> The Tale of Neon Light
>  by DeffBwade
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Tale
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Tale




BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

The sound of my alarm clock woke me from my oh so satisfying dream (I swear it wasn't anything inappropriate…for the most part). I slowly opened up my eyes and my vision was filled with my bedroom ceiling. I groaned as I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the rest of the sleepiness.

BEEP BEEP BE—

With a grunt, I practically slammed my hoof onto the snooze button to stop that infernal and annoying beeping noise of my alarm clock.

"Why do I even have an alarm clock when I have a phone? The Clock App was automatically installed on my phone for a reason," I asked myself before I got up with a yawn, ”Wait, why do I even use an alarm in the first place?”

Kicking the covers off of me, I got off of my bed and proceeded to do my daily stretching exercises. You know, because it’s important to get the blood pumping. You wouldn’t want to feel stiff for the rest of day, would you? I stretched out my fore hooves, my hind hooves, neck, and of course…my wings.

Once my body no longer felt stiff, I then exited my bedroom and walked across the hall to my bathroom, still a bit tired actually as my limbs still felt a bit sluggish.

"Damn it. I really need to stop staying up till midni—hang on. Why am I even up anyways?!" I asked myself before I internally sighed, "Ah screw it. I'm already out of bed."

Sometimes I do things that make no sense whatsoever.

It's best not to question it.

I entered the bathroom and then shielded my eyes as I turned the lights on. 

First task: take a shower because I smell as if I haven't showered for 2 days.

*cough* I haven't don't judge me *cough*

I stepped into that bathtub and turned on the showerhead, making me flinch and jump a bit from the sudden surge of slightly cold water. I did the usual shower routine of scrubbing my fur of all the dirt and grime, gingerly cleaning my wings, and washing my mane and tail, making sure to not get any—

"AHHH! I GOT SOAP IN MY EYE!" I yelled as I furiously scrubbed water on my face, "OH MY HOOFNESS! IT BURNS! IT BUR—"

After that lovely and relaxing shower, I stepped out of the bathtub and dried myself off with a nearby towel, again being careful with my wings. I then hung up the towel and walked over to my mirror to examine myself.

My fur was as white as the winter snow, as well as my wings with the feathers being a bright cyan, which in my opinion is a very nice looking contrast. My eyes are a shiny bronze looking color (at least I think it's bronze). My hooves are as black as charcoal. My mane and tail were also black, with the addition of cyan and hot pink streaks running through each of them.

And they were also a total mess from all that towel drying.

Using a comb next to the sink, I stylized them to be their usual spiky style.

“Perfect,” I said with a satisfied smile on my face before I exited the bathroom. After quickly grabbing my phone, my wireless headphones, and some money from by room, I then proceeded to exit my apartment.

I walked down the halls and eventually got to the elevator. I pressed the button and waited a few seconds before the elevator finally arrived. I stepped inside and pressed the button for the ground floor.

As the elevator went down, I put on my headphones before opening my phone and scrolling through my music playlist.

Once I finally settled on a song, I hit ‘play’ just as the elevator doors opened back up.





I slightly bobbed my head to the beat of the music as I walked through the first floor and the opened the doors to the beauty of the city that I live in.

Mares and gentlecolts, welcome to Zephyr Heights, the pegasus city among the clouds.


We're stepping in the ring
And won't let that lady sing
It's over when we say it's over
Been brushing off our shoulders


If I could describe this place in one word, it would probably be “grand.” Because that’s exactly what it was.

The buildings here were huge and looked very modern with its white golden colors and stain glass windows. Everywhere you go, there were shops to get your everyday needs, restaurants to get a nice meal, and a bunch of other places to hang around at such as the mall.

Pegasi of all ages and sizes and colors were either going to work, going on an errand to get whatever they need at home or as a gift for family or friend, buying nice stuff that caught their attention such as decorative plants or clothes (for some reason), hanging out at your local coffee shop, or simply just taking a walk.

And speaking of coffee shops...


It's not a twist of fate
We choose our own destiny
A trophy or a bruise
Champions never lose (2x)


I entered said shop (one of my favorites to go to due the friendly service and that it's about a 1-2 minute walk from my apartment building) and walked to the front counter, luckily there being no line.

"Hi. What can I get for you today?" the cashier asked with a smile as I took off my headphones.

"Hello there. Can I please get a grande latte with a flavor shot of vanilla and a chocolate muffin?" I asked with a smile of my own.

And don't judge me on what I ordered. I'm basic, okay?!

After paying and receiving my order a few minutes later, I thanked the cashier, put my headphones back on, and went out the doors to sit at one of the outdoor tables.


It's time to show the world what we're waiting for
Something like they've never seen before (Whooaaaaaaa)
We're just getting started (Just getting started)


“Hello chocolatey goodness,” I mentally said with a smile as I took a bite of my muffin. I then started to bob my head to the chorus of the song, “Oh, online downloadable music. What would I do without you?”

The answer to that would most likely be to play video games.


Reaching for the stars
We'll raise our colors high
We've come so far (Whooaaaaaaa)
We're just getting started (Just getting started)


The one thing that I (and I’m pretty sure every pony else) love the most of Zephyr Heights is the advanced technology.

Sometime ago (I never paid attention in history class), Zephyr Heights entered a digital age that included the invention of many wonderful things that we use everyday such as phones, computers, and most importantly, the Canternet.

In case you don’t know, the Canternet is a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.

I totally did not just search up the definition online so there’s no point in doing so yourself.

Following the invention of the Canternet came the lovely social media platforms we use more or less everyday such as Ponygram, Clip Trot, and my personal favorite, YouHoof, where you can find videos of...pretty much anything as long as it isn't inappropriate or something that'll get you arrested.

You want videos of ponies getting pranked (in a not dangerous kind of way I mean)? YouHoof has got it.

Videos of adorable kittens and puppies (falling off of something or just being cute in general)? Check YouHoof.

Videos of popular music edited to TV shows (most likely clips of two characters that ship together)? YouHoof.

You get the idea.

And I'm not the type to brag or anything, but I too make my own YouHoof videos.

Introduction time (because I just realized that I haven't done that yet).

My name is Neon Light. I'm 21 years old. I was born and raised here in Zephyr Heights my entire li—

Wow, this introduction is already kind of cringe to be honest. I mean this is starting to sound like I'm on some kind of dating app.

Anyways, here out in public in the city, I'm more or less an unknown. A stranger. An anonymous figure.

But on the Canternet, I'm a pretty big YouHoofer with...again, I don't usually brag...a little over 500k subscribers.

...

Okay, that may not sound as impressive on paper, but you have to remember that the Canternet pretty much extends throughout the city and nowhere else. At least, I don't think anywhere else.

But yeah. For a grand city such as Zephyr Heights, 500k is a pretty big number.

My YouHoof name?

The Neon Gamer.

Pretty cool name, huh? I came up with it myself.

As the name implies, my specialty is videogame commentary, which is one of the most popular category of videos.

Now here's the kicker.

I'm...shy (and a bit paranoid) to show my face online. Or at least have a face reveal in association with my channel. I just don't want the attention, I guess.

Huh. I guess I'm an anonymous figure both in real life and online.

The only way ponies are able to recognize who I look like in real life...is through my cutie mark.

...Or my voice.

My cutie mark has always been...a bit of an enigma to me.

It was some kind of smiling face, with X's to act as the eyes and the mouth looking stitched up with vertical lines in the middle and more X's on the sides. The face was accumulated of the colors blue and hot pink, the same colors as the streaks across my mane and tail.

Sounds strange enough, huh? 

Well, try figuring out what it's supposed to represent, then you'll eventually get a brain aneurysm.

My only guess is that it represents my ability to be what I said I was.

An unknown. A stranger. An anonymous figure.

I don't know.

Figuring out what my special talent is just eludes me.

Anyways, introduction time over.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Technology advanced in the city. Yada yada yada.

Everywhere I looked, I saw ponies on their phones looking at...something...I don't know...We got TV's and...l-literally some of the buildings here have big screens that broadcast the news program, product advertisement, special event announcements, and other things, but it's mostly the first two.

“Good morning Zephyr Heights!”

Speaking of…

I took off my headphones and looked up to one of the big screens as it broadcasted the morning news.

“It’s another beautiful day in the big city. Looks like warm breezes and clear skies, just in time for tonight’s royal celebration!” announced one of the news presenters Skye, who had orange fur, a gray mane, and glasses.

Aw yes. Who could forget such a grand occasion?

And yes. You heard that right. Royal celebration. Zephyr Heights is ruled by a royal family. It's been that way for as long as I could remember. I'm pretty sure Queen Haven, the head of the family, has been...well ruling...since before I was born.

It's kind of weird that it's not a mayor instead. You'd think that a queen would rule, I don't know, an entire country and not just a city.

Meh. It's whatever. I'm not really into politics. Or is that not the correct term?

And folks, if you look towards the...I'm just gonna say north direction because I'm not a cartographer...you will see the grand castle where the royal family lives. You literally can't miss it because it's the tallest building I've ever seen. Seriously, it's so high up that you have to take an elevator to get up there. In fact, I think I see it going up to the castle right now.

Who is on it right now, I have no idea. Probably some guard or business pony that needs the Queen's approval for a project.

"Tonight's royal bash for Queen Haven will be stunning. But the real jewel in the crown will be Princess Pipp's performance!" said Dazzle, a pink furred pegasus with a golden-like mane, with excitement "Isn't that right Skye?"

"Ha! Oh my yes Dazzle," said Skye.

I'm not even lying when I say that anypony who is anypony that lives in Zephyr Heights knows who Princess Pipp is. It's pretty much impossible not to. 

I mean, obviously ponies know her because she's a princess, but she's also a famous pop star with a fantastic voice, a specialty in makeup, mane products, and fashion overall, and the #1 online streamer/vlogger of Zephyr Heights. She's pretty much popular on all forms of social media.

"And this just in, an exclusive vid from Pipp. For all you loyal fans out there in ZH," Skye said.

The screen then switched over to a livestream light pink furred pegasus with a violet mane that's wavy and swept to one side, a violet tail, kiwi green eyes, wings that are fluffy and white and made of large, soft feathers, and a gold headdress/tiara with a green jewel and golden wheat.

"What is up every pony? Big shout out to all my friends the Pippsqueaks," the pegasus said as multiple emojis kept popping on the screen and I'm pretty sure I just I heard a couple of foals squeal with delight.

That is Princess Pipp herself. Her whole appearance with the pretty mane and golden tiara just screams that she's a princess. That or a beauty pageant winner. Although I wouldn't be surprised if she was both because I'll admit that she is quite beautiful.

And yes, she can just broadcast her livestream onto the news network. Told you she's popular on all forms of social media.

And yes, her fanbase is referred to as "the Pippsqueaks." Quite a cute name if I say so myself.

"So tonight's the night. I can't wait to debut my new song later. It has a very special place in my heart, but not as much as you guys," Princess Pipp said in an almost singing-like tone.

That warmed my heart a bit.

Other than her awesome music that're a total bop to listen to, I think the thing I like the most about Princess Pipp is her personality. She's not some spoiled brat that demands respect and thinks that everything will be handed to her on a silver platter, but rather she's a genuinely kind and creative soul that engages with her fans on social media, and I can respect that.

The same respect could also be given to her older sister and future ZH queen, Princess Zipp. She's not the social media kind of pony though. She's more of an athletic pony with, from what I've seen, a bit of a rebellious attitude (not in a bad way) and an intellectual side.

And don't tell anypony that I've said this, but I'm pretty that she's reluctant to even be the future queen.

"Ok, guys I love you lots. Got to go. Pipp, Pipp, hooray," Princess Pipp cheered with a smile before the screen cut back to the usual news.

"Pipp, Pipp, hooray!" every pegasi around me cheered out in response. I even did it myself for my own amusement. It's strangely satisfying to do actually.

Once I finished up my muffin and latte, I selected another song on my phone and put my headphones back on. I got off of my seat and proceeded to walk back to my apartment, making sure to throw my trash away.

Don't be a litter bug kids.

#SaveThePlanet

So that's Zephyr Heights for you.

Born and raised here all my life.

Making sure to stay out of trouble.

And staying low...to the...ground.

...

As I continued to walk through the streets, my smile faltered a bit as I lightly sighed and looked up to the sky.

Despite all the many great things that Zephyr Heights has to offer, there is only one thing that I wish to do someday.

Fly.

I always wanted to just spread my wings and take my hooves off of the ground so I can see the city from above. So I can be amongst the clouds and see what they feel like. So I can gain a sense of freedom and not be grounded all the time.

But I can't.

I don't know when it happened, or how it happened for that matter. All I know is that one day...all pegasi just lost the magical ability to fly.

It's been like that even before I was born. Hay, I think it was before my parents were born.

Every pony in Zephyr Heights believes that we can't fly for one reason.

The unicorns.

Picture unicorns as us pegasi, but instead of wings on their backs, they have a horn on their head. Their horns are capable of many things, including but probably not limited to shooting lasers, reading our minds, melting our brains.

Every pony believes that they somehow took our magic away in order to conquer us all with their unicorn mind abilities.

The only thing that's protecting us from the unicorns is the royal family as they are the only pegasi that can fly.

But if you want my opinion on this...I think the whole idea is just a load of crap.

It doesn't matter if the royal family can fly. An army of unicorns with mind abilities is exactly as intimidating as it sounds.

And then there's the third pony tribe.

The earth ponies.

Picture them as simply having neither wings nor a horn. They're capable of...um...I'll be honest. We've all been taught that the earth ponies have very tiny brains, so I don't think we need to worry about them.

But then again, we could be wrong.

And if the earth ponies decided to team up with the unicorns.

Face it. We'd be practically screwed.

I mean, obviously the royal family would have the royal guard fighting by their side, but they have spears and swords! The unicorns have anatomical horns that can shoot lasers! And the earth ponies have...hooves...I guess?

But that's only if they decide to attack.

If the unicorns and earth ponies really took our magic away so they can conquer us all, then why haven't they done so already?

I mean, it's not like I want that to happen.

All I'm saying is that if the other pony tribes were as dangerous as we thought, then they must've been keeping tabs on the city. Ergo, they must know that we're flightless and vulnerable, right?

"Check it out Pippsqueaks!" I heard Princess Pipp's voice say.

Upon hearing that, I took off my headphones and looked up at one of the big screens. 

"Live from the castle." she said with a smile before she turned the camera to show—, "It's a real unicorn and earth pony!"

My eyes widened as the ponies around me gasped at the sight of an actual unicorn and earth pony.

"I know, right? This is so not a filter," Princess Pipp continued commentating.

...

Well, crap. Maybe they do know.
> Chapter 2: Royal Celebration
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 2: Royal Celebration




I continued to stare with wide eyes at the livestream on the big screen.

I couldn't believe it.

An...earth pony...and a unicorn? Here in Zephyr Heights?

I honestly didn't know what I was feeling right now other than surprised.

Shocked?

Scared?

Amazed?

It's most likely that last one.

Never in my life have I ever seen a non-pegasus pony.

It's just so...surreal.

The earth pony was an apricot orange coated mare with brown hooves and emerald green eyes. Her mane was magenta and purple, and was tied back into a braid with aquamarine elastic bands. Her tail was the same color scheme, but wasn't tied back. She was also wearing a teal satchel.

The unicorn was a mare with a lilac coat with navy blue hooves and magenta eyes. She had a wavy, cerulean blue mane and tail with an indigo ombre, a bracelet on her left forehoof with blue, pink, and purple beads, and of course, a long powder blue horn with white swirls. And also for some reason she had a tennis ball sticking on said horn.

The two mares looked at each other before they smiled and waved at the camera while the two guards around them just gave deadpan stares.

I guess they don't appreciate the fact that one of their princesses just livestreamed that fact that there's an earth pony and unicorn here in ZH.

"Pipp!" a voice called out with a bit of anger before the camera turned to Queen Haven herself.

The Queen had a pale pink coat, periwinkle mane with lilac streaks flipped to the side and braided at the back, a long tail, and icy blue eyes with lavender eyeshadow. She wore a dark purple vest, a golden necklace with a turquoise gem in the middle, and a golden crown with a turquoise crystal that was shaped like pegasus wings in the center.

"There's nothing to fear, Those nasty little ponies have been captured. You're queen will protect you," Queen Haven said reassuringly, much to the relief of the citizens as the pegasi around me gave out sighs of relief. She then turned her eyes, presumably towards Princess Pipp, before saying, "Shut it off."

The livestream then turned off and went back to the normal news network as the pegasi just went on with their everyday lives, as if that wasn't big news in the slightest.

As for me?

I just...kind of stood there a bit dumbfounded.

"So...that just happened," I thought to myself.




Sometime later




I was now back in my apartment, laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, and just...thinking.

An earth pony and a unicorn.

In the pegasus city of Zephyr Heights.

Once again it's...surreal.

I had so many questions that needed answers, but probably the most important one is...why?

Why are those two ponies here?

To spy on us?

To conquer us?

Were they simply tourists that wanted to see the many wonders of ZH?

I mean I can't really blame them if that was actually the reason. 

But then again, in all my life, I've never once seen or even heard of a non-pegasus pony taking a tour in the city.

So why?

It can't just be a coincidence that on the same day that the royal celebration is meant to happen that the kind of ponies we were taught to avoid (which in my opinion sounds a bit racist when written on paper) as foals suddenly appear.

Who's to say that there might be more of them?

Is my brain gonna be melted?

Are they really as bad as we believe?

I'm too young to die!

"Gah! Why am I still thinking about this?!" I asked myself as I groaned and rubbed my temples...before I realized what I just thought, "Are they really bad as we believe?"

I can't be the only one that's questioning it.

Once again, never in my life has there been any type of earth pony or unicorn activity.

And if we've been lacking in magic for this long, then surely there would've been some kind of attack or at least a sighting of a non-pegasus at least once.

But no.

Not once has this occurred.

Why is th—

"Okay. I need to do something to distract myself from asking more and more questions, or else I'm gonna get a brain aneurysm," I mentally sighed before I looked towards my desk, or rather...what was on it, "Eh. Might as well. I planned on streaming today anyways."

I got off of my bed and walked over to my admittedly cluttered desk that contained what every gamer needs.




PC SETUP TOUR TIME!!!


(say this in an announcer like voice to make it funny)




Yo what's up every pony! It's ya boi and today I'm gonna be showing you my gaming setup that I definitely sto—um, I mean totally bought off of Amazone during a huge sale.

Seriously, I bought it. I didn't steal it.

The first thing I want to show you guys is this Sci-fi Powered (not sponsored) PC.

It has some amazing specs to it that I absolutely do not pay attention to because I am in no way a computer technician nor engineer, but also because I simply don't care. As long as something technical had amazing reviews from the Canternet then I'd buy it without thinking twice because I'm an idiot.

It also comes with a remote that allows me to control its RGB colors which is another win for me.

The next things I want to show you are the dual Specter (not sponsored...again) monitors that each are 24 inches, have a resolution of 1920 x 1080, and have an awesome neon colored background to them.

But other than that, I once again don't know the specs to them because who cares?

My go to brand for gaming utilities is Blazer (once again...not sponsored in any way) because of their high quality and colorful products due to the highly customizable RGB lights.

The Blazer Iguana Mouse is very comfortable to grip and came with a charging station due to it being wireless, meaning I don't have to worry about any wires getting in the way.

The Blazer Butterfly Mousepad helps me steady my mouse movement and...that's...that's pretty much it.

The Blazer Cynova V2 Keyboard is very durable and highly resistant to spills from water and the like. It also has additional buttons for increasing and decreasing volume, muting volume entirely, pausing and resuming videos, and going forward and rewinding on videos.

The Blazer Cracken V3 X Headset have immersive 7.1 surround sound, cooling gel-infused ear cushions allowing for some comfort even after wearing them for 5 hours straight (even during bathroom breaks which I don't recommend), and a retractable unidirectional microphone to let your voice out.

But since I'm a die hard gamer, I've also got the Blazer Suiren X Microphone that allows you to let your voice out...but at a higher quality, along with a microphone arm whose brand I don't know nor care about.

And like I mentioned, all of these Blazer products have highly customizable RGB lights so you can make them as colorful as you want.

And all these additional products costed me a total price of...of...

...I really need to stop buying cool looking products without thinking about the price first.




END OF PC SETUP TOUR TIME!!!


(this segment was completely unnecessary but I don't care)




Anyways, I turned on the computer and monitors and proceeded to routinely set everything up. I opened up my recording software and made sure that my mic and desktop audio levels were working properly. I logged onto my YouHoof account and set up a title and description for the stream. And finally, I opened up what's possibly my favorite game of all time: Missing By Midnight.

Missing By Midnight is a multiplayer horror game where 4 ponies play as the wanderers who to find the way out of some spooky location, while another ponies play one of many shadowy figures who have to locate the wanderers and, as the name of the game implies, make them go missing.

Not sponsored by the way.

"Testing, testing. 1, 2, 3," I said into my mic, making sure that it's working properly one last time. Before I could press the button to start streaming, however, I heard my phone start to ring. I looked at the caller ID and smiled a bit as I answered it, "Hello?"

"Oh my gosh! Did you see it? Did you see the livestream?"

"Yes, I saw the livestream. It was on every big screen in the city," I paused for a second before asking, "So is it true? There's really an earth pony and unicorn here, huh?"

"Yep! I like have no words. Never in my life have I seen a non-pegasus pony."

"Neither has...literally every pony else. I'm just surprised that no pony is freaking out over it. I mean, you'd think that would happen since they're supposed to be our 'sworn enemies,' right?" I asked in a sort of sarcastic matter, "That unicorn didn't try to...fry your brains...or anything?"

"Nope. The guards made sure to place the shield on her."

"The shield? What do you mean the—...You mean that tennis ball on her horn?" I asked with a deadpan expression.

"Mmhm."

Okay. I'm no expert in unicorn anatomy by any means, but I'm pretty sure a tennis ball won't prevent one from performing magic. 

"And as for the earth unicorn? Well, we shouldn't worry too much. You know they have very tiny brains."

"One should not assume what your opponent is like before you face them, you know? Especially if they appear weak," I said as I leaned back on my chair and propped my hind hooves on the desk, "That's one of the lessons that help me as a gamer. But then again, this is real life."

"...I'll keep that in mind."

"So what happened to those two mares anyway?" I asked.

"They were put in the dungeon."

"The dungeon? As in the one that looks more like a fancy hotel room with a fountain, a fruit basket, and a massage chair? You talking about that dungeon?"

I'm not even exaggerating when I ask that. That's literally what the so called castle dungeons look like.

"Yeah. And can you believe that when I went to them for the content, I find that my sister was speaking to them even after we were specifically told to stay away?"

"I can actually. You know how she's like," I said before I realized what she said, "Wait, you too went to those two ponies...just for the content?"

"...Well, can you really blame me?"

"Not really. I meant it's not like you already broadcasted their presence across all of Zephyr Heights," I responded sarcastically, "So do you know what your sister was talking to the prisoners about?"

"I do not, but the earth pony did ask me why no pony was flying. And...well..."

"I know. Only royals can fly," I sighed.

"Yeeaah...Soo...you excited about tonight's celebration? And my—"

"I already told you like 3 times. I got the ticket that you sent me...literally about a week ago. And yes, I'm going."

"Really?! Oh, I'm like so glad to hear you say that!"

"Heh heh. Of course I'm going to see your performance. How else would I support my best friend?"

"Thanks a lot Neon! Okay, I got to get back rehearsing, but I'll talk you after the show tonight. Bye."

"Hope you put on a good show," I said with a smile, "See ya, Pipp."

I then ended the call before putting my headphones back on and pressing the "Start Streaming" button.

"What's up every pony! It's your host, the Neon Gamer, coming back to you with another stream..."

What? Surprised that I'm best friends with one of the princesses of Zephyr Heights?




Later that evening




It was almost time every pony. Almost time for the royal celebration to begin, and with that comes a performance by the one, the only, Princess Pipp herself!

Yeah! The crowd is going wild!

They're not actually, but you get what I'm trying to do.

It's called building up hype.

Due to me personally knowing Princess Pipp, I'm no stranger when it comes to navigating through the castle and to the throne room. Okay, this place was and always will be a bit of a maze, but I at least I have some familiarity and know when I'm close to it.

After all, one gains an advantage when they become familiar with the layout of the battlefield.

Huh. I should write a book listing off all the lessons that help me whenever I play video games. Can make some moolah alongside the streaming career. I can call it...Neon's Gaming Lessons That...Every Gamer Should Follow...When They...Play...Video Games.

...

I'll work on coming up with a better one.

Anyways, as stage performers would say, it's show time. Although I'm not the one putting on the...whatever.

I opened the doors to the throne room and—

"Holy crap. That's a lot of ponies," I thought to myself with slightly widened eyes as I saw the sheer amount of ponies in the throne room alone. In hindsight though, that's to be expected. The throne room is obviously pretty large, and who wouldn't want to see Princess Pipp perform in the flesh?

I know I would.

I took a deep breathe and entered the large crowd.

"It's alright. As long as the attention isn't on you, then you're fine," I told myself.

You might be asking yourself: how is a common pony such as myself best friends with somepony that's not only a princess, but that's also really popular on social media?

First of all, I consider it kind of rude to refer to me as "common." I prefer the term "everyday" or "ordinary." I know those two words are synonyms, but they just sound much nicer.

Second of all...that's a story for another time, I'm afraid. But if you want the short version, it's that we met on accident, we connected, and there.

The throne room looked...exactly what you would expect from any other throne room. Grand, glamorous, curtain walls (walls made of glass in case you didn't know) all around, pillars going up to the ceiling, and three thrones for the Queen and the Princesses. And up above at the ceiling is some sort of balcony where the Royal Family would graciously descend from, as a means of just looking spectacular to their guests, I guess.

The crowd then started to cheer and looked up as the lights dimmed down. I looked up as well and saw the spotlights shining on two pegasi floating down from the balcony.

One of them was Queen Haven.

The other was the aforementioned Princess Zipp. She had white fur with silver hooves and turquoise blue eyes. Her sleek wings had light blue and lavender feathers. Her clearly gelled up mane and tail were hot pink with aqua and pink streaks.

The two ponies continued to float down to their thrones before music started playing.





Once the ponies finally sat down, another set of spotlights suddenly revealed Pipp flying above.


We got the Light, We’re coming in stronger
We’re in it together, If you want it It’s all inside your mind
We got the light, we won’t wait any longer, we’ll get it together, if you want you can paint the sky


As she began to sing, she also started to fly around the room, making everypony else, including me, look up in awe.


Used to care what they say, let them into my brain
But I found a new way (Oh-hoo-hoo)
Every time I fall down, I pick it up like rebound, gotta get through somehow


Remember when I said that Pipp has a fantastic singing voice? Yeah, I wasn't lying in the slightest. One might even say that she has the voice of an angel, but I just say that she sounds good.

"Putting on an amazing performance as always, eh Pipp," I mentally chuckled before my ears picked up on something. It was kind of feint due to the music, but noticeable, "...Do I...Do I hear a dog barking?"


We don’t fly like we used to, we take what we’ve been through, and we can feel brand-new (Oh-hoo)
I know I am a fighter, I feel the fire, I’m shining brighter (Ooh-hoo-hoo)
Glowin up, kind of love, dip and slide, through the cut
Glowin up, kind of love, we say "hi", you say "what?"


I kept my ear out this time for whatever noise I just heard, but instead there was no sound of what I believed to be a dog barking. Just the music.

"Huh. Maybe I have been playing too much video games lately. I think I'm starting to hear things now," I thought to myself before I shrugged and focused my attention back on Pipp.

Everywhere that I’ve been, yeah they say I’m different, but I’m good in my skin (Ooh-hoo-hoo)
If it doesn’t feel right, break it in with tie dye, and don’t you stop ‘til sunrise
We don’t fly like we use to, we take what we’ve been through, and we can feel brand-new (Ooh-hoo-hoo)

As Pipp continued to sing, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Or rather...lack of somepony.

"Hmm?" I muttered as I turned my head in the direction of the thrones...and saw that Zipp wasn't there on her chair.


I know I am a fighter, I feel the fire
I'm shining brighter (Ooh-hoo-hoo)
We got the light, we're coming in stronger, we're in it together...


"That's...weird. Where in the world did Zipp go? Did she go to the bathroom or something? No, that can't be right. She might not be interested in the same things as Pipp, but Zipp would always be there to support her. And that includes holding in the water inside the tank during her concerts," I thought to myself before asking with a cringed out face, "Wait, why exactly do I know that?"

As I was questioning my...questionable thoughts...the lights in the room started flickered on and off.

"What the...?" I, and probably every other pony in the room, asked out of confusion as I looked up at the lights as they continued to glitch out. Suddenly, a light beamed down right next to me, which honestly startled me a bit.

I turned my head to see a pegasus stallion with light amber fur with various white markings across his body and chocolate brown hooves. He also had a short, aqua green mane and tail, amber eyes, and a moustache.

His wings...er...looked discolored from the rest of his body.

...

...Well that sounded a bit racist.

It was quite clear that the stallion wasn't expecting the lights to suddenly be on him, much less all eyes to turn on him, if him freezing in place and stuttering a bit were any indications. It was also quite clear that he wasn't part of the show due to him trying to sing the song.

Key word being "try."


Throwing up find a glove fly around, bup-bup-bup, doing stuff that I love, you’re like "why?", I’m like "what?"
Crisp and Dry, eat some mud, flowing up lovey dove…


I didn't want to be mean or anything, but this was both painful...and comical to watch. But mostly painful.

I was watching this stallion's...cringe worthy performance...I noticed two things.

First of all, there was some fluffy white dog (a Pomeranian if you want to be specific) with a round body, short legs, tiny paws, and wings howling (I'm assuming that's a dog's version of singing) right beside him.

"What the hay?" I thought as I instantly recognized him as the Royal Family's dog, "Is that Cloudpuff? What's he doing?"

Second of all, there was also crystal laying on the ground. One that was turquoise and looked pegasus wings.

"Wait a minute..." I mentally processed before I was able to tell what it was, "Isn't that—"

"WHOOAAAA!" a scream rang out.

I immediately turned to see what the commotion was...and my eyes widened in shock as I saw Pipp flying out of control all over the place. As if her wings had a mind on their own.

"What the...?!" I mentally yelled with steadily increasing worry for my friend's safety as I continued to her watch fly around, "What's going on?!"

I was so focused on the whole situation that I didn't even notice the crystal being swiped from right beside me.

"Is this all part of the show?! Because if it is then this is one heck of a perform—"

"Freeze!" the stallion suddenly yelled out, prompting me to turn towards where he was looking at...

"It's the prisoners!"

...in which I saw the earth pony and unicorn that have captured earlier today trying to sneak away.

That wasn't the most shocking part, however. No, no, no. What really shocked me was the pegasus that was with them.

"Zipp?!" I muttered with widened eyes as I also the oldest pegasus princesses also sneaking away with the prisoners.

Before I could do anything, Pipp suddenly zoom by...and knock the stallion's apparently fake wings off.

"Another earth pony!" yelled another pegasus, to which the stallion ran off.

I looked back and saw him following Zipp and the two other ponies, whom were now running away.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous! I'm gonna find out what's going on!" I thought with determination, with the intention of following after them.

Before I could so much as take a step, however, the crowd suddenly gasped.

"She's a fake!"

I looked at back to see what the crowd was looking at...only to see Pipp hanging upside down...with wires tangled around her.
> Chapter 3: Escape From Zephyr Heights
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 3: Escape From Zephyr Heights




"She's a fake!"

"Fake!"

"The royals can't fly either?!"

Terror and panic were all that was visible on Pipp's face as she just hung there upside up, the wires preventing her from getting away, while the pegasi around me were exclaiming and taking pictures of this shocking revelation.

The revelation that the Royal Family can't fly!

It must be scary for the Royal Family to be exposed as nothing more than a bunch of frauds.

And it must've been heartbreaking for the citizens to learn that their rulers that have promised to protect them with their magical abilities were just as flightless as everypony else.

And as for me?

I just stood there with wide eyes at the form of my friend struggling to get out of her binds.

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure how exactly I should feel at the moment. Sad that Pipp's performance, which she stated numerous times was going to be her biggest one, was ruined? Shocked that she can't fly and has been pretending to all this time? Angry that she and the rest of her family have been lying?

Who knows? Probably all of the above.

One thing for sure though was that one single question was running through my mind.

"Pipp, why didn't you tell me?" I thought with a bit of disappointment.

Taking a quick look back, I saw that Zipp was now running away with the prisoners and the stallion who was revealed to be another earth pony. It wasn't hard to put two and two together and determine that she was the one that helped them escape.

And there's also the fact that she's just running away when her sister needs help!

"Wait, is she just gonna leave her sister—?!" I asked as I was about to run after her, but stopped and deadpanned when I saw that she was already out the door, "...And she's gone."

So many things are happening that only lead to more questions.

Why did an earth pony and unicorn just show up out of the blue?

How did Zipp help them escape? Why did Zipp help them escape?

Why did they ruin Pipp's performance?

And why am I just standing here?

...

Why am I just standing in place and watching while Pipp is panicking?! I have to do something!

...

I have to move! I have to go and save her! Get her out of here before she gets seized by an angry mob!

...

It doesn't matter whether or not this is my problem! And it definitely doesn't matter that she lied! She's still my friend!

"This is probably the most reckless thing I've ever done. Pipp, you better give me a good explanation for this," I thought with determination as I began to walk through the crowd and towards Pipp. The only problem is that I didn't have a plan, "Come on. Think Neon. How do you get a princess away from an angry mob when she's smack dab in the center of it?"

In the corner of my vision, I could see that the guards have also turned on the Royal Family if them seizing Queen Haven were any indication.

"Dang it. I'm sorry your majesty, but I can't save you. It's not like I'm in control of the your guards or anyth—"

!!!

And that's when an idea popped into my head.

"...This idea is completely stupid and shouldn't work...," I sighed, but as I got closer and closer, Pipp finally managed to break free from her binds and fell towards the ground, which prompted me to practically to quicken my pace, "...but I have no choice but to try it anyway."

"Alright everpony! Back up!" I yelled out loud enough for the crowd to hear before they could get any closer to Pipp. Almost immediately when everypony turned to me, I started to get weak knees and a bit of sweat. I almost froze up completely, but seeing my friend in distress, I knew I had to keep going. The pink pegasus in question had a surprised look on her face when she saw me approaching, but quickly turned into one of hurt when I said, "Y-you do not need t-to worry. I-I and rest of the Royal G-guards will make s-s-sure that your princess will s-swiftly face j-justice for her c-crimes."

I am such a crap actor when all eyes are on me. This is why I don't show my face on my videos and streams. Because I don't do well with all the attention. 

What I said seemed to have its effect, however, as the crowd stopped in their tracks and backed up a bit.

"A-a-alright Princess. To the du-dungeon you go," I said with a frown on my face, but when I grabbed Pipp's hoof to pick her up, I discreetly gave her a wink and whispered, "Play along."

She seemed to get the message at what I was doing as her eyes widened a bit. She pretended to resists arrest yet not to the point that I was actually dragging her through the crowd, who kept glaring and calling out that she was a fake and a liar.

I turned my head back and saw just how hurt she was from all the hateful comments as she averted her eyes to the ground and was on the verge of tears. I wish I could say something, anything to get them to stop, but I don't want to risk it.

"I'm surprised this is actually working so far," I thought as I finally got through the crowd and continued to drag Pipp towards the exit, "You'd think that at least one pony would see through my decep—"

"Hey, wait a minute! He's not part of the Royal Guard!" a voice, most likely belonging to an actual guard, bellowed out, causing both of us to freeze.

"Crap, I just jinxed it."

Pipp and I glanced at each other before we did the only sensible thing to do in this type of scenario.

We ran.

As we were nearing the exit though, something shiny on the ground caught my attention. It was the crystal that I saw on the ground just about a minute ago. The crystal that belonged in Queen Haven's crown. 

First, it was just laying randomly on the ground for some reason. And now it was positioned exactly where Zipp was standing before she fled with the prisoners.

It wasn't hard to connect the dots in that one second of seeing it lying on the ground.

"This...this crystal...Was this the whole reason why Pipp's show was ruined? Why Zipp was running away with the prisoners? All for this stupid crystal?!" I thought with a bit of anger, "She really went through all that trouble to steal this thing, and then she ends up dropping it and leaving it behind?!"

As we continued to run, I swiped the crystal and tucked it under my wing.

Once we exited the throne room, we wasted no time shutting the doors just before the mob could reach us. Now the thing with the doors is that they require some effort to open them when they're fully shut, meaning that we bought ourselves a few seconds until the mob is on us again.

"Come on! Let's go!" I said to Pipp as we both ran through the halls.

"Hey, thanks Neon. I owe you one," Pipp said with appreciation.

"Yeah, you owe me an explanation when we get to safety," I responded sternly as I looked back to her, whose face fell a bit in response.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" she asked after composing herself.

"Honestly I didn't think I would get this far ahead, so...keep running to the elevator?" I suggested...just before we heard the sound of the throne room doors opening.

"Yeah, running sounds fine," Pipp responded with panic in her voice.

"It's a good thing the guards were in the throne room as well," I thought with relief, "We haven't encountered a single one so fa—Oh come on!"

Pipp and I stopped in our tracks as three guards were turning the corner. I immediately grabbed Pipp and hid ourselves behind a pillar. We practically held our breathes as the guards passed by.

"Okay, new plan," I whispered as I peeked my head out to see that the guards were gone, "We sneak our way out, but we have to be quick as well if we don't want that mob to catch us."

"But how?" Pipp asked.

Due to the amount of guards and citizens that are currently after our heads, it would be too risky to just stay out in the open like this. Pipp might have the advantage of being small, but both of our color schemes aren't exactly meant to blend into an environment with bright light.

And if we get caught, we'd be pretty much screwed. We weren't as athletic as Zipp, but we were no slowpokes either. But who knew how many ponies after us are actual professional sprinters?

I looked around to see how we can sneak out of here, and conveniently saw one of those rolling tables with the white cloth over.

"Ah, there we go," I said with a smile.



"Jeez, how can two ponies manage to get away with just a few second head start?" Thunder asked nopony in particular as he and his partner Zoom walked through the halls of the palace in search of their false princess and her accomplice.

"Just keep looking. They couldn't have gone far," Zoom said.

As the two guards continued their search, they happened to pass by a random yet ordinary looking table sitting out in the hall. Thinking nothing about it, the two continued to walk down the hall and—

"Achoo!"

"Hmm?" Zoom immediately turned her head to see what the noise was and where it came from.

"What's wrong?" Thunder, who apparently did not hear the noise, asked upon seeing his partner.

"...Nothing. Just thought I heard something," Zoom shook her head and continued walking.

"...Okay?" Thunder said as he followed his partner, "...Do you think the Royal Family can really fly?"

"What?"

"I mean...maybe that's why Princess Pipp managed to get away so fast?"

"Thunder, we literally saw her hanging on wires with our own eyes. And even if she could, what about her accomplice?"

"...Maybe she carried him. Or maybe he's also part of the Royal Family. Or maybe that whole thing was all part of the show."

Zoom only facehoofed in response.

And while the two guards continued their search, neither of them noticed that the table they passed by was now gone.



"That was close," I sighed out of relief as Pipp and I continued to move through the halls while hiding underneath the table. I peeked from under the covers and smiled as I recognized the doors that lead to the outside, "We're nearly there. We just have to make it to the elevator and we'll be free."

I stopped our movement, however, as I noticed a couple of guards guarding the door. Luckily, they were faced away from us.

"It's never easy, is it?" I groaned.

"So what now? We can't just wait for them to leave. Who knows how long that would take?" Pipp asked.

