Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

The Infamous Mark of a Prince

It was a rather productive day on Sweet Apple Acres as Sunny relaxed in his room for a bit, reading up on some of Applejack's past adventures in 'the Elements of Harmony; a reference guide and then some' book. It was just about dinner time when he put the book down and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about his dream from last night.

He had begun to worry that the incident with the changelings would leave him with nothing but nightmares, but it appeared that was not the case. Once again, Sunny had one of his favorite dreams. It was of him and Applejack, laying on a checkerboard blanket in one of the open fields on the farm. But it was slightly different this time. This time rather then looking up at the stars or the clouds, they were enjoying the sight of a solar eclipse. One that Sunny himself had caused. The former prince of the Crystal Empire had just had a dream where he opened up more to Applejack and showed her how he got his cutie mark, and she wasn't freaked out by it! He possibly had Cadence to thank for such a wonderful dream.

While he got up and put the book back on his desk, Sunny thought about actually coming clean with Applejack and her family about who he was. But as he tossed on the idea around in his head, his eyes tracked over to the crude figure he was carving of his father. Then the part of the 'elements of harmony' book about his father and the empire flashed in his mind.

'They might except me...' the yellow unicorn thought. 'But would they treat me differently?.... would I stop being 'Sunny' to them and start being 'the son of the evil king?'

"Worried there, prince Soleggiato?" A deviant chuckle began to erupt from all around the yellow unicorn. A voice that Sunny was by now familiar with.

"A little late in the day for you to be causing trouble, isn't it, Discord?" Sunny asked out loud, his monotone voice was kept just quiet enough to not alert anypony else in the house of the conversation. Hopefully Discord would do the same.

At the mentioning of his name, Discord appeared, wearing a straw hat and a pair of overalls, a stick of wheat sticking out of his mouth. "Well now, that ain't ah way ta talk ta yer ok' buddy an' pal, is it?"

Rolling his eyes, Sunny just continued to get ready for dinner while trying his best to tolerate the trouble maker and what he might be up to. "So ya have ah fun day? Wearin' that Ah'm guessin' ya wanted ta help out 'round th' farm? Or did ya work with Fluttershy ta care fer her critters?"

"Oh this old thing?" Discord stretched and struck a few poses. "I just borrowed this from Rarity. I want to look my best for the Gala. I assume you're going."

Pausing to think about it, Sunny wondered if it would be a wise thing. "Ah... ah want to. But... but what if th' princesses recognize me? What if mah secret is revealed and-"

"Oh, you're still harping on that?!" Discord spit out the wheat that was sticking out of his mouth and snapped his fingers, causing him to disappear and reappear right next to Sunny, but this time he had on a pink unicorn horn, a pair of cardboard wings painted pink, and a wig that looked just like Cadence's mane. He pulled Sunny over to the mirror that hung on a wall in his room and forced a smile the yellow unicorn to with his claws. "Didn't somepony tell you that you should open up and let a certain special somepony in? That maybe they'd look past who your father is and see who you were?"

"You wouldn't understand, Discord" Sunny sighed as he walked away from the mirror and took a seat on his freshly made bed.

"Oh I don't, do I?" Discord, now appearing annoyed and slightly hurt snapped his fingers again, disappearing from beside the mirror, losing the get up and reappearing as a tinnier version of himself on Sunny's shoulder. "Listen Sunny, once upon a time; I was the most powerful being in all Equestria, no pony could stop my rein of terror! Of course I was stopped by the princesses, then again by Twilight and her pals, but that's beside the point. I ruled all of Equestria! Covering it's Skies with Cotten candy clouds that rained chocolate! The fields were checkerboard! The ponies I left not knowing up from down! It was all a masterpiece!

"But one day, a little pony showed me that maybe, chaos isn't all I wanted" Discord's cheery and powerful expression changed and a unfamiliar, humble side appeared, causing Sunny to pay even more attention to him. "I was so happy to have a friend who accepted me and my wacky antics, that it didn't matter that I wasn't spreading my chaos all over Equestria. I know I get on her nerves some times, but Fluttershy accepts who I am and what I like. She is a real friend, and I would do anything for her. That aside, any idiot with eyes can see you're crazy for Applejack!"

