Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

The Sun will come out Tomorrow

Applejack walked through the front doors of Twilight's castle just in time to run into Starlight Glimmer. The pink unicorn had changed so drastically that Applejack almost didn't recognize her. Not just her mane style, but the over all atmosphere around her had altered to one of a more humble, but down to earth individual. But after a second, the orange apple farmer's expression turned hard and cold as she shot her glance at the reformed unicorn. Starlight, still being a little unsure of her position amongst Twilight and her friends, expected things would be a little rocky for a while, and did her best to endure Applejack's sharp glare, and continue on her way to the market. Twilight had tasked Starlight with going to the market to gather a few supplies. It was a chance to show her reformation at work, a chance for Starlight to socialize with the ponies in town, a chance to make friends, and one less chore for Twilight to do. Now with a free afternoon, Twilight could finnaly get to the stack of books she had been chomping at the bit to get to. With everything that had been going on as of recent, it was hard to pick up a book and read for a decent amount of time.

Just as Tailight sat comfortably in her cozy, reading chair in the library, lamp positioned just right to illuminate the open pages, a glass and piture of tea on a near by table. With her perfect reading environment put in place, the purple alicorn was finally ready to relax and enjoy a good book.

That was, until Applejack burst through the library doors. "Ah shudda guessed ya would be in th' library, Twi."

A little annoyed, Twilight looked up at her farmer friend and was quickly taken back by her subtle appearance. Unlike the rest of her friends, Applejack kept most of her emotions in check, especially sadness. It was hard to tell when the orange farm pony was truly upset. But as Twilight looking upon Applejack now, she could tell something was wrong. "Whats up, Applejack? Is everything okay?"

Applejack scratched the back of her head for a moment and avoided eye contact. She was struggling to find the words, not being very good at this sort of thing. Applejack eventually removed her hat from atop her head and held it to her chest with one hoof, her eyes almost watery as she locked eyes with Twilight. " its... its Sunny…"

Twilight lead Applejack to another seat that she levitated over and placed right beside her own reading chair. "Is he ok?"

"No… an'… an' ah ain't sure what ta do for him…" the words were hard for Applejack to get up, but knowing that Sunny needed her to be strong, she forced them out.

Once she got started, Applejack's words began to paint a very dark and vivid picture for Twilight. Applejack explained that Sunny hadn't been himself since the day Starlight was reformed and started living in the castle. Sunny didn't go out to see his friends, he didn't leave his room say for doing chores and work around the farm. When he did work, he was very quiet, answering mostly with 'yes', 'no', 'sure', and 'ok'. When Big Mac Apple Bloom, Granny or even Applejack herself approached him, though, the air around him made it hard to breath, and half the time they avoided him. Same was said for his friends who dropped by when he was out in the fields. They would get this uneasy feeling from being around him and make an excuse as to why they needed to suddenly leave. That was, except poor Derpy. When she tried to approach Sunny, she didn't get within ten feet before she uncontrollably burst into tears and flew away. After his chores were done, he's just go strait to his room. He didn't come out of his room for breakfast, supper or even snacks. Sunny wouldn't eat if Applejack didn't bring him something and leave it outside his front door.

Granny suggested that Applejack go into his room and drag him out and get whatever is bothering him out of him. Applejack was nervous about going up into his room, why she didn't know, its not like she hadn't been up there countless times before. But when she opened the door, she was met with a dark room completly void of light. The closed cutains weren't thick enough to keep the light completly out, but tge light never touched a single thing around the room. Applejack was able to make out the figure of Sunny, hunched over on the edge of his bed, head hanging low, eyes seemingly glued to the floor.

Taking another deep breath, Applejack shut the door behind her and walked over to Sunny, for whatever reason, almost afraid the floor was going to collapse beneither her hooves and send her falling into some dark abyss. Never the less, she swallowed her fear and pressed forward. The walk that should only have been a few moments seemed to stretch on for an hour, Applejack finnaly arrived at Sunny's side. Looking at the state he was in broke her heart. His emerald colored eyes that seemed to glow, were pale as if drained of all that made Sunny Sunny.

"What's wrong, Sugercube?" Applejack asked, her irrational fear pushed away by concern that weighed more heavily on her heart.

"I don't know what to believe anymore, Applejack…" Sunny's words spewed out like a sickness, his tone lacked any life to it.