"If your enemy doesn't have a reason to leave, then make them have one," I responded before I turned to her, "Be quiet and follow my lead."

I then started to slowly creep out from under the table, Pipp following in tow. Keeping an eye on the guards ensured me that they haven't noticed our presence yet. Turning my head a bit to make sure that I don't knock anything over, I carefully reached a hoof out and picked up one of the gold plate covers on the table. I turned and motioned for Pipp to follow me. We both carefully crept over to beside the entrance and behind the door, just out of sight of the guards.

I then reeled my hoof back and tossed the plate cover down the hall, resulting in a loud clang.

CLANG

"What the?!" one of the guards yelled out, "Who's there?!"

I smiled a bit as the two guards then stormed into the castle and just past us towards the plate cover. I immediately signaled Pipp to go, to which we both quickly yet carefully went through the doors and towards the elevator that leads to the city.

"Holy crap! That actually worked!" I whispered as we reached the elevator and pressed the button.

"I know, right?!" Pipp said with excitement.

"HEY, YOU TWO! STOP RIGHT THERE!" a voice yelled out as the elevator doors opened.

We both quickly looked back and started to panic as the guards have finally caught wind of us and started to run towards us.

"Get in! Get in!" I yelled as I practically threw Pipp and myself inside the elevator. I then repeatedly pressed the down button in a panic as the guards continued to run at us and yell at us to stop, "Come on! Come on! Come on!"

And as luck would have it, the elevator doors closed just before they could reach us.

I let out a sigh of relief and sat on my haunches as I felt elevator start to go down.

"So...we made it. Oh wow, that was intense," Pipp chuckled after a few seconds before going in a more serious tone, "Now we just have to find Zipp and I can yell at her for ruining my show."

"Yeah. To think that she'd did all of that...for this," I said as I took out the crystal from underneath my wing.

"W-wha...?" she stuttered in disbelief before swiping the crystal from my hoof, "This?! This was why my whole show was ruined and my sister left me behind?! A stupid crystal?!"

After taking a few breathes to calm down, Pipp let out a frustrated sigh and tucked the crystal under her wings.

"When we find her, she better give me a good explanation," she huffed.

I lowered my head to look at the floor.

"...She's not the only one," I said in a low voice.

"What do you..." Pipp tried to ask, but stopped when I looked up and gave her a stern face, probably catching her off guard since I rarely do that.

"Now that we made it to safety, it's time for you to start explaining. What was all that back there? What was with the wires?" I asked once again in a low voice.

Pipp's only response was silence, but I wasn't having any of that.

"Tell me the truth, Pipp," I practically demanded with a raised voice, "Can you and your family really not fly?"

"I-I..." she stuttered, clearly hesitant to answer, but that was all I needed.

"I see," I said as I lowered my head back down.

"N-Neon, I...I understand if you're mad, and I've wanted to tell you for so long, but..." Pipp tried to explain.

"...You've been lying to me for the reason you've been lying to everypony else. You've been lying in order to make me feel safe, right?" I asked in a kind of tone that pretty much said that she'd better give the correct answer.

"...I...yeah. Mom always told Zipp and I that if everypony believes that we can fly, then they would never feel as if they were in any danger. That we would be able to protect them," Pipp explained before sighing, "And...I guess I was just...scared...that you'd react in a negative way if I told you the truth."

She...actually sounded pretty genuine with her explanation, which calmed me down a bit.

"Pipp, we've known each other for years. You can tell me anything. And...I honestly couldn't care less if you can't fly. I'd surprise me at first, but I would eventually get over it," I said before looking away with a pained expression, "I just wished you told me the truth instead of lying to me all this time."

"I'm sorry," Pipp said in a sad tone, "I—"

"Stop," I interrupted her as the elevator finally stopped moving and the doors opened, "Let's just...let's just find your sister."

As we got out of the elevator and into the city, I looked back a bit and saw Pipp's gaze averted to the ground, clearly showing guilt over what she did.

"Look Pipp," I sighed, "I'm not mad at you or anything. Okay, I'm a bit mad, but you know I'm not the type that likes to hold grudges. I just...I just need some time to think, I guess."

"Okay," she whispered as her expression softened a bit.

Most ponies would be very upset if they found out that their friend has been lying to them for years and probably leave them. It's a good thing I'm not most ponies. I meant it when I said that I don't like to hold grudges against others. I'm just not one that expresses negativity so much.

I guess Pipp should consider herself lucky for that.

Because otherwise I would have left her to hang.



Zephyr Heights always looked so pretty in the night time. The grandeur buildings, the bright lights. It's like a city that never sleeps.

But sneaking around in alleyways and trying to avoid being caught by other ponies so we don't get arrested...it surely ruins the experience.

Pipp and I have been searching for Zipp for a few minutes now...when we finally heard voices.

"Oh no, no, no, no... It’s not here!" a mare's voice cried with worry.

"Seriously?!" a tomboyish mare's voice said. 

Pipp and I instantly recognized whose voice that was and decided to peek around the corner. There we saw Zipp herself along with the two earth ponies and the unicorn in another alley.

Pipp frowned at the sight and proceeded to walk up to them, me following shortly behind.

"Look on the bright side. We had so much fun losing it," the unicorn said in a cheerful way.

"We have to go back," the first voice, which has been revealed to belong to the earth pony mare, said.

"But it could be anywhere," Zipp said.

It was then that Pipp unintentionally kicked into a can laying on the ground, which caused the four ponies to look in our direction.

Due to us being in the shadows, they didn't recognize us until we stepped into the light of the alley, making some sort of dramatic entrance for us.

"Somepony seriously needs to explain why this thing was so important that you had to ruin my whole show over it!" Pipp demanded as she took out the crystal from her wing.

"Trust me, it is," Zipp smiled as she tried to take the crystal, but Pipp snapped back at her.

"You left me hanging there! In the spotlight! Now everypony knows we can’t fly," she said with sadness.

"Yeah. And I had to end up getting her out of there, which guess what, most likely got me in trouble," I stepped up.

As if the timing couldn't be any more perfect, a giant TV that just so happened to be on a building outside the alley turned on.

"This just in. Some newly released footage of a pegasus helping Princess Pipp escape has been released," Dazzle reported while showing footage of me walking Pipp through the crowd before running away, "The guards are still identifying this stallion, but we advise you be on the lookout for him and report if you know of his whereabouts."

...

"...Okay...Scratch that. It definitely got me in trouble," I said with widened eyes.

"Wow," the unicorn said in amazement as she and the two earth ponies, "Zipp, you never told us you had a brother."

"Um...what?" Zipp asked in confusion as I snapped out of it and looked at her in confusion as well.

"We're not related," I said.

"You're not?" she asked, "But you two look so similar."

"Isn't it racist to assume that two ponies are related just because they have similar color schemes?"

My thought process was interrupted when Pipp's phone buzzed. She took it out and looked at the screen. I walked over and stood beside to see what was going on.

"A warrant is out for the arrest of the princesses," Dazzle reported before the video switched over to Queen Haven getting a mug shot taken.

"Pipp! Zipp! Save yourselves!" she begged before posing for some reason.

"What?! This isn’t happening! This is so not happening!" Pipp freaked out.

"And since I helped you escape..." I whispered before I sat on my haunches as I could barely stand, "Oh gosh, I'm a criminal now."

"Pipp! Neon!" Zipp spoke up, grabbing our attention, "Forget all of that! We think we can bring back magic, but we need the crystal.”

"Wait, what?"

"Have you lost your mind?" Pipp asked in disbelief.

"Please. This might be our only chance," Zipp pleaded.

"Wait, hold on," I interrupted before Pipp could respond, "I'm sorry, but...did you just say that we could bring back magic? As in we would be able to spread our wings and fly in the sky? That kind of magic?"

"Yeah?" she nodded.

I turned my head and processed it all. Zipp was always the athletic type. And if she couldn't actually fly, then I could only imagine how much she desired to do so.

And furthermore, she really isn't the type that likes to lie...even though she's been living a lie for pretty much her entire life.

But still. 

A chance to bring magic back to Equestria. A chance to not be grounded all the time. A chance to be able to fly amongst the clouds.

"Pipp...maybe we should go with them," I said as I turned to the pink pegasus.

"What?!" she responded, "But we can't trust—."

"I know we've been taught our entire lives to not trust earth ponies and unicorns, but you can trust your own sister, right? After all, she wouldn't have to gone to such lengths of stealing and helping a couple of prisoners escape for no reason," I explained, but Pipp still seemed hesitant, which caused me to sigh and walk over to Zipp, "Look...I'm going with them...and I can't force you to join as well if you don't want to, but...it's the least you could do after finding out that you never trusted me enough to tell me that you can't fly."

I don't usually guilt trip others into doing something. In fact, I hate doing it. Especially to those I care about. It just feels so wrong to be manipulating the emotions of others.

But I felt like I just had to say what I said.

This seemed to work, though, as Pipp's face fell a bit and she let out a sigh.

"Fine. I know a way out. Come on," she said before running off.

Zipp and I both smiled as we and the other ponies ran after her.

"What? Wait! You can’t just... But I’m the sheriff!" the earth pony stallion whined before following.

"Not in this town, dude," I replied.

As we continued to run, Zipp came up beside me.

"Hey, um...Neon?" she said, grabbing my attention, "I'm sorry for...you know...lying to you for all these years. I...was hoping you didn't find out this way."

I simply sighed at this.

"You were only doing it to make me feel safe. I can't exactly blame you for that," I said, "But you're right. I wish you just told me instead of finding out like this."

"Are you mad?"

"A little, but you know I don't like to hold onto grudges. It's just...probably gonna take a little while for me to forgive you."

"...I understand."

"First, I find out you've been lying about being able to fly, then I become a criminal. Can this night get any worse?"

Oh how I just jinxed it yet again.

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

I felt my phone vibrating and took it out.

My eyes widened in a panic not just at the fact that somepony was calling me, but who exactly was calling me.

"Oh no," I mumbled as I stopped in my tracks.

"What's wrong?" Zipp asked as she stopped in her tracks, as well as everypony else, and eventually Pipp when she noticed what's going on.

I didn't answer her, however, and instead hesitantly answered the phone call.

"H-hey Mom," I said, "How uh...how are you doi—"

"Neon, what is going on?!" my mom said, and let me tell you when I say that she does not sound happy in the slightest.

"What do you mean?" I responded, trying to play dumb.

It did not work.

"You know exactly what I mean! You're all over the news!"

"Really?" I said, once again trying to play dumb, but on the inside I was dying, "That's cool."

"No, it's not cool! I'm worried sick because the Royal Guard is looking for you!"

"Then when they find me, I'll make sure to tell them that I was simply helping a friend," I chuckled.

"This is serious, Neon!" she yelled. After a few seconds of silence I heard her sigh in anger, "I'm sorry. I'm just...I'm just concerned about you, you know?"

"I understand."

"Where are you now?"

I glanced at the only two pegasi present before responding.

"I'm with Pipp and Zipp," I said, leaving out the fact that I'm also with two earth ponies and a unicorn.

Silence was all I could hear on the other end.

"Look...I...I understand if you're upset with them for lying to us all these years. Believe me, I'm upset with them too, but...I have to stick with my friends. I've known them for so long and I can't just abandon them," I explained, "Please, just trust me on this."

I heard her sigh once again, but this time not out of anger.

"You're a grown stallion, Neon, and I respect you enough to make your own decisions. And I appreciate you respecting me enough to be honest about them," she said, and I didn't need to see her to tell that she was smiling, "Just...be careful. Okay?"

"I will," I said with a small smile of my own, "Love you, Mom."

"Love you too, son," she said before hanging up.

I put my phone back under my wing and took a deep breathe. I looked up and saw the concerned faces of everypony (although Pipp and the earth pony stallion had looked like they had a bit of grumpiness despite them looking concerned as well).

"Come on. Let's go," I said as I trotted up ahead and beside the pink pegasus, "Lead the way, Pipp."

Pipp gave a nod before leading the way once again. Together, we all ran to escape from the pegasus city, and began moving towards...I actually don't know.

A part of me was actually...glad that my mom became sick today. Because who knows if things would've been different, and what would've happened if she was with me at the show?
> Chapter 4: Getting to Know You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 4: Getting to Know You




It's been a couple of hours since me, Pipp, Zipp, and the three non-pegasi left the city of Zephyr Heights.

During that time, I've come to know a few things of our new...let's just call them allies for now.

The earth pony mare is named Sunny Starscout. She seems to be the scholarly and adventurous type, always wanting to learn new things about the world around her. And she seems really determined to bring not just magic back to Equestria, but friendship and harmony among the three pony tribes. Which makes you wonder if they really did get along back then.

The earth pony stallion, Hitch Trailblazer, seems to have strong sense of integrity and justice. I guess that's the kind of pony he has to be if he really is a sheriff. You can consider him to be the responsible one that always follows the rules. However, based on the fact that he's been grumpy this entire time, I can only guess he's still wary of us and what we're capable. I don't blame him. After all, I've only known him for a couple of hours. It's only natural if he too has grown up to believe that the other pony tribes are hostile.

And then there's the only unicorn in our group, Izzy Moonbow. She's...an interesting one to say the least. Energetic and optimistic are the words that I'd describe her. And also a bit scatterbrained. Not that that's a bad thing or anything. Let's just say that for a great majority of this trip, she's been bouncing happily, humming something under her breath, and smiling. I'm sure you can deduce her personality from that alone.

Other than Hitch being wary of us, none of the non-pegasi have really shown any red flags of having hostile intentions. For the most part...they seem alright, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna let my guard completely down. You know the saying that looks can be deceiving.

Zipp and Sunny already explained to Pipp and I that they needed to steal the pegasus crystal because they believe it's key to bringing back magic. Now we need to retrieve the unicorn crystal from a place called Bridlewood. Once we retrieve it, we can connect it with the pegasus crystal, and that'll bring both magic and friendship among the pony tribes.

In my opinion though, it sounds a little farfetched. I mean, how could connecting a couple of crystals together help us unite? Does it open up our eyes and take away the fears that we had or...or what?

But hey, I'm not the magical artifact expert here. And I'm more of a follower, so I just do what I'm told.

We were now in the middle of some random grass-field, with Pipp and Hitch reluctantly trailing behind.

"That's the tree from the map," Sunny announced as she indicating towards a giant cherry tree, "That means...it's this way."

"Dang, that would make a great wallpaper," I thought as I snapped a picture of the tree.

"What am I doing here?" I heard Hitch ask out loud, "Hoofing across daisy fields, looking for a magical crystal that doesn’t even exist!"

"It was supposed to be my best show ever and now it’s over," Pipp said with a dramatic voice. "I’m a criminal. And it’s all because..."

"...of them," Pipp and Hitch said at the same time.

"And that is so not cool," Pipp said with anger as she ran up ahead.

"No, it is not. Did I just agree with a Pegasus?" Hitch asked himself as he realized what he just said.

"Yes. Yes you did, dude," I said to him before running over to Pipp, who was now beside her sister.

"Are you sure she even knows where to find this other crystal?" she asked.

"Don't you trust me at all?" Zipp asked in response.

"I don't know," Pipp said, "You are the one that just got Mom thrown in jail!"

"I'm only trusting you because I know you don't like to lie," I joined in the conversation before mumbling, "Even though you've been lying to me all these years and saving Pipp resulted in me becoming a criminal as well."

"Look, once we get our magic back, the whole kingdom will be so excited they won't even remember what even happened back there. You two will be heroes," Zipp reassured us, but Pipp just looked away still grumpy and I simply let out a sigh.

"Hope you're right," I said.

"Let's get one thing straight..." I heard Hitch say to Sunny.

"We're almost to the river, everypony," Sunny announced.

"After this whole escapade is over with you are gonna march on home to Maritime Bay with me," Hitch demanded, "Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Sunny answered nonchalantly.

"What? Is she also a criminal?"

"Great! Because this badge means that I'm the sheri—AHH! Oh no no no no! Where's my badge?!" the stallion screamed out...before pointing a hoof accusingly at Izzy, "Hey! You!"

"Hmm?" the unicorn asked.

"I know unicorns like shiny things!" he said.

"So for that reason alone, you think Izzy is the one that stole your badge? I believe there's a term for this."

"Oh! You know I think I did see a shiny badgey thing on the ground a few hours ago," Izzy explained.

"What?! Hours?!" Hitch exclaimed.

"Welp, maybe it's for the best. Between you and me buddy, that badge was creating an unhealthy power dynamic," Izzy whispered before running off while singing, which caused the stallion's ears to droop.

"You have to admit that she's right. You're not in Maritime Bay anymore," I said to him, which more or less added salt to the wound.

We continued on ahead until we reached—

"Oh come on!" I yelled as we stopped in our tracks due to large chasm with no seeable way of simply walking around it. And the bridge that's supposed to bring us to the other side? Gone, "Of course. Why not?"

"What are we gonna do?" Sunny asked.

"Any ideas, Zipp?" Pipp asked in a mocking way with a smug grin.

"You know what would be great right now? Maybe something like..." Zipp started before spreading her wings, "...the ability to fly!"

"You know what would be even better? Not being stuck in the middle..." Pipp responded as she and her sister continued to argue.

"Oh well, that's the end of that!" Hitch said with joy, "Time to go home. I wished I could say it was nice to meeting all of you, but it wasn't."

"I literally haven't done anything to make you upset," I deadpanned.

"Everypony stop!" Sunny suddenly said, stopping all the arguing.

As the earth pony mare started to give words of encouragement to the others, I turned my head and saw Izzy walking towards a big tree near us. She then started to...admire it?

With a raised eyebrow, I walked over to the lilac unicorn,

"Izzy?" I asked her, "What are you doi—"

I stopped my questioning, however, and instead felt my jaw drop as she started to cut the tree with her horn as if it were a chainsaw!

"Everypony happy now?" Sunny asked, apparently done encouraging the others, just in time for the tree fall and catch their attention.

"Ta-da!" Izzy said, pointing at the tree that was now working as a bridge to the other side of the chasm.

"Alright!" Zipp exclaimed with excitement.

"Oh great..." Hitch sighed with annoyance.

"Come on, everypony!" Sunny exclaimed as she and the others started crossing the improvised bridge.

I, on the other hand, continued to stare in disbelief at the now fallen tree.

"How the bu—?!"




Later that evening




Once nighttime finally hit, we all decided to stop make a camping spot to settle down. We found the necessary materials to make a fire. Sunny used her hooves to create a spark to ignite said materials (neat trick by the way), and then Zipp flapped her wings to make the fire come alive.

Hitch, however, decided to sit away from us and try to make his own fire by rubbing a stick.

Emphasis on "try" since it wasn't working.

"You need some backup, sheriff?" Zipp asked.

"No thank you. I’ve got it!" Hitch spat back. He finally managed to get a little flame to ignite and cheered...only for it to die out immediately.

"Alright, that was sad to watch. Come on, don’t be a hero dude. Come get warm" Zipp said, but the stallion continued to be stubborn and kept trying to make a fire himself.

Sunny apparently had enough of the stallion's stubbornness and got up and walked over to him.

"So...Izzy?" I spoke up, trying to make conversation (which is hard when you're considered the quiet and shy one), "What's Bridlewood like? Is it...majestic and magical...or...or what?"

She didn't answer me, however, as she was instead...admiring me with sparkling eyes?

"Okay? Not creepy at all."

"Um...why are you looking at me like that?" I asked as polite as possible.

"Your sparkle...it's pretty," she responded.

I would've been flattered by such a compliment...if I knew what the hay she was talking about.

"My...sparkle? What's that?" I asked.

"You know...your sparkle! That special light that's within you that represents your feelings! And the happier you get, the brighter it shines!" she explained with glee.

Pipp, Zipp, and I continued to stare at her with confusion.

"I'm guessing it's a unicorn thing."

"Normally a pony's sparkle is just one color," Izzy said before pointing at me, "But yours is a mix of cyan and pink. I've never seen anything like it!"

"...Heh," I chuckled, "I must be special t-then."

"What about me?" Pipp asked, "What color's my sparkle?"

"Your sparkle is..." the unicorn said as she seemingly analyzed the pink pegasus, "...aquamarine!"

"My sparkle is aquamarine?" Pipp asked before flapping her wings excitedly, "That's like my sixth favorite color!"

"Sixth favorite?" I asked with a smirk, "Do I even wanna know what the first five are?"

It was at that moment that Sunny came back and sat down, followed by Hitch who still looked reluctant.

"So I think we should set off at first light," Sunny suggested, "Last stop: Bridlewood."

"You mean next stop?" I asked before I saw in the corner of my vision Izzy looking...upset, which felt out of character for somepony like her. I turned to the unicorn and asked, "You alright, I-Izzy?"

"...Yeah... Yeah I'm fine. It's just that...being with you ponies has been the best thing that ever happened to me. I guess...I just don't want to have our adventure to end," she admitted.

"But Izzy...you'll get your magic," Sunny reassured, which work because Izzy smiled at that.

"And who said that this has to be our only adventure? You know the saying that when one story ends, another begins? And besides, even if we fail in bringing back magic and friendship, then that's still fine. Just because our kinds are afraid of each other doesn't mean that we have to," I said before turning to the three non-pegasi specifically, "I think I speak for everypony when I say that you three aren't anything like what I was taught back at Zephyr Heights."

"Yeah, I can vouch for that," Zipp commented before we both turned Pipp expectantly.

"You're all...alright, I guess," she said, and I can tell that it was genuine.

And so was I when I said what I said. Sunny and Hitch clearly don't have tiny brains, and Izzy isn't using her horn to fry ours (not that she could, but she wouldn't if she could).

But if I'm being honest...none of that stuff really matters to me right now. Looking back, it seems that all pegasi were taught to fear the other tribes simply because of what they were capable of.

And after being around these three, I now realize that you should judge an ally based on their performance and not their appearance. In other words, don't judge somepony based on what they are, but rather who they are.

"Thanks guys," Sunny said with a smile.

"Hey Izzy? Can I ask you a question?" Hitch asked, turning to the lilac unicorn, "Why did you come to Maritime Bay?"

"I always wanted to visit. When I was a filly, I found this pretty lantern. It had a message inside. It said that I had friends in Maritime Bay,” Izzy explained. Reaching into her mane, Izzy pulled out a worn out piece of paper. It showed a drawing, clearly done by a foal, of an earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus under a rainbow. There was also a message that read 'Dear unicorns and pegasi, you have friends in Maretime Bay. Come visit us.'

"She found that when she was a filly? Dang, she must've really wanted to go if she held onto it for so long."

Now I can see why Izzy didn't go to Maritime Bay soon after she found the message considering she was just a filly, but what about her parents or literally any other grown up? Was she really the only unicorn that was willing to go to an earth pony town to make some friends?

Sigh. Details, details.

I noticed Sunny's ears perk up and have a big smile on her face, as if she was ecstatic about something. Looking back at the drawing Izzy was holding, it wasn't too hard to figure out what the apricot mare was implying.

"I-it was you," Izzy exclaimed with surprise.

"I made it with my dad," Sunny said as the paper was handed to her, "We always promised each other that, someday, we would prove that all ponies are meant to be friends… We'll do our part, hoof to heart," she finished with a smile, while holding the note close to her chest.

We all smiled at this moment of tranquility.

I knew that Sunny wanted to bring friendship among the pony tribes, but now I know that it's more than just a quest or a goal in life. It's promise that she held onto along with her dad since she was a filly.

And considering the fact that her dad wasn't here helping her to fulfill that promise... It's only natural to assume that she has to do it on her own.

"But wait...she's not on her own," I thought as I glanced at the ponies around me, "Me, Pipp, Zipp, Izzy, Hitch? She has all of us to help bring magic and friendship back to Equestria. It all depends on each of us doing our part. And I promise you, Sunny, that I will do my part."

Like she just said...hoof to heart.

"Hey, um..." Hitch spoke up, "I wanna do my part."

This made Sunny smile even more.

"What do we have to lose, right? I have to admit, a unicorn forest does sound kind of magical," he admitted, actually showing optimism.

"It really does," I said, "Hitch, can ask you a question?"

"Sure," the stallion responded.

"Back at Zephyr Heights...why were you wearing a fake moustache?"
> Chapter 5: Bridlewood...is Depressing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 5: Bridlewood...is Depressing




"A unicorn forest sounds magical, he said."

"This does not look magical in the slightest," I said as we all stood at the entrance of the forest, which looked creepy, dark, and had several signs posted on the trees that warned of the dangers and to turn around and go away.

"Literally looks like a map from Missing by Midnight."

We all just stared at the forest while Izzy had a smile on her face. Must be because this does lead to her home after all.

"Come on! My house isn't far from here!" Izzy said happily as she skipped into the forest and started singing.

"We're really walking into this creepy place?" I muttered as me and the others followed closely behind, my heart starting to race a bit. The inside of the forest looked much worse. It looked like not much light is able to penetrate the trees above, making it look gloomy. It all just gave off this foreboding vibe. And the rustling of leaves or every small critter noise didn't help at all, "Just so you guys know, if a ghost suddenly pops out of nowhere or a pony in a mask comes charging at us or a spider lands on me at any point, I will actually scream and run away."

"Calm down, Neon. This place has...character," Sunny whispered to me, albeit a bit hesitantly as she was trying to find the right word to describe it in a nice way.

"Sunny, look around you," I whispered back to her with a deadpan, "I don't mean any offense, but this place would make a great setting for a horror movie. And it's not like there's just gonna be this giant beacon of light in the middle of this pla—...my gosh!" I said with a dropped jaw as we arrived to a house with sun shining its light upon it, and colorful leaves blooming brightly.

"Welp, here we are guys!" Izzy announced before opening the door, "La Vila Izzy!"

We all walked in and were amazed at just the sight. If I had to describe Izzy's home in two words, it would be bright and artistic. There was a portrait made up of colorful macaroni pieces and googly eyes. There was some kind of instrumental object with bottles on strings and spatulas and spoons attached to a roller. When Sunny cranked the lever, it played an admittedly catchy tune that could go along great with a show designed for foals yet grown ups can still enjoy.

"Did you make all of this?" Zipp said, impressed.

"Yup!" Izzy nodded. "Unicycling. Isn't it funky?"

"It is gorgeous~" Pipp complimented in a singing voice while flapping her wings.

"I also made friendship bracelets" Izzy said as she pulled out a bowl with various bracelets, before remembering something, "Oh wait, wait, watch this, hold everything!" she yelled as she ran off and came back with some flower-like contraption, "I never got to use this with actual friends!"

The flower then opened up, revealing a teacup on each of the six petals and a teapot in the center.

"Ta-da!" Izzy said.

"Okay, that's cool," I said as me and the others were impressed at the unicorn's ingenuity.

"I so wished I had live-streamed that!" Pipp commented.

“We don’t have time for that right now.” Sunny said suddenly, apparently being the only one not impressed (talk about a killjoy), before explaining, "If we’re gonna get the information we need on the unicorn crystal, we can’t stick out like sore hooves. We need to look like unicorns.”

"Yay! Makeovers! I love makeovers!" Pipp cheered with joy.

"No, no... This is not what I signed up for," Zipp said, laughing nervously, as she is not a fan of makeovers and dressing up.

"Dudes, we don't need makeovers. We literally just have to cover our wings and wear fake horns," I deadpanned before turning to the lilac unicorn, "So Izzy, think you can do it?"

"A glow up?" Izzy asked, drinking some tea and then putting her cup down with a smirk, "Honey, you came to right cottage."






I thought Earth ponies were the pony ladder's bottom rung
I heard that pegasi were brutes, you'd hate to be among
You smell like fishes (you're vicious)
I bet you eat your young
Meet any one of you, the thing to do is run away



But although, I know we're all a bunch of different breeds
Take away our wings and horns, and we're just frightened steeds
So, let's put aside our differences just 'cause what we need's a win
Oh-oh-oh



Come on, rip out all the pages of your history books
Just because we're undercover doesn't mean we're crooks
When we walk, you through the crowd and give your brand-new looks a spin



You're gonna fit right in



This is a new low



You're gonna fit right in



It's never gonna work!
They taught us unicorns were super scary maniacs
With horns like razors and tongues like tasers and teeth like tacks
They take your hooves and then they grind them into midnight snacks
The basic gist of it is unicorns are not okay



Look, I know we're risking everything for this endeavor
But look at us, we're brave and strong and weird and clever
We're running out of options and we're desperate to begin



You're gonna fit right in



Ha-ha, if you say so



You're gonna fit right in



I know you will, now watch and learn



This is how a unicorn walks (walks)
And this is how a unicorn talks (talks)
This is how a unicorn hoops (hoops)
This is how a unicorn
Oops (oh, geez, stop!)



This is how a unicorn struts
Oh, watch you shake your unicorn butts
Now you're in the unicorn know (wow)
Soon, you'll be a unicorn pro



Oh, a unicorn horn makes a unicorn stride
It's the more-head on your forehead, it's the source of your pride
Every unicorn who's born, has worn a horn that's unique
So We’ll whip them up as we speak, you be lookin' très magnifique



We'll fake a pony protrusion
To make a bony illusion
It's not the perfect solution
But the world's not big on inclusion



And with those rocks in our pocket, we'll reap the reward
And folks'll be floored, we'll strike a new chord
Our magic restored



Lately, all of Equestria has lost its heart
But if we can help to find it, we should play our part



If we fail, we'll go to prison



But if not, we'll start to grin

So, let's begin



This is how a unicorn walks
This is how a unicorn talks
Now you're looking unicorn strong
This is how a unicorn ends this song




After an epic musical montage of crushing, killing, destroying, and swag, we were finally ready to head into Bridlewood itself. We all had these fake unicorn horns, and Zipp, Pipp, and I also wore these cloaks to hide our wings. I gotta give it to Izzy. She sure knows how to make a nice looking cloak. Not gonna lie, but the cloak made me feel...I don't know...elegant? Special?

Is this what being royalty feels like?

Anyways, not only did we look like unicorns, but we also know how to act like unicorns.

We now know how a unicorn walks.

How a unicorn talks.

How a unicorn hoops.

How a unicorn...oops.

How a unicorn struts.

How to shake our unicorn butts (don't ask).

Now we're in the unicorn know.

Now we're unicorn pros.

#UnicornSwag

After a while of more walking through this forest, we finally arrived to Bridlewood and found several giant and shiny crystals at the entrace.

"Ta-da! Crystals! Crystals! Crystals! Crystals!" Izzy exclaimed with a smile, pointing at several of them.

"She does know we’re looking for just the one, right?" Zipp asked jokingly.

"What does the unicorn crystal even look like?" I asked before joking, "Like a unicorn horn?"

"Yes, actually," Sunny responded.

"Oh..." I said, my joking face dropping a bit.

As Izzy continued running through the town and singing about crystals, we got a good look at the citizens.

And through them I can now see that Bridlewood...is depressing.

Everpony was moving so...sluggishly and had forlorn expressions on their faces. 

"Ow. Ow," said an elderly one that kept repeatedly getting hit on the head by apples. She made no effort to move and she just sounded so emotionless, as if the apples didn't actually bother her.

A couple of foals were playing with horseshoes, but with bored expressions and no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"Hey," somepony greeted another unicorn in a deadpan tone.

"Hey," the other unicorn replied, also in a deadpan tone.

On a nearby playground, a foal was sliding down a slide so slowly, another was on a swing but wasn't swinging and instead just laying on it, and a third one on a seesaw was barely putting in effort to make it move up and down due to them not having a partner to play with.

"Izzy grew up here?" I questioned, "This place is...sad."

I guess due to their magic disappearing, Bridlewood just, as Izzy would probably say, lost its sparkle.

"Well this is cheerful..." Hitch said sarcastically.

"These other unicorns seem so different than you," Sunny pointed out.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. My sparkle is a little to sparkly for Bridlewood," Izzy responded.

"How can you tell which ones are magic?" Hitch asked as he looked around.

"Oooh! You said a bad word!" the foal on the swing suddenly said dramatically, pointing at Hitch, "Hurry! Before we get jinxed!"

The other two foals stood up along with the first one before all started doing some kind of chant. The stretched up rump first before making a raspberry noise, and then they started to jump around in a sort of dance like manner.

"Bing bong bing, bing bong, bing bong, bing bong," the three chanted.

It was both very confusing that made question if there was something wrong these foals, and very funny that I had to struggle to hold in my laughter.

"Okay... I’m gonna need some context," Zipp requested as we all, sans Izzy, stared in confusion.

"Unicorns are very superstitious. If a pony ever says a forbidden word, we have to a ritual to ward off the jinxies," Izzy whispered, trying to keep a low profile about our fake identities.

"Jinxies?" Pipp questioned.

"Bad luck," Izzy continued.

"Forbidden words?" Hitch asked.

"Magic, wing, feather…oh, and mayonnaise," Izzy listed off.

"Wait, what?" I questioned upon hearing that last one.

"What's wrong with mayo—" Hitch tried to ask, but Izzy ran over and covered his mouth.

A nearby unicorn perked upon Hitch almost saying the word, but went back to normal and continued walking after a few seconds, to which Izzy let go of Hitch's mouth.

Jeez, I may not be a mayonnaise fan myself (in fact, I hate it), but never would I have imagined it being a forbidden word to say.

"Note to self: ask Izzy for some clarification," I mentally noted.

"Come on, there’s something I wanna show you!” Izzy said as she started trotting down the path.

We followed her and eventually reached a building that I honestly would've mistaken for a wall of leaves if it wasn't for the doors and the sign.

"The crystal tearoom?" Sunny read aloud.

"There’s a pony inside who collects crystals. Maybe he can help us!" Izzy explained.

"That’s great Izzy. Oh, and Hitch," Sunny leaned towards the stallion.

"I know, I know. No forbidden words," Hitch played off.

"Heh, you didn't say anything about me," I internally smirked, "So I will gladly say them whenever I want. But only if our cover gets blown, of course."

Are these forbidden words considered profanities?



Upon entering the tea room, the first thing we saw was, you guessed it, more depressed unicorns. Oh, and tea. Plenty of tea.

"Earth pony jinx, something stinks, Pegasus neighs…" a unicorn on the stage with a beret...sang?

"Poetry. You gotta love it."

"That’s the pony I was talking about" Izzy whispered, gesturing to a unicorn sitting by himself at a table, to which Sunny nodded and approached him.

"So, word in the forest is you collect crystals," Sunny said to the unicorn, which caused him to perk up.

"Yes! I do... Well, I mean I did. I lost them all in a limbo contest with… Alphabittle!" he exclaimed, and it doesn't take a psychologist to detect the fear in his voice as he said that.

"Oh no..." Izzy exclaimed, actually showing worry.

"Why am I kinda scared to ask who Alphabittle is?" I asked with a bit of worry myself.

Before Izzy could answer, a bell suddenly run, catching our attention over to the counter.

"Time's up! Pass it over, Jasper!" said a large, heavyset unicorn with a medium gray coat, dark gray hooves, freckles, and brown eyes. He also had a wispy white mane and tail, bushy eyebrows, sideburns, and a beard. The unicorn he was talking to was trying desperately to solve a Rubik's cube, but quickly gave up with a defeated sigh. The gray unicorn then grabbed the cube and quickly solved it in just a few seconds before slamming it on the counter and demanding, "Guess that makes me the winner...again. Pay up!" 

"...Fine," the defeated unicorn said before putting a glass jar with a festive tree inside and walking away.

"You could always try winning it back!" the gray unicorn called out, "All right, suit yourself."

"Holy... Now that right there is somepony that you do not wanna mess with," I whispered with a chuckle, but upon noticing Izzy's still worried expression... "That's Alphabittle, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Izzy sadly nodded.

"Aw nuts," I muttered.

"Wait, there it is!" Sunny exclaimed. I looked where she was looking and saw what had to be the unicorn crystal (it was actually shaped like a unicorn horn), "I’ve got an idea. Maybe I can beat Alphabittle at his own game."

"Wait," Izzy stopped Sunny in her tracks and warned, "Alphabittle can smell fear."

"Got it" Sunny nodded in response, then began walking over to the counter.

While Izzy was worried that Sunny had to face against this intimidating stallion, I myself was worried for another reason.

"Is it just me or do you guys feel that whatever Sunny's planning is a bad idea?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Zipp asked back.

"Well, think about it. You all saw what that unicorn had to do when he lost. He had to give up something of his. And Alphabittle said the he can always win it back. That means that when it comes to his games, we have to bet something that belongs to us, in which it's either a win or lose situation. And the only thing that we can really bet is..." I stopped in my explanation when we all saw Sunny using the pegasus crystal as an offering, "Oh no..."

We immediately ran over to Sunny and pulled her aside.

"What are you doing?!" Zipp asked with concern.

"Don't worry," Sunny shrugged off, "I could solve that cube puzzle in my sleep."

"But if he wins, we lose both crystals!" Pipp pointed out.

"We won't. Trust me," Sunny reassured, but I was still not convinced.

"Sunny, as somepony that played video games all his life, let me tell you something. The stakes will always be as high as the reward value," I advised.

"Um...what?" she asked with confusion.

"What I'm trying to say is that he's obviously not gonna make it as simple and easy for you to win when you're offering a special crystal that could help bring back magic," I warned.

"Izzy," Alphabittle called, "If your friend is finished stalling, do we have a deal?"

Sunny pondered for a second, but it seemed my persuasion didn't deter her as she just walked back to the big unicorn.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Sunny," I thought with a sigh.

"Deal," Sunny firmly stated, "Now give me that cube!"

One of the critters was about to give Sunny the cube, but Alphabittle quickly snatched it away, shaking his head.

"No, no, no, no, no. A special prize calls for a special competition," he said. As a random spotlight (not gonna ask where it came from) shined down on Alphabittle, he turned to the side and dramatically declared, "Bring forth the ultimate challenge!"

"The ultimate what now?" Sunny asked.

More spotlights revealed a large machine with colorful floorpads, flashing lights, and a title that reads: "Just Prance."

"A dancing game," Sunny deadpanned, "Seriously?"

"I knew it. Sunny, I hope you're good at dancing," I mentally sighed, "Expect for the worst, hope for the best, I guess."

"Both ponies agree. Best out of three," the unicorn on the stage announced.

"Let's make this more interesting. You only need to win one out of three," Alphabittle said with a cocky grin as he and Sunny took their place.

That actually made me have more faith in the apricot mare.

"Huh, maybe we have a chance after all," I thought with a bit of a smirk, "It's usually the cocky ones that lose...most of the time at least."





As the song began to play, the machine displayed a set of colorful horseshoes for the two ponies to follow in order to dance to the music. Sunny was...admittedly at a bad start as she started dancing late and was slow to follow the prompt, while Alphabittle was pretty much showing he was an expert as he racked up a high amount of points in no time.

Before long, the machine played a bell sound and declared Alphabittle the winner of the first round.

"Yeah!" Alphabittle hollered. "That's how you do it!"

"Yay," the unicorns spectating cheered, albeit dejectedly.

"I-It's okay!" Izzy reassured to Sunny, "You're just warming up!"

"Yeah. I-it's only the first round," I reassured as well.

"What can you do?" the stage unicorn asked, "Round two."

And with that, the two began in another dance off. Unfortunately, just like the previous round, Sunny was slow in her steps, and therefore falling behind, and therefore leading to Alphabittle winning once again.

"Yeah!" Alphabittle cheered, "Critters, get my crystal polish ready, would ya?"

"Well crap."

"Round three. Who will it be?" the poetry unicorn asked.

"Wait, what? I thought it was best of three. And that means first to tw—" I thought before shrugging, "You know what? I'm not complaining."

"Ohhh. Here goes nothing..." Sunny moaned, now getting very worried as it was all or nothing at this point.

