Things were looking pretty bad for Rudolph, Borealis and the Mane 6; while they were sailing across the ocean to the Archipelago of Last Years to find Happy the Baby New Year, Aeon the Terrible swooped down out of the sky and divebombed them, leaving the ponies to quickly try and come up with a plan to keep him at bay.
Luckily, Sunny shifted to her alicorn form with a plan in mind. “Pipp, Zipp, come with me! We can hold him off while the others find a way to get this boat moving at a quicker pace!”
“Right!” both sisters nodded before following their earth pony/alicorn friend up into the sky to face Aeon. “Oh, goodie!” Aeon cackled. “More pony pests to have for lunch!”
“Oh yeah?” Zipp challenged. “Well, if you wanna snack on us, you’re gonna have to catch us!”
Aeon squawked and followed the three into the sky, Sunny using the bright light emitting from her wings to slightly disorient the giant bird behind them. At the same time, Misty, Izzy and Rudolph tried to blow against the sail to make it pick up speed, but they weren’t going anywhere too quickly. “Got to go… faster!” the reindeer panted between blowing fits. “I don’t… think it’s… working!” Misty panted, too tired to keep blowing. “We have to try some other way to get moving!”
Suddenly, Aeon's squawks from above caused Borealis to gasp and look up at the pegasus sisters and Sunny trying to evade the giant bird, but he was getting far too close. “Oh no… I-I gotta do something!”
Keeping an eye on her monstrous target, Borealis flicked her tail hard, sending a blast of magic in their direction… only for it to hit Sunny, sending her plummeting toward the water below! “AAAAGH!!!”
Pipp and Zipp gasped and dove to rescue her. “SUNNY!!”
“Oops!” Borealis yelped. “I-I didn’t mean for that to happen!”
Pipp and Zipp were able to catch Sunny before she hit the water, and they landed back in the boat with their friends. “Sunny, I am SO sorry!” Borealis said in panic. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
“No, I’m okay, Bori,” Sunny said once she caught her breath. “But for now, I think we need to brace ourselves, cause Aeon’s coming this way fast!”
The group yelped and sheltered themselves as Aeon was swooping in their direction… only to have a huge bong sound and a splash of water stop the bird in his tracks. This caused the group’s eyes to open and look around for the source of their savior when they saw a huge figure emerging from the water. “Oh my gosh!” Rudolph spoke out of shock as the figure was fully visible, revealing itself to be a sperm whale with a clock in its tail. “Oh, now, Rudy,” he said in a friendly tone, “don’t you and your friends fret any about that overgrown chicken.”
“W-Who are you?” Misty asked with wide eyes. “Well, folks call me Big Ben,” the whale answered her with a chuckle. “Lookie what I can do.”
Suddenly, the clock on Big Ben’s tail let out a loud bonging sound, causing the ponies to jump in surprise. “Climb inside. It’s safe in there,” Big Ben told the group as he opened his mouth, and Pipp sniffed the odor that came from it before gagging. “It smells like fish in there.”
“Either we get in the mouth of a whale whose breath tastes like fish,” said Hitch as many ponies, Borealis and Rudolph hopped into Big Ben’s mouth, “or we get eaten by the bird whose breath will taste like our flesh!”
“AHH!! Point taken!” Pipp shrieked and leapt into the whale’s mouth just as it closed. “Phew… that was too close,” Sunny sighed. “Now, I guess we need to just wait in here until Aeon goes away.”
Suddenly, Big Ben mumbled something, causing Rudolph’s nose to light up the inside of his mouth. “What did you say?” Rudolph asked, only for Big Ben to repeat the same gibberish. “Huh?”
“I asked if you were comfortable,” Big Ben repeated more clearly. “Kind of hard to talk with your mouth full. Heh heh heh…”
“Oh, sure, Big Ben!” Borealis nodded. “But maybe we better ride on top!”
“Okay, suit yourself.”
Big Ben allowed the group to get out of his mouth before they all flew/jumped to the top of the whale, allowing Pipp to sigh. “Fresh air… at last!!”
“Heh heh… sorry about her, Big Ben,” Zipp apologized. “She gets a bit carried away, and we are SO grateful to you for saving us.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Hitch nodded. “We sure are-- LOOK OUT!!”
The ponies screamed as Aeon dove for them again, and Aeon barely missed them as he cackled triumphantly. “I won't let you find Happy… before I do!” he declared and turned around to dive for them once more. Luckily for them, Ben was able to swim to where he was right in Aeon’s face when he stopped, determined not to let the giant bird hurt the weary search party. “You’re a baaaad bird, Aeon.”
Ben used his flippers to splash Aeon back a bit, causing the bird to chuckle and squawk before he flew off, much to the group’s relief. One thing was definitely for certain… even Aeon was no match for Big Ben. “So,” said the whale, “which island are you guys heading to first?”
