Chapter One: The Hippogriff
What legends do you know from Ancient Equestria?
Do you know The Divided Orchard? The cautionary fable of a house once thought whole and hearty, found to be born of a dividing feud. To one side a family of orange pickers, to the other cultivators of limes. In spite of their heated disdain for one another's line, young love blossomed between the divide; one that would one day wither one branch when its patriarch refused to bend.
How about The Green Flame That Dances On Stone? The myth where pony efforts failed to prevent an incoming storm of hail and darkness from engulfing a small village, and a lone dragon lends pity upon them and releases a gout of brilliant emerald flames that banish the threat. The ponies praise the dragon a hero, though it is far too modest in its ways to remain as their champion; instead granting the ponies of that realm a fraction of its flame, shielding their forms in hardened stone should the storm ever return.
The Relentless Eyes, A Kingdom for a Pear, The Mare and the Golem, Toll of the Bell… There is a chance you have heard of one of them—all of them. Mother mares often use these larger than life tales to lull their restless fillies to sleep and stallions use to warn their colts of the world at large; of course with a mystical, fantastical twist.
However, what is a myth? A fable, a legend, a tale? What is a story of the past? Is it mere fantasy? Surely so, of course. If there were dragons that could blow flames of emerald, Zephyr Heights would have known. And hounds made of bark with amber lit eyes dwelling in the shadows of trees couldn't be something Birdlewood would ignore. They are brilliant stories built upon the legends of a bygone era, but that is all they really are: legends—fiction.
That was until myth was given life that day in the ruins of the lighthouse. The myth of coexistence—of crystals that brought magic—became real in the display of a rainbow exploding out from the heavens. The impossible made real and myth made possible. All at once green flames turning ponies to living stone became real. But in the same instant, so did dragons and storms that could level entire towns.
Fear often follows realization as much as hope does. Fear from those who bore witness, and those that had only heard 'the legend'.
The amount of times Sunny could recall Maretime Bay bustling with construction projects was far too many times than she'd even care to. It would always be another Canterlogic monument to fear and nonsense, or an addition to the railway. The railway additions weren't bad though, admittedly. Maretime Bay wasn't massive—especially compared to Zephyr Heights—but who didn't like a railway? Especially when you skitch a ride off them while on delivery runs.
Though for once she couldn't have a single complaint as the project centered around rebuilding the lighthouse. "It's for historical significance" Phyllis Cloverleaf said at the council meeting. "It stands as a testament to hope" the foreman insisted at the groundbreaking ceremony.
"I'm pretty sure they just feel guilty," said Hitch as he joined Sunny in looking off the pier at the construction in the distance.
"You know, I thought that might be it?" Sunny chuckled back.
The project was well on its way even after only a week's time. From the lobbying stage, to the suggestion stage, to the actual execution, it was evident that the ponies of Maretime Bay were all too eager to get this project underway. Despite the scaffolding and temporary walls stacked against its form, Sunny could still see the make of her childhood home blooming beneath it all once more; from rubble to high-rise again.
"Now if only someone can pay for all the lost memories. Or at least the books," Sunny half joked, but there were a lot of 'relics' (by her father's say) that were a little more than scuffed in the collapse.
"Call it a hunch, but I feel like Phyllis might just be willing to cut a check."
"I can't imagine why..." Sunny rolled her eyes with a playful smile. Phyllis would love to sweep this whole ordeal under the rug, save a little face for herself and her son. Though, Sunny wasn't holding too much of a grudge over it; the whole event did ultimately bring the pony races together again...
"Who could say. Maybe it's because she's afraid you'll fry her brain now," Hitch put on a faux-scary voice as he pointed to the iridescent horn atop his friend's head.
Sunny's eyes focused in on her own horn, partly going cross-eyed in the process. Sometimes it was hard to ignore; just a new fixture jutting into her vision out of the blue—even if it was partly transparent. "Oh-ho! Maybe that's it. Or maybe she thinks I'll swoop down and steal all her bits," Sunny briefly fluttered off the ground with a few beats of her equally shimmering wings before settling back down with a laugh.
It was ridiculous to think they were ever afraid of such things. Pipp Petals could barely lift a hoof, much less another pony. And Izzy Moonbow would likely get lost in her own head trying to read someone else's mind. Pegasi and unicorns were harmless, even if they did have a few extra features compared to an Earth pony. Still, it was a bit jarring to see those 'features' in one place—especially on an Earth pony; if she could still be considered one.