"Hey!" Pipp called to Sunny. "You hear that, Sunny?" she gestured to the music playing in the background, kinda dancing along to it, "Feel the rhythm take you over. You feeling it?"

That seemed to motivate Sunny as she smiled and started to move her body along with the beat.

"Oh, I'm feelin' it. I'm feeling it!" she said, all pumped now.

"Yeah, you are, Sunny!" Pipp cheered, "Yeah, you do this, Sunny! Whoo!"

Initiate the final round. And like how most of any PvP matches go, Sunny, who started off on a rocky start, has suddenly become an expert and started to make an epic comeback, racking up points like there's no tomorrow. Until finally, she managed to surpass Alphabittle's score.

"Yes! She's doing it!" Hitch smiled, "She's doing it."

"You got this, Sunny!" I cheered.

Alphabittle, on the hoof, was feeling the pressure from his opponent suddenly surpassing him, and tried to dance as fast as possible. It was a close match, but the bell finally rung and declared Sunny as the winner!

"We won," Sunny said as she panted heavily, while Alphabittle and other spectators just stared in disbelief, "We won! WE ACTUALLY WON!"

"Yeah! Let's go, Sunny!" I cheered along with the others as we gathered around.

Everything was going our way for once...until Sunny's horn came flying off.
> Chapter 6: No Magic?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 6: No Magic?




Disguise ourselves as unicorns and infiltrate Bridlewood? Done.

Locate the unicorn crystal? Done.

Win a dancing game to win said crystal? Not part of the plan, but done.

Accidently expose our true identities in front of everypony? Definitely not part of the plan and now we're screwed because there's no talking our way out of this.

"An earth pony!" Alphabittle said in an intimidating tone.

Yep, the jig is up.

"Hmm. Maybe if the rest of us keep our disguises, we can—" I thought before I noticed that Zipp and Pipp were removing said disguises, "Okay, never mind."

"And pegasi!" Zipp spoke with confidence up as she, Pipp, and I took off our horns and cloaks to reveal our wings.

"And a unicorn...which you knew already!" Izzy stated.

"I know it doesn’t look like it, but we’re here to help," Sunny tried to reassure and ease the tension as the unicorns started to slowly advance.

You heard me say "tried," right?

"Help? We don't need help. Especially from ponies like you," Alphabittle stated firmly before demanding, "Give me the crystal!"

That made me frown.

"Um...no," I said firmly, "We won it fair and square."

"She tricked me," the unicorn complained with a snarl, "I hardly call that fair and square."

"Who cares if Sunny was only pretending to be a unicorn? It gave her no advantage whatsoever!" I said, starting to get irritated, "And besides, you were the one that said that she only had to win one round. Not her or me. You. So I suggest you step back and let us walk away with the crystals."

Like I said before, the cocky ones lose most of the time.

Me standing up for me and the others made Alphabittle chuckle a bit.

"Or what?" he asked, "I'm not afraid of you or your sister," I said, gesturing to Zipp who walked up a bit.

"She's not my sister," I deadpanned, "And as for what I'm gonna do..."

He's probably asking that because he's this big stallion that can take on anypony and anything, while I'm just a pegasus with an average height and build, and no fighting experience whatsoever.

And that is exactly true. He could take me down within a second.

I, however, just smirked.

Sometimes the best way to get past an enemy is the way that doesn't involve engaging them (if that makes sense).

I took a deep breathe, and...

"Magic, wing, feather, MAYONNAISE!" I yelled out.

And lo and behold, that did the trick.

"Bing! Bong! Bing, bong! Bing, bong!" chanted everypony in the room, including Alphabittle, as they did that little dance.

This time I couldn't help but chuckle. I mean, might as well, right?

"Go, go, go!" Sunny shouted as we all ran out of the building, taking the crystals with us.

"You'll pay for this!" Alphabittle shouted after us.

"Sorry about that!" Izzy apologized, "Thanks for the teas!"

"Good thinking, Neon!" Hitch said as we ran.

"Hey, Sunny never said that I couldn't say any forbidden words," I said.

Here's a fact about about me. I usually just do what I'm told. So if something or somepony doesn't say that I can't do something, then I'll gladly do it if I want to. As long as it isn't illegal, of course.

Anyways, we were getting closer and closer to getting out of Bridlewood, but stopped in our tracks when we heard the sound of leaves rustling. We were worried that it was just more unicorns that were intercepting our escape, but became surprised when it wasn't a unicorn.

It was instead Queen Haven, who looked a little dirty and exhausted (probably from treading through this forest).

"Mom?!" Zipp and Pipp exclaimed happily as they walked up to their mother.

"Oh, my darlings!" Queen Haven exclaimed with relief, "Thank hoofness!"

"You escaped!" Zipp smiled.

"How did you find us?" Pipp asked.

The bushes rustled once again, and Cloudpuff came running out with a badge in his mouth and jumping onto Hitch, knocking him to the ground.

"Ah! My badge! Yes!" Hitch exclaimed with relief as held up the badge in victory.

"A blessing in disguise, I suppose."

"Oh, I'm so glad I found my little fillies," Queen Haven said, turning back to her daughters, "Now, I know that if you just come back with me, we can explain everything. Spin the story, and they'll love us again, r-right?"

"...Yeah, I don't think that's gonna work in the slightest," I thought to myself as I walked up.

"Oh Neon," Queen Haven said before pulling me into a hug, "Thank you so much for helping Pipp. I don't know what I would've done if any of my daughters wound up in prison."

"...Um, no problem," I said as she let go of me, "How did you even escape from the ZH prison anyway?"

"Oh, she had some help," a voice called out.

We all turned towards the bushes and saw another mare coming out of them. She was around the same age as the Queen (about 2 or 3 years younger to be specific), had a light gray coat, dark gray hooves, bronze colored eyes with crow's feet underneath them, hot pink feathers, and a medium length mane and tail that were mainly hot pink but had a few light pink streaks.

Everypony, meet Orchid Light, aka...

"Mom?" I exclaimed with a smile as I walked up to the mare and hugged her, "Y-you're here as well? How? Why?"

"Well, I wasn't about to leave Haven in jail," she said, which makes sense considering that she and Queen Haven have been friends for as long as I have been with Pipp and Zipp. But then her face and tone became stern, "And I just had to see my son after he became a criminal just to save his friend."

That made me kind of nervous. I mean, can you blame me? She is my mom after all. Anypony would feel the same if their mom was talking to them like that.

"Um...I mean..." I stammered before sighing, "I'm sorry Mom. I just—"

She interrupted me by laughing.

"Oh, sweetie. There's no need to apologize," she reassured, "I'm proud of you for sticking up for those that you care abo—"

She in turn got interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps coming our way. We all turned and saw the unicorns angrily running towards us before stopping.

"Oh no," I mumbled.

I guess they got done doing their whole ritual to get rid of the so called jinxies.

"Let us explain!" Sunny tried pleading with them, but another voice spoke up.

"There they are!" Zoom shouted as she and a bunch of other ZH guards showed up, "Your criminal highness! You're coming with us for lying to the kingdom and being a false queen! And you ma'am..." she shouted, pointing at my mom, "...are under arrest for helping a fugitive escape!"

"...Oh, right," my mom said nervously with a sheepish smile, "We may or may not have been followed this entire time."

"You think?!"

"Ah! Unicorns!" Thunder screamed, then with a panic, threw a tennis ball at Alphabittle, who just frowned and wasn't phased by it at all.

"Give me back my crystals and leave Bridlewood!" Alphabittle demanded.

"Your crystals? That crystal belongs to me!" Haven spoke up in response.

“Not anymore, it doesn’t! I won it fair and square.” Alphabittle lied.

"No, that is a lie!" I spoke up this time.

"Hah! I certainly doubt it!" Haven scoffed. "Unicorns are known to be cheaters!"

"You Pegasi always thought you were better than us!" Alphabittle glared.

"Hey, that's our queen you're talking to!" one of the ZH guards shouted.

"She's not a queen here!" one of the unicorns shouted back.

"Who do you think you are?!" the pegasus guard asked.

"We're gonna zap you with our horns!" the unicorn retaliated with a bluff, as another joined in the scuffle. "This is our land! You're not welcome here!"

This ridiculous back and forth bickering was becoming tiring to listen to now. And little bit brain aneurysm inducing. 

Now I'm usually a calm and level-headed pony, and after getting in many, many stupid arguments while playing video games (seriously, what kind of grown up whines like a baby about a non-meta perk/tool helping their opponent to win a game?!), I'm more or less able to tolerate them.

But this...this isn't over a video game. This is real life.

Something about this whole situation is just...making me not want to just sit on the sidelines and spectate with a bucket of popcorn.

"Surrender the crystal, or we'll use our powers against you!" Alphabittle threatened, which again, was a total bluff.

"I'd like to see you try!" Queen Haven challenged.

At that moment, something in me just...snapped. It felt like...I just had to stand up and cease this bickering.

"EVERYPONY SHUT UP!!!" I yelled out, gaining everypony's attention, including looks of surprise from my mom, Pipp, and Zipp. Normally, I’m not comfortable with having this much attention on me (I'm starting to get weak knees again), but it feels as if I just have to say something. I cleared my throat before saying, "Sorry. Look, I get it. You're all wary of each other because of what we were taught when we young. But ever since I met Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch, they have shown me nothing but kindness!... Well, Hitch was a little bit wary, but he eventually warmed up to us! So if we were all taught to fear the other pony tribes, then explain how three pegasi managed to befriend two earth ponies and a unicorn in the span of two or so days," I practically demanded, but I just continued before somepony could answer, "We have done nothing wrong to indicate that we're hostile in any way. All we're doing is trying to restore magic to Equestria."

I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't even realize I didn't stutter once that entire rant.

"Bing bong!" a random unicorn shouted.

"Look..." I sighed, "I believe...no...I know that we can all live together in harmony if we just try instead of being guided by rumors that we don't even know whether or not are true."

"Is it possible?"

"Did he just say 'magic?'"

"This is a trick."

"I know it sounds unbelievable," Sunny stepped up, "But...just let us try."

"Please mom," Pipp pleaded to Queen Haven.

"Trust us," Zipp said.

Queen Haven hesitated, stuttering over her words, before coming to a decision.

"Fine," she said with a sigh.

I turned my head back to Sunny and Izzy, and then smiled and nodded to them. The two mares got the message and took out the pegasus and unicorn crystals.

"You're wasting your time, kid," Alphabittle said.

"Ready Izzy?" Sunny asked.

"Ready!" Izzy nodded.

I, along with everypony else present, watched in anticipation as Sunny and Izzy proceeded to join the two crystals together.

And even if nothing happens in the end, then it's okay in the long run. It's better to have tried and failed then to have never tried at all.

It's all about taking a leap of faith.

Sunny and Izzy had excited faces as they finally put the two crystals together, showing that they fit perfectly.

And then...nothing.

Nothing happened.

There was no magical explosion, no shimmering or sparkling sounds, or even a simple glow.

There was nothing.

My ears drooped down at this and my face fell.

"It...it..." Sunny stammered in distraught.

"Why didn't it work, daddy?" a unicorn colt asked. I turned my head a bit to see his saddened expression.

"Cause it was all just make-believe," his father answered sadly.

"We can try it again!" Sunny pleaded desperately, "Maybe...maybe w-we did it wrong somehow!"

But nopony wanted to hear any of it, as they all (except for me, the others, Queen Haven, Alphabittle, and my mom) slowly turned and started to walk away.

"Wait...wait, don't go!" Sunny pleaded as she repeatedly took the crystals apart and put them back together, hoping for a different outcome, "Oh, come on...work...work! Please work! Come on!"

Hitch walked up to the saddened mare and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"Sunny," Sheriff Hitch comforted, "It's okay. You did everything you could."

"I...I thought it would work..." Sunny sobbed, looking up to the stallion, "I was so, so sure of it."

I sat down on my haunches in defeat.

We...failed.

I know I said that it's best to try and fail...but no matter what, failure can still be painful to experience.

"What do we do now?" Zipp asked in sadness.

Apparently accepting defeat, Sunny sadly walked up to Alphabittle and gave him the unicorn crystal, before giving the pegasus crystal to Queen Haven.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you," Sunny apologized.

"Sunny! We can’t give up!" Pipp spoke up, making Sunny to stop and turn around to look at us.

"I thought that I could make a difference," Sunny cried, glancing at the unicorn colt as he was walking away, "But everywhere I go, I just make things worse."

"That’s not true! We’re all in this together, right?” Izzy asked as she glanced at us, and we all nodded in agreement.

Well...everypony except for me.

I wanted to nod in agreement as well. I wanted to speak up to cheer Sunny up. I wanted to at least smile. Anything to reassure her that things will be okay.

But I didn't. I just sat there with the same upset face that Izzy had last night.

"I'm so sorry I let you all down," Sunny apologized as she began walking away.

Hitch sighed and began following her, but then turned to face us.

"I guess this is goodbye…friends," he said.

"You better hurry, sheriff" Zipp said with sadness, to which the stallion continued to walk away.

As the two earth ponies continued to walk away in defeat, I slowly got up and started to walk in a random direction into the forest.

"Neon, where are you going?" my mom asked out of concern, making me stop in my tracks.

"...I just...need to be alone right now," I said, not even turning to look at her, before walking further into the forest.



After a few minutes of aimless walking, I finally stopped in my tracks and sat against a tree. I looked up towards the sky and started to...look back on everything that we all went through.

Pipp, Zipp, and Queen Haven got exposed for their lies and became criminals.

I helped Pipp escape, my mom helped Queen Haven escape, which resulted in both of us becoming a criminal as well.

We all (sans my mom) caused a ruckus in Bridlewood and almost got mobbed on by a crowd of unicorns.

And for what?

Nothing!

We did all of this crazy stuff for nothing!

...

Well...it wasn't exactly for nothing—

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps approaching me.

I looked at where they were coming from and saw Pipp, Zipp, and Izzy.

"Hey," I greeted with a small smile.

"Hey," Pipp greeted back as she and the other two mares sat down as well.

"You okay, dude? Your mom's concerned about you," Zipp said.

"I know. I'm fine though. I just needed some time to think," I answered before looking at Izzy, "What are you doing here? Aren't you gonna go back Bridlewood?"

"Well...yeah, but..." Izzy stammered sadly before saying, "...I didn't want to leave before saying goodbye to you all."

"Heh. This isn't goodbye. It's just goodbye till next time," I said with a bit of a chuckle as I looked to the ground, but when I didn't hear anypony else chuckling or sounds of agreement, I looked back at Izzy to see her, along with Pipp and Zipp, with saddened expressions, "There's...gonna be a next time, right?"

"I'm...afraid not," Pipp said sadly, "Zipp and I couldn't convince mom to let us visit Bridlewood or Maritime Bay."

"And I couldn't do the same with Alphabittle," Izzy said sadly as well, "So...I guess is it."

My smile fell at this.

I wish they were just screwing with me right, but no. They were serious.

We won't even be able to see Sunny, Izzy, or Hitch again.

They...they were the ones that made this adventure so good.

Not only that I befriended ponies that weren't pegasi, but...before I met them...Pipp and Zipp were the only friends I've ever had.

And just the thought of never seeing them again made me wanna scream.

But then I realized.

Other than Queen Haven and Alphabittle...nothing's really stopping me.

"You know what?" I spoke up before looking at the others with determination, "I don't care."

"What?" Pipp asked.

"I don't care if Queen Haven or Alphabittle isn't allowing us to see Izzy, Sunny, or Hitch ever again! I'll just see you all anyway!" I exclaimed, looking at Izzy, "You all are what made this adventure so awesome! So if I have to sneak into and around Bridlewood and Maritime Bay just to see you all again...then I'll gladly do it! Because I'm not gonna be denied from seeing my friends! Whether anypony else likes it or not!"

After a few seconds of silence, Zipp finally spoke her thoughts.

"Then let's go," she said with a smile as she stood up.

"What? Go where?" Pipp asked.

"To Maritime Bay! Let's go see our friends again!" Zipp responded.

"But what about—?" Pipp tried to ask as she stood up, but her sister interrupted her.

"I know what mom said, but I don't care either!" she said.

"And neither do I!" Izzy exclaimed as she stood up.

"...Okay, fine. I wanna stay friends too," Pipp admitted after a few seconds.

I smiled at how everypony wanted to stick together.

"Well then, I guess we should get going," I said as I stood up, "Izzy, mind showing us the way to Maritime Bay?"

Hey that rhymed.

"You betcha!" Izzy said with glee before she started running off.

As we all followed the energetic unicorn, I glanced to the two pegasus sisters.

"Oh, Pipp? Zipp?" I said, getting their attention, "I uh...I forgive you for...lying to me about being able to fly. I understand you were just trying to make me feel safe."

The two sisters smiled at this.

As we were running towards Maritime Bay, we happened to pass by Queen Haven, Alphabittle, and my mom.

"Izzy!" Alphabittle called out, "Where are you going?"

"Pipp? Zipp?" Queen Haven called after her daughters.

"Neon!" my mom called for me, "Get back here!"

"Sorry Mom!" I called back without any of us stopping.

Maritime Bay, here we come!
> Chapter 7: Welcome to Maritime Bay
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 7: Welcome to Maritime Bay




Sunny felt hollow the entire time she and Hitch walked back to Maritime Bay. All her life, Sunny believed that magic could back to Equestria, and that all of the pony tribes could become friends once again. 

It was her dream.

It was her father's dream.

And when Sunny discovered a chance to fulfill that, she was ecstatic.

But now?

She felt like she was nothing more than a failure.

The moment the crystals were collected and nothing happened? Everything she believed. Everything she held true. It all came falling apart.

As the two earth ponies came to the intersection between Maritime Bay and the lighthouse, the apricot mare began to walk towards the latter.

Hitch wanted to say something. Anything to tell her that everything's going to be okay. Anything cheer up his foalhood friend.

"I'm right here if you need to talk, Sunny," was all he said. The mare looked back at him, but then turned and continued walking without saying anything. Realizing that she needed some space, Hitch sighed in defeat and proceeded to walk towards Maritime Bay, planning on making sure that his deputy didn't cause any trouble while he was away.

Meanwhile, Sunny entered the lighthouse, her home. She then proceeded to pack up old toys, artifacts, and pretty much anything about ancient Equestria. Since magic didn't return, she felt like there was no need to hang on to them. It broke her heart to do considering the fact that she and her father worked on them together before he...moved on to a better place.

Sunny then looked at the wall next to the door and saw a picture of her as a filly and a stallion with light blue fur, a royal blue mane with white and purple streaks, and purple eyes.

"I miss you, Dad," Sunny solemnly thought to herself as she stared at the picture.

Sunny's saddened state only intensified when she went up to the second floor and started to store more memorabilia from Equestria's past. Suddenly, she noticed a symbol under the crystal ball of the lighthouse, which had the shape of the unicorn and pegasus crystals, but with a circle in the middle.

A shaft of sunlight then entered the room, and Sunny suddenly found herself surrounded by shapes of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies dancing and flying around the room.

The apricot mare followed the path of light, and saw a lamp that she instantly recognizes as something her father made for her when she was a filly. As she inspected the lamp, she noticed a circle shaped crystal that was installed into it. She picked it up and stared at it.

That's when something occurred to her.

Going back to the symbol she found, she placed the crystal in the center of it.

It was a perfect fit.



After running for what felt like half of Equestria, we eventually reached a sign that read "Welcome to Maritime Bay." We all then stopped and started to catch our breathes from running so far.

"Oh...boy..." I wheezed, "Note to self: next time...we run for such a long distance...bring water bottles...Oh I'm so tired."

"I really need to start working out more. And while I'm at it...lay off the chips."

"At...least...we finally made it," Izzy wheezed as well.

"Yeah...after almost 2 hours...of running...most of the time," Pipp wheezed as she collapsed onto her haunches.

Zipp, on the hoof, didn't look like she was about to collapse from exhaustion. Can't really be jealous considering that she's a total athlete.

Our small moment of relaxation was interrupted when we suddenly explosions coming from Maritime Bay. We looked up and saw fireworks lighting up the sky.

"Fireworks?" Zipp asked.

"Oh! There must be a party going on!" Izzy exclaimed excitedly before she gasped, "You think it's meant to welcome us all to Maritime Bay?!"

"I honestly doubt it. I'm pretty sure there's just some celebratory event going on," I said after finally catching my breathe, "Come on. Let's go find a couple of earth ponies."

We continued to run forward into Maritime Bay, hoping that finding our friends would be a breeze.

And sure enough, it was.

"Sunny!" Izzy shouted as she looked out into the distance, causing us all to stop.

Upon looking where the unicorn mare was looking, we all saw Sunny and Hitch running towards us from the horizon. We ran up to the two earth ponies, meeting them halfway.

"What are you all doing here?" Sunny asked.

"We don't care what anypony says!" Izzy answered.

"Yeah. We just wanna stay friends," Zipp added.

"Pipp! Zipp!" a voice called out.

We all turned our heads and saw my mom running up to us, along with Queen Haven (and a few of her guards) and Alphabittle.

"Crap. Forgot they were following us."

"I know you're upset, darlings, my sweet little darlings," Queen Haven said as Alphabittle and my mom stopped beside her, "But it's time to come home now."

"Izzy Moonbow! You're gonna get us all jinxed!" Alphabittle warned, "Come back to Bridlewood!"

"Excuse me!" Queen Have huffed was sass, "Do you see my mouth still moving? That means I'm still a-talking!"

"Stop it! Both of you!" my mom said before looking at me with a twinge of sadness, "Neon, I understand if you wanna stick with your friends, but—"

"You're all in danger!" Sunny suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Queen Haven, Alphabittle, and my mom asked.

"I'm sorry?" I thought with confusion, "Did she just say that we're in—"

Suddenly, a loud horn blared in the air, drawing all of our attention to the source. Driving up to us (and causing dirt to get in my eyes) was some sort of large machine that moved like a vehicle and was shaped like an earth pony. Marching beside said robot was a squad of earth ponies wearing these weird hats with antennas on them.

"Okay? This looks...inviting," I thought glancing back towards the huge machine, "Gotta say, though, the robot is pretty impressive at first glance. It's like something from a videogame."

"Would you look at this? Our enemies delivered themselves to us!" the driver of the machine exclaimed with a bit of smugness. He was red, had a slicked back, blonde mane, and green eyes.

"Wait, enemies?"

"No, no, no," Queen Haven stepped up, trying to be peaceful, "We're not here to fight, Mr. Big Robot Pony."

I said the word "trying," right?

"I do not accept your surrender!" the stallion exclaimed with a scoff, "Load the Splat-a-pults!"

None of the other of the other earth ponies listened to him, however, and instead chose to run away.

"Why do I have to do everything myself?!" the robot complained with frustration before an arm extended out from its front.

"Um...I have feeling that this is bad," I commented.

"We have to stop that thing!" Zipp exclaimed.

"But how?" Izzy asked.

"We break into the cockpit and take down the stallion head on. Don't fight the armor, but rather the pony inside," I advised, "I learned that from TV."

"Or we use magic!" Sunny said before turning towards Queen Haven and Alphabittle.

"That works too," I commented, but I mostly say that because I really don't wanna fight a giant pony-operated robot.

"Quick! I need your crystals!" Sunny said to Queen Haven Alphabittle.

The two glanced at each other before giving the apricot mare their crystals without any argument.

"There's a third crystal!" Sunny exclaimed, catching us by surprise, "Follow me!"

"Wait, what?" I shouted as Sunny started to run towards some lighthouse in the distance, to which me and the others followed. As we were running, I asked the apricot mare, "Sunny, what do you mean there's a third—"

I stopped as a thought just struck my mind.

We found two crystals. The pegasus crystal and the unicorn crystal.

There's three pony tribes. Pegasi, unicorns, and...earth ponies.

"Holy crap. I feel stupid now," I deadpanned.

There's an earth pony crystal.

I feel like that if this was some sort of movie, then this would be a plot point that's highly predictable and that the viewers are just waiting for the characters to discover for themselves.

As we ran to the lighthouse, I heard the sound of an engine from behind us. I looked back and saw the giant machine following us.

"I've gotta reign that thing in!" Hitch exclaimed as decided to face the machine head on.

"I've got your back, Hitch!" Zipp said as she too turned around.

"Same here!" I said as I turned as well while Sunny, Izzy, and Pipp went into the lighthouse, presumably to look for the third crystal.

Huh. I guess I am gonna fight a giant pony-operated robot.

"Who the heck is this pony anyway?" I asked as Zipp leapt onto the machine, and then grabbing Hitch and I's hoof one at a time to lift us up.

"Deputy Sprout," Hitch answered, "I left him in charge while I hunted down Sunny. I guess the power went to his head."

"Deputy?!" I shouted in shock, "He works with you?! And you earth pony law enforcers use giant robots?! Because that's actually awesome!"

"Now's not the time to go all fan pony, Neon!" Zipp exclaimed, making me shut up.

Oh, right.

Also this feels like I'm fighting the final boss that never shows up until the very end of a videogame.

I really hate when that happens.

Before we could do anything, the robot crashed into the lighthouse, making it crumble and shake. Hitch, Zipp, and I jerked forward a bit due to the inertia.

"Whoa! What the heck?! Is this dude crazy?!" I exclaimed due to the fact that our friends were in the building.

"SPROUT! STOP!" Hitch shouted as the robot started to back up slowly, getting ready to attack again. The three us managed to climb up further onto the robot.

Wanting this madness to stop for sake of my friends' safety, I climbed onto the head and hung onto it in front of the visor where I could see the red stallion. Now you know already that I'm not athletic, so saying that I was struggling to hang onto something with just my forehooves would be an understatement. I was hoping that I wouldn't lose my grip.

"What are you doing?! Are you insane?!" I shouted.

"What does it look like I'm doing?! I'm trying to stop you pesky pegasi and unicorns from getting back magic!" Sprout shouted back.

"But there's ponies in there!" I exclaimed, glancing back to the lighthouse.

"Yeah, ponies that are siding with the enemy!" he countered, "Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to protect your hometown."

That actually almost shut me up. I mean, I couldn't exactly blame him for wanting to protect the town where he grew up.

I said "almost," right?

"But we're not your enemy. We just wanna bring friendship and harmony back. And the first step to doing that is bringing back magic," I explained, "I understand that you were taught to fear us and that you wanna protect your town, but have you actually met a pegasus or a unicorn before all this? I admit, I was also a little wary when I met Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy, but I the more I got to know them, I more I realized that they're not at all what I was taught as a colt. You just have to give us a cha—"

I was interrupted when the robot's suddenly jerked to the side, causing me to fling off and luckily fall back onto the platform that I was just on.

"Ugh. I don't even know why I'm listening to a pegasus," Sprout complained.

"Well, I tried..." I said as Zipp helped me up.

"How dare he interrupt my inspiring speech?"

Something nagged me at the back of my mind in regards to what I said, though.

The first step to bringing back friendship is bringing back magic?

I don't know why, but something about that statement just made me...unsure?

My milli-second long train of thought was interrupted when out of the robot's flanks came these...carousel thingies...that then started to launch these green globs.

"Um...what are—" I was about to ask, but stopped as I saw that they were actual globs that splattered wherever they land, "Well...at least they're not solid hard objects." 

"Also does he not realize that one of them is shooting the wrong way?" I thought as I stared at the...Splat-a-pult...that was shooting in the complete opposite direction and therefore at the ponies behind us as they all scrambled around in order to dodge them.

The robot suddenly lurched forward again, causing us to stumble and for Hitch to almost to almost fall into the spinning Splat-a-pult.

"Hitch!" Zipp shouted in alarm as she and I grabbed his hooves and pulled him back.

"Holy crap!" I shouted.



Meanwhile, on the upper floor of the lighthouse, Sunny, Izzy, and Pipp were trying to put the three crystals together. However, the robot crashing into the lighthouse caused the crystals to launch around the room and for the ponies to lose them.

Sunny luckily kept her grip on the pegasus crystal, and Pipp managed to find the earth pony crystal and toss it to the apricot mare.

"Got it!" Sunny said as she caught the crystal and placed it on the pedastal, "We need the unicorn crystal!"

"I'm looking! I'm looking!" Izzy exclaimed as she looked around the room, but she finally found it in the corner of the room, "Found it!"

Another crash shook the whole room, and Izzy suddenly lost her grip. The crystal bounced across the room and came close to falling off of the balcony. 

Meanwhile, Pipp just so happened to be standing on the elevator, which came loose from its hinges due to the crash. The pink pegasus screamed as the elevator suddenly started to fall towards the first floor, but luckily for her, it stopped before it could impact the ground.

"I'm okay!" Pipp called reassuringly as she stepped off the elevator and proceeded to exit the lighthouse.

Knowing that their friend was focus, the two remaining mares continued to focus on their mission.

Izzy turned and hopped to the balcony in order to grab the crystal. However, due to crashes making the platform unstable, Izzy's sudden weight caused it to collapse.



We all turned our heads to the sounds of the building collapsing and a scream. Our eyes widened when we saw Izzy hanging from the balcony on the top floor.

"We need to shut these down!" Zipp exclaimed, referring to the Splat-a-pult that was still shooting those green globs.

"No duh!"

My eyes noticed a screw that was most likely keeping the Splat-a-pult connected to the robot.

"Guys, hang on to me!" I said as I laid down on my stomach and reached for the screw. I felt Zipp's and Hitch's hooves hold me down as I started to pull on the screw. After a dozen seconds of heavy pulling, I finally managed to remove the screw...but I immediately regretted it as the Splat-a-pult went flying and crashed into the lighthouse, nearly hitting Izzy.

"Okay! That was a bad idea!" Hitch said with some fear.

"Oh my gosh. I almost..." I thought with widened eyes out of extreme guilt. If Izzy, one of the sweetest ponies I've ever met, was hanging just a foot or two to the right, I could've—

I shook my head my at the dark thoughts.

"Keep it together, Neon," I thought to myself, despite still feeling the guilt. "She's alright. That's all that matters."

"Sprout! Let's put the toy away!" a voice called out. 

I carefully stood up and peaked over the edge and saw a light peach pink earth pony mare with a golden blonde mane and tail, as well as glasses and a pearl necklace.

"Mommy, please! I'm in the middle of something!" Sprout complained to the mare that was running beside the robot.

"Mommy?!"

He still refers to his mom as "mommy?!"

"You come down from there right now!" she demanded.

"But, Mommy... I'm. In. CHAAAAARGE!" Sprout yelled, while putting his machine at max speed...only for his mom to step in front of it.

"I...said...STOP!" she yelled.

Panicking, Sprout immediately swerved the machine out of the way of his mom, which caused Zipp and Hitch to fall off. I, however, managed to keep a steady grip onto the robot's head.

Now you'd think that swerving out of the way for somepony would make a speeding robot fall down, but nope.

It still managed to stay on course of crashing into the lighthouse, but this time at full speed.

You see kids, when a heavy object hits another object while at high velocity, that equals a higher force, resulting in higher destruction.

#BasicScience

...

Oh crap.

"Sunny! Izzy!" I yelled as the crash resulted in more cracks to form, and then the top of the lighthouse to start collapsing.



The top of the lighthouse collapsing caused the two mares to fall to the ground and starting sliding towards the open doorway to the balcony.

But Sunny was determined.

Using all of her strength, she climbed over to the pedestal where two of the crystals were connected, and added the unicorn crystal, and therefore the last piece of the puzzle.

...

Nothing happened.

No flash of light. No magical surge. No glow.

"It...it didn't work," Izzy said as she and Sunny stared at the connected crystals in sadness.



As the lighthouse continued to collapse, I realized that I should probably get out of the way.

"OH SH—" I yelled as I turned, ran, and leaped off of the robot. 

I rolled onto the ground (thankfully it was grass) like one those badass action heroes from movies. The only problem was that I'm not an action hero at all, so my roll wasn't really perfect, but whatever.

As I laid on the ground, I looked up in time to see the lighthouse finally collapse onto the ground, releasing a cloud of dust which prompted to turn my head away and shut my eyes.
> Chapter 8: The Return of Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 8: The Return of Magic




As the dust finally dissipated, I lifted my head up and saw that the lighthouse was now in pieces.

"Holy..." I thought before I got up and went closer to the destroyed building. Much to my relief, I saw Sunny and Izzy getting up from the debris, mostly unscathed aside from a couple of scratches.

"Are you two alright?" I still asked as I approached them.

"Yeah, we're fine," Sunny answered glumly before looking up at the destroyed lighthouse with a saddened expression, "But...my home..."

"O-oh..." I muttered at that. I felt sympathy for the mare. I'm sure it's not easy to lose your home like that. Despite probably knowing the answer already, I still asked, "The crystals? Did they...?"

Sunny only shook her head at that.

"Crap. Just when we thought we finally had it, it turned out to be a dud instead," I thought turned and looked at all of the ponies around us, "It's amazing what this whole thing has led to."

I find it...funny on how I got here in the first place.

An earth pony and unicorn show up one day.

My friends get exposed as liars.

I become a criminal for helping one of those said liars.

I meet earth ponies and a unicorn.

I connect with those ponies until I see them as friends.

I chose to run away to stay with those friends.

And now I just fought a robot controlled by a crazy earth pony.

Looking around the area, I saw ponies of all types. Pegasi from Zephyr Heights, unicorns from Bridlewood, and earth ponies from Maritime Bay. All getting up after this whole disaster. I even saw a few ponies helping each other up, even if they were different pony types.

"Heh. I bet this was Sunny's dream. Ponies of all types here and coming...together..." I thought before having some kind of...epiphany. I don't know. It's been nagging at the back of my mind. I also think I was feeling a sense of...doubt? Skepticism?

I don't know. It's whatever.

I turned to the apricot mare.

"What if...what if we were going about this the wrong way? I mean, just look around you," I said, gesturing to all the ponies and our friends, "All of these ponies that are here because of our whole journey. The friends we've made despite the fact that we were taught to fear the other tribes," I continued before asking, "Sunny, what if isn't the crystals that need to be brought together?"

If I was being honest...I was kind of just speaking my mind. But...you have to admit it does make you think. If putting the three crystals didn't work, then either they were completely defective...or they needed some sort of spark.

Like a phone needing electricity in order to work.

Like a candle needing a flame in order to light up.

You get what I'm trying to say.

After a few seconds of looking around, Sunny became less dejected and smiled as it was her turn to have an epiphany.

"I...I understand now," she said for everypony to hear before explaining, "It's us. We can bring back everything that was lost, but it's up to us. We can stay separated by fear and distrust... Or, we can choose friendship... We can choose love... That's the true magic."

While the ponies around us looked at Sunny with surprise, me and the others looked at her with smiles. Looking back, we all did manage to become friends with each other without magic or wanting to fight each other. 

I...I think I understand now too.

The magic doesn't bring back friendship.

Friendship brings back the magic.

I guess you can say...friendship is magic.

...

I should trademark that.

Sunny walked over to a broken picture frame with a picture of her when she was a filly and what I assume to be her father, and most likely feeling sad considering that he isn't here. Then, Queen Haven walked over to her and slowly pushed the left wooden frame in place, then looked at Sunny and smiled. Alphabittle was the next to approach, and fixed the right frame. Last came the pink earth pony, who replaced the top of the frame in place.

They all smiled at us, which in turn made us smile and look at each other.

In the corner of my vision, I noticed lights shining from the rubble. I turned my head and saw the three crystals floating out before they moved towards Sunny and started to swirl around her.

"What the?" Sunny exclaimed, "What's going on? What's happening?"

What happened next was truly magical. Like something from a video game.

Sunny started to float up into the air, the crystals still swirling around her, before she grew golden-colored and transparent wings and a horn. Additionally, a rainbow line started to form on her mane, adding some extra flair to the magical glow-up.

"Woah," I muttered.

The rest of us, and I'm sure the other ponies watching, were all amazed at the sight.

But that wasn't all that happened.

After the magical glow-up that Sunny had, the crystals suddenly came together, and let out a rainbow ring that lit up the night sky and filled it with colors.

The sudden light show made us close our eyes for moment, but when we opened them, Izzy started to squeal with excitement as her horn started to light up.

"Woah, that's—"

My thoughts were interrupted as I noticed my wings were glowing, along with Zipp's and Pipp's. Naturally, we stretched them out and flapped them to see what would happen, and then we actually started flying!

As in lifting off of the ground type of flying!

"Woah...this is awesome!" I exclaimed happily as we flapped our wings and took to the sky.

"We're actually flying!" Pipp exclaimed.

The feeling is...surreal. All my life I've just been stuck to the ground, but I'm...I mean, we're actually flying for the first time ever! Having my hooves off of the ground. The wind blowing through my mane. 

I feel so...free!

This is amazing!

"Whoa, Sunny!" Zipp exclaimed as we met up with the apricot mare in the sky "Check you out!"

"What?" Hitch exclaimed as we landed on the ground, still surprised by Sunny's new appearance.

"I can't believe it!" Sunny smiled.

"Now that's what I call a glow-up!" Izzy pointed.

"Wings and a horn? Awesome!" I complimented.

"Hey look!" Pipp said, pointing up to the sky and the vast rainbow ring traveling through it.



In Bridlewood, the unicorns were still vey depressed, but as soon as their horns started to glow, they immediately became happy.

"Daddy! Daddy! The magic is real!" a unicorn exclaimed happily as he ran to his dad.

Even the crystals scattered throughout the village glowed with the return of magic, as the unicorns were still becoming happy.



In Zephyr Heights, the pegasi were happily flying around, as if they didn't care about anything else, since they were having the time of their lives with their abilities.



Maritime Bay.

A beautiful small town that overlooked the sea. The buildings weren't grandiose or tiny, but were about the size you would expect in a beach town.

Not to mention that there were plenty of damages due to Deputy Sprout. Er...should I say former deputy.

But none of that matter, however.

Everywhere you looked, you could see ponies clean up the place and befriend one another despite their differences. Young foals from different tribes were being foals and running around, playing and laughing together. The usual.

"Aw, you made a new friend!" Queen Haven cooed to Cloudpuff as he was happily playing with an earth pony foal.

"Hi there, buddy!" Alphabittle greeted a young earth pony colt, who stared at him in awe.

Meanwhile, Hitch and some earth ponies were working on getting a trolley, back up on its wheels. Well...they would've, but instead they stared in awe as Izzy and a couple of other unicorns used their magic to levitate the trolley back onto its place.

In front of a movie theater, Zipp and a bunch of other ponies were striking a pose in a group photo that Pipp took with her phone.

"Stunning~" the pink pegasus complimented with a flap of her wings.

"Mommy? Was I a good sheriff?" Sprout asked his mom in the way a little foal would.

"U-um, uhhhh..." his mom stuttered nervously before pointing off in a random direction, "Look! A flying dog!"

When the red stallion turned to look, his mom simply and quickly walked away. When Sprout looked back and noticed, he simply put on a face saying he was done.

Yeah. Something tells me he's gonna have to start looking for a new job...after his punishment, of course.

And then there's me.

There I was leaning against the railings at the edge of the bay, looking out into the bright blue sea and the sky filled with so many colors. After all, I've never seen the sea before in my entire life. You know...due to living in a metropolitan city in the clouds. 

I closed my eyes and smelled just how fresh the blowing air was.

"Hey, sweetie."

I turned and saw my mom joining my side in staring at the sea with a smile.

"Hey, mom," I greeted with a smile as well.

"It's a nice view, isn't it?" she asked.

"It really is. Video games and TV shows have absolutely nothing on the real deal," I commented, "You know it's crazy. This whole thing started when all I wanted to do was help out a friend, but I never thought I would end up helping bring magic and friendship to all of Equestria."

"...I was scared, you know?" my mom said. I turned to her and saw that her face fell a bit, "When it was broadcasted on the news that you were a wanted pony? It...it scared me. The thought of my baby ending up in a jail cell? I couldn't stand the thought of it. But..." she continued before smiling a bit, "...I trusted you. I know you would never do anything bad unless it was with good intentions. Especially if it was for those you care about."

