Equestria... the magical land where earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns lived in peace and harmony, finally felt safe again after a very long period of time.

All three pony kinds had never been happier, and there were two reasons for the ponies to be grateful-- one of those reasons was that Alphabittle Blossomforth had finally proposed to Queen Haven, and the two were happily making wedding plans whenever they had the chance to be together.

And the second reason? Well... I'm pretty sure you already know that part.

The Mane 6 (composing of Sunny Starscout, Hitch Trailblazer, Pipp Petals, Izzy Moonbow, Zipp Storm and Misty Brightdawn) had finally worked to reform Allura, a once-wicked winged snow leopard, and her rabbit minion, Twitch, after many months of trial and error and retrieving all six pieces to a magical star that would allow whoever possessed it to travel between worlds.

Allura had (for a time) wanted the star to search through worlds in order to find her long-lost brother Alterro, who at the time that they had been banished and separated, was just about as wicked as Allura, if not more so.

Sunny promises Allura that they would figure out where Alterro was, but wasn't sure how to tell her that reforming her brother might not be as easy as helping her see the light.

Nevertheless, our heroes were determined to feel the relaxation and magic around them while they had the chance, cause sooner or later, another Unity Quest would come around and uproot their seemingly peaceful lives... either for better or for worse.

XXXXXXXX

One particularly sunny morning in Maretime Bay, Zipp was at the top of the Brightouse while looking at the view, tapping her hooves against the railing as an upbeat song began as she flew inside to wake her sister and friends.

Mane 6: Come on, feel the magic
Come on, feel the magic

Zipp: Hey, hey, hey, what a perfect day
The sun is gettin' brighter and it's beamin' my way
There's somethin' in the air, I can feel it in my hooves
So everypony, let's go, 'cause it's time to move

“Whoo-hoo! Everypony, rise and shine!” Zipp called as she woke the girls up, while her sister Pipp covered herself in her blanket until Zipp went to Pipp and rubbed on the blanket. “Come on, sleepy head! Wake up!”

“Ugghh, Zipp!” Pipp groaned as she rubbed her eyes. That’s when Pipp remembered the curlers in her mane. “Oh. Did it work?” she asked, rushing to the mirror. “Is my mane curly?”

Suddenly, her mane shook and puffed up as the curlers snapped off. “It’s a mane miracle!” Pipp cheered with a twirl before she brought out her phone. “Check me out...”

Zipp then began bouncing on Misty's bed to awaken her. “Whoa, whoa!” Misty called as she was now fully awake before jumping on the bed too. That's when Zipp flew over to Sunny's bed in order to wake the earth pony mare. “Come on, Sunny! Up and at ‘em!”

Sunny stretched and yawned as she turned to her friends with a smile as she sighed fondly. “Who wants breakfast?”

The other mares instantly agreed, but as they all began to move toward the stairs. But then Sunny realized something was missing in the group. “Hang on,” she said as they skidded to a stop while Misty slid on the floor. “Somepony's missing.”

“Izzy!” everyone cried and turned to Izzy, who was still sleeping in her bed with her mask on. “Let's go, sleepyhead!” Sunny said teasingly with a smile. “Breakfast time!” Pipp said with a wave of her hoof. “Wakey-wakey, Unicorny Flakeys!” Misty added with a smile. Izzy then got up with her mane a bit disheveled before she yawned and lifted her mask to show bags under her eyes. “Hey, ponies. Is it morning already?”

XXXXXXXX

And once everyone was downstairs and awake (somewhat, anyway), Sunny began to serve different kinds of breakfast to her friends to start their day off right.

Sunny: Hey, hey, hey, ponies, don't delay
Cause breakfast is the most important meal of the day
Cooking up your favorites with a twist or two
Just a touch of magic from me to you

Izzy prepared to catch the Unicorn Flakes cereal Blaze was nudging toward her, but because she was so tired, she missed and the cereal went flying on the floor. “Oh, no! My Unicorny Flakeys!”

Then, she made her unicorn friend, Señor Butterscotch, speak up jokingly. “More like Uni-floor-ny Flakeys now! Know what I'm sayin'?”

“Too soon, Señor B,” Izzy sighed as she went to pick up the mess. “Too soon!”

XXXXXXXX

After breakfast, the others went out into Maretime Bay and passed the sheriff's office, where Zipp whistled to get Hitch and Sparky's attention.

Hitch: Good times with my buddy
Is what it's all about
And things can't get much better
hades on, here we go, it's time to roll out

Then, as the two put on their sunglasses, everyone began to sing in perfect unison, dancing in the street.

