Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

The Monster Bracelet!

(Mature contents warning! Just like in he previous chapters, the next two chapters will contain violent or frightening content that's hasn't shown up in the fic until now. But it was all was necessary. Again, enjoy the chapter...)

Zooming through the sky faster then she ever had before, leaving an after image of a rainbow stream behind her, Rainbow Dash raced as fast as she could, a bouquet of flowers in her hooves. Bursting through the front doors of the Cloudsdale hospital, Rainbow looked frantically around before jumping at the nurse at the front desk.

"Mr.Shy! HIS ROOM! WHERE IS IT?! PLEASE!!!" Rainbow yelled out, a foreign nervousness to her voice.

The nurse was so taken back by Rainbow's panicked attitude that she didn't bother to tell her it was family visits only. "Ugh... room 225, go down the-"

Before the mare could Finnish her sentence, Rainbow took off once again, shooting down the hallway, not even knowing if it was the right one. All she needed to know was the room number. Rainbow could fly around the whole hospital by the time the nurse finished giving her directions she wouldn't even remember.

After running into several nurses, two doctors, and almost nocking a patient in a wheelchair out a window, Rainbow finally found the room Fluttershy's dad was in. Taking a deep breath, Rainbow, as calmly as she could, entered the room where the elderly stallion was recuperating. The room was kept dimly lit so as not to hurt Mr.Shy's eyes if he awoke, but it added a grim feeling to the whole thing.

Looking at the elderly stallion in a hospital bed filled Rainbow with heartbreaking dread. By his right side was the equally timid wife of Mr.Shy and Fluttershy's mother, Mrs.Shy. Fluttershy on his other side. Both with tears in their bloodshot eyes. It was the hardest thing for Rainbow Dash to see. 'How could this have happened?! Especially to somepony as nice as Mr.Shy?!'

"Excuse me" a Pegasus guard in gold armor whispered after tapping on Rainbow's shoulder. "Can I have a word with you, Miss Dash?"

"Ugh... sure..." Rainbow said timidly, still very shaken by the sight of the elderly stallion she had known for years and the family she's been considered a part of, now going trough this horrible ordeal. She placed the flowers in a near by empty vase and proceeded to follow the guard.

Stepping out and into the hallway, Rainbow noticed another Pegasus guard waiting for them, as well as two more guards that appeared to be talking to a Doctor and a few nurses just down the hall.

"I'm sorry, I know you just got here" the guard who pulled Rainbow from the room started talking first. "But we have a few questions to ask you involving the incident."

"I don't really know much about all that happened..." Rainbow dropped her head a little before bouncing it back and looking the guard in the eye. "But I'll tell you anything I know if it will help."

"Thank you" the first guard nodded to the second who pulled up a clipboard.

"So how did you know the patient?" The guard asked in a more monotone voice.

"He's my friend's father, but he's like a dad to me too. I've known him for years" Rainbow began remembering back to when Fluttershy first brought her over to meet her parents. They welcomed Rainbow with open hooves.

"Does he have any enemies? Anypony who would wish him harm?" The second guard asked the next question, trying to keep that question as low as possible.

"Not that I know of..." something suddenly hit Rainbow about that question. "Wait... why? Do you think somepony did this to him?! Like, intentionally?!"

Rainbow's voice had grown louder without her realizing it and had gathered the unwanted attention of Everypony in the hallway. Even the guards questioning the medical staff at the end of the hall looked over at them.

The first guard put a hoof to his lips as he shot Rainbow Dash a cold stair. "We don't know anything for sure yet. But it appeared that he had somepony else's hoof prints on him. Like they had wrapped their legs around him, possibly pulling him down to the ground."

Grabbing the first guard by his chest piece, and pulling him so close that Rainbow's anger filled eyes were the only thin the guard could see. Her voice was sharp and hard as she spoke in a more hushed tone. "Tell me everything you know! NOW!"

The second guard cleared his throat, hoping that redirecting the cyan colored mare's attention would cause her to release his partner. As she looked over at him, Rainbow did in fact release the first guard. "All we know is his hoof size, and the fact that he has green eyes."

