//------------------------------//
// Over Hill and Down Dale 
// Story: Rebirth of Magic: Izzytastic! 
// by JimmyHook19 
//------------------------------//

I don't think you want to know every detail about the journey we took to Zephyr Heights, and truth be told I don't particularly want to disclose them either. Let's just say that Sunny and I talked about many things on our journey across Equestria. We even had a song (too bad I accidentally missed my entry at one point).

I noticed throughout the trip that Sunny was looking about in amazement at the scenery around her. I could only conclude that she'd popped through into this land later than me, as I'd already seen a lot of this during my journey to Maretime Bay. Still, some of it was new, and I certainly loved seeing it again. Like Sunny, I don't think I could ever get bored of Equestria and roaming through this land. If I'm going to spend the rest of my life here, I'm content with it. There are worse places to spend your life.

Speaking of looking at thing, I couldn't help but notice Sunny was acting weird. I noticed a handful of times she looked away when I was speaking to her. OK, seems like she may have issues with maintaining eye contact, but that was hardly an issue right now. Provided we were going the correct direction, we were completely fine.

Or maybe it was something else. I had called her pretty earlier, and to be completely honest suddenly being switched to the other gender does scramble the brain a bit. And if Sunny had originally been a male human (which is entirely possible) she was probably going through the same sort of confusion.

But let's not spend lots of time dwelling on that. We had a mission to complete, and I imagined we'd have plenty of time to figure things out like that.

I also had fun singing with her. Having adjusted to having a much higher pitched voice, it was surprisingly easy to roll with the flow. Good thing I didn't have to tackle the harmony. I don't think I could have sung that low, seeing as my voice seems to be one step below helium.

After the end of our long journey, we stopped at the convenient campground. Above us lay Zephyr Heights, a shining gem that almost called out as a beacon to the rest of Equestria. At least it seemed that way with all the lights on. The electricity bill must be enormous.

I glanced over to Sunny, who was gawping at the sight. Yep, I know the feeling. To be suddenly transported to such a beautiful land is quite the experience. I doubt I'd want to go back to my old life if given the choice, to be honest. "They must have really good lungs to live up there," I said. I suspected we had a hard climb ahead of us, and I'm not exactly an athlete if you know what I mean.

Sunny glanced over to me, almost as if marking out a campground. "Tell me about it," she said. "That place is a fortress. Not only is it on top of a mountain, but the only paths up there are long and steep to climb. We'll have a difficult climb ahead of us when we set off." She paused and glanced over to another section of ground before her. "Let's get some sleep. Pitch camp here, and we'll set off in the morning. Now if only I'd had time to pack a..."

Before she could finish her sentence, I produced a purply pink tent and put it where she was looking.

"Tent," she finished, and looked at me, confused. "Izzy, where were you carrying a tent?"

I laughed. Doesn't she know? "The same place I was carrying my microwave earlier! It's quite handy to be able to produce objects from nowhere. And I wasn't carrying a tent." I then placed an orange tent on another section of ground, also fully assembled. "I brought two tents! One for each of us. I also packed three more for when we meet the others."

I then got my microwave out, and we had a delicious meal over the campfire of mac and cheese served with fish. I discovered that Sunny had brought some fish with her when we'd set off, and this served as a critical part of our meal. It was even already in a fillet, which was nice- although I asked her to lay off a bit on the mayo. I'll explain more later, but there's a pretty good reason mayonnaise is one of the things that brings bad luck.

Once we had finished our meal and did some stargazing, looking up at the night sky, we then turned in for the night. I popped into my sleeping bag and closed the zipper at the front, before dropping off into sleepytime, feeling the call of the snoozy ocean as I went to sleepyland.





Sunny was up before me, and had already prepared a nice breakfast before we set off for Zephyr Heights. I can see why other ponies hang around. Her cooking skills are second to none, really. Need somepony to prepare a meal from scratch? Ask her.

Still, the ascent towards Zephyr Heights was very tough. Although it started on a level path on the plains, it wasn't long before things became more difficult. The path became steeper, and the terrain tougher, with large boulders being placed at seemingly random intervals before us. The path slowly became less well defined as we went along, but at least that was better than what we eventually ended up with.

As the path kinda just... stopped. It seemed to vanish into the cliffs as we approached the cloud layer. It was getting to be pretty tough going as we made the climb. The higher you get, the thinner air gets, after all, and the more rests you need to take if you're not used to it. Of course the pegasi were used to it, as they live up here their whole lives. We weren't as we live down below.

At last, we arrived in a nearby canyon that provided some shelter from the relentless heat of the sun. I looked about, suddenly feeling an odd energy.

Energy, you ask? I can sense this thing all ponies have. It's called sparkle, and it's an indication of how a pony is feeling. The more intense the emotion, the stronger the sparkle is. It also varies in color depending on mood. It's all very strange.

Obviously, the entire journey I had been aware of Sunny's sparkle, but behind me there was another sparkle signature. "Stop!" I said.

Sunny turned to me. "What's wrong?"

"There's something in the canyon with us," I said. I thought I knew who it was.

"I saw movement as well," Sunny said.

Just then, rocks began to fall, and we could hear quick movement behind us! And whatever it is, it's chasing us!" I called. "Run!"

We sprinted for the cliff face as the rocks continued to fall, and whomever it was jumped about at speed, trying to gain some sort of ground behind us. We jumped for it, but Sunny slipped. "Could you give me a boost?" Sunny called. "I'm a bit stuck!"

I placed my head under her rear hooves. "No problem! I'm not a mountain goat either!"

At last, we made it to the top, and we sat there for a moment to catch our breath. That was quite exciting!

"Well, that was strenuous," Sunny said.

"At least the thing that was following us is gone," I said.

Suddenly, the sparkle flared back into life, and Zipp leaped up the rockface in front of us before leaping between the rocks and eyeing us with a quizzical eye.

Sunny had seemingly decided to stick to the script and screamed, so I did as well.

Zipp, however, didn't. "Sunny and Izzy? Huh. They're right on schedule."

What?

Zipp knows us? How is that possible?

There's no way...

Suddenly, there was loud clanking of armour, and I saw two pegasus soldiers approaching round the bend.

Zipp saw them too, and headed for the cliff face. "I'll see you two in the throne room. Just don't tell them you saw me." And just like that she leaped off the cliff and down into the canyon below.

"There's no way we could! We don't even know your name!" I replied, my voice getting quieter as I did so. I couldn't resist doing that line. "She seems nice."

"But how does she know us?" Sunny asked.

Suddenly, the guards spoke up. Or one of them did. "How did they get here?"

The other, a taller mare, sighed. "Probably climbed up. Stop overreacting."

"B- but it's a unicorn! And an earth pony!"

"They're harmless!" the mare said. "Earth ponies have very tiny brains."

Sunny pulled a face whilst I continued grinning like an idiot.

"But what about that?"

"Stand back, I got this," the female said, walking over and calmly sticking a tennis ball on my horn. "You two are coming with us."