Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Apple in the Sky

Placing the pile of his father's books down in front of Twilight with a thud, Sunny let out a disappointed sigh. He was beside himself with regret. If he knew it would have come to letting Twilight cure Hoops, Score and Dumb-Bell, the former prince would have just translated the books and left them for her somewhere in the castle's library. He could have even made up a decoder sheet and snuck it into one of the books so Twilight could have decided it herself. But Sunny wasn't used to letting others clean up his mess for him. The whole situation was very hard to swallow.

"Here are the books, your majesty" Sunny spoke the last word through his teeth. "The spell needed to break the curse is in the top book, the page marked with a red book mark."

"Thank you, Sunny" Twilight tried to sound as she normally did, but lingering emotions still effected her tone. The princess of friendship felt like she was being pulled in several different directions. On one hoof she was still furious at Sunny for all he had done, sneaking around behind her back, tricking Spike, stealing from her (even though they technically were his own books), and then breaking her brother's leg! But on the other hoof, Fluttershy and Applejack seem convinced that he's a good guy. But he's the son of King Sombra! And it's clear he, like his father, has no problem with using dark magic. But from what the princess of friendship has seen for herself, before all this came out, he's just a regular pony, living happily on an apple farm, in a small town, making friends and living a normal life.

"Is there anything else, your highness? I have some chores to get to back on the farm" once again, when the yellow unicorn addresses Twilight's rank, he stressed it, continuing to make his feelings present.

"Does it bother you that I'm a princess, Sunny?" Twilight was getting annoyed at this point. Sunny never spoke to her without making sure to end his sentences with a 'majesty', 'highness' or worse 'Princess Twilight Sparkle'. The last one bothered her the most. Almost as if it were a parent calling Twilight by her full name when she did something wrong.

"Nothing bothers me at all about Rank, your majesty" Sunny stated but still strained the 'majesty' part. "I respect your position as well as how hard you have worked to obtain it. May I be excused, your highness?"

This time it was Twilight's time to sigh as she closed her eyes and turned her attention away from him and to the books he brought, opening the top one to the page that was marked with the red book mark. "This will be all for now. Later when Fluttershy and Rainbow return from Cloudsdale, we will want to see that cave you have."

"As you wish, Princess Twilight Sparkle..." Sunny said as he bowed and exited, his back never facing the purple alicorn. Once he was outside the library where he met up with Twilight, Sunny hung his head and walked as fast as he could down the hall.

Once past a certain point, Sunny paused and turned to face a door that that had a sign hanging in it saying 'Spike's Room' written in purple and green crayon. The yellow unicorn hesitated for a moment. It had only been a day since Spike was crushed by the horrible truth that Sunny had used and lied to him. Was it too early for Sunny to try and talk to him? Luckily, Sunny didn't have to wait too long to make a decision. Moments after Sunny paused out in front of Spike's room, the door cracked open, and standing there was the little purple and green baby dragon himself.

As soon as Spike looked outside his room that he was hiding away in, his eyes met the emerald green colored ones that belonged to the former prince of the Crystal Empire. Before Sunny could force an awkward smile, the door was slammed in his face as hard as Spike could slam a door.

Sunny stood there for a moment, realizing just how badly he had hurt the little dragon. As he walked back to the farm, the yellow unicorn did his best to suppress the image of the hurt baby dragon. But the split second of an image he got of Spike seemed to stick in his mind. An image of pure pain and betrayal, the hurt glowing in his eyes.

'How can I ever make things right?' Sunny thought to himself, walking down the quickest root back to the Apple farm, knowing full well that he didn't really have chores that needed to be done. Rather, he just wanted to get away from Princess Twilight Sparkle and the castle.

As Sunny ventured down the road, he heard a loud swooshing noise from above. Nervously looking to the sky, not really knowing what to expect, several flashes of blue and yellow shot across the sky. Realizing it was just the Wonderbolts practicing, the yellow unicorn released his held breath and continued on back to the Apple farm. The Wonderbolts must have been using Ponyville's sky's for training or something, because they were all over the place. Walking through town, Sunny observed a few new carts and stands selling Wonderbolt's merchandise as well as ponies gathered around out side, sitting and watching the aerial acrobatics of the famous pegusi group. It was to be expected. The Wonderbolt's shows were always sold out ones, and now that Rainbow Dash had joined them, all of Ponyville was Wonderbolts crazy. A lot of ponies even went to Rainbow Dash herself and asked for her autograph, which just helped to fuel her already enormous ego. But as Sunny left Ponyville behind and ventured back to the Apple farm, he noticed a very familiar pony gazing up at the sky, not paying attention and slightly flooding the carrot patch.

"Hey Big Mac!" Sunny said as he ran over to the big red stallion, trying to get his attention. "Yer gunna drown them baby carrots!"

But the large farm stallion just kept his eyes glued to the sky and the pegusi that flew around in it, everything went in one ear and out the other. It wasn't until Sunny was levitating Big Mac's hoof off of the water pump that he even noticed he wasn't alone. "Huh? Hey Sunny."

