Solar and Lunar

by marmalado

Off to Maretime Bay

As they flew, they raised the sun and lowered the moon in complete harmony.

And as they flew, they marked a new day in Equestria and a fresh start to their journey to a place that one of them knew well.

Maretime Bay.

A peaceful and quiet seaside town populated solely by Earth ponies, Maretime Bay was a relatively simple place. Ponies went about their daily, albeit magic-less, lives, seeming much more distant than the Princess of the Sun had seen them when she was a filly. In that way, the town felt devoid of...something, although it was hard to place what, exactly.

The two princesses easily transformed into their Earth pony forms and landed near the bridge that covered the tram tracks below, Izzy looking around at all the places and ponies with her eyes shimmering brightly.

"Whoa, so cool!"

As she was admiring the town, Sunny looked around in an attempt to find her father, or perhaps Hitch himself. What she saw, however, were downtrodden expressions and hushed, moody conversations. She made her way over to where a mare and a stallion were talking, making sure to assume a position where it wasn't obvious she was eavesdropping.

"I just can't believe he died. He seemed like a healthy pony...even if he did live isolated." the mare said.

"And without his daughter, too. She went missing years ago and hasn't even been seen since. Didn't even bother to come back for her dad."

A pit slowly, ever so slowly, began forming in Sunny's stomach. She suddenly couldn't bear to hear anymore, and without thinking, she made herself known.

"E-excuse me?"

The mare and the stallion turned to look at her.

"Could you tell me where I can find Hitch Trailblazer?"

Both ponies exchanged odd glances. "He's at the police station." The stallion extended a hoof and pointed to the place that Sunny was very familiar with.

"Thank you very much!" the disguised alicorn said, before darting off towards where Izzy was standing in front of a bakery.

"Sunny! Uh, I mean, Dicey Roll!" Izzy waved her over. "Look. At. This. Bakery. Ooh, it smells so gooooood! We should go inside!"

"You can go inside if you want." Sunny glanced towards the police station. "I need to go and see somepony."

"Okay! Meetcha in a bit!" Singing a happy ditty, Izzy made her way inside the store.

With trembling legs, Sunny slowly made her way towards the Maretime Bay Police Station. It looked the same as it always was, which is something that both surprised her and didn't surprise her given the lack of magic.

She pushed open the door, only to find nopony there.

"H-hello?" she called out nervously, suddenly feeling a chill run down her spine that certainly wasn't helped by the gloomy atmosphere outside. Her hooves took her around the station, with no luck.

After circling the room a few times, she sat down and sighed. He's probably out. Unless he... She shook her head. No, of course he's not. Hitch is a strong pony. Even with magic gone, he'll still live his life like he always has.

But what if-

"Hello?"

Sunny gasped, and she whirled around to see a rather familiar sight standing in the doorway. The light-saffron fur, the moderate-saffron eyes, the mane that was just the most wondrous mix of aquamarine and arctic blue...there was no doubt about it. Even as a full-grown stallion, she could still recognize him clear as day.

"H-h-Hitch...?"

"Uh, yes? That's me! The one and only!" Hitch chuckled. "Can I help you, ma'am?"

Sunny became paralyzed with indecisiveness. What do I say?! On the one hoof, I can't expose myself and tell him I'm an alicorn until I know he's one of the saviors. But on the other hoof, I want to show him my real form and ask about my dad...

Finally, after what seemed like moons, she shook her head vigorously. "S-sorry about that! Um, y-yes, I was hoping you could help me figure out what happened to...Argyle Starshine?"

The color drained from Hitch's face, and he suddenly avoided eye contact with her, his gaze moving to the ground as he kicked it with his hoof.

The pit grew bigger.

"He, um..." Hitch shook his head. "I'm sorry, do you two know each other?"

Yes, we do! I'm his daughter! her mind screamed, although what came out of her mouth was much different. "Yes. He was a dear friend of mine. I had, um, gone on vacation away from Maretime Bay, and everypony seems so distant..."

The stallion's eyes shimmered with sadness and grief.

"He died."

He died.

He died.

