Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Sunny on trial

Standing in the middle of the three mares and Spike, Sunny felt like a mouse that had walked right into a den of lions. They had him at their mercy. His entire life, his future, was in their hooves right now. And Sunny knew it too. His mouth was dry, but he knew he would have to force the words out to answer any and all questions they had, if he was to ever hope they would keep his secret.

"Start talking, Sunny!" Rainbow Dash spat at him, loyalty being her element, and feeling him betray her and her friends did not put Sunny in very good standings with the cyan colored Pegasus.

"What else do you want to know..." Sunny spoke in a soft and monotone voice, his spirit shattered. He could feel the weight of metaphysical chains binding him to the ground.

"For starters, where is King Sombra?" Twilight asked, wanting to prevent some catastrophe that she knew the shadow king would most likely cause if they didn't detain him.

"I'm afraid I don't know" Sunny admitted, his voice gaining some volume.

"LIER!" Rainbow Dash lunged at the yellow stallion only to be stopped dead in her tracks by her timid yellow friend. Between her and Sunny stood Fluttershy, who blocked the cyan colored mare's path by hovering in front of him, her front hooves and wings shielding him.

"Fluttershy? Move out of the way!" Rainbow dash snapped. "This guy's nothing but trouble!"

"Rainbow Dash! I'm surprised at you!" Fluttershy held a hard gaze, almost using 'the stare' on her oldest friend. "Sunny may have done some, well, questionable things. But he's done some good things too!"

"Oh yeah? Name one!" Rainbow annoyingly asked, thinking her animal loving friend wouldn't be able to do that.

"He saved Angel during that awful tornado" Fluttershy didn't even take a moment to think. "And he's been good friends with Thunderlane and Big Mac, he helped Applejack a lot on the farm, and helping Scootaloo and the girls with their math homework when they needed tutoring."

This caught the cyan colored Pegasus off guard, causing her to slightly retreat. "Well, yeah, but-!"

"That doesn't excuse what he's done" Twilight firmly stated, her mind not changing as her eyes continued to stair harshly at the yellow unicorn. "Sunny Knight, or Soleggiato, whatever you are called. Right now I don't trust you more the I trust your father.

"You not only made a mess of my library, you hurt ponies in town, hid a convicted fugitive, and more so, Attacked my brother and broke his leg!" Twilight's voice spiked and reached a level she hadn't spoken in since Discord used the grey spell on her friends and they all turned their backs on one another. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"I know..." Sunny admitted, his head still hanging low, but found the strength to look Twilight in the eye. "I know what I say won't mean much, but I only did what I did so my identity would stay secret."

"Yeah, so we wouldn't lock you up!" Rainbow snapped, her eyes narrowing even harder on the yellow stallion.

"Do you think that justifies all you've done?" Twilight's cold words blew over Sunny. "You used and manipulated others to do so. Was it really worth all of that?"

"I wouldn't expect any of you to understand how I feel" Sunny boldly stated, pain giving the yellow unicorn strength to speak. "But I was doing what I thought was right."

"What was right?! WHAT WAS RIGHT?!" Twilights temper quickly fanned into forest fire. "You broken my brother's leg! How could you think that was right?!"

Before Twilight could lose her cool further, Fluttershy put a hoof on the purple alicorn's shoulder, desperate to help her friend calm down and see the situation with a clear head. When Twilight tore her gaze from Sunny and looked to her gentle, kind hearted friend, Twilight realized quickly that she needed to regain we composure. After taking several deep breaths, performing the excessive that Cadence taught her, Twilight regained control over her anger.

Once again, she looked down upon Sunny with a stone gaze. "Explain yourself. I'll hear what you have to say, then I'll give my verdict. As a princess of Equestria, I have the power to sentence you here and now. So say your piece..."

