Fighting For A Friend
Only now, in hindsight, was it obvious to Sunny Starscout that she had missed some very troubling signs. Signs that would've told her that one of her friends was not alright, that he was frightened and terrified, vulnerable to being led astray.
How the earth pony wished she could turn back the clock. Armed with the knowledge of what was to come, she would make things right! She would pull that friend of hers aside before he could run away and have a much needed talk with him. Then, maybe she and the rest of her friends wouldn't be facing down this terrifying creature of shadows that had found a willing host inside another: Sprout Cloverleaf.
"Sprout!" Sunny shouted as she looked up at the black, monster sized horse like creature that had materialized before her. She didn't bother looking back to her other friends, she knew they were just as terrified as she was even if they were all trying their best to look brave. "I know you're in there, somewhere! Please, it's not too late! We can help you! I can help you!"
But the shadow pony only roared at the top of its lungs as it bitterly rapped. "Sprout doesn't need your help! Sprout has me, the darkness. Unlike you, I will not abandon him. Together, we will take back what is rightfully ours, even if it means destroying the likes of you!"
"I don't understand!" Hitch shouted, hoping to be overheard. "Why would Sprout ever listen to a monster like you?! Whatever his problems with us were, it didn't have to come to this. Everything was fine the way it was."
The monster just laughed. "That's what you all thought. And only now do you see how wrong you were. Your actions have given me a new lease on life. All of Equestria shall be bathed in eternal darkness, the pony tribes will know fear once again! And there is nothing any of you can do to stop it!" It promptly unfolded its massive, ink black wings and a massive tempest was stirred up!
Even Pipp and Zipp struggled against the mighty gust of wind, to say nothing of the challenge Izzy, Hitch and Sunny faced in trying to stay standing.
"What do we do now?!" Izzy asked as the five ponies gazed at the monster.
As if in response to that question, Sunny suddenly began to glow! In the blink of an eye and without warning, she transformed into an alicorn! The golden horn and golden wings materialized in all their translucent, see-through glory. And they cast a glow that made the monster made of shadow scream in pain! Right away, Sunny knew what she had to do! "I have to save Sprout! He's inside that monster somewhere, I just know it!"
But before the alicorn could get close, the monster stepped forward and fired off a dark blob from the tip of its massive horn! "You will not get to Sprout! I will protect him from you! The darkness is here to stay!"
Sunny just narrowly dodged the blast as it hit the ground, sending powerful shockwaves in all directions! Then, horn charged and at the ready, she plunged head first into the chest of the monster! And as she fought her way through the inky darkness to reach this massive pony's interior, visions suddenly came flooding into her mind! She could see everything! She could see how this had all come to pass.
It had been only a few days since the three crystals had been brought together again for the first time since... who knew when? Already, a lot was changing. Pegasi and unicorns were coming to Maretime Bay in droves, and quite a few earth ponies had made pilgrimages to Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood.
Things couldn't have been better for Sunny. She wished more than anything that her dad could be here to see this, it was the beginning of a second golden age for Equestria!
Granted, Sunny's status as an alicorn was very short-lived. Within a day she had reverted back to being an earth pony, unaware at the time that her wings and horn would flare up again from time to time unannounced. But those thoughts were soon pushed to the back of her mind when the crystals bestowed a gift upon her: A massive, brightly colored and lavishly decorated lighthouse. Its tower serving as a resting place for the crystals, which seemed to draw in a rainbow from the sky!
"Would you look at that?!" Pipp exclaimed as she used her phone to snap a picture of the new building. "That's the biggest lighthouse I've ever seen! It's beautiful!"
"It's not a lighthouse," Izzy declared as she came trotting up on the scene. "It's a brighthouse!"
Sunny smiled as she looked to her unicorn friend. "'Brighthouse' huh? I think I like that name," And then she commented. "I was gonna see about staying with Hitch until my house could be repaired, but I guess there's no need now. I guess something could come even from Sprout's brief stint as emperor." That prompted her to giggle, a giggle shared by Pipp, Izzy and even Zipp (who had flown over to see the brighthouse as soon as it had caught her eye).
When the laughter died down, Zipp was the first one in the group to ask. "Speaking of Sprout, where is he? I haven't seen him since you put the crystals back together, Sunny."
