Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

2 Kinds of Slumber

The rain had come out of nowhere, as it often did on the open road this side of Equestria, so far from Cloudsdale, the city where the weather is both manufactured and maintained. Here, the rain could escape and downpour to it’s heart’s content, sharing it’s dreary feelings with everypony and everything beneath it.

It was at this time that Thunder Veil and White Out had taken refuge in a small diner, halfway between manehatten and Ponyville. Their journey had left them astray, with many things to discuss, especially what the Black Knight has told them.

‘She knows now, she knows something's up’ Thunder thought to himself as he looked across the table at his wife as she began stacking creamer packets to make a pyramid. One of the foal like things she did whenever she was nervous and needed to relax.

Right when Thunder felt his confession about to escape this lips, the waitress brought their drinks to them. Thunder kept it simple; black coffee with sugar cubes on the side. White Out had her usual mocha coffee with two sugar packets on the side. After the waitress left, the couple began to prepare their respective drinks, avoiding eye contact. Trying to stop himself from spewing out anything prematurely, Thunder shoved a sugar cube in his mouth and let it resolve on his tongue.

“... so we need to talk...” White Out spoke up as she finished mixing her sugar in her coffee.

He should have known she would take the lead, being the more bold in these personal issues then ‘he’ was. When it came to getting info out of ponies, Thunder had no problem. But he lacked the skill when it came to talking about how to talk to ponies or solve personal problems. “... I guess we do...”

Taking a deep breath, White Out looked over at her husband, trying to appear more brave then she felt and confessed to him “I lost my job...”

A little taken back by her sudden confession, Thunder almost spat out his sugar cube that was still dissolving on his tongue. “Wait, what, why?!”

Clearing her throat, White Out faught ba k the tears as she started to tell her husband how it happened. “A few days after we went out looking for the Black Knight, around the time we interrogated that shop owner about the comic book, my boss sent me a letter telling me that if I didn’t have the full story by that afternoon and on his desk, don’t bother coming back at all.”

Thunder could hardly believe his ears. He was shocked, but not because his wife kept this secret from him, but more ‘for’ his beloved wife. That job as a reporter, although rough at times and not paying well, was her dream job. She dreamed about being a reporter in the big city ever since she was a foal. And now... not it was ripped out of her hooves.

Thunder could see the tears beginning to form in White Out’s eyes, and tried desperately to think of a way to cheer her up. That’s when he saw it! A spoon! Thinking quickly, Thunder took the spoon, licked it’s con-caved side, and stuck it at the very end of his nose. He cleared his throat and got his wife to look over at him.

When White Out looked over at her husband, she couldn’t help but hold back a laughing fit. He had the spoon hanging on his nose, eyes crossed, with his tongue sticking out of he left side of his mouth. The image made her remember when they first started dating. Thunder has broken the ice on their awkward first date all those years ago by making White Out laugh. No pony would know it, but that was one thing the dark coated unicorn was good at, cheering up his wife up.

After several moments, White Out wipped the tears from her eyes, her laughter finally starting to subside. That was when Thunder knew he had to make his confession. “White... I also have something I need to come clean about...”

“Oh?...” the grey pegasus almost forgot that the Black Knight said both had something to confess to each other. She was so afraid of telling Thunder her confession that she forgot what he needed to tell her.

“Yeah... see... remember how I kept making holes in the apartment ceiling and floor when I write or used silverware?” Thunder started off saying.

“Oh sweet Celestia, you didn’t get anypony, did you?!” White Out sounded shocked. “I mean, I know it would be in accident-“

“No no!” Thunder interrupted his wife before she could go on with her train of thought. “Well... not exactly... see, the land lady came by and.... she, well... evicted us...”

A long silence fell over Thunder Veil and White Out. The dark grey unicorn could hear his heart beat as the world around him went silent, as if waiting for White’s reaction to the either terrible news.

“Sooooo.... we’re both ‘jobless’ and ‘homeless’" White Out’s tone was completely monotone.

“Looks like it” Thunder replied, his tone mirroring hers, lacking of any emotion, as he took a small sip of his coffee.

Taking a deep breath then sighing, White Out looked over at her husband, trouble brewing in her mind like a thunderstorm. But as she looked at Thunder Veil’s blank expression, she could tell he blamed himself for their misfortune, as he always did, even when it wasn’t his fault. All because of his medical condition.

