Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Soleggiato Cavaliere

"You are doing a marvelous job, Derpy!" A rather round earth pony mare said as he continued to mix a bowl of muffin batter.

"Thanks miss Muffet!" Derpy replied as she put another batch of muffins into the oven. Baking aid helped close it once Derpy safely put the next tray in and pulled the batch that had just finished baking, out. "Thank you Cake Pop!"

"Any time, miss Derpy!" The little blue earth pony colt said. Like his mother, he too was rather heavy set, but only about the same size as Apple Bloom.

"Now this is interesting!" Doctor said as he pointed to an open page on the small blue book. "The word 'TARDIS' is an arcanum for 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'!"

"That sounds like something you would come up with, Doctor" Derpy commented as she watched the most recent batch of muffins emerge from the oven. The grey pegasus mare was eager to have yet another one of miss Muffet's muffins. They weren't like as the Cake's muffins. Something about them, the way they just melted in your mouth, made it special and in a class all its own.

"I still can't believe this thing is a time machine... " the little colt said as he walked all around the large, wooden box.

"And you said your unicorn friend helped you build it?" Miss Muffet asked. "Why didn't he come with you?"

"Sunny said he had some things to get to" Derpy said as she poked a muffin with her hoof, testing it to see if it was ready.

"It's a shame too" Doctor said. "He might have liked meeting Star-Swirl the bearded. Maybe next time. But more importantly, we need to focus on what Star-Swirl told us."

Derpy had stuffed a muffin in her mouth the moment it had cooled. She turned to Doctor and spoke with her cheeks full of muffin, bits of it flying out of her mouth as she did. "Didn't he say we needed to... Help somepony?"

"Yes, a prince of some sort..." Doctor said as he rapped his hoof against his chin, which he often did when he was thinking. "But which one?..."

Doctor Whooves then dove back into his book, looking for a possible clue. If he actually had been the author of said book, then he would leave an important note for himself. Somewhere he could find it easily. Just as his eyes skimmed over something about not using the Tardis to travel between dimensions, Derpy was walking over to give Doctor a fresh muffin. On her way over, the wall-eyed mare tripped over her own hooves and began to stumble. While trying to catch her balance, Derpy did a little spin, knocking Doctor's blue book over, flipping past a few pages. The grey pegasus landed safely on top of Doctor, pressing the brown stallion's face into the ground.

Derpy awkwardly laughed again as she regained her balance and looked around. "Doctor? Where are you?"

Doctor's brown hoof tapped on Derpy's shoulder and gained her attention. The wall-eyed mare looked under neither herself and realized she landed on top of him again.

"Oops! Sorry Doctor!" Derpy then got up, his muffin safely in hoof.

"It's quite alright" Doctor said, although sounding slightly annoyed. He knew Derpy never meant any harm. But if he was going to solve this issue that Star-Swirl presented him with and figure out who this prince is that he is to aid, he would need his full wit, all of his cunning, and probably all of he luck in Equestria.

"Prince Soleggiato Cavaliere..." Derpy read out loud the only words on the open page of Doctor's blue book. "Don't think I've heard of him, have you Doctor?"

Doctor Whooves ran over to Derpy and studied the open page of his book. Reading everything over and over again. "Prince Soleggiato Cavaliere... Hmmmm... Derpy I could kiss you!"

The grey Pegasus blushed and turned her head to her mane his most of her blushing cheeks. "Doctor! You charmer!"

"This must be the prince we are supposed to go and see!" Doctor said again, jumping up and running over to the Tardis. He paused briefly and smiled back as Miss Muffet and her son. "Thank you for being gracious hosts. But we must fly!"

"Allons-y?" Cale Pop asked.

Doctor paused as Derpy snuck half a dozen or so more muffins aboard the Tardis. "Ugh... I don't quite understand."

"It means 'lets go'" Miss Muffet explained as she lightly laughed.

Doctor Whooves paused for a moment to think about how it sounded. "I think I like that. Mind if I use it?"