"You know, that's actually a good question," Sunny spoke up as she suddenly realized something that she hadn't thought of before, or rather someone. "I'll bet Hitch will know. He did say he was gonna 'take care of' Sprout." And she trotted off to find Hitch.
The first location Sunny thought to check for her childhood friend was at his job: The Maretime Bay Sheriff's Office. And sure enough, when she walked unannounced through the doors she found Hitch there.
Hitch was just finishing putting up some kind of poster, carefully nailing it into position. Then he stepped back to admire his handiwork.
"Putting up another one of your calendars, sheriff?" Sunny playfully teased her fellow earth pony as she trotted forward.
The stallion spun around as he found himself snout to snout with Sunny. He'd kind of been hoping to run into her rather than have her come to him, especially considering what he'd just been doing. "Oh, Sunny. I heard about that new lighthouse. I would've come by to see it for myself but..." His lips seemed to contort themselves into a frown. "Well, I think it's best if you see it for yourself."
It was clear from the way Hitch was speaking that he had some bad news he was about to deliver, and judging from the lack of Sprout where he'd usually been Sunny had a pretty good feeling what the bad news was. Still, she tried to stay optimistic as she hesitantly replied. "You don't mean..."
But as soon as her sea green eyes saw the poster Hitch had just hung up, Sunny Starscout felt her heart sink. It was a wanted poster, one that clearly depicted Sprout in the center of it. There was no mistaking that red coat and that blonde, almost straw-like mane and tail. "Hitch, Sprout didn't really do anything that bad," She tried to insist. "I know he destroyed my old house, but nopony actually got hurt."
Hitch sighed as he brought a hoof to Sunny's neck and pulled her close. "That's the thing though, somepony could've. And just because they didn't doesn't mean Sprout is off the hook. He has to pay for what he's done, nopony is above the law! This isn't like all the times I overlooked your trespassing into Canterlogic. If I don't bring Sprout to justice for the crimes he committed as emperor, somepony else will."
"You really think Queen Haven or Alphabittle would go after him?" Sunny gulped.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't really be able to stop them if they did. Unlike them, I don't have magic," The sheriff reluctantly admitted. "Like it or not, Sprout must be brought to justice!"
As Sunny eyed the wanted poster, she hesitantly questioned. "Have you told him about this yet? About... you know?"
Hitch sighed again. "Not yet I haven't. But as soon as he reports in to work today, I will. With a little luck, I'll have him locked up in a cell, and then we can discuss what to do with him. Community service isn't going to cut it. Not this time," And then he added. "I was just about to put up the rest of the posters all over town. Why don't you help me out? Maybe if we're lucky, we'll run into Sprout."
Unbeknownst to either Sunny or Hitch, their mutual childhood friend had in fact learned of the wanted poster. He'd had the bad luck of finding one on the ground while Hitch had been busy carrying a stack of them towards the sheriff's office.
At first, the red coated stallion had thought it was just a mistake or even a joke. "There's no way Hitch would actually try to arrest me," He thought to himself. "Friends don't do that to friends. Besides, I'm his deputy. He can't arrest me, even if he is my superior."
But then Sprout had seen Sunny swing by the sheriff's office to talk to Hitch. Hoping to use her to find out just what Hitch was really up to, he had followed her from afar and had taken the liberty of spying on her conversation with Hitch via an open window. He heard everything, and now he couldn't deny it: Hitch did indeed intend to arrest him.
Horrified, Sprout did the only thing he could think to do in his situation! He ran! He had no particular destination in mind, but he knew he couldn't stay in Maretime Bay! Even his mommy wouldn't be able to protect him against the law, and he wasn't about to risk her getting into trouble because of him. She was in enough trouble as it was thanks to his brief bout as emperor (after all, it had been her idea for Sprout to take charge in Hitch's absence).
So the stallion kept on running, and running, and running some more! He had to get away, away from the clutches of his so-called friends who were now prepared to arrest him! Sure, they could claim it was for his own good. But the earth pony was no fool, he knew why they were really doing what they were doing. Since the crystals had been brought together, neither Hitch or Sunny had spoken a word to him. They were far too busy hanging out with their new friends, that unicorn and those pegasi. Sprout neither knew or cared about their names, all he knew was that they were friends with Hitch and Sunny now.
