//------------------------------// // Sunny not Sonny // Story: Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale // by TheothersideofSunny968 //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Sunny not Sonny The warm sun felt good on the yellow stallion's fur as he napped half under a tree on the side of a dirt road, his two toned orange mane half covering his face. He was sleeping so soundly when Goldie Delicious walks by him, almost completely missing him as she walked down the dirt road heading to her home in the woods. She was about to leave him be, but he looked a little too red, possibly dehydrated. "He might be thirty" she said to herself, then decided it would be in his best of interest to wake him up and give him some water. She shook him lightly "Excuse me, Sonny, are you ok?" The yellow unicorn began to stir, his emerald colored eyes flickered open, he smiles, stretched and yawned as he blinked rapidly, trying to adjust his eyes to the blinding morning light. He then looked upon the elderly mare before him. "Oh, ugh, hello miss..." "Th' name's Goldie Delicious. Now what's a feller like you doin' out here, in th' middle ah' no where, gettin all dehydrated and what not? Here..." She pulled a large canteen out of her bag, after shuffling around a cat or two, and handed it to the young stallion. She never liked to travel unprepared, or without a cat or two as a traveling companion. The stallion happily took it. He was feeling light headed and really thirsty. He popped the top and slowly began to drink until he had emptied more then half of the container. "Thank you Miss Delicious. I needed that." "What's yer name, younyin'?" She asked him, digging in her bag for something else. The stallion thought for a moment, thinking about something so simple, something almost everypony knew... But it's like... Like it was blurred in his mind, something he couldn't read. "I... I don't know..." "Hmmmm" Goldie thought for a moment as she paused her search. "Well, yer awful close to Ponyville. Ah have a great grand niece about yer age. Maybe she could help ya out. Ah'd help ya mahself but I'm afraid these old bones ain't good fer much." "Oh don't say that, ma'am" the stallion pleaded. "You were kind enough to wake me and give me water. If not for you I could have been in some serious trouble." She chuckled lightly, then pulled out what she had been looking for. A hat. A Stetson hat with a large red delicious apple on it. "This was my grandson's old hat. He got a new one recently, and ah've been holding onto thisn' for just such an occasion." She then slapped it on top of the yellow unicorn head. It was a little big for him, and it covered his horn, but it felt... Nice. He smiled as he looked up at it. "I love it! But are you sure it's ok?" "Sure as sugarcane!" She laughed. "You do look mighty good in it. Now if ya take this road back the way I came, you'll come to a fork in the road. Go left, then keep goin' and you'll reach Ponyville. There'll be ah lake near the fork, ya'll can refill yer canteen there." The stallion got up and fully stretched, then looked down the road. "Down the road, to the fork, go left, get water at lake. Got it!" "And remember, ask fer th' Apple family, say Goldie sent cha." Goldie Delicious said to the stallion before heading back in the opposite direction, back to her own cabin. The stallion saddled up and began down the road, only to stop a few feet away and wave back at the old mare. "Thank you ma'am! I hop I can repay you some day!" She smiled back at the spirited young stallion and waved back. "No worries, Sonny!" The stallion paused at the name. "Sonny... Sonny...Sunny..." He must have said it dozen times or so to himself as he walked. After a few moments of sitting on the name, he smiles and jumped into a gallop powered by his joyful bravado. "Until I find my real name, I'll be Sunny! " -Canterlot- Celestia was pacing in her private chambers, every moment or so looking back threw the telescope at the crash site of the comet. Concern and worry building up when a knock on the door caused her heart to skip a beat. She cleared her throat, and in her commanding, stern voice answers "come in" It was a unicorn guard wearing a yellow cloak and special armor given to the elite spell casters. He had the basic white mane and tail, with a grey coat like the rest of the unicorn guards. "Alister, reporting for duty, your majesty." He answered and bowed, remaining in that position for a moment until Celestia instructed him to rise. "Alister, one of our greatest unicorn guards, and one of the most brilliant minds to come out of my school. Tell me, what do you know of the 'Gazor comet'?" He stood and cleared his throat. "I did a lot of research on it. It's discovery dates back ... 968 days as of last night I believe, discovered by Professor Star Gazer not long after he became a teacher in your school back when it first opened, am I right?" She smiled at her bright student. "That is correct. What else?" Alister's face grew more serious "it's a natural phenomenon, much like the Everfree forest. It some how operated outside of your highnesses control, as well as out of your sister's control. Some even believed it was the product of some ancient spell that never broke. But there was never any way or reason to delve into the theory." "The comet has crashed into Equestria." Celestia flatly said, sending a shocked look across Alister's face. Her face was stone cold, and a fierceness flashed in her face, the likes of which Alister had never seen. "W-w-what?! How?! Why?!" He could barely speak, his mind racing. "That's what I want you and your team to find out. I have the coordinates marked on the map...." Celestia levitates a map of the surrounding area over to Alister in a golden magical aura. The grey unicorn looked from the map back to the princess of the sun. "But ... Is the whole team really needed for this, your highness? If it's just a fallen comet-" "There is more" she cut him off. "I don't know exactly what... But I fear it's something I never wanted to face again..." Not wanting to press, Alister saluted Princess Celestia. "It will be done, your majesty!" With that he left the room to find his two closest friends and trusted royal guards. Meanwhile, Celestia took a deep breath, her face and eyes began to relax, and looked threw her telescope again, wondering what trials await for her little ponies this time.