Taking a deep breath of his own, Sunny started back from the beginning, where he awoke after circling the skies for 1000 years as a comet. He continued to tell the three mares how he really had lost his memory and ran into Goldie Delicious who told him to seek out Applejack in ponyville, that she would know how to help him. From there, the girls knew about the adventures he's had since, so he skipped that part and moved on to when he regained his memory, or rather, most of it. He then told the girls about running out of the farm house and found himself at the ruins of the castle of the two pony sisters. There he noticed the light in the castle and moved to investigate, finding his father.

"King Sombra's in the castle of the two pony sisters?!" Twilight grasped, half ready to jump up and write a letter to the princesses.

"I'll get the others together so we can bag up that baddy!" Rainbow said with a grin, eager to kick some serious flank.

"By all means, go" Sunny told Rainbow, his voice remaining calm. "The cool air will do you some good. But before you go on a wild goose chaise, you may want to know that he's not there anymore."

"I'll bet!" Rainbow hovered next to Twilight, eyes narrowed and never breaking away from Sunny as she spoke to her purple friend. "I don't trust him. I still think we should check it out."

"Let's give give him a chance to speak" Twilight commented, studying the yellow unicorn's calm and cool composure. "I think he's telling the truth. Besides, there might be more to what he has to say."

"Ugh, fine!" Rainbow said as she took her seat and continued to glare as hard as she could at Sunny.

"Please continue" Fluttershy finally spoke up, clearing a small portion of the tension in the room.

"As I was saying..." Sunny continued his story. "When I ran into father, he had made himself a make shift home of the room, with a fire pit, boarding up most of the windows, and covering most of his body in blankets-"

"Awww does little Sombra hate the cold?" Rainbow dash mockingly said as she laughed lightly to herself.

"SHUT UP!" Sunny yelled, finally losing his temper with the cyan colored mare, before turning to Twilight. "If she is unable to keep her thoughts to herself, I know I have the authority, even as just a regular citizen of Ponyville to ask that she be removed from the court!"

"What?! Who says you get 'any' rights?" Rainbow Dash spat back. "You're the bad guy here!"

"Rainbow, enough" Twilight shot a cold look at her own friend. "If we're going to get through this and possibly go on a hunt for Sombra, then you to keep a level head. Can you do that?"

Shocked that Twilight wasn't on her side more, Rainbow's face turned an off shade of red as she zipped her lips and sat back in her seat.

"Please continue" Twilight, her tone demanding with great authority behind it.

Taking a breath himself to calm down again, Sunny continued. "If you're going on a hunt for my father, you're hunting small game, Twilight. He's not the powerful king he used to be."

"That's princess Twilight Sparkle princessto you, Soleggiato" Twilight snapped, her brows narrowed, showing her blazing anger that she kept contained for the moment. "And why is that?"

It stung, but for a moment, Sunny realized that the way Twilight was talking to him wasn't at all like how she had just talked to Rainbow Dash. She was keeping her cool, and her tone and face were bias, but the way she addressed her rainbow maned friend and him just now, were completely opposite. Although Sunny didn't know Twilight as much as he knew Applejack, Pinkie or any of his other friends, he thought that when she offered her hoof to him as a friend months ago, that it was genuine. But now, looking at her cold eyes, Sunny knew that it must have simply been a formality.

"Cat got your tung or something" Rainbow Dash asked, a smug smile on her muzzle.

"Something on your mind?" Twilight asked, raising one brow at the stallion on trial. "Or are you trying to think up a good lie to tell us? Speak."

"I just realized that you don't view me as a friend. That even though all of your 'friends' like Rainbow Dash, have made mistakes in the past, you never stopped thinking of them as anything less... but that's not the case with me." Sunny baintly said then out a hoof over his mouth, realizing what he had just said. "Wait! Why did I say that?"

"I put a spell on this room months ago, to prevent anypony who approached us from telling lies" Twilight answered, at first proud of herself for being so creative and witty. But the victory was short lived as Sunny's words hit we again. "Wait? Friends?"

"You told me once, that we were friends" Sunny explained, taking deep breaths to hold back the pain. "But I just realized it was just a formality. That you were only friends with be because of Applejack and Pinkie. But it doesn't matter, I should have expected such things."