And it was those friends who had ruined everything. If they'd never shown up in Maretime Bay with their crystals, everything would've been just fine. But now, thanks to them, he had nothing.
Suddenly, in the midst of his thoughts, Sprout lost his footing and tumbled down what seemed to him like some kind of well! Yet when he reached the bottom of it, he was unharmed. Looking up, he saw himself in an unfamiliar location. Ancient columns perfectly lined up in two rows stretched on for as far as the eye could see. Beneath his hooves were stone tiles. And everything was a shade of gloomy gray and inky black.
"Where am I?" Sprout wondered aloud as his eyes took in the sights. There didn't seem to be anypony around at all, and neither was there a sound to be heard.
Suddenly, the silence was broken as a voice spoke up in what sounded like a sympathetic tone. "You are alone?"
"Y-yes, I am," Sprout answered the voice. "Who... are you?"
"Just a friend that wants to help," The voice ominously replied even as it kept up that sympathetic tone. "Tell me, friend. Why have you come here?"
At that the stallion whimpered and shut his eyes, remembering what had driven him from the comfort and security of the only home he had known. "Because... I'm wanted. Everypony hates me now. They think I'm some kind of criminal who should be locked up. And all because I got carried away and destroyed a building. I said I was sorry."
The voice just replied by saying. "But it wasn't enough, was it?"
"No," Sprout hissed as he grit his teeth and his eyebrows became slanted. "Even the ponies I thought I could call my friends don't think it's good enough. They want to punish me, throw me in a cell while they say it's for my own good! And all because they made friends with unicorns and pegasi! They forgot all about me!"
"Oh dear," The voice declared in a sympathetic tone. "You poor pony. You've been betrayed by those so called friends of yours. No wonder you're all alone," Then it added. "Well, not anymore. Now you have me. I'll be your friend. And unlike those other 'friends' of yours, I will never betray you or abandon you."
"You... really mean it?" Sprout asked in a hopeful tone of voice.
"Yes," The voice spoke up in an eager tone of voice, its owner finally revealing itself in the form of a wispy, ink-like blob. "I have waited a long time for somepony like you to come along. Somepony who will be my friend. I ask only one thing in return: Will you give yourself willingly to me, to the darkness?"
Without hesitation and suspecting nothing, Sprout firmly nodded his head in agreement. "I will." Mere seconds after he spoke, he saw the blob approach and surround him!
"Splendid!" The voice cackled with glee! "At very long last, The Pony of Shadows is reborn!"
Just like that, Sprout was brought back to Maretime Bay. And much to the surprise of Hitch and Sunny, he appeared before them even though he hadn't been there a moment prior. But something about him didn't seem right. Something about him felt... off for lack of a better term.
"Oh, there you are, Sprout," Sunny innocently greeted, unaware of what was lurking in the stallion's heart. "Hitch and I were just looking for you, actually. There's something we need to discuss, friend to friend."
But Sprout only narrowed his eyes as he trotted forward, snatching up the wanted posters and holding one out before his fellow earth ponies. "You don't need to play dumb with me, friends," He delivered that last line with a cold hiss, and his voice seemed to take on an echo. "I know what you really want to do with me."
Hitch gulped and swallowed hard. "You... do?"
Sprout nodded as he clutched the wanted poster in his hooves and crumpled it! "You don't like me anymore! You've forgotten all about me, and now you wanna throw me in a cell and throw me under the trolley! You think I'm just a public menace, an embarrassment! You have new friends now, so you couldn't care less what happens to me!"
Sunny stepped back a bit out of nervousness. "T-that's not true, Sprout!" She protested even though her tone of voice betrayed the intended confidence she'd hoped to convey. "We've been friends for years. You, Hitch and I, we go way back. Don't you remember?"
"Oh yes, I remember," Sprout coldly declared as he gave a firm nod, the echo growing louder by the second. "Even when we were foals, you two were always talking bad about me behind my back," He pointed a hoof to Sunny. "Admit it, you and your father thought I was just as silly as my mommy because we didn't believe in those stories about Princess Twilight and her friends. You always believed you were right and I was wrong, and you were always hiding behind Hitch. It was up to him to keep us from fighting."