To further his point, Discord popped his eyes out of his head. They rolled down Sunny's shoulder and onto the floor. Once they stopped rolling, the eyes blinked a few times and began to grow back to their normal size. As they twirled around and looked back at Sunny, Discord's mouth appeared on the wood floor just below his yellow and red eyeballs. "Trust me, if Twilight and her friends tolerate me, and seem to like you, Applejack and her family won't really care if you're a prince, the son of an evil king, or if you were even made of wood!"

With the last comment, Discord's bird like claw appeared and pulled his outline from the wooden floor, dragging his eyes and mouth along with it. As the draconequus regained his form, he shot Sunny a small smile. "What do you say? Talk to her? I'm getting really tired of these filler chapters. And really tired of your character being stuck in the suffering-sparklely-vampire phase."

Not really knowing what Discord meant by any of his last comments, Sunny focused on his other words. "... I'll do it. Slowly, but I think I know how to break the ice."

Turning to the master of chaos, Sunny stuck out a hoof to Discord, along with flashing him a small smile. The mixed up creature looked at the hoof with a raised eyebrow. "Ugh... what's that for?"

"It's ah hoof bump" Sunny answered. "Like ah friendly hoof shake, but more between friends. Ya said you were mah friend, an' Ah'm surprised ta see you going outta' yer way time and time again ta help me. Ah just want ya ta know ah really appreciate ya and everythin' ya do fer me."

A little taken back by the yellow unicorn's statement, Discord hesitated, but forced a smile and met Sunny's hoof bump with his clenched bird claw.

"Ah was just about ta head down fer supper" Sunny put his hoof back down. "Would ya like ya come and join us? Ah'm sure the others wouldn't mind one more if ah tell 'em it's ah friend."

"Oh no, no, no" Discord waved his hooves. "I was just stopping by to see you and to move the story along. But there is one more thing I wanted to ask of you."

Pausing to look back at Discord, Sunny shot him a some what curious look. "Oh? What could ah do fer ya?"

"Well, you see, I was going to do a stand up comedy job at the Gala this year, and I would really like it if you came and cheered me on. You know, laugh if nopony else laughs" Discord started to make up a believable lie. "And since it's a mascarad, you should have no problem hiding from the princesses. I mean, you do have tickets for you and several of your friends anyway, and you did get those arts and craft supplies for your birthday. It waould be a shame to let it all go to waste."

"True..." Sunny thought about it as he pawed at his chin with his hoof. "An makin' mask tagether with Applejack would be fun. Sure! Ah'll go an' support ya!"

"And maybe get to dance with a certain freckled, farm mare? Hmmm? A lovely slow dance, perhaps?" Discord nudged Sunny with his elbow, earning a laugh from the yellow unicorn.

Once Sunny stopped chuckling, he realized Discord was right, he had almost nothing to worry about and was being over paranoid. "Yeah yeah, all that an' more. And hey, if ya need somepony ta practice yer routine, Ah'm available this tomorrow afternoon. Maybe ah could get Pinkie or Thunderlane ta come too, they're pretty good at jokes."

"Oh no worries about a that" Discord replied as he motioned to a large studio audience that appeared behind him, everypony in the stands being little versions of himself of course. All cheering and waving signs saying 'DISCORD #1' and 'DISCORD JOKE MASTER'. "As you can see, I have quite the audience. Now run along and do your thing, Sunny."

With a nod, Sunny left his room, eager to make it down to breakfast, ready to tell everypony the truth at last! Once the yellow unicorn was gone, Discord simply snapped his fingers, making himself disappear once more only to appear in Canterlot to make sure a certain somepony was fulfilling her role as well.

Down stairs, the rest of the Apples had already started eating supper without Sunny. The yellow unicorn didn't mind, he was technically running late. Just outside the kitchen entrance, Sunny paused, took a breath, gathered his courage, and walked into the kitchen where he was greeted by the ponies he considered family.

"Ah hope yer hungry !" Granny greeted Sunny as she put another plop of Apple caesural surprise on her plate. Pappy happily sat next to granny, pretending he was going to steal a bite off her plate. But during the few days that Pappy had been living ok the farm, Granny grew wise to the old trickster's antics. Before he could even touch some of her food, Granny smacked Pappy's hoof with her fork.

"Fallin' asleep up there , partner?" Applejack joked as she smiled at him, showing a pair of cute freckled dimples. Sunny always thought her dimples were cute as can be. Combine them with Applejack's enchanting emerald green eyes, and you had a face worthy of a princess.