Her temper subsiding, Rainbow raised a brow. "How would you know that?"

"Because..." the first started to add in as he gathered himself. "As he was being brought here, he kept whispering 'green eyes... green eyes... those horrible green eyes...'."

"We're checking out Everypony in Cloudsdale with green eyes who's hooves match the prints we got off of Mr.Shy" the second guard continued. "But so far, we have no matches."

'Green eyes...' Rainbow thought for a moment, then an image of a certain stallion came to mind. A certain pony who's directly linked with a major bad guy already, who also has green eyes, who she always knew was defiantly up to no good. And this just proved it! "I think I actually might know somepony who might be involved. He lives in Ponyville, at the Apple farm. His name is Sunny, Sunny Knight."

(https://youtu.be/SJMizrTFiFo)

Wiping off a forehead of sweat, Sunny looked back on his work and began beaming with pride. He had plowed the field all on his own this time, and had actually done a very decent job for a non-earth pony. Sure it had taken him twice as long to do it, but when Applejack was panicked this morning over some news she had received but needed the field plowed today, Sunny knew what he had to do. Big Mac was out of town, Granny's too old, and Apple Bloom's too little. So Sunny stepped forward and told Applejack he would handle it.

Without putting much more thought into it, Applejack thanked Sunny with a hug before running off in the direction of Twilight's castle for some reason. That was several hours ago.

As Sunny reached the farm house porch he was a little surprised and annoyed to spot Rainbow Dash off in the distance, just sitting atop a cloud, glaring at him. He had caught her doing so several times within the past month or so, ever since his identity was reviled. He learned to ignore her and just carry on with his work.

"Excuse me" a firm and unfamiliar stallion's voice spoke up, redirecting Sunny's attention from the glaring mare above.

Looking away, Sunny's eyes went wide as he realized that there were several royal guards present on the porch with him. There were at least four that he could count, Two who stepped forward and two who took a sentry post just at the steps. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Sunny forced a smile as he looked at the guard who had approached him. "Ugh, y-yeah. What can ah do ya for?"

"Are you Sunny Knight?" The royal guard's tone was flat and emotionless as his eyes remained locked on Sunny.

The yellow unicorn gulped and tried to remain as cool as he could be. "Y-yeah... what can ah-"

Before Sunny could repeat himself, a Pegasus guard with a clip board interrupted. "We need to ask you a few questions. There's been an incident. And unfortunately we don't have much to go off of. Just a few hoof prints and one character trait that you share with the alleged suspect."

"Oh! Wow, ugh... mind tellin' me what it is Ah'm bein' accused of?" Sunny tried to play it cool, but was growing more and more nervous by the minute.

"You aren't being accused of anything" the first guard commented as he placed several sheets of paper before Sunny along with an ink pad. "We need your hoof prints, if you don't mind."

Gulping, Sunny put his hooves on the ink pad before putting them on the paper. Repeating the same process for his hind legs. The second guard waited a moment for the prints to dry, then collected them in a neat pile. Returning his attention to the yellow unicorn, the second guard cleared his throat. "Mind telling us where you were the night before last?"

Taking a relaxing deep breath, Sunny began recalling two nights ago. "Well... to be honest, after dinner, which was around 6, I helped with the dishes, came out here to do some whittling, went back inside to help Apple Bloom with some math homework, then took a quick shower before bed. Which was right around 10pm."

"And you didn't leave the house 'all night'?" The first guard asked. He had been eyeing Sunny's nervous reactions with great suspicion.

"Eh'nope" Sunny answered, finally able to relax. "Not till ah woke up and went right ta work th' next mornin'. Ran th' apple stand in town that day, startin' bright and early at 6am."

"Do you have anypony to validate your alibi for the night?" The fist guard shot the next question, eyes locked into Sunny's.

Raising an eye brow at the guard, Sunny's answers now came out more and more casually. "Do I know anypony who watches me sleep at night?"

"I asked if you have anypony who can vouch for you" the first guard was getting annoyed.

"Well shoot, ah can do that!" Granny popped her head out of the farm house window, shooting both Sunny and the guards her wide, wrinkly smile.