"I was just trying to keep the peace," Hitch insisted. "I didn't like seeing my friends argue all the time. That's why I became sheriff, I wanted to make sure everypony got along and followed the rules."
But the disgruntled deputy just bitterly snapped. "Liar! You know full well why you really became sheriff, Hitch! You knew it was my dream! And you were afraid that if I became sheriff, I'd kick Sunny out of town for spouting her nonsense. So you became sheriff before I had the chance, just so you could protect Sunny after she lost her father. That's why you always sent me to keep an eye on her, because you didn't have the heart to do what needed to be done whenever she broke the law!"
Sunny stepped forward to defend Hitch. "Sprout, this is not the time to be jealous. Maybe Hitch did become sheriff to stop you from getting the post, but he still made you his deputy. That has to count for something, right? If he truly didn't care about you, would he have let you keep your job despite how many times you messed up?"
Sprout only angrily replied. "He just used me to make himself look better. Everypony couldn't get enough of Mr. Goody Two Horseshoes. Nopony cared about his deputy, who always had to waste his time filing paperwork or writing up Sunny every time she trespassed on Canterlogic's property without permission," Then he stomped a hoof down as his eyes began to fill with an inky black darkness. "But I'm done! I'm done living in your shadows! It's time you felt the same pain and suffering I've felt all my life! Pain and suffering that you inflicted upon me, your so-called friend!"
Sunny and Hitch could only watch in horror as they saw their friend transform before their very eyes with a mighty roar! In a matter of seconds, where before there had stood an earth pony stallion of their size there now stood a massive pony that was made of pure shadow. It towered over them with its huge body, massive wings and giant horn!
A gasp escaped Sunny's lips as she looked across to Hitch! "This is just like that Pony of Shadows that Princess Twilight and her friends battled once. I can't believe it! It's real! The Pony of Shadows is actually real!"
"But we don't have the Elements of Harmony or those ancient pillars to help us!" Hitch exclaimed with fright! "What are we going to do, Sunny?!"
"The only thing we can do," Sunny insisted as she grabbed her friend by the hoof! "We've got to find the others! Maybe together, we'll be able to activate the power of the crystals and save Sprout from the darkness." And with that, the two earth ponies had taken off as fast as their hooves could carry them, hoping to find Izzy, Zipp and Pipp and set everything right.
The memories came to an end abruptly. And as they did so, poor Sunny had no time to react as another massive black blob struck her head on! It knocked her back, thwarting her efforts to get close to The Pony of Shadows. She let out a groan. She was certain that she was close. "Sprout, please!" She again pleaded. "I know you're still in there, somewhere! I know you can hear me! You've got to fight this darkness! Don't let it control you!"
But The Pony of Shadows only roared and stomped its hooves! "How many times must you pathetic ponies be told: Sprout is gone and he's never coming back! He gave himself to the darkness, and the darkness is here to stay! You drove your friend into my hooves, now you will pay the price for your actions!"
"Maybe I wasn't the best friend to Sprout," Sunny reluctantly admitted with a frown on her face. "But that doesn't mean I'm just going to turn my back on him. He's still my friend, and I'll fight for him no matter what! That's what friends do!"
"Such a touching sentiment, but a foolish one!" The Pony of Shadows bellowed! "You five cannot stop me! And you will never set Sprout free! The Pony of Shadows cannot be stopped!" As if to make itself heard, it raised its horn up into the air and conjured up a massive ball of inky black energy. Energy which it promptly tossed to the five ponies that stood at the edge of Maretime Bay, desperately trying to keep this monster away from the city!
When the energy reached the ponies, the ball it was in burst open and enveloped them all! Sunny only just thought to light up her horn, squinting and shutting her eyes. "We've... got to... fight it!" She groaned.
"Yes... but how?!" Zipp wondered aloud.
Suddenly, as if in answer to that question, an unfamiliar voice called out from above. "Perhaps we can be of assistance."
It seemed like The Pony of Shadows knew to whom that voice belonged, for it suddenly cried out in fright! "No! It cannot be! Not you!"
And then, light poured in from the sky. It rained down like a shower, dispelling the dark energy that had been circling the five desperate ponies a moment earlier.
