20 - To Grandmother's House We Go
Somewhere far away…
A stallion stumbled into a flowery clearing. Around him were thick trees of an overgrown forest. He had a grey, smoky coat of fur, and a mop of a white mane shot up, out, and down from his scalp. His eyes lacked the sharpness and luster of bygone days, but their light blue irises nonetheless held an ancient wit to them. He had a Cutie Mark of a backwards, blue crescent moon with a yellow star on its bottom end. It was faded – Cutie Marks were not meant to last so long.
Not long before, ponies used to call him Old Man Withers. It was just one of many names he had taken over the years.
He sighed for a long time as he threw his tired body down in the small field of pink and yellow flowers. They were shaped like bells and smelled like fruity pollen. He smiled. It would have been nicer, in the old days, to relax in that field. There were no more animals about, no more ponies, not even any insects. How the flowers even bloomed, the stallion hadn’t a clue.
The sun shined as bright as it would for the day and sat at its highest point in the sky. Its angle was perfect – it shined down right into the clearing. The stallion closed his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, wetting his dry lips first.
“I know you’re out there.”
The reply was a whisper of the wind. The stallion coughed in a fit, no longer able to keep his lungs from suffering their old age. When he finished, he shivered.
“I’m in no state to be good company I’m afraid, but I am glad you are there. You’re one of the last still around.”
The stallion smiled nostalgically.
“We never were best friends or anything, were we? I’m not even sure if we ever had a decent conversation. You would think I would have been more curious – you’re even older than I am!”
The stallion chuckled. If there was something or someone the stallion was talking to, they did not make their presence known amid all the tall, bulky trees surrounding the clearing. The stallion frowned.
“I remember now – goodness, did you really mean to hold yourself to that vow of silence after…”
The stallion shifted and looked around him, as much as he could without getting up. Still, nothing. He got comfortable again.
“The old you would not have been so committed to principles. But I guess it has been a long time since then.”
Another breeze. The stallion could barely feel the kiss of the wind by then. His breathing became shallow.
“Well… I’m almost spent. I am glad I got to see Canterlot once more. The tall spires, the sun peeking over the horizon, gently resting on the dew and the raindrops…”
He paused.
“I had not been there since everything fell apart. This year marks the five hundredth anniversary. It’s been five hundred years.”
A stick cracked. The stallion looked back but did not see what caused the noise. He smirked.
“And shy too. You’re so shy now. Don’t tell me you’ve just been sulking here since—that would have been before the fall.”
Again, he thought of what to say before the words emerged.
“Our longevity is quite the curse, isn’t it?”
The stallion’s brows faltered. Tears entered his old eyes.
“I’m not sure if I did enough though. I tried my best. I hope, if there is an afterlife, that Twilight and the others greet me with open hooves…”
He opened his mouth. A groan escaped. Glowing particles that flickered purple, and sometimes silver, left his pores and travelled upward. They soared through the air, creating a trail of sparkles into the distance. He looked at his hoof, which was becoming transparent.
“Fascinating… so this is the result when the Element of Sorcery loses the last of its power…”
He coughed another fit.
“My body isn’t even corporeal anymore. The final spell I cast is wearing off. And there was a time when I could do anything, make anything, change anything with my magic.”
The stallion looked up toward the sun, hazarding the occasion peek at it but not able to stare directly at it with his wizened gaze. He admired the sparkles leaving his bodies, twinkling like tiny purple and silver stars. He smacked his cracking lips.
“I’ve been watching an Earth Pony named Sunny Starscout. I hope she’s as special as I have betted on. I left her to her own devices, but she has a friend to keep her steady, and I am sure she will find more.” The stallion looked around again, in case the someone or something he spoke to revealed itself. It did not. “I think you will have some part to play before the end. Don’t worry, I don’t think you will need your magic back for it. I’m counting on Sunny to be the one that can help restore things, to how they used to be.”
The stallion chuckled. His face began to fade away into the trail of sparkles.
“Maybe the magic will come back, and you can do something outrageous again, like before. I used to hate that about you, but—”
Tears streaked down the stallion’s cheeks.
“Now I really miss it. I miss a lot of things, here at the end. It was a lonely five hundred years.”
The stallion spotted a tiny orange dot in the sky. His old pupil Tyson had warned him about it. He had even seen it through the observatory telescope. The stallion squinted and spoke quietly so only he could hear.
“It’s up to you now, Sunny. You and the others. There was only so much we who came before could do, only so much preparing we could provide and assist with…”
Footsteps from behind drew the stallion’s greying gaze. With watery eyes he finally saw the old familiar shape of a long-missed acquaintance. The stallion smiled one last time.