"Go right ahead!" The chubby little colt said.

"Well then" Doctor began to say as he saluted them both. "ALLONS-Y!"

With that, Doctor Whooves shut the door to his time machine and ran over to the control board. Flipping the book open to the page about the prince, he located the time coordinates at the back of the book and began punching them in. Once their heading was set, Doctor gave Derpy the signal. She then took great pride in flipping the toggle switch that started the machine up. And with the scratching Whooshing noise, Doctor Whooves and Derpy were off on another adventure in their Tardis, disappearing out of Miss Muffet's bakery.

https://youtu.be/2CYDgezeQas

What seemed like moments later to Doctor and Derpy, was actually several hundred years to the world around them. The Tardis had taken them both from Miss Muffet's bakery to a land on the other side of Equestria. As the two stepped out and began looking around, still slightly jumbled by the shaky ride, they tried their best to get their barring.

"We can be anywhere in Equeatria" Doctor began to say as he studied the area around him, making sure to be extra cautious.

"Doctor..." Derpy tried to get his attention.

"At any time too! For all we know, this 'prince' is actually a primal pony from the prehistoric era, and a wild beast." Doctor went on as he studied a hoof full of the soil, seeing how rough and jagged it was, with some little bits of crystals in it.

"Doctor..." Derpy continued to say, sounding nervous now.

"Interesting!" Doctor said as he continued to paw at the dirt. "The soil seems to have crystal shares mixed finely in with it! I wonder how that effects the-"

"Doctor!" Derpy was now screaming at her friend.

"Oh! What is it now Derp-" Doctor Whooves asked, feeling annoyed that his companion was ignoring what brilliant things he had to say, only to turn around and realize why she sounded so panicked.

Standing all around the two time travelers and their time machine were armored guard ponies bearing very sharp spears that were pointed right at Doctor and Derpy. The guards were purple with coats that shined and reflected like diamond in the light. But despite the natural beauty of the pony's appearance, they still were fierce, trained worriers.

"State your names and Business" one of the Royal guards spoke up.

"Ugh, well, it's kind of complicated, but, ugh, we're here too..." Doctor was going back and forth with himself, thinking of weather or not he should tell a believable lie to the guards or to tell them part of the truth as to why they are here, and leave out details like 'how' they got here. The last thing Doctor wanted to do was tell ponies of the past about a time machine. When without hesitation, Derpy spoke up.

"Star-Swirl the bearded told us to go and see Prince Soleggiato Cavaliere" Derpy said as a matter of factly, a nervous grin on her muzzle. "I'm Derpy, and that's Doctor Whooves!"

"A Doctor sent by Star-Swirl?" The speaking guard's hard faze softened as he retracted his spear, the rest of the guards began to follow suit. "Forgive us. We have had some issues with vandalism lately. Come! The prince will want to see you immediately."

Doctor and Derpy followed the guards who lead them up atop a hill away from the Tardis. Once they reached the top, it became clear where and around when the two had landed. For only one place in all of Equeatria had a city and castle made entirely of glistening crystal that shines under Celestia's sun. The Crystal Empire, over 1000 years ago! As Doctor and Derpy walked down the road leading to the town circling the Crystal Castle, they observed all the crystal ponies who were hard at work preparing for the festival. Derpy soaked in the wonderful sights of the decorations, the fantastic smell of the crystal berry backed goods, and the over all atmosphere that the crystal ponies seemed to glow with. Doctor on the other hoof noticed something was off.

Yes it was true that the crystal ponies were happy, and the crystal fair preparations seemed to be coming along at a decent pace, but he was able to catch some things that were off. Every now and again, Doctor's eyes caught an image of a crystal pony who wasn't gleaming, either throwing away broken decorations, cleaning off graffiti from the side of a building, or clearing out and replacing broken windows. After passing the town and heading into the castle, Doctor decided to speak up.

"Excuse me mister...." Doctor motioned to the guard who spoke to him before.