The light was so bright it was hard to see. Yet as Sunny opened her eyes ever so slowly, she thought she could make out a few familiar forms: Including a tall, slender alicorn with a light purple coat and a flowing mane and tail with a pink skunk stripe.
Sunny Starscout gasped anew! Could it really be?! Her heart was filled with hope, this was too good to be true! "Princess Twilight?!" She exclaimed!
Slowly but surely, the light faded to reveal that alicorn in all her glory as her wings extended outward. "Yes, Sunny Starscout. It is I," She declared in a warm and welcoming tone of voice. "At last we meet."
"Hey, what about the rest of us?!" A boastful, raspy voice cried out. Its owner soon revealing itself as a rainbow maned pegasus mare with a coat the same shade of blue as a cloudless sky. "Don't forget, we're a team, Twilight. If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't even become a princess in the first place."
"How?! How is this possible?!" The Pony of Shadows exclaimed with dismay as several ponies familiar to it appeared before it: A pink coated earth pony with a curly pink mane and tail that had various bits of candies sticking out of them, an orange coated earth pony with a blonde mane and tail that resembled a rope, a unicorn mare with a snow white coat and a dark blue mane and tail that had a few gray streaks showing, and of course a pegasus mare with a buttery yellow coat and a gentle pink mane and tail.
"Are those who I think they are?!" Izzy commented in disbelief as she lay eyes on the six ponies.
Sunny nodded her head. "They are: It's the bearers of harmony! Princess Twilight and her friends! They've come to help us!"
Twilight Sparkle was the first in the group of six to speak up. But not until after she had cast a powerful spell from her horn that encased Sunny and her friends in a bubble, and the six bearers in a similar bubble that soon joined with the other one. "It appears you five are in need of assistance," She declared. "Much like when we faced The Pony of Shadows, there is a friend who needs saving from the darkness. A friend in need of a guiding hoof to show them a better way."
"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Sunny Starscout eagerly exclaimed as her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates! "Somepony pinch me! This can't be real!"
Pinkie Pie giggled as she bounced over to the group of five. "Oh believe me, sister, it's real! We're here to help you in your time of need. And trust me, it's so good to be back!"
"I'll say!" Rainbow Dash declared. "This is just like old times! Us against impossible odds, facing some bad guy who needs to be taught a lesson!" She then looked across to Zipp. "By the way, thanks for keeping the legacy of the Wonderbolts alive. Can't believe you set up your own flight academy."
"Well, somepony had to teach the others how to actually fly," Zipp admitted. "I can't believe you're actually here. I only knew about you from those history books. They really don't do you justice."
Rarity winked and smiled. "Oh I know, darlings. It's hard to truly capture all that we did and all that we tried to do. But at least we have you five to carry on our legacy. Though that doesn't mean we have to let you take on threats like this all by yourself."
"We wouldn't be the ponies we were known as if we turned our back on those in need," Fluttershy firmly added. "We're here for you now, and together we'll help you save your friend."
Applejack then adjusted her trusty stetson. "I reckon that's enough talk, sugarcubes. Now's a time for action!"
"But what are we supposed to do?!" Pipp pondered. "We can't even come close to that... that... monster without it tossing us around like we're foals' toys! We don't have what you guys had in your prime."
"Yeah," Hitch reluctantly admitted. "We don't have the Elements of Harmony. All we have are those crystals, and we still don't know how they work."
Twilight's response was to shake her head from side to side. "You do not need the crystals, or the Elements of Harmony," And to Sunny she then said. "Surely, you remember from your father's stories what we proved long ago, right?"
It took a moment for the realization to settle in for Sunny. But when she did her eyes lit up like stars in the night sky! "You didn't need the elements in their physical form. You guys embodied the spirit of the elements, just like the pillars and just like those students of yours."
"Exactly! Can't believe you didn't know that already!" Rainbow teased. "Each of you embodies the spirit of one of the elements. So the six of us will team up with you accordingly, and our combined magic will be more than enough to free your friend and send that pesky Pony of Shadows back to limbo! And this time, he'll stay there forever!"
"But there's only five of us!" Izzy pointed out. "We're an element short."