Shaking himself from those thoughts, Sunny cleared his throat. "Oh, ugh, n-not exactly. I was talkin' with ah friend."

"Really? Did Thunderlane swing by yer window again?" Applejack passed Sunny a plate filled with all kinds of nutritious goodies, she knew all his favorites and how to make them just how he liked it. Thinking about it now, Sunny got the hint that she actually might like him too if she went so far out of her way to learn and always prepare all of that.

"No, it was actually Discord" Sunny replied as he sat down with his plate right next to Apple Bloom, who, for some odd reason was looking at his flank.

"Discord?" Applejack repeated the name, sounding a little shocked. "Ah had no idea you two were friends."

"Yeah, well, he's helped me out with ah few things an' ah got ta know him ah bit" Sunny replied honestly, still leaving out he details. 'Why am I still hiding everything?! I just need to come clean! But... but how? I can't just blurt it all out.'

"Hey Sunny, mind if ah ask ya how ya got yer cutie mark?" Apple Bloom tore Aunmy from his thoughts as she looked up from his flank.

"Apple Bloom! Ya know ah told ya not ta ask Sunny 'bout stuff like that!" Applejack tried to say all under a hushed tone, but Sunny could still clearly hear.

Looking out the window, the sun was still high in the sky, which gave Sunny an excellent idea on how to lean into his big reveal! "It's ok, Applejack. To be honest... I'm tired."

The broad statement shocked and worried everypony at the table, especially Apple Bloom. Pappy just raised his head and focused on the yellow stallion. The little filly worried that she had pushed Sunny into wanting to leave again or something.

"Ugh... care ta clarify, sugar cube?" Applejack's shaky voice barely spoke above Fluttershy's tone.

With a small half smile, Sunny looked around at all the members of the Apple family before his own emerald colored eyes met Applejack's. "what ah mean is, Ah'm tired of hiddin' everything. Ah'm tired of worryin' that ya'll won't accept me fer who ah was before ah came here.

"Since ah arrived in Ponyville ah started living ah more enriched life then all th' gold in Canterlot could buy. Ah have friends, an have ponies who treat me like family, and..." the yellow unicorn wanted to wait on saying 'ah have th' love of mah life' until he actually could confess to Applejack. "and ah shouldn' have ta worry 'bout them accepting' me. Ah am who ah am. And ah ain't mah father. His mistakes ain't mine ta make up fer."

Turning to Apple Bloom, Sunny shot her a small smile. "Ya wanna see how ah got mah cutie mark? Ah remember bits and pieces of how it all happened."

"Ya really mean it?" Apple Bloom began to relax, feeling now she wasn't in trouble anymore.

"Ah mean it" Sunny nodded then turned to the rest of the Apple fmaily as he got up from the table without eating a bite. "Follow me outside and ah'll show ya'll."

A little confused, but very curious, the entire Apple family got up and followed behind the yellow unicorn. As they moved out of the house and into the field, everypony couldn't help but wonder what Sunny's talent was. He liked puppets, but he didn't have some cutie mark to indicate that that was his talent. He was ok with magic, not as good as Twilight, but nopony was as good at magic as Twilight. It wasn't a farming type cutie mark, that's for sure... or was it? It was a sun of some sort, from what everypony could tell.

Looking around once he reached the top of a small hill, Sunny realized this was the same spot he kept having dreams about. A suitable place as any. He turns to the Apples and began to speak in the voice and tone he had before he started living with the Apples, but it was lighter hearted then before. He smiled as his horn began to glow with his green magical aura.

"Along time ago, when I was just a colt a little younger then you, Apple Bloom" Sunny started to say. "My father had me go and view the eclipse celebration in Canterlot, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna showed how they worked together to raise the sun and moon as a sign that they worked togeather to keep harmony in Equestria. The eclipse was always a symbol of 'unity'. But whenever I saw an eclipse I saw more of the light that shinned though the unknown darkness. And so, that was what my talent became.

"My talent is the ability to see and bring out the good in everypony and everything..." Sunny's explanation of his talent made sense to the Apples who took in everything he said, But they still couldn't figure out why he dragged them out in the middle of the field. But they didn't have long to wonder.