"Talk to me, darling…" Applejack took Sunny's head in her hooves and moved him so he was laying down with his head on her lap. She often did this when he was stressed or worried. He may have been this big tough, black knight, but he was still just a stallion. And sometimes a stallion needs a mare to remind him he has somepony who loves him.

"I've seen so many terrable things, Applejack…" Sunny started, his voice now trembling, tears working their way to the corners of his eyes. He faught them back as he unloaded everything onto Applejack, starting with the world where his father was fighting a war against his mother. The same world where the farm burned to the ground and the Apples left Sunny with their ruins. Applejack did her best to reasure Sunny that she would never blame him if something like that happened. But Sunny was far from done. He told Applejack of the world over run by changelings, of the horrors he endured when Nightmare Moon returned and ruled Equestria, what Nightmare Moon had done to him, and worlds much, much worse then that, before finally ending his tale with how he, Twilight, Spike and Starlight returned from the past to the castle, where Applejack had seen them.

Applejack didn't know what to say.

She wasn't the kind to talk much or even show much emotion, and was no where near equipped to deal with this heavy burden that Sunny was now forced to carry with him. She tried, though, to tell him that it all happened, but it didn't happen. The farm was still intact, Ponyville was the same as it always had been, and despite the vibe that had chased off Sunny's friends, they were still worried and cared much about him.

"What does it matter if they care…" Sunny's voice was weak when he spoke up. "Our friendship wasn't strong enough to do anything. 'I' wasn't strong enough to do anything… You, Twilight, and the others… you were the only ones who could make a difference… I wish I could just forget any of that ever happened… why… why do I remember everything?…"

Applejack could hardly breath, the air had become so thick and constricting, it was almost like she was being buried alive. But she was a fighter, and refused to give up. She didn't know what to say to help lift Sunny's spirits, but she might know somepony who might. Twilight had told her friends all about what Starlight had done, going back in time and stopping Rainbow Dash from completing her sonic rainboom that would shape their fates forever. They all knew that Starlight didn't know what kind of alternate presents she had created, but Twilight told her friends briefly about them. All of them sounded just as Sunny described to her. But unlike Twilight who witnessed them all and was able to pop back out of them and back to the past, Sunny lived through them up to a certain point. What bothered her the most was the last world Sunny described. The one where he said he was so tired, exhausted, and numb, that all he wanted to do was sleep. THAT shook her to the bone.

"Darling, ah got ta get up, but ah'll be back as soon as ah can" was what Applejack told Sunny before sliding him gently off her lap. He simply rolled over and went dead weight, stairing up at the ceiling now.

Not two seconds after he was off her did Applejack run faster then a greased up pig at an all you can eat buffet, right to Twilight's castle, right through the front door, glaring at Starlight as she did, and found Twilight in the library. "Ah shudda guessed ya would be in th' library, Twi…"

Having repeated to Twilight everything Sunny had told her, Applejack was beside herself, unable to come up with a solution to pull Sunny out of his dark depression. "Ah mean, ah really can't blame th' fella fer feelin' the way he does."

"It reminds me alot of when Discord used the grey spell and turned you guys into your opposite versions of yourselves" Twilight remembered the trick that the chaos master pulled to prevent them from using their elements of harmony against him all those years ago. "But this is worse. I never failed to help my friends, or really fail anypony. I don't think there's anything I can say or do. I just don't have that kind of experience."

Disheartened, Applejack's ears fell flat to the side of her head as her watery eyes looked upon her alicorn friend. "Ain't there anything we can do? It breaks mah heart ta see him like this. He's our friend. He's put himself threw th' ringer for us in th' past. There must be somethin' we can do…"

Feeling a little overwelmed herself, Twilight wrapped her brain to find any possible way to reach out to Sunny in this state and let him know things would be OK. 'Friendship is the key… but we need a certain kind of friend. One who knows what its like to harbor that kind of emotional pain and work through it-'

"THAT'S IT!" Twilight shot up, flying just a little above the ground as a brilliant idea popped into her mind. "I know just what to do! I need to write a letter!"

Raising a brow at Twilight, Applejack repeated her last words, a little less then a teaspoonful of enthusiasm coated her words "ugh, write ah letter? Is this really th' time?"

"Of course it is! That's exactly what we need!" Twilight levitated a quill and parchment scroll over to her, ready to write a letter when she paused and pondered something else. "But I'll also need your help, Applejack, and maybe Rainbow Dash too if you can find her."