“There you are. Goodbye.”
The final vestiges of the Element of Sorcery flared up into the sky and drifted away far into the distance. The millions of tiny purple and silver stars remained visible for a long time afterward, filling up the sky, like so many memories lost to the ages.
* * *
“Hitch! Sunny! Look!”
Izzy beamed. She pointed at a patch of red, white-dotted mushrooms sticking out at the base of a tall cedar.
“What do you think? Can we eat them? They look really tasty!”
Hitch shook his head.
“Not unless you want indigestion for a week. But…” Hitch trotted over and snagged one. It made a pop when he pulled it from the ground. Izzy cocked her head. “It could be useful. Watch.”
He shoved it onto Izzy’s horn, and it fit perfectly, so that it looked like she had a mushroom growing out of her head, and not a horn. She looked up at it with a curious stare. Sunny giggled.
“Hitch that’s not very inconspicuous.”
He shrugged.
“If ponies see a mushroom on her head that won’t cause soldiers to chase us around - the horn will. Plus, we don’t have any hats.”
Sunny frowned.
“If that jerkface hadn’t taken her scroll she wouldn’t need a disguise.”
Sunny walked ahead of the others. The trees inside the forest were spaced out enough so one could see for a distance in all directions, but the canopy above blocked out all light save just enough of the sun to brighten the path. The land rolled up then down then up again, a hilly blanket on the earth. Sunny hovered a hoof over her brow and squinted.
“Hey! I think I can see that pond Robert was talking about!”
She raced forward, and Izzy followed soon after, twigs snapping underneath them. The forest floor was littered with leaves and pine needles as well. Hitch inhaled the scent of soil and bark.
“I could really get used to this…” He exhaled happily. “You don’t get many trees around Maretime Bay, or even the Castle.”
As Hitch casually caught up to the laughing mares, a collection of squirrels and woodland birds with yellow and black feathers hopped behind him. He turned at one point and smiled.
“Hey little fellas – and fellettes. Do you want to join us?”
All the little heads nodded rapidly. Hitch assumed a pre-run pose.
“Alright! Let’s go!”
Moments later, all three ponies sighed in relief as they enjoyed the water on their fur. The tiny woodland critters floated leisurely on their backs and the birds rode in style on tiny pieces of bark. Sunny took to cleaning her mane as soon as she could, and Izzy did the same, albeit it with more grace. Hitch ran a hoof around his.
“I don’t know gals, I might keep this look. It’s not so bad, right?”
His neon green afro bounced when he tapped it. Sunny grimaced, watching it. Hers had returned to its usual color, its green floating away in the pond water as well as all the mess on her coat. It was the same for Izzy, who hummed while staring at Hitch’s mane.
“It looks like a shrub. A green shrub on your head.”
Sunny threw her hair back with a wet smack against her shoulder.
“Hitch, I would really stick with your usual look. Not to mention, we have no idea what this stuff would do to our bodies if we left it in any longer.”
Izzy made a worried noise.
“I’m sorry, if I knew I would say, but anything the Weapons Facility creates is a big secret, even to the Moonbow tribe. I know for sure it’s never anything good, though.”
Sunny placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. Hitch whinnied in frustration. He lowered himself into the water. Some bubbles popped on the surface of the water, then he came back up and his mane was back to its normal shade of turquoise, albeit stuck to his face and head all over. The mares laughed at the sight. He spit up like a fountain.
“Okay it’s very funny. My mane does this when I have a bath. Ha ha. It will dry later.”
Everypony let their manes dry while they finished clearing the grime off their coats. When the task was complete, Izzy played with the critters while Sunny and Hitch spoke.
“Have you met your grandmother before Sunny?”
She shook her head.
“Never. I didn’t know I had one – I mean, obviously I do but, you know?”
Hitch’s face scrunched.
“Oh no, I wonder if she’s just like you: big mouth, crazy, no filter.”
Sunny rolled her eyes with a smile.
“We can only hope!”
Hitch smiled as well and rubbed the back of his head.
“The only thing I know about your family is that your parents moved to Maretime Bay and took over the observatory before we were born. Before that, it was empty as far as I know - noearthponyelse cared about looking at the sky. I always thought your folks and you were all the Starscouts there were.”
“So did I. Mom and dad never talked about it, and I never really thought to ask.”
A mushroom in the water sped toward Hitch. He deadpanned.
“Oh. I wonder who that could be.”
Hitch lowered his guard – it was a fatal error. The mushroom came out of the water to reveal a squirrel was holding it. Hitch did a double take. From his blind side, a victorious Izzy claimed her prey with a tackle.