"...How does it feel?" Hitch asked.
I'm fine. It's tingly. Hard to sleep at night. In the quiet moments between them after the others left to put their own houses in order, Hitch would ask the same question and Sunny would work out a new answer. "You know... I feel good," she sighed, "I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to do with it, but... I don't feel wrong. Does that make sense?"
"Maybe you're not supposed to do anything. Maybe it's just a reward for a job well done," Hitch could only shrug; he was just a local sheriff paid to know where it was and wasn't okay to loiter, nothing about magic altering how a pony looked.
"Wouldn't that be something?" But I just can't shake it, "Either way, I'm not complaining... Except at light's out when these lights won't go out." Sunny tapped at the protrusion on her head while giving a ruffle to her wings.
Looking back over the bustle of Maretime Bay itself, it was refreshing to see Earth ponies walking about with unicorns. Occasionally Hitch would see a pegasi gliding by over the city streets; still unsure if they had to abide by street rules up there. Still, it was a sight of dreams for many given reality. Well, something of nightmares for most until nasty misconceptions were dispelled for the most part. On more than one occasion Hitch had to be called over to defuse a growing altercation between one race or the other over some misunderstanding. Levitating something purchases rather than carrying it with their hooves, flying on top of the trolley instead of boarding it like normal, serving mayonnaise without consent. Ups and down...
But well worth it.
While Hitch continued to worry over the peace and effort of maintaining it, Sunny would always get lost in moment like this: just pony watching. Earth ponies were already a technicolored spread of shapes, shades, and styles; but with the unicorns and pegasi added to the mix there was so much more to see. It was everything she had wanted as a child—everything her father promised. But even those old filly stories her father told her couldn't prepare her for just how diverse a spread of ponies it would all be. Even now as she looked over the passing mares and stallions, she still saw new styles of mane and unique cutie marks.
Some even looked like far departures of other ponies. Like Alphabittle with his imposing stature and build. Or like that pegasi across the way. Unlike most pegasi, his coat seemed almost fluffed at every end, and it gave off a glossy sheen unlike any pony Sunny had ever seen. Even his hooves seemed to be alternately shaped even at this distance, looking more akin to claws at his front hooves... In fact, as Sunny tilted her head in observation, she noted that his muzzle came to a dramatic, smooth sided point like a beak. To that point, she noticed his mane looked more like...
"Feathers?" Sunny murmured before absently wandering over to the odd looking pegasi.
Her father taught her never to judge, obviously. In fact, it was probably one of the main lessons he had for her. Though she was an inquisitive mind, and something just seemed off in this moment. While Sunny started to wander off, Hitch followed her gaze and took note of the stallion as well. At once his calm demeanor drained and he moved to trot in hoof beside Sunny with his own uncertainty at the sight.
The closer they drew to the pegasi, the more apparent it became that he was not a pegasi at all. Off-navy plumage, feathered mane, and a curved beak; he looked more like a bird than any pony if not for the four legs firmly planted on the sidewalk. But even then, while two legs ended in hooves, the other two clearly ended in prehensile claws—talons. Before either could say a word to the creature, his wide yellow eyes settled upon them... And his beak yanked up into a joyful smile.
"Oh-hey! Nice to meet you!" Hitch nearly jumped when they lifted a talon up to greet them.
Sunny on the other hand moved to meet her own hoof into the extended talon with a beat of trepidation. The talons folded over her hoof like something she had never seen, and he shook it with a brilliant smile. It was surreal... Pegasi, unicorns, even alicorns were things she had expected to see. But of all the stories her father told her about—of all the myths out there about the great scope of Equestria, she had never expected to find this...
"A-A hippogriff...!" Sunny nearly coughed up a lung as she lost her breathe.
"Oh-hey! You know what a hippogriff is? Now isn't that fancy?" The hippogriff snorted as he let Sunny's hoof go, though she kept it suspended there in disbelief for a moment.
"A hippogriff? Can't say I've had the pleasure of knowing about those," Hitch raised a brow at the news, though he did his best to sound not so suspicious if only for Sunny's sake.
"I-I had books about them. You know, not as much as the other ponies, but," Sunny started to spiral, confused bewilderment across her face, "They were avian-based creatures that-that could shift between land, sea, and sky with the use of this pearl—" her eyes shot to the hippogriff, looking for the distinct accessory and finding it draped around his neck: a pink shard of some description, "—Which he's wearing right now! It is a hippogriff!"
