Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Monsters of the forest

Everypony found it somewhat hard to sleep that night, even Sunny who suggested the scary story contest couldn't seem to find a way into slumber land. When the moon was high in the night sky, Sunny gave up on sleep and decided to try and take a walk to tire himself out. It had been the first time in a long time that he couldn't fall right to sleep, and he couldn't tell if it was due to his body being used to the strenuous farm work that helped tire him to sleep, or if it actually was the stories that seemed to fill him with some sort of odd energy. That's what he felt. Energy. He didn't feel scared, if anything he kinda wanted to tell other ponies about the Umbrum story his father told him. He bet Twilight would have loved to document it. But if she had visited the Crystal Empire library, should would surely have come across it in a children's story book at least. It was a popular one. As Sunny continued to walk further and further away from camp, more and more thoughts began to bubble into his head.

'I bet Granny has some good scary stories she could tell' the yellow unicorn thought. 'Oh! Maybe Pinkie as a few to scare up some laughs at Nightmare Night parties! Or Applejack....'

A thought stopped the yellow unicorn in his tracks. He had gotten so excited about the looks on everypony's muzzles and their youthful reactions, that he never stopped to think about how Appeljack would react to such things. 'It would all be in good fun. I'd love to send chills down Rainbow Dash's back, maybe even see how Octavia or Derpy handle a scary story. But Applejack... I... I don't want to scare her... but... why not? Wasn't it all just in good fun?'...if so, then why did the thought of scaring her make him sad? The image of Applejack even slightly afraid made Sunny want to jump to her aid rather then enjoy the frightened look on her muzzle.

"Awful late at night to just be wondering around, mate" a familiar voice broke Sunny free from his thoughts, causing the yellow farm pony to turn around and come face to face with one of his camping buddies.

"Oh, hey Heart" Sunny said with a little then less enthusiasm, his thoughts still on Applejack.

"It's a girl, isn't it?" Heart Patch said with a smile looking at the faded expression on Sunny's muzzle.

"What? Eh, yeah, kinda..." Sunny's reply was shaky to say the least. Other then not wanting to scare the freckled farm mare, his heart ached with the fear of her finding out his secret. He knows that Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy would all keep his secret. But Rainbow Dash, the pony who represented 'Loyalty' would be another thing. And it made him more nervous to leave that cyan colored mare back in town with Applejack. What if Rainbow felt it was more her duty to Applejack to tell her Sunny's horrible secret then it was to keep her promise to Fluttershy and Twilight?

"I wouldn't worry mate, your an odd one, but you aren't the worst stallion I've ever met" the grounded Pegasus said as he walked over to Sunny.

"Gee, thanks. I guess?" Sunny replied unsure if that was really a complement or not.

"About that story, though, your pop used to tell you that? Like, right before bed or something?" Heart asked, thinking that that story about such creatures would give any colts nightmares. He was willing to bet the young ones back at camp were still shaking in their sleeping bags.

Remembering when his father told him the story actually brought a smile back to Sunny's muzzle. "Ta be honest, he used ta tell me that story around ah make-shift camp site ah set up in our... our house. I always wanted ta go camping fer real when ah was younger, but for a number of reasons, I couldn't. So Pappy and ah would make a tent in my room with bed sheets and chairs. And when my pa got home at night, if I was still awake, we'd make snores together and he'd tell me scary stories. That one was one he was told when he was a foal."

"So I guess you and your pop were really close" Heart commented, remembering the scuffle that almost happened earlier. "I'm.... I'm sorry about what happened earlier. When you said you knew how I felt..."

"Don't worry" Sunny looked away from Heart, kicking a rock over with his hoof, his country accent once again leaving him. "... my father had done things later in our lives that are unforgivable. And I'm sure most ponies don't even remember how kind, wise, protective, gentle, and wonderful he was. So I think I need to just keep those memories alive... I don't know if I could even help him go back to the way he was. I just..."

"You don't know how to help him, if even trying to go out of your way 'to' help him would be best for the situation. You wonder if it's even your place, or if you should let other ponies handle it for you. Ponies who are used to dealing with problems like that...." Heart finished Sunny's thoughts perfectly.

Smiling at the Pegasus, Sunny nodded as he readjusted his hat, relaxing and allowing his country accent to return. "That Charming feller sure is ah lucky feller ta have ah friend like you-"

Their conversation was interrupted by high pitched screaming that came from the direction of camp. Looking to each other once and nodding, both Heart and Sunny took off, runnning back to camp as fast as their hooves could carry them. As they reached the camp site, they were shocked to not only find the camp fire extinguished, but it seemed that Everypony was gone! They checked every tent, opened every sleeping bag, looked behind every rock and tree in the area, and even looked under the tents themselves, but no sign of anypony anywhere!

"What in Celestia's name happened here?!" Heart muttered to himself.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling, look..." Sunny commented as he relit the camp fire to give them some illumination. Doing so revealed to them multiple hoof prints on the ground.

