The Mane 5 journey to Acme Falls to find a magical wishing star and save the whole town from a wicked king.
A couple weeks after the events of Winter Wishday, the Mane 5, Sparky and Misty (who is of course doing infiltration work for Opaline) discover that the Unity Crystals can send them to anyplace who is in dire need of their help, and the first time the spell is called into action, it sends the group to the sad town of Acme Falls, where they meet the Warner Brothers... and the Warner Sister.
When young Wakko picks the only wishing star in the night sky, it's a race against everyone in town to claim it and its one wish. But none of them realize that the wicked King Salazar wants the star too, and wants the Warners gone. It's up to the Mane 5, Sparky and Misty to stop the plan and save Acme Falls and the kingdom from his plots. But will they succeed? And will Misty see the error in her ways and stop serving Opaline?
This story will inspire everyone to shoot for their own dreams and never ever give up hope!
It had been weeks after Winter Wishday (or Wishentine or Wishihoof) had ended, and Opaline was right back with what she had in the beginning since magic had returned… nothing.
While Sunny Starscout and her pony friends still had their magic (by accident, she proclaimed), the one true heir to Equestria was still left with a small sliver of her previous power… and all she wanted was the dragon fire from Sparky Sparkeroni to recover her lost strength.
And there was only one pony who could get it for her. “MISTY!!!” Opaline shrieked, and the timid blue unicorn emerged from her quarters, visibly shaking at the sound of her mistress’ shrill voice. “Yes, Opaline?”
“Come to me,” Opaline ushered, and Misty quickly trotted over and sad next to her throne, which sat just before her mirror pool, which showcased the Crystal Brighthouse and all the magic within. “Misty, it has been weeks since I asked you to acquire the dragon, and you still fail.”
Misty could feel herself shrivel up on the inside at the disgust and disappointment in Opaline’s words… all she ever wanted to do was make Opaline proud. “But…” Opaline continued, “you have a chance to make up for your… failures.”
“Yes?” Misty blinked, ready to hear what Opaline had to say about giving her a second-- no, fourth… ah, 100th chance. “I have noticed that ever since that potent holiday Winter Wishday, the ponies in the Brighthouse have been spending more time together at two places-- the Brighthouse and that pink pegasus princess’ salon,” Opaline explained. “You’re to go and infiltrate their happy group and either A, learn more about the Unity Crystals, or B, capture the dragon. Do whatever you have to do to get them to trust you with vital information.”
“But… what if they start asking me questions? Like they did at the Unicorn Sleepover?” Misty asked, which in her opinion was the most fun she’s ever had. Opaline quickly spun her head in her direction, making Misty jump. “What kind of questions did they ask you?” she asked with narrowed eyes. “W-Well, it was more Zipp asking the questions than anypony else,” Misty admitted nervously. “She was just asking when I got into Maretime Bay, if I had--”
“Stop. Suddenly, I’m not in the mood to hear it,” Opaline stopped her, and Misty nodded obediently. “Now go-- and do not come back without one of the required items I have asked you for.”
Misty nodded and trotted out the door, giving her mistress one last glance before she left. Opaline kept her gaze cold and icy as she looked at the reflection of the Brighthouse before her. “Soon, Twilight Sparkle, your essence in that putrid lighthouse shall be no more,” she sneered to herself. “I will be the one in control of all magic… and there’s NOTHING you and your followers will be able to do about it! Mwah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!”
XXXXXXXXXX
In Maretime Bay, Sunny was fixing all her friends’ favorite smoothies at her smoothie cart while the group chatted about different things, and Pipp was there to take PLENTY of pictures. “So, the Ponykind Parade was amazing!” Izzy said. “Even though the critters under the Blazeberries cuckoo factor was a bit of a whoopsy-hurdle.”
“Makes me wonder if somepony planted them there on purpose,” Zipp wondered to herself, entering that information into her Flypad. There was no detail too big or too small for this detective. “Either way,” Hitch sighed as Sparky drunk from his smoothie, “I’m glad you ponies were there to save me and Sparkers here from being critter chow.”
“Nopony or critter was gonna mess with Pipp Petals and her Ponykind Parade… or her friends,” Pipp told Hitch with a smile, tickling Sparky’s tummy as she spoke. “Um… excuse me?” called a voice, and the group looked over to see Misty trot over to them sheepishly. “Hey, Misty!” Sunny waved. “What can I get you? One Triple Berry or one Pineapple Paradise? Those seem to be the hot flavors today.”
“Ooh, a Pineapple Paradise sounds good! I’ll have that please,” Misty said as she sat down next to Izzy and Pipp. “So, uh… heh…. w-w-what have you ponies been up to?”
“We were just talking about the Ponykind Parade a couple days ago. Sorry you had to miss it to… visit your grandmare you said?” Zipp asked, eyeing her suspiciously. “Yeah,” Misty nodded stiffly. “She was sick with a cold and I wanted to be there to take care of her.”
Once Zipp nodded, Misty sighed inwardly… she was getting better at hiding her nervousness around Zipp, but she would still need some work.
Once she built up her nerve, Misty decided to ask the make-or-break question. “So… you guys know how you mentioned the Unity Crystals in the Brighthouse?” she asked. “Would it be okay if I… got a closer look at them? I mean, the story made them sound really amazing, and I’d love it if I got to see them up close.”
Zipp immediately found this suspicious, but before she could protest, Sunny nodded. “Of course you can! We’ve never had anypony else see them up close, but we trust you. We’ll go after everypony finishes their smoothie.”
Misty nodded and waited for everypony else to finish, and then finished her own smoothie before they walked toward the Crystal Brighthouse. In her heart, Misty could not get over how beautiful it was.
Zipp led everypony up to the Crystal Room, where Misty’s teal eyes widened at how the Unity Crystals glimmered in the rainbow light they created. “Wow… they’re so hooftastic!”
“They are, aren’t they?” Zipp asked with a smile. “There’s so much more we still don’t know about them… and we have to keep them safe from the pony Twilight Sparkle warned us about in her message.”
“M-M-Message?” Misty gulped, knowing that Opaline wouldn’t like it if she found out about it. “Yeah,” Hitch nodded. “Twilight left a message in the crystals warning us about a pony who wanted all magic for herself.”
Misty cringed at this… that was Opaline all right. “C-Could you try and play it for me? I’ve never seen any photos or anything of Twilight, and I’d like to see her.”
“Well… I guess we could,” Sunny said. “Come on, ponies.”
Standing together, the magic flowed from their cutie marks and into the Unity Crystals, as Misty watched in wonder. But, instead of playing the message, the Unity Crystals began to glow brighter until whisps of white magic began to envelope everything in the Crystal Room!
Everypony and Sparky began to panic at the sight, and when the glow faded after a few minutes… they had vanished. Where to? Nopony else knew that either, but we all know it will be an amazing adventure.
The bleak landscape stretched out many miles, a blanket of white enveloping the world around the small village of Acme Falls, which lay in the kingdom of Warnerstock.
One singular fire lit up the village, fueled by a sled called Rosebud… and this fire belonged to three orphaned siblings-- Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner.
The three of them were on the street and on their own ever since the Acme Falls Orphanage had to shut down, but they didn't realize that they wouldn't be on their own for very long.
As the three orphans struggled to keep warm by this fire in the midst of a desolate and cold night, a bright flash resonated from the nearby forest, earning middle Warner sibling, Wakko's attention. "Hey… did anyone else see that?" he asked. "Either a flashlight was left on too long and exploded in the forest, or someone's out there!"
"Wakko, there can't be anyone in these parts, especially at this time of night" Dot told her brother with a skeptic look. "I mean, this place is definitely not Las Vegas."
"Uh… let's just go and see what it is anyway. Maybe we can make this fire melt the ice tips around here," Yakko said, rising to his feet and lighting a branch nearby with fire before leading his siblings toward the forest, Dot occasionally coughing as they did so.
Dot had come down with an illness a couple weeks before, and Yakko and Wakko just didn't have enough money right then to pay for an operation that could save her. Dot was holding on okay for now, but… who knows how long that would last.
After hiking in the woods for some time, the Warners eventually stumbled upon where the light had emitted from, and were stunned by what they saw in the fresh fallen snow-- six horse-like creatures and one scaly dragon, all different colors and some of the horses having horns and some having wings.
Wakko was the first to approach the unconscious creatures, doing such silently in case they were just sleeping. His eyes fell on Misty first, since she was the closest, and ran his gloved fingers through her bushy mane.
And as he did such, the blue unicorn servant to the evil Opaline began to stir. A groan escaped from Misty's lips as her teal eyes began to open. And when she saw the Warners staring down at the ponies with wide eyes, she yelped and backed up in alarm. "Easy there," Yakko tried to calm her. "We just wanna help."
"...Misty…?" Zipp's voice rang out, and the rest of the ponies began to stir as well. "Where in Equestria are we?" Hitch asked, being unfamiliar with the area. "Equestria?" Dot questioned. "Then you're really off your kilter, buddy-- there's no Equestria around these parts."
"No… no Equestria?" Pipp fainted dramatically in the snow before yelping and fluttering up. "GAH!!! Cold snow, cold snow!!"
"Awww, what cuties!" Izzy cooed, patting Wakko on the head. "My name's Izzy, and these are my friends. What are your names, cute black-and-white dog things?"
"We're the Warner Brothers!" Yakko and Wakko said in unison. "And the Warner Sister!" Dot chirped cutely. "Heh… flower in hair, wears pink… finally, someone who gets personal cuteness!" Pipp said, wrapping a foreleg around Dot. "I like you already, Warner Sister."
"My actual name is Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca III," Dot shrugged. "But everyone around here calls me Dot."
Just then, she let a few coughs come out, making Yakko frown and put his hands on her shoulders. "Come on, we better get you home and to bed," he said gently. "It isn't good for you to be out in this weather."
“What about these horses?” Wakko pointed out. “We can’t leave them on their own out here-- they’re lost and on their own!”
“Listen to the red-hatted dog-thing!” Hitch shuddered from the cold, trying to keep Sparky as warm as possible. “I promise, we won’t take up that much room in your home,” Sunny said, “but we do need a place to rest for now, until we can find our way back to our home. And… maybe you three would like some company?”
The Warners looked at each other for a few moments before huddling together and whispering about what they should do. “We barely have enough room for the three of us-- who knows what would happen if we took seven more in?” Yakko asked. “Come on, Yakko,” Dot begged. “I finally met someone or… something that respects me for my cuteness! Let ‘em stay, at least for a little while.”
“Please? Pretty pretty please?” Wakko looked up with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster. Yakko had to admit, his siblings’ cute eyes were pretty unbearable, and if Wakko was doing it, then Dot was sure to follow. So, he made a risky decision and sighed inwardly to himself. “All right… they can stay for a while, just until we can figure out how they got here and get ‘em home.”
“You’re in!” Wakko hugged Misty around the neck, catching her off guard, but soon she melted into the tenderness of Wakko’s hug. “Just follow us back to our humble abode,” Yakko said. “And… don’t be expecting too much-- especially with the town the way it is.”
XXXXXXXXX
Needless to say, the group was quite surprised when they discovered what the Warners ‘home’ was… a wooden water tower on the far side of the village.
It looked like it needed a couple of repairs… a lot like everything in this village. Zipp took note of it and decided to ask the Warners about that. “Hey, Yakko? Does this town need a handypony or something? A lot of the businesses look boarded up and nearly ready to fall to the floor in heaps.”
“Well… it’s been that way ever since that tight-wad Baron von Plotz showed up around these parts,” Yakko grumbled, arms crossed. “Didn’t you guys do your research on towns like this before you dropped in from nowhere?”
“Weeeeee didn’t exactly have a choice,” Sunny chuckled, scratching the back of her neck with her hoof. “Some sort of magic just brought us here without any explanation. But if you tell us more about what’s going on, maybe we can help figure out what we can do about it.”
“They are the first… uh, ponies to come in without screaming and seeing how bent-out-of-shape the place is,” Wakko shrugged. “Yeah,” Dot nodded with a cough. “Maybe we should tell them what’s going--”
But before Dot could say anything else, the Mane 5’s cutie marks started glowing again, if not brighter than before. “Whoa, what’s going on with your rear ends?” Yakko asked. “That’s one thing we’re still trying to figure out,” Zipp said. “But it is new-- it’s like our cutie marks wanna do the explaining.”
The swirls of magic from their cutie marks formed sort of a looking-glass type image from many years ago, prompting the group to sit down and listen (and for Misty to try and keep her drawn-on cutie mark a secret). "Over a century ago, in the foothills of the old river valley," a male voice narrated, "there stood the village of Acme Falls. It was a town filled with happy inhabitants-- including the butcher... the baker... and the candlestick maker. And a mime."
"Well, no place is perfect," Yakko shrugged. "That's true," the voice agreed, "but Acme Falls was as close to perfect as possible... except for the mime, that is. Now, this village was part of a peace-loving picturesque little country called Warnerstock, which was ruled by a benevolent king... Sir William the Good. Everyone loved King William. Peace and prosperity covered the land. But then King William passed away... and there was a struggle for control of the kingdom."
"A struggle, huh? Interesting..." Zipp took a video of the story to study later. "And the struggle ended with Warnerstock being overthrown in a hostile takeover by the nation of Tictockia," the narrator went on. "Now, the new leader of Warnerstock was King Salazar the Pushy, a ruthless corporate raider who vowed to rule with a tight fist. But the international community didn't support his regime, and the country's fortunes plummeted. Salazar's treasury grew dangerously low. So he sent out an edict for the country to start turning a profit... or perish."
"P-P-Perish...?" Misty's eyes widened as she gulped... this guy was almost as bad as Opaline! "To fill the royal coffers, all cities and towns were to be taxed, and this included Acme Falls. There, the king sent his tax collector, Baron von Plotz, who was taxing to the extreme. The baron squeezed the life out of Acme Falls... until the once prosperous town was crushed."
With that, the story ended, and the magic flowed back into the cutie marks of the group. "Oh... my... hoofness," Pipp said, breathless and shocked. "I had no idea you all had it so rough..."
“We can’t all be mega-popular pop princesses, Pipp,” Zipp told her sister sternly. “A lot of ponies back home have those kind of struggles too, but they’re not as serious as this one. As soon as we get back home, I’ll ask Mom to put out a message to stop things like this.”
“And with Dot needing an operation, we just… can’t afford things right now,” Wakko said with a frown, obviously worried. “We’re sorry things have turned out so roughly,” Hitch said sadly. “Is there anything we can do?”
"Not unless you got a boat loaded with cash under your wings," Yakko said with a sigh. "We do appreciate it though. It's just hard to think people are wanting to help us after all this time."
"What about your parents? Do you think they might be able to help us in someway?" Zipp asked curiously, and the tense in the room doubled after that. "We, um..." Dot coughed. "We're orphans..."
The group's eyes widened and some quietly gasped... they had no idea. "I'm so sorry..." Sunny said quietly. "I-I had no idea, and... I know how it feels... my dad passed away a few years ago, and I've been on my own since."
"Oh... sorry to hear about that, Sunny," Wakko rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. "But... don't worry about us. We're getting along okay-- besides, Yakko is the only one who really remembers Mom and Dad anyway."
"But he reminds us about them every chance he gets," Dot added with a small smile. "...come on, sibs... and new guys," Yakko yawned. "We'll take you around town and introduce you to folks tomorrow."
XXXXXXXXX
As dawn began to rise over Acme Falls, Hitch and Sunny surprised the Warners by using their earth pony magic to make some fruits and veggies for breakfast, and the Warners downed them hungrily.
Who knows how long it had been since they had eaten a full meal?
After breakfast was over, Izzy knitted the group some swiftly-made winter gear (since their regular gear was back home in Equestria) and the Warners took them out into the village to introduce them to a majority of friends and townsfolk:
Dr. Scratchinsniff and Hello Nurse were the resident medical staff who had diagonosed Dot with her illness, and often tried to make elixers for money at the markets.
Rita and Runt were a stray cat and dog team who often slept in the snowy alleyways.
Slappy Squirrel and her nephew Skippy lived in a giant acorn tree in town, but during the winter months, they got so hungry they often ate their acorn supply too quickly.
The last ones they met were Pinky and the Brain, a pair of mice who lived in the nearby church. Needless to say, Pinky was wide eyed in amazement once he saw them. “Look, Brain! Narf!” he exclaimed, hugging Izzy’s leg. “It’s like me fantasies have been made real!”
“We’re in a movie musical fantasy, Pinky,” Brain rolled his eyes, looking at no one in particular. “Of course there’d be ponies and such. Now come along-- our mousey bodies are going to freeze from this coming age.”
The ponies really didn’t understand what Brain was so sour about, but Pinky seemed really nice, so they knew that they could trust him.
The other townsfolk were a little surprised to see magical talking ponies with wings, horns and a unique plant-growing power around them, but they soon adapted well with the ponies... much better than Zipp and Sunny thought they would.
All throughout the tour, Misty noticed how sad and depressing everything looked… and hoped that Opaline wouldn’t cause ponies back in Equestria to fall into this sort of despair. If she did… Misty would never be able to forgive herself.
A little while later, the Warners had once again built a successful fire, and as they sat around, warming their frigid bodies, the Warners began to sing about their hardships, completely catching the ponies offguard, but soon got used to it.
Yakko: Some folks say that life is cruel
Wakko: At the orphanage they fed us inedible gruel
Dot: We slept on beds with springs that hurt
Yakko: The faucets have hot and cold running dirt
Wakko: The windows were broken, the roof was leaky
Dot: The walls were cracked, the floors were creaky
Yakko: They shut down the orphanage And now we know…
Warners: Ah… Those were the days, we miss it so
Dot: And ever since then… (low voice) I’ve been feeling low (coughs)
Yakko: Another subzero morning
Dot: And still, there's nothing to eat
Yakko: My feet couldn't get much colder
Dot: Our breath is our main source of heat
Misty: They’re so far below the poverty line We're off the graph
Wakko: But don't fret, sibs Cause things'll get better in time Then you're gonna laugh
Dot: HA!!
Some of the townsfolk, who have been listening to the Warners sing, decided to join in the song, making the group realize that Warnerstock was probably some sort of musically-cultured country.
Rita: Poverty and hunger are bound here
Runt: Yeah, looks like a city dump
Pipp: There's only one job to be found here
Yakko: The town needs a new speed bump
Dr. Scratchinsniff: Acme Falls was a paradise
Hello Nurse: Happiest place on earth
All: But the tax collector’s avarice Took us for all we’re worth
However, Baron von Plotz’s tune, up in his house, sounded very different from the tune that the townspeople sang.
Baron von Plotz: My coffers are overflowing
Shopkeepers: All of our shelves are bare
Baron von Plotz: My profit margin is growing
Shopkeepers: We’re broke It seems so unfair
All: Life’s so lousy We can no longer cope
Wakko: Ya gotta cheer up And never ever give up hope!
The song continued as Sunny, Misty and their friends took another look around town, realizing that things seemed even worse than they had previously assumed.
Sunny: All of the shops are closin’
Izzy: Things couldn’t get much worse
Skippy: Even my nuts are frozen
Slappy: Be careful with that last verse
Dr. Scratchinsniff: Hey, step up und try our elixir! It's good for what hurts!
Hello Nurse: Whatever ails you, it can fix her
Dr. Scratchinsniff: And it’s great on desserts
Brain: Drat, the temperature's falling
Pinky: I love when the weather is cool
Brain: A new ice age is calling
Pinky: Look, I can freeze my drool!
