//------------------------------// // Prologue: Incoming Rain // Story: Sunny With A Chance Of Rain // by Cloudline Dasher //------------------------------// Sunny With A Chance of Rain Written By: Cloudline Dasher Prologue: Incoming Rain /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ “Sunny, Sunny!” A lilac unicorn gleefully called out, knocking thrice with every repeat of her friends name. Without any sign of annoyance, the door opened following a giggling mare, “Izzy, I get it! I'm here!” “What took you so long, silly filly? We have to meet up with Pipp and Zipp today!” The orange alicorn steadied the saddlebag on her back, before motioning for town, which Izzy happily trotted along side her, “I just wanted to grab a few things. We're going to be in Zephyr heights for awhile, so I needed to pack a few things.” “Their mom is the queen!” Izzy giggled, hopping a few steps ahead before Sunny sped to keep up, “They said they will have everything ready, toothbrushes, fur brushes, tennis balls! You name it!” Sunny softly smiled at her unicorn friend, giving a small shake of her head, “Some things they will never be able to supply.” Izzy skidded to a halt, “what do you mean?” The unicorn turned just in time to see Sunny gently pulling a framed picture from her bag. Izzy ran her side up against Sunny's to peer over her shoulder. Her mouth formed a small 'O' as she scanned the picture of an older male stallion, A young filly draped over his back. Sunny couldn't keep the emotion out as she spoke, “I didn't want to go anywhere without him.” For a moment Izzy remained silent, but slowly placed her hoof on Sunny's, “You don't need a picture to have him with you though.” Izzy smiled softly, bringing her navy blue hooves up to point at Sunny's chest, “He's in there silly! Hello Sunny's dad!” Sunny couldn't help but giggle, barely able to stave off a tear that dared to fall. With a quick nod and a bout of determination, Sunny returned the photo to her saddlebag, “You're right, you're totally right! But... it does help to have his picture nearby.” /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Pipp as always, had her phone held high. Earth ponies watched in confusion as she appeared to be speaking to her phone with no response, “And again my little Pippsqueaks! I'm broadcasting once more from our new friends the Earth ponies. So make sure if you ever find yourself in Maretime Bay, come on down and say hello! This is Pipp, and make sure to like and subscribe.” “Finally!” Zipp groaned as Pipp stored away her phone, giving her an eye roll for good measure. “I know you don't like 'how much'” Pipp air quoted with her hooves, “I stream on my phone, but now is more important than ever! I can use my popularity to familiarize Zephyr heights with ponies of the world! Bring them all together and do our part!” “Sounds like more of an excuse to stream instead of spending time with me or mom...” Zipp frowned, giving a frustrated huff. Pipp gave an eye roll of her own before her grin twisted mischievously, “I did set up that account for you. If my 'little' sister wants my attention so badly, you could stream yourself and we could collab!” “Why are you saying 'little' sister for? I'm the older mare here!" Zipp rose an accusing brow, looking to her as if she lost it. "Hey, when we were measured by Sunny and Izzy, my wing span was larger, so that means I'M the big sister!" Groaning, Zipp had to stop herself from facehoofing, "Our wings, skeletal wise, were the same. You're just poofy sis!" “Semantics!” Pipp giggled, covering her mouth for a second, “All I'm saying is if you stream with me, then we can spend time together 'and' help our little ponies at the same time. You know, kill two birds with one stone and all that?” “Isn't that a little cruel to the birds?” A male voice intervened with a chuckle, clearly showing he knew they had been joking. At least, he hoped. “Hitch!” The sisters cheered as he pulled up a seat and joining the two. “Izzy went to fetch Sunny, they should be here any time now.” Hitch gave a reassuring smile. Within a flash, Pipp's phone was right back out, immediately speaking happily to the void, “Well, isn't it my favorite sheriff, Hitch Trailblazer! Once again looking out for all of Maretime Bay and even more so for his friends! Be sure to check out the sheriffs office to see this handsome gentlecolt up close and personal!” Red filled Hitch's cheeks, trying to hide his face with his hoof. A laugh emanated from nearby as it drug their attention to two mare's, “Pipp, you're embarrassing the good sheriff!” Hitch turned to see Sunny and Izzy approaching, “Sunny! I'm not embarrassed, I'm uh... I just had to chase down a thief, that's it! I've been busy all morning