Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

Bearer of The Amulet

"Are we almost there?" Midnight Blossom complained as she pressed forward, trying her best to maneuver around the various branches near the road of the Everfree Forest.

"We should be getting close, according to Princess Twilight's directions." Cloud Skipper answered while looking at a map, but looked back at his fellow guard and chuckled "don't you think this place would be perfect for a summer home?"

After pushing a thick branch out of her way, Midnight Blossom turned around and glared at her companion, "don't tell jokes, Cloud. You're not good at it."

"Look!" Cloud Skipper called out as he flew between several branches into a clearing where a certain tree hut stood with exotic tribal masks decorating the outside. "The zebra shaman's home!"

"Good" the bat pony guard spat as she untangled herself from some vines, half tripped and ran into Cloud Skipper. After regaining her balance, Midnight cleared her throat and proceeded towards the hut. "Are we sure this 'Zecora' will just give us the amulet?"

"We have letters both from Princess Luna and Princess Twilight giving us permission to take the amulet into custody, as well as warning of..." Cloud Skipper stopped his sentence short as he stood before Zecora's front door.

Midnight's foul mood had disappeared when the words rang in her own head, the words that Cloud couldn't speak. That name. The name of a monster. It was so close to their old friend that it hurt to dwell on it. It was part of the reason Alister had his name changed. The bat pony shook herself and nudged the white Pegasus she cared for. "Warning her of possible danger."

"R-right" Cloud said, forcing a smile, but the smile quickly faded as he refocused himself and knocked on the front door.

To both of their surprise, the door wasn't only unlocked, but after the first initial knock, the door creaked open. Both of the flying royal guards turned and shot each other a concerned look, but shook off their uneasy feelings and pressed forward with caution. The entire hut was still and silent, with the thick scent of dust lingering in the air. There weren't many rooms to look through, but the two ponies never let their guard down, something didn't feel right.

As Midnight cracked open a closet full of potion ingredients in jars, bottles and beakers, an oddly placed box caught the bat pony's eye. She had remembered Twilight telling Cloud and her that Zecora put the amulet in a box and planed to hide it in the Everfree. Flipping open the box, Midnight's held breath began to relax as she gazed upon the item they had been searching to recover.

"Hey Cloud, I found it!" Midnight called out to her cohort as she carefully wrapped the corrupting magical item in a special cloth, woven to suppress magical powers. The bat pony happily trotted into the other room where Cloud had been searching. "Looks like we can relax a bit."

"I don't think so..." Cloud Skipper muttered, horror coating his voice as he stared at a figure in the dark. "I think we need to report to princess Twilight right away..."

Taking a few steps closer to Cloud Skipper, Midnight's nocturnal sight kicked in, and almost immediately she saw what had frightened her comrade. Standing before them both was Zecora, standing in what looked like a meditation position. Only, her breathing and heart rate was so low that she at first appeared to be a statue. Midnight had to stare at the zebra for over three minutes before she caught sight of a single breath. "What... What's the matter with her? Is she ok?"

"I don't think so..." Cloud Skipper said as he pointed to the message carved out I front of the figure.

'HELP ME' was carved by bare hoof into the floor board of the hut in front of a meditating Zecora. Although the zebra was in no physical danger as of yet, spider webs and plants had begun to grow on and around her, making her appear to be a living statue.

"Should we move her?" Midnight asked as she stepped closer to the zebra shaman.

"I think it would be best to bring princess Twilight here." Cloud Skipper suggested, contemplating the situation very cautiously. "If we move her it might do more harm then good. Princess Twilight might know how to help."

"But we need to get this back to princess Luna before...." Midnight paused and swallowed her nervous fear. "Before something bad happens."

"I'll take the amulet back to Canterlot" Cloud suggested. "I'm faster during the day. You need to go to Twilight's castle and let her know what's going on."

"No way" Midnight Blossom put her hoof down. "If something happens, if you get ambushed or something, you aren't as good at fighting as I am. I'm stronger and more dynamic and hoof to hoof combat."

"I agree you are," Cloud Skipper admitted. "But I'm twice as fast as you during the day. And right now, time is of the essence. Who knows how long miss Zecora has been like this."