Behind Sunny was the actual Sun, but as his horn began to flare with the yellow unicorn concentrating more of his magic trough it, forcing something to happen outside it's scheduled time! The world all around grew dark as something large rose high in the sky. Something large enough that no unicorn should be able to lift it, something large enough to draw the attention of everypony all around Equestria, something large enough to almost block out the sun!

All the Apples and Pappy watched in amazement as a large solar eclipse took place in the sky behind Sunny, who's eyes were shut while focusing all of his magic into making such an event happen. The first pony to realized it was actually Sunny making it happen was Pappy, who smiled and stepped forward.

"Ah remember th' very first time ya did it, too" the old stallion began reminiscing. "Yer mother watched with amazement as pride. She was so happy. Yer father wished that he could have been there too..."

As the eclipse came into full circle,the sun's ring around the moon flashed and just like the last time, a sea of colors showered down over all Equestria below. Just as amazing as the legendary sonic rainboom. This type of eclipse had inspired others all over the world, filling them with awe and a since of peace.

High into the Iron filled mountains, a stallion takes a break from mining iron ore to wipe the sweat from his brow. As he glanced up at the sky, wishing it was his day to tend the crop fields instead of the mines, he saw something he had never seen before. A black orb had engulfed the sun and began to shoot down a veil of rainbows onto the land!

"T-the prophecy! I-I-it's finally come to be!" The stallion dropped his pick ax and ran as fast as his earth pony hooves could carry him.

Down into the town below, a town that had stood for over 1000 years despite the threat of bandits, of constant battles with diamond dogs, and even dragons! The town thrived off of the bounty of the mountain and the rich ore held within. They always have. Through the town the stallion ran, moving past ponies who had either not noticed the anomaly or were just beginning to notice it and stare right up at it.

He had finally reached town hall and flung open the mayor's doors."sir! It's happened! IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENED!!!"

"I can see that, Mr. Digsite" the mayor was gazing out the large windows of his office. His eyes narrowed at the sky. "I've seen quite a few eclipses in my life time, but only this one and the last come close to the legend of that dark worrier who rampaged through our town over 1000 years ago..."

"What should we do, sir?!" Digsite nervously looked to his town's mayor, then to the old carvings forged out of a single slab of raw iron that was hung on the wall since before he was born.

The slab was carved over 1000 years ago when a knight in black armor visited their town. A knight both legendary and infamous. The Black Knight. It was said that when he first arrived, he created a similar eclipse, one that flashed a rainbow of colors all across the sky. It was a warning and a sign of his power. His trade mark. After that day, the townsponies had to rebuild everything from the ground up. The Black Knight had destroyed it all!

"We've prepares long ago for his return" the Mayor answered as he walked over to a wordrobe that he normally kept locked. But today was the day he dawned it's contents. Unlocking several of the door's locks, the mayor flung the doors open and grabbed something heavy and so onyx in color it itself was almost black. Placing it on top of his head and securing it in place, the mayor turned to Digsite and stomped his hoof. Upon his head was a thick and fierce, but light weight, iron helmet, forged to look similar to a dragon's armored head.

"Gather the descendants of the iron worriers" the mayor ordered, a fire burning in his eyes. "It's time we 'repay' the Black Knight for what he did 1000 years ago!"

In the land of dragons, just off to the east coast of Equestria, the current Dragon Emperor, a large creature ,that rivaled the buildings of Manehatten, by the name of Emperor Tourch was enjoying a nice soak in his private lava pool. He had been burdened with the passing of his crown and how to go about it.

'When my father passed the crown and power down to me, it was obvious. expected even' Torch thought, enjoying the heat of the molten rock on his scales. 'I was large and strong! The strongest worrier in our clan! No dragon could take me on!... I wish my daughter was larger, then she could just have earn the respect of the clan by fighting off every other member, as I did.

'But she's so...so small!' Torch sighed as his dominant claw popped a few lava bubbles forming around the mouth of the molten crater. 'How can 'she' ever protect, defend, demand or control any dragon or any challenge?! Sure the Bloodstone scepter gives her power over all dragons, but she needs to be able to fight-'

Touch's internal monologue was interrupted by something bright in the sky. Not the sun, but something else. Something he had seen quite a lot over the last 1000 years, but it had been a long time since he had seen one as remarkable as this one. Gazing up at the sky, Torch's eyes widened as an eclipse creating a rainbow effect, replacing the blue in the sky.

