Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Sunny meets the Deer King

Leaves and branches crushed under its wooden and metal hooves as a rouge pony puppet raced and ran through the trees that lined the boarder of the Everfree forest. It was struggling with the instincts of the wild that gave it life and the duty that was inscribed into its own body by the puppets creator. The only action that made sence to it was to run and thrash about, attacking anything in its path, be it a cart, a flower bed, a pony, or even a large creature like a manticore! It had no fear. Little did the rouge puppet know while it raced around like a blind bull, that it was being hunted.

Like a bolt of lightning, Sunny Knight appeared in a flash of green light behind the wooden pony creature, pulling it out of its inner conflict and alerting it to danger. Had the wild spirit ben inside its wolf body made of sticks and debris from the trees of the Everfree, the creature would have lunged at Sunny. But in its puppet body, the only concensus it had was to run away as fast as it could. The one thing that it didn't think it was supposed to attack was Sunny.

Hooves pounded against the ground as Sunny chased the pony puppet for about fifty yards, making sure to hurd it in the right direction. If the pony puppet started to veer towards the Everfree forest, Sunny moved like he would follow it in there, and same if it looked like it was going to venture into the Apple orchard just to its other side. All the while Sunny's gaze was half on the puppet ahead of him and half on the trap he and Rosewood set for it. The rouge pony puppet didn't know it, but it was falling right into a trap.

Without taking notice of a sudden pile of leaves, the pony puppet continued to awkwardly run with hindged pony like legs that were different the wolf legs it was used to, it stepped into the center of the leaves, then was hurled into the air in a thick rope net! The pony puppet struggled and faught against its restrains, but it gave up after several moments of violently thrashing about and making loud clicking and rattling noises with its hindged jaw.

Sunny looked up and smiled at his handiwork, soon joined by Rosewood, the living pony puppet he considered his neice. "Is that the last one, Uncle?"

"I hope so" Sunny admitted, readjusting his hat. "I can't believe the mess I made just from trying to get rid of those Timberwolves. But I honestly don't remember ever having this many puppets. I don't know where they all came from."

"My father had a workshop at the base of the mountains just north east of Canterlot, maybe they came from there." Rosewood suggested.

"If one of the rouge puppets came into contact with a lifeless puppet,, they could transfer some of the timberwolf spirit, but from that far to here?" Sunny questioned, raising a brow to Rosewood. "Could a puppet travel that far on its own the way the rouge ones act?"

"It would only take me a few hours, to and back" Rosewood stated flatly. "Puppets don't tire, and only seem to stop when they need to be repaired. Imagine if they did get to my dad's work shop. He had atleast a hundred puppets hidden away in a secret part of his workshop."

"I really hope that isn't the case" Sunny admitted. "A hoof full of these critters is enough."

"We'll get them all, I know we will" Rosewood smiled cheerfully, trying to brighten up her uncle. "Have you figured out what to do with them after we caught them all?"

"Not yet" Sunny admitted as he began to lower the pony puppet that was trapped in their net. As it was being lowered, the pony puppet began kicking violently again, wanting to be freed. As it hit the ground, Sunny used a spell to stun it and freeze it in place. "My mother and aunt are looking into a spell to separate the Timberwolves wild spirits from them, but whatever made the Timberwolves existed long before my mother was even born.

"But we'll figure it out one day, let's just get this guy in with the rest" Sunny told his niece as he flung the frozen pony puppet over his shoulder and started walking back to the Apple farm.

Little did Sunny or Rosewood know that several pairs of eyes were watching them from the dance Everfree forest.

It was about mid day when a knock came rapping at the front door of the Apple family's farm house door. Rosewood was teaching Sunny some of the whittling techniques her father taught her when he heard the knocking. Opening the door, Sunny was shocked to see two tall deer standing there looking down at him. They were atleast two feet taller then himself, had odd looking spears in the hooves, and dawned thin red armor around their chests, front hooves and a thin red helmet that rested between their horns.

One of the deer pulled out a small scroll and read from it in a flat tone. "Sunny of the Apple farm, you are charged with tampering with Everfree natural wildlife, and need to appear in the court of King Aspen, immediately."

Sunny was a little confused, but thought it better to just go along with it and see where this lead to. "Alright, I will go."

"Uncle!" Rosewood appeared next to Sunny's side, holding his hoof. When she spoke again, her tone was slightly hushed in an attempt to keep their conversation amungst themselves. "Uncle, you could take these guys down easily! Why don't you just do that? Why are you letting them take you away?"

Sunny removed his leg from Rosewood's wooden hooves, then patted her on the head. "Sometimes, Rosewood, its better to deal with a problem with cooperation. Deplomacy over violence.

