Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Twilight's first lesson

It had been a few days since the incident and Sunny was up and about, feeling like his old self again. Well, almost. He performed his chores around the farm like normal, and the entire Apple family treated him the same, despite his recent self discovery. He was the still same stallion they knew, but now he had a horn on his head. As he walked through town, though, he couldn't help but notice he had attracted more then a few shocked gazes. He kept his gaze at the ground to avoid their eyes, but he heard them whispering. It's not like it was a bad thing, but having all these ponies paying attention to him all of a sudden was making the yellow stallion uncomfortable.

Applejack had told Sunny the other day after breakfast that Twilight offered to teach him how to use magic when he was ready. Sunny didn't know how he felt on the topic. He had gotten along fine without it thus far. But he began to think that learning a little about magic might be a good idea. He had seen other ponies use it around town to levitate stuff, open doors, or even teleport themselves around. It did help Sunny to protect the Apples when that psycho Queen attacked. He had gotten lucky with that magical blast he fired, sending her fatter then the eye could see. But who knows, maybe next time he won't get so lucky. He had planned to meet Twilight after the morning chores were done on the farm, and was now walking through town to the far edge of Ponyville, where Twilight's castle was located.

But as he did, he couldn't help but notice the wide eyes that starred at him, the whispered he tried to ignore. He had pulled his Stetson back a little, revealing his unicorn horn. But it was beginning to make folk uncomfortable. Applejack told Sunny that the Appel family was mainly made up of earth ponies, but had the occasional pegusus or unicorn pop up every now and again. Sunny could guess folks in town weren't used to seeing a stallion they all knew and thought to be an earth pony suddenly with a real unicorn's horn on the top of his head.

Nervous, Sunny pulled his Stetson back over his horn and even over his eyes as he continued to press on, heading in the direction of Twilight's castle. He had been so focused on hurrying himself that he didn't notice the loud beeping or the brown earth pony heading in his direction, and they both ended up colliding.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry" Sunny apologized, shifting his Stetson so it covered his horn still, but not his eyes.

"Oh no no, I'm sorry" the brown stallion had replied. He picked up a metal box with buttons and light bulbs all over it, checked it over once or twice, then flipped switch and pressed a button on it. The device in the brown stallion's hooves began to make a large beeping noise as he pointed it at Sunny, and make less beeping as he moved it away. "Odd..."

That was the last thing the brown earth pony said as he straitened his neck tie and walked away. Shortly following after him was a grey, Pegasus mare with a walleyed pair of yellow eyes and a sweet and innocent smile.

"That was weird" Sunny commented as he pressed forward towards Twilight's castle. " I know I've seen those two somewhere before...." But he shrugged off the feeling, thinking only of getting to Twilight's castle. He was already out of the town now, and making his way quickly up to the castle. As he began to relax, he repositioned his hat to allow his horn to get some fresh air. When he arrived at Twilight's castle, he knocked on the front door again, only this time, Twilight herself answered instead of Spike.

"Hey Sunny" Twilight smiled at her guest. "I was wondering when you were going to come by. Come on in."

As the princess of friendship stepped aside, the yellow unicorn hesitated. He was still nervous about learning magic, and for what reason, he still wasn't sure. But he took a deep breath and walked inside. Twilight began to lead him down a hallway and to one of her favorite rooms of the castle, the library. From what Applejack told him, Twilight was a really big book worm, which he found kinda funny. When he thought of 'princes' he kinda thought more along the lines of Rarity, who was all about appearances, looking nice, dressing in the finest things and what not. Not spending hours reading in a library. But then again, Sunny didn't really know much about princesses to base that on.

"So how are you feeling?" Twilight asked, breaking Sunny from his thoughts. "I don't think we should do much if you aren't feeling back at 100%, but at the very least I could lend you some books to get you started. Maybe give you something to practice with back at the farm."

Sunny paused as they entered the library, and released a held breath. "To be honest, Twilight. I'm nervous, and I feel... Awkward."

Twilight looked to the stallion with slight concern, then she gave him a relaxing smile. "I know... It's not easy going from one thing to another, is it?"