Hediedhediedhediedhediedhedied-

Her mind completely shut down. Any sense of rationality she had went completely out the window. Her body began to quiver.

"He dropped to the ground in Town Square. I took him to the hospital...t-the doctors said it was a stroke..."

A stroke.

A stroke.

Astrokeastrokeastrokeastrokeastroke-

"I'm really sorry."

Sunny grit her teeth, and then let out a scream. A scream that rocketed through the police station, blew the doors open, and echoed both inside and outside.

Her transformation slowly became undone.

Her wings appeared, followed by her horn, and then, the rest of her true form began to take shape.

Within a few minutes, the form of Sunny Starscout stood before Hitch. He became paralyzed with a wave of emotions -- shock, fear, panic, confusion. All he could hear was his own heartbeat, his brain not even fully registering the shaking and sobbing form of the pony who was once his fillyhood friend. He wasn't sure what to focus on first.

Sunny Starscout?!

B-but she has wings! And a horn!

She's an alicorn?!

Who was that pony I was just speaking to?

What in Equestria is happening?!

The two ponies remained in their current states for a long, long time. Sounds came out of Hitch's mouth, feeble attempts to form words that would somehow communicate his reaction to the reveal in a relatively sane manner. His ears picked up the muffled sounds of ponies outside, some panicked, others concerned, most racing for the police station to get answers.

"Hitch, what's going o-"

The mare who had spoken could only stare at the pony who was a mess of tears and emotions, shuddering on the floor with her hooves covering her face. Hitch slowly pivoted his head and stared at the crowd of Maretime Bay residents who were now standing outside of the station.

Surprised murmurs began to fill the air.

"Is that Sunny? Sunny Starscout?"

"What is she doing here?"

"Forget about that for right now, look at her wings and horn!"

"Was this her true form all along?!"

A pony with red fur and a blonde mane pushed his way through the crowd. "'Scuse me, deputy comin' through!" he called, making his way inside with great effort and with a bag of pastries in his hoof.

His eyes drifted to Sunny.

And he screamed.

Luckily, Hitch snapped out of his stupor just in time to clap a hoof over his mouth and shut him up. "Sprout, don't."

The deputy pointed a hoof at the emotional alicorn mare and attempted to fire a flurry of angry words that only served to be muffled by the hoof of his fellow police officer in his mouth.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Sunny stopped her crying for a brief moment as her ears picked up the voice of Izzy, bouncing up and down in order to get a good look. Eventually, the disguised alicorn mare shunted her way through, landing gracefully in the police station. "Sorry about that!" she called to the crowd.

Her head swiveled around to survey the situation, and she gasped. "Sunny?"

"Do...you two know each other?" Hitch asked.

Forgetting for a moment that she was supposed to be disguised, Izzy blinked. "U-um...yes! I, uhh...I grew up in this town when I was a filly, yeah! And I knew Sunny preeeetty well."

"Then how come I've never seen you before?" Hitch removed his hoof from Sprout's mouth and made his way over to the Earth pony, pacing in circles around her and eyeing her up and down.

"Yeah...I've never seen you before, either!" Sprout chimed in. "Who are you?"

"M-M-Moon Flower!"

Hitch and Sprout both exchanged glances, the emotion in them of which Izzy was unable to place.

"Stay there." Hitch ordered after a minute or so had passed, turning to Sunny and sitting down beside her.

"What are you doing?! Don't touch her! She could be dangerous!"

"Sunny?"

A couple sobs wracked Sunny's body as she slowly tried to sit up. Her bloodshot aquamarine eyes stared at Hitch, then at Sunny, then at the disguised form of Izzy, then at the crowd of clamoring ponies, before closing slowly. She gave a heavy sigh.

"My disguise came undone, didn't it?"

She couldn't see it, but she could feel Hitch, Sprout, and Izzy all nodding.

"Hitch...is it true? D-did...Dad really die?"

"Yes." he said. "I speak the truth, Sunny."

The alicorn gave a few more sobs, gritting her teeth together and feeling the tears stream down her face, with all the elegance of a small flowing river.