"Do me a favor, if Applejack or any othe others come looking for me, tell them where I'm going but tell them not to worry, I'll he back soon." Sunny stated, earning an uneasy look from both deer guards. They didn't know what he meant by that, and it put them both on their guard. Sunny walked down the dirt road, a deer guard on each side of him the whole time. The vegetation seemed to spead and open the forest itself up for the deer as they drew closer. Then close shut as soon as the three were in deep enough.

Even though her uncle told her to stay calm, Rosewoods star heart seemed to be pounding a million miles per hour. Thoughts of fear and dread began to fill her mind as she recalled a similar situation with her father right before HE disappeared. She couldn't just sit back and do nothing. Rosewood found herself pacing around in circles, trying to think of a way to free her uncle from the clutches of this evil deer king. But she was just one pony. Not even a REAL pony. One made of wood, metal, and a fallen star. She didn't feel comfortable asking princess Twilight and her friends for help. And sha had no idea where Sunny's friends would be. No other Apples were home. She was all alone. Just one little pony puppet.

Then an idea popped into her wooden head. 'Maybe I don't have to be just ONE puppet…'

As fast as her wooden hooves could carry her, Rosewood ran out to the barn where the cart housing the caught pony puppets was kept. Flinging open the barn doors, Rosewood peered around in the dark until her gaze fell upon a cart covered in a tarp. The cart shook slightly as maybe one or two of the rouge pony puppets were actively bouncing around. They normally went dormant after a few days, unless something provoked them.

Pulled the tarp off the cart, Rosewood woke up the sleeping pony puppets. The barn filled with their chattering and clicking as they looked around for a possible exit from their prison.

"Listen up!" Rosewood spoke, catching the attention of a few of the pony puppets for a short time. "You guys guys are going to listen to me, got it?"

The rouge pony puppets clicking became even more louder and violent as they started to thrash about their cage even more wildly.

One stomp on their cage from Rosewood was enough to stop this, though, the echoing of her wooden hooves on their metal cage seemed to catch their attention fully. "That is enough! You will listen to me!…"

An idea popped into Rosewood's head as the glowing light from the fallen star in her chest seemed to glow brighter. The glow from her chest seemed to catch the attention of the rouge puppets, the glow reflecting in their attentive eyes. Rosewood looked from her chest up to the pony puppets that stopped rioting, but on the verge of a wild outbreak. Rosewood instructed one of the pony puppets to step forward. As it did, she took its front right hoof in hers and put it on her star heart. There was a small flash of light, then the eyes of the pony puppet changed from red to a type of dark blue. Its wild thrashing were buried even deeper in its mind as it awaited further orders from Rosewood.

"Well well well, looks like we have a solution to our little rouge pony puppet problem" Rosewood noted with glee, her expression turned slightly darker as she turned her attention to the rest of the rouge pony puppets. "Everypony line up! I'm your leader… no… I'm your Queen now! And its time you learn that!"

As they traveled deeper and deeper into the Everfree forest, Sunny saw creatures he knew existed in the dark forest, such as manticores, vampire fruit bats, fly-ders, large snakes, frogs and insects, and he even caught a glimpse of a cragadile as they passed by a swampy lake. But there were creatures he had never seen before such as a bear that had the head of an owl with feathers on its arms and down its back, nasty looking vines that had mouths and seemed to spray some kind of poison on its prey, and spiders that seemed to have glowing stars on their abdomens! No creature, no matter how big or small seemed to pay attention to Sunny and the deer guards, though, as they passed by them without ever receiving a second glance. Even from the hungrier looking of the creatures.

"Sooo... you guys live deep in the Everfree forest?" Sunny playfully asked, the silance starting to bother him.

Both deer guards remained silent, their faces stern, reminding Sunny much of the royal guards both in the Crystal Empire and in Canterlot. He knew he wasn't going to get anything out of them right then, and decided to just enjoy the scenery.

Thankfully, it didn't take them too long to reach their destination. Sunny was in awe at the sight before him. The trees were as thick around as any house in ponyville, and even appeared to have houses in them! Not built into them, but rather growing from them! With part of them being made of leaves and vines to make up windows and doors! There were dozens of them all around, with bright glowing lights of unknown origin. Sunny was so amazed that he didn't notice the deer guards nudging him to proceed. After clearing their throats Sunny was able to collect himself enough to continue on.

All around him were deer, who appeared to be going about their day as normal. Some tending to small gardens, some carrying fresh water up to the various houses, some clearing debris from the road, some playing gentle sounding instruments made of wood and vines, young ones playing while elderly ones sat and watched the young ones. They all seemed to ignore Sunny who was being lead to a tree that stood at the heart of it all. This tree appeared to be the largest and Sunny supposed by default, the oldest tree there. The steps leading up to it were lined with deer guards similar to the ones escorting Sunny, and all eyes him carefully.