Seeing an idea forming in Twilight's eyes, Applejack regained some confidence in her friend. Maybe Twilight did come up with an idea that could help Sunny. After straitening her stetson hat on her head, Applejack cocked a half smile at Twilight and asked "what do ya need me ta do?"

Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Sunny lay in his room, continuing to gaze off into nothing, letting the images of the alternate presents take hold of him. The dark shadows on the walls seemed to grow darker and darker around the room, some even appearing to take a life and shape of their own. The shadows started to creep towards the sunken yellow unicorn, claws and teeth bared, but some flickering light stopped them, followed by low spoken words as soft and gentle as a self promise.

"… from all of us togeather, togeather we are friends, with the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end." A familiar voice spoke out the spell for the second time in her life.

The shadows began to cower as a thin string of light, pink in color, moved like a flowing river, circling Sunny, pushing the shadow creatures off. But the creatures were relentless and went in again. The pink light was joined by a vibrant red light, which was soon joined by a dark purple light, a light purple light, and finally a blue light. As the swirling strings of lights encased Sunny, the shadow monsters disapated as quickly as they formed. Color returned to Sunny's eyes as he lifted his head up, the lights blended togeather into a white blinding light and lifted Sunny up off the ground. The ball of light shrunk a bit before exploding into a flash. Once the flash was over, there was no sign of Sunny to be found, and the darkness that over came the room disapated…

Sunny had no idea where he was or how he got there. He looked to be walking on fog in the middle of literal nowhere. The sky and surounding area was a mixture of light and deep sky blues, with sparkling lights scattered like tiny fireflies. The temperature there was slightly cooler then that on the farm, and the earthy sweet scent of the orchard was replaced with a more serine aroma that Sunny couldn't quite put his hoof on. Immediatly Sunny felt more at peace just by being there. But where exactly was he? And how did he get there?

"Hello?" Sunny called out, earning no answer, his tone was not scared or threatening, just curious. Walking around, turning his head from one side to the other, trying not to miss anything, Sunny found himself talking to himself outloud "where am I? How did I get here?"

"You can thank your friends for that" a familiar and pleasant voice rang out from beyond the misty fog. A tall, elegant silhouette began to form in the distance. Within moments her details became clear. It was nopony else other then Princess Celestia, Sunny's own mother. Her gentle gaze on Sunny put him at ease, she spread her wings wide and welcomed him into a hug. Sunny didn't know what came over him, but he soon found himself running up to her and jumping into her embrace. "Its been a while, my son. I hear you are … troubled."

Sunny didn't speak for a long moment. His silence back in his room and the darkness that sourounded him kept his depression and sadness frozen in place. But now, in this peaceful place, in the hooves of his mother, Sunny could no longer fight against the pain, and the frozen rivers thawn. Tears streamed down from his cheeks as he faught to say the words "I… I don't… I couldn't… I-I wasn't..."

Celestia's heart nearly broke when she saw the distress her son was in. This wasn't like helping a toddler get over a scrapped knee or dealing with a lost toy. This pain was deep within Sunny. She needed to help him through it, as only 'she' could. "Before you speak, let it out. Let out all the pain you've held deep inside. You don't have to be strong right now, my son. Go ahead and let down your guard."

The tears began to flow faster and harder for what seemed like hours. Once the tears dried up, Princesses Celestia took a handkerchief from out of nowhere and offered it to her son. He had cried quite a bit on her coat, but she didn't mind. It reminded her of when he was a little colt. He would bury his face in her and cry when something really bothered him. Even as a foal, he didn't like to bother other ponies with his issues. After blowing his nose, and handing the silk handkerchief back to his mother, Sunny took a breath and layed his head against her, still in a hug. His voice was shaky and weak, but he managed to squeeze out "I'm so sorry… I failed Equestria, my friends, everypony, time and time again."

"Applejack told me what had happened, about the other worlds of Equeatria you had to live in" Princess Celestia spoke softly as she stroked her son's mane. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with all of that…"

The stream of tears eventually began to slow down to a mere trickle, allowing Sunny to speak clearly once again, but he still kept his gaze away from his mother's eyes, choosing to just to keep his head hanging down. "So many times I failed Equestria… I couldn't save my friends, I couldn't save the farm, I couldn't save Applejack and her family,... or you... it just didn't matter what I did. Every time I tried to make things better, it ended with failure. Even… even when I got my friends togeather, they betrayed me. Even Derpy! Derpy of all ponies!"

