Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

The Legendary Black Knight

After hopping aboard the train that would take them to the Crystal Empire, Twilight and Spike quickly rejoined their friends. Everypony had met up in a private car that had crystal pony sentries stationed at both entrances. Cadence and Shinning Armor spared no expense when it came to transporting the girls and Spike to the Empire. The train car was not only furnished with the most comfy of seats, but a buffet table filled with snacks of all kinds. From salty chips, to sweet Crystal Berry cupcakes. As well as the purest bottles of sparkling water to the richest chocolate milk. Entering the car, Twilight and the little dragon were greeted by the rest of their group.

"We were wonderin' when ya'll were gunna show up." Applejack commented as she added another cupcake to her plate of snacks.

"How is Zecora doing?" Fluttershy asked, everypony in the car wondering the same thing.

Twilight took a seat, trying to relax her nerves. Between being summoned to the Crystal Empire and the incident with Zecora, the purple alicorn was starting to feel the pressure. Noticing this, Pinkie Pie zoomed away for a moment only to return in a flash with a cup of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and a cherry on top.

"Thanks Pinkie" Twilight smiled at her friend as she levitated the warm beverage up to her mouth and took a small sip. "Ahhh... well, after we got Zecora to the Ponyville hospital, the doctors jumped right in when they realized who she was. After looking her over, recording and measuring everything they could, they put her up in a room nearest to the nurse's station. They still don't know what happened to her, but Zecora seems to be in some sort of trans."

"I wonder what could have happened to her" Rarity said as she sat up from a comfy couch that was placed in the corner of the room.

"I don't know" Rainbow added in, her eyes narrowed and looking to the floor, wishing she had been there to reap their friend in need rather then helping Rarity pack her multiple bags of various clothing for the trip. "But I think something or somepony got to her."

"She left a message on the ground in front of her" Fluttershy added. "I asked the spiders if they saw anything, but they all arrived after Zecora was like that."

"What do ya make of it, Twi?" Applejack asked. "Chrysalis? Sombra? Maybe even Starlight Glimmer?"

"Chrysalis or Sombra maybe. But we haven't seen Starlight Glimmer since we set that whole town free from her crazy 'no cutie marks' bit" Rainbow Dash commented, shivering at the thought of her losing what made her her, essentially.

"Yeah! And they had horrible muffins!" Pinkie added, face turning slightly green when she remembered the tasteless treats she had to swallow on their mission. Wanting to forget that awful taste, Pinkie grabbed half a dozen delicious chocolate muffins and began consuming them one after another.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight looked out the window of the fast moving train and watched how grassy hills turned quickly into an arctic tundra. "I don't really know. Maybe Starlight could be behind this. Maybe not. I don't know why anypony would want to harm Zecora. If it was any of them, why not just go after us?... I have a feeling something bad is coming. Something very, very bad."

Concern struck Applejack as she tore her gaze from Twilight and looked to the ground, moving her Stetson hat to cover her face. She didn't know what she was feeling, but this uneasy and new emotion was making the farm pony want to hide her face, even from her best friends. The Orange mare's actions didn't go unnoticed.

"Something the matter, dear?" Rarity asked, trying to grab Applejack's attention as she got up off the couch and closed the space between her and her tomboy like friend.

"Oh, ugh... I-it's nothin'" Applejack answered, but it was a lie. Hating to lie, the freckled farm pony followed up her statement. "Just thinkin' bout th' family on the farm. Ah hope they're ok."

"You're family, or a certain stallion who seemed sad to see you leave?" Rarity smiled as she lowered her head to try and keep the conversation just between her and Applejack.

Sighing heavily, Applejack looked up at her fashionista friend "ah worry 'bout him. He always finds trouble, or maybe trouble's always looking fer him. And he ain't strong 'nough right not ta defend himself."

"I wouldn't worry too much about him darling" Rarity began her reassuring speech. "He's a smart stallion, and I'm sure he's smart enough to know how to stay out of trouble."

"That's not all what ah'm worried 'bout" Applejack began pouring her heart out to her most feminine friend. "Ah... ah think he's gunna' go lookin fer trouble. To, ah don't know, fix it, or somethin'."

"What makes you think that, Darling?" Rarity asked, trying desperately to keep her voice down, but Applejack's statement had made the fashionista slightly curious.