“We’re not exactly sure. We’re on a mission to find the Baby New Year, and we need some sort of… more reliable transport,” Sunny said. “Somepony who would know their way around.”
“Well, you all are in luck!” Big Ben assured. “I’ve been swimming through the archipelago for as long as I can remember. I’m sure I can get you guys to the island where the Baby New Year is.”
“Really?! Oh, that sounds pony-tastic!” Izzy cheered. “What are we waiting for?! Sail on, Mr. Big Ben! Sail on!”
While they were sailing, Borealis turned to Sunny with an ashamed look on her small fox face. “I’m sorry you almost got hurt, Sunny. I was just trying to help.”
“I know, and it’ll be okay. I wasn’t hurt or anything,” Sunny said. “Sometimes, our magic can take a lot of practice in order to control.”
“Is that how it was when you first got your alicorn powers?”
“Sort of. I’m still learning how to find my way around with them,” Sunny said, “but so far, it’s been really handy on our other Unity Quests. And I’m sure that you’ll learn to control your powers too… in your time.”
Borealis sighed and snuggled up against the earth pony mare. “Thanks, Sunny… I guess I really needed to hear that.”
“No problem. Now, you guys get some rest. I can stay up for a while and keep watch, and then we can rotate in shifts,” said Sunny as the group made themselves comfortable on the whale’s back. “We’re gonna need our rest for a long day of searching tomorrow.”
XXXXXXXX
“Bori, ponies! Wake up! I can see an island up ahead!”
The group slowly stirred at the sounds of Rudolph’s call. It was early that morning, as the sun was beginning to rise and a few hours since Pipp finished her night shift and Rudolph took over. When they looked out where he was pointing, they saw that he was right-- a large island was dead ahead, and Zipp checked the enchanted compass for any details. “It says here that this is the island of One Million B.C. Wow… that was a long time ago.”
“And it’s one of the oldest islands in the whole archipelago,” Big Ben responded. “If there’s a good place to start your search, it’s here.”
By the time the sun had fully come up, Big Ben waited in the harbor while Rudolph, Borealis and all the ponies had stepped foot onto the island, which had a lush jungle landscape that made the group gaze and gasp in awe and wonder. “This is amazing…” Zipp said as she looked around. “It’s like the entire island is frozen in time!”
“And look!” Sunny pointed to a grazing triceratops. “Dinosaurs are here too! If Sparky was here, he'd be going crazy by this point!”
Borealis looked around in complete awe when a sound touched the little fox's ears. “Hey, guys… you hear that?”
The ponies and Rudolph lifted their ears to the sound, and Misty was first to nod. “Yeah… it almost sounds like… singing? But, Pipp’s not doing it, so… where is it coming from?”
“This way, come on!” Borealis led the group into the jungle, with Rudolph directly behind her so she didn’t get lost. When the singing reached its peak, they pushed the bushes apart to reveal the singer… which was, to their surprise, an Equestrian pegasus.
She was a Paris green color, with deep purple eyes, a gold and razzmatazz pink mane and tail and a cutie mark of two seashells, with the colors blue and purple.
This pegasus was singing softly to herself, watering some jungle plants until she turned around and saw the group watching her, causing to shriek and dive into the bushes for cover. “Oh… we’re sorry,” Sunny said. “We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“We were just listening to you sing,” said Misty. “And your voice is beautiful.”
“You… you liked my singing?” the pegasus said as her head poked from hiding. “Sure we did,” Rudolph said. “My name is Rudolph, and this is Borealis, and our friends from Equestria. What’s your name?”
“Uh… Island Grove,” the pegasus introduced quietly as she flew from the bush. “Nice to meet you, Island!” Pipp said enthusiastically. “Do you happen to know where the head honcho of this island is? We need to talk to him right away.”
“You mean… old One Million B.C?” Island said, causing the group to nod. “Sure… I think he should be in his cave right about now. Come on.”
The group followed the cautious pegasus through the jungles and past some friendly dinosaurs until they reached a cave in the middle section of the island. “Here,” Island pointed to the cave. “This is where he and I live.”
“You live in a cave?” Zipp raised an eyebrow, causing Island to gulp nervously and nod. “Not really any buildings around here,” Hitch pointed out, “so as long as it keeps you warm and dry, it looks homey to me.”
“Hello?” Rudolph called into the cave, ignoring the conversation between the ponies. “Anybody home?”
After Rudolph called into the cave, a caveman with teeth sticking out of his mouth walked out, and the ponies automatically assumed that it was One Million B.C himself. “Why, certainly!” he said quite cheerfully. “Always there's anybody! No? Yes?”
“Hi!” Borealis waved cheerfully. “You must be…”
“Who? Me?” the caveman asked. “O.M.”
