They were waiting for her at the Tree of Harmony.
Three creatures - one a pegasus filly with a coral pink coat and a curly blue mane. Her face had an air of innocence surrounding it that allowed her to easily deceive and trick. Her cutie mark was a red castle - a chess piece. Another like a pony but black and with holes in her legs, mane, and wings, which resembled a bug’s. She had a crooked horn and looked like the kind of creature to threaten rather than negotiate. The third had the bottom half of a massive black stallion and the top half of a strange creature. Long arms with claws on the ends, a bearded face, and huge bull horns protruding from the top of his head. There was an ancient look about him that was absent from the other two.
And behind them stood a pale blue unicorn and a purple pegasus - Permafrost and Sour Lavender. Neither of them looked happy about their current position.
The creatures and their companions stood in the shadow of the massive tree, concealed from the silver shred of moon above them, and the pegasi and unicorn that waited in the area around the tree, waiting for something - anything.
A pony stepped out from behind the tree, having just emerged from the secret tunnel underneath the massive tree. She had an orange coat and a pink mane that hung loose in a curl over her shoulder, streaked with bright colors that stood out in the dark night. Her eyes were dull, clouded over, and had a slight red tinge to them. She held something in her hooves - a rusty, cracked greenish bell.
The creatures exchanged a look and emerged from their hiding place. The mare spotted them and trotted over in a stiff manner. The largest creature plucked the bell out of the mare’s hooves, holding it revelently in his claws as if it held all the power in the world. The exiled queen gave a sinister smile and turned to leave.
“Wait!” came a cry from down the hill. All three creatures and three ponies turned to see a large gray unicorn running towards them, a dozen pegasi behind him, all wearing the uniform of a Zephyr Heights royal guard.
“Sunny,” Alphabittle panted as he skidded to a stop in front of the earth pony, “what are you doing? Where are your friends?” She looked back at him blankly. “Sunny?”
Turning now to the three creatures, he lit up his horn and snarled, “What did you do to her?”
“Only what we needed to do,” the exile hissed, taking a step forward, lighting up her own crooked horn a sickly green that cast a glow over the surrounding ponies. The pegasi took a step back.
“Get them!” Alphabittle shouted, leaping forward with his horn ablaze. The exile knocked aside his first blast and turned to the pegasus filly. She nodded and closed her eyes. The earth pony mare suddenly went limp, dropping to the ground as her legs gave out from under her, her eyes closed. The exile used her magic to lift the mare from the ground and held her in front of the three creatures and their two pony companions.
Meanwhile, the pegasi had surrounded the group and were preparing to strike. The large creature noticed and a fireball appeared between his horns, floating just above his head.
“Stay back or she gets it!” the exile snapped. Alphabittle looked at the earth pony, unconscious and suspended in a bone-chilling green light in front of this snarling creature. He didn’t have to question whether or not she would actually do it. With a jerk of his head, the pegasi fell back, though somewhat reluctantly. Zoom and Thunder in particular looked like they were barely refraining from attacking the creatures as they draped the earth pony over the large creature’s back, turned, and left.
“Should we follow them?” Zoom demanded as soon as they were out of earshot.
But Alphabittle didn’t answer, didn’t notice that the guard had asked a question.
Clouds gathered above them, thick and heavy and full of rain, blocking the moon and blotting out the stars. The land turned dark, but the unicorn could still see the three creatures in his mind, tailed by traitors to their land, his friend in their hooves. The pegasi looked up at the sky with worried expressions, though not wanting to leave until they were told to.
“Sir?” Zoom asked again, waving a hoof in front of Alphabittle’s face though he made no response. “What should we do?”
The unicorn was silent, so Zoom addressed the troops. “Sent somepony to Zephyr Heights. The queen needs to be warned of this. In the meantime, we need to get out of the rain.”
“Should we tell her friends?” Thunder asked in an undertone as the others left.
Zoom sighed and turned to face the large mountain in the distance. “We will have to. As of this day, Sunny Starscout is a traitor to Equestria.” Even as the guard said the words, she winced at the severity of them. This would mean that she would have to hunt down a pony she had once considered a good pony, somepony she wouldn’t have hesitated to stand beside. But things had changed. And the change scared her.
Zoom and Thunder walked down to the camp, leaving Alphabittle alone to stare after the small party that had taken his friend. The skies opened up, dumping sheets of rain on the unicorn, but he hardly noticed and certainly cared even less.
“Oh, Sunny,” he said, his voice barely audible. “Sunny, what happened to you?”