//------------------------------// // Chapter Four // Story: When Will it End? // by Whirl Wind //------------------------------// Chapter Four: Return to Ponyville It was a cloudy day in Ponyville, a complete overcast really. But it was only darkness in the Everfree forest where Whirl Wind and Sunny Plains resided. “Okay, here we go…” Whirl said as he pulled back a fore hoof. “Wait! I’m not ready…” Sunny said suddenly. “This is the fifth time we… LOOK OUT!” Whirl yelled frantically. Sunny turned his head and Whirl kicked him in the face with his fore hoof. “OWWWW! What the hell was that for?!” “You seemed ready.” Whirl said with a chuckle. Sunny let out a fake laugh and then swiftly kicked Whirl in the face. “You seemed ready.” “I was ready, what was I going to expect after that.” Whirl said as he held a hoof to where Sunny had kicked him. “Is one or two bruises enough?” “No, here…” Whirl said as he picked up a knife. “I need you to give me one or two flesh wounds… I am trusting you to make them look real, but not too deep.” Sunny’s horn started to glow and the knife levitated from Whirl’s hoof. “Close your eyes…” Sunny said softly. Whirl closed his eyes and stood perfectly still. Sunny levitated the knife near Whirl’s throat. “One slit… and he is dead in seconds…” SLASH! “AHHHHH!” Whirl cried out in agony. He held a hoof to the new wound on the side of his neck. “Sweet honey nectar sap pollen! That hurts!” “Hold still…” Whirl stood as still as he could and closed his eyes again. The knife levitated under Whirl’s chest. “One jab… and he will be dead in minutes…” SLASH! “AHHHH AH AH AH!” Whirl’s front knees buckled and he fell to the floor. “Is that enough?” “Yeah…” Whirl said as he panted through the pain. “Your turn.” Sunny was too busy looking at the bloody knife. “Reminds me of when I used to kill…” he said coldly. “But you don’t kill anymore, remember?” Sunny shook his head. “Right… I don’t…” he set the knife down on the table. Whirl rinsed it off and used the fire to sterilize it. “Alright, hold still.” Sunny closed his eyes and stood perfectly still. SLASH! Sunny let out a grunt of pain. SLASH! “AHHHHHHHHHHH!” Sunny cried out in pain. Whirl grabbed the wet cloth from the table and dabbed it on Sunny’s cuts. “Once we get cleaned up a little bit we will head into town.” Sunny winced at ever dab. “Make it quick, this really hurts.” “Sorry, that should be good. Clean mine up will you?” “Sure.” Sunny levitated the rag and started to dab Whirl’s cuts. “That should be good. Let’s go.” Whirl walked to the door with his saddle bag on. “Do you want me to help walk you?” “I changed my mind on that, let’s just walk into town normally and hope for the best.” Whirl nodded and walked out of the door with Sunny following closely behind. They walked to the edge of the forest and stopped just before they hit the edge. “You ready?” Whirl asked with a deep breath. “As I’ll ever be.” Whirl started to walk forward and as he looked around he started to feel a lot better. “Overcast today huh? Not the call I would have made, but whatever.” “Slight drizzle and a low gust.” Sunny said plainly. “Just what I was thinking.” “Overcast works too I guess. They are going to need to make up for it with a full on rainstorm tomorrow. That is going to make it hard on Derpy.” “Again, just what I was thinking. Here we are, let’s go inside.” Whirl said as he opened the door. Sunny sighed and walked through the open door and Whirl followed quickly behind. The nurse at the front desk wasn’t paying attention, it was Nurse Red Heart. “Please fill out the form… Whirl Wind?! Oh my gosh, what happened?!” she asked as she saw his cuts. “My friend and I did Equestria a service, we killed Shadow Wind… but it was not easy.” “My name is Sunny Plains, it’s a pleasure to meet you Nurse Red Heart.” “How did you know my name?” Nurse Red Heart asked as she stood up to escort them to an examination room. Sunny pointed at the sign on the wall that had the staff’s names. “Lucky guess.” “Well, if you two will follow me I can give you a preliminary examination and I will get Doctor Ray to patch you two up! I will also notify Derpy for you Whirl!” she said excitedly. Whirl and Sunny followed the nurse to an examination room where she looked them over and wrote down notes. “These cuts look pretty nasty; I will be quick in getting Doctor Ray.” Nurse Red Heart said as she trotted quickly out of the room. “So far so good.” Whirl said after the door closed. “I shouldn’t have said her name.” Sunny said in an upset tone. “It’s okay, just cap a lid on it and… hello Doctor Ray!” Whirl said as the doctor walked through the door. “Whirl, it is good to see you. I wish I could say that it’s nice to see you in one piece. So you and Sunny here went off on a stallion hunt eh? I can’t say I approve, but you did what you thought was right. This is interesting; I have never seen an alicorn of your size before. Where are you from Sunny?” Doctor Ray asked as he started to get out gauze pads and sterilizing pads. “Far, far from here.” “Well, I am happy to help you out. This is going to sting though.” Doctor Ray said as he started to dab Sunny’s wounds with the sterilizer. “It’s going to take some time for these to heal, luckily they aren’t really bad.” “Still hurts pretty bad!” Sunny said as he winced in pain. “Sorry, but I don’t want to risk an infection.” Doctor Ray said in a remorseful tone. He placed a gauze pad over Sunny’s cuts and taped them down. “There you go. You should start feeling better now.” Doctor Ray quickly patched up Whirl and smiled. “All better now. You two are good to go. Whirl, it’s good to have you back. Sunny, welcome to Equestria.” He said happily. “It’s good to be back, I can’t wait to finally get time to rest. Let’s go Sunny.” Whirl said happily. Sunny followed him out without another word. When they got to the lobby Whirl found himself one pony heavier as Derpy flung herself onto him with a hug. “WHIRL, IT SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! How could you just leave me like that?!” she asked with an angry tone. “I’ll explain everything when we get home honey. But where are my manners? Sunny, this is Derpy, my fiancé. Derpy, this is Sunny Plains, he needs to stay with us until he can get on his hooves.” Whirl explained with a smile. “Well, we will need to live at your place… I sold my house!” Derpy said happily. “That is great! I assume you have been living at my place, am I right?” “Yup, so let’s get going. You have a lot of explaining to do.” Whirl and Sunny followed her out and they arrived at their home quickly. Once they were inside they all took a seat in the den. Whirl let out