"You don't deserve to be her friend! Or Applejack's, or Pinkie's!" Rainbow Dash snapped, having heard enough of this pity party. "Get back to Sombra!"

Wanting to bury his feelings of pain, Sunny continued, his eyes freezing over just like Twilights were. "Father was weak, bairly able to gather twigs for his fire. When he spoke to me, his voice was very scratchy and low. But I guess being blown into a million pieces would do that to you."

"He got what he deserved" Twilight shook her mind clear, remembering the images of the Crystal ponies in chains. "He was a monster."

"You don't know him!" The fire inside Sunny melted his cold eyes as he shot Twilight a hard look. "He ruled the Crystal Empire years before I was born, and made it a far better place then Princess Amore ever did! He was a good and just king! And only wanted the Empire to prosper, and for the ponies to remain happy!"

"Hey Fluttershy" Rainbow called out like a cat with a yarn ball. "For your birthday, because I want you to be happy, I'm gunna sign you up for mining classes and throw you in chains."

"You are so lucky I don't have my horn right now!" Sunny hissed through his teeth, noting that he knew Discord still had his horn.

"Get back to what you were saying or I'll make my verdict now!" Twilight commanded.

Calming himself down, Sunny started again, but the image of his father doused the flame burning inside Sunny. "Father's body was mostly hidden beneath the cloth he gathered, but I caught a glimpse of his hoof when he threw more wood on his fire... he... he wasn't in any shape to be out of bed, let alone moving around a cold, damp castle.

"He told me to go to the Crystal Empire, to find my room and gather my things. To hide my existence." Sunny continued, his mood balancing out. "He told me 'you' would be going there and that I was to join you. I don't know how he knew, but he did..."

Explaining further that when he boarded the train with a Twilight, Sunny's intentions were simply to inflate the castle and clear out his 'secret bedroom' so no pony would ever know he ever existed. "But when I was asked to join you and your brother and Cadence for dinner, I was... nervous."

"Understandable" Twilight noted, her own anger slightly subsisting, as the missing pieces to the puzzle were revealed.

"No, you wouldn't be able to understand, Princess Twilight Sparkle" Sunny commented as he continued. "Here I was, a guest in the home I grew up in, eating the food off of plates that I ate off of since I was a foal, in a castle, a home, that I could navigate my way through in the dark! But now, somepony else came in and claimed it for their own..."

"That explains why you were so agitated" Twilight recalled how Sunny acted at that dinner.

"I couldn't handle it" Sunny commented it. "After all our hard work, between father and I, trying to make the Empire the greatest place in Equestria, it's shinning jewel... all it took were two love birds to come in and make it all 100 times better. And what's worse, no pony even remembered all we did"

Sunny's head now hung low as he continued his story. "When we got home, I went right back to see father, only, he had been gone for some time upon my return. Since then, I've hidden my things in a place no pony would dare look, deep within the Everfree forest. I've just been trying to hide who I 'was' and enjoy the life I was living."

"Yeah?! What about Hoops, Score, and Dumb-bell?" Rainbow Dash never thought she's come to her old bullies defense. "You cast that crazy spell on them, now their in and out of the hospital! If Fluttershy hadn't found them that day in the snow-"

"Was that you?" Fluttershy interrupted her friend. "You threw the rock at my door and got our attention, didn't you?"

"I.... I don't want to just leave them" Sunny admitted, turning his gaze away from the soft spoken Pegasus mare. "When I ran away from the iron pony completion between me and Alister, I ran into those three. I told them to leave me alone, but they kept pushing me and pushing me, and... I just lost it.

"Before I knew it, all three of them were on the ground in pain, stuck in some sort of illusion" Sunny paused to catch his breath. "I would be lying if I said I didn't think they deserved part of it. But I did feel bad, and I didn't want to just leave them there. So I got your attention, Fluttershy, seeing your house wasn't far."