After stopping the flow of water, Sunny grabbed a bucket and began treading the water out of the small pool that used to be the carrot patch in an attempt to save the still growing carrots. After tossing a few buckets full of water out and into the near by apple orchard, Sunny looked to Applejack's older brother and asked "are you ok, Big Mac? You've been ah little distracted lately."

"Ah'm fine" Big Mac replied as he once again looked to the sky, watching as the Wonderbolts began performing several turns and flips while working off each other's movements, part of an act that was sure to catch everypony's attention at a show. Once again the big red farm pony was lost in thought and leaned on the water pump without thinking. Panicked, Sunny just levitated Big Mac up into the air slightly and continued to tread water out by hoof.

(https://youtu.be/SJMizrTFiFo)

"Ah'm worried 'bout Big Mac" Sunny told Applejack while they were in the kitchen preparing a large order of apple pies. Granny had gone with Apple Bloom to Manehatten to attend Babs's birthday, leaving Sunny and Applejack to deal with the large order for the Wonderbolt's show.

"Ah know, ah am too" Applejack agreed as she placed several more pies in the oven. "He's been day dreamin' sense he heard the Wonderbolts were comin' ta town again."

"Day dreaming?" Sunny repeated the words quietly to himself as she began to mix more pie dough. "Wonder what he's been dreamin' 'bout."

After setting a timer for the pies, Applejack went back and forth with herself, wondering if she should really tell Sunny or not what her brother thinks about. It wasn't really her place, but Sunny was part of the family now, and Granny, Apple Bloom and she knew what Big Mac fantasizes about. "Well, Sugar Cube, Mah brother ain't much fer talkin, much less open up an' tell ya what he day dreams 'bout. But if ya must know, Big Mac has always wanted ta fly."

"Ta fly?" Sunny repeated Applejack's statement again, this time louder then the last. "Why would he want ta fly?"

"It's been ah thing with him ever since he's been a colt" Applejack continued to explained as she began peeling more apples. "When we was kids, back when we played in our old club house, Big Mac loved ta put on paper wings an pretend ta fly 'round. Sometimes as ah Pegasus, sometimes ah dragon, and even ah few times as one of them flyin' bugs."

"Ah never knew Big Mac had such ah dream" Sunny commented as he finished mixing one bowl full of dough, passing it to Applejack then began with another.

"But that's just what they are, 'dreams'" Applejack said as she began pushing some of the dough into a pie pan. "He should be happy bein' ah Earth-pony, here on th' ground. Get his head out of th' clouds and focus on work. We have ah tall order ta fill and it can't get done with it with just me and-"

When Applejack paused from her rant, she noticed that she was the only pony left in the kitchen working, Sunny had at some point slipped away without her even noticing. Hanging her head as her muzzle adopted a rather annoyed look, Applejack had a feeling she should never had said anything to the yellow stallion. "... ugh. Me an mah big mouth."

Thinking quickly, Sunny remembered reading the levitation spell in one of the books Princess Twilight leant him. Levitation was a simple enough spell that even most unicorn foals could learn! The yellow unicorn just wanted to review it to strengthen the spell in his mind, then he would go off to help Big Mac achieve his dream!

After quickly climbing the stairs, dashing over to his room, and quickly looking over the various books that he had yet to return to Princess Twilight, Sunny immediately found the book 'A beginner's guide to magic'. Almost as fast as Sunny had found the book, he flipped it open and found the exact spell he was Looking for. The yellow unicorn carefully re-read the spell several times over before feeling satisfied with himself. Unlike a Pegasus or Earth-pony, a unicorn's magic is half mental. They have to know the calculations and theory behind a spell to accurately cast it. Where earth ponies can go off of a deeper 'feel', or pegusi who work off their body's natural 'flow' of energy, unicorn's have to use their mind to wield magic.

"Ok, Ah'm ready!" Sunny said as he slammed the book shut and dashed out of the house before Applejack could get a word in. He felt bad for leaving her with the work, but when a friend needs help, a true friend jumps to the aid! That, and if all went well, Big Mac could focus more on his work. And that would make Applejack happy.

It didn't take Sunny long to find the large red stallion bucking in the south orchard. Well, it looked like he started bucking, but had Stopped when the Wonderbolts started practicing a new routine.

"Hey Big Mac!" Sunny spoke loud enough to actually catch the big red earth pony's attention.

"Oh, hey Sunny. What's up?" Big Mac asked, his muzzle very hard to read for emotion.

"Well, Ah was just wondering if ya might be interested in flyin' today" Sunny tried his best to hide his excitement.

At first, Big Mac was confused by Sunny's statement but eye bows sunk as he looked into the yellow unicorn. "Ya'll have been takin' with mah sister, haven't ya?

"Listen Sunny" Big Mac Started to say as he bucked another tree. "Earth ponies ain't meant ta fly. Ifin' we were, we woulda been born with wings. But we ain't. Just best ta just get back ta work."

"Big Mac, we're friends, right?" Sunny asked as he put a hoof on the red farm pony's shoulder.

Big Mac in turn looked at Sunny with a little more of a relaxed expression. "Well, sure we are."

