Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Sunny's Birthday Suprise!

Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy were left speechless, eyes wide and looked onto their pink, party throwing friend of theirs. Even Spike, who ran off shortly before Sunny's trial started and chose to watch everything unfold from behind a cracked door, was shocked by Pinkie's bold and almost 4th wall breaking explanation.

"Wait... what?!" Rainbow Dash asked, being the first pony able to speak. "You knew the whole time?!"

"Well duh! It was so obvious!" Pinkie exclaimed as she stick a party hat on Rainbow then moved over to Fluttershy and Twilight, sticking hats on them as well. "I thought for sure you guys knew, and no pony was saying anything to spare his feelings."

"What?! Spare 'his' feelings?! Why would we do that?" Rainbow Dash was outraged at there statements that came so nonchalantly from her pink friend's mouth.

"Well he has had it tough, what with hat happened between him and his dad and all" Pinkie said as she started refilling her party canon. "So I just wanted to let him tell us at his own pace. You know, when he felt comfortable. Friends don't put that kind of pressure on friends."

"Hey girls" Fluttershy tried to speak up as best she could. "Something doesn't seem right."

"What's wrong, Flutters?" Rainbow asked, her anger shifting into concern for her oldest friend.

"I'm, well. I was just wondering why Sunny was, well, sealed away in a comet instead of with King Sombra or the Crystal Ponies." The timid Pegasus asked, half hiddding behind her mane.

Twilight patted her chin with her hoof, as she often did when she was thinking. "I didn't think about that."

"Maybe the princesses did it, who cares! He's caused nothing but trouble since he got here! For all we know, he's planning with his dad to overthrow the Crystal Empire as we speak!" Rainbow flew up into the air, outraged that her friends weren't acting to stop the yellow menace.

"Hold your horses, Rainbow" Twilight cast her magical aura around the cyan colored Pegasus, pulling her back down to the ground. "I want to know why he was sealed away separately as well. We'll still keep an eye on him, but I want to get all my facts strait."

"Ugh! Fine! Do whatever! But 'I'm' gunna keep a close eye on him!" The dare devil said as she was released from Twilight's magical aura. "And I'm not going to any stupid party, not for him!"

Before anypony could stop her again, Rainbow Dash flew into the air and out an open window as fast as she could. Nonpony said anything for a good long moment. But as time slowly passed, Twilight and Fluttershy's eyes traveled over to Pinkie. Rainbow Dash was her best friend, despite her feelings towards Sunny, Fluttershy and Twilight would have thought that their speed demon of a friend would have attended at least because Pinkie was throwing the party. Pinkie thought that too, which is why she couldn't help but force herself to keep up a fake smile as she turned to the other girls, her eyes starting to water.

"Ugh, you guys don't have to come if you don't want to" Pinkie said, her normally spingy voice now winding down. "I'm sure Sunny'll understand. And I could tell Applejack that you all had something you needed to do."

"I won't make you lie to Applejack, Pinkie" Twilight said stepping forward, putting a hoof on her pink friend.

"Neither will I" Fluttershy agreed as she shot pinkie a small, but sincere smile.

"Thanks guys" Pinkie gave her friends a huge hug. After releasing them, Pinkie felt it was her turn to give a heart filled confession. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Sunny earlier. I just, well, wanted him to make friends. When I first met him, and told him I wanted to be his friend, I saw something twinkle in his eye.

"I don't think he's ever had a 'real' friend before" Pinkie admitted, as she started walking with her two best friends out of the castle and down the road towards the apple farm. "I told him then that I would help him make a bunch of friends, and that made him smile so much, I just couldn't let him down. Now he has a bunch of friends, but he's scared to lose them. Especially Applejack."

"We know, Pinkie" Twilight admitted, knowing how much Applejack cared about the yellow unicorn. So much so that she took him in as part of the family. "But Sunny will need to tell them who he is at some point. You can't hide that forever."

"I know" Pinkie replied then wiped the from and sad off her face. "But that's for later! Now let's have some fun at the party!"

Twilight and Fluttershy were surprised that they made it to Sweet Apple Acres as fast as they did. It looked like everypony in town was there, ready to celebrate Sunny's first birthday in Ponyville. All that appeared to be missing was the birthday boy and Applejack.

