Rebirth of Magic: The Misfit

by The Blue EM2

Nopony wins when Everypony's Losing

So, the next day was here, and we were all gathered around the table in Izzy's main room, or kitchen I guess. The two rooms just kinda ran into each other with no clear division as to which was which. This was quite common in these homes, it seemed, as I'd encountered a similar setup in flats and such in the former world. Hence, it made sense for the world here to replicate it seeing as life in Equestria echoed the human world in so many ways.

As we sat, sipping tea, and calmly drank it, I was consumed by concern. What if this mess I'd set into motion came to catch up to us? True, we had one fewer dictator to deal with, given he was here with us and seemed to be much friendlier than I'd expected. I looked down and sighed quietly.

But the other dictator we'd accidentally put into power would not be beaten so easily. I had messed up big time on that front. We could be doomed, if all we knew, so we had to get those crystals back together and get magic up and running. Or else we may never have the chance.

It seems Izzy noticed my agitation. "What's wrong, Sunny?"

I looked over to her, the panic visible in my eyes. "I can't help but feel we're running out of time!" I replied. "I've completely lost track of what day it is, and we don't know how long we have left until shit hits the fan!" I chose to keep my confusion over who I was quiet at that moment. At this point in time my needs on that front were firmly less important than the needs of the entire nation we were in.

Hitch didn't massively approve of my choice of words. "Language!"

"Hitch, this is a stressful situation," I said to him. "I think I can be allowed to curse every once in a while." Funnily enough, it has been shown that cursing can be an effectice way of relieving stress- hence the old saying 'swear like a sailor'. Those guys drop expletives like it's punctuation! Anyway, I turned my eyes back to Izzy. "Izzy, I'm serious. We don't know where or what Gulfstream and his goons are up to out there. They could be about to launch an attack on Bridlewood, and if that happens we've been cost our only chance at bringing back magic."

Sprout glanced over. "I thought bringing the tribes back together was dependant on the leaders putting a photo back together."

I internally facepalmed. The photo itself didn't trigger the return of magic; it was what the act symbolised that did the deed. You have no clue how many times I've had to explain this to people online!

Pipp then spoke up. "That's not a lot of use if Bridlewood's on fire and two tribes are at war."

"Pipp does have a point, Sprout," Izzy said. "Well, I did the trip yesterday and got the supplies so- wait, I have an idea!"

"What's that?" Hitch asked.

Izzy turned her attention to Pipp. "Pipp, can't you use phone data to check whether the General is going anything?"

Pipp produced her phone and did some clicking quickly. She frowned, then looked back to me. "No can do. I've already tried that. There isn't WiFi in Bridlewood- seriously, how does anypony get anything done?- and the nearest C-Net tower is over 100 miles away. Put simply, this device won't be able to pick up anything around here."

True that. The unicorns appear to be the least advanced of the three tribes. Izzy said she went into Vanhoover on a steam train! And yes, I can already hear all the railway enthusiasts writing in and saying there's no such thing as a steam train, but I'm only using the words she used.

"That sucks," Misty said.

Pipp sighed again, clearly frustrated over being unable to check her apps. "Sure does. All this sitting about." She glanced up to Izzy. "Any progress on the plan?"

Izzy smiled. "Well, I think I've got the basic plan nailed down. We go to Bridlewood, go into the tea shop, get the crystal, then come back here. BOOM! Magic restored!"

That's kinda what I was gambling on too. They only had two crystals in the movie, but if we had all three (as I had the earth pony crystal) perhaps we could turn it back on earlier?

"No, I meant the disguises," Pipp said.

"Oh!" Izzy said, quicky topping up her tea. I'd probably best stop there to be honest. It'd be awkward during the dancing game if I kept having to go to the little fillies room. "Well, yesterday I went out and purchased all the things that I needed to buy to make it work. All that card took up a lot of space in the other place!"

I looked up at her, deciding to drop in some movie dialogue to move things along. "So, Izzy, can you do it?"

Izzy grinned as she looked back at me. "Flip baked beans and deposit them on the floor? Yes I can!"

No mention of Scoop, Muck, or Dizzy then. Or even Rolly. Oh well. I needed to focus. The next song would not only make us look like unicorns, but they would allow us to act and talk like convincing unicorns as well. So I needed to focus, even as I heard the music fade in. "No, make us look like convincing unicorns."

Before we could discuss the issue any more, we suddenly felt a familiar song fade in behind us, and we hopped to our feet. If I knew anything about how this world seemed to function, it was that when a song began, we had to complete it correctly or else the world wouldn't let us progress to the next step. As I'd found out the hard way in Maretime Bay when the background music kept constantly looping when I got the words wrong.

