//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: The Most Important Day of Our Lives // Story: The Never-Ending Ending // by 5u0myn0n4 //------------------------------// At Maretime Bay, preparation was underway for what was sure to be the event to their lifetimes. Sunny Starscout rode her roller skates across town, and yelled into a megaphone. "Attention everypony of Maretime Bay! Emergency evacuation is underway! Please, follow our instructions and evacuate the Bay!" Sunny declared. "Everypony please! Mares and foals first!" Lines of ponies lined up and were led by Sprout to the evacuation point. "Everypony please evacuate into the underwater bunker." Sprout announced. "Why did Canterlogic build a bomb shelter under Maretime Bay?" Hitch asked. "Because we thought we might need it someday, Sherlock. And look, it's coming in handy finally. So hush." Sprout said. "Um, how long are we going to have to be down there?" Posey asked. "As long as it takes." Hitch said. "You guys are going to fight the bad guys?" Dahlia asked. "We're going to fight them?" Pipp asked as well. "I wanna see that!" Windy exclaimed. Suddenly, the orderly line became less orderly, as chatter came from the crowd. Phyllis stepped up and spoke to everypony. "Please everypony. Canterlogic's state of the art underwater bunk was designed to protect everypony from any great magical or flying threats. You'll all be safe in there for weeks. There's weeks worth of food and rations for everypony." Phyllis said. Few ponies were keen on listening to Phyllis's orders. Few ponies listened to anything said by Canterlogic any more anyway. "Sunny. Say something." Hitch whispered to Sunny. "Attention everypony! The events that will transpire today shall decide all of our fates! Your magic has been taken by creatures who wish to hoard it all to themselves. But there is hope! Now please, listen to me." As Sunny spoke, her body and mane started to glow. She floated up slightly, and her alicorn wings and horn appeared. The sight dazzled everypony in Maretime Bay. *gasp* "Sunny Starscout is the alicorn?!" Toots exclaimed. "The alicorn is here to save us!" Sweets added. "Alicorn! Alicorn! Alicorn!" everypony chanted. Sunny suddenly became overwhelmed, and frustrated with everypony. She'd had the last of this alicorn worshiping nonsense. "My name... is SUNNY!!!!" Sunny exclaimed. Sunny's shouting startled everypony, and made them hush. Sunny felt a tint of remorse yelling at everypony like that. She was almost about to tear up and leave, but fortunately, she didn't have to. "What she meant was, her name is Sunny Starscout!" Pipp exclaimed. Sunny looked over and saw Pipp standing on her main stage, holding her lucky microphone. "Speak to me Maretime Bay! Who's the pony who brought you the best smoothies this side of Equestria?" "Sunny Starscout!" Hitch shouted from somewhere in the crowd. "Who's the pony who saved Maretime Bay from Canterlogic and Emperor Sprout's tyrannical conquest?!" Pipp exclaimed. "SUNNY!" Hitch, and a few more ponies shouted. "Wait, my what?" Sprout said. "Who's the pony who believed in friendship enough to bring magic back to Equestria?!!!!" Pipp shouted. "SUNNY!" shouted even more ponies. "Who's the pony that's gonna kick butt and bring back your magic?!!!!!" Pipp exclaimed. "SUNNY! SUNNY! SUNNY!" everypony cheered. Everypony in Maretime Bay cheered Sunny's name. Hearing everypony cheer her name was exactly the motivation Sunny needed. Pipp flew next to Sunny, and smiled at her. She handed her the lucky microphone, so that she could finish things off. "Yes, I helped bring back the magic, but it was all of you for believing too! Sure, these alicorn powers make me stand out, but I was given them for a reason. And that's to protect all of you, and to protect harmony! And everypony can help too, by hiding away in Canterlogic's underwater bunker! Please, I know it doesn't sound appealing, but those powerful creatures are on their way here, and the last thing I could bear to see is any one of you getting hurt! So please." "If Sunny says it, then I'm all for it!" Posey shouted. "And so am I!" the real Windy added. Ponies followed Phyllis and Sprout's directions to the tunnel leading to the underwater bunker. "Take care, Jazz and Rocky. "You