As Sunny and Applejack took the long way around Ponyville that would eventually lead them to the apple farm, it was very obvious to Applejack that something was wrong with the normally cheerful yellow unicorn. It's true he had been very secretive over the last couple of weeks, and its obvious he's hiding something, but she didn't know whether to try and ask him or not. Especially if she's leading him to his surprise birthday party.

"So, ugh, how was th' farm?" was all Applejack could think to ask, wanting to strike up a conversation while still remaining neutral. "Get all them chores done?"

"I got some of them done" Sunny admitted. "Then I kind of ran into Discord. He said he'd finish them in a flash. I could only wonder what he's done to the farm. I'm sorry, I'll fix anything he messed up and get done anything that was left."

Now Applejack knew something was up. From living on the farm, Applejack pieced together a pattern that Sunny might not even be aware he's weaving. When he was relaxed and happy, Sunny spoke with a southern accent like she and the rest of the family. But when he was down, depressed, or just stressed, Sunny started talkin' like, well, like Twilight actually. Like life was one big ta-do list.

"Wanna talk about it, champ?" Applejack asked, nudging Sunny playfully. For a moment, he smiled at her, then his smile flipped upside down again, his ears even sunk with his head.

"Applejack... there's something I have to tell you... I just..." Sunny started to say, but paused, needing to take a few breaths. "I'm afraid."

"Shucks, hun, ya'll don't need ta be 'fraid of telling me nothin'" Applejack nudged him again lightly, shooting him another smile. "Ya'll can tell me anything."

'Maybe foal steps? Small things leading up to the big thing?' Sunny thought, taking a few more breaths. "I... I remembered who I was... Before I came to Ponyville. But who I was, I can never go back."

"'Cause yer daddy?" Applejack asked, then realized that she never told Sunny about reading part of his journal.

Immediately Sunny's mind jumped to the worst conclusion, that Applejack knew about his father, and like a deer caught in the head lights, Sunny froze. Eyes as wide as dinner plates as he stared at the orange farm pony, his heart pounding like crazy in his ears. "Y-y-you know? About my f-father?"

Ashamed to admit what she did, Applejack sat back on her hind legs, took her hat off, held it against her chest with both her hooves and tried not to look into Sunny's fear stricken green eyes. "Ah-ah never meant no harm, Sunny. But Twi and I were tryin' ta figure out what was going on with ya when you was running around all crazy cuz them berries, so we, well, peaked into yer journal. And we accidentally read ah part 'bout your daddy making ya lose yer memory."

Sunny didn't know what to think. But his mind raced back to his journal, back to every page he had ever written, which wasn't much, but he sighed in relief as he remembered that he kept the entries pretty vague, never using names other then the Apples or ponies from around town.

"Ah'm real sorry" Applejack said as she looked up to Sunny, unable to read his face. "Ah'll never do it again."

"Applejack..."Sunny started to say, wanting to pour his heart out to her, but the tingling since of fear kept him from doing so. But the words 'foal-steps' came back into his mind. "I... I've been keeping secrets too. I want to tell you about them but... but I'm afraid you'll hate me when I tell you."

Placing her hat back atop her head and stepping towards Sunny, Applejack pulled him gently into a hug, her head resting on his chest. "Ah could never hate ya, Sunny. Not even if ya burn th' barn to th' ground and dry up th' orchard."

It was then that maybe another foal-step was too much, but Sunny felt the courage to do it. Not a crazy leap, but a small step. "I... I... I hurt some ponies. They kinda were jerks... but... I hurt them real bad."

Pulling back a little, Applejack looked at Sunny with wide eyes, not knowing to what degree Sunny meant by 'hurt'. But she didn't think much of it and put her head back on his chest. "I'm sorry."

This confused the yellow unicorn. "What? 'You're' sorry? But I'm the one who did wrong."

"But ya hate ta do stuff like that" Applejack said as she listened to Sunny's heart beat. "Ah can see it in yer eyes. Like th' time ya accidentally ran over Apple Bloom's hoof with the' wagon, and thought ya broke it, so ya ran her as fast as ya could to th' hospital."

"That was scary! I could have sworn I actually did!" Sunny's voice got more high pitched, which urned a small laugh from Applejack.