This was a little bit of a shock to Sunny. He tore his eyes off of the guard and looked nervously at Granny. "Ya can?..."

"Well sure! Ah always take a late night walk ta check up on mah grandkids!" Granny said as she walked around and through the front door. "Apple Bloom and Applejack were sleeping soundly, Bug Mac was having that dream where he was sleepin' on ah big old hot fudge Sunday. Ah know cuz he always ends up eating half his pillow on nights when he has that dream!"

'That explains how we go through so many pillows...' Sunny thought to himself, now one household mystery solved.

"But what about Sunny?" The guard asked Granny, his expression still hard and cold.

Sunny began to panic a little. He most of the time kept his door locked, so there would be no way for granny to-

"Well, th' newest member of our apple clan likes his privacy, but ah still worry 'bout him. So ah pick the lock with one of mah bobby pins!" Granny pulled out one of her pins from her mane and held it up with a big grin. "So, yep. He was sleepin' in his bed when ah came around just ah little Shy after midnight. Poor feller was havin' ah mighty terrible dream again."

"Bad dreams, you say?" The first guard noted then looked over back at Sunny. "Got something on your mind?"

"I have a lot of things on my mind" Sunny answered the question by simply rephrasing the guard's question. Both narrowed their eyes at each other.

"Mr.Knight" the second guard who was tired of remaining silent stepped forward with his quill and clip board. "We received an anonymous tip that you had a 'history' with various members of Equestria's most wanted. Care to explain what they meant?"

'Now I see!' Sunny's eyes shit right up at the cloud where Rainbow was watching from, wearing a smug grin as she hid behind a lump of the cloud. 'That... that witch!'

Sighing again, Sunny returned his attention to the second royal guard. "Yes, actually... it all started not long after I got to the Apple farm..."

A rough hour passed and the guards began flying away from the farm, with Sunny and Granny on the farm house porch watching them fly away with their notes and hoof prints. Rainbow watched, wide eyed, shocked that Sunny wasn't being taken away.

Immediately she flew up to the first guard she had spoken to, who seemed to be the most reasonable to speak too. "Well?! What happened?! You have your guy! Aren't you going to book him?!"

The rather annoyed second guard stopped flying and soared back to where Rainbow was talking with his partner. "This isn't a civilian matter, miss Dash. Leave the detective work to royal guards."

"Hey bub! I'm not just 'some civilian'" Rainbow started in at the second guard. "I'm an element of harmony! And one of the princess's best friends! I've helped to save Equestria a whole bunch of times!"

"He didn't mean to undermine your accomplishments, miss Dash" the first guard spoke up before waving his wing at his partner. His silent way of saying 'I'll handle this, go on ahead and I'll catch up.'

Reluctantly, the seconded guard released a held sigh before flying off to join the other two guards who were working on the investigation.

"Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash, Sunny's story checks out" the guard said with a sigh. "And as much as it seems to eat away at me, I have to let it go. My detective instincts are going nuts and telling me something's not right and that he's hiding something, but I can't quite put my hoof on just what..."

It was then Rainbow had to make a hard decision. She could sell Sunny out and tell the guard that yellow unicorn was actually the Son of King Sombra as well as the Black knight who attacked and hurt Shinning Armor. It would be so easy too! And Rainbow could justify it by saying how Sunny was also, well probably, guilty for hurting Mr.Shy! It was all justified. But something... something deep in the back of her mind kept her from doing so. She made a promise to Twilight that she would keep the secret, for now. And it was that promise that kept the cyan colored Pegasus's mouth shut.

"But we do have his hoof prints" the guards stated with a weak smile. "If any match the ones we took off Mr.Shy, we can at least hold him in content. But if you find anything else, or he so much as steps one hoof out of line, let me know."

Rainbow nodded as she looked the guard right in the eye and saluted him. After he returned the salute, and flew off, Rainbow shot down and landed hard on the ground right in front of Sunny. He was just about to head to the barn to grab some more gardening tools while Granny went inside to make him and her some lunch.

Needless to say, when Rainbow shot Sunny an anger filled glare, he returned it with a rather weight filled look of disappointment. "What do you want?"

