//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Reconnecting // Story: The Never-Ending Ending // by 5u0myn0n4 //------------------------------// In the throne room of Opaline's castle, the Unity crystal floated above her magic pool. Opaline continued to pace around, and glare at the crystal. "Your creation continues to taunt me, Twilight Sparkle. It is keeping what's rightfully mine away from me." The crystals continued to float in place, and did not respond or react to any of her words or actions. "Hmph. That centaur took my magic, and I am out of dragon fire. There is nothing I can do to break open the crystal." Opaline used the little magic she had left to peak at what the trio were doing. She watched them use Sparky to torch each other with his dragon fire, and become more powerful. "Grrr. Forget dragon fire for now! Focus, Opaline. keep your eyes on the prize. I must have that magic. But to break through, I need the most potent magic there is! And that magic currently resides in that lowly Sunny. Er-hehehehe. Sometimes the best plan, is an old plan. Time to dial in Sunny Starscout." she said. Opaline spied on Sunny slumped over in her community garden. "If you love to help other ponies so much, then you're going to help me, Sunny." Opaline said. Zipp and Hitch were unsure what they could even do next. Hitch had his head on the desk, as he moped about everything that had gone wrong, whilst Zipp paced back and forth in the office, pondering the best course of action. "What do we do?" Zipp asked. "Give up?" Hitch suggested. "This whole situation is our fault." "Hitch, it's not any of our faults. Pipp and Izzy were taken advantage of, and it isn't fair to hold it against them." Zipp replied "It's not them, it's me. I should've been keeping a closer watch on Sparky. I've been so desperate to get back my free time, I've been lending him to anypony offering to watch him, and because of my recklessness now he's in evil hooves." Hitch said. "Hitch, it's okay. I know things look very dire, but, there isn't any situation that can't be overcome. We just have to figure out how to do it." Zipp said. "Well for starters, we gotta get Sparky back." Hitch said. "Not only is he giving them all the power they could ever want, I miss my dragon son..." Outside the station, Misty was leaning against the front door, peeking through the window. She put a bit too much force on the door, as it swung open, and she fell onto the floor inside. "Woah-oh OOF!" Zipp and Hitch looked over and saw Misty fallen over. "Sorry, I thought it was a pull door." Misty said. "Hey! It's you!" Zipp exclaimed. Hitch sprang up and put hoofcuffs on Misty. "You're under arrest, Misty Bright Dawn! For lying and extortion!" Hitch exclaimed. "Woah woah! Hey! Easy!" Misty cried. "Listen! I'm here to help!" "We don't need your help." Zipp said. "Sure, you don't need my help. You need each other's help! You have to reunite with your friends!" Misty exclaimed. Zipp and Hitch looked at each other, confused. "Why do you care?" Zipp asked. "Because in days of old, when Equestria was in trouble, Twilight Sparkle would unite with her friends and use the magic of friendship to restore peace! Twilight Sparkle and her friends aren't here to do that, but you guys might be capable of the same thing!" Misty said. Hitch and Zipp looked at each other, bewildered. "Say that again, but slower this time." Hitch asked. "Uh... NO! I already said to much!" Misty said, panicking that she'd said something she shouldn't have. "Is this another story that Opaline fabricated?" Zipp asked. "I don't know! I mean, it could be! It's just another bedtime story that Opaline told me! I don't know if it's true! But doesn't it sound nice? Friends coming together to make things right?" Misty said, in a desperate pleading tone. "Curious. What do you make of this, deputy?" Hitch asked. "Hmm. So in times of old, when Twilight Sparkle needed help, she sought help from her friends. But aside from just teamwork, how exactly does uniting make them stronger?" Zipp pondered "I don't know! I don't know how it works! I swear!" Misty said. "Ponies coming together..." Hitch thought. "Could that have something to do with why sometimes our cutie marks glow?" "Cutie mark magic? But what is cutie mark magic?" Zipp pondered. Misty shamefully put her tail over her flank, to hide the fact she didn't have a cutie mark. She wondered if they'd noticed yet. "Well hopefully it'll come to us soon, but in the mean time, we should try to apologize to our friends. Maybe we'll feel that special spark when we make amends." Hitch said. "Just like the