Sunny Days, a young alicorn filly, wakes up in the middle of a forest with no memory. She is adopted by Princess Celestia shortly after she is nearly killed by a Manticore.
Act 1: Rise of Princess Sunny Days Act one follows Sunny's early life as she starts to discover her past and destiny. However, an old enemy of her mother's resurfaces to bring about eternal night. But is there more to this mare than meets the eye?
More acts to come. Character Tags will represent the current act. The story starts twenty years before season 1
I softly closed the door to my room after Shadow’s training ended for today, magiking up the journal that I started. Opening to a blank entry, I dipped a quill into an inkwell and started to write.
Entry 137
Date April 15, 1006 ANM
Shadow’s training has been going along quite well in the past month, though his psychiatrist mentioned that he still hasn’t gotten past the death of his parents and has admitted to not being able to sleep well at night (See sub-entry 137-a for a full report). I also personally noticed that he seemed to stick to me like an extra cutie mark. He...reminds me of myself when I was younger, back before Mom adopted me, as I also stuck close to her when I could. Could he be getting attracted to me? I guess only time will tell now.
Just as I raised my quill to sign, I heard a soft knock on by door, causing me to turn my head. Letting myself smile, I quickly signed off and closed the book before saying, “Come in.” The door to my room opened quietly as the dark gray head of a familiar foal poked out from behind it.
“Mo-err-Sunny, are you here?” The young foal asked. I couldn’t help but give a small smile at the near slip. It took me a week or two to get him to talk to me on a first-name basis.
Looks like I was right, I thought to myself as I responded, “Yes, I am, Shadow. Why don’t you come in?” As he trotted in, I frowned as I noticed the bandage around his barrel. I’ll have to ask him about that later. Shaking the thought away, I noticed that he was drawing his hoof in a circle on the floor, looking like he was trying to work up his courage to say something. “What’s wrong, Shadow? You want to ask something?” I inquired, letting him take his time. He looked up at me before looking at the floor again, taking a deep breath.
“Yes,” he finally said after a minute of silence, “It’s been on my mind for a while now.”
Is he…? I thought to myself, my hopes rising…
...Only for them to come crashing down. “What’s your story? Quick kept dodging my questions whenever I asked,” he asked, dragging his hoof in a circle on the floor. Giving the colt a smile, I levitated a couple of pillows in front of the fireplace before lighting a fire. Laying on one, I patted the one next to me with my wing, watching as I saw the colt scramble to lay next to me. Once he was comfortable, I watched the fire, trying to figure out where to start before it came to me.
“Well, It all started when I woke up in a forest…”
I woke up to the sounds of birds chirping and water flowing downstream. I tried to open my eyes, only to close them moments after as sunlight flooded into them. After a few seconds, I tried again, much slower, with better success. Finally able to see, I looked around the clearing that I woke up in, trying to remember how I got here. A few moments passed before I realized that I couldn’t remember anything at all, not even my own name. This realization caused a burst of horror at the implications of what that could mean.
Thankfully, I was torn out of my thoughts my as I felt a slight tickling sensation against my sides. I turned my head to the offending sensation only to see a pair of feathery wings against what seemed like my barrel. One part of me was saying that the wings weren’t mine. The other, however, was convinced that they are. After I finally took stock of my situation, I managed to rise onto my legs, albeit slowly. I moved a hoof forward only to faceplant the moment I dropped it.
Ok, how do I go about moving? I asked myself in frustration after a few more attempts. A few minutes later, I instinctively knew what to do, as if some outside force was passing me information. I moved my right foreleg forward, followed by my back left, front left, and finally, back right. Slowly, I made my way to what seemed like a river, occasionally faceplanting when I got impatient and tried to increase my speed. After what seemed like hours, I finally managed to get to the river, where I saw my reflection.
I saw what I recognized as a pony with sunflower yellow fur and a orange mane with yellow highlights, a horn (which wasn’t noticeable if you didn’t look) poking through the mess that was my mane, and two ears on the top of my head, pointing this way and that at every sound that I heard. I also had electric yellow eyes that looked like they could shock someone if they touched it.
As I continued to look at my reflection in the water, my hunger and thirst made themselves known as my stomach growled and I noticed that my mouth was shockingly dry. I lowered my head into the river and started to drink the water in an attempt to quench my thirst. A couple minutes later, I finally satisfied my thirst’s demands before I started to search for something to satisfy my hunger. After some searching, I managed to spot a bush of blueberries that seemed freshly ripe. I was about to pick some when I heard a roar somewhere behind me, causing me to jump in fright before I turned around. What I saw caused fear to swell up inside of me. I saw a large, lion-like creature with bat wings and a scorpion tail. I was torn from my shock as it roared and charged me. I immediately turned and started to run in the opposite direction.
As I ran, I weaved around trees and slammed through bushes, trying anything to get away from the beast that was chasing me. However, my coordination, which started to go on overdrive as adrenaline flowed through my body, started to get sloppy as fatigue and hunger, which I have yet to satisfy, started to affect me. One of my wings clipped the side of a tree as I ran past it, causing me to stumble a bit. This gave me the time to see the beast that was chasing me. At the sight of the sharp teeth and sharp tail, which imprinted itself into my memory almost immediately after I saw it, I realized that I won’t survive if I was caught by it. With a fresh burst of adrenaline, I got onto my hooves and ran with renewed effort.
Not too long after, I bursted into a clearing that was covered in flowers, but since I didn’t have the time to look at it due to a certain predator, I kept running. Just a few hundred yards away, I saw what looked like a stone wall with two guards guarding the entrance. I released something between a sob and a laugh in relief.
Almost there! I thought with complete joy as I got within ten yards of the entrance. That joy, however, caused me to lose my concentration as the ground was pulled from under my hooves, causing me to go head over heels before I rolled to a stop. As I lay there in pain, I was mentally cursing out every god, goddess, and divine entity that could think of for stopping me when help was so close.
While the time that I was on the ground was short, it was all the monster needed to catch up to me. It started tearing into my side; fur and blood flying everywhere. However, it stopped as soon as it started as I heard what seemed like yelling and footsteps rushing towards me. I managed to make out the sight of two guards fighting off the creature before one of them backed off to help me.
After I was carefully lifted up and deposited on the back of the guard that backed off, I realized that it was becoming harder and harder to breath as I lost more and more of my blood. The last thing I remember before my eyesight faded was the soothing reassurances that I was going to be okay from the male guard as he rushed me into the town and the hope that he was right.
As I rushed to get the young filly, who couldn’t be older than nine years of age, to the hospital, I noticed the look of worry that ponies, who saw the injured filly on my back, had. What worried me, though, was the fact that somepony as young as her was left alone like she was. That and the fact about how badly the manticore had harmed her before me and my partner, Quick Shot, was able to stop it.
“I need a doctor!” I yelled as I barreled through the door, panting slightly. The receptionist looked up from the book that she was reading, her eyes widening as she saw the young, injured filly on my back. She shot up before guiding me to an empty room, instructing me to put the filly onto the bed as she went to get the doctors.
Now that I wasn’t in a panic to save the filly, I finally noticed that the filly, who I originally thought was a pegasus, was, in fact, an alicorn. Before I could leave, a pair of doctors rushed into the room before they started to work furiously on the young filly, trying everything they could to save her life. After a tense ten minutes, I was informed that she was going to survive, if only barely. I sighed in relief, glad that she was going to be ok. I left the hospital before going to inform Captain Nightwing about what had happened, including the discovery of an alicorn filly not directly tied to Princess Celestia, who needed to be informed of her as soon as possible.
As I started to wake, I was faintly aware of the bandages wrapped around my barrel, the beeping of a heart-rate monitor, and the slight pain of an IV tube in my right foreleg. It took some effort, but I managed to open my eyes before blinking a bit as they tried to adjust to the brightness of the room. When it finally did, I noticed I was in a hospital room with childish designs. I looked at the bed I was in and noticed a heavy hospital blanket I rested over me and the pillow that laid under my head.
“I’m glad you’re finally awake,” a motherly female voice said somewhere in front of me. I turned my head and gasped silently at who I saw at the foot of the bed. I saw a pure white pony with a pair of wings and a horn, kind of like me, but larger and a different color. She also had a multicolored mane that seemed to flow on an invisible breeze. She also seemed calm, but radiated an aura of power, one that was causing my confidence to crumble as I continued to look at her. “It’s ok,” the mare said in a soft, motherly tone that quickly quenched my fears, “You’re safe now.”