Izzy, meanwhile, looked at her hooves. Should I reveal myself, too? she thought, before glancing at the crowd of ponies. I wanna help Sunny, but if I expose myself...

These ponies haven't seen an alicorn before, either...have they?

She trotted to Sunny's side and sat down beside her. "Um...Hitch, was it?" she said. "Could you close the blinds and, uh...close the doors?"

"I'll do it." Sprout raised a hoof before turning and doing as he was asked, giving some reassuring words to the crowd before slamming the doors and lowering the blinds so that they completely obscured the ponies outside.

"Sunny, I won't talk about your dad's death until you're ready, okay?" Hitch said. "Again, I'm really sorry. I know how much you loved him, and I know how much he loved you."

Pain continued to grip the alicorn's heart. She wanted to give another anguished scream, but she didn't have the energy to.

A long time passed before Sunny was able to utter out another word.

"Hitch..." She sniffled. "I want to explain everything."

"Go ahead. I'm listening."

Through a cracked voice and a broken heart, she told her fillyhood friend every detail she could encounter -- about meeting Izzy, about her ascension, about her magic taking her far from home, about meeting Terra, about spending years mastering all three aspects of her magic. With each topic she shifted to, she could feel energy being sapped from her, just a little bit at a time. And at the end of it all, she felt like sleeping the entire rest of the day away, to recuperate and try to meet her dad in her dreams if she couldn't do it in the waking world.

Sprout watched on with a disgusted and horrified look on his face. Hitch, on the other hoof, was completely shocked, but far more sympathetic. A load of questions swirled in his mind that he desperately wanted answered, and he glanced at the pony who had dubbed herself "Moon Flower".

"Huh? What's up? Something on my face?" Izzy reached into hammerspace and pulled out a mirror, her eyes widening when she found out why Hitch was looking at her the way that he was. "Oh. Whoopsie! My bad."

Closing her eyes, she allowed her true form to show, extra appendages and all.

"So you really are an alicorn..." he breathed.

"Yup! I used to be a little ol' unicorn living in Bridlewood, but I ascended along with Sunny and became...the Princess of the Night!"

"Bridlewood?"

Izzy nodded enthusiastically.

"Huh. Never met anypony from Bridlewood before." he mused.

"Sunny, are you feeling okay? Maybe we should..." Izzy trailed off, wanting to suggest that they go to Sunny's home before realizing that probably wasn't the best place for her to be at the moment.

"Izzy." Sunny put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "You want to take me home, don't you? Back to the lighthouse?"

"Well, I..." Izzy faltered, but nodded. "Yes. You look so tired. Maybe a nap will do you some good!"

"Maybe."

Izzy turned to Hitch. "Hey, Hitch, can you calm down the ponies outside? And you too, uh...Sprout."

Sprout instinctively shook his head. A deep slicing glare from Hitch, however, brought him to his senses, and he reluctantly made his way to the double doors, where the crowd was still raging outside. He could spot his mother, eyeing the crowd with suspicion, and began to go into a sweat.

"Citizens!" Hitch called out the second he opened the doors. "Please, calm down!"

The crowd continued to clamor.

"CALM DOWN! THAT'S AN ORDER FROM YOUR SHERIFF!"

Immediately, the noise died down.

"Thank you." Hitch cleared his throat. "Now, don't be alarmed. It's just a little...station mishap."

"But I saw two alicorns in there!" one pony said, causing everyone's eyes to widen.

"I-it's a costume! Just a costume. Don't worry." Sprout waved a dismissive hoof. "Please just go back to whatever you were doing. There is no threat to the general public! I repeat, there is no threat to the general public!"

The crowd murmured. Some ponies were hesitant, but others were convinced and decided to depart from the crowd.

"It's our job to keep Maretime Bay safe and free from harm. If we're in danger, then we'll know, and we'll deal with it." he said to the hesitant ponies.

"Oh? You don't say."

A familiar but sickening voice cut through the tension, and an Earth pony mare with light peach-colored fur and a blonde mane and tail stepped forward.