"Then you ran away, like a dog with it's tail between it's legs" Rainbow Dash commented again, loving the fact that Sunny was squirming.

"I planned on just leaving for good... Applejack wanted me gone, I had no home at the Empire... I had no place to go. So I went back to the room my father had stayed in. I took shelter there, not really knowing what to do or where to go" with a sigh, Sunny could no long look Twilight or the others in the eye. "The Crystal Heart showed me that the Apples and the farm were what lies deep in my heart. That 'that' was my home, and 'they' cared about me... I didn't want to leave them, but what could I do?"

"You went back and made up with Applejack" Rainbow waves a hoof, annoyed at how slow things were going. "We know, we know. Get on with it!"

"Why did you break into my library and steal those books?" Twilight asked. "Was it to help your father?"

"Father and I had a secret language he and I made up" Sunny explained further. "I knew those books could be decoded, and that they possibly had the secret to reversing the curse I put on Score and the others. But if I revealed that to you, princess Twilight Sparkle, I knew you would find out about me. Besides, I made the mess, it was my duty to clean it up."

"So you planned the whole 'prank at the sleep over' just to steal those books?" Twilight narrowed her eyes on Sunny once again. "Even using your 'friends' to do so. Like Discord said, that's really low."

Cringing at the fact that what Twilight said was right, Sunny continued. "Part of the reason that I was so tired after that, was due to the fact that I was staying up all night to try and decode father's books to find a cure. I almost had it, but when I ate those berries, ugh, the gogogo berries, I couldn't use magic for a while."

"I'm sure you could have found a way to sneak me the decoded spell" Twilight replied, thinking logically about the situation. "You seem quite skilled at sneaking around."

"As I was saying..." Sunny was growing more and more desperate to continue in with his story, rather then hear how he sounded more like a villain then a background character. "Attempt after attempt to regain my magical strength failed, but not long ago when you, Princess Twilight, received the message about Garganda going after the Crystal Empire, I knew I had to do something. Up until that point, I was just going to let you, Applejack, and your friends handle things in Equestria. But I had a feeling Garganda... would only listen to me..."

It was at that moment something that had been tingling at the back of Sunny's mind finally came to light. A question he had been too preoccupied to ask. Something that caused the stallion to shutter, and made him think that he needed to take a trip to the west to see his old friend.

"What makes you think 'we' couldn't handle him?" Rainbow Dash asked, flexing her muscles. "I could have taken that dragon with my wing tied behind my back!"

"Why do you think he would listen to 'you' and not 'us'?" Twilight asked, sounding slightly intrigued. "Is it because you are the 'Black Knight'? What does that even mean? I couldn't find anything about it in the Crystal Empire files."

Shaking his head clear for the moment, Sunny decided to answer Twilight's question. "Over 1000 years ago, a war was about to break out between ponies and the dragons who used the west coast for their migration landing point. To stop this war, Star-Swirl's apprentice, Clover the clever, told me to seek out the mighty dragon of the west, Garganda. My travels took me far away from my home, but I pushed through it alone, as were my instructions. Eventually I came to the resting spot of Garganda. When I awoke him and told him of the possible war, he gave me a suit of armor, made from his own black scales, that would protect me from and dragon fire and almost all physical damage.

"He then tossed me from there to just short of the west coast. I was able to stop the war from happening by approaching the dragon lord at the time, Lord Garnet" Sunny continued, remembering that day well. "When I told him it was a stupid move to go to war and not find a peaceful salutation, that many on both sides would get hurt for no reason, I think it amused him enough to see a gutsy pony that Garganda deemed worthy of the Black armor. He asked my name, and I told him it was 'Soleggiato Cavaleir'. But he said that was too hard for most dragons to remember. So due to the Black armor, he just declared me 'the Black Knight' a link between ponies and dragons. Giving me almost the same authority as the Dragon Lord, only the Dragon Lord's word was superior."