His hard voice shook Rainbow a little, she had never heard such a tone come from the yellow unicorn. But she shook it off and gritted her teeth. "What did you tell them? No way they flew off knowing who you were!"

"They simply asked me how I had a 'history' with some of Equestria's most wanted. I told them about seeing Sombra in the orchard when I first started living here on the farm, and it turned out to just be a statue. They had that innocent on file for reference. Then I told them about how Chrysalis tried to kidnap me by pretending to be my mother. They actually have had several changeling related cases like that." Sunny began filling in the blanks for Rainbow, his tone was flat and emotionless. "As for anything else, I've actually had 'less' of a history with Equestria's villains then most ponies in town. So they took their papers and left. Now, 'I' have nothing more to say to 'you', miss Dash. But I do have chores to get done."

"Don't give me that!" Rainbow slammed the barn door shut right as Sunny was about to walk inside and walk away from the conversation. "I know it was you! And if the guards can't find proof. I will!"

Rainbow then flew up, made a motion with her hoof signaling to Sunny 'in watching you' then flew up and into the clouds where she took a post, watching Sunny's every move. Sunny on the other hoof, just raised a brow slightly as he thought to himself 'ugh... what exactly did I do?'

They rest of that day Rainbow Dash had spent watching Sunny do chores and hang out with Derpy and Thunderlane while she sat atop a cloud and glared down at him. But Sunny did nothing suspicious the rest of the day. The cyan colored wonderbolt had even skipped her early morning, and late afternoon naps to just keep an eye on the yellow unicorn. That may sound like a wimpy reason for Rainbow's groggy attitude today at the wonderbolts practice, but for pegusi who burn up a lot of energy with all their flying and whether controlling, there were only two things to keep them functioning properly. They either eat large amounts of sweets or they took frequent naps. Rainbow was among the latter of the two.

'Ugh! Training today sucked!' Rainbow thought to herself as she slammed her locker door shut. Most of the wonderbolts had left or were getting cleaned up with a nice shower. Rainbow, however, still couldn't get over the fact that not only had she fallen asleep on the sidelines and was yelled at by Spitfire for it, but also started to doze off or have blurred vision when they were going through the routine. "It's all Sunny's fault!... I can't wait until he gets kicked off his high horse-"

"Who's Sunny?" A lime green Pegasus mare, with a four toned mane of red, orange, brown and green, asked as she appeared behind Rainbow. "Is he, like, your coltfriend?"

"Buck no! There's now way I'd ever be special someponies with that jerk!" Rainbow continued to punch her locker, hardly even paying attention to the pony beside her.

"Oh, wow. Remind me not to step on your hooves!" The mare half joked, forcing a nervous chuckle.

It was at that moment that Rainbow finally snapped out of her rage and glanced over at the mare. "Ugh, in sorry, do I know you?"

"Probably not" the mare answered honestly and a little playfully. "My name's Firefly. I'm just an achademy student. But I really, really want to be a wonderbolt, just like you! I got awesome skills-"

"Yeah, ok, i don't need your life story" Rainbow snapped, sounding more and more groggy by the minute. "Hate to cut you off, but I've had a rough day, and it's not over yet..."

"Maybe this might cheer you up!" Firefly reached into her own locker and pulled out a gold, thin, and elegant bracelet.

Looking from Firefly to the bracelet and back, Rainbow gave a weak smile. "No offense kid, I think it really looks nice. But friendship bracelets aren't really my thing. Besides, it'll just fly off when I'm up there."

"This isn't just a friendship bracelet!" The young lime green mare started to say with great enthusiasm. "It's a magically charmed one! It helps to relax and rejuvenate you! Like getting a week's worth of sleep and good all in a matter of moments! All you do is keep it on you all day, then take it off at night before you go to sleep! My friend Fleet Foot used it just a month ago before the Wonderbolt's big show in canterlot."

Taking a second look at the bracelet in question, Rainbow Dash did notice some kind of writing on it, but she couldn't make it out. "Well... if it really works, and Fleet Foot used it, I guess I wouldn't mind borrowing it for a while."