Brain: I have hopes and dreams of ruling the Earth But here I sit Watching Pinky make ice sculptures…
Pinky: Out of spit! NARF!!
Slappy: This old tree is finished!
Skippy: Our acorn supply’s gone too
Slappy: So for dinner, we're havin' creamed spinach
Skippy: All I can say is, "Spew!"
Hitch, Zipp, Dot and Yakko: As a town, we're so down So we mope
Wakko: Ya gotta cheer up And never give up hope
All: We can’t cope!
Sunny and Wakko: Ya gotta cheer up And never give up hope
All: Are you a dope?
Sunny: Nope!
All: Just cheer up And never ever give up hope Hope hope hope hope! Yeah!
And just like that, the town went back to their normal lives as if the song hadn’t happened but left in a better mood. “You’re right, Wakko,” Sunny nodded. “As long as we keep hope, we’ll never have a reason to lose it.”
“Speaking of losing it… Wakko, we gotta get to the train station, or you’ll miss your train!” Yakko exclaimed. "Come on, slowpokes!"
The Warners and their friends rushed toward the station, though the ponies were slightly confused about where Wakko could be going. And soon, they made it to the station with a few minutes to spare. “Phew… good thing we got here before the train did,” Dot sighed. "But... where is Wakko going?" Zipp asked. "Even after that elaborate hope-rising sketch?"
“Wakko’s stepping up in the family,” Yakko proudly said, “and is going a couple towns over to do some work and earn enough for Dot’s operation.”
“Wow, Wakko… that is, like, so sweet of you!” Pipp said. "I am so adding that to my ponygram feed when we get back to Equestria. "The problem with that is, we don’t know how long he’ll be gone working,” Dot sighed, "and we're gonna miss him while he's... cough, cough... gone."
The ponies felt their hearts sink at this... they just met Wakko and his siblings the previous night, and already they were gonna start missing him, just like his siblings would. "Hey..." Wakko whispered to Sunny and her friends. "You think for as long as you're here, you can keep an eye on my brother and sister for me?"
"You can count on it, Wakko," Sunny nodded, giving him a hug. "Be safe out there."
Soon, the train pulled in, and Wakko hugged his siblings and new friends one more time before going to step aboard... right after Izzy gave him one of her friendship bracelets, hoping for some good luck. Soon, the train with Wakko aboard soon pulled out from the station, and the ponies, Yakko and Dot watched it go out of sight. "You think Wakko will be okay, Sunny?" Misty asked as Sparky hugged Yakko and Dot for comfort. "I think so, Misty," Sunny nodded, still focused on the direction the train was heading. "We just have to keep hope. We'll wait here for him to come back... no matter how long it takes."
"But won't ponies back home be worrying about us?" Hitch asked. "Yeah!" Pipp nodded. "I trust Jazz and Rocky with my life, but they'll get worried if I'm not at Mane Melody."
"I think the Unity Crystals sensed the Warners and their town needed help, and that's why they sent us here," Sunny said quietly. "We just need to be patient... they'll bring us back home in good time. I can feel it."
Ever since Wakko left on the train going to earn his fortune, the ponies helped to try to spread his message of never giving up hope, but as things got even worse for the people with Baron von Plotz’s constant high taxing, it became rather difficult.
And Dot’s condition was slowly growing worse, and Izzy and Misty knew that unicorn magic couldn’t heal it. So, the town waited for Wakko to return, waiting through winter… then spring… then summer… and finally, fall.
By the time that winter came around again and snow began to whiten the ground, the ponies were wondering when they’d ever get to go home… and Misty was wondering if Opaline was wondering where she was.
Sure, she could be hard on Misty in someway, but Misty believed in her own heart that Opaline did care about her… in someway.
Early one morning, while the ponies and the two remaining Warner siblings were still asleep in bed, Misty crept out of the water tower and went for a walk through the town, eyes sadly looking left and right at the state of the town.
She wasn’t sure what else to do… what should she do?
Should she still serve Opaline and risk her pony friends being in danger for her own cutie mark? Or… should she follow her own path and find another way to find out how she was special?
All of this thinking got her to sing, and find her voice for the first time.
A million thoughts in my head Should I let my heart keep listening? Cause up 'til now, I've walked the line Nothing lost but something missing I can't decide what's wrong, what's right Which way should I go?
If only I knew what my heart was telling me Don't know what I'm feeling Is this just a dream? Ah oh, yeah If only I could read the signs in front of me I could find the way to who I'm meant to be Ah oh, if only If only If only...
Every step, every word With every hour I'm feeling in To something new, something brave To someone I've never been I can't decide what's wrong, what's right Which way should I go
If only I knew what my heart was telling me Don't know what I'm feeling Is this just a dream? Ah oh, yeah If only I could read the signs in front of me I could find the way to who I'm meant to be Ah oh, If only Yeah
Am I crazy? Maybe It could happen Will they still be with me When the magic's all run out?
If only I knew what my heart was telling me Don't know what I'm feeling Is this just a dream? Ah oh... If only I could read the signs in front of me I could find the way to who I'm meant to be Ah oh...
If only, yeah (x4)
If only If only...
She sat down in the cold snow, mind contemplating all these questions as she finished her song. What should she choose? “Misty…?” Zipp called out, fluttering her way. “Is everything okay? You’re out here on your own, and--”
“No no no… I’m okay,” Misty sighed. “I was just… thinking about something… and about my friend back home. Zipp… would it be wrong of me to say that… when I try to do things right and I make my friend mad, that… I deserve to be called nothing, or… useless? Or that I can never do anything right?”
This caught Zipp’s attention immediately, the gears in her head turning rapidly. This COULD explain why Misty is always so jumpy… somepony had been calling her horrible names and wearing down her confidence.
She wanted to find out more… but she didn’t want to make Misty uncomfortable again like she did about a month ago. “Misty… nopony should ever say that to you to get you down,” Zipp finally said, putting a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “If anypony is hurting you, you can talk to me or the other ponies. You can trust us.”
“...even when I’m not from Bridlewood like I fibbed about?” Misty choked on her words. “I didn’t mean to lie, but Izzy was just so excited, and I couldn’t let her down, and I--”
“No no… it’s okay. I get it,” Zipp stopped her. “You can tell Izzy and the other ponies whenever you’re ready.”
“Whenever we meet Wakko and his siblings so long ago, they… they gave me a hopeful feeling that I’ve never felt before,” Misty said, admitting a feeling that she had never felt before. “Wakko… he seems like a never-ending ball of positivity. Like everything’s gonna be okay. But with him gone… it seems more drab than its ever been before we came around. I guess I just… kinda miss him, and I wish things would go ahead and get better.”
“We all do…” Zipp nodded, feeling like she was beginning to miss the middle Warner sibling more than ever before shaking her head to clear away those thoughts. “Come on. Let’s get back before Hitch decides he and Yakko are gonna have that fruit-eating contest again-- that did NOT go well last time.”
XXXXXXXXXX
Later on in the day, the Warners and their pony friends walked to the train station and began waiting, potentially hoping that today would be the day that Wakko returned from his travels.
While they did such, young mouse Pinky walked through the snow to the stables, a large sack in his tiny paws. “Oh, Pharfignewton,” he sighed dramatically. “Pharfignewton… where for art thou, Pharfignewton?”
And just like that, the white horse with the gray mane and tail popped up from out of her stall, whinnying in delight upon seeing the mouse she had come to like. “Oh, therefore you art,” Pinky spoke to her and pulled a sugar cube out from the sack he dragged in. "And lookee. Narf! I brought you a snacky-wacky!"
Pharfignewton whinnied happily before giving the mouse a big lick in order to gulp down the sugar cube, Pinky giggling happily. “Troz! Feeding you is like taking a really smelly bath.”
Suddenly, a familiar voice to Pinky out of the silence. "Pinky, I need you!"
It was Pinky's best friend Brain, who often required his assistance in his plans to take over the world, but Pinky, being himself, gasped and thought the sound came from the horse he cared about. “Pharfignewton, I didn’t know you could talk!”
“Pinky, stop this foolishness,” Brain deadpanned. “You know, Pharfignewton,” Pinky said, not paying Brain any attention, “you sound a little like Brain.”
Having enough, Brain grabbed a carrot and whacked Pinky on the head with it, making him laugh. “Oh, you bop like Brain too, ha.”
It was then that Pinky turned to see Brain behind him. "I knew I'd find you out here wasting time with this horse. Come," Brain grabbed Pinky's paw and began dragging him away. “Ah, but Pharfignewton and I have pledged our hearts to each other!” Pinky protested as he was drug away. “Pinky, that is a horse. You are a mouse,” Brain told him sternly, and Pinky couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Oh, Brain, don’t be so intolterant! Why can't the horses and the mice live together in harmony?” he asked, not knowing that Pharfignewton was copying his head movements. “Along with the fairies and the wood sprites and the bean sprouts? Oh, and the ponies that came into our town last Janurary.”
“I stand corrected, Pinky,” Brain said a moment later. “That is a horse-- you are an imbecile.”
Luckily, Pinky took this answer quite well, not affected in the slightest. “Now, come. We must prepare for tonight,” Brain said, preparing to walk out. “Why? What are we going to do tonight?” Pinky asked. “Guess,” Brain said to him with the roll of his eyes. “Try to take over the world?” Pinky guessed. “Bingo.”
“Egad, I love bingo! Narf!” Pinky cheered. “It’s so much more fun than trying to take over the--”
But he was cut off again, for Brain had once again bopped him on top of the head.
XXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, Yakko, Dot, Hitch, Sparky and Misty had fallen asleep while waiting at the train station, and the others decided to pass the time by making a couple snowponies.
All the while Zipp thought about what Misty had told her this morning... and tried to come up with the solution to help her.
Nopony deserved to be treated like they were trash... not even Misty, who deep down, was as sweet as she could be.
As they finished the snowpony, they suddenly heard a noise, which woke the sleeping group mebers, and a sound that most citizens in Acme Falls heard as well.
And that sound? A train whistle, with a train steadily approaching. Wakko was coming home!
As the train pounded into sight, the entire town came together to sing a song for Wakko’s homecoming after such a long year.
Yakko: Oh-oh, the train bringing Wakko Is a-rollin’ down the track
Dot: I’m sure that is the train my brother’s on
Mane 5 and Misty: Wakko went to see the world And now he’s coming back
Pipp: We’ve missed him every day that he’s been gone
Minerva: He went to seek his fortune And now he’s returned
Rita: Bringing back the treasures Of everything he’s learned
Dot: Oh-oh, the train with my brother Is a-comin’ closer
All: Bearing Wakko down the track-o Back home! Chug-chug-chug
The train finally slowed to a stop, and when the smoke cleared and the doors opened they saw… no one. Just when everyone thought it would be a false alarm, Wakko peeked his head out the door. “Hi!”
Everyone in town let out a cheer at the middle Warner sibling’s return home, and the ponies rushed toward him with excited smiles. “Welcome hoooooooome, Wakko!” Pipp said, setting up a video stream on her phone as she greeted him with a laugh. “Now, tell us-- after being away from Acme Falls for a whole year, we all want to know-- how was the train trip? Where did you go? Did you FINALLY earn your fortune to save your sister from her illness?”
“Pipp!” Zipp finally got the chance to shout. “Cut down on the questions-- Wakko just got home and is probably exhausted from traveling.”
“No, it's all right, Zipp,” Wakko brushed it off with a smile as he patted Sparky on the head. “I guess everybody should know what I did earn.”
Once the ponies had backed up enough, Wakko cleared his throat and turned to the townsfolk he knew and loved. “My friends of Acme Falls, I give you my fortune… a ha’penny!”
Wakko held the bronze coin high for all to see, and everyone stared wide eyed with smiles on their faces. Even Constable Ralph gasped in surprise from his hiding place, seeing everything from nearby. “A ha’penny?” Hello Nurse asked, making sure she heard right. “It’s real!” Yakko exclaimed, leading Dr. Scratchinsniff to nod. “He has a whole ha'penny!”
Everyone at that train station cheered happily, before Sunny let Wakko onto her back to parade him around town, and another song soon began.
Wakko: I got a ha’penny today
Ponies, Yakko and Dot: He’s got a ha’penny hooray!
Dr. Scratchinsniff: How did you dooz it?
Wakko: All work and no play
Dot: He chopped wood
Yakko: He chopped suey
Wakko: I pitched horseshoes and hay
Misty: He milks jokes and cows for his fee
Wakko: It was more than I thought it would be
Ponies: An entire full year’s salary!
Wakko: And now I've got a ha'penny!
All: He's got a ha'penny today! He's got a ha'penny, hooray!
Yakko and Dot: All those days of hard work And here's your reward
Sunny: Now there’s nothing in this world That you can’t afford
Dot: You can buy any toys you pick
Izzy: And eat candy until you’re sick!
Chef: Plus a gourmet meal for monsieur
Pipp and Hitch: And still, you’d never be poor
All: Because he's got a ha'penny today! He's got a ha'penny, hooray!
Misty: Your water tower shanty You can finally repair
Zipp: You can even buy your brother Some new underwear
Wakko: It’s like I won the lottery!
All: Because he's got a ha'penny!
Wakko: I'll buy burgers at the butchers And blintzes at the bakers Groceries at the grocer's Season tickets for the Lakers!
Dr. Scratchinsniff: You can buy my new elixir
Hello Nurse: You can buy it by the bucket!
Ponies: BLEH!!
Zipp: There’s just one little problem
Yakko: It's lousy, you should chuck it!
Wakko: It's so hard to believe it really happened to me I'm goin' shoppin' with my ha'penny!
All: He’s goin' shoppin' with my ha'penny!
As the rest of the town celebrated Wakko’s wealth, Ralph crept back up to the baron’s luscious house to tell him about the news. “Uh, newses from the village to report, sir,” Ralph informed. “What is it?” the baron deadpanned. “Uh, it seems that one of the townsfolk is happy,” Ralph explained, and this caused the baron to frown in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Wakkos Warners has come into the possession of a ha' penny,” Ralph whispered, and the baron's eyes lit up in dollar signs before the two ran to get in the carriage and head down to the village.
XXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, the celebrations were still going on in town as the ponies paraded Wakko through the crowds of townsfolk.
All: He’s got a ha’penny today! He’s got a ha’penny, hooray! With it, he could buy himself a tropical cruise
Misty: But first, there’s one important thing That you have to choose
Wakko: My sister has been ailing quite a lot
Hitch: We don’t exactly know what she has got
Townsfolk: You plan to spend your ha'penny on what?
Wakko: An operation to save my sister Dot
Townsfolk: To cure whatever problems she's got! An operation to save his sister, Dot!
Wakko: It's a present to her from me All because I've got a ha'penny!
All: Because he's got a ha'penny!
In the village that's called Acme He's going shopping So let's get hopping
He's going shopping with his ha'penny!
The crowd continued to cheer as Sunny let Wakko slide off her back, just as Baron von Plotz approached them. “And we're all thrilled for your good fortune,” he said to Wakko. “Now, about your taxes…”
Everyone in town groaned, just as Wakko, Sunny and Zipp approached the table that the baron set up. “Taxes? What taxes?” Wakko asked. “Well,” said the baron, “let's fill out your tax forms and see. First, we total your income and calculate your deductions for the year. How many dependents, which includes city, state and federal taxes including license fees. Ooh, that takes you up into a whole new tax bracket. The king will be absolutely delighted!”
“The king is a jerk!” Zipp immediately landed from flapping her wings above them, slamming her hoof down on the table in protest. “Oh, good,” the baron smirked. “That qualifies you for the ‘Calling the King a Jerk’ tax.”
"Huh?!" Sunny exclaimed in surprise, which caused Yakko to shrug at them as the baron continued. “Then add property tax, sales tax, excise tax, stamp, tea and thumb tax, shipping and handling, multiplied by your shoe size, and you owe a grand total of… exactly one ha' penny.”
“Wha--?” Wakko blinked as his fortune was taken from him, and the baron took up his table and climbed in the yak-drawn carriage before the carriage set off. “Your federal government thanks you.”
“Hey!” Sunny cried. "We can't let them do that to Wakko! It's unfair!” Yakko said, shaking a fist, which caused Pipp to boldly nod. "We gotta stand together and stop them!" she said, unfurling her wings. Suddenly, the king's guards surrounded them, preventing them from following the baron's carriage. “Uh… or not,” Pipp said nervously, ears flattening just as Yakko shoved the town mime into the circle of guards. “If you have any questions, just talk to my lawyer. He'll explain everything.”
The group zipped off into hiding, and all they heard after that was the sound of the guards beating the mime to a pulp. But even though they escaped the guards, it didn't ease Wakko's heavy heart. “Wakko, I am so sorry,” Sunny nuzzled Wakko's downtrodden face. “You worked so hard to get that ha'penny for someone other than yourself, and the baron just took it without knowing why!”
"Yeah, I oughta go up there and confront him for messing with the friend of Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer!" Hitch said, but Wakko raised a hand to stop him. "There's no point, Hitch. No point in gallavanting over something that's already happened. My fortune is gone, and that's that," he sighed. "Come on... let's head home."
"But..." Misty tried to argue, but Wakko and his siblings walked on ahead. “This is so unfair!” Zipp frowned. “Wakko doesn't deserve this! No one does! We have to do something!”
“I wish we could too, Zipp, but we really don't have a choice except to stand by,“ Sunny said. “If we go and get Wakko's fortune back, we could get into big trouble too. Let's just keep our eye on Wakko and the Warners... they'll need our help now more than ever after this.”
XXXXXXXXXX
Night's moon and stars glinted upon the winter snow, and as it began to get colder and darker, the citizens began to sing a sorrowful tune, much sadder than the tune earlier sung that day.
Rita: So much for Wakko’s ha’penny Now, Acme Falls is back in misery
Slappy: Should I or do you wanna carve?
Skippy: Frankly, I’d just as soon starve
Dr. Scratchinsniff: I’m starting to feel the stress
All: Acme Falls is ha’penniless!!
Meanwhile, back the Warners' water tower, Wakko played his harp mattress for Misty, who sat beside him as a form of comfort. Pipp, Zipp and Hitch and Sparky had already retreated to bed for the night, leaving Izzy and Sunny to spend some time with Dot and Yakko before bed. "Good night, Dot. Sleep tight," Yakko told his little sister, pulling the blankets over her. “Tell us the story!” Izzy begged with big eyes. “Okay…” Yakko smiled. “There once was a man from Nantucket…”
“Not that story,” Dot frowned. “Look, it's late. Go to sleep,” Yakko said in a big-brotherly tone. “Oh, come on,” Dot said sweetly. “Tell us the story… pleeeeeease?”
Yakko gave a small sigh-- Dot's cute face was almost impossible to resist. “Oh, all right… but then it's lights out-- deal?”
“Deal!” Dot and Izzy chorused, and Yakko and Sunny hopped onto the bed with them... unbeknowest that a saddened Wakko and Misty were listening nearby. “Okay,” Yakko said, letting Dot cuddle into him before starting. “Once upon a time, a brave knight married a beautiful princess and they had two sons.”