I smiled at this.

"Well, you were the one that raised me after all."

"Heh. Yeah. And I sure did a good job, didn't I?" my mom chuckled before turning to look at the ponies around us, "It feels...kinda weird, doesn't it? Knowing that we no longer have to be scared of earth ponies and unicorns? Knowing that we can now live in harmony with one another? Being able to fly?" she asked with a flap of her wings.

"Yeah, but I don't really care if it's weird or different. I mean, you know how you always told me that I need to get out there and make some friends? Well..." I said, turning to look at the ponies I've travelled with this whole adventure, "...I think it's time I finally do that."

My mom turned to see where I was looking and smiled. She was never mad or disappointed at me for spending most of time indoors and practically playing video games for a living. In fact, she was supportive and proud of what I was able to accomplish in my career. But she was always concerned that I wasn't friends with a lot of ponies besides Pipp and Zipp, telling me that I should go and meet some more ponies. I couldn't blame her.

"Go to them, Neon. I think they're waiting for you," she said.

I nodded and proceeded to walk over to my group of friends.

Pipp, Zipp, Sunny, Izzy, Hitch.

Just the thought of going over to them. Just the thought of knowing that we can continue to stick together.

It just fills me up with joy.

"You did it, Sunny," Hitch congratulated.

"No. We did it! Together!" Sunny corrected.

"Now we never have to be apart!" Izzy exclaimed happily while bouncing.

Something tells me that things are gonna be a lot more fun from now on.

"Hooves to hearts!" we yelled in unison after putting our hooves together.

Once we did, though, I could've sworn I felt something for a split second. It was similar to how my wings felt, but across my entire body and more...powerful.

...

Meh. It was probably in my head.

For now, I'm just gonna relish in the moment.

Yeah. I could get used to—

"What the?" I muttered as an earth pony with a bunch of balloons strapped to him floated down onto the ground.

"Whew! Hey, guys. What did I miss?" he asked to nopony in particular before he turned to look at us...and then screamed.

Um...context please?!



"I...I can feel it. The magic... I can feel the magic returning!"
> Chapter 9: Taking Flight to New Heights
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 9: Taking Flight to New Heights






The Neon Gamer 4 days ago

Hey guys. Just wanna give you all a quick update. I'm not gonna be able to post videos or stream for a while since I'm currently in the process of moving. Ever since magic has returned to Equestria, I've made some new friends and I just want to be closer to them. Right now, I'm in the process of finding a new place to live. If everything goes as planned, I should probably be back to making content sometime next week.

Anyways, that's all I've got for you all. Have a good night, guys. Peace out, everypony.





Princess Pipp Petals was having a bit of trouble.

"Grrrr! Get-in-get-in-get-in-get-in-get-in!" she said repeatedly while panting.

The trouble?

She was having a hard time keeping her suitcase shut.

...

Y'all thought she was doing something else? You weirdos.

She and Zipp were in the royal palace of Zephyr Heights packing some things to bring with them because due to wanting to be closer to their friends, the two sisters decided to move to Maritime Bay so they wouldn't have to travel just to see them.

Anyways, Pipp was pushing her suitcase with all her might, and even resorted to jumping on it just to close it, but it was all for naught simply due to all the stuff she put in it. The suitcase opened and clothes burst and scattered everywhere, one piece landing on her head and covering her eyes.

"Augh! Come on!" Pipp groaned out of frustration as she moved the piece of clothing out of her eyes. Her frustration was quickly wiped away, however, when she glanced at the mirror and suddenly had sparkly eyes and a smile, "Ooh! Cute~" she sang as she took out her phone and took a selfie.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Hurry up, Pipp. Mom wants to say a 'little' goodbye," Zipp said with a smile, putting a little sarcasm on 'little,' knowing full well that their mom's goodbye will be anything but that. But her smile feel when she heard her sister grunting and panting due to the struggle she was in. She leaned her head against the door and asked, "Everything okay in there?"

"Yep! Totally...fine..." Pipp panted while standing on her bed. Going for one more idea, she backflipped as she dived straight onto the bag while crying out, "Hi-yah!"

Hearing her sister and starting to worry a bit, Zipp suddenly opened the bedroom door, just in time to see Pipp landing on her bag, which made her give a look of confusion.

"Phew!" Pipp sighed out of relief, "Hey, Zipp. Just finishing up my packing," she said with a smile. Unfortunately, said smile dropped when the suitcase started straining. The clips opened up and all of the clothes inside the bag flew out once again...with the addition of Cloudpuff for some reason.

Zipp could only stare at sister in confusion, wondering why she would pack so many clothes in one bag. She wasn't even paying attention to fact that she was dressed like a queen with royal garments, a necklace, a crown, a robe, and holding Cloudpuff in her hooves.

"Aww, Zipp!" Pipp said with a smile and sparkling eyes as she took out her phone and took a picture of her sister wearing royal garments.

Zipp looked at the mirror and gasped in shock at what she was wearing, then grumbled furiously while taking the royal garments off due to not being a fan of wearing anything royal. She tossed Cloudpuff away as he hopped away with a bark.

"Ugh, let's go!" she said with a bit of frustration. Grabbing her bag and placing it over her, she told Pipp, "Grab your bag."

Pipp cleared her throat, grabbing the white pegasus's attention.

"Ahem... Bag? About that..." she said sheepishly as she glanced to the corner of her room, revealing a pile of a dozen or so packed suitcases as Cloudpuff barked and jumped into said pile.

Zipp gasped in shock upon seeing the absurd amount of bags, wondering just why in the world her sister would need that much stuff to bring.



"And...boom!" I cheered a bit as I placed a box with some of my stuff down in my living room, "Phew! I think that's the last of it."

It's been a little over 2 weeks since me and my friends brought friendship and magic back to Equestria, and oh boy, a lot of things happened since. Various companies and businesses started reaching out to the other pony capitals in hopes of expanding. New businesses are opening up. Ponies are visiting places. 

Literally you can look outside and see earth ponies and unicorns walking through Zephyr Heights, checking out what it has to offer and befriending other pegasi.

It's amazing what can happen in just two weeks.

After placing the box down, I looked around my now almost empty apartment. 

It wasn't grand or anything. It was just a standard apartment with a kitchen, living room, a bathroom, and a bedroom with a spacious closet. You know, the usual.

But right now the only things that occupied it were all the boxes filled with all my crap. All my clothes, dishware, utensils, gaming equipment (I made sure to wrap all that with bubble wrap just in case), whatever else you would pack into an apartment, etc. etc. I also do plan on bringing the couches, tables, refrigerator, the TV, and obviously my bed.

The apartment I decided to move to in Maritime Bay is a bit smaller than this one, but hey. Beggars can't be choosers. And I don't really mind anyway.

As long as I can eat, sleep, and play games (as well other things) comfortably, then it's fine.

"Well, Neon. It's officially time to start the next chapter of your life. In a new place, with new magical powers..." I thought as I pulled out my phone and went into my photo gallery to view a selfie picture that Pipp sent me that made me smile. Usually, it would just be of her and she would ask me for my opinion (don't question it...and it's always family friendly). Other times it would be her, Zipp, and me just to remember later on. But this one...it was a picture of all six of us on the day that magic returned, "...and my friends."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I snapped out of my thoughts and put my phone away upon hearing somepony knocking on my door.

Try to guess who it was at the door.

"Hey Mom," I greeted with a smile.

"Hey sweetie," Mom greeted back as she hugged me, "Mind if I come in?"

"Not at all," I answered as I stepped aside.

"So...you got everything packed up?" Mom asked as she looked at the boxes around the place.

"Yep. Took some time, but I got it done," I responded.

"Sorry I couldn't help out."

"It's fine. You've got a job to do after all. Can't blame you for that."

"Still..." she mumbled before shaking her head, "Anyways... You sure you got everything packed up? Clothes?"

"Yeah."

"All your kitchenware?"

"Uh-huh."

"Toiletries?"

"Yes."

"Your gaming equipment?"

"Packed up and wrapped in bubble wrap."

"You need anything? Some extra food? Drinks? More clothes just in case it gets cold? Money? What abou—"

"Mom," I said, interrupting her, "I'm fine. I checked, double checked, and then triple checked that I had everything. And I'm perfectly fine on supplies and money."

Being a YouHoofer does have its benefits after all.

"So I don't need anything. Okay?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's just..." Mom stammered before she looked at me with a smile and tears starting to form...and then gave me a big hug, "I'm so sad to see you go! Oh, my little baby's finally grown up and leaving the nest!"

"I swear you said these same exact words when I first moved out of the house," I thought with a bit of a deadpan expression before I smiled and hugged my mom back, "Not that I can blame you, of course."

"Mom, I'm not leaving you forever," I reassured her, "I'm just moving to a new place. I can always visit you here or you can come visit me in Maritime Bay."

"Yeah... That's true," Mom said as she let go of me, still tearing up a bit, "It just feels like it was just yesterday that you were just a foal and I was holding you in my hooves. And now look at you. All grown up and moving to another town. Are you sure you can't just stay here?"

"Again, same words."

"Mom, I told you already. Pipp and Zipp are moving to Maritime Bay so they can be closer to our friends. And I want to be closer to them as well," I said, "Plus, a small beach town with no colossal-sized buildings or high amounts of activity? Zephyr Heights is great and all, but Maritime Bay is just more...me."

"I understand. You always did prefer the quiet," Mom said with a bit of a chuckle while wiping away the last of the tears.

Kinda ironic considering the fact that I'm a videogame commentator.



*cough* shameless self promotion *cough*



"So have you already contacted any moving ponies?" Mom asked.

Remember when I said that businesses have expanded?

"Yeah. They should come by to help with all my stuff after Pipp and Zipp's 'little' goodbye parade," I said in a bit of a joking kind of way as I knew it wasn't going to be little at all, before I realized something and checked the time, "Oh shoot. We should probably get going or else we'll miss it."

"Right," Mom said before we exited my apartment and started heading to the parade. Mom chuckled before saying, "Knowing Haven, I'm guessing the parade will be anything but little."

"I don't doubt it," I agreed.



Outside of the castle, a massive crowd of ponies were waiting for the parade to start. Suddenly, the front doors opened and a giant balloon of Queen Haven came out, prompting the crowd to cheer with excitement.

"And here come the royal balloons!" Skye announced while two more balloons, looking like Zipp and Pipp, shot out from the castle wall as the crowd cheered some more. Amidst the cheers though, a flying pegasi bumped into a statue and a flying foal bumped into the balloon of Queen Haven.

"Ooh! Another close call, Skye," Dazzle announced.

"There's been a lot of those lately, Dazzle" Skye pointed out as pegasi were still trying to get used to the art of flying.

"It's true. But you know what they say, Skye. Progress over perfection," Dazzle responded with a smile, but then announced with a gasp, “Here comes the royal family now!”

The crowd continued cheering as they saw Queen Haven and her daughters smiling and waving on a golden chariot with there thrones on it.

Zipp waved at the crowd nervously, not quite used to so much attention and admiration from so many ponies at once. When she saw the balloon of her approaching her a bit, she freaked out a bit.

"For the record, mother, this is not a 'little' goodbye!" Zipp exclaimed.

"Smile, Zephyrina," Haven told her daughter with a smile. "This is all for you."

Pipp, on the other hoof was enjoying all the attention, smiling and even blowing kisses.

"Awww!" she said when she caught a bouquet of flowers that were thrown at her.

A group of foals screamed with excitement at seeing the royal family as they tossed the flowers, and one earth pony filly was about to faint, but another earth pony filly caught her.

Pipp, being the social media fanatic that she is, took out her phone and started taking several selfies. Zipp realized what she was doing, and gasped and ducked down when she saw her sister taking selfies with her.

"Pipp, no pictures!" Zipp yelled.

"Come on, Zipp" Pipp said, trying to convince her sister, "Just one? Don't you wanna remember today?"

Pipp's question was more or less answered when a filly wearing a Zipp mask appeared right in front of the white pegasus.

"I love you, Zipp!" she yelled.

"And which part exactly would I want to remember?" Zipp questioned, feeling disturbed by what she had just seen.

"Oh, I don't know..." Pipp said with sarcasm, "How about the loving send-off from your mother? The Queen?" she pointed out, as she got straight into Zipp's face, touching muzzles.

"Enough!" Queen Haven yelled, tired of hearing her daughters argue, and sternly said, "Zephyrina, you are the future queen. Now sit up straight and wave!" 

Zipp immediately went back to smiling and waving, albeit forcefully. She then glanced sideways at Pipp, who was looking at her back. Pipp sighed as she continued wave to the crowd as well.



"Wow. A 'little' parade consisting of giant balloons and a giant, golden chariot. Who would've guessed?" I thought with an amused smile as me and mom waved to the royal families amidst the crowd of ponies, "Heh. Just 2 weeks ago me and the royal family were criminals. But now look. Ponies are cheering with excitement and—" I stopped and train of thought and looked beside me to see some foals crying. I don't know whether it's out of excitement or sadness, and frankly I'm fine with not knowing. Feeling a bit weirded out, I slowly looked back and continued waving, "Ooookay then."



On a stage in front of the castle, Queen Haven started giving a little speech while something huge off to the side was covered by a tarp.

"It seems like only yesterday my daughters were adorable little fillies," she said, as she pointed out some pictures of Zipp and Pipp that were taken over the years. One when they were fillies with Pipp smiling and Zipp crying, one where Zipp was not amused with the picture and Pipp was laying on a cloud with a smile, and then finally one where Pipp was posing to the camera and one with Zipp sleeping on her bed, "But look at them now!"

Pipp was blowing kisses to the crowd, but Zipp was blushing in embarrassment after their mother revealed those photos.



"Hehehehe," I chuckled as I took pictures of the pictures (picture-ception!), primarily because of Zipp's pictures, "I'm gonna save these just to mess with Zipp."

"Neon," Mom in a bit of a stern tone.

"Relax. I'm not gonna post them online or completely make fun of her," I reassured before muttering, "I'm just gonna bring it up from time to time to embarrass her."

"What?"

"What?"



"All grown up...and leaving me..." Queen Haven started to sob at just the mere thought of her daughters moving away. As soon as she realized that she was starting to cry, she quickly composed herself, "And to celebrate their new adventure together, I now present…" she said as she turned to Zoom and Thunder, who then removed the tarp off, revealing a stone statue of Zipp and Pipp in a flying pose.



"Now that's one heck of a goodbye," I complimented with a whistle amongst the cheering crowd.

"Tell me about it," Mom said in agreement, "But you know how Haven can be when it comes to her daughters."

If there's one word I would use to describe Queen Haven when it comes to Pipp and Zipp, it would probably be "overprotective."

Not that I could blame her anything.

When you're one of the daughters of the ruler of an entire city, you're bound to encounter some weirdos here and there. At least...that's what I think happens.

"Yeah," I laughed as a few pegasi from the crowd started flying close to the statue to get a good photo of it, "Remember that one time where—"

My question was interrupted when the flying pegasi shouted out before they all bumped into each other. One of the pegasi crashed into the statue, while the other screamed and collided against the balloons overlooking the statue, causing them to drift off into the air and hit other pegasi that were flying. 

"O-oh gosh..."

They tried to dodge them, but this just resulted in them crashing into other things. One pegasus crashed into the balloon of Queen Haven, causing it to pop. The pegasus then crashed into the strings of Pipp's balloon, causing him to get entangled in them as they snapped and the balloon started to float upward. It took him a second to regain their focus and then realize that he was floating away, which caused him to scream in panic.

"Um...I'm sure he'll be fi—"

Another pegasus was flying erratically, presumably trying to keep steady, before she smacked into Thunder and sending him flying (not the kind of flying you think it is). Thunder screamed as he smacked into Zipp's balloon. Everypony, including me, Mom, and the royal family, braced ourselves for what was gonna happen next, but Thunder only kept himself steady by holding onto the balloon.



"As I was saying..." Queen Haven continued, not noticing that Zipp's balloon was starting to deflate, "May I present, Sisters Take—" she tried to announce, but was interrupted when the balloon deflated with a massive gust of wind right at the royal family, Thunder and a couple of other pegasi being blown away. The royal family were able to withstand the wind, but were left with messy manes after it stopped, "...Flight."

Queen Haven, Pipp, and Zipp glanced at each other before they burst out in laughing, as well as the crowd about what just happened.

Pipp took out her phone, as Zipp and Queen Haven huddled together for a family photo. Pipp clicks her camera as they took the photo, which Pipp labeled it naming "SISTERS TAKE FLIGHT!" with a heart emoji and a smiley face emoji on it to.



My mom and I couldn't stop laughing at what just happened.

"Something tells me that we're all definitely gonna remember this day," I said with a giggle, "Oh man, that was funny."

"I know," Mom agreed.



Zipp and Pipp flew pass their statues as they started to leave Zephyr Heights to be with their friends in Maritime Bay.

"Zipp?" Pipp called, turning to her sister, before asking, "Aren't you gonna miss Zephyr Heights, even a teeny bit?"

"I don't know," Zipp answered, but then she smiled at her sister. "But...I know I am ready for a new adventure. You know, together."

Pipp smiled back at Zipp’s answer. 

"Yeah. Me too," she replied, as she stuck her hoof out, "All we really need is each other!"

Zipp smiled at her with joy, and then they touched hooves, holding onto each other while flying to Maretime Bay. Meanhile, behind them were Thunder and Zoom, struggling to carry all of Pipp's bags.

"All you need is each other?" Thunder asked in confusion, "Then what's in the bags?!” 



"M-mom! Please!" I complained with a blush (curse the fact that I have a white coat!) as my mom kept kissing me goodbye on the cheek.

"My little baby's moving far away! Can't I just say goodbye?" she slightly complained.

Personally, I wouldn't mind this type of goodbye. In fact, I expect it. That's just how my mom is.

The reason I'm feeling embarrassed is because of the fact that she's doing this right in front of the moving ponies!

One minute I just finished prepping all of my stuff to be shipped to my new apartment, the next I'm wrapped in a bear hug.

"I mean...you c-can. But d-do you have t-to do...this?!" I asked as she continued hugging me tightly, trying my best not to pry away as I don't wanna hurt her feelings, "And in f-front of the moving ponies, no l-less?!"

"Hehehe. Oh, you can't exactly blame her, kid," one of the ponies said with a chuckle, "After all, this was exactly how I felt when my kid moved away."

I suppose that's true. After all, I'm not just moving into a new apartment. I'm moving to a new town altogether.

I sighed and smiled a bit and hugged my mom back, to which she finally let go after a few seconds.

"Okay, honey. Call me as soon as you settle in, stay safe, and most importantly..." she said with a soft smile, "...make sure to spend time with your friends."

I just nodded in response.

A new chapter of my life has started. It's time to fill in the pages.
> Chapter 10: A New Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 10: A New Home




"Welcome to the home of our dreams!" Sunny announced with enthusiasm, as she and the rest of us admired the building that used to be the lighthouse.

The building was bigger than what it used to be. It was painted pastel blue with a turquoise ceiling and white trim. The front door was pink and framed by an arch of stained glass windows that displayed pictures of ponies, animals, flowers, etc. And as a finishing touch, there was a replica of the 3 crystals that helped bring magic back, or the Unity Crystals is what we're calling them.

But then, a giant crab suddenly came stomping up to the Brighthouse, hitting the roof with its claws and breaking it in half with a mighty roar!

OH MY STARS! SOUND THE ALARMS! WE'RE UNDER ATTA—

Hah, I'm just messing with you.

You were just looking at a model and the crab that broke it was normal sized.

Bet you thought what just happened was real, didn't you?

"Cool it, McSnips-a-lot," Hitch whispered to the crab as he picked up with a nervous laugh. McSnips-a-lot, in turn, snipped off a piece of the stallion's mane, leaving him unamused at his actions.

"Forget the model. We're going to make the real Crystal Brighthouse perfect!" she said with excitement, pointing to the real Brighthouse that was right next to us.

"It kinda looks like a giant—" I thought before stopping myself, "You know what? Never mind."

You might be asking yourself...why didn't I chose to live to here instead of an apartment? Surely the others wouldn't mind.

And yeah, you're right. The others wouldn't mind if I stayed here, but...well...

"Then we can spend every minute of every day together for the rest of our lives!" Izzy said excitedly with a squeal and sparkling eyes.

Zipp, however, laughed nervously at that. 

"What?" she asked with a nervous smile.

Yeah... That pretty much sums it up.

I mean, no offense or anything!

I just don't think that the others would get much quietness living with a pony that talks a lot and yells whenever he streams or records almost everyday. Let's just say I'm practically a different pony when I play video games.

And also I'm the type of pony that appreciates having some privacy. My own fortress of solitude, you could call it.

Not for the reasons you think!

"It's going to be iiiicooooniiiic-kuh~!" Pipp exclaimed, singing out the last word.

"And I'm gonna teach this little fella how to build a shelf!" Hitch spoke up as he picked up a wrench with his hoof and started spinning it around, "You know, I'm actually pretty hoovesy!" he said, but then he dropped the wrenched, destroying what remained of the model. "Whoops..."

"Hey, Neon? Are you sure it's alright if we do this now?" Sunny asked me, "You know we could work on this later to help you get settled into your new apartment."

"Nah, it's fine. The movers said they'll text me when they arrive at my apartment building, which should be in about..." I said, checking the time on my phone, "...an hour or so. So we got time."

"Oh, okay. There's a lot to get done, but we can do anything if we work together!" Sunny said, walking towards the supplies for some final decorations, "Now, I think if we just—" but before she could finish, Hitch, Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp ran by and took some of the supplies and ran into the Brighthouse, catching Sunny and I off guard.

"Talk about enthusiasm," I commented.

"I know. I like it!" Sunny said with a smile before she ran after the others, "Wait up, roomies!"

I simply shrugged before following. I entered the Brighthouse and saw everypony running back and forth, just doing their own thing.

"Hello, Pippsqueaks! And welcome to the ultimate D.I.Y. home makeoveeeer!" Pipp said as she was livestreaming on her phone (cause why not?).

"Welp, the others seem to know what they're doing," I thought as I noticed a broom right next to me, "I guess I'll just...sweep. After all, cleanliness is...something."







Zipp was flying all around the place in zig-zags while also painting all around the place, albeit messily.

Izzy was also painting (also messily) with the brush in her hoof and the paint jar being held with her magic. She nearly dropped and spilled it when she saw Sunny coming to her, but Sunny caught the paint jar just in time. "Hey, this is looking great!" Izzy said, as she and looked at her progress with Sunny.

Hitch was looking instructions on how to build a shelf, while also showing McSnips-a-lot, with Sunny coming up to him with a smile. Hitch pulled out a measuring tape, but McSnips-a-lot snapped the tape with his claws, prompting Sunny to walk away with a worried look, and Hitch to feel irritated with McSnips-a-lot keeping snipping his things.

Sunny and Neon were sweeping the floors to get rid of all the dust and dirt, while the others kept going with their tasks. Zipp kept painting while flying around, Izzy kept painting while running around, Hitch was trying to catch McSnips-a-lot to teach him more about the setting up the shelve thing and also to make sure that he wouldn't snip anything else in the Brighthouse, and Pipp kept livestreaming her progress with her phone while holding a wallpaper.

As mentioned, Izzy's paint job was messy and had no specific order.

Hitch was inspecting a piece of the shelf, but then threw it away for some reason and brought out his wrench, while McSnips-a-lot grabbed a hammer and hammered a nail into the wood.

Unbeknownst to him, said shelf he threw away almost hit Neon as he was sweeping. Luckily, he managed to see it and duck down to the ground with a yelp.

Sunny saw what her friends were doing and started to get worried, especially as Izzy levitated her paint bucket and just chucked the paint onto the wall.

Zipp stopped what she was doing as she realized her paint job was in zig-zags rather than just covering the whole wall. A bird then flew through an open window and got stuck onto the wall where some paint was. The white pegasus became confused at this and looked at what kind of paint she was using, only to realize that it wasn't paint at all but instead glue, causing her to chuckle in embarrassment. 

Neon was sweeping away with all his might as Pipp flew by while still livestreaming.

"This blank canvas is getting the royal treatment!" Pipp announced as she flew in a circle around Neon, but the wind current blew the pile of dirt that Neon just swept up right onto his head, "Big dreams for such a tiny little price!"

Neon coughed as some of the dirt got into his mouth, and then gave a slight glare to the pink pegasus.

"Dude!" he said with irritation as he tried to wipe away all of the dirt in his mane.

"It needs more! More!" Izzy cheered with sparkling eyes as she kept splattering the walls with different colors of paint. Sunny ducked before a paint splatter could hit her, but another paint splatter messed up a portrait, causing Sunny’s to try to rub the paint off.

Another paint splatter ended up hitting Neon in the face, almost immediately making his eyes sting.

"AH! MY EYES!" he yelled as he tried to wipe the paint off, only to make it worse for him. He then ran over to the kitchen sink in hopes to wash it off whilst the others somehow remained oblivious.

Hitch was having trouble setting up the shelf, with McSnips-a-lot standing on it and causing it to tilt, which caused the stallion to drop to the floor with a yelp.

"Fan art~!" Pipp sang as she put up pictures of herself on the walls, but then Zipp flew by and stuck wallpaper on the walls, with the pictures in the process, "Hey!"

As Pipp went to go give her sister a talking to, she failed to notice that Zipp ended up sticking Neon to the wall with the wallpaper as he just finished cleaning out his eyes.

"Seriously?!" he grumbled before Sunny, being the only one to notice, rushed over and freed him, "*Sigh* Thanks."

"Uh, ponies? I think we're losing focus here!" Sunny told the other as she turned to them, but nopony was really listening.

"McSnips-a-lot!" Hitch lectured as he finally caught the crab that carrying his measuring tape away.

Sunny then shouted and ducked as a floating chair nearly hit her. She  turned to see Izzy sweeping the floor with her right rear leg, carrying dishes with her left front hoof, and levitating the chair with her magic.

"Multitasking!" she said.

"Design hack!" Pipp commented as she putt a wallpaper on the wall. "Picture wall!"

Sunny's jaw was dropped at this point at her friends...to put it bluntly...being messy. Well, everypony besides Neon, who turned just in time to see that a chair was about to hit a plant, and managed to catch it before it could fall to the ground.

"Aaahh!" Zipp yelled as she was wrapped up in wallpaper, causing her to wobble around and fall to the ground.

"How...much...further?!" Pipp panted as she was trying to push her (heavy) throne up the stairs, with Cloudpuff guiding her with safety signal sticks.

"What about my automatic breakfast butler bot?" Izzy asked, referring to her machine that started to spit out pancakes. One of said pancakes smacked into Neon's face, causing him to remove it and curiously take a bite.

"Mmm. Not bad," he complimented.

Zipp then got tangled on the ceiling lights, as she hung upside down with McSnips-a-lot hopping onto one of her hooves. 

"Help!" she called out while struggling.

"Help!" Hitch called out, as he was hammering the shelf and having trouble setting it.

"My ice sculpture's melting!" Pipp cried out as the ice sculpture of herself in a pose was starting to melt.

"Why did you even bring that?" Neon asked with a questioning gaze, causing the pink pegasus to chuckle nervously.

"Glitter!" Izzy announced as she ran around throwing glitter into the air, then at the fridge. "Glitter!" then at the same picture she splattered paint on, "Glitter!" then to a bird stuck on a wall, "Glitter!" and finally she put glitter on Sunny's face. "Glitter~!" she sang, as she twirled away from the apricot mare, who was looking both shocked and concerned at the same time.

Sunny went to check out the rest of the Brighthouse, but regretted it the more she looked. Her expression became more and more freaked out as she saw the living room a mess, and then the bedroom where she plopped to the floor with a shock expression. She then checked out the bathroom, which was surprisingly intact and clean. 

"Oh. That's actually quite nice," Sunny said with a smile, relieved that at least one of the rooms was—

"Glitter! Glitter! Glitter!" Izzy shouted, as she came in and threw glitter all over the bathroom.

While she was trying her best to stay calm, Sunny's eye began to twitch due to all the chaos.



"Phew. I think that's the last of the dust," I thought as I swept the remaining grime out of the door. I wiped my forehead and placed the broom back. I looked back and..., "Holy crap."

To put it bluntly, the place was a mess. A total crap show. Paint was splattered all over the walls, lights were hanging from the ceiling, wallpapers were scattered all over the place, yada yada.

"Uh...I don't think this is how things were supposed to go," I said as I walked up to Sunny, who was merely staring at the chaos.

"And I'm not just saying that because I got a mouth full of dust, paint in my eyes, stuck between some wallpaper and the wall, and got hit in the face by an alright pancake."

"I can't get it straight!" Hitch shouted as he plopped to the floor.

"What about the breakfast bot?!" Izzy yelled, not knowing what to do with said bot.

"Can somepony get me down?" Zipp asked as she was tangled in wallpaper and hanging upside down due to being tangled in the lights of the ceiling.

Pipp was just flying around in a panicked state.

"Ponies!" Sunny called out, trying to calm them all down.

I just stared at everything with slightly wide eyes.

"I'll uh...I'll try my best to calm everything down," I said as I was about to step, but saw that a flying pancake nearly hit Pipp as she ducked out of the way, and it instead hit the picture of Sunny and her father, making it tilt.

"No!" Sunny gasped as she leapt and caught the picture just before it hit the ground. She, as well as I, sighed in relief while hugging the picture before looking at all the chaos before us and then ran to the bedroom.



Sunny closed the door behind her as she ran into the bedroom and laid her head on it. She looked back and around the room and saw that it was also messy. 

"I don't understand," Sunny said to herself as she put the picture of her and her dad on the front of her bed.

KNOCK KNOCK

Sunny's ear rose at knocks on the door, before it opened and Neon peeked inside.

"Hey," he greeted with a small smile.

"Hey, Neon..." she said a bit dejectedly.

"You uh...you okay?" Neon asked as he walked inside and closed the door, clearly worried about the apricot mare.

"For the most part..." she admitted, 

"Good. Good," he said with a nod, "Just wanted to make sure."

"I thought working together would be easy, but it turns out it's super messy!" Sunny said as a piece of paper got to stuck to her hoof, which took a hard time to shake off.

"Oh come on. It's not too bad," Neon said with a reassuring smile before a wallpaper piece fell down and covered his face, "Aw who am I kidding? It's a mess..." he said with a sigh as he removed the wallpaper, "Look, I'm gonna try to get everything under control and stop the others from...you know, making even more of a mess. Just come down when you're ready," he said before leaving the room.

Sunny let out a sigh as she sat down next to her dad's picture and held it.

"I wish you were here, dad. You always knew how to bring out the best in me. And right now, I really need my best," she said. She glanced around the messy room once again and then dipped her head in sadness, but then she had an epiphany, "Wait, maybe that's what my friends need me to do! To bring them together. To bring out their best!"

Sunny kissed the picture and put it down before walking to the door and taking one last look at the photo with a smile.

"Thanks, dad" she said, opening the door and exiting the room.



"Do I even want to know how you managed to get yourself stuck like this?" Neon asked with a deadpan expression as he was trying to untie Zipp who was still tangled up in wallpaper and lights. Meanwhile, Hitch was biting on a shelf in frustration, Pipp was happily livestreaming a bathtub that was bedazzled with gems and had Cloudpuff inside it, and Izzy levitating said bathtub.

"Nope," Zipp said in a matter of fact kind of manner with a stern expression.

"Okay, everypony! Just stop!" Sunny called out as she arrived with a serious expression, causing the others to go silent and look at her in shock. Izzy stopped levitating the bathtub, causing it to fall with a loud thud, and Pipp turned her livestream off. Sunny continued in a calm manner, "Look, I love how much energy you're bringing to this. But this is supposed to bring us together, not pull us apart. And right now…" she said as she gestured around the completely messy Brighthouse. One of the windows was covered in paint, a wallpaper piece fell to the floor, Izzy's breakfast bot (patent pending) was rolling around until it slipped and fell on the floor thanks to the mess, and the bird from earlier was still glued to the wall.

"It's a mess..." Zipp admitted as she got up, having finally gotten free from her wallpaper prison.

"Yeah, I-I-I didn't want to say anything..." Izzy confessed with a frown

"I'm in way over my head!" Hitch added.

"This is a total makeover fail!" Pipp dramatically called out.

"Mmhm," Neon said with a nod...before a pancake that was stuck on the ceiling (somehow) fell and landed on his face.

"It's not a fail. It's a...work-in-progress!" Sunny reassured, her words causing the others to start smiling, "Come on, everypony. We can do this…together!"

Thanks to Sunny's motivating words, everypony was finally able to focus on working together to make the Brighthouse...bright.

Izzy was levitating various furniture, with Hitch guiding her where to put them. Once he determined the spot, Izzy put the furniture...albeit still with a thud, but no harm, no foul.

Zipp was flying around putting up the lights nicely.

Sunny was placing down pillows on the couch, with McSnips-a-lot pounding them to fluff them up.

Pipp removed the portraits of herself, while Sunny put up a childhood drawings of what the lighthouse used to look like, with a rainbow next to it on a sunny day.

Zipp used her wings to blow away a ton of dirt into a dirt shovel that Neon was holding, prompting the two ponies to smile and high hoof each other.

In the bedroom, Sunny placed a photo of her and her dad on the nightstand next to her bed, while Pipp placed one of her picture frames on hers. The two mares then looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

Hitch was (somehow) using McSnips-a-lot as a power drill to screw in a nail so the shelf he was working on could stay in place.

Back in the bedroom, the group had some stains on them as they finally finished up the Brighthouse.

Pipp then flew in front of the group with her phone on a hoof. Getting the hint, the rest came close to Pipp’s phone camera line. 

"Say 'besties'!" Pipp called out as the camera clicked and snapped the group together in a photo.



Oh, the wonders of technology.

Whoever invented the idea of printing out photos from your phone, I applaud you.

A printed out and framed picture of us (the one that Pipp took) was the final touch to finishing up the Brighthouse. From the outside, a bright and shining rainbow was acting like a beacon of friendship for all of Equestria to see. On the inside, a nice glass elevator sat in the middle of the bedroom where the beds of Sunny, Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp matched their personalities. 

And hey. No mess. Bonus.

"It's even better than I imagined!" Sunny said with glee as she and the rest of us looked around the place.

"And it's all thanks to power of te-amwork," I said.

"You mean 'teamwork?'" Hitch asked.

"That's what I said," I said nonchalantly.

As we continued to look around the place, a loud pounding was heard, startling us and prompting us to look around for the source. We looked at the stairway and saw McSnips-a-lot pounding on it.

"Wha—...uh...how?" I questioned the crab's incredible strength.

"Leave it, McSnips-a-lot!" Hitch lectured. The little crab stopped to look at him for a moment, but then continued on at a faster paste. Hitch facehooved himself at this.

"I'm...sure he'll stop eventually," I said...only for a pancake to fall and land on my face.



After finishing up the Brighthouse, we waited some time before I got a text from the moving ponies.

Which brings us to where the others and I are moving my stuff into my brand new apartment. It was more or less as standard as my previous one: living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, you get the gist.

Although, now I wish I got one on the first or second floor instead of the fourth.

Why?

Because bringing all my stuff up three flights stairs is tiring, especially the stuff that were kind of heavy and required care. Luckily there's also an elevator so bringing the fridge up was easy. 

Although the same couldn't be said about the couch. That one took a quite a bit of team effort and Hitch constantly telling us to pivot as were bringing it up the stairs, to which I told him to shut up (obviously I didn't say that).

After finally getting it up the stairs, we did pretty much what we did earlier: sweep up any dust, unpack my stuff despite me telling them that I've got it, yada yada yada, I don't wish to bore you, etc. etc.

"And...that's the last box," I said as I placed the last empty box with the others in a corner of the room. The place was clean, the living room was prepped, kitchen supplies have been placed in the kitchen, my bed was made, even my gaming setup was...set up. I let out a sigh of relief as I turned to the others, "Thanks so much for helping me unpack my stuff, guys. You all really didn't have to do this."

"It was no problem," Zipp said.

"Yeah. We weren't about to let you do all this by yourself," Sunny added with a smile, "After all, what are friends for?"

I smiled back at this.

This feels...nice.

What would've taken me probably a couple of hours to do by myself was instead a little less than an hour thanks to the others.

My friends.
> Chapter 11: Mane Melody
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 11: Mane Melody




Adjusting to my new environment, my new home, wasn't hard. It was all about remembering where each room was, which drawers contained what, establishing a routine, etc. 

If I'm being honest, I kind of like it here more than my last apartment. It wasn't bad or anything considering it was in Zephyr Heights, but it just seems more...my style here in Maritime Bay. Everything here doesn't look too modern or extravagant (not that there's anything wrong with that), just simple materials. You don't hear the bustling activities of everyday citizens going about their days most of the time. And when you look through the window, you get a nice view of the horizon where the ocean and sky meet rather than just the town square.

Even my neighbors are better than my previous ones.




2 days ago




After furnishing up my apartment, Hitch came up with the idea of giving us a tour around Maritime Bay to see what this town has to offer, to which we all agreed.

It would've went smoothly, but just when it began, Izzy ended up getting trapped in some metal box. Turns out, before the three tribes united and magic returned, the earth ponies set up these unicorns traps in case of an invasion. And Izzy just so happened to step on one that apparently wasn't deactivated.

We tried hitting the release button, but surprise surprise, the world decided to say "screw you, that button ain't gonna work."

Somehow, though, Izzy was able to levitate the box off the ground, and by extension, herself. It was almost comical to look at.

I decided not to question it...out loud at least.

Nevertheless, we proceeded with the tour with a floating box with a cheery unicorn inside. We went through the town square (which Izzy ended up accidently wrecking), an art museum called the Houvre, a forest with bridges and swings to have fun, and the beach.

All of which with Izzy stuck in a box. And said box was strong. Even after it landed on a rock after falling from a great height, it was the rock that broke.

Eventually, we managed to get Izzy out of the box by hitting an emergency release button...only for Hitch to get stuck in another one later when we decided to redo the tour.

I honestly laughed when that happened.

Fast forward to later that night. We redid the tour (after freeing Hitch), we hung out, got some food from a Hay Burger, and eventually went our separate ways.

"Phew. Hay Burger really hits hard. So good, yet so unhealthy," I thought with a slight burp as I walked through the streets, the streetlamps lighting the way in the night, "The night here may not be as active, but it's as beautiful as it is back in Zephyr Heights. Go figure."

Entering my apartment building, I saw a family of unicorns entering the elevator.

One was a mare with light silver fur, dark gray hooves, green eyes, a blue mane and tail that were styled eloquently, and a cutie mark of a parasol. 

Another was a stallion with orange-bronze fur, brown eyes, a silver and blue mane and tail, and a cutie mark of a magnifying glass and an anvil. 

The last was a filly with turquoise fur, castleton green hooves, violet eyes, a royal purple and amethyst mane and tail, and a cutie mark of two crossed wands. She was also wearing a polynesian blue collar with a white trim and a golden brown ribbon hanging from it.

"Could you hold it please?" I asked as I sped trotted to the elevator as I was too tired and lazy to take the stairs.

"Oh sure," the silver mare said, holding out a hoof to prevent the doors from closing and allowing me to get in.

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

"No problem," the mare said. Seeing as she was closest to the buttons, she asked, "What floor?"

"Fourth."

"Isn't that a coincidence?" she said with a bit of chuckle as she only pressed the button to the fourth floor, "I don't think I've seen you around here before. Are you new here?"

"Yeah. I actually just moved in earlier this afternoon."