"And if ah ever had ah dream ya thought ya could help with, ya'll would do whatever ya could ta make it come true, right?" Sunny asked as a small smile began to grow on his muzzle.

"Well, ah suppose-" Big Mac replied as he started to think of a situation that he could help with to make any dream of anypony's come true, which he honestly couldn't think much up.

"Then let me help ya make yers come true!" Sunny said as he took a few steps back and took a defensive fighting stance, locking his hooves into the ground. "Now hold on tight!"

"Wait! What are ya-!" Big Mac started to ask but was interrupted by the feeling of the ground beneath his hooves disappearing! The large earth pony began to panic as the magical green aura belonging to Sunny, wrapped itself around him and was floating his muscular red body up off the ground!

"How does it feel, Big Mac?" Sunny was focusing as hard as he could, closing his eyes and straining his mind to keep his friend afloat. "The wind in yer mane! The' open sky all 'round ya! The ground miles beneath yer-"

"Ugh, maybe ya should just put me down" Big Mac suggested, his tone sounding unimpressed and flat.

Before he could ask why, Sunny peaked his eyes open to see what the problem was, only to see that despite his best efforts he could barely get the large farm pony a foot or two off the ground! Not accepting defeat, Sunny started to focus harder, going over the various calculations to levitate the stallion into the air as high as he could, reviewing the levitation spell over and over again in his head. But try as he might, Sunny was at best able to get his friend just three feet into the air before falling to his knees. When he did, the green magical aura around Big Mac disappeared and the big red stallion hit the ground with a thud, landing on his hooves.

"It's ok, Sunny" Big Mac shot his yellow friend a half smile as he patted him on the back. "Earth ponies just ain't meant ta fly, but ah 'preciate th' effort."

After a moment of catching his breath, Sunny got up and watched Big Mac continue to buck the apple trees, doing his best to ignore all the flying going on up above.

'Ah can't let it end like that!' Sunny said to himself. 'There has ta be another way!'

A little later, after Big Mac began pulling the baskets of apples in, the chore taking an hour or so longer then what Applejack would have liked it to, the red farm pony saw Sunny running up the dirt road, heading in his direction. 'What's he up to now?' Big Mac thought as he noticed the yellow unicorn carrying something on his back.

After Sunny reached Big Mac, the yellow unicorn dropped what he had been carting and began to spread it wide open. It was a thick tarp of some sort with rope attached to the ends. A parachute?! Big Mac recognized the item.

"Ugh, what's that for?" Big Mac asked, worried about the answer.

"That there's gunna help ya fly!" Sunny said proudly as he waved a hoof over the spread out parachute.

Big Mac looked from the parachute, to his yellow pal, then back to the parachute once more. "Ugh... Sunny ah appreciate ya doin' all this for me, but ah-"

"Wait! I know what yer thinkin'" Sunny silenced the red farm stallion. "Yer thinkin' 'parachutes are for glidin' down with, not really fly in'' right?!"

Scared of what Sunny was leading up to, Big Mac decided it was just best to play along, even though he just really wanted Sunny to let the whole 'dream of flying' thing to go. "Ugh, right?"

"Well don't you worry, ah knew that already! And ah called in ah little help!" Sunny smiled confidently as he looked to the sky and yelled out "ready guys!"

Not long after Sunny called out to a seemingly open sky did several pegusi, including Thunderlane and Flitter, begin to descend down, each picking up a different rope of the parachute.

"We're ready to fly, Sunny!" Flitter said with a smile and a wink.

"This is gunna be so cool!" Thunderlane commented, then turned to Big Mac. "I never knew you wanted to fly. Man, if I had known that, we could have been flying around this whole time!"

Horror broke across Bu Mac's face, then turned to anger as he annoyingly looked to Sunny. "Ya told 'em 'bout mah dream to fly?!"

"Ugh, y-your welcome?..."Seeing Big Mac's embarrassment, Sunny nervously pushed his friend over into the tarp and gave one of the ropes a tug. "Ok everypony! Take him up!"

All at once, the team of Thunderlane, Flitter, as well as several other pegusi began to pull on the parachute, raising Big Mac up and into the sky before he could protest. Sunny had a feeling once the stallion was airborne that his anger towards Sunny would dissipate. But there was a slight miscalculation Sunny had made when he came up with this plan.

Immediately after the pegusi began to fly upwards with all their might, the parachute closed and wrapped around Big Mac, closing him off from seeing anything but tarp. Panicking and trying to think quickly, Sunny cast a spell that made a small sharp crystal. He then shot it over towards the tarp, slicing a small hole in the parachute that would allow his earth pony friend to see the world around and now below him. Only, when Big Mac realized what the hole was intended for and stuck his head through it, the small cut in the tarp began to grow and grow! For a moment, Big Mac was too distracted by the view, almost enjoying it, to notice the floor beneath him gave way, and he began falling down, landing right into the chicken coop! Landing with a crash, and sending several of the residents of the coop running out, frightened by the sudden intruder. Luckily the team of pegusi Sunny had gathered didn't make it more then maybe ten feet off the ground, so Big Mac shouldn't be too hurt.