“But they wanted a daughter too, right?” Sunny asked, despite hearing the story a few times before. “Right,” Yakko nodded. “So they planted a garden all over the kingdom… and on the first day of spring, every flower in that garden bloomed. And out of the prettiest flower came…”
“Me!” Dot chirped. “Yep,” Yakko nodded. “And so, the knight and his bride, Mom and Dad, took you home. And every night at bedtime, they’d come in and say, ‘Who’s the cutest girl’? And you’d say…”
“I am!” Dot finished. “And they’d ask, ‘How’d you ever get so cute’?” Yakko continued on. “And you’d say…”
“I was born that way,” Dot crossed her arms. “And they’d say, ‘Tell us your name, young lady’,” Yakko booped his sister's nose. "And you'd say..."
“Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca III. But you can call me Dot,” Dot answered, making the two ponies blink at such a long name. “And they’d say, ‘Can we call ya Dottie’?” Yakko went on. “And you’d say…”
“No. Just Dot,” Dot said with a serious-looking crossed arms. “Call me Dottie and you die.”
But Yakko just smiled as he began to reach the end of the story. “And Mom and Dad would laugh and laugh and laugh. And they’d tickle ya,” he said, doing such and making Dot giggle, “and you’d laugh too. And then you’d fall asleep with a great big smile in your heart.”
As the story finished, Dot turned over, coughing a little bit, with Yakko getting off the bed and adjusting the blanket over her again. “I like that story...”
“Good night, sis,” Yakko whispered, and within seconds, the youngest Warner was fast asleep, allowing Yakko, Izzy and Sunny to quietly leave the room. “How is she?” Wakko asked. "Not great," Yakko frowned. “Those acting lessons never really sank in.”
“I think Wakko was referring to her health,” Sunny corrected. “Oh, well, who knows?” Yakko shrugged as he closed the curtains. “If I’d only earned more…” Wakko sighed, feeling guilty for what happened. “Hey… you did your best, Wakko,” Misty gently said, putting her hoof on his shoulder. “We’ll pay for her operation some other way.”
“I guess…” Wakko shrugged, and went back over to the harp to play some more. "You turning in?" Sunny asked him. "To what?" Wakko asked back, which made Yakko think about it a moment. “Good question. You comin' with us, Mist?”
“I-I think I'll stay up with Wakko a little longer," the blue unicorn said. “Just to keep him company.”
Sunny nodded at the unicorn's suggestion. “Good idea. See you two in the morning.”
“Night,” Wakko called as the three others retreated to bed. Once they were alone, Wakko and Misty glanced up at the starry sky above them, and this made Misty quietly sigh with a frown. “Looks like we’re gonna need a miracle to get out of this mess…”
Wakko nodded, and turning back to his harp, began to play a familiar lullaby.
Wakko: Twinkle, twinkle, wishing star How I wonder where you are Out in space so bright and clear Can you see me way down here?
As he sang, he suddenly got an idea that most would think to be crazy, but… it may have been their only chance. “Hmm… I wonder…”
Wakko: Let me pick the star that's right And pick the wishing star tonight Like finding a needle in a haystack Eeny meeny miny moe and jack
Wishing star, please hear my plea Grant one wish, one wish for me
Misty enjoyed listening to that soft tune... Opaline would NEVER do anything like that.
She nuzzled into Wakko, who rubbed her soft, bushy mane again, finding comfort within her soft fur. Just as they were about to pick themselves up and get ready for sleep, a bright green light from the sky filled the entire water tower, grasping their attention. “Uh oh!” Wakko said worriedly. “I think I broke something.”
The green light slowly descended before the duo, and they barely spared it a glance before it started getting brighter immediately, causing the group to shield their eyes as they were blinded.
When they unshielded their eyes, the light seemed to resonate with some sort of mystical energy... one Misty thought that Opaline would find most intriguing. “Who are you?” Wakko asked the glowing light, and Misty gulped, ears flattened, before ducking behind Wakko. “And... you're not gonna hurt us, are you?”
“Do not worry, for I am a friend... or at least I hope to be in Wakko's eyes... and potentially yours, Misty Brightdawn,” the glowing light answered before it began to shift into something... or somepony.
As the glow began to dim, a pony stood before the duo-- an alicorn more specifically, with mint green fur, magenta eyes like Izzy's, blue on her wings and in her mane and tail, which flowed like a calm river, a golden crown with an amethyst in the center, a purple collar and leg rings around all her hooves.
On her flank sat a glorious glowing star for a cutie mark... and the star almost looked like it had a rainbow glow coming from it. “A-An alicorn?” Misty asked herself. “But... that's impossible! Besides Sunny and her alicorn magic, Opaline said t-they were all gone!”
“Yes, I am an alicorn, dear Misty,” the alicorn said. “I am Princess Moonshine, the Princess of Dreams, and cousin to one of Equestria’s first rulers.”
“Nice to meet you, princess!” Wakko shook her hoof eagerly. “The pleasure is all mine,” smiled the alicorn. “And may I be the first to congratulate you, Wakko Warner-- I’m pleased. Out of every star in the sky, you selected the one and only wishing star.”
This surprised Misty and Wakko, earning surprised looks from one another before they turned back to the mysterious pony before them. “He did?” Misty asked. “Absolutely!” Moonshine nodded. “Many moons ago, I created the wishing star out of the hopes and wishes of ponies I came across, and placed in the sky for someone to be able to receive their greatest wish. Unfortunately, creating the star drained me of most of my power, causing me to retreat to the stars above to conserve my magic, and that is where I lived to this day. But enough about myself-- I am very eager to see what you will wish for, Wakko. Are you ready to make your wish?”
“You bet!” Wakko agreed-- this could change Acme Falls forever, and he couldn’t wait another second. “Then here it goes!”
Moonshine raised her horn to the sky, and with its magic glow, the star shot across the night sky in a green burst, something Rita and Runt witnessed with wide eyes. “What is that?” Rita wondered. “Don’t know,” Runt shrugged. “Definitely don’t know. Uh-uh, definitely.”
“Now go make your wish,” the princess told Wakko, just as the fallen light hit the ground many hundreds of miles from the village and high in the mountains. “W-What do you mean, go?” Misty asked. "To where the star landed," Moonshine explained. “Wishes must be made in person for them to come true.”
"No kidding?" Wakko blinked. “If you want the wish you desire to be made real, you must venture to where it fell and touch it-- it is only possible then that your dreams shall be made a reality,” Moonshine said. “Wakko, I trust that your siblings and Equestrian friends will help you on this journey?”
“You bet they’ll be willing to help,” Wakko winked. “And I know they’ll be just as excited about this as I am.”
Moonshine smiled at the young Warner’s enthusiasm, and then turned her attention to Misty. “My dear… I know all about your struggles and questions as to where you belong and what your next steps on your path should be,” she said. “And I will be willing to help you if you desire it.”
“H-How… how did you know about that?” Misty asked. “You may not think anyone understands you, Misty, but I do,” Moonshine lowered herself to Misty’s level. “What your… friend does to you is unfair, and you need to break away from her sooner or later. And I trust that Sunny and her friends will be more than happy to help you do so. But you need to learn to trust them and realize the signs.”
Misty wasn’t sure how to respond but nodded anyway. Sooner than expected, Moonshine’s cutie mark seemed to be getting dimmer, causing her to frown. “Why the long face, your wish-i-ness?” Wakko asked. “And why is your cutie mark losing its shine like unpolished shoes?”
“I’m afraid its time for me to return to the night sky before dawn approaches,” Moonshine said, trotting to the center of the room. “Wait, what?” Misty frowned. “No, you can’t go yet! I-- we-- we have so many more questions!”
Moonshine shook her head with a sad smile. “I’m sorry, but this is the way it must be. Goodbye for now, Misty and Wakko. And remember…”
Moonshine: You gotta cheer up And never give up hope
Wakko: I won’t mope!
Moonshine: Just cheer up…
Misty, Wakko and Moonshine: And never ever give up hope Hope hope hope hope! Yeah!
The light from the stars and moon seemed to give Moonshine more strength than before-- enough to flap her wings and fly back up to the stars.
Misty and Wakko stared up at the sky for a minute or two, not realizing that the others came in behind them and were looking rather confused, but Wakko soon turned to his siblings as soon as he heard Yakko yawn tiredly. “You’ll never guess what just happened!”
As Dot yawned, Yakko smiled at his younger brother and responded, “Try us-- we’re gullible.”
XXXXXXXX
Wakko and Misty excitedly told everyone what happened while they were in bed, and Sunny and Zipp immediately deduced that’s why the Unity Crystals sent them to Acme Falls to begin with-- to help find the star and save the kingdom from this horrible recession.
So, they made plans to set out for the star the next morning.
Once the sun rose, the group spared no time to stop for breakfast, and immediately left the water tower and over toward the stables as they began to sing a cheerful tune.
Ponies and Warners: We’re leaving Acme Falls to find the wishing star We’re heading off to seek our dream come true It's waiting right up there, the answer to our prayer
Wakko: A wish for free
Yakko and Dot: Hey, you might be a multi-millionaire
Ponies and Warners: That’s why we’re off to seek our destiny together
Yakko: It’s one for all
Wakko: And all for one
Dot: Times three!
Ponies and Warners: Who cares about the stuff we lack? We're on our way and we won't be back
Wakko: Until we find that star
Pipp: Gee, it looks kinda far!
Yakko: Too bad we don't have a car
Ponies and Warners: Oh what the hay? We're on our way to find the wishing star!
They soon got what they came for from the stables-- the Warners’ faithful sled, which Izzy had rigged one time to have a sail like a sailboat, so it would sail on the snow just like a boat did over water, and took it outside to prepare for the journey.
Ponies and Warners: We’re leaving Acme Falls to find the wishing star And when we do, our troubles are gonna be through! It's just around the bend, it's where the mountains end We're packin' our load, we're hittin' the road Let's sing it together again!
Hey hey! We wanna be the first to touch the wishing star! We're northward bound, we're leaving town today!
Yakko: We're taking a stand
Misty: We're making a vow
Zipp: This is the place
Ponies: The moment is now! They're Yakko, Wakko and Dot We're giving it all we got
Dot: We're coming, so ready or not!
All: Today's the day, we're on our way To find the wishing star!
As the group made their journey become known, the citizens of Acme Falls woke to their cheerful song and wondered to themselves… what are those crazy Warner kids and their Equestrian pals up to now?
Dr. Scratchinsniff: Hey, what's up? What's all the noise?
Prunella: The ponies, the Warner girl and the Warner boys
Chef: They're gathered around in the village square
Prunella: They say there's something way out there
Minerva: Something weird and something strange
Tom, Dick and Larry: Beyond the farthest mountain range!
Dr. Scratchinsniff: What are you saying?
Hello Nurse: What do you mean?
All: It’s something no one’s ever seen!
Rita: What's the story?
Runt: What's the buzz?
Yakko: We're about to leave, and that's because
Dot: We're on our way to the wishing star!
Dr. Scratchinsniff: The wishing star?
Hello Nurse: The wishing star?
Brain: What is that?
Pinky: Haven't you heard?
Brain: There's no such thing, it's too absurd!
Slappy: What's the story?
Skippy: What's the dish?
Misty: Touch the star and you get one wish!
Dr. Scratchinsniff: You get one wish if you touch the star?
Slappy: Where's it at?
Skippy: Is it way out far?
Dot: It could well be, but we just don't know
Yakko: We'll soon find out, cause we're gonna go
Ponies and Warners: To the wishing star
All: To the wishing star
Warners: It's something weird and so bizarre It fell to Earth from way afar
All: They're on their way to the wishing star!
Warners: The wishing star Oh, yes, we are On our way, so we'll say, "Bon soir!" Ciao, you guys and au revoir Now we're off to the wishing star!
All: Yes, it's true, the Warners are On their way to the wishing star
Dr. Scratchinsniff: They'll be rich as a king or czar
All: When they get their wish from the wishing star!
Wakko: I looked up in the sky last night And all the stars were shining bright I wished I may and I wished I might Just have the wish I wished last night
All: He looked up in the sky so bright And he saw the stars up in the night And he wished he may and he wished he might Have the wish that he wished last night
Wakko: Then right there before my eyes I saw a light up in the skies The wishing star lit up the night And then exploded really bright
It fell to earth and it came on down In a great big piece that hit the ground And then some fairy said to me
"Whoever gets there first, you see Just touch the star, that's all you do And then you get your wish come true"
All: "Touch the star, that's all you do And then you get your wish come true"
Dr. Scratchinsniff: Wait now Let me get this straight now You mean whoever gets there first Can have a wish all to themselves?
Rita: We have to go now, Because we know now That if I'm the first to touch the star That wish belongs to me!
Slappy and Skippy: We've got to run now Before they're done now So we can get a big head start And beat the others to the punch!
Ralph: I can't be slow now
Tom, Dick and Larry: We've got to go now
Minerva: And I have got to get there first because
All: That wish belongs to me!
Dr. Scratchinsniff: Belongs to me!
Slappy: Belongs to me!
Hello Nurse: Belongs to me!
Skippy: Belongs to me!
Rita: Belongs to me!
Runt: Me!
Warners: Me!
Chicken Boo: Bawk!
Baron von Plotz: It all belongs to me!
However, during all the rushing around and confusion, no one noticed the ponies becoming increasingly worried about everyone going for the star at once-- it wasn't a competition, but no one other than them seemed to notice that. Nevertheless, their main mission was to help the Warners, so they rushed toward the sled in order to start their journey.
Dr. Scratchinsniff: We're on our way to the wishing star It could be near or it could be far
Warners: But we're gonna get there first, you see The one who gets there first will be In a superwagon wrapped and bowed And on the snow it's gonna blow It has a sail, it's like a sleigh
Ponies: Look out, world, we're on our way!
Dr. Scratchinsniff: Pharfignewton, come on, scurry!
Hello Nurse: Time to go! We've got to hurry!
Pinky: Farewell to my lifelong mate
Brain: Pinky needs a mousy date
All: On the road, can't stop us now Through the town the oxen plough
Baron von Plotz: Clear the way, you stupid mime!
All: He gets trampled all the time
Warners and Ponies: It's over hill and over dale Sailing down the snowy trail
Slappy: Through the trees is plenty quick
Skippy: We can go by pogo stick!
Brain: Pinky, are you pondering Exactly what I'm pondering?
Pinky: I think so, Brain, but just how will We get the weasel to hold still?
Brain: No, that wish is all we need Our plan could finally succeed
Warners: Onward through the snow we drift
Ponies: Onward toward the mountain cliff!
Baron von Plotz: The one who finds that wishing star Will soon be eating caviar
Dr. Scratchinsniff: And that, my friend, is going to be No one else except for me
Rita: Cause this is definitely going be Our golden opportunity!
Boys: I'm going to get that wish, you see!
Girls: The star belongs to me!
Boys: No no, the star belongs to me!
Girls: No no, the star belongs to me!
Dr. Scratchinsniff and Hello Nurse: To me!
Slappy and Skippy: To me!
Rita and Runt: To me!
All: TO ME!!!
Warners: I gotta get to the wishing star!
Dr. Scratchinsniff and Hello Nurse: I gotta get to the wishing star!
Rita and Runt: I hope it's near and not too far
All: Gotta be first to the wishing star!
Everyone zipped out of town as fast as lightning, leaving the mime behind, as he was trampled and couldn't get up for a few minutes. Pinky and Brain were among the few not traveling, and Pinky feared that the love of his life was gone forever.
Pinky: Here we are My love and all the rest Have gone to find the wishing star We've been left behind
Brain: You'll find that they won't get too far For we will get there first!
Pinky: (spoken) Oh, well, that's different then, isn't it? Troz!
Meanwhile, the group joined in for one final chorus on the road while Plotz's carriage cleared the way of most everyone and they all ended up in a snowbank by the ending.
All: I gotta get to the wishing star! We're doing really good so far!
Baron von Plotz: Out of my way, whoever you are!
All: I'm gonna get to the wishing star! Wishing, wishing, wishing, wishing Wishing, wishing, wishing, wishing Wishing, wishing, wishing, wishing!
Ponies and Warners: The wishing...
All: The wishing... STAAAAAAAAAR!!
"You know..." Pipp said to her friends after thinking a moment, "maybe we should've kept this our little secret."
Baron von Plotz chuckled at seeing the villagers he saw as pathetic picking themselves up from out of the snowbank. “What a bunch of losers,” he said to himself, but then yelled out of surprise as the carriage suddenly came to a halt. “Ralph! What are you stopping for?”
“Uh… we gots company,” Ralph said, and the baron stomped out of the carriage to see the king’s guard and horses before them, causing them to scream. “Uh… hi, fellas…” he chuckled. “Heh heh heh. A-Are we in some sort of trouble officers…? Oooh…”
The guards merely pointed their weapons at Plotz to make him and the carriage move along. From where they were looking, Dot scoffed as the guards led Plotz’ carriage away. “Look who got pinched for speeding.”
“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer tax collector,” Yakko said. “Come on-- we better get a move on.”
As the group headed back to the sail-sled, Misty found herself looking on toward the distance a little longer before she followed her friends on their quest.
XXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, back in Acme Falls, Brain and Pinky were hard at work in their scheme to get started on their journey to the wishing star. “But Brain,” Pinky asked, “however will we get to the wishing star first?”
“Simple, Pinky-- with the help of the great Leonardo da Vinci,” Brain explained, and this caused Pinky to gasp. “He’s going to give us a ride there in his pant cuffs?” he asked. “No, Pinky,” Brain sighed, “da Vinci’s dead.”
At this disturbing news, Pinky’s face fell in sadness. “Oh, how sad… when’s the funeral?”
“He died a long time ago,” Brain explained, and Pinky suddenly felt a pain of guilt enter his soul. “And I forgot to send flowers?!” he exclaimed before bashing himself on the head with his fist, sort of similar to how Brain would. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”
Brain shook his head and grabbed a larger-than-life pencil (at least to a mouse’s size) before approaching him. “Oh, please, let me-- STUPID!!” he bashed Pinky on the head with the pencil, causing Pinky to laugh. “Narf! Thanks.”
“Now, zip it,” Brain ordered, making Pinky silence himself before gesturing to a picture on the wall. “Leonardo da Vinci, Pinky-- not only a world-renowned painter, but a genius inventor as well.”
But he was interrupted by Pinky humming a little tune, and one look from him shut Pinky up again before he continued. “Da Vinci designed the first flying machine-- the airscrew,” he explained. “And with my own clever modifications to the da Vinci plans, this baby will fly!”
“Egad, brilliant, Brain!” Pinky clapped his paws enthusiastically. “Oh no no, wait… if we were meant to fly, we would have been born with little bags of nuts.” But suddenly, Brain whacked him with the pencil again. “Pinky, you are a little bag of nuts.”
“Rezip again!” Pinky giggled, leaving Brain to roll his eyes and approach the blueprints he made. “Now, come-- we have an airship to build!”
XXXXXXXXXX
Dr. Scratchinsniff’s wagon, pulled by Pharfignewton herself, sped down the roads, causing Rita and Runt, who were hitching a ride, to bounce all around in the back, while the Warners and the ponies (some flying and some riding in the wagon) were sailing across the snow as if it was nothing.
Wakko and Yakko: Sailing through the slush In a windblown wagon sled Down the road we mush Dot is still in bed
Dot: I'm getting really bored I've read this magazine If we don't get there soon I think I'm gonna scream
Ponies and Warners: Oh, Wishing Star, from afar Dotty's getting worse Be a sport and grant our wish Or we'll sing another verse
The ponies laughed at the song, just as they passed a cottage in the forest, which belonged to a little toddler named Mindy and her dog, a German Shepherd named Buttons, who were currently outside in the snow when Mindy’s mother came outside to them. “Oh, Mindy, darling.”