Sunny's breathing became heavier as he recalled more of the details related to his past trauma. Celestia saw the pain in his heart and embraced him against her once more, runbing his back and trying to comfort him as best she could. Her voice chimmed like small silver bells. "I know it's hard to deal with, and you can't see it now, but because you struggled and faught with it all, you are now a stronger pony for it... I've had to deal with similar events in my life…"

Sunny then pulled back and looked up at his mother after feeling something wet drip on his head. Meeting his mother's gaze, Sunny saw that she, too, was crying. Her once smooth words became a little shaky themselves. "I had to fight my beloved Sombra, your father, and seal him away in an arctic prison. I had to turn my own teacher and friend to stone after he went mad with power, feeling as though I failed him as a student. I was forced to send my own sister away for 1000 years because I was too blind to see that I was hurting her. After… after years, decades of searching, I gave up on finding my only son.…"

Pulling Sunny back into her chest, small streams of tears began to run down Celestias face. Knowing her pain, Sunny pulled her into a tight hug, his words, when he spoke them, were more firm then a moment ago, but still soft. "Why does this happen to us? Did we do something wrong?"

"No, my son" Celestia held Sunny tightly as she spoke. "We are put through these hardships for a reason. You are very much like your father, I see all the good in him in you. But you are also alot like me. You're a reluctant leader. You don't want to rule, but you are strong. And there are ponies who need you. Maybe now more then ever. These trials are like the heat applied to steal before it is put to the anvil and struck with a hammer. With each beating we take, we become stronger. It's not easy, but not just any pony can go through what we have."

"Do you think your sister could have?" Sunny asked, breaking the hug to look up at his mother.

With a small frown, Celestia shook her head. "Luna is very soft hearted, very intuned with her emotions as well as the emotions of others. She feels for them and can help them through their own trials. But given the weight that you and I bor, I dont think my warm hearted sister could have stood it."

Celestia eventually broke off from her son and began walkinging slowly down the celestial plane, pausing to encourage her son to follow her. Sunny did so, catching up with her almost immediatly. They walked for a short time in the glittery mist before images appeared all around them. Like multiple floating television screens. Each one carrying with it different images of Sunny's past! Not just of 1000 years ago, but of recent things.

"Hey! That's when I got to Ponyville!" Sunny pointed to a moving image of him arriving in town square, a party in the midst of a wild song. An image next to that was of when Sunny was helping Big Mac achieve his dream of flying. "I remember that! Ugh, you don't know how many times I've tried to get poor Big Mac airborne."

"Three times" Celestia said with a small smile as she tilted her head over to her son, a small smile on her muzzle. "You succeed on the 4th. I'm glad you were so persistant."

"How did you know that?" Sunny was a bit confused at his mother's knowledge of that adventure.

Princess Celestia had a small, pleased smile on her muzzle paired with a gentle gaze that she looked upon her son with. "Ever since I found out you came back, I've used my Celestial plane to not only keep an eye on you in the present, but I also looked back on your past as well, to see how much you have grown and leaned."

More images began popping up around Sunny and his mother. Images he was proud of like the time he saved Angel bunny from the tornado made by Lightning Dust and her Shadowbolts, helping Fluttershy feed her animal friends, taking Spike to the comic book convention. All fond memories Sunny held dear. More images began to appear around Sunny that left less then happy feelings. Images of the competition between Sunny and Allister appeared of their iron pony competition, one of when Sunny was talking to Spike to get him to lie to Twilight about the library, and one of Sunny being woken up by Applejack from a nightmare and Sunny blasting her with dark magic. Sunny's heart sank as he head hung low.

But his mother merely reached down with her hoof to hold his head back up, his eyes looking up at her with sorrowful regret. Her eyes, understanding and loving as a mother's eyes could be, looked down at her son and spoke with words that flowed smoothly "we all make mistakes. That is how we learn and grow…"

Motioning to more moving images, Sunny looked to see the images of the Pie family rock farm, it was from when Sunny and the Apples learned that sometimes the traditions could be different then your own, but that doesn't mean that sharing them with eachother is any less special or fun. Another image near to that one was of Sunny talking with Twilight after he had confessed about everything and appologized for using Spike to hide his secrets and making a mess of her library just to cover his tracks. Twilight was hesitant, but offered her hoof in friendship. It was then that Sunny knew he could trust ponies, that they wouldn't all shun him for who his father was and for his failure to protect the Empire 1000 years ago. Another imaged flashed, this time it was of Sunny confessing to Applejack all the secrets he kept from her. He watched in awe as her expression never wavered from that of a pony who was accepting, kind and understanding. At the time, his eyes were so full of tears, he couldn't make put her details as clearly as now. She truly was a beautiful, amazing mare. It was then that Sunny knew that somepony could love him for him. Not becouse he was a prince. Which was a real problem 1000 years ago. He knew then that even if he was just a simple farm pony living in a small town without a penny to his name, Applejack would love him, and treat him like 'her' prince, so long as she could be 'his' princess.

