//------------------------------// // The Island of Sir 1023 // Story: G5 Adventures in Rudolph's Shiny New Year // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// One Million B.C (O.M for short) and his Equestrian friend Island Grove had joined Rudolph, Borealis and the Mane 6 in their search for Happy the Baby New Year after he had left the archipelago's oldest island a little while ago. During the two days that they searched, the ponies got to see what different time periods in the mortal world looked like and met all sorts of different ponies. They learned from Island that each old year had their own Equestrian assistant, who could get to Father Time a lot quicker if there were any problems, and the old years could continue to govern the island while they were gone.  Unfortunately, this fact didn't seem to help, because on all the islands they searched, Happy was not on them, whether they got to talk to the old year in charge or not. On their third day of searching, Zipp used the enchanted compass to create an enchanted, holographic map to figure out where they need to search next. “1893 never heard of him,” Borealis trailed off as Zipp swiped the islands they listed out of the way. “1492 was too busy discovering stuff to have much time to talk to us.” “1965 was too noisy,” Rudolph continued, “and all 4000 B.C could think about was building pyramids!” “Although they DID have an impeccable taste in fashion and design,” Pipp said, admiring the pictures that she took of their time on the Egyptian-like island. “Lots more islands to check,” O.M reminded. “Lots more, lots more.” “But we only have three more days until December the 31st,” Sunny reminded. “Time is running short!” “Can’t you use that fancy cutie mark magic of yours to find him?” Borealis asked. “I’m not sure,” frowned Hitch. “The only way we found Sparky when he was missing was by singing his song, and the cutie mark magic amplified his calls. I’m not sure if Happy would even recognize the song, let alone respond back.” “Still… it can’t hurt to try,” Pipp said before clearing her throat and singing out into the fog.  You hear that sound… Oooh-ooh-ooh-ooh… But when she paused to listen, no kind of call answered her song. “Sorry, ponies… I guess my voice doesn’t have as much charm as I thought.” “Don’t worry, Princess Pipp. We'll find the Baby New Year in time,” Island reassured. “We just need to figure out where to search next.” “Maybe that island up there will know something,” Big Ben told the group as they looked toward an island ahead of them. “Certainly looks impressive!” Indeed, the island before them seemed like the most amazing island yet, and the ponies could only stare while Borealis checked the compass. “It says here that this is the island of Sir 1023, one of the largest islands in the Archipelago of Last Years.” “Oh! I think my old friend Story Heart lives there!” Island recalled. “She’s sort of like an icon over there. Really pretty, really popular… all the works. If anypony can help us find Happy, it would be Story Heart and Sir 1023, the one who rules over that island.” “Well, what are we waiting for?” Zipp asked. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we can restart the search!” XXXXXXXX The moment that the group made contact with the island, they were thrust into a time period of castles, knights in shining armor and princesses, along with different fairytale and Mother Goose nursery rhyme characters. “Wow…” Pipp said with wide eyes. “This is exactly what I always imagined a fairytale kingdom to look like! And now, I can see it with my two eyes and my camera!” While the group gave her a strange look, they saw a large, squealing crowd not too far away from them, and wondered what the heck was going on. Suddenly... they saw her. A dazzling light pink earth pony mare with a gorgeous yellow, green and purple mane and tail and an open book cutie mark was walking down the street of excited fans, her blue eyes shimmering, as well as the tiara she was wearing. “Wow...” Borealis gasped. “Is she a princess?!” “I'm not sure,” Rudolph answered. “But whoever she is, the people here sure seem to like her.” “Oh! That's my friend Story Heart! The one I told you guys about!” Island suddenly realized. “Story! Story Heart! Over here!” The earth pony mare immediately saw her friend and gasped, rushing over and hugging her. “Island Grove! This is such an unexpected delight!” she smiled. “I take it these friends of yours are the search party that has been drifting through the islands in search of the Baby New Year?” “How did you know that?” Pipp asked before gasping. “Do you have social media?!” “Ha ha! No, I’m afraid not,” Story Heart giggled. “I’ve just heard the tales from birds and Sir 1023 himself. Oh, here he comes now!” The ponies looked up to see a tall knight with a long beard hanging from his helmet approaching them, before he spoke up in a distinct accent. “Thou look'st for the wee babe, Happy?” “Is he here, Sir 1023?” Rudolph asked. “Aye!” the knight responded. “Oh, that’s