All: If you feel the magic, let me hear you say "hey!"
Come on, feel the magic, ooh, feel the magic

Posey was walking by before she noticed the combined groups dancing together. “Ew. Is this a flash mob?” she asked with a strange look. “I... love it!”

“Let's dance, ponies!” Dahlia exclaimed excitedly to the Pippsqueaks before they joined the song and dance.

All: Come on, feel the magic, ooh, feel the magic

“Oh, I've always wanted to do one of these!” Windy squealed, immediately joining the dance. “Dance move! Dance move! I got it! Am I flash mobbing?!”

XXXXXXXX

Later, at Sunny's smoothie stand, she was preparing more smoothies than usual, and Windy was flying her orders out to the ponies who wanted them, just as a friendly way to help out.

Sunny: Smoothies flying off the shelves
Making new flavors and watching them sell
Hitch, Sparky! Smoothies are ready!

Windy: That's it, Windy! Nice and steady!

Windy flew to Hitch and Sparky to drop off their smoothies while Hitch directed traffic.

Hitch: Keepin' Maretime Bay runnin' smooth
Stop! Go! Come on through!
Hey there, whoa! Not so fast!
Put 'er there, pal, if you're havin' a blast!

XXXXXXXX

At the same time, Zipp was flying through Maretime Bay as fast as she could go, needing to get an important delivery to Mane Melody.

Zipp: Special delivery on it's way
Apparently ponies can't live without... mane-spray?

“Thank hoofness, Zipp! You saved the day!” Jazz said with a wide smile and a wave as Zipp flew off.

Jazz and Pipp: Whoa, yeah! You saved the day!

Jazz then got to Pipp and gave her a manespray bottle as she was doing the mane of a pegasus named Flare with Misty watching from nearby.

Pipp: Ooh, you're lookin' gorge
A little higher, please

Pipp sprayed some manespray on Sparkle before she had a thoughtful expression. “Hmmm, it needs a little something, ugh, more... Misty!”

Misty came up from behind Flare in that moment with a rainbow bottle and put a small drop on Flare's mane, giving it some rainbow highlights that Flare absolutely adored.

Pipp: Magnifiiiiique!!

All: If you feel the magic, let me hear you say "hey!"
Come on, feel the magic, ooh, feel the magic

As everyone sang together, the cutie marks of all the ponies lit up and blasted fireworks across the sky.

All: If you feel the magic, let me hear you say "hey!"
Come on, feel the magic, come on, feel the magic (Sunny: Feel the magic, come on, everypony!)

After the song was over, everyone went their seperate ways, except Izzy and Senor Butterscotch, who were still dancing. “Here in happy scenes from Maretime Bay today!” Skye Silver said from the news camera while gesturing to the tired dancing Izzy behind him. “As you can see, everypony is absolutely thriving!”

Izzy kept dancing as she walked backward, but then she hit Senor Butterscotch, which caused the two to tumble and roll around until they crashed into the flower stand. Skye Silver looked away before letting out a laugh. “Ooh. Well, maybe not everypony is thriving. Ha ha ha… back to you, Dazzle.”

“Hey! We heard that!” Izzy exclaimed before making Senor Butterscotch speak out too. “Yeah, watch it!”

“Hey, Iz… are you sure you’re okay?” Sunny asked as she helped Izzy brush off some flowers while the rest of the Mane 6 approached. “You seem… kinda tired today.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right, Sunny,” Hitch noted before turning to look at Izzy. “You really haven’t been your usual, off-the-walls-with-energy self.”

“Well… to be honest, I guess I kinda feel sad for a lot of reasons,” Izzy sighed. “The first one is… well… I miss going on Unity Quests!!”

Zipp blinked in surprise, not expecting this in the very slightest. “Wait… you do?”

“Well, sure!” Izzy argued. “I mean, I know usually that means there’s a big bad guy we have to stop, but… at least we have something to look forward to, you know?”

“I can see that,” Misty nodded. “But then… what’s the other thing?”

That’s when Izzy glanced down toward the Maretime Bay beach, and the others followed her gaze to a small cave, barely visible against the cliff wall, and suddenly… Sunny understood. “You’ve been worried about Allura, haven’t you?”

“She hasn’t really come out of her cave much after we showed her around Equestria,” Izzy frowned. “I think she kinda misses Alterro.”

“We told her we would try and find out where he is,” Pipp said, looking concerned, “but… we’re not exactly having the best luck.”

“Maybe… we should go check on her and Twitch,” Hitch suggested. “See how they’re holding up in their new home.”