The three girls were impressed, starring with wide eyes at Sunny, despite their best attempts to refrain from such expression. Even Rainbow Dash, who still hated Sunny's guts, had to give him props.

"Ok, so that explains about the whole 'Black Knight' bit " Rainbow Dash commented. "Which is cool, I hate to say it, cuz you're like, the most uncool pony here right now. But I bet 'I' could have gotten that armor and been there in no time!"

"Despite the 'Black Knight' mystery being solved" Twilight reeled everypony back to the hearing. "You still caused quite a bit of damage to the library, stole from me, tricked and used Spike, and attacked my brother!"

"I helped clean up the library, I was really sorry about the mess. After I brought the puppet to life, it went crazy. I couldn't control it." Sunny reluctantly admitted. "As for the stolen books, they weren't Cad-, I mean, Princess Cadence's to give. They belonged to my father and me. So, I just took them back."

"Ok, wise guy, got an explanation for why you attacked Shinning armor?!" Rainbow countered, wanting Sunny to fry for all he did.

Sunny knew the reason why he did it... he didn't want to come out and say it, but his reasons were, at the time, logical. He had run the same scenario over in his head a million times, and came up with so many other solutions, but that didn't matter anymore. With a sigh, Sunny simply said "I had my reasons. Shinning Armor had to lose. It just needed to be done."

The girls all fell silent for a moment, unsure if what they heard was true. But after the yellow unicorn's words repeated in their heads for a moment, Twilight arose from her seat and walked over to Sunny fury building up in her eyes. She was about to unleash all the wrath of Tartarus on him, the former prince knew it and would happily take it. He knew he did what he had to do.

"Wait!" Fluttershy finally spoke up, flying to Sunny's aid. She stood between Twilight now and Sunny, leaving them both confused. When she turned back to Sunny, the shy little mare gave him the biggest, saddest eyes she could and simply asked him "please, tell us the truth. The whole truth."

After reading about her adventures with foal sitting the cutie mark crusaders, dealing with the dragon, and even reforming Discord, Sunny knew the animal loving Pegasus had great powers of persuasion, but he never knew they were this powerful. After gulping several times, Sunny began to sweat, then after a few more moments of building up pressure, Sunny's will broke and the unicorn spilled the beans.

"Alright!...." the unicorn fell to his hooves. "I... I did it for...Cadence..."

"For Cadence?" Twilight and Fluttershy both said together.

"Yeah, right! Why would Cadence ask you to break her husband's leg?" Rainbow laughed mockingly at the comments.

Sunny continued to not sound either crazy or stupid. "I... I attended the Crystal Fair with my Aunt, who convinced me to go after disguising me. She knew I had never attended without having some duty to perform, and wanted me to enjoy it.

"I went to sign up for the archery tournament, but when I went behind some tents, I heard Cadence and Shinning Armor talking. She was trying to talk to talk to him about taking some trip, but he argued that the Empire needed defending. I would have agreed to his decision, only right after he started talking about how he was going to use that time in the Empire to train for a jousting tournament he wanted to hold. It was clear what his intentions were.

"It wasn't my place to interfere, but after he left, I saw what it did to Cadence. She was hurt and felt alone, abandoned by her own special some pony..." taking a deep breath, Sunny now looked Twilight right in the eye, all fear had dissipated. "'You, Princess Twilight Sparkle, may not know what it means to be alone, having loyal and true friends by your side. But to somepony who is made a royal from a young age, who doesn't have the chance to be 'normal', having just one pony there could make all the difference! Just one pony who makes the weight on your shoulders a little more bearable, can mean the world to you.

"For Cad-, I'm sorry, 'Princess Cadence', it was your brother, 'Prince' Shinning Armor. And he was going to abandon her for his own selfish interests! Not even my father did that to me!" Sunny was furious now with that thought, tears at the corners of his eyes. As he turned away from the girls, leaving them confused about the whole thing, Sunny continued his explanation. "I did the only thing I could. I got Shinning's attention by entering as the Black Knight, took him on, and when I realized I couldn't beat him, I did what I had to in order to make sure he'd hang his jousting javelin up for at least a week. I broke his leg.