"I love her mom…" Sunny admitted, wiping a tear from his eyes. "I love her so much. She's been there when I needed somepony to hold me up, to kick me in the flank when I needed it, and believed in me when I didn't think anypony else would."

"I know" Princess Celestia smiled gently down on her son as she wrapped a wing around him. "She also gave you a family. A family you deserve. One that shows love, the simple pleasures, spends holidays togeather, works togeather, laughs and fights and makes up. And I'm sure it will continue to grow, in time. But you have others who grew closer to you and you helped to make better as well..."

Images flashed around them now of all of Sunny's friends. One was of Big Mac flying in the sky, after Sunny went to Twilight for help. Sunny was able to get a good look at his friend now, and see the huge smile on his muzzle, like a light flickered on inside him and hasn't turned off since. The one next to him was Octavia helping out with a charity concert in Manehatten, after she learned there were more important causes then promoting yourself. And where she learned a new path she wanted to take; becoming a music teacher. One just above that was the moving image of Thunderlane going to his brother, Rumble, and embracing him in a brotherly hug, after realizing he had neglected the little colt. It was then that Thunderlane started to learn how to balance his love life, family life, and work life. Sunny knew he struggled sometimes, but his winged friend was learning how to make it work. The image that followed after that had both Derpy and Doctor Whooves. They both appeared to be helping some ponies that Sunny recognized as the Thals, the earth ponies from the planet Scaro. Sunny remembered how Derpy learned that she wasn't just somepony who messed up all the time, and that when somepony really needed her, she could do great things. On that same day, Doctor realized how important others were to his life. That making friends, whether from other times, planets, or even near home, thet were relationships worth making and worth fighting for. He learned there was magic he could master, even as a pony of science. And it was this magic that made life worth while.

"It's amazing" Sunny's mother spoke up, her tone no longer trying to be nurturing, but carrying in it refined amazement, as she looked at the images before her and Sunny. "You've experianced alot in your time in Ponyville. Making friends, battling monsters, helping with friendship problems, even clashing with dark forces. I don't think there is any doubt you are my son. I always used to think of you more as a spitting image of your father, and I see his courage, his determination in you. But I also see eyes that watch over others, eyes that have compassion, understanding, who seek to protect others, but also to help them work through their troubles themselves. My dear sister pointed it out to me, and she was right. You get that from me…"

A gentle wing pulled Sunny back into a hug with his mother as a warm feeling began to raise up inside him, like a small flame growing into an ember, filling the little unicorn with a joy and pride he only felt from working on the Applefarm. A pride that he could personally enjoy and look back on, not one that would be paraded around for others to see or read about in history books or learn about in legends. But a simple pride anypony would enjoy. A good hard days work that payed off, fixing something that was broken, helping out a friend with a problem, or receiving praise from a parent. All things most ponies received, and unfortunatly some took for granted. But to Sunny, it was more valuable then gold or diamonds, worth more then any kingdom in the world. Because to him, such a thing made his whole world.

Releasing her son from wings, Princess Celestia continued to walk with him down the seemingly endless Celestial plane. Her tone was now between that of a firm parent and a gentle teacher. "You are stronger then you give yourself credit for... I know things went wrong with the alternate futures you unfortunatly remember, that have bothered you so much. But I couldn't imagine anypony being able to make things right in those worlds, if you couldn't. Your destiny is to bring out the good in others. If you couldn't in those worlds, nopony could. You shouldn't blame yourself."

The thought about the other time lines, where Sunny failed to protect the Apple farm, his friends, the Apples, Canterlot, all of Equestria… it still stung. "What… what am I going to do if something like that happens here? What if dad succeeds and releases the Umbrum? What if my friends and I, or even Applejack and her friends aren't enough?"