“Well... I guess we could always move in with Silver Sky for a while” White Out broke the silence. “She’s always telling me that if we ever needed help, that we shouldn’t hesitate to ask.”

Thunder Veil was about to tell White Out that her oldest friend had offered to help find them a new home also, while they went off chasing their leads on the Black Knight, when an odd stallion appeared out of nowhere.

The stallion had a brown, almost grey colored coat, a short red and black mane, and what must have been the oddest thing about him were his red and yellow eyes that sat just below a pair of bushy white eyebrows. White Out probably didn’t notice, But Thunder swore the stallion’s eyes changed to different sizes. Ignoring that, the next thing Thunder noticed was the rather neat and oddly dry mailpony uniform he was wearing.

“Letter for a miss White Out” the stallion said, holding out a letter out to her.

Accepting the partchment, White Out read the return address first. “It’s From Script Write! Hmmmm.... what could she want?”

The mailpony stood there, watching White Out with a slight malicious grin on his muzzle. He was made aware of Thunder’s presents when the dark grey stallion cleared his throat.

“Oh, Ugh, sorry! I must be going! To-da-loo!” The stallion waved goodbye as he vanished in a puff of smoke, appearing to run off.

Once the smoke cleared, White Out opened the letter and began reading immediately. Meanwhile her husband had something else on his mind. Thunder couldn’t put his hoof around it, but there was something about that male pony that he didn’t trust.

“OH MY GOSH!” White Out nearly screamed and swueaked as she shoved the letter in Thunder’s muzzle. “I don’t believe it! He’s in Ponyville! He’s living in Ponyville!!!”

“Who?” Thunder asked, but started reading the letter. He couldn’t believe it, but read the letter again and again to himself, a huge smile growing on his muzzle. Looking back up to his wife, Thunder asked “next stop Ponyville?”

“Next stop Ponyville” White Out smiled and hoof bumped her husband.

The hunt for the truth continued...

“I can’t believe I was dooped by some punk and a few little girls!” Ca'Pony growled as he bucked one of his henchmen in frustration.

After being outsmarted by both the Elements and the Guardians of Harmony, Ca'pony and his men were intercepted by royal guards under Sombra’s control. They carefully transported them all out of Canterlot and up towards the castle cliffs, where a supply ship was just about to leave. According to the shipping logs, it was going to drop supplies off at Vanhoofer, but really Sombra’s stallions were aboard and taking it to the Rainbow Factory. More specifically, the room where the main spectra extraction machine was placed. All around in hospital beds were ponies hooked up to the machine. Giant hoses hooked up to plunger like metal caps on the pony’s heads, sucking the spectra of color from them and feeding it into the machine, leaving the hosts various shades of grey and lifeless, almost in a dreamless sleeping state. It was the ideal place for Ca'pony to hide and lick his wounds after his evil plans had been forted.

“Now now, violence like that isn’t nessisary...” a green pegasus stallion smiled as he casually walked over o the crime boss. “We all make mistakes time and time again. King Sombra understands. Which is why he had you meet us here, in my wonderful factory.”

Al Ca’pony’s cold gaze locked onto Wooden Toaster’s, chilling violet eyes meeting relaxed green as the two just started at each other. The moment left an awkward atmosphere between the two. The moment dragged on forever until Ca’Pony took a deep breath, straitened his suit, and began to walk away, pushing past wooden toaster.

“I’ll be in my room...” the red stallion mob boss spat out. “Come on, ya mooks, we have some business plans to look over.”

In Ca’Pony’s mind, he thought the best course of action he could take would be to gather his allies in the equestrian crime syndicate, reform a new plan to gain power, and get revenge on those snot nosed foals, possibly even taking over Sombra’s empire while he’s at it. If Sombra becomes too powerful, he could be a problem. That, and at the top, there’s really only room enough for one king. But a king has to stay several steps ahead of his opponents.

It had taken Ca’Pony a moment, but as he reached the end of the room, he noticed that nopony seemed to be following him. Turning around, now even more short with his henchmen, the red mob boss started yelling, his deep voice echoing off the factory’s Mayakovsky walls. “GET YOUR TAILS OVER HERE! I WONT ASK AGAIN!”