spark I felt when I got my cutie mark..." Zipp said. "Wait. Uh, apologizes for speaking out of terms, but who gave you your cutie mark?" Misty asked. "Who gave us? Nopony gave us our cutie marks." Zipp said. "They just... appeared?" Misty asked. "Yeah. How do you think... wait." Zipp and Hitch realized that Misty's flank was blank. Even though Zipp could've sworn she had a cutie mark during the unicorn sleepover. "If your cutie marks just appeared one day... hmm..." Misty thought aloud. But Hitch and Zipp had already turned their attention away from Misty. She saw this as the perfect opportunity to make a break for it, and break these weak hoofcuffs. "Where do you think our friends are, Deputy?" Hitch asked. "Knowing our friends, I think I should be able to confidently pinpoint their locations." Zipp said. "Excellent. I'll put away Misty and-" Hitch looked over, and saw Misty was gone. All that was left were the hoofcuffs, which were broken apart. "D'OH! She got away!" Hitch groaned. "Don't worry about it. Let's just focus on fixing things." Misty watched Zipp and Hitch left the sheriff's office from a distance. "Oh Opaline. You're going to be so proud of me when you see what I've set in motion." Misty said to herself. "And then I know you will bestow to a my cutie mark." In the community garden outside the Crystal Brighthouse, Sunny Starscout sat, and stared at the garden. It was a beacon of ponies coming together and making something beautiful. After witnessing those three villains come together and destroy what she'd built, she needed all the encouragement she could get. Sunny opened her compact mirror and stared at her own reflection. As she stared closer, she heard it speak to her. "Sunny... Sunny..." she heard. Her reflection started moving independent of her own actions. On the other side of the mirror, it was Opaline, using the mirror magic to make herself appear to be a reflection of Sunny. *gasp* "Mirror me! Sorry for not speaking to you in so long." Sunny said. "It's alright, friend. I understand. It's been wild lately." Opaline said. "Well thank goodness you rang. I need answers. I thought releasing the magic would make everyone's lives so much better. And it did. But now three terrifying creatures have taken that magic, and are using it against us. And now they've got Sparky, and have grown more powerful. I'm powerless against them... *sob* "Sunny... that's where you doubt yourself. You're forgetting one important thing." Opaline said. "What's that?" Sunny asked. "You're an alicorn. Alicorns are special, dear. Alicorns hold more power than the rest of all other ponies in Equestria. Why, the power you have outweighs the collective magic they could ever hope to achieve." Opaline said. "But, all that dragon fire they have. They're so much more powerful than anyone." Sunny said. "Sunny, dear. The burning embers of dragon fire are insignificant compared against alicorn magic. The way your wings and horn shine. You've been chosen to wield the most powerful magic of all." Opaline said. *sniff* "You keep telling me to be an alicorn, but I don't even know fully what it means to be an alicorn!" Sunny exclaimed. "I repeat. You are an alicorn! You can fly and shoot laser beams from your FOREHEAD! It's not that complicated!" Opaline exclaimed. Sunny withdrew her head, and teared listening to her mirror self yell at her. "So is that all alicorns are good for? Flying around, hoarding magic, and shooting laser beams?" Sunny asked. "Yes." Opaline replied, bluntly. "So being an alicorn is just about asserting power over others?" Sunny asked. "YES! Actually pretty much exactly! I couldn't have said it better myself! I, I mean, you... me... I'm your reflection... *cough* Anyway, now you're starting to understand! But, if you're still not confident in your own abilities, then I may have a way to perk you up even more." Opaline said In the mirror image, the Unity Crystal slowly materialized in front of Mirror Sunny. "The Unity Crystal? How did you, er I? Did I-" Sunny said, tripping on her words. "If you do not think you can save Equestria on your own, the Unity Crystal holds magic that once belonged to the most powerful alicorn of all. Mmm, but it's locked away in its cold exterior housing. Since you're such a powerful alicorn yourself, you might be able to have some luck breaking through, and tapping into the magic deep inside." Opaline said. "You're not suggesting..." Sunny said, trailing off. "I am, Sunny. You may have lost the Unity Crystal, but I can lead it to you, but only if you're willing to use your alicorn powers to destroy it, and take the