"I know what I saw in there. Two alicorns, wings and horns and all. Don't tell me you just so happened to invite them here?"

Hitch bit back a groan. "No, Phyllis, I didn't invite them here."

"So there are alicorns in there?!" one pony shouted. This caused whomever was left of the crowd to begin clamoring, and ponies in the immediate vicinity to take notice.

"I don't plan on getting killed by alicorns today, Sheriff." Phyllis spat. "But if you want to take your time in getting rid of them, then fine by me. It will be good business for Canterlogic."

"Honestly, Mom. Everypony in Maretime Bay is getting sick and tired of your ramblings."

"Oh? The sales I make beg to differ, my little pony." Phyllis chuckled. "Alicorns are brutal and murderous creatures. They don't belong here. It's just such a shame Hitch couldn't see that...I blame Scarlet."

"My mom has nothing to do with this. Leave her out of this conversation!" Hitch could feel his levels of rage rising with each sentence he put out, his eyes blazing with a fire of malice and determination.

Which only proved to get worse when Phyllis gave a noblemare's laugh. "If you say so." She turned hoof and made her way back towards the Canterlogic factory.

"Hitch, answer us! There are alicorns inside the station, aren't there?!" one pony in the crowd cried out, which seemed to snap the sheriff out of his anger.

He shook his head to clear his mind, then hesitantly nodded. "Yes. There are."

He winced at the gasps and murmurs that rippled through the crowd.

"They're going to eat us!"

"I don't want my essence stolen!"

"Maretime Bay is doomed for destruction!"

"Everypony, listen!" Sprout stomped his hoof on the ground a few times, making the crowd fall silent. "Yes, alicorns are here in Maretime Bay. But don't worry. As ponies who uphold the peace, both Hitch and I will keep all of you safe. We will make them leave as soon as possible."

"And Sunny is an alicorn too?!"

"Yes." Hitch nodded. "Unfortunately, that means we will have to make her leave too. Rest assured that we will work as hard as we can to resolve this situation."

The rest of the crowd dispersed, ponies muttering amongst each other. Hitch couldn't understand what they were saying, but he got a feeling that some ponies were doubting him and Sprout.

With the station's doorway no longer obstructed, both stallions could safely get Sunny and Izzy to the former's lighthouse home.

Upon stepping inside, Sunny's eyes widened. Hardly anything had changed since she left, aside from her dad's research room which was littered with a lot more papers and books than before. Even her room was left intact.

"So this is where you live?" Izzy asked. "Fancy-schmancy! Though not as fancy-schmancy as my house."

"It's nothing special." Sunny said. "But, um...thanks for taking me home, Hitch, Sprout. Maybe we could talk tomorrow, when I'm feeling better?"

"Of course. Just remember, you're welcome here in Maretime Bay whether you're an alicorn or an Earth pony."

"Thanks."

Hitch frowned, noting that the smile his fillyhood friend gave him wasn't genuine. He hated seeing Sunny in such a state of misery, even moreso that he couldn't do anything about it at this very moment.

"Can I stay, too?"

Hitch and Sprout nodded. "Any friend of Sunny Starscout is a friend of ours. What did you say your name was again?"

"Izzy Moonbow. Princess Izzy Moonbow, if you wanna be formal, but Izzy's just fine!" Izzy said. "And your names?"

"Hitch Trailblazer."

"Sprout Cloverleaf." Sprout nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"Samesies!"

"If you want a tour of Maretime Bay, I'm happy to give you one. But I'd suggest you transform into...uh...that disguise you had on. 'Moon Flower'." Hitch suggested. "Not everypony knows you're an alicorn. This way, you won't draw attention to yourself."

Izzy nodded. "Sure!" With her horn alight, she changed back into her Earth pony form. "Can we start now?"

Sprout couldn't help but chuckle at her high energy, nodding in response to her query. "Let's go."

The disguised alicorn began humming a ditty as she bounced her way out of Sunny's house, Hitch and Sprout both following suit and giving each other knowing smiles.

A few minutes into the tour, Izzy had excused herself, saying that she needed to go to the bathroom. With this excuse, it gave her free reign to help her alicorn friend.