"Auntie Radiant was in the stands, close to Princess Cadence" Sunny continued, thinking back to that day at the Crystal Fair. "I knew she could heal broken bones, or rather, help them to heal. I knew the prince would be fine. And Cadence now wouldn't be alone. Maybe a week would be all it took to get his moral compass back on track."

Taking it all in, Twilight started to think how it all played out. Sunny was telling the truth, and as much as she hated to admit it, he did the right thing. 'No! No! No! What am I thinking!? He hurt Shinning!.... but he knew he would get better... and Shinning and Cadence are closer after that week together...'

"Hold up!" Rainbow jumped to Twilight's side, recognizing that look on her brainy friend's muzzle. "I think he's still hiding something! He hesitated a little back there when he told us about Garganchua! So spill it, mustard stain! What didn't you tell us?"

Giving Rainbow Dash credit for actually paying attention, Sunny walked over to the cutie mark map and looked at the Crystal Empire image. "'Garganda', please show him some respect, if he wanted to, could have leveled the Empire in mere seconds. Why did he drag on the walk and conversation? All he would need to do is jump from his resting place on the west side and land at the Empire. It could have all been wiped out..."

"Maybe he was was giving the Crystal ponies a chance to escape?" Fluttershy commented.

"Maybe..." Sunny commented. "Or maybe he was trying to draw somepony out. Somepony who he knew would hear of him moving towards the Empire. Somepony who he knew could stop him. Somepony he was expecting..."

"He was wanting to draw you out" Twilight connected the dots.

"I can't be certain, but it's most likely that..." Sunny agreed. "He should have left the Black Knight in the past. Why bring him back when he has you six?"

"He said we would need to work together" Twilight hated to admit it, but it was true. "I have reached a verdict ! Soleggiato Cavalere! Step forward!"

Taking a deep breath and deciding it best to go along with it, Sunny turned and faced Twilight, er, Princess Twilight, meeting her hard gaze. "Yes, your majesty."

"I have decided to keep your identity a secret and to not turn you in-" Twilight started to say.

"WHAT?!" Rainbow Dash jumped the gun, but before she could say more, Twilight cast a spell to seal Rainbow's lips.

"As I was saying, you won't be turned in yet" Twilight continued without interruptions. "Instead, I put you on probation and town arrest until further notice."

"What are the conditions of my arrest?" Sunny asked, raising a brow. "Are the Apples or my friends meant to be told of my charges?"

"I think it would be best that they are" Twilight started eyes still looking down on the yellow unicorn. "However, I will leave 'that' up to you. I hope you can come out and tell them all of your checkered past some day soon, before they find out from Somepony else."

"How am I so sure Somepony..." Sunny turned and glared at Rainbow Dash as he spoke. "Won't tell them before I do?"

"Only Spike, Rainbow, Fluttershy and myself know your secrets. If you obey our-" Twilight continued but was interrupted by Somepony else this time.

"Commands" Sunny blurted out.

"'Demands'" Twilight corrected him. "The 'demands' of your sentence, then we'll keep quiet. But your sentence doesn't stop there.

"One; I want Sombra's books back, decoded. First thing I want to do is cure those guys at the hospital" Twilight started listing things off, as she often did.

"As you wish" Sunny reluctantly said, still wishing he could have been the one to set things right.

"Two; I want you to apologize to Spike" Twilights voice stiffened when she said his name, eyes focused on Sunny. "You should also apologize to me for trashing my library and getting Spike to go behind my back and lie to me. But I'm more concerned about him. You hurt him more then you could ever have hurt me."

"As soon as I can, I will" Sunny agreed, feeling terrible about using Spike as he did. "But I think it's best to give him some space. In a couple of days I'll try and talk to him."