a relaxed sigh as he slumped down into his favorite chair. “Okay, Derpy… I have something to tell you that you can’t tell anypony else. Before I say anything else I need you to promise you won’t tell anypony else.” “I promise. You can tell me anything Whirl.” Whirl sighed and stood up again. He walked over to Sunny and took of his sunglasses. Sunny had his eyes closed. “I don’t want her to see Whirl…” he said nervously. “It’s now or later… either way she has to know.” “What do I need to know about his eyes?” Sunny sighed and opened his eyes. They were as green as the day he was first separated from Whirl. Derpy gasped and clapped her hooves over her mouth. “He is one of King Sombra’s followers?!” she asked in a panic. “Not exactly…” “I’m… Shadow Wind…” Derpy flew across the room and tackled Sunny to the ground, kicking him multiple times before Whirl was able to pull her off. “YOU BASTARD! YOU SON OF SOMBRA!” “Calm down Derpy! He has changed!” Whirl yelled as he held Derpy in his fore hooves. Sunny stood up and let out a groan of pain. “I saw that coming… I deserve it…” he said as he stood up. “LET ME GO WHIRL! I’LL KILL HIM!” Derpy yelled as she flailed about. “He’s Sunny now! He has changed! He has changed!” “How can you say that?! He is a monster!” “That monster is me!” “NO! You were pulled away from him! He is his own little monster pony!” “He was tricked by Sombra just as I was! If he is a monster then I am too!” Derpy stopped her useless struggle. “Why did you bring him here? Why waste your time trying to change him?” “Because he is the closest thing I have to family left. He has changed and I will keep working with him to make sure that his new identity is the one everypony knows.” “Then why tell me?” “Because I love you Derpy; I can’t lie to you.” Derpy loosened up in his fore hooves. “Fine, he can stay. But if he falls out of line then he is dead! Why do you want him here?! While you were in the hospital you said you wanted him dead!” “I decided redemption is better than revenge, for both of us.” “Redemption…” Sunny said quietly as he sat back down. Whirl set down Derpy and she trotted up to Sunny. “Listen you, Whirl is taking a huge risk for you, don’t… let… him… down!” she said as she poked Sunny’s chest. Sunny took Derpy’s hoof gently and looked into her eyes. “I won’t.” he said as he put his sunglasses back on and let her hoof go. Derpy looked back to Whirl with a slightly disappointed look. “You know what will happen to you if you get caught right?” “Of course I do. But isn’t better to believe that anypony can be redeemed rather than just believing that thing are just the way they are?” Derpy walked over to the sofa and sat back down and Whirl sat down right next to her. “Thank you for trusting me Derpy.” Whirl said as he hugged her with his wing. “Thank you for trusting me too; I didn’t think you would ever let this plan go through.” “I used to be different too I guess… what kind of a pony would I be if I didn’t give you a chance to prove yourself?” “You would still be my mare…” Whirl said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. Derpy let out a giggle. “Alright, enough kissing up; you are going to be working a lot to pay for leaving me in the hospital alone.” “I figured as much. I’ll start by cleaning up the guest room. Tomorrow we will both find jobs and get our lives back on track. And we, my love, have a wedding to plan.” “Yes we do! It will have to wait another week though, they are making it rain all week with high winds. It is going to make my job that much harder.” “ALL WEEK?!” Whril and Sunny said in unison. “Alright, that settles it. I am going back to the weather analyzing job I had. There should be no need for a week long rain!” “I agree! What is wrong with them?” “Bad math, it’s the only thing I can think of. If they haven’t found a new analyzer then the mayor is the one making all the calls.” “The mayor doing that kind of math? That would be fun to watch.” “You two lost me…” Derpy said with a giggle. “Probabilities based on recent and past weather events stretching back to the beginning of the year.” “Then you take those and calculate what the next day’s weather should be hour by hour.” “Then you draw up a diagram for each hour so that the weather teams know what the clouds should look like when the job is done.” “Finally you write up the report for what the weather was actually like and then calculate those into tomorrow’s statistics.” “It is a real hassle sometimes but it is generally fun.” “Whoa, I didn’t think it took that much work to get the weather right.” Derpy said in a surprised tone. “Not many ponies do all that work, that is just what I did when I was working there.” “You mean when Whirl was working there?” “Technically he worked there too. He is me, he has all my memories. They are just in a different order and a little bit messed up.” “Oh, sorry about that Sh… Sunny.” “It’s okay. I will get used to it. I guess I know what job we are going to get Whirl.” “Two weather analyzers huh? That would be great! We would always come up with the same answers and finally get some say about the regulations the weather team follows!” “That is just what I was thinking. Maybe we will get our own water cooler finally so we don’t have to rush to the store during our breaks.” “That would be… so nice…” Whirl said as he laid down on his back. “All this for a water cooler?” “Do you know how far the store is from town hall? Pretty far, I used to count it as Wonderbolt training.” “Except for that one week those three fillies had that lemonade stand outside.” “Come to think of it… I think one of them was Applebloom.” “I think you are right. Weren’t they checking their flanks every time we bought a cup?” “Yeah, what was with that?” “They were checking for their cutie marks. Didn’t you know that they have a little club dedicated to fillies finding their cutie marks?” Whirl and Sunny both shook their head in unison and chuckled. “That’s adorable.” “So what are you telling everypony else about Sunny the random alicorn?” “Just that we killed Shadow Wind and now we are looking for jobs.” “Only if ponies ask about it though.” “I think there is a pretty good chance of that.” Derpy said as she pointed at the window. A pegasus pony with a camera panicked and flew away as fast as he could, but not before snapping a picture of Sunny. “Uh oh… how long do you think he was here? Do you think he saw my eyes?” Sunny asked with a concerned look. “We will just have to see what is in the paper tomorrow and deal with whatever fall out there is.” KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! Whirl sighed and stood up before walking to