"Judging by the position and length between the hoof prints, as well as the size and depth of each one, I'd say these belonged to our friends..." Heart explained, pointing out the various hoof prints and how they lined up with the tents.

"But something else was here..." Sunny added, pointing to another set of hoof prints.

"Another pony?" Heart asked, taking a closer look.

"I don't know, but whatever it was, it walked on only two hooves" Sunny stated, pointing out a few details to Heart about the hoof prints. "The depth, hoof angle, and distance between it's steps points to that conclusion."

"I wanna say I'm impressed, mate. But right now I'm kinda more concerned about our missing friends." Heart told Sunny, then looked out to the woods.

"We'd make more headway if we split up" Sunny added, the idea sounding exceptionally stupid. "Will you be ok on your own out there?"

"You kidding? I was breed for this!" Heart said with a cocky grin, then began to follow one set of tracks. "You may want to follow those two sets of little tracks first, mate. Probably Snips and Snails."

"Good idea, let's bring Everypony back here when we find them" Sunny suggested.

Both stallions then went their separate ways, desperate to find their missing friends, not fully knowing what was leaking in the woods, watching them at that very moment...

Somewhere deep in the woods, Big Mac had run off, with Button Mash clinging to his neck for dear life. When the monster attacked the camp site, Big Mac panicked and ran off. A fact he wasn't none too proud of, but it was true. Unfortunately, he left his traveling buddy back at the camp site. But he was sure the little guy was ok and most likely with his best friend.

"You worried about Snips and Snails, Mr. Big Mac?" Button asked, still ridding on the red farm pony's back.

"Eh'yep..." guilt began to set in again.

"I wouldn't worry about them-" just then, the little gamer pony heard a branch snap in the distance, which got his heart racing. His eyes grew wide as dinner plates as he began frantically looking around. "What was that?!"

"What was what?" Big Mac asked, having not heard the noise.

"That!" Button heard the sound again.

"Ah didn't hear nothin" Big Mac tried to sound calm, but even 'he' was starting to get jittery again.

With both sets of their eyes darting around, searching for any sign of movement in the dark, Big Mac and Button's imaginations were beginning to run away with them. They started to remember the monsters in the stories they were just told, about weeping pegusi statues, Knightmare stallions that haunt your dreams and shadow like ponies that fead on fear. The two earth ponies began to see the monsters everywhere, lurking in the dark, behind every tree, inside every bush, just waiting for their chance to strike!

"Well hello there!" A relaxed and familiar voice casually called out, as a certain brown earthpony popped out of the bushes, sending both Big Mac and Button Mash into a panicked frenzy. After several long moments of them screaming and holding onto each other for dear life, they were able to calm down and realize who it was who was in front of them. "And a 'hello' to you too. Seriously gentle colts, get a hold of yourselves. We need to find that being that wandered into our camp site."

"Why do we 'need' to find it?!" Button asked. "Can't we just, I don't know, pretend we never saw it and run back home?! Maybe finish up our camping trip where it's safe, like, in my living room?!"

"Eh'yep" Big Mac commented nervously, frightened still by his vague memory of the creature.

"Now now, that creature could need our help. One must never judge a book by it's cover, I believe Princess Twilight would agree to that" Doctor said as he pulled out an odd looking instrument. It looked some what like a pen or more like a screwdriver, with a long metal body, but a small, blue light at the end of it. "I know Sunny said 'no scientific instruments', but I thought it best to have it on hoof and just not use it unless absolutely needed. Looks like I was right to do so."

As Doctor began pointing it at the ground, scanning it for something he was tracking earlier that lead him to his two companions, both the two other earth ponies just watched and sat silently confused for a moment. Doctor ignored them as he continued to track something odd left in the dirt. According to his readings, they were levels of a rather high and unfamiliar magical source. One he had not seen in Ponyville or on any of his travels. As he began to walk away, Big Mac and Button decided to follow him, deciding that it would be best to face the creature in a group rather then encounter it by mistake as a smaller group. Doctor ventured after the trail without fear, quickly followed by his two companions who couldn't get their teeth to stop chattering nor their knees to stop shaking.

"Hmmm... that's strange..." Doctor said, looking over his scientific instrument again. He looked up and was facing a tree. Just a tree. Looking around, he had hoped to spot something out of the ordinary hiding close by. But nothing.

"W-what is it, doc?" Button asked nervously.

"Well, up until now I was following a rather odd trail of magic. But just now it disappeared. Right at this tree. Almost as if it just-" Doctor started to say when a small rustling came from above, followed by some clicking.

All the ponie's hearts sank as they gulped and looked up. Only one of them had heard that sound before, and knew exactly what it was. As their eyes traveled up the trunk of the tree towards the leafy brush above, their eyes quickly met a pair of green glowing lights inside a wood and metal head. The wooden pony figure stared back with it's cold, haunting green eyes as it clicked it's wooden jaw open and shut several times, as if trying to speak words at a million miles per hour that it couldn't. The rouge pony puppet jumped down from the tree, landed right in the middle of the group, causing the three ponies to scatter a bit, before it dashed off into the forest.