“Hi, lady,” Mindy said cutely. “I’m Mom. Call me Mom,” the little girl’s mother responded. “Okay, lady,” Mindy nodded, not fully understanding, and the mother sighed. “Now, Mindy hon, I need you to take this fresh marianberry pie over to Grandma at the retirement village. If she doesn’t have her sweets by 4, she starts doing wheelies on the shuffleboard court. And Buttons, you go along with Mindy.”
The large dog whimpered, not wanting to go, feeling rather hungry at that moment. “You can eat when you get back,” Mindy’s mother said, causing Buttons to growl. “Don’t you sass me.”
“Buttons go…” Mindy imitated Buttons’ growling, causing her to laugh. “Just make sure Mindy gets home safely,” her mother said, causing Buttons to salute with his paw. “I'd go myself, but I'm too busy baking cookies for the Seven Dwarves. You know how your uncles love my chocolate chips.”
“Bye, lady,” Mindy waved. “Call me Mom... busy busy Mom,” the mother turned to go back inside. “Okay, bumblebee lady, I love you!” Mindy bid her farewell. “Bye bye!”
“Bye, hon,” the mother said before going back inside. Mindy was just about to set off on her way, but seeing Buttons so hungry made her sad, and she gave the pie to Buttons before going back to her snowman. Suddenly, as she worked, she heard a voice up above her. “Hurry up, Aunt Slappy!”
“Yeah, yeah. Keep your fur on,” said another voice, and these voices belonged to Skippy and Slappy, swinging their way through the treetops and yelling out like Tarzan. But when Slappy did it, she let out a severe cough. “Are you okay, Aunt Slappy?” Skippy asked his aunt as she reached him at the next tree. “Yeah, I'll be fine,” Slappy told him. “Just as soon as I cough up my lung.”
The two squirrels advanced further up the tree, until the wishing star was in sight, glowing in all its glory. “At this rate, we’ll be at the wishing star in no time!” Skippy cheered. “Yeah,” Slappy nodded, “like I told you, Skippy…”
Slappy: We take the high road And they take the low road And we’ll reach the wishing star before them!
Skippy: But sad is me heart until we meet again By the bonny bonny falls of aul' Acme
“We definitely gotta get you some singin’ lessons,” Slappy said with a frown and her arms crossed as soon as the song was over. But, Skippy smirked over at his aunt teasingly. “Oh, yeah, look who’s talkin’!”
"Hey, hey, cheap shot. I'm old, very old."
"Please, like you could sing when you were young?"
"Better than that!"
"Yeah, yeah. Give me a break!"
Mindy, in her curious, child like wonder, climbed up into the treetops after them, causing Buttons to climb up there and follow her, just to make sure that she didn't fall and get hurt.
XXXXXXXX
At the same time, Brain and Pinky had finished the airscrew with custom modifications, and were now flying it high over the forests of Warnerstock… with Pinky pedaling and Brain keeping in control. ”Pedal, Pinky. Pedal as if our very lives depended on it!” Brain said before he looked down. ”Which very well maybe the case.”
“Narf. Aye-aye, Captain Brain!” Pinky saluted and briskly kept up the pace, keeping the airscrew in... well, the air. “It's working, Pinky!” Brain smirked in delight. “Just picture our future, my friend. When our efforts are rewarded by fame, fortune... and a world that's a better place for all. Are you picturing that?”
“Actually, I'm picturing Pharfignewton's tongue,” Pinky said with eyes closed and tounge waving about, making Brain shudder in disgust. “Ugh. Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again. With the wind at our backs, all we have to do is maintain this velocity... and we'll be the first to reach the wishing star. You know what that means, Pinky?”
“Yes, I do, Brain!" Pinky chirped. “What, Pinky?” Brain asked, and then Pinky became confused. “What do you mean, what?”
“What does it mean?” Brain repeated. “What does what mean?” Pinky asked again, leaving Brain to get increasingly irritated. “Never mind, Pinky. It means we get our wish.”
“What means we get our wish?”
“Skip it.”
“Skip what?”
“Just stop!” Brain finally said, trying to regain his composure. “Okay,” Pinky lifted his feet off the pedals, and Brain screamed as they began to plummet toward the ground. “AAHHHH!!! No, keep pedaling! Keep pedaling, Pinky!” Brain begged, and Pinky got to pedaling again just before they hit the ground. “You almost killed us, Pinky. What were you thinking?!”
“But you said stop,” Pinky protested as Brain clutched his chest. “You really did, Brain. You said stop!”
“Ignore what I say!” Brain snapped. “Really?” Pinky blinked in confusion. “Yes, just keep pedaling.”
And through that misunderstanding, Pinky stopped pedaling again. “NOOOO!!!” Brain screamed, holding on for dear life. “What are you doing?!“
“Ignoring what you say!” Pinky responded. “Not about that!” Brain snapped. “Not about what?” Pinky asked. ”JUST KEEP PEDALING!!!” Brain yelled, and Pinky was able to get the airscrew moving in the right direction again, but not before he sighed. ”Sometimes you are so confused, Brain.”
XXXXXXXXXXX
Remember how I said that Baron von Plotz, Ralph and their carriage got taken away? Well I never said where to… to the dark, creepy castle of the former king of Ticktockia, King Salazar himself.
The baron and Ralph were booted into the king’s quarters by the guards before they left without a word, hoping that the two dimwits would be able to figure it out themselves. “What’s the meaning of this?” the baron questioned. “I demand to know who’s respon--”
He then gasped, seeing the king in his hot tub before them. “King Salazar!”
“Baron von Plotz… what a pleasure,” the king said before snapping his fingers, causing one of his servants to bring him his robe. “Oh no, sire. The honor is ours,” Plotz said, shielding his eyes while Ralph shielded his own, so they wouldn’t see anything they shouldn’t. “I hear of a star… brighter than my very countenance. Along with some... little ponies who happened to be staying in your village,” King Salazar said with a firm expression, and the baron chuckled nervously. “That’s hard to believe, sire.”
“You seem to believe it, Plotz! My guards found the two of you racing toward it alongside them!” the king snapped. “Uh… we was?” Ralph blinked dopily. “Don’t play dumb with me, constable!” the king growled. “Okay. Uh, whats you wanna play then?” Ralph brought out a stack of cards, of which King Salazar slapped away from him before he went to go change. “Nothing! Just tell me about the ponies and the star!”
“Well… we do know that the ponies have powerful magic, sire, but they only seem to wanna use it to help the villagers,” the baron said after shushing Ralph to keep quiet and discreet about the star. “As for the star… well, it’s big and shiny.”
“Uh, and big too,” Ralph added. “And uh… kinda shiny,” the baron nodded. “Uh… and big?” Ralph wasn’t sure what else to say, but at the snap of the king’s fingers, the guards surrounded them, allowing Plotz to accidentally spill out the most important part. “And the first person to touch the star gets one wish!”
“One wish? Who could ask for anything more?” King Salazar asked as he approached them. "Now, baron, what would you ever wish for beyond the joy of serving me?"
At this, the baron gulped nervously. “Oh. You know, the regular stuff. Cremara. A weekend in Branson, Missouri.”
“Ooh! Andy Williams has a place there!” Ralph exclaimed. “Oh yes, I like him,” Plotz nodded. “Or perhaps,” said the king with a firm look, “you were simply rushing off to secure the star for your king?”
“Yes!” the baron quickly nodded. “Yes. Better. Good. I like that. That's it. Good thinking. Right. Secure the star for you. Yes, exactly.”
“Good, we see eye-to-eye,” the king stepped out onto the balcony before looking through a telescope. “Now, let me show you the fly in the ointment.”
“That's not a fly, sirs,” Ralph frowned. “It's a telescope,” the baron agreed. “Look into it,” the king said, and Plotz and Ralph immediately understood what he was saying. Plotz looked through the telescope and his vision eventually fell on the ponies riding with or flying alongside the Warners in their sled. “Oh, it's the ponies and those kids from the village!”
“Yes...” the king muttered, stroking his chin. “The Warners.”
King Salazar: They're on their way to go and touch the wishing star Those kids are gonna be rich, but what about me?
Baron von Plotz: (spoken) I don’t know.
King Salazar: You better bet I'll be getting there first And if I don't, your life will be cursed! So wish that the wish will wind up belonging to me
Ralph: (spoken) I wish.
King Salazar: I want it so much I gotta go touch that wishing star
Baron von Plotz: (spoken) Okay, okay!
King Salazar: They're getting ahead They'll get it instead of me!
Ralph: (spoken) Uh…
King Salazar: You gotta be quick, you gotta be fast, You gotta beat out the rest of the cast To get to that star and capture that wish for me
At the same time, the Warners and their new Equestrian friends were practically flying across the snow and ice, singing a song of their very own.
Dot: We're on our way today to find the wishing star!
Yakko: (Got to get there first)
Pipp: We're on our way to have a dream come true
Wakko: (Got to find it)
Dot: It's there somewhere (Yakko and Wakko: (Though we're needy, we're not greedy) That wish you see
Wakko: Belongs to we
Yakko: So outta the way, cause we gotta be
Misty: The first in line To try and go find the wishing star (Yakko and Wakko: It's over the mountains and the hills) It's one for all
Ponies and Warners: And all for one, times three!
Baron von Plotz, Ralph and King Salazar: We're taking a stand We're taking a vow This is the place, the moment is now!
Ralph and Baron von Plotz: This is our golden opportunity
Baron von Plotz, Ralph and King Salazar: The wishing star belongs to threeeee!!
King Salazar: (spoken) Me, myself and I.
“Your job, baron, is to stop those villagers from getting to the star,” King Salazar said sternly. “By any means necessary!”
“Y-Yes, sir,” the baron and Ralph said nervously. But as they prepared to leave, the king stopped them again. “Oh, the ponies and those three kids? Yakko, Wakko and Dot?”
“Y-Yes, sir?" Plotz asked, a tad worried. “I don't want them showing up at the wishing star.“
“I'll slow them down, sir,” Plotz suggested, but the king shook his head. “You're not catching my drift,” he said. “Well, I'll try to steer them off course,” the baron spoke, but the king wasn't in the mood. “I don't want to see them again... alive.”
Fear spiked all throughout Baron von Plotz's chest, eyes widening. “But they're just kids!” the baron protested. “How much trouble could they be?”
“You have no idea,” the king said with a look of coldness and disgust. ”So don't think of them as kids, baron. Think of them as the dearly departed. Or you'll be likewise. Understood?”
“Clear as crystal, sir,” Plotz nervously spoke before he and Ralph were shooed off.
XXXXXXXX
Shortly after they set off, the king sat down to a meal, asking the captain of his guards to come to him while he ate. “Send the northern army to secure the area where the star fell,” he said. "Yes sir," the captain nodded. “Make sure no one touches that star but me, understood?”
“Understood, sir,” the captain said in response. “And prepare my train for travel,” King Salazar added. “Very good, sir. Anything else?” the captain asked. “Yes... fetch me the rats with wings.“
“Yes sir,” the captain bowed, marching off and returning a few moments later with a covered cage, which appeared to have something inside… more or less, three pigeons by the name of Pesto, Bobby and Squit. “Cheese it!” Squit stopped their bickering. “It’s the boss!”
Immediately, the pigeons stopped their turmoil to turn to the king and bow. “Your majesty!”
“Shush, you bizarre chattering squabs!” the king barked. “Uh, technically, your highness, we’re pigeons,” Pesto corrected. "You are disgusting rats with wings," King Salazar insulted them, "and you'll do what I say or I'll feed you to my puppies!"
Three large dobermans barked and snarled on their chains from nearby, silencing the pigeons immediately, and King Salazar opened the cage to let them out. “Now listen. I want you to follow Baron von Plotz... and make sure he does his job. I don't trust him one little bit.”
“You got it, boss,” Pesto shrugged. “You got it,” Bobby nodded. “Consider it done,” Squit agreed. “But,” Pesto added in, “before we go, could we have a taste of that cannoli?”
The pigeons hungrily dove into the king’s food, and to say the least, King Salazar was not pleased. “No! Fly now, or your puppy chow!”
The dobermans hungrily broke off their leashes, and the pigeons screamed before they flew out into the open skies and away from the castle. “That king really frosts my feathers,” Pesto growled. “Rats with wings. He insulted us right to our faces. Are you insulted, Bobby?”
“A little bit. Maybe just a little bit,” Bobby nodded. He treats us like we're nothing,” Squit frowned. “And that's on a good day!” Pesto agreed. “I pray for a day like that,” Bobby added. “It's like Christmas.”
“Absolutely!” Pesto agreed. “How does a bird get a little respect around here?”
After a moment of silence, Bobby stopped in his tracks, getting what seemed like a good idea in their favor. “Maybe we can wish for it.”
“What are you saying?” Pesto asked with a raised eyebrow. “We can wish for it, at that wishing star,” Bobby said, and this caused Squit to laugh, in case the others were joking on the matter… they were serious. “But, Bobby,” Squit began to protest, “the king wants us to--”
"Forget what the king wants! Let's get what we want," Bobby said. "You mean...?" the other pigeons asked, and Bobby nodded before they set off in the direction of the star.
Goodfeathers: We're taking a stand We're taking a vow This is the place, the moment is now!
This is our golden opportunity
The wishing star belongs to three! Us, ourselves and we!
XXXXXXXXX
At the same time on the road, the ponies helped the Warners maintain velocity by puffing winds with their wings and making plants bump up their speed, while Misty and Izzy made sure the sails remained in tact... all while Plotz and Ralph were gaining on them. “Hurry it up, Ralph! We're gaining on them!” Plotz shouted, and Ralph made the ox go that much faster. While the group kept their eyes going straight ahead, Yakko began to sing again to pass the time.
As the carriage bopped along the rocky road, Ralph suddenly thought of something else. "If I could have my wish, I'd be a constable,” he said. “Ralph, you are a constable!” Plotz snapped. “Oh... sorry.”
“I know!” Ralph thought of something else. "If I could be the sheriff, I'd be happy."
“Ralph, for crying out loud, you are the sheriff! You're the constable, you're a policeman, you're all of those things!” Plotz groaned in irritation. “Gee,” Hitch whispered to Sunny, “I don't think Ralph's getting the hang of this song.”
Buttons was able to catch Mindy before she hit the ground, but then fell to the ground as soon as he realized he was in mid-air. "Okay, I love you," Mindy said, "buh-bye!"
Misty had done a lot of thinking ever since the trip got started… everyone each had a different wish, something that would make them happy individually… but it seemed like the Warners didn’t really care about only themselves, but the entire town.
That was really nice… something a real friend would do.
The more she thought about it, the more the Warners seemed less like Opaline and how she would act. “Whoa, Yakko!” Sunny suddenly cried. “Stop the sled!”
Yakko pulled the hand brake immediately, the sled screeching to a stop, and everyone could see why Sunny stopped them-- Dr. Scratchinsniff’s wagon was stuck on the side of the road! “Hi there, Dr. Scratchinsniff,” Sunny smiled. “Do you guys need some help?”
“Uh, no thank you, nice horsies,” Dr. Scratchinsniff strained as he and Hello Nurse tried to lift the wagon. “We’ve got this all under control. Uh, giddy up, Pharfignewton! Pull, nice horsey! Pull the wagon!”
But, Pharfignewton was really missing Pinky, and she was too sad to move. “What is wrong with this stupid horse?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she’s homesick,” Hello Nurse shrugged, just as the doctor went to the front of the wagon to confront the horse. "Now is not the time for the pining. It's time for the pulling, yeah?"
But Pharfignewton still wouldn't move, so Dr. Scratchinsniff tried to move her himself. "Come on, giddy up, Pharfignewton-- giddy up!! Oh, please giddy up, won't you?" he asked, moving to her rear. "Oh, giddy up with a cherry on the top? Pharfignewton, I order you to move your bombosity. Now!"
Frustrated, Pharfignewton did as he asked... by sitting on Dr. Scratchinsniff, blocking him from sight. "Thank you. Now, can you please move it someplace else?" he asked, a tad muffled. "Doctor?" Hello Nurse called. "Dr. Scratchansniff? Now where did he get to?"
Making a risky decision, Hitch hopped off the sled and trotted over to the wagon. “Hitch, where are you going?” Zipp asked. “We have a wishing star to get to!”
“Whether we're in Maretime Bay or not, it's my duty to help everyone... no matter what the reason,” Hitch said. “Take care of Sparky, and I'll join you as soon as I can.”
The group looked at one another and exchanged nods, pushing the sled along as Hitch walked over in front of the white horse. “Pharfignewton, my name is Hitch. Do you think you can get off the doctor please?”
Delighted that someone understood her, Pharfignewton immediately did as he asked, causing Dr. Scratchinsniff to groan tiredly. “How dids you dooz that?” he asked. “I can communicate with a lot of animals,” Hitch said. “Maybe I can talk her through her homesickness and get her to move so you guys can get going.”
“Heh, look at that,” Rita said, peeking out of the back of the wagon. “An animal guy helping animals-- go figure."”
XXXXXXX
The group soon continued on without Hitch, and Sparky was really beginning to miss his adopted pony-dad. “Awww, it’s okay, Sparky-malarky,” Izzy cooed, rubbing the dragon’s belly. “Hitch-y will be back soon, and then you’ll get to torment him with your dragon fire again.”
“Dragon fire? Doesn’t it just burn?” Yakko asked from the front. “Not just that, it also transforms things into anything… well, into anything Sparky thinks about,” Zipp said. “We’ve had a few mishaps with it, but we really think it’s getting under control… at least, that’s what we’re hoping.”
Sparky burped a large burst of dragon fire, causing Misty to catch it in a large jar… maybe she could give it to Opaline later so she couldn’t return home empty-hoofed.
Pretty soon, the sled stopped at a bridge, and everyone except Dot and Sparky climbed out to look down into the ravine before them. “Whoa… just don’t look down,” Sunny said, blocking Yakko and Wakko from going any further, just as Wakko turned to his brother. “Do you get vertigo?”
“Nah,” Yakko shrugged. “Me neither,” Wakko agreed. “Yeah, I’ve seen that movie three times and I still don’t get it,” Yakko shrugged. “Hey, you ponies mind giving us a hoof?”
"Sure thing, Yakko-dakko!" Izzy nodded cheerfully. “Pipp and I can watch you guys from above and tell you if you’re getting near a bad place,” Zipp offered, just as she and her sister took off. Sunny, Izzy and Misty grabbed ropes in their mouths and started to help Wakko and Yakko pull the sled across the bridge, slow and easy. But as they got halfway across the bridge, Wakko stepped on a bad board, causing him to fall through with only the rope to hang onto. “WHOA!!” he exclaimed, holding on for dear life. Pipp gasped and immediately dove down, unaware of how the wood splinters would get in her mane, but frankly, at that moment, she didn’t care. “Wakko, drop down!”
“Are you crazy?!” Wakko asked. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you! And trust me!” Pipp exclaimed. “I’m soft enough to cushion your fall!”
Wakko looked up at his slipping hands and reluctantly let go, yelling before he surprisingly fell onto Pipp’s back. “Ooh, you’re right-- you are soft," he hugged Pipp's neck tightly, causing her to cough slightly but smile as Wakko continued telling her how soft she was. "As soft as a teddy bear that I could squeeze forever…”
“Good night, everybody!” Yakko shouted, and Pipp flew Wakko back to the bridge, helping pull the sled the remainder of the way across. But as they reached the bridge’s end, they realized Misty wasn’t there with them-- she remained frozen in fear on the middle of the bridge. “Misty, what are you doing?” Zipp called. “Come on!”