“Ta da! Hehe, sorry, couldn’t resist.”
When he emerged from the pond, Hitch spit up more water. Sunny hollered.
“Good one Izzy! Sheriff Hitch, you’re not very good at self-defense are you?”
He coughed.
“I underestimated the Unicorn.”
Sunny smiled and shook her head.
“Never underestimate the Unicorn.”
Izzy giggled.
“Never, ever amigo!”
Sunny leaned back against the pond bank and put her front hooves behind her head.
“Should I be worried? I mean she’s my grandma, right? Family. That pony at the Castle, the one that took me from the Reeducation Room, he told me my parents left Tall Tale twenty-five years ago. I bet my grandma can’t wait for me to come through the door! I’ll say ‘it’s me, your long-lost grandchild’ and we’ll have a touching moment!”
Izzy lit up.
“Hey, yeah! That’s what my nana would do! Nanas love their grandchildren.” She looked at Hitch. “That’s common knowledge.”
Hitch stroked his chin.
“Sure but let’s not forget, your folks left. Noearthpony leaves their home for no reason.”
Sunny shrugged.
“They probably caught wind of the observatory that wasn’t being used. They’ve always been into navigation, astronomy. Where else can you find a big telescope?”
“Yes but they never went back for visits, never told you about where they were from. Why?”
Sunny launched herself back into the water again.
“Hitch you’re too negative! You need to vibe a little bit more positively here!” She splashed toward Hitch. “If there’s one place that we have to consider safe for us now, it’s with my family in my hometown. We don’t exactly have many other options safe havens.”
Izzy waved.
“Oh oh! What about that Vancozy place?!”
Hitch corrected.
“Vanhoover. We’ll need to get some warm clothing from there before going north, if we are still doing that—”
“We are.”
“—but I wouldn’t call it a safe haven. There’s a more solid Realm presence there than in Tall Tale. I’m all for going to Tall Tale still, I’m just saying let’s plan for the worst but hope for the best, yeah?”
Sunny smiled brazenly.
“I’m more a ‘fly by the seat of my fetlocks’ sort of pony.”
Hitch mock smiled in the same manner.
“And I’m more of a ‘let’s not get thrown into the dungeons for a hundred years’ sort of pony.”
Izzy was making bubbles in the water with her mouth. She floated back upward.
“I’m more of a ‘let’s eat a big pile of tacos and stay up late watching movies’ sort of pony!”
Sunny and Hitch looked to her, confused. She smiled with a blush upon her cheeks.
“Hehe. Sorry, I felt left out.”
Hitch raised a hoof.
“Uhhh question: what’s a movie?”
Sunny did the same thing.
“And what’s a taco?”
* * *
By the time everypony got out of the pond, they felt refreshed and clean and ready to begin the journey anew. The light sneaking through the forest canopy was still strong as it poured through the tree leaves. Sunny and her friends made good time on their trek through the woods. Hitch made sure he had the road just within his sight as they travelled, to ensure they were going in the right direction.
At some point, he hurried them all behind a big bush.
“What’s up?” Sunny whispered.
Hitch held a hoof to his lips. He waved away the critters that were following him. When that didn’t work he gave them a mean stare, and they scattered. Sunny grew impatient as time edged on. A cicada somewhere was performing its screeching mating sound. Then, hoofsteps crunching against leaves and the dirt could be heard getting closer.
Sunny and Hitch peered through the bush. A number of figures were walking quietly through the woods, though it was not clear who they were. The two Earth Ponies exchanged a concerned look. Izzy was laying down quietly, trying to remain calm.
When the sound of hoofsteps was gone, Hitch hazarded a look from outside their cover, and Sunny did the same. In the distance four soldiers of the Realm creeped away. Hitch sighed in frustration.
“There’s no way any soldiers would be in this forest unless they were looking for someearthpony. We have wasted too much time, we need to move. We’re in their search net now.”
Izzy, mushroom still upon her horn, stood up.
“Right! Let’s go ponies!”
Sunny turned and smiled.
“That was pretty confident, Izzy!”
The Unicorn beamed.
“I’ve always been confident around my friends. It’s uhh with other ponies I don’t know that makes my heart all wishy wooshy.”
Hitch smiled as well.
“Come on. They’re heading more toward the road, if we give them a wider berth, we shouldn’t have any issues.”
The three headed away from the road and then back in the same direction once the soldiers were no longer in sight, although from the new angle Hitch had to strain to see the end of the forest and the beginning of the road. Izzy whisper-shouted as they galloped.
“JUST LIKE PONJAS RIGHT?!”