"Before he took that berry Apple Bloom gave him, Sunny would finish his chores and go off to who knows where until supper." Applejack began to explain, the worry building up in her voice. "Ah wanted him ta make friends in town, and ah'm sure he's done that. Ah've seen ah bunch of ponies talking to him, laughing and havin fun being 'round him..."

"But?..." Rarity pushed, feeling like she wasn't quite understanding what Applejack was trying to get at.

"Well... recently no pony has seen him 'round town." Applejack continued, taking in a deep breath. "He ain't been 'round town, so far as any pony could tell. He ain't been 'round th' farm. And closest town's half ah day away from th' farm. There's no way he could go there and come back in time for supper! Ah have no idea where he goes! Ah don't know... maybe... maybe th' feller's found ah... ah special some-"

"Don't even think that Applejack!" Rarity snapped, outrage burning in her tone. "Not for one moment!"

"But it would explain where's he's been goin..." Applejack's voice trailed off, fading, as she couldn't push herself to finish the sentence. Applejack wasn't a pony to cry for much, and she didn't like for others to see her when she did. But if she had finished her sentence, all her friends would see her balling like a foal.

"Applejack, Darling..." Rarity grabbed the farm pony's freckeled cheeks in her hooves and directed Applejack's face towards her own. "I pride myself on being a love expert. And if there's one thing I know, it's that that stallion has eyes only for you. I see it in your eyes just as well. But I think there's something holding him back."

Lifting her head up and out of Rarity's hooves, Applejack sighed as she held her head up with one hoof. "His memories... ah know..."

"Well you can't really blame him for that" Rarity chimed. "But I'm sure once he remembers-"

"He already has" Applejack interrupted, her voice lacking all emotion. "Or at th' least, he's got some of them."

"Really?! When did this happen?!" Rarity asked, shocked to hear of this just now.

"Since th' day he left her th' Crystal Empire" Applejack continued, her voice still deprived of life. "He was different' after that. He wouldn't tell anypony anything. But th' way he walked wasn't as goofie, he started using magic a lot more, ta put dishes and stuff up, and he's been readin' books a lot more. More then when Twilight gave him books ta learn 'bout magic."

"Maybe he's from the Crystal Empire!" Rarity explained. "He could be a crystal pony!"

"Ah don't know... then why hadn't we seen him before? Th' Empire's been back for quite ah while." Applejack commented, her face still very glum. "Sides. Ya'll know when them Crystal folks are happy, they shine and what not. Ah've seen that feller happier then Winnona with ah new bone, he shines, but not like no crystal pony."

"Hmmmm.... you're right..." Rarity admitted, half trailing off in thought. "The empire aside, has Sunny mentioned any family or friends? Other then his friends in Ponyville? Maybe he just goes off to meet them."

"Well... ah think somethin' might have been going on with his father..." Applejack wasn't a pony to jump to conclusions, but had that thought bouncing around in her head for a while. "We, ugh... might have read part of his journal to try and find out what was makin him nuttier then wahnona with her squeak toy, before we found out 'bout th' berries."

"Applejack! You never, ever, under any circumstance, read another pony's diary!" Rarity exclaimed her distaste, but quickly recovered and lowered her head once again and returning we tone to just above a whisper. "...What did it say, exactly? Not that I'm condoning this action, but if you've already read it..."

"It said somethin' 'bout how he didn't know why his daddy did what he did, but... ah think he misses him. He and his daddy might have been close." Applejack confessed, trying to remember what she had read.

"Maybe that's where he's been going!" Rarity explained, a light bulb flashing bright in her head. "He must be looking for his family! Maybe they live close to town!"

"Maybe..." Applejack's muzzle was still lacking emotion. "But... but why wouldn't he tell me? Tell mah family? What if one day I go back to the farm an' he ain't there? What if he's gone and ah' never hear from him again?"

Rarity thought long and hard about the answer she wanted to give Applejack. "I can see you really like him. I think he feels the same way about you too. But you're too shy to say anything, and he's obviously got ghosts in his past. Maybe you should just sit him down and tell him how you feel. Maybe he'll open up to you and share with you what he remembered and where he's been going all this time."