magic hiding deep inside!" Opaline said. "NO!" Sunny exclaimed. "NO?!" Opaline revolted back. "Uniting the three pieces to the crystal is what brought back the magic, and united everypony! I wouldn't dream of bringing any harm to it!" Sunny said. "What's so great about the rest of them?!" Opaline exclaimed. "You're perfect! You don't need anypony else!" "I wouldn't have this power were it not for my friends. That's no coincidence! I have faith in myself, and I have faith in my friends!" Sunny said. "If friends are so wonderful, then why did Twilight Sparkle abandon her friends?!" Opaline asked. "She what?!" Sunny exclaimed. "How do you, err I? Who are you?!" "You heard me, she turned her back on everything she believed in, and for what?" Opaline said. "N... no... my dad told me stories of..." Sunny said, biting her lip. "Wait, that voice. Are you... YOU'RE... I know who you are! Have you been spying on me through this mirror?!" "Oh, Sunny. If only you knew the full story of what truly happened." Opaline said. "Twilight Sparkle abandoned the magic of friendship, because even it could not stop the greatest threat of all. She relied on her alicorn magic to be rid of everything." "No..." Sunny said, feeling faint of heart. "Yes. Friendship might be... temporary. But alicorn magic is forever. Now go fulfill your destiny, and undo the sins of that lowly Twilight Sparkle, and claim them magic that is rightfully yours!" "NO!" Sunny exclaimed. "I can't take this any more!" Sunny threw the compact onto the ground in frustration. "Wait, don't go! NO-" Opaline shouted. Sunny stomped on it with her hoof, shattering the mirror. She then ran far way from the community garden. Meanwhile, Izzy Moonbow was slowly trotting through the land between Maretime Bay and Bridlewood. She occasionally glanced at objects she found on the road, but nothing was perking her imagination up. She slumped as she trotted slowly. She wasn't heading anywhere in particular. She just needed space. "Izzy!" cried a distant voice. Izzy turned around, and saw Zipp and Hitch running after her, but she turned her head back around and continued trotting. Zipp leaped up to Izzy and landed next to her. "Izzy, are you alright?" Zipp asked. "I'm fine. I'm just sitting here. No friends, no ideas, just... dirt..." Izzy said, in a slump. "Izzy, forget what I said earlier, I didn't mean it that way. Please don't blame yourself for what happened because of what I said." Zipp said. "It isn't what you said, it's just the truth, I let my excitement get the better of me." Izzy said. "...Izzy..." Zipp said, softly. "I guess I was just so excited to finally have a very special unicorn friend. Our group is fantastic, but being the only unicorn does get lonely. Believe it or not, I was a loner in Bridlewood. I was just too ahead of my time. So from the moment Misty mysteriously approached me, I wanted to see the best in her. I was so excited to meet her, I invited her into the Brighthouse without questioning her mysterious dark aura and unusual mane style. And even after I saw her with that evil alicorn, I just had a feeling that that wasn't her. But I guess it was after all..." "I mean, she suggested that I come see you. I mean, I definitely intended on apologizing anyway, my point is that she was concerned about you, and so are we." Zipp said. "Well then where is she?" Izzy asked. "She... ran off from the police station. But I'm sure we'll find her again. And when we do, maybe you two can make amends." Hitch suggested. "You'd do that?" Izzy asked. Zipp and Hitch nodded. "But how are we going to do anything with those three jerks out there?" Izzy asked. "We have a plan for that too. Come on, Izzy. Our friends need us, and so does the rest of Equestria." Zipp said. Zipp held out her hoof to Izzy. Izzy wiped away her tears, and grabbed Zipp's hoof. Zipp pulled her friend up, and they each exchanged hugs. Zipp, Hitch, and Izzy found Pipp in the bedroom in the Crystal Brighthouse. Before they even made it upstairs, they could hear Pipp weeping. Everypony entered. "Pipp, are you okay?" Hitch asked. "No. I'm not." Pipp said, weeping. "Sis, it's okay. We're going to-" Zipp started. "It's worse than I ever could've imagined! Cozy Glow is the WORST!" Pipp wept. "She was my friend and I trusted her, but then she went ahead with some crazy scheme for world domination! But it gets worse! Check this out, Cozy Glow is GAINING followers! GAINING! She is destroying Equestria! Are ponies actually vibing with this?! What has the world turned into!? AAHHHH!!!" Pipp wept. Zipp was tempted to say something about how Cozy