"Well, let me be the first to welcome you to the building. I'm Silver Bonnet," she introduced herself before pointing to the stallion, who up until now had a bit of a firm expression, but then gave me a small smile and nodded in greeting, "My brother, Cobalt Justice," she then pointed to the filly who gave me a gentle wave while sort of hiding behind her, "And my daughter, Moonlight Rose."

"H-hello," Moonlight meekly said, to which I waved back.

"Neon Light. It's nice to meet you all," I greeted as the elevator doors opened and we all got and started walking the same direction, "So how long have you all been here?"

"About a week now. Soon after magic returned, I decided to use my talent with fabric to open a shop here," Silver said, gesturing to her cutie mark, "And Cobalt here decided to retire early to help me take care of Moonlight."

"That's sibling love right there," I said with a chuckle, "Not that I know what it's like because...no siblings. But my two closest friends are sisters. So...I guess I know what it's like?"

Just as I reached my apartment, I saw that Silver and her family went to the one literally across from mine.

"Huh, look at that. Neighbors," I pointed out.

"I guess we are. Well, I don't want to hold you for too long and I got to get my daughter to sleep. If you ever need anything, just let us know," Silver offered.

"Thanks Ms. Bonnet," I said.

"No problem. And please just call me Silver."



Based on first impressions, nice folks.

Let's just say the last neighbors I had were a bit on the entitled side. Thankfully, I never interacted with them much, and therefore didn't have much flak with them.

"Hmm. Maybe I should ask Silver about some clothes for when the winter season comes around. Wait...does it even snow here in Maritime Bay?" I thought before realizing, "Speaking of shops..."



Many ponies from around Maritime Bay were entering a white brick building with light pink trim and a dark gray roof, and its establishment's logo is made up of two music notes each shaped like the letter "M" in the front of it.

Mares and gentlecolts, welcome to Mane Melody. Run by the one and only Princess Pipp Petals, aka my friend.

A few days ago, Pipp decided that she wanted to share her gift of beauty and style, hence why she decided to open up a salon. Thanks to the rest of use, she was able to create one in her image. There was even a karaoke stage due to her love for singing.

Not that I would ever go up because I'm a terrible singer.

Nevertheless, me and the others decided to go to Mane Melody for its grand opening.

Cue the music for said opening.






Clickity clack, who's that?
It's your girl Pipp, styling with a brand new track
Setting up shop, got a brand new gig
With colors that pop and a drip so big


Pipp flew all around the salon styling the manes of everypony present, including ours.


Come in and get your hooves buffed, your mane puffed
Everypony's getting their tail fluffed


She started with Sunny who was casually sipping on a drink and, by the power of magic, she twirled her around, styling her mane with a ponytail and prompting her to smile at her new look. Pipp then went to Hitch and twirled him around, styling his mane so that it'll be more combed to one side, to which he smiled at this. She then went to me, twirled me around, and styled my mane to be more combed upwards.


Dance to the beat, dance to the beat
Who could ever sit still with a groove this sweet?


"Heh. Now I just to dye my mane and I'll pretty much be a carbon copy of Zipp. It's still good, though," I thought as I smiled and nodded my head in thanks, "Speaking of Zipp, where is she?"

I looked to my right and saw an empty seat instead of the white pegasus. Pipp, I guess assuming her sister would be there, started looking around for her. In my peripheral vision, though, I saw the aforementioned white pegasus peaking out from behind the stage.

I guess I can see why. While she cares about her sister and her interests and is willing to support her business (hey, that rhymed), as I said before, Zipp was never the type to style her mane or apply makeup. Hence why she was hiding.


A place you can go
Where you already know
You can find your pony flow
When you step through the door


Deciding to put her sister for now, Pipp brought Izzy to a mirror that magically (I think) showed her a selection of mane styles to choose from. Izzy, being the goofy mare she is, started making funny faces as Pipp was looking through the selections. As Izzy turned around, Pipp picked a section with her mane down with a crown with stars and hearts. Izzy loved it, so Pipp twirled her around to grant said mane style. Unfortunately, since the unicorn turned her head, the style covered her whole face, but that didn't stop her from liking it and giving a five star review on her homemade phone that she made with her unicycling skills.

Yes, you heard me right. She built a phone.

Pipp then hopped onto the stage with two other ponies: Jazz Hooves and Rocky Riff, I think.

Jazz is an earth pony mare with light turquoise fur, coral pink hooves, teal eyes, a wavy light red tail, a light red forelock as well as a longer portion of her mane that fades to magenta with an orange hair tie close to the end, he wears a pink bandolier, and a cutie mark of a purple nail polish brush crossing through a pink horseshoe.

Rocky is a pegasus stallion with cream fur, white hooves, mulberry eyes, white hooves, a mulberry colored tail and slicked back mane, golden orange wings (dope), a pendant of a golden orange electric guitar, and a cutie mark of  a mulberry music note with a stem shaped like a comb, surrounded by three gold sparkles.

The three ponies joined together on the stage and continued singing.


Try something new, take a chance, just believe it
Let out your light, shining bright, can't you see it?


For every pony that got their mane styled was another five star review.


Woah-oh-oh, oh-oh, woah-oh-oh (Hey!)
Woah-oh-oh, oh-oh, woah-oh-oh


Meanwhile, Zipp was still hiding from her sister. She was (terribly) hidden by using a pillow to cover a face, but then she (not surprisingly) got spotted by Pipp and ran away.


Try something new, take a chance, just believe it
Let out your light, shining bright, can't you see it?
At Mane Melody (Hey!)
At Mane Melody


Everything was awesome. 

One pony, Posey Bloom, was walking out of the door was a new mane style where it was all spiked up.

Posey is a a yellow earth pony mare with light brown hooves, green eyes, a pink tail tied in a green bow, a pink mane that's normally similarly tied back in a ponytail with a green bow, a beaded necklace with a five-leafed clover, and a cutie mark of a ring of six pink tulips with green stems.

As she was exiting the salon, she gave a review...of three stars.

DUN DUN DUN!

Apparently Pipp saw this and stopped singing.

"WHAT?!" she yelled as she stared at Posey in shock. Everypony else looked at Pipp, then at the yellow mare, who only stared in confusion. Pipp, I'm guessing wanting to not be rude, nervously gulped and said, "What...a...l—," she stammered before smiling creepily, "Lovely review, heh. Thank you... so much, Posey."

"Oh boy. She's going cray cray."

And when Pipp's going cray cray, you best get the heck out of there. Let sleeping dogs lie.

Posey merely smiled nervously, then practically jumped through the doors.

"She's got the right idea."

"So, who is ne-ext~?" Pipp sang after composing herself.

The doors then opened, revealing...

Well, remember that pink earth pony mare that was also Sprout's mom?

Phyllis Cloverleaf. CEO of Maritime Bay's technological company, Canterlogic, and representative of earth ponies, I guess.

"I am," she said in a kind of intimidating tone.

I, as well as everypony else based on the whispers I'm hearing right now, have heard rumors of how Phyllis came to the grand opening of various businesses, to see whether they are great or need to be shut down.

And right now...it's Mane Melody's turn.

"So you're the new stylist in town?" Phyllis asked adjusting her glasses as she inspects the place.

"That's me! Welcome to Mane Melo—~" Pipp tried to sing, but was interrupted.

"We'll see about that," Phyllis chuckled.

Pipp gulped nervously at this. If the rumors I've heard are correct, then a bad review by this mare means Mane Melody being shut down on the same day it opened.

"So…" she said with a nervous chuckle as she inspected Phyllis's mane, "Um, what can I do for you?"

"Surprise me," Phyllis requested, which only caused Pipp to freak out even more, "You know, this place used to be a restaurant until I reviewed it," she continued, "Free all-you-can-eat pizza? Puh-lease!"

"Uh...yeah," Pipp said nervously, glancing at Phyllis's phone, which had the options for star reviews.

"This is it. The final boss before Mane Melody stays standing as a business. You got this, Pipp!" I thought, "Also, 'free all-you-can-eat pizza?' That sounds awesome! Then again...I can only imagine how much that cooks would have to do to satisfy the customers. Not to mention the amount of ingredients that had to be used must have been immense."

"Before that, it was Fancy Filly Fashion Boutique, Painting Palomino's Pottery Café...oh, and a salon actually," Phyllis listed out the business that came before, which didn’t put Pipp's mind at ease. "Hair Today? More like Out of Business Tomorrow!"

"I feel like she's purposely saying this to intimidate Pipp or something," I thought before I noticed that Pipp was panicking...and not paying attention while slowly bringing a mane clipper closer, "Oh no."

BUZZ

Pipp gasped in shock once she noticed the bald spot that was now on the back of Phyllis's head. She backed away slowly, whimpering nervously, before running out the door.

"Oh boy. That's not good," I muttered as I saw Zipp run after the pink pegasus. I decided to follow as well. As I passed by Sunny, I said, "Sunny, do something! Distract her!"

"D-distract her? How?!" Sunny asked, but I was already out of the door.



Upon stepping outside, Zipp and I immediately heard the sound of panic noises. We looked to where it was coming from and saw Pipp hiding in the alleyway.

"Pipp! There you are" Zipp said, relieved, "You have to come back inside!"

"I can't!" Pipp cried out as her mane was a little messy, an indication of her having a mental breakdown, "You saw what happened! I took a huge chunk out of her mane! Who's the style icon now?" she asked sarcastically and then hit her head against the wall.

Zipp and I looked at each other, worried for the pink pegasus.

"You are," I said with a smile, "Always have been and always will be."

"So you shaved one bald spot. Big whoop!" Zipp exclaimed before gesturing to all the ponies whose manes have been styled thanks to Pipp, "See all that confidence and swagger?" she asked as the ponies were admiring their manes, taking selfies, and complimenting each other, "You brought that to Maretime Bay! You did that!"

"I did?" Pipp questioned, still a bit doubtful. Then she looked over to Posey who was checking out her new mane style in a mirror, and then a pegasus mare came by and complimented her. That caused Pipp to finally smile, "I did!"

"Of course you did. Remember what my mane used to look like when we were foals? How awful it was? If it wasn't for you, I'd still look like an emo that fell through a tree...or something like that. You know what I mean," I said, recalling the days where my mane was long, messy, and covered one of my eyes. I'm pretty sure a twig got stuck in it at one point. When other ponies don't really pay attention to you, you tend to stop caring about your appearance that much, "Everypony makes mistakes, Pipp, even if it's with something they're good at. Now will you accept defeat or rise up stronger?"

I should write a philosophy book.



The three of us entered Mane Melody with swagger and determination.

Well, more like Pipp entered with swagger and determination. Zipp and I just kind of followed behind normally.

Sunny, who apparently put kiwis on Phyllis's eyes and was trying to work on her mane, and everypony else gasped and smiled at Pipp's return. She stepped back for the pink pegasus to take her place. 

Pipp cracked her hooves and stretched, then grabbed the haircutter and hairdryer, ready to get back to work.


One, two, three, four
Bring that tail right through the door


Pipp reclined Phyllis's seat and wet her mane with soap and water, washing it down to get rid of the poofiness.


Five, six, seven, eight
You're not leaving here 'til you feel great


Pipp brought more tools as she ruffled Phyllis’s mane in determination, styling the mare’s mane with four tools at the same time.


Shine bright, sparkling glow
Flick that mane with a flow like woah


She bitted down the mane as she straightened it out with a straightening iron and cut a piece of loose hair that was sticking out.


Vibe. You're on it
You're a brand new pony so flaunt it
Hey


Eventually, after more styling and twirling, Pipp took off the kiwis that were covering Phyllis's eyes. The earth pony looked at the finished product in the mirror.

"It's...it's..." she stammered, trying to find the right words to say.

Suspense. The feeling you get in anticipation of a final result...I think.

"It's...exactly the same…" Phyllis said, pointing out that Pipp brought her mane back to the way it was before. Looking at the mirror, she picked up her phone and took a moment to think about her mane style. While me and everypony else was nervous, Pipp was smirking and Izzy couldn't see anything due to her mane, "Just the way I like it," she said before rating Mane Melody five stars.

Phyllis got out of her chair and proceeded to walk out the door, flipping her mane side to side, but that caused the curls behind her head to fall, revealing the bald spot. Everypony gasped in fright, hoping that she wouldn't notice, and luckily she didn't as she exited the salon. Everypony began to cheer at Pipp's, and therefore Mane Melody's, success.

"I knew you could do it, Pipp," I thought as I let out a sigh of relief.

"That was amazing, Pipp! I knew you could do it!" Sunny congratulated.

"Thanks for covering for me, Sunny," Pipp said with a sigh of relief before turning to Zipp and I, "And thanks for always being there, guys."

"Hey, it's no problem. You're our friend, Pipp. Of course we're gonna be here for y—" I said, but was interrupted as Pipp gasped and her eyes sparkled. I looked where she was looking and saw Zipp sitting in one of the salon chairs, "No way."

"Really? You never let me style your mane!" Pipp said to her sister in shock.

"Mmhm" Zipp said with a smirk.

"Oh, my pony!" she called as she brought Zipp to a mirror to see which option she would style her sister’s mane with, "I always thought you'd look amazing with a pony perm, or like, okay, a manehawk or maybe in a different color!" she suggested as she went through the various options of mane styles to Zipp, who cringed at the sight of them, probably having second thoughts about her decision, "Okay, okay. How do you feel about bangs?"

In short, Zipp has made a tactical error at that moment.
> Chapter 12: Make Your Mark Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 12: Make Your Mark Part 1




"I don't understand. The magic is back. I felt it. And I know you did too. So why can't I...?"

...

"What do you mean it's not strong enough? There was literally a sudden surge of it that spread across Equestria. Shouldn't that be enough?"

...

"Stabilized? Since when did magic have to be sta—? Oh wait. Never mind. I think I see what you mean. After all, it's been... Well, I don't even know how long it's been since magic first disappeared."

...

"Jesus. Has it really been that long? Time really flies by. It feels likes barely any time has passed actually. Oh well. So...I just have to wait in the meantime?"

...

"*Sigh* Alright. If I really have to... So...not to be inpatient or anything, but...how long do you think it's gonna take them? One week? Two weeks? Hopefully not too long?"




2 months later




Princess Zephyrina Storm was on a mission.

The pegasus mare was carrying a bag and a radio as she flew through the skies of Equestria, the wind flowing through her mane and tail. When she saw some pegasi approaching, she quickly hid behind some clouds. Luckily, they were busy looking at their phones and talking to each other to notice the mare hiding. Zipp poked her head out of the clouds, some of it sticking to her mane, and saw the pegasi flying away from her location. She shook the clouds away and continued her mission.

She eventually arrived at Zephyr Heights, and continued onwards to the Castle. She flew to one of the many windows and struck herself against it, but it neither opened or even cracked. Thinking of another way to get inside, Zipp gently laid a hoof against the window in though...only for it to open and for her to fall onto the floor of the Castle.

"So did you get it yet, Zipp?!" Pipp said on the radio, worry evident in her voice.

"Almost..." Zipp replied with a little annoyance.

"Well, hurry uuuuup!" Pipp cried out desperately.

"On it! Maximum sneaky engaged!" Zipp said with a confident smile as she stood up.

She then noticed Zoom and Thunder walking in her direction, to which she quickly flew up to the ceiling. The two guards closed the open window and looked at each other in confusion, and then started to leave without noticing the pegasus mare.

Zipp sighed in relief and continued on. She landed in a hallway and proceeded to go maximum sneaky, doing some (unnecessary) flips in the process. She then noticed a portrait of her and her sister when they were fillies with their mom hugging them.

"Hey, Mom," she said jokingly.

The pegasus mare eventually found the room she was looking for, which was Pipp's old room. She placed her hoof on the scanner and opened the door and went inside. Scanning the room, she spotted her objective: Pipp's lucky microphone. She quickly took it and placed it in her bag.

"Mission accomplished!" Zipp announced on the radio as she started to run on the same hallway.

"Good! Now fly fast!" Pipp said.

"No problems with that!" Zipp said with a smirk before she jumped out of the window and flied freely, making her way to Maretime Bay.






Hey!
You gotta let it glow
Hey!
You gotta let it shine



Oh, let's make our mark together
Just riding on forever
Just keeps on getting better, better, better
Hey!



Everypony, everywhere
You can feel it in the air
Find your spark and just glow and shine
Make a mark that you can share
Hoof to heart, you know we care
Oh ponies, come on, let's all unite


After flying for a while, Zipp finally arrived to Maritime Bay. As she observed ponies going about their daily lives, she suddenly heard some screaming. She turned and saw that two pegasus fillies crashed into each other and were falling to the ground. Zipp immediately took action and flew over to them, catching the fillies in the air.

"Heads up, everypony!" Zipp announced, as she landed on the street and gently put the fillies down.

"I'm so sorry..." one of the fillies apologized, then looked at the pegasus mare, "Thank you, Princess Zipp."

"Zipp! Just call me Zipp!" she pleaded, not quite comfortable being addressed by her royal title, "And don't worry about it. The magic from the Unity Crystals in the Brighthouse is new to all of us," she assured as she looked at the Crystal Brighthouse and the rainbow light it's emitting, "It takes practice."

Unbeknownst to her, or anypony for that matter, the Unity Crystals started to move strangely.

It was as if they were...failing.



"Should I start now, or...?" Sunny asked as Pipp was pointing the camera of her phone at her, preparing a livestream for a special announcement.

"In a sec, Sunny," I said, looking around trying to spot a certain pegasus, "We're still waiting on Zipp."

"Ugh, where is she?" Pipp asked with desperation, while Izzy and Hitch looked worried, "I really wanted to use my—"

"Lucky microphone?" Zipp finished for her sister as she finally arrived, much to the relief of Izzy and Hitch.

"There she is!" Izzy exclaimed with happiness.

"What took you so long?" Pipp asked with frustration, "Don't tell me you were sneaking around the palace again..." she said as Zipp winked at her with a smirk, "You know you can just enter through the main doors! It's our house!"

I looked at Zipp with a deadpan face.

"But if Mom knew I was there, I'd get stuck doing one of her random princess lessons," Zipp pointed out as she handed the microphone to Sunny.

"Good point," Pipp replied.

"Yeah, I saw one of them. It was boring as heck," I saw, remembering how much I wanted to sleep or leave, but didn't out of the kindness of my heart (I hate myself sometimes). I looked at Sunny and said, "Alright, Sunny. Some last minute advice: take a deep breathe and pretend you're just talking to a camera and not the entirety of Equestria. Cool? Cool."

Based on the fact that Sunny still looked anxious and unsure what to do, I'd say my advice was...slightly effective.

"A" for effort?

"You're live..." Pipp said before pressing the record button, "...now!"

"Like, 'now' now?!" Sunny asked, still nervous, to which Pipp nodded, "Uh...hey, everypony! I'm Sunny Starscout, and I'm live here in Maretime Bay with my friends!" she started, as Pipp switched the camera to point at the rest of us (with me automatically feeling nervous for showing my face on a livestream; thankfully I don't have to commentate; I'm a wuss), and then quickly switched it back, "A lot has changed around here in the past few months. Maretime Bay used to be the place just us Earth ponies live, just like how unicorns always stayed in Bridlewood and pegasi never left Zephyr Heights. But when we found the three Unity Crystals and brought them back together, it brought us back together! All pony kinds were reunited in friendship! Now anypony can live...anywhere! And...we have magic again!"

Pipp pointed the camera to a unicorn levitating some bags of apples, but a pegasus flew too low to the ground and knocked the bags out of said unicorn's telekinetic grasp.

"To do..." Izzy commented as she grabbed some of the apples with her magic, "...well, what unicorns and pegasi do!" she said as she dropped the apples in the air, one of them landing on her horn, "Ta-da!" she exclaimed before looking at Sunny, "Now you, Sunny! Show everypony what you can do!"

"Ooh, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah! Turn into an Alicorn!" Pipp pleaded before she pointed the camera at herself, "That's an earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn all in one!"

When Pipp pointed the camera back at Sunny, she only seemed nervous.

"Uhhh... You know it doesn't really work like that, guys," Sunny pointed out, "I can't just, uh... Anyway..." she continued, "...the point is, magic powers or not, I think everypony can agree that our lives are way more magical now that we're together again!"

"You know iiiiit~!" Pipp sang as she popped into the shot, then looked at the earth pony mare. "Okay, Sunny! Do the thing!"

"Do you like super fun times? Are you interested in learning more about earth pony traditions and tasting local treats? Do you want to see ponies sing in a big concert?" Sunny asked with an announcer voice.

"Yes! You bet! And yeeees!" Izzy jumped in, as she started to dance a little.

"Then you should come to our annual Maritime Bay Day Festival! For a day of fun in the sunshine! It's going to be a blast! And I'm not just talking about the fireworks show. All pony kinds are welcome!" Sunny continued with a smile.

"Oh! Oh! I love Maretime Bay Day!" Hitch jumped in as he grabbed the phone, "You gotta come check it out! The live Maritime music! The sand castle contest! The caramel ponycorn! Ah! It's the best!" he said excitedly before a bird flew by and grabbed Pipp's phone in its beak, "Hey! Give that back!"

"Hitch! My phone!" Pipp cried out with an (overdramatic) gasp before we all ran after the bird.

We all followed the bird through Maritime Bay, dodging the ponies we passed by, trying to retrieve Pipp's phone. Zipp almost caught the bird at one point, but the animal passed trough a train cart, Zipp almost crashing into the pony driving said cart, but she just crashed into their hat, so she threw it away and kept her pursuit.

The bird proved to be persistent as we were now leaving the town.

The bird slowly lost its grip on the phone and dropped it. Izzy started using her magic and managed to catch the phone, but it wasn’t fully working (probably due to her still learning). She accidentally tripped and slid forward into a garden that sat at the front of a house.

"Got it!" Izzy exclaimed as we all caught up, but seeing as her face was now covered in leaves, we started to laugh. The unicorn mare smiled back and blew the leaves away. She looked at Pipp's phone and noticed that it was still streaming, "Oh, hey, look! It's still on!"

"See you at the festival," Pipp said when Izzy handed her back her phone, and then she turned off the stream.

"You okay, Izzy?" Sunny asked to the unicorn, who stood up.

"Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. I mean, a little ground glitter never hurt anypony," Izzy replied as she took off the remaining leaves in her mane and giggled.

"Well, thank hoofness for magic!" Sunny commented with a smile.

"Oh yeah!" Izzy said in agreement.

"Definitely," Pipp replied.

"For sure!" Zipp added as well.

"It is pretty cool," I commented.

"Well, I for one do not agree!" another voice said, causing us towards the door of the house we were in front of.

"Oh boy," I thought as I immediately recognized that pony that was currently looking at us in anger.

"Is this about your flowers, Posey?" Sunny asked as we stepped away from them, "It was an accident, but we'll fix them right away."

Of all ponies, it just had to be Posey Bloom. She's not a bad pony by any means, but she is a bit...um...

"No. What I meant was that I wish magic had never come back. And I'm not the only pony around here who thinks so," Posey clarified with a frown.

"Uh, what do you mean?" Sunny asked in confusion.

"You pegasi are always flying too fast! O-or too low! Or too high up!" she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Wait, what?" I said as I glanced at Zipp and Pipp in confusion.

...Yeah. She's like that.

"What's wrong with flying high up?" Pipp asked.

"Ugh! I just don't like it, okay?!" she yelled as she got close to Pipp's face, and then moved to Izzy. "And every time I'm at the market, there's some smug unicorn using their magic to shop!" she complained, "I almost got hit in the head by a bag of floating apples yesterday!"

"Jeez. Entitled much?" I mentally sighed, "At least she's not as bad as my old neighbors from Zephyr Heights."

"Magic is not very safe. At least not for the rest of us ponies who don't have it," Posey stated, then turned to Hitch, "Right, Sheriff Hitch?"

"Uh...I don't know if I would say that..." Hitch replied as he scratched the back of his head, causing the yellow mare to growl angrily.

"Everypony's just...still learning how to use it. That's all! Magic takes practice!" Sunny tried to explain.

"Well then, go do your magic somewhere else other than my garden!" Posey yelled before she went into her house and slammed the door behind her.

"...She was really nice, right guys?" Izzy asked as we all stared in shock of what just happened. 

"Yeeaah. Real nice," I said sarcastically with a deadpan face.

As Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch felt uncomfortable with the situation, we all began to head back home. Izzy quickly fixed up the flowers while humming to herself.

"Oh! Come on you two! Let's go home!" Izzy called as Sunny and I lagged behind.

I started to follow, but then turned back after a few seconds when I noticed Sunny wasn't following. She was looking through one of the windows of Posey’s house and saw her staring at her, to which Posey closed the curtains angrily. 

"Don't worry, Posey. I'm gonna find a way to show you and everypony else just how awesome magic can be," the apricot mare assured before leaving.

As she passed by me, I took one last look at the house and thought about what Posey said.

"At least not for the rest of us ponies who don't have it."

There was something about that made me think that there was more than just thinking that magic is unsafe.

Choosing to think about later, I shook my head and followed after the others.



Arriving back at the Crystal Brighthouse, we all unanimously decided to make some pizza for lunch (personally I would've preferred delivery because I'm lazy but teamwork makes the dream work, I guess). As Sunny and Hitch gathered the ingredients, with me offering to help, Izzy called Pipp to show her something, but they eventually returned.

As for Zipp...

She was kind of just sitting at a table, a face expressing that she was deep in thought.

"Zipp!" Pipp called out, but pegasus in question didn't reply, "Zipp!" she called again, but Zipp still didn't heard her. Pipp jumped straight to her side and shouted, "Zipp!" 

"Huh?" Zipp finally said, getting her head out of the clouds and looking at her sister with an awkward smile.

"I have been asking you if you want extra cheese on your pizza for like 10 minutes!" Pipp explained while rolling her eyes.

"Yeah. I know I like to just sit and stare at nothing particular, but I've never you do it before," I added, "You alright?"

"Oh, sorry," Zipp apologized, "Just...thinking about something weird that happened earlier."

"The thing with Posey?" Pipp asked.

"Oh, uh... Yeah! That!" Zipp answered, but I knew it was a lie.

As I said before, Zipp wasn't one to lie to others. So why was she doing so now?

"Same here!" Sunny exclaimed in disbelief, "How could she not love magic?"

"Earth ponies have never had magic before," Hitch spoke up while flattening a pizza dough.

"Never? Really?" I asked in disbelief, to which the yellow stallion nodded. Of course. It all makes sense now, "Huh. No wonder Posey's a bit of a grouch. She's probably jealous."

"Jealous?" Pipp asked as she, Sunny, and Zipp looked confused.

"I know I am," Hitch confessed, "Magic seems a little scary, but it would be pretty cool to be able to levitate things."

"Like this?!" Izzy asked, as she levitated one of the pizzas with her magic and made it twirl in the air. However, she got distracted by a crab and unconsciously stopped using her magic, causing the pizza to fall onto her horn and face. We all laughed at this, and Izzy licked a little of sauce that fell onto her muzzle, "Worth it!"

"Ah, you're right, Hitch," Pipp said with a smile, "That is so much better than flying."

"So, have you figured out the whole magical wings and horn appearing at random times thing yet?" Zipp asked Sunny, walking up to her.

"No..." Sunny confessed with her ears down. "And it's been getting worse..."

"What do you mean?" I asked, joining in the conversation.

"Well..."



The other day, Sunny was attending to her smoothie stand as usual. After giving a pony their smoothie, the apricot mare's wings and horns suddenly appeared at of nowhere. While nearby ponies looked at her in awe, Sunny was trying to figure out how she did, but her distracted mind caused her to slip on a spilled smoothie, which caused her to fall onto the wall of the stand, which caused said stand to overturn.



"Yeesh," I simply said, thinking about how many ingredients were ruined and how much effort it took to pick up the stand, "...Maybe Posey has a point."

"Yeah," Zipp agreed, "Magic is unpredictable."

"It may be unpredictable, but it's not dangerous!" Sunny said as she took the pizza out of the oven. Izzy then used her magic to divide the pizza into six pieces to divide among us, "We just need to show the earth ponies that magic is nothing to be afraid of," Sunny continued as we ate our slices, "It makes Equestria a-a better place. And...it's fun!"

"And also unpredictable," I muttered.

"Wow! Are you ponies thinking what I'm thinking?!" Izzy asked excitedly.

"I think I might be!" Sunny said with a smile.

"Alright, everypony. On the count of three. One, two, three. Floating parade! Right?" Izzy yelled with a smile, to which Sunny just blinked, but then smiled.

"Not exactly, but close!" she answered, facing all of us, "We're going to use Maritime Bay Day as our chance to show off all the amazing things magic can do!" she explained. Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch looked confused, Izzy was just smiling, and I felt a bit...unsure, "Then everypony will remember just how special it is that we have friendship and magic in our lives again! Are you ponies in?"

"Yeah!" Izzy answered with a big joyful smile.

"Definitely, definitely!" Pipp answered next.

"I'm in!" Hitch replied.

I don't know why, but I just felt like using Maritime Bay Day to show the value of magic wasn't a good idea. I mean, isn't the point of it is bringing ponies together in friendship, harmony, and fun.

I don't know. It's probably just me.

"Sure," I said with a shrug. When Zipp still didn't answer, I glanced at her and saw her looking at phone and then growling before walking away. I raised an eyebrow as she continued to walk away, "Hmm?"



Princess Zephyrina Storm...was frustrated.

The pegasus in question went to the top of the Brighthouse, where the Unity Crystals were floating and projecting the rainbow light. She looked at her phone and saw that she was calling from her mother. She answered, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"Zephyrina? Are you there?!" Queen Haven asked, while she was trying to adjust the camera angle of herself, "He-Hello?! I can't see you."

"Hi, mom," Zipp said in a deadpan way.

"Oh!" Queen Haven said as she finally adjusted the right angle, "There you are," she said with a chuckle, "It's been ages since I've seen my fillies!" she said dramatically, "At least Pipp answers her phone when I call her. You never do! And you haven't visited Zephyr Heights at all!"

"Nope, you're right! I definitely have not been to Zephyr Heights!" Zipp lied, omitting the fact that she did visit Zephyr Heights briefly and sneakily to retrieve something.

"Well, it's not like you can't fly now, darling," Queen Haven pointed out. Then Cloudpuff came in the middle of the phone call and licked the camera, "Oh! Cloudpuff wants to say hi!" she said, and then she started to pamper him with her nose, until she realized she was still in the call, "You were saying?"

"Oh, it was just—"

""Listen, Zipp, dear" Queen Haven interrupted, "I called because I'm going to need you to move back home, okay?"

"What?! No! No way!" Zipp exclaimed.

"I know you've had fun with your new friends and all, but you're a princess, darling. You're going to be Queen one day!" Queen Haven pointed out.

"I know..." Zipp said with a roll of her eyes. "What about Pipp, though?"

"Well... your sister has her little salon project, and while I do like the idea of you being there to keep an eye on her, let's face it, she livestreams everything, so that's not really necessary" Queen Haven said, "You're the one I need here, studying my every move and representing the royal family!"

"But I'm not sure if I'm ready to leave just yet," Zipp replied with a sad tone, as she really didn't want to leave Maritime Bay and her friends.

"And why wouldn't you be?"

"Um... There's a festival soon?"

"Hmm. I do suppose festival planning does count as a useful skill for your future on the throne. As Queen, you'll be responsible for arranging state dinners, teas, parties..."

As Queen Haven continued listing off stuff, Zipp knew what she had to do.

Mimic static noises and end the call.

Zipp groaned and moved closer to the balcony, viewing Maritime Bay in its entirety.

"Hey..."

The pegasus in question turned and saw Neon approaching her.



"I uh...I caught a bit of that conversation with your mom," I said as I walked beside her, "You alright, Zipp?"

"Yeah," Zipp answered, but I had a feeling that was a lie, "It's just that...I love it here in Maretime Bay so much," she explained as we both looked at the town, to which I joined her, "I don't want to leave yet."

"Leave?" I asked as I turned to the mare in surprise.

"Go back to Zephyr Heights," Zipp said in a sad tone.

"Already? You've only been here for a few months."

"I know. I'm not ready to become a full-time, heir-to-the-throne princess yet" Zipp confessed, "Not the way my mom expects me to be, anyway..." she said with a frown. "But...I'm not sure if I fit in here either..."

"What do you mean? Of course you fit in," I reassured.

"Even if all I do is fly around and try out new moves?"

"Zipp, I'm a pony that plays videogames most of the time and is too shy to show his face online or perform in front of a crowd," I pointed out in a bit of a deadpan tone before smiling, "And yet you and Pipp still accepted me, as well as everypony else. What you love makes you who you are."

"I don't know..." Zipp replied as she frowned again, "Maybe my mom is right. Maybe I should just go back to Zephyr Heights and really try to be the kind of princess everypony is hoping for. I'm going to have to do it someday." 

Being the heir to the throne has always been...a bit of a touchy subject for Zipp. As you know by now, she's not one to act like royalty or expect to be treated like one. She wishes to be free in the clouds, feel the wind flowing through her mane, do athletics, and generally just do her own thing.

I can't do anything about her situation, but I can at least give her some advice.

"...You're right. Someday you will be the Queen of Zephyr Heights. There's nothing you or I or anypony can do to change that. But here's the thing: you don't have to nor should you be the Queen that your mom or everypony wants you to be," I advised, "Be the Queen that you want to be."

Zipp still seemed a little unsure, though.

"Look, just take some time to think about it," I said, "But...at least wait until after Maritime Bay Day to decide...please?"

"...Okay, yeah. I guess I can't miss that," Zipp said, feeling a little better. She raised a hoof for a hoof bump and said, "Thanks Neon."

"Don't mention it," I said with a smile, reciprocating the hoof bump. Before we could do anything else, however, we heard screams. We turned and saw a couple of pegasi falling with their phones. We were about to go and help them, but then they just flied away, looking at their phones as if nothing happened, "Please tell me you saw that as well."

"I did..." Zipp answered, "...Weird."

Furthermore, neither of us noticed the Unity Crystals glitching out behind us.
> Chapter 13: Make Your Mark Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 13: Make Your Mark Part 2




"Good morning station!" Hitch greeted as he entered the police station, "Sheriff Hitch here, reporting for duty," he said before sitting down. He then noticed his animal crew in front of him saluting, "At ease, deputies! Sos what do you say?" he asked confidently, "Which Sheriffy things should we do today in Maretime Bay?"

"Umm, are you trying to rhyme?" Zipp asked, cringing at what she just walked into.

"Oh, hey, Zipp," Hitch greeted, "Yeah! What did you think?"

"Way too much," Zipp said honestly.

"Cool, cool. Just trying something out. Didn't work. Good feedback!" Hitch said before clearing his throat, "So, what can I do for you?"

"I came by because ...well..." Zipp hesitated, trying to find the right words, "Have you seen anything strange lately?"

"Strange? What do you mean?"

"Well, I was on the balcony earlier when..." Zipp was about to explain what she saw, but then decided against it (for some reason). She chuckled nervously and said, "You know what? It was probably nothing. Forget it."

"Wait! I know what this is about..." Hitch said with some thought.

"You do?" Zipp asked in surprise, thinking that the earth pony stallion is also aware of the fact that magic has been acting funky lately.

"You're...bored," Hitch answered, to which Zipp put on a deadpan face at the fact that he apparently was not aware and just thought she needed something to do. Hitch smiled and continued, "But you don't have to be shy. We're pals! We can totally hang out! I know, let's order fries from three different dinners and then decide which ones are the best! Or maybe a puzzle!" he suggested. Zipp smiled at this, thinking that it would help keep her mind off things, but then the phone rang, "A call?!" Hitch exclaimed before answering the phone, "Sheriff station... I see... Really? How strange! At the beach? Well, I'll be right there!" he assured before hanging up, "It appears we have a code 8-18 at the beach. Want to come on a trot-along with me, Zipp?" he asked, but when he turned to the pegasus in question, he just saw the front door close, "And...I'm talking to nopony."

"Something strange going on the beach? Hmm..." Zipp thought before pulling out her phone.



BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

"Come on," I muttered.

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

"Come on. Please pick up," I muttered again, starting to get inpatient.

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

"Crap, is she at work right now?" I asked myself as I laid down on my bed, ready to call it quits.

BUZZ BUZZ BU—

"Hello? Neon?" the pony on the other end called out, slightly startling me.

"Yes! Hey, Mom!" I said, quickly getting up, "I'm sorry. Is this a bad time?"

"No no, it's fine. I was just getting ready for my break when you called me," she explained, "How are you doing, sweetie? Making sure you eat and get plenty of rest?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"And how are Pipp and Zipp doing? And those other friends of yours?"

"They're doing fine. Just doing their own thing," I answered before remembering why I was calling in the first place, "Um...Mom? Can I...ask you something?"

"Of course. Ask away!"

"Okay...um...how should I put this? Have you seen anything...weird lately in Zephyr Heights? Like magical wise?" I asked.

"I...don't think I have. Why? Is something wrong?" Mom asked with worry.

"No! No!" I reassured, "At least...I don't think so. It's just...earlier today, I saw a couple of pegasi falling from the sky." 

"Oh my. I hope nopony got hurt."

"They're fine. It's just...when I was about to go help them, they were flying away all fine and dandy," I sighed as I rubbed eyes, "I don't know. Maybe I was just seeing things. I mean, I did just do a stream a few days ago that lasted...ahem...8 hours."

"Neon," Mom said sternly.

"Yeah, I know. I know," I said with a bit of a roll of my eyes, knowing how she can get when I stream for long periods of time. Not that I mind, of course. She's just trying to watch out for me, "Anyways, so you haven't seen or heard anything weird?"

"Hmm... No, I can't say I have."

That was a shame, but in truth, I almost knew that I wasn't just seeing things. Now that I think about it, I remember seeing a similar incident outside of my window during my stream. At the time, I thought I really was just seeing things due to me being in the zone (and my brain being pretty much mush). But what I saw today really makes me question things.

"...Alright," I said with a sigh before I got a text message notification. I looked at it and saw that it was from Zipp.



Meet me at the beach.



"Hey Mom, I gotta go. Zipp wants to meet me for...something. I don't know."

Only I did know what she needed me for... Maybe.

"Okay sweetie. Tell her and Pipp that I said 'hi.' And I'll see you in a few days for the festival."

"Okay Mom. Love you. Bye."

"Love you too. Bye," Mom said before hanging up.

I tucked my phone under my wing and proceeded to exit my apartment. Upon exiting, I saw Silver levitating a package (presumably some supplies for her fabric store) into her apartment. Just when I was about to greet her, however, I saw the aura around her horn...glitch out...and was struggling to carry her package.

"Whoa!" I shouted as I rushed over and caught the package before it could hit the ground. Just in case there was something fragile.

"Phew. Thanks Neon," she said with a sigh of relief.

"No problem, Silver," I said as I placed the package down, "What just happened with your magic?"

"I don't know. It was perfectly fine, but then it just...went away," Silver answered, rubbing her head, "Oh, I hope I'm not at that age where I start to do even the simplest of tasks."

"I don't think so. You still look young to me," I pointed out, noting the lack of wrinkles or other signs of age.

"Don't ask her age. Don't ask her age. Don't ask her age."

"Oh, thank you, Neon," she said with a smile.

"Don't mention it," I said before remembered why I was leaving in the first place, "Anyways, I gotta go meet a friend for something. See ya, Silver. And you be careful now."

"I will. Bye," she waved as I took the elevator down and soon took flight once I exited my apartment building. 

Luckily I'm a pretty decent flier thanks to that one day long flight school Zipp held sometime ago.

It also helped a mare get over her fear of daisies.

...

...I'm sure there's a perfectly good and psychological reason behind that, but until I find out said reason, I'm just gonna say...weird.



I arrived at the beach in just a few minutes. I looked around from above and saw Zipp laying down...and observing ponies?