Making sure nopony was around to see her, she ducked into a dark and lonesome alleyway and transformed into her alicorn form, letting her horn blaze alight once more.

---

Sunny awoke in a landscape that had about the same color and texture as cotton candy. She knew right away that she was in a dream, and eagerly looked around. "Dad?" she called, her eyes shimmering with hope.

No response.

But after a few seconds had passed, a pony began to materialize.

It was hard to see through the thick haze that bound the clouds together, and so she couldn't see who exactly was arriving in her dream.

"Sunny-bunny."

That nickname...she knew it all too well.

Tears began to form in her eyes, and she felt her throat close up as her father stepped forth and broke free of the haze. His loving smile, relaxed posture, and warm eyes felt so genuine that it was like he, as an alive pony, had found some way to enter Sunny's dream.

She choked back a sob and immediately ran to him, burying her face in his chest and sobbing with all of her heart. As much as she tried to find the words to say to him, only sobs of grief, of shock, of sadness came out. The alicorn cried into his chest for a very long time, and he simply sat and allowed her to get her feelings out, rubbing a hoof along her back for comfort.

When Sunny stopped crying, she lifted her head up and looked at her dad. His kind expression almost made her want to start sobbing again, but she forced herself to hold it together -- after all, who knew when she would get an opportunity like this again?

"D-dad..." She sniffled. "I'm...so sorry. I should have come back soon. I never should have gone with Terra, I should have stayed with you!"

"Nonsense." Argyle shook his head. "Your destiny guided you and entrusted you to Terra because I knew, just from a gut feeling, that she would protect you and teach you well. I was aware that you going to her would mean that I would not see you for a very long time." He smiled. "But look at you. You've grown up to be a strong and wise pony, one who is on a mission of her own that will change the future of all Equestria. I couldn't be prouder."

Tears welled up in Sunny's eyes again. "When I came back to Maretime Bay, I wasn't expecting the news that you were dead...from a stroke, no less!"

"To tell you the truth, I don't think this was a random stroke." Argyle explained. "Before you returned, I had decided to take a journey to Ponbonear Island in search of an ancient artifact that might help in restoring magic to Equestria. Lucerna's Locket, I believe it was called."

Her eyes widened as she hung onto every word.

"At one point on my travels, I had eaten a few berries that I had thought was safe, but upon closer inspection, looked similar to another berry that was actually safe to eat. I didn't think much of it. Unfortunately, when I was out running errands, I ended up collapsing."

She folded her ears downwards. Part of her wanted to snap at her dad right then and there, ask him why he didn't know any better and why he had to die from an easily-avoidable act of stupidity. But the other part of her, the part that told her doing that would amount to nothing, won over. Instead, she buried her face in her hooves, trying hard not to cry again.

"What happened after that, I'm not sure. I only know darkness now."

She wanted to go there. Another small part of her wanted to go to the darkness, and be with her dad forever and ever and ever. But at the same time, she knew that this was merely a dream, that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring her dad back to the waking world -- Terra would have told her the same thing had she asked about it, she figured.

She felt stuck. Trapped by emotions that were so twisted and so tangled that she couldn't even identify them. She felt miserable, but she also felt a sense of acceptance. She wasn't sure where to go next.

"Dad..."

"Don't say anything, Sunny-bunny. Even though I'm gone, I know you'll be able to bring magic back, make new friends, and enlighten the ponies of Equestria to come together instead of standing apart. And I'll always be watching over you." Argyle looked at the peach-colored sky. "All you need to do is look up."

Her eyes shimmered as she remembered Izzy telling her the same thing about her dead mother. She's up there in the starry sky, every night...just like Dad. He'll always be up there, too. He'll brighten up the sun and give me warmth every single day. And on cloudy days, his ray of sunshine will always cut through the fog and shine on me, his loving daughter who will carry on his legacy.

Yes. I understand now.

Tears began to well up in her eyes again and dripped onto the ground, but they were not tears of grief -- on the contrary. She enveloped her dad in another tight hug. "T-thank you, Dad. I love you, and I always will."