Applejack just grinned. "That's where you're wrong, sugarcubes. You may not have noticed yet, but there's an element that's alive and well deep inside that friend you're tryin' to save. If he can realize that and activate it, it'll be just the thing to tip the scales in our favor!"
"Enough talk!" Twilight instructed to the two groups! "Everypony, pair up according to your element! It's time for the magic of friendship to save the day once again!"
And as the bubbles were dispelled, Sunny thought to herself. "Just hold on, Sprout. We're gonna save you! Princess Twilight and her friends will see to that!"
So it was that Izzy joined with Pinkie Pie, Pipp with Rarity, Zipp with Rainbow Dash, Hitch with Fluttershy and Twilight with Sunny. Applejack was left alone, but she didn't mind. One by one, each pony pair began to glow. And Applejack did too.
"No! You're not sending me back to limbo again!" The Pony of Shadows roared as a bright pillar of rainbow light rose high into the air, connecting with the rainbow being drawn into the Crystal Brighthouse! "I will snuff out the light! Sprout's resentment will keep me alive forever!"
"Not gonna happen!" Hitch protested. "We won't let you have it your way!"
Twilight then lit up her horn as the twin rainbows surrounded The Pony of Shadows and seemed to open up a hole in the middle of the sky, said hole quickly sucking the massive shadow creature into it until it was submerged up to its neck. "Now's your chance, Sunny!" She encouraged to the pony who had always looked up to her. "You know what you must do!"
Sunny wasn't so sure. "But what if I fail?"
"Darling, you most certainly will not fail! Not with all of us behind you," Rarity encouraged. "And you have your friends to support you. You've done great things already just bringing the pony tribes back together. Compared to that, rescuing your other friend should be a piece of cake."
"Go on, Sunny!" Izzy shouted at the top of her lungs! "I can feel Sprout's sparkle! He's in there somewhere, I just know it. He's scared, frightened. It's up to you to bring him back to the light!"
So it was that the earth pony turned temporary alicorn plucked up a courage she had only rarely known until now. She took to the air again, and this time she was able to successfully plunge deep into The Pony of Shadow's neck. Darkness swarmed all around her, trying desperately to expel her now that she had intruded into the interior of the monster! But she still kept going, until at last she found herself in an unusually calm center.
It was in this calm center that Sprout resided, his back turned to Sunny as the only sound that could be heard was a faint whimper. "Who's there?" He weakly called.
"Sprout, it's me, Sunny," Sunny answered as she took a step towards the stallion. "I've come to rescue you. To set you free from this prison of darkness."
"Just leave me alone," Sprout retorted in a weak tone of voice. "Forget about me, just like you did before. You don't need me, you have other friends now."
The earth pony mare turned alicorn wasn't deterred for even a second. "So? That doesn't mean I have to abandon you. I'm sorry if I didn't do the best job showing that, of making you feel like a friend," She proceeded to apologize. "I should've known that this was going to be a difficult time for you. Everything's changing."
Sprout sniffled. "Yeah, it's changing too fast. One day I'm emperor of Maretime Bay, the next I'm a wanted criminal with nopony left to stick up for him."
"Sprout, what you did was wrong. You had to face the consequences," Sunny insisted. "It's not like Hitch and I didn't care what happened to you. If some pegasus or unicorn did anything to you because of what you did as emperor, we wouldn't stand for it. Just serve your time, and then you can shut the door on your past and start anew. Hitch and I will be there to help you, just like you and Hitch were there for me when I lost my dad."
"I... you really mean that? You're not just saying that?" Sprout hesitantly asked as he finally turned to face his friend.
Sunny nodded her head as she extended a hoof to the stallion. "Of course I mean it, Sprout. With time, I'm sure you could become a better pony. A pony who could be friends with all of my new friends, with pegasi and unicorns. Isn't that better than trying to pursue revenge and being banished to limbo forever? Trapped in a world where it's like you don't exist at all?"
The red coated stallion hesitantly extended his hoof to Sunny's and grabbed it as he looked up into her eyes. "I'm scared!" He whimpered.
"It's okay," Sunny smiled. "I'll be with you every step of the way, I promise. I'll help you find the right path, because that's what friends do. No, that's what true friends do!" Then she instructed to Sprout. "Don't let go whatever you do! Don't let the darkness claim you forever! No matter what it promises, you must resist! You don't want revenge, you want a second chance."