“W-who are you?” I managed to get out.
“My name is Princess Celestia, and what’s yours?” She asked me. I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing would come out as I couldn’t place a name at all.
“I-I don’t remember,” I managed to get out as tears started to flow out of my eyes. Princess Celestia moved to the side of the bed before giving me a nuzzle in an attempt to comfort me. I was expecting it to feel weird, but it was actually pretty effective at calming my raging fears, though it did nothing to help stop my crying. After a couple of minutes, I finally stopped as Celestia gave me a motherly smile.
“How about we decide on a new name for you?” She asked, to which I gave her a nod. I turned to my thoughts as I tried to think of a fitting name for myself. I went through several options before I decided on...
“Sunny Days,” I finally decided, looking up to her, “That’s what I want my name to be.”
“Want to explain why?”
“It’s just that with my coloration and the fact that I’m always optimistic of everything, I feel like I’m similar to a sunny day, a day where it seems like nothing could go wrong, and that, is why I want that as my name.” When I finally finished, I looked up at her again to see what she thought. After what seemed like hours (even though I knew it was only a few seconds), Celestia looked at me with a smile.
“Ok, Sunny, go ahead and rest up. If things go according to plan, you’ll have a new home, and somepony to give you plenty of love,” she told me before giving me a gentle nuzzle, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I saw her horn light up in a golden aura before I started to feel really tired. I released a yawn as my eyes slowly closed on their own as I drifted into the realm of dreams.
That’s how long it took me to fully recover from my wounds. A day after I woke up in the hospital, I asked a doctor about how bad my injuries were. Apart from the obvious blood loss, my right wing was shredded to the point that they had to reconstruct it. Even then, they couldn’t completely repair the damage that was done to the membranes, so I had to stay at the hospital to make sure that I recovered fully.
During that time, Princess Celestia would visit me every few days to check up on me, though she wouldn’t tell me who adopted me. Though the more I see her, the more I’m sure just who is adopting me. At the end of the month, I was finally discharged from the hospital, and now, I’m heading to someplace call Canterlot with the princess and her personal guards with her.
When we arrived at the palace after half an hour of travel, I was in for a surprise when the guards bowed towards us with mutterings of ‘your majesties.’ I send a quizzical look towards Celestia, which got me a not-so-innocent smile in return. Though I still followed her as she led me deeper into the castle. After a few minutes, she finally stopped at a large, blank door that is across from another large door with a sun embedded in the center. She opened the door and entered. I followed her, rather hesitantly, into the room and gasped at what I saw.
The interior of the room was maybe the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. A large bed, which looks like it could hold a pony five times my size on it, with a yellow blanket and pillow on it, a dresser with a mirror against one wall, a closet that’s empty, and a nightstand with what appeared like a princess’s tiara on it. The tiara was silver in color with what looked like fire red rubies embedded in it. After I came to my senses, I shot a questioning look towards Celestia.
“Welcome to your new home, Sunny,” she said with a smile, causing my brain to flatline. I had the feeling she was going to adopt me, but it was still shocking to find out that I’m being adopted by someone who most likely has more important things to do that take care of a child, especially if said person is royalty.
“Why?” I asked when I finally recovered minutes later, completely confused by her motives.
“Two reasons, the first is because there are bylaws that allow an alicorn to be adopted into the royal family,” she explained.
“And the second?”
“Because I wanted to.” For the second time today, my brain flatlined at what she said. I was certain she wouldn’t have the time to take care of a filly.
“Don’t you have more important things to do than take care of me?” I questioned.
“I don’t normally have a lot to do during the day,” she admitted, “Even with day court, I still have plenty of extra time to spare.”
Well…that answers several questions… I thought to myself. Taking one last look at the room, I turned my attention to Celestia and did the first thing that came to mind: I hugged her.
“Thank you...Mom,” I muttered into her fur as I embraced her, tears of joy flowing down my face.
We sat there for a couple of minutes in each other’s embrace, letting the tender moment last. However, much to my disappointment, Mom released me from her embrace before levitating th- no, my crown onto my head. “Come on, Sunny,” she told me, “It’s time to meet the nobles.” I gave her a nod before following. She led me through the labyrinth that was the castle, somehow knowing where to go. Eventually, she stopped at a large door flanked by two guards, who saluted upon seeing us. Mom opened the door with her magic (have to learn how to do that soon) and led me inside.
The throne room was a large room that had windows that depicted different events in what I assumed was Equestria’s history. I honestly couldn’t help but look at the windows in wonder. I managed to pry myself away from the windows and continued to look at the room. At the end, there was a large golden throne with a Sunflower Yellow felt pillow next to it. Mom walks onto the throne while I sit down on the pillow. Now that I was here, a burst of nervousness flowed through my very being, overriding the excitement that flowed through me moments before.
“There is no need to worry, Sunny,” Mom said as I look at her in shock. Did she read my thoughts…. “No, Alicorns are able to communicate telepathically with each other, though you are able to stop transmitting your thoughts and block outside thoughts,” she explained to me, causing me to mouth ‘ooh’ in understanding. After a few minutes, the first noble was sent in to meet me.
“How do you even put up with them?” I questioned Mom when Day Court finally ended. While I was in Day Court, several nobles made an attempt to bend me to their wills, which, thankfully, mom stopped as soon as it started.
“When you have the patience I have, quite easily,” she told me before I released a yawn, “Looks like it was a long day for you.” I was about to ask what she was talking about before I felt myself levitate off the ground, causing me to yelp in surprise. I was deposited on Mom’s back a few moments later.
“Mom~!” I complained, “I’m not tir-” a yawn forced it’s way out of my mouth, causing Mom to look at me with an eyebrow raised with ‘Really?’ plastered on her face. “Fine.” I said with a pout, defeated. Mom giggled at my antics before continuing the trek to my room. We arrived a few minutes later, where she tucked me in before giving me a gentle nuzzle, one that I happily returned.
“Good *yawn* night, Mom,” I managed between yawns.
“Good night, Sunny. Sweet dreams,” she told me, planting a kiss below my horn before turning off the lights, leaving the room shortly after. A couple of minutes passed before I finally managed to get to sleep.
When I woke up again, I was expecting to be in a comfortable bed with my adoptive mother over me, smiling fondly down at me.
What I didn’t expect was some kind of metal ring on my horn, my wings bound to my barrel, my muzzle tied shut, something cold around my neck, and all four of my legs bound together. The moment I realized this, my eyes snapped open as I started to struggle in a panic, my eyes darting around frantically in an attempt to figure out how to get out. After I managed to calm down enough, I started to scan my surrounding. I was in some kind of empty room with a window and a door. The window is boarded up while there was no doorknob on the door, so even if I somehow managed to get free of my bonds, I wouldn’t be able to escape anyways. Suddenly, I realized something.
D-does Mom even know that I’m gone? I asked with a bit of fear.
Back at the castle….
I was walking to my daughter’s room to wake her up (since we didn’t know when her birthday was, I decided for today to be it, the day that she came into my life) to give her birthday gift. However, when I got there, instead of finding my daughter, I found a note instead.
Dear Princess Celestia
If you want to ever see your daughter alive again, you will bring a total of 10,000 bits to ~~~~~~~~. If you don’t, we’ll kill her.
You got twenty-four hours. Get us the bits, or she dies.
As I read the note, my anger started to rise more and more. By the time I got to the end, I was fuming in rage as heat radiated off my body.
“GUARDS!” I yelled using the Royal Canterlot Voice, a pair of guards scrambled into the room.
“Yes, your majesty?” They said with a bow.
“I want you to get a squad of guards, we have a hostage situation on our hooves,” I ordered, barely able to keep the rage out of my voice. They saluted before going off to complete their task.
As I lay there in fear, I couldn’t help but wonder what I did to deserve this. I was torn out of my thoughts when I heard a pair of voices outside my room. While I couldn’t make out what they said, I did make out a little bit, enough to find out that they are using me as bait to kill me and Mom. And even if she didn’t show, they would still kill me. This filled me with a feeling of pure fear. A couple of minutes later, I realized that sound of talking was replaced with the sound of heavy locking bolts moving. I managed to pinpoint the source to be from the door.
So even if I managed to get out of my bonds and managed to find a way to open the door, the locks on it would prevent me from opening it anyways. I thought, dejected. I was torn from my thoughts by the door opening to reveal a tan stallion with a grey mane and tail, a red cloth over his muzzle, and a black jacket blocked my view of his cutie mark.