"Right! Don't want to look and sound like a cranky old griffin out there, right?" Firefly said with seemingly innocent and naive tone.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes at Firefly for the comment, but guessed that the filly wasn't 100% wrong about how Rainbow had been acting. Griffins were cranky naturally, but the older they got, the snappier and nastier they became.

"Well, here it goes..." Rainbow said as she grabbed the bracelet and put it around her none dominant, front hoof.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Firefly added, motioning to the bracelet. "To tighten it, just twist it three times clockwise, so it doesn't fly off. And to loosen it, three times opposite of that."

As Rainbow began tightening the bracelet, the charm began to glow where the writing was, it's magical charm activating.

Rainbow smiled and looked up to thank the young academy student. But when she did, the lime green mare was gone! Not thinking too much about it, Rainbow just shrugged and started walking towards the shower to clean herself up. Along the way, she did start to feel a little more relaxed. But then she felt a sharp strain in her back. When Rainbow out her hoof back there to rub it, she felt sharp scratches on her back rather then her soft hoof. Flinging her appendage forward, Rainbow Dash was shocked to see her hoof was no longer a hoof! But a claw! A sharp, bird like, and shaky claw! As the mare's heart began to race, she looked behind her and saw that she had begun loosing her feathers! Leaving a small trail leading up to where she stood in the shower!

"Wh-what's happening to me?!" Rainbow tried to say, but her voice... her voice sounded muffled and weak, like she was trying to speak with a mouth full of tapioca pudding!

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, the steam from the shower cleared, and Rainbow got a good look at herself in the mirror! A loud screech echoed off the locker room tiled walls and floors, growing and filling the air through the entire Wonderbolt's achademy!

Taking several deep breaths, Sunny tried to relax himself enough to enjoy a nice book in the library. He had talked to Twilight earlier about what happened with the guards and Rainbow Dash. The princess of friendship was able to clarify what exactly happened and why the guards were on the look out for somepony, even taking hoof prints. Sunny felt terrible for Fluttershy and her mother. It also explained where Applejack went running off to in such a hurry with no explanation.

While Twilight was explaining, though, she and Spike were packing for a trip to Canterlot. They didn't know how long they would be gone for, but they prepared for a week. They had already pushed their trip back by half a day so they could stop by the hospital and see how Mr.Shy was doing. But from what princess Luna had said in a letter to Twilight, she was in desperate need of her help. Not all the girls were needed, so just Twilight, Spike, as Pinkie were going while the rest of the girls stayed behind to watch over Fluttershy's dad.

Sunny himself offered to stay behind and watch the castle for Twilight since Spike would be going too. She thanked the yellow unicorn and made a few suggestions for a good read. Reading always helped calmed Twilight down, and heck, some of the books she suggested sounded interesting. Twilight also said how she would have a talk with Rainbow Dash when she got back about what she did, which also helped to calm Sunny down a bit.

So there Sunny was, enjoying a nice Daring Do adventure book, finally able to relax, when without warning several loud knocks came at the front doors.

'Did I lock the front doors by accident?' Sunny asked himself as he placed a book mark on the open page and began lightly galloping down the hall. Twilight wanted him to watch the castle but also to keep the front doors open for anypony to come in who wished to use the library.

After reaching the front doors and unlocking them, Sunny stood back for a moment and slowly opened the door with his magic. A light blue, almost white, blur flew by and slammed the door shut immediately. The yellow unicorn was shocked to see what creature was standing before him. It appeared to be an elderly griffin, and elderly was putting it mildly. Her coat must have been a sky blue at one point but was turned almost white by time and appeared to be missing patches in places. Her head where most of her feathers would be was almost completely bald, as were her wings. She had crusty stuff at the far edges of her mouth, in her nose, her ears, and at the corners of her eyes. One eye looked glazed over as if she was half blind, and her mane, well, what was left of a mane was a small patch of bleached over rainbow colors. Over all, the poor creature looked like she had seen better days... like 200 years ago or so.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" Sunny asked, trying to be polite.

The creature was breathing heavily with her claws and back sprawled out over the front door as if she were trying to keep something or somepony out.

It was possible that she hadn't heard Sunny, so he cleared his thoat and spoke again, this time a little louder. "Can I help you, ma'am!"