“I… I can’t move!” Misty felt herself tremble with tears in her eyes and ears pinned. “I hate heights! Just go on without me, you'd be better off anyway!”
“...I-I gotta go back and get her!” Yakko declared, jumping off the sled and onto Zipp’s back. “GAH!! Hey!” snorted the white pegasus. “Come on, Zipper!” Yakko urged. “Your sister let Wakko ride on her back, it won’t hurt you to have me ride on yours.”
“I’m not mad about that-- you’re tugging at my fur!” Zipp said, and Yakko chuckled sheepishly and loosened his grip. Zipp then flew Yakko above the bridge where Misty was still motionless, allowing the eldest Warner to leap down to her. “Misty, look at me-- this bridge is harmless,” he said gently. “I mean, a bear being attacked by bumblebees while attacking you for marshmallows would be even scarier than this!”
“...not helping!” Misty squeaked. “Look… I’ll go across with you, one foot-- her, hoof at a time,” Yakko said, sincerely putting a hand to his chest. “Promise.”
Misty looked at her friend with fearful eyes and nodded… she might feel better that Yakko was there. Taking it nice and slow, they put one hoof and foot in front of the other, and Zipp was above them to steer them from any bad places.
The other siblings and ponies watched anxiously as they made their way to the end of the bridge… with not a scratch, causing them to cheer happily. Once she knew they were safe, Misty turned to Yakko and hugged him. “Thanks for holding me together, Yakko.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?” Yakko smiled, patting the unicorn's head. “Come on, let’s keep going if we wanna get to that star.”
“Izzy and I can stay here, and make sure that everyone else gets across safely,” Pipp offered. “You guys go with the Warners and Sparky-- we’ll catch up soon.”
XXXXXXXX
Shortly after the Warners and remaining ponies left, Pipp and Izzy started to help Slappy and Skippy get across the bridge, with Mindy and Buttons (the latter very tired) right behind them. “Squirrely whirlies!” Mindy cheered, but as she skipped across, she reached a weak board, but Buttons was able to grab her coat before she slipped into the ravine below. “Don’t worry, Buttony-wuttony!” Izzy reassured, using her magic to lift Mindy back onto the bridge. “Silly Buttons,” Mindy patted the dog’s head before skipping to the other side. But before Buttons could move from holding the bridge together, two hippos got on the bridge, making it even harder for Buttons to hold on. It seemed like Pipp and Izzy would have their hooves full.
Meanwhile, the Warners' sled steadily traveled across the snow, with Zipp flying overhead and Misty and Sunny riding in the sled with the Warners.
By this point, Plotz's carriage was steadily catching up to them. But then, to Zipp's surprise... Ralph activated a lever which fired cannons right at them. "Whoa, ponies!" Zipp cried. "Missles getting ready for launch at any second!"
"We're on it!" Sunny got into position just as the missles began to fire, and with her earth pony magic, made cactuses that blocked most of the shots. But as most of the shots were evaded, the Warners mocked Plotz and Ralph by making funny faces. And ironically, that's when some of the shots tore apart their sail and mast, leaving the Warners speeding out of control!
At the same time, Pinky and Brain were flying through the skies above the valley, while the Goodfeathers beat their wings up and down repeatedly, unexpectedly crashing into one another and falling toward the ravine below!
Seeing her beloved Pinky in trouble got Pharfignewton moving across the bridge and into the others as quickly as lightning, leaving Hitch, the doctor and nurse, the hippos, Rita and Runt and Mindy and Buttons anytime to hold on.
Meanwhile, Plotz had been launching at the Warners left and right until there was nothing but some singular snowboard-shaped pieces of wood left for them to ride on.
Luckily, with Zipp flying in the air with an alicorn-turned Sunny and Misty running alongside the Warners, the ponies were there to protect them just as everyone else arrived at the edge of the ravine.
And luckily, Pharfignewton saved Pinky, Brain and the Goodfeathers from falling into the ravine, and Pinky was beyond grateful to his equine lover for saving them.
After making sure that everyone was safe, despite all the crashed and broken modes of transport around them, the ponies all regrouped with the Warners. "Phew..." Hitch sighed. "That was something."
“What... just... happened?!” Pipp found her breath. “Well... Pinky and Brain fell from the sky, Plotz started shooting at us and the Warners and apparently, Pharfignewton and Pinky are in a relationship, otherwise she wouldn't have saved Pinky, Brain and those cutie birdies from their doom,” Izzy named off, earning confused stares from the group. “Just keeping track of the story's events.”
“Well, at least everypony is safe and accounted for,” Sunny said as she turned back to normal, and Rita purred against Hitch’s leg. “Thanks for savin’ us back there, sheriff,” she said. “Yeah, thanks. Definitely, thanks,” Runt nodded enthusiastically, licking Hitch’s face. “Uh… you’re welcome,” Hitch chuckled and wiped the slobber off his face. “I think.”
Dr. Scratchinsniff checked inside his wagon to see if any damage was done where Rita and Runt had been riding, and he found multiple liquids of different colors all mixing together inside a singular bottle.
When he sniffed and tasted of it, it actually tasted and smelled really good! So, he and Hello Nurse decided to prepare a fresh batch for everyone.
Everyone found the drink rather refreshing after the chaotic events they had just been through-- even Plotz woke from unconsciousness to enjoy a refreshing sip. “Ahh…” Wakko sighed after a long drink, and let out the biggest burp imaginable to the ponies’ ears-- even Sparky’s burps had never been that big! “Excuse you, Wakko,” Sunny smiled. “Hey, if you like the elixir so much, I’d be happy to fix you guys a big bunch of smoothies when we get back home.”
"Mmmm... smoothie!" Mindy cooed, hugging onto Sunny's leg, leaving Buttons to pull her away with a few embarrassed barks. “Buttons says he's sorry about Mindy,” Hitch translated. “She can be a bit of a handful sometimes.”
“No prob-- wow...” Misty's eyes widened as her eyes fell upon the wishing star in the distance, causing everyone to turn that way with bright smiles. “There it is... the source to making all of our dreams come true!” Skippy said. “Ahh... it's a beaut, isn't it, Brain?” Pinky asked with a sigh. “While I do not appreciate your over-innocent-wonder, Pinky... yes, it is quite a sight,” Brain admitted. “You know, everybody...” Sunny said so everyone could hear her, “even if one person gets their wish, it doesn't mean everyone's wishes are down the drain. There are other ways to make them come true beside magic. And if you have good friends by your side... it can already feel like a wish come true.”
Everyone listened to Sunny's words, pondering to themselves about whether what she said was right or not. For a pony from another word, Sunny sure did know a lot about friendship. Maybe... she was right in a way.
Throughout everything, they always did have one another.
But all of a sudden, a strange yet familiar noise filled the air, and it sounded like... rumbling?
Everyone turned to see an avalanche coming at them at a speed far greater than a pegasus’ beating wings could reach, causing them to gasp/scream and head for the nearest mode of transportation. “Quick!” Sunny tossed the group some snowboards from her saddlebag. “Hop on these, everypony!”
“Where did you--?! Okay, forget it! We don’t have time to question these things!” Zipp put on her helmet and waited for the avalanche to come on them before she, the rest of the ponies, Sparky and the Warners leapt into action, snowboarding at top speed while everyone made a mad dash to get away from the incoming snow.
The ponies and Warners rode on the snowy wave into the valley below, and once the snow had stopped, they fell off their boards and into the snow for a soft landing.
When their heads popped up from the snow, their eyes fixated on one thing in front of them… the wishing star, which was now within walking distance of them. “Ooooh…” the group gasped. They had finally made it!
They climbed out of the snow and headed in that direction till they were on the hillside, side-by-side or hand-in-hand, singing happily.
And just like that, the guards' weapons pointed at the group, making them freeze in terror and confusion. “Uh...” Yakko stammered. "This wasn't the wish I had in mind."
Everyone else from Acme Falls gasped in terror as they too were surrounded, and while the ponies were distracted, the ponies were tied in ropes, with ropes around their necks and Zipp and Pipp's wings. "Secure the area!" the captain of the guard commanded. "Take them all to the prison camps!"
“Prison camps?! With a face this adorable?!” Dot cried out, but the guards paid no attention as they forced the group to move toward the gated areas of bars and spikes.
Everyone was scared and confused, and Sunny and her friends were included… but they knew that the most important thing was to keep their Acme Falls friends safe from… whatever was going on.
XXXXXXXX
Later, after everyone had gotten settled into the prison camp, the guards arrive with a stern-looking King Salazar, looking at the Warners more specifically. “All hail the mighty King Salazar!” the captain exclaimed. “Salad bar? All right, I'm starved!” Dot leapt into the king's arms. “You got any bacon bits?”
“What?” the king questioned, and Yakko eagerly shook his hand. “Hiya, Salad Bar,” he greeted. “I'm Yakko.”
“I'm Wakko…” Wakko introduced. “And I'm Dot, the impossibly cute one… with a cough,” Dot finished with a cough. “But you gotta admit, even the cough is cute.”
But suddenly, Dot began to hack right in the king's face, causing him to throw her down to the ground, adjusting his crown. “We're the Warner Brothers!” Yakko and Wakko said in unison. “And the Warner Sister!” Dot added. “I know who you are!“ the king sneered. “Get back in line!”
Sunny and Zipp guided the Warners away, a tad worried, but Dot turned back to the king to ask him one more thing. “Uh… you got any garbanzo beans?”
“It’s Salazar, not salad bar!” King Salazar said. “PLOTZ!!”
“Y-Your Highness…?” Plotz nervously spoke in response. “I thought I told you to get rid of those little monsters,” King Salazar turned his gaze toward the face-making Warners for a moment. “They and their friends are still alive!”
"I did my best, sir," Plotz answered, but King Salazar wasn't having it. "You failed me, Plotz. Lock him up with the rest of the prisoners," he told the captain of the guard, Plotz beyond surprised. "The same goes for the constable and the rats with wings."
"Duh... oh boy!" Ralph exclaimed as the guards pointed their guns at him, while the pigeons were locked in their cage again. "Yikes!" Squit cried. "Pasta fasool!" Pesto exclaimed angrily. “Never try to double cross your king,” King Salazar said with a sneer. "Take them away!"
The guards did as their king asked them to, and then his attention turned to the Warner siblings, who were laughing and joking alongside their Equestrian friends. “And as for the Warner siblings...” he said, and the Warners smiled and stood up straighter as the king made his decision. “...execute them.”
Guns were pointed right at the siblings, making everyone from Acme Falls, the Mane 5, Sparky and Misty gasp in terror with wide eyes.
The Warners hadn’t done a single thing wrong, and they were being executed?! What was wrong with this king?! “Yes sir,” the captain saluted. “Oh, you don’t have to treat us special,” Yakko told the king, who just smirked and crossed his arms. “I insist-- GAH!!”
Everyone, even the Warners and especially the Mane 5, looked toward the king with wide eyes… Misty had reared and kicked him with her hind legs, sending him back into the snow on his rear end. “Leave the Warners alone!” she exclaimed angrily, and the other ponies soon joined her, looking equally as fierce. “Yeah! You can’t just execute the Warners just for being their wacky selves!” Hitch agreed. "Yeah!" Pipp nodded, wings unfolded. “I’ll report you to the army of Pippsqueaks I have back in Equestria for something like that!”
“If you want to execute the Warners… you’ll have to go through us and our unity magic first,” Sunny said boldly, and their cutie marks began to glow… all except Misty’s, but no one really noticed at first. The king then saw this as an opportunity, and stood up slowly. “Fine then… execute the ponies while you’re at it, captain,” he said. “And make sure you render their wings, horns and hooves useless before doing such.”
“Yes sir,” the captain nodded, and another guard forced the ponies, who were shocked that their fierceness hadn’t changed a thing, to trot alongside the Warners on their way into execution. “Once the ponies and the Warners are disposed of,” he said, “I’ll proceed with making my wish.”
“Very good sir,” the ponies heard the captain say. As they became worried this may be their final hour, one look from Yakko told them that they had nothing to worry about. “Okay, Salad Bar, have it your way,” he called. “But we know secrets about the star that you don’t…!”
“What? No, you don’t,” the king turned to them. “Oh yes, we do!” Dot singsonged, while Wakko looked confused. “We do?” he whispered, and Sunny nudged him with her rear to shush him and go along with Yakko’s plan. “Oh, do we ever!”
“Like what? Tell me,” the king said to the Warners, and Yakko let a mischevious smirk slip through… this was almost too easy. They'd be out of the execution run in no time flat, but only if their plan worked. “Uhhhhhh… perhaps we can come to some sort of… arrangement?”
Sunny and her friends weren’t sure of what arrangement that Yakko could have been talking about, but knew that if he had a plan, then they needed to do their part and trust him.
The king begrudgingly took them to his ice castle built close to the wishing star's landing place, where the Warners sat down to one of the best meals that they had ever eaten, since this was part of the special arrangement Yakko had mentioned.
Of course, the ponies ate too, just to keep the plan going, and they had to admit-- this was 5-hoof dining. “Our new special friend, the king,” Yakko nudged Izzy’s shoulder, causing the lilac unicorn to shrug. “Who knew?”
“Now tell me!” the king banged his fist on the table, frightening Misty a little bit from where she sat next to him. “Oh ri-i-i-ght. Yeah, the secrets about the wishing star. Right, yeah,” Yakko nodded casually. “You see, the key to the whole thing is, uh…”
But as he looked toward the king, his eyes widened for a moment. “You, uh… got a little something in your nose?”
“Huh? Where?” the king asked, not feeling or seeing anything. “Right there,” Yakko pointed to where it was, and the king rubbed his nose to try and get rid of it. “Did I get it?” he asked a few seconds later. “Yeah-- no… no, it’s still there,” Yakko frowned, causing the king to wipe it again. “How about now?”
“Now it’s over there-- blegh…” Zipp caught on with Yakko’s plan, and her remark caused the king to rub his nose that much harder. “How about now?” King Salazar asked again. “No…” Zipp frowned. “Ewwwww!!!” Pipp, Izzy, Wakko and Dot cried out. “Get it, get it, get it!!”
“Please… could you go to the bathroom and take care of it? Whew, I mean, whoops…” Yakko looked like he could puke, finally convincing the king to head to the bathroom to take care of it. But, there was nothing there at all, and the next thing he knew, he heard the bathroom door being locked, and the Warners repeatedly cheering, “We’re in charge! We’re in charge! We’re in charge!”
But the antics didn’t last long, for the king bashed the door down, making the group freeze, and making the ponies’ ears folded back, worried for their friends. “You horrible children! Who taught you how to behave?!” the king demanded, and the Warners’ faces fell at this. “No one, sir…” Wakko frowned sadly. “You see…” Dot coughed before blinking cutely, “we’re orphans.”
“Yes, well… everyone has problems,” the king said, turning to walk away, not bothered by that news in the slightest. Zipp found his attitude toward the subject of the Warners being orphans very suspicious and not very compassionate like they were when they found out, and her eyes narrowed as the Warners zipped to get in front of him, eyes big and cute. “You know… we’d so like to be adopted,” Yakko said sweetly. “Will you be our new daddy?” Wakko asked in a hopeful tone of voice. “Certainly not!” King Salazar exclaimed, but his answer went unheard as the Warners jumped up on him. “Buy me a toy, Daddy!” Dot begged. “Buy me a toy, buy me a toy, buy me a toy!”
“Oh, please Dadoo!” Wakko said innocently, but he and Dot were flung off of the angered king, only to be caught by Sunny and Pipp. “I’m not your father!” the king cried out. “That’s not what Mommy said,” Yakko smirked, causing the king to throw him off, and Izzy caught him in her horn’s aura. “When will this insanity stop?!”
The next thing he heard was the Warners’ persistant cries to answer his previous question, and his eyes fell on Dot. “Yes, you,” he said. “Duh…” Dot answered the way Ralph would, “what was the question?”
Apparently it was a good answer, cause the ponies played along and congratulated Dot on a job well done alongside her brothers. Soon enough, King Salazar was getting tired of these mind games. “Are you going to tell me the star’s secrets or not?!”
“Never!” the Warners refused, turning around and crossing their arms. But, King Salazar merely smirked and walked over to a lever made of ice near him. “Well, we have ways of making you talk. How about a trip to… the cave of your worst nightmares!”
By pulling the lever, he caused a large trapdoor to open beneath the group, causing them to fall into the caverns with a scream, landing in a train of two mine carts below them. “Please remain seated at all times while the tram is in motion,” said an automated voice just as the carts began to move down the roller-coaster type track, causing them to scream and cheer in fear/delight, depending on how they were feeling. “You know,” Wakko said, “for a cave of your worst nightmares, this isn’t so bad.”
Suddenly, a door opened up before them, and a man in a fancy blue suit started dancing crazily and singing in an offkey tone.
Director: Oh, lady!
I know a lady with high-heeled shoes And socks of pantyhose, oh, pretty lady
The ponies covered their ears immediately to prevent the sound, while the Warners screamed in terror. "Hello there, cute puppy children with the spunky faces!" the man greeted with a loony look, and the Warners screamed again before they exited the room. Pipp let out a sigh of relief as they left the director behind-- his singing was beyond TERRIBLE! “I’m glad that’s over,” Dot coughed, just as they approached a rundown gas station. “Be careful,” the attendant smirked. “I haven’t cleaned that bathroom in three years.” As the man continued to guffaw, the group became nervous as they entered the pitch-black bathroom. “Somepony turn on the lights,” Hitch said, but once the lights were on-- the group screamed at how disgusting and filthy the bathroom looked; it was too horrible to even describe.
They left that room and quickly went to the next one, modeled after a kindergarten classroom and had a laughing orange t-rex inside it waiting for them. “You make me feel all fun-fun doodle-dum!”
The Warners, Misty and Izzy screamed in absolute terror. “Won’t you be my special friend?” the dinosaur asked. “NO!!!” the Warners screamed, flinging the t-rex back into the wall, allowing the group to catch their breath. “How much longer is this gonna go on?!” Yakko screamed. “Just hold on tight, Yakko,” Zipp sighed. “I think this is the last one.”
The doors opened up to the final room, where the ponies looked around with wide and fearful eyes… ponies were all around them, weak and exhausted, magicless and cutie mark-less, where their attention turned to something filling the air with laughter, thunder and lightning… a pony cloaked in darkness, laughing villainously and her dark blue eyes gleaming.
Sunny and her friends had no idea who it was… but they knew for a fact that this was the pony who tried to steal magic all those moons ago, and from this nightmare, it already happened and they weren't there to stop it. “NOO!!!” Sunny screamed and pulled her hooves over her head, causing Wakko to hug her in comfort as Sparky babbled in fear into Hitch's fur... what could be worse than that?
The tram finally pulled back into the king’s throne room, where he stood awaiting them. “Well…?”
“We’ll tell ya anything!” Yakko exclaimed, followed by Dot’s coughing. “Just don’t send us back there, please!” she begged. “We’ll see,” King Salazar said as the group shakingly got out of the tram. “Now, tell me the secrets of the wishing star.”
The ponies, Wakko and Dot turned to Yakko, hoping what he’d say, not really thinking about it. “Well, uh…” he stammered. “It’s not what you wish for, it’s uh… how you wish?”
“Really?” the king asked, and Zipp immediately nodded, hoping to keep the plan in motion. “Oh yeah. You have to be careful-- things are taken so literally now-a-days,” she said. “You don’t say?” King Salazar questioned. “Absolutely!” Yakko agreed. “Now what are you considering?”