"Emerald Shard, sir" the Royal guard replied, not making eye contact, but rather remaining focused on what was ahead of him and keeping in line with his fellow guards.

"Emerald Shard, what did you say about vandalism before?" Doctor motioned to the town behind them. "I couldn't help but notice some of what you might have meant."

"Nothing for you to worry about" Emerald answered. "Here we are."

Emerald stepped out ahead of the line and approached two sentries guarding the front doors. He simply nodded to them, and they in turn nodded back. The two ponies stationed at the doors turned and pulled a giant leaver, opening the thick doors. Emerald Shard along with the other guards then motioned for Doctor and Derpy to follow them inside. Neither of them had ever been to the Crystal Empire back in their own time, or even heard much about it. They both knew that Twilight's brother and his wife ruled there, and the last Equeatria games had taken place there (which Derpy had participated in, but Doctor had come down with pony flu and missed her participation.). They honestly had no idea what to expect.

The two time travelers were lead down a hallway to another pair of large double doors that lead to the thrown room. Another pair of crystal pony sentries were positioned there, and happily let the small group in. Neither Doctor Whooves ot Derpy were expecting what resided in the other side.

Once Derpy and Doctor past the double doors, and entered the thrown room, they caught the sight of a yellow stallion sitting atop a thrown, speaking with several ponies in a group all huddled around him. All of different sizes and colors, but all dressed in what Doctor recognized as royal dress for the appropriate time.

"Your highness, we need to address the Dragon's movement in the west!" One spoke up. "They violated their treaty to stay on their islands!"

"I'm sure you are aware of their migration patterns" the yellow stallion spoke up, his voice sounding hard but familiar to Doctor and Derpy. "They flew over the ocean that separates their islands from their homeland. They need to rest for the next part of their journey, and the west coast is the closest land. Do not engage them unless they prove to be hostile. In which case, I'll be there on the front line to deal with them personally."

"But what about the vandals who just attacked here?" Another pony delicate spoke up. "Any news on them?"

"We've got our best ponies on the case" the yellow stallion answered again, this time on a lighter note. "We can expect everything with the Crystal Fair to go on as planned."

"But what about the Gryffins in the north?!" A third Royal spoke out, sounding panicked.

"Or the Centaurs and Gargoyles from the east?!" A fourth spoke out.

By this time Emerald Shard cleared his throat, catching the attention of everypony in the room, all of the royals turning to face the group of guards and their guests. "Presenting Lady Derpy and Doctor Whooves!"

"Doctor?!" The yellow stallion spoke out. The group surrounding the yellow stallion began to split, creating a pathway to the thrown, and allowing the pony atop the thrown to now be seen by Derpy and Doctor. "Did you say 'Doctor?'"

Standing up from the thrown of the Crystal Empire was a yellow stallion, with a head of two toned orange hair, a well combed tail to match, and a pair of emerald green eyes. He wore a simple chest piece from a black suit of armor, and a small royal cloak around his neck and back. Derpy and Doctor Whooves could hardly believe their eyes when he got up and approached them as elegantly yet commanding as he did. Now standing before them, with a royal band around his head, embedded with a single gem the same color as his eyes, the yellow stallion raised his head and looked down at the two guests before him as he introduced himself.

"I am Prince Soleggiato Cavaliere" he said with a smile as he began to relax. "But if you wish, you may address me as Sunny Knight."

Both Doctor and Derpy's eyes went wide, jaws dropped as they looked at the prince that stood before them. The two couldn't believe their eyes. It was, without a doubt, the same pony who they knew front their own present time in Ponyville! A long and awkward moment passed, with all the royals in the room as well as Sunny wondering if the two newcomers would ever move or say anything.

"Ugh... Are you two ok?" Sunny asked, waving a hoof in front of them. Then turning to Emerald Shard. "Where did you say you intercepted these two?"

"We found them with a big wooden box just outside town, your majesty" the guard stated. "They said they were sent by Star-Swirl the bearded to aid you."

