//------------------------------// // Come Out Into the Light // Story: Legends Never Die: Friendship is Magic // by bookhorse125 //------------------------------// Sprout’s hooves slipped and slid on the straw roof beneath him as he scrambled over the peak and carefully made his way down the other side. His heart was still racing, and a single thought replayed over and over in his mind. I have to get to Sunny. I have to help her! He couldn’t believe that those ponies had told him to run away and hide inside some fancy castle while Sunny was out there facing an entire army of shadow wolves all on her own. After living for so long in the Everfree Forest while Sunny forgot about everything he had ever done, and living with the torturous turmoil of emotions that battled constantly, he had found some kind of peace (if it could even be called that) by accepting that he would probably never see her again. Then the wolf had found him, cornered him. And what it had offered… what it had offered… Sprout lost his concentration and slipped, falling from the roof and landing on the ground with a thud. He groaned and scrambled to his hooves, shaking his head to get rid of the ringing sound in his ears, and continued running after Sunny. When Sunny had somehow, impossibly, appeared in the shadow wolf, it had hurt so much because she was so close… agonizingly close… but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach her. He was trapped. But Sunny had freed him. She never gave up on him. Not really. And that was why he had to help her. Sprout slid around a corner and skidded to a halt, his eyes growing wide. Sunny was on the ground now, her wings spread, her horn still blazing, defiance in her eyes, but there were still twenty wolves that were closing in around her. She launched another beam of light into another wolf and tugged, but the other wolves took the opportunity to close in on her, and she had to let go. Sunny cast a golden shield over herself that blocked the wolves’ swipes, but her magic was slowly growing tired, and Sprout knew that she didn’t have long. His heart beat faster as he looked around for some way he could help. Sunny looked up, and for a brief moment their eyes met. Then Sunny spotted something behind him, and her eyes widened. Sprout! Behind you! The words suddenly appeared in his mind, and for a moment, he wondered if she remembered the mind link, and that they could communicate telepathically, or if she merely thought it, and accidentally shot the message to him. Then he realized what she had said, and his heart plummeted as he spun around just in time to see a wolf snatch him up in its paw. Icy cold shot through his body, and he lost all feeling in his hooves instantly. Even so, he struggled as hard as he could, but the wolf had a grip as tight as steel. It lifted him up so that they were eye-level, and Sprout could feel the same power that had ensured him before chipping away at his resolve… But he gritted his teeth and shut his eyes and looked away, refusing to let himself fall into that trap once more. The wolf snarled at him, So weak. So pathetic. You were better off with us, little pony. You could have had so… much… power… At the word ‘power’, Sprout’s eyes snapped open, and he glared at the wolf with such ferocity that it looked nervous. He stared right into the wolf’s bright, glowing, unfeeling eyes, and he didn’t lose himself. Sunny. The alicorn stumbled and was just barely able to duck beneath a wolf’s paw and cast a shield over herself. Her eyes were wide, and she forced herself to take deep breaths. Because she just heard another voice in her head. “Sprout?” she whispered to herself. Then, she thought, Sprout, is that you? Yeah, was his sheepish reply. His voice was crystal-clear, like he was standing right next to her. Sunny felt something familiar at the feeling of his presence in her mind. Look, I know you’re super busy right now, but I could maybe use some help… Sunny scanned the battlefield until she found him, and he felt her shock and panic in his head. Oh, stars… She looked around frantically for a way out, but the wolves were closing in on all sides, their snarling faces filling her vision. She did away with her shield and spread her wings launching into the sky again, but the wolves were waiting for that, and they were ready. A massive black paw came out of nowhere and slammed into her, sending her flying through the air until she crashed into the ground - far, far away from where her friend needed her help. “Sunny!” Sprout cried out, and anger filled his veins, giving him new strength, and he fought against the wolf that held him with all his might. Do not waste your energy, the wolf told him, its voice dripping with malice. You will be nothing more than a puppet as we destroy Equestria - just like your friend. There is nothing you can do to stop us. We will always be victorious over you- “I… don’t… think so!” Sprout screamed, pushing away with all that he had. Suddenly an apple came flying through the air and hit the wolf square in the face. It stumbled back a step and shook its head, trying to figure out what had happened, and its grip on Sprout loosened just enough for him to drop to the ground. He scrambled out of the way as the wolf growled in anger and tried to pounce on him again. Sprout dashed between the wolf’s legs and ran toward Applejack, who was standing next to a bucket of apples with another one in her hoof. “I told ya to get out of danger,” she barked at Sprout before tossing the apple into the air and aiming a kick at it that sent it sailing towards its target. “Sorry,” he gasped. “But… thanks for saving me.” She flashed him a brief smirk. “What are friends for?” “Yeah… Oh my stars, Sunny!” He whirled around, looking for her, an icy feeling in his chest telling him that he was already too late. “Sunny!” Sunny lay on the ground, the wind knocked out of her, her mind still reeling at the fact that Sprout spoke to her in her head, and that she heard him perfectly clear, and that she had spoken back. She wished she could remember when that had started. Little pieces of memories were floating around in her mind, but they refused to come together to form anything at all. Gasping for air, Sunny pushed herself up halfway and looked over her shoulder to see all twenty wolves she had been fighting prowling towards her. She tried to get to her hooves to fight them off, but all her energy seemed to have drained out of her. She couldn’t even stand. Sunny’s head thumped against the ground, and she sighed, letting her eyes shut as the