"I know, honey. I know."

For a brief moment, the alicorn thought she could see the silhouette of Izzy high in the sky, but she woke up before she could confirm her suspicions.

---

As her eyes drifted to her alarm clock, she saw that it read 4:00. Jeez, have I really been sleeping that long? she thought, rolling out of bed and getting on her hooves. For some reason her body felt achy, but aside from that and the fatigue, her mood had vastly improved.

Once she fixed herself some lunch, she went into Argyle's research room and decided to look around. Within only a few minutes, she was reading about an artifact known as the "Unity Crystals" and how Twilight and her friends created them using the sealed magic of Equestria.

Maybe this is the key to restoring magic... Her eyes darted about, trying to look for any evidence of the Earth Pony Crystal that Argyle had said was stored in the very room she stood in. Books were tossed, items were shifted around, and the room was a complete mess by the time Sunny had finished looking.

So of course, it would make sense that the Crystal was hidden in the most obvious place.

Right in a treasure chest that sat by the window that the alicorn had missed.

Groaning, she opened the chest and levitated a small blue box. As she opened it, she found a note inside.

Dear Sunny-bunny,
I found this crystal on my travels. I had wanted to use it in your birthday gift, but I decided to hunt for a fitting substitute instead. I've kept it in this box for you, so that when you return, you may use it to reunite Equestria. I have written extensive observation notes on the Unity Crystals, and I hope that they'll help you in your journey.

With much love,
Dad

Her eyes widened. Such an important crystal as this, just...found? On the ground? She wasn't sure exactly how, but she supposed there would be time to answer that later. Right now, she had crystals to put back together.

Holding the Crystal in her magic aura, she sped out of the room and ran straight for the door like a pony getting the heck outta Dodge City. Before she could open the door, however, the door swung open seemingly on its own and clocked her clear in the face.

"That was sooooo much fun! And that food was absolutely delicious..." Izzy's mouth began to water. "Thanks so much!"

"It's nothing." Sprout smiled. "I'm glad you were able to see all of the sights of our fair city."

"Most of them." Hitch corrected. "We still had some seasonal shops we couldn't check out, remember?"

"Oh. Right."

"Sunny? You okay?"

Izzy peered around the door to find her friend furiously rubbing her snout, a pretty-looking white crystal laying on the floor beside her. "Ooh, what's this?" she asked, levitating it and watching it shine in the light.

"It's the Earth Pony Crystal." Sunny shook her head. "It's one of the three Unity Crystals."

The trio all looked rightfully confused.

"Come on. Sit down and I'll tell you all about it."

"Yeah...we do have a lot to talk about, don't we?" Sprout remarked.

---

And talk they did.

For what seemed like hours, Sunny told Sprout, and reiterated to Hitch, what had happened to her and why she had returned. She told them about her dream, and about the research she had found.

"Me? You think I'm one of the saviors?"

Sunny nodded. "I couldn't think of anypony more suited, Hitch. You always think of everypony in Maretime Bay and always keep it safe from harm. I know you could extend that to the whole of Equestria. And you do! Just look at Izzy!"

Izzy beamed. "Yeah! You were super-duper nice and super-duper understanding of us and our new forms. Most anypony would freak out and not even try to befriend us."

"That is true, I guess..." Hitch nodded. "But restoring magic back to Equestria? Do you realize how grand of a task that is? I may be the sheriff of Maretime Bay, but I-I don't know about bringing magic back..."

"Please, Hitch. This will be for the greater good." As Sunny pleaded, she saw Sprout fold his ears down and look away, his face wearing an emotion of which she couldn't place.

Silence overtook the room as Hitch closed his eyes, in deep thought about whether he wanted to go through with this or not. On the one hoof, he felt conflicted -- he was just going to leave his hometown with Sunny to gallivant across Equestria to maybe or maybe not bring back magic? -- but on the other, he placed most of his trust in Sunny and figured that she and Izzy knew what they were doing.