Misty, luckily, filled in Zipp's part, and before long we were fully kitted out as unicorns. I gotta say Izzy did a fantastic job of making us look like convincing unicorns, even if Pipp as a pegasus was a bit harder to disguise as Izzy had to work fabric round her wings to hide them from view. Hopefully nopony pulled at that.

For most of us it was a case of sticking a cardboard horn on our heads, with unique spiral patterns. After all, as Izzy herself points out in the rap breakdown, 'every unicorn who's born has worn a horn that's unique.' The patterns she came up with even matched elements of our own biology, which I thought was pretty cool.

Unfortunately, it was my turn to slip up over words, as I accidentally got us held up by forgetting words that only occur on the album version of the movie's soundtrack. Very awkward, I know.

And the constant teleportation into and out of voids got really confusing after a while. I quickly lost track of where I was in the world as we got randomly shunted between different locations. But we made it at last.

With that done, we headed off into the forest and towards the Crystal Tearooms. It was a nice day in Bridlewood, but most unicorns looked too lethargic to notice, most of whom just lay about and did nothing. One mare standing under a tree did nothing to move as apples dropped on her head, the repeated word 'ow' becoming a regular refrain behind us as a common beat.

I glanced about to see the light produced by the crystals, and smiled. This was seriously pretty. Certainly worth getting pulled across dimensions for. After all, gotta take the good with the bad.

Izzy noticed me looking at them. "We have loads of lovely crystals, but I don't think that's the one you want to collect," she said. "The real one is in the Crystal Tearooms- but you'd already know that."

Hitch glanced over. "We all have watched the film. We're on a level page, somewhat, but there are some things that I don't recognise. Lore that has changed since we were in the human world?"

"Maybe?" I suggested. "All I know is I want to write it all down!"

Hitch then spotted the colts doing nothing. "What's got them down?" he asked. "Why aren't they using magic?"

One of them looked up, and spoke- inexplicably in a British accent. "You said a bad word!" he said. "Quick, before we get jinxed!"

They then did the dance, and after Izzy explained what not to do to avoid setting off the jinxies, we pushed onwards and headed to the tearooms.

After a quick conversation with a jaded unicorn over whom to talk to, and slowly made my way over to the counter. Alphabittle was there, his back turned. He seemed to be looking at a photograph. I can't recall that being there in the film.

I cleared my throat. Now or never.

Author's Note:

Now that the cast are done dreaming and fraternising, the plot can roll forward once more. This should be fun!

The remark about the photo is based on a common misconception about the film's ending. A popular counterargument is that the tribes only came back together to get their magic back, a claim which is not supported by the fact Sunny and company have firmly given up on that goal at that point in the story. To quote Sunny directly:

We can continue to live in fear and distrust. Our we can choose friendship. We can choose love. That's the true magic.

Quite how so many viewers missed this is beyond me.

Technically, there is no such thing as a steam train. As a train is a formation of vehicles pulled by a locomotive, and in such a formation the vehicles are usually onpowered, the correct term is 'steam powered train' as only the lead vehicle has any propulsion.

Sunny briefly references an old joke common in the UK derived from a classic children's TV show. Can you spot it?

Fun fact; inexplicable British colt is voiced by the son of the film's director. The film's director, Rob Cullen, also voices a character in the film; in 'Danger, Danger', he's the pony in the fedora hat who Sprout points out.

Next time, Sunny takes on the big challenge? Can she win?

Comments

[The Blue EM2]

11559379

11559455

11559501

11559621

11559705

11559712

11562339

11562970

11667409

Sunny has returned (like the King).

[Comickook]

Excellent work on the dialogue, characterizations and future chapter set-up in this chapter. REALLY liked "Sunny's" reflections on things such as the mess up concerning Gulfstream, the acknowledgement that the seriousness of the situation far overrides "her" own personal conflicted feelings, the mental note on "Sprout's" mistake concerning the movie's ending and the general stuff from "Izzy's" latest batch from "Sunny's" viewpoint. Of course, WE know whose picture Alphabittle was looking at, but the gang won't know for until the next chapter/final chapter for THIS batch.

Definitely looking forward to the next/ final chapter for this batch, as well as the rest of Phase Four in general and all of Phase Five (which will be from July through October).