"Okay?" I said with a questioning gaze. I flew down and landed next to the white pegasus, "Hey, Zipp. I'm he— Whoa!" I yelped as Zipp suddenly pulled me down to the ground.

"Shhh," she shushed before looking back at the ponies around a sandcastle with an umbrella impaled in it. And I'm talking about the handle facing up.

"What do you mean something strange happened?" an earth pony asked before pointing an accusing hoof at a unicorn, "You did it on purpose!"

"I did not!" the unicorn exclaimed.

"I saw you use your magic to drop your umbrella onto my sandcastle!"

"I'm telling you it wasn't me! I was just carrying it and then my magic just...went away!"

"I don't believe you!"

"But I'm telling the truth!"

"Ahem!" Hitch cleared his throat as he walked onto the scene, "Is everypony okay over here?"

"Sheriff Hitch! I promise I didn't mean to ruin anything!" the unicorn defended, "My magic! It—"

"I worked on that castle all day!"

"...Zipp, what's going on?" I finally asked.

"Remember when we pretended to be detectives when we were foals?" Zipp asked as she looked at me with a small smile.

"How could I not? I looked for the clues while you put puzzle pieces together...and looked for the clues," I said with nostalgia, remembering how Pipp and Queen used to set up fake investigations for Zipp and I to solve. Let me tell you something. While putting pieces together isn't my strong suit (because I'm dumb), growing up I've developed a keen attention to detail...although Zipp has a much better one...(perks of being a gamer, I guess), "Wait, why do you ask?"

"I've been wanting to investigate the strange magical occurrences that have happening lately, and I figured why not ask my old investigation partner if he wants to help me?" she explained, "So...what do you say?"

I pondered on this for a second. Literally.

"I'm down," I answered almost immediately, "I have been wanting to see whether these things are actually happening or I'm just tripping," I continued before remembering something, "But I don't think I'm tripping. But I left my place to come meet you, I saw my neighbor's magic start to...glitch out."

"Really?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Almost dropped her box of supplies levitating it," I said, "My mom said that she hasn't seen anything, but I just wanna make sure. Plus, I guess it would be nice to relive some of the good old days."

"Yeah. It would be," Zipp agreed. 

"What about the others? Should we inform them of what we're doing?"

"I wanted to, but I figured it would be best if we just let them focus on Maritime Bay Day. They seem very passionate towards making it go smoothly, and I don't wanna worry them."

"Mmm," I nodded, understanding her logic and reasoning, "Makes sense. Besides, I'm sure we can handle this on our own."

"Hopefully," Zipp muttered before her phone began to ring, startling us. She quickly looked to who was calling, and I didn't get to see before she decided to reject the call, "Thursday. Noon. Beach. Second magical mishap: levitation glitch," she said on what I guess is a voice recorder on her phone, "Unicorn dropped umbrella. Lots of upset ponies. Very strange. Must investigate further..."

"Since when did you use a voice recorder for our little investigations?" I asked with a bit of a amused smile.

"Since now," she smirked before she stood up, "Come on. Let's go see if there's any other mishaps going on in town."

"Mmm," I nodded, but when I tried to fly up...I couldn't. It was as if the magic in my wings was glitching. The same could apparently be said for Zipp. We both landed on the ground and I exclaimed, "What the?!"

"Oh no... Please no!" Zipp pleaded as we both tried once again, but to no avail.

"First Silver's, and now ours? What's going...on...?" I asked as I looked at my wings, but paused when I saw that the light emanating from the Brighthouse...was also glitching, "Um...Zipp?"

She stopped looking at wings and looked at me. She turned her attention to where I was pointing and gasped upon seeing the glitching light as well. Determination on her face, Zipp tried once more to fly, and this time it worked. Seeing this, I tried to fly as well, and succeeded.

"Let's go!" I cheered, but then focused on the task at hand and the two of us proceeded to fly to the Brighthouse.



We arrived pretty quickly just as Sunny opened the front door.

"Zipp! Neon! There you are!" she greeted us as Izzy and Pipp came too.

"Oh, hey!" Izzy greeted as well, "Coming to town with us to gather more supplies for the new-and-improved Maritime Bay Day?"

"Oh. Wish we could, but—" Zipp tried to say.

"Why can't you exactly?" Pipp interrupted with a frown.

"Err..."

"We're working on our own surprise for Maritime Bay Day," I lied with a smile that seemed sincere. Not to toot my own horn, but I can be a pretty good li—

"Ah, yeah! Yeah! That's what we're doing," Zipp lied...horribly. And the nervous smile wasn't helping. Pipp and Sunny had faces that told us that they weren't buying it. Izzy was smiling, as if she did believe it, "Have fun!" Zipp said before running up the stairs, with me following behind.

"No offense, but maaaybe you should let me do the lying from on," I said to her.

"Yeah," Zipp sighed.

We entered the elevator leading to the Crystals, expecting the worse. 

What will we see? The rainbow light fading away? The Crystals cracking and breaking? 

When we finally reached the top and the elevator doors opened, we saw that the Crystals...were perfectly fine.

"Wha...?" I said as I walked up to the Unity Crystals and started to inspect them, trying to see if there's something...anything...that would indicate that there's something wrong. But no. There was nothing, "They're perfectly fine."

"Maybe," Zipp muttered before pulling out her phone to record again, "Thursday. 12:15. Crystals, normal. Prisbeam energy, intact."

"But how long they'll stay intact before glitching out again is the question," I stated.

"Agreed. I think we should split up. You go into town to look for any more magic anomalies, and I'll stay here and watch the Crystals."

"Sounds like a plan," I nodded as I started to fly, "I'll call you if anything happens."

"Same here," Zipp said as I flew to Maritime Bay.

"It's strange, though. Our magic started glitching out at the same time those ponies started to argue. Is there some sort of connection?" I thought. Within a couple of minutes, I landed in the middle of the town with a determined look on my face, "I guess we just have to find out. Let's get scouting for more anomalies!"



"She tried to sabotage my sandcastle!"

"No I didn't! My magic was just gone!"

"Okay! Okay!" Hitch said, waving a hoof to calm the two arguing ponies down, "Everypony just—"

"Magic shouldn't be allowed here on the beach!" the earth pony firmly suggested.

"Is magic allowed here on the beach, Sheriff Hitch?" a pegasus filly shyly asked Hitch.

"Oh...uh..." Hitch stammered, unsure on how to answer the filly's question, "It's not...not allowed..." he answered nervously, much to the confusion of everypony present, "You know...actually...maybe I should go back to the station and check the records to see what I could dig up. Yeah! You ponies just hang tight and I'll get back to you."

And with that, Hitch proceeded to walk away, much to his slight disappointment. He always hated not being able to get a job done, especially considering that his role as Sheriff of Maritime Bay was to make sure that everypony's living in peace. 

As he walked away from the ponies, he noticed something in the sand. He walked closer to get a better look and discovered it to be some kind of pink colored egg.

"Huh. You don't belong here, do you?" Hitch asked out of curiosity, "I've never seen an egg like this. Have you?" he asked his animal companions, only for them to gesture that they didn't, "What in Equestria are you?" he wondered, but then a tide came in and carried the egg away, "No!" he exclaimed, catching it before it at the last second before it could crash into a rock, "I'll take care of you, little one," Hitch decided with assurance, patting the egg.

Once he arrived back at the station, Hitch went to a closet and put the egg inside it, on top of a red blanket for comfort and a lamp for warmth.

"That's better," he said, "All roasty and toasty. I'll just keep you safe here until we can find who you belong to, okay?"

Suddenly, the door opened and Posey entered the station.

"Sheriff Hitch?" she asked, looking around for the stallion in question, who quickly closed the closet with the egg and his crew inside, and then ran to the side of the desk while hold a potted plant, "Who where you just talking to?"

"Nopony! Nopony at all! " Hitch lied (for some reason) with a nervous smile. "How can I help you, Posey?"

"I was just trotting down Mane Street when I noticed that my hooves were stuck to the sidewalk!" she explained with a frown, "I tried and tried to move, but I couldn't for like a really long time! I think somepony's pranking me. Probably one of those unicorns," she said while looking the outside with anger, "I'd like to file a complaint!"

"Okay!" Hitch assured, still with an awkward and nervous smile, "The complaint box is over there on the wall," he pointed to said complaint box which was not only full, but also was dispensing some complaints into a trash can.

"Well, I'd prefer if you took it down yourself," Posey stated.

"I would, but I'm late for an important meeting at the Brighthouse. Duty calls!" Hitch replied before putting the plant back on the desk and then opening the closet a little bit to talk to his crew. "Keep an eye on that egg for me, would you, Deputy?" he asked, to which a bird replied with a military pose.

Hitch then closed the closet, passed at Posey's side with a nervous laugh, and then got out of the station, leaving Posey confused and a bit angry that she didn't get the results she wanted.



"There's literally nothing!" I thought as my eye began to twitch at the fact that everything was perfectly normal! I look over there, and there's just ponies going about their day. I look over here, and there's going about their day. I look over yonder, and there's just ponies walking around, socializing, buying stuff from the occasional store.

In other words...

GOING. ABOUT. THEIR. DAY.

"Screw this! I'm done!" I thought before I took flight back to the Brighthouse. Flying to the balcony, I could see Zipp laying on the ground, staring at the Crystals.

"Hour five and one minute. Still nothing..." she recorded into her phone with a tired voice. When I walked next to her and immediately slumped onto the ground due to exhaustion for walking and flying around town for the past 5 hours, she turned to me and asked, "I'm guessing you don't have anything?"

"No. No, I do not," I reported in a calm but still clearly stressed tone, "Other than seeing Izzy rifling through a dumpster, everything was perfectly normal," I continued as my eye started to twitch again, "No falling pegasi. No levitation glitches. Nada."

"Maybe I was wrong," Zipp groaned as she stood up, "Maybe there's no pattern to it. Just a glitch."

"Well, better safe than sorry," I said as I too stood up, "Now I don't know about you, but I want to go home and lay down."

As we turned around and were about to walk away, we heard a strange sound from behind us. We turned around and were surprised upon seeing that three auras of blue, pink, and orange...I guess powering the Crystals? I say "powering" because the Crystals were getting brighter. I think it's also important to note that the auras were coming from downstairs.



Meanwhile, downstairs in the kitchen, the three auras were indeed coming from Izzy, Pipp, and Sunny. The three mares were having a good time, laughing as they put the miniature glimmerberry tarts boxes, and Pipp eating one because why not? The harmony between the three was apparently strong enough to power the Unity Crystals.



"What in the wing feathers?" Zipp exclaimed.

Suddenly, the Crystals shined bright, and then the walls of the room started to grow some plants drawings.

"Woah..." I said, amazed at the site. I looked back at the Crystals and noticed that the earth pony crystal was glowing green and brighter than the other crystals, "Hey, look. The earth pony crystal is—" I tried to say, but paused when I looked over to Zipp and saw her entering the elevator.

"I'll go get the others!" she exclaimed before the elevator descended.

I just shrugged and turned to look back at the sight before me.

Was this a natural phenomenon? Or was the first time this ever happened?

Probably the latter.

But what is causing this exactly?

It must be those weird auras coming from downstairs. But where are they coming from?

And why is the earth pony crystal specifically glowing more than usu—

I winced a bit as I felt something passing over me. It didn't hurt or anything. It felt...enlightening...calming.

Where have I felt this before?

It was familiar, but at the same time it felt brand new to me.

Does have something to do with what's going on with the Cry—

My train of thought was interrupted as I saw that the plant drawings were starting to fade away.

"No, don't you dare," I said, but the plants just continued to fade away, "Please don't let this be one of those moments," I pleaded, and as the plants completely faded away, the others arrived on the elevator, "I hate my life."

"Wow!" Izzy shouted with a smile, "What are we looking at?"

"There were all these vines growing on the wall!" Zipp said, "And they were glowing!"

"And the Crystals were more glowey than usual," I added.

"Glowing vines?" Pipp questioned as she and the others just had doubtful looks.

"Anndd they don't believe us," I thought while I nodded, "Yep. It's one of those moments."

"Okay. I have a confession. We've been monitoring the Crystals and we think something is wrong with them," Zipp confessed, to which I nodded in agreement.

"What? No there isn't," Sunny assured with a smile.

"What do you mean there isn't? None of you have seen the magic being...weird?" I asked.

"Like it keeps switching off or something?" Zipp added.

"Hmm... Nope!" Izzy said with a smile.

"Me neither," Pipp replied.

"Really?" Zipp asked in disbelief.

"Sorry, sis," Pipp said.

"Hitch?" Zipp called, looking at the stallion in question, "We saw what happened at the beach earlier! Didn't you take—"

"What? I didn't take anything at the beach!" Hitch nervously denied.

"...down a report?" Zipp finished as she and I looked at him with frowns because...what the heck?

"Oh! Right, a report," Hitch said, a little more calmed now, but then nervously saying "Actually, that reminds me, gotta go file that report!" he excused himself, going into the elevator.

"Hey, you wait a second!" Izzy complained as she and Pipp followed Hitch, "You were gonna teach us how to make life-sized gummy bunnies!"

"I know it sounds weird, but we know what we saw! And what we've been seeing," Zipp told Sunny.

"Like earlier today when my neighbor's levitation started to fail," I said.

"And like the other day, when I was flying back from Zephyr Heights, these two pegasi crashed into each other and—"

"I'm sorry, guys," Sunny apologized, interrupting Zipp, "I've been so caught up in all the festival planning. This is all my fault."

"That magic is glitching?" Zipp asked with confusion

"Uh, magic is not glitching!" Sunny assured once again.

Now it was my turn to be confused, but this time towards Sunny's attitude and constant reassurance of magic being completely fine. She wasn't like this before. I understand if she hasn't seen anything weird, but shouldn't she at least take our words for it? Does she not trust us or something?

"But you said it yourself!" Zipp pointed out, "Your alicorn magic keeps appearing randomly! You don't find that strange at all?!"

"No, I-I think that's just because I'm still learning," Sunny said, but this time it sounded like she was not convinced herself.

That was enough to convince me of one thing.

Not heeding our words. Constantly saying that things are fine. But not even sounding sure of her own words?

It wasn't she doesn't trust us or anything.

It's more like she's in...denial.

"But...I...you just...*sigh*...I need to clear my head," Zipp said before she flew away, presumably to walk around town.

Now it was just me and Sunny.

And while she claims that everything's fine, I know for a fact that everything's not fine.

And the reason for her refusing to acknowledge that?

"...You're scared, aren't you?" I asked, finally speaking up.

"H-huh?" Sunny asked, "What are you—"

"Sunny, I can hear it in your voice, and I know you do too. You know that the magic is acting all wonky, yet you say otherwise. Because all your life, you've wanted nothing more than to bring friendship and magic back to Equestria. And once that dream finally became a reality, you believed that everything will be fine," I explained with a look not of anger or disappointment, but of worry, "But when problems started to actually arise, you chose to deny it...because of what Posey said about magic. Because you don't want ponies to believe that magic really is dangerous."

I'm not usually the type to be blunt like that, but I felt like I had to say it. Sunny had this whole facade of not being worried and claiming that everything's fine, but deep down I just knew that she was hoping that was the case despite what we tell her.

And unbeknownst to me or Sunny, my cutie mark began to glow, but only for a few seconds.

Sunny was silent for a few seconds, probably thinking about what to say next, before she sighed and looked at me.

"Y-yeah," she admitted, "Ever since the incident with Posey, I've been so focused on making Maritime Bay Day a day that everypony can enjoy...and a way to prove just how wonderful magic can be. I want to believe that we're all still learning how to use magic, but..."

"...I understand. Even though it's been months since magic returned, it's still kind of a mystery to me. It's just...I'm just...worried about what's been going on recently," I admitted, "But...considering that Maritime Bay Day is just in a couple of days...I suppose I can hold off on the magic investigation for now. I mean, it's just a little glitch here and there. I don't think it's that big of a deal."

"...I hope... Am I a hypocrite now?"
> Chapter 14: Make Your Mark Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 14: Make Your Mark Part 3




Zipp was both bored and frustrated as she walked around Maritime Bay.

With all of her friends not believing her when she said that something's strange happening with the Unity Crystals, besides Neon who also witnessed what she saw, she felt like she needed to clear her head.

"Report. Nothing new to report. No more signs of mysterious glowing vines or Crystal glitches..." she recorded on her phone as there were still no anomalies at the moment. On one hoof, she's glad that there's nothing strange going on, and that no pegasi is falling out of the sky or unicorn is dropping stuff. On the other hoof, she just knew that something's bound to happen sooner or later. It's just a matter of both when and how. Zipp's phone began to rang and she saw that it was her mom calling once again. She groaned and answered with annoyance, "Hi, mom."

"Zipp! There you are!" Haven said with a smile before frowning, "Have you been ignoring my calls, young filly?"

"No, no. Just busy, mom!" she lied with a nervous smile, "I'm actually helping Sunny with decorations right now, so I gotta go!"

"Well, I can't wait to see them!" Queen Haven said with excitement.

"See what?" Zipp asked with confusion.

"The decorations!" Queen Haven answered, "Oh, didn't Pipp tell you? I'll be attending this Maretime Bay Day festival."

"You will?!" Zipp exclaimed with both surprise and fear, "Why?!"

"Yes, it is treat time! I know, I know!" Queen Haven said to Cloudpuff as he popped up on the screen, not answering Zipp's question, "See you there, darling!" she said to Zipp before ending the call.

"Come on!" she yelled with frustration as she put her phone under her wings, "There's gotta be something," she said, and then started to look around her in search of something unusual, "Everything on Mane Street appears normal," she analyzed, but then saw Hitch entering the station in a sneaky way and grabbing a bag with something, "Hmm...except that."



"Here you go, little one. I brought you some sand to make you more comfortable. I thought maybe you'd like that," Hitch said to the egg he found at the beach, before putting a plushie of a crab next to it and McSnips-a-lot appearing and patting the egg, "Lookin' rosy and cozy! Now, who wants to hear a story?"

"I do!" Zipp replied, appearing behind of him.

"Ahh! Zipp!" Hitch exclaimed in surprise, quickly closing the closet, "Wow, you are sneaky! What are you doing here?" he asked with a nervous smile.

"I had an instinct, so I followed. And I was right," she answered with a grin. "You have been hiding something!" she said, then flew over Hitch and landed above the closet and opened. She saw the egg inside, asked in confusion, "So, uh...what is it?"

No clue. I saw it on the beach and I just knew it needed help," Hitch explained, "I just—"

"Had an instinct and followed it?" Zipp asked with a smirk.

"Yeah," Hitch confessed with a smile. Zipp then landed at Hitch's side as he looked at her. "Hey, uh...would you mind keeping this between us for now?"

"Sure, I can 'Zipp' it," Zipp joked, but at the same time assuring him that she'll keep the egg a secret.

"What?" Hitch asked confused as Zipp looked at him with a playful smile.

"So...you're gonna read us that story now or what?" Zipp asked on a mocking tone. Hitch smiled embarrassed, but before the conversation could continue, Zipp heard her phone making a sound. She took it out, and then both she and Hitch read a message from Pipp and gasped, "Oh no..." Zipp said, and the two ponies ran as fast as they could to the Brighthouse.

The two eventually arrived and saw Pipp standing in front of Neon and Sunny.

"We rushed right here! So what's the emergency?" Hitch asked with worry.

"Well, everypony seems really stressy lately," Pipp pointed out, but mainly looking at Zipp and Neon, "We clearly need a break, and luckily, I know just the place," she said with a cute smile, "I planned a surprise for you! You're welcome!"

"Ooh!" Izzy said.

"Why do I get the feeling I know what it is?" Neon muttered with an amused smile, knowing Pipp.

"Please don't let it be makeovers, please don't let it be makeovers," Zipp begged, knowing her sister.



Spoiler alert: it was makeovers.

"I knew it..." Zipp said in a deadpan tone as we were all in Mane Melody getting makeovers. Well, Zipp, Sunny, and Izzy were. Hitch was getting his hooves filed by Jazz, or at least trying to since apparently he's ticklish (something I can use against him; mwahaha I'm evil), and I decided to just sit in a massage chair. I'm not really the type that cares a lot about my outward appearance, but Pipp still brought us here as a surprise, so screw it. I should make the best of it.

"But this is so relaxing!" Izzy said with a smile as she and Sunny were reading some magazines, "And informative! Did you ponies know that there are over a thousand different kinds of hermit crabs?! Cause I...did not!"

"That's cool," I said, not really paying attention as I was pretty relaxed, before what she said registered in my head, "Over a thousa...no way," I said in disbelief, sitting up. Izzy levitated the magazine she was reading over to me and I quickly read through it, "Wow, there really is over a thousand."

The more you know, I guess.

...

Why did I suddenly think of an image of a shooting star in space with a rainbow trail?

"Don't you ponies love it here at Mane Melody?" Pipp asked with a big smile.

"Yeah-huh!" Izzy replied with a smile.

"Mm-hmm!" Sunny said smiling.

"Yeah," I replied.

"What's wrong, Zipp?" I heard Rocky ask. I turned and saw the mare in question with a long and worried face, "Not a fan of Mane Melody?"

"No, no. It's awesome," Zipp assured with a small smile, "Pipp has done a great job here."

"You really think so?" Pipp asked in disbelief, walking to her sister's side.

"Yeah, I do," Zipp replied before her ears went down. "And hey, I'm sorry if I haven't been helping out," she apologized, "My mind's just on other things."

"Yeah, same here. I'm sorry too," I apologized as well, turning off the massage chair.

"Something weird is going on," Zipp stated, looking deep in thought.

"Mmhm," I nodded in agreement.

"Ugh, you two worry too, too much," Pipp said with a smile.

"And if something happens to those Crystals, we'll lose magic again for good!" Zipp pointed out, "Then it'll be no more flying and—"

"Sis, sis, sis, sis, sis, sis. You need to chill!" Pipp exclaimed, and then looked at me, "The same goes for you, Neon. Nothing is going to happen," she assured with a smile. She then whistled and flew over to the stage alongside Jazz and Rocky, "We've got our friends back, we've got magic back, and we've got..."

"Music~" Pipp, Jazz, and Rocky sang together.

"At Mane Melody..." Pipp said first.

"We sing!" Jazz spoke next.

"While we style!" Rocky added.

"Pipp, Pipp, hooray!" Sunny, Izzy and Hitch yelled together with smiles, while Zipp looked on with disapproval and I tried to give a genuine smile, but I could tell that I was failing.

"This one goes out to my paranoid big sis and foalhood friend: Zipp and Neon!" Pipp announced, much to the confusion of Zipp and I.

"Wow...thanks," I muttered sarcastically.






Shoop, shoop! Uh-huh! Shoop, shoop!
Shoop!

I know you're feelin' like there's somethin' wrong
But don't you worry, I have just the song for you (Mm-hmm!)
So kick those hooves up in this comfy chair
And you'll forget about those cares in a minute or two
Yeah! That's what you'll do-ooh-ooh

You've got a lot on your mane, and that's kind of tragic
But with a little bit of caring and a touch of magic

You'll feel brand new
And you'll forget what's been troublin' you

So put your hooves up high
'Cause we're feelin' all right (hey!)
Every day is awesome in Maretime Bay
So put your hooves up
Put your hooves up (hey!)
Everything is gonna be okay!


Normally, I enjoy it whenever Pipp sings. She does have a wonderful voice after all, and she's passionate about it, and I'm all for supporting her interests with a smile. But when she sang that last part about everything being okay, I admittedly frowned a bit.

"You don't get it, do you?!" Zipp yelled, "We can't just sing a song and ignore everything. If we lose magic this time, we may never get it back again!" she explained with a worry evident in her voice, "And it'll be our fault."

"What's she talking about?" Izzy questioned in confusion.

"Lose magic?" Sunny asked with a bit of fear.

"Whose fault?" Hitch asked, just as confused as Izzy.

"...I don't really like to be a buzzkill, but I'm afraid Zipp's right," I admitted in agreement, "Just because everything seems fine doesn't mean it is or will be fine, especially with what the two of us have been witnessing."

Suddenly, we all heard a loud thud outside the salon. We all ran out of Mane Melody to see what the commotion was and saw a cluster of ponies, including a red pegasus named Windy (who's also the mare that was afraid of daisies).

"Are you ponies okay?" Pipp asked as they got up.

"Windy, what happened?" Sunny asked the red pegasus.

"I don't know. I was just flying along and before I knew it I was down here on the ground." Windy explained.

"Me too. Because you fell on us," a unicorn bystander frowned, giving Windy a glare.

"I'm sorry everypony. I'm usually a good flier." Windy apologized.

"She was flying, but then ended up on the ground?" I thought, "Did...her wings start to fail?"

"Clearly she's not," Posey snarked as she appeared again, "This is what I've been saying, what everypony's been thinking. If pegasi and unicorns can't be respectful. Then they shouldn't be allowed to use their magic in Maritime Bay."

"She's right."

"I'm not sure."

"Yeah, no more magic."

"Aaaand ponies are agreeing with her. Great. Just...great."

"It's not fair. We earth ponies don't get any magic and the ones that do have it don't even know how to use it. Or use it to prank us," Posey snarked again.

"Yeah."

"Posey's right," two more Earth Ponies stated.

"Everypony wait!" Sunny exclaimed, trying to ease the tension, but it was all for naught.

"And now they want to ruin our special earth pony holiday too," Posey accused, and it was then that I noticed that the sky above was starting to get darker.

"Ummm...what's happening?" I asked myself with a questioning gaze.

"That's not true!" Sunny exclaimed.

"And Maretime Bay Day should be magic free!"

"Like a no fly zone!"

"Or else we're not coming!" Posey declared as a flash of thunder made her and the other ponies run for cover, while me and the others simply watched the now darken clouds.

"Okay. So now not only do we have magic fizzling out, but also thunderstorms. Awesome," I thought sarcastically, "Strange, though. It's been perfectly sunny this whole day...until...those ponies got angry."

"Hey, Sunny?" I addressed the apricot mare, "Remember when I said I was gonna hold off on investigating the magic?"

"Yeah?"

"Forget I said that."



We all decided to head back to the Crystal Brighthouse and were currently on the balcony where the Unity Crystals resided.

"I think I know what's happening to magic," Zipp spoke up, "Why it's glitching."

"You do?" Sunny asked.

"It's the Crystals! They might be...powered by ponies!" Zipp theorized.

"Whaaaat?" Hitch said with confusion.

"I mean, it doesn't sound too farfetched," I said with agreement, "The incident at the beach. What just happened in front of Mane Melody. They both involved ponies arguing."

"Okay. Check this out," Zipp said then turned to her sister with a smug look, "Pipp, when we were fillies, I used to steal Mom's chocolate-dipped cherries and blame it on you."

Pipp gave off a deep gasp in surprise and anger at this confession.

"I knew it! You got me grounded, like, twelve times!" she angrily said.

"Ooooh," I exclaimed, a bit amused at this.

"What are you oohing about? You used to help me steal them," Zipp snitched with that smug look.

"What?!" Pipp yelled, looking at me now with a glare.

"Hey! Hey! I only did that...four times!" I (weakly) defended before looking at Zipp, "Wait a minute. You got her grounded twelve times?!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Zipp said as she walked back a bit before facing her sister again, "And guess what? I don't like karaoke! It's the worst! UGH!"

Pipp gasped once again, and Izzy glared at Zipp.

Yes. You heard right.

Izzy, of all ponies, glared.

It honestly scared me a bit.

"Hey, you take that back! Karaoke is a fun activity for every age and skill level!" Izzy angrily yelled.

"It's not very fun when you get stage fright."

"Zipp's allowed to like what she likes," Sunny defended, "Just because we enjoy something doesn't mean she has to."

"Sunny, there's no need to get all huffy about it," Hitch said trying to calm the matter, "Izzy was just trying to stand up for Pipp."

"Don't call me huffy!" Sunny called out at Hitch, clearly not liking being called huffy (I can use that against her).

"Ugh! I didn't call you huffy! I said you were being huffy!" Hitch retorted. Out of curiosity, I glanced at the Unity Crystals and saw that they were glitching once again, "There's a difference, and—...Whoa."

"You...you two were right!" Sunny exclaimed as she and everypony else was able to see what Zipp and I were talking about this whole time.

"I want to gloat so bad...but no. That would be immature...at the moment."

"So when ponies aren't treating each other with kindness..." Izzy spoke first.

"When we aren't vibing..." Pipp said next.

"The Crystals get weaker," Zipp finished, "And the more unstable magic becomes in Equestria!"

"Which causes Pegasi to lose their flight and fall on other ponies!" Sunny listed out.

"And unicorns to drop stuff onto things like sandcastles!" Hitch said next.

"And causes the weather to act all weird," I stated.

"Like a rando thunderstorm?!" Pipp asked.

"Yup! Everything is all out of whack!" Zipp declared while looking at the still glitching crystal.

"I wonder if this had anything to do with why the Crystals were separated all those years ago," Sunny wondered, "Or why I still can't seem to figure out my alicorn magic."

"I don't know. I want to find out" Zipp said with a look of determination, "But if we want to keep magic in Equestria, first we need to get everypony back on the same page" she stated with confidence.

"Zipp's right, we can't give up," Sunny added, now willing to follow Zipp's plan, "We can still make Bay Day the celebration it's supposed to be." 

"A day of friendship!" Izzy yelled with a smile.

"And harmony~!" Pipp sang.

"Yeah!" Hitch, Izzy, and Zipp both cheered.

"Let's do it!" Pipp cheered as we all brought our hooves together.

"Hoof to heart!" we declared, determined to make Maritime Bay Day a day of friendship, harmony, and magic.



Izzy gasped with excitement and was the first to get up before her friends.

"It's here!" she cheered to Sunny as she started running around to wake up her friends, "The big day is here!" she cheered once again as Pipp yawned, "The big day is heeeere!"

Zipp yawned with a smile at Izzy's wakeup call and then got out of bed to check up on the Unity Crystals.

"Don't worry. I got you," she assured, wanting nothing bad to happen.



BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

I let out a groan upon hearing my phone's alarm and reached over to my nightstand to shut it off. I slowly got up with a yawn, still feeling tired, and rubbed my eyes.

Today's the day, everypony. It's Maritime Bay Day.

I got out of bed and washed my face, brushed my teeth, yada yada, cleaned myself up, you get the idea. 

"Alright Neon. You got this. You and your friends just have to prove to a bunch of grouchy ponies that magic is awesome...or else we risk losing said magic and making thunderstorms appear. No pressure.," I internally motivated myself while looking at the mirror, "...No pressure."



After getting ready and eating some breakfast, the four mares walked out of the Brighthouse to make Maritime Bay Day magical. Before Sunny could get far, however, Izzy stopped her.

"Sunny! Sunny, wait!" Izzy called out as Sunny turned to her unicorn friend as Izzy brought out a present in her magic. "Happy Maritime Bay Day!"

"We don't usually exchange gifts," Sunny said with a grateful smile as Izzy gave her the gift.

"I know, but just open it!" Izzy encouraged with a smile.

Sunny then tore the paper off of the gift, and was shocked when she saw what it was. 

"It's...it's the lantern my dad made for me," she said with a joyful smile as she looked out the newly restored lantern her dad made as there is a crystal glowing inside it, "I-I thought it was beyond repair. Thank you so much, Izzy!" 

"Sometimes, when you add a little bit of magic, you can fix anything," Izzy pointed out with a smile.

"You're right. Now let's go add some magic to today and fix this," Sunny declared as she held up her lantern.

"Mm-hmm!" Izzy said in agreement.



The Maritime Bay Day festival was officially underway. Ponies of all kinds cheered and had fun at the various games, appreciated the decorations, and enjoyed the wonderful food.

"Oh, look! Look, look! Ponies showed up after all!" Izzy cheered to the many ponies and then gasped when Queen Haven and two of her guards, Thunder and Zoom, landed, "And there's the queen!" she cheered as trumpets were heard while the crowd cheered for Queen Haven, "Hello, your Majesticness!" She called out as she and others walked towards her to greet them.

"Mom!" Pipp cheered as she headed towards her mother, 

Zipp however grew nervous as she trotted away, not wanting to face her mother yet.



"Happy Maretime Bay Day, everypony! Welcome!" Sunny cheered as she, Hitch, and I waved to the crowd.

"So far, so good," Hitch said, seeing that everything was fine so far.

"Now we just gotta keep it up," Sunny said.

"No pressure," I muttered as I continued to (awkwardly) wave to everypony. That was until I saw a certain pink-maned pegasus. I smiled and approached her, "Hey Mom."

"Hey sweetie," she said as we hugged each other. We let each other go and she began to glance around at all the decorations around, "Wow. You and you're friends really put a lot of hard work in this festival. It's pretty nice."

"Thanks. At first, we were gonna style it how it used to be, but then we decided to mix it up a bit," I explained, "I gotta continue watching over the festival. We can catch up later. You go ahead and enjoy the festivities. I heard there's cotton candy."

"Ohhh," my mom said with a bit of excitement as she always had a bit of a sweet tooth, "Sounds good. I'll let you do your job. See you later."

"See you," I waved and headed back to Sunny and Hitch. However, I stopped in my tracks when I heard a voice.

"Spoons in the wreaths? Ugh, yuck!" I heard the voice say. I turned and saw that it was Dahlia, an earth pony mare that sells flowers. She, along with Posey and an earth pony stallion, looked at the wreaths with disgust, "I liked the old decorations better."

"I could not agree more." Posey said as she, Dahlia, and the earth pony walked off.

"Oh boy," I thought with both annoyance and surprise. I'd expect Posey to act this way, but Dahlia? She actually seemed sweet. I turned back to Sunny and Hitch and saw that they too saw that, "This isn't gonna be easy."



Me and the others were now at the beach as it was now time to see what sort of sandcastles these ponies were capable of making. In short, they were pretty nice.

"Ohhhh! Ooh! Oh! Oooh! Wow!" Izzy awed as she admired everypony's creations until she saw Windy making the biggest sandcastle so far. It looked like the Crystal Bright House. The red pegasus then put a seashell on top of it to act as the Unity Crystals.

It was so impressive that Windy was given a trophy for a job well done. Unfortunately, that was met with grumbles and glares.

I'll give you one guess as to who was giving the glares.

"Ahem!" Dahlia coughed.

"Hey!" Mayflower groaned.

"Pegasi have an unfair advantage!" Posey argued, causing other ponies to argue.

"Oooh. Somepony's toxic," I muttered, my gamer instincts kicking in, prompting Pipp to smack me, "Ow!"

"You're not helping!" she said with a frown.

It was then that the storm began to grow worse as thunder boomed from the sky, startling the ponies in the process.

"Hmmm..." Zipp said as we all looked up in worry.



"Moss ice cream?" an earth pony stallion questioned as a unicorn mare running an ice cream stand gave him a green moss looking ice cream. He licked it out of curiosity, but regretted it, "Bleghhh!" he cringed from the taste, and then tossed it away.

Three other earth ponies tried out different types of treats, but they too cringed from the taste and threw them away. Before a tart was thrown away, though, a unicorn stallion grabbed it.

"Waste not, want not!" he exclaimed as he not only ate the tart, but also whatever else was thrown in the trash. A couple of earth ponies saw this and looked on with disgust.

I, too, looked on with disgust.

"Umm...ew!" I cringed, but my attention was turned away when I felt the wind getting stronger.

Said stronger wind ended up blowing away a couple of ponies' cotton candy away.

"Oh, no!" Pipp called out as she tried to fly up and catch them, but her wings started to glitch out, resulting in her falling to the ground. She tried to fly, but nothing happened," My wings won't work!"

"Neither will my hooves!" Hitch cried out. I turned to see what he was talking about, and saw that his hooves were like...welded to the ground by magic.

"And...why are his hooves stuck?!"

"Heeeelp!" a voice called out. We all looked around and noticed that every earth ponies' hooves were stuck.

"What is this?! The earth pony equivalent of magic glitching out?!"

"Our hooves...are stuck!" another earth pony cried out, and then their hooves were freed from whatever was keeping them in place, "What's going on?!"

"The glitches!" Zipp cried out as the wind grew stronger, and more thunder was booming, "They're getting worse!"



Okay, so...so far things haven't turned so well...like not at all, but that doesn't mean that this whole festival is a bust. We still got one more way to stop all the anger and negativity.

A music stage was set up for the festival, and we were all currently standing backstage.

I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with this.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sunny asked Pipp in concern, "Nothing has gone to plan today."

"I have to give it my best shot." Pipp announced, although I can tell she was nervous.

"And if there's one thing that can bring positivity to a crowd, it's Pipp's singing," I pointed out, prompting a smile of appreciation out of the pink pegasus.

"Maybe this will help," Zipp said as he approached her sister with her lucky mic in hoof.

"My lucky mic! Okay!" Pipp gasped as she grabbed the mic. She then started to do some vocal warm-ups and trills, "Yes, we're ready! All right! Showtime~!"

"Break a hoof, Pipp!" Izzy called out as Pipp flew off to get started with her song, followed by Sunny, "But not really. Actually, be really careful."

"I'm sure she knows what you mean," I said as me, Izzy, Zipp, and Hitch observed from the backstage.

"Everypony, please welcome pop star Princess Pipp Petals to sing the brand-new Maritime Bay Day song!" Sunny announced as Pipp landed in front of the stage beside the apricot mare.

Ponies from the crowd, however, started muttering at this. And I'm not even lying when I said it was only earth ponies muttering.

"New song?" one of them asked.

"What?" another asked.

"That's my daughter!" Queen Haven cheered.

"I know her!" my mom cheered.

"Well, at least there's some sort of support."

"We want to hear the real Maritime Bay song! Sung by an earth pony!" Dahlia spoke up, and surprise surprise, Posey and a bunch of other earth ponies agreed with her, resulting in more arguing.

Seeing Pipp, my foalhood friend, looking all sad due to the crowd not wanting to hear her song due to not being the "real Maritime Bay Song" or not being sung by an earth pony.

I'll just say it.

It pissed me off.

I'm not very confrontational by any means, but hurt my friends in such a way? Let's just say I can be a different pony. One that actually takes a stand and speaks up.

Just like that time back in Bridlewood.

Before I could say something, however, the clouds grew darker and thunder started booming stronger, startling the ponies and causing the unicorns' horns to glitch out.



Back at the Brighthouse, as the thunder got stronger due to the ponies' negativity, Unity Crystals began to crack even more and the rainbow they were emitting started to dim down.



"Hey! Be nice! Sheriff's orders!" Hitch called out to the crowd as rest of us got out of the stage.

"Are you on their side?!" an earth pony mare accused.

"There are no sides!" Zipp pointed out as thunder boomed again as it got worse due to the arguing,

Okay, I had enough.

"STOP IT!" I yelled, and you'd be surprised about how loud I can be as the crowd stopped arguing, "Do none of you understand that your hostility and hatred towards each other is what's causing the magic to glitch out and this storm to form in the first place?!" I exclaimed, "And for those who refuse to listen to friend's song simply because it's not the real Maritime Bay song or that she's not an earth pony?" I added, pointing to Pipp, "Shame on you."

"Oh man, that was a rush!" I thought as I stepped back, breathing heavily from standing up to a crowd like that.

"We know that magic returning hasn't been easy for everypony, that Equestria is really different, but that's a good thing!" Sunny explained as she stepped up, "It's so much better now—!" she tried to continue, but was interrupted as more thunder boomed and we were all able to see the Brighthouse from here, including the rainbow beacon dying out, "Whoa! No, no, no! T-The magic! It's dying!"

Things turned chaotic as more and more lightning struck down, one of them striking the police station.

"Eggy!" Hitch cried out with a gasp as he ran to the station. I just chalked it up to there being something important.