Midnight didn't know what more to say, Cloud was right. She sighed heavily then glared at him, her cheeks turning slightly red. "Promise me you'll go strait to the castle! No side quests or anything!"

"I won't even stop to help a little old mare cross the street" Cloud said as he packed the wrapped up amulet in his bag.

"Because she could be a changeling in disguise!" Midnight continued, her hard glare melting slightly. "They could disguise as foals or pretty young mares too!"

"I promise" Cloud said as he took a step closer to Midnight, then put his hooves around her and pulled her into a hug. He paused for a moment to help her relax before whispering in her ear "I won't let anything stop me from completing my mission. And as soon as I'm done, I'll come back to you."

"Promise?" The bat pony's voice was now frail and timid, her heart heavy with worry.

"I promise" the white Pegasus repeated himself before kissing the bat pony in her head.

Immediately after breaking the hug, Cloud Skipped took off, taking to the skies with all his might, going as fast as his wings could carry him. Midnight was about to do the same, only heading towards the castle on the edge of Ponyville, but paused for a moment. She considered the position the zebra was in, and wanted to take a little extra caution. The bat pony took a few sticks, leaves and a mask and made a make shift scare crow. Placing it firmly in front of the only door to the hut, Midnight took one final look at the place before deciding it was good enough until she made it back with Princess Twilight. And like that, she was off!

Little did Midnight Blossom know that she had been watched by two pairs of glowing green eyes. Eyes that now sat heavily on the scare crow at Zecora's front door. After some random clicking, like wood smacking together, leaves ruffles and two pony shaped figures stepped out of the bushes.

-Iron Lock Maximum Security Prison-

"Next!" Snowstorm called from his desk as another prison guard left his office.

The guard that just left had a harder gaze on then when he first entered, almost as if he was seeing all red. The first guard said nothing as the next guard entered the warden's office for his evaluation. But the second guard found it odd, Snowstorm had just done his evaluations, for the quarter, last week. Why would they need to do them again? But the guard's job wasn't to think about the orders. His job was to follow them. And that was what he planned to do.

As he stepped into Snowstorm's office, he stood at attention across the large work desk from his commanding officer. When Snowstorm was done reviewing some papers, he looked up at the guard and cleared his throat. "Please, have a seat. And lock the door behind you, I don't like interruptions during our sessions."

Just as the guard was about to lock the shut door, something kicked it open, slamming the door right in the guards face!

"What up cap!" A slick and sharp voice called out, although the guard couldn't see the face to the pony it belonged to immediately. "We picked up your little toy, it's right here! Safe and sound!"

"Grrrrrrrr" a second pony stepped in after he first loud and obnoxious one. The second must have been big and strong, hoof stepped seemed to rattle the floor boards beneath them.

"Cynical! What have I told you about barging in here while I'm working?!" Snowstorm snapped, anger and annoyance present in his tone.

"Relax, I just wanted to know if I can take our new toy down to old Charming and play for a bit!" The one called 'Cynical' answered.

A terrifying thought popped into the guard's mind, for there was only one pony he had ever met in his life with the name of 'Cynical'. A demented pony locked deep down below in darkest part of the prison. The fearful thought became real when the guard stuck his head around the corner and saw the only two prisoners from cell block G standing there in Snowstorm's office, talking like old chums with the warden! The guard continued to watch in horror as the conversation transpired.

"I told you already!" Snowstorm snapped again, sounding more and more frustrated by the minute. "Go down there and make him wear it. If he puts up a fight, get creative. He can't do much anyway without magic."

"Grrrrr" Salted Carmel commented as he stepped forward, eyes narrowing on Snowstorm.

"Yes yes, I know. I have some of my best flyers searching right now" Snowstorm sounded annoyed as he got up and out of his chair. "She will be found, trust me. Now both of you, get down to cell block G. Do what needs to be done."

"Ha! Now you're starting to sound just like Ol'Charming himself!" Cynical chuckled as he walked out of Snowstorm's office, Salted following behind him.

The prison guard was shocked to see those two convicts walking around freely, knowing full well how dangerous they both were. But before the guard could get up and sound any alarm, he was met face to face with Snowstorm. The unicorn guard's eyes were both glowing bright red and a sickly green as purple flames began to grow from their corners. A smile broke across his face as he gazed Into the guard's own terrified eyes.