the door, opening it slowly. “Hello? Oh, oh my… Celestia, what brings you around?” “I heard that you have a special guest here and that you had returned; I wanted to check up on you.” Celestia said kindly. Whirl took a glance back at Sunny who gave him a nod. Whirl took a step back and let the princess enter. Celestia walked inside and her guards stayed outside the door. Whirl closed the door and walked over to his sofa and offered Celestia his favorite chair. She took a seat and Whirl sat down next to Derpy. “Princess Celestia, this is…” “Shadow Wind, I know.” Celestia said as her horn started to glow. A magical aura filled the room. “This is so nopony can hear us from outside. Now Whirl, explain yourself.” Everypony in the room tensed up a bit. “Well… I wanted to give him a chance to be redeemed. In a way he was tricked by Sombra like the rest of us. How did you know it was him anyway?” “Alicorns are made; my sister and I are the original alicorns. We searched the whole planet for others like us and we never found any. That only left Shadow Wind as the last possible pony it could be.” “Sunny Plains…” Sunny said through gritted teeth. “Excuse me?” “My name is Sunny Plains now; I would appreciate you addressing me as such.” Celestia raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Sunny, show the princess a little more respect please.” Whirl said softly. “My apologies, your highness.” Sunny said in a strained tone. “I can see that I make you uncomfortable, that is understandable. What is your plan for him Whirl?” “Find him a job; let him live his life outside of Sombra’s control.” “You really think he can be redeemed?” “You thought Discord could be redeemed, why not me?” “Because dark magic still holds your mind; Discord was mischievous on his own accord. Let me see your eyes.” Sunny took off his sun glasses and looked at Celestia with a glare. “Still green your highness.” he said sarcastically. “That is because you still harbor great hatred for my sister and I. I will allow you to attempt to redeem him. If anypony gets hurt though, it is on you hooves Whirl.” Celestia said as she walked to the door. The magical aura faded as she walked outside and closed the door. “I thought you told me that you would give them a chance!” “And I am! I have to say, she did impress me with her authority. She sure did put us in our place, under her hoof!” “Under her care!” Derpy retorted. “Did it look like she cared about me at all? Whirl I will allow you… What is your plan of him Whirl?” Sunny said in a mocking tone. “You are lucky she is letting you stay at all!” “ENOUGH!” Whirl shouted. Derpy and Sunny both went silent. “Sunny, did you honestly expect her to not be suspicious? You are just looking for somepony to be mad at. Be mad at Sombra for making you see lies. Derpy, don’t fan the flames, let me put them out. Now we have all had a long day, let’s go get some rest and tomorrow we will get our lives going again.” Sunny and Derpy both glared at each other without responding to Whirl. “Fine, glare at each other for the rest of the night. I don’t know why you two are the ones that are angry, I am the one sticking my neck out to help you Sunny. Derpy, I am sorry that I went off to do this but I miss my family and if there is any chance that I can have just one spec of family to be with then I will risk my life for it… I’m going out for a while. You two fix whatever funk you are in and make up.” Whirl said in an upset tone as he walked out the door. “Whirl wait!” Derpy called out, but he was already gone. “This is your fault, you upset him!” “I think we both upset him! Everything isn’t my fault!” “No, you just ruined his life! That is your fault!” “He ruined my life!” “DON’T YOU DARE BLAME WHIRL FOR YOUR EVILNESS!” “I WASN’T TALKING ABOUT WHIRL!” Derpy glared at Sunny. “Who were you talking about then?” “Sombra! I was talking about Sombra! Because of him I killed my parents, killed my family! Because of him I can’t tell the difference between good and evil! Because of HIM I can’t even look at anypony without seeing an enemy!” Derpy sat down on the couch in a huff. “Now you have to live with that, just like Whirl does…” Sunny stood up and walked to Whirl’s room. “I need to go do something.” “Wait, don’t go into our room!” Derpy shouted as she followed him into the room. Sunny ignored her and walked over to the bookshelf. He pulled two books off the shelf and laid the one to the left of the two he just took out on its side. The book shelf descended down into the floor revealing a spiral stair case the Sunny stared to descend. “This is something Whirl would never do while you are around, so take this opportunity to see where he goes when he is angry.” Derpy followed Sunny down the stairs and into a large room that resembled a mine shaft. In the room there were unlit candles on the walls and posters of the Wonderbolts hanging all around the room, most of them were autographed. There were also stands around the room with various Wonderbolt collectables, such as signed uniforms, Wonderbolts goggles, and old Wonderbolt badges. In the far back of the room were kicking bags, lifting weights and training dummies. As Derpy followed Sunny through the room she noticed that there were spears hanging from the wall. Sunny walked up and pulled one of the spears down. “Whirl’s favorite weapon, he practices with it whenever he is upset. Maybe you should try it too.” Sunny said as he hoofed her a spear. “Me? Oh no no no no no, I can’t handle a weapon…” Derpy said nervously. “You aren’t 'handling a weapon', you are just going to swing it wildly at the dummy. Just take it.” Derpy took the spear tentatively and looked at the training dummy. “Do I just hit it?” Sunny took another spear and stabbed the training dummy violently. “Do whatever you want to relieve stress. Here, I will set you up your own.” Sunny said as he opened a closet door. He walked in and pulled out another training dummy and set it up for Derpy to attack. “All yours, demolish it.” Derpy swung the spear and hit the dummy in the side of the head. She tugged at the spear to dislodge it but the hooked tip was preventing her from pulling it out. “It’s stuck…” “Now you see why these are so dangerous.” Sunny said as he pulled hard on the spear. Half of the dummy’s face was torn off by the spear. “They are designed to cause as much damage as possible.” Derpy took the spear again and looked at it. “I couldn’t use this against a real pony…” “Whirl said the same thing, but when the time came he used it against Sombra, quite effectively too. Tore right through his heart, if he even had one.” “You really hate him now don’t you?” “I