//------------------------------// // The perfect journey // Story: A new chapter begins // by CrimsonBrony4812 //------------------------------// It was a perfect day as Sunny, Izzy, and Zipp started their journey. It wasn't long before Izzy started humming to herself. They were making good time until they came to a cliff blocked by boulders. Zipp quickly flew to the top, while Sunny and Izzy tried to figure out what to do. Sunny looked at Izzy and asked, "Do you think you can arrange it like a staircase Izzy?" "I can try," Izzy said. Izzy's horn started to glow as she concentrated on moving the boulders. She was almost done when she collapsed. Sunny checked to make sure Izzy was ok and said, "I think I can handle it from here." Sunny concentrated really hard, and her magical horn and wings appeared, as she moved the final boulders in position. "Wow!" Izzy said, "You're starting to get good at magic." "Thanks," Sunny replied, "Now, let's catch up to Zipp." When Sunny and Izzy got to the top, they saw Zipp standing near a cliff that overlooked the sea "You gotta come see this," Zipp said, "Look at the view." The cliff they were on had a perfect view overlooking Maretime Bay in the distance. They could even see a shoreline of an island that was across from Maretime Bay. After moving on, they kept going until it got dark. As they set up camp, Sunny told Zipp the reason Pipp didn't come. "I didn't tell anyone this, but after I sent a letter describing all of us and our friends, the Alicorns sent back a letter very quickly," Sunny started. "And this was a bad thing?" Zipp asked. "They did not seem excited to have somepony show the location of their hidden land to all of Equestria, so they requested that she stayed," Sunny answered, "I didn't want to tell Pipp that, so I made up the excuse that since you joined Izzy and I first, that you would go." "That makes some sense I guess," Zipp said, trying to make sense of the matter, "but wouldn't have been easier to tell Pipp that herself." Sunny was about to respond, when she heard crunching noises. Both Sunny and Zipp turned to see Izzy eating a snack, watching the conversation. After Izzy and Zipp fell asleep, Sunny looked at the map the Alicorns sent with their response letter to Sunny. She tried to find the location, but the map showed no sign of where the land of Alicorns was. "Well," Sunny thought, "they're serious about keeping their land a secret." Afterwards, Sunny quickly fell asleep. The next morning when they woke up, they immediately noticed the gray clouds hovering above. The ponies quickly packed up camp and continued their journey. They were still making good time when they came across an abandoned fortress. "Oooh," Izzy said, "What do you think is in there?" CRAAAAACKKKK! Thunder boomed and lightning lit the sky as it started to rain hard. Izzy, Sunny and Zipp quickly ran into the abandoned fortress for shelter. Inside, they found rusty Pegasi armor, broken windows, and one broken mirror. Sunny took out her map and laid it on a table in the middle of the room they were in. As Sunny looked at the map, she noticed that the map had one unmarked territory. "That must be where these necklaces are leading us ," Sunny said, "We're only about a day or two out." While Sunny and Zipp were looking at the map, Izzy was making faces in the broken mirror. When Sunny turned to see what Izzy was doing, Sunny noticed a latch on the bottom of the mirror. Without thinking, Sunny opened the latch. The mirror swung open, throwing both Sunny and Izzy against a wall. Zipp cautiously approached the open mirror and grabbed the contents inside, which was a bunch of dusty papers. "These look like battle plans," Zipp said, going through the papers. As they went through the papers, they noticed that all the papers had a Zephyr Height seal on them. Zipp found a piece of paper that planned out the territories of Equestria, with Zephyr Heights as the capitol. Meanwhile Sunny found a piece of paper that seemed to be a letter rather than a battle plan. The letter read, "To the Royal Ruler of Zephyr Heights, letter 145 from Factory Fortress of Rain. The Unicorns are starting to slowly advance against our troops. They've been using the forest as cover. We don't know how long we will last without backup. We don't know why, but we have lost the ability to fly. The Unicorns have also lost their magic, but it doesn't stop them from painting the ground red with their horns. Please send supplies and reinforcements immediately, or we will lose control of the fortress. If we can't get help and abandon the fortress, the object of importance you desire will be hidden in the front room, underneath the table. All you have to do is unscrew the table and move it to reveal the hidden trapdoor. Once again I plea…" After reading the letter, Sunny sat down, depressed by what the letter said. Zipp said for her to forget about it. Zipp looked at the bottom of the table to see if the screws were still there. To Zipp's surprise, all the screws were still intact. Zipp unsuccessfully tried to unscrew the screws from the table. Using magic, Izzy was able to get the screws out, one at a time. They opened the trapdoor and found an old dusty box. Pulling out the box, they looked for a way to open it. The box didn't seem to have a lock or an opening. While Izzy was levitating the box,bsh accidently dropped it. As it hit the ground, the sides started to rotate. Zipp quickly grabbed it and started rotating the box's sides until it opened. Inside was a misshapen crystal that was yellow with pink fragments attached. When Sunny and Izzy tried to touch the crystal, the crystal shocked them. When Zipp picked it up, nothing happened. Zipp looked closely and saw that it had something sparkling in the center of the crystal. Zipp carefully put the crystal in one of her bags, she figured she would ask the Alicorns about it. Meanwhile, the storm had stopped and the three ponies made their way back outside and continued their journey until nightfall. The next morning was beautiful as dew droplets dropped from trees and birds sang. All three ponies woke up refreshed. After stretching, the ponies walked until about noon, where they reached a hill overlooking a castle I'm the distance, sparkling lake, and lush fields and forests. The ponies looked at each other and smiled, they had reached their destination, the land of the Alicorns.