sure you'll be okay?" Rocky asked. "I promise you, things are going to be okay, and Mane Melody will we better than ever once it's repaired." Pipp said. "Aren't you anxious, Pipp?" Jazz asked. "I am, but with my friends, and Sunny's alicorn powers, we hardly got anything to worry about." Pipp said, hiding her nervousness. "The same goes to you, Pippsqueaks. Pipp pipp hooray." Pipp said to Sea Shell, Glory, and Peach Fizz. Hitch asked his critter friends to enter the bunker as well, but they didn't want to be hunkered down either. But after enough persuading, they listned to him and followed everypony inside. With everypony in Maretime Bay safely underwater, that just left Sprout and Phyllis. "Sprout, please come in. She said it was going to be dangerous." she said. "Mom, I have to stay up here and help them." Sprout said. "Just go in. We'll come through the other entrance and let you all know when things have cleared up." "Alright, but please come back in one piece, son. I don't know what I'll do if my little foal got hurt." Phyllis said, squishing Sprout's cheeks. "Okay Mom, okay. Just go." Sprout said, embarrassed. Phyllis was indeed the last to enter. Once she was inside, Sprout tapped a button on his sash, which remotely operated the tunnel, and the entrance retracted back into the bay. "With everypony safely evacuated from Maretime Bay, that just leaves us." Hitch said. "Yes. We have me, Hitch, Zipp, Pipp, and Sprout. Are we forgetting anypony?" Sunny asked. "Where's Izzy?" *honk* Everypony looked up and saw Izzy's flying tram car come in, and make a smooth landing on main street. "Hey guys. I brought the flying tram cart of friendship!" Izzy said. "Powered by Izzy's lantern of magic!" "Izzy it's... spectacular." Pipp said. "Why though?" Hitch asked. "Because, should worse come to pass, at least we have a stylish escape round. So long as the lantern glows, this puppy can fly across Equestria!" Izzy said. "But that's not the main thing. I hauled with it a ton of gear to help protect us! Come take a look!" Izzy suited everypony up with gear. She rummaged through her extension collection of junk, and found the perfect gear for her friends to arm themselves with. Everypony wore knee braces, and helmets for protection. But that wasn't all. Zipp wore her VR headset but would pull it over her head to see things clearly with her own eyes. Pipp wore a pink helmet, knee braces, and was equipped with a large mallet made from scraps. Izzy dual wielded golf clubs, and showed off her ferocity by standing in fighting pose with them. Hitch wore his blue mask and Sparky's blanket as a cape, to signify his determination to get back Sparky. And then there was Sunny, who was mostly herself. Her alicorn powers were about the only offensive she needed. Sprout was just about done reinstalling all the unicorn and pegasus traps in Maretime Bay. Hopefully this time they would be used to bring those three to justice. He gave Hitch the signal to indicate that they were good to go. "Are we ready to kick butt?!" Izzy asked. "YEAH!" everypony cheered. "Are we ready to bring back the magic and save Equestria?!" Izzy shouted. "Are we ready to beat down a filly?!!!" Izzy exclaimed. "Yeah-wait. When you put it that way, it feels a little awkward." Pipp said. "Do we have to like, hit her with these?" "We'll use brute force as a last resort if we have to. Let's mainly just focus on extinguishing their dragon fire, getting Sparky away from them." Hitch said. "Sounds like we have our plan, and everything set up." Sunny said, confidently. With prep work just about done, Sunny and friends looked at each other, affirmatively, but nervous. "Alright. Now we lure them here to Maretime Bay. And just when they think they have the upper hoof, I use my alicorn magic to extinguish their dragon fire." Sunny said. "And then we use the magic of friendship to rid that centaur of his stolen magic, and give it back to everypony." Zipp said. "Are you sure about this, Sunny?" Pipp asked. "Have some faith, sis. We got this." Zipp said. "She's right. I mean, I suppose there's no turning back now anyway." Sunny said. "Um... It's going to be fine. Alicorn magic is stronger than dragon fire after all." Sunny said. "How do you know that?" Hitch asked. "Um... somepony