Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

The Black Knight's Home

The next day Sunny could hardly stand up strait. But he found the strength to get up out of bed around noon, then made his way down the hall to take a nice long shower. Applejack had left him a note saying that since he had finished this week's chores, that he, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom had the entire week off. The yellow unicorn felt a small sense of accomplishment as he let the cool, refreshing water hit him, trickling down his face and sliding off his yellow coat.

It was then, standing there in the shower letting the water hit him, that the yellow stallion had a memory. A flash back from his past, triggered by the droplets of water...

Over 1000 years ago, not long before the fall of the Crystal Empire

Prince Sunny Knight had just arrived with his reinforcements to the front line of the battle field. The dragons were gathering at the edge of the cliffs overlooking the west oceans of Equestria. The day had turned dark quickly with the storm clouds blocking out the sun, and a light trickling rain falling from the sky. Only black silhouettes and hot, glowing eyes revealed that dragons were even there. King Sombra and his army remained ready for battle on the opposite side, more then half drenched from the rain. But they stood firm as the only protection Equesteia had against a flight of dragons.

"Father! We have arrived!" Sunny said as he galloped up to King Sombra, who stood like a thousand year old statue, starring at the opposing forces before him and his army.

He only broke and turned to see his son reach his side. Sunny's body mostly covered by one of his royal black cloak in an attempt to keep himself and his armor clean and dry. 'Black has always been a good color on him' Sombra thought with a smile, but quickly shook the thought away.

"Did you meet with the Dragon of the West, Garganda?" King Sombra's voice was firm and commanding, but not frightening.

"I have, and he gave me this..." Sunny answered by pulling the black cloak off, revealing a suit of black pony armor. The armor fit him perfectly, almost as if it was forged all those years ago just for him.

"Good" Sombra stared at the armor no more then a moment before turning to face the dragon army, who by now, must have been growing impatient. "Now Prince Soleggiato Cavaliere, I want you to take command of the situation."

"What?!" Sunny and several of Sombra's generals all were taken back by what he said. "Fa-I mean, King Sombra, I am not fit to-"

"One day you will take my place at the thrown" Sombra continued, his firm expression never wavering. "This is the perfect opportunity to show what you are capable of."

"Your highness" a crystal general spoke up, stepping forward. "The prince doesn't have the experience that you do. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna wanted 'you' specifically to handle the situation."

"And so I am" Sombra answered, turning to face the general. "I am putting my most trusted knight on the job. I have faith that my son could settle the situation even better then I could."

"But your highness-" the general tried once more to speak up.

"You really think I can do this, father?" Sunny interrupted the general, not even acknowledging his existence anymore.

Sombra's expression softened as he smiled down at his son. "Not only do I believe in you, but I know your mother would say the same thing. This is not just your first step towards becoming king, but it's also time to discover what kind of a King you will become. Show not only the crystal army what you can do, but the dragons as well. No matter what, this day will go down in the history books. Make it a history you want to generations down the road to follow. Lead them."

The yellow unicorn Prince understood what his father was saying, and knew the pressure of what he had to do. He took a long deep breath and looked back at the black armor he received as a gift from Garganda. He could never forget how he got the armor, nor the lesson the giant dragon taught him. But right now, the Prince had to focus on the dangers at hoof, right before him.

Swallowing his fears, Sunny levitated the black helmet onto his head and took several steps over the line of crystal army royal guards. He focused his magic into his horn, creating a beacon, calling all the attention of the armored ponies to him. "I will approach the dragons alone. Do not engage under any conditions, unless I say so. Is that understood?!"

"YES SIR!" All the crystal guards answered in unison, even the reluctant generals and the King.

With that, Prince Soleggiato Cavaliere turned and locked eyes on the dragons before him. He began walking through the thick mud over to them, his hooves sinking into the muck only to be sucked out with his next step. But the prince didn't let something as trivial as 'mud' distract him. His green eyes focused on the many glowing red eyes before him. In the darkness shined several dozen pairs of rubies, each a different size and shape, but all focused on him.

After making his way trough the muddy field that separated the two armies, Sunny reached the flight of dragons. Before the Prince could say anything, three of the dragons opened their jaws and released a horrible breath of scorching hot flames! The fire completely consumed the yellow unicorn and his black armor. The crystal pony army were shocked and insulted, readying their weapons to strike. But Sombra held back the crystal army and waited, knowing exactly what it was that his son had been wearing.

Several long moments had passed and the three dragons who attacked the Prince stopped their barrage of flames to catch their breath. When they did, they expected to see a pile of ash before them. No pony could withstand dragon fire of that degree or for that long, and there was no way he teleported away. But to their surprise, before the dragons, in a bubbling hot yellow and red crater stood the form of a pony. The Prince stood as tall and proud as he had when he approached the dragons moments ago, unharmed at all by the dragon's fire.

"I will speak with your Dragon Lord, now" Sunny spoke, his voice as firm as his father's.

The dragons hesitated, looking to each other for an answer when a large dragon bearing onyx colored armor poked through the group. He stood as tall as thirty Sunny, his skin was dark green, and several teeth poked out from his jaws, even with his mouth shut.

