Sunny Starscout and The Mystery of Magic

by OneLonelyPickle

25 - Saviors

Sunny’s dreams were filled with nightmarish rushes of wind and dust. She strained to hear what message, if any, the air carried on its currents, but there was nothing perceptible. Sunny’s own form wasn’t even there, though somehow she could still see. She floated within a nothingness, a void like the eye of a hurricane.

At one point the rushing wind turned into so many various colors. They swirled upward, swished in a perpetual pattern, then formed the vaguest outline of a figure. The colors were blue, green, light pink and indigo. She saw a strong glow light up to fill in the space between the outline.

A whisper in the gale repeated itself every time the wind blew, sometimes more than once.

The seed… the seed… the seed…

Another gust carried a different whisper. Sunny recognized the voice instantly.

We love you Sunny Bunny… stay strong…

Even though the windy void seemed eternal, having lasted so long and all night, it faded into nothing within a few high-pitched seconds. It was as if the entire void was sucked into an invisible box at its center, and it shrieked as it was devoured. Afterward, images and color from the waking world came into slow focus, at first blurry, and then clear.

Sunny blinked.

Birds chirped from somewhere outside the boarded window of her family home’s guest room. Shadows danced on anything and everything, created by glowing orange and purple firelight. Seeing the same thing that she saw when she went to bed, without the comfort of the morning light, made Sunny disoriented. She brought a hoof to her slow heaving chest, moving aside the soft blankets covering her body up to her neck.

“Wha-what happened?”

Sunny’s head throbbed. She couldn’t remember exactly, but something about what was going on did not sit right with her. Nothing in the room appeared out of the ordinary. The four-post guest bed had its bedcovers drawn though they were sheer. The room was empty and undisturbed.

With a groan and a touch of her head, Sunny stumbled out of bed and bumbled her way over to the door. When she struggled to open the door because the knob wouldn’t turn all the way, she recalled the night before. Her angry poundings were quick to follow.

“HEY! Let me out already! WHAT IS GOING ON?!”

Sunny prepared another full gallop from the other city of the room.

“If there’s somepony on the other side who is going to open the door, you better tell me now, otherwise, here I come!”

She did not hear the faint hoofsteps as she charged. The door opened as Sunny bent her knees to launch into a flying tackle. Her grandmother’s surprised expression made her stop, however, and instead she scramble-slid over the wooden flooring toward the doorway. Grandmother Cerena backed up and let Sunny slide out and all the way to the opposite wall. The aftermath of that impact was far less severe than the night before.

Still, Sunny was in pain.

“W-why…”

Grandmother Cerena cleared her throat and dusted off the front of her robes.

“Sunny. It’s time for that talk now.”

A large, young stallion stood just behind Sunny’s grandmother. He looked like Feryl, but with a barrel chest – he had a similar spiky plant-colored mane, a red-orange coat, and of course magenta eyes. He had a tight brown vest on.

“Sunny, chill, okay?” he said in his deep voice. Sunny got to her hooves and glared at him.

“No, YOU chill. Actually, nopony chill – the time for chill is over. Where are my friends?”

Grandmother Cerena looked at the large stallion, who nodded in response to the look. He approached Sunny.

“Come easy or come in a sack, your choice.”

Sunny assumed a defensive position. As she prepared to dodge the stallion’s grasp, something snagged her from behind.

“Crud!”

Two other stallions had snuck up. Sunny was quickly wrapped up, and right before she could unleash her “voice magic”, one of the ponies shoved an old rag in her mouth. She protested as loudly and as vulgarly as the rag permitted.

The large, young stallion that looked like Feryl looked worriedly at Grandmother Cerena as the other ponies led the kicking, mumble-screaming Sunny away.

“This really what you want Grandmother?”

“Quiet Furyis. Grandchildren should be seen and not heard.” She sighed. “I am doing what I must.”

As the dragging continued, one of the stallions put a bag over Sunny’s head. Though she could not see, it was obvious she was being led down the foyer stairs, and then a few turns later, a creaky door whined as it was opened and Sunny was then led down more stairs. A lot more stairs. She struggled all the way, as did the stallions who had to force her below.

