The Animarium

The clatter and clang of swords rang out through a clearing as two blades met, sparks flying over and over as metal ground against metal.

One combatant, dressed in a pith helmet with far too many arrow holes in it, a military green vest and tan khaki shorts making her look as if she was ready for a walk in the jungle. Around her neck, as she met the blade of the other, was an aqua gem of some sort. Her opponent was dressed much more conservatively, in a simple black suit and matching tie. Despite wearing no gem around his neck, somehow he bore the same style of sword as Daring.

The sword in question was mostly golden and styled after a katana, with black highlights and a reptilian face with two seemingly glowing green eyes.

“Come on, Sunburst! Tell me this isn’t all you’ve got!” Daring shouted as she swung a wide spinning slash, -her dark gray and black mane flying as she spun- with her sparring partner just barely managing to meet it with his own Dino Saber. “...Or am I just too much for ya to handle?” she added teasingly, with a wink.

“Well… Well, it’s not like I’ve ever actually used one of these before!” Sunburst stammered out, blushing red from the implied insulations in that last remark. He groaned mentally. Bad enough his fiancee got to him with things like that, now Daring could do it as well! Granted, if he swung that way, she would be considered a very attractive mare. “Its companion piece, yes, but that was only once!”

“By the way…” Daring asked as they met blades again. “How’d you get ahold of one of those? They’re definitely not mass-production blades for the Royal Guard that they can just call in as a requisition order. Certainly not antiques either… So, either it’s a very good replica of one, or someone we both know loaned you it…” