August 5, 2014

As a rainbow shockwave spread across Equestria, a young blue pegasus filly from Zephyr Heights, who created it, received her cutie mark - a rainbow lightning cloud. On a rock farm, a pink earth pony filly saw the rainbow it created and smiled widely. A rock cracked open at the cliff's edge, revealing dazzling gems as a white unicorn's eyes lit up. In an apartment in Manehattan, an orange earth pony filly saw a rainbow leading towards a farm. A yellow pegasus checked up on the animals in a forest below Zephyr Heights after they ran away. In Canterlot, a young purple unicorn was taking her entrance exam when she shot a magic beam at a purple and green egg.

In another part of Canterlot, a sad orange earth pony with a magenta mane's eyes lit up as she looked up and saw the rainbow. Outside Zephyr Height's Royal Palace, a white pegasus flew for the first time, while a pink pegasus started singing, attracting a crowd. In the Everfree Forest, a young yellow colt grabbed a teal and magenta egg as he dashed away outside CanterLogic, a red earth pony colt held out his hoof to a young yellow earth pony filly. In Bridlewood, a purple unicorn filly with a blue mane started putting items together as she crafted.

In the royal gardens in Canterlot, a white alicorn with a multicolored mane rushed inside a tower, a tall, purple, and green dragon sticking out the top. "Is this it? Have I found the wielder of the Element of Magic?" she muttered to herself, entering a room labeled "Exam Room."

June 22, 2024

Inside a light orange room, filled with posters about an indigo earth pony stallion, an orange earth pony mare lay on her bed, sound asleep. Suddenly, a navy blue alarm clock started vibrating, sending the mare a loud "RING!". "Urgh..." she mumbled, putting a pillow on her face.

"Sunny? Sunny! It's already 6:30! You told me to wake you up, dear! You said you had a... morning rush prep run?"

Sunny groaned as she got out of bed. "Yeah, yeah, thanks, Mrs. Velvet! I'll be down in five!" Sunny shouted. She trotted over to her desk, which had a "CanterLogic Laptop" on it. She opened a drawer and grabbed one of her teal manebands as she started fixing her mane.

Downstairs, Twilight Velvet was in the kitchen, cutting up fruits as Sunny walked down the stairs. "Oh, Sunny! Care for a PB&J sandwich before you go?" Twilight Velvet asked, levitating a zip lock bag with two triangular slices of a PB&J sandwich inside.

"Of course!" Sunny said, grabbing the bag with her teeth before stuffing it into a saddlebag and putting it on. "I'll see you later, Mrs. Velvet! Also, have you seen Twilight? Is she still sleeping in?" Sunny asked.

"No, actually," Twilight Velvet answered. "She left twenty minutes ago. Said she needed to "get a head start on her studies," I told her she didn't have to but she was insistent."

"Really? That's a first," Sunny chuckled. She sat down on the couch and quickly put on her skates before skating out the door.

"Don't be late!" Twilight Velvet shouted, closing the door.

On the streets of Canterlot, Sunny zoomed on the sidewalks, dodging every pedestrian with ease. "Morning, Golden Rose! Morning, Lunar! Morning..." Sunny stopped in her tracks, facing an indigo unicorn stallion with a cerulean mane. "...Orion! How are you doing today?"*

"I'm doing fine, Sunny," Orion said. "What are you doing now? Competing in a skating contest? Trying to crash into somepony?" Orion asked, noticing the skates.

Sunny scoffed as she shot him a small smile. "I bumped into you one time in the fifth grade! I was still getting the hang of my skates!" Sunny said, raising one of her hooves. "I've gotten better since then!"

"Whatever," Orion said, rolling his eyes. "Well, I don't want to keep you from... whatever you're doing, so I'll be on my way." Orion turned around and walked away, leaving Sunny there alone.

Sunny chuckled to herself before skating away, humming a small (but catchy) tune as she left. Unbeknownst to her, music started playing, seemingly out of nowhere.

[Sunny]: Good morning, sun
No time to chat, I gotta run
'Cause I've got places to be

So much to do
Excited, yes, and nervous, too
A change is starting with me

Sunny passed by two young colts, who were arguing over a deflated ball. Sunny looked around before she saw a store named "Toys4You" and entered it, then a few minutes later, she came back outside, holding a brand new ball with her hoof. She trotted to the colts and she gave them the ball before leaving.