"Shut up, you loud mouthed whipper snapper!" The elderly griffin snapped at Sunny before pausing suddenly putting both claws over her mouth.

There was a long, still silence before Sunny attempted to speak again, no wanting to aggravate the old griffin. "Ugh... would you like to sit down?"

"Actually, that sounds lovely-WH-NO!" The elderly Griffin started to go along with Sunny before she started to fight with herself. "Ugh! Where's Twilight?! I need Twilight!"

"I'm sorry, Princess Twilight's out. She'll be back in a week or so" Sunny started to explain.

"A WEEK?!" The light blue creature screamed out as she started to panic, pacing slowly back and forth not really knowing what to do. "A week... a week... I can't wait a week..."

In an attempt to aid the elderly creature, Sunny stepped forward and tipped his hat. "Ma'am, ah ain't Princess Twilight, but is there anything ah can do?"

The griffin paused and glared at the yellow unicorn. "Like I'd trust you! I rather my wings fall off then trust you! You may have the guards fooled, but I know it was you who hurt Mr.Shy!"

Sunny was confused for a moment as he repeated the griffin's statement once, twice, tree times over in his head. By the forth time he repeated the words of the elderly creature, his pupils shrank to the size of apple seeds, quickly followed by a dropping jaw. "R-R-RAINBOW D-DASH?!?!"

"No, it's the tooth fairy!" The elderly Griffin snapped. "Yes it's me!"

"W-what happened?! You look, er... different" Sunny threaded lightly, not wanting to say how old she looked.

"I don't know! But I need Twilight's help to change back" the panicked Rainbow Dash started to say as she looked at her thin and frail claws. "I can't remain like this! I have a Wonderbolt's show tonight! If I'm not there, I could get kicked off the team! I worked so hard to get on there! It's taken me most of my life to become a Wonderbolt! I can't get kicked out! Not now!"

That's when Sunny noticed something odd around Rainbow Dash's hoof, er, claw. "Hey Rainbow, what's that?"

Looking at her wrist, Rainbow noticed an elegant looking bracelet that she almost forgot that she even had on. "Oh... ugh... I got this... somewhere... was it a gift? Ugh! I can't remember where I got it! It's
Pretty though."

"May I see it?" Sunny asked, his expression deadpan.

"Oh! Now you want to steal my jewelry! It's not bad enough you hurt some poor, elderly stallion, now you're trying to steal from-" Rainbow Dash began to half ramble half rant at Sunny.

"Enough!" Sunny snapped, silencing the elderly griffin Rainbow Dash. As she watched Sunny with wide, half scared eyes, Sunny softened his tone a little. "Show me that bracelet."

Rainbow Dash didn't put up a fight this time, half realizing what was going on again, and held out the claw that had the gifted bracelet around it. It was becoming harder and harder for Rainbow Dash to concentrate and keep her mind clear. She may have really been a young and sharp Pegasus at heart, but her body as a really, really old griffin, which was all effecting her mind.

Sunny looked the bracelet over, able to read the symbols on the bracelet with ease and slight concern. It was like the language he and his father knew, the one Sunny thought was just something they made up. Not only had the bracelet proved that to be false, but it also proved a legend to be true.

"Rainbow, do you have any idea what this is?!" Sunny asked as he released her claw.

"Isn't it just some pretty charm bracelet?" Rainbow asked as she raised a feathery brow at the yellow unicorn.

"Unfortunately, no" Sunny's accent became lost in his forlorn tone. "This is the Monster Bracelet. An ancient and legendary item, forged long ago, said to bring the wearer great misfortune by bringing to the surface the monster in their heart."

"And what is that supposed to mean?!" Rainbow Dash snapped and screeched at Sunny. But he ignored her ill temper and pressed on.

"I've heard stories where meek little ponies who envied their strong peers turning into beasts that harbors great strength. Or ponies who thought they were ugly turned into creatures of awe and beauty. But there was always a catch" Sunny continued, remembering the stories he read about. "Ones who wished deeply to be strong couldn't control their animal like instinct and began destroying all in their way. The ones who became beautiful creatures then quickly turned hideous and were shunned by the ones who once saw them as beautiful.