[shining paladin]

awesome chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter

[The Blue EM2]

11881720
The internal reflections were added based on reader feedback; one reader over on Zipping It asked why the characters weren't reflecting more on what was going on. I chose to expand that out quite a bit. Of course we need to consider our own needs, but, to quote Optimus Prime, 'sometimes sacrifices must be made in order to serve things greater than ourselves.'

Glad to hear you spotted all the jokes I popped in there.

[The Blue EM2]

11881743
Glad you enjoyed.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

"Hitch, this is a stressful situation," I said to him. "I think I can be allowed to curse every once in a while." Funnily enough, it has been shown that cursing can be an effectice way of relieving stress- hence the old saying 'swear like a sailor'. Those guys drop expletives like it's punctuation! Anyway, I turned my eyes back to Izzy. "Izzy, I'm serious. We don't know where or what Gulfstream and his goons are up to out there. They could be about to launch an attack on Bridlewood, and if that happens we've been cost our only chance at bringing back magic."

I like that saying on cursing. I often do it when upset or stressed. Which is how I've been lately on finishing my book and finding an editor.

"Hitch, this is a stressful situation," I said to him. "I think I can be allowed to curse every once in a while." Funnily enough, it has been shown that cursing can be an effectice way of relieving stress- hence the old saying 'swear like a sailor'. Those guys drop expletives like it's punctuation! Anyway, I turned my eyes back to Izzy. "Izzy, I'm serious. We don't know where or what Gulfstream and his goons are up to out there. They could be about to launch an attack on Bridlewood, and if that happens we've been cost our only chance at bringing back magic."

happens, we'd lose our only chance at bringing back magic."*

Sprout glanced over. "I thought bringing the tribes back together was dependant on the leaders putting a photo back together."

Pipp produced her phone and did some clicking quickly. She frowned, then looked back to me. "No can do. I've already tried that. There isn't WiFi in Bridlewood- seriously, how does anypony get anything done?- and the nearest C-Net tower is over 100 miles away. Put simply, this device won't be able to pick up anything around here."

Drats.

Unfortunately, it was my turn to slip up over words, as I accidentally got us held up by forgetting words that only occur on the album version of the movie's soundtrack. Very awkward, I know.

Awkward indeed.

They then did the dance, and after Izzy explained what not to do to avoid setting off the jinxies, we pushed onwards and headed to the tearooms.

I was really hoping for the mayonnaise mention but I can let it slide.

We can continue to live in fear and distrust. Our we can choose friendship. We can choose love. That's the true magic.

I'm pretty sure she said 'or we' over 'our we'.

[The Blue EM2]

11881781
1. Likewise. There's a direct proportionality between my folks dropping F-bombs and their stress levels.

2. 'We've been cost' is British English.

3. Much facepalm indeed.

4. Indeed. What a nuisance.

5. Awkward, I know. Anybody who's been in musical theatre can relate.

6. Mustard!

7. That's a typo, and as such shall be fixed.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

11881797
1. Within the 22 years of my life I've only heard my parents say it a few times.
2.
7. 👍

[The Blue EM2]

11881798
1. Having said that, my folks often use 'bloody' in a similar way.

2. No problem.

3. Cheers.

[AvoidingFever17]

True that. The unicorns appear to be the least advanced of the three tribes. Izzy said she went into Vanhoover on a steam train! And yes, I can already hear all the railway enthusiasts writing in and saying there's no such thing as a steam train, but I'm only using the words she used.

Wait huh?
...ohhhhh i guess because it's coal powered and not steam powered right?

[AvoidingFever17]

Technically, there is no such thing as a steam train. As a train is a formation of vehicles pulled by a locomotive, and in such a formation the vehicles are usually onpowered, the correct term is 'steam powered train' as only the lead vehicle has any propulsion.

Oh okay!

Fun fact; inexplicable British colt is voiced by the son of the film's director. The film's director, Rob Cullen, also voices a character in the film; in 'Danger, Danger', he's the pony in the fedora hat who Sprout points out.

HA!
So he really was saying "hi im rob!"

[The Blue EM2]

11882199
Steam locomotives are typically fuelled with coal to provide the heat source. Sunny is pointing out that there's technically no such thing as a steam train. It's a train hauled by a steam locomotive.

[The Blue EM2]

11882203
"Uhh, my name's Rob!"

[AvoidingFever17]

11882255
Yeah i read it
Its amazing

[AvoidingFever17]

11882259
Alright

[AvoidingFever17]

11882260
Im glad that i know that now

[The Blue EM2]

11882295
Agreed.

[The Blue EM2]

11882296

11882297
Glad to help.