told me so..." Sunny replied, nervously. "Well be better hurry. We may have our cutie mark magic now, but who knows how much longer that'll last." Zipp said. "Right. We've been so focused on Cozy Glow, I suppose we haven't thought enough about that dark alicorn Opaline. We still don't know where she's taken the Unity Crystals, or what she plans on doing with them. But she's definitely up to no good." Sunny said. "Well if you wanna know what Opaline's done with the Crystals, why don't we just ask Misty?" Izzy suggested. "That's... not a bad idea. Hey Misty. You wouldn't happen to know... where is she?" Zipp asked, but something was amiss. Everypony looked around, but Misty seemed to have left them. There was no trace of Misty. "That unicorn just never stays in one place for long, does she?" Izzy asked rhetorically. "Okay... aside from her, how's everything look?" Sunny asked. "The traps are set, and you ponies are ready for battle!" Sprout replied. "Perfect. You four are to stick by my side. Sprout, you'll be support to operate those anti-pegasus catapults. We'll unite hoof to heart, and show them what for!" Sunny said. With an affirmative nod, Sprout trotted off to watch the perimeter of Maretime Bay. "So... how exactly do we lure them here?" Hitch asked. "Huh. I suppose we should've thought about that before we did a full day's worth of prep work." Zipp said. "Leave that to me, ponies. I still have direct contact with Cozy Glow. So I'll just DM her something that ought'a rustle her feathers." Pipp said. Pipp pulled out her phone and began typing up a storm of a message. "Hey, Cozy Glow. You are a... lying conniving little pile of dirt, and you're going to pay for misusing my trust." Pipp typed frantically. "And... SEND!" Pipp said, tapping her phone. "Now we wait for her to take the bait, send a salty reply, and anticipate her inevitable arrival." Pipp put away her phone, but then immediately felt a jolt under her wing. "Wow. That was fast. Let's see. She says..." Pipp read Cozy's reply, and was in utter shock and disgust. "OH MY HOOFNESS!" she exclaimed. "WHAT?! What'd she say, Pipp!?" Zipp asked, concerned. "I... refuse to read that. I hope that catchphrase doesn't trend." Pipp said. "Wait, so she's not coming?" Hitch asked. Pipp nodded no. "Well, if that won't get their attention, what will? What's something they want?" Zipp pondered. Everypony pondered about how to lure the trio to Maretime Bay. "What do they want? Magic, right?" Sunny pondered. "And what do we have? Only the most magical and powerful alicorn in Equestria!" Izzy said, pointing both her front hooves at Sunny. "She's right. What if you sent a photo of me as an alicorn to them? That's sure to get their attention." Sunny said. "Are you sure, Sunny?" Hitch asked. "Wouldn't it be better if we caught them by surprise?" Zipp said. Sunny partly agreed, but she was strangely confident. "We're going to have to face them sooner than later, and we're already ready. Do it." Sunny said. Pipp nodded. Pipp pointed her camera at Sunny, and snapped a photo of her as an alicorn. She sent a photo of alicorn Sunny to the legion of doom with the caption. "You guys want magic, well my friend Sunny's got ALL the magic." "And.... sent! Now that that's sent, let's see how long it takes for them to respond." Pipp said. As soon as Pipp sent the message, Sunny felt a little... uneasy. "Sunny, are you alright?" Zipp asked. "Just um... butterflies in my stomach." Sunny replied. "Hmm?" Meanwhile, the trio of baddies continued to bore themselves in the Zephyr Heights throne room. Cozy sat upside down on the throne while she scrolled through her feed. Tirek barely found sanity by resuming his weight lifting hobby. And Chrysalis practiced her changeling magic. Out of sheer curiosity, she tried to see how Sparky reacted to the different creatures she transformed into. Finally, they would catch their break when Cozy's phone vibrated. *ping* Cozy Glow's phone got a notification. She checked what it was, and it was a direct message from one Pipp Petals. She opened the message, and what she saw made her sit up in shock. "WOAH! What in Equestria is..." Cozy said to herself. Her shock quickly turned to glee as she started giggling maniacally. Tirek, Chrysalis, and Sparky all looked