Sunny and her friends only got back from Gotham City a few days ago, after helping Scooby-Doo, Batman and their super-powered pony friends defeat the villains and restore order to the city. That was the most... chaotic mission they had in quite a while, ever since Opaline was finally defeated.
Something that took Misty quite a while to fathom.
She lived and endured Opaline for so long, trying to make sure that her friends, her new home and magic was safe, she never really gave time for much anything else... until today.
Misty loved being a part time babysitter for Sparky, she really did... but the others had their own place, with Sunny having her smoothie cart, Pipp having Mane Melody, Hitch being the sheriff, Zipp being a detective and Izzy having her unicycling business. She wanted to find a purpose too.
And that's exactly what she was going to do.
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Misty stared at the board in front of her, full of jobs that she could try... but which one? “Should I help Posey at the art museum?” she muttered. “No... too many breakable items. What about helping with the garden? No, no... everything I grow will probably dry up and die. Probably my luck.”
“Hey, Misty?”
Misty turned to see Sunny roller skating over to her with a concerned look. “You okay? You look... really deep in thought.”
“It's just... choosing a job is a lot harder than I thought,” Misty shrugged. “How did you figure out you could run your smoothie cart?”
“Well... it's hard to put into words,” Sunny said. “I just loved making smoothies, and I knew that's what I wanted to do. If you want, we can try these jobs and figure out which one is meant for you. What do you say?”
Misty thought about it for a few moments before smiling. “Okay... let's go!”
So, she and Sunny galloped off to try different jobs for Misty, and a song began to play in Misty's mind-- the same one she and Izzy made up when they were trying to make her cutie mark sparkle.
Misty: Take a look a little closer now (Closer now)
Things turned out a little different than how I thought
I thought they would
Izzy: If you have hope, then let me hear it (Hear it)
If you have sparkle, we can cheer it (Cheer it)
It ain't over when you have each other
Misty and Izzy: If you're down, down, down
Just look up, up, up
You know that I got you
Even when it's tough
If you're down, down, down
Get back up, up, up
Never on your own
'Cause you've got us
Izzy: If you ever feel like givin' up (Givin' up)
You just need to find a helping hoof who can
Make you sparkle again
Misty: If you have a wish, then let me hear it (Hear it)
If you have a dream, then we believe it (We believe it)
Izzy and Misty: It ain't over when you have each other
If you're down, down, down
Just look up, up, up
You know that I got you
Even when it's tough
If you're down, down, down
Get back up, up, up
Never on your own
Cause you've got us
If you're down, down, down
Just look up, up, up
You know that I got you
Even when it's tough
If you're down, down, down
Get back up, up, up
Never on your own
Cause you've got us
But unfortunately, no matter what Misty tried, being a tour guide for the art museum, delivering smoothies or unicycling old junk... nothing felt right.
After a while of job searching, Misty sighed and turned to Sunny sadly. “Thanks for trying to help me, Sunny, but... who am I kidding? Maybe I'll never fit in with the ponies here.”
Sunny frowned at this. “What makes you say that?”
“Because, everypony here has something they're really good at,” Misty said. “And for all they know, I'm just the weird pony who used to serve a high-powered maniac.”
“Hey, you're not a weird pony. You're extremely talented and gifted,” Sunny said. “Anypony can see that.”
Misty scoffed in disbelief. “Really? Who in the world would think that about me other than you and the others?”
Suddenly, there came a loud crash, and a yelp of pain. Sunny and Misty ran to the scene at the magical tree, where they saw Seashell slowly getting up, sniffling in pain while Glory and Peach Fizz tried to help her. “Pippsqueaks?” Sunny asked. “What happened?”
“Seashell used her magic to make a vine swing for us to play on,” Peach Fizz said, “when it broke and Seashell fell to the ground!”
“Are you okay, Seashell?” Misty asked as the young earth pony wiped her face of tears. “I think I am,” Seashell nodded. “My hoof only hurts a little.”
“Maybe you better wait till the playground at the park is finished before you go to swinging again,” Misty said. “Glory? Can you and Peach Fizz take Seashell home so she can rest that hoof?”
“Okay,” Glory nodded, helping Seashell up. “Thank you, Misty.”
Misty nodded and watched as the fillies went off toward Seashell's house, and Sunny smirked over at Misty. “What did I tell you? Ponies don't think you're weird.”
“Maybe... but--” Misty was about to say when she noticed some strange indentations in the side of the tree. “Hey... those look like that Twilight pony's cutie mark on the side of the tree! In all different places!”
“Hey... you're right!” Sunny said. “And it looks like there's a message on the base!”
“Can you tell what it says?”
“No... but I know somepony who might.”
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Zipp used her goggles to study the writing for quite a long while, and when it finally beeped, a wide smile began to grace her face. “Got it! And it looks like Twilight Sparkle's hoof writing, after I cross-examined some earlier examples.”
“Can you tell what it says?” Sunny asked, and Zipp nodded before clearing her throat. “This tree is meant to be a symbol of unity for all types of ponies, no matter where in the world they may be. But, it also holds a magical protection feature.
Scattered across the worlds are magical crystals in the shape of my cutie mark that can activate a powerful spell that can fortify the invisibubble if the need were to ever arrive. Where they have been sent, I do not know, but I trust that a band of brave ponies will be able to find them. Good luck, my little ponies. Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“There are crystals in the shape of Twilight's cutie mark?” Sunny asked. “I guess Sparky had a reason to be drawn to the tree so much.”
“But how many crystals are there?” Zipp wondered, removing her goggles. “And how can we find them if we don't know where the Unity Quests send us?”
Suddenly, the cutie marks began to glow brightly, leaving Sunny with only one thing to say. “Looks like we'll have to figure that out later. The crystals must be summoning us. Get in contact with the others-- we better not keep them waiting.”