[Sunny]: I never worry 'bout
Upsetting carts, hardened hearts
Or wonder "Will I belong?"

I've heard it enough, I'm callin' their bluff
I'll never get lost in the grey
There's somethin' inside, burns bigger than pride
Shines out of me lighting the way

Gonna be, gonna be, gonna be my day (be my day)
Gonna be, gonna be, gonna be my day (oh-oh-oh-oh)
Gonna be, gonna be, gonna be my day (gonna be my day)
Gonna be my day (ooh-ooh)

Hey there, hello
The friends I make, the friends I know
Today you answer my call

Instead of hide
Instead of staying stuck inside
Instead of building your wall

Come on and party with me
Join the band, understand
We'll all be singin' this song

I've heard it enough, I'm callin' their bluff
I'll never get lost in the grey
Go big or go home, get real or get known
Get ready and raring to say

Gonna be, gonna be, gonna be my day (be my day)
Gonna be, gonna be, gonna be my day (ooh-ooh)

Everyone's afraid
Always judgin', never budgin'
Ain't it time we made
The team, the dream?
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhhhhh!

Let's open our eyes, sun's starting to rise
And finally able to say

Gonna be, gonna be, gonna be my day (gonna be my day)
Gonna be, gonna be, gonna be my day (gonna be my day)
Gonna be, gonna be, gonna be my day (be my... day!)

As she sang her song, many ponies saw her singing and, to her surprise, joined in, acting as her ensemble. A few minutes later, when the song ended, she saw three of her friends - Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts, each having gift boxes on their backs.

"Girls!" Sunny called out, a smile forming on her face.

"Sunny!" Each of them shouted, trotting to their friend.

"It's been a while, Sunny! How's it been?" Minuette asked. "We haven't hung out in a week! What has happened with your life, girl?"

"Oh, y'know," Sunny laughed. "The usual, I guess? Wake up, eat, open the cart, eat, reopen the cart, eat, sleep, then... repeat."

"Aw, so there's no time for us? Not even a couple of minutes?" Lemon Hearts pouted. "What about Twilight, then? You live with her, right? You don't spend time with her?"

Sunny playfully rolled her eyes as she said, "Of course I spend time with Twilight! She's one of my best friends!" Sunny tilted her head as she noticed the gifts on their backs. "Are you heading to the party already? It doesn't start until 8, right?"

"Oh, yeah, but we decided to come early, so we could help Moon Dancer with the decorations," Twinkleshine responded. "Anyways, what did you get Moon Dancer? Bits? A stuffed animal? A "Free Smoothies for a Month" card?" Twinkleshine asked, grinning. "Come on, tell us!"

"A locket!" Sunny said. "I saw it at the Canterlot Mall last week, and it was so cute! It fits Moon Dancer perfectly! It's shaped like a moon and it's colored in Moon Dancer!" Sunny pulled out her phone and showed the trio a picture of the locket, and they all gasped in unison.

"Ooh! Fancy!" Minuette said before a thought came to her. "Hey, Sunny, can you do us a favor? We saw Twilight earlier and tried to get her to go, but as usual, she was able to run away. Maybe you could talk to her? You're closer to her than we are, and we all know how much Moon Dancer admires Twilight. It would mean the world for her if Twilight came."

"I... I'll try," Sunny said, and when her friends smiled, she quickly added, "But I can't promise you she'll come. As much as I would hate to disappoint Moon Dancer, I can't force Twilight to go to parties. Even with our special bond."

"Eee! Thank you, thank you, Sunny!" Minuette said, hugging the orange mare tightly. "She's at the tower Princess Celestia gifted her three years ago!"

"That's... good... to know!" Sunny said. With how tight Minuette was hugging her, it was hard for her to talk. As soon as she let go, Sunny took started coughing. "I'll be on my way... see you at the party!"

As Sunny skated away, Lemon Hearts couldn't help but ask, "Hey, doesn't Sunny remind you of that unicorn? Sunrise... no, Sunbeam... right, Sunset! Doesn't Sunny remind you of Sunset Shimmer?"

"Now that you mentioned it, she kind of does!" Minuette said, nodding in agreement. "Heck, if she just had a horn and dyed her mane red and yellow, I wouldn't tell the difference!"