hate what he made me do, but I don’t hate him. I don’t think I ever can, he made me think of him as a father figure. But it was a lie as well and now I don’t know what to think.” “Trust in Whirl Wind, he will help you through this.” Sunny stabbed his spear into his training dummy again and twisted it. When the pulled it back he tore out the entire chest of the dummy. He let out a loud yell and started hacking away at it with a lot of rage. Derpy took a step back when pieces of the dummy flew her direction. She looked on as the training dummy was torn down to its stub. Sunny was panting heavily when he was finished and he fell back onto his flank with exhaustion. “B-bastard… monster…” he said quietly. “You haven’t used yours much…” “I think you have let out enough rage for both of us.” “Try it… just think of anything that makes you angry and tear it apart… It will help, I promise…” Sunny said as he tried to catch his breath. Derpy stabbed at the dummy again. Her face contorted with rage and she started to cry. She took the spear and started to stab and swing at the dummy relentlessly, although she didn’t do as much damage as Sunny. When she was done her dummy was sliced up pretty good. She stabbed it one more time and sat down in exhaustion. “I do feel better…” “I knew you would. Don’t tell Whirl I let you down here, this is his private anger management room. Usually he doesn’t have to use the spears, the Wonderbolt stuff usually calms him down.” “I won’t tell him, but you owe me…” Derpy said through her panting. “Fine… you think we are calm enough to be friends?” “Until you make me angry again, then I will use that spear on you.” Derpy said with a giggle. “Fair enough…” Sunny said as he stood up. Derpy stood up as well and followed him back upstairs. When they were both in the room Sunny pressed a button on the wall and the book shelf moved back into place. They both turned around and saw Whirl standing at the door. Derpy was startled and jumped in panic with a squeak. “Whirl, you are back.” “You showed her my anger management room? Pretty good idea, are both of you better now?” “You aren’t upset that I show her the sanctuary?” “I probably would have showed her if she ever got that angry. It’s good we don’t have any secrets between us.” “Thank you Whirl, but you can have some secrets you know.” Derpy said with a giggle. “I am just glad to see you two getting along. Are we going to have any more problems?” “Maybe a bump or two, but nothing too terrible; I am still pretty messed up.” “Glad you can admit that to yourself, now all we have to do is get you to stay calm around the princesses.” Whirl said with a chuckle. “Well, one step at a time…” “Right, well I am exhausted and I want to get some sleep. You know where the guest room is Sunny.” Whirl said with a yawn. “Right. Goodnight you two.” Sunny said as he walked out of the room. Whirl walked over to Derpy and gave her a kiss. Derpy let out a giggle and kiss Whirl back. Whirl pulled his head back and turned to the bed, but he didn’t get on it, he dug under it. He emerged again with a small box which he held up and hobbled over to Derpy again, completely exhausted. “Derpy I have something to ask you even though you already said yes. Will you marry me?” Whirl opened the box revealing two golden wing rings. Derpy’s eyes lit up at the sight of the rings. “Whirl… they’re beautiful… Yes. I will marry you!” she said as she flung herself onto him with a hug. Whirl was already asleep when she hugged him, they fell down onto the floor and Derpy kissed him. Whirl was jolted awake by the kiss; he opened his eyes and kissed her back. Derpy pulled away from the kiss with a giggle. “You seem tired dear.” She said softly. Whirl nodded his head haphazardly. “Yust a yiyyle.” He said through a yawn. Derpy helped him to his hooves then onto the bed. “I’m tired too, today has been surprising and exciting for me.” “I know… sorry for that…” Whirl said sleepily. “It’s okay; you more than made up for it.” “I’m… glad…” Derpy cuddled up against him and closed her eyes. “Goodnight Whirl.” **** Sunny walked to the guest room and quickly got into bed. He heard a thump in the next room that startled him. “Somepony is excited…” he thought with a chuckle. After only a short time, he managed to fall asleep. Clouds, clouds all around. “Where am I?” A strike of lightning reveals a figure in the clouds. “You are in your dreams, but you will find no respite here.” A voiced echoed through the clouds. “Princess Luna, I was wondering whether or not I would see you here. So what are you going to do, scare me to death?” Another strike of lightning revealed the image was walking towards him. When it reached the edge of the clouds it came to a halt. “Do you really think that swine would waste time with you? You are barely worth my time.” The voice was deep and dark. “No… you’re dead…” “You cannot kill the shadow!” Sombra emerged from the clouds and struck Sunny in the face with his fore hoof. Sunny recoiled, but not in pain. “This is a dream you imbecile! You cannot harm me here! How are you alive?!” “Traitor. How could you betray me like this?” “You… are evil. You made a fool out of me, you brainwashed me into believing something that wasn’t real! YOU MADE ME KILL MY FAMILY!” “They were weak and the weak must perish under the might of the shadow. You spoke those very words after you slaughtered them.” “You weren’t there…” It was then that it hit Sunny like a ton of bricks. His horn started to glow and the image of Sombra was replaced by Princess Luna. “LUNA! How dare you! How dare you scare me like that!” “How dare I? How dare you address me that way! Princess Luna will suffice, or Princess of the Night if you prefer!” “I thought Sombra was still alive! I was in a panic!” “I don’t believe that, not for a second. You will always be one of Sombra’s minions!” “Are you always going to be Nightmare Moon then?! Listen, don’t come into my dreams and try to hinder me! And yes I am telling you what to do, I bow to no pony!” “You will bow to me if you know what is good for you.” “I know what is good for me! I don’t need you telling me otherwise! Whirl will help me! He will help me find redemption!” Sunny shouted in a desperate tone. “There is no redemption for you monster!” “I am NOT A MONSTER! I’M NOT A MONSTER! I don’t want to be a monster…” Sunny said as he fell to his knees. “Stop… please…” “Why should I? You are a monster, you deserve this ridicule.” Sunny was on the verge of tears. “I’m trying… I… AM… TRYING! What do you know about me?! Who I really am?! What do you know?!” Sunny stood up again and walked up to Luna’s face. “What do you want from