As the flying team, including Thunderlane and Flitter landed, they and Sunny watched in horror as Big Mac emerged from the chicken coop, covered in egg, feathered and straw clinging to him. Under any other circumstance, it would have been a funny sight. But in this situation, seeing the anger and pain in Big Mac's eyes, everypony just wanted to kind of walk away slowly. But as Big Mac walked right past Sunny and the others, everypony was too frozen with fear to even blink. As The big red earth-pony made his way over to the hose on the side of the house, the others thought it best to make themselves scares. All except Sunny, who despite the two failed attempts, wasn't about to give up.

After repairing the chicken coop, finding new focus in his work, Big Mac walked over to the barn to grab more sugar and flour that Applejack was surely in need of by now. Thanks to Sunny and his attempts to help him fly, Big Mac was slowly starting to realize the truth behind his own words. 'Earth-ponies just ain't meant ta fly...'

"Hey Big Mac!" As if jinxing himself, Big Mac turned to see Sunny yet again running up the dirt road, heading strait for him, this time accompanied by several earth bound ponies. Pinkie pie, Snips and Snails were all trailing behind him, all with big smiles on their faces.

'Great, another attempt' Big Mac thought to himself as he signed watching Sunny and the others draw closer and closer. 'Ah just need ta set him strait. No more attempts at flyin'.'

"Hey Big Mac!" Pinkie said as she mysteriously reappeared behind the large earth pony. "I got a super-dopper surprise for you! And I just know you're gunna love it!"

"Pinkie, ah don't think-" Big Mac started to say again, hoping he could get a word in edgewise, but was once again interrupted as the party planning pony defied all logic and pulled out of her mane a large trampoline!

Before he knew it, Big Mac was pushed onto the trampoline and started to bounce up and down, quickly joined in by Pinkie, Snips, Snails and finally Sunny.

"How are ya feelin, Big Mac?!" Sunny asked as they all bounced up and down out of sync.

"Ugh, up and down?" Big Mac replied in a shaky voice, which earned a giggle from Pinkie.

"I get it! Cuz you're going up and down and you don't know weather you're happy or not! That's really clever Big Mac!" Pinkie tried to pay the red stallion a complement, but the farm pony was starting to feel sick.

Recognizing that ill look on Big Mac's muzzle, Sunny gave Pinkie and the others the signal. Once more, defying logic, Pinkie pulled a helium tank out from behind her back and began blowing up several balloons while still bouncing. After she finished blowing one up and tying it off, she then would pass it to Snips, who I turn, would tie a ribbon to the end of it and cut off a good length of exes. Lastly, Snails would grab the balloon from Snips and tied it to Big Mac's horse collar, safely securing it so as not to come undone. Working as fast as they could while Sunny distracted Big Mac, preventing him from losing his breakfast, the team was done in a matter of seven jumps.

On the last jump, Big Mac felt like the next time he bounced would be the last time before he tossed his cookies. The big red farm stallion closed his eyes and waited to the inevitable bounce that would force him to release the contents of his stomach... But the bounce never came.

Instead, Big Mac opened his eyes and noticed he was gently floating through the air. Looking behind him, he noticed about three dozen or so large balloons holding him up! Big Mac scrambled to look around him, taking everything in as quickly as possible, afraid that something would happen at any moment. But for several moments, the big red stallion just bobbed there in the air, like a care free balloon drifting in the wind. Back on the ground, Pinkie and Sunny watched Big Mac start to enjoy himself while Snips and Snails continued to play on the giant trampoline.

"Ah think this time we finally got-" Sunny started to tell Pinkie as he extended his hoof to meet hers for a hoof bump, but saw something heading right towards Big Mac that would soon ruin the whole thing!

Unknown to the red farm pony who was just starting to relax and enjoy the sky life, a stray Wonderbolt that seemed to have been knocked off course was on a collision course with the bunch of balloons that were keeping the earth pony afloat! Sunny and Pinkie could only watch as the pegusi crashed into the balloons, pooping most of them and sending Big Mac spiraling out of control! Panic returned to the red farm stallion as more balloons popped, the helium they were releasing sent him bouncing around in several different directions, bringing back Big Mac's uneasy stomach. Thinking quickly, Pinkie pulled out a giant whoopie cushions from her mane and tossed it in the direction of the fallen wonderbolt, catching them before they hit the ground. Sunny had focused his magic on a few piles of surrounding leaves and was ready to toss them beneath wherever Big Mac would land to soften the blow.

Finally the last bit of the helium was released from last ballon, leaving Big Mac still floating about twelve feet in the air, now hurtling down to the grounded. But this time, Sunny was ready to catch him, and gathered as much of the surrounding leaves as he could to help cushion the fall for his pal. But as Big Mac landed on top of the pile of leaves and sticks, he sunk several more inches into the ground with a wet, squishing noise.

It was then that Sunny got a good look around and realized where Big Mac had landed. Unfortunately, Big Mac's balloon escapade had left him to plummet right into the pile of fertilizer. A small mountain of freshly gathered biodegradable material including rotting or spoiled foods. The smell was absolutely horrendous. Once again, Big Mac emerged from the crash, only this time spelling worse then he ever had in his entire life, covered in fertilizer and leaves instead of egg and feathers. Once again, he just walked past the group and Sunny, ignoring their existence, and walked right back over to the hose on the side of the house, making sure to grab the largest bottle of soap they had.