great!” Sunny smiled. “Where is he?” “Well… that’s the only thing,” Story Heart said hesitantly. “We haven’t the slightest notion where on the island he could be.” “But come'st thou with us! Come'st, come’st! We searcheth!” Sir 1023 urged before he and Story Heart led the way. “Come’st thou with me,” O.M mimicked the knight. “We searcheth!” “Clang, clang, clang!” Izzy imitated the knight’s clanging armor with a giggle, causing the others to follow the knight and his earth pony friend throughout the island, talking to every fairytale character in sight while in search of Happy, as a melodious song wafted through the breeze. What a wonderful world we live in When we live in the world of make-believe Fairytales can come true, if you just wish them to And there's nothing you can't achieve… What a wonderful world we live in, Just recall Cinderella and her shoe You can live like a king You can be anything As long as you believe it's true And what a wonderful world if you do... After many disheartening answers from the citizens of the island, the group approached the window of Cinderella, where the prince was just about ready to slip the slipper on her foot. “No, I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I haven't seen Happy. Have you, my dear?” Cinderella merely shook her head just before the slipper was placed on her foot, and as the story goes… it was a perfect fit. Sunny sighed with a sad smile. “They get their happy ending… now all we need to do is find Happy so we can get ours.” XXXXXXXX “Aye,” Humpty Dumpty nodded as the group asked him if he had seen Happy. “I saw him. Made me laugh so hard I fell off the wall.” “So… do you know where he is now?” Zipp asked. “I wish I did,” Humpty Dumpty responded. “When all the king's horses and all the king's men started to laugh… he ran off, down that path over there.” “Ugh… well, at least we have some sort of direction as to where he went,” Story Heart told the group. “And the Seven Dwarves live down that way. They’ll have to know where he is.” XXXXXXXX Unfortunately, they were all met with the same kind of response. “Nope!” “Ain’t seen him!” “Not hide nor hair.” “Sorry.” “No baby around here.” “Hope you find him.” “Better look someplace else.” Borealis sighed with pinned ears and a sad gaze. “All seven say no…” XXXXXXXX The next place they decided to look was the home of Rumplestilskin, but the answer was just as disheartening. “Aye! I saw him. But he ran away from me. No baby ever wants to stay with me!” The figure spinning straw into gold sobbed sadly, making the ponies and Borealis' ears flatten in sadness. “Ohh… neareth and yet so fareth!” Sir 1023 cried out in despair. “We can’t give up, guys,” said Sunny. “We just have to keep looking. Story Heart, is there any place on the island that we haven’t looked?” “Well… there is one, but no one in their right mind would dare to enter without knowing the consequences,” Story Heart said before pointing to the forest ahead. “The Dark Forest. Legend has it that no one who has entered the Dark Forest has EVER come back out!” “Great… it had to be a place with a creepy legend!” Borealis whimpered. “Come on. If Happy is in there,” said Zipp, “we’ll find him.” XXXXXXXX However, as the group made their way into the Dark Forest on the left path, it was revealed that Happy had been in the opposite direction, following the right path. As he reached the end of the path, Happy looked down from a small hill and saw just about the friendliest little house that ever was. After deciding to go down and explore, he saw that nobody was home inside, but everything was as neat as a pin-- kind of how Hitch would like it. But then, the poor baby's stomach grumbled-- he was a lot hungrier than he thought he was, so he climbed up to the table, and there on the table he spied three bowls of porridge. The first was too hot, steam rising rather quickly. The second was too cold, sending shivers through Happy's body. The third was just right, so he decided to sit down and enjoy breakfast. But as he sat down in the first chair at that table, he discovered it was much to hard. The second had a nice cushion, but it was way too soft for Happy's liking. The third cushion was just right, and he eagerly ate the porridge, unaware that the chair tipped back further and further until it broke, much to Happy's dismay. Whoever owned this house was not going to like that! But Happy was too tired to care about anything... and so he went upstairs, where he was sure there were some beds. But, Happy was unaware that he was falling asleep in the house of three bears-- a papa bear, a mama bear and a baby bear, and they were heading home from their walk in the forest. When they arrived, Papa Bear was first noticing the changes that went on in their dining room. “Someone's been sitting in my chair!” “Someone's been sitting in my chair!” Mama Bear observed just as Baby Bear walked over to the broken fragments of his own chair. “Someone's been sitting in my chair! And it got broke! Somebody broke my chair!” Then, the