Hitch looked back and grinned.
“Sneak levels are off the charts! They’d never see us coming!”
Sunny smiled. A feeling in her chest warmed her body. She looked from one friend to the other. It felt like anything was possible, there in that forest, with her friends by her side.
* * *
The only thing Nate Chivaltarry felt like doing was throwing up. He paced a line in the dirt in front of the eastern gatehouse of Castle Rockhoof. The guards peered uneasily at one another.
“Oh no no no no no this is gonna be… oh jeez oh no…”
Nate the page tried to control his breathing. He put a hoof to his armor-encased chest.
“It’s fine it’s fine. Sir Bastion won’t fly off the handle. Right?”
He looked to the guards, frantic for a positive response. They stared back quietly and solemnly.
“You can’t talk?”
One of the guards grunted.
“Don’t wanna.”
Nate hung his head and sighed breathlessly.
“Why me WHY ME!”
Hooves could be heard cantering up the sharp hill that led to the gatehouse. Nate’s head snapped up and he began to shake. Five thousand theoretical conversations entered his brain – he truthfully only saw it going one way once he told Sir Bastion that Sunny Starscout had escaped and Rockhoof’s shovel was gone.
Nate thought he had prepared himself, though when the top of Sir Bastion’s tan-colored mane appeared over the hill, his heart caught in his throat. His pupils became specks. Sweat came out of all pores.
Sir Bastion stopped in front of him. He raised a single bushy eyebrow. His smile gleamed in the strong daylight.
“Dear page! Are you waiting for my return at the door, like a loyal pup? Excellent! I knew I chose you well as my page!”
Nate turned white. He couldn’t look his master in the eyes (not that that was different from norm).
“You look sick, boy. It is the cooking from that Earth Pony who calls himself a chef – a liability, that one! Come now, I heard the good news from old Eagle Eye – they caught the Drake trying to break out the Warlock King’s sister! Let us go pay him a visit, hmm? And after that the little hero, Ms. Starscout!”
Nate’s eyes widened.
THAT’S WHAT SIR CURIO TOLD HIM?!
“What, what is it?”
Sir Bastion picked up his page with a single hoof and forced him to look him in the eyes.
“Out with it, you are trying my patience!”
The guards had deftly moved their posts further away to avoid any spillover of the inevitable rage to come. Nate was nearly in tears.
“M-master, I d-d-d-don’t know w-what the message said but… but…”
He told Sir Bastion everything. Every detail that he had been informed of. Every mishap and mistake and failure of the Castle. At the end of it, Sir Bastion lowered his page. Surprisingly, all seemed well. Nate held his breath. The guards crept back into position.
Then, Sir Bastion’s breathing picked up. His nostrils flared wider and wider. Veins poked up on his neck. The ends of his crescent smile weren’t sure if they wanted to stick up or droop down. He gritted his teeth.
“If this gate is not opened within the next minute, I am going to break it into pieces using your heads.”
His gaze flicked to the two guards. They started frantically whistling the secret song. Not long after, the gate rose. Sir Bastion ran so fast the resulting dust cloud blinded the three remaining ponies and caused them to cough. After it had settled, Nate Chivaltarry cradled his head in one of his hooves.
“Oh jeez this is not good this is super absolutely not good at all!”
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Pity Sir Bastion cant get lost in the woods, as he will just go in a straight line right through it and anything else in his way?
11212444
Yeah he's like the Terminator lol.
Seems interesting. Not much of a Gen5 person, but might as well tag along for the ride.
11212601
Thanks friend! Since it is AU (I started this before we even had a synopsis for G5) it is only tangentially related to the actual G5. It is also more "mature" than what the real G5 show will is.
Glad to have you along for the ride!
I truly wonder what the Pillars of Equestria are thinking about their names and images being used to propagate a war between ponies. Then again, it's not like we know what happened for them to separate into three groups.
Next time they face Bastion, will Sunny use her Canterlot Voice to neutralize him? It seems quite strong. Because not even Hitch seems to be capable of fighting this guy. Also, did hitch accidentally got the Shovel? Because then the Unicorns somehow stole it without them noticing.
Was Starswirl talking to Discord? That's the only one I can think of. Someone who could've lived that long.
After the bad times Sunny and Co. had in the castle and the chains, it's nice for them to have some good times to laugh and frolic.
11212678
Lots to digest here! I am glad these questions have been raised in your mind. All I will say is that they will all be answered - eventually!
Very good on your new chapter, OnlyLonelyPickle, I'm really enjoyed it. I hope they'll find more information about Sunny's grandmother. I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it.