weariness took over- A blazing pink light appeared, and Sunny’s eyes snapped open again to see Twilight Sparkle standing over her with her horn lit. And arrayed behind her were Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, all glaring at the wolves. Twilight stepped forward as if daring the wolves to come any closer. It was a wonderful sight, which lifted Sunny’s spirits, but she didn’t see how that was going to change anything. There were still way too many wolves to fight. Three of them charged suddenly, and with a yell, Twilight’s horn shone brighter, and a glowing pink shield appeared between them. The wolves slammed into it, sending cracks throughout, but the fire in Twilight’s eyes was making it stand strong. “Are you okay, Sunny?” Fluttershy asked, offering Sunny a hoof and pulling her up. “I’m-” Sunny took a wobbling step and almost lost her balance, but managed to find it again. “-fine.” “I could - ah - use some help - here!” Twilight called through gritted teeth. Rarity immediately ran up to her and lit up her own horn, bright blue joining the pink. The shield restrengthened, but more wolves were throwing themselves against it, and Sunny knew that it wouldn’t last long. The other three ponies were all looking at Sunny, as if expecting her to be able to help. But she doubted she had enough magic to lift a feather, and, sure enough, her wings and horn were slowly fading away. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice close to tears. “I… I failed. All of you… and everypony else…” “Bring the shield down!” yelled a voice, and Applejack ran into their midst, a bucket full of apples on her back, and she set it down and picked one up just as Twilight and Rarity’s combined magic failed and the shield burst into a thousand pieces. Applejack launched the apple at the nearest wolf, sending it stumbling back, shaking its head. “Everypony, help Applejack!” Twilight commanded them. But she ran right past her friends as they grabbed as many apples as they could hold and started chucking them at all the wolves they could hit. It wasn’t much, but it kept them back. For now. “Take THAT! And THAT!” Rainbow Dash yelled, apples flying left and right. Fluttershy hovered beside her, throwing as hard as she could. Pinkie Pie dropped a load of apples into her party cannon (which appeared out of nowhere) and set it off, letting loose a burst of apples, confetti, and streamers. “Whoo!” she cried, elated. “AJ, give me some more!” “Sunny,” Twilight said in an urgent voice, putting her hooves on Sunny’s shoulders and forcing her to look into her eyes. “Sunny, look at me.” Sunny did finally look up, with tears in her eyes that were beginning to roll down her cheeks and a look of hurt so powerful and strong that it made Twilight’s heart ache. Again, she wondered about this pony - what she had seen, what she had done - before she miraculously turned up in Ponyville. But there would be time to worry about that later. “Sunny, listen to me. Are you listening?” Sunny gave a quick nod, and Twilight plowed on ahead. “Okay. You have not failed anyone. Understand? You have failed absolutely no one.” “But I-” “Did something that none of us could ever do! Sunny, do you know what you’ve done? We’ve spent a whole week hiding underneath a school in a magical chamber because there was nothing we could do to defeat these guys. And then you come along and defeat almost all of them by yourself! You did that! You freed over a hundred ponies and creatures from a prison so terrible that it defies explanation. You got pulled into one of those shadow wolves, and you were the first one to ever get out. You are strong, you are powerful, and you are capable of so many amazing things that ‘failure’ is never what you will be. Ever.” Sunny swallowed and nodded. Tears were rolling freely down her face, and her lip was quivering. Her shoulders were trembling beneath Twilight’s hooves, and so the alicorn pulled the earth pony into a hug, and then Sunny really started crying, her sobs pouring out. “This is all very sweet,” came a voice, and both Twilight and Sunny looked up to see Rarity staring at them, “and I really don’t want to ruin the moment, but we do have a bit of an actual crisis here.” She pointed over her shoulder to where Applejack was tossing the last apple - and the wolves were advancing. They stepped over the apples slowly, as if enjoying the looks of growing fear on the ponies’ faces. Except for Applejack, who looked to her left and nodded. Ribbons of green light shot across the ground, and suddenly the ground exploded as dozens of apple trees burst out of it and shot towards the sky, taking the wolves with them. They clinged desperately to the tops of the trees, fear suddenly written on their faces instead, and their howls split the air. Sprout ran out from where he had been hiding behind a house and shouted, “Now, Sunny!” Taking a deep breath, Sunny nodded at Twilight as her wings and horn flickered back into existence. Magic was running through her once again, the exhilarating feeling singing in her blood as Sunny spread her wings and took off into the sky, the sun shining brilliantly around her. She lit up her horn and summoned a blinding magic rope made of light and sent it whipping through the air, crackling like lightning, where it blasted all the shadow wolves into smithereens and vaporized their darkness, sending it scattering far and wide on the breeze. The ponies and creatures that had been imprisoned were trapped at the top of the apple trees, but Sprout simply planted his hoof in the ground again, and all of the trees shrunk until they disappeared into the earth, leaving behind a whole lot of smashed apples and some very confused creatures. Sunny flew jerkingly back to the ground, her exhaustion catching up with her. The moment her hooves hit the ground, her legs crumpled, and she collapsed, her wings and horn disappearing, and all that was left was a very weary earth pony. “Sunny!” Sprout was the first one to reach her, Twilight and her friends a step behind him. “Sunny?” Her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at the ponies surrounding her and smiled. “Hi.” A massive grin spread across Sprout’s face, and as soon as she stood up, he hugged her, then quickly let go, blush spreading across his face. I’m really glad you’re okay, he told her in his mind. Sunny gave him a tired, but sincere, smile. Me, too. “So,” Twilight said casually, looking around before locking her gaze on Sunny and Sprout, “that was fun. Now that it’s over, I think it’s time we get some questions answered.”