next thing that the three bears noticed was their disturbed porridge bowls. “Someone's been tasting my porridge!” “Someone's been tasting my porridge!” “Someone ate mine all up!” That's when all three bears looked upstairs, as if they were thinking the same thing-- go up and check on their beds. XXXXXXXX “Someone's been sleeping in our beds!” Mama Bear and Papa Bear said upon seeing the messed up covers on their beds. “And mine too,” Baby Bear said before pulling back his bed covers and found Happy sleeping in the bed. “Oh... and there he is!” “Well... what do you know?” Papa Bear chuckled as Happy began to stir and notice the bear family beside him. “He's sweet!” Mama Bear cooed. “He'd make a nice friend! You want to be my little friend?” Baby Bear asked excitedly. “We could play make up games! All kinds. Knights and Dragons. You can be the knight! And Crusaders! That's a great game. Okay, friend?” Happy cooed in delight, overjoyed to have a real friend at last. While Mama Bear grew teary eyed at the interaction, Papa Bear seemed a little unsure. “Another mouth to feed?” “Junior needs a friend,” Mama Bear pointed out as the two headed outside to play. “Well, I don't imagine he eats much,” Papa Bear shrugged. “At least he likes porridge!” XXXXXXXX While the parents watched from inside the house, Baby Bear was teaching Happy how to play Knights and Dragons. “Now, I must be the dragon,” Baby Bear explained while playfully growling. “Now, you slay me. Go ahead. Hit me, not too hard, but you hit me.” Happy wasn't sure what he was supposed to think about this, but Baby Bear was quick to reassure him. “Go ahead, it's only a game, you know.” Happy nodded and proceeded to stick a small branch underneath Baby Bear's arm, as if it were a sword. “Oh, you got me... you got me, I'm all slayed!” Baby Bear said dramatically, falling over for a few minutes before he sat up. “Now you must doff your helmet in triumph! You know, take off your hat.” Knowing what might happen if he did take off his hat, Happy shook his head no. “But you've got to!” Baby Bear argued. “That's the way the game goes! Goodness, you got to play the game right. Fine friend you are!” Well, Happy didn't want to lose his friend. And he realized that when you play a game, you have to follow the rules. So, he reluctantly took off his top hat and let his large ears show. But upon seeing these ears, Baby Bear burst into laughter. “Goodness, look at that!” he said before his parents joined in the laughter. “Boy, I've never seen nothing like that before!” Hearing this laughter made Happy begin to cry in despair and heartbreak. It was just like always. Those bears didn't mean to be cruel... but they just couldn't stop laughing at those ears. So, deciding that this would be a good time to to take his leave, Happy put his hat back on and began to trudge toward the forest. “Hey, where are you going?” Baby Bear called. “Come back! Come back! You're my friend! It's dangerous in those woods all alone!” Of course, Happy didn't stop at his calls, and proceeded to trudge off into the forest alone... unaware of what might be waiting for him up above the forest canopy... like a giant vulture bent on keeping his life going. XXXXXXXX At the same time that Aeon was flying over the forest in search of Happy, the Equestrians, Rudolph, Borealis and their new archipelago friends were still in the Dark Forest, calling to Happy repeatedly. “Happy! Are you out there?!” “HAPPY!!” “Happy, where are you?!” “Come on, Happy, don't hide!” “Happy!” “Happy!” Borealis called out once her friends ceased their shouts. “Happy, where are you?!” “Happy, don't hide!” Rudolph reassured. “We’re here to help you!” Of course, Happy didn't respond to any of these calls, leaving Hitch to turn to his friends, clearly worried. “He's got to be somewhere.” “Story Heart, are you SURE that we've covered everywhere on the island?” Zipp asked. “Princess positive!” Story Heart nodded. “I usually know this island and all the best hiding places like the back of my hoof, but... it's like Happy just... disappeared!” “But... disappeared where?” Borealis wondered. “I don’t know, but we have to keep trying,” Sunny said. “The new year is depending on us!” Suddenly, a wicked laugh, followed by some squawks, caused the group’s attention to turn to the sky, where they saw Aeon flying around. “Lookee!” Sir 1023 pointed upward. “Look, up yonder!” “That’s Aeon all right!” Zipp said with a narrowed gaze. “And… it looks like he’s carrying something. Or… someone!” True to her word, Aeon was carrying a very frightened Happy up up and away from the island below. “Aeon says not to worry!” he said to Happy. “I’ll be your friend. You'll like living with me! Ha ha ha ha ha!” “Oh no!” Borealis cried. “Pipp, Island! Follow me! We’re going into aerial pursuit!” Zipp shouted, and the flying ponies flew up and after Aeon. “Come on!” Rudolph urged the others. “We can’t let them out of our sight!”  “Rudolph’s right!” Sunny said as they rushed down the path. “I just hope that Big Ben can swim fast!”