As he got up, Button looked to Doctor as he rubbed his aching head "why didn't you shoot it with your what-cha-Ma-calls-it?"

"My sonic screwdriver?" Doctor said as he got up and straitened his tie. "It's a scientific instrument, not a water pistol. Besides, it doesn't work on wood."

After hearing that, Button turned and faced Big Mac, shooting him a rather confused look. Only to see Big Mac himself reflecting his own confused look right back at him, before they both turned back to look at Doctor Whooves.

"Ugh... why doesn't it work on wood?" Button asked the obvious question

Doctor paused and turned back around, holding his instrument in his dominant hoof to his two companions. "Its's a 'sonic' screwdriver. And to save a very long explanation that I'm sure neither of you would fully understand, let's just say it doesn't work on wood and leave it at that. Metal, yes. Stone, yes. Living organisms and air particles, defiantly. Wood, no."

That's when the three stallions heard it again. Like a ghostly howl echoing through the trees. As soon as they saw the eerie blue light, they all ducked into a near by bush. Holding their breaths as they watched the creature that attacked their camp passed over head, floating just above the ground with it's fish like tail swaying, as if the creature were still in water...

About a good mile or so north of camp, Thunder and Rumble stopped flying, landing to catch their breath. Whatever had chased them was far behind them now. Or so they hoped.

"What...." Rumble started to ask as he tried to catch his breath. "What was ... that thing?..."

"I don't know!" Thunder admitted, his voice sounding really high pitched, as it normally did when he was panicked. When Thunderlane caught his own breath, he reiterated his previous statement. "But one thing's for sure, we need to go back. The others might be in trouble."

"Go back?!" Rumble's voice squeaked this time. "B-b-but that 'thing' is back there!!! Who knows what it is, or what it wants! For all we know it wants to gobble us up!"

"Then we defiantly need to go back" Thunder's expression turned hard, shocking Rumble. "Our friends are back there and could be in trouble. I'm not leaving any of them."

Rumble stood looking at the lightning in his brother's eyes, amazed at how different Thunderlane seemed then from a month ago, before the whole incident with the science experiment. The payed back, glazed over look his brother normally had was gone, and a sharp, determined look took it's place.

Unable to suppress the feeling of courage his brother was flaring with, Rumble smiled back at him and nodded. "Alright, let's do this!"

Both Pegasus brothers smacked hooves before turning around to head back to camp. Rumble's wings were exhausted, and Thunderlane was too tired from the hike to fly 'and' carry his brother. So both pegusi took to walking. Only, when they started to walk, both brothers slipped and fell down a steep hill, unable to stop themselves from falling into a watery pond of grey mud water. When they both emerged, the two pegusi were completely covered in the stuff. Still, they refused to let a little mud stop them. But as they both struggled to get out of the mud, they both agreed that if there was a river or clear pond along the way, that they would stop and wash up...

Sunny had been following the tracks from camp for quite some time, but managed to lose them when a fog began to roll in and hid the ground and all it's contents from him. Still, Sunny pressed on, guessing from where the hoof prints were leading too. Moments after the fog arrived, Sunny started to hear an odd yet familiar sound. It was low and echoed all throughout the trees. Gradually, as the yellow unicorn continued to venture deeper into the woods, the sound started to grow. His heart began to race as the sound seemed right on top of him. The former prince's eyes darted all around, trying to spot some movement to find the source of the sound. It wasn't until everything fell quiet, and Sunny was left with nothing but the sound of his own heart beat that he finally recognized the odd sound.

Straitening up and sighing, Sunny looked around for the cause of the noise the he now recognized. After looking left, then right, seeing nothing around him, he turned and looked left again, and as if by magic, somepony was standing there. She was an odd looking earth pony, covered from head to hoof in light pink fur that turned her body into a giant ball of fluff. Her aqua marine colored eyes and face were the only things that showed of her actual body, besides a few Stubbs for her hooves and two fluffy ears at the top of her head.

"Fluffle Puff, what are ya doin' here?" Sunny asked, more annoyed then afraid. The mare was infamous around Ponyville for being either innocently mischievous or foal like playful. Sunny was surprised the first time he saw her, he had never seen a pony with such... well, fluff. But like the rest of Ponyville, he had gotten used to her foal like antics.

The pink fluffy pony only stuck her tongue out and continued to blow raspberries, which Sunny realized moments before she showed up, were the sound that was echoing though the woods.

Sunny was about to ask Fluffle Puff if she had seen any of his friends, when out of nowhere she smacked him with a pillow. The pillow stuck to his head, thanks to his horn, and obscured his vision. Sunny paused and sighed again. This wasn't the first time she had done something like this. A little annoyed now, Sunny removed the pillow, knowing full well that the pink fluffy mare would have vanished without a trace when he did. And he was right. After removing the pillow, Sunny saw no traces of the pink, fluffy mare anywhere. He rolled his eyes and tossed the pillow aside before continuing his search.

