Legends Never Die: The Search For Sunny

by bookhorse125

Meeting of the Leaders

The feeling of being away from the clouds and arching bridges and open-to-the-sky nature of Zephyr Heights made Queen Haven feel hopelessly grounded and trapped, a feeling she was all too familiar with, as the lack of being able to fly did tend to have that effect on ponies, her included. Though she would never admit it herself, she supposed this was also part of the reason she pretended to have the ability to fly - she couldn’t stand feeling so helpless and awful. And now, with her daughters on the run and the fate of Equestria in the balance, she was constantly having that feeling, in the sky or not.

As if he could sense what she was thinking, Alphabittle syruptitously gave her a little nudge, to let her know that he was there and that everything would be fine. Simply being in the presence of the unicorn made Haven feel better, and there was always that knowing look in his eyes, the look that made some part of her remember that unicorns were rumored to have the ability to read minds, though she felt like this was something… different. Not a mystical power but a kind of connection - one she wasn’t all too eager to lose anytime soon.

She kept her eyes forward, her expression clear, her head high, shoulders back, wings folded neatly on her back, all her steps careful and deliberate. She didn’t so much as flinch as ponies scrambled to get out of the way ahead of her. Alphabittle would occasionally pause to give a passing pony a small smile or use his magic to help somepony out, but Haven had to act as a queen would, as if she had nothing on her mind other than this mission, this highly important mission. This was how a queen was supposed to act, as she had been taught, and nopony could know that anything might possibly be wrong.

Because something was wrong, something very, very wrong. Haven had risked her position, her reputation, her entire life over sending a letter to her daughters to try and warn them of some mysterious behavior that Phyllis Cloverleaf and Canterlogic had picked up from up north. She wished she could do it again, but right now, she didn’t dare - not unless it was vitally important.

Though after today, she might have something vitally important to tell them.

“It’s going to be fine,” Alphabittle whispered to her, and she felt the tension ease out of her shoulders, unaware that it had been there in the first place - but clearly, he had known. “We’re just going to have a nice, friendly chat, and then we’ll go back home, and you can tell them all about it.”

She jerked her head, and he snapped his mouth closed, looking behind him to see if any of the guards had noticed. Thunder, Zoom, and the other four guards were still standing at rigid attention, marching in eerily perfect formation, giving no indication that they had heard anything. Then again, they look like that all the time, Haven thought ruefully. She took a deep breath as they approached the Canterlogic building, the tallest building in the town, though it paled in comparison to even the smallest of structures in Zephyr Heights. Haven felt a flash of pride for her hometown.

Still… would I throw it all away to be with my girls again?

Yes. Yes I most definitely would.

“All right, what’s up,” Alphabittle suddenly said, jerking her back to reality. They were trotting into the building and were greeted by a large green earth pony with a reddish-brown mane, a collar with a tie, and a Canterlogic staff name tag. Haven squinted to read the neat print on the small card: Toots.

Toots cleared his throat. “If you’ll follow me, Your Majesty and… company, Ms. Cloverleaf’s office is this way.” He quickly mopped the sweat off his forehead and led them to a large cylinder that turned out to be an elevator, and Haven was impressed - it looked much more high-tech than hers, though lacking a certain style that she usually looked for. Thunder and Zoom crowded into the elevator with Haven, Alphabittle, and Toots, but the other four guards were forced to remain on the ground floor.

“Hm?” Haven muttered to Alphabittle under her breath, in answer to his previous comment.

“You’re thinking about something,” he replied, shifting his hooves as much as he could in the cramped space. Thank hoofness he was taller than just about everypony besides Toots - Haven had heard of some nasty incidents that involved unicorns, tight spaces, and visits to the hospital.

“I’m not thinking about anything,” she retorted, her face passive. “Nothing worth mentioning, anyway.”

“Yes, you are.” He flashed her a grin, and she felt her expression melt for a split second before she remembered who she was with and quickly kept her features cool and neutral. “You’ve got your thinking face on.”

“I have a thinking face?” Haven turned to Zoom and Thunder, the latter shrugging while the first remained silent.

“Yup,” Alphabittle reported, a tone of pride in his voice. “It looks something like… this, I think?”

He scrunched up his forehead and stuck out his lip and stared intently at the opposite wall of the elevator (was it really opposite? It was round, so it was all basically the same wall, but… Haven shoved the thought from her mind before she could think about it too much) as if it would yield if he stared at it hard enough.

“Stars above,” Haven groaned, “please tell me I do not look like that.” She turned to the others for confirmation, and found that Toots and Thunder were snickering, and even Zoom had let an amused smile slip through. She huffed and closed her eyes and turned up her nose, as if she were far too superior to even look at them. Still, it was difficult not to let a smile of her own slip out - whenever Alphabittle did an over-the-top and inaccurate yet hilarious impression of anypony or anything (one time he tried to make the face that a tulip would make, but that was a whole other story), she usually found herself laughing, real laughter, and felt her heart warming.

But this was not an empty chamber in Zephyr Heights; this was public, and she must act like a queen here even when she didn’t feel like one - even when she felt like squealing with laughter like a little foal. Especially when she felt like doing that.