After entering the large tree, Sunny immeditly found himself in a wide open room lines with deer guards as well as what he assumed were prestigious deer of stature. Unlike the ponies in Canterlot who liked to show off their looks by combining mane styles and well groomed coats with clothing and fancy jewelry, it appeared that these deer preferred to keep things simple with jewelry at the base of their horns or thin items warn loosely around their necks. Nothing at their hooves or around their bodies. Sunny found this all fascinating and would really like to get to know these deer and their culture, possibly at a better time.

At the end of the large tree, where Sunny believed he was beeing led to, were three deer who seemed to stand out among the rest. One small deer, about the same size as Apple Bloom, who wore some kind of orange cylinder around his neck. Next to him was a large white deer with almost gold markings under his eyes, the top of his head and down his back. Around his neck was a red crystal piece that looked almost like a locket. This large white deer seemed to glare the hardest at Sunny with a pair of harsh green eyes. Next to him appeared to be a female deer whos gaze was more cautious and observant then judging. She had around her neck a golden necklace with what looked to be a cylinder made of wood, much like the smaller deer on the opposite side.

"Kneel before the King of the Everfree forest, leader of the Deer, and heart of the forest, King Aspen!" The guard to Sunny's right announced.

Sunny, no stanger to formal greetings, did kneel before the white deer who must have been their king.

"You may rise" the white deer spoke, his tone was more annoyed then commanding. As Sunny rose, their eyes locked. "Tell me, is it true that YOU are the one responsible for the missing Timberwolves?"

The quesgion took Sunny by suprise, but he spoke clearly with his head held high, his eyes still locked with King Aspens. The yellow unicorn did not try to hide what he did and answered simply "I am, your majasty."

The deer all around began to whisper silently amungst themselves after hearing this.

"Why would you do this?" The king asked, his tone still booming and appearing annoyed.

"They were attacking the Apple Farm and causing trouble for the ponies in town" Sunny stated. "Tell me, what are the Timberwolves to you and your kind?"

"The king will ask the quesgions!" The deer guard to Sunny's right snapped at him.

"Be calm" the deer king instructed his guard before turing his attention back to Sunny. "The Timberwolves were created centuries ago by an old witch who lived here in the early days of Equestria. She made them to guard the forest and its boarders from forces of wicked intent. While it is true that the Timberwolves do from time to time chase ponies away who get too close to the Everfree, thet would never attack unless provoked."

"I don't mean to disagree with you, your majasty" Sunny stated firmly. "But the Timberwolves DID attack innocent ponies on their own land. So I stepped in."

"What did you do!?" The king seemed to grow more furious, his eyes sharp on Sunny.

Sunny looked away, more out of shame of what happened next then for what inevitably happened. "Well, ugh, you see… "

Sunny painfully explained how he used a spell he wasn't really sure of to expell the wild spirit of the combined Timberwolves, which left their bodies to become just chunks of wood once again, but their wild spirits locked onto Applejack and turned her into a werepony, with chunks of wood sticking to her giving her Timberwolf features, like claws and teeth similar to the wooden beasts. The king and every deer listened to Sunny's story, who then went on to explain how the only way he could free Applejack from the Timberwolves was to cast the same spell again, but this time to direct the wild spirit of the Timberwolves into something else.

"I thought if I put it into my pony sized wooden puppet it would be easier to deal with" Sunny explained. "Atleast, until it began infecting other pony puppets. We have about 20 of them back at the farm."

"And what is it you are going to do with them, once you collected them all?" The female deer to King Aspen's side asked, her tone more calculating then angery.

Sunny's words were solid and honest. "I'm not quite sure. I have some family trying to help me deal with them, but I honestly don't know what to do with them."

King Aspen looked over to his right and signaled another deer guard. The guard disappeared, only to return with a cage made of wood, and inside was one of the rouge pony puppets. The king's eyes traveled back to Sunny. "Do you think you can cast your spell again? The one you used trap their spirit before?"

Trying to think back to the spell he had cast some years ago, Sunny told King Aspen "I… I think I can remember it."

"Then do so" King Aspen stated, signaling another deer guard who brought out what looked to be a barrel of leaves, sticks and logs. The deer guard then poured some glowing green liquid from a cylinder around his own neck all over the wood and leaves. "And put the wild spirit into these…"

Sunny paused and looked at the king. "I'll do it, but only if you keep those things out of Ponyville and away from the Apple farm."

King Aspen locked eyes with Sunny for a moment. He could see the strong resolve the little yellow unciorn had burning deep within him, a fire to protect those he cared for. This time, it was the deer King who broke away from Sunny's eyes. "I will make sure they keep to their forest. But anypony who ventures into the forest takes matters into their own hooves."