"I'm afraid you've seen too much" Snowstorm admired, flashing a toothy grin. "But that's ok. I was about to force you into servitude anyway."

Before the guard could get up fight, a bright flashing light made of reds and greens filed the air. The lights flashed through the windows of Snowstorm's office, making the guard on the other side of the door very, very nervous. The guard waiting just outside Snowstorm's office had been called for his evaluation, but was a little concerned since his quarterly evaluation was just last week. A moment after the flashing red and green lights stopped, another guard opened the office door and walked out.

"Please come in" the guard heard Snowstorm call out. "And please, shut the door behind you."

-Cell block G-

'Is this irony or poetic justice?' Alister found himself wondering as he dangled from the wall, his front hooves chaining him to the cell that Cynical once called home.

All around him were broken pieces of board games and toys. All Cynical received out of pity from the princesses. Although the Pegasus was deranged and very, very dangerous, the only reason he was sent to a prison and not a mental hospital was the severity of his aggression. His medical condition was more or less the result of a horrible twist of fate. In a sense, Cynical's life is a tragedy.

"Wakie! Wakie!" Cynical's voice echoed off the cement walls again. Only this time, Alister knew it wasn't just 'him' playing with his emotions. It was the real Cynical's twisted voice. The grey pegusus with black and yellow eyes appeared outside his former cell, a mad grin plastered over his face. "Hey buddy! Guess what?! I got a new toy for us to play with!"

Alister did his best to ignore the taunts, but something deep inside began to stir. The voice, 'His' voice, was getting louder. Almost like the dormant beast was waking up.

"But first! Let's play a game!" Cynical said as he walked into the cell, knowing that Snowstorm's spell was still in effect, tiny black crystal's on Alister's horn showed that his magic was still being suppressed.

"Let's see... Red rover?" Cynical began pacing as he kicked his broken toys and games aside. "No, not enough ponies to play. Oh! How about 'red light, green light'!... No, no. You'll just never say green light... Ah! That's it! You like thinking games! I know you do!"

The twisted grey pegasus swept clear a large area of the ground and grabbed a piece of chalk. He giggled to himself as he drew the stage where the pony would be hung, pausing only for a moment to think of the word or phrase to use, then chuckled to himself when he cleverly came up with it. Alister watched and began thinking of what it could be. Not that he intended on playing, but it was something to occupy his mind.

"Done! Ok, it's a five letter word followed by a six letter word!" Cynical said with glee as he hopped up and moved over to Alister, who's face was a prime example of deadpan. "No buying vowels! No hints! And no phoning a friend!"

"And what in Celestia's golden sun makes you think I'm going to play with a twisted individual like you?" Alister snapped, his voice sounding weak from hunger and exhaustion.

"Well, I guess if you don't want to play, we could just go to the end game..." Cynical mimicked a disappointed child as he reached underneath his wing and pulled out a small item wrapped in silver and brown cloth.

Alister's heart rate quickened as 'his' voice grew louder, the sick maniacal laughter echoing inside the grey unicorn's head. Frightening images began flooding back into view from deep within Alister's subconscious. "No! NO! NO! Anything but that!"

"Then I guess you'll play?" Cynical's smile returned as he hid the cloth covered item underneath his wing once more. "If you win, I'll let you go. But if you lose, you get the silver metal! Ha! Or should I say, silver, grey, and red metal!"

"How do I know you'll let me go?" Alister narrowed his eyes on the deviant Pegasus, partly to show his distrust of the fiend, but mainly due to his growing head ache.

"If I let you go, it will be more fun for me!" Cynical admitted, his thoughts reeling of the possible fun he could have with Alister trying to escape the prison. "So, what do you say? Wanna play with me?"

Looking upon Cynical Storm's face, brought his case file to Alister's mind. It was in itself a nightmare, far too dark for anypony to ever read. He was amazed the princesses could have covered it up. But none the less, Alister had no pity for this monster of a pony. Gazing into his black and yellow eyes, one saw into his very core. This was a beast in pony form, no humanity was left. With a heavy sigh, Alister nodded in agreement. "I'll play your game..."