“Ok, young one, it’s show time,” he said in a deep tone. As he started to move towards me, I started to struggle in an attempt to get away, the fear in my eyes could be easily read. However, my attempts were futile as he just picked me up off of the ground, using a leg to hold me against his chest. He then proceeded to walk out of the room, where I instinctively tried to raise a hoof to my eyes to block out the sunlight, but since I couldn’t, I settled with blinking the dark spots out of my eyes as they tried to adjust. As we continued to walk, I was mentally hit by a torrent of worry that didn’t come from me.
“Mom!” I exclaimed through our connection, trying to get her attention, “Can you hear me?”
“Sunny!” I heard a voice exclaim in relief, “I’m glad your ok!”
“We have a huge problem, I overheard the guards outside of my room talking about how they were going to use me as bait to draw you out to kill both of us!” I told her in a panic. As I said that, I could feel the angry thoughts flow through our connection. A couple minutes later, my eyes lit up as I saw Mom in the distance. My captor seemed to notice.
“Not so fast. You’re only free if she has the bits,” he said smugly. When we reached where Mom was waiting, I noticed that she was here alone with two more ponies that was wearing what my captor was wearing. One was a unicorn with a white coat and blue mane and tail while the other was a pegasus with a grey coat and silver mane and tail. They were both wielding a dagger made some kind of stone that I don’t recognize. My spirits dropped before it perked up again.
Wait, I realized, Those are Royal Guards!
“Looks like you showed up, but before I release her, I need to see that you have the bits,” he told her. She responded by pulling out a large bag that I realized were full of bits and handed it to him. He looked inside before giving out a chuckle. “You know, you do realize that I was never going to let you go?” He started before yelling, “NOW!” The two thugs...err....guards sprung into action while he bent my right foreleg backwards, breaking it in half while I tried to yell out in pain, tears flowing from my eyes. Unfortunately for my captor, Mom wasn’t the target as the disguised guards dogpiled on the thug, pinning him down while Mom came over to me and started to free me from my bonds. The moment she freed my muzzle, I screamed out in pain while trying everything I could to stop the pain that was the result of my broken leg.
“Don’t worry, Sunny,” Mom said soothingly as she embraced me gently, attempting to calm me down, “You’re going to be ok. Just relax.” She immediately spread her wings out as she started to rush me to the hospital. While we were traveling, my eyesight started to fade as the pain was starting to overtake me. The last thing I remember was Mom entering the hospital and the yelling of panicking doctors.
As I started to come to, I was faintly aware of something soft wrapped around my barrel. As my senses started to sharpen, I realized that the thing in question was, in fact, a wing. I also felt something I haven’t felt in a long time: a feeling of safety. Unconsciously, I tried to bury my head deeper into Mom’s coat in an attempt to get lost in her warmth.
“Sunny?” I heard a voice ask. After I managed to open up my eyes, I looked up to see Mom’s concerned face, “How are you feeling?”
“Sore,” I managed, “And tired.”
“How about you get some sleep, then?” She asked, pulling me in closer as she gave me a gentle nuzzle.
“I-I don’t know if I can…” I managed fearfully as the memories of what happened flashed through my mind. However, as this happened, I became aware of a soft, gentle melody as Mom started to sing a lullaby.
“Hush Now, Quiet Now, It’s time to rest your sleepy head. Hush Now, Quiet Now, It’s time to go to bed…”
As she continued, my eyes started to grow heavy as I let out a yawn. Any fear was replaced by a feeling of peace. As she started to near the end of the song, my eyes started to close on their own. I fell into the lull of sleep as she started to finish the song.
I was in an enclosed room, my muzzle....muzzled, my legs bounded together, my wings tied to my barrel, and a metal ring on my horn. I watched as a stallion coated in darkness picked up a butcher’s knife and started to move towards me, laughing darkly.
“Come on, little pony,” the figure said darkly, “It’s time to get your amputations,” He reached me as he sliced off my horn, causing me to try and scream out in pain. Just as he was about to cut off another limb, the scene changed to a dense forest. I was running from a lion-like creature with bat wings and a very sharp scorpion tail. As I was running, I noticed a clearing ahead, causing me to double my efforts. However, when I reached it, I skid to a stop, barely at the edge of a cliff that dropped down hundreds of feet down. I turned around to try and backtrack only to see that the beast has my back up against a wall. As the beast took one step forward, I took one back which, unfortunately, caused me to lose my footing as my hoof slipped, bringing me down with it. Just as I was about to hit the ground, everything went dark, but not before I heard a mare’s voice.
“Fear the wrath of the Nightmare!”
I shot up in the bed I was in, or at least tried to, after I woke up. I noticed I was back in a hospital room, the soft beeping of a heart-rate monitor in the background. I looked out the window and noticed it was dark out. I also noticed a cast on my right foreleg, not only preventing me from moving my leg, but also keeping the broken bone in place as it healed. I felt mom stir as she started to wake up, seemingly caused by my sudden movement.
I-it was only a nightmare… I thought as I tried to get my beating heart under control.
“Sunny?” Mom asked, concerned, “What’s wrong?” I tried to say something, but nothing would come out, I couldn’t get the nightmare off my mind. “A nightmare?” She tried, to which I nodded as tears started to flow down my face. Mom seemed to notice my distressed state and pulled me into an embrace, using her forelegs and wings to hold me as she gave me a gentle nuzzle. I instinctively leaned into it, returning it with one of my own.
“Everything will be ok, Sunny,” Mom whispered to me as she held me against her chest. She started to sing me another lullaby to help me sleep. She continued to sing until I fell asleep.
It was midday when I came around again, but this time, instead of being in a hospital, I was on a large bed with a white blanket over me. The bed itself has a yellow sun imprinted on the headrest. Something told me that this was Mom’s room in the palace. A few moments later, I noticed the lack of a cast on my right foreleg.
“Sunny?” I heard Mom say, tearing me from my thoughts as I snapped my head towards the large double doors on the other end of the room. Mom walked over to me and gave me a gentle nuzzle, “Did you have any nightmares?” She asked. I shook my head. However, at that moment, my stomach growled, causing me to look away and blush in embarrassment while Mom giggled a bit. Using her magic, she lifted me onto her back before leaving the room.
“Mom, as much as I enjoy riding on your back, I’m able to walk on my own,” I said, trying to sound annoyed, but failing. I actually enjoy it a lot.
“Actually, the bone in your leg is still pretty weak,” she told me, “I was informed not to let you put pressure on it for at least three days.” I would have argued, but her tone told me that it was final.
“Fine,” I sighed. We continued to walk for a few minutes before we came upon a large door that looked similar to the one for the throne room. She opened it using her magic, allowing me to see the inside of the room. I looked around and saw a long table with several chairs around it. There were also a lot of beautiful decorations around the room.
“I take it that you like it?” Mom said, amused. Realizing that my jaw had dropped, I closed it quickly as I started to stammer, blushing furiously as I tried to hide the fact that that just happened. This prompted a gentle laugh from Mom. “I’ll take that’s a yes?” I nodded, defeated, as my face continued to be a very deep crimson. She brought me over to the end of the table and placed me in a chair that was higher than the rest; it seemed to be made for me.
“Sunny,” Mom said, getting my attention, “There are a few things that you need to know.” I continued to look at her, prompting her to continue. “First off, you’ll be assigned a few guards to protect you when I can’t be with you. And second, you’ll be sleeping with me for now on.”
“Wait, why?” I asked, prompting a sigh from Mom.
“While you were in the hospital, I had the guard search your room to try and figure out how your foalnappers managed to get in without alerting the guards...and found a tunnel in the closet under a false floor.” I paled a bit at that, “They already closed off the room with three guards, one of each race, guarding the room at all times.” I’m sure she said more, but my mind started to run ramped as fear continued to overtake me.
“Sunny!” I heard a voice say. I looked up and saw Mom’s worried face, “Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah, j-j-just thinking,” I managed, trying to get my fear under control. Mom took one look at me before giving me a gentle nuzzle, quenching my fears as I leaned into it.
“Better?” She asked gently. I gave her a nod; I was feeling much better. A bowl and a fork was placed in front of me, a salad with what looked like dandelions in it. I looked at the fork as I started to reach a hoof towards it before I pulled it back. “What’s wrong?” Mom asked me, confused about my behavior.