Sunny sighed heavily, thinking for sure that they had it that time. "If only that Wonderbolts didn't get in th' way..."

"Don't give up Sunny" Pinkie did her best to rekindle the unicorn's inner fire. "If anypony could get Big Mac airborne, it's you!"

Smiling as he looked back at the pink party pony, Sunny nodded then an idea came to him, Sending the yellow unicorn rushing off back to town. He just hoped the ponies he would need help from were back from their trip!

After hosing himself off outside several more times, then going inside and taking a long, hot shower, Big Mac was able to get most of the fertilizer smell out of his coat and mane. But the smell became more apparent as he stepped into the kitchen and the wonderful scent of fresh baked apple pies overcame him.

"Well there ya are, where have ya been all day?!" Applejack asked as she pulled several more pies out of the oven. "Ah've been stuck in here, making th' pies all by mah self! Ah need a couple extra hooves if ah'm gunna get this order filled!"

"Ah' got ah bone ta pick with you" Big Mac's sharp tone made the hairs on the back of Applejack's neck stand on end and he walked up, eyes beaming down at his eldest sister. "Ya just had ta tell Sunny 'bout mah flyin' dreams, didn't ya?"

"He was worried 'bout ya" Applejack started to say as she put the next batch in the oven. "Ya kept on dozen off inta cloud-coo-coo land, what with them Wonderbolts flyin' all 'round."

"Well thanks ta you and yer yap, ah've been tossed around' every which way bah his tries at gettin' me ta fly, the whole town knows 'bout mah dreams now too! And if that ain't bad 'bough, ah ended up taking ah bath in manure!" Big Mac didn't realize it, but his voice had steadily started to rise from the beginning of the conversation, until it ended with him literally yelling at his sister. When he paused to take a breather, he started to get himself under control.

"Ya need ta take ah breather, Big Mac" Applejack told her older brother, her voice gently now. "Sunny's just tryin' ta make ya happy. He really values yer friendship an just wants ta help."

"Well he can, help by stayin' outta mah way fer th' rest of the' day" Big Mac said as he stomped over to th' fridge, grabbed the carton of milk and started chugging the whole thing.

"Ah think you take things way too seriously, Big Mac" Applejack's voice started to firm up as the orange farm mare grew tired of Big Mac's cold attitude. "When do ya ever have fun any more? Ya do chores and work ta keep yer mind off yer dreams an rarely ever just go and have fun with yer own friends."

After finishing off the gallon of milk, Big Mac tossed the empty carton aside and slammed the fridge again. "Well don't you worry, ah'm down with those stupid dreams. Ya can take pride in being right again, Applejack. It was stupid ta think ah Earth-Pony could ever fly!"

Stomping out of the kitchen, Big Mac went strait for the barn to work on something else, leaving Applejack all alone in the house, speechless. As the freckled orange mare stood there in the kitchen, all she could think about was 'what are ya gunna do now, Sunny?'

'What are ya gunna do now Sunny?' The question kept bouncing around in the yellow unicorn's head as he sat at a table in Sugar Cube corner.

It was a fairly busy day, but around the time Sunny had arrived at the bakery, most ponies had cleared out, heading over to the practice field on the far side of Ponyville to watch the Wonderbolts train and work of new routines. Leaving only
Sunny and the Cakes to occupy Sugar Cube corner. After ordering a strawberry milk shake to help him think, Sunny tried to brainstorm ideas of how to help Big Mac to fly.

"You're looking a little down there" Octavia's voice rang lightly as the cello player appeared beside the yellow unicorn. "Is this seat taken?"

"No, please, have a seat" Sunny said as he tried his best to put a smile on for his friend.

"Thank you" she politely said then took the seat next to him and ordered herself a chocolate milk shake. "So, a little birdie told me you were trying to help Big Macintosh fly?"

Sighing heavily, Sunny sunk his face deeper into his hoof as his eyes fell onto the image of his half drunken milk shake. "I heard from Applejack that Big Mac had always dreamed about flying. I just wanted to help make his dreams come true. I've been trying all day to help him to fly. But so fare all I've done is made him mad.

"I was hoping Doctor Whooves and Derpy would be back from their 'adventure' and he would have something, maybe a flying machine that Big Mac could use." Sunny explained his idea to the grey earth pony mare. "But they're not back yet. Now I'm stumped. Unless you have something to get Big Mac off the ground."

"I'm afraid not, but that's very sweet of you to go so far out of your way for a friend." Octavia said as Mr.Cake place a chocolate milk shake in front of her. "But earth-ponies just aren't meant to fly, especially one as strong and earth bound as Big Macintosh. But you can't just sprout wings on him or something. I doubt even Twilight Sparkle could do that."

Something just then sparked inside of Sunny. An idea that at first sounded possible, but the thought of it made Sunny's stomach churn. Still, Sunny was desperate, and he didn't want to give up if there was even the slightest chance of success!

