//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Plenty of Clouds // Story: The Never-Ending Ending // by 5u0myn0n4 //------------------------------// The streets of Maretime Bay were baron and devoid of activity. Not a single pony was in sight. Tumble weeds and debris blew across the alley ways. The sun was hidden behind a veil of clouds, and there was a dreary atmosphere. Inside the Crystal Bright House, our main ponies hunkered down, and slumped. They were all distraught, and saddened that Sunny was kidnapped by Opaline. Zipp paced around, wondering what they should do, and if there was anything they could do. Pipp laid on the couch, tapping her phone, attempting to get a signal. But no bars. Izzy fidgeted with scraps at her work bench. But she wasn't getting any inspiration. Hitch huddled with his animal buddies, and Sparky. They were all shivering in this cold weather. "Still no cell service. This is so unnerving. How are we supposed to know that the rest of our friends are okay? I don't even know where the Pippsqueaks are, I'm so worried for them." Pipp said. "That's it! I'm done sitting this out! I'm throwing my hooves down! We are marching right up to Opaline's hidey-out, and rescuing Sunny!" Izzy exclaimed. "Izzy! You can't just waltz up and fight her. You'll die!" Pipp said. "Better than not trying at all." Izzy said, already standing by the Crystal Bright House doorway. "Izzy, wait! No need to act so quickly. We still don't really know where Opaline has taken Sun-" Zipp started. "Then we look for her!" Izzy exclaimed angrily. "And then what?" Pipp asked. "Save her!" Izzy exclaimed. "Would it hurt to have a little more of a detailed plan?!" Zipp exclaimed. Suddenly, Hitch's animals, and Sparky started distressing. "What is it, little critters?" he asked. Sparky and the critters ran outside in a haste. Hitch and everyone followed them. Outside the bright house, everypony looked up and saw something worrying. They noticed a towering whirl of magic extending into the sky. "What is it?" Pipp asked. The magic ripped a hole in the sky. "Can't be good whatever it is." Zipp said. "Well, at least we know where she's keeping Sunny." Zipp said. "So not only does she have Sunny, she's got some sort of big dark spell cooking." Izzy said. "The longer we wait, the greater risk Equestria is in. We have to save Sunny now!" "If it were easy we'd have done it by now." Pipp said. "Just cause it isn't easy doesn't mean we shouldn't try." Izzy said. "Izzy, you remember what happened last time we saw her. She absolutely cooked us! How are we gonna make sure that doesn't happen again?" Zipp asked. "I suppose you're right. Thanks guys. I know you're looking out for me. But I'm looking out for Sunny too." Izzy said. "We're going to need a little practice before we have our rematch with Opaline." Zipp said confidently. "A rematch?" Izzy said, excited. "Yeah. We'll catch her by surprise, and tackle her while we're in our tip top shape." Zipp said. "Of course." Izzy said. Zipp looked at Pipp, and noticed with was shivering. "You alright, Pipp?" Zipp asked. "I wouldn't want to push those of us who aren't ready." Izzy said, sassy. "No no, Zipp's right. There's nothing we can't do if I get to work with you. Heheh..." Pipp said, anxiously. Hitch held Sparky and spoke to him. "What do you say, Sparky? Are you up for another chance to torch that alicorn flank?" Hitch asked. "UH-HUH!" Sparky said. Day 2 of the spell The spell reaching into the sky was in full swing, and was already working towards darkening the sky. Our equines were unsure of what exactly the spell was doing, or how long they had until it did something cataclysmic. So of course, there was no time to waste, so they made haste. Back in the Bright House, Zipp worked on her drones, and armed them with more vigorous self defense. They were equipped with heat lasers, and threat detectors. Izzy spent her time performing operation on Señor Butterscotch, and on the side of her workbench, she was putting shards together. Mostly though she was packing little sacks with explosive glitter bombs. In the front yard of the Bright House, the ponies gathered to show each other what they'd been working on these past few days. "Check this out, Hitch." Zipp said. Zipp's drones fired hot lasers. "And I can control them all using my visor." she explained. Zipp's technological enhancements were impressive. But Hitch was wondering if it was enough. He thought of some place with more advanced technology. "And check this out!" Izzy flung one of her sacks at a tree, and it went boom! "Glitter bombs!" Izzy exclaimed. "And check me out. I've been working on my hammer swings." Pipp said, nervously. Pipp inched her way to this big "test your strength" machine Izzy built in front of the Bright House for Pipp to practice her hammer swings. She reeled her giant hammer back slowly, and after bracing her strength for enough time, she swung the hammer down and the puck made it about halfway up to the top. *phew* "That took every bit of strength out of me to do." Pipp said. "A commendable effort sis." Zipp said, patting her sister on the back. "I mean... it's, it's not about peak raw strength anyway I suppose." Izzy said. "What's that supposed to mean?" Pipp asked. "I mean, I'm confident in your abilities, Pipp. Really, I mean it." Izzy said. "Aww, thanks, Izzy." Pipp said, flattered. Hitch looked at everypony, concerned. "What's the matter, Hitch? You don't seem too jazzed." Zipp