“D-do you think you...can teach me how to use my magic?” I asked shyly. I looked at Mom as she gave me a gentle smile.
“Of course,” she said gently, “First, you need to search for you Mana Pool…”
“Mana Pool?” I asked, not hearing the term before.
“The Mana Pool is where all ponies, mostly Unicorns and Alicorns, get their magic from,” Mom explained, “Anyways, before you can start to use your magic, you need to find you pool first, though it’s usually near the heart.” I gave her a nod as I closed my eyes, focusing on finding the Mana Pool Mom was talking about. As I continued to search, I felt a tingling feeling coming from my horn.
“Okay, you’re going to learn a spell that all unicorns can learn, Telekinesis,” she started, “First, you need to ‘grip’ you magic around the object you want to lift.” After a lot of concentration, I finally felt the tingling extend through the air towards my object of choice, a fork. “Next, you need to visualize the object lifting in your mind, willing your magic to do the same.” Another ten minutes later, I was about to give up when the fork skyrocketed into the ceiling. I was in so much shock that I forgot to keep my magic wrapped around the fork, causing it to fall as I took jumped out of the chair before hiding under it. I felt my tail being pulled as I was pulled from under the chair and deposited back on it.
“Yes, I know I’m not supposed to be putting pressure on my leg right now,” I said, guilty, before she could say anything; my ears flat against my head as I looked down at the ground, tears flowing from my eyes.
“Sunny,” Mom said gently, using a hoof to lift my head so I’m looking at her, “I’m not mad at you, just...please don’t do that again.” I gave her a nod as she used a hoof to wipe away the tears from my eyes.
“Your Majesties?” A familiar voice said. I turned my head and was disappointed that it was just a pair of guards. One was a unicorn while the other was a pegasus. However, one of their voices seemed familiar…
“Hello, Golden Sword, Quick Shot,” Mom greeted, “I’m glad you could come on such short notice. I hope the trip from Trottingham was uneventful.”
“It was,” Golden agreed before turning to me, “Hello once again, your highness,” he said with a bow, “I’m glad you’ve recovered from your injuries.” That was when it hit me.
“I remember you now, you were one of the guards to save me from that…” I started before trailing off.
“Manticore,” he told me, “I have to say, you were quite lucky to survive one, much less out run one.” My right wing twitched as I remembered the pain that resulted from it.
“Please don’t remind me,” I shuddered at the memory that surfaced.
“Anyways, Sunny, Golden Sword and Quick Shot will be your personal guards for now on,” Mom told me, “Their sole job is to protect you from dangers and get you out of harm's way when possible.” I gave her a nod in understanding.
“Also, thank you for saving me,” I said, turning to Golden and Quick, the gratitude could be seen in my eyes, “I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t get to me.”
“There’s no need to thank us, Your Majesty,” Quick assured me, “We were only doing our jobs.” I gave him a nod before moving my focus back to the fork I was trying to levitate earlier.
“Today was productive,” I said with a yawn, trying to prevent myself from falling asleep on Mom’s back. I had managed to get down basic and advanced Telekinesis, though it drained me quite a bit to do so. Now, Mom and I were heading back to her chambers so Mom could lower the sun and raise the moon (Something keeps telling me that shouldn’t be possible) and to put me to bed.
“Indeed it was,” Mom agreed, using her magic to open the doors to her chambers, and walked inside. I saw Golden, Quick, and Mom’s personal guards flanked the doors before they closed. Mom walked over to her bed before placing me down on it. I rested there for a couple of minutes before Mom came back from the balcony and rested onto the bed. She pulled me against her chest, using her wings to cover me before pulling a blanket over us.
“Good night, Mom,” I yawned.
“Good night, Sunny,” she replied. I saw the lights go out as we rested on the bed. With my head against her chest, I fell asleep to the rhythmic sound of her heart beating.
As I lay in Mom’s gentle embrace, I felt something nudge my side, prompting me to mumble, “Five more minutes, Mom.” Unfortunately for me, the offending pony just tried harder. Releasing a yawn, I cracked an eye open at the offending pony to see Mom looking down at me fondly.
“Get up, Sunny,” she said, nudging me once more with her muzzle. I yawned again before opening my eyes completely, rubbing them with my hooves a bit. Mom lifted her wing off of me, allowing me to stretch a bit as Mom got up to raise the sun. From the bed, I could see her horn light up in a golden glow before the sun started to rise. I just stared, jaw-slacked, as I witnessed something that shouldn't be possible. I may not remember anything from my past, but I did remember a little bit of Physics and quite a bit of Trigonometry. With how large the sun is, it shouldn’t be possible for a single person to move it by herself, even if she is the physical equivalent of an equine goddess. Even when she came back in, I was still frozen in shock, singular strands of my mane sticking up in random directions. Mom tried to stifle a giggle at the sight. Eventually, my brain just couldn’t handle it anymore, shutting itself down, causing my eyesight to fade as I fainted.
When I came around again a few minutes later, I noticed I was under the blanket again as Mom looked at me worriedly. When she noticed I was awake, she gave me a gentle nuzzle as she gently said, “Are you ok, Sunny?” I gave her a nod.
“C-can you never speak of that again?” I asked. She gave me a playful smirk.
“No promises~!” She sang.
“You won’t tell anyone,” I declared, “No matter what I have to do.” As she rolled her eyes at my ‘declaration,’ I started to stare at her with the biggest puppy dog eyes I could muster, my lips quivering as my ears flayed back against my head. When she finally noticed what I was doing, she made an attempt to look away, but by then, the damage was already done. I saw her struggle with her entire will not to give in to my look, but even the mightiest can fall.
“Fine…” she relented finally, causing me to perk up. Success! “Did you know you do that look too well?” She asked, causing me to stick my tongue at her before giggling, though I quickly stopped once I saw that she had a devilish smirk, one that promised that things won’t end well for me. “You know,” she started as I started to sweat a bit, “The Summer Sun Celebration is happening in a few days, and we still need to get you something to wear. However, we can’t get you fitted while you’re dirty.” My eyes started to widen as I realized what she intended to do. Unfortunately for me, she already picked me up in her magic and started to carry me towards the bathroom before I could even protest.
As she was fiddling with the knobs, she kept me off the ground with her magic so I couldn’t get away, though that didn’t stop me from struggling. Once the tub was filled, she levitated me over the water and gently lowering me into the water, using her magic to hold me in place. However, it was unnecessary as I’ve already lowered my body into the warm water, comfortable and content right where I am. As I laid there, Mom levitated a cup over and filled it with water; she dumped the water over my mane and coat. After getting my mane and coat thoroughly wet, she then brought over strawberry-scented shampoo, squirting out a bit of the scented goo onto a hoof. Next, she started to rub both hooves in my mane, making sure to get every inch of it before doing the same to my tail. She promptly used the cup to wash the soap out of both my mane and tail.
Next, she picked up another scented soap that I didn’t recognize and repeated the same process that she did for my mane. Finally, she once more used the cup to wash the soap out of my fur. She lifted me out of the tub and placed me on a towel that she had prepared earlier before using another towel to dry my mane, tail, and coat.
“Now, how to do your mane,” Mom mused to herself as she levitated a hair brush (mane brush?) over to her. After a few moments thinking to herself, she finally started to style my mane.
“Done,” Mom said a few minutes later. She levitated a mirror in front of me, causing me to gasp as I took an involuntary step back at the sight of the unfamiliar filly in the mirror.
“I...I don’t recognize myself,” I managed once I recollected myself.
“I have one more thing for you before we go,” Mom said, causing me to look up at her in confusion. Her horn lit up in a golden aura; a silver box appearing from nowhere. She levitated it over to me. “Go ahead and open it,” she encouraged. Taking one last look at her, I turned my attention towards the box before using my magic to open it. Once I fully opened it, I gasped at what I saw. Lying in the box, a silver pendent with an orangish-yellow stone rested in it. The stone itself looked like it had a sun that seemed to literally shine imprinted in it. Carefully picking it up with my magic, I examined it from every angle.
“The stone that is with the necklace is a rare stone known as a SunStone. Legend has it that each stone is a piece of the sun itself that fell to Equis,” she explained to me.
You don’t know how right you are, Mom, I thought to myself before pausing, Where did that come from? “I-I don’t know what to say…thank you,” is what I said, unable to show my gratitude. I levitated the pendant around my neck before closing the clasp. My pendant glowed a soft yellow for a few moments.
