• Published 28th Nov 2015
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Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale - TheothersideofSunny968



A story of love, loss, pain, and how finding and making friends is as easy as giving an honest smile.

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Sunny Missed Applejack's FlapJacks

With the nights being longer and most of the ground still covered in a thick layer of snow, Applejack's bed seemed more comfortable and relaxing. She and the rest of her family enjoyed sleeping in to a time that most ponies did during these winter days, what with not being able to harvest crops. Most of the chores consisted of routine maintenance on the house, barn, or various farming equipment. More then enough food or bits had been put aside to keep them well stocked for the long winter. This was the only time of year that Applejack got what her friend Rarity called 'beauty sleep'. To be honest, it was hard for Applejack to actually sleep in during the first part of winter, having been so used to her early morning routine, wake up before the rooster crows, kinda bit. But once she was able to relax, she found getting a little extra shut eye was rather enjoyable.

She was having a wonderful dream about her challenging Rainbow Dash to a game of tug-of-war. While the cyan colored Pegasus pulled with all her might, Applejack just casually held onto the rope with ease and looked to the crowd. All her friends, her family, and a certain special yellow unicorn stallion sat on the side lines and cheered her on. When she shot Sunny a wink, his face turned that cute shade of bright red that Applejack just loved to see on him, she decided it was time to go ahead and finish the challenge she had started with her athletic friend. With one mighty tug, Applejack sent the struggling Pegasus flying right over the designated halfway line and right into a huge stack of hay about ten yards away. As the defeated rainbow maned Pegasus stuck her head out of the hay and spat some out of her mouth, Sunny ran up and tacked hugged Applejack, sending them both tumbling to the ground. They collected bits of grass and messed up their manes up so much that it would have made Rarity faint.

But Appeljack didn't care. Her dreams were coming true. There, standing above her, with his muzzle just inches from hers was the stallion of her dreams. As she gazed into his emerald colored eyes that mirrored her own, she found herself lost in a sea of directionless wonder. How had this stallion without a past just appear out of nowhere and make his way into her heart? To be honest, Applejack didn't know and she could care less. As she began to close the space between him and her, their lips almost touching, she realized all she cared about was that he was here. And he would always be here, in her heart. She wouldn't let anything come between them. And at that exact moment, the very moment in a dream when somepony would hate for it to end, having enjoyed the dream so much, never wanting it to end, it abruptly did.

The sound of somepony slamming into the front door then throwing it open and running off the porch and out of the house as fast as they could, was what woke Applejack from her most pleasant of dreams. As she reluctantly rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned, forcefully waking herself up, she wondered what all the ruckus was about. The only way she recognized the sounds relating to those specific actions were due to hearing them through two other past instances. 1) when Big Mac woke up and saw a spider laying next to him on his pillow, and 2) when Apple Bloom was in a rush to meet her crusader friends before school and had slept in.

After stretching and crawling out of bed, Applejack stuck her head out of her room and looked around. She wasn't alone. Her siblings had also been woken up by the noise. She turned to her older brother, who looked as though he might head right back to bed. "Hey Big Mac, any idea what that ruckus was all about?"

"Eh'nope" was all the big red stallion said before retreating back into his bedroom. He was too tired to sense any immediate danger, and thought he could still get back to that dream he was having.

"Ah think it was Sunny" Apple Bloom answered as she walked over to her older sister, yawning as she did so.

Applejack then looked over to the spare room Sunny had been staying in for the last couple of months. She and Apple Bloom casually walked over and peaked inside, wondering what might have happened. All they saw was the same spare room that had always been there. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary. A pile of books Twilight had lent Sunny stood in two piles on a desk against the far wall, one being books he had already red and the other the ones he didn't get to yet. And on the desk chair, happily still asleep in a ball was Sunny's pet ferret, Crackers. But as Applejack stepped further into the room, her hoof hit something. As she peered down at the floor, she was glad she went into Sunny's room first before her younger sister, and that she was lucky enough to have just kicked it lightly with her hoof rather then step on it. Across the floor by Sunny's bed were shards of broken glass.

"Apple Bloom, could ya get me th' broom and dust pan?" Appeljack asked, turning to her younger sister.

"Sure thing sis!" Apple Bloom said as she raced out of the room only to return in a moment with both cleaning tools in hoof. "Hey sis, ya don't think Sunny's hurt do ya?"

That thought rattled Applejack and kick started her heart with worry. But being the smart, sensible mare she was, Applejack looked around the floor. There wasn't a single drop of blood or sign that anypony other then her had actually touched any of the glass fragments. "Ah don't think so, sis."

