"That's the tree from the map." Sunny exclaimed as we stopped in front of a pink tree in the middle of a daisy field. She then glanced down at the map in her book. "That means... it's this way." She pointed her hoof in the direction we needed to go.
As I followed Sunny, Izzy and Zipp, I looked back and saw Hitch and Pipp following behind, both of whom had disgruntled looks on their faces, clearly not interested in our journey.
"What am I even doing here?" Hitch asked himself. "Hoofing it across daisy fields, looking for a magical crystal that doesn't even exist!"
"It was supposed to be my best show ever." Pipp added. "And now it's all over. I'm a criminal! And it's all because of..."
"Them!" Hitch and Pipp both said in unison.
"Come on, you two. Don't be like that." I said to them. "This can be fun."
"Yeah." Pipp agreed sarcastically. "Being a fugitive in my own kingdom and having my own mom arrested is so much fun."
"Oh, Pipp. I didn't mean it like that, it's just that..." I began, worried that I might've offended her, but Pipp cut me off by holding her hoof up.
"Just... stop talking." Pipp said rather rudely as I sighed, realizing that there was no reasoning with her.
Just then, Izzy approached me with a curious look on her face. "Hey Lukas, can I ask you something real quick?"
"Sure, Izzy." I replied. "What is it?"
"Well, I've been wondering, how did you get here exactly?" Izzy asked.
"Oh.. well... I was watching Twilight Sparkle perform magic, and some of the magic ended up hitting me, and the next thing I knew, I ended up at Maretime Bay, Sunny found me, and that's pretty much how I got here." I replied, earning an intrigued "Ooooh" from Izzy, before her face slowly went into a look of confusion.
"Wait, who's Twilight Sparkle?"
"YOU!"
Before I could reply to Izzy's other question, a familiar voice stopped me from doing so. Izzy and I both looked up to see Hitch pointing an accusing hoof at the unicorn.
"Hmm?" Izzy asked innocently.
"I know unicorns like shiny things!" Hitch remarked.
"Hitch, what are you talking about?" I asked, before noticing something off about Hitch. "And where's your badge?"
"That's just it, Lukas! My badge was obviously taken... by her!" He turned his gaze back at Izzy.
"Oh, come on, Hitch. You can't possibly blame Izzy for taking it." I said, trying to stand up for Izzy.
"Well, who else could've taken it?" Hitch asked rhetorically.
"Oh, you know, I think I did see a shiny badge-y thing on the ground a few hours ago." Izzy answered.
"What?! Hours?!" Hitch exclaimed in disbelief.
"Well, maybe it's for the best." Izzy replied, before she leaned in towards me. "Between you and me, Lukas, that badge was creating an unhealthy power dynamic."
I chuckled a little at Izzy's remark. "Ha, good one, Izzy."
But suddenly, as we approached a big canyon, we were soon met with a problem. There was a bridge going over the canyon, but it was broken, and there was no possible way to get across.
"What are we gonna do?" Sunny asked as Pipp turned to her sister for suggestions.
"Any ideas, Zipp?"
"You know what would be great right now? Let me think. Maybe something like... THE ABILITY TO FLY!" Zipp shouted.
"You know what would be even better?" Pipp retorted. "Not being stuck in the middle of nowhere as OUTCASTS FROM OUR OWN KINGDOM!"
In an attempt to cool off the argument, I approached them. "Woah, you two, just calm down."
Pipp then turned to me and got right in my face. "DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!"
"Geez, what is with you, Pipp?" I asked genuinely. "I mean, this whole journey, you've been doing nothing but whine and complain. "Oh, I'm Pipp, I lost my fans over being exposed as a lying little cry-baby!"
Pipp gasped, but that shock soon turned into anger. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"
"Make me!" I replied.
"Everybody, stop!" Sunny shouted, getting our attention. "We're gonna get to the other side, find the crystal, and bring back magic! And once we do, you'll get to fly, you'll get your fans back, you'll be able to go back to your timeline, and you'll have me in custody! Everybody happy now?!"
"I guess so." I replied, a bit taken aback by Sunny's shouting. "Sorry, Sunny, I didn't mean to contribute to the argument, I really did try to calm them down."