In the brief intervals where she stopped to regain her stubborn strength, she heard heavy breathing and clip-clop hoofy sounds. There was also a drip-drop like water against stone. The air got colder and colder. The ponies led her around more turns and bends, and finally, they tossed her and ripped off the bag on her head. One of the stallions ripped out the gag.

The area Sunny found herself in was a large open cave, well lit from more of the orange and purple lights her grandmother favored so highly. A bend in the cave seemingly led back up the stairs, but as for what Sunny could see, it was a clearing with some spots of shadow at its edges. Behind her were the two pony goons who had accosted her, her cousin Furyis, and Grandmother Cerena. It was the first time since Sunny arrived that her Grandmother looked so terrifyingly stern.

Grandmother Cerena’s stern look, however, gave way to a more understanding one when Sunny glared at her.

“Oh my dear… please don’t look at me that way.”

“WHAT THE HAY IS ALL OF THIS?”

Furyis chuckled cockily. He motioned to the clearing around them.

“Pretty cool, right? These are the family catacombs. I guess there are secret tunnels and stuff, too.”

“Furyis.”

Grandmother Cerena used her “grandmother” voice again, and Furyis stepped back. Sunny glared at him.

“So you’re Furyis! I didn’t think you’d look so big and dumb.”

Furyis frowned, genuinely sad.

“Hey that hurts you know. I’m just doing what our grandmother asked me to do.” He turned his expression into one of anger. “Y’know, I put the family first, not some common sheriff and a Hornhead.”

“Furyis, be quiet.”

Sunny scoffed.

“So that’s what this is – you found out Izzy is a Unicorn and you’re just as prejudiced as everypony else, is that it?! Seriously??” She could only maintain her anger for so long until the sadness overtook her. Sunny’s head fell. Her heart wrenched in her chest. Grandmother Cerena sighed, long and low.

“No sweet Sunny, that is not what it is. Not entirely. I am, however, disappointed that you helped that villain get into our Realm and helped her escape justice. I did not want to believe Sir Curio, but now I can tell his messages were true.”

Sunny’s eyes widened and, if it were possible, they would have burned huge holes into the cave floor. She shook with rage and looked up again.

“THAT guy?! I thought I hated Sir Bastion more than anypony else in the world but NOW?! What did he tell you – I don’t get it, why are you on THEIR side?”

“I am on OUR side, Sunny! And it is not just about that!”

Grandmother Cerena walked back and forth, her brow creased.

“I wasn’t sure what to do about you when you came yesterday, but after talking with you and then with your friends…”

Sunny interjected.

“Where are they? Where are Hitch and Izzy!”

Grandmother Cerena continued her walking and talking.

“I just couldn’t leave you to your own devices. I know what you’re like now. You’re just like Caela… just like Willder… at least, the stubbornness.”

Grandmother Cerena turned back, her eyes filled with a lustrous conviction no less powerful than Sunny’s own, despite their gap in age.

“I have lost my only son and one of my daughters to this… foolishness about Equestria. Equestria…” She hissed the word and looked away. “A stupid dream, it’s a dream that gets Earth Ponies killed! The only place that matters is your home, where your family is! I learned that myself, and it’s my duty to instill it in my progeny.”

She pleaded to Sunny with her eyes.

“Please Sunny, my sweet granddaughter. Give up this madness about going to the Unicorn lands and stay HERE with us! Don’t you know what will happen if you continue this quest?”

Sunny couldn’t decide where to look, or who to look to. She could hardly breathe.

“I…”

Furyis sighed impatiently.

“Listen cos, it’s like this: Grandmother is not letting another member of the family run off and get killed because of dreams of adventure or unity or anything. You can decide to stay willingly or—”

“Hush Furyis!”

Furyis hung his head to escape Grandmother Cerena’s ire. Her piercing glare turned back to Sunny, but it quickly softened.

“Give me your response. Will you stay here with us and abandon your quest?”

Sunny barely kept herself up, one hoof on the ground and another on her sweating forehead.

“How… I mean, no, no I’m not abandoning my friends – No! There’s no way you’re letting Izzy go, not after what you both just said! My answer is NO! I still can’t even—why aren’t you happy to see me? Why are you trying to get me to change, you don’t even know me!”

Grandmother Cerena smiled through wet, teary eyes.