Another image popped up infront of Sunny and Celestia. This one, though, was one of Twilight Sparkle, long before she became an alicorn. She was talking with herself. Literally! She was back in the Golden Oaks library, talking with the future version of herself from next Tuesday where she wore a torn black stealth suit, had her mane straitened up, an eye patch over her left eye and a white headband over her head. The regular Twilight appeared to be asking a million quesgions while walking around the Twilight from next Tuesday.

"My most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, learned that you can't always prepare for troubles to come until they do come. Otherwise you'll worry yourself silly trying" Princess Celestia smiled warmly at the moving image of Twilight interacting with her future self, remembering the full story that Twilight shared in her letter about the event.

"She certainly lives a very interesting life" Sunny smiled as well, remembering all the stories he read about her and her friends in the book 'the Elements of Harmony: a reference guide and then some'.

"Funny, she said the same about you" Celestia smiled down at her son, gentle gaze meeting his. "You both have been through alot, tasks most ponies will never have to deal with, have those you wish to protect, and have trials still yet to be faced. But luckily, neither of you will have to face them alone.

"Your friends are there for you, if you let them in" Sunny's mother had to reasure him. "In the other time lines, were you alreally 'friends'? Or did you merely feel that deep inside?"

Sunny's expression sank, his ears fell a little. "I guess… deep down, I felt a connection... guess without the magic of friendship, we weren't really anything, were we?"

"I wouldn't say that, exactly" Celestia went on, her expression carrying with it slight hope. "I believe if you had remained in those time lines, somepony, if not you, sompeony who you would have come into contact with, would have continued to try and make things right. There are many ponies, throughout Equestria, who still fight against the forces of evil. Not just you, Twilight or any of your friends."

Looking up at his mother, Sunny read her expression as he asked "do you really believe so?… That Equestria… wasn't nessisarily doomed? Even the time when all Equestria was left in ruins?"

The air of wisdom and faith seemed to radiate from Sunny's mother once more, making her seem to glow. "I have faith that where there is one pony left to fight for friendship, family, and the hope, there will always be a tomorrow. "

Taking a deep breath, Sunny absorbed his mother's words and bathed himself in her growing rays. "I guess, all I can do is control what I can do and do my best when there is something I need to do."

"Well, you can do that, or take up a protege to one day take over for you" Celestia smiled playfully at her son.

"Oh? Is that your plan?" Sunny went along with it, testing to see if his mother was joking or not.

"One day" Princess Celestia's expression confirmed her relaxed feelings on the topic. "But that is a good while from now. For now, there is something I want to give you."

The shock of hearing his mother talk about retirement caught Sunny off guard to where he almost didn't process what his mother was saying. After Celestia moved her hoof over to his chest, did her words catch up to the yellow stallion. "Wait, what?"

"Do not worry, when you need more strength, just believe in yourself and your cause" his mother explained, as her horn and the hoof touching him glowed in her golden magical aura. "You can summon more then just the strength of the Umbrum power you got from your father. This should help you to find it…"

A bright and blinding light engulfed both Sunny and his mother, and for a moment, their world was washed in bleach white.

A moment later, Sunny realized his eyes were closed and his hooves were once again on solid ground. Opening his eyes, they struggled to focus. But before the blinding light gave way and allowed him to see the other colors and shapes of the world around him, a song began to fill his ears. A song that filled his heart with joy and strength unlike any he had never felt before…

"A true, true friend helps a friend in need,
A friend will be there to help them see,
A true, true friend in need,
To see the light that shinnes in a true, true friend!"

The voices singing Sunny recognized before his eye sight fully recovered. Big Mac, Octavia, Thunderlane, Derpy, Doctor, Applejack, her friends, Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, and even his Aunt Luna! But there were so many more ponies singing in the background, it was hard to tell. When his vision returned to him, Sunny was amazed to not only see his and Applejack's friends and family, but a good two dozen of so ponies from town came to Apple farm! Mr and Mrs Cake, their twins, the waitor at the restaurant Sunny would have an occasion lunch at, Rumble, Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and some of their friends from school. It seemed eveeypony who Sunny spent time talking with had sowed up to offer their support!

Sunny's friends all ran up to him, coating him in a hug. He was at a loss of words for a moment, but managed to ask "what are you all doing here?"

Not breaking the hug, Derpy answered first "we know you've been down lately, but we didn't know what to do."

"That is, until we all got together and asked Princess Twilight what 'she' would do in this predicament" Octavia picked up after Derpy.