His face expression contorted into anger as he thought back to Phyllis's words. He had to admit, if there was one thing that was going to get him to go on this journey, it was her. To rub it in her face and let her see how wrong she was. To get sweet, sweet revenge on her.

Finally, his eyes flew open, and he gave a single affirmative nod.

"Okay, Sunny. I'll go with you."

Her eyes shimmered. "You will?!"

"Yes. If I'm being honest...I want magic back just as badly as you do." He looked out the window to his right. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Maretime Bay hasn't been the same since Argyle passed away. The ponies go about their days as usual, but there's this air of...melancholy I feel every time I step outside."

Izzy nodded, as did Sunny, having seen some ponies walk with their heads down or with slumped postures and having felt the gloomy vibe of the place upon arrival

"As for being a savior...I'm not sure about that yet. But maybe this adventure will help me make a decision. Or maybe it'll help destiny make a decision?" He shook his head, trying to clear his confused and cluttered brain. "Either way, bottom line is, I'm going with you."

The two mares cheered and hoof-fived each other.

"Sprout, I'm gonna need you to watch the station while I'm gone, of course."

"Of course I will. You can count on me."

"Okay." Sunny got up. "I want to leave tomorrow morning. Izzy and I had originally wanted to go to Zephyr Heights before I told her I wanted to come here, so to Zephyr Heights it is!"

"The city of the Pegasi?" Hitch tilted his head.

"Yeah. I don't really know of any exact locations the other two saviors would be...but Zephyr Heights isn't too far from here. It would be worth it to check it out."

"Plus, I really wanna see the Pegasi!" Izzy blurted out. "I've never been to Zephyr Heights, and my mom always told me that Pegasi were bad...so I wanna see if she was right!"

Hitch shot Izzy a concerned look, wondering how she could be so nonchalant about walking into a lion's den like that. Still, he had to smile and shake his head. Those two are like two peas in a pod, aren't they?

The group eventually decided to have an early dinner at Le Chehz (Izzy couldn't help but crack up at the name and ask why they chose that name, of all the names to choose), and returned home to gather their bearings and prep for their trip.

"Thanks for letting me stay with you tonight, Sunny."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Izzy. Now that Dad's gone, I could use a companion...and his room is free now."

As the alicorn moved towards the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge and the pantries for something that could be eaten as a dessert, Izzy hesitated -- although her hesitation wasn't regarding her friend's act of hospitality. "You want any help?" she offered.

"Nah, I'll be fine. Ooh, hey, there's a box of pudding here!"

Izzy moved towards the living room and took a seat on the couch, turning on the TV and letting her eyes glaze over as her brain only absorbed half of what was being said. She was so lost in thought, in fact, that she didn't even register Sunny setting a bowl of chocolate pudding in front of her.

"Izzy? What's wrong?"

She perked up, consciousness returning to her as she stared at the concerned Sunny that was levitating her own bowl of pudding.

"I- it's...you see..."

"Izzy, you can tell me. I'm here to listen."

The princess sighed, sitting up on the couch. "Um...well...you know that dream you had? With your dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I may have...created it for you."

Sunny very nearly dropped both her bowl and her spoon. Luckily, she had enough sense to set it down onto the coffee table first. "You...you did that?"

Izzy nodded. "I-I didn't mean to! But you were just so sad, and I thought that reuniting with your dad again, one last time, would help you."

Sunny could only blink at this explanation. Since when does she have the power...? Did Terra teach her something and I just never heard about it? Something inside her chided her for asking such a rhetorical question, and she snapped out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't be." Sunny shook her head. "Meeting with my dad again was just what I needed. I remembered your words from yesterday, Izzy...about you being able to see your mom in the night sky all the time. And it helped me to reassure myself that my dad is up there too, always watching me. If I miss him, all I have to do is look up."

Izzy couldn't help but smile, her mood slowly but surely doing a 180.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

And sure enough, Izzy found herself wrapped in a hug.

The two mares laughed for a long time -- in happiness, in pain, in suffering, in relief. They laughed themselves to the point of exhaustion, and then they broke free and ate their pudding in silence, with nothing but the TV for noise.