"Three; I want you to show me, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Spike where this 'cave' is that you keep all your 'treasures'" Twilight added, slightly curious of what Sunny could consider 'treasures'. She knew boys were weird and gave value to garbage sometimes.

"Spike already knows where it's at" Sunny admitted. "But I'll show you all so long as we aren't followed."

"Good. Now forth; If anything happens, and I mean 'anything', that could involve Sombra, I want you to inform me or any of my friends immediately" Twilight knew this forth demand was going to be a tougher one for Sunny to swallow, but she needed to know if the former king made a move. She wouldn't let the events f the past ever take place again.

"I will" Sunny started to say. "But under your promise you won't hurt him unless provoked."

"Oh yeah! Let's just invite him over for tea while we're at it!" Rainbow spoke up again. "And hey! Let's all get hoofacures together!"

"That's enough, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy put her hoof down, stopping the cyan colored Pegasus before she could joke further.

Twilight thought about it for a moment, then returned her gaze to the yellow unicorn. "If he hurts one pony, again, I won't hesitate to do what must be done."

Sighing, hating that phrase and the whole meaning behind it, Sunny nodded. "I understand. Just so you're aware, he's sending a gift for my birthday. I don't know what it could be, but he sent a letter ahead to let me know..."

As Sunny's hoof reached up to grab the letter that he safely tucked away in his hat, a gut sinking feeling overcame him. He tore his hat off his head and began frantically looking for it. "Where is it?! It has to be here!"

"Ugh, maybe you dropped it back at the farm?" Fluttershy guessed in a hushed tone.

Calming himself down, Sunny thought for a moment before putting his Stetson back atop his was. "I guess... it doesn't really matter. Nowhere on the letter does it say anything that would connect father to me. My father is smarter then you give him credit for."

"How did a scum-bag like-" Rainbow Dash started to make another rude comment when Fluttershy shot her a watered down 'Stare', silencing the speed demon.

Twilight turned her focus back to Sunny. "Well if either the letter or the package turn up, let us know. When 'is' your birthday?"

"The package should be arriving any day now, supposedly" Sunny answered Twilight's question without answering her question. He could only assume that she cared more about what Sombra could be sending his son, rather then when Sunny's actual birthday is. 'Not like any of 'them' now would like to even wish me a 'happy birthday'. Well, maybe Fluttershy. Note to self; trust 'her' over the others.'

"As for the restrictions, I assume I'm not allowed to leave Ponyville" Sunny continued the conversation. "So am I also to assume if any of my 'friends' go out of town and invite me, I'm not allowed to go?"

Thinking about this for a moment, Twilight pondered possible solutions. She didn't want him out of her sight, but she didn't want to arouse suspicion. "Hmmmm.... I think I have an idea. Give me a few days and I'll come up with something so you can leave but we'll track you."

"I do know a spell or two that could help" Sunny suggested, thinking of a trick his father probably used to keep an eye on him when he was younger. "Anything else?"

"Yes" Twilight noted, her tone forming to stone. "Under no circumstance, should you ever use dark magic again. Is that understood?"

Thinking back to Sunny having to use dark magic not only on those three bullies but on the conductor, as well as the royal guard, it made the former prince shutter. "I understand. Now I must solidify it with all of you."

Twilight looked at Sunny, slightly confused "what do you mean, Solidify? This is 'your' punishment."

"I understand" Sunny hung his head, realizing he was truly at the mercy of those three mares. And two of them appeared to hate him. But still, if he got to keep his new life as 'just Sunny' then he would be ok with it. "Just please promise me, promise me, you won't tell anypony about me, about who I really am, about my father, where I came from, anything. Especially Applejack."

"We should! You live with her! She should know that the son of Sombra is living under her roof!" Rainbow burst out again.

"Rainbow has a point" Twilight slightly agreed, turning from her Pegasus friend back to Sunny. "She'll find out sooner or later. It would be better if she heard it from you."

With a heavy heart, Sunny took his hat from his head, turning it around and looking at the apple symbol on the front. "When that day happens, she won't want to even look at me."