A smile returned to the farm pony's face as she looked up to Rarity with grateful eyes, "maybe yer right, Rares. Maybe ah just have ta hog tie that stallion and sit him down fer ah good talk... thank you for the talk."

"Applejack, that's what friends do" the fashion obsessed pony gave her friend a wink as the train began to slow down.

"It looks like we've arrived. You girl's ready?" Twilight asked, her expression becoming hard, knowing the task they were about to embark on would not be an easy one.

"We're all with ya, Twi" Applejack said as she straitened her Stetson hat, ready for action, her heart and mind now clear.

"Let's show this ruffian what we're made of" Rarity added, flipping her mane to one side.

"Yeah! We'll send this bad boy packing!" Rainbow Dash commented as she took several swings at the air.

"Ugh... c-can I just watch?" Fluttershy asked, hiding behind Pinkie's tail.

Pinkie Pie's entire body began to shake and shiver all over, not from the cold Arctic that lay just beyond the train's walls, but from some unknown force that hasn't occurred for possibly four seasons. "O-O-O-oh! I-i-i-its hap-p-p-ening a-a-again!"

"What is, Pinkie?" Twilight asked, her expression softening as she and her friends turned to the pink party pony.

"Pinkie sense!" Pinkie explained when her body stopped shivering. "There's going to be a doozie!"

"Then let's face this doozie, together" Twilight stated confidently, her friends cheering with her. She had grown a lot since she first moved to Ponyville and witnessed Pinkie's 'Pinkie sense' first hoof. Twilight has since learned to trust in her friends, and that together, there was nothing they couldn't overcome. Even if Pinkie's supernatural sense told them it was going to be a 'Doozie'.

As the girls exited the train and entered the open Arctic air, they noticed right away that the train didn't pull up to the station safely at the Empire, but rather in the cold Arctic wasteland, where they would go to meet the dragon Gargonda. Twilight threw up a small barrier to shield her and her friends from the harsh conditions of the raging blizzard. After the first run in with King Sombra, Twilight learned from her sister Cadence how to cast the weather blocking shield, thinking it might come in handy some day.

"Twily!" A familiar voice called out as a similar shield moved closer to Twilight and her friends. Several silhouettes witching the other barrier could be seen approaching the group of six mares and one baby dragon, their finer details blocked by the light blue bubble. But even with just their outlined images, Twilight easily recognized the ponies within the blue magical shield.

"Shinning! Cadence!" The purple alicorn was overjoyed to see her brother and his wife. She guessed that they would see them at some point on the trip, but guessed it would be later, after the problem had been resolved

As the two magical dome like shields merged into one, large enough to hold Twilight, all her friends, Spike, Cadence, Shinning Armor, and all of their guards, the princess of friendship ran over to her old foal-sitter and began their usual tradition of their Sunshine Sunshine dance. Everypony watched and enjoyed the bright and warm feeling eradicating from it. Once the song and dance was done though, Twilight and her friends were ready to get to work.

"We're ready to send that dragon packing" Twilight beamed with confidence as she and her friends flared with a wave of inner gusto. "So where is he?"

"Ugh, well..." Cadence looked concern as she turned to her husband for aid in answering the question.

"He's here... actually..." Shinning did his best to finish off where his wife began, but it still left the girls very confused.

"Ugh, where?" Rainbow Dash asked as she looked around, seeing nothing for miles except the dome around the Crystal Empire and the train behind them.

Twilight and her friends looked into the Arctic, and despite the raging storm, could make out quite a bit of the surrounding area. The girls were confused by the worried expressions and reactions Cadence, Shinning Armor, and their guards all seamed to share. It was then that Spike noticed something slightly different.

"Hey, have those mountains always been there?" The purple dragon asked as he pointed with one of his claws to two large land masses that seemed to stretch to the sky.

"That's actually... him" Shinning armor said in a terrified tone. "Those are his legs."

The girls and Spike all followed the two large legs up to almost above the clouds, their jaws dropping when they noticed that there had been a dragon the size of a mountain standing there the whole time. Such a large being had been standing there the entire time and no pony had noticed it! Surely somepony on the train would have seen it. But they all must have just thought it was a pair of mountains like Twilight and her friends did.

"It's... its bigger then what I read!" Twilight explained, her legs trembling as she found she could not tear her eyes away.