"And she told us 'meet us at the farm'" Thunderlane added, giving Sunny a short nooggie.

"And just to be there for you" Big Mac squeezed harder as his smile grew another few inches.

"Which is what we should have done all along… but we're still new to this 'group of friends' thing" Doctor stated as the group released Sunny from their group hug. All of their expressions reflected shame of their action, or rather, the lack there of until they were given direction by Princess Twilight. "And for that, we're sorry. We're so, so sorry, Sunny. We're supposed to be your best friends, but in your darkest hour, we didn't do anything-"

Sunny patted Doctor on the top of his head, interrupting the Time Lord pony, and confusing him.

"Dont worry about it, Doctor" Sunny's half smile was relieving to his friends, taking much weight off his friends hearts. "You can't have all the answers. That's why it's great to have a large group of friends. If you can't do something, you have a friend who can help. I'm still learning too. In fact, I should have gone to you all to talk about what happened before, I might have saved my mom a trip down here. Guess we all learned a lesson."

Doctor Whooves, who seemed to be bearing most of the guilt over the whole thing, felt slightly relieved, and raised his head. "Thank you, Sunny."

"No. Thank you, my friend. And you all, for being my friends" Sunny then looked to the crowd of ponies who showed up and adressed them in the royal Canterlot voice so all could hear him. "THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING HERE IN MY TIME OF NEED. IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME TO SEE FAMILIAR FACES, TO HEAR FAMILIAR VOICES, TO HAVE YOU ALL HERE. THANK YOU, FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. I WILL BE OK NOW. THANKS TO ALL THE SUPPORT OF MY FRIENDS, MY FAMILY, AND ALL OF YOU. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!"

The crowd cheered, stomped their hooves, and tossed their hats into the air all in celebration, feeling great that they could help somepony who always went out of his way for them.

Several Apple Family members emerged from the barn, carrying long wooden tables, baskets, plates and silverware.

"Alright everypony, let's celebrate friendship the Apple way! YEE HAW!!!" Applejack announced to the crowd as her cousins set up tables, brought out food, and set up a stage where a trio of Apples began playing various instruments, with one yellow, earth pony mare taking center stage, sawing on her fiddle and playing it hot.

Sunny watched in awe, his heart filling with bubbling joy as Applejack approached him and his mother. Applejack, bowed a little, tipping her hat at Princess Celestia, and asked "Mind if ah borrow Sunny fer ah dance or two, yer majasty."

Locking eyes with Applejack for a moment, Princess Celestia's expression melted and showed her relaxed approval. She remembered how not so long ago, Applejack was so nervous around her that she would hold back from eating. Now, the same mare met her gaze, was able to smile, and asked to dance with her own son. She could see that Applejack was just the mare Sunny needed in his life. She was strong willed, had a good head on her shoulders, could appreciate him for who he was and not for what he had.

Nodding at Applejacks forward request, Princess Celestia spoke softly "you both may do as you wish. Go, have fun."

Both Sunny and Applejack smiled at eachother and were about to run off to join the other ponies dancing to the music, when Sunny turned back to his mother for a second. He motioned for her to lean in close to him, wanting to whisper something to her. And when she blowed her neck, he whispered "thank you, for everything.…" then he gave his mother a small kiss on the cheek and rushed off to join his marefriend for some good old, down home style dancing.

As she watched her son dance, the dark atmosphere that surounded him know conpletly disapated, Princess Celestia felt more at ease. She often worried about Sunny, growing up as he did, not making friends, and having to keep so many secrets no colt should. She often worried about what all that would do to him as he matured and grew.. But now, Celestia saw the weight of it all was lifted. Well, all except one. She had to fight back a tear as she thought about somepony who she wished was there with them. 'My beloved Sombra… I wish I knew what to do to get you back. We miss you. Both of us do. So much…'

Author's Note:

Hey guys!

Thank you all for still reading Sunny's story, it means so much to me.

I've been away for a while trying to work on my story writing skills, trying new things, but now I'm back.

And I have a goal; to finish writing Sunny's story by the end of the year.

I have it all set up to be done before the end of the year, but I wanted to add some wiggle room. There is alot of ground to cover, alot of lose ends to tie up, but I know it can and will be done.

That said, I love to hear from you guys, if you have anything you think I should talk about or go over or if there's anything you want to see, please, don't hesitate to message me!