"Lost, Sunny?..." a mare's voice called out in almost a hushed tone.

"Looking for somepony?..." Another cried out.

"Maybe we could help..." a third spoke up, this time, directing Sunny as to their actual direction.

The yellow unicorn looked strait ahead and saw a clearing in the fog. Atop a small hill were three ponies in dark cloaks, one dark red, one dark green, and the last dark blue. From the sound of their whispering voices, Sunny guessed that they were mares. Curiosity overtook Sunny's caution for the most part and he approached the three mares.

"Y-yes" Sunny replied. "Ah'm lookin' fer mah friends" Sunny started to explain.

But the mare in the dark red cloak raised a hoof to silence him. "We know why you are here, prince of the Crystal empire."

Hearing the hooded mare speak this shocked Sunny, he wanted to play it off that they mistook him for somepony else, but the one in the dark blue cloak spoke up before he could try. "We all met over 1000 years ago, remember? Or are you still missing some of your memories?"

"Be polite, sister" the mare in the dark green cloak instructed. "He's suffered quite a bit. Strong is his body, but his mind and spirit are still fairly weak."

"My mind and spirit are just fine, thank you!" Sunny snapped, hating being talked about like that.

"You are growing stronger every day, I must admit" the mare in the dark blue cloak replied.

"But you can't go off fighting alone as you did 1000 years ago" the mare in the dark green cloak added.

"We feel the need to remind you of our warning, the one we spoke to you of last we met" the one in the dark red cloak replied. "As well as to offer you an answer. You have earned the right for just 'one' answer right now. But continue down this virtuous path, and we might give you one more."

"An answer?" Sunny repeated the mare's words, slightly confused as to what exactly they were offering.

"1000 years ago, you came to us for the answer to cure a small village who had fallen ill, as well as a remedy for their quickly dying crops." The mare in the dark blue cloak answered.

"A noble effort, sense no pony had ever been brave enough to even approach our hut" the mare in the dark green cloak added.

"We gave you the cure, but only after you payed tribute with knowlage 'we' wanted" the mare in the dark red cloak added. "We then gave you the answer, as well as a warning that was going to aid you in this present time. Now, 1000 years later, we offer you the same deal.

"For your noble efforts, if you answer our question, we shall answer 'one' of yours, as well as share a warning to aid you in the near future" the mare in the dark red cloak concluded.

"So... ya'll are psychic?" Sunny asked, raising a questioning brow at the three hooded mares.

"We see much of our world" the mare in the dark read cloak replied.

"Past..." the mare in the dark Blue cloak stated.

"Present..." the mare in the dark green cloak added.

"And Future" the mare in the dark red cloak finished. "But there is still a bit that even eluded 'our' sight. And we wish to rectify this."

Patting his chin with his hoof, Sunny thought about it for a moment. These mares did seem to know him, but could he trust what they say? They could be changelings trying to mess with him for Queen Chrysalis for all he knew.

"If you don't trust us, or you lack the creativity you did 1000 years ago enough to not come up with a decent question, please, move along" the mare in the dark blue cloak stated.

"We wish not to deceive you, Soleggiato" the mare in the dark read cloak restated. "If you wish, we can simply leave you to wander around aimlessly in the dark."

Looking the three hooded mares over, something did seem familiar about them, but Sunny couldn't quite put his hoof on it. Regardless, he did have something he wanted to ask, but Sunny didn't think they would know the answer.

"Yes, we do" the mare in the dark green cloak stated. "We see all, and can answer any and all questions you have."

"That is why we only offer one" the dark blue cloaked mare added quickly. "Knowledge is a powerful thing. And too much of it could cause some serious damage."

"But before you ask your question, let us ask ours" the mare in the dark red cloak spoke up.

Nodding, Sunny looked onto the three mares with a harder gaze now, taking them more seriously then before. "As you wish. What do you want to know."

"Prince of the Crystal Empire, tell us..." the mare in the dark red cloak began.

"When you traveled back to your home, and gazed into the Crystal Heart..." the mare in the dark blue cloak picked up where the other left off.

"What was it you saw? What resides deep in your heart?" The mare in the dark green cloak continued.

"Answer us truthfully" the mare in the dark red cloak spoke again. "We will know if you are lying."

Sighing a little, Sunny looked at all three of the mares as he spoke. "Ah saw th' Appel farm. Sweet Apple Acres. An' th' Apples, they were there too, lookin' right back at me.... and... Applejack... she was..."

Raising a hoof, the mare in the red cloak silenced the prince once more. "That is all we need to know. Now, ask 'your' question."

Thinking about it for several long moments, Sunny considered asking about his father, about why his father turned into an evil king and imprisoned and enslaved everypony. That question had kept Sunny up at night for so long. To finally get an answer would put his mind at ease... but that answer was not theirs to give. It was one Sunny would have to ask his father himself.