me?!” Luna saw the look in Sunny’s eyes, the look of regret and sorrow. Her expression softened and she actually felt sorry for him. “I…” “Save it! I can see Whirl was wrong about you! He said you would give me a chance, he said you would change my mind about you! He lied, just like Sombra lied! Now I have no pony! No pony at all who I trust!” “Sunny… I… I’m sorry… I didn’t realize…” “Leave me alone!” Sunny shouted at his horn started to glow. He faded away as he woke himself up. Luna acted quickly and appeared in Whirl’s dream. “Whirl! I messed up! “Luna? What is wrong?” Whirl asked as he set down his whittling equipment. “Go stop Sunny! I think he is trying to leave!” Luna shouted frantically as she woke Whirl up. **** Whirl’s eyes opened and he let out a sigh. He slowly got out of bed and walked to the guest room, he stuck his ear to the room and heard Sunny breathing heavily. When he knocked on the door he heard a loud thump against the door. “Go away!” “Sunny, are you okay?” “You lied to me! You lied to me!” “Sunny, I don’t know what is going on. What is wrong?” “Princess Luna is what is wrong! She came into my dreams and tricked me into thinking Sombra was alive! Then she had the gall to call me a monster! You said they would give me a chance!” “Can you let me in so we can talk about this without waking Derpy?” The door flung open and Whirl saw Sunny with his sunglasses on trotting back to the bed. “Fine, but I am not trusting anything you are going to say.” Whirl walked into the room and closed the door. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to Sunny. “Why are you wearing your sunglasses at night?” “Because I feel like it…” “Take them off, I want to look you in the eye when we talk.” Sunny sighed and took off his sunglasses. Tears flooded out from his sunglasses and leaked down his face. “I never used to cry over something like this…” “It’s a good thing you are crying, it means you are just like any pony who has been hurt. You are not a monster Sunny, I know you aren’t and it doesn’t matter if any pony says otherwise. All that matters is that you know that you are not a monster.” “I hate them… I hate them so much… but I don’t want to hate anymore… I am tired of hating things… I am tired of being hated…” “I don’t hate you, not at all. In fact, I love you like I loved my brothers. If anything were to happen to you, or if you were gone for any reason, I would never be the same again.” “Why did you lie to me about them, like he did?” “I didn’t lie… I was just wrong… Everypony makes mistakes like that… I’m sorry I made that mistake. Tomorrow I will send a letter to Princess Luna telling her to stay out of your dream and out of mine. She crossed the line when she went into your dreams to do what she did.” “You would ask her to stay away from you too?” “She needs to know what you mean to me and what I am willing to give up to help you.” “I’m sorry I called you a liar…” “I’m sorry the princesses haven’t shown you the faith I said they would, they really let me down on this one. I will make it up to you somehow, I promise.” “Thank you… I… I don’t know what else to say.” Whirl gave Sunny a hug. “It’s okay; you go ahead and get to sleep. Cast a spell to block out Luna from your dreams.” “Okay, goodnight Whirl.” Sunny said softly as Whirl stood up and walked to the door. “Goodnight Sunny, see you in the morning.” Whirl said as he walked out of the room and back to his room. Shortly after Whirl left, Sunny fell asleep again with a smile. Whirl got to his room and gently got back into bed with Derpy. “Is Sunny okay?” Derpy asked quietly. “He is now…” “Good…” Whirl closed his eyes and soon after, fell asleep. **** Whirl was in his room, but everything looked distorted and wavy. He looked around and saw Luna pacing back and forth. When she noticed Whirl sitting in bed she walked up to him with a smile. “Is Sunny okay?” Whirl got out of bed and walked past Luna without a word. He walked to his basement and grabbed his whittling tools and started to carve some wood. “Whirl? Are you okay?” “I am upset, if that is what you are asking.” “Did Sunny do something? Did he say that he will no longer accept me in his dreams?” “No, I said that. I want you to stay out of both of our dreams for now. You almost brought all of this planning crashing down around me and it was all because you didn’t trust me.” “I trust you Whirl! I just don’t trust him!” “I am him Luna. Now I am trying to help him see the error of his ways and he is making great progress, but not with you scaring him in his dreams about Sombra being alive and calling him a monster. How could you even do that when you yourself was considered a monster when you were Nightmare Moon? How much did it hurt when ponies were afraid of you when you got back huh? At least you had somepony to help you, you had Twilight. All he has is me and I will fight tooth and nail to make sure he gets the same opportunities you had.” Princess Luna sat in silence for a moment and watched Whirl whittle away at the wood. “I’m sorry Whirl, I didn’t understand…” “I know you didn’t, but now I have to keep a promise I made to Sunny, I can’t see you in my dreams until he says I can. I’m sorry Luna, but this is just the way it has to be until I can help him.” “Whirl, please… you make the nights so much better…” “Then this will be a punishment for both of us, because you make my nights a lot better also. I’m sorry Luna, but please go.” Luna’s image slowly faded away with the look of despair on her face. When she was gone Whirl dropped his whittling tools, laid his head down on the workbench and started to cry. “I’m sorry Luna…” he said softly. “You did it… you really did it…” Whirl’s head perked up and he turned around to see Sunny standing there. “What, send Luna away? I said I would…” “I didn’t think you would actually do it though. You loved her, you still love her, and yet you gave up being able to see her every night just for me…” “I meant what I said, what she did crossed the line. Even though I am going to miss seeing her, what she did was wrong and I won’t stand by it.” “Thank you… you have given me hope that this isn’t a totally lost cause. I will see you when we wake up.” Sunny said as he vanished. Whirl sighed and laid his head back down on the bench. “This is going to be harder than I thought… Why is everypony making this harder than it needs to be? I am putting so much on the line for him and nopony seems to care about either of our futures…” Whirl lifted his head and looked around. “I am talking to myself… in my dreams… I’m insane…” **** The next morning Whirl woke up feeling exhausted. His eyes were droopy and he looked