"Oh my..." Rarity noted, feeling light headed and ready to pass out.

"That's one big fella..." Applejack commented as she held down her hat,it almost falling off of her head from looking that far up.

"Y-yeah? Well the bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Rainbow Dash shook of her fear and was about to charge head on at Gargonda.

"Attacking it wouldn't do you any good" one of the guard's spoke out. "We had our entire army try and meet him head on, but it was pointless."

"What happened? Did it do anything?" Twilight asked, concern thickly coating her words.

"It sent more then half of them to the hospital..." Shinning Armor painfully explained, feeling guilty and useless from their attack on the large dragon. "We threw everything we had at him. And all he had to do was kick his foot. Some of us were lucky and were missed by his counter attack. But the rest ended up in critical care. They're back in the Crystal Empire hospital trying to recover."

"Attacking him won't work" Cadence put a hoof on her troubled husband's shoulder before turning to Twilight and her friends. "We need to reason with him. You girls have dealt with stubborn dragons before. Please, if you can get him to at least talk, that would be a step in the right direction."

Just then, the ground beneath their hooves shook. Everypony's attention then turned to one of the mountain sized legs belonging to the legendary dragon. It had lifted up slowly as the group shook, and just then landed about a mile closer to the Crystal Empire!

"I think we might need more then just 'one' step" Pinkie commented, popping up from behind the large group to see the giant Dragon's other leg lifting into the air.

"Let's go girls, we need to stop that dragon and find out what exactly is going on!" Twilight cried out and lead her friends onward to face the giant dragon of legend known as Garganda.

With the raging storm around them bringing fresh power to the field of snow that the girls had to reach through, Twilight and her friends found just getting to the gigantic dragon to be a challenge in its own, even with Twilight holding up a barrier. But once they arrived around the front of the large dragon, Twilight sent Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to climb up to the face of the dragon to try and get it to stop it's march towards the empire. He was far too tall to just yell out to stop, no pony's voice could reach him. Twilight needed to stay put to shield her ground walking friends, but Rainbow Dash could be assertive enough to talk to such a threatening creature, and Fluttershy has overcome some large and dangerous creatures in the past. So the two were a perfect team to at the very least stop him. Once Garganda had stopped, the rest of them would try and reason with him. If that didn't work, they would resolve to using the magic of friendship to subdue him.

The climb was treacherous, though. Beyond Twilight's shield, the cruel Arctic blizzard struck against Fluttershy and Rainbow's wings, making it twice as hard to reach the dragon's face. But they kept at a steady pace as their friends continued to travel along side the mountain sized dragon, making sure to keep out of the way of his large, and dangerous, foot steps. Once the two fliers of the group poked above the clouds, they came face to face with a dragon's head who's scales were black as coal, his teeth the size of houses, and eyes burning iron hot yellow.

"Ugh... excuse me..." Fluttershy began to speak up, only to be ignored by the large dragon.

"That's not gunna work" Rainbow Dash said as she flew up right in front of the dragon and began yelling. "HEY! STOP MOVING FOR A SEC!!! WE NEED TO TALK!"

But Garganda never slowed his pace and kept moving, slowly making his way to the Empire. As he pushed past Rainbow, he sent the speed demon of a pony flying off into a snowy cloud. Fluttershy watched and was outraged by his lack of common curtesy. Fueled by the sight of her brushed off friend, the normally very timid Fluttershy flew up and stood bravely in front of the large, black scaled dragon.

"YOU WILL STOP, NOW!" Fluttershy screamed out in her loudest voice, combining it with her signature 'stare'. This time, the little yellow Pegasus's orders produced results and stopped the dragon's movements.

Down below, Twilight and the others watched in amazement as Garganda stopped his left foot mid step and slowly placed it back on the ground as he stoped his advancement to the Crystal Empire. Back above the clouds, Rainbow Dash was able to pull herself free from the freezing snow cloud, and rejoined her mousy friend.

"Nice work, Flutters" Rainbow commented as she brushed some snow off herself and turned to face Gargonda herself. "Hey big guy! My friends and I need to have a word with you!"

But Gargonda just raised a brow as he liked all around the tops of the clouds, expecting to see at least two or three more flying ponies.

"No no, down there!" Rainbow Dash pointed to the ground below where Twilight and the rest were waiting.