Sunny sighed as she put a hoof to her face. "It's fine, Lukas. I know you meant well. Now, how are we going to get across?"
Just then, we heard the sound of a tree being knocked down, we all turned around to see Izzy, who had somehow managed to cut down a nearby tree, which was long enough to reach the other side of the canyon.
"That's.... actually very impressive, Izzy." I commented as Izzy giggled in response.
"Come on, everybody!" Sunny exclaimed.
As we all proceeded to make our way across the fallen tree, I heard a faint cry for help coming from somewhere above us. I looked up and could make out something, or rather someone, in the sky. It was the pony from the Canterlogic presentation that got lifted into the air by balloons.
"How is he even still alive?" I asked myself.
The sky was starting to get dark, so we decided that it would be best for us to camp out for the night. I was able to make a campfire by rubbing two sticks together.
"Wow, Lukas, that's really impressive." Sunny commented.
"Yeah, Lukas, very impressive, indeed." Izzy added as she winked at me, hinting to me of what I had said to her earlier.
"Heh, thanks." I replied, flattered by their compliments.
As we laughed, I noticed that Hitch was off to the side, seemingly attempting to start a campfire of his own, clearly not wanting to associate with us.
"Come on, stupid stick." Hitch complained as he rubbed a stick with his hoof.
"You need some backup, sheriff?" Zipp asked.
"No! Thank you. I've got it." Hitch assured her. "Come on... If only I had a match..."
Suddenly, a small fire ignited as Hitch was rather proud about it, but immediately after, the small fire fizzled out, much to the sheriff's frustration.
"Oh, well, that was sad to watch. Come on, don't be a hero, dude. Come get warm." Zipp chuckled.
I watched as Hitch continued struggling with his mini campfire, refusing to come over and join us. I decided to go over to him and hopefully convince him not to be so stubborn. Approaching him, he looked up at me with a rather confused look on his face.
"Hitch." I said quietly, sitting next to him. "What's up with you?"
Hitch turned to face me. "What's up with me?" He asked, with slight offence. "What's up with that unicorn? I definitely don't trust her. She totally has some... crazy, evil... unicorn things planned up her sleeve."
"Look, what I'm trying to say is, why have you been in such a bad mood lately?" I asked.
"Uhh, let's see." Hitch replied sarcastically. "Maybe it's because... this whole journey is pointless!"
"Come on, Hitch." I said defensively. "Sunny seems pretty confident in this plan, it's gotta be worth it."
"Oh yeah, giving magic back to our enemies. Sooo worth it!" Hitch replied sarcastically again.
I was starting to get tired of Hitch's annoyed and sarcastic personality he had, I tried my best to remain calm and not lash out at him like I did with Pipp back at the canyon.
"You know, Hitch, for a sheriff, you could stand to be a little more trustworthy." I admitted, earning a surprised expression from him.
"Wh- I- Wh." Hitch stammered, unable to think of a sarcastic comeback this time
"Now, come on." I encouraged him as I gave him a playful bump on the shoulder.
I then stood up and made my way over to the others and sat down, I then signalled for Hitch to come join us. Reluctantly, Hitch snorted as he slowly made his way over to us, before sitting down, the annoyed expression never leaving his face. I looked over at Sunny, who winked at me, so I winked back.
"So I think we should set off at first light. Last stop – Bridlewood." Sunny declared.
Just then, I couldn't help but notice Izzy, she looked really sad as she stared at the ground silently. This wasn't like her, so I was a bit concerned.
"Hey Izzy, is something wrong?" I asked worriedly.
"Huh?" Izzy looked up at me, then back at the ground. "Oh, it's nothing. It's just that... being with you ponies, and human, has been the best thing that's ever happened to me. I guess... I just don't want our adventure to end."
"But, Izzy, you'll get your magic." Sunny said, trying to make her feel better.
"Yeah." I added. "And if you get your magic back, you might be able to bring me back to my timeline."
Izzy smiled at this, which warmed my heart so much.
"Can I ask you a question?" Hitch asked as Izzy turned to him. "Why did you come to Maretime Bay?"
"I always wanted to visit. When I was a filly, I found this pretty lantern. It had a message inside. It said I had friends in Maretime Bay."