“Good idea, Hitch. That would be the nice thing to do,” Sunny smiled before getting an idea. “Oh! I bet they’d like a nice fruit basket!”

“And I bet Twitch would like to see a new spell I’ve been working on-- turning snowflakes into carrots!” Misty agreed. “Let’s grab some things to bring down there and meet back here in ten.”

XXXXXXXX

After a little while, the ponies regathered at the beach with a few gifts for Allura before they set off down the beach to find the ice cave that she and Twitch were staying in.

Sunny had asked Allura recently if she would be more comfortable in a house or in the Brighthouse, but Allura had refused, saying she didn’t want to impose and the coolness of the cave was doing her a lot of good.

Soon, they arrived at the cave, and Zipp was the first to step forward and call out. “Hello? Allura? Twitch? Any creature home?”

Twitch peeked his head out from the cave and chirped and muttered in greeting, to which Hitch translated. “He says, ‘Boy, am I happy to see you. Allura’s in back, and she looks pretty down and out’.”

“Down and out?” Misty repeated. “That sure doesn’t sound good.”

“Can we go in and see her?” Sunny asked gently. “We don’t wanna invade on her personal space.”

“Uh-huh,” Twitch nodded before leading the ponies further into the cave, where they saw Allura in a solitary corner, looking down at the friendship bracelet she had received when they left Rosas.

Sunny was the first to clear her throat. “Um… hey, Allura. Are you doing okay?”

“Hmm? Oh… yes, I’m doing all right, thank you, Sunny,” Allura said as she yawned and stood up, stretching while doing so. “I guess I just feel… sort of in a rut, right now.”

“Is anyone up there being unfair to you?” Hitch asked gently. “Cause if you want, I can sort them out right--”

“No, it’s nothing like that, sheriff,” Allura said politely. “It’s just… Alterro is somewhere out there, and…”

“...we’re gonna try and find him so you can see him again,” Izzy said gently, putting a hoof on Allura’s back. “You’ll see.”

“And I know you’re trying your best,” Allura nodded to the ponies in understanding, “but… what if he doesn’t want to see me again?”

To this, Twitch and the Mane 6 seemed stunned. “What?! How can you say that? You’re his twin sister!” Pipp argued. “Of course he would wanna see you again.”

Allura sighed, her ears flattening against her head. “You don’t know how much Alterro changed when we were cubs. Before our mother died, we were happy and carefree, spending each day playing with our magic. But… when Father took over as reigning monarch, those days ended. We each fell victim to his harsh words and abuse, but… in a way… I think Alterro shifted into a smaller version of Father, due to how he treated our subjects when we took over as rulers after Father’s passing.”

“And… you’re worried about how he’ll act when you two finally reunite?” Misty asked gently, leading Allura to nod, a hint of sadness in her eyes. “If he finds out that I’ve betrayed my mission to find him, or that I’ve gone against everything Father stood for… he’ll never forgive me.”

“If your brother loves you like he says he does, then he’ll love you no matter what you decide,” Hitch said gently. “Spending all this time with Sparky has taught me that everypony-- er, every creature deserves to find a home and friends to be themselves with.”

“And you’ve really shown your true colors with us, Allura!” Izzy said, rather optimistically. “You made it a summer snow day for the foals and fillies last week!”

“And, you can use your ice magic to make ice pops from my smoothies!” Sunny grinned and giggled. “I’ve had to expand the menu.”

Allura chuckled and smiled at this. “I’m so thankful you ponies have given me and Twitch a home to call our own, despite everything that’s happened. I… just wish there was something we could do for you.”

As the ponies tried to think of something to say, they felt something occuring that they hadn’t felt in a series of weeks. Their cutie marks lit up brightly, and the magic from them conjured up a portal on the side of the ice cave.

It was then that Hitch thought of something Allura could help them with. “Well… since we apparently are going on another Unity Quest, would you and Twitch mind keeping Sparky company for a little while?”

“Of course. Someone out there needs your help,” said Allura with a smile, taking Sparky into her paws. “Go and do what you need to do.”

“All right, ponies, we have what we need within hooves’ reach,” said Sunny, “so let’s head to that portal and let another Unity Quest begin!”

And so, the Mane 6 waved goodbye to Allura, Twitch and Sparky before leaping into the portal a minute or two before it finally closed.

XXXXXXXX

But little did they know it, but Alterro was going to play a much bigger part in this story than they realized... until it was too late, that is.

Author's Note

Yes, I did use the beginning scene from The BlockyWockys for this chapter, just cause I felt like it would be a good season opener scene, you know?

Nobody better complain, lol.