“O.M?” the ponies questioned, leaving the Island to softly chuckle. “Short for One Million,” the green pegasus explained before O.M excitedly leapt off the rock he was standing on and landed in front of the group. “Too much work, all the time saying ‘One Million’. Yes? No? Yes!”
Rudolph honestly wasn't sure how to respond to this much enthusiasm. Sure, Izzy was one thing, but this caveman was like the caveman version of her! “I… I suppose so,” he managed to respond. “Hey… why for the edges on your mouth go down, not up?” O.M asked, leading Island to nudge him. “What O.M means to say is, well… is everything okay? Do you wanna talk about it?”
“Uh, well… it’s sorta difficult to explain,” Pipp scratched her head. “But if you want, I could put together an elaborate ClipTrot post to--”
“We’re on this really important mission, to find the Baby New Year,” Misty stepped forward, interrupting Pipp. “But… the archipelago is a LOT bigger than we ever expected it to be, a-and not to mention we have a lot of worries other than that on our pony minds too. It just gets us wondering… well…”
“What if we don’t find him in time?” Rudolph interrupted, finishing Misty’s explanation. “Don’t? Stop with the don’t thoughts,” O.M told the group. “Start with the do thoughts.”
And before the group could find the words to ask, O.M was swinging and climbing trees while singing a song to explain, and Island joined in.
O.M: When things go wrong
And dark clouds fill your sky
Island: Let the dark clouds burst
Laugh and you’ll find if you cry…
O.M: It’s raining sunshine, it’s raining sunshine
And it’s music to the ears
It’s raining sunshine, it’s raining sunshine
Island: When you smile away your tears!
During the climax of the song, more friendly dinosaurs came from out of nowhere and began to sing along, much to the shock of the ponies.
Dinosaurs: It’s raining sunshine, it’s raining sunshine
Island: And a rainbow soon appears
Dinosaurs, O.M and Island: It’s raining sunshine, it’s raining sunshine
When you smile away your tears!
O.M: It’s raining sunshine
Dinosaurs, O.M and Island: It’s raining sunshine, it’s raining sunshine
Mmm-mmm-mmm…
After the song was over, Island and O.M waved goodbye to their dinosaur friends and jumped down to their new friends on the ground. “That sounds wonderful, O.M!” Sunny smiled. “We’ll take your advice.”
“And I know we’ll find Happy,” Rudolph concluded. “Of course you will!” Island smiled. “I totally believe that you can do it.”
“But, hey, who’s Happy?” O.M asked before he laughed and began dancing around the group. “Everybody’s happy!”
Izzy laughed and decided to dance with him. “Hey, he’s right! Everybody should be happy!”
“Ha ha ha! O.M, Izzy, please!” Sunny tried to keep from laughing too much. “To clarify, Happy is the new Baby New Year, destined to where the Crown of Time by midnight on December 31st.”
“He’s missing,” Rudolph added. “And since this is one of the oldest island in the archipelago, we thought that he might have come here.”
“A little baby?” Island questioned before humming. “I think we might have seen him earlier… I’m just not sure when.”
“Oh yeah…” O.M suddenly remembered something. “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”
“YES!!” Zipp said excitedly. “Is he here?!”
“No.”
“Ohhhhhhhhhh!!!” the group groaned in frustration. “Oh, but… he was!” Island said, trying to sound reassuring. “Just a few hours ago!”
“HOURS?!” Hitch screeched before flopping on his stomach. “Man, that baby moves quicker than we do! And we have four legs!”
“Slow down, Hitch. Island, what do you remember about Happy being on this island?” Zipp said, taking out her FlyPad to record her notes. “Well…” Island began, “...he came to the island early this morning, and made a lot of different dinosaur friends. Especially when he helped save a baby pterodactyl’s egg after it fell out of its nest.”
“Aww… that sounds so nice!” Pipp cooed. “It was,” Island said. “But unfortunately, his hat fell off when the baby pterodactyl, and it showed off these huge ears.”
“His hat fell off?!” Zipp cried. “Oh no… just like what happened at the castle! Did anyone laugh?”
“Well… a couple dinosaurs found his ears really amusing, and they did laugh a little,” Island said hesitantly. “After that, he got really upset and disappeared into the brush.”
“And that is the last time we have ever seen him,” O.M said with a laugh before noticing the group’s downtrodden faces. “But look, l-l-let's all look! He has positively got to be on one of these islands… m-m-m-maybe. Yes?”
“Really?” asked Sunny. “You guys are gonna help us?”
“Sure!” Island smiled. “I didn’t think I could sing in front of anypony until you guys came along! If we can help you find that adorable baby, we’ll be on top of the world!”
“Well, when you put it that way, you’re in! Come on!” Borealis said as she and Rudolph led their friends toward the beach. “Big Ben’s a-waiting!”