"'Wonder why' he ran outta here so fast, then" the little yellow filly continued as her sister began to sweep up the shards of broken glass. "Look, he even forgot his hat!"

Halfway through the clean up, Applejack looked over and saw Sunny's Apple family, Stetsonhat just hanging on one of the bed posts as it normally did when he slept. "That's not like him..."

"Maybe he had a really, really, really bad dream" Apple Bloom guessed as she looked over at all the different books Twilight was having him read.

"Yeah... That must be it..." Applejack replied half heartedly as she finished cleaning up the mess.

"Should we go and find him?" Apple Bloom asked, tearing her eyes away from Sunny's pile of books and looking to her older sister.

"Nah" Applejack replied, waving a hoof. "Betcha he'll be back in time for breakfast. Ah'm planin' on making flapjacks. Ain't never been a stallion who could resist them' smell of mah flapjacks. Might even get Big Mac's lazy rump outta bed."

"Yeah! Flapjacks!" Apple Bloom happily bounced around for joy at the thought of her sister's mouthwatering breakfast specialty.

While the two sisters went down into the kitchen to prepare the delicious meal, Sunny was halfway into the dangerous Everfree.

He had dashed out of bed, flew down the stairs, zoomed through the entire orchard and entered the dark woods of the Everfree Forest without even stopping to catch his breath. To say he was desperately trying to outrun his horrible dream would be an understatement. He knew there was no way he could get those horrible images out of his head, those supposed memories that had been repressed. But somehow putting as much distance as he could between him and the room where he had the dream made him think it would work. But as his legs collapsed and he fell into a thick blanket of snow, he quickly realized how futile his efforts were. He was thankful that he had a coat of fur to protect him from most of the chill, but as he sat there, snow now covering him from head to tail, the cold winter began to take its effect on him.

He emerged from the snow, teeth chattering as he took a good look around, realizing quickly just how far he had run. He didn't plan to run right into the most wild and dangerous place in all of Equestria, but he did. He rubbed his hooves together in an attempt to warm himself up. As he did, something caught his attention. It was familiar, but not to him. He forgot for a moment how cold he was and ignored the sound of his chattering teeth as he calmly walked over to a pair of wooden posts. As Sunny got closer, and a sheet of fog began to lift from the background, he realized just where in Equestria he had blindly run to.

Across a rickety bridge, surrounded by a seemingly bottomless gorge, stood the once proud and beautiful castle of the two pony sisters. Sunny had never seen it with his own two eyes, only read about it in the book Twilight had lent him. And yet... It seemed so familiar... That's when something caught the yellow stallion's attention. There was a light that flickered in one broken tower. There must have been somepony in there. Or maybe something that lived in the Everfree that had made a home in the castle! Maybe even that rouge pony puppet that ran off on nightmare night. Ether way, Sunny felt the urge to investigate.

Cautiously, he walked across the bridge of rotten wood planks, and some how, made it safely across to the other side. Gazing up at the broken and shattered castle, a since or sorrow seeped out from the bottom of the unicorn's heart. But again, he had no idea why. He just continued to press forward, hoping things would make since soon enough.

Walking through what was left of the front arch leading into the castle, a chill ran down Sunny's spine. As though somepony were watching him, he could feel eyes weighing down on him. He quickly looked around, wondering if some sort of beast of the Everfree or some other danger lay waiting in the shadows, ready to strike. But as his eyes scanned the castle, all he could see were shadows, debris, and walls of a broken castle. Shaking off the uneasy feelings he had, Sunny pressed forward, delving deeper and deeper into the castle.

The walls, broken and worn by the hands of time, still managed to hold on and present some tapestries. The tapestries themselves were also in some pretty poor states themselves, but although their images were faded, they still presented themselves proudly. Portraits and crests representing royalty from all across Equestria were woven magnificently on them. It was then that one piece in particular caught Sunny's eye. It was one of purple and blue that held at its center a diamond like heart. No. A crystal heart.

Images flashed in Sunny's mind, stinging and glaring, bringing back to the surface images of his past. Memories that had long since been buried were now bubbling to the surface. The yellow unicorn felt like his mind was being torn in two as he writhed in pain, collapsing to the cold floor of the abandoned castle. For a good long while the writhing yellow unicorn suffered, his breathing fast and short as he tried desperately to regain control over his own mind.

"Suuuuunnnnnyyyyyy...." A weak and deep voice echoed through the castle halls, tearing the yellow unicorn away from the voices and images in his head and forcing one eye open to pear down the hallway. There was nopony there, no pony at all. But there was something, something flickering at the end of the very long hallway. A light. A single light that gave off the slightest feeling of warmth.

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