But the henchmen remained as still as statues, ignoring their boss’s orders as if they were merely the wind.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you. Your men work for King Sombra now...” Wooden started to say as he took everlasting steps around Ca’Pony, blocking his exit from the room. “After you returned with your tail between your legs, Sombra’s little assistant showed up to make a report to the king. And in his report, he noted that ‘mind controlled puppets’ were better then ‘free ranged mobsters.”

The meaning behind the deranged scientist’s word’s began to paint a picture for Ca’Pony. The mob boss began backing up slowly as he took note of all his henchmen and the mind controlled royal guards who were watching him. His mind began to reel with possible escape ideas when he backed up into something. After taking a quick glance back, Ca’Pony realized he had just backed himself into one of the empty beds where a pony could be hooked up to the rainbow machine.

Before he could react, Wooden was all over Ca’Pony, forcing his hooves down and fastening them to the bed. As an earth pony, Ca’Pony had greater physical strength then Wooden Toaster. But the mad scientist was quick and knew how to deal with subjects that were physically stronger then him. In a flash, it was over. Ca’Pony struggles to break free from his restraints, without any success.

“Now then, are you ready to serve a greater cause?” Wooden asked as he dawned his white lab coat and began raving up the machine.

Threatening the Doctor wasn’t going to work, so Ca’Pony tried another tactic. “Listen, kid, whatever King Sombra is offering you, I can more then double it!”

“Bargaining? Really?” Wooden chuckled out loud. “You really think ‘I’ want anything from you?! King Sombra already gave me what I wanted! My factory back up and running! It’s now my solomn duty to fuel it with spectra I steal from ponies. No matter who they are!”

The green pegasus then pointed towards a bed behind him in the far corner, where a grey pegasus with a white mane and tail, and a green eyes storm cloud cutie mark, lay zombified like all the rest.

“‘HE’ thought he could take my Factory away from me! Ha! What nerve!” Wooden began laughing even harder, his iris’s becoming more dilated. “The Rainbow Factory is mine! My legacy! My baby! It was always my destiny to harness the power of spectra! And now I-“

In a flash, Cynical jumped up off the bed he was supposedly strapped to, tackled Wooden Toaster once he was in the right position, and landed with him on another empty bed. Before Wooden could react with his lightning fast speed, Cynical head butted the green pegasus hard enough to make him see stars. In the midst of Wooden’s confusion, Cynical quickly strapped the mad scientist to a table of his very own, as positioned a helmet on snuggly over Wooden’s Head. Once the green pegasus was able to clear his mind, he looked up as Cynical had his hoof on the leaver to activate the helmet placed on his head.

“Two things; one, I knew you knew of my betrayal, and decided to let you play your hand, but I kept an ace up my sleeve. I have no spectra in my body for the machine to take out, so your machine couldn’t suck anything from me!” Cynical then flipped the switch and activated the spectra pump helmet starched to Wooden Toaster. The green pegasus half laughed, half screamed as the color began to be pumped out of him, leaving him with a slightly grey tint f his original color. All the whole retaining a smile on his muzzle. “And two, ‘I’ am the real antagonist here. Not that stupid king you allied yourself with, not ‘real life situations that everyone has to deal with’, and certainly not a small minded fool like you!”

“Great job kid!” Ca’Pony cheered half heartedly, catching Cynical’s attention. The black and green eyed pegasus turned and glared at the mob boss who was still strapped down to the bed. “Mind getting me out of this? I can make it worth your while!”

Slowly, Cynical casually walked over to Ca’Pony, placing his hooves on the table, his muzzle inches from Ca’Pony’s. “You know what I hate most in the world?... fat rich ponies like you who think they can buy anything or anypony they want. Which is why I can’t wait to crash the Grand Galloping Galla, and set that snooty, rich Canterlot of theirs on fire. Oh! The glorious rainbow blaze will tear their city down brick by brick! And then, the rest of Equestria! I won’t rest until it all lies in rubble! Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!”

The mad pegasus’s laughter echoed off the factory walls and filled the entire facility like a deviant rolling Thunder. If anypony wasn’t under Sombra’s obedience spell, their hearts would be racing with fear. But there wasn’t enough free will in the ponies present and some what conscious to allow them such freedom of fear. Well, except one.