Although the lingering thought of needing to prepare for tomorrow stayed in both of their minds, they ended up falling asleep on the couch, both from the feeling of fullness the pudding gave them and from having all of their energy sapped from the day's events. Sunny rested her head on Izzy's back, its steady rise and fall providing an ample sleep aid for her. Izzy, meanwhile, elicited snores that would threaten to send the lighthouse tumbling down if it wasn't sturdy enough -- not that Sunny minded, of course. She was too exhausted to care, and she had lived with Izzy long enough to get used to them, anyway.

And thus, the town of Maretime Bay was at peace for yet another night as ponies got their well-needed rest to meet the next day ahead.

Well, most ponies.

"Hi, Mom...I'm home." Sprout said as he pushed his way through the front door of his mother's luxurious-looking home.

"Oh, welcome back, sweetie! I'm glad those alicorns didn't hurt you."

"Um, about that..."

Sprout made his way into the living room.

"You might be happy to know they're leaving tomorrow. They're going on a journey with Hitch to Zephyr Heights."

"Zephyr Heights, hmm?" Phyllis tapped a hoof to her chin. "Quite interesting. Good for me...and good for my business."

"How's that?"

"I know I wanted them gone, but now that I've had time to think about it, them staying or leaving could go one way or the other. If they stayed, I would gain more business. But if they left...I could always let the threat of them coming back and destroying us all looming over these ponies' heads. And then they would have to buy from Canterlogic. I am, after all, ponies' only hope. So it's a win-win situation for me either way!"

Sprout wanted to say something, he really did. But no words came out. All he could do was listen as his mother rambled on and on about ridiculous things such as the fantasy of beating them to Zephyr Heights and creating an army to take the two alicorns down before they left, but also sane things such as Hitch being an ally of theirs (which she still blamed on Scarlet) and Sprout himself possibly taking over his place as Sheriff permanently.

Eventually, he grew tired of listening to his mother and declared his intentions of going to bed, the verbal venom that spewed from her mouth weighing down on him like he had been stepped on by an elephant. He took some time to scribble his thoughts in a notebook.

Hi, random piece of paper in a notebook.
So my mom is going on and on about how bad Pegasi and unicorns are...again. But this time, she's added alicorns to the mix. Do I agree with what she said? No. I want to fight back against her, but I just can't. She's more powerful than me. She has a heavy influence on everypony here and could easily turn them against me...and since I'm going to be the only Sheriff here, now, I don't want to risk that.

Maybe I should ask Hitch, Sunny and Izzy what they think. Maybe they would have some advice for me.

...No. They're going on an important mission. I shouldn't bother them.

I guess the only thing I can do now is avoid my mom, serve the citizens of Maretime Bay as best I can, and wait for them to come back.

And hopefully, not get the town destroyed in the process.

Sighing, he closed the notebook and laid his head down on his bed, his mind reeling with thoughts as he closed his eyes and got taken to dreamland for another night.

Comments

[Comickook]

Hey there. Again, you did an excellent job on this chapter. Definitely appreciated the work that went into the dialogue, exchanges and future chapter set-up. So Sunny found out about her father's death and, yeah, can't fault her for being upset, to the point of blowing her cover briefly. Still, really liked the dialogue with Hitch and Sprout (especially with the welcome bits of both Adaptational Intelligence [minor, but still enough to be aware of his short-comings and also be aware that his mother is not always right] AND Adaptational Nice Guy [enough to occasionally stand up to his mother as well as treat Izzy with respect AND be a lot more reluctant to go against Hitch]) on the parts of the latter, even at the expense of bits of Adaptational Villainy on Phyllis's part) as well as Sunny still being able to talk to her father via the dreamscape (thanks to Izzy) and get more details on his death AND on the notes concerning the Unity Crystals. Glad they got Hitch on their side already. Sprout's journal notes were another good touch, even if he knows how badly the odds are against him.

REALLY looking forward to more of this.

[FreddyGodX]

The chapter was interesting. It's done very well! I will be waiting for even more chapters of this story!

[Poparakelis]

A horrible pony and a horrible mother too