at Cozy, confused. "What is it?" Tirek asked. "What's got you laughing this time?" Chrysalis asked. "You want alicorn magic? Looks like I found the alicorn magic." Cozy said, grinning. Cozy showed her phone to the two baddies, and they were intrigued. "She's an alicorn? How did I not notice earlier." Tirek asked. "She may have alicorn magic for now. But she won't have it for much longer, ONCE WE GET OUR HOOVES ON THAT ALICORN!" Cozy said, with her mane and eyes erupting in dragon fire. Back at Maretime Bay, the mane 5 felt the ground shake, and the wind start to pick up. They knew what tremendous force was coming. A portal opened up behind the walkway above main street. One of them used their powers to destroy the walkway, and clear their path. Out stepped Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow, and floating behind them in a metal cage, was Sparky Sparkeroni. Cozy's and Chrysalis' manes were a fiery blaze with dragon fire. The mane 5 gulped as they braced themselves for the impact. Meanwhile, Misty watched the scene unfold from just around the corner. As soon as she saw the legion appear, she used her necklace to ping in Opaline. "Opaline! Opaline!" Misty exclaimed. But Opaline could not hear Misty, as she was napping, and lost in one of her dreams again... . . . (Inside Opaline's dream): In the central valley, Princess Twilight Sparkle stood opposed to a tall dark alicorn wearing a black cloak. The alicorn unhooded themselves, and showed their face. "Face it, it's over Twilight Sparkle. Your harmony and unity and friendship will always fail." Opaline said. "You went through the trouble of being rid of Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow, yet all I had to do was harm one earthpony, and your entire utopia eventually came crumbling down. With the ponies in shambles, I shall stand above them all, as the most powerful alicorn of them all! Now all that's left is your magic, and nothing will stand in my way." "You're one wicked evil horse, Opaline. The thought that a pony would be willing to directly harm the lives of many ponies for the taking their magic is utterly disgusting." Twilight said. "Sure, my plan has recently hit a little resistance, but it will all be worth it once I finish destroying everything you have created." Opaline said. "I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you never get a hold of any more magic! Even if it means... means..." Opaline witnessed Twilight whisper something under her breath, but she couldn't quite make out what it was. Twilight took one more step forward, and her eyes and horn glowed an unusual deep purple glow. "Wait, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Opaline exclaimed. The glow grew brighter, and Opaline felt an extreme heat emanating from Twilight's spell. "NO! STOP!" she exclaimed. "I'll do whatever it takes to prevent you from ever getting your hooves on magic ever again! I'm keeping the magic safe, so THAT YOU CAN NEVER HAVE IT!" "NO!!!!" A huge white flash of light engulfed everything. "Opaline! Opaline!" Misty's shouting eventually reached Opaline, and woke her up. "Huh? What?! You interrupted my nap! What is it, Misty!?" Opaline snarled. "I got some good news about Sunny Starscout! She's-" Misty started. "She's what? A stubborn mule with limitless power and yet refuses to stretch her power?!" Opaline asked. "No, not at all. Look!" Misty exclaimed. Misty pointed her amulet over, showed Opaline Sunny and friends in Maretime Bay. "Look, it's Sunny and her friends! They're coming together and opposing those meanies who took the dragon fire!" Misty said. Opaline peered into the vision and witnessed the confrontation as well. "It's just as you said. Friends coming together to stop a big opposing force!" Misty said. "Excellent." Opaline said slowly, but gleefully. "It's exciting, is it not? So, who are you rooting for?" Misty asked. Opaline laughed with a fiendish sneer, not what Misty was expecting. "It doesn't matter who wins. We just need at least one opposing side to fall. Whoever does, I already have it planned so that either side will assist me in my plan." Opaline said. "That's uh... very smart, Opaline. A win win scenario for you." Misty said. "But, what about Spark- I mean, your dragon? Don't you want