"Where are mah friends? Are they ok? Where can ah find them?" Sunny asked, readjusting his Stetson hat.

"That's technically 'three' questions" the mare in the dark green commented.

"But all can be answered with one statement" the mare in the dark red noted, before turning her attention back to Sunny. "Head back to camp when we are all done speaking. Your friends will meet you there. And it is there that you shall encounter the creature that calls these woods home."

Nodding, Sunny secured his Stetson hat on his head, ready to book it back to camp.

"So impatient" the mare in the dark blue cloak commented.

"We haven't even given you your warning yet" the mare in the dark green cloak noted.

Sunny paused and looked back at the mares. "Oh... right, sorry."

"It is good to see you care more for your friends then your own safety" the mare in the dark green stated.

"But to keep them safe, you yourself must be safe as well" the mare in the dark red cloak said.

"Now, 1000 years ago, we told you that your greatest battle would not be against an army or monstrous beast, but one fought within." The mare in the dark green cloak repeated their statement from 1000 years ago.

"Honesty is still your hardest concept to master" the mare in the dark blue cloak noted.

"We understand your want to keep your true identity a secret, prince Soleggiato, son of the shadow king." The mare in the dark red began to explain. "But as you are starting to learn, some ponies can be trusted with such a dark truth."

It didn't take much for Sunny to figure out what the three cloaked mares were talking about. He knew they meant telling his friends, and more so, telling Applejack, about who he really was.

"And now, for your warning" the mare in the dark red stated.

Sunny looked up, raising a brow. "Ugh... wasn't that-"

"We were repeating ourselves from the past" the mare in the dark blue cloak stated.

"Unless you don't want another friendly warning as to what is to come" the mare in the dark green harshly stated.

Laughing nervously, Sunny forced a smile as he apologized. "N-no, Ah'm sorry, please, go on."

The three hooded mares laughed lightly amongst themselves for a moment.

"He really is kind of cute when he's nervous" the mare in the dark blue cloak commented.

"Looks aside, sister" the mare in the red cloak got their attention as they focused once again on Sunny. "You still have many trials ahead of you, young prince. Some of them you'll face with ease, others will test you to the fullest."

"But do not lose hope" the mare in the dark green cloak answered. "You won't have to face it all alone. Your friends will be there with you."

"You have already began to help their inner lights glow" the mare in the dark blue cloak added. "You just need to keep the flames lit."

"And the best way to do that" the mare in the dark red cloak started to say as the fog all around them began to grow thicker and engulf them. "Is to just be who you are, Sunny Knight. Not the prince... not the farmer... not the Black Knight... but the pony..."

Sunny watched as the fog that engulfed the three cloaked sisters began to disappear, even the fog on the ground seemed to dissipate and reveal the tracks of hoof prints Sunny had been tracking. Taking a deep breath and trying his best to remember all the three cloaked mares had to say, Sunny began galloping back towards camp, following his own hoof steps this time...

Heading around and around in circles without even knowing it, Snips and Snails eventually tuckered themselves out not maybe twenty yards from the campsite. When the Spector appeared in a frightening glowing light, they had run off as fast as they could, forgetting about staying together and only thinking to put as much distance between them and the alleged ghost as possible.

Now, collapsed on the ground, their chests raising and falling heavily as they both tried desperately to catch their breath, the two unicorns began to wonder what that 'thing' really was.

"Hey.... Snips..." Snails started to say.

"Yeah?..." his pudgy friend replied.

"W-was that thing... one of those... weeping... things Doctor... told us... about ?" The rather slow and patient colt asked, the Doctor's story being the one that was keeping him up that night.

"Nah.... those things were... like, statues..." Snips said as he and his friend got to their hooves. "And they were-"

"Pegasuses?!" Snails added, his eyes growing wide as he looked past his shorter friend, something drawing the lengthy unicorn's full attention to it.

"Yeah" Snips competed, not catching onto his friend's fearful expression. "And they were, like, made of stone and covering their eyes, right?"

"S-S-Snips..." Snails started to say as his lengthy knees began to shake.

"What?" Snips asked before finally catching on to his pal's expression, and turned around.

Now both of the unicorn colts were panicking as they looked at two pegusi that appeared to be made of stone, whipping their eyes with their hooves and moaning. As the two stone creatures drew closer and closer to Snips and Snails, the duo decided it was best to get out of there!

Tuning and running away as fast as they could, neither Snips nor Snails even heard when one of the 'statues' called out to them in Rumble's voice.

"Hey guys! Wait up!" Rumble called out without success, both he and his older brother were still covered in grey mud that had now hardened to their bodies.

"Ugh! This stuff is making my eyes burn!" Thunder commented, trying to rub some pollen out of his eyes.

They both had run into an odd looking bush covered completely in flowers, and and managed to get coated in its pollen.

