Sunny's group were all quickly gathered inside the Friendship Castle back in Ponyville, with Sprout and Sunny being specifically with Twilight & Starlight; Hitch and Pipp were with Applejack and Fluttershy accordingly; finally Zipp was still with Rainbow Dash while Izzy Moonbow was with Rarity.
As for Phyllis, Haven, and Alphabittle, after being taken to a room by Flash Sentry, the Pegasus Stallion had left to go round up more of the ponies who had arrived from the far off future as it turns out that the nine who were there with the crystal weren't the only ones who got sent back to what was essentially the past for them: All the ponies from their time period had dropped across Ponvyille though one in particular was brought to the Friendship Castle by Zecora.
"Greetings strangers to this town and time; allow me to give you welcome and rhyme." Zecora said.
"Err...thanks." Sunny Starscout said. Zecora had then left. "...Funny, I don't remember my father mentioning anything about a Zebra in this time period." Sunny admitted.
"That's because Zecora doesn't, she instead lives in the Everfree Forest which seemed to also have undergone a few changes." Twilight said.
"You've got that right, it looks a little bit like the woods we unicorns were living in just not as tamed." Alphabittle said.
"I don't see how any form of pony society could live in the Everfree Forest. During our time, it's very much a habitat for some dangerous creatures such as Manticores, but the most common one seen in there are the Timberwolves." Rainbow Dash said.
"And if'n you ask me, the Timberwolves are the worst of the worst of them as they tend to attack in packs." Applejack said. "If a group of 'em magest to surround even a couple of ponies, those ponies won't make it ah'm afriad." She added.
"Tch, I've seen what they look like in one of those books. They don't look so tough." Sprout said. Suddenly while Applejack tilted her hat over her face, Rainbow Dash wing smacked the back of Sprout's head. "Ow! What was that for?!" The Earth Pony Stallion exclaimed.
Rainbow Dash pointed at Applejack. "Watch your tongue on that. Applejack's mother and father were killed by those things." The pegasus noted.
"It's true. And while ah don't like talkin' about it, it doesn't really hide the truth much now, don't it?" Applejack asked.
"Oh...I...see..." Sprout said suddenly looking very shaken. "I...apologize..." Sprout said.
"Did I just hear Sprout apologize? Never thought I'd see the day." Hitch said.
"I kind of understand how Applejack feels. My own father died while I had moved away from the lighthouse for a couple of years." Sunny said. "I may have never found out how he died, and my own mother died shortly after giving birth to me. I know more than anyone here what never getting to say goodbye to your parents properly is like." She added.
"You too huh?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah. The stories my father would tell about this time period of Equestria are what drove me to want to unite the three pony tribes again." Sunny Starscout said. "Most especially the ones father tell me about Twilight Sparkle and her group of five friends." She added.
"Wait your own father told you stories about us when you were young? I didn't know we could turn out to be such role models." Pinkie Pie said. "Not even my patented Pinkie Sense can see that far into the future." She added.
"It's just sucks that every pony from our time is now stuck here. And meanwhile Twilight is over there with Spike and Starlight trying to figure out what makes my alicorn form different from the actual alicorns." Sunny Starscout said.
"Hold one moment, Twilight, if this reading is correct..." Spike said.
"I know I did my testing right, which means...oh my gosh! This is the discovery of a lifetime!" Twilight said.
"What? What's the discovery of a lifetime?" Hitch asked.
"I'm sensing a doozy coming!" Pinkie Pie said.
"In our time, there's the tale behind a traditional holiday called Hearth's Warming's Eve which celebrates when the three tribes first came together and put aside their differences once and for all. The story involves how in ancient times, the three tribes were once only communicating with each other through a complicated trade process when soon tensions rised between the three tribes which attracted the Windingos. While trapped in a cavern, a Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth Pony at some point became close friends, and just when it looked like the last of the ponies would be frozen over by the winter storm the Windingos brought with them, the Friendship Fire was created and brought forth, expelling the Windingos." Twilight explained.
"So tensions between the three tribes existed in your history at some point too? But then how did after that, did they split up again by our time?" Sunny Starlight asked.
"I don't care how it could happen, I'm going to do my part to prevent it from ever happening again this time." Twilight said.
"...I suppose if we're really stuck here, we might as well help out. I know that it eventually brought me and my friends together, if we can't get back to our proper time period, we might as well prevent another situation like with Sprout from ever happening again." Sunny said.
"Hey don't lump me in with--" Sprout started.
"Your going to help if you know what's good for you Sprout. It's the least you could do after you almost killed Sunny. And don't forget, I'm not the only authority figure you've pissed off for what you did." Hitch said.
"...Meep..." Sprout said simply. "...So, back on topic here, what's this Friendship Fire got to do with Sunny's Alicorn form?" He asked.
"That's just it: The magics demonstrated when Sunny is using her alicorn form are in fact very similar to the Friendship Fire. I believe that by uniting the pony tribes once more in your time together with the three Unity Crystals had a combined effect where it allows for Sunny to use the magics of all three pony tribes without being an actual alicorn in her normal form." Twilight said. "In other words, when your three tribes finally came together once more in unity, it allowed for the Unity Crystals to bestow a sort of magical aura on Sunny that allows her to use all three pony tribe magics." She added.
"Wow...I guess you could see the similarities." Izzy Said.
"I just have one question: How come none of the ponies of this time period reacted much to us dropping from the sky? From what I was seeing, they were all mingling just fine." Phyllis said.
"That's Ponyville for you; something crazy tends to happen around here at least once a week so a bunch of ponies dropping from the sky out of portals that just want to mingle and be friendly isn't something that will through the town into a panic." Rainbow Dash said.
Suddenly a bunch of ponies were heard screaming. "...And what's that about?" Hitch said.
Looking out the window, Twilight spotted a Manticore that had made it's way into town. "...There's also a monster attack at least once a month here too. That's more of a concern then a bunch of new ponies dropping form the sky that just want to mingle." Twilight said. "Come on girls." She said.
"...Is it just me, or is the fact that this town is so used to crazy random dung happening that they aren't even phased by us being here is concerning?" Sprout asked.
"You're not the only one thinking that I believe." Hitch admitted.