Sunny to win so you "I've come to realize that the dragon is more trouble than its worth. I have my eyes on the prize, and Sunny Starscout is going to give it to me. I will not let it evade me again." Opaline said, holding the Unity Crystal in her hoof. "I hope Sunny Starscout has strong enough legs to keep standing by the time I arrive. I'd hate to have to force the magic out of her." The feed cut out. The legion of doom stepped forward slowly. Sunny and friends hid their fear, but showed visible shaking. "Hoof to heart..." Sunny whispered. The trio halted in place, and took in their observations. "Honestly, this is just sad." Tirek said to them. "This is the best Equestria has to offer now?" Chrysalis asked. "Just a bunch of misfits?" "Trying to lure us with a doctored photo." Cozy said, holding her phone out to Sunny. "That's a whole other level of pathetic, even for you guys." Izzy interjected. "But Sunny's not a doctor! She's a real alicorn! See..." Izzy and everypony looked at Sunny, and noticed her wings and horn went away. "Looks like an ordinary earthpony to me." Chrysalis said. "Psst. Sunny, now's not the time to hide the alicorn flare." Zipp whispered. "Now's the time to show off your alicorn powers!" Hitch added. "I... can't." Sunny said. "Why not?" Zipp asked. "I want to, but for some reason I can't. I'm... I'm... scared." she said. "Well, stow your fear. You have to." Zipp said. "Pah. This was hardly worth the hassle of coming." Tirek said. "Well since we're here, we ought'a torture them in some way." Chrysalis said. "Are they even worth blasting? What harm could they bring?" Tirek asked. "You know how these things work. The whole hero complex. They're most likely to stop if they got the chance. So let's rob them of that chance." Cozy said. "Alright, you blast them." Chrysalis said. "And waste all of my dragon fire? You do it." Cozy demanded "Why don't we make Mr. I'm Too Good For Dragon Fire Because I Can Eat Magic do it?" Chrysalis suggested. "I thought we agreed that there would be no name calling!" Tirek bickered. The legion argued over who should blast them. "Sunny, now! Please!" Pipp exclaimed. "I..." Sunny bit her lips and panicked. "Don't worry fillies. I'll make this RELETIVELY PAINFUL!!" Cozy Glow charged up her dragon fire. "SUNNY NOW!" Cozy fired a huge fireball at the gang. The blast impacted and exploded. Sparky covered his eyes and wept. Misty watched the scene unfold in horror. But inside the dust, there was something glowing. Out emerged Sunny in her alicorn form! "WHAT THE?!" Tirek exclaimed. "She's... she is an alicorn?" Chrysalis asked. "No, she's a... light-.... corn?" Cozy said, confused. "I've never seen any magic resembling this before." Tirek said. Sunny took a step forward and confidently opposed the legion of doom. "Relinquish all that you have taken from Equestria! That includes all the magic you've robbed, and Sir Sparky Sparkeroni!" Sunny projected. "Grr. Do you think we are intimidated by this!!?" Chrysalis exclaimed. "You think you're powerful? I HAVE POWER TOO!" Chrysalis fired a stream of dragon fire at Sunny, but she whipped her head, and deflected the dragon fire with her alicorn magic. "What the?!" Chrysalis exclaimed, worried. "Looks like alicorn magic beats dragon fire after all." Sunny said, smiling confidently. "Please, can't we talk this over with some cupcakes?" Cozy asked, pleading for mercy. But just as things were looking in their favor, Sunny's powers went on the fritz again. "Huh?" Sunny's alicorn magic started to dissipate. "No! Not now! I wanna help! I wanna help!" Sunny desperately pleading, attempting to summon her powers. "A temporary alicorn?" Cozy asked. "At least she's unique in that sense." Chrysalis said. "Indeed. We must-" Sunny started, but suddenly, her friends were ready. Hitch looked at his poor baby dragon, begging for somepony to help. "I can take them! Everypony for themselves! Attack!" Hitch exclaimed. "Sounds like a signal to me! AIYAYAYAAA!!" Izzy cried out. "Izzy! Wait for me!" Pipp cried. "I'm coming Sparky!" Hitch shouted. "Right behind ya, Sheriff!" Zipp exclaimed. Hitch and Zipp ran forward at Tirek. Izzy charged at Chrysalis, while Pipp kept close proximity to Izzy. And Cozy Glow focused her attention on Sunny Starscout.