King Salazar brought out a long list that stretched all the way to Sparky’s little dragon feet a good distance away from him. “Well, tops on my wish list... I'd like to own the world."
Yakko then brought out a small globe and spun it around for him. “Here you go. It spins. Nice, isn't it?”
“No, I don't want that,” King Salazar crossed that off his list before moving onto the next item. “Ah, here we go. How about fame and fortune?”
“Here's Fame with Irene Cara, and a subscription to Fortune magazine!” Pipp brought out said items from underneath her wings. "Rats..." King Salazar grumbled. “Where did you get that stuff from, Pipp?” Wakko asked in a whisper. “Hey, when you're a fashion pop princess style icon, you have to be prepared,” Pipp shrugged, just as King Salazar thought of something else. “Wait, I could wish for the Midas touch. Everything I touch will turn to gold.”
“Yeah, including food,” Yakko pointed out. “Try eating a solid gold turkey. Adios, bicuspids.”
King Salazar huffed in thought for a few minutes, pondering on what else he could wish for. "I never realized this wish business was so complicated," he said. “Tell me about it,” Zipp nodded, winking to Yakko without the king seeing. "Ah!" King Salazar thought of something else. “How about I wish for youth and beauty?”
At this, Wakko brought in a kid on the back of a horse named Black Beauty. “Let me put it another way then,” the king sighed. “How about eternal youth? That I could be 16 forever?"”
“Then you'd go back to being 16 and relive that same year over and over...” Dot went on. “And you'd have zits and no one would ever date you.”
“Ugh! Never!” King Salazar shuddered at the thought. “I know. I'll wish for a million bucks. No, make that two million bucks.”
But as he said this, an army of two million male deer came in at Hitch's command, leaving the king trampled. “Just be glad it isn't mating season,” Sunny said, trying to stiffle in a laugh before the king decided to give it one more go. “Wait, I got it! What if I wish for all the dough in the world?”
“Sounds good to me,” Yakko smirked, and at his command, he and his siblings launched pies of all kinds at the king, covering him in actual dough. “Ha! Dough... like pastry dough. I-It's a joke, you get it?” Yakko asked, licking some of the dough and tasting it. That seemed to be Salazar’s breaking point, and he growled in anger and grabbed Yakko tightly. “Yes, and now it’s your turn to get it!” he said, throwing him into Zipp’s hooves. “Captain, take the ponies and Warners away! And have them executed!”
"Yes, sir!" the captain saluted, and the guards once again surrounded them with their guns and other weapons. “Our joke was funnier,” Yakko said, but his voicings went unheard as the guards pushed him and his siblings and friends down into the caverns.
XXXXXXXX
The ponies, Sparky and and the Warners were tied to rocks in the cavern, and the captain tied a cloth around Yakko and Sparky's eyes to prevent them from seeing anything. “Sorry to do this, kids, but it's my job. So let's get it over with. Any last requests?”
“Yeah. Set us free,” Pipp nodded firmly. “No can do, pretty pony missy. I have my orders,” the captain crossed his arms. It was time for Dot to activate her secret weapon-- the biggest puppy eyes she could muster. “Please, let us go?”
“No way, man. Forget it!” the captain dismissed. “Pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry on top?” Dot made her puppy dog eyes even bigger. “Whoa-ho-ho, man, you're working your cuteness on me, man! Your irresistible cuteness! Stop it. Wrong, wrong. Knock it off!”
“Pleasy-squeezy-weezy-weeze?” Dot made the biggest eyes she'd ever made in a final attempt. “Nooooo!!!” the captain tried to shake the cuteness off. “FIRE!!”
The ponies let out a scream as they heard the guns being fired, and King Salazar was listening to everyone with a smile. “Ahh... music to my ears,” he said. But as it turns out, the guards fired at the top of the rocks and not at the Warners and ponies themselves, allowing them to cut themselves free with Pipp's hooficure file. "Ooops...” the captain said sarcastically. “Missed...”
“How can we ever thanky-wanky you?” Dot asked sweetly. “Don't. You're free. Just no more of the thing of cute,” the captain spoke. “We can't take it!”
“You're too cute!” the other guards agreed. “Now go!” the captain said. “It's a gift,” Dot shrugged, and Yakko grabbed his siblings and followed the ponies out of that part of the cavern. But after going through a long way, they couldn't find which way they came through originally. “Which way do we go now?” Sunny asked, and Zipp scanned around above them, but shook her head with a groan. “I don’t see our tracks, and without them, we can’t find our way out!”
“So… what do we do?” Misty asked in a dejected tone. “Do we just stay down here forever while Salazar gets the wish that rightfully belongs to the Warners and uses it against Acme Falls and all our friends from there and does stuff that we can’t even imagine to Warnerstock and then could move on to Equestria if he had the right magic?! Cause that’s the way I see things happening right now!”
The blue unicorn slumped her flank against the wall as she sat down, and the other ponies looked at her with wide eyes. “W-What? W-W-Why is everypony looking at me like that?” she asked nervously. “Misty…” Sunny started softly. “You don’t have your cutie mark?”
Misty froze at that and looked down… her fake cutie mark was completely smudged and ruined, and Misty felt her inner anxiety level rise. “I-- well… I, uh--”
“That’s why you were asking so much about cutie mark magic… you didn’t have it yourself,” Zipp said, and seeing no more reason to hide it anymore, Misty sighed heavily and nodded. “Yes… it’s true. My… friend and I live so secluded from Maretime Bay that I never got one. But… I wanna try and get one, cause my friend will give one to me if I do everything right and what I ask her to. She’s so powerful-- she can do it!”
“Misty… cutie marks aren’t earned-- they’re given when a pony discovers their true talent and passion,” Sunny said softly. “Everypony-- well… I thought everypony knew that.”
Misty felt her heart break at that sentence… so Opaline just lied to her? All this time? And she was too much of a fool to even realize it? “Well… I guess I’ll just… never have a cutie mark…” she said to herself, getting up and trotting back the other way. “I-I guess I’ll just get myself lost in the caverns while you ponies help the Warners. I-I don’t even need to be around… it’s clear I don’t have a place in your group…”
Misty slowly began to walk away from them, and the group found their sadness levels rising for their sad friend… all she wanted was a chance to prove to the world that she was special, and now she had given up all faith in herself.
With knowing glances shared, the Warners knew they had to do something. “Misty, wait!” Yakko ran after her, and Misty turned to look at him. “So what if you don’t have a cutie mark and can’t experience the magic your pony friends do? Cutie marks aren’t even that great anyway.”
“...thanks so much for trying to make me feel better,” Misty said sarcastically. “I think what Yakko is TRYING to say is that you do have a place with us-- with or without a cutie mark,” Dot said, giving a glare to Yakko for making Misty feel worse. “And there’s still a chance you can still earn your cutie mark if you really want it.”
“But what if I can’t? What if when everypony sees and hears how different I really am…?” Misty felt her eyes well up with tears, and it broke the group’s hearts to hear her sound so hopeless. “Misty, everypony is different in their own way,” Hitch said. “That’s what makes us all so special. And you’re special in your own way too.”
“I am?” Misty looked at the group. “Yeah-- because of your kind heart,” Wakko nodded, walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Yakko and Sunny have told me how you’ve kept the town’s spirits up while I was gone, and you never gave up hope on the town… or in me or your friends. That’s your true talent-- being supportive and hopeful for everyone you come across.”
Misty cleared her tears away with her hoof and hugged her… her real friends… happily-- more happy than she had ever been. “Thanks guys… I guess I needed that more than I realized.”
“You’re welcome. Now we just need to find a way out of here,” Zipp said. “Hey…” Sunny got an idea. “The unity magic! We can use it to find our way out! Everyone, stand united! It can only work when we’re all together!”
Everyone did as Sunny said and they stood together, hoof-to-hoof and hand in hand, letting the magic within the cutie marks light their way. Suddenly, a glowing path of hoofprints lit the way through one of the tunnels, and the group darted down that tunnel and toward the outside, happy to see fresh sunshine and the wishing star in sight. “It worked, we’re out!” Dot celebrated with a severe round of coughs. “Uh oh… I think Dot’s getting worse,” Zipp frowned. “We better get to the star fast.”
“And use it before the king has a chance to,” Sunny nodded. Meanwhile, the townsfolk saw them escape from the caverns, and were watching hopefully to see what they’re gonna do. “Are they gonna go for it, Bobby?” Squit asked. “Maybe,” Bobby nodded. “Just maybe.”
“I hope they do-- definitely. Yeah, definitely hope they do,” Runt nodded, and Rita looked on in concern. “All right, everyone,” Sunny readied herself. “When I say now, run as fast as you can toward the star.”
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with King Salazar thinking the Warners and their friends were executed, he had some more time to think about his wishes without the Warners getting in the way. “I could wish for everything in the world. But then, where would I store it all? Or maybe... I could wish for a hundred wishes! I wonder if that's allowed.”
“Your majesty!” the captain ran in with a salute. “Yes?” the king asked. "I'm afraid the Warners and their friends have escaped!" the captain blurt out, and the king's face went red in anger. “What?! But I told you to execute them!”
“I tried, man! I really did!” the captain got down on his knees. But the cuteness was too much, man. They're too clever!"
“Just like their parents...” King Salazar huffed, causing the captain to become confused as he went outside. “I should've gotten rid of those kids years ago when I had the chance. At least now I know what to wish for. I'm going to wish those annoying kids would leave me alone-- forever!”
“NOW!!!” Sunny's voice cried, and the Warners and their friends made a mad dash for the wishing star, Dot coughing along the way. “NOOOO!!!!” the king screamed. “Faster, ponies! Come on!” Zipp cried. “We can totally do this!” Pipp panted. But all of a sudden, Dot stopped, her coughing growing more severe. “I can't make it...”
“Come on, Dot-- we're almost there!” Yakko tried to urge his sister to keep going, and they continued to run as fast as they could. “Stop them!“ King Salazar exclaimed in rage. “Fire, fire! FIRE!!!!”
A cannon fired right at the group, and as they made a final leap for it, there was a loud explosion, much to the horror of the townsfolk, wondering what had become of the Warners and the ponies. When the dust and snow cleared, it looked like Wakko, Yakko, Sparky and the ponies had all come through all right...
Dot laid completely motionless in the snow, bent up and bruised from the cannonball’s impact, and her brothers were first to see their sister laying in this critical condition. “NO!!!!!” Yakko and Wakko screamed, rushing to their sister with the ponies as a light snowfall began to come down. The king’s guards gasped in shock as Dot let out a few light coughs, and the townsfolk from Acme Falls watched in worry and anticipation, to see if Dot was all right. “...Z-Zipp?” Pipp had her hooves to her mouth, but that failed to stop the tears from beginning to form in her eyes. “I-Is she…?”
Zipp leaned down to Dot’s chest as Yakko held her upper body gently in his arms, listening for a moment before quietly sighing. “She has a pulse… but it’s faint. I-I don’t know how long she’ll last,” she told the ponies as she frowned, careful not to let Dot’s older brothers hear. They were already suffering enough-- they didn't wanna make the situation that much more grave. “Dot… can you hear me?” Yakko called quietly to his baby sister, rubbing her face gently with his gloved hand. At this, Dot began to stir, opening his eyes as she took her eldest brother’s hand into her own. “Tell me the story…”
“What?” Yakko didn’t understand. “The story… about Mom and Dad,” Dot weakly smiled. “Tell me… cough… one last time.”
This was way too heartbreaking for the ponies to handle, feeling their hearts sinking deeper and deeper. “Y-You should rest, and save your strength,” Sunny advised the youngest Warner, not wanting to see her suffer more than she already was. But although she was weak, Dot coughed and found the courage to start the story herself, making the ponies, Wakko and Yakko realize she really felt like she was going to die in this manner. “Once upon a time,” she began, “a brave knight married a beautiful princess… cough… and they had two sons, but they wanted a daughter too. So they planted a garden… cough…”
Hitch and Sunny held Izzy as tightly as they could to try and prevent her from crying so badly, and Zipp wrapped a wing around her sister and Sparky while Misty tried to comfort a sniffling Wakko. “And out of the prettiest flower came…?” Yakko waited for his sister to answer. “...me,” Dot coughed. The rest of the townsfolk, King Salazar and his guards listened to the story Yakko proceeded to tell, already feeling as if Dot was slipping away from them. “And so, your mom and dad took you home,” Sunny continued, feeling her voice break up now and again. “And every night at bedtime they’d come in and say, ‘Who’s the cutest girl’? And you’d say…”
“I am,” Dot smiled, and Yakko pulled her closer into his arms, not ever wanting to let her go. “And they’d ask, ‘How’d you ever get so cute’? And you’d say…”
“...I was born that way,” Dot nodded with a cough the weakest amount of confidence that made Zipp look away from the scene. “And they’d say… ‘Tell us your name’,” Pipp said, nuzzling Dot’s face gently. “A-And you’d say…?” Izzy squeaked with a miserable-sounding tone, and waited for the youngest Warner to answer with the longest name any of the ponies had ever heard. “Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca… cough… Banana Fanna Bo Besca III. But you can call me… cough… Dot.”
Yakko could already feel the tears of heartache pouring down from his eyes, down his cheeks and onto the soft snow under his feet, and tried his best not to feel so hopeless… but it was so hard, thinking that by the end of the story, his sister would be gone. “And they’d ask… ‘Can we call you Dottie’...? And you’d say…”
And with that, Dot’s eyes closed for the final time as she fell limp in her brother’s arms, much to the shock of the ponies. Yakko sobbed as the snow continued to fall, nuzzling his sister’s face as the townsfolk sobbed in sorrow for the loss of one of their own.
Wakko and Misty watched in tears from nearby, and Wakko was taking it really hard, feeling that this was all on him. He was the one who encourage everyone to go on this journey to begin with, and he clutched his chest tightly, falling to his knees with eyes squeezed shut, trying to contain the tears.
Watching the person who comforted her in her hour of need crying so hopelessly made Misty feel horrible, and suddenly… she made a risky decision, tossing Wakko onto her back and turning away from the heartbreaking scene. “Misty…?” Wakko sniffled. “Wha-- what are you doing?”
“King Salazar isn’t gonna get away with killing your sister,” Misty said with a grief-striken voice. “Not on my watch.”
With that, she started trotting in the direction of the wishing star, while everyone else continued to mourn the loss of the young Warner. “She’s… dead,” the captain said sadly, before turning to King Salazar in rage. “And it’s your fault man!”
“I… I…” King Salazar wasn’t sure what to say, feeling somewhat guilty, but the captain wasn’t finished with his rant yet. “She was the cute one, man! The impossibly cute one! And now she’s gone!” he cried out, pointing at the king accusingly. “You killed her, man! Wrong, wrong!”
“I… I didn’t mean it,” King Salazar tried to explain, but the eyes of the tear-ridden ponies and his angry guards told him that everyone was turning on him. “Really! It’s just that they were driving me crazy! These two, and--”
When he looked around, he didn’t see Wakko or Misty anywhere, and this got him majorly confused. “Wait… where are the other ones?”
“Look! It’s Misty and Wakko!” Dr. Scratchinsniff pointed, and everyone turned to see Misty galloping at full speed toward the star, Wakko clinging onto her back as tightly as he could. "NO!!!" the king cried out, but that didn't stop Misty from charging toward their goal at full force.
All: They're gonna get to the wishing star!
King Salazar: Stop them before they get too far!
Wakko: Help me, spirit, wherever you are!
All: He's gonna get to the wishing star!
As another cannonball was fired, the other townfolk forgot their own desires for that moment to cheer Wakko and Misty on.
Rita: Wishing!
Runt: Wishing!
Pinky: Wishing!
Brain: Wishing!
Slappy: Wishing!
Skippy: Wishing!
Plotz: Wishing!
Ralph: Wishing!
Bobby: Wishing!
Squit: Wishing!
Pesto: Wishing!
Minerva: Wishing
All: Wishing!
The wishing... The wishing... STAAAAAAAR!!!!
Once they were close enough, Misty reared up and jumped toward the star... Wakko touching it before the cannonball did, causing a flash of light to appear around them, and causing Dot to suddenly open her eyes. "I'm feeling better now."
All: The wishing star!
"She's alive, man!" the captain cried out. "The cute one's alive!"
The townsfolk and the ponies cheered, and Yakko hugged his little sister in relief. “I guess those acting lessons paid off after all,” he said. “Do you really mean it?” Dot asked hopefully, only for Yakko to playfully respond, “Nah!”
“Just don’t ever do that again, Dot-- we were so worried that you were really gone!” Hitch said, hoof to his chest trying to calm his racing heart, and Sparky babbled and hugged Dot tenderly. “No promises, but I’ll try,” Dot said with a smile. “Hey… where’s Misty and Wakko?”
“Over there, look!” Yakko pointed to two figures beneath the glow of the star, starting to wake up from being blinded. “...we… we did it… Wakko, we did it!” Misty said cheerfully as the two of them hugged, feeling majorly relieved that Wakko touched the star first and that he wouldn't have to use his one wish to bring his sister back from the dead. “We sure did, Misty. I could have never done that without you, though,” Wakko said. “Would you want to stand near me when I make my wish?”
“...only if the others can too,” Misty gestured for the Mane 5 and Sparky to come closer, and they galloped toward their friends and stood by their side. The townsfolk watched in anticipation just before an image of Moonshine appeared by being projected by the star, elegant mane flowing in the breeze. “A real alicorn princess…” Sunny couldn’t believe what she was seeing, and tried her best not to squeal. “Nice job, Wakko. You’ve all done well,” Moonshine told Wakko with a proud smile. “Now, the power of the wishing star is yours to command. Feel free to make your wish whenever you’re ready.”
“Okay… here goes,” Wakko said, feeling mentally prepared for what could be the biggest decision of his life. “I wish for…”
As everyone gasped in anticipation, Wakko thought of the perfect wish, and the ponies gathered around him, squeezing their eyes tight and placing their hooves on Wakko for their moral support.
The star gave off an enchantingly bright light, and whisps of magic sparkles whirled around the group before the light faded, leaving everything back to normal.
Wakko unclenched his fists to check and see if the wish had really come true, and a smile began to form. “Not one… but two ha’pennies!”
At first glance, no one was really sure what to think… was it all a dream? Or was this really happening?
Yakko and Dot advanced and tapped the ha’pennies their brother was holding, confirming that this wasn’t a dream. “They’re real!” Yakko called to the townsfolk, who cheered and barged out of their prison to join the heroes of Acme Falls, while the king only sobbed in sorrow as the town celebrated.
All: He's got two ha'pennies today! He's got two ha'pennies, hooray!
No more worries or cares While it may sound cliché It's the answer to our prayers And no more taxes to pay!
Now it's back to the town of Acme To go shopping with his whole penny!
The town began to head for home when a light appeared over the horizon, and none other than the real Moonshine herself descended before the town, causing everyone to gasp and murmur. “Princess Moonshine! Wakko did it!” Misty said, showcasing the Warner on her back with his prize. “He got his wish!”
“And I assume you did too, my dear,” Moonshine said with a smile, rubbing the unicorn’s head with her hoof. “You have more friends than you ever thought possible, regardless of what they thought of your blank flank.”
“Yeah… I guess I did. Wait… what does that mean for you now that the wishing star’s magic is all used up?” Misty asked. “Well… I suppose I’ll have to create a new star using the wishes from other places,” Moonshine pondered. “But… I don’t think you all will be going to find this one again-- let someone else find it, cause you all have all you need… don’t you?”