The lightning wasn't the worst part, however. As one of the lightning struck the ground in front of the stage, some sort of portal opened up and continued to expand, sucking up anything in it's path.

"What is that thing?!" Queen Haven pointed out in shock.

"It's some sort of void!" Zipp theories as there was nothing in the portal except darkness.

"That's totally not ominous," I said.

"Everypony, get back!" Sunny called out to the crowd.

"No need to tell me twice!" I thought as I stepped back, but stopped when I noticed that the earth ponies were stuck to the ground the same way Hitch was earlier. As the void got closer and closer to them, I decided to get off the stage and go help them, "Crap!"

"But we're stuck!" one of the earth ponies cried out as they tried to get free.

"Please let us go!" another earth pony pleaded to a unicorn next to her, thinking they were doing it.

"It's not us!" the unicorn pointed out as a lightning strike hit a tree, destroying it.

"Can't you ponies with magic do something?!" Posey pleaded as I went up to her.

"Um..." I said as I tried to fly, but couldn't, "I don't think my magic is an option. Guess I have to do this the old fashion way," I said before grabbed onto one of the mare's hooves and tried to pull her off the ground with all my might. I grunted as I tried to free her, but it was all for naught, "No! Curse my weak hooves!"

"Come...on...Neon!" I internally motivated as I continued my efforts, "Use those muscles of yours! Channel your inner strength of the videogame wizards to help this poor and annoying ma—"

Oh, wait a minute. There was a void that was expanding.

I was so in the zone that I wasn't paying attention to how close the void was...so Posey and I ended up falling in.

"Oh craaaaap!" I screamed as we fell into the void.

"Posey! Neon! No!" I heard Sunny cry out as we continued to fall.



"NEON!" Orchid Light said out of panic as she ran and looked into the void her son fell into. She desperately tried to get her wings to work, but they just wouldn't work.

"Come on, alicorn magic! Work!" Sunny pleaded as she watched Neon and Posey falling further and further.

"But the magic! I-It's gone!" Zipp pointed out.

"Then I'll have to try without it! I'm going in!" Sunny said with a determined expression.

"Not without the rest of us!" Izzy called out, and then her horn started to shimmer once again.

"If it means saving my son, then I'm helping too!" Orchid exclaimed, causing her wings to shimmer as well.

That made Zipp realize something. If ponies control the magic, and negativity causes it to glitch out and fail, then that means...

"That's it! The magic will come back to us if we can work together!" Zipp exclaimed before turning to the crowd, "Come on, unicorns! Come on, pegasi! Help the earth ponies!"

The unicorns and pegasi, not wanting to leave their fellow ponies behind, rushed to help the earth ponies get unstuck.

Izzy used her magic to successfully get one of the earth ponies free from the magical grip, the stallion then thanking her before trotting off. Orchid grunted in effort to help another earth pony, but managed to get her free. Zipp and Pipp then worked on freeing Hitch as they grunted in effort, and then managed to get him free.

"It's working!" Zipp said as she and her sister started to fly and Zipp flew over to where Sunny was, "You got this, Sunny!"

"It's too dark in there! Take this!" Izzy said as she approached with Sunny's lantern. She tried to levitate it over to the apricot mare, but another lightning strike caused her magic to glitch out once again and for the lantern to fall into the void.

Sunny, being brave (or reckless) and wanting to help her friends, jumped and grabbed the lantern in her teeth as she fell into the void.



"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Posey and I screamed as continued to fall.

It was like a bottomless pit. All around us was just darkness. Absolute pitch black as far as the eye can see. And all we could do is fall, and fall, and fall.

"How long until we stop falling?!" I screamed, but then changed my mind, "Actually scratch that! I prefer to keep falling than hit the ground at this point!"

"Err! This never would've happened if magic never returned!" Posey yelled.

"You can't exactly blame magic for all of this, Posey!" I yelled back to the yellow mare, "If anything, it was everyponies' negativity towards each other!"

"Well, can you blame me?! Everyday, pegasi would fly too low and unicorns would hit ponies with whatever they're levitating! Magic is clearly dangero—"

"Oh, for pete's sake, Posey! Can you please stop saying that magic is dangerous and just admit that you're jealous?!"

"WHAT?!" Posy exclaimed, a look of shock on her face, "I'm not jealous!"

"Yes, you are! I get it! Earth ponies got the short end of the stick and didn't get any cool abilities when magic returned! So you got jealous and began reacting negatively to everything that pegasi and unicorns did that bothered you, even if it was something minor!" I pointed out.

"Well...what do you know?!" she screamed, "Do you have any idea what it feels like to be left outl?! Do you have any idea what it feels like to not have any magical abilities of your own?!" she asked, her voice starting to strain a bit, "Do you have any idea what it feels to feel like...a nopony?"

Her questions made me pause for bit.

"You're right about one thing, Posey," I said with a sigh, "I don't know what it's like to not have any magical powers of my own," I said before putting on a look of seriousness, "But I do know what's like to feel like be left out. And I do know what it feels like to feel like a nopony"

"Yeah, right," she said, not believing me.

"Yeah, right," I said, still serious, "I know what it feels like to believe that you don't matter. To feel like you're invisible while everypony around you have fun times with smiles on their faces. To feel like...you're not special...and that you deserve to be alone."

You may think that I'm being specific...but that's because I am. When I was a foal, besides having my mom, I was lonely, to put it bluntly.  Very few things brought me joy. I was that one pony that sat all alone at the corner table of a school cafeteria. And that's not an exaggeration in the slightest. I was so lonely that I actually believed that I would grow up without anypony to love me and just...die alone.

"But that was until I met a couple of very special ponies who gave me their friendship despite who I was back then, and do you know what they said to me?" I asked Posey, who was actually paying attention, "Everypony is special in their own way. You just have to focus not on what you don't have, but rather what you do have," I said, "Like your gardening skills. You're probably one of the best, if not the best gardener in Equestria. And I'm not saying that just to be nice."

"...You...you really think so?" Posey asked, a look of surprise on her face. When I nodded, she turned away and I'm pretty sure I saw a look of shame, "But...why are you telling me this? Why are you being so nice after how I acted?"

"Because I know you're a good pony, Posey," I said with a smile, unaware that my cutie mark started to glow once again, "You just have to let go of your jealousy in order to prove it."

"...Geez, how long have we've falling?" I questioned after a few seconds of silence, but then noticed a bright light getting closer and closer to us, "What the?"

The light suddenly encompassed us, acting as some sort of spherical shield that stopped us from falling. I looked up and saw Sunny...in her alicorn form.

"Woah! Awesome, Sunny!" I cheered, prompting a smile from her.

The shield around Posey and I then started to levitate us up until we got back to the surface and got placed safely on the ground beside the portal. 

Once the shield disappeared, the first thing that happened was my mom giving me a crushing hug. Again, not an exaggeration.

"Neon, don't scare me like that again!" she cried out.

"Ah! Mom! Can't...breath!" I managed to choke out, a small blush forming on my face. I then looked back at the portal and realized that somepony still hasn't come out of it. I got out of my mom's hug and walked over to the portal. I looked into it hoping to see a certain apricot mare, but I didn't.

"Sunny?" Izzy called out with worry.

And then suddenly, a magic rainbow flew out of the void as Sunny flew after it before the portal closed. We all watched in amazement as the rainbow flew all the way over to the Brighthouse.



Inside the Brighthouse, the magic vines appeared on the walls once again, but this time they started to head into the Unity Crystals, resulting in a magic explosion as the magic vines spread from the Brighthouse and through the rest of Equestria.



"Whoa..." I muttered as I witnessed the magical vines I saw spread throughout the ground and made the earth ponies' hooves sparkle once they made contact with them.

"That tickles!" Hitch laughed, holding some sort of giant egg with him. His animal crew, that were previously hiding from the storm, came out and approached.

What happened next, though, amazed me.

"I know, I know! I totally agree with everything you guys are saying," Hitch said to the critters as they chirped at him, but he was caught off guard when he realized what was happening, "Did you just...talk?! Did I just...understand you?! Whaaaaat?!" he exclaimed in disbelief, "Wow, that's a lot of information. "Well, nice to meet you, Kenneth. I'm Hitch!""

"Double whoa," I said as I observed Hitch literally communicating with his animal companions.

What happened next, though, really amazed me.

"Flower power?!" I heard Posey's voice, turning my attention away to the mare in question, and the first thing I saw was her tapping her hoof on the ground and causing flowers to grow.

Other earth ponies tapped their hooves on the ground and caused the tree that was destroyed earlier to be restored.

"Triple woah!" I exclaimed, walking up to my friends.

"Earth pony magic?!" Sunny exclaimed, amazement dawning her face.

"Heh. I guess earth ponies are no longer getting the short end of the stick."

"But that's never happened before!" Izzy pointed out.

"Maybe...when we work together, we can invent new magic," Zipp theorized.

"You're right, Zipp." Sunny said, "Actually, you and Neon were right about everything. I'm sorry I didn't believe you two. I should've been a better friend and listened." she apologized, "I was just so focused on hoping magic was okay that I lost sight of everything else," she said as she came close to us, "Can you two forgive me?"

"Obviously./Of course," Zipp and I said respectively with smiles.

"Zephyrina!" Queen Haven called, walking up to us along with my mom, "There you are! My hoofness, what an ordeal!" she exclaimed, "Gather your things. We need to hit the sky if we're going to make it back to the palace by sundown."

"Mom! I'm not going back with you!" Zipp stated firmly.

"We agreed that you were to resume your studies," Queen Haven reminded, likely studies to prepare her for being the future Queen.

"My place is here in Maritime Bay with my friends," Zipp said while looking at us before facing her mother. I guess she had plenty of time to think as she then spoke from the heart, "I just need more time to figure things out. To investigate magic. To explore who I am before I take on my royal duty. And...you know what? I think who I am is somepony who likes figuring things out."

Queen Haven was a little unsure at first, but then my mom decided to speak up.

"Haven, I think it'd be best if she stay here," she advised, "You know, let her spread her wings and follow her dreams before she settles down."

"...You're right," Queen Haven said with a smile before turning to Zipp, "You certainly are, my little princess investigator."

Mom? Would you do me a favor?" Zipp asked.

"Anything, darling," Queen Haven answered.

"Would you mind just calling me 'Zipp' for now?" Zipp requested.

"Of course...Zipp," Queen Haven obliged as Cloudpuff crawled over to Hitch and barked at him.

What happened next, though, well...you know the rest.

"I'm sorry, it's a what?" Hitch asked Cloudpuff. We then noticed that the egg Hitch was holding was starting to shake and sparkle, an indication of it hatching. Once it hatched, a magic dust cleared out as the baby cooed at us. It had a reptilian appearance, a light green underbelly, four horns that all curled backwards with swirls on them, low, long ears with pink insides, and a pair of bat-like wings, "A dragon?!"

"Quadruple woah!" I exclaimed as I observed the little guy (at least, I think it was a boy), "Seeing a dragon in real life is more surreal than seeing one on a screen."

"But dragons haven't been seen in Equestria for generations!" Sunny stated with excitement.

"He's so cute!" Izzy squealed as the baby dragon hugged Hitch.

"It seems he imprinted on you, Hitch," I said.

"Adorbs!" Pipp commented as Hitch placed the dragon on his back.

"Hey, everypony." Posey said, walking up to us, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I acted. I think I just felt…"

"Left out?" Zipp answered.

"Yeah! Exactly..." she admitted, her ears drooping in sadness, "But...it took somepony else to help me realize that I should've just been happy with what I've got instead of let jealousy cause me to act negatively towards others," she said before looking at me with a smile, "Thanks Neon."

"Mmm," I said with a nod.

"Well, we'll make sure you or anypony else won't feel left out again," Sunny promised, and then looked at us, "Right, guys?"

We all spoke and nodded in agreement at this.

"Pipp? Would you mind...singing your new Maritime Bay song?" Posey asked, turning over a new leaf and wanting to start things fresh.

"I will on one condition: if you'll sing it with me," Pipp said with a smirk as she presented her lucky microphone.

"I'll do the harmony!" Posey said excitedly as she and the rest of us went back to the stage to continue where we left off before...things went awry.

As we walking, however, I felt it. That strange, enlightening sensation once again throughout my body that was noticeable, but not overbearing. It was actually kinda ticklish.

"Ah, what is that exactly?" I wondered as I shook my head, but decided to think about it later and just focus on the rest of Maritime Bay Day.

What I nor anypony else noticed, though, was that for a split second, my eyes flashed the color cyan.



And what nopony knew was that the ponies of Maritime Bay weren't the only ponies aware of the the events that happened there.

In a secluded part of Equestria, there was a tall, dark castle that only a few ponies knew about.

And inside of the throne room of said castle, there was a tall mare that was looking at a screen that showed Maritime Bay.

"Hah. Those little ponies finally figured out how to stabilize the magic," she said to herself. The mare had a long, slightly curved horn that was colored paler towards the tip. She was deep purple with dark blue eyes and glittery blue eyeshadow. Her mane was white with light streaks of cyan and was parted into two side sections with thin braids wrapped around her ears.

"Took them long enough," she said before giving off an evil smile, "And now that they have, it's time to take back what is mine!"

As the mare laughed evilly, she spread out a pair of wings, revealing the fact that she was...an alicorn.



After the Maritime Bay Day finally ended, we all decided to go back to the Brighthouse for some rest and relaxation.

"It looks brilliant!" Izzy complimented Zipp, who had some straps and a radio on her, as she put up some posters next to her bed. The rest of us where there too, as well as the baby dragon that was sitting on Hitch's back.

"You think so?" Zipp asked Izzy.

"We're so glad you're staying in Maritime Bay, 'Detective Zipp'!" Pipp said with a smile.

"Me, too," Zipp replied with a smile, "We have a lot to learn about magic and how it works," she said while looking at a golden detective pin on her strap, "I'm just glad I'll be here to figure it out with my best friends."

"Well, I definitely still have a loooot of questions," Sunny said, "Like why does my alicorn magic disappear?"

"Yeah!" Hitch said in agreement, "Like why is it that I have the magical power to understand every animal except for this adorable baby dragon?" he said, cooing at said dragon, who in turn grabbed his muzzle, "Ow, ow, ow."

"Or...where did magic come from?" Zipp asked as she paced back and forth, "Who made the Crystals anyway? And how did they get separated? Why didn't earth ponies have magic before?"

"And if earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns really did live in harmony many moons ago, what caused hostility between them in the first place?" I spoke up, "So many questions, but I'm not sure how to answer them."

"Well, at least we already know one thing for sure," Sunny said with a smile

"What's that?" Izzy excitedly asked with a gasp.

"No matter what lies ahead, we'll face it together!" Sunny announced, to which we all cheered in agreement.

This is just the beginning of the story, I guess. Wonder what the future has in store for us. I guess there's only one way to find out.



"Wow, I uh...I didn't expect them to take that long. Oh well. It's progress. One step at a time, I guess. It's a good thing time is more or less irrelevant here. At least...I think it is."

...

"Y-yeah, I...I understand my task. No pressure. No pressure. No pressure."

...

"No, I'm fine. I'm fine. It's just... do you really think I'm the best choice for this? I wouldn't really consider myself a good teacher. Hell, I wouldn't consider myself a teacher at all."

...

"I know. I'm just...worried that I'll mess up, I guess."

...

"Heh. You always were pretty wise."

...

"Phew. Alright. Wish me luck, Harmony."
> Chapter 15: A Lucid Dream
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 15: A Lucid Dream




"Huh? Wha...?" I muttered as I opened my eyes. It didn't take me until a few seconds for my eyes to fully open, but then became wide upon seeing...or rather...not...seeing...where I was, "W-what the heck?"

I wasn't in my bedroom at all. I was...nowhere. I mean, I'm sure I was somewhere, but everywhere around me was just darkness. Looking around, there were no lights, nopony else to talk to. Nothing to see for miles and miles away, just like the void that appeared during Maretime Bay Day yesterday. The only exception being that I was alone...and not falling, which was good...I think.

"What is this? Where am I?" I asked nopony in particular, looking around my surroundings. I opened my wings to see if they worked, and thankfully they did, "Hello!" I called out as I started flying a bit. After a minute of flying and calling out for help, I decided it was a bust and flew back down to the nonexistent ground, "Okay, Neon. Don't panic. Just recall what you were doing and you could use that to find a way out. You uh...you went to bed...you started having an awesome dream about...something...then you heard a voice...then you ended up here."

Was I...was I still in the void? Was Sunny unable to rescue me? No, that couldn't be the case. If it was, then Posey would be beside me, right? And I most likely would still be falling. And my wings wouldn't be working.

"Did I die? Am I in the bad place?" I asked, panic starting to overcome me.

"Don't worry. You're not dead."

I screamed out of fright and would've turned around to where the sudden voice came from, but it sounded like it was coming from all around me.

"Who said that?! Hello!" I exclaimed, calling out for an answer, "Where are you?!"

"I am nowhere and everywhere at the same time."

"W-what?"

"Hehehe, I'm just kidding," the voice chuckled, "Well, not really since I technically am nowhere and everywhere."

"Oh great, I'm starting to hear voices," I muttered, "I've either gone crazy or I really am dead."

"Again, not dead. As for crazy? Well, we're all crazy in our own way, right?"

"So...is...that a yes to me being crazy...or...?" I asked, but then shook my head, "Okay, seriously! Where are you?" I asked again, wanting an answer as this was starting to freak me out.

"Alright, calm down. Calm down," the voice said in a calming way, seemingly sensing my uneasiness, before I heard from behind me, "Right behind you."

I screamed once again at the voice suddenly sounding from behind me. I turned and saw the pony responsible.

It was a pegasus stallion probably the same age as me, perhaps a little bit older. His fur was a dark gray with bare hooves, the feathers of his wings also being dark gray. His eyes were chocolate brown, and his mane and tail were both black and way spikier than mine were (not that I was judging or anything). 

"Sup," the pegasus greeted with a nod.

"Um...hello?" I greeted with an akward wave, "...Who are you? And what is this place?"

"Hmm, how should I put it?" the pegasus questioned himself, "To put it simply, this place...is your mind."

"What?" I asked in confusion, looking around the empty void, "But there's nothing here. Wait, what do you mean we're in my mind?"

"It's exactly as it sounds. We're in your mind. Your subconscious if you will. I just made it so you're mind is clear, which probably explains why it just looks like a void, and that you're more aware of what's going on around you."

"With what? Magic?" I asked in a bit of a joking matter.

"Actually yes."

"Oh... Wait, so...I'm still asleep?" I asked, to which the pegasus nodded. I gestured to all around us and asked, "And this is all just in my head? I'm dreaming?"

"Lucid dreaming to be more specific."

"If this is a dream, then..." I wondered before using a mental image to change my surroundings. The void around us faded away and transformed into that hill with the cherry blossom tree that me and the others passed by during our mission to bring magic back. You gotta admit, it is a pretty nice spot, "Oh, thank the stars that worked. I spent enough time in a void already."

"Woah, this is a pretty nice place," the pegasus said, looking up at the tree we were under, "And you're right. That void was starting to give me the creeps."

"I passed by this tree when I was travelling with some friends," I said with a small smile at the memory, but then put on a serious and suspicious expression, "But in all seriousness, why are you in my mind in the first place? And you still haven't answered one of my first questions. Who are you?" 

"Relax. I'm not here to hurt you or take over your brain or something like that," he reassured at my suspicious frown, "To put it bluntly, I'm here because we have work to do. You must be prepared. Trained."

It took a few seconds for my brain to fully process that, but that only led to more confusion and questions.

"...Wha...? Trained? What do you mean trained? Trained for what?"

"I'll explain that in a bit. As for who I am? I'm..." the pegasus was about to introduce himself, but stopped as he started to look a bit woozy

"You alright?" I asked, a bit concerned.

"Y-yeah, sorry. I've just never used magic to influence somepony's dreams before. I guess it's taking a lot more out of me than I thought," he said with a sigh as he shook his head, "How did Princess Luna do this everyday?"

"What?"

"Nothing. I think our time here is up. I guess we have to continue our conversation when you wake up."

"Wait, what you mean by tha—?" I tried to ask, but was silenced as the pegasus placed a hoof on my muzzle.

"Shhhh," he shushed, "Wake up."

"But—"

"Wake up!"



"Huh?! Wha...?!" I yelped as I opened my eyes and quickly sat up. After quickly rubbing my eyes, I looked around and saw that I was in my bed in my apartment. I hopped out of bed and opened my window blinds, letting out a sigh of relief as I saw ponies already going about their day.

As I closed the blinds, my thoughts then turned to that weird dream I had. Many questions were filling my mind.

I've never seen that pony before in my entire life, and there's no way I could've just been making him up since, as he put it, it was a lucid dream.

So who was that pony? Why was he making me have a lucid dream? And what did he need to train me for?

"Was any of that even real?" I questioned, but after thinking about it, I shook my head. I turned and walked over to the bathroom, "No, that couldn't have been real."

I mean, some random pegasus shows up in my dreams and tells me that I need to be trained for something? Even if there's magic in this world, just the thought alone is ridiculous. And even if it was lucid dream, it's still just that. A dream.

I entered the bathroom and turned on the lights. I inspected myself in the mirror to look for any signs of insomnia or craziness.

...Nope. I look perfectly normal.

I then turned the sink on and proceeded to splash water on my face. I think it's important to do that to completely wake yourself up, after all. I opened my eyes and reached over for my face towel, not paying any attention to the pegasus in the reflection, before I dried my face and—

...

...

!!!

I slowly peeked a now wide eye out from the cover my towel...and saw a pegasus in the reflection...standing right behind me.

And it wasn't just any pegasus.

It was the one from my dream.

"Hey," he said with a nod.

I then did the only sensible thing that anypony would do if they suddenly saw an unfamiliar pony standing behind them in a mirror reflection.

I screamed. Very loudly.

"AAAHHH!" I screamed as I threw the towel, not caring where it landed (it ended up landing in the toilet), and ran out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I then ran through the small hallway leading to the living room and proceeded to head to the door.

However, before I could reach it, the pegasus suddenly flew in front of me, blocking my way.

"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down. Calm down," he said, once again in that calming matter, but it wasn't really helping much. But now that I have a good look at him, he appeared...see through...and had some sort of blue aura around him, "Like I said before, I'm not here to harm you. I'm—"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Neon! Neon, open the door!" I heard Cobalt yelling from outside as he continued to knock on the door.

The pegasus turned his head back from the door and to me. Surprisingly, he then moved out of the way and flew over to sit on my couch. At this, I hastily moved to the door and opened it, seeing Cobalt with a protective looking face.

"Neon, I heard screaming. You alright?" Cobalt bluntly asked.

Honestly, I'm a little surprised he was able to hear me. I must have a louder voice than I thought.

"T-there's—" I said, pointing at the pegasus casually chilling on the couch.

"No point pointing me out, dude. He can't see me."

"W-wha...?" I thought as I glanced at the pegasus, wondering what he meant by that. But then I looked back at Cobalt, who was looking behind me and in the direction of the aforementioned pegasus. But at the same time, he was acting in a way as if he was looking for somepony.

"There's what? Is there an intruder here?" he asked.

"What's going on? He can't see him?" I questioned, now with a face that was more confused than out of panic.

"...N-no. Sorry. I just saw a...a big spider and it freaked me out," I lied, making sure to act like I really did see a spider (freaked out yet calm at the same time, if that makes sense), "I'm just really not a fan of spiders. Again, sorry for screaming so loudly."

For a second, I thought Cobalt he doubted as he raised an eyebrow at my answer, but then he let out a sigh and stopped giving me that look of doubt.

While I'm not proud of it, it's good to be a good liar sometimes. And it's not like you can blame me for lying. If Cobalt really couldn't see the pegasus then he'd think I was crazy.

...Maybe Cobalt is crazy?

"As long as you're not in danger or anything," he said.

"Oh no, I'm good," I said, acting as if I finally calmed downed from seeing a spider, despite the fact that I'm still freaked out.

"...Okay then," Cobalt said, once again with a raised an eyebrow. He did a double take of my apartment, and then turned around and headed back into his apartment.

As soon as the door to his apartment closed, I slowly closed the door to mine.

"You're neighbor seems cool," the pegasus said, causing me to turn back to him as he's still casually sitting on my couch and was even slouching.

"Alright. I have questions and somepony's gonna answer them right now whether they like it or not."

"What the heck was that?" I asked bluntly, wanting him to get to the point, "How come Cobalt wasn't able to see you?"

"Oh, that unicorn isn't the only pony that can't see me," he replied before pointing at me, "In fact, you're the only one that can see me."

"...That's it. I've officially gone crazy."

"You're not crazy. And before you ask, yes, I am some sort of ghost. I mean, just look at me. I'm see through and have a glowing blue aura," he said, gesturing to himself, but it wasn't really helping to be honest, " But you're still not crazy! You just have that special magic inside of you."

"...Special magic?" I asked, confused, "What special magic?"

"Hmm, I'm glad you asked," the pegasus said with a smile as he sat up, "Tell me, have you been feeling some sort of...sensation lately? Like your body has been feeling all tingly...yet relaxed at the same time?"

"Sensation? Tingly and relaxed?" I thought with a questioning gaze, not sure what he was referring to...but then remembered yesterday.




The day before




"Hey, Neon? You alright?" Zipp asked with a worried gaze, the others looking at me in turn.

"Hmm?" I muttered, glancing at the pegasus mare, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You're acting a little...fidgety there," Zipp pointed out, causing me to look down and saw that my body was actually fidgeting a bit, just enough to be noticeable.

"Yeah, I've noticed that too," Sunny commented in a worried tone, "In fact, you've been like that since after the festival. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Hmm," Izzy said as she rubbed a hoof on her chin and analyzed me, before she smiled, "Maybe you're just cold!" she cheerily theorized before she ran away and came back with a blanket and draped it over me, "Here you go!"

"Umm...thanks Izzy, but...I'm not cold at all," I said with a small smile as I took the blanket off me and folded it nicely. After all, it's been quite sunny since the magic glitching out problem was resolved, "I guess I'm just...shaken up...over what happened during the festival."

At the time, I wasn't sure whether or not that was actually the truth. My body didn't feel numb, didn't feel hurt, and didn't even feel shaken up, but I had no other explanation.

At my response, my friends dropped it and eventually my body stopped fidgeting, to which I decided to forget about it.



"Y-yes, actually," I answered, "Just yesterday, in fact."

"That's that special magic flowing through you. Let me give you a little history lesson," he said, and as much as I didn't wanna listen to some boring old history lesson (because I hate history), I felt like I had to hear him out, "Long ago, there were six ponies that were the best of friends. These ponies' friendship bonds was so strong, so powerful that they were able to utilize a special magic that I refer to as Harmony Magic, which, as the name applies, comes from harmony and friendship."

"Magic that comes from harmony and friendship? Are you referring to Unity Magic?" I questioned at the familiarity. At the pegasus's confusion, I explained, "You know, the magic that gives each pony tribes their respective magics?"

It was Sunny that came with that name, by the way.

"Oh no. No, Harmony Magic is much more powerful. It has the potential to banish evil and whatnot. Anyways, with Harmony Magic, the six ponies were able to defeat numerous villains that sought to destroy friendship and create disharmony in Equestria. And they weren't the only ones that were capable of using Harmony Magic. But here's the thing, such magic can't be used like a unicorn levitating something or a pegasus flying in the skies. There has to be good reason for it to be used, such as cleansing a corrupted villain for example, and more importantly, you have to be worthy. Chosen," he explained before smirking, "And guess who just so happened to be worthy?"

"You?" I guessed.

"Ding ding! Ye be correct. But here's where it gets really interesting. I wasn't able to just utilize Harmony Magic. I was able to control it. Influence it as long as it was for the right reasons. I guess you can consider me as some sort of conduit," he said before thinking, "Hey, that actually has a nice touch. A Conduit. Although I don't think I can legally use that name."

"Look..." I said, interrupting the pegasus, "That was a cool story and all...but it there a point to all of this?"

If I'm being honest, I thought this was all just crazy talk. I mean, I've never heard of whatever this Harmony Magic is.

Then again, there's still plenty to learn about magic in general. And I've definitely never seen a ghost before in my life.

"I'll answer that question with more questions," the pegasus said as he leaned on the armrest of the couch, "Why do you think I told you this story in the first place? Why do you think I came here, and even went as far as go into your dreams? Why do you think you're the only pony that can see me? Why were you feeling an unfamiliar sensation yesterday? Why do you think I said 'special magic flowing through you?'" he asked before muttering, "That was a lot of questions. I apologize," I didn't understand where he was going at first, but after a few seconds the realization came to me. Upon seeing my face, the pegasus calmly said, "It's because you're capable of wielding the power of Harmony Magic."

"...W-what?" I muttered as I sat on my haunches, "I...I don't understand."

"Hmm, perhaps a demonstration is in order," the pegasus said, getting up from the couch and sitting in front of me, "Close your eyes."

"W-why?"

"Just do it," he said firmly, prompting me to close my eyes, "Now what I want you to do is focus. Take a deep breath and clear your mind of any negative thoughts."

"This feels stupid, but...whatever," I thought as I took a deep breath and started to...think positive, I guess?

"Now...look deep inside you. Feel the magic coursing within you."

I took another deep breath as I continued to focus on...whatever it is I need to focus on. I was about to call it quits and voice my thoughts, but then...I felt something. A sort of spark, I guess you could say, but it was a powerful one. Almost too powerful. It was actually overwhelmi—

I opened my eyes with a gasp, unaware that my eyes were glowing cyan but then faded back to their usual bronze color.

"You see what I'm talking about now?" the pegasus asked with a smirk.

"Wha...what was that?" I asked as I was catching my breath. That single spark just felt so intense that I could barely handle it.

"That was Harmony Magic. But like I said, it's so powerful that almost nopony can directly harness it," he explained, "But that's why I'm here. To train you to...well, harness it."

I swear, this is just getting crazier and crazier by the second. After feeling that spark, I was more or less accepting this. Don't ask me why, though.

"But...why?" I asked, "Why...am I capable? Surely there's somepony else that's more worthy! L-like Sunny! She was pretty much the first pony to becomes friends with a non-earth pony, despite the fears we used to have. Surely she's a better op—"

"Look..." the pegasus sighed, interrupting me, "I didn't enter your mind just to talk to you. I was also looking into your heart and soul, assessing who you are as a pony. And who I saw was somepony caring, tenacious, willing to see the good in others. We wouldn't be having this conversation right now if you weren't worthy."

"...But how do you know that I'm the right po—"

"I don't know how. I just do."

This was all too much for me. Harmony Magic? Being worthy of harnessing it? Having to be trained?

But probably the biggest mystery right now was this pegasus. 

Just who was he exactly?

...

...There's only pony that would have that answer.

"...I...I need to talk to Sunny about this," I said as I stood up and gathered my belongings, "She might have some information on this whole thing."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm sure it's a lot to take in," the pegasus said before he blocked my way before I could leave my apartment, "Before we leave, though, could we finally get introductions out of the way?"

"Oh...sure," I said before pointing to myself, "Neon Light."

"Neon Light. Cool name. It certainly matches your whole color scheme," the pegasus complimented as he flew around me. As he did so, I was finally able to get a good look at his cutie mark.

It looked...quite similar to mine.

Like mine, it was a smiling face, but it was all colored cyan. The eyes were instead shaped like circles with dots in the middle and lines running through them. The mouth was shaped like a crescent and there were lines to represent teeth, I think, and there were splotches on one side.

The pegasus then flew in front of me before pointing to himself.

"Name's Apex Legion," he introduced, "But my friends just refer to me as Legion."
> Chapter 16: The Pony Named Legion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 16: The Pony Named Legion




Equestria.

Geez, things have really changed since the last time I saw it.

It's hard to believe that so many moons have passed. You see, in Heaven, or Elysium as these ponies would call it, time is more or less irrelevant. It's like sleeping. You close your eyes when it's night time, and next thing you know, you open your eyes to the rising sun. Thousands of years can go by when it feels like it's only been a few days at best. 

Then again, I wasn't really waiting in Heaven, per say. I'll explain more about that some other time.

Regardless, it makes me pity Nightmare Moon when she was banished to the Moon, or Discord when he was imprisoned in stone, or hell, even Tirek when he was incarcerated in Tarturus because they all had to embrace the concept of time.

At least, I think they did. I don't know. I could be wrong.

So here I am now. In an Equestria unfamiliar to me, dead, and can only be seen by one pony.

That pony being a pegasus named Neon Light.

I'll be honest, I'm surprised at how well the pegasus is taking this thing so far. I'd figure he'd freak out and GTFO (even though that's exactly what he did before I stopped him), or just straight up ignore me, but so far, it seems like he's accepting this. For now, at least. 

After we finally introduced ourselves, Neon proceeded to exit his apartment (but not before taking a bagel) and walk to the stairs, with me flying and following behind him. Understandably, he kept glancing over his shoulder to look at me as he kept walking through the halls, down the elevator, and eventually through the front door. He then spread his wings and took to the air, me continuing to follow him.

As we flew through the air, I looked down to view the town Neon lives in. It was small, to put it bluntly. It kinda reminds of Ponyville, only less medieval styled and more modern looking...and next to a sea.

"Is that a tram I see?" I wondered, looking closely at the thing in question, "Holy crap! It is! And it doesn't look like it's being powered by a steam engine. It seems Equestria has also upped in technology."

"This is a nice town you live in," I complimented with a whistle, "I wish I lived in a place like this when I was...well, alive."

I mean, there were pretty active places like Manehattan and Baltimare, but they were pretty...how should I put it...metropolitan. Not that I have anything against metropolitan places or anything. They're just not my style.

"Um...thanks. Maretime Bay may be small, but I guess that's what gives it charm," Neon said before asking in a bit of a nervous tone, "So...you're just gonna follow me from now on?"

"Mmhm," I replied with a nod, "I will follow you until I deem that you're fully capable of fully handling your powers."

"Cool," he said, but I could tell he wasn't all for it.

Well, too bad.

"By the way, Neon, just a forewarning, but I suggest you don't talk to me when we're out in public, or at least around other ponies. Remember, I said that you're the only one that can see and hear me," I reminded, "So to other ponies, it just seems like you're talking to yourself."

"...I'll keep that in mind," he said in a reassuring way, but just the pause was enough to tell me that he was feeling a bit frustrated by that.

Not that I can blame him or anything. He's probably thinking that I can annoy him as much as I want and he can't do enough about it or else he'll look crazy.

And if that was the case, he's right.

Guess I'm like the Shinigami Ryuk now. Oh, wait. Actually, I prefer to see myself as Obi-Wan from Star Wars when he was a ghost. 

Yeah. Let's go with that one. It's much cooler.

"So who is this Sunny pony?" I asked, trying to make conversation, I guess, "Friend of yours?"

"Yep. As I said, she was the first pony to befriend somepony that was a different type. She's sweet, friendly, and pretty scholarly. And to my knowledge, she's the only pony that has any information on Ancient Equestria," he said, "So if there's anypony that would have info on...what did you call it...Harmony Magic, it would be her... You're from Ancient Equestria, right?"

"Yep, but I wouldn't really count on some books to shed some light," I said, "I only refer it as Harmony Magic because it doesn't actually have an official name. And nopony really knows anything about it. Heck, magic in general is mysterious and can be unpredictable. Then again, I wasn't the type to read because I find it boring."

"Same here, dude," he agreed (it's nice to see we have something in common), "Alright, we're here."

I looked ahead to our destination and saw that we arrived at lighthouse sitting on a hill. There was a beautiful rainbow emanating from said lighthouse and...and...

"That...that ain't no ordinary rainbow. Is that—"

"Welcome to the Crystal Brighthouse," Neon said as we landed, interrupting my thoughts. Well, he landed. I continued to fly beside him.

"Pretty cool," I said as I admired the building, but I was mainly focusing on the rainbow because I could feel that it's not meant for show. 

We then entered the Brighthouse and...the front door wasn't locked?

"Oh, hey Neon," greeted a pink pegasus sitting on a couch.

"Hey Pipp," Neon greeted back with a smile, "Have you seen Sunny by any chance?"

"I...don't know. I was too in the zone," the pink one named Pipp answered, "Hey, as long as you're here, come check out what I've been working on."

"Umm...okay," Neon hesitated at first, probably since he really wanted to speak to Sunny. He then walked over and sat on the couch next to Pipp, me floating behind the couch, and looked at what was on the—

"Equestria has laptops now?!" I thought in slight disbelief as I looked at the pink laptop with pegasi wings on the side, "Damn, technology has really gone up."

"So what is this?" Neon asked as the laptop screen displayed an earth pony mare that strangely resembled a pegasus I knew. Yellow fur, pink hair. Anyways, she, along with four other earth ponies, were putting together the final touches of what looked to be a sand castle on a beach.

"It's something I've been putting together since Maretime Bay Day yesterday. What better way to commemorate such a special day like a blog?" Pipp answered before playing the clip.

“Steady. Steady," the mare said while sweating as she stood on top of the other earth ponies, trying to put a flag on the top of the sand castle while trying to steady their balance.

But just as the flag was about to be placed, a wave of water from the ocean hit the edge of the sand castle, causing it to collapse and for the ponies to lose their balance. It was pretty much a domino effect from there. They couldn't steady their balances any longer and they ended up falling.

"Dang," Neon chuckled as Pipp paused the video.

"Aw. Unlucky," I chuckled as well, "So this pink one is a content creator. Awesome."

Hallelujah! Let's all rejoice for Equestria has received the gift...of content creating. Although I'm pretty sure that most, if not all, of said content is more on the family friendly side.

“Oh. That is golden,” Pipp said as she looked through the footage she took, "I am a pony in the zoney~. Amazing what a little peace and quiet can do."

I then noticed that something was...phasing through me, causing me to back away with a bit of a yelp.

I then realized that it wasn't something, but somepony. Four ponies to be specific.

There was an apricot earth pony mare, a light amber earth pony stallion, a lavender unicorn mare, and a white pegasus mare.

"What are you two doing?" the lavender mare asked cheerfully, startling Neon and Pipp, the latter being so surprised that she flipped the laptop in the air, but thankfully managed to catch it in time before it could break.

"Hey, everypony!" Pipp greeted the other ponies with a smile, “Just cutting together my Maretime Bay Day Blog.”

"Gasp," the amber stallion said as he and the other ponies actually gasped in amazement with sparkles in their eyes.

"I'm just here to spectate, so..." Neon said.

"It was so special, I just wanted a way to remember it forever. Plus it’ll be great for my Ponygram," Pipp said.

"Hehehe. Ponygram? What else is there? Cliptrot? YouHoof?" I chuckled, to which Neon quickly glanced at me with a questioning gaze, "Wait, is Cliptro and YouHoof actually a thing?"

A subtle nod made me facehoof and groan a bit in annoyance.

"Of course. Why not?"

“Check it out. I got bloopers,” Pipp said as she opened up her laptop.

The clip showed a couple of mares trying to make cotton candy. The earth pony mare took a closer look, but ended up getting her colorful mane getting stuck in the cotton candy spinner. The pegasus mare ducked as the earth pony pulled her mane out, but it ended up being all puffy due to the spinner. The earth pony laughed at how her mane looked, while the pegasus just looked on, not knowing what to say.

"Behind the scenes."

The next clip showed the amber stallion doing a weird dance and singing in a high pitched voice.

It was...embarrassing, to say the least.

We all giggled at this, including me, while the stallion looked embarrassed before he lifted his chin up and put on a prideful expression.

"I regret nothing," he said in a prideful tone, causing us to stop giggling.

"You know what? That is a true stallion right there."

"Respect, dude," Neon said with a nod.

Trust me when I say, I would be caught dead dancing and/or singing in front of a camera or, so help me, a live audience. I just can't do it.