like a zombie pony. He got out of bed and walked out to the kitchen to make everypony breakfast. He dropped the pans, he dropped the eggs, and he tripped and threw the spatula which stuck into the ceiling. With an angry grunt he slammed the skillet down onto the counter. “Are you okay Whirl?” Derpy asked as she poked her head around the corner. “No I’m not okay… I had the worst dreams, woke up in the middle of the night, and told one of the princesses I didn’t want to see her in my dreams for a long time. I am exhausted and I have been making mistakes all morning with the eggs, the pans and the spatula is stuck in the ceiling.” Whirl said in a stressed tone. “Why don’t you put off getting your job for a little while? It might help you to relax if you go to the spa with Sunny.” “The spa sounds nice. Good morn… oh my gosh, Whirl you look spent.” Sunny said as he walked into the kitchen. “I think you could use a couple days to relax before you jump back into the loop of things.” “It’s settled then, you two will go to the spa and I will go and get my promotion.” “Promotion? That’s today?! I can’t miss that!” “It’s okay Whirl, you go have fun and we can celebrate when you get back.” Whirl let out a sigh and flew up to take the spatula out of the ceiling. He gave it a tug but it wouldn’t come out, so he gave it a harder tug but it still wouldn’t come out. He flipped upside down and planted his hooves firmly on the ceiling. “Whirl I don’t think that is a…” Whirl fell to the floor with a loud crash and was completely winded as he laid there on the floor in silence. Sunny walked over to him and helped Whirl to his hooves. “Are you okay?” Whirl coughed and silently walked into the den. He laid down on the couch and managed to wheeze, “Spa sounds good…” **** Princess Celestia knocked on Luna’s door gently. “Luna, are you in there?” “Go away sister…” Luna said through the door with a sad voice. “Luna, what is going on? You haven’t been yourself today.” “I do not wish to discuss this right now!” “Luna, please… don’t hide away if you are having troubles.” Luna let out a sigh. “Very well…” Celestia opened the door and walked in closing it behind her. Luna was on her bed facing away from Celestia. “Sister, what is troubling you?” “Oh Tia… I made a terrible mistake…” “Everypony makes mistakes Luna, even us.” “I don’t know if I can fix this one…” Luna said as she set her head down. Celestia walked over to her bed and laid down next to her. “What happened? Maybe I can help you find a way to fix it.” Luna let out a soft sob. “I went into Sunny’s dream… I called him a monster and I… I pretended to be Sombra… Then I had to tell Whirl so that his plans didn’t fall apart. I figured he would thank me for saying what he couldn’t, but he never thought of Sunny as a monster, I should have known better… Whirl doesn’t want to see me anymore!” Luna said as she broke down crying. “Oh Luna… He wants to see you, you two are best friends. I think he just wants to let Sunny know that he won’t let anything get in the way of helping him. Did he say you couldn’t write him?” “No… he just said that I can’t visit him in his dreams… I guess I should write a letter.” “That might help, but if you really want to apologize you should write it to Sunny. Sunny is the one you hurt the most.” “What?! You want me to apologize to HIM?!” “Luna, Sunny is the closest thing Whirl has to a living relative now and he is working hard to help him. He even put his life at risk doing this, if I were so inclined I could have him, Derpy, and Sunny all imprisoned for harboring a war criminal. Do you remember how long that sentence lasts?” “Life…” “Precisely. The only reason I do not imprison them is because I think Whirl is right in what he is doing. I believe Sunny has the right for a second chance to make a life for himself under his own control.” “You really believe that he has changed? You think that a pony like that can change?!” “You di…” “If one more pony compares me to him I will go absolutely crazy!” “It’s true though. The dark magic within you was changed through the elements of harmony. I think that the elements would be overkill in this situation so I am going to let Whirl work to fix Sunny himself. Don’t you believe in Whirl?” “Of course I do… Fine… I’ll write the apology letter to Sunny.” Luna sighed with a frown. “You have to actually be sorry Luna, otherwise it is meaningless. How about this, you go into Sunny’s dreams again as somepony nice, get to know him and then maybe you can understand what he is really like.” “But Whirl said…” “Trust me, Whirl will like this idea just as much as I do. Also, he doesn’t have a choice, it’s either this or I will drag his flank to the dungeons.” Luna let out a giggle. “Alright, I will give it a try.” “I will write the letter to Whirl for his eyes only and I will have a royal carrier make sure he gets it.” “Twilight is a royal carrier now?” “Oh hush you. She is my greatest student and she is also the fastest way to get the letter to Whirl.” Luna let out another giggle. “Very well then, I will make the necessary preparations.” **** “OHHH! AHHH! Ohhhhh…. That’s the spot…” Whirl said as Lotus, one of the spa workers, massaged his aching back. “Thank you sooooo much.” Lotus let out a giggle. “It is my job to do this every day for nice ponies like you and your charming friend. I must admit it is such a great honor to have a guest from so far away visit here.” “The honor is miiiiiiiine ohhh yeah…” Sunny sighed as Aloe started to work his lower back. “I can’t think of the last time I was so relaxed…” “I can tell you have been carrying a lot of tension. What is it that you do for work?” Aloe asked as she pressed a bit harder. “I used to wage war… but that is all behind me now… I left because I wanted a new life that didn’t involve bloodshed… I owe Whirl big time for showing me this magnificent place… taking me in… helping me… get a job…” “He sounds like a good friend to me. It is like Lotus and I, we left our homes to come here and open a lovely spa together. We are like sisters and we love each other like sisters.” Aloe said with a smile. Sunny didn’t respond, he simply kept his head down on the pillow and sighed. “Sunny is like a brother to me too… I am glad he trusts me. I am so glad that he is here with me right now, spending time with me… like my brothers did… like my sister did… like… a brother…” Whirl said as he started to get worked up. “Just relax Mr. Wind, no need to think of anything that would make you sad.” Lotus said as she started to move down his back. “You really think of me as one of your brothers don’t you?” “Of course I do, I know it is what my family