“Anything about it that I should know about?” I questioned while I continued to admire my pendant in the mirror.”
“Besides the simple enchantment that keeps it clean? No, not really,” she told me as she carried me out of the bathroom to get my regalia. Once she got it on, she started to carry me out of the room where my personal guards, Golden Sword and Quick Shot, flanked us on both sides. I looked around, trying to figure out where Mom’s personal guards were.
“Mom, where are your personal guards?” I asked her in curiosity.
“For now, while your leg is still healing, they’ll be switching out every day so the other can rest,” she explained. I blinked once...then twice before nodded my head at that.
That...actually makes a lot of sense… I thought to myself as Golden and Quickshot continued to escort us.
“Check,” Golden said as he moved his knight to attack my king. We arrived at the Canterlot Bouquet about half an hour ago. After my measurements were finally finished being taken about ten minutes ago, Mom was told that my dress would be finished in about twenty minutes, so to pass the time, me and Golden started to play a game of chess. Once I was taught how to play, we set up the board and started.
Anyway, I looked at the board for a good move to make. I had two Pawns on the other side of the board, my Black Bishop in position to check Golden’s King, and my King in check. Golden only has a Knight left in play, his King is a few spaces away from my right-most Pawn. I moved my King directly next to his attacking Knight. He promptly moved it away.
“Check,” I said when I moved my bishop to attack him, forcing him to move his King away from my Pawns. I then moved my right-most Pawn to the other side of the board, getting my Queen back. He tried to move towards my Bishop, but I quickly intercepted it with my Queen.
“Check,” Golden said as he attacked me with his Knight again. I once again move my King next to it, forcing him to move it away from my King once more. Next, I moved my next Pawn to get my Rook back. He tried to move his Knight into position to check me again, but I captured it with my Queen. A couple minutes later, I managed to corner his King on his side of the board.
“Checkmate,” I said smugly as I moved my Queen into place, winning the game.
“That was only beginner’s luck,” Golden told me, a little bit irritated with me for beating him first try, “You won’t win next time.” In the background, I could swear Mom was trying (and failing) to hold back her mirth.
“Princess Sunny Days?” a voice called out, interrupting my retort as I looked towards the back room where the mare that was making my dress went, “Your dress is ready.” Once Mom levitated me in front of a mirror, they started to work the dress onto me. Once they got it onto me, I was able to see the fruits of her labor. The dress itself is a sunflower yellow dress with orangish yellow sleeves with amber along the saddle of the dress.
“Well?” the seamstress nervously asked.
“I don’t like it,” I said in a monotone, causing her to deflate a bit, “I love it!” I then exclaimed with a large smile, causing the seamstress to jump a bit before perking up as she finally processed what I said.
“Ok, Miss Belle,” Mom said, getting her attention, “How much do I own you?”
“Being able to create a dress for the young princess is enough payment, Your Majesty.” Miss Belle said with a bow.
“Mom,” a young voice called out, causing my ears to prick up, “I’m home!”
“Come into the back room, Rarity!” Miss Belle called back. While mom was working on getting my dress off, a young, white filly came into the room. She has a purple mane that moved down one side and ended in a curl and a purple tail that coiled around itself. She seemed to freeze in place when she saw me and Mom. After a few moments, she dropped into a bow.
“Your Majesties,” she said, causing me to sigh, this was honestly getting annoying, fast, “What brings you here?”
“I was given the honor of creating a dress for Princess Sunny, Princess Celestia’s daughter,” Miss Belle explained, causing the filly’s ears to perk up, “Your Majesties, this is my daughter, Rarity.”
“Hello, Miss Rarity,” I greeted once Mom got my dress off, bowing my head a bit.
“Hello, Princess Sunny,” Rarity returned, doing the same.
“I can bring her back later if you want,” Mom whispered to Miss Belle, unaware that I could hear her, “If you’ll allow that, that is.”
“Of course, I’m sure Rarity would love to see her again.” Rarity’s mom commented.
“Come on, Sunny,” Mom called out to me, unaware that I just heard their entire conversation, “We still need to do a few more preparations before the Summer Sun Celebration in a few days.”
“Okay, Mom,” I replied, genuinely depressed that I couldn’t talk to Rarity more. Mom levitated me onto her back, allowing the full view of the bandages that were still on my right foreleg, causing Rarity to gasp out in surprise.
“W-what happened!” Rarity gasped, her worry audible in her voice.
“My daughter was foalnapped about five days ago, not even a day after I adopted her” Mom gently informed her, “She was gravely injured during the operation to rescue her.”
“Don’t worry, I had worse injuries before,” I tried to reassure her as my right wing twitched a bit as the memory of the manticore surfaced in my mind. I felt a shudder flow through my body.
“Sunny?” Mom asked worriedly, most likely have felt my shudder.
“Don’t worry,” I told her, “Just a bad memory.”
“The manticore?” she tried, causing me to do a double take.
“How did-?”
“That was your earliest memory,” she told me before switching to our connection, “That and I could feel the memory surface through the link.”
“I honestly forgot about the link alicorns share with each other,” I replied sheepishly, scolding myself for forgetting about it so soon. “Anyways,” I continued as Mom started to leave the Canterlot Bouquet with Golden Sword and Quick Shot escorting us on both sides, “What do you still need to do for the Summer Sun Celebration?” I asked.
“I just need to polish my regila,” she told me. After she did that, she continued to help me with my magic until it was time to go to bed. Unfortunately for me, I was subjected to another nightmare...
I was running through a thick forest, panting as I continued to try and escape my pursuer. Whenever I tried to stop to catch my breath, a roar, followed by the rapid approach of heavy footsteps, forced me into running once more. This continued for a few minutes before I was blocked by a vertical cliff. Like last time, I tried to turn around but found myself cornered by the beast that I realized was a twisted version on a Manticore. I curled up on the ground as the Manticore continued to move towards me, thinking that this was the end for me. However, when the Manticore raised a paw to swipe at me, a deafening, but strangely familiar voice rang out.
“GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!” With that, a silver beam of light pierced the Manticore, causing it to dissipate into darkness as a large alicorn mare stood over me protectively. “Are you ok, Apricis Diebus?” the mare asked, saying the last part in a language that I didn’t recognize, but, somehow, understood. It took me a few moments to translate what she said into Equestrian.
Sunny Days.
Once I processed what she said, I gave her a thankful nod. She gave off a sigh of relief.
“Thank the spirits,” the mare muttered before giving me a gentle nuzzle. As she did, I finally had the chance to see the figure clearly. She was an tan alicorn with a silver mane and tail that seemed to flow on an invisible wind. Her Cutie Mark is a brown sword and shield with a silver star in the center. For some reason, this...mare...seemed familiar. After a few moments on contently laying in her embrace, a memory surfaced.
This was my mother, I realized, My real mother.
“Mom…” I managed to get out through the tears that started to flow down my face, “W-what happened? Why can’t I remember anything?” Mom seemed to ponder on it for a few moments.
“Maybe the chaotic magic that caused you to disappear also repressed you memory?” she mused for a few moments before shaking her head, “No matter, all that matters is that you’ve returned to me.” We continued to lay there in content, trying to enjoy the reunion while it lasted. However, that time was short as the dream started to fade as I started to wake, causing Mom to panic. “Apricis,” she said, trying to get my attention, “Don’t worry, I’ll find you again.” She planted a kiss directly below the horn, “And remember, I’ll always love you…”
The dream collapsed.
“Shh,” I heard a voice say lovingly as I started to wake, “It’s only a nightmare.” As I started to come to full awakeness, I became aware of the feeling of someone rubbing my back in an attempt to calm me down. I also felt the damp fur that was the result of my heavy crying.
“M-mom?” I got out, my voice broken and tears still flowing from what I just experienced.
“Don’t worry,” she said softly, nuzzling my cheek as she brought me closer to her barrel with one of her wings, “I’ll always be here for you.” As she continued to nuzzle me, I could feel myself instinctively lean into it as my muscles continue to relax more and more. “Why don’t you get some more rest?” she asked softly, “There is still a few hours before you need to get up.” I gave her a relaxed nod before resting my head against her barrel once more. I began to start to doze off before I heard a door slam open, causing me to literally jump five feet (hooves?) into the air. I floated in the air with my eyes clenched closed, expecting to feel the impact of the ground. When I didn’t, I risked a peek and saw that I wasn’t falling. Confused, I looked down. However, the moment that I did, I felt gravity take hold once more as I started to fall, causing me to yelp in surprise. As I started to fall, I felt something surface inside me…
4993 SE (Spiritual Empire)
5 years before Sunny’s Disappearance
“Ok Sunny,” Mom said, “I’m going to lift you into the air. Use what I taught you to glide safely down.” I gave her a nod as she used her magic to levitate me about ten hooves into the air. I stayed there for a couple of moments before I felt gravity take hold. I let myself fall for a few moments before I snapped my wings open, letting my magic flow through it. I continued to fall before I felt the air resistance increase tenfold, slowing me down to a safe speed.