Sunny's body tensed up and smile replaced by a solid frown as his muzzle wrinkled at the name of the great wizard. "Star-Swirl, great. Just what I need. More of his twisted jokes. That fool is growing senile in his old age."

"Hey! That's not very nice!" Derpy spoke up, braking out of her shock.

Sunny was unamused by her outburst. "Forgive me, but I do not care for the old wizard's 'jokes'. So I'm afraid it's time for you two to leave."

"Leave? But we-!" Doctor tried to interject when two guards standing I front of him crossed their spears, separating him from Prince Sunny Knight.

Sunny's amusement had completely dissolute as he promoted his annoyance at the two's presence, his eyes weighing down heavily on Doctor and Derpy. "Tell me, Doctor. What is it you have a degree in, exactly? What is your primary field of study?"

"Oh! Ugh, well, you see, I'm a scientist who specializes in, well, quantum theory, and I intent to, ugh, tinker with machines" Doctor Whoove's words were a little shaky, feeling Sunny over tower him and judge him harshly with his leering gaze down at him, making the brown earth pony feel only inches tall.

"Just as I thought" Sunny said as he turned his back on the two time travelers. "Leave it up to that crazy, old Star-Swirl to send me a philosopher and a theorist when I need a physician and a specialist in medicine."

"What shall we do with them, Sir?" Emerald asked flatly, speaking of Derpy and Doctor Whooves as if they weren't even there.

"If they wish to stay for the fair, put them up for the night" The prince instructed as he approached the thrown. "If not, send them off with the usual gift baskets."

"But Sunny!" Derpy began to speak up. "We were sent here to help you!"

Sunny stood at the thrown again, ready to sit down when he shot another hard glare at the two time travelers. "Oh? So what is it you were sent here to do, exactly? Or did Star-Swirl not tell you anything?"

Derpy's ears began to drop as her head hung. "I... Ugh... Well..."

Doctor couldn't stand to see her like that and spoke up. "Now see here! You can't talk to her that way! It's not our fault we were sent here to help you with no real answers ourselves!"

"You're right about one thing" the yellow prince continued, his tone still cold and hard. "You were sent here as a joke, by an old wizard who is past his prime. And for speaking out against me, you have lost your privilege to attend the fair this year. But I'm not so cruel. You may still have your gift baskets and might be able to attend next year. Now away with them!"

The guards surrounding Doctor and Derpy then began to move, forcing the two ponies out of the thrown room out out of sight of the prince as he went back to speaking with the other royals. Half way out of the castle, the group of guards were intercepted by a lavender, unicorn mare with a light blue mane and tail.

"I'll take it from here boys" she said with a smile on her muzzle and a chiming voice.

The guards hesitated for a moment then turned to Emerald Shard, who looked at the mare for only a moment before smiling and nodding. "As you wish, Lady Hope."

"Emerald, please, Just Radiant" the unicorn mare said as she giggled. The guards then fanned out and began their sweep of the castle before they would break for lunch, then return to patrolling the Empire.

"Thank you, Miss Radiant was it?" Doctor said as he straitened his tie. "I'm Doctor, Doctor Whooves."

"And I'm Derpy!" Derpy cheered up then looked back at the hallway leading to the thrown room, her mind reeling back to prince Soleggiato Cavaliere. "Why was Sunny acting like that?"

"Please forgive him" Radiant said as she started to lead the two out of the castle and into town. "He's under a lot of stress right now, and is really not himself."

"I'll say" Doctor commented. "With all those ponies in there shouting at him about one issue after another, who would be in a good mood?"

"It's not just that" Radiant Hope continued. "Along with possible war breaking out between ponies and Gryffins, ponies and and Dragons, rumors of Centaurs and Gargoyles invading Equesteia now too!"

Radiant, Derpy and Doctor Whooves all passed by a gift basket stand where Radiant paused and told the two to pick one out each. Then informed the mare running the stand that to put on the royal tab. After Doctor and Derpy selected a basket, Radiant continued with her explanation.

