//------------------------------// // Answers Lead to Questions // Story: Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale // by TheothersideofSunny968 //------------------------------// "And is it true that you and the others really took on Princess Luna, when she was corrupted by darkness and turned into Nightmare Moon, using the power of 'The Elements of Harmony'?!" Sunny said as he levitated stray apples into a near by basket while Applejack bucked the trees. "Eh'yep" Applejack answered another one of Sunny's questions, this being the 25th or 26th one he had for her this morning. And it was easy to say that the orange mare was starting to get annoyed. 'Why in the name of sweet Celestia does Twi think ta lend him a book 'bout all our ventures and what not?!' The eager yellow stallion had already asked about the more believable stories, like the sleep over Applejack had with Rarity and Twilight, their part in the Hearths Warming Eve pageant she and all er friends took part in, their dealings with the Parasprites, how they helped to have the Equestria games held in the Crystal Empire, and he even asked about the time when Applejack and her friends went to Appaloosa and settle an argument between the settlers and the native buffalo. Then of course he went on to ask about the bigger adventured like when they fought Queen Chrysalis and Discord. Two events that Applejack hated to admit were not her best moments. They were times when she and the others turned their backs on their friendship. She either became a lier or believed the lies of a fake princess when she became all caught up in a royal wedding. But they worked things out eventually and she and her friends all grew from it. But then one instance that she was ashamed of still was the issue they had with the vampire fruit bats. "So was it true that you tried to force the bats out of liking their favorite food, apples, and inadvertently turned the most timid friend of yours into an apple hungery creature of the night?!" Sunny asked, not really aware of how tactless he was being. His curiosity and excitement overshadowing his better judgment. "Ya know!" Applejack stopped bucking and gave her full attention to the yellow stallion who was blind to her obvious annoyed state. She was about to tell him off, but claimed herself down a little. He may be acting tactless, but he wasn't a bad stallion. Just curious. "Maybe ya should go ask Twilight 'bout all of this. Since 'she' did give ya th' book and all." "That's a great idea!" Sunny jumped for joy, but paused. "But what about this morning's chores. I don't want to-" "It's alright. Go on ahead" Appeljack said as she picked up a torn and rotten apple. It was then that Sunny took a good look around. Some of the apple trees looked as though they had been attacked. Their trunks had deep claw like markings, large branches snapped off, and the apples themselves were torn to shreds and left to rot. Not like they were being eaten, but more like they were being chewed and spat out. "What happened here?" Sunny asked, poking at a rotten apple with his hoof. "Darn Timberwolves" Applejack said, angrily scowling at the broken up part of the orchard. "Don't know what's gotten' into them. But they've been causin' trouble all around th' orchards." "Is there anything we can do?" Sunny asked, temporarily forgetting all about his questions involving his reading for now. "Why don't you go ask Twilight if she has a spell er somethin' ta use ta keep them' varmints out of here. They usually hunt around them' ever free forest. Don't know why they came here." Applejack suggested, still wanting the yellow stallion to pay a visit to Twilight, hoping he's both find a solution to the Timberwolf problem, as well as get out any and all questions he still had involving their friendship adventures. Sunny nodded, a somber look on his face as he secured his Stetson on his head and told Applejack. "Alright. Hold down the fort. I'll talk to Twilight. I'm sure we'll figure something out." With that, the yellow stallion made a mad dash from the orchard Applejack was cleaning up, through town, and down the the quickest rout to Twilight's castle. As Applejack watched him run, she couldn't help but smile. His determination was one to be admired, he really wanted to keep the apple farm safe. That, and when he got serious he was really cute. That image made the job of cleaning up the mess in the orchard a little more bearable for The freckled, orange farm pony. (Insert mlp fim opening theme) Twilight had just finished reading one of the books Her brother and Princess Cadence sent her from the library in the Crystal Empire and slammed her face literally into the book. After the other night when she had learned about that new spell involving that giant pony puppet, all the history and economics of the Crystal Empire seemed so... Boring. She looked over at the clock and saw that it would be hours before Sunny's lesson. With a heavy sigh, the purple alicorn decided it might be best for her to stretch her legs and get some fresh air with a short walk. Maybe she could go down and see her friend Fluttershy. Twilight knew she would have her hooves full for the next few weeks. Fluttershy told everypony at their last get together that the animal shelter would be having a fundraiser/adopt-a-thon in two months. The fundraiser would consist of both a bake sale that Applejack and Pinkie offered to help with, as well as a talent show that Rarity and Rainbow Dash offered to help advertise and gather participants. Twilight guessed she could help out in some way. But as the princess of friendship placed her hoof on the door nob, a familiar yellow stallion stood there, looking like he was about to knock on the door. "Oh, hey Sunny" Twilight greeted her magical pupil. "A little early today, aren't you?" Sunny kept a serious look, despite him being out of breath from the long run. Unicorns weren't meant for running or hard labor. And although he kept up on the farm pretty well, bucking trees and pulling in the harvest, that didn't mean that the stallion was very good, or fast, at running. "Twilight... We need... Need your help..." Twilight saw the seriousness in the stallion's voice and on his muzzle. She invited him in and offered him a drink. Sunny was able to calm down enough to explain the situation