The elevator’s glass doors whooshed open, and Toots stepped out first, standing to the side as Haven followed him. The nervous stallion cleared his throat and sent the elevator back down for the rest of her guards before leading the way down the hallway, stopping outside a door with a shiny bronze plaque reading Phyllis Cloverleaf - owner. Toots knocked three times before pushing the door open and entering.

Phyllis Cloverleaf’s office was small but tidy. There was a wooden desk spread over with a thin layer of papers, a few photographs and vases of flowers and other trinkets around the edges. A few chairs were set against the wall opposite it, and behind the desk was a map of the Canterlogic facility. On the wall opposite the door was a bulletin board displaying blueprints and sketches and dozens of Post-It notes on what must be the newest project at the factory. Phyllis herself was sitting at her desk, looking at a picture, which she quickly slammed to the desk to hide it as the others entered. Unfortunately, she placed it with the image facing up, and by the time she realized her mistake and corrected it, Haven caught a glimpse of Phyllis standing with a stallion with a coat the same green color as an apple and a tiny colt with a bright red coat and golden mane.

“Er, thank you, Toots,” Phyllis said, standing and sliding the now face-down picture frame off her desk and into a drawer, pushing the drawer closed. Toots bowed his head and backed out the door, closing it behind him.

As soon as he was gone, Phyllis relaxed. She turned to the leaders of the unicorns and pegasi with a worried look on her face.

“Just so you know, I’ve disabled the security cameras in here and checked it for hidden microphones… multiple times. So anything you say or do in here will be completely confidential, and nopony will know.” She pawed at the floor nervously. “You know. In case there was… anything that you had to say that was… you know.”

Somewhere, deep within her, Haven knew what Phyllis wanted to ask but was too afraid to put into words. Perhaps it was some kind of mother sense, but she said, “We haven’t heard back from them, or seen anything, so, as far as we know, he’s fine. They’re all fine.”

Phyllis sighed in relief and looked at her desk, where a picture of her family was stashed. “I hope so,” she whispered.

“You know them. They’re resourceful, all of them. Izzy’s probably keeping all their spirits up with her little gifts and songs and other things,” Alphabittle tried to console them. The simple attempt was enough to make Haven want to hug him.

Phyllis’ mouth twitched into a small smile. “And Hitch is organizing litter patrols.”

“And Pipp’s recording the entire thing on her cell phone while her sister follows her around, groaning and rolling her eyes,” Haven added, and the three of them smiled. It hadn’t occurred to Haven until this moment how much she missed not just her daughters, but all of their friends - Izzy with her cheerful grin and bouncy attitude, Hitch with his sturdy dependability, Sprout with his genuine earnesty, Flurry Heart with her kindness and willingness to give ponies second chances, and Sunny. Sunny with her hope and faith and inability to give up.

Haven desperately hoped that she would be okay. She had grown quite fond of the earth pony.

“You said you hadn’t heard back from them,” Phyllis questioned, realizing the weight of Haven’s words. “Did you send them a message or something?”

The pegasus and the unicorn exchanged a glance, but Haven knew that this was one earth pony she could trust with her secret. “We did,” she began slowly, lowering her voice and glancing at the door. “We told them about those strange signals you were getting from the Crystal Empire, and that we were doing everything we could. But I haven’t dared to do it again. Besides, there - there hasn’t been much to say.” She shifted her hooves and looked down.

Phyllis nodded, slowly. “Speaking of those, I assume you would like to see them?” Her suspicion was confirmed with a nod from both of them. “Follow me.” However, she stopped at the door, her hoof hovering over the doorknob. “Actually,” she changed her mind, turning back to her desk and rummaging around in it. “If you get a moment, could you send this to Sprout, please? Just to let him know that-” She broke off, giving Haven a blank envelope and hurrying back to the door before she traveled too far down a path of emotions.

Haven looked from the letter to Alphabittle, a question written on her face, and the unicorn gave a small nod. Haven then slipped the letter under her wing and followed Phyllis out of the room.

Author's Note:

WAAAAIT!!!

I know what I said about not releasing a chapter today - but at the last minute, I finished this one, so here it is!

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!

Comments

[AllenVth]

Haven is head over heels for Alphabittle. Zipp would gag at seeing them like this :D

Since Sombra was mentioned, I wonder if he's doing his own thing. Separate from the legion of doom and their two tag-alongs.

[Sunnydlight]

You are quick quick with them! Thank you!

[Phetiamwantip]

That was very quick. And I'm really liking this new chapter.

[Yoshifan30]

So again back in Maretime Bay Queen Haven and Alphabittle are meeting up with Phyllis about the situation again I really like the conversation between Haven and Alphabittle but once they made it Phyllis wanted to show them something what they found back in the Crystal Empire and whatever it is something is wrong there

[Starlight Nova]

How did you make the cover art?

[bookhorse125]

11224016
I drew it. For the ponies, I use Microsoft Paint (it comes free with all Windows computers), and then I put it all together on Canva. It's all free.