"Yeah! A new playmate! I hope I don't break this one! Ok! Guess a letter! You only have seven tries! One for each leg, one for the head and neck, one for the body and finally the wonderful face you'll make when you lose!" Cynical chuckled as he picked up the chalk with his free wing. "Ok! Guess a letter!"

Thinking about the game, Alister began running through the leters he memorized as a kid when he would play with his sister. She never knew how he was so good at it, but his secret was obvious. There were certain letters that most words had, not even all of them vowels. He just had to pick those five letters and the message should be clear; S,T,R, O, and N.

"Ok, ugh... 'S'?" Alister chose the first letter, not knowing weather it would be right or not.

Cynical took his chalk and wrote the letter on the side, then wrote it as the first letter of the first word. "Lucky guess. I wonder if you'll win you're freedom... Or 'his' freedom!"

"What do you know about 'him'!?" Alister snapped, tone growing as his anger began to boil over.

"I know the whole thing 'Charming'! You don't mind if I call you that, do you? I don't much care for your new name. 'Alister', sounds like a boring RPG name! Anywho! Back to the game! Unless you want to give up!"

Alister calmed himself down to call out another letter through his teeth. "'T'."

Cynical then went and write the letter by the S on the side, then went to the second word and wrote it on the end. "You're on fire! Hey! I know I said no hints! But I'll give you one if you guess the next letter!"

'Is he insane or just impatient? Either way, it would help me to get out of here' Alister thought, his head now pulsing. But he caught through the pain and guessed another letter. "'R'?"

"Oh! Sorry, no..." Cynical then wrote the letter with the rest of the used letters, then drew a pony like head and neck on the stage. "Try again!"

"Ugh...'O'?" Alister guessed, starting to feel more nervous, his mind becoming more and more clouded.

"Nope! Loosing your edge Charming?" Cynical asked as he drew the body and tail after writing down the 'O'.

"'N'?" Alister snapped, starting to worry, he needed something to work off of.

"Oh! You actually got it right!" Cynical commented with glee as he wrote N with the rest of the used letters then put two 'N's in the third and fourth slot of the first word, then in the second of the second word. "You got it right on the dot with that one!"

Alister started running through all the possible words that had those letters in it, but his mind wasn't letting him think too clearly. With the Alicorn amulet still in the room, his mind was falling apart.

"We're gunna take a quick break and have a word from our sponsors!" Cynical said as he ignored Alister and faced the reader. "I bet you're wondering how we acquired the Alicorn amulet after you just read about Midnight Blossom and Cloud Skipper found it at Zecora's hut, right?"

"They did what?!" Alister interrupted, the names of his two cohorts shaking him free of his pulsing mind temporarily. "What did you do to them?!"

"Oh no worries, Charming old pal!" Cynical replied before turning back and staring at the reader yet again. "We never even ran into them. Instead, my buddy Salted Carmel and I were sent out to pick up the amulet and leave a fake one in its spot. That way Canterlot and the princesses wouldn't freak out when they found out Charming over there went missing! Yeah, Snowstorm sure has some brilliant plans. Or should I say, King Sombra?!"

"Sombra?" Alister repeated the name. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Aaaaand we're back! So Charming, I know I said earlier that there were no hints, but hey! I make the rules in this game!" Cynical chuckled as he broke out into a wide toothy grin, eyes narrowing on the chained up unicorn. "How about a deal? I get to draw the legs on your pony in the game, leaving you with only one chance to get the message right, and I give you the hint as to what the message is! Deal or No Deal?!"

Thinking about his odds, Alister weighed his options and thought about what kind of a pony Cynical was. His odds weren't great, but what else could Alister really do? His mind was turning to mush right now with the amulet so close. The longer Alister waited, the weaker his mental barriers would become. Besides, it sounded like Cynical really wanted to let Alister go, just so he could play 'hide and seek' or something. "Alright, I'll take the deal. What's the hint?!"

"Oh! I knew you were a team player!" Cynical cheered before hopping down to the drawing of a pony on a stage and drew in the pony's legs. The last thing he needed was a tail. "Ok, the hint is 'he's King Sombra's son'!"

"...What?!" Alister felt cheated. "King Sombra never had a son! I should know, I did more then my fair share of research to know that-"

"I gave you your hint, now make your final decision!" Cynical snapped, growing impatient. "You're one tail away from a silver and red metal!"