"Guess we should just head back to camp" Rumble suggested. The little Pegasus watched for a moment as his older brother started wandering around, unable to see anything. Yeah little colt watched and waited, and was rewarded for his patience when his brother wandered into a tree, hitting it with a loud 'thud'. Thunderlane just stood there for a moment in pain, listening to his little brother's chuckles...

As fate would have it, Everypony eventually found their way back to the campsite, guessing everypony else would be thinking the same thing and that they would all be safer together. Almost Everypony was on guard, worried that that 'ghost' or 'monster' might come back and be looking for them to gobble them up or something. All except Sunny and Heart, that is. Sunny was more curious then anything, which could explain why when he returned to the camp site, he was the first one to actually stand out in the open while the others who arrived moments before he did remained hidden.

"Is anypony here? ...Hello?!" Sunny called out, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, whatever was lurking out there might not be alone. In which case, Sunny would need to be on his guard.

Just when the yellow unicorn thought he was the only one there, one of the surrounding bushes began to shake. A pony shaped figure emerged from it, shaking itself free from leaves and debris.

"Who's there? Big Mac? Thunderlane? Doctor?" Sunny asked, narrowing his eyes on the figure.

Without getting an answer, the figure jumped out at Sunny. In mid air, the yellow unicorn quickly recognized that it wasn't one of his friends at all! But rather one of the rouge pony puppets! It was all happening too fast for Sunny to process in time to create a shield or come up with a counter spell. Now inches from Sunny, the puppet was ready to do some real damage to it's former master, when out of nowhere, Thunderlane bolted though the air, landing a hard kick against the temple of the puppet's head. The puppet itself was then sent soaring through the air, crashing into a tree before shattering into pieces.

Doing a flip and landing on his hooves, Thunder shot Sunny a smile. "Got your back, bro!"

"Thanks, partner!" Sunny said as he got to his hooves. "Ya really saved mah backside."

"No prob-" Thunderlane started to say when the second pony puppet popped out and launched his attack this time.

When the pony puppet was just barley inches from Thunderlane, it was met with a quick, red right hoof, sending the puppet flying into a giant rock where it too burst into pieces. Looking over at his savior, Thunderlane began to relax when he noticed the red hoof belonging to none other then Big Macintosh himself.

"Wow! Thanks Big Mac" Thunderlane began to relax, exhausting a held breath.

"No problem" Big Mac said as he was quickly joined by Doctor and Button Mash who emerged out of the busy that he just hopped out of. Following behind a Thunderlane was Rumble, who they both still had some remnants of the grey mud on them, but for the most part, it had chipped and fallen off. No longer seeing the weeping pegusi, Snips and Snails came out of their hiding spots behind a few trees and rejoined their group.

"Is Everypony ok?" Sunny asked, doing a head count.

"Is Everypony here?" Doctor asked, looking around as well.

"Where's Heart?" Thunder asked, noticing the last missing pony.

Just as Everypony began looking around for the former royal guard, an eerie noise began to fill the air. Everypony turned and looked up the trail that lead them to the camp site originally, to see something floating in the air just above the ground. It's dark silhouette outlined by a eerie glowing blue light. It let out a hiss as air escaped it's nostrils.

"T-that's the monster from before!" Snips frantically said as he and Snails hid behind Big Mac.

"Stand together, Everypony" Sunny called out, taking a defensive stance. "Keep the colts behind us. Defend them at all cost."

His short speech surprisingly jogged Thunder, Big Mac, and Doctor top arms, they all readied themselves for a fight, with all fear disappearing from their hearts. The creature began floating over towards the group, slowly, as if to give them the chance to run. But no pony was running away this time.

Just as the dark creature neared the edge of the camp site, something fell from above! It was a net! A net that appeared to be made of vines and some of the rope Everypony brought with them! It snared the creature and brought it to the ground with a thud! Landing after the net with a flip from the tree tops was none other then Heart Patch himself!

"Heart!" Thunderlane said as he jumped over to his pal, quickly joined by Everypony else. "Should have known you'd try something crazy like this, you nut!"

"Had to come up with a plan B" Heart admitted before going into a full explanation of his plan. "At first, I thought it might be those three stooges from the weather factory, but after I observed the creature, I noticed it wasn't some half baked plan to scare us all."

"I'm glad you figured that out!" The creature called out from under the net. "Now, if you don't mind, get me out of this! I hate nets!"

Everypony watched in awe as the creature that chased them off appeared to speak in a female voice. The fact that it could speak at all was amazing, but they all were humiliated that they were scared off by a girl.

"Wait one moment" Doctor said as he pulled his sonic screwdriver out and held it to the net bound individual. It glowed blue for a while and made an odd noise as he scanned the creature.

"Hey! Watch it with that thing!" The creature snapped.

But Doctor ignored her and began analyzing the data the screwdriver obtained, leaving the others to interrogate the creature.

"Who-what are you?" Sunny asked as he lifted part of the net off of the creature.

With just it's head free, the creature took a deep breath and struggled a little bit. "Mind getting this thing off of me?!"