Like before, Sunny Starscout had to battle her way through what felt like an endless sea of darkness! All the while, she could feel Sprout holding onto her hoof tightly, not unlike the way a frightened child would hold onto the hoof of its mother or father for safety.
Never again would Sunny take her friendship with Sprout for granted. Never again would she leave it to others to do something about him. If she really wanted to carry on Princess Twilight's legacy, she had to be willing to make friends with everypony no matter who they might be.
At last, the two earth ponies emerged from The Pony of Shadows' chest! But just as Sunny had anticipated, The Pony of Shadows refused to willingly give up its host! "No! You can't leave!" It protested as several shadowy trendles reached out to grab Sprout, pulling him back into the chest of the monster. "You need me!"
"No I don't!" Sprout shouted in protest as he tried valiantly to fight against the pull of the shadow creature. "You were just using me!"
"But think of all we could accomplish together," The Pony of Shadows insisted as it fought for control of its host. "Do you really want to give it all up for this 'friendship'? If your friends had cared, they wouldn't have let you give yourself over to me. Together, we could rule all of Equestria!"
"NO!" Sprout shouted at the top of his lungs! "I never want to rule over anypony ever again if it means ruling over them with fear and hatred! That's not who I am! You're a part of me I don't need anymore! I have something better, something much stronger than your power will ever be!"
At that, Applejack let out a mighty "Yeehaw!" as she pulled a lasso out from her hat and tossed it to Sprout. "Spoken like a true bearer of honesty, Sprout! About time you embraced the role you were always meant to play. Now hold on tight, partner! I'll get ya out of there, and then together we're gonna help our friends send this monster packin'!" With a swift tug, she was able to pull Sprout free of The Pony of Shadows' grasp.
"All together now!" Twilight instructed as Sprout rushed to Sunny's side, joining the rest of her friends as they started to glow in different colors. "The power of harmony unites us all! It's time for the darkness to be destroyed!"
The twelve ponies stood close together in pairs. And then suddenly, the two rainbows joined together into one gigantic rainbow! The force of it was enough to push The Pony of Shadows all the way into the portal, said portal sealing itself shut immediately afterward. Then the rainbows shot upward into the sky, bathing the horizon in a blinding glow of dazzling light!
The Pony of Shadows was no more!
It took several minutes for the light to fade. Sunny was the first member of the group to get her bearings. "We did it!" She happily declared! "We stopped The Pony of Shadows! Oh, thank you, Princess Twilight! Without you and your friends, I don't know if we could've ever..."
But as Sunny adjusted her eyes to the natural light of day, she saw that Twilight was nowhere in sight. And neither were any of the other bearers of the past. It was as if they had all vanished into thin air without a trace.
"Sunny?" Hitch called, catching the attention of his fellow earth pony. "What was all that about?"
"Was it all a dream?" Sprout wondered. "It all feels like a blur. Was it real?"
Sunny firmly nodded even as she noticed that she was an earth pony once again. "Yes, it was all real. The Pony of Shadows, Princess Twilight and her friends, all of it."
"But then, why did they just disappear? Why did they leave so suddenly?" Pipp pondered. "I thought they were all long gone, ancient history. Were those..." She gulped. "Ghosts?"
Izzy beamed a bright smile. "If they were ghosts they're the friendliest ghosts I've ever known! That was so cool how they helped us out! It was like something out of a comic book!"
Zipp rolled her eyes. "They couldn't have been ghosts. They seemed too real. And they acted like they knew us, like they'd been watching us from above or something. But how could that be so?"
"I don't know," Sunny replied as she looked up to the sky and smiled. "But I know that if we're ever in need of their help again, they'll come to us," She then turned her attention towards the red coated stallion in the midst of her circle of friends. "For now though, we have a new friend that needs our help."
"You... you really meant what you said back there? It wasn't just to get me to leave that shadowy monster behind?" Sprout hesitantly asked.
Sunny nodded as she trotted over to Sprout. "Yes, Sprout. I meant every word of it. You're my friend, always have been and always will be. And I know that in time, you'll get to be friends with my other friends."