setting the law right with Maretime Bay!” Suddenly a red pony came trotting up, a cat on his back, “Managed to get that cat out of the tree, Hitch.” All the girls were knowingly grinning at Hitch, making him fidget in his seat, “Sprout! Good job, now make sure to keep that thief nice and locked up as well.” “Thief, what thief?” Sprout rose a confused brow. Hitch chuckled nervously, jumping from his seat and leading Sprout away with a hoof around his deputy's shoulder, lowering his voice, “Deputy, Just go and check on the thief, nudge nudge, hint hint.” “Ohhhh, I gotcha, the thief!” Sprout smiled proudly, pulling away from Hitch's hoof, “I'll get right on that!” Smiling to no one in particular, Hitch whispered, “Maybe he isn't all hopeless.” Meanwhile, just as Sprout got out of earshot, he mumbled, “Hitch is loosing it, arresting thieves and not telling me. Whose watching the thief if neither one of us is there?” /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Meanwhile in Zephyr Heights: “Mom, why are we here?” An older mare turned to her daughter. The mother was an apricot orange mare with soft crinkles next to her bright emerald green eyes. Her mane still clearly pink, but with the offset of gray throughout, “My sweet Moon Mist, I want you to meet somepony very special. They are arriving today by chariot.” “By chariot? This is the new international station. Who could we possibly be meeting from out of town?” The older mare simply smiled, looking at her beautiful and curious daughter. The younger mare had been her pride and joy for as long as she had been alive. The mare was a brilliant blue, while her mane shared in her mothers pink. Pain seemed to suddenly strike her features, making Moon Mist look to her in concern. “I'm personal friends with the queen and she graciously set this meeting up for us. There is something I kept from you for such a long time sweetie and it is finally the day I should tell you.” “W-what is it, mom?” Moon tried to catch her moms gaze, but couldn't. Moon was about to say something again, but her mom managed shake the sadness from her face, “It'll have to wait just a tad longer. I'll have to explain it to her as well.” “O-ok...” Moon Mist studied her mom in hopes of figuring out anything else, but failed to do so. She merely remained quiet as they began to patiently wait. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ “It was nice of your mom to give us all a place to stay till the light house can be rebuilt.” Sunny grinned, nudging Pipp and Zipp. “No big!” Zipp shrugged, “You needed a place to stay and now we can teach you how to fly.” “Yeah!” Pipp nodded in earnest, “Mom is really trying to do her part too! Ever since trade routes were established with the other tribes, everything has gotten so much better!” Sunny groaned as the chariot passed a large billboard with her face plastered on it, “I just wish I wasn't the face of this whole unity.” “heh, you are a celebrity now, Sunny!” Hitch chuckled, patting her rather hard on the back, “Guess that's punishment enough, I don't have to put you in prison now, I suppose.” “Oh har har, Hitch...” Sunny rolled her eyes, leaning her elbow against the side of the chariot, her chin landing in her hoof, “But seriously, just because I'm an alicorn now, it makes me royalty or something? Princess Sunny Starscout, what a joke!” “Don't feel down, Sunny!” Zipp stepped forward, draping her hoof over the orange mare's shoulders, “You brought together the tribes and brought back magic! I feel like you would have been a celebrity in any regard.” “They are demanding to build me a castle and they want me to meet some dignitaries.” Sunny flatly stated, “I don't know anything about politics or how to run things...” Stepping forward, Zipp removed her hooves only for Pipp's to take their place around her shoulders, “Mom said she'll help you with all that. Don't worry...” “She will?” Sunny rose up, her eyes landing on Pipp's. “Yeah, she's run Zephyr heights for a long time and she wants you to succeed. Mom wants all this to succeed. She's been really supportive since the return of magic. She even apologized to all the pegasi for lying all this time and gave them the option to keep us in power. Normally she would have made something up to um...” “Twist the truth?” Zipp chuckled, smiling knowingly to her sister. “Yeah, that.” Sunny spiraled around and threw her hooves around Pipp and Zipp, “I know one thing, as long as I have my new friends, then everything will be alright.” “You have that right!” Hitch chimed in, joining in on the embrace, “We've got your back, Sunny Starscout!” /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ The chariot came to a soft landing and they gave their thanks to the two