would have wanted. You have given me hope for a brighter future for both of us.” Aloe wiped a tear away. “You two are starting to make me cry. You remind me of Lotus and I so much it’s beautiful.” “I was thinking the same thing Aloe. Maybe we can include the full package to them for being so nice?” “Good idea! You two are going to leave here more relaxed than you have ever been.” Aloe said happily. “That isn’t necessary; I don’t deserve that kind of treatment…” “Sunny, you need that kind of treatment. It is not up to you to determine whether or not you deserve it.” “Then it’s settled, you two will be having a relaxing evening. First thing we need to do is get a mud mask on you both. If you will follow us.” Aloe said as she started to walk to the next room. Lotus, Whirl and Sunny followed Aloe into the next room. “Lay down on the beds and take off your sunglasses please.” Both Whirl and Sunny both froze in their tracks. Sunny looked over to Whirl with what he assumed to be a worried look. “Just keep your eyes closed.” Whirl whispered. Sunny walked over to the bed and laid down on his back. He removed his sunglasses with his eyes closed. “Alright, I am ready.” He said nervously. “Awww, you are going to hide your pretty eyes from me?” Aloe said as she placed a couple of cucumber slices over Sunny’s eyes. “They are far from pretty… trust me.” “We are not judgmental here Mr. Plains. You do not have to be afraid.” “I think it is better that you don’t see them.” Whirl said suddenly. “I am sure they are fine. If anything you have gotten me even more curious.” Lotus said with a giggle. Sunny let out a sigh. “You’d hate them… and me…” he said quietly. “Oh Sunny, I don’t think we could ever hate you. Who could hate such a gentlecolt?” Aloe said happily. “Oh please show us Sunny.” Whirl let out a sigh. “It’s up to you Sunny…” Sunny let out a sigh. “Fine, but this stays here in this room. Promise me you will not tell anypony.” “We promise.” The two spa workers said in unison. Sunny reached up to his face and took off the cucumbers with his eyes closed. Whirl had also sat up and took off his cucumbers to see what was happening. Sunny opened his eyes with an ashamed look on his face. Both Aloe and Lotus let out a gasp when they saw the green tint in his eyes. They both took a couple of steps back and looked a bit scared. “Why… Why… are they g-g-green like that?” Aloe asked nervously. “Because… because…” “He was cursed by Sombra during the war.” Whirl said suddenly. “No Whirl we need to start telling the truth… I want ponies to know that I am really Shadow Wind.” “But you are so nice… you can’t be that terrible pony, we saw in the paper that you two defeated him.” Aloe said confidently. “That is just what we said to keep Sunny safe… He really was Shadow Wind but he has changed, he is not under Sombra’s control.” Whirl said nervously. “I don’t understand, isn’t he evil like Sombra?” “He was the one who destroyed Fillydelphia and Los Pegasus?” Lotus asked. “I was under Sombra’s control… there was nothing I could do…” “Let’s just go Sunny. I am not sure they…” “Now hold on just a minute, we never said that we didn’t want to help you. Sometimes all a pony needs is a little kindness and consideration to make them into a better pony. Where else to get that than here? Just lay back and relax and we will help you get better.” Aloe said happily. “Wait… what? You don’t hate me?” “Well, if Whirl Wind, the stallion who killed Sombra thinks that you are okay, then so do we. You should really thank him for helping you get a second chance though; I am sure that it isn’t easy keeping a secret so big.” Lotus said with a smile. “Thank you Whirl. You really have helped me if these ponies like me now. No more hiding though, it is really starting to make me feel imprisoned.” Whirl frowned. “If you think you are ready then we will talk to the press today and get an article defending you like I had when I returned home. I want to keep you safe.” “I know you do. But I can’t stay safe forever. I need to be free if I am ever going to really have a new life. I want to keep the name though, it makes me happy.” “I think it is a wonderful name.” Lotus said as she gently pushed Sunny onto his back. She placed the cucumbers over his eyes again and started to apply the mud mask. When she was done she got out a hoof file and started to work on Sunny’s hooves. “I never expected to be saying this, but you are a nice pony, you really are. I hope that things go well for you.” Aloe nodded in agreement. “If Whirl Wind here can be redeemed so can you.” She said happily. It was right around this time that Rarity poked her head in. “Um, excuse me… Did I overhear that correctly?” Everypony in the room looked at Rarity and Sunny’s cucumbers fell off of his face. “Rarity? You were eavesdropping?” he asked in shock. “A lady never eavesdrops, but I did overhear what you were saying and I obviously see what I was hearing is correct. Never fear, I will not tell anypony before its due time. I also agree with our two fine spa workers here that everypony deserves a second chance, I learned that lesson from Princess Celestia herself when we reformed discord.” “Princess Celestia said that? I have a hard time believing that.” Sunny said cynically. Whirl was about to say something before Sunny interrupted. “Just kidding.” He said with a chuckle. Whirl gave him a smirk. “So, you think you will walk out of here without sunglasses?” “I don’t see why not, I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?” “You could be horrendously attacked by many of the ponies whose lives you destroyed under Sombra’s control.” Rarity said casually. Sunny laid back down and sighed. “Thanks Rarity, that makes me feel so much better.” Rarity made a little nervous chuckle and withdrew her head from the room muttering a small sorry. Whirl looked over the Sunny with a concerned look. “I won’t let that happen, you know that right?” “Yeah I know… I am just a bit nervous about all of this.” “Then I think it is time we move you to the sauna, it is very relaxing.” Aloe said as she gently wiped off Sunny’s face. Lotus quickly wiped off Whirl’s and helped him off the bed. “You two like to switch ponies a lot don’t you?” Lotus gave a giggle. “It keeps things interesting. The sauna should also help with that giant bruise on your back as well.” “You mean the bruise he got while he was trying to pull a spatula, that he threw, from the ceiling.” Aloe and lotus both let out a giggle. “Alright, they didn’t need to know how I got the bruise.” Whirl said as they were escorted to the sauna. Sunny walked into the sauna and he felt an odd sensation. “Whirl… I can’t