"You cheated!" Alister snapped. "King Sombra never had a-"

"I wonder how stupid you really are!" Cynical teased Alister, balancing the chalk on the tip of his hoof. "You go to investigate a mysterious meteor, find signs suggesting King's Sombra's involvement, then you run into a goofy little sunspot in town that arrived not long after the meteor crash. You didn't bother looking deeper into him then, and what's worse, you live with him for a few days and suspect nothing even though he's acted very secretive after returning from a sudden trip to the Crystal empire. Not to mention in the earlier chapters the run-ins he's claimed to have with King Sombra. I mean, really, would it have been too hard to cross reference the name? You would have found a lot of juicy things about him. Like his last name that I know you don't even know."

"Sunny..." It finally hit Alister, his eyes growing wide as he gazed into the distance. "Sombra's son is... Sunny?"

Cynical finished writing in the first word. 'S. U. N. N. Y.' "Ok! Now the last name? We got _ N_ _ _ T. You either have to guess all four missing letters or guess the name! Hurry, I'm getting bord!"

Running all the possible names in his head again, thinking of what kind of names could involve an 'N' as the second letter and 'T' as the last. He was having a hard time concentrating, the head ache turning into buzzing like a hive of angry bees in his head. "Ugh.... Kn... 'Knight'?!"

There was a brief pause before Cynical grabbed a half broken noise baker and kazoo and began cheering. "You got it right! You win! His full name is 'Sunny Knight' but I'm willing to guess there's no relation between you two, since you're over 1000 years apart!"

"Ha ha, now let me go and we can play part two of your game." Alister said unamused, planing out his escape from the snowy mountain prison. "'Hide and seek' sound good to you?"

"Ya know... I was thinking..." Cynical began bobbing his head from side to side. "That was a hard puzzle to solve. So you deserve a prize for solving it, even with my hint..."

Lifting his wing up once more, Cynical let the covered amulet fall right into his hooves. As Alister's eyes zoomed to it, his heart began to race again, his breathing became more erratic as he pressed himself further against the wall in an attempt to put as much distance from the Alicorn amulet as possible.

"NO! Cynical! Y-you can't! I won! I won the game!" Alister began screaming, which fueled Cynical's playful side.

"You did, indeed' Cynical replied, chucking to himself as he started stepping slowly towards the panicking unicorn. "But remember? 'I' make the rules. You're just a play thing."

"PLEASE! CYNICAL, PLEASE KEEP IT AWAY FROM ME!!! I'll play any game you want, I'll do anything! Please, just keep it away! Please!" Alister was now pleading with all his might, hoping that there was a tiny sliver of humanity left in the dark Pegasus.

For a moment, Cynical looked at Alister, saw his fear and pain. It was obvious that Cynical had a choice at this point. He and Alister were alone in cell block G. Cynical could let Alister go, set him free, and possibly begin redeeming himself for all he's done in his life. For a moment, Cynical could be a hero. Cynical's expression softened as his gaze met Alister's. He saw that this was one moment in Cynical's life where he could do good, maybe even be a good pony...

With a swift motion, Cynical flipped the amulet out of the cloth and stuck it to Alister's chest. The dark grey pegasus was so swift in his motions that Alister didn't register it until he felt the amulet's corrupting magic pouring into him, burning like the flames of Tartarus.

"I wanna play with the nightmare now!" Cynical said as a toothy smile cracked across his face and he began chuckling.

The sick laughter echoed all though out cell block G, all the way up to cell block A, and was quickly joined by a second chuckling voice, one that hadn't been heard outside Alister's head since that horrible day. The day Alister changed his name, and almost lost his best friend because of his carelessness...

Author's Note:

well here we can expand on one of my darkest OC's, Cynical Storm. I wrote his entire back story as a separate fim fic, but have had a hard time pushing myself to edit it. it was hard enough for me to write it, simply because it was me making this guy's life literally a living hell. I'm so sorry to you Cynical. but some things must be the way they are.

but when I do edit it (which will probably be the next thing I do) ill post sa link below this chapter. But it will be rated Mature for violence, sex, and gore

Comments

[heart_patch0213]

Love it can't wait for more, mate!!