"I can agree to those terms" Sunny nodded, then walked over to the rouge pony puppet who was thrashing about in its cage.

Closing his eyes, Sunny tried desperately to remember the spell from so long ago. It took him a while, knowing the eyes of every deer, including the king were on him, watching and waiting, didn't make it any easier to cast. But the green magical aura around Sunny's horn began to glow brighter as a similar aura encased the rouge pony puppet. Once the aura cloaked the out of control creature, its wooden and metal limbs siezed their thrashing about. A moment later the magical aura glowed darker as it pulled away out of the pony puppet, traveled through the air, and began following Sunny's horn as he turned from the cage to the pile of wood and leaves. Once the darker magical aura plummeted into the pile, it seemed to disapear. Nothing appeared to have happened.

Sunny opened his eyes fully after the spell was complete. The air was thick, every creatures eyes were on the wheel barrel. After a moment, Sunny's attention went back to the cage with the pony puppet to see if anything happened to it. He was slightly horrified to see the puppets body turned ash grey and started to crumble into dust, even the metal parts rusted into an orange powder and crumbled more slowly then the ash turned wood. The pony puppet looked like it lost all life it ever had.

Just when Sunny was begining to quesgion what kind of spell he had cast, the wheelbarrow tipped over. Every creatures eyes fell upon the wood and leaves once again, only this time they witnessed the magic happening. The wood, sticks and leaves began to form a familiar form that Sunny hadn't seen in a while. A canine like creature with sharp teeth and claws, glowing green eyes, and a horrible stench on its breath. The Timberwolf was reborn into the form it was originally cast to take. It stretched its muscles a little, opened and closed its jaw a few times, then shook like a dog that just got out of a bath.

"Well done, Sunny" King Aspen stated as the Timberwolf turned towards the deer kind and sat down. The king showed no actual sign that he was pleased, but Sunny could tell he was as their eyes locked. "Now, you said you had the others?"

"Most of them, I believe" Sunny answered.

"Good. If you bring them here and duplicate the spell, perhapse the wolves will seek out the rest of their clan and return them to their proper forms." The King suggested. "I am sorry for the loss of your, ugh, puppet."

Sunny took one last glance at the grey and orange pile of ash and rust before returning his gaze to the king. "Its a small price to pay to set things right."

"I'm glad you see it that way. Let us discuss the matter further over a feast. You will need energy to cast the spell once again. Amd we deer make great use of the natural energies of the earth." King Aspen replied before stepping down to speak with Sunny in closer proximity. He planned to speak more in depth with Sunny about his journey to the farm later to collect the rest of the rouge pony puppets and bring them back to the deer's court room for the spell to cast them back into Timberwolf bodies.

Rosewood couldn't believe what she saw. If she had a stomach and could eat, she would have lost her breakfast. The horrible sight of that poor, poor pony puppet aging thousands of years in a matter of seconds was a sight that would haunt her for the rest of her unnatural life.

She was hidding in the tree tops, having ventured into the Everfree forest following her uncle Sunny's trail, accompanied by the rouge pony puppets that were now enfused with her star heart energy. She turned and looked at her small army, knowing that they may not be as smart as she was, and could not tell what danger they were in, but she knew they weren't just things to throw away and let fall into disrepair. They weren't just things to toss away like trash. SHE was not just something to be tossed away like trash.

Rosewood paused infront of her obedient troops, then straitened her pose, appearing more official and in control then she actually was in the given situation. When she spoke, her voice was firm, but also coated in venom as she walked up and down between the puppets. "TROOPS! It has come to my attention that my uncle has formed an alliance with an enemy that seeks to destroy us all! We must defend ourselves against not only this new enemy, but against my uncle as well! To do this, we're going to need greater numbers.

"It's a darn good thing I know where to get such numbers…" the last part of Rosewood's speech became low and ominous as she spoke.

The pony puppets under her control weren't sure what was going on, but they recognized their master, felt her feelings, then began to stomp their hooves to show they were with her. There would be a war. And they planned to win.

Author's Note:

If any of you have read the comics or played the game for the IOS, this won't be too wierd to you. But for those of you who haven't, there actually is a society of deer living in the Everfree forest, who oversee it and protect it from anyone trying ot destroy it.

The business man bit the king talked about was actually a part in the comics where a minotaur was cutting the forest down to open up an amusement park.

The funny thing about this chapter I found while writing it, was I realized Deer in equestria are equivalent to Elves in lord of the rings as ponies (say for the princesses) are to man kind. Both in their ideologies, styles, appearances. I cant believe i never saw it before.