"Not until we know you aren't gunna attack us, again" Heart explained, trying to figure out what exactly this creature was. But with just it's head showing it was hard to tell.

"I never attacked you in the first place!" The creature snapped. "I heard you all talking, saw the camp fire, and went to go check it out. But by the time I got out of my lake, you all went to sleep, so I had a look around. i was wondering what you were doing in 'my' forest. Then a few of your colts saw me, screamed, and Everypony ran away."

Big Mac and Thunderlane then pulled off the net, sheepishly avoiding eye contact with the creature. Once she was free, Everypony got a good look at her in the moon light. She appeared to have the front hooves, upper body, and head of a pony, but the lower body similar to a fish. Her mane consisted half of actual hair and half a fish like fin. Her coat was a light green, with spots of smooth scales scattered all around. Although she was clearly annoyed, her sea weed colored eyes appeared no more hostile then anypony else's.

"Ah! I got it!" Doctor said as he rejoined the group. "She's a kelpy!"

"Ah what?" Big Mac asked the question on everypony's mind.

"It's a pony like creature who's origin dates back to the sea rather then the land. They have great magical and telekinetic powers and supposedly can live for centuries!" Doctor continued, fascinated and excited to share his knowledge with others.

"Wait, isn't that like a siren?" Sunny asked, his eyes cautiously keeping the kelpie in the corner of his vision. "Twilight faced three of them in the other world, they... weren't the nicest of ponies, from what I read."

"Kelpies, Sirens, and merponies all come from the sea" the Kelpie began to explain, still a little annoyed. "But unlike our other aquatic sisters, Kelpies don't use anger to fuel our magic. Like unicorn's, our magic is channeled through out minds, and grows the more we practice with it."

"Ok, so why are you here, wandering around in the forest, at night?" Thunderlane asked the obvious question. "Shouldn't you, like, be swimming around in the ocean somewhere?"

The kelpie was silent for a while, appearing to not want to talk about it, but she forced herself to tell her tale. "I was lost in a violent storm years ago. One so powerful it ripped me right out of the ocean. When I awoke, I found myself in a near by lake, just floating near the surface. That's where an old mare found me, built her house on the lake, and took care of me.

"She said she was the protector f the forests in Equestria. She created these big dogs made of sticks and bark to guard and patrol her forests. She was really smart and knew a lot about magic. She taught me many things, like how to see though the eyes of her dogs telepathically so I could see the outside world, how to move things with my mind, and how to strengthen my telepathic powers. But she also taught me about the many different plants in the forest, the various types of rocks, the animal life, and about basic forest survival." the Kelpie began to explain, a smile grew inner muzzle. But it quickly faded as her story went on.

"One day, I couldn't find the old mare, only a note telling me she had to tend to another forest of hers. She left me in charge of this forest and left a few of her wood dogs with me. Over the years I practiced magic to hone it so I could eventually leave the lake and find the old mare, maybe even return home to the sea. But it's taken me this log to just learn to levitate. And I can't do it for very long." The kelpy continued, flipping her tail fin to add emphasis.

"Wait one apple pickin' moment!" Sunny stomped his hoof. "Are ya tellin' me 'you' were in control of them Timber Wolves th' whole time?!"

"Timber wolves?" The kelpie repeated the name, putting a hoof to her chin. "That's a way better name then wood dog. But no. The old mare created them to act together as a pack. I just used my magic to help me see through their eyes. I couldn't control them. But something must have happened to them. I haven't been able to see or sense them anywhere for quite a while."

Sunny gulped and scratched the back of his head, not really wanting to explain that 'he' was the one who caused their disappearance.

"So what's your name?" Rumble asked as he stepped out from behind his brother, no longer feeling any fear or danger.

"The old mare called me 'Ipsy'" the Kelpy responded, smiling at the young colt. "I hate to be rude, but I need help to get back to my lake. I used up all my magic chasing you guys, and it's too far to just flop back over too... would you guys mind lending me a hoof? I don't do so well outside of water for so long."

After nodding in agreement, Big Mac and Thunderlane lifted Ipsy up and started carrying her as Sunny and Heart applied water from their cantinas to her sides to keep her from dehydrating. The colts followed quickly behind, eagerly asking Ipsy question after question as they popped into their young minds. Questions about what it was like to breath under water, what it was like at the bottom of the lake, what she liked best about the forest, and did she talk with the other animals in the forest? All to which she seemed more then happy to answer.

Once back at the lake, the guys gently put Ipsy back into the water. She swam around for a moment before coming back to the edge to talk to the ponies once more. The colts couldn't get enough of talking with her, and she seemed to really enjoy talking to them too. Noticing this, Sunny pulled Thunder, Big Mac, Doctor and Heart aside to speak with them out of ear shot.

"Guys, we can't just leave her here" Sunny stated. "Look at her, she's all alone out here."

"I agree, she seems really lonely" Heart added, watching her face light up as she talked and laughed with the colts.