"That's not even the worst of it" she continued to say. "His father has fallen sick again, this time it's the worst it's ever been. The king gets sick around this time every year. He always had. Ever since we were kids. But this time its worse then before. I'm the head of the hospital here in the Crystal Empire, and have looked after him since we were foals, but I still have no idea what has been troubling Sombra."

"Sombra... Sombra..." Derpy began to think, as she passed her hoof against her chin. "That name sounds familiar..."

"It also sounds like Star-Swirl and him don't exactly get along too well either" Doctor commented, ignoring the King's name.

"Yes, that.... That has been building up for a long time." Radiant went on. "But the biggest thing with them had to be the fact that Star-Swirl was suppose to be Sunny's teacher. But he turned down the King's orders to teach him. Even refused Princess Celestia's orders to do the same, when she tried to back Sombra up."

"What?! Can he really do that?" Doctor sounded shocked.

"Weather he could or not, he did" Radiant continued. "Even threatened to leave Equestria if he was forced to. I don't know what he has against Sunny, but he's had it against him before the prince could even walk."

"That's really, really mean" Derpy commented. "No wonder Sunny wasn't happy."

"Please forgive Sunny for the way he acted" Radiant said as she walked with the two time travelers out of town and up the hill to their box. "He isn't like that... Well... He isn't normally. He's a good pony, he just..."

"It's not easy being a prince, having to make big decisions, is it?" Derpy said as she walked up closer to Radiant Hope.

"No. No it's not" Radiant sighed heavily. "Outside of me and his father, Sunny never got close to anypony. He... Has a bad history with that."

"Well if I know anything, it's that time has a way to set things right, if given the right push" Doctor smiled, thinking about how wonderful of a concept 'time' actually is.

Derpy's eyes lit up as she had an epiphany! Even if she had no idea what an epiphany was or how to spell it. "Doctor! I think I know why we were sent here!"

Doctor and Radiant looked at the grey Pegasus, shocked by her outburst. Doctor was able to snap himself out of his shock, cleared his throat and ask "you do? Then why? Why were we sent here? We didn't achieve anything."

"I'll explain on the ride home!" Derpy said as she flew up to the big wooden box, opened the door, and placed their respective gift baskets beside the door inside. She turned to Radiant and smiled before lunging into one of her iron grip hugs. "Thank you for being so nice! I hope we can hang out again soon!"

Radiant couldn't breath, but smiled back as she patted Derpy with her free hoof and spoke as best she could with the remaining air she had in her lungs. "Any time... Sweetie."

Derpy released her and stood by Doctor Whooves, who, simply bowed his head and smiled at her. "Maybe we'll meet again in the future. Or the past. Maybe just somewhere in between."

"Ugh, that sound like fun?" Radiant said, still smiling but a bit confused as to what the odd earth pony meant.

"Until then, please keep an eye on Sunny" Were Derpy's last words before she went inside the Tardis.

Radiant was a little confused as to why Doctor waved goodbye when he just entered a large wooden box atop of a hill. But decided to humor him. Both he and Derpy seemed very pleasant to her, and wished that Sunny could have had friends like them when he was growing up. Just as she began to remember when she and Sombra would play such games with forts as foals, the large box began to make a whooshing noise as the light on top began to flash slowly. Then, to her surprise, Radiant watched as the box began to disappear, growing more and more transparent until it was completely gone.

"Now run it by me, Derpy, Becouse I still don't fully understand" Doctor said as Derpy began to unravel her gift basket, looking for special Crystal Berry muffins.

"Well Doctor, I know you just met Sunny today, or today in the future?" Derpy was beginning to confuse herself, but shook it off. "But I've seen Sunny all around town before. He's always smiling, always happy, and he's always got that kindness in his eyes. Even when he's upset, he smiles at others."

"Ok...." Doctor said as he continued to work with the control panel to the Tardis. "But what does that have to do with us going to see him in the past? Yes, now we know where he came from, and we can tell him, but..."