“Excellent!” Mom praised once I landed, “Remember, you can use this technique to get out of any fall unscathed.” I gave her a nod, eagerly awaiting my next lesson.
Present Time
Remembering what I once did, I let my body take control, letting it do what it knows it can do. Time seemed to slow down as my wings started to open on their own accord. As they did, I instinctively channeled my magic through them. I continued to do this until I felt the air resistance increase tenfold, slowing me down to a safe rate of descent. Time speed up once more as I continued to glide down safely to the ground. After I landed on the ground with a soft ‘clop,’ I turned to look at Mom and saw that her jaw had dropped. Seeing that, I couldn’t help but giggle a bit as Mom was usually has better control of her emotions.
“W-what….H-how did…?” Mom stuttered, trying to find words to express her confusion. This caused me to outright laugh at her confusion. After a few minutes of her trying to find her voice (and myself trying to hold back my amusement), Mom managed to compose herself before she quickly move towards me. Once she reached me, she picked me up with her magic before examining all over me for injuries.
“Mom,” I said after a few moments, “I’m fine.”
“Sorry, I’m just worried that you’ve made your injured foreleg worse,” she admitted while I just facehoofed.
“Mom, you saw how slowly I glided to the ground,” I told her, shaking my head a bit as she gently lowered me to the ground.
“Still doesn’t hurt to check.” I sighed, knowing that I wasn’t going to win this battle.
“Mom,” I said, trying to change topics, “I’ve never asked, what is the Summer Sun Celebration?” I immediately knew that I asked a bad question when I saw her the sadness in her eyes when I asked the question.
“I-it’s the anniversary of the banishment of Nightmare Moon,” Mom said, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice, most likely for my sake.
“Mom,” I asked gently, “What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing…” I gave her a look that screamed ‘Try Again’, causing her to sigh in defeat as sadness fully replaced the normal emotionless face that she normally had when others were around. “It’s just...the Summer Sun Celebration isn’t just the anniversary of the banishment of Nightmare Moon,” she told me, visibly trying to hold back her tears, “but it’s also a terrible reminder of the fact that I had to banish my own sister!” Once she finished that, I could see that I had unintentionally reopened an old wound, if the fact that she was crying was anything to go by. Without second thought, I immediately tackled her into a hug, nuzzling her in an attempt to cheer her up.
“Mom, while it may be a terrible memory, know that you don’t have to shoulder your burden alone,” I told her as I continued to nuzzle her, “I’ll be here for you, like you’ve always been for me since you’ve adopted me.” For the first time since the conversation started, I felt Mom return my embrace, nuzzling me in return. We continued to sit there in each other’s company for what seemed like hours (though it was really only ten minutes), contently embracing the warmth that we gave to each other. During this time, I felt what seem like a...spark, so to speak…and in it’s wake, a connection was left over. I followed said connection to it’s end, finding that it led to what I realized was a soul. However, it wasn’t just any soul, it’s Mom’s soul. From the link, I could feel a huge amount of love, happiness, and compassion emanating from her very soul, this was the truest visual of one’s feelings, something that cannot lie, no matter how hard it tries. When I saw (or rather, felt) this, I couldn’t help but cry tears of joy into her fur until I drifted off into a dreamless slumber.
Trottingham
Day of the Summer Sun Celebration
It’s the night before the Summer Sun Celebration, something that I’m personally looking forward to. After I fell asleep in her embrace, Mom tucked me back into bed before going to make sure that everything was ready. Now, Golden Sword and Quick Shot was giving me a tour of their old home. As we continued to walk, I saw some of the peop…ponies…that saw me sigh in relief.
“It’s just that they’re relieved that you’re fine after what happened to you, after all, you were in bad shape,” Golden explained when I asked, putting emphasis on ‘were.’ I gave him a nod in understanding before they continued to give me the grand tour.
“Lieutenant Golden Sword and Sergeant Quick Shot,” an authoritative voice rang out from somewhere above us, causing Golden and Quick to instinctively snap to attention. A few moments later, a midnight blue pegasus mare with a moon white mane and tail landed a few hooves in front of us. “What brings you here? I thought you transferred to the Solar Guard?” The mare asked.
“We did, captain,” Quick replied, “We we’re tasked with an very important job: guarding Equestria’s newest princess, Princess Sunny Days.”
“And I assume the young, yellow alicorn filly in front of me is her?”
“Yes,” I replied, “And may I know your name?”
“Nightwing Nightstalker, Your Highness,” she said with a bow as I groaned internally at the title, though I said nothing as I know it would be useless to try and stop her.
“Your Highness,” Golden said, interrupting what I was about to say, “It’s nearly time for it to start, let's get to the Town Hall.” I gave him a nod before bidding farewell to Nightwing.
Trottingham
Five minutes until Sunrise…
As I sat there in my yellow dress with my person guards flanking me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something’s going to happen, something bad.
“Golden, Quick,” I whispered, “I have a bad feeling something’s going to happen. It’s probably nothing, but be ready just in case.” They both gave me a nod as their hooves ever so slightly moved towards their respective weapons. Once the announcements were over, the curtain revealed Mom in all of her glory. I saw that she had a smile on her face, but it looked...fake, forced, and I knew why. I saw Mom take a deep breath as she closed her eyes starting to float into the air, her horn humming with power. It looked like somepony who couldn’t be beaten, somepony who could stop anything.
That was when all hell broke lose.
Just before Mom could rise the sun, a wall of pure magic expanded outward through the room, causing Mom to drop to the ground, disoriented. I looked around and saw everypony else seemed to be disoriented as well.
Everypony but me, Golden, and Quick.
“W-what’s going on?” I asked, the fear in my voice could be easily heard.
“I don’t know,” Golden replied, him and Quick quickly (No pun intended) surrounding me, “But stay close. Whoever did this, isn’t doing this with good intentions.” We stayed there for a few moments, staying on guard, as the Royal Guards that came scrambled on my and Mom’s positions, each with their respective weapon drawn, though I noticed that none of the pegasi and unicorns were flying or using magic, respectively.
“Golden, can you use your magic still?” I asked, “Because that wall may have been the start of some kind of Anti-Magic field.”
“Yes,” he replied, “But right now, the only advantage we have is the element of surprise.” Not even a few moments later, the sounds of glass breaking quickly surrounded us as the Royal Guard immediately got into defensive positions.
“For Nightmare Moon! Let the Night Rien Forever!” a loud, male voice yelled out. A lot of ponies dressed in black cloaks that covered their faces and cutie marks rushed through the windows and doors, quickly outnumbering us five-to-one. They were welding the same stone dagger that my foalnappers used.
“That’s Alicorn Stone!” I heard Golden yell out in alarm, “Don’t let them get near the princesses!”
“Alicorn Stone?” I questioned, turning my head towards Quick.
“It’s one of the only ways to kill an alicorn,” Quick explained to me, pulling out a Spiritsteel Dagger.
“Quick!” Golden suddenly yelled out over the commotion, “Spiritual Magic authorized!” I saw Quick nod before putting up his Dagger, replacing it with some kind of….stick?
“Mutationem,” Golden and Quick yelled out in usion, causing a flash of light to blind everypony in the immediate vicinity.When my eyesight returned, my jaw dropped at what I saw. Both Golden and Quick were now clad in glinting silver armor that seemed to shimmer in the light. Golden was now holding a Spiritsteel Short Sword in his magic while Quick was holding an Oak Shortbow, a Spiritsteel Dagger strapped to his left foreleg. Quick took to the skies, drawing the string of his bow back as five shimmering, silver arrows appeared on it.
“Quaerens sagittam!” he yelled out, releasing the string, causing the arrows to launch out and seek their targets out, each arrow seeking a different cultist.