“But I’d like to get to know you. We’ll spend every day talking, in the study and in the back garden. You can share your hobbies with me and tell me about your life growing up, and I can tell you about our family’s hist—”

“I don’t want to do any of that stuff! I want to go on adventures with my friends. I want to see Izzy’s home and meet Unicorns, and Pegasi too! And other creatures, weird ones, big scary spooky monster ones!” Sunny got up and looked at everypony, one at a time, challenging them with her gaze. “And I want to march right up to the Warlock King and tell him that he can come here anytime he wants and he’ll have at least one friend: me!” She shivered and closed her eyes briefly. “Even if the idea is terrifying, I know it’s the right thing to do. And I’ll do the same for the Pegasus leader!” She waved her hoof about. “Whatever his name is. Or her. The point is, I’m not letting fear or history or anything else change my mind! That’s a promise – hoof to heart!”

Sunny glared at Grandmother Cerena, her hoof firmly planted in the middle of her chest. The old mare looked down at the gesture, her open mouth twitching. More tears came out of her eyes. Furyis stumbled backward.

“You’re doing that TOO?! Oh no—Grandmother, that’s just like the Society! They must have gotten to her first!”

Grandmother Cerena shook her head slowly.

“No. That she learned from her father, without a doubt.”

Sunny snapped back.

“That’s right! Now where are my friends?! I want to see them! I’m not sure if anypony told you, but I can be pretty persuasive if I really need to be…”

Grandmother Cerena turned away, sullen and dejected. Furyis looked to a stallion behind Sunny, nodded away in a direction, and the stallion moved toward some dark corner of the cave.

“Just one second, cos,” Furyis began, “We have someone for you to meet. He’s going to shed some light on this whole mess.”

Sunny turned around. A little figure waddled into the light. Sunny’s mouth dropped.

“W-Westley?!”

Indeed, it was the little Night Owl. He bowed and spoke in his usual high-pitched-yet-still-distinguished voice.

“Whoo. Sunny Starscout. I am glad everything worked out whoo. I was worried you had wised up when I came back to the safehouse and you were gone, whoo.” Westly cocked his heaed from one side to the other. Sunny looked away, confused. Westley continued. “You see Sunny, I am in the employ of Sir Curio Brightland, whoo. He is my savior.”

Westley looked up and the firelight caught his eyes, twinkling with majesty.

“I barely escaped from the Warlock King with my life and my wits, whoo, and it was Sir Curio who found me. Raised me. Took me in and found a place for me, found me work that only I could do, whoo. When I never thought I could move past what happened, whoo, he saw the strength in me to continue and brought it out. So I am devoted to him.” He bowed again. “And I must admit I hate the Hornhead menace just as much as the Earth Ponies do, whoo.” He squinted. “They are evil, for what they did and what they still do. They must PAY.”

Sunny was rabid.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you Westley and the other Night Owls but that’s NOT all Unicorns, it’s the Warlock King – and anyway, I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding! We can talk about it, but this is not the ans—”

Westley held up a wing, his eyes closed.

“Whoo. I waited, hoping you and your friends would come my way. Whoo and you came. If Sir Curio told me about Isabella Moonbow before I met you, I” —Westley shuddered, his pupils shrinking— “I would have clawed her eyes out!” He shrieked an owl’s cry. It echoed all the way across the cave system. Furyis turned his hoof around and around.

“Yeah yeah bird brain, cut to the chase already.”

Westley cleared his throat.

“Sorry, whoo. Sunny Starscout, this is the answer to all your troubles.” He pulled a strangely shaped bottle, just big enough to contain a few drops, from under his wing. It was completely black. “Whoo. This is the Blackmire Brew. You are lucky that Sir Curio has provided this. It is the last one the Realm possesses.”

Furyis nearly fell back onto his rump.

“W-whoa, is that really…?”

The other stallions gasped. Grandmother Cerena came to her senses and glared at the potion.

“How can I be sure that is the real thing? Sir Curio might have sent you off with a regular poison.”

Westley raised his wings and shrugged.

“Whoo. Sir Curio wants to use Sunny’s strange powers for the good of the Realm. He does not seek to kill her. We discussed this already, whoo.”

Grandmother Cerena walked up to Westley and peered closely at the Brew. Sunny shook her head.