"That's not why we were sent there" Derpy said as she held the desired crystal berry muffin in her hooves for a moment, trying to find the right words to say. "He's very happy, just being in Ponyville. And he's made friends there too! Flitter tells me all the time how Thunder Lane and him are best friends, and they do fun stuff together."

"So what you're saying is..." The gears began turning faster and faster in DoctorMs head until a light finally flickered on. "We were never meant to go back to his past to change something! We were meant to just see his past! To witness what he was like before he had friends?"

"Well... I mean it kinda sounds silly when you say it out loud..."Derpy smiled at the wonderful thought. "But princess Twilight is always saying how 'friendship is magic'. Maybe we were just meant to go back to 'our' time and be friends with him so he won't ever be that grumpy and mean ever again."

Doctor paused for a moment to work that possibility I've run his head. If Sunny had been a prince in the past and miserable, it only stands to reason that he could find happiness in a humble town such as Ponyville. If what Derpy said about him being happy is true, maybe Ponyville is really where he belongs.

"We need to head back to the past, er, present!" Doctor said as he began working some of the Tardis's controls. After a moment, he paused and looked over at Derpy with a wide grin. "Allons-y?"

Derpy laughed a little then flipped the big toggle switch and yelled happily 'ALLONS-Y!"

The Tardis then began to make its scraping, whooshing noise as it seemed to do whenever it traveled through space and time. But this time, it was returning the two ponies back to their original time.

Sunny was just about to leave Doctor Whoove's house, wanting to get started on translating his father's books as soon as possible, when the 'whooshing' sound of Doctor's time machine began ringing in his ear. As the yellow unicorn turned his head, he realized that the noise wasn't just in his ears, it was echoing throughout the entire empty house! Sunny's emerald colored eyes turned to where the big wooden box had been a moment ago before it disappeared into a different time and space, only to watch as it began to reappear. Sunny tipped his Stetson curiously as he watched the transparent image of the time machine reappear and solidify.

Sunny cautiously approached it, a grey blur popped out of it and tackled the yellow stallion to the ground! Sunny struggled for a moment until he realized just who it was. "Derpy?"

"Hey Sunny!" She said as she gave him one of her signature bear hug squeezes, pushing the remaining air out of his lungs.

"Good... To see... You... TOO!" Sunny said as be became lightheaded from the hug, his face turning red.

"Oh what a trip!" Doctor said as he hopped out of the Tardis. "Sunny? Why are you still here?"

After Derpy released him, the yellow stallion took a few deep breaths and straitened his Stetson hat. "You two have only been gone for maybe five seconds."

"Really?" Doctor said as he examined the exterior of the Tardis, pretending not to pay attention. "Odd."

"How was it? Travailing through time and all? Go anyplace fun?" Sunny asked, looking at Derpy and Doctor with a smile.

"We baked muffins!" Derpy said as she ran back inside the Tardis and grabbed her little basket of the treats from Miss Muffet's. "Want one?"

"I'd love one, but I'm about to have lunch with Applejack and the family" Sunny said, a twinkle in his eye and an honest smile across his face.

"Best not keep them waiting, then!" Doctor said as he began pushing the yellow stallion out the door, but paused at the entryway. He put a hoof on Sunny's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Sunny... Thank you. Thank you for helping me to achieve my dreams. I don't know how I could ever repay you."

Sunny chuckled as he tipped his hat again. "Shoot Doc, ya don't need ta repay me nothin'. That's what friends do. You two have fun with your big wooden box, ok?"

With that, Sunny was off. Derpy and Doctor watched as he happily trotted down the road, books in his saddle bags, as he went to his new home, with ponies who really cares about him. There, on a farm, in a small humble town, he was far richer then any prince or princess could ever be.

Author's Note:

i really wanted to include Radiant hope into the fic, and i think this is the best way how. the fic ties in quite a bit with the comics, which i really enjoy.