"See, ya had that same look in yer eyes" the orange farm mare continued. "Ya ain't one ta hurt no pony on purpose. Ya don' have th' heart. So if them fellas was botherin' ya ta that point, ah say ya let them off easy."

Hearing that from Applejack made Sunny relax a little more as his hooves wrapped around the orange farm pony. "You're th' only pony who makes me feel like ah ain't th' bad guy."

"That's cuz ya ain't..." Applejack told Sunny, pulling slightly away, allowing her and Sunny's eyes to meet. Their muzzles were inches from each other and slowly they began to close the space between them. Each of their hearts pounding in their ears, their bodies raising to a new, higher temperature as the world around them disappeared, leaving only them. It was like they were for that moment, the only thing that existed were those two ponies. Like they were floating in an endless sea of stars. Nothing else mattered. Their worries and troubles were a million miles away. Right as the two were about to share a very precious moment in their lives, one they would remember forever... a certain cyan colored Pegasus mare with a rainbow colored mane fell from the sky and landed inches from them, turning their perfect moment.

"Hey guys!" Rainbow blurted out. "What cha doin?"

That killed the mood almost instantly, urning a heavy and annoyed sigh from both Applejack and Sunny.

"Just... talking" Sunny said through his teeth as he straitening his Stetson hat, not even looking in Rainbow's direction.

"Yeah, but ah guess we should get ah goin'. Th' family's waitin' fer us back at th' farm." Applejack said as she shot Rainbow an ice cold glare.

"Cool! Mind if I tag along?" Rainbow asked as she flew up and started slowly flying just a few feet above the two farm ponies. When Applejack wasn't looking, Rainbow shot Sunny a look that said 'I'm watching you.'

The rest of the trip back to the farm was silent, well, accept for Rainbow blabbering about her awesome new tricks she was working in with the Wonderbolts. As Sunny, Applejack, and the talkative Rainbow Dash reached the end of the dirt road that lead to the farm house, Sunny noticed immediately something was off. All the lights were off in the farm house and it sounded like strange snickering was coming from all around.

Sunny was feeling defensive with everything that had transpired over the last 24 hours. Before Sunny could think further, several stage lights flickered on, illuminating the entire farm as almost everypony in town jumped out of their bidding places and yelled "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUNNY!"

The yellow unicorn's fear melted away, quickly replaced by shock and joy as he looked around and saw all of the ponies he knew from around town, and then some, all gathered wearing party hats, blowing on noise makers, and throwing confetti.

"Well shucks, how'd ya'll know it was mah birthday?" Sunny asked as he walked into the large crowd of his friends.

"Ya dropped this yesterday!" Apple Bloom then popped out of the crowd and handed Sunny the letter from his father.

Sunny, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all froze as they saw the letter, knowing what it was and who it was really from. Knowing the contents of it, Sunny shook off his fear and patted Apple Bloom on her head, flashing her a small smile. "Ah was wonderin' where ah put that thing."

"Alright everypony! Who's up for pin the tail on the pony?!" Pinkie Pie jumped in, breaks any tension before it had a chance to form.

"You're first, partner!" Applejack pushed Sunny forward into Pinkie who, in turn, quickly tied a blind fold over the birthday boy's eyes, spun him around several times until he was good and dizzy, then positioned him about three feet away from a pin up of a pony without a tail, that looked strangely like Pinkie.

Other then the all time favorite party game, pin the tail on the pony, the Apples had set up several other games such as bobbin' for apples, horse shoe toss, a dart board, hay stackin, and even a pinyatta. And surprisingly they gathered most of it all without Pinkie Pie's help. She just helped to round up some straggling guests and set up the desert table(of course, who else but Pinkie could set that up?) all the guest, surprisingly even the one who didn't want to show up (aka, Rainbow Dash), enjoyed themselves. But games and snacks were only part of the party.

"Alright everypony! It's time for presents!" Applejack called out, gathering everypony's attention from all over the farm. Whatever games they were playing they either finished up really fast or put it on hold as they made their way to the long table with all the gifts on it.

The birthday boy nervously walked up to the table that had a small pile of presents. "Is all' this really fer me?"