Looking down below his neck, Gargonda huffed, annoyed by the snow storm that blocked his vision of the ground. The whole time he knew where he was going to, but he didn't know what all he was stepping on or over. The attack Shinning Armor's guards launched didn't do anything to his thick scales, and they were simply kicked out of the way when the large dragon took a step. He didn't want to ruin the storm, knowing that pegusi work hard to produce the clouds that make it up, but it had become more of a bother then he wanted to deal with. So with one mighty movement, the black dragon extended his wings, spreading them for miles, and had to merely flap them once to send the clouds far,far away for the moment, clearing up the sky for the land around the Crystal Empire in a twenty mile radius.

"Who. Dares. Halt. Gargonda. Of. The. West?" The dragon's voice boomed like thunder and shocked everypony below, causing the ground itself to shake with every word.

"We do!" Twilight wasted no time in levitating her and her friends up to face the giant dragon. But carrying four ponies and a baby dragon up the night of the great black dragon proved difficult even for Twilight Sparkle, so the climb was slow. To save a little on time, Twilight thought to begin her explanation as she and the rest d the group floated up to meet Garganda face to face. "We need you to stop! You're going to run into the Crystal Empire if you keep walking that way!"

The right claw of the giant dragon reached down and with one swipe, enclosed Twilight and the rest of the group within his razor sharp claws. The ponies and baby dragon all felt an increase of pressure as they were quickly raised to the skies. Garganda's claw opened up, allowing Twilight and the rest to come face to face with the mountain sized dragon himself. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash quickly rejoined their friends on the open claw.

He exhaled from his cave sized nostrils before locking his eyes on the ponies in his claw. "The. Crystal. Empire. Is. Ordered. To. Be. Destroyed. Nothing. Is. to. Remain."

"What?! B-but there are hundreds of ponies living down there!" Twilight spoke out, outraged by the large dragon's statement.

"Wait, who's orders?" Pinkie thought out loud again.

"Yeah, who ordered you, Gargonda?" Twilight yelled out. "And why would they want to destroy the Crystal Empire."

"The. Crystal. Empire. Is. To. Be. Destroyed" Gargonda repeated himself without answering Twilight's question. "If. Not. Darkness. Will. Consume. All. Those. Are. My. Orders. I. Will. Turn. The. Empire. To. Ash."

"But that' mean all them folks livin' down there would get burnt to a crisp!" Applejack spoke out, the horrible image popped into her head almost immediately.

"Then. So. Be. It." Gargonda huffed, unmoved by the thought of the end result of his actions
, his voice echoed through the tundra and shook the surrounding mountains.

Twilight shook her head, her mane fluffled by the dragon's voice, popped back into place as she glared at the dragon. "But the Empire is a good place! There hasn't been anything dark there since we defeated King Sombra!"

"None. Can. Change. My. Order." Garganda continued to say. "The. Empire. Falls. Today."

It was then that Twilight turned to her friends and gave them a nod. Immediately all six ponies began to levitate up out of Garganda's claw and into the air. As their bodies began to sprout images of their respective cutie marks, names grow out and flow with the pulsing magic radiating from within, and the glow of friendship's magic began to outline the group, a single voice stopped their attack.

"GARGANDA!" A deep voice screamed from miles down, catching the attention of the giant black dragon as well as the six mare's who's glowing light began to feminist as they reverted back to terror normal states.

The mountain sized Garganda then stretched out his free claw and swooped up the one who called out to him. After reeling in his clenched left claw and raising it and the captive held inside up to his face, Garganda opened his claw and was surprised by the contents it held inside. "It. Has. Been. Over. 1000. Years. Since. I. Last. Saw. You..."

The figure now standing in Garganda's left claw was visible to Twilight, Spike, and their friends who were still in the giant dragon's right claw. A male pony, possibly, it was hard to tell with a mask that covered the entire muzzle. Green glowing eyes peaked over the mask while the rest of their head was covered by a helmet. Coated in a black suit of armor that looked similar to Garganda's own black scales. From what the girls could tell, the pony's coat was also black in color with a tinge of gold to it.

"Welcome. Back. Black. Knight. Of. The. Crystal. Empire..." Garganda greeted yhis old friend, confusing all the ponies and baby dragon in his right claw.