"That's not true" Fluttershy took to Sunny's side, her voice a gentle breeze. "Applejack really cares about you."

"She cares about 'Sunny'" the yellow unicorn commented. "Prince Soleggiato, that's another story. But that's my problem."

Putting his hat back atop his head, Sunny took several deep breaths, then stood up strait as he turned and faced the princess of friendship. "Is there anything else, Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight originally demanded Sunny call her by her title, partly for the 'official' court room feel, so it would be taken seriously. But she mainly wanted to distance herself a little from his friends list. Listening to him now, after hearing what he had to say, and worst of all, seeing that look in his eyes, a look that he's been betrayed, it made Twilight question herself on her demand. "Ugh, yes, that is all, Sunny."

"Then I'm going back to the farm. Still have some chores to do" Sunny then did something that made Twilight feel very awkward. He bowed to her. Something Twilight didn't even want the royal guards to do, despite their years of training telling them to do so. "Good day, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

There were so many other hurtful things Sunny wanted to say to the princess of friendship, so many ways he wanted to lash out at her, make her feel guilty for what she did and how she fooled him into believing that she was his 'friend' and could trust her with anything... but he did nothing else. Sunny knew the consequences of his actions, all the things he did to keep his secret. And he feared what would happen should anypony else find out about him. Twilight held all the chips for the moment. He knew that, and played his cards right just walking away.

As he stepped out of the castle, releasing a held breath, Sunny wanted nothing more then to just go back to the farm house and go to bed, pretending this horrible day never happened. But as he began walking down the dirt road, two more familiar faces appeared, heading to Twilight, er, Princess Twilight's castle.

"Ugh, h-hey Pinkie! Hey Applejack, what are you two doing here?" Sunny put on as convincing of a smile as he could, hoping that his eyes wouldn't appear watery or bloodshot.

Before they could answer, a very familiar and very annoying draquis appeared from under Sunny's hat while he was still wearing it. "Oh! I almost forgot! Here you go!"

Before anypony could say anything, Discord smacked a yellow unicorn horn back in the middle of Sunny's forehead, then vanished back beneath the stallion's Stetson hat.

"Ugh, what was that about?" Applejack asked as Pinkie trotted happily into the castle.

"Just... Discord giving me trouble." Sunny answered honestly. "I think we're friends? I'm not sure."

"Ugh, well, ok then" Applejack wasn't sure what to say about that. She really didn't care much for the guy after all the trouble he gave her and her farm. "So, ya'll ready ta head on home? Bet th' family's a waitin'!"

"Sounds good to me" Sunny admitted and began walking back with Applejack. "So how was te rest of yer trip?"

"It was fine" Applejack modestly admitted. "But it sure is great ya be home...."

As the two farm ponies began their walk back to Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow Dash watched from a window, still not trusting Sunny at all. While Twilight and Fluttershy talked back and forth, everypony's favorite party pony burst through the doors, throwing confetti and releasing balloons as she often did.

"Hey everypony! Who's ready to go to Sunny's surprise birthday party!?" Pinkie cheered as she gave her closest friends a great big smile. "Don't worry, it's all set up back at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack's going to take him the long way around so we-"

"I ain't going!" Rainbow started with a huff. "I'd rather clean the wonderbolt's bathrooms with my toothbrush then go to anything with 'him'!"

Thinking for a moment as to what got everypony so tense, it finally hit Pinkie. "Ooooohhh. Let me guess you guys just found out Sunny's actually the son of king Sombra, as well as the Black Knight, and was the one who put those three bullies in the hospital, has been sneaking around to practice dark magic to break the curse he put on them, as well as broke Shinning Armor's leg so he and Cadence can have some personal time together. Am I right?"

Comments

[TheothersideofSunny968]

7914864 thank you, what I need is an editor. I try and edit it as best I can but I'm afraid correct grammer and spelling were never really my strongest areas.... you wouldn't happen to know anyone, would you?