"You bet yer birches" Granny said as she woke up from a rather pleasant nap in a near by rocking chair.

As everypony gathered around to watch Sunny open his gifts, Applejack appeared to Sunny's side and asked him "which one ya wanna start with?"

"Open the big one! Open the big one!" Apple Bloom started cheering as she hopped up and down.

Sunny then noticed a rather large package that appeared to have been wrapped in a hurry. He was about to reach for that one when Big Mac handed him a gift that was significantly smaller, but still bigger then a bread box. "Best ya open this one up first. It's from me."

"Oh, ugh, ok" Sunny replied, slight confused as to why the order of present opening mattered, but was happy to receive gifts at all. To be honest, he didn't plan on celebrating his birthday, especially after a day like today. But to his surprise, the party was exactly what he needed to feel like 'Sunny' again.

Unwrapping the gift carefully and slowly, Sunny was shocked to see what Big Mac had so thoughtfully given him. "A tool box!"

"Eh'yep" Big Mac beamed at his brilliant gift idea. "With all th' tools you'll ever need. Ah'll help ya ta learn how ta use 'em too."

"Thank you, Big Mac!" Sunny extended a hoof to him, which was met by the red farm pony's own hoof for a hoof bump.

"Now open the big one!" Apple Bloom said, still really excited.

Not wanting to keep her and everypony waiting, Sunny unwrapped the largest gift of the bunch. He had to stretch way above his head to grab some wrapping paper, but the yellow unicorn was able to begin ripping some of the gift wrap off. He was shocked to see what waited underneath.

"Wood?" Rainbow Dash said under breath, questioning if it was a joke or something.

"Ah get it! Now it all makes since!" Sunny smiled as he turned to Apple Bloom. "Now with th' tools Big Mac gave me and th' wood you got me, ah can go and learn how ya use them tools while creating all kinds of things!"

"Ah could only guess what you'll come up with" Applejack commented, grinning while she shook her head.

Giving Apple Bloom a great big hug, lifting her up off the ground, Sunny told the little filly. "Thanks Apple Bloom."

Returning the hug, Apple Bloom replied as Sunny released her from his hug. "I'm glad ya like them. Big Mac helped me pick out th' trees. They're cut from old apple trees. So it's 100% apple wood! Just like what's used in th' Ponyville Derby."

"Cool! I can't wait ta start workin' on something!" Sunny commented looking at the pile of wood, all of the pieces were cut into different size of blocks and beams.

"Here ya go, Sunny!" Granny said as she handed the smallest package yet to the birthday boy.

Curious, Sunny gently unwrapped the package to find what looked like a good half dozen individually wrapped candies. The yellow unicorn didn't quite know what to make of it, but was greatful none the less. "Thank you for the candies, Granny."

"Now hold yer horses there. They ain't normal candies, so don't go eaten 'em all at once" Granny told Sunny, drawing the unicorn's full attention to her. "Them's ah ol' family recipe fer get-em-goin' mints. They'll get ya ah goin' ifin' yer ever too tired ta work. Figured it be ah good idear since yer such an everywhere whipper snapper."

Nodding, not fully understanding exactly what she just said but getting the gist of the meaning, Sunny smiled and gently gave the elderly mare a hug. "Thanks, Granny. Ah'll use 'em carefully."

"Here dude!" Thunderlane appeared next to him with a gift bag in his hooves. "Open mine next!"

"Ours next" Flitter was at Thunderlane's side, smiling at her colt friend who she rarely took her eyes off of.

"Right, ours" Thunder smiled awkwardly as he backed off.

Pulling the tissue paper out of the bag, Sunny eventually pulled out several sweat bands, one for each hoof and three head bands. Each one embroidered with his Eclipse cutie mark. "Wow Thunderlane, that's awesome! Where did you get these?"

"Oh I know a guy" the grey Pegasus tried to play it cool until Flitter nudged him lightly. Then the Pegasus smiled and added "and Flutter embroidered them herself."

"I hope they look ok" the light purple mare spoke lightly.

"They look wonderful, thank you both" Sunny said, giving Flitter a light hug and Thunderlane a hoof bump just like he did with Big Mac.

"Oh darling, please open mine next" Rarity said stepping forward with a square, fancy looking gift box of her own, floating in her blue magical aura.