"Eh, I don't see it," Twinkleshine said. "Sunny's nice and humble, while Sunset is mean and boastful. How could you compare them?"

When Minuette nodded in agreement as well, Lemon Hearts retorted, "Well, they're both determined when they've got their minds on a goal, right?" Twinkleshine murmured in agreement before Lemon Hearts added, "Wait, have any of you seen Sunset? She's been gone for... two weeks!"**

As Sunny arrived at the base of a tall, white tower, she saw a purple unicorn run up the ramp and enter the tower. Sunny inhaled and exhaled as she skated up the ramp, and quickly entered the room before the door closed. "Twilight!" Sunny said, immediately taking off her skates.

"Sunny? What are you doing here?" the purple unicorn - Twilight Sparkle - asked, tilting her head. "And have you seen Spike? I know he was here somewhere."

"I'm... right... here." Sunny and Twilight turned around and saw Spike, a purple and green dragon, laying on the floor, a red gift empaled on his tail.

"Ah, Spike! There you are," Twilight used her magic and lifted Spike off the ground, and took the gift out of Spike's tail. "Uh... what's this?" Twilight asked.

"It was a gift for Moon Dancer but," Spike took the gift back and opened it, revealing a teddy bear with a hole in the middle. "You can see why I used "was," right?"

"Well, it's not like you could give it to her anyway," Twilight said, putting her saddlebag on the floor. "You know we don't have time for that kind of stuff! Studies are more important than parties, Spike."

"But, Twilight," Sunny said, taking a deep breath. "It's Moon Dancer's first party, don't you want to go? You have a lot of shared interests! You both love reading, you two are super smart, you two look like recolored versions of yourselves, and I could go on! Come on, don't you want to go?"

Twilight was silent for a few seconds before replying with, "It's her first party, Sunny, not her last. I'm sorry, but you'll have to tell Moon Dancer no."

"I... I understand," Sunny said, frowning. "Um, anyways, what's so important that you ran here? I saw you run up the tower, and you are not fond of physical activities."

"I'll explain later," Twilight simply said. "Right now, I need you and Spike to find a book. It's called "Predictions and Prophecies," I'm sure I had a copy in here somewhere."

"Predictions and Prophecies? Why would you want that book?" Spike asked. "I thought you were more on the science-y side of life, and not the "believe in a higher order" kind."

"It's... complicated, alright?" Twilight answered.

Before Sunny had a chance to say something, Twilight started rummaging through the library for the book, and Spike followed behind. Sunny sighed as she started browsing shelves, pulling out books, checking the titles, and then putting them back if it wasn't the one they were looking for.

With Twilight, she used her magic to levitate books in front of her, checking the titles quickly before putting them back on their shelves neatly. "No, no, no, no, no... Sunny! Have you found it yet?" Twilight asked, turning to Sunny.

"Nope," Sunny dryly responded, putting back another book. "Unlike you, I have to do this the hard way. And besides, we have loads of books in this library, it's going to be a while before we-"

"Found it!"

Sunny turned to Spike, who was on a comedically tall ladder holding a dark blue book with a golden picture of a horse in the middle. Twilight used her magic to lift Spike off the ladder and onto her back, taking the book from his claws. "Thank you, Spike," Twilight said before proceeding to lift Spike off her back. "Now... Elements... E, E, E, E... aha!"

Sunny took a peek at the book and inside was a symbol of twelve gems, each a different color. "'Elements of Harmony, an ancient artifact made by an unknown sorcerer thousands of years ago. See "Mare in the Moon" if you want to know more about this subject.'" Twilight read and started flipping towards the page.

"'Mare in the Moon? Elements of Harmony?'" Sunny questioned, staring at Twilight. "I guess I could understand why you would want to understand more about the Elements of Harmony, seeing as they're artifacts, but an old foal's tale? Why would you want to know about that?"

"Because, Sunny," Twilight began. "I just have a strange... feeling, to say the least. Something's off." Twilight turned to the book and stopped on the page with the tale of the "Mare in the Moon." "'The Mare in the Moon, a myth from old pony times. She was a powerful alicorn who wanted to control Equestria by removing the day, but she was defeated by the Elements of Harmony on the summer solstice and imprisoned on the moon. An old legend states that, on the longest day of the thousandth year, she will come back to Equestria and bathe the land in eternal darkness.''"