"Thanks Octavia, you just gave me the idea I needed!" Sunny explained as he chugged the rest of his shake, slammed the glass down on the table, gave his friend abreast big hug to thank her, then zoomed out the front doors, leaving a slightly blushing Octavia behind to only fathom at what she had just put into his head.

"He's a really nice guy" Mr.Cake said as he picked up Sunny's empty milkshake glass.

"Yes, yes he is" Octavia agreed as she turned back around to enjoy her own milkshake. "Such a shame he's spoken for."

"He is?" Mr. Cake asked, surprised to hear this. "So they're finally official?"

"No, but it's obvious they're both crazy for each other" Octavia said with a smile. "They just have some things to sort out before they get to that point. But I know they'll get there."

Racing as fast as he could through Ponyville, Sunny made his way to the last place in town that he wanted to be. Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle. He only hoped that the princess was still in and hadn't left on a friendship mission or something. Arriving at the front door, Sunny calmed himself and began to knock loudly. A few moments later Spike started to open the door, but when he noticed who it was, slammed it right on Sunny's face.

'Not sure I deserved that one...' The yellow unicorn thought to himself.

"Who was it Spike?" Sunny heard the familiar voice of his former friend behind he door, followed by a short silence before the door was once gain opened. Princess Twilight's expression to the former prince was cold and dry as she asked him. "How can I help you."

"I need your help" Sunny started off, putting his anger towards the princess aside to focus on a more important issue.

"What's wrong?" Princess Twilight's own expression softened as she noticed the desperation on Sunny's face and in his tone.

"I... I need you to help me get Big Mac to fly" Sunny admitted to the princess, taking a deep breath after he did so. Asking for her help was harder then he guessed it would be, but it was for Big Mac, a friend.

Princess Twilight raised a brow at the odd request as she blankly stared at the yellow unicorn. "Ugh... why does Big Mac need to fly, exactly?"

Taking in a deep breath, Sunny did his best to explain the situation. "Big Mac was acting weird this morning and I was told by Applejack that it's because he was day dreaming about flying which is something he's always wanted to do since he was a colt, but being an earth pony he can't. I've been trying all day with help of Thunderlane, Flitter, Pinkie and a bunch of others to try and get him to fly, but it turned out badly with him landing in fertilizer, and angry!"

After spewing all of that out at Twilight, Sunny took a few small breaths and gathered himself before speaking normally. "Please, Twilight. Help my friend. Not for me, but for him. Please..."

Back at the farm, Big Mac was hard at work cleaning up the mess made by Sunny and his 'help', finding it all too easy to ignore the spectacular air show going on above his head.

'Ah should have just stuck with workin' 'Big Mac grumbled in his head as he finished piling up the last of the fertilizer back into the heap. 'Ah farm pony just needs ta focus on work. It was stupid ta ever think of flyin'. Workin' hard should make me happy. Not some stupid dream.'

"Big Mac!" Once again, Sunny's voice could be heard as the yellow stallion came running up to the big red farm pony.

But this time Big Mac had had enough. Turning around, stomping his hoof, glaring at the yellow unicorn with the hardest pair of eyes he could muster, topping it off with exhaling heavily through his nostrils, Big Mac made his mood very clear to the other two ponies who accompanied the yellow unicorn, but not to Sunny himself. Twilight and Rainbow Dash gulped and took a few steps back, But Sunny either ignored Big Mac's body language, or just didn't notice it.

"Big Mac, I got a full proof thing this time. Twilight will-" Sunny started to say, but was stopped when Big Mac threw a goof full of fertilizer at him, splattering it all across his face!

"NO!" Big Mac said with a firm and booming voice. "No more tries. Ah'm done! Ah've been made a fool of all day, thrown 'round like ah rag doll, and had ta take four, count 'em, four showers ta get that stink off ah me! That ain't includin' the number a times ah had ta use th' hose!"

Wiping most of the fertilizer off of his muzzle, Sunny started to speak up again. "I know, an ah'm real sorry 'bout all that. But this time-"

"NO!" Big Mac stomped his hoof down again. "Ah'm done! Flyin' is stupid! An it was stupid ta think ah could ever-"

"SHUT UP!" It was Sunny's turn to snap, shocking Big Mac as well as the two mares Sunny had dragged with him to help. When all eyes were on the yellow unicorn, Sunny straitened himself up, then squared his head and looked at Big Mac with a gaze that demanded his attention. "It's not stupid to ever have dreams, to want to achieve something that no pony has ever done before.

"Look at Rainbow Dash and Twilight here" Sunny motioned a hoof to the mares behind him. "Rainbow Dash not only proved that the sonic rain boom does exist, but that she can create it. That, and she became a Wonderbolt. A Wonderbolt! Now I haven't know her as long as you and your sister have, but I've read that from when Twilight first came to town, that's all Rainbow ever wanted to do. And look! She did it! She made it happen!

"And Twilight" Sunny didn't stop his rampage just because Big Mac's expression softened a little. "She had a dream too, she wanted to go and become a student at 'princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns'. Not only did she do that, she went up the ladder to become Princess Celestia's most faithful student, and now a fellow princess! She not only made we dreams come true, she surpassed it!"