Nodding and taking the box in his own magical aura, Sunny opened the gift and pulled out some more tissue paper what appeared to be a jet black tuxedo, with a white undershirt, along with an orange bow tie. Sunny was no stranger to formal dress wear, having to wear such clothing in the distant past, but this was really high quality work. She even managed to sow another liking of his cutie mark on the top left corner of the jacket. "Wow, Rarity, this looks great! How did you throw this together so fast."

"Oh darling, I had your measurements from when I made your Gala suit, so it was no problem for somepony like me" the fashionista replied modestly.
"Which, by the way, is ready for you to try on at the boutique when you get some free time. And if the tuxedo needs some adjusting, please don't hesitate. I aim to please."

"If it needs some adjusting, then I guess she didn't get the right measurements." Thunderlane whispered to Big Mac, both of them laughing lightly until Flitter nudged her colt friend lightly.

"Oh oh! Me next! Me next!" Pinkie insisted, bouncing up and down with great enthusiasm. She didn't wait for confirmation and just placed a blue square box in front of Sunny, topped with a pink bow and ribbon.

Laughing lightly at Pinkie's enthusiasm, Sunny grabbed hold of the box, pulled the ribbon apart, and looked inside. He was surprised to see what he saw inside. It appeared Pinkie filled the entire box with eggs. Pulling one out, he raised a brow but smiled at Pinkie's gift. "Thanks, Pinkie... I love eggs."

"I know what you're thinking" The pink party pony said, putting a hoof up. "But they aren't eggs. Their ninja smoke bombs! Watch!"

Pinkie then reached her hoof into the box filled with eggs, grabbed one, then threw it on the ground at her hooves. In a second she was completely hidden behind a smoke screen, then when the smoke screen cleared, the party planning pony was gone!

"Amazing, isn't it?" Pinkie commented on her own ninja skills as she reappeared behind Sunny without anypony noticing. "I think you'll need them in the future. I'll show you some of my tricks later, but not all!"

As Pinkie bounced away, Derpy was the next pony to approach Sunny with a gift of her own. She placed a basket of muffins nearest to him and slid it over with her muzzle. "It isn't much, and I couldn't get the wrapping paper to stick to it, but I hope you like it. I baked them myself."

Taking the gift basket from his grey Pegasus friend, Sunny smelled them, and knew they were baked freshly this morning. He looked over at the mare with a wall-eyes stair and shot her a thankful smile. "Thank you Derpy, Granny always said when ya bake from th' heart, it shows ya care. And ah can smell the love in these. Thank you."

That made the catastrophe brining Pegasus smile and slightly blush as she stepped back and made way for her best friend, Doctor Whooves, who was carrying an odd looking box with him. "I think you'll need this in our near future, as well. Best to give it to you now."

Opening the box, Sunny came face to face with a rather odd looking wrist watch, like the kind he's seen in sci-fi comics that cover a pony's entire foreleg. "Thanks Doctor, ah don't like bein' late fer nothing. Fancy looking too!"

"It's not a watch, my good stallion" Doctor began to explain. "It's a Vortex Manipulator. I'll explain later what it does. But for the time being, just pop it on your foreleg really fast."

Slightly confused as to what putting it on would do, Sunny hesitantly put the funny looking device on. After it was securely strapped to the yellow unicorn's foreleg, it made a beeping noise three times, then a red light on it turned blue.

"Good! You may now remove it" Doctor instructed Sunny. As the birthday boy removed the odd looking watch, Doctor decided it was ok to explain later what that was. "We'll have to go on another adventure some time. You, me, and Derpy."

"Sounds like fun, Doctor" Sunny said with a smile as he placed the device back in its box as carefully as he could.

"Sunny" Octavia approached the yellow stallion. "I wrote you a song, but I don't want to play it until all the gifts were open and we were about to enjoy some cake."

"Thank you, Octavia" Sunny was touched that his musical friend actually write him a song. "I can't wait to hear it."

"Well there's one gift left ya open..."Applejack said, her cheeks slightly turning red as she looked away from Sunny, a small box held behind her back.