Seeking arrow, I translated effortlessly, surprising myself by how easily I can understand him. Tearing myself from Quick, my eyesight landed on Golden, seeing him sword fight with a cultist, matching him blow for blow, before effortlessly somersaulting over said cultist, stabbing him in the back with his sword. However, what surprised me was the fact that, unlike when one of the other guards take out a cultist, the ones slain by Golden and Quick dissipate into a silver cloud before disappearing from view. Due to my surprise, a cultist managed to sneak up on me and grab me.
“Hey! Let me go!” I yelled out in surprise, trying everything I could do at the moment to escape.
“The Nightmare shall return!” the cultist yelled, raising his Alicorn Stone Dagger to stab me. At that moment, the Dagger started to fall towards me, aimed towards my heart. I saw my life flash before my eyes, though one of the memories stood out: an incantation.
“Spirituale disco!” I yelled out, my body and the air around me buzzing with energy. My senses started to faded away as my instinctive side took over, effectively knocking my conscious mind out.
As I started to regain consciousness, I became aware of not only the soft embrace of somepony, but I also noticed the beeping of a heart-rate monitor. This led me to one conclusion.
I was in the hospital….again.
As I lay there, I could hear the soft breaths of the larger pony beside me. After a few moments, I realized that there was a connection leading directly towards the pony’s soul, love and compassion pouring from it. That was when I realized that the pony next to me is Mom. At this realization, I snuggled closer to her barrel, attempting to stay by her side where it’s safe. This rewarded me with a nuzz….
Wait, I mentally brought my thoughts to a screeching stop, If she just nuzzled me, then that means…
I immediately snapped my eyes open and looked towards Mom, who was smiling down at me fondly.
“I’m glad that you’re finally awake,” she told me as she gently nuzzled the top on my head.
“W-what do you mean my ‘finally’?” I asked, realizing that my throat was very dry.
“Sunny, you’ve been out for a couple of weeks,” Mom informed me, causing my jaw to drop. I tried to search my memories to try and figure out what happened, but the last thing I remember was walking into town hall, then….nothing.
“W-what happened?” I asked.
“Well….”
Trottingham
Several Weeks Ago...
“Spirituale disco!” Sunny’s voice rang out through the building, causing everypony to look towards the filly in question. What I saw shocked me to no end. Sunny seemed to be floating without the use of her wings, her mane and tail glowed a bright silver, flowing on an invisible breeze, and her eyes glowed a pure white. The air around us was filled with energy that started to move towards Sunny. As I looked at her, I noticed that her entire body started to glow silver, starting off faint before growing in intensity. With a flick of her horn at the glow’s peak, a wall of energy exploded away from her, disintegrating the cultists while leaving everypony else without a scratch. Sunny slowly floated to the ground before falling unconscious, causing every guard in the room, including Lieutenant Golden Sword and Sergeant Quick Shot, to scramble to her daughter’s position.
Present Time
“...Also, that’s not the only thing that happened,” Mom stated, pointing towards my flank with a hoof. I turned my head towards it and gasped in surprise before my muzzle split into a huge smile.
Right there on my flank was a silver sword and shield, the shield had a yellow star encrusted into it. I honestly couldn’t be happier at that moment, even though I didn’t know what it meant.
When I woke up earlier, I was somewhat disappointed to find out that Mom wasn’t there when I woke up. However, I know for a fact that Mom still has Royal Duties that she has to do, something she possibly held off for a while. I was torn from my thoughts when I heard a knock on the door to my hospital room.
“Come in,” I called out, prompting the visitor to enter the room.
“Your Highness,” I heard Golden and Quick say.
“Hello Golden, Quick. What brings you here?” I asked. When I asked, I saw Golden glance around the room before speaking.
“~I’m seeing if you are truly a Spirit Alicorn~,” I heard him say.
“~Spirit Alicorn~?” I asked, unaware that I slipped into another language.
“~Yes, and it seems that I’m correct~,” he told me, prompting a confused look from me, “~Don’t you realize that you’re speaking a different language right now~?” He asked me with a smirk, causing my eyes to widen in surprise.
“Quid tu-,” I started to ask before mentally stopping myself, “What do you mean?”
“There are four types of ‘Spirit’ ponies,” Quick explained, trying to hold back his laughter at the display, “Spirit Pegasi,” he pointed at himself, “Spirit Unicorns,” he pointed at Golden, “Spirit Alicorns,” he pointed at me, “And Spirit Earth Ponies.”
“...And this...language?” I asked, excited about learning more about my past.
“Latin, the language of spirits, in spiritually embedded in your mind, making it impossible to forget,” Quick explained to me.
“Also,” Golden took over, “Even if you were to be reincarnated, it would still be there, waiting for you to use it,” I nodded, showing that I’m following along so far. “And now that we know that you’re a spirituale alicorn, we can start to teach you how to use your spirit magic.”
“Something that I’ll be doing,” Quick told me, “Seeing that you are a Proelium magus.” Battle Mage.
“That’ll likely be the case,” Golden admitted, “But it doesn’t explain how somepony as young and untrained as her managed a tier five spell without borrowing mana from Espiritu, something that, if anypony else did, would have drained their mana pool to the point of death.”
“Espiritu?” I parroted, tilting my head a bit.
“Goddess of Spirit,” Golden explained simply. When he said that, I felt a bit of pain shoot through my body; it was very weak, however, so I ignored it.
“So,” I started, “I heard Quick yell out something, what was that about?”
“A tier two spell,” Quick explained, “The only reason I had to say the incantation is because I didn’t have much practice using that particular spell.” I sent a questioning look towards him, causing him to facehoof, “That’s right, you’re new to this. Anyways, a spell a ~Battle Mage~ can use is categorized into five tiers, Tier one, the lowest, only requires you to understand the basic concept of the spell to cast it while Tier five requires that you to say the incantation,” he explained, “~Seeking Arrow~, the tier two spell you saw me use, basically infuses the arrows that I summon with a protosoul, allowing them to seek out their targets on their own.”
“How about the one I used?” I questioned, “~Spiritual Charger~?”
“That,” Golden started, “Is an example of a Tier five spell. Though how you managed to cast it without borrowing mana from Espiritu, I’ll never know.” He released a sigh, “The only pony I knew who could do that was…” he trailed off, his eyes going wide in realization.
“Golden?” Quick Shot asked hesitantly.
“That would explain a few things,” I heard Golden mutter to himself, “Quick, I think I know why she could do that.” This caused me and Quick Shot to raise an eyebrow in confusion, “Sunny is a Gloria Domine.” Spiritual Master. This caused Quick's eyes to widen in surprise while I just swiveled my head between the two in confusion.
“A what?” I asked, confused, and somewhat annoyed about being left out of the loop.
“A ~Spiritual Master~,” Golden started, “Usually, a spiritual pony can only master one type of spirit magic. However, a ~Spiritual Master~ can master all three of them: Lamina Praesule,” Blade Dancer, “~Battle Mage~, and Elementum Moderatoris,” Elemental Bender. “The thing about Spirituale Domini,”Spiritual Masters, “Is that they are very powerful, so powerful that they can cast any Tier four spell without any training.”
“But,” Quick interrupted, “That doesn’t explain how Sunny managed to cast a bucking Tier five spell without training!”
“Quick, Language!” Golden scolded, “Remember, Sunny’s still a foal!”
“Bucking?” I parroted as I tilted my head a bit, an innocent smile plastered on my face as I smelled shenanigans incoming, “What does that mean?”
“Something you shouldn’t be saying,” Golden responded, causing me to pout a bit.
“You aren’t teaching my daughter any bad habits, are you?” Mom’s voice said from behind them, causing them to stiffen up, eyes wide in surprise.
“N-no, Your Highness,” Golden managed, swallowing “H-how long have you been there?”
“While you were telling Sunny what a...Gloria Domine…right?” she asked, getting a nod from Golden, “While you were telling Sunny what a Gloria Domine is. Do you mind if you enlighten me?” she asked, causing Golden and Quick to slump in defeat.
“I was really hoping we didn’t have to reveal any more information than we already did during the Summer Sun Celebration a few weeks ago,” Golden sighed, “But I knew the consequences of revealing ourselves like we did.” Over the next ten minutes, Golden and Quick explained what they explained to me, including the fact that the three of us are Spirit Ponies (with myself just having found out this information myself). They then went on to explain what a Spiritual Master is. Once they were done, Mom looked at them with a gaze that I had trouble decoding.
“And I can trust that the two of you will teach her how to control this...magic?” Mom asked the two bullet sweating guards.