said. Hitch saw what everypony had been working on. While he was impressed, he had a sinking suspicion that it still wouldn't be enough. He saw how effortlessly Opaline brushed aside dragon fire. He wasn't sure if their run of the mill gadgets would do the trick. "It's impressive, really. It's just... Hmm, how about some new equipment to help us out?" Hitch suggested. "What do you mean?" Zipp asked. "Think about it. We're going to need everything we got if we're going to stand a chance against Opaline. Your drones and Izzy's contraptions are impressive, but I wonder where we could get some more equipment. I wonder what Sprout's got stored away at Canterlogic." Hitch said. "Sprout? Are you serious?" Pipp asked. "What? He helped us take out Cozy Glow earlier, I'm sure he'd be willing to help us stop Opaline." Hitch said. "If you say so. But like, do we really want to get him wrapped up in all of this? "We don't have to wrap up Sprout, we just need to borrow some of his Canterlogic technologies, and we'll be on our way." Hitch said. Sparky gave a lukewarm hum. Even he wasn't sure about this. And he wasn't even born when Sprout attempted to take over Maretime Bay. Just won't get caught up in any unnecessary side stories for too long." Zipp said. "Aww-WUM!" Sparky said, in his little dragon speak. "Sounds to me like Sparky will be keeping a watch on you." Zipp said. "Works for me." Hitch said. Hitch walked through Maretime Bay with Sparky on his head, and looked around for sign of anypony, but there were none. He'd wondered where everypony was hiding. Then he noticed activity swarming inside Canterlogic. "He did say he would protect everypony during the battle. Maybe they're still hunkering down." Hitch said to himself. "Mmm hmm." Sparky added. Hitch scratched his chin, and Sparky scratched his chin too. Hitch made it to the Canterlogic factory entrance, and noticed it was unlocked. Against better judgment, he went inside. Inside Canterlogic, ponies were at work. Hitch recognized nearly everypony from Maretime Bay. So this is where they were all hiding. He saw that there were ponies who had towed, and were working on Izzy's discarded Marestream tram car. "Posey?" Hitch asked. "AH! Oh, it's just you. And the dragon." Posey said. "Posey, Windy. What is going on in here?" Hitch asked. "Things have been kinda dull in Maretime Bay without any Ponynet connections, so Sprout gave us all jobs in the factory." Windy explained. "Jobs doing what exactly? Like, what is this all for?" Hitch asked. "Yeah!" Sparky exclaimed. "Sprout's aware of that evil alicorn, so he's seeking to do something about them." Posey said. "Well that's perfect. That's exactly what I wanted to talk to him about. Where is he?" Hitch asked. He's in the lower factory deck. You know the way, you've been here." Windy said. "Just, get that dragon away from me before it burps fire into my mane again.." Posey said. Hitch walked downstairs and saw even more construction going on. He saw Sprout directing ponies on various projects. "Sprout, what is everypony doing here?" Hitch asked. "Hitch! Good to see you old buddy!" Sprout said. "Well look at who it is. Mr. Friendship is Magic Heriff Sitch himself." "It's Sherriff Hitch. What have you been up to all this time, Sprout?" Hitch asked. "Remember? Shortly before the battle of Maretime Bay, I had everypony hide in Canterlogic's underwater bunker, but that place got cramped quickly, so after the dust settled above, everypony settled in the factory. We started by simply dusting and getting the place in shape, but soon after ponies were at work building all kinds of stuff again!" Sprout explained. "Great, got any say... anti-alicorn gear?" Hitch asked. "What? Now you want to wage a war against pegasi and unicorns?" Sprout asked. "That's not what I said. We need everything we can get to stop that evil alicorn." Hitch said. "Hmm. Evil alicorn." Sprout said. "I'd hate to say I told you so because that would be rude and really not needed right now. Buuuut... Still thinking bringing all that magic to Equestria was a good thing, Sheriff?" "Now's not the time, Sprout." Hitch said. "Of course, of course. I'm smart enough to see the importance of this. We have to do everything we can to protect ourselves from the alicorns." Sprout said. "From the alicorns?" Hitch asked. "The alicorns. You saw what happened on that day. Sunny Starscout teamed up with that shadowy alicorn, and ransacked Equestria!" Sprout said. "Sunny and Opaline aren't a team. Sunny's a hostage!" Hitch exclaimed. Hitch felt ponies pressed against him as he walked back. "And now, you're a hostage." Sprout said. Hitch was grabbed by Toots and Sweets. They grabbed his limbs and held him. "Wait, Sprout! Stop this! You don't know what you're doing! Let me go!" Hitch exclaimed. "Take him to the scrapyard dungeon. And seize the dragon!" Sprout exclaimed. Sparky was surrounded by a circle of ponies, reading to pounce on him. Sparky jumped up flew above everypony. "Don't let it get away!" Sprout exclaimed. The ponies ran for Sparky. But they didn't stand a chance. Sparky was quick. He flew too fast for everypony to hit them. He flapped his little wings and flew out a window. "Go Sparky! Go get the others!" Hitch exclaimed. "Uh-HUH!" Sparky exclaimed, giving Hitch a thumbs up. Sparky flew away from the factory. "Fine. Let the dragon escape. Go alert Sunny's friends. The more the merrier. Could sure use their feedback on what we've been doing." Sprout said.