Despite the speech Sunny just gave Big Mac, the farm stallion's expression only softened on the outside, but on the inside the stallion was still riddled with doubt. Seeing this, Sunny put a hoof on the big red stallion's shoulder. "Big Mac, I'm really sorry the other attempts didn't work out, but this time it will. Please. One last try. And if it doesn't work, I'll eat my words and never bother you again about your dream, my dream, or anypony else's dream of any kind."

Big Mac thought for a moment, wondering to himself if it was worth the risk. As he looked at Sunny, really looked at him, Big Mac suddenly felt something deep within. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. Hope.

Granted, the red farm pony never really had much he needed to really work for. Chores came easy to him, and ponies for some odd reason just flocked to him even though he would rather be left alone... but why did he want to be alone?

"What do you say, Big Mac?" Sunny asked again, pulling the big red stallion out of his thoughts.

Sighing heavily again, Big Mac nodded in agreement. "Ah'll do it, but this is th' last time."

"Yee'haw! Ready Twilight?" Sunny said with a smile as he turned to the purple alicorn, the first smile he had given her in days.

"Now hold still" Twilight instructed Big Mac as purple magical lights surrounded first Rainbow Dash, then him. Surrounding both ponies in flashing, glowing waves of Twilight's magic.

Sunny stepped back a little as he watched the magical transformation take place. After several moments of being encased in Twilight's magical aura, the light flared, blinding everypony for a moment just as Applejack trotted up to see what all the commotion was about. Just as she reached Sunny's side, the flash died down, and revealed two ponies standing on either side of her.

"Big Mac? Is that you?" Applejack asked, narrowing her eyes on the red blur of a pony.

When the red stallion with a light orange mane and freckles stood up, muscles relaxing and cooling off from the transformation, he instantly felt something... different. When everypony was quiet, a mighty pair of red feathered wing emerged from either side of him. At first, Big Mac could hardly believe the feeling of having two more limbs on his back. As he moved them, he thought they felt a little light, too easy to move. But as he shuffled around his hooves, he soon realized his whole body felt light as a feather!

"You ready to fly, Big Guy?" Rainbow Dash asked as she stood up strait, flexing her wings.

"Eh'yep!" Big Mac said with great enthusiasm, his body tingling all over with enthusiasm. His dream was finally coming true! He was going to fly! Not only that, but he was going to have one of Equeatria's greatest Wonderbolts as an instructor!

Rainbow Dash began explaining he finer details of flying to Big Mac, Sunny leaned over and started to whisper to Twilight. "Thank you for helping him."

"You're welcome" Twilight replied, just now realizing that she was starting to relax a bit around Sunny, despite everything that had gone on. "It was really nice of you to do this for him. But mind if I ask why you would go this far?"

Taking a deep breath, Sunny's light expression suddenly aged 1000 years. "I would have figured the princess of friendship wouldn't have to ask 'why a pony would go out of their way to help a friend'. Despite what you and Discord believe, I do have 'real' friends."

"Are you two done talking?" Rainbow Dash snapped. "We're ready for take off!"

"Oh! I defiantly want a picture of this!" Pinkie said as she somehow appeared out of nowhere with a camera in her hooves.

"Ugh, Pinkie, where did ya-" Applejack started to ask, only to have a pink hoof stop her mid-sentence.

"Sssshhhh" Pinkie whispered as she refocused on the scene before her.

Big Mac began to do as Rainbow Dash instructed, readying himself for a big kick off. The winged farm pony could feel his muscles being lowered by his eager excitement. He already felt like he was light as a feather, and soon he's be above the clouds! He waited for Rainbow Dash's signal. And there it was! She waved a wing, and with all his strength, Big Mac kicked off as hard as he could from the ground, sending the stallion several feet into the air.

Remembering what Rainbow had told him, Big Mac needed to start flapping as hard as he could at first, making sure that his wings were in sync with each other, then when he was safely in the air, his flapping could ease up a little.Starting off, the Big Mac had a hard getting his wings to flat together at once, but after a few shaky moments, he was doing it! He started to flap as hard as he could, not wanting to have to restart the lift off, but when he opened his eyes and looked down, he realized he was well above the clouds!

"Nice one, Big guy" Rainbow commented as she popped her head out of the clouds. "Now let's glide down a little and start flying with everypony."

"Everypony?" Big Mac asked, thinking the Wonderbolts had already finished up their training for the day.

"Well yeah, everypony heard about Sunny wanting to help you fly and came out to cheer you on!" Rainbow said, now popping out of the cloud fully and stretching on the cloud. "What say we give them all a show they'll never forget?"

"Eh'yep!" Big Mac said with a wide smile growing wider on his face.

Rainbow Dash jumped lightly into the air, then maneuvered her wings to allow her to gently glide down, allowing everypony to see her. Big Mac followed suit and copied her actions. The two began to float gently down, but not too close to the ground. As they got closer and closer to the ground, a large crowd of ponies became visible to Big Mac, all were cheering for him. The two were soon met by a flock of other pegusi, some even members of the Wonderbolts!