“What is this…WHAT IS THIS?!” She screamed. Grandmother Cerena looked up at her, eyes wide. Sunny started to hyperventilate. “You… you’re my grandmother… and you’re my cousin… what is this… you’re family…” Furyis gulped. He stepped forward and moved a hoof as he explained.

“Listen Sunny, this is how it’s got to be! If it’s that hard for you just… drink the Brew! It won’t hurt you, and you won’t have to worry about anything anymore.”

“What does it do?”

Furyis started to speak but Westley stopped him with a held-up wing and a sharp whistle.

“I will handle it, whoo. Sir Curio asked me to.”

Westley adjusted his monocle.

“The Blackmire Brew, whoo, is a potion which is extremely difficult to brew, made from the elusive Blackmire Bell Trap. It takes at least five years to ferment, whoo. Once ingested, the imbiber will no longer be able to reject the commands of the first individual who addresses them, whoo.” Sunny’s eyes widened. Grandmother Cerena looked away. “In short, you will no longer have free will, whoo, at least not unless the pony or creature who commands you gives it to you.” Westley gestured toward the matriarch of the Starscouts. “It will be her, whoo. That was the deal.”

Sunny stared at her grandmother. Tears filled her eyes.

“W-why… why would you do th—” But Sunny was too choked. Grandmother Cerena steeled herself, her eyes moist and vibrating.

“I have to do what is necessary to protect my family. Sunny, your quest can only lead to your death – or worse! Because I wasn’t strong enough, I lost your mother, your father, and your uncle Willder! It was my fault! I should have been able to convince them to stay here, but I wasn’t!” Grandmother Cerena walked away. “I won’t make that mistake again. You need to decide, or I will decide for you.”

Furyis sighed. He gestured to the stallion in the back near Westley.

“Go on, bring her friends in now.”

The stallion nodded and walked into the darkness near the back of the cave. Moments later a door creaked open amidst the shadows. Sunny was paralyzed by her quiet sobbing. Grandmother Cerena dared not look directly at her granddaughter, but she maintained her iron resolute expression. Sunny heard Hitch complain as the sound of hooves and jingling chains entered the cave from the darkness.

“…if you think putting ponies in this many chains is a totally reasonable thing to do, then why don’t you do it to yourself, huh?”

Coming into the light from the nearby candles, Hitch and Izzy saw their friend and lit up.

“Sunny!” they both cheered. Hitch was covered with big chains, with enough give only to shuffle his hooves forward. His head poked up out of the chains like a foal wearing a sweater two sizes too big.

“Thank goodness! We were pretty worried you know! Look what they did, my coat is going to look dull for days now because of these chains. And my mane?”

Sunny sniffled and wiped her eyes, smiling. Hitch’s mane hung over to one side. “This thing is very sensitive, the humidity is insane here. Can you get your grandmother to clear all this up?” Izzy looked beaten, and quietly whined like a hurt puppy. One of the hats still covered her horn. She toughened herself up though and snorted.

“H-Hey!” she said to Grandmother Cerena, who did look at her. Izzy looked at the mare’s chest and continued. “H-How could you be so m-mean to your own p-pookies?” Grandmother Cerena raised one of her eyebrows.

“What is that, a pookie?”

Sunny was just as confused. Izzy sucked in her lips and kicked the cave floor.

“Y-you know… grandfilly or grandfoal…”

Grandmother Cerena shook her head and turned to Sunny, who was staring at her friends.

“I know you think this one is your friend, and maybe she is.” She raised her hoof sternly toward Izzy, who flinched in response. “But Sunny, she will get you killed!” Sunny bit her lip, feeling that same old anger well up inside. “We don’t live in a world where Hornheads and Earth Ponies can be friends! You need to wake u—"

“THEN I’M GOING TO MAKE IT THAT KIND OF WORLD!”

Within the confines of the cave, the power of Sunny’s voice seemed tenfold. The ponies all flew backward, their manes and ears flopping as if they had entered a wind tunnel. The visible air wave bounced around before leaving the cave through the various exits. Grandmother Cerena was on her knees, completely bewildered. Nopony could speak for a solid minute. Sunny panted then spoke.

“You don’t have to do anything except sit here and be miserable! I will make Equestria whole again, with my friends! I’ll come back when we’re done, but only if you apologize to my friends and say you were wrong!”