"Actually, these two just arrived" Derpy said as she warbled over to the table with the two large packages. Not three feet away from the table, the mail mare accidentally trip over we own hooves and sent the gifts flying into the table, landing with a slight 'crunch'.

Rainbow Dash in the background could be seen holding back a fit of laughter, but almost everypony worried that something might have broke.

"I'm sorry, Sunny" Derpy apologized as she got up and dusted herself off. "I hope nothing's broken."

"Who could they be from?" Twilight said under her breath.

Picking up the smallest box first, Sunny flipped it over to its upright position. The package was a wrapped in yellow wrapping paper, topped with an orange bow, almost mimicking the birthday boy's color scheme. Grabbing the tag in his hoof, Sunny's confused and curious look shattered and gave way to a grim look. He muttered something under his breath. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all knew who it was from if that was his reaction. Even Pinkie could guess from the lack of joy on his face.

"Ya'll ok, Sunny?" Applejack asked as she walked over to him and put a hoof in his shoulder. She couldn't help but hlance at the tag in his hoof. Without a second to waste, Applejack nudged the yellow unicorn, shaking him back to the present. "Maybe ya could open that one later. Why don't cha take ah look at that second one?"

Sliding the gift away and leaving over half of his party guests confused, Sunny grabbed the larger of the two boxes. After taking several deep breaths, Sunny hopped that this one was maybe from his aunt. It was poorly wrapped in newspaper, which didn't strike Sunny as odd until he realized the paper was the same as the ones that Discord claimed he had gathered. All around the package were different papers with similar headlines, all talking about the Black Knight. In a panic, Sunny began ripping the paper off the package, ignoring the tag attached to it, making sure to shred each piece to bits even after the package was revealed.

"You ok there, Sunny?" Apple Bloom asked, catching the yellow stallion's attention.

Looking up front he large pile of newspapers, Sunny saw the concerned looks on everypony's faces. He awkwardly smiled and said "I... really like shredding newspaper, what can I say?"

"I feel ya bro!" Thunderlane added, trying to take some of the heat off his friend. "I can totally rip a phone book in half!"

"You did it once" Flitter played at him, smiling while rolling her eyes.

"But I totally would do it again!" Thunderlane continued.

"Here" Apple Bloom handed Sunny a note that was attached to the box, saving it before Sunny shredded it to pieces. Taking the note from Apple Bloom, Sunny skimmed it over once to make sure nothing it said would reveal anything.

After the third time of reading it over, Twilight spoke up. "Who's it from?"

"I have no idea" Sunny admitted, then began to read the note out loud;

'Happy birthday, Sunny

We haven't met yet, but I've heard so much about you, I can't wait till we can play together. I was told you were a really great chess player. Paint the pieces yourself, I'm a sure you know who goes where. Your old buddy Charming and I have played a few times. He's good, but too afraid to sacrifice his pieces. Hope playing with you is more fun!

Your soon to be bestest best friend,

Cynical Storm

P.S. tell Derpy not to worry, neither of the gifts were broken, we packed them very carefully.'

Everypony stared at Sunny with great confusion, some whispering to each other, asking. If anypony knew this 'Cynical Storm', but no pony has. Gulping nervously, Sunny pulled a strip of tape off the box, cautious as to what lay inside. As he carefully opened the flaps of the box, Sunny held his head away, wondering if something would pop out. But nothing popped out, shot out, or anything of the sort like Sunny expected it to. After a waiting few seconds, Sunny then peeked inside and saw a tone of bubble wrap. He carefully removed the plastic packing bubbles and revealed a chess board with multiple chess pieces inside, Picking one piece up, Sunny realized that it wasn't a normal chess piece. It was made to look like somepony.

"Hey! It's Applejack!" Apple Bloom commented, peering over at the figure.

Everypony gathered closer and looked inside. There were figures they recognized like Twilight, Derpy, Doctor, Rainbow Dash, and so forth, all who had come to Sunny's party. There were even pieces of the princesses, Shinning armor, and even Queen Chrysalis and a few of her changelings. But there were a few figures no pony recognized. One was a tall unicorn with a frightening smile and a top hat, one was a fierce and buff looking earth pony with his front hooves shacked and in chains, another was a unicorn with a shaved head and scar across one eye, and Pegasus with a seemingly dark glare who's wings had been equipped with sharp blades. One piece in particular caught Sunny's eye, but he dare not touch it. It was obviously the king, what other piece could it have been. There, at the far corner of the box, was a figure of his father. The image that Everypony knew him best by. A dark king with fire in his eyes, a black shadow like mane, sharp teeth, and a vile grin on his muzzle. The more Sunny starred at the figure the more it's eyes just seemed to burn into Sunny. As if saying that his father was always watching.