"What do you want with the Dragon Lord, puny pony?!" A small dragon appeared just in front of the armor wearing giant. This one also donned a similar style of armor, but the dragon wearing it was more then just a fraction of his size. He barley came up to Sunny's chin.

But the prince's expression didn't waver as he looked down to the small dragon. "Are 'you' the Dragon Lord?"

"What's it to you?! What if I am the Dragon Lord, huh?" The little dragon snapped.

"I wish to speak to the Dragon Lord to settle this dispute" the Prince stated, never breaking eye contact with the little dragon. "I am Prince Soleggiato Cavaliere, of the Crystal Empire of Equestria."

"Where is your King?" The large dragon in armor spoke, his words deep like a cathedral bell.

Sunny then looked up at the great dragon to answer him "I was sent here to speak on his and our kind's behalf."

"What makes you so special?!" The little dragon snapped again.

Sunny turned his attention back to the annoying little dragon. "Whatever makes me special was more then enough to convince the one you call 'Garganda of the West' to give me this suit of armor."

The dragons in the crowd all began whispering and growing amongst themselves. The little dragon himself looked confused and nervous as he looked to the larger armor wearing dragon. The larger one then raised his right claw and began scratching his chin, looking the yellow unicorn up and down, studying every inch of him. After a moment, the large dragon lowered his claw and picked the unicorn up. Sunny didn't hesitate when the dragon wrapped his claws around him, but he could only guess this made the crystal ponies behind him very nervous. Once raised to the dragon's eye level, Sunny looked him right in his glowing red and orange eye, the Prince's face remained solemn.

"You are an impressive one, for a puny little pony" the armored dragon bellowed. "What is it you wish?"

"I only wish to have peace between our kind" Sunny answered. "Right now we ponies have the upper hand. The rain has grounded your fliers and weakens your flames. While our magic and weapons remain unaffected. But fighting is not what I, nor my kind want."

"Fighting for what 'we' want has always been our way" the large dragon answered. "We are gifted with much strength and power. Why should we not use our gifts to simply take what we want? Even if the rain hinders us now, we can still fight, and we will eventually win."

"At what cost?" The armored Prince's emotions flared, a combination of outrage and anger swirling within him. "Would you really risk the well being of your followers just to get what you want?"

"And what if I am?" The large dragon narrowed his eyes at the little pony in his claw.

"Then you shouldn't be the Dragon Lord" Sunny replied, narrowing his own eyes, a disgusted look on his muzzle as he did. The crowd of dragons erupted into outrage at his comment, but Sunny ignored them. "A leader, whether pony King, Prince, or even Dragon Lord, should think of the safety and well being of his followers before anything else. That's what it means to be a leader. And if you can't do that, then you need to step down.

"But if you can find it in yourself to seek out a peaceful solution, and you are willing to work with a 'puny pony' to find a solution, one that can benefit both dragon and pony, then I would be more then glad to work with you." Sunny concluded, never breaking away from the large orange and red eye before him.

The large dragon's gaze burned deep into Sunny for several long moments, making both the flight of dragons and the herd of crystal ponies very anxious and nervous. It wasn't until the large armored dragon cracked a smile that all began to relax.

"I see now why Garganda and your King chose you, Black Knight" the dragon spoke as he loosened his grip on Sunny and held his claw flat, allowing the armored pony to stand in his open claw. "Perhaps there is a peaceful solution to our problem. I am Dragon Lord Garnet, and this is my son and future Dragon Lord, Torch."

The large armored dragon motioned to the smaller armor bearing dragon beside him.

"It is a pleasure, your majesties" Sunny said with a bow. "Shall we all meet with my father, King Sombra to discuss the negotiations?"

"No" Lord Garnet said, almost making Sunny trip out of his large claw. "We will only discuss negotiations with you, Black Knight. If you wish to have your father present, as an advisor, you may."

The Dragon Lord then raised the black armor bearing Sunny up over his head, showing him to all the dragons around. "This is the Black Knight! From hence forth, when dragons dispute with ponies, you shall treat his word as that of mine! He shares our inner fire, and will be treated as a brother! Is that understood!?"

With loud roars and shooting flames into the still raining sky, the flight of dragons replied their understanding. Sunny wasn't entirely sure he deserved such recognition, but his insecurities would do wait until later, after a peaceful resolution had been settled. Until then, he would just swallow it, hold his head up high, and hope to Equeatria that he didn't vomit from the vertigo...

The yellow stallion chuckled to himself as he returned to the present and shut off the water, his body now soaked and to some degree clean. As clean as a pony could get from only half paying attention as he scrubbed while the other half of his mind was reliving his past. 'I'm glad all of that turned out well.'

While drying himself off, he thought back to a conversation he and Twilight had about the dragon's yearly migration patterns. How they, for some reason, touched down at the edge of Equeatria on the east coast, before continuing their long journey to the far north. 'I guess the history books father talked about didn't really record what happened with the dragons and 'the Black Knight'.'