Grandmother Cerena shook as she rose to her hooves properly. Her breathing was spotty.

“W-what was that…?”

Hitch, knocked to his side underneath all the chains, could not get himself rightside up again so that he was much like a turtle on its shell. He whinnied.

“Well, this is humiliating.”

Meanwhile, Izzy’s hat had been blown off. When Westley got back up, he spotted Izzy's horn, twinkling against the backdrop of the fires. The little owl screeched and the ponies still recovering from the auditory attack were again barraged by sound. Sunny covered one of her ears and her eyelids dropped. Westley took to the air, and looked like a feral animal. His talons were out, sharp as razors, and his pupils were beady little things. His tiny wormish tongue flopped about as he screeched.

“NEVER AGAIN!” he cried animalistically. “NO MORE UNICORN NO MORE UNICORN NO MORE UNICORN…” He went on and on. The stallions were covering their ears, but Furyis roared.

“PUT A STOP TO THAT! ANYMORE NOISE MIGHT CAUSE A CAVE-IN!”

The stallions were shaking from fright, and everyponyelse was immobilized from the shrill noise. Furyis managed to crawl over, reach up, and pull Westley down. He forced his beak closed, panting.

Hoof stomping noises echoed from around the bend in the catacombs. Two figures appeared: Sunny’s cousin Feryl and the magic mare from earlier, Miss Lumina.

“Mom, what is this? Who are these ponies??”

Lumina was just as confused as almost any other pony in the cave at that point. Feryl looked between all the faces, his own flexed up in disbelief.

Sunny seeing Lumina up so close, with the firelight glowing on her features, was shocked she hadn’t seen the resemblance before. Lumina was her aunt. The Cutie Mark visible on her flank, not covered by the magician’s robes, made it obvious, if the eyes and the demeanor hadn’t already. Great uncle Argus slowly and carefully waltzed into the clearing from around the bend. He stood beside Grandmother Cerena, whose turn it was finally to be as alarmed as Sunny was previously.

“Cerena,” he said plainly. “I do believe that was the same ‘voice power’ that our father produced those many years ago. Wasn’t it?”

Grandmother Cerena snarled at Lumina.

“Lumina, take Feryl and go! This isn’t anything that you two need to see!”

Lumina looked at Sunny and seemed to understand who she was. Her gaze softened.

“You look like—” Sunny nodded at her with an understanding smile. Lumina’s eyes become glassy as she confirmed her thoughts with a glance at Sunny’s flank. Izzy and Hitch exchanged a confused, worried look. “Oh my goodness.”

Hitch struggled and grunted. He gave up with a deep breath.

“Izzy, can you raise your hoof for me, please?”

Izzy lifted her hoof and pointed it toward the center of everypony. Hitch cleared his throat.

“Would someearthpony PLEASE explain what in Equestria is going on!?”

Furyis stepped forward, his stallion accomplices having taken his place in holding down and silencing the insane Night Owl. Furyis glared at Hitch, then turned to his mother and brother.

“What’s going on is that someearthponies are about to leave.”

Lumina puffed up her chest.

“I beg your pardon but I’m not going anywhere, mister! If your father were here…”

“Oh please. Dad’s selling trinkets right now, and he would listen to Grandmother the same as me! The same as we all should do!” He patted his chest. “This family owes its existence to her! I trust her judgment. Sunny has to stay here, with us. She can do it willingly or with a little help. I for one don’t want to miss out on another chance to know one of my family members!”

Sunny shook her head, exasperated.

“And you think you’ll get to know me if my brain’s all scrambled up?!”

Hitch flopped about and grunted in place, jiggling and jangling like a winter sleigh going through the country.

“Exposition… break… time! I have… zero clue… what you’re all… talking about!”

Izzy looked frozen at Sunny. Furyis went back to Westley and snatched the Blackmire Brew from his wing.

“Time to put an end to this. Grandmother, she isn’t going to stop. And we can’t let her do that weird thing she does with her voice again!”

Lumina grabbed her mother.

“Mom, stop this. This isn’t the way! You’re not thinking straight!”

Great uncle Argus answered instead, gently pushing his niece aside.