Twilight used her magic to slam the book shut as she gasped in realization. "Sunny, Spike! Do you know what this means?" Twilight asked, looking at her friends.

"That... um... no?" Sunny said, looking confused. "I don't see your point."

"Ugh," Twilight groaned as a scroll and a quill appeared in front of her, a magenta aura wrapped around them as she held them in front of Spike. "Spike, take a note, please. To the Princess."

"Okie dokie!" Spike took the quill and held the scroll in his left claw. As Twilight started telling Spike what to write, Spike wrote it in the letter as Sunny listened.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I know that you, my teacher, have told me that I should take a break from my studies, but what I have found is too important, and it needs to be told to you right away! For you see, my continuing studies of pony magic and pony history have led me to uncover that the mythical "Mare in the Moon" is indeed Nightmare Moon, a foe you faced a thousand years ago. Nightmare Moon is about to return to Equestria today during the Summer Sun Celebration and bring with her an eternal night. Something must be done to make sure that this terrible prophecy does not come through! I await your quick response.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

As Spike finished the last words, he rolled up the scroll and put the quill in one of his loose scales. "Done!" Spike said, holding the scroll up.

"Great! Send it!" Twilight said.

"Now?"

"Well, obviously. I wouldn't have you write a message to the princess and not send it, would I?"***

Sunny cleared her throat as she stepped into the conversation. "I don't know, Twilight. Princess Celestia must be very busy preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration, and it's the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration, so it has to be important." Sunny said.

"But that's just it," Twilight said. "Tomorrow morning, it'll be the longest day of the longest year, which is when Nightmare Moon returns! Even if this is just me being paranoid, we can't overlook this! Princess Celestia must be notified of this right away! So send it already!"

"Okay, okay!" Spike said. He blew green fire onto the scroll as it turned into smoke and started traveling towards the Royal Castle. "There. It's on its way, but don't hold your breath."

"Oh, I'm not worried, Spike," Twilight said, looking out of the big glass window. "The Princess trusts me completely, and in all my years I've been her faithful student, she's never once doubted me. Why would she start now?"

Suddenly, Spike burped out a scroll with a red ribbon wrapped around it. "That was... fast," Sunny said. "I thought that would've taken an hour to reply to."

"Sunny, Sunny, Sunny," Twilight laughed. "I knew she'd want to take immediate action, that's why she replied so fast. Now, Spike read it to me."

Spike unfurled the scroll as he cleared his throat and started reading.

My Faithful , Twilight Sparkle,

You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely. But you must stop reading those dusty old books!

"What?!" Twilight shouted, shocked. She used her magic to grab the scroll and started reading the rest.

My dear Twilight, while education is important, there is more to a young pony's life than studying. That's why I'm sending you and your friend Sunny Starscout to supervise the preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Maretime Bay. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends! Now, I've arranged for you to stay in Sunny's old lighthouse, which has been renovated recently. Underneath this message is the list of things you need to check on.

1. Food from Sweet Apple Acres.
   
2. Weather Preparation by a blue, rainbow-maned pegasus named Rainbow Dash
   
3. Decorations in City Hall
   
4. Security at the Sheriff's Office
   
5. Music on the beach

Your ever-caring mentor, Princess Celestia.

"Oh, wow, she sure trusts you completely, doesn't she?" Spike sarcastically said, eliciting a sharp glare from Twilight.

"Spike!" Sunny hissed, nudging Spike. "Look, Twilight, maybe you should stop fussing over this "Mare in the Moon" stuff, right? And besides, we're going to Maretime Bay! Eek! This is going to be the first time the Princess asked me to do something! Well, technically, she asked me to accompany you, but it's still something!"

"Ugh, whatever," Twilight said, frowning. "Come on! Let's just go already! I just want to get this over with! Urgh!" Twilight groaned, stomping out of the tower.

"...She's in a bad mood, isn't she?" Spike said.

Author's Note

*This is Orion Swirl Constell, my OC! He's going to be an important character later on, so, yup!
**Could this be... Sunset Shimmer foreshadowing?
***It's a valid point, y'know.

Anywho, here's Chapter 2! Woo! So, we've some of our protagonists, Sunny Starscout, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike the Dragon! Next time, we're heading to Maretime Bay! So, stay tuned!

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!