Star being their only source of light. However, they quickly ran into another big problem. As the horses and ponies broke through the tree line, the group found themselves face-to-face with the Mediterranean Sea and came to a stop beyond the shore.

“We’ve run out of land!” Misty said in worry. “Now what?!” Pipp screeched. “Any minute Allura or King Magnifico well show up, and then we'll be toast for sure!”

Asha looked around the vast shoreline, hoping anything around could be of any help. The only thing around was a handful of small rowboats sitting close to the shore. “There’s a boat! Hurry!”

She tapped to horse's shoulder, directing it over to the parked boat, causing the other horses and the ponies to follow. Once at the parked boat, Asha disembarked her horse and helped her grandfather and mother off of theirs. “Go, return to your stables!” Valentino urged the horses. “If anyone asks… play dumb.”

The two armored equines turned to each other and nodded in affirmation with each other as the Mane 6 hurriedly got into the boat with Asha and her family. “Not a very big boat,” Zipp groaned. “But, it'll have to do,” Sabino said, helping Sakina onto one of the wooden seats. “I say we head for the islet,” Valentino proposed. “It's closest. We can hide there.”

“What other choice do we have?” Sunny asked rhetorically, though she sounded more depressed than anything. “Any other place we run the risk of getting caught.”

Hitch sighed with a nod to this. “Wouldn't surprise me if they already have wanted posters of us all over the city.”

“WHAT!?” Pipp shrieked. “I can't be seen as a criminal! What would my… my… what were they called again?”

“Pipp, we’re not criminals,” Izzy said gently. “This is all just a big misunderstanding.”

Asha strained to get the boat going, struggling to move the heavy wooden oars through the water. Star, thinking quickly, zipped around the wooden oars, enchanting them with his magic so that they could row on their own.

Asha sighed gratefully to this. “Thank you.”

And so, there they were, out in the calm, open sea. The star-filled night sky reflected off the water's glassy surface, only to be interrupted by the oar's rippling intrusion. “Mama…?” Asha turned to her mother in concern. “My heart knows this feeling,” Sakina put her hand over her chest. “This is grief.”

“Grief…?” Hitch looked confused. “Why would you be feeling grief?”

Misty's expression diminished into a somber realization. “Her wish is gone. Without it, all her hope and motivation are taken along with it. It's like she doesn't have the energy to do anything. It's all emptiness.”

“So…” Zipp looked worried. “Her drive is just… gone?”

Misty nodded somberly. “I… I guess I kinda understand the feeling,” Pipp sighed, pulling out her phone from under her wing and staring blankly at it. “I… I have my phone, but… I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do with it.”

“Me too…” Hitch sighed. “I don’t even remember what I stood for. Without my wish…”

“...we’re all empty inside too,” Sunny said with a soft sniffle. “We’re just… shells of what we used to be.”

“Ohh…” Asha lowered her head in shame. “I didn't mean for this to happen.” “I know, baby,” Sakina held her daughter's hand. “I was foolish,” Asha continued, “to think I could change anything. I should never have wished.”

“N-No, Asha, this isn't your fault,” Sunny said in an attempt to comfort her friend. “You couldn't have known any of this would happen.”

Asha looked at the once-confident earth pony mare with sad eyes. “I was the one that cause everything to fall apart, Sunny, and you and your friends got caught up in it. Now we're wanted criminals.”

Izzy felt her ears lower at this. “Asha…”

Star shook his head empathetically. He held Asha's chin and turned head back to face the others. She looked at the living star, who shook his head again, trying to tell Asha that this wasn't her fault. “It's true,” the young girl said sadly. “My wish ruined everything for my family. And now everyone at Rosas is at risk because of me.”

Star fell into an even greater sense of sadness and sympathy. “Oh, Asha…” Sakina whispered, “...no…”

“You wished for a better future for everyone, Asha,” Pipp said gently. “That's probably the nicest, most selfless thing to ever wish for. It exposed King Magnifico as the self-imposing monster he is. You're not in the wrong for things the king did.”

“Pipp’s right,” Zipp sighed. “Everyone is at risk… because of Magnifico and Allura.”

“Our dear Rosas,” Sabino whispered. “Your father's heart would break for what we now know.”

“And to make matters worse,” said Sunny, “the king will only grow stronger with every wish he absorbs.”

“Wishes…” Misty agreed, “...that will never get granted.”

Asha looked to the mountainous city as a whipping mist carpeted Rosas's outskirts. The city's castle towered over all the other miniscule buildings. Asha knew that the king was going to take advantage of the wishes' powers and, therefore, taking advantage of all the people of Rosas.

Eventually, Zipp spoke up again. “Are we really just going to run away when people's futures are at risk? We can't just let Magnifico and Allura get away with this.”

“But we can’t do anything,” Sakina sighed. “Misty is the only one of you with magic left, and she can’t do it on her own.”

Asha remained silent to this. A bunch of thoughts were racing in her head, but it all accumulated into one thing; she had to fix this.

Asha noticed Star looking up at her, a perplexed look on his face. It appeared he was trying to read her expression to get an idea of what she was thinking. “I know what you’re thinking,” Asha said to Star, “cause I’m thinking it too.”

Star smiled and nodded. Asha sucked in a breath. This was going to be tough to break to her mother and grandfather, but this needed to be done. “I love you both very much.”

Sabino looked at her in confusion. “What is going on?”

“When you get to the islet…”

“Asha?”

“...stay hidden from view.”

“What’s going on?” Sakina asked, leaving Asha to sigh. “I have to stop him.”

“No!” Sakina cried. “It’s too dangerous!” Sabino warned. “Dangerous or not, someone has to do something,” Sunny said. “We're with you, Asha.”

“If you get caught, who knows what Magnifico will do to you all,” Sakina tried to dissuade them. “And if we just run away, he'll do unspeakable things with his new power,” Zipp added. “Zipp is right. I started this-- I have to finish it..." Asha said, hugging her family. “...for everyone.”

Sunny put a hoof on Asha’s shoulder. “We'll do this together, Asha. You're not going in this alone.”

“Technically, she isn't,” Valentino spoke up. “She has both me and the star.”

Zipp was about to say something snide, but Izzy cut in first. "The more the merrier."

That's when Asha pulled out of the emrbace and jumped headfirst into the water.

“Asha!”

“No!”

“I cannot swim!” Valentino sighed as he leapt into the water after Asha. Pipp's expression quickly soured upon realizing what she and others had to do. “Ugh, seriously? And here I was happily thinking I wasn't getting wet today…”

“Stop worrying about yourself and get in the water!” Zipp said to her younger sister before diving in, and soon after, the younger pegasus sister let out a whining groan before begrudgingly taking the dive. “WHA!! It’s cold!!”

Valentino held onto Asha's head, while Star hovered over the group as they swam toward shore. "Perfect," the baby goat grinned. "Shark!"

“What?!”

“Where?!”

“Take the goat, not me!”

“EEK!!!”

“No, no. I have not seen a shark,” Valentino said, sensing that the group was in panic mode. “I'm just practicing.”

“...a little warning would’ve been nice,” Pipp fumed. “You know, Valentino, what are you going to do when we confront Magnifico?” Zipp asked. “Ram his ankles?”

“Zipp, my good fellow, I can do a lot more than that,” Valentino said proudly. “Of course, it's not a whole lot. I am only three weeks old, after all.”

“We know!” the ponies said in exasperation before they kept swimming toward shore.

Their mission was soon clear-- they had only one chance to fix this, and in doing such… they had one chance to save Rosas and stop Allura and Twitch once and for all.