"I suppose, for you, that means you envy Griffins for their strength or something... but you, I'm just guessing... are afraid of getting old? Losing your youth that keeps you strong and fast?" Sunny continued to explain, not trying to upset Rainbow Dash.

Her reaction shocked him. Sunny could have sworn that she'd swipe at him or start a screeching again out of protest. But instead, the elderly griffin just sat back in her hind legs and began to steadily cry. Her breaths became heavy and sorrowful as rivers began to pour from the corners of her eyes. As her crying grew louder and louder, Sunny hesitated, but eventually found the courage to put a hoof on her back and began rubbing around in circles to try and comfort her.

"W-what am I going to d-d-do?! I-I'm going to be k-kicked out of the w-w-wonderbolts! M-my friends won't want to e-even look at me!" Rainbow Dash began to stutter through her sobbing.

"Ugh... Rainbow, this is all reversible" Sunny said in a low tone, hoping not to anger the elderly griffin.

Rainbow snapped out of her crying and grabbed hold of Sunny with both her claws, hiding onto him, digging her talons deep into him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT BEFORE?! HOW DO WE MAKE ME NORMAL AGAIN?!"

Partly happy that Rainbow snapped out of it, but still very scared, Sunny spoke as strongly as he could while being squeezed by Rainbow's new Griffin talons. Despite their old age, they were still very strong and very sharp. "Ugh! Lighten your grip would you!..."

When Rainbow realized she was hurting him, she loosened her grip and set him down, but her expression hardly softened. "How do we do it?! How do we change me back?!"

"I need to do a little research" Sunny started to say. "I don't know much more about the bracelet, but I-"

"Just get it off me!" Rainbow screeched, then put her claws over her beak sheepishly. More tears began to gather at the corners of her eyes. "Please... I... I can't stay like this. The wonderbolts have a show tonight, and I'm supposed to take part in it. I can't do that like this! And if I don't show up, they'll probably kick me out!... please... please help me..."

Sighing heavily, Sunny knew of one way to get the bracelet off, or so the legends all said worked. But he had no idea if it really really did work. Since the legendary cursed relic actually existed, that might mean the legends were all true. "Fine. I'll help you, but you have to do something first..."

Moments later, Rainbow Dash found herself still a confused and elderly griffin, standing in front of Sunny who himself stood in front of a pair of heavy set doors with a spell cast on some locks and chains.

"Do you understand what to do, Rainbow Dash?" Sunny asked for the third time, growing a little annoyed while still trying to remain sympathetic to the elderly griffin's mental state.

"Sure I do..." Rainbow Dash said with a grin. "Buuuut to be safe, you better go over it again with me."

Smacking his forehead with his hoof again, Sunny began to explain for a fourth time. "Ok... again. I'm going to grasp your hoof. You have to look at me and say 'I offer you the monster bracelet' and I'll say 'I accept the monster bracelet'. The bracket will then crawl over from you to me. The curse will travel with it, and should make you normal again."

"Oh good" Rainbow started to say as she yawned, feeling very, very tired, and looking years older then she did when she first arrived looking for Twilight. Then something finally connected in Rainbow Dash's mind and all exhaustion was washed from her. "Wait! Won't that turn you into-"

"I have no idea what I will become" Sunny's firm, refined voice had returned. "That is why I asked you to push me into this room and shut the doors after the bracelet latches onto me. It will take a moment for the bracelet's curse to kick in. But when it does, I don't want anypony to get hurt. That's why I used a spell on these chains, locks, and the doors. After the doors shut, only a really powerful unicorn or a team of them can open it. I'll be sealed away until Twilight can get back."

"But that will take a week! You'll be-" Rianbow started to say, but was quickly interrupted.

"I know" Sunny said flatly. "But right now, this is the only way. Now, give me your hoof. We don't have much time before your show."

The elderly griffin with now just a few stands of her Rainbow colored mane just sat there and looked from Sunny's hoof up to his green eyes. She was so confused. Before, her gut instinct and everything she knew about Sunny told her that he was no good. Trouble. Not somepony to be trusted. But here he was, offering her this much help. After the way she treated him, talked down to him, even sent the royal guards after him. "But... why?... why are you doing this for me?"