Izzy then reached into her mane as she pulled out a folded up piece of paper. Once it was unfolded, it revealed what looked like a child's drawing, or filly or colt's in this case. From what I could make of it, there was an Earth pony, a unicorn and a Pegasus all enjoying a nice picnic of cupcakes. The picture also had a note reading: 'Dear unicorns and pegasi, You have friends in Maretime Bay. Come visit us!' I looked over at Sunny, and she looked like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
After a moment of silence, Izzy seemed to catch onto something. "It... It was you!"
"Wait, Sunny. You drew that?" I asked as Sunny nodded in response, a small smile spread across her muzzle.
"I made it with my dad." Sunny replied as Hitch handed her the drawing. "We always promised each other that someday we would prove that all ponies were meant to be friends. We'll do our part. Hoof to heart."
As she held the drawing close to her, I couldn't help but feel a little teary-eyed at that, and it made me proud to see Sunny honor her father with their promise.
"Hey, um..." Hitch said, catching our attention. "I want to do my part. What have we got to lose, right?"
At that, we all cheered, now knowing that everyone was officially on board with this mission. I looked up at the sky and saw how late it was getting.
"Well, we should be getting to bed." I said, everyone agreed.
When I woke up, I had no idea how many hours had passed, but when I saw the rest of the group still asleep and the fire no longer burning, I assumed it had been a couple hours or something. Not really feeling like I could fall back asleep, I got up and looked around, I have to admit, with no one around, and without the light from the campfire, it was a little scary being awake in the dark.
So I made my way over to the cliffside as I gazed at the amazing view, despite the fact that it was dark, the stars provided a good enough light source for me to really take in the scenery.
"You're still up, huh?"
I was caught off-guard by a familiar sounding voice from behind me, I quickly turned around and saw Pipp not too far from me.
"I could ask you the same thing." I replied back.
"Oh, you know, just the thought of my own mother being put in jail, no biggie." She replied sarcastically.
I sighed heavily, remembering the argument we had not that long ago. "Look Pipp." I began. "I never got the chance to apologize for insulting you, I didn't mean to, I just got so frustrated, can you forgive me?"
Pipp looked at me skeptically. "That's going to be a really epic makeup."
I continued. "I get it, Pipp, I understand why you're so miffed. You were exposed as a fake in front of everyone, you lost your fans, and even your own mom got thrown in jail."
"Your point is?" Pipp asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What I'm trying to say is, you've been through a lot, and I understand." I replied.
Pipp absorbed everything I said as her skeptical face soon turned into one more sincere as she slowly approached me and sat down next to me. There was a moment of silence between the two of us, until eventually, the silence was broken when I suddenly heard the faint sound of sniffling, I looked over and what I saw, almost broke my heart, Pipp had started crying as I saw a small tear escape her eye.
Concerned, I asked; "Pipp? Are you crying?"
"Wha.. no... I just... have something in my eyes." Pipp replied, trying to play it off, but I could tell something had upset her, and she seemed to realize that I wasn't buying her excuse. "Ugh, okay fine, I am crying. It's just that... I not only lost my adoring fans, but my own mom is in jail, and now I'm on the run with you guys, you all literally ruined my life! If you never showed up in Zephyr Heights! I would still have my fans. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!"
I was shocked about Pipp's outburst, but I honestly couldn't blame her for feeling this way. So without a second thought, I wrapped my arms around her in a soft embrace, she was still crying, but it seemed to slow down once I embraced her.
"It's okay, Pipp, we're gonna get through this together." I assured her.
Pipp, taken aback by the unexpected embrace, was silent, and as I released her, she wiped away her tears, while her mascara trailed down as well, and looked at me.
"T-Thanks Lukas. I guess.. you're right." She said between sniffles.
"So... does that mean... you forgive me?" I asked hopefully.
"Of course I do." Pipp replied, before she got up and walked over towards the others. "Now, come on, Lukas, let's get back to bed."
I grinned. "Okay, Pipp, we have a big day ahead of us." I replied, following her to the others, who were still fast asleep, as we were to soon follow them in their deep slumber.
To Be Continued...