The rest of the party went off pretty well. If not for Pinkie and her off the wall, distracting and uplifting party antics, everypony would have spent the rest of the night just thinking about those last two gifts Sunny mysteriously received. But, as always, Pinkie was able to put a smile on everypony's face and get the party back on track.

As everypony sat down for some cake and ice cream, Octavia played the song she specifically wrote for Sunny. It was more light hearted and cheery then her last performance at the talent competition, but as the cello goes, the song was regal and sophisticated. Once her son came to a close, everypony finished their desert, and everypony felt their eye lids grow heavy, the party had came to a close. The night was reaching it's peak with the moon hanging high in the sky, illuminating the mystical night, aiding the party guests in their journey back to their respective homes. As the Apples began cleaning up the mess, Sunny sat looking at the gift he had put aside. The one from his father. He knew Twilight would demand to know what it was, and could hold exposing his secret to get him to open it. All the guests had left, leaving only the Apples, Twilight, and the other three friends who knew Sunny's secret.

The yellow stallion stood at his seat at the now cleared table, just staring at the gift from his father with blank look on his face. Applejack couldn't help but worry as she watched from a distance, riddled with worry for the birthday boy. The orange mare was so riddled with worry that she didn't even notice Twilight approach her.

"Everything ok, Applejack?" Twilight asked, then followed her earth-pony friend's gaze right to Sunny. Although Twilight had pushed her feelings of anger out of we mind to enjoy the party Pinkie and the Apples had put together, the loathing feelings she had for the former prince were still very present.

"Look at him, Twi" Applejack couldn't take her eyes off the yellow stallion. "What could have happened at th' poor fellow."

"Hard to say" Twilight spoke with a harshness in her voice that seemed to go over the worries Applejack's head. But despite her own personal feelings, Twilight knew she couldn't wait around all night for Sunny to open the gift from his father. "I'll go talk to him."

"Ya will?" Applejack seemed surprised, but glad that Twilight made the offer. "Thank ya so much, Sugar Cube! Ah hate ta say it but ah ain't one ta takin' much out. Sometimes mah' tongue gets Ah'll tied up and what not."

"Don't worry Applejack" the purple alicorn was able to saw sweetly before the bitterness in her words returned. "I'll make sure he's A-OK."

As the princess of friendship stomped her way up to the birthday boy who completely ignored the rest of the world around him, a thought popped into her head, speaking in Applejack's voice. 'What could have happened at th' poor fellow.'

The anger in Twilight's steps lessened as another popped into her noggin, this time with Pinkie's voice. 'Well he has had it tough, what with hat happened between him and his dad and all'...'So I just wanted to let him tell us at his own pace.'

'You wouldn't understand...' Sunny's own voice now rang in Twilight's head, causing her to pause just a few feet away from the former prince. His words from earlier repeated in her head, the hurt in his voice was clear and sharp. '...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 you feel like the weight of Equestria doesn't rest on your shoulders...'

"I was wondering when you would get here, Princess Twilight Sparkle..." Sunny said, his tone now flat and formal, but he never turned to look at her. "Let's get this over with."

"Sunny, I never asked..."Twilight started to say, her tone ten times softer then before. "... what exactly went on between you and your father 1000 years ago?"

But the alicorn princess's question fell upon deft ears as Sunny quickly opened his gift, pretending to not hear the question the purple princess asked. After quickly unwrapping the gift and popping the box open, Sunny quickly looked inside, unafraid of what lay there waiting for him. As he looked inside as fast as he could, he came face to face with something oddly familiar.

"What is it?"Twilight asked, slightly concerned but mostly curious.

Pulling it out with both hooves, Sunny held what appeared to be a black cube. Slightly bigger then a bread box with a metallic look to its surfaces. Looking the Cube up and down, Sunny and Twilight both shared a similar expression. But Sunny was the first to come to a conclusion.