"Well... I guess you could say that..." Sunny was feeling an odd stay of emotions and he couldn't really pinpoint their origin. But going from earth pony to unicorn was probably adding to the pot.

Twilight offered Sunny a seat at a table as she took one across from him. "I wasn't always an alicorn princess, ya know. I was originally just a unicorn, from an entire unicorn family. But once I reached a certain point, and realized my destiny, i
I became an alicorn, a princess. It was my destiny to learn all I could about the magic of friendship and to teach others its power too."

"But..." Sunny asked as he removed his hat, placing it on his lap. "Did... Did ponies look at you differently? And treat you differently? How did your family take it? Your friends? The ponies in town?!"

"Well" Twilight smiled as she looked back on her fond memories of her coronation. "My mom and dad were both very proud, my bother was so happy he was actually crying. He said it was 'liquid pride', but still. And my sister in law, Cadence, knew I could do it. As for the ponies around town well and my friends ..."

Twilight told Sunny all about the different treatment she received first from her friends wanting to put her above them to keep her out of harm's way, about how the kids in town wanted to spend time with her just to spend time with somepony famous, or about how she at first, wasn't even sure of what she was supposed to do as a princess.

"When I first became a princess, I wasn't even sure what my role in everything was" Twilight admitted. "I lived in the Ponyville library still, like I did when I first came to Ponyville, not a castle, and I had no official title. Heck, not long after my coronation, I began to question weather or not I was even supposed to be a princess. I didn't know what made me so special."

Sunny had been listening intently to every word Twilight had said. He had no idea she had dealt with so much, had carried such burdens, and made it out on top. Out of all of Applejack's friends, he had spent the least amount of time with Twilight. And now, it seems that everything was coming together. Maybe he was meant to get to know her only after he found out what he really was. "So what did make you special? I mean, outside the obvious."

Twilight smiled at Sunny, "my friends. My friends helped me to become a better pony. They helped me learn so many things. About myself, about how to see the world... You know, we all began writing a book, a journal really, about the lessons we all learned after I became a princess. That way, it could help some pony in the future. Just like the journal of the two pony sisters helped me...."

Twilight got up and walked over to a shelf and began pulling out a few books. "These don't technically have to do with unicorn magic, but the magic of friendship can be more powerful then any unicorn, or even alicorn, spell..."

The purple alicorn princess places three books in front of Sunny. He picked them up and read their titles out loud. "'The Journal or the two Pony Sisters', 'the Friendship Journal', and 'the Elements of Harmony; a reference guide, and-'"

"Before I came to Ponyville " Twilight interrupted and pointed to the last book Sunny was holding. "I read about the elements of harmony in a book back in Canterlot. It was the thing that kinda brought me to Ponyville. See, when I was younger, I didn't think making friends would ever save Equestria."

That made Sunny chuckle. "Says the 'princess of friendship'."

Twilight laughed too, "I know, right? I wasn't big on making friends back then. It wasn't until I met Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, and they joined me on a mission to save Equestria that I learned how much friends meant to me. They showed me the power of honestly, loyalty, kindness, laughter, and generosity. And in doing so, helped me to realize the magic of friendship..."

Twilight stopped and looked at the yellow unicorn its slight concern. "Ugh, Sunny, are you ok?"

"Yeah, wh-" it was then something wet hit Sunny's hoof. He looked from
Where his hoof was positioned, then trailered it up to his cheek. He didn't know when, but it seemed he was releasing some of that 'liquid pride'. "I-I'm sorry. I just... I guess it was such a touching story... I hope I can have good friends like you do one day. Friends I can be that close to. Friends I can trust no matter what."

Twilight didn't hesitate when she pulled Sunny in for a hug. "Sunny, you already do. The girls and I, the Apple family, Thunder Lane, Flitter, we all are here for you."

The 'liquid pride began to flow harder. "Is this how you felt when you questioned why you were a princess?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, it's how happy I was when I realized I had friends. When I realized that they made me a better pony. And how happy I was that I had them in my life."

Sunny smiled as he returned the hug now, feeling like he was glowing and could never be happier. He knew his home. He had friends. He had a family. It didn't matter 'what' he was or 'where' he came from. All that mattered was he was here, and he had ponies who cared about him.