about the Timberwolves attacking the orchard. As Sunny polished off his 4th glass of water, Twilight had gathered several books on spells that might help. "Well there's only on thing to do" Twilight beamed. "Research!" Sunny paused and looked questioningly at the princess of friendship, who went right to work with an open book in front of her, she began reading at top speed, gathering all she could that might help. "Ugh Twilight?" But the the purple alicorn was already lost in the pages of the book, her drive to help one of her very best friends helped her to focus completely on the page's written words. Her eyes flew across the pages faster than anypony Sunny knew. "Twilight" Sunny called out again. This time, a little louder. But she still just continued to read. For the third time, Sunny moved over to her and shook her back and forth "TWILIGHT!" This time the princess of friendship was broken free from her trance and looked over at the yellow stallion. "Is everything alright Sunny? Do you want to help?" She asked as she levitates a book over to him. "I want to help Twilight," he said as he pushed the book away from him. "But don't you think we should do some investigating? See if there is something stirring the Timberwolves up? Causing them to act this way?" Twilight thinks for a moment, then an an idea poped into her head. "We don't know much about the Timberwolves, themselves. Why don't you go ask Zecora in the Everfree forest about them. I'm sure living in the same forest as them she's ran into them once or twice. Maybe she knows something we don't." "That's a great idea Twilight! I bet I can get Apple Bloom to show me the way! You keep researching, I'll go see what I can gather. Ok?" And before Twilight could object, the yellow stallion with an orange mane was out the door. Twilight shrugged and went back to her reading, only to abruptly pause and shutter for a moment, dumbstruck by something. "Wait.... How did Sunny know about Apple Bloom knowing the way to Zecora's... Maybe Applejack told him...anyway, back to research." And with that, Twilight picked back up where she left off in the open book. -Edge of the Everfree Forest- On his way through town, Sunny luckily came across Apple Bloom and her friends. They were practicing an act for the upcoming talent show, but were about to call it a day anyway after Scootaloo popped their ball with one of their darts and Sweetie Bell lost two of their bowling pins in a tree. What kind of a routine they were attempting, Sunny really couldn't say. It looked.... Interesting?... But Apple Bloom was more then happy to take Sunny to see her good friend Zecora. On their venture to see the shaman like zebra, Sunny decided to confirm a few things with Apple Bloom about what he read in 'the Elements of Harmony; a reference guided'. He asked Apple Bloom about the first time Applejack and her friends met Zecora, back when the whole town was afraid of her, of how she met Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo, and about when she caught the Cutie Pox. To which, Apple Bloom confirmed that it was all true, reluctantly. She really didn't like hearing about how somepony put in a book her incident involving the Cutie Pox. It wasn't her proudest moment. "It's amazing!" Sunny continued to say. "All these amazing things happened around such a small town!" "Yeah... Amazing" The little yellow filly commented, still bummed about Sunny finding out about her Cutie Pox incident, worry began to build up as she began to wonder what other mistakes she's made that were now bound in a book. Sunny noticed the troubled filly's lack of enthusiasm and bunted her with his head a little. "Hey, good job with going to face Zecora for the first time, by the way. From what I read, even your sister was too afraid to face her at first. And she's one of the bravest ponies I know." This brightened up the little filly's mood as she began to beam with pride once again. But the happy moment was short lived when a foul stench entered into the pony's breathing space. Apple Bloom coughed several times then cleared her throat. "Ugh, what's that.... Smell?..." As if to answer the little filly's question, several large creatures emerged from behind the surrounding trees. They looked to be made completely out of sticks, branches, logs and leaves, forcibly held together in a beast like form. A pair of glowing green eyes rested at the end of a long muzzle filled with razor sharp teeth. A thick green slime trailed down from their jaws as they began to close in on the two ponies. Sunny narrowed his eyes and stepped in front of Apple Bloom. The little yellow filly was frozen in fear. She had never actually 'seen' a real live Timberwolf. But Granny told her stories about the horrible things. Looking at the wolves now, Apple Bloom could see why her granny shivered whenever she told a tale about them. She couldn't do anything but watch as the odd predictors made of wood began to circle them. "Stay calm, Apple Bloom" Sunny told her, never taking his eyes off of the wolves. "I won't let anything happen to you..." While Sunny's attention was focused on the little filly behind him, a Timberwolf positioned right behind the ponies saw its opportunity, and lunged at them. Out of the corner of his eye, Sunny say the lone wolf flying threw the air, claws extended, inches from clawing the mane of Apple Bloom. As much as he had wished, the yellow unicorn had no time to react, no time to throw up a barrier or fire a shot of magic, the wolf was too close. It was going to strike her!.... Just then the beast burst into a pile of sticks and twigs that fell to the ground. And there, holding a long staff decorated with odd white tribal designs and feathers was a hooded pony shaped figure. It had struck the beast at a pressure point, causing the Timberwolf to fall to pieces. "There is no reason to fret. Our chances of survival are better yet." A female voice called out from underneath the dark brown, hooded cloak as she retracted her staff. "If we stick together, fight as one, there is no storm we can not wether." Apple Bloom began to relax as she smiled and called it the name of her dear friend. "Zecora!" The hood fell and received not a pony beneath its shadowy veil, but a zebra. The very zebra Sunny and Apple Bloom ventured into the dangerous forest to find!