“This power that Sunny has is something we need to contain. It must be controlled. We can’t let her wander into Unicorn lands and hand it over to the enemy.” He turned to Grandmother Cerena and reassured her. “Give the word, sister.”

Furyis and Sunny were at a standoff – when one moved, the other followed the same but opposite movement. Their glares made the air so tense it was almost palpable.

“You don’t have to stress, Sunny! This will make it all go away! If you feel like going on an adventure again, Grandmother will tell you to stop thinking about it, and you will! It won’t hurt, you won’t be sad!”

“Shut up!”

Izzy’s eyes darted about before she mustered the courage to jump forward and run for the vial in Furyis’ hoof. He moved it out of the way and Izzy flopped onto the cave floor, flailing about. Furyis held her down. His great uncle lumbered over.

“I’ve got her, boy. You finish this.”

Furyis looked to Grandmother Cerena, her eyes wide and unblinking.

“Just use the potion already… please…”

Lumina protested.

“Furyis, put that down. Let’s talk about this!”

Great uncle Argus sighed.

“Forget it, Lumina. Take your son out of here, he doesn’t need to see any more of this.”

Furyis ventured a step closer to Sunny, who felt the familiar feeling of the ‘voice’ rising up in her. But Furyis sneered.

“How fast can you talk, cos?”

Sunny continued to glare. She opened her mouth as Furyis put the Brew vial in one of his vest pockets and retrieved another. He tossed it as Sunny’s first word escaped.

“GET—”

Whatever Furyis threw burst in front of Sunny and produced a whirring torrent of orange flickers, like tiny insects. They flew into Sunny’s eyes and mouth, forcing her to look away and step back. Without warning, Furyis was upon her. He knocked her to the ground.

“Those were Bitter Snappers. Nasty spores. They’re pretty good at keeping ponies quiet, huh? But that was a small dose.” He covered Sunny’s mouth, retrieved the Brew, and uncorked it with his teeth. A thick black miasma escaped in the vague shape of a skull. Furyis looked at Sunny with a neutral expression.

“I’m sorry, okay? This is messed up, I know. But we have to do what we have to do.”

Sunny struggled against Furyis but he was too big. He did grunt however as he held her in place – she was a fighter, no weaker than any of the stallions he had kept down before. He motioned back to Westley with a twist of his neck.

“You see what the Hornheads have done to an animal like him?” Sunny could turn her head just enough to see the crazed Night Owl shuffling about on the cave floor, the stallions holding him down. “He’s demented, because of how the Hornheads tortured him! Why do you want to be friends with her, with THEM?!”

Feryl was completely paralyzed. He could only stare at his big brother’s hooves. Lumina made to step forward.

“I’m stopping this, Furyis!”

Grandmother Cerena snapped.

“Lumina Starscout if you step a hoof forward you will be banished from this home for the rest of your days.”

The words were true. Lumina looked at her mother, then to the cave floor. She bit her lip and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. She stepped back into place beside her frozen son.

Hitch was rolling about.

“Not sure… what going on… but need to… save Sunny!”

Furyis positioned himself so he could drop the contents of the vial into Sunny’s mouth, as soon as he moved his hoof. He swallowed.

“Try to talk and this goes right inside. But I’ll make sure it goes in anyway, don’t worry.”

Grandmother Cerena forced herself to watch, unblinking. Lumina quietly sobbed into her youngest son who couldn’t take his eyes off his brother’s hooves. Hitch struggled to do more than meander about, and Izzy was unable to get Argus off of herself. Westley's restrained cries filled the cave. There was nothing Sunny could do – she was pinned down.

Izzy pleaded.

“L-Let Sunny go, y-you can just take me! She won’t try to escape, right Sunny? Right?!”

The words fell flat against Grandmother Cerena’s ears, against Furyis’s. They even fell flat against Sunny’s.

Furyis removed his hold on Sunny’s mouth and twisted his other hoof. But two things happened at that moment in perfect unison to cause him to toss the vial some distance away instead of emptying it into Sunny’s mouth: a high-pitched noise beat upon the rock walls and a burst of thick, grey smoke filled the cave.

Sunny coughed up a fit and heard the other ponies doing the same. It was as disorienting as their flight from Castle Rockhoof. Something grabbed Sunny and carried her away in some direction she couldn’t see.