Glow's follow count was the last thing Pipp should be worried about, but she held it back. "Check this out! Look at the quote-unquote content she's posting!" Pipp held her phone in front of Zipp's face, and showed her Cozy's latest Clip-trots. "Thank you everypony for tuning in!" Cozy exclaimed joyfully. "If you haven't already, be sure to like the channel and subscribe to see more videos! Because if you don't, I'll force you to!" Cozy's mane erupted with dragon fire. "And don't you even think about leaving any negative feedback! Because I know where you all live, I will hunt you down and do horrible things to you! Teehee! Anyway. I love all my friends~" The Cliptrot autoplay immediately played another video from Cozy Glow. "Thank you everypony for one gazillion subscribers!" Cozy said cheerfully! "I have something very special planned for my one gazillion subscribers special video!" Cozy said, holding a very large knife. Everypony gasped in fear seeing Cozy holding that knife. "Sparky! NO!!!" Hitch cried. "I'm going to... EAT THIS DELECIOUS CAKE commemorating my achievement!" Cozy cheered. "I'm gonna have cake, AND EAT IT TOO! But it's just for me. What? Did you reach one gazillion subscribers? I don't think so." "Her scare tactics are working! She has no dislikes, and she has more followers than anypony!" Pipp exclaimed. "Remember everypony. I'm your Empress of Friendship, and anypony who stands in my way will get seriously cooked! WAHAHAHA!!!" Cozy laughed. The camera panned over to show Sparky in a little metal cage, with his limbs tied up. They were using the poor baby dragon for his powerful flame breath. Every spout of dragon fire left him tired. "My baby..." Hitch said, in shock and horror. Pipp had had enough, and closed the app. "I introduced her to all of this, and look what she's done! She's using social media to spread her negative influence, and it's my fault for buying her that phone in the first place." Pipp said. Pipp pressed her head against her pillow and wept some more. "Pipp, listen. None of this is your fault. And I don't blame you for any of this. She's a deceiver. She had us all fooled." Zipp said. Pipp said something muffled into her pillow. "Well, if it's bothering you so much, then why don't we get out and do something about it?" Zipp suggested. "What can I do? My posts barely get hoof taps in the double digits any more." Pipp said. "No, not like that. We need you to come out of here so we can stop them and save Equestria together." Zipp said. "You mean leave the Bright House and confront her? Why do you need me?" Pipp asked. "Because you're my sister, and my best friend. Anything is possible when we come together." Zipp said. "Sure. So am I just another link in your chain?" Pipp asked. "No, I mean, you are... but, there's more to it than that. Please..." Zipp looked away as her face watered. She then sniffed her nose, and turned to face Pipp again.. "There's a lot I still don't know about this whole magic thing. I just know that when friends come together, something special happens. Not just in a "two heads are better than one" sort of thing. But something... magical. I don't understand the mechanism of how it works, but it's real. So please, Pipp. We can't do this without you..." "I don't know. You sound pretty sure, but how can I be sure that- hmm? Hang on, I got an incoming video call." Pipp answered her phone, and it was her Pippsqueaks. "Pipp! Help! You gotta do something!" Peach Fizz pleaded. "We don't like this Cozy Glow pony!" Glory cried. "She's really scary! We're afraid to do anything online!" Seashell said. "Come back, Pipp! We need you!" they cried together. *gasp* "The Pippsqueaks! They're counting on me." Pipp said. The Pippsqueaks in distress turned out to be the main motivator she needed get up and want to do it. *sniff* "Okay, sis. Whatever plan you have, I'm game. Anything to make things right." Pipp said. "Thanks, Pipp." Zipp replied. Zipp lent a hoof to Pipp, and pulled her out of bed. Pipp hugged her older sister, and she hugged back. "Right, so the plan. We're sort of making things as we go. Right now what's important is getting us all back together. Now where's Sunny?" Zipp asked. "Sunny's not with you? Well she's isn't in the Bright House with me." Pipp said. "If Sunny's not anywhere in the Bright House, where else could she have gone?" Izzy asked. Everypony stopped to think for a moment. That's when Zipp noticed Hitch was uncomfortably quiet during this moment of thinking. "Any idea, Sheriff?" Zipp asked. "Well, there's one other place I can think of. It's a bit... uncomfortable." Hitch said.