Not breaking eye contact, Sunny took in a deep breath before slowly releasing it. "If you really need to know before you can trust me, it's for a number of reasons. You're a good friend to some of my friends, Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and even Thunderlane. But also... I don't fully blame you for being so suspicious and not trusting me. If roles were reversed, I don't think I'd trust 'you' either.

"I did a lot of bad things" Sunny continued, thinking back to the lies he told, the damage he had done. "And although I'm trying to make up for it, I'm scared. I'm scared it won't matter how much I do. I'm scared that no matter what, all I'll always be seen as just 'the son of the evil king Sombra'... I know you only know my father as the villain you saw back at the Crystal Empire, so you really have no real reason to trust me. But one thing you can trust; I'm friends with you're friends. And as much as find you to be annoying, pushy, and egotistical, I know they still value you as a true friend. And that's all the reason I need."

Normally, the elderly griffin would have fallen asleep at such a long speech, but what Sunny had told Rainbow Dash really spoke to her. She never really thought about it before, but Sunny was kinda... well, a friend of a friend. She should give him the benefit of the doubt on this one, and trust him at least this once. What did she have to lose? She had already lost almost all of her mane.

Nodding, Rainbow took Sunny's hoof and began to repeat the words he told her to say. "I offer you the monster bracelet."

The golden bracelet began to glow, with the weighting on it turning from a dark gold to a hot iron red. Taking one last deep breath, Sunny spoke clearly "I accept the monster bracelet."

The item the traveled from Rainbow Dash's claw and seemed to crawl down and latch itself onto Sunny's hoof. Right as it latched on and twisted itself three times, security it's hold on his wrist, Sunny gave Rainbow Dash the signal. As she started to change back to her normal, youthful Pegasus self, she quickly pushed the yellow stallion into the room behind him and shut the doors quickly. Once the doors shut, the cains and locks came to life, sealing the doors shut, and securing their prisoner within.

Taking a moment to let her body catch up, Rainbow took several deep breaths as she looked at the doors before her. She could hardly believe what had just happened. The event reeled in her mind several times over before a loud tump came from the door, the chains and locks rattling.

"What are you waiting for?!" A deep and commanding voice seeped through the cracks of the door. "Get going!"

Taking to the sky, Rainbow wanted to fly as fast as she could back to the Wonderbolt's academy to prepare for the show. But something deep inside stopped her from bolting off like she normally would. The cyan colored pegusi looked back at the double doors that sealed Sunny within. All her paranoia, fear, and anger seemed to grow numb at the moment. She actually began to feel bad for him as she muttered under her breath "thank you, big guy... hold on. After the show, I'll run and grab Twilight myself for you..."

With that, the fastest flier in all Equestria took off to her first show with the Wonderbolts, then fly over to Canterlot to retrieve Twilight.

Inside the room Sunny had locked himself in, the yellow stallion sat in the corner, curled up in a fetal position, his hooves holding his stomach as violent bursts of pain shot through his body in powerful convulsions. He hadn't felt this sick sense he got the pony flu over 1000 years ago when he was but a colt. His body felt cold and hot at the same time, and he felt like he was going to toss his lunch any moment now. But the yellow unicorn knew his suffering wasn't going to be that light. No. What awaited him was much, much worse. If Rainbow Dash became a cranky old Griffin just from a fun filled want to be a griffin plus her fear of growing old, what would happen to Sunny with all his paranoid insecurities?! All his deep dark secrets?!

As his breathing became sharper and his shaking body became harder and harder to control, something deep inside Sunny told him 'just let go...'

The yellow unciron's clenched eyes opened, turning from white and green to green and brining hot red, cracks began to appear in his yellow coat as black smoke began to rise up from them. And a voice deep inside began to chuckle, with a twisted laugh that echoed and rattled the halls of Twilight's castle...

Author's Note:

Yes guys, the 'monster bracelet' was based off of the old story 'the monster ring' but I couldn't figure out how to put a ring on a non-unicorn. And I changed the story with it up a little, but I think it works.