“I hate to interrupt kid” Ca’Pony made himself known to Cynical once more. “But you can’t do all that by yourself. Why not let me help you. I have other ponies working for me, even a few in the royal guard and-“

Not really wanting to hear any more from the mobster pony, Cynical flipped the switch on Ca’Pony’s machine and watched as the red earth pony began to shake violently, the red color of his coat fading as the spectra in his body began to travel trough the tubes and into the rainbow making machine.

“I have no time for pathetic weaklings like you...” Cynical chuckled, the green irises of his eyes glowing in the dark. “Not when there’s a party to crash!”

Applejack awake from yet another nightmare, a cold sweat dripping down from her forehead as she tried to get her frantic breathing under control. Taking a look outside to try and calm her nerves, Applejack could tell it was around three in the morning. Several hours before the roosters would crow, and she and the others would begin their daily chores. Just as she was about to doze off back to sleep, a sound, almost like a hissing rattler, crept into her ears, causing them to flicker.

“Aaaaaaplejaaaaaack....”

The sound caused the orange farm pony’a eyes to flicker open and dart around the room. The voice sounded familiar, but so foreign. Like it lived within her home and she felt safe around it, but at the same time it sounded twisted, wrong, alien almost. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Applejack could just barely make out the outline of a pony standing in the corner. It was a stallion, with a horn on his head, so a unicorn. Knowing of only one unicorn stallion personally, Applejack found her voice and called out in a raspy voice “S-Sunny? That you p-partner?”

The stallion then took several slow steps towards Applejack who was now half bidding under the covers. But as it viewed closer, the shape changed as a new pony entered Applejack’s dream. A pony who’s been trying to get ahold of her for several nights now.

“Applejack, all is well” Princess Luna said in a relaxed tone as she stepped out of the shadows. “Please, I must speak with you.”

Looking up over her comforter, Applejack began to relax when she saw princess Luna. “Wheeeew! Ah sure am glad it’s only you, princess... ah mean, ah’a glad it is you! Not ‘only’ you! Ah mean-“

“Do not worry, Applejack” Luna knew what Applejack meant, but wanted her to focus. There wasn’t much time before the sun rose in the real world. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help you earlier. The dream realm has been distorted and difficult to navigate through since Charming Knightmare was freed.”

“It’s ok princess, ah know ya got ah mighty tall order, watching over everypony's dreams at night and what not” the orange mare said as she got up and out of her bed.

“About your dream, or rather, your nightmare” Luna decided to get right to the point. “What was it you were so afraid of?... you called me Sunny. Is he somepony you are afraid of?”

Feeling so confused she could hardly stand, Applejack sat down, her eyes falling to the ground as she desperately tried to gather her thoughts. Meeting Luna’s gaze once more, Applejack replied with her confident answer. “No. Well, not ‘him’ specifically. He’s... Somepony really special to me. And well... I worry a lot ‘bout him.

“He’s fightin’ inner demons that ah don’t think he can control well” Applejack’s thoughts went back to the morning when she walked in on him and without thinking, he cursed her. She knew he would never intentionally do something like that. But it still scares her that somewhere deep inside him was that dark presence.

“I see...” Luna’s heart felt heavy thinking of the young colt. “I think what would be best for him, is for you to just be there for him.”

“Ah don’t know what help ah could be...” the orange farm pony tote her eyes away from Princess Luna. “Ah’m just.... just some farm pony.”

“You are so much more then ‘just some farm pony’, Applejack” Luna raised Applejack’s head by her chin so she could look her in the eye. “You’re one of the purest ponies I know. With a good heart, great moral compass, and a love in her heart for her friends and family."

A tear came to Applejack’s eye as she started to stir, the dream fading, and with it, Princess Luna. Awakening from her dream for real this time, Applejack wipped the real tears from her eyes and quietly hopped out of bed and silently crept out of her room and peaked into Sunny’s. The yellow stallion was sleeping soundly. He and the other New Guardians hopped off the train just the other night, and boy did they all look beat. Sunny stired a little, but a small smile came to his face as he hugged his pillow. His dream obviously a pleasant one.

“I’ll always be there for ya, partner...” Applejack whispered as she leaned against the door frame. “Always...”

Comments

[EldwitchBlackwater]

Still the best fic I ever read 😍😍😍😍😍😍