Still chuckling to himself, the weak kneed unicorn wobbled down the stairs and into the kitchen where he sat rather hard on a chair, cringing as he did. Every muscle in his body was still aching from the effects of the GoGoGo berry. Part of him wanted to just sleep in, spending the entire day in bed recuperating. But the former Prince knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep, not all day, no matter how much his body hurt. His mind was reeling now, remembering things from his past. Sleep defiantly wasn't going to happen right now.

"Ya ok there, Sunny?" Granny asked as she passed him a plate of eggs, hay bacon, and hash browns, with a tall glass of orange juice already set beside him.

"Wha? Oh, y-yeah! I'm fine! Just, ugh, thinking!" Sunny answered, technically, honestly. He just wasn't going to tell them about what.

The entire Apple family had showed up for a relaxing breakfast. Thanks to Sunny, none of them had to technically do anything say for feeding he animals, which Applejack already did this morning. It was a rare occasion that they all could enjoy a nice meal together without the worry of getting the chores done immediately afterward. But despite the calm of the morning and pleasant aroma of a home cooked meal, one of the ponies at the table was looking unease. Little Apple Bloom shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she watched the yellow stallion across from her struggle with eating his breakfast.

'It's all mah fault he's like this...ah wish there was something ah could do...' Apple Bloom thought as she pushed her hash browns around with her fork, avoiding eating it. Even though it was her ideal breakfast and she would normally jump right into devouring every crumb, the little filly felt sick to her stomach watching Sunny struggle just lifting up a fork.

"You ok Appel Bloom?" Applejack whispered over to her little sister.

Apple Bloom glumly looked from her plate, to her older sister, then at the yellow unicorn that was now struggling to lift his glass of orange juice. It didn't take Applejack log to see what had her sister down in the dumps. She patted Apple Bloom on the back. "We ah'll know ya were just tryin' ta help. It wasn' yer fault Sunny ain't feelin' 100 percent yet."

"Yes it is..." Apple Bloom disagreed as her head and ears fell lower to the ground. "Ah wish there was somethin' ah could do..."

It didn't take Applejack long to think something up to help both her little sister and Sunny. She put on one of her signature country comforting grins as she said "hey Sunny, ah think ah might know just what 'll pick ya right up! How's about a trip to the day spa? Ugh, not one where ya get an ice bath this time. A little time in the steam room, a muscle massage, followed up by ah trip to Sugar Cube corner for a protine shake by Pinkie? Ya'll be fixed up and running around here faster then a jack rabbit on a sidewalk at high-noon in July!"

Sunny thought it over, thinking it would be a good idea. Anything to get his body back in working order. That, and until he's better, he can't use magic. Which means he can't cast that counter spell to fix what he did to those guys in the hospital. "It's worth a shot. If you think it'll help. But, ugh.... I hate to admit it. I don't think I can get there myself."

"Oh, I'd love to help ya, but Big Mac and I are very busy with... Stuff!" Applejack nudged her older brother in the side, who had a mouth full of eggs and hay bacon but smiled awkwardly Sunny and nodded in agreement to what his sister was saying.

"OH! OH! I could take you Sunny!" Apple Bloom spoke up, nearly jumping out of her chair. "Ah just fixed up mah wheel barrel! Ah could take ya over in that!"

Sunny hesitated, thinking that it might be a little embarrassing going through town, being pulled in some foal's wheel barrel. But the thought of ponies in town snickering at the sight dissipated when Sunny put the pieces together. It took him a second to see what Applejack was trying to do, and decided to go with it, for Apple Blooms sake. Smiling at the young filly, the yellow unicorn asked "are ya sure ah ain't too heavy for ya to pull? I'm ah big stallion."

"Ah can do it!" Apple Bloom said, sounding more and more desperate to redeem herself.

"Well ah'righty then. We'll head out after breakfast" Sunny winked at Applejack who winked back at him.

"Ah can get th' dishes since ya'll are such busy ponies" Granny spoke up for the first time during the entire conversation. "Then ah think ah'll take ah little well deserved nap in mah rockin' chair under the large tree in th' yard. Ah' haven' done that in so long."

"Ya did that yesterday, Granny" Appejack commented, laughing lightly to herself.

"And th' day before that! And th' day before that!" Apple Bloom snickered, feeling better enough to start wolfing down her breakfast, knowing she'll need her strength.

"Eh'yep!" Was Big Mac's only comment as he took another gulp of his orange juice.

"Ah fewie! Who can remember that far back!" Granny said, a smile growing on her wrinkled muzzle.

It was true that the Apple family didn't have the most expensive set of dishes, nor the fanciest dinning room, and they didn't have the largest or most prestigious house in all of Ponyville, but they did have something more. Sunny couldn't help but feel the warmth and happiness radiate off of them, because those old plates passed down from generation to generation, that dining room which had seen so many warm meals, and the house that watched over so many fillies and colts grow up into adults, was a home. All the gold in Canterlot, nor the most powerful spell's in all of pony kind could ever duplicate this feeling. Sunny was truly happy to be apart of that. A home. And better, ponies who were now family to him to make the old farm house just that. This is where he truly belonged.