"Hey Big Mac! What's up man? Well other then you?" Thunderlane jokes as he high hooves his no longer ground bound friend.

"Dude! This is awesome!" Soarin approached Big Mac and shared a high hoof with him as well.

"What do ya say, rookie? Wanna fly with us?" Spitfire appeared shooting Big Mac a half smile.

"Eh'yep!" Was Big Mac's only response a shis wide smile seemed to grow even wider!

The rest of the pegusi, lead by Spitfire and followed up by Rainbow Dash, who was keeping an eye on Big Mac, began souring gently into the sky. As the pegusi bounced off of clouds, performed barrel rolls and flips, Big Mac couldn't help but notice hot air balloons carrying earthbound ponies up and into the air, all waving and smiling at him. It was the most wonderful sight Big Mac had ever seen. He could even hear somepony singing in the background.

(https://youtu.be/FHqpBp27oU4)

Everypony was having such a wonderful time in the sky, no pony ever wanted to come down. It was like, up there, amongst the clouds, all the problems and worries just floated away like balloons. All that could weigh you down turned lighter then air. Big Mac himself was having a blast performing ticks that every pegusi was all too happy to teach him. While still flying, Big Mac played ball games with ponies both flying as well as floating with the hot air balloons. Passing beach balls around and launching paper airplanes betwen everypony. Even Derpy and Doctor Whooves who appeared a little later brought bubbles for everypony. Applejack herself joined in and floated up with Sunny in their own hot air balloon, bringing refreshments and snacks for everypony. It was a party nopony ever wanted to end. But a little after the stars and moon came out, ponies began to tire. It was time to called it a night. Even Big Mac had to admit that his wings were starting to get sore from all the flying.

As he landed where Sunny, Applejack, Twilight and the rest did, he decided to do one last flip into an epic landing, urning him one last wave of applause and cheers from his friends. The spell that had turned Big Mac into a Pegasus had now warn off, leaving Twilight feeling a little light headed, but otherwise still smiling.

Before anypony could say anything, Big Mac approached Sunny, smiled lightly at him before offering him a hoof. "Sorry 'bout throwin' fertilizer in yer face."

"It's ok" Sunny replied, taking his hoof into a hoof bump.

"And... thank ya fer helping mah dream come true" Big Mac almost felt too embarrassed to say, but his huge smile never shrunk.

"Big Mac" Applejack approached her older brother with her hat held in re hooves. "Ah'm sorry.... ah should have been supportive of you and yer dream. Ah was a bad sister to ya."

But the big red farm pony just pulled his sister into a hug. "'S'all right, sis. All worked out in th' end. Sides, if ya never said nothin' ta Sunny, ah'd have never gotten ta fly at all!"

Sunny smiled as he readjusted his Stetson hat. "Hey, ya wanna Join me, Thunderlane, and a few of our pals for ah camp in' trip sometime next week?"

It was then that it hit him. Big Mac realized why he wanted to always be alone. He thought if he could just focus on work, that he would never have to share his dream with anypony else. He would never have to hear how his dreams would never come true from anypony else. But looking back on today, it was only because of sharing his dream with somepony else that Big Mac was able to enjoy himself and have fun. It was beyond fun for him to fly, but what made it better was sharing the fun and laughs with friends. He was never going to miss having fun and sharing laughs with friends again.

"You bet, partner!" Big Mac smiled and nodded.

When Big Mac and Applejack went back to the house, Sunny asked for a moment to speak with Twilight and Rainbow about something. Applejack hesitated, but thought it best to just let him be. He probably just wanted to thank them for their help. Everypony waited until the Applejack and Big Mac were out of ear shot before speaking.

"Don't think this changes anything" Rainbow Dash spat at Sunny.

"I didn't expect it to" Sunny's tone went flat and emotionless again. "But the I did want to thank you again for helping Big Mac. I know it meant the world to him."

"I don't mind helping Big Mac" Rainbow continued to hiss. "But keep that in mind. I helped only for Big Mac, not you."

"Got that" Sunny admitted then looked to Twilight. "And thank you... Twilight?"

"You have a lot of work ahead of you before you can relax when saying my name" Twilight told the yellow unicorn, also holding back any and all emotion. "But if you keep this up, you might get there."

With one last nod, Sunny began walking back to the Apple family barn house, ready to call it a night.

"I still don't trust him" Rainbow told her alicorn friend, eyes still locked on the yellow unicorn.

"It's going to take a lot for me to trust him too" Twilight agreed. "But he is doing better then Discord."

Author's Note:

Hey guys, sorry it's taken so long to get a new chapter up. Besides balancing two jobs, I had accidentally deleted a chapter and had to start that one over. It didn't help that that chapter was extremely long. But I finally got around to rewriting it and editing. So I hope you guys like the new chapters. Many good and terrible things ahead for Sunny and the others. I hope you enjoy.

This chapter especially I had the idea for when I was working. I thought about how to do a Sunny and Big Mac chapter, and this came to mind, song included. If you can, watch the full PMV, it's great!