Both the hippogriff and Hitch were left to stand to the side as Sunny pranced in place, wings buffeting against her sides in utter glee. Another myth is actually true! And no logbook here to run down my questions. Sunny nearly bucked her own flank over forgetting to bring her questionnaire; she should've known she'd meet a long lost species today wandering down the street in the middle of the afternoon. A common mistake.
"So they're like... pegasi? Only... feather-y-er?" Hitch glanced between the two trying to wrap his head around it. If Sunny wasn't on edge or anything, then there wasn't likely to be an issue at least.
"Wooo, now that's a way to put it. I like it," the hippogriff spoke up, "Excuse my manners. Here I am just wandering your city and I must just look like a sight."
"No-no-no! I'm sorry for staring! That's so rude of me," Sunny was quick to put her hoof at the hippogriff's side in a bid to assure him, "I mean, we just started putting aside our fears about one another in our own ponykind, and here I am making you feel like the odd one out." Maybe this is why I have this horn and these wings, to be the girl talking to these kinds of creatures... Creatures probably isn't the word, is it? "I'm Sunny Starscout. And this strapping stallion is..."
"Oh! Uh. Hitch..." taking the prompt Hitch introduced himself.
"Hitch and Sunny Starscout. Well it's just so great to meet you. I'm Hollowgust," the hippogriff—Hollowgust—introduced in kind with a flourish, bowing low and letting the tips of his wing feathers plume out.
"It's an honor to meet you, Hollowgust. I don't think I have to tell you we haven't seen a hippogriff in.. any of our lifetimes," Sunny had to admit, "We kinda thought you were... not real."
"I thought they weren't real. And I didn't even know that I didn't know they weren't real," Hitch explained.
As the legends went, there was once a kingdom cleaved between two realms: half submerged within the sea's abyss and half that scraped the heavens. A mighty tribe of creatures called "hippogriffs" called both these realms home—blessed so with the ability to shift from sea dwelling creatures and sky faring ones. Their realm rested far beyond where any pony could hope to travel by hoof or by wing; leaving it always to pony imagination just what splendors existed in a world that partook of the world's deepest and highest grandeurs.
A laugh that for one moment to the next dipped into a vague caw left Hollowgust at both ponies' assertions. "Not surprising, not surprising. Truth be told, we haven't been exactly doing our part to keep you all in the know over the generations. Well that's actually why I'm here. Well kinda-sorta," Hollowgust gestured his talons up as if they were scales measuring just how truthful what he was saying was.
Sunny nearly lost her every breath at the sudden idea. First the reawakening of magic, then the rejoining of the three tribes, and now a reconnection with a lost race. It was well beyond the pale. It was the pale, the barn, and half to orchard. And while her heart went aflutter, Hitch's expression grew more dubious at the serendipity of it all. Too perfect and too ideal.
"Hollowgust, why are you here exactly?" Hitch asked with a slight hint of caution.
Before Sunny could swat the back of his head for being so suspect of their guest, Hollowgust spoke with his cheerful tone, which seemed all the more eerie with each word: "Yes. I am here to tell you the hippogriffs are going to invade you," unicorns and earth ponies laughed and chatted amongst themselves down the city streets as natural as could be while the everything of Hitch and Sunny's world slowed to a crawl—every ambient sound mum, "You're more than welcome to offer any resistance you want, but I believe we both know nothing you have will stop a massive armored force. The ponies have spent generations without their magic while we haven't gone a day without it. Your house is pretty much splintered, and your magic still in its infancy."
The ringing in Sunny's ears nearly caused her to topple over on her stiffened legs. Though as she caught in the corner of her eye Hitch ready to step in on Hollowgust, a fury in his eyes, she regained herself and simmered a hoof at his side. "W...Why would you...?" Was all she could manage out between dry lips.
"Oh-hey! It's nothing personal, I promise!" That chipper tone seemed almost insulting now, "It's just—well—we were planning on invading in another generation, maybe two. But then we saw a flash of rainbow light spread over Equestria, and we started getting reports of magic. So... her highness concluded that if we don't invade now, you all might just get a handle on your magic again. Which'd make a war pretty much too close to call."
Hitch was quick on his hooves as he moved to support Sunny at her side as she nearly collapsed in on herself. This was a nightmare. It just had to be. The stallion shook off his own nerves and welling feelings as he addressed the envoy with an even gaze. There was a lot he wanted to say; for his new friends, for himself. But given his station and position, there was just one thing he could bring himself to ask: "When?"
"Tomorrow at noon."