be in here.” Sunny said as he quickly back out of the room, breathing heavily. “What’s wrong? Is it too hot?” Whirl asked with concern. “No, I don’t know… I mean… Something about the heat… I just can’t.” Sunny was nearly hyperventilating as he leaned against the wall for support. “Get me out of here… please…” Whirl walked over to him and helped support him. “Sure thing, let’s get some fresh air. Aloe, Lotus, this was very relaxing. Thank you. Just put the bill on my tab and I will be back later to pay you.” Aloe and Lotus both nodded in unison. “It was our pleasure. Have a nice day.” they said in unison as well. Whirl helped Sunny outside, but he was struggling. He was nearly breaking down as tears started to well up in his eyes. “Help me… help me…” he pleaded softly as they stepped outside. The rain was pouring down heavily and Whirl gave a disgruntled grunt as Sunny fell to his knees sobbing. “No more fire! Please!” “Sunny, what is going on?” Whirl asked in concern. “No, Celestia! Please stop, it burns! What did I do wrong?!” Suddenly it hit Whirl. “This must be part of what Sombra made Sunny experience.” He thought as he picked up Sunny and put him on his back to carry him. “It’s okay Sunny, there is no fire. In fact it is raining, see?” Whirl said as he walked out into the torrent of rain. Sunny felt the rain beat down on his coat. He blinked his eyes and shook his head as he looked up to the sky. “Wh-where am I?” “You are in Ponyville, with me. Are you okay?” “I was… in the dungeons… being burned!” “It wasn’t real; it was just Sombra’s curse trying to scare you. Stay calm, we are heading home.” Whirl said gently as he walked along. “But I… I could feel the flames… and Celestia… she was just laughing…” “She would never do that in reality. Trust me. We will figure out how to stop this from happening again.” “The library…” “What was that?” “Twilight… she can help…” Whirl stopped in his tracks ad turned around to walk towards the library. “You’re right, she can help.” Whirl said as he picked up the pace. “The flames… the flames…” Sunny said weakly. “Why are you laughing… what did I do…?” “It’s okay, no one is laughing, there are no flames.” Whirl said gently as they approached the library. Whirl knocked on the door frantically. “Come in!” Twilight’s voice said from the other side. Whirl quickly opened the door and maneuvered inside gently. “Twilight, I need your help.” They were both soaked from the rain and dripped water everywhere. “Oh my gosh, the alicorn! I was hoping to meet…” “It’s Shadow Wind but don’t worry he is not evil. He is cursed and I need your help to get rid of the curse.” “What?! You want me to help…” “Sunny! I want you to help Sunny Plains!” Whirl said sternly. “He is not under Sombra’s control, but he is still under his curse! Now will you help me or not?” Twilight was a bit taken aback by Whirl’s stern tone; she had not known him to be so serious. “Alright, I’ll help. Set him down and I will see what I can do.” Whirl maneuvered Sunny over to the stairs and set him down. Twilight examined Sunny up and down, before she tapped her hoof to her chin. “This is you right?” “Yes, he is what separated from me when Celestia helped me in the hospital.” “Where did he get the horn? It doesn’t make sense.” “NO! NO CELESTIA PLEASE STOP!” “He said that it came from Sombra. I don’t know how exactly he got it.” “The horn itself must be the cause.” Twilight said as she grabbed Sunny by his shoulders. “Sunny! I need you to focus! How did you get that horn?!” Sunny blinked his eyes lazily. “Crystal…” he said as he moved his hoof to the tip of his horn. “Shoved… in…” He moved his hoof as if he were pushing his horn in. “Horn…” “You are kidding me? You shoved a dark crystal into your skull?!” Sunny nodded weakly. “For… protection…” “We need to remove his horn; it has to be the source of the dark magic.” “Do it then, I am sure he won’t object.” Twilight closed her eyes and her horn started to glow. She let out a grunt as her magical aura connected with Sunny’s horn. “Something… is stopping me…” Her magical aura suddenly turned black and Sunny let out a loud scream of pain. His horn slowly ascended out of his head as he continued to writhe in agony. “It’s almost out!” The horn flickered and turned into a dark crystal as its connection with Sunny was severed. Twilight let out a gasp and let it drop to the floor. “There…” she panted as she sat down. “Sunny? Sunny can you hear me?” Sunny opened his eyes slowly, revealing two blue eyes that were normal once again. “I… I feel… different… more… complete…” he said in his normal voice. “My voice…” “Our voice; you are just like me again.” “I… I’m happy… I’M HAPPY!” Sunny said with a laugh. He stood up and smiled widely. “OH WOW! I FEEL SO GREAT!” He hugged Twilight and swung her around joyfully. “THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I AM FREE! I AM FREEEEEEE!” Twilight was not sure what was going on. “PUT ME DOWN!” Twilight demanded. Sunny stopped and set her down. “Sorry, I am just so happy! So excited! I don’t feel any hatred inside of me! It’s amazing!” Whirl was sitting on the floor chuckling. “Thank you Twilight, whether you meant to do it or not, you freed him from Sombra’s grasp.” “Yes! You did! I am so elated! Whirl, let’s go out and celebrate! Twilight! You should come too!” “Let’s calm down Sunny, take it easy. First we need to…” BELCH! “Twilight! Letter from Princess Celestia!” Spike said as he walked down the stairs sleepily. He handed the letter to Twilight. “It’s for Sunny?” She said curiously. Sunny walked over with a smile. “A letter from the princess for me?” he said as he was hoofed the letter. He opened it and read it aloud. “Dear Sunny Plains, I am writing this on behalf of my sister Princess Luna. She would like to convey her most sincere apologies for what she said in her dreams. She did not mean it and would hope that you will forgive her. Sincerely, Princess Celestia of Equestria.” “You see? I knew she didn’t mean it.” Whirl said happily. “I know! It is all so clear now! Like someone tore the evil from my head!” Sunny said jokingly. “We need to go to Canterlot! I want to accept her apology in pony!” “Whoa, what about getting a job? Staring your life?” “That can all wait! This is something I have to do!” Sunny said as he ran out the door. “WAIT! Twilight, thank you again. SUNNY COME BACK!” Whirl said as he ran after Sunny. He soon caught up with him and pulled him to a stop. “We have to tell Derpy what we are doing first; otherwise I am going to get in trouble again.” Sunny gave a disappointed moan. “Alright, but we have to hurry. The next train to Canterlot leaves soon.”