"But what can we do?" Big Mac asked. "Me an' Thunder can't carry her all th' way back to town."

"Besides, she needs salt water" Doctor added, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. "Fresh water is ok in small doses, but she'll need a large supply of salt water to keep herself healthy. And this lake is the only salt water lake from here to the nearest ocean."

The guys bounced idea another idea off of each other for a good long while before setting on a few suggestions that they would bring to Ipsy.

"Hey Ipsy" Sunny called out as he and the other stallions trotted over to her and the colts.

"Yes?" She answered, her face still seeming to beam with joy.

"Ifin' ya want ta hear 'em, we have ah few ideas that might help ya out" Sunny started to say.

Ipsy was confused for a moment, but also intrigued to hear about the stallion's ideas...

Several weeks later, the group of Sunny, Thunder, Big Mac, Heart and even Doctor, almost with the same colts who joined them on their first camping trip went back to the-visit the forest and check up on their new friend. As they neared her salt water lake, they caught the last tail end of her class.

"And remember kids, the forest is your friend, but you need to take care of it if you want it to take care of you" Ipsy said with a huge grin on her muzzle as she hung half out of the water. The foals all listening to her cheered. Once they quieted down, she nudged them along. "Now run along and enjoy your camping trip!"

"Thanks miss Ipsy!" The foals all cheered as they rejoined their parents who were relaxing from the long trail walk into the forest.

"Howdy, Ipsy!" Sunny said as he and the others approached her.

"Hey guys! How have you all been?" Ipsy asked as she waves a hoof at her pony friends.

"We learned about long division in school!" Rumble said eagerly, running up to his kelpy friend.

"And I learned to not eat too many raisens" Snails added, causing some ponies to cringe.

"Sounds like you've all had a fun week" the Kelpy said with a smile at stretched all across her muzzle.

"It's actually been a few weeks" Sunny corrected her. "Time must fly now that. You're the official park ranger."

"It does!" Ipsy said with glee as she happily stomped he hooves and splashed her tail. "I can't thank you all enough for all the work you've put into turning the forest into a national park! Now I can share what the old mare taught me with all the ponies who come to visit! And there are so many who are eager to learn! It just makes me so happy!"

"Do you think you'll ever want to go back to the sea?" Button asked.

"Maybe one day, for a visit" Ipsy answered honestly before turning away from her pony friends and looking out onto the national park, her park. "But this lake, this forest, 'this' is my home. And I'll always protect it."

After catching up a bit with Ipsy, the guys decided to let the colts sit through one of her nature classes with another group of foals while the ventured out for a bit.

Along the way, somepony Sunny was not expecting popped out of nowhere.

"Good job, Sunny" Twilight Sparkle approached the yellow unicorn. "I would never have guessed that a Kelpy was living here, so close to Ponyville. Much less expect her to have a friendship problem."

"I don't think it was so much a 'friendship' problem" Sunny commented, approaching Twilight. "More like ah problem in general. Ya come out ta take one of her classes?"

"I've actually sat down trough quite a few" Twilight admitted with a sheepish grin. "But that's not important. I just wanted to let you know that my brother and Cadence are coming to Ponyville next week."

Sunny's heart began to race a million miles per hour at the fearful thought that they now knew of his secret.

Seeing this, Twilight continued. "Don't worry! They still have no idea about your secret. They're just going over with me a few plans they had for the Crystal Ball."

"Wait... 'the' Crystal Ball?" Sunny asked, raising a brow. "The Crystal Empire equivalent to the Grand Galloping Galla?"

"Yes" Twilight smirked a little. "It's going to be a few months after the Galla, so we have time to prepare, but I offered my
hoof in helping with the planning. Would you like to help too? I'm sure you've been to more then your fair share of them."

Rolling his eyes at the notion, Twilight wasn't wrong. But Sunny never really enjoyed them. Something he didn't want to go into right now. "Tell you what. I'll go over what you, Cadence, as Shinning come up with after they leave. Can't have them figuring out who I really am, can we?"

"Of course" Twilight nodded in agreement. "Well, I'm heading back to the castle. I'll see you later. Oh! And Sunny..."

Sunny was about half way to rejoining his friends when Twilight caught his attention.

"You're doing a good job" She said with a sincere smile. "Keep it up."

To that, the yellow unicorn tipped his hat to the princess of friendship before trotting off to rejoin his pals.

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Just a shout out to Ipsy. Ipsy is a Kelpy oc created by another friend of mine, and the rights belong to them. (When they message me their real name, I can credit them properly. Until then, they are simply known as Ipsy Darkwater, and you can find their page on FB.)

I know I'm the mlp comics that a Kelpy was shown as a giant creature who hypnotized the towns ponies into breaking a damb apart, but couldn't control their pets. Buuuuuut I wanted to give my own spin on things. And with more and more aquatic life added to the mlp universe, who's to say some Kelpy like this don't exist? Hope you enjoyed this chapter.