“We really do, princess-- we really do,” Yakko nodded, and the Warner siblings shared a hug, causing the ponies to ‘aww’ at the sight. “Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner, and ponies of Equestria,” Moonshine declared with wings outstretched, “for saving Warnerstock from the evil King Salazar’s wicked plans, accept this gift of mine.”
She reached from under her wing to pull out two medallions, one that went around Yakko’s neck and one that went around Zipp’s. “If you ever need me again, hold the medallion close and whisper my name three times, and I shall appear. Farewell, citizens of Acme Falls and beyond! May all your wishes come true from this point onward!”
With that, she flew higher into the sky until she was out of sight. “Come on, everyone!” Sunny urged. “Wakko has a whole penny to spend, doesn’t he? Let’s get all of you home.”
Sunny and her friends crossed through the snowy valleys to bring the Warners, Pinky and Brain, Rita and Runt and everyone else from Acme Falls back to their homes, and no one bore a sad face-- everyone was overjoyed that Acme Falls would no longer be the poorest village in Warnerstock, and no one would ever be taxed again.
Wakko had made the perfect wish to benefit them all.
But, Zipp couldn’t help but feel in her gut that there was something else that needed to be uncovered… the truth about what Salazar might have done with Yakko, Wakko and Dot’s parents.
But, Dot’s operation would have to come first, before any mystery-solving could be done.
As soon as they returned from Acme Falls and got the rest they needed from their long journey, the Warners and their friends brought Dot to the facility, where Wakko used his first ha’penny to pay for her operation, Yakko and Wakko telling Dot how much they loved her before she went into the operating room.
After that, the wait seemed to take way longer than the brothers felt like it would've been, but maybe Dr. Scratchinsniff and Hello Nurse were just taking their time, to make sure nothing went wrong and Dot didn't have any problems further.
The ponies waited there the entire time with them, and Pipp started a livestream to share with the Pippsqueaks... no matter how far they were with Equestria. "Good afternoon, everypony!" she broadcasted. "I'm live here in Acme Falls, praying for the well being of one out of three of our new friends. Dot went in for an operation a few hours ago, and her brothers are really worried about her. Share your kind thoughts in the comments! Catch ya later, Pippsqueaks-- Pipp Pipp hooray!"
With that, she tucked her phone away and sat beside her sister. "That was a good idea, Pipp-- spreading the message about Dot so good vibes can come and give her strength," the white pegasus smiled. "Yeah, well... what can I say?" Pipp said with a chuckle. "I know how to create positive vibes."
The door then opened, and Baron von Plotz and Ralph came in quietly through the doors. "Oh... hi there, Baron. Ralph," Sunny greeted with a nod. "What are you doing here?"
“Wes wanted to see it Dots was out of surgery yet,” Ralph explained, sitting down. “No, not yet,” Yakko sighed, looking at the clock on Zipp’s FlyPad. “She’s been in there for two hours now… do you think she’s okay?”
“Hey, if anything was going wrong, they’d come out and tell us,” Wakko tried to ease his older brother’s worries. “Dot’s a strong kid-- like us. She’ll be fine... I hope.”
The ponies sat in silence for a while longer, hoping and praying to themselves that Dot would make it through. After another 40 minutes, Dr. Scratchinsniff took his gloves off and entered the waiting room, and the pegasus sisters, Yakko and Wakko clung to each other nervously. “It was a complete success!” he declared. “She is awake if you would all like to see her.”
Hearing that Dot was all right, the girl ponies, Sparky, Wakko and Yakko cheered and rushed to Dot’s room to see her. “What was the operation for anyway?” the baron asked as Hello Nurse arrived. “Plastic surgery,” Dr. Scratchinsniff responded. “To implant a beauty mark on her cheek.”
Hitch blinked in shock-- he thought it was something serious like a tumor, not plastic surgery. But then again, people and ponies did crazy things sometimes, and he just had to accept it.
Meanwhile, the ponies sat by Dot’s bed as she admired her new beauty mark. “I think I’ll call it a cutie mark, based off your name for the marks on your flanks,” Dot explained with a shrug. “Cindy Crawford, eat your heart out.”
She zipped over to the captain of the guard, who was waiting for her outside her room, holding a bouquet of flowers. “So, do I look cuter now?”
"Your cuteness is, like, out of control, man! It's perfect," the captain said. "Perfect, huh?" Dot yawned. "Well, I guess that'll have to do."
Pipp took out her phone for her and Dot to get a few selfies, and Wakko sighed in relief, slumping back in the room's chair. "Thank goodness it's finally done."
“We’re glad for you too,” Sunny said, sitting in the chair next to him. “But, I can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to your past than that Salazar phony is letting on.”
Zipp looked over at her from where she was fluttering in place. “You had that feeling too?” she asked. “And how did the Unity Crystals know that we would help the Warners and the town? How did Salazar know about our fear of letting magic in Equestria slip through our hooves? Do you think he was in close relations to the pony Twilight Sparkle warned us about? What if that pony is still alive from Twilight Sparkle's time, and she knew that all this was going to happen and sent Salazar the information about the wishing star in order to stop us from achieving our goal but they ultimately failed anyway?!!”
“Whoa, whoa girls! Slow down with the questions already!” Yakko stopped their discussion, holding his head. “All this new info is really makin’ my head spin.”
“Still…” Zipp thought about it before she got an idea, flying back out to the waiting room to find Ralph and the baron sitting patiently. “Baron, would it be possible if I go to look at the town’s records? There’s something I wanna check out about the Warners’ past history.”
“Of course,” Baron von Plotz nodded. “They should be in the basement of my residence-- take a look for yourself.”
"Thanks," Zipp nodded and trotted back toward Dot's room, where the youngest Warner was now sleeping after her operation. "Hey, Hitch-- Baron von Plotz said we could look through the town records for a way to get us home and everything. Wanna come with?"
"Sure," Hitch said, getting up. "And while Dot rests, why don't the rest of you go see everyone else and see how they're doing? You know... just to make sure Salazar hasn't slithered his way in here somehow."
"Good idea. Hop on, Yakko," Sunny invited the elder Warner onto her back while Wakko hopped onto the back of Misty. "I can stay here and look after Dot," Izzy volunteered. "Just in case she wakes up and sees that her brothers are gone."
The group walked through the town while Zipp and Hitch went up to the house of Baron von Plotz to find things to figure out what the Warners' childhood was like before they become orphans-- maybe that was why they hadn't gone home yet. “Oh, kiddies!” Dr. Scratchinsniff called. “We'ds like yous to try our new elixer for sampling!”
"Free samples?!" Yakko grabbed Wakko and pulled him over to a table as Rita and Runt emerged from the back of the doctor's wagon. "Hi, Rita! Hi, Runt! What are you guys doing in there?" Sunny asked. "The doc asked me and Runt to help supply him with materials and add ins for his new elixers," Rita said. "Plans on sellin' em at the market in a couple days, just a few towns over."
"They're ready for sampling," Hello Nurse brought some bottles over for the brothers to try. Wakko and Yakko chugged them down, tasting them to see if they were like back on the mountain before the avalanche. After waiting a moment or two, Wakko released a huge, satisfying burp, breaking almost every source of glass in the village-- even Dr. Scratchinsniff's bifocals. "That's a big thumb's up!" Yakko said as Wakko took another drink, causing Dr. Scratchinsniff to laugh in delight. "Success at last! Come! We have a way to travel if we are to reach the market with a full case of this stuff!"
"A little tip before you go, Rita and Runt-- elixir mixing is like smoothie-making; everything requires the perfect balance," Sunny said. "Once you have that in mind, there's nothing you can't do."
Rita and Runt nodded before they climbed back into the wagon, and the group waved as they set off. All the while, Wakko wanted to go to town with his other ha'penny to spend it to his liking, and he bought:
Wakko: Burgers at the butchers And blintzes at the bakers Groceries at the grocer's Season tickets for the Lakers!
Misty happily carried Wakko's load of goods, happy he was able to experience this new life like he had never experienced it before.
Meanwhile, Yakko and Pipp went out on the town, trying to take pictures for Pipp to show the Pippsqueaks when they got back to Equestria, even talking to some of the locals as the weather began to warm up little by little, a degree every day.
As for Zipp and Hitch, they began to search the entire house for the records about the Warners, eventually reaching the basements… only lit by a barely flaming candle. As they searched, Zipp found a safe in the very back of the basement closet, pulling it out and using her wing to open it. “Look!” she exclaimed as she examined what was inside. “It’s the Warners’ records! I bet Salazar had a big reason for putting them in this safe for these years.”
“But… why?” Hitch asked. “I’m not sure,” Zipp answered, using her visor to scan the documents. “Nothing in the records is out-of-the-ordinary, but--”
Suddenly, something in the back of the safe caught her attention… something she could only see through her visor. She reached her hoof inside and tapped a button barely visible on the safe’s insides, and inside was a secret compartment that held a small bag full of small glowing orbs, glowing a different color of the rainbow. “Whoa…” Zipp’s eyes widened. “These are radiating with an energy I’ve only seen in… the Unity Crystals in Equestria!”
“Let’s take these back to the others,” Hitch advised. “Maybe we can figure out what they are together.”
"Yeah..." Zipp took off her visor and put it back under her wing. "Good idea."
XXXXXXXXXX
“...and then, Sparky lit the entire sheriff station in flames, turning everything in sight into balloons!” Izzy said, causing everyone to laugh as she finished up her story. “Hey, you guys!” Zipp flew into the room, leading a panting Hitch in with her, and the bag from before was still in her hooves. “Look what we found!”
She immediately opened the bag to reveal the glowing orbs, causing the group’s eyes to widen. “They’re beautiful!” Sunny gasped, eyes glittering. “But… what are they exactly?” Yakko asked. “We don’t know,” Hitch said, pulling out the Warners’ files. “We found them with your records in a safe in the basement.”
“Look! There’s a note!” Wakko pulled a slip of paper from the bottom of the bag and cleared his throat before reading it. “Please take good care of these Time Orbs-- they are an ancient and little-known source of magic in Equestria, and will take you to whatever time period you wish. They must be only used in a time of need, so use them well. With best wishes, Twilight Sparkle.”
"...Twilight Sparkle? Did you just say Twilight Sparkle?!" Sunny clutched Wakko's face with her hooves before grabbing the paper from him. "Uh… I thought I did," Wakko rubbed his face. "She's a liiiiiiiitle obsessed with the Guardians of Harmony," Pipp whispered, which caused Yakko and Dot to giggle. "This is it!" Sunny told her friends. "We can use one or two of the Time Orbs to go back into the Warners' past, and see if there's anything in there we can figure out."
"If you're sure about this, Sunny…" Zipp shrugged and took out a glowing purple orb from the bag. "Here, Wakko-- I think you should use the first one."
“...well… all right…” Wakko took the orb from the pegasus princess' silver hooves, rubbing his hands over it with a nervous sigh. Here goes everything. “Uh… hello magic Time Orb thingy,” he cleared his throat. “We, um… can you show us the day when… when Mom and Dad found Dot as a baby in the flower garden?”
The others stood around him in anxiousness, wondering what would happen next. Suddenly, the orb began to dissolve in Wakko's hands, turning into a puddle on the floor in an instant. As everyone's faces fell, the magic began to wrap around them in a gust of wind, prompting everyone to hold on tightly to one another.
When the whirlwind disappeared, everyone opened their eyes to reveal that they weren't in the hospital anymore.
Instead, they were before a gorgeous palace in a warm spring valley, a huge field of flowers before them. “Whoa… this is way better than any filter on any phone!” Pipp took pictures repeatedly of the scenery, and Misty laid down in the flowers before her, rolling around and breathing in its sweet scent. “This is… a-amazing!”
“Wow, Warners... I had no idea that your parents lived in such a beautiful place!” Hitch smiled. “Hey, what did you expect?” Dot said sassily. “I am a princess after all. Why do you think we're in front of a palace?”
"Hey, I think someone's coming!" Sunny said, and they zipped into the bushes just as two figures who looked just like the Warners stepped out of the castle with happy expressions on their faces. Sunny glanced over at Yakko, who's eyes were wide, but they also looked solemn. "Yakko? Do you recognize them?" she whispered. "Recognize them?" Yakko repeated. "Sunny... they're our parents!"
"Your parents were the king and queen?! …now Dot's overly complicated name actually makes sense," Hitch thought about it with a shrug. “Do you think they can see us? I think they'd love to see the Warners again,” Izzy asked with a whisper. “I don’t think they can see us-- this is a vision of the past, not us living in this time,” Zipp shook her head. From out of the castle emerged a 4-year-old Yakko, running and rolling around in the grass before the castle while a 2-year-old Wakko was trying his best to keep up with him on his toddler legs. “Awwwww!” everyone cooed at the sight. “Now I see where you get your good looks from,” Pipp nudged Yakko playfully. “But when do we get to see Dot pop up from the flower?”
Dot shushed her as the king and queen walked behind young Wakko and Yakko as they ran toward the gardens surrounding the kingdom. “Now dears, don’t run too fast!” the queen advised her sons. “And be careful around the flowers-- they too have feelings!”
“That’s what I always say about plants!” Sunny took out a notepad and began to write things down as Yakko, Wakko and Dot watched their parents with awe and admiration. “Ahh… Queen Angelina, could you imagine a more beautiful spring day?” the king asked. “No, I couldn’t, my handsome King William,” Queen Angelina said. “And look-- I think the flowers are getting ready to bloom as we speak!”
And as the queen said, the flowers bloomed at the very warmth of the springtime sun, and the most beautiful flower of all, a vibrant golden flower that shone in the light, opened very last, and you can probably guess what was inside-- a sleeping baby Dot, who the king and queen fell in love with at first sight. “She’s perfect,” King William lifted her into his arms as the others watched from close by. “What say we take her home and raise her as the boys’ baby sister?”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Queen Angelina spoke. “But what would we call her?”
“How about we name her after all the queens of Warnerstock that came before her?” King William suggested. “Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca III.”
“Well, at least we know where your insanely long name comes from,” Zipp joked, wincing as Dot tugged her wing in annoyance. “But that’s such a long name for a baby,” Queen Angelina frowned. “What if we call her… Dot for short?”
“Good idea,” King William said, and the young Warner Brothers raced over to get a glimpse of the newest member of the family. “It was love at first sight for all of us when we saw you, sis,” Yakko told Dot. “You just seemed to cast that spell on us that would never break.”
“I’m that cute? Huh… go figure,” Dot shrugged. “So, now we know that the orbs work,” Zipp recorded the information she gathered in her FlyPad. “Now we just gotta go to the time that Ticktockia invaded Warnerstock and see what happened to you guys during that time.”
But before she could pull out another orb, Wakko pulled on her leg to stop her, clearly worried. “B-But… w-w-what if we don’t like what we see next?” he asked. “And… it permanently scars us?”
“Then you can hold onto our hooves,” Sunny said. “That way, we can be right by your side if anything scary happens.”
The Warners glanced at each other for a moment, then at the image of their parents before nodding, holding onto Zipp, Misty and Sunny’s hooves tightly before Zipp pulled out a glistening orange orb and took a breath. “Time Orb, please take us to the day when Ticktockia invaded Warnerstock.”
The orange orb melted in Zipp’s hooves, just like the purple one before, surrounding the group in a whirlwind of orange magic.
When it vanished, the garden was still there, but it was cold and stormy-- thunder crashing repeatedly with its lightning partners. Sparky whimpered nervously and hung onto Yakko’s leg, and the eldest Warner sibling picked him up and put him on Hitch’s back. “I know, Sparkers-- I don’t like that storm either,” Yakko shuddered, running his hands up and down his arms repeatedly. “Come on, guys-- let’s get outta here before we catch hypothermia or a hoof falls off.”
“That’s a thing?! WHAAAA!!!” Pipp screamed and immediately bolted for the castle with the others on her heels. Once they got inside, they panted to catch their breath, and Sunny looked outside, only to gulp. “Uh… guys…?” she started to say, but was cut off by the sound of loud banging. “Surrender now, William!” came the voice of Salazar. “Your foolish land will fall to me one way or another, and sooner rather than later!”
Misty felt her skin crawl when she heard Salazar’s tone… it reminded her of Opaline when she was beyond angry.
Wakko wrapped his arms around her as the group turned to see King William with the royal guard approaching, Queen Angelina with her three young children being sheltered behind them. “We’ll fight to our death before we surrender to you, Sala-dork!” King William cried out, and Yakko laughed. “Nice one, Pops!” he shouted, even though his father couldn’t hear him. Then, King William turned to one of the guards. “Take good care of my wife and children.”
The guard saluted and took the queen and her children away, while William and the rest of the guards stayed to battle Salazar and his forces, who had barged in through the door and took the Warnerstock army on by full force.
Sunny, the ponies, Sparky and the Warners hid to watch the fight, and Sunny decided that it would be best to split up and cover more ground. “Yakko-- you and me will stay here with Misty, Pipp, Izzy and Wakko to see the battle from a unique perspective, while the rest of you, go after Queen Angelina and the baby Warners. Call each other when you have your answers.”
Zipp and her team slowly crept off to avoid the fighting and followed Zipp’s pony-drone to find Queen Angelina. All the while, the others watched the battle from a safe distance, watching as soldiers from both sides were knocked down repeatedly, as if they were in some sort of time loop.
After watching for a while, Yakko started to yawn. “Listen, Sunny my buddy, I like going back in time with this kooky magic stuff, but this is just going on and on with no end,” he said. “I wonder when some real action packed stuff is gonna happen.”
Suddenly, a loud groan was heard in the midst of the fighting, and everything stood at a stand still… King William had been struck in the stomach with an arrow fired by King Salazar’s forces, now collapsing on the ground in pain. “Good work, men,” King Salazar wickedly smirked. “Now to take care of the remaining royals and take this kingdom over.”
And just like that, the guards of Ticktockia followed their king down the same hallway Queen Angelina took the young Warners down, all while the Warnerstock royal guards tried to nurse the wound of their fallen king. “DAD!!” Yakko and Wakko broke away from the ponies and ran through the crowd of guards, toward the image of their father, who was losing consciousness here and there from losing so much blood. “Dad… hold on!” Wakko pleaded. “You’ll be okay!”
He tried to put pressure on his father’s wound, but his hand just phased right through again and again, no matter how many times he tried. Eventually, it became too much for the ponies to handle. “Wakko… these are events that happened a long time ago…” Pipp pointed out gently with a sad look in her eyes. “There was nothing you could do then-- you were too young.”
“B-But… I…” Wakko choked on his tears, and Yakko pulled him closer for a tight embrace. Suddenly, the king began to speak hoarsely to his men. “My lads… I may not be around for much longer,” he wheezed. “If this is the case, make sure my sons and daughter are protected from that monster Salazar… make sure they grow up far away from him.”
“But sire--” one guard tried to protest. “No…” King William stopped him right there. “My time is over… and now it is time for my sons and daughter to carry on their tale. They’ll make me proud… I… know they will…”
And, with one last look around the throne room, the king closed his eyes… as he withdrew his final breath. The guards tipped their heads in sorrow as Wakko stifled out a sob… how could Salazar be so ruthless? “I’m so sorry, Warner Brothers…” Izzy sniffled, putting her hoof on Yakko's shoulder. “But… at least your mom’s okay.”