“Y-yes, Your Highness,” Quick managed to say. Suddenly, all the tension that was in the room just vanished into thin air as Mom’s face suddenly sported a gentle smile.
“Then I’ll leave you to do that once Sunny recovers,” she informed them, her normal motherly tone of voice returning, “Until then, I just want the two of you to relax. After your bravery at the Summer Sun Celebration, even with unfavorable odds against you, you’ve earned the right to recover and relax.”
“B-but Your Majesty!” Golden tried to argue, causing Mom to lose her smile.
“Don’t make me order you, lieutenant,” Mom said in an authoritative tone, causing Golden to sigh in defeat.
“Understood, Your Majesty.” The two spiritual ponies bowed to her before leaving the room, leaving just me and Mom there. Mom sighed before she turned to me, her smile having reappeared on her muzzle.
“Sorry about making them leave, but ever since you were admitted into the hospital, they would absolutely refuse to leave your side whenever I wasn’t in the room,” she informed me, “In fact, I’m pretty sure the most sleep they had was no more than sixteen hours overall. Even then, they wouldn’t leave this room unless they had to.” When she said this, my jaw dropped, the only other pony who went this far to make sure that I was okay was Mom herself, and even then, she wouldn’t make herself lose sleep just to make sure that I’m ok. I was torn out of my stupor when I released a yawn, my eyes starting to grow heavy as I tried to keep them open.
“You should get some rest,” she told me as I fought to stay awake, “After all, based on what Second Lieutenant Golden Sword and Sergeant Major Quick Shot told me, your magic is tied to your life force. While it allows for an increased mana pool, you can unintentionally kill yourself if you drain it fully.” As she said that, my eyes grew to an impossible level as I quickly woke up.
“Y-y-you mean...t-that I could’ve…” I tried to say before Mom gave me a solemn nod, causing all the blood to drain from my face.
“According to the doctors, you’ve drained your mana pool completely. Also, your body rejected almost every attempt to do a transfusion,” she informed me, “In fact, the only ponies whose mana your body wouldn’t reject was Golden’s and Quick’s.”
“A-and….why was this the case?” I asked, fearful at what could’ve happened if Golden and Quick weren’t there.
“I honestly don’t know,” she admitted, “Neither does Lieutenant Golden nor Sergeant Quick, but they allowed us to take some samples of their mana to try and figure out why that was the case.” Once again, a yawn forced it’s way out of my mouth as I, once again, tried to keep myself awake. Mom, having seen that I kept resisting every attempt to sleep, opened her mouth and started to sing while gently rubbing my back with a hoof. While the action was simple, it was quite effective in coaxing me into a deep slumber.
“-sults are in,” I heard a voice say as I started to return to the waking world, “It appears that their bodies are adapted to use a different form of mana, one that is much more powerful than the mana we’re accustomed to. Your daughter’s alones seems to exceed the power of yours by at least ten times.”
“Thank you, Nurse Feel Good,” I heard Mom’s say in surprise, but nowhere near as surprised as I am, “This information will be helpful in case another incident like this one arises.”
“In case another what arises?” I asked while opening my eyes, causing the two mares to jump before they whirled around to face me.
“Sunny,” Mom started, “How long have you been awake for?”
“Not long,” I yawned as I rubbed my eyes with my hooves a bit, “Though I did hear what the results of the tests were.” I turned my head towards the nurse, “Now, what is this about me being more powerful than Mom?”
Ten Days Later…
As I was resting (I wanted to leave yesterday, but my doctor forbade me from doing so due to the fear that I may over extend my Mana Pool as it’s still refilling (And at the same time, isn’t)), I heard a loud boom, causing me to swivel my head towards the open window where I saw a ring of colors expanding outwards from what I assumed was Cloudsdale. Not even a moment later, I felt a wall of energy pass through me, disorienting me and, somehow, completely refilling my Mana Pool. After I managed to rid myself of the disorientation, darkness quickly overtook me as the floor rapidly approached me.
“Mom, what are those?” I asked as we walked past three glowing items: a cloak; a necklace (freakily similar to the one Mom (my adoptive mother, that is) gave me); and a black sword. Each one seemed to glow a different color.
“They are very powerful artifacts that, when wielded by a single pony, can quite possible change the very world around us.” Mom explained.
“Possibly?!” I asked ludicrously.
“Nopony knows for sure,” she admitted, “The Artifacts have never accepted a single bearer before. But even so, I honestly hope nopony manages to be the bearer of all three.”
“W-what makes them so powerful?” I asked fearfully as what I was looking at finally bore down on me.
“Each artifact each holds a different component that, when combined together, could theoretically change the very world around us,” she explained before pointing towards the cloak, which was glowing green, “The Cloak of Courage compels the one who bears it to bravely overcome their obstacles, even if said obstacle is their greatest fear, ” she pointed towards the necklace, which was glowing blue, “The Pendant of Wisdom infuses the bearer with unparalleled foresight,” she finally pointed at the sword, which was glowing red, “The Blade of Power, or more commonly know as, Spirit’s Bane, a weapon powerful enough to destroy even a god.”
“And what’s stopping anypony from just taking them?!” I nearly screamed.
“From what we can tell, you have to prove yourself worthy to use the power within,” Mom explained, “Otherwise, the respective artifact is completely useless.”
“She….wo….p…!” I heard a mare’s voice yell in a panic as I started to regain consciousness. I tried to do something, anything, to show them that I’m awake, but my body wouldn’t respond at all.
“Her mana….going critical!” I managed to make out who I presumed is a doctor that time.
“Don’t worry,” I heard Golden attempt to calm down the occupants of the room, “Her body is just reacting to her Mana Pool suddenly filling beyond its normal capacity in a fraction of a second. She should wake up in a few minutes.” True to his word, I was slowly, but surely, regaining control of my limbs as my body started to adapt to the excess mana that flowed through my body.
“W-what happened,” I asked in a raspy voice as my eyesight starting to regain focus.
“The doctors heard a deafening boom come from this direction,” I heard Quick say from somewhere in front of me, “Not long after, they felt a wave of energy pass through them, causing them to scramble towards your room, fearing the worst. When they arrived, they found you unconscious on the floor.”
“B-before we continue, c-could somepony give me a cup of w-water?” I managed, my throat getting drier every second. A few moments later, one of the doctors lifted a cup of water, tilting it up a bit so it would flow into my mouth.
“Thank you,” I said once I finished. I took a look around the room and noticed a few new faces standing next to Mom: a lavender unicorn filly with a dark purple mane and tail with violet and pink streaks running down one side; a light grey unicorn mare with a purple and light grey mane and tail; and a greyish azure unicorn stallion with a dark blue mane and tail. I noticed that the four of them had worried expressions on their faces. I also noticed Mom trying to resist her motherly urges to see if I’m okay herself. Just as I’m about to greet the newcomers, a sharp pain blasted through my head, causing me to cry out in pain.
“Sunny!” I heard Mom yell out in alarm.
“Your Highness!” another voice that I cannot identify yelled out as well.
“I-I think I’m just going to rest for a few more hours,” I decided once the pain subsided, holding a hoof to my head.
“That...may be a good idea,” I heard Golden comment.
Later That Night…
“Gladium!”
“Apricus!”
I shot up in my bed, my heart beating a million miles a minute, as I tried to process what I just remembered. The two voices seemed familiar, and one of the voices is definitely me, as one of them said my original name: Apricus. However, the other seemed to be just out of reach, like something is preventing me from remembering. Before I could even try and translate the other name, the memory faded, causing me to slam my hoof against my hospital bed in frustration.
“Why?” I asked myself, “Why can’t I remember?”
“Sunny?” the familiar voice of Mom said somewhere off to my left, “Are you ok?” After a moment’s hesitation, I answered.
“Honesty, no,” I admitted, “It’s just that...the memories I get back fades just as quickly as they arrive. And the ones that do stay doesn’t really help me remember what happened,” I told her in a dejected tone of voice. Due to the silence that followed and darkness of the room, I was unprepared for the sudden embrace as Mom wrapped her wings and forelegs around my body before she nuzzled the top of my head.
“It’s okay,” she tried to reassure me, “Your memories will come in time. For now, just rest.” I gave her an acknowledging nod as I tried to bury my head as deep into her coat as I could.
She’s right, I thought to myself, My memories will return in time, I just need to Rest and Recover my strength for my upcoming training.