"Only one pony could do that" Torch growled as he slammed his fist into the lava rock around him, turning it into rubble. "And when I see you again, Black Knight, I'm going to peel that armor right off of you for what you did all those years ago!"

Working in his library up in Gryffonstone, Silent Wingbeat was enjoying another great novel by one of his favorite authors, A. K. Yearling. Despite the aggression most griffons held towards ponykind, Silent Wingbeat, a white coated Griffin with a head and large eyes resembling that of a snowy owl and body that of a white tiger, often enjoyed reading about the many adventures the mare had. He thought them to be only works of fiction until one incident years ago, when he actually ran into the adventurer as she was retrieving a golden ring. Since then, the literary Griffon had enjoyed the novels. Even going as far as to order several copies of her books to add to the Griffonstone library. He only wished his kinsmen could see the value in them as he did.

"DADDY! DADDY!" Two hatchlings burst into the library, screaming at the top of their lungs. Both partly white and partly brown, resembling both their mother and their father. Their two eggs were amazingly layed at the same time and hatched but moments apart. The daughter, technically the oldest by a few seconds and never let her brother forget it, hopped up onto Silent's lap, almost making him drop the book he was reading.

"DADDY! You have to look outside!" The little filly said with a few screeches.

"Yeah dad! It's super cool!" The colt added as he clawed his way up to his father's shoulder.

Laughing lightly to himself, happy to see he raised his foals to act more warmly and close to their kind then the rest of the younger griffons. Most Griffon foals were taught at a young age to keep to themselves and never share what they had. Luckily, Silent's father had taught him a different path, and he passed it down to his kids as his father did to him, and his father to him, and so on and so on. It all starting with their ancestor, a prince nearly every Griffon seemed to have forgotten about.

"Why? What's going on, kids? Is it raining?" Silent joked as he gently set his book down.

"Yeah! It's raining rainbows!" The filly said as she jumped up, not being able to fly, but still trying.

"Yeah dad! Rainbows everywhere! And a black sun!" The colt added.

This struck something in Silent Wingbeat, causing his smile to somewhat fade. "A black sun?...."

After gently setting his kids down, Silent made his way slowly towards the window and gazed out it, his eyes narrowing on the image that matched not only what his children where telling him, but also the stories that were passed down to him from his father, and to his father from his father, and so on, and so on.

"Kids..." Silent began to speak in a more harsh tone. "I think the day has come for me to tell you about a prince. A prince named Soleggiato. A prince who betrayed our ancestor over 1000 years ago..."

Back at the farm, Sunny's breathing had become heavy as the magic flowing through him began to take it's effect. It probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, casting such a spell outside the scheduled eclipse time after a long hard day's work and no food in his stomach. Knowing his limitations, Sunny began to end the spell and brought the eclipse to a close. As the moon began to slowly move out of the way of the sun, Sunny smiled at the Apples and Pappy, his face and cheeks red with exhaustion.

"Pretty cool, eh?..." was all the yellow unicorn could say before he started to pass out.

Before he hit the floor, Pappy's instincts kicked in and he dashed towards the yellow stallion, catching him right before he hit the ground. "Feller hasn't quite gotten his strength back. Well, at least he hasn't lost his touch when it comes ta presentation."

"Here, ah'll take him to his room" Applejack said as she stepped forward to take Sunny from Pappy.

Pappy smiled at the freckles farm mare and gladly passed his young prince off to her. "Some bed rest is ah'll he'll need."

"Ya sure he'll be ok?" Apple Bloom nervously looked over at Applejack who was carrying Sunny's limp body back to the barn.

"Ah've helped raise that colt since he was ah short little sprout" Pappy petted Apple Bloom on her head. "Ah good night's rest an' he'll be up again in no time. Don't you worry!"

"It's so nice ta meet Sunny's kin" Granny stated as she stepped closer to Pappy. "Ah see where he get's his charm from."

"I'd like ta take th' credit fer that one" Pappy smiled as he slicked back his thin mane. "But th' credit fer that goes ta his Father and Mother. They raised their boy right, given th' circumstances."

"Circumstances?" Apple Bloom repeated the word, wanting to learn more about Sunny.

"We'll talk 'bout it later" Pappy smiled down at the cute little filly once more. "But right now, ah could go fer ah nap on that there patio rocker."