“But we need to hurry and find them before Salazar does something to her too,” Sunny agreed. “Luckily,” Pipp pulled out her phone, “I have Zipp on Track-My-Pony-Phone, so following her will be as easy as 1, 2, 3-- Cliptrot! Come on!”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Queen Angelina began to hide the young Warner siblings in a special trunk in her closet, trying to give them enough air to breathe, and Zipp, Hitch and Sparky had arrived with Dot, hiding under the bed close to them. "Now," Zipp said, "all we gotta do is watch and listen."
Just then, the door busted open, and the next thing they heard was Queen Angelina gasping startled. "Ah… Queen Angelina…" King Salazar's voice dripped with sarcastic pleasure. "What a lovely surprise to see you… cornered…"
"Zipp…?" Hitch sheltered Dot and Sparky with his forelegs. "Just keep quiet," Zipp whispered. "Please, leave my children alone!" they heard Queen Angelina pleaded with the rival king. "Yakko, Wakko and my little princess deserve to live a full life-- away from people like you! My husband has known you for years-- why do this to us now?!"
“It’s simple really,” King Salazar told her smugly. “I knew your husband would be too dense to realize my true plan… and the only things that stood in my way was him, you and your brats. Now, with William out of the way…”
Dot felt herself freeze at that statement… what did Salazar do to their father? “You… you monster!” Queen Angelina screamed. “GUARDS!!!”
The guards instantly ran toward to protect their queen and the hidden princes and princess from harm, but the Ticktockia forces easily subdued the guards long enough for the king to aim his weapon at the queen, who regretfully whispered, “I love you my darlings…”
And just like that… BANG!!
Zipp and Hitch felt their blood run cold and they peeked out from under the bed to see the unconscious queen, careful not to let Dot or Sparky see, and the guards pulled the young Warners out from the trunk. “What do we do with the kids, your highness?” asked one of the guards. “Whatever you want,” King Salazar scoffed. “They’re not my problem… and things are going to seriously change with me in charge… count on it.”
The two ponies ducked under the bed just in time to see the guards carry the young Warners out of the room, and Zipp contacted Sunny on her FlyPad. “Sunny, it’s Zipp,” she whispered. “We’re in the east castle master, but you can’t let Wakko or his brother come in here, cause Salazar--”
“...they know, Zipp…” Sunny’s voice trailed off in dread, obviously at the doorway to the room. “...they know.”
The white pegasus regretfully disconnected the call as Dot darted out from under the bed to see her mother, pale and gone, and her brothers on their knees in front of her, eyes filling with tears of anger, fear and pain, to which Dot succumbed to after a moment of staring. “Yakko…!”
She ran toward her eldest brother before anyone could stop her, and Yakko quickly grasped her in a tight hug, allowing her to sob angrily. “I know, Dot, I know…” Yakko whispered, obviously trying to pull himself together. “Everything we went through… was cause of him!”
“I hate him, Yakko!” Wakko pounded the floor as he yelled, catching many of the ponies off guard. “He caused me to lose my fortune, almost killed my sister, and put our home in poverty for all these stupid years! And worst of all, he wanted our pony friends for their magic! I… I-I can’t take him much more!”
Wakko continued to sob for a few moments, the ponies clueless on what to say, when suddenly… he felt a gentle touch upon his shoulders, and looked to see Sparky crying with him. It was like he could understand why Wakko was so angry and upset… and was trying to help. “Thanks, Sparky…” Wakko managed to smile, but looked back toward his fallen mother, trying to stroke his hand on her face, but ultimately failed since they were in a vision of the past. “But nothing will bring Mom and Dad back…”
“I am so sorry you had to find out this way,” Zipp said, ears pinned in regret. “Believe me, if there was anything we could have done to stop them all those years ago, we could’ve got an army of ponies, we-- we could’ve…”
“Hey hey hey… Zipperoni, don’t beat yourself up too bad,” Yakko said, trying to console her. “I mean… you had no idea we existed until a year or so ago. Y-You can’t change the past.”
The ponies continued to sit in silence for a few moments, as the Warners shed more silent tears of fear and anger. Looking at the events that had happened recently, Misty did some thinking… Salazar wouldn’t have known about their powers unless he either read about Equestria, or… someone had told him about it. And she had a sinking suspicion who.
There was no time to spare-- they had to get the Warners the justice they needed for their fallen parents. “Ponies, we have to make sure Salazar never hurts anyone else again,” she said, taking a green orb from the bag. “And it starts by showing everyone in Acme Falls what really happened and start a rebellion of our own! Then we show the king who’s really steamed around here.”
“...aren’t you gonna blow a kiss and say ‘Good night, everybody’ like you usually do?” Hitch whispered to Yakko. “I think this might be the wrong time,” Sunny whispered back. “Magic of the Time Orb, please take us back to current times in Acme Falls,” Misty said, and within moments, as the magic swirled around them, giving the Warners one last glance at their mother, they were transported back to the hospital room. “Phew… I’m glad that blast from the past is over,” Zipp slumped into a chair. “But I just wish we knew how to coax the other townsfolk into helping us get leverage with Salazar.”
“We’ll worry about that in the morning,” Sunny told the pegasus, watching the Warners climb into bed with one another, still shaken from the vision. “Right now… we need to make sure the Warners are taken care of.”
No one got much sleep that night… especially the Warners. Half the night, either Yakko or Wakko or Dot would wake from a terrible nightmare, and it would take them forever to be settled enough to go back to sleep. Sunny would be one of the ponies to check on them every so often, knowing how they felt-- it was terrible to lose a parent in general, but to lose both of your parents in that terrible state? It was too much for Sunny to fathom herself.
There had to be something the group could do to ease the Warners' heavy hearts.
The next morning, as the snow began to thaw from around Acme Falls, Buttons was returning Mindy to her home after Mindy got sidetracked so much on the way back. "Mindy, darling!" her mother exclaimed in relief as Buttons fell to the ground in exhaustion. "You're back! You're safe! Oh, thank goodness!"
"Hi, Mom!" Mindy said innocently, causing her mother to gasp and pick her off the ground. "Mindy, you called me mom! You called me mom! It's a miracle!" And like you could expect, Buttons relieved his wish-- steaks for protecting Mindy and his loyalty. But at the very same time, the Warners were going out into the streets to show others what a monster Salazar really was. "Guys, are you sure you're ready for this?" Sunny asked. "Doing something in a state of revenge will get you nowhere."
"Sunny's right," Zipp nodded. "Playing pranks on my sister all these years has taught me that more than anypony. You shouldn't do this for revenge, Warners… but for the town you care so much about… for each other… and for your parents."
Yakko spared a few glances at his younger siblings, then back at the ponies… they were right. They were just so scared of what they lost and could lose, that they didn't see what they could gain. "You guys are right…" he nodded and put down the bat he was holding. "Come on, sibs-- let's go out and tell everyone what we saw with the orbs." Wakko and Dot slowly nodded and followed him outside, but as Zipp and Izzy were about to leave, Misty stopped them. "Wait… can you two help me with something first?" she asked. "Sure, Misty!" Izzy agreed. "What do you need help with?"
"I… I wanna make cutie marks for the Warners," Misty said after a moment of hesitation. "It won't allow them to access the cutie mark magic the way we can, but… something to remember us after we leave." Zipp and Izzy frowned at this… the Warners really made an impact in Misty's life, and now she was afraid they would forget her. "They're never gonna forget us, Misty… that's what friends can never do-- forget friends," Zipp reassured. "But we would be happy to help you make cutie marks for the Warners. Just tell us what you had in mind for the designs."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Attention, everyone!" Sunny called out to the townsfolk. "Please join us in the town square-- we have a really important announcement to make! The Warners want everyone here to hear this! Come on, hurry!"
Most of the people heard Sunny’s announcement and put their duties and chores on hold to come over to the center of town to listen. Once giving the ‘okay’ nod from Sunny, Yakko and his siblings stepped forward to face the crowd. “Dear friends of Acme Falls,” Yakko began, “we regret to inform you that, as of last night, we now know what happened to King William and Queen Angelina of Warnerstock… our parents. They… they were…”
“MURDERED!!” Dot wailed, falling onto Hitch’s back and sobbing hysterically, and the male earth pony patted her head to console her. What Dot said caused many of the citizens to gasp in complete horror. “It’s confusing to explain, but they are telling the truth,” Hitch said. “And Salazar was the one who committed the crime when the Warners were only infants.”
“But that would mean, since the Warners are the king and queen’s kids, they have natural rights to the throne, right?” Squit asked. “Right,” Sunny nodded. “And we’re all here to ask you today to help us fight back against Salazar’s forces, and make sure they’re exiled from Warnerstock forever. I know this may seem scary to some of you, but this means a lot to us ponies, and--”
“Kid, you had us at ‘fight back’,” Slappy whipped her purse around. “Yeah!” Skippy agreed, causing many more to follow. Even Pinky and Brain wanted to help in someway. “Wow… this is great!” Sunny smiled at the Warners before turning back to the townsfolk. “Okay… each of you go home and try to get some sleep… we’ll work out battle strategies in the morning. It’s gonna change Warnerstock forever. Just you wait and see.”
Soon after this was said, the townsfolk dispersed before the Warners and ponies headed back to the hospital, and Misty, Zipp and Izzy waited for them at the front entrance. “Sorry we missed the meeting,” Zipp apologized, “but Misty wanted to make something for the Warners, and we couldn’t refuse.”
The Warners looked at one another for a moment-- what could this mysterious present be? Each one of the ponies pulled out a bracelet, made from rubber bands Izzy found back home, and each one of them had a symbol on them:
For Dot’s bracelet, her symbol had a mirror on it, with two hearts on the sides.
For Yakko, his symbol contained a microphone with some feedback emitting from it, showing off his knack for making jokes.
And finally, for Wakko, it had two mallets crossed over one another, a heart in the middle.
“Ta-daaaaaa!” Izzy cheered as Zipp put them on the Warners’ wrists. “Your own cutie mark bracelets!”
“We wanted some way for you to remember us when we go back to Equestria,” Misty said. “And you may not have connection to the cutie mark magic, but… it was made with love, and… isn’t that what really matters?”
The Warners smiled and cuddled the ponies close. “They’re perfect-- and they match us so well! Thanks, guys,” Yakko said. “Now, we better get some shut-eye; we have plans to make for invading Sala-butt’s castle.”
XXXXXXXX
The next morning, everyone found themselves gathered inside Baron von Plotz’s home, where Brain had orchestrated a long and… overwhelming plan. “...and then the Warners seize the throne from Salazar, and he is booted out by being knocked into a larger-than-life catapult or Trailblazer and Starscout’s plantly abilities,” Brain wrapped it up, waking the sleeping crowd. “Brain, I appreciate you being so enthusiastic in us taking back the throne for the Warners,” Sunny said gently, “but maybe the plan doesn’t have to be so complicated none of us know our parts?”
“...potato, po-taa-to,” Brain shrugged. “I suppose you all have a better one?”
“As a matter of fact, we do,” Zipp took the chalk from him, and began to draw her plan. “We came up with it last night. All you townsfolk have to do is distract the guards by whatever means possible while we sneak the Warners into the castle, use our unity magic to boot Salazar and his forces away from Warnerstock, and it’s a happy time for everyone. Any questions?”
“I do,” Pinky raised his hand. “Once the Warners are on the throne, won’t it be a bit squishy with them and Salazar on there?”
Most everyone in the room muttered in displeasure, but Izzy patted Pinky on the head. “Don’t worry-- it’ll make more sense when we go along,” she whispered. “So… is everyone ready for this?” Sunny turned to the crowd. “There are no hard feelings if you want to back out now.”
“Um, Rita and I wouldn’t have been working on a new duet to lull the guards to sleepy-town if we were to back out now,” Pipp told Sunny, wrapping a foreleg around Rita. “Yeah,” Runt nodded. “Yeah, what the pink donkey said.”
“Donke--?!” Pipp was about to pounce, but Hitch and Dot held her back. “Then, I guess we’re ready…” Sunny sighed, allowing Yakko to climb on her back, Wakko to climb on Misty’s back and Dot to climb on Hitch’s. “For Acme Falls…” Sunny started, and then the villagers cried, “FOR WARNERSTOCK!!!”
And just like that, they zoomed away toward the location of the palace.
XXXXXXXXXX
King Salazar pouted upon his throne upon return to Warnerstock… he was so close to getting rid of the Warners forever… and he would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling po--
Suddenly, a banging on the throne room door, caught his attention, and one of the guards stepped through. “Um… news from Acme Falls to report upon, sire,” he said. “Just spit it out! What is it?” King Salazar sneered. “The villagers, sir,” the guard began, “i-it looks like they’re--”
The faint sound of music cut him off, and King Salazar looked out the window to see Rita and Pipp engaging in a song to throw the guards off.
Rita: Used to care what they'd say Let 'em into my brain But I found a new way
Chorus: Ooh-ooh
Pipp: Every time I fall down I pick it up like rebound Gotta get through somehow
We don't fly like we used to We take what we've been through And we can feel brand new Ooh-hoo-hoo
Rita: I know I am a fighter I feel the fire I'm shining brighter Ooh-hoo-hoo
Both: 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 Won't wait any longer We'll get it together If you want it then you can paint the sky...
King Salazar became increasingly angered with this untimely sing-off-- what did they think they were doing, singing in front of HIS castle and HIS alone?
And the worst part is, the guards were actually enjoying the singing, making his face grow red in fury.
All while King Salazar and his men were distracted, Sunny and the remaining ponies snuck into the throne room, and once they were close enough, Zipp called her sister on the FlyPad. “It’s showtime, Pipp!”
“But we’re almost to the best verse!” Pipp argued. “Oh, fine… Rita, keep going without me.”
With that, the pegasus princess flew to join her sister and friends in the throne room through the back window, and at the right moment, Sunny turned to her friends and nodded before they leapt out of hiding, cutie marks glowing and Sunny turning into her alicorn form. “Surrender now, Salazar!” Zipp threatened, causing the king to yelp and turn around. “And surrender the throne to the rightful rulers-- the Warners!”
“Ha! You ponies and your oddly glowing rear ends think you can challenge me? I hope you do remember that I saw your greatest fears,” Salazar smirked. “Those fears don’t matter anymore!” Sunny declared as the Warners got on her back as she flapped her golden wings. “What matters now is that we take back their birth right! Now, everypony!”
As Sunny flew higher into the air, the cutie marks of the ponies began to glow brighter than ever, and with the Warners thinking good unity thoughts to help their friends, a giant ethereal mallet formed in mid-air. “Wakko? Isn’t that your lucky mallet you showed me?” Zipp strained as she tried to keep the magic in check. “Of course it is!” Wakko said smugly. “I use the mallet all the time for a comedy prop.”
“Wakko, concentrate!” Sunny reminded, unable to keep the mallet in the air for much longer. With everyone concentrating as hard as they could, they directed it over in the king’s direction, and seeing the giant mallet towering over him made him gulp nervously. “Steady… steady…” Sunny called out for a few moments before it was in the perfect position. “Now… let it fly!”
Their concentration then broke, releasing the mallet as it swung toward King Salazar, leaving it to fling him far away with a scream-- in fact, into the dungeons of his very nation of Ticktockia. Seeing their king get flung away made the guards get nervous at the sight of the angry people, and they ran away after their king, promising to never harm Warnerstock again.
In the castle, Sunny lowered to the ground, changing into her earth pony form once again, and led the group into cheering in delight-- the Warners were in their rightful place again! The rest of the townsfolk barged in to see them, and congratulated the group on a job well done… but not before something unexpected happened. The ponies’ cutie marks began to glow again, and their magic wrapped around the Warners, changing their attire into those of a king and queen respectively. “Whoa…” the Warners gazed at their new looks. “Hmmm…” Zipp took note of this. “I think the cutie marks sensed the Warners were the rightful rulers of Warnerstock, and they used magic to change the Warners so they’d look like proper co-rulers of the kingdom. Fascinating.”
“Well, whatever the reason, you look great,” Misty said. “Thanks, Misty,” Yakko smiled. “And thanks to all of you guys. Without you, we would’ve never made our dreams come true.”
“It’s true-- Dr. Scratchinsniff adopted me and Runt, and now we have a good life!” Rita nodded. “And my acorn tree’s never looked better with all this snow gone,” Slappy added. “We have a lot to thank you for, kids.”
“It was our pleasure. Now,” Sunny said, “I think we have time for a celebratory song, don’t you guys?”
Everyone else smiled in agreement, and with the ponies leading the way, lead the town into one final song.
All: The good old days were a bummer Our town was a total dive But now, every day's like summer It feels great to be alive! To state our message with greater clarity We now spin the Wheel of Morality!
Wheel of Morality, turn turn turn Tell us the lesson that we should learn!
The wheel landed on the number 5 slot, and a piece of paper read off the lesson, to which the Warners read to themselves. "And," Yakko declared, "the moral of our story is..."
All: When you're blue, buy a clue, try not to mope Ya gotta cheer up and never give up hope!
Warners and Misty:Don't be a dope!
All: Ya gotta cheer up and never give up hope! Try to cope! Just cheer up and never ever give up hope Hope hope hope hope!
As the song came to a close, the cutie marks began to glow, forming a portal nearby. Zipp recognized what it was immediately... that was their ticket back to Equestria. "We better go, guys-- before the portal closes." Sparky was the first to run to the portal and immediately jumped into it. "SPARKY!!" Hitch cried. "Wait for Daddy!"
"...we're really gonna miss you," Izzy frowned. "Hey, don't sweat it, Iz-- you can always come back and visit," Yakko said. "And you gotta show me some of those unicycling skills next time."
"We promise to come back soon," Sunny said, nuzzling the Warners and waving the townsfolk farewell. Misty didn't want to blubber in tears, so she instead hugged the Warners tight. Wakko rubbed her soft mane one more time before she followed the group into the portal before it closed, leaving Acme Falls and Warnerstock behind.
When the ponies finally opened their eyes, they were back at the Brighthouse, as if nothing had happened. “Wow… what an adventure,” Sunny smiled. “I’m glad the Warners will be ruling Warnerstock instead of Salazar.”
“Me too… um… how long have we been gone?” Pipp asked, looking at her phone for a moment. “For over a year, I thi--” Zipp said, but the date on her Flypad was the same as when they left. “Okay… that’s weird. There must have not been any time passing in Equestria while we were gone.”
“So, we can go for as long as we need to in order to solve problems, and nopony will even notice we’re gone!” Misty smiled. Speaking of which, she needed to get back to Opaline with her dragon fire. “I better get going home though-- that adventure wore me out. See you later!”
“Bye, Misty!” the group waved as she descended down the elevator and out of the Brighthouse. Sunny stared longingly at the crystals, wondering the same question that everypony else was wondering… where would the Unity Crystals send them next?
XXXXXXXXX
Misty soon arrived at Opaline’s castle with the dragon fire, to which Opaline decided to put aside for further use, so that way she wouldn’t go extremely power-crazy. “Now, Misty… tell me what you encountered during your… extended time with the ponies,” she said. “Oh, you mean at the Brighthouse? Uh… we didn’t do much,” Misty fibbed. “No no no,” Opaline shook her head. “I mean… in Warnerstock.”
Misty felt her blood run cold when she heard this. “You… you knew I was there?” she asked. “I knew those crystals were powerful, but not powerful enough to send you to different dimensions,” Opaline muttered, gazing at the Brighthouse through her mirror pool. “Well, next time they go to another world… I’ll be ready and waiting.”