“I even caught the moment earth ponies got their magic."

The next, next clip showed the yellow earth pony mare from before. The mare stomped her (glowing?) hooves twice on the ground, creating a giant pink flower. The mare had a proudful smile at her work, before the flower quickly chomped her whole.

That...shocked me to say the least. And I'm not talking about the pony being eaten by a giant flower. You see a lot of crazy things in Equestria after all.

But what shocked me was the fact that the mare made the flower via magic.

"Whoa, that's...new. I've never seen earth ponies do that before," I said with a shocked expression, to which Neon quickly gave me that questioning gaze again, "I mean, earth ponies did have magic back then, but it only made them have a strong affinity with the earth. They've never been able to actually grow plants before."

"And if this is possible, then who knows what other magics can be created?" I thought with a sigh, "Magic is truly unpredictable. But I suppose that's what makes it beautiful."

"Nice one, sis," the white pegasus complimented, bringing out a smile from Pipp.

So the two pegasus mares are sisters. Noted.

The lavender unicorn then zipped around the couch and squeezed in between Neon and Pipp, grabbing the latter's laptop into her hooves.

“Whoa. So, it’s kinda like making a daisy chain. But, instead of daisies it’s weird talking picture squares," she said with a smile.

Not even gonna ask.

“Oh, right. But, it kind of took me hours to put it all together," Pipp said nervously, “So, just be—”

“So many memories," the unicorn said cheerfully as she began looking through whatever else was on the blog. One of them being a clip of the apricot mare trying to teach a couple of ponies how to make smoothies, “And this," she said, now playing a clip of a bird and crab poking their heads through one of those picture things (I suck at explaining stuff, shut up), “Oooh. And this," the unicorn said, now playing multiple clips such as her and the white pegasus riding a bumper car, with the latter freaking out as the former made the car go faster, a clip where the white one looked dizzy and the apricot one looked like she was about to puke and the lavender one looking completely fine, a clip of the amber one's face being pulled by the wind as he was riding something at high speeds, as well a bunch of other clips that I would describe, but I feel this explanation is taking too long.

While the three ponies behind the couch looked on with smiles on their faces, Pipp and Neon looked nervous.

“Um, Izzy? Maybe you should stop before you press—” Neon tried to say, but was cut off.

"Files erased,” Pipp’s laptop said, shocking everypony, especially Pipp and the unicorn named Izzy.

“The delete button," Neon finished before giving a small smile, "Well, it's not too bad. We can just reco—"

“Don’t worry! I know how to fix this! More typing!" Izzy said with a nervous smile as she hastily started pressing buttons on the laptop.

“Files gone forever,” Pipp’s laptop said.

"Oh my god," I muttered with another facehoof as she could've just recovered them from the trash, "Aww, I know the feeling."

Everypony gasped in shock at this, while Neon had widened eyes Pipp legit looked pissed if the look she was giving and twitchy eye were any indications.

“Even more typing?” Izzy suggested as she was nervously sweating.

“Izzy, NO!” everypony exclaimed as Pipp took her laptop back.

“I’m so sorry, Pipp," Izzy tried to apologize as the pink pegasus started shaking and crying, “My hoof slipped. And then the button slipped. And then the picture square slipped into the trash. And I just—”

“It’s okay," Pipp said with her eyes closed as she closed her laptop. She then turned to everypony with a smile I could tell was forced based on the fact that her voice was cracking and she was starting to tear up, "We’ll just do it again next year. No worries. Totally fine," she said with a choked voice as she got off the couch, "Um, I’m just gonna take a nap.”

Pipp then walked up the stairs and heading into what I assume to be her bedroom, before we all heard the sound of a door being slammed.

“Oh, it hurts!” we heard Pipp cry out as she continued to wail.

"Oh boy," I muttered.



A little while later, we, or more like Neon and his friends sans Pipp, finally established how they were gonna cheer up the sad pink pegasus. The plan involves a homemade picture frame of Pipp, a giant smoothie (seriously, it was as all as tall as a full grown pony), and the amber stallion named Hitch and a bunch of animals wearing red coats.

To say the least, it shocked me when I saw that Hitch was communicating with said animals. And apparently he's the only one who can do that!

I only knew one other pony that was able to communicate with animals.

"Okay, everypony ready?" the apricot mare named Sunny asked as she and the others stood outside the door to the bedroom where we heard Pipp whimpering..

"Mmhm," the others nodded in confirmation.

Izzy then approached the door and knocked on it.

“You can come in," Pipp said in a sad tone, to which Izzy entered with the frame.

“Hey, look. It’s me, Pipp," Izzy said while sounding like the pink pegasus, "The most iconic pegasus in Maretime Bay. With a song in my heart and a sparkle in my eye.”

I peered inside and saw that Pipp cringed a bit, but then started to smile.

"Seems like it's working so far, Neon," I commented.

Sunny then pushed the giant smoothie through the doors as she, Neon, and the white pegasus named Zipp came from behind the smoothie, with Zipp carrying a can of whip cream.

"And did someone order a giant strawberry ripple smoothie with pegasus wings?” Sunny asked with a smile before she motioned to Zipp by waving her hoof.

Zipp got the signal and shook the can of whip cream and flew to the top of the smoothie. But apparently, she shook the can too much because as she started spraying, the cream...sprayed out uncontrollably (don't take that out of context), causing the mare to fly uncontrollably. Fortunately, even as she flew around, she still managed to make the shape of pegasus wings on top of the smoothie. Zipp landed as she, Sunny, and Neon smiled at the awesome work, but then the wingtips dropped down onto Sunny and Neon, causing the two to give unamused looks as they got creamed (again, don't take that out of context).

Pipp smiled at this, though.

"Or..." Hitch said as he emerged with his animal companions, “How about a cheer up dance!” he said as he and the animals tried to dance. Emphasis on 'tried' as Hitch ended up tripping and falling, "Ahhh!"

"A for effort, at least."

This time, Pipp didn't just smile, she also giggled.

"Thanks, ponies. But none of this is gonna bring back Maretime Bay Day,” she said to them in a sad tone as she got up from her bed and proceeded to walk out the room.

"...At least she giggled. That's...that's good...I guess."

“Bring back Maretime Bay Day," Zipp muttered, repeating what Pipp just said, before it looked like she got a brain blast, “That’s it! Everypony, follow me," she said as she trotted to the door, but stopped and looked back at Sunny and Neon, "Sunny, Neon, hit the showers first."

Sunny picked a piece of the whip cream off her face and chuckled.

"Or I can just wash my face with a damp towel," Neon muttered before nodding, "Yeah. I'll do that instead."

Cool. We're both lazy and a bit unhygienic.



"I gotta say, your sister's idea is looking pretty dope. You're really going to such lengths to cheer up the pink one," I commented as Neon and the others were putting together what Zipp planned.

The white pegasus looked around and saw that the others were preoccupied and focused on their own things.

"Zipp's not my sister," Neon said not loud enough for the others to hear in a deadpan tone before smiling, "And of course we wanna cheer up Pipp. She's our friend. And not just my friend. One of my foalhood friends, along with Zipp."

"Gotcha," I said before looking at the other ponies, "Your friends seem cool, by the way."

"Yeah, they are," he said with a smile, "When I first met them, I was...a bit skeptical at first. After all, the three pony tribes have been apart for a long time. But...I'm glad I decided to trust my instincts and go along with them. I probably wouldn't have befriended them if I didn't. And it was because of friendship that we were able to bring magic back."

"I guess you could say that friendship is magic," I joked.

"Heh. That's exactly what I thought," Neon chuckled.



After finishing up the work, Zipp and Neon then went to the Brighthouse to get Pipp. We entered and saw Pipp in the kitchen making a sand castle...or more like a bread castle.

"Yay," Pipp said in a non-cheerful tone.

“Pipp, come out into the garden. We got something to show you," Zipp said with a smile.

“Um. I’m clearly a little busy building a sand castle," the pink pegasus pointed out, but then the bread castle crumbled and fell apart, causing to mare to be even more depressed.

"Come on, Pipp. Trust us," Neon said as Zipp pushed the chair Pipp was sitting on out the door.

“Look, unless you’ve recreated Maretime Bay Day in the garden—" Pipp said, but then gasped in surprised upon seeing the garden that was now transformed into a replica of the festival with stands, flowers, and the picture of Pipp, “Ooohhh! You’ve like totally recreated Maretime Bay Day in the garden!”

"Surprise!" the others exclaimed as they popped out from behind a sand castle.

“It's perfect! Oh, wow so many feels," Pipp cried out with tears of joy, “How did you do all this?”

“Well, we had pretty great materials to guide us.” Izzy answered as she motioned her head to the board behind them, displaying pictures of the festival.

"That, and teamwork," Neon added as Zipp handed—

"Is that a freaking cellphone?!"

"Here. So you can refilm it," Zipp said with a smile.

“Thanks, Zipp," Pipp thanked as she looked at everypony present, and then looked like she had second thoughts, “But you know, I think I'd rather just enjoy an amazing time with my even more amazing friends.”

This brought out a smile to everypony's face, including mine.

After all... 

"A blog can always be replaced, Pipp, but Maretime Bay Day will always be within our memories. Especially if it's spent with friends," Neon said with a sincere smile.

"Yeah. My thoughts exactly," I thought with smile.

Pipp smiled at his words and then got on a stage and faced us with a determined look.

“A one, two, three, hit it!” she cried out as she started to sing.


(Hey) Try something new, take a chance, just believe it
Let out your light, shining bright, can't you see it?


"Heh. I'm glad to see that Equestrians still burst into song," I thought as we all vibed to the catchy music, "Holy crap, she's got a good voice."



Later in the evening, we decided to finally end the festival that was put together, with Pipp putting up pictures that she took to commemorate it.

Soon after, Neon finally approached Sunny and asked her about magic and the different types. To say that the mare was excited would be an understatement. Her reaction reminded me a lot about a couple of other scholarly mares.

Especially one that was dear to my heart.

Right now, the two ponies have spent about half an hour so far looking through the various research stuff that Sunny had. And let me tell you, she really does have a lot of stuff regarding old Equestria.

From maps, journals, writings, drawings, etc. Hell, she even has figurines of six certain ponies.

I've tried to relay as much information as needed, but due to amount of research and knowledge that Sunny had, my help wasn't required.

So I decided to check on something that caught my eye earlier.

I was now on the roof of the Brighthouse, looking at the three crystals that were projecting the rainbow.

"So these crystals are what's keeping magic alive in Equestria," I thought before shaking my head in disbelief, "I can't believe that Princess Twilight thought that these were a good idea. What was she thinking?" I then subconsciously brought my hoof up and started to reach towards the crystals, "If only I could just..."

Seeing what I was doing, I put my hoof down and took a deep breath to clear the negative thoughts.

Earlier when Neon and I were flying here, the magic from this rainbow felt...familiar, but at the same time...it felt different. But now that I'm getting a closer look...

I had to know for sure.

Remembering a spell (or would technique be a better term?) I learned long ago, I closed my eyes and started to focus on both the crystals and the rainbow they were projecting.

...

I immediately opened my eyes.

"That magic..."

It wasn't bad or anything, just overpowering. And just like I said, the feeling was familiar and even recognizable, yet also different. Not wrong or bad, per say, just different...and overpowering.

"I guess that confirms it," I said to myself, making a mental note to talk to Neon about this. Deciding that I was done here for now, I then phased through the walls and entered the room where Neon and Sunny were still looking through books, "I'm guessing you two haven't found anything yet?"

Neon looked up from his book and shook his head.

"Well, that's the last book I had on magic," Sunny sighed as she closed the book she was reading, "Sorry we couldn't find what you were looking for, Neon."

"Eh, don't worry about it," the white pegasus reassured with a wave of his hoof.

"If I may ask, what sort of magic were you looking for exactly?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I've never actually heard the official name before," Neon said, technically saying the truth. He then rubbed his chin as he pondered for a moment, "Hmm. Do you have anything regarding a pegasus named...Apex Legion?"

"Apex Legion?" Sunny thought about it for a moment, "I don't think I read about somepony with that name before."

"Ahhhh..." I said as I was in the orz position (slumped down with my head down in defeat in case you don't know what that is...or you don't watch anime), honestly a bit disappointed that my name didn't end up in the history books. I then jerked my head up with a small and accepting smile "Oh well. Can't win them all, I guess."

"Eh, never mind," Neon said as he got up, "It's getting pretty late. I think I'm gonna head back home. Thanks for helping me with this, Sunny."

"Of course. A-and again, sorry we weren't able to find what you were looking for," the apricot mare said sheepishly.

"Again, don't worry about it. I can probably find it in some library if I'm lucky," Neon said as he walked out, "See ya, Sunny."

"Bye, Neon."

The two of us exited the Brighthouse, with Neon making sure to say goodbye to everypony else along the way, before we took to the skies.

"Dang, I really thought Sunny would have the information I needed," Neon said.

"Well, maybe she doesn't have info on everypony from Ancient Equestria... Or maybe I just wasn't written about in history," I suggested, "The important thing is we tried. And I'm sure there's other places we could check. I would tell you myself, but even I know pretty much nothing about Harmony Magic. And I can't really show you either because...well..."

"Yeah," Neon sighed before looking at me, "Hey Legion? You're from Ancient Equestria. Do you know anything about why magic disappeared in the first place? Or why the tribes separated?"

I thought about it moment, but then sadly shook my head.

"I'm afraid not much," I said with a frown, "Ponies were living in harmony as usual, thriving with the magic they had. It was a nice time for everypony to be themselves. One day, I decided to...take a vacation out of Equestria. You know, explore new places," I explained, not wanting to say too much, as well as remembering the days of unity with a small smile, but then it turned into a frown again, "I guess I was away for longer than I thought, because when I came back, it was already too late. Ponies were arguing over their magical differences, and some even got violent. No matter what anypony did to try to stop it, conflicts only continued to arose. Eventually, Princess Twilight, the ruler at the time, decided to contain the magic in three crystals. And the only way that the crystals could keep magic alive..."

"Is if there's friendship and harmony," Neon finished for me, "So this princess of yours made the Unity Crystals?"

"Exactly," I said with a frown, "In truth, though, I always thought that the crystals weren't the right option to end the conflict. In fact, I was against...no...I hated the whole idea behind the crystals. Taking away what Equestria revolves around. Taking away what makes everypony unique. It just felt...wrong. Sure, it caused the ponies to stop fighting, but the fear and disharmony were still there, and eventually led to them separating anyway," I expressed, "If only I didn't go away for so long, or even go at all, I could've helped with the conflicts before they got out of control."

"And because there was no magic due to the tribes separating, I couldn't..." I sadly thought before shaking my head, "Don't think about it, Legion. It's all in the past. And you still managed to live a happy life."

"Look on the bright side, though. Everypony eventually managed to come together and bring magic back. Sure, there were a few bumps in the road, but it all worked out in the end."

"...Yeah, I guess it did," I sighed.

"And you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened all that time ago," Neon said in a reassuring tone, "You didn't know that conflicts would start to occur. Nopony did. Some things are just beyond our control."

"...Still..." I said with a sigh, "I just wish I knew why the ponies would start fighting over their differences in the first place."

"...I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that... But whatever it was, I promise that my friends and I will make sure that it'll never happen again. And..." Neon paused for a sec, "...if I really am capable of using Harmony Magic...then I promise to work hard. If you'll train me that is."

His eyes. They showed both determination and heart.

That brought a smile to my face.

"Of course, dude. That's why I'm here in the first place," I said before raising a hoof, "From now on, you're my Padawan."

"I'm just gonna assume that means student," Neon smiled as went to give me a hoof bump, only for his hoof to go through mine, "Oh right."

"Man, it's gonna take a while for me to get used to being a ghost," I chuckled.

"And it's gonna take a while for me to get used to being able to talk to one," Neon chuckled as well.

"I think things will be a-okay."

...

...

...

"...I'm gonna be a shit teacher."
> Chapter 17: The Magical Guide to Guiding Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Tale of Neon Light

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 17: The Magical Guide to Guiding Magic




It's been a few days since Legion randomly showed up in my apartment and scared the ever living crap out of me. Yes, I was freaked out, but I eventually got used to him. We even got to know each other these past few days. 

For starters, he was also a gamer when he was...well...alive. He was absolutely impressed when he saw my setup and when I showed him my YouHoof channel. Ever since the tribes united, my subscriber count has gone up quite significantly. I'm not one to brag or anything, but I'm currently close to reaching 800k subs.

Legion also appears to be on the chill side like me. You know, being patient and keeping calm even when we're stressed or angry.

Overall, I've come to enjoy his presence.

The only thing that's annoying about our whole friendship is that I'm the only one that can see and hear him. Meaning, I can't really talk to him, or pretty much acknowledge his presence, in public or even around my friends or else I'll get strange looks.

Trust me, I know because that happened when we were all watching a horror movie.



“It lives. My monster lives!” the mad scientist pony cheered in his creepy lab as lightning dramatically struck.

Sunny, Pipp, and I (although I was the least creeped out due to playing a few horror games for my channel) were creeped out, Hitch was covered with a blanket in fright, and Izzy was munching on some popcorn while watching the movie. Zipp was off somewhere else and would later accuse us of stealing her sunglasses.

Seriously, she went full on detective mode by having a whole board full of evidence and taking mugshots of us.

Including me, her own detective partner.

What are they? Five hundred bit sunglasses or something?

Spoiler alert: Izzy ended up replacing said sunglasses by gifting Zipp with these high tech goggles (officially dubbed Z-Goggles) to help with her detective work. 

Another spoiler alert: said sunglasses were under her pillow (for some reason) and Zipp ended up accidently breaking them.

Anyways, as for Legion during the movie?

He looked bored.

"This is a horror movie?" he asked in a bored tone, "I'm sorry, but from what I've seen that's considered horror, this just...sucks."

"Shhh," I shushed unconsciously, but then I immediately realized what I did and saw from the corner of my eye that the others were looking at me. I turned to them and sheepishly said, "...Sorry."



Yeah, it sucks having to ignore him when I'm with the others.

Another thing is that he makes a lot of what I assume to be references that I don't understand.

Meh. Must be stuff from his time.

Anyways, today was officially my first day of training. Since this wasn't a video game, movie, or pretty much a world of fiction and there wasn't some dojo or ancient place where I could train, I just settled with an open field outside of Maretime Bay.

Although, it didn't help that I'm an early rise and that Legion doesn't even need to sleep...I think.

"Okay, um, welcome to day one of magical training, Neon. No introductions are needed, I guess," Legion greeted with sighing, "...Oh boy."

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's just...never in my life did I think I would be a teacher, but here I am. To be honest, I'm kinda nervous," he admitted with a slight chuckle before clearing his throat, "Anyways, before you can learn how to influence your Harmony Magic, you have to learn how to bring it out first. After all, you can't control a fire without a spark. Let me ask you, what do you think Harmony Magic is tied to?"

"...Friendship and harmony?"

"Well, yeah, but I was thinking more of in regards to you. What part of you do you think Harmony Magic is tied to?"

What part of me is Harmony Magic tied to?

"...Um...the heart?"

"Correct, actually," he said, making me cheer inside for taking a shot in the dark, "There is magic all around us, whether it'd be in the earth, the sea, the sky, and obviously within us. When it comes to Harmony Magic, though, it's not just a matter of whether or not you know how to use it. It's also about whether or not our feelings are strong enough to summon it in the first place. Again, you can't control a fire without a spark," he explained, "Now, try doing what I told you to do when I first appeared. Close your eyes and try to find that spark within you, and then we can see what we're working with."

"Umm...okay," I complied as I sat on my haunches. I remember him telling me to close my eyes, focus, clear my mind of negative thoughts, and look deep inside and feel the magic. Kinda vague now that I think about it.

"Focus," I thought as I took a deep breathe and continued to think positively, "Focus. Focus,"

After about a minute, I slowly opened my eyes as realized that there was no outburst of power, or some sort of spark as Legion said, like last time.

"Did...did something happen?" I questioned.

"Hmm," Legion rubbed a hoof on his chin as he examined me. He then closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them, "Well, I don't sense any power surging from you. Nor are your eyes glowing. Eh, I'm afraid to say that nothing happened. Try again."

"Relax, Neon. You don't master something on just the first day of training," I internally motivated myself, "Wait, what was that about my eyes glowing?"

"...Alright," I said as I closed my eyes once again. I just had to focus.

Should be simple, right?

No. It's not.

After a few minutes of constantly clearing my mind of negative thoughts (which isn't exactly a total breeze to do) and looking for the spark, I sighed and laid down on the grass.

"Let me guess, nothing?" I asked in a deadpan tone.

"Nothing," Legion answered, making me sigh.

"I don't get it. I'm doing exactly what you told me to do. What am I doing wrong?"

"Hmm, I think I know," Legion answered, "I think the reason you're unable to bring it out your Harmony Magic right now is because you're only trying to just because I told you to. The key to creating the spark and unlocking your magic would be to have a clear goal in mind."

"A goal? But...I didn't really have a goal in mind the last time I tried this. So why was I able to create the so called spark before?"

"Convenient plot device."

"What?"

"What?"

"..."

"..."

"...Anyways, so I pretty much have to think of a goal in order to use my Harmony Magic?" I asked.

"Yes, but it's a lot more than that. Remember, Harmony Magic is tied to your feelings. You have to figure out what kind of goal makes those feelings strong. In other words, something that you would be passionate about...I think."

"You think?" I asked with a questioning gaze.

"Hey, don't judge me. I...may or may not be coming up with these lessons as we go along, okay?" he responded, pretending to look offended, as well as making a part of me think that this was a bad idea.

"...A clear goal?" I muttered as I looked down at the ground, "But what is that goal exactly?"

"I'm...afraid that's the one thing I can't help you with. It's something you have to figure out on your own," he replied, "The best advice I could give you is to just follow your heart."

I sighed and continued to look into the sky.

"First day of lessons, and we've already hit a road block. Great," I thought sarcastically, "A clear goal in mind that brings out my feelings strong," I wondered...for a few seconds, "...Yeah, I got nothing."

"If you need ideas, you should ask your friends for help."

I slowly looked over to Legion who was whispering in a sort of tone as if he was trying to be wise.

"Sorry."

"Ask my friends for help?" I muttered before I suddenly had an idea. I got up and exclaimed, "That's it!"



Meanwhile, back at the Brighthouse, the five mares that lived there were sleeping peacefully.

In her slumber, Sunny started to have flashbacks on all the times she has spent with her friends. She remembered when they all celebrated a unicorn tradition of friendship known as T.U.E.S. Day (not to be confused with Tuesday), the time where they all went hiking in the woods, and the time where they worked together to finish up the Crystal Brighthouse.

In each of these moments, there was one noticeable similarity that none of the ponies involved seemed to notice.

Their cutie marks began to glow as they worked together and got to know each other.

After remembering all of the good times, Sunny, who was still sleeping with bed head, started to glow and levitate.

Izzy and Zipp woke up from the glow and were shocked to see the apricot mare floating in the air as the magic sparkled around her and activate her alicorn magic, causing her her horn and wings to appeare in a bright flash of light. This shocked Sunny awake and caused glitter to fly around the room in the process.

"Aaah!” Zipp yelped out in surprise as glitter hit her and Izzy in the face and some got on their beds.

Sunny was shocked to see that her alicorn wings and horn have appeared, but they disappeared as soon as she noticed, causing her to fall onto her bed which now had glitter on it.

“...What happened?” Sunny asked with a groan as she got up and looked around.

“You also exploded into a pile of…” Zipp tried to point out, but was interrupted.

“Glitter!” Izzy cheered as she felt like she was in paradise due to seeing so much glitter in one room, “Glitter!” she continued to cheer as she hugged a pile, “Glitter!” she then scooped some in a jar for later usage, “Glitter!” she then went to Pipp’s bed and grabbed some glitter and tossed it in the air as she cheered and then ran off.

“Don’t you ponies know what time it is?” the aforementioned pegasus asked tiredly as she looked up, not noticing that there was some glitter on her head. She then noticed some on her bed, “Wait, what?” she asked before she noticed what was on her head. Pipp gasped and shock and cried out, “All this glitter is drying out my mane!”

“Sorry, everypony,” Sunny apologized, “My Alicorn magic has a mind of its own. I can't control it."

“Maybe you need a magic word?" Zipp suggested, “Something to help bring out your inner alicorn.”

“Ohh! How about a catchphrase," Izzy said cheerfully as she swam in the abundant amount of glitter, “Like, ‘Wing it’! Or ‘Let’s fly’! Oh, oh, oh! I know!" she cheered as sparkles appeared in her eyes, “‘Alicorn it up!’”

“Alicorn it up?” Sunny repeated, finding it strange, but then her magic started to sparkle again. Sunny looked at her right side as she saw her wings starting to appear again, everypony else watching in amazement.

Once the glow finally settled, everypony saw that her wings...were the size of a little foal.

“It might need some work,” Izzy pointed out as she inspected the little wings that were flapping, “You’re not going to fly very far with those wings.”

“Sshh!” Zipp and Pipp shushed.



"So why exactly do we need to see Sunny?" Legion asked as he and I flew through the skies, "I thought she doesn't have anything on Harmony Magic."

"She doesn't, but she might know a thing or two about handling special magic."

"What makes you say that?"

"Before I answer, I gotta ask. Is alicorn magic in any way similar to Harmony Magic?"

"Hmm..." Legion said, rubbing his chin, "...To an extent, yes. Obviously, they're both very powerful, but the capabilities of what each one can do are pretty different," he answered, which was good enough for me, "Why? Why do you ask?"

"Sunny's an alicorn," I answered.

"...Heh. No, she's not," Legion snickered after a second of silence.

"She is, actually. Well, let me be more specific. She can transform into an alicorn. Wings, horns, everything. She's been able to do it since magic returned," I explained. 

"Transforming into an alicorn. That would be cool," he chuckled, but when he noticed that I wasn't chuckling or agreeing with him, his small smile fell, "You're...you're messing with me right now, right?"

"No, I'm serious. Sunny really can transform into an alicorn," I reaffirmed. I looked over and saw the gray pegasus with a face full of disbelief, "Did I not tell you this?"

"No, you didn't!" he exclaimed, "Transforming into an alicorn?! How?! How is that possible?!"

"I don't know. Magic?" I stated, a bit amused, "And why are you in such disbelief when you're literally a ghost?"

Legion was about to answer, but he apparently couldn't think of anything to say.

"...Good point," he sighed, "But still... Being able to transform into an alicorn and then back to normal? I've never heard of that before."

"Well, magic is unpredictable after all. Anyways, I figured that next best pony I can talk to about special magic is somepony else with special magic themselves," I said as we finally reached the Brighthouse. We landed and I was about to knock on the doors when they suddenly burst open, nearly hitting me. The first thing I saw was Pipp seemingly dragging Sunny, who had a severe case of bed head, Izzy and Zipp following along, "Um, is this a bad time?"

"Nope! We were just about take Sunny here..." Pipp said, pointing to the aforementioned mare, "...for a trip to Mane Melody! You wanna come?"

"...Hmm. Sure, why not?" I shrugged as I started to follow everypony. I mean, I needed to talk to Sunny anyways.

"Amazing. You weren't lying. Your friend here is exuding magic that is on par of an alicorn. And those wings of hers," Legion said, looking at the (comically) tiny translucent wings that Sunny had. He then chuckled a bit, "I'm sorry, but those wings would be awesome if they weren't so tiny."

"So why are we taking Sunny to Mane Melody?" I asked, knowing it has something to do with Sunny's mane, but had to ask anyway.



"Okay, so I've been gone for, like, many moons, so I might be wrong about this," Legion said calmly before declaring, "But I don't think a makeover will help bring out your friend's alicorn magic!"

It turns out that we're here at Mane Melody is because Pipp wanted to give Sunny, in the pink pegasus's own words, "a makeover fit for an alicorn."

Turns out, the others are helping Sunny learn how to control her alicorn powers, and Pipp thinks that a makeover will do just that.

Perhaps I can use this opportunity to my advantage.

Instead of just asking Sunny how she unleashes her magic, I simply observe.

“We are going to need highlights, low lights, hoof glitter, hoof polish, a facial and a curl," Pipp listed as she inspected the apricot mare, while Jazz and Rocky looked on from behind them.

“You don’t mean…” Jazz wondered.

“Oh, I do,” Pipp answered as she turned to Jazz and Rocky, “The works.”

"How does one get golden wings?" Legion asked, probably referring to Rocky, "Was this guy born with them?"


One, two, three, four


Pipp started the makeover by holding a manecut machine, with Jazz holding a hoof polisher and Rocky holding a brush.


Bring that tail right through the door


Jazz hoof polished Sunny’s right hoof with pink sparkle.


Five, six, seven, eight
You're not leaving here 'til you feel great


Rocky placed some facial cream on Sunny and then put some kiwis on her eyes. Pipp grabbed a brush and a manecutter while Jazz gave her a mirror and Rocky gave her the manedryer.


Shine bright, sparkle and glow
Flip that mane with a flow like "whoa!"


Pipp then used the four tools with all four hooves (impressive, I know) and just went all out on Sunny's mane with her mane styling skills, before she gave Sunny one final twirl.


Vibe, you're on it
You're a brand new pony, so flaunt it
Hey!


“And voila!” Pipp said with a cheerful smile at her work.

Sunny now had the same style she had when Mane Melody first opened. It is a nice look for her, after all. The apricot mare smiled at her new mane style. She then started to float in the air as her mane began to glow. Said mane began to flow down as her horn began to appear, followed by a bright light.

As the light faded away, we all gasped upon seeing that Sunny's mane...was a lot longer.

Like a lot, lot longer.

So long that we couldn't even see the mare, with the exception of her horn sticking out.

“Uh. I don’t think it worked,” Sunny called out.

"...I mean...it...sorta worked?" I said, trying to be positive, "Her magic did appear after that whole makeover."

"And I thought the Princesses' manes were long."

“Whoa, Pipp!" Izzy said in amazement as she inspected Sunny's mane, “You’re good. Do me next!”

Zipp, Pipp, and I walked up to Sunny as Pipp chuckled nervously.

“Look on the bright side. At least the mane covers those tiny wings," Pipp pointed out as she moved some of Sunny’s mane to show the (still comically) tiny wings.

"Don't really see how that helps."

“No. No. No," Zipp shook her head, "This is about more than a mane, it’s about inspiration,” she said as she zipped around Sunny with a smile, “And nothing inspires quite like a little…”



"...Danger,” Zipp finished as she showed us an obstacle course in the old Canterlogic building (the place shut down after magic returned since they specialized in pegasus and unicorn defense devices). Said obstacle course had parts consisting of three logs that were swinging back and forth, a little pole over a tub of green bubbly goop slime, and lastly three hoops that lead straight to the finish line, "A bit of danger will totally trigger your alicorn abilities.”

"...Zipp eerily reminds me a lot of another daring pony I once knew."

"Hmm, I see your point, Zipp, since that works in a lot of superhero movies. Counter point, this is real life and not a superhero movie," I pointed out, "Also, when did you build all of this?"

"What do you think I do in my spare time?" Zipp asked with a smirk.

“I don’t know about this either, Zipp," Pipp said in agreement with me.

“Um, what am I looking at?” Sunny asked, seeing as her mane covered her eyes. Zipp moved some of her mane out of the way, causing Sunny to see what was in front of us and give a look of freight, “Are you sure? Because this looks…”

“Fun!” Izzy cheered.

“Impossible,” Sunny corrected with a nervous smile.

"Yeah, and no offense or anything to your friend, but she doesn't exactly seem like the athletic type."

“You’ll do great, Sunny. Pttss,” Zipp said to Sunny with confidence.

"Can we at least make it she's not blind?" I asked, not wanting her to go through this with a giant mane blocking her vision.

"Yeah, let’s get that mane out of your face," Pipp agreed.

A few minutes later, we all (somehow) managed to tie Sunny's mane up. The mare in question smiled upon seeing her style, or maybe that's because she's able to see properly.

“There. Much bet—" Pipp tried to say, but stopped and went deadpan as we saw Izzy put a stocking on a button side of Sunny's mane, "It will do."

“Ready…” Zipp called out as she went next to Sunny, "Set…" she counted before she pushed the apricot mare, "Go!”

It went as well as you'd expect.

Sunny screamed as she went through the obstacle course, dodging the swinging logs in a rush. Pipp, Legion, and I cringed in worry while Zipp and Izzy smiled confidently. Sunny continued to scream as she tried to balance on the log over the green slime, but then tripped and got some slime on her. Zipp and Izzy then started to cringe a bit as they realized that Sunny doesn't have this. Sunny hopped on the hoops covered in slime, and as she went through them, her left wing started to glow and then grow into the normal size of alicorn wings, but the right wing was still small, meaning Sunny still can’t fly without both wings, meaning that she ended up falling to the ground.

"...Um...'A' for effort?"

"Sunny! Are you all right?" Pipp asked as we went to check on Sunny, "Oh, Sunny! Your poor mane!” she cried with a gasp before turning to Zipp with a glare, "Zipp. What were you thinking!?”

“This is the best alicorn yet," Zipp said with a proudly as she pointed to Sunny.

“Ah we just need better transformation words,” Izzy suggested, “ How about ‘Hooftastic-maneriffic-canterlogic-docious!"”

"That sounds like a spell from Harry Potter."

“A new alicorn outfit would totally do the trick. Maybe a few accessories?” Pipp suggested.

As Pipp, Zipp, and Izzy continued to suggest ideas, with me just kinda standing to the side, I noticed Sunny look down in sadness from all this bickering.

“Maybe if I add fire to the obstacle course..." Zipp suggested.

That's it. This calls for an intervention.

"Alright, guys, guys. Stop," I firmly spoke up , causing the three bickering mares to stop talking and look at me, "I think it's quite clear that none of your ideas are helping."

"Well, we're trying," Pipp tried to reason, "Maybe if we get her a new dress..."

"Alright, I'm just gonna say it. Neither makeup, a dangerous obstacle course, nor some catchphrases are gonna help Sunny with her alicorn problem," I spoke up again, and then remembering what I was told earlier, "I once learned that magic is tied to our feelings and that it really shines when we're passionate about something. Makeups, obstacle courses, and catchphrases might be stuff you three are passionate about, but maybe not for Sunny. She's into...books and...studying Equestrian history and...helping her friends. That's the kind of stuff that she is passionate about."

"...You're right," Pipp spoke up as she and the other mares looked down in shame, "We were so caught up on helping Sunny that we didn't realize we were only making it worse."

"We were so caught up on helping Sunny that we didn't realize we were only making it worse," Izzy said.

"I guess the obstacle course was too much. No matter the situation, I should never put my friends in danger," Zipp said, "We're sorry."

"It's not me you should be apologizing t—" I said as I glanced back at Sunny, only to see that she was nowhere in sight, "Sunny?"

"Yeah...she left as soon as you started giving that whole speech."

"And you're only telling me now?!"



A little while later, Sunny was at the beach after she got most of the slime off of her, and was looking at the ocean with a sad face.

Not far from her, there were three foals making a sandcastle. One of the fillies was shoveling the sand, but then her shovel got out of her hooves and landed next to Hitch, who was walking towards Sunny. He picked up the shovel and gave it back to the filly with a smile.

Hitch smiled at the foals, then he saw Sunny over at the corner. 

"Aha." Hitch said with a smile and then walked towards her.

"That was a complete disaster," Sunny said to herself as she got the rest of the slime out of her mane, still feeling sad about what happened and her inability to control her magic.

What was the secret? What was the key to unlocking her alicorn magic?

Those were the sort of thoughts that were running through her head. Other thoughts involved seeing herself as some sort of...failure.

"Figured I'd find you here" Hitch said to Sunny, "Pipp told me what happened. You okay?"

"Everypony else seems to be growing so fast," Sunny answered with a sigh as she looked down, "I just feel...stuck."

"You helped everypony believe in magic." Hitch said with a smile, "Now it's time to believe in your own magic, Sunny. In here." he added, placing a hoof on Sunny’s chest where her heart should be.

Sunny smiled at this, feeling a little better. 

"Thanks, Hitch. If only it were that simple..." she said, but then something caught her attention. The two ponies saw a big wave coming to the beach, and then Sunny gasped in shock once she saw where the wave will hit. "Oh, no! The foals!" she cried out, while the foals looked at the wave and were too scared to move.

Sunny and Hitch ran to get the foals out of the way, but Hitch hit a little hole in the sand that caused him to trip and fall into the sand. He got the sand off his face, but then gasped as the wave was coming closer.

"Come on, Sunny! You can do this! Those foals needs you!" she told herself with a determined look, wanting to protect the foals from getting hurt. As that thought filled her head, she started to glow as her cutie mark sparkled and her alicorn form finally took form (as well as her mane getting fixed). 

Hitch watched on with an awed expression and sparkling eyes. Sunny flew and came right in front of the foals and faced the wave. She focused her magic to her wings and blew them at the wave, which caused it to turn into a giant pile of glitter.

The foals looked at Sunny with amazement, and once she landed, she looked at herself with joy, now that she had her alicorn form under control. 

"I did it!" Sunny cheered as she laughed a bit, proud that she was able to not only summon her alicorn magic properly, but also able to use it to protect a ponies from danger. She then put on a sheepish expression and said, "Now if I can just figure out how to turn off the glitter..."

"I knew you can do it, Sunny!" Hitch said in a muffled sound, trapped in a pile of glitter, while Sunny looked at him with a smile.



"Oh yeah. That is definitely the magic of an alicorn," Legion said as he and I sat on a hill overlooking the beach.

After me and the others noticed that Sunny was gone, we decided to split up and search for her. After some time has passed, I eventually managed to find her at the beach. As I landed, though, I saw that she was running towards a huge wave that was heading towards a group of foals. I was about to rush in to help, but then I saw it.

Sunny unleashing her alicorn magic and using it to turn the wave into a pile of glitter.

"She finally managed to unleash her magic not because she felt good about herself or that she was in danger..." I muttered, to which Legion glanced at me, "...but because she wanted to protect those ponies," I then looked at the ghost next to me, "Is that kind of mentality what helped you bring out your Harmony Magic when you had it?"

"...Yeah. I remember this one time when I was on a field trip with my friends, and in the middle of it a Timberwolf came by and attacked us. It focused its attention on me I led it away from my friends. That's...that's when my Harmony Magic came in and protected me," he explained, "There was also this time when a suit of armor came to life and attacked me and a friend. I wanted her to stand behind me, to protect her, and that's when, again, my Harmony Magic came in and helped me."

"Is that the kind of  mentality I need to have? The need to protect others? My friends? It sounds so simple, yet at the same time...it doesn't."

I never really thought about protecting my friends. Helping my friends, definitely, but protecting them from danger? Real danger? Not really, but that's mainly because of how peaceful and friendly Equestria is.

"No, I shouldn't think like that. As I just saw right now, stuff can happen. Heck, what happened on Maretime Bay Day put ponies in danger, including me," I thought, remembering the feeling of falling in the endless void.

I know that with my gift of Harmony Magic, I would have to...I should use it to help and protect others when needed.

But would I really have the confidence and strength to do so?

I'm not special. 

I'm not some sort of guardian or protector or hero.

I'm just...me.
> Quick update
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys.

Quick update on things considering that I haven't even started to write the next chapter.

To put it simply, lately I haven't really had the urge or drive to write.

Mainly because I've been spending a lot of time reading fanfics that aren't MLP based.

Rest assured, I in no way plan on cancelling this story by any means.

Right now I just kinda wanna take a break from writing (even though I haven't really been doing that).

When I will I start writing again? Either sometime this or next month, I don't know.

But yeah, sorry that I have been slow on posting lately.

See you all when I feel like writing again.

Peace.