"Oh no ya don't!" Granny shot Pappy a hard eye. "We have ah sayin' here on th' farm. 'Those who don't work, don't eat!' Ya ate, now ya work. And those dishes need some scrubbin'!"

Smiling in defeats at the elderly mare's iron hoof control, the prince's caregiver gave up and casually walked back to the barn with the rest of the Apples, knowing that a mountain of dishes awaited him...

Taking a break from the mountain of paperwork that she still had not completed, even with the week long aid of Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna stepped out onto her balcony to enjoy a little fresh air. As the wind hit her face, and a cool breeze carried with it a slight fruity scent, the princess of the moon couldn't help but wonder when her dear sister would return.

It's true that Luna wanted her dear sister to relax and... heal emotionally over the loss of one very important pony, but how long was too long? Ugh! If only Celestia's assistant, Kibitz hadn't suffered an emotional break down and pulled a 180 with his character, Luna could have confided in him about Celestia's situation.

"Excuse me, your majesty" a royal guard appeared, pulling princess Luna from her thoughts. "This just arrived for you from the Crystal Empire. It was marked as urgent."

The letter was levitated out of the guard's hoof by princess Luna's dark blue magical aura. The guard remained at attention until Luna released him back to his usual duties. As the guard left, the princess of the moon couldn't help but wish it was some emergency that would require her immediate action, as terrible as that sounded.

'Perhaps it's just Cadence seeking out more advice about Shinning Armor' Luna thought. 'Only our sister would have that kind of advice to give. Being stuck on the moon as an evil enchantress really doesn't make dating easy for somepony...'

As she tore open the envelope and began to read the letter, Princess Luna quickly recognized the hoof writing as Radiant Hope's. Reading the letter slowly at first, Luna's pace quickly picked up after reading a certain passage. She read the letter over and over again, wondering if it was true or not.

"This... can this be?! We must tell our sister! Immediately!" Luna proclaimed, then left to go and find Kinitz and shake him out of his funk so she might rush to her sister's side while 'he' finished the paper work.

After overseeing the production of armor, the crafting of the various weapons, as well as the martial arts and basic defense classes all taking place in the newly reformed IronLock prison, King Sombra, accompanied closely by Snowstorm, made their way back to his 'office'/new thrown room. Along their way, the two were intercepted by one of the flying inmate guards that were allowed to keep their minds.

"Sirs! Something's happening outside, and the rest of the guards and myself don't really know what it means. But we figure it can't be good..." the inmate guard landed into a bow just several hooves away from the king.

Simply nodding, Sombra followed the winged guard over to the prison's front gates. As brainwashed former royal guards were used to pull the large iron gates open, Sombra, Snowstorm and the winged guard all walked outside into the rather calm outside.

Since Sombra had taken over the prison and the mountain, the Windigos who haunted the area like hungry ghosts feeding off the inmates and guards mutual hatred for each other, had become rather obedient to the shadow king and began to feed instead on the ponies in the surrounding areas, spreading the blanket of snow further.

With the sky now open, everypony, whether mindless royal guard, reformed inmate guard, or the King and he loyalest guards themselves could see the phenomenon occurring in the sky. Like the rest of Equestria, they were amazed and left speechless by the black orb in the sky and the rainbow effect it was causing.

"It's him, isn't it, your majesty?" Snowstorm was the first to speak, feeling less moved by the eclipse then anypony else.

"It is" Sombra spoke, taking in a deep breath, as he often did when he had to make a decision he didn't want to. "I wished he had remained in the dark a little longer. But it seems my son has awakened to his true power."

"Should I assemble a strike force to bring him here?" Snowstorm hated that thought, thinking that having 'him' here would be more problematic then anything. And he wished that the King would say 'no'.

"That will not be nessisary" Sombra replied as he turned around and retreated back into the prison. "I think it's time to let Charming Knightmare redeem himself. Collect him and accompany him back to my office. It's time Sunny learned the truth..."

Author's Note:

OK, up till now I've just had ponies and other creatures that Sunny's met that he's ultimately changed their lives in a good way. But now it's time to show the victims of his neglect.

Also, a shout out to my buddy, Patrick marrison! Without him, I might have put this big leap forward off for a few more chapters. Thanks for helping to light a fire under my backside, Patrick!