"I don't know what this is" he admitted, seeming uninterested in the item. "Do you want to check it out or anything? Cast any spells on it? Maybe use it to find where my father's hidding? Maybe the next town over? Probably in a hospital bed."

His words struck Twilight in a way that she had never been before. Never before had she ever had an enemy be the close family member of a good friend. She had an old enemy turned into a friend, but that was different. Still, she had to be firm, the fate of the Crystal Empire could have been at stake. As Sunny turned away, ready to walk away and throw the box and wrapping the Cube came in away, Twilight levitated the Cube over to her saddle bag.

Before the princess of friendship tucked it away, she took a second glance at it. It looked just like a cube. What harm could it do? Besides, if Sunny really didn't have anything to do with the former King of the Crystal Empire, now was the time to prove it. She needed to give him a chance to prove himself. Here was his chance. His one and only chance.

"Bring it with the books tomorrow" Twilight told Sunny as she placed the Cube back in his hooves. "I'll trust it to you for now. Don't make me regret it."

Without another word, Sunny simply bowed and tucked the Cube safely under his front leg, and continued to clean up the mess.

Later that night, as Sunny was getting ready for bed, having put most of his gifts just on his desk, pushing the various books aside, Sunny took a second glance at the cube. It looked like an ordinary Cube. Maybe made of Crystal. But he couldn't think why his father would give it to him. But he knew there had to be some meaning behind it. Some secret to it.

As the yellow unicorn placed the Cube on his night stand, he noticed somepony standing at his doorway. He turned and was relieved to see it was just Applejack. "Oh... hey, Applejack. What's up?"

"Oh, ugh, well, ah.... here" Applejack then presented Sunny with a gift wrapped in a long, flat box, about half the size of an apple cobbler. "Ah wanted ya give it to ya earlier, but, well, them other gifts arrived for ya instead."

Looking from the box to Applejack, then back to the box, Sunny cautiously took it out of her hooves. Carefully unwrapping and opening it, Sunny was able to reveal it's contents. It was a bolo tie. A bolo tie with the symbol of a bright red Apple at it's base.

"It was one of mah' daddy's favorite ones" Applejack admitted, her eyes filling with tears as she started down at it. "Ah know he would have wanted ya to have it."

"Big Mac and the others-" Sunny started to ask, but Applejack already knew what he was concerned about.

"Ah already told em' ah was gunna give it to ya" the orange mare admitted, a small smile growing on her muzzle as she looked up into the yellow stallion's eyes. "They all wanted ya ta have it too..."

A smile began to grow on Sunny's muzzle too as tears formed at the ends of his eyes. "What did I ever do to deserve you all? You and your family have been so good to me, I don't think I deserve it."

Closing the space between Sunny and herself, Applejack looked deep into his eyes as she spoke. "Ah don' know what ya did or what yer daddy did, but ah do know that that doesn't change who ah see when ah look at you. Yer kind, yet considerate, yer carin', ya always think 'bout others and put them before yerself. Yer th' greatest stallion ah' ever ever met."

It was then that the same feeling the two ponies had in the woods returned, the fire rekindled, and the need to feel each other's lips on their own arose again. This time there was no pony to stop then, no Rainbow Dash to interfere. Just them. As the space between the two ponies was about to close completely, and the two share a heart felt kiss, somepony popped up.

"Kiss ah'ready! Ah gat ta go ta bed!" Granny said as she popped out from her hidding place beside the door frame.

Sunny and Applejack stopped dead until heir tracks and turned their head directly back to see Big Mac, Granny and Apple Bloom all peeping inside from the door frame, their eyes locked on the two ponies.

"WILL YA GIVE AH PONY SOME PRIVACY!" Applejack started yelling at everypony as she flew out of Sunny's room, unlikely to return for the night.

Before the former prince turned in for the night, he took the bolo tie and placed it on the night stand beside his bed. ''It would be nice if we could all be one big happy family, wouldn't it."

It was then that the wish Sunny made when he blew out his candles came to mind. 'I wish we could all live happily together.' A wish that seemed very, very familiar. But where would he have heard that before?