“Wha—” she felt her mouth produce.

The noise and smoke cleared up as Sunny and whatever was carrying her exited the cave, seemingly through some kind of secret passage. Sunny realized the only light forward was attached to a pony in whose hoof she was being held. A sort of hoof flashlight.

“Y-You? What the hay?!”

It was none other than Regan, the wily old stallion from the alley. He had Sunny effortless in the air above him, on top of his hoof, the other three of his hooves in a mad dash. He was panting profusely.

“H-Howdy, l-lass. Bit… bit outta breath… let’s talk… after…”

Regan’s hooves scrambled as he sharply turned down the dirt tunnel toward an exit far away, appearing as a rectangle of greenish light revealing the outside world. Sunny was so taken aback by the entire experience she couldn’t say anything else or even struggle. She heard her friends from behind.

“WHAT IS GOING ON ALREADY?!” Hitch screamed.

“Weee!” cheered Izzy.

Two other ponies were holding them – one, a pony covered from head to hoof in black, had Izzy (who had her hooves stretched out like a bird), whereas a fiery-maned, white-furred mare was galloping forward with the chained-up Hitch on her back.

“Can it… pretty boy…” the fiery mare shouted with a strained voice, a bite present in her tone. “You are… really… heavy!”

Regan laugh-panted.

“S-sorry we… took so… long. Wanted ta… hear as much as… we could before… intervening…”

The three pony saviors ran with their wards through the exit tunnel to the outside world confidently and without losing speed. Tons of greenery covered the area and Sunny had to cover her face as different shrubs, bushes, and tiny trees had to be cleared in order for the ponies to break through. Shortly after, the warmth of the summer air hit her coat and Sunny quickly adjusted to the bright sunset lighting. She looked around. They were in the courtyard of somepony’s mansion.

The saviors wasted no time in entering cover once more – the inside of the mansion. They slowed down once inside the double doors, and the pony in black closed the doors behind them. Regan put Sunny down, and the others put down her friends, Hitch dropping with a grunt and a thud.

“Careful with the goods, lady!”

The fiery mare scoffed.

“You’re pretty demanding, pretty boy.”

Regan knocked on a nearby bookcase. Sunny quickly scanned the mansion’s lobby – sparse light from the open windows revealed what had to be an abandoned, dusty home. Next to Regan, the bookcase creaked and slid to the side, revealing yet another passage.

“C’mon then ponies! Let’s go, in the tunnel!”

Sunny stopped everypony with a shout.

“WAIT!”

They had no choice but to do so. The fiery mare and the pony in black were shocked, but Regan looked pleased that his body was frozen and shaking in place. He grinned widely at Sunny, who continued her tirade. “What is this? Why should we leave one set of crazy ponies to come with you – whoever you are!?”

Regan wiped the sweat from his brow and his chest heaved up and down, his hooves shaking. Sunny squinted. She was sure she saw traces of red appear just underneath the ponies’ fur, like they had glowing veins. She blinked. Regan laughed an old, crazy stallion’s chuckle.

“We’re on yer side, Sunny. I knew ye gave a fake name before, in tha alley. I knew who ye were tha’whole time!”

Sunny took a step back.

“Do you work with that Curio guy too?”

Regan chuckled again and removed his cotton flat hat with a bow.

“No Miss Starscout – we’re tha Society of tha Sun.” The fiery mare and the pony in black walked and stood beside Regan, and all of them put their hooves on their chests. “We’re here for ye, for Equestria, and for tha dream of a united country tha never should have been broken in tha first place.”

Sunny’s mouth dropped. Regan released his bow with a huge smile on his face.

“Convincing enough for ye?”

Comments

[Phetiamwantip]

This new chapter is going great, OneLonelyPickle. Well, Sunny has some questions to ask Regan about this. By doubting we are led to question, by questioning we arrive at the truth.

[Booster Spice]

I wonder if the cavern is large enough that when it collapses it takes the house with it?

[OneLonelyPickle]

11246772
That would be pretty terrible! Hopefully not

[Eroraf86]

Yeesh. I knew something was up with grandma, but yikes.

[LegacyMine]

An interesting story, but I'm getting a little bored of the earth pony realm. I hope we move on to Unicornia or the pegasus lands soon.