chariot drivers. Sunny was pretty sure they were the two that had arrested them the first time they were in Zephyr Heights. She shrugged it off as they all grabbed their belongings. They were about to start walking when two ponies stopped in front of them. “Uh... can we help you?” Hitch stated, turning to Pipp and Zipp to see them just as confused. “Sunny Starscout, my how you've grown. You've become such a beautiful mare.” All Sunny could do was stare for a moment. The older mare seemed familiar in some odd way, which only added to her befuddled state. Behind the older mare stood a younger one, but probably a bit more shy as she gave a quick wave from behind the other mare. “How rude of me.” The older mare cleared her throat before continuing, “My name is Sky Liner, and this is my daughter Moon Mist.” “D-do we know you?” Sunny stuttered. “No, sadly, but maybe this will help?” Sky softly stated as she reached into her own saddlebag, pulling out a small photo album. She wasted no time as she flipped to the first page and placing it on the ground, making sure both Sunny and Moon could see. Everypony's eyes went wide at what they saw. It was a picture of four individual ponies. Two adults and two newborns. The first adult was a fairly young Argyle Starshine and his lips were lovingly pressed against the cheek of a mares. The mare was a pegasus that definitely looked like Sky Liner. In their hooves were two fillies, one a pegasus and the other an earth pony. “M-mom? What is this?” Moon Mist stepped forward, just as confused as Sunny had been. “Argyle Starshine...” Sky happily hummed his name, “He was a young historian that wanted so desperately to learn from the pegasi. I fell in love with him instantly, but at the time, the queen; Zipp and Pipp's grandmother; had him arrested. He was released far away from Zephyr Heights, but that didn't stop him. I spent months just sneaking him books from the library. It wasn't long before you two lovely fillies were born. With the separated ponies, we couldn't keep it up for long. We couldn't just let you two be raised out there in the wild. Reluctantly, I took Moon Mist to live with me in Zephyr Heights and Argyle took Sunny Starscout to live in Maretime Bay.” “I-I have a mom?” Sunny's raised her gaze from the picture, still unable to process any of it. Her mind was racing a mile a minute. “A-and a sister... apparently...” Moon Mist softly said, touching her hoof tenderly to Sunny's. For the first time since the bombshell of news, Sunny's mind calmed for a second, sporting a small grin at her sister, “I never knew! I mean, dad never said anything!” Sky Liner sighed, turning the page to another picture of the four of them having a picnic. The two fillies nestled side by side, nursing on bottles between their hooves, “That was what your father and I agreed upon, to never say anything unless the feud among the tribes stopped.” “So where is he, am I going to get to meet him too? Father... dad... uh that feels weird to say.” Moon Mist grinned, taking Sunny's hoof, “I would love to meet him.” Sunny's ears darted flat against her skull, tears daring to well up in her eyes. “S-sunny? Where's your father?” Sky softly asked, fear striking her very being. Slowly reaching around to her saddle bag, Sunny pulled out the picture of her and her dad, gently splaying it next to the album, “He went on a trip out of town. He often promised that he was going to bring all the ponies together and that meant continuing his research. A search party came back and... they had found him...” Tears landed on Sunny's hooves that weren't her own, her head jerked up to see a steady stream flowing down Moon Mist's cheeks, “Moon Mist?” “Eep!” Sunny yelped as Moon scooped her into a hard embrace. “I'm so sorry Sunny!” “Hey, It's ok, I.” Sunny started, running her hoof softly up Moon's back. “No it's not!” Moon snapped, making a few passerby's glance their way, “I had Mom this whole time. You were alone! This stupid feud kept us separated, and we could have all been there for one another.” Any hope of feigning off tears ceased as they rolled down Sunny's cheeks. She deepened the embrace, barely managing to squeeze out words, “But we're here now and I'm never letting you go!” A soft hoof could be felt on her shoulder, Sunny pulled only slightly away so her eyes could meet Sky Liner's, “I know this is a lot to just suddenly have a mother you never knew you had, but I will always be here for you from now on, both of you. That's a promise, hoof to heart!” Sunny's heart skipped a beat at the familiar promise, giving a short broken chuckle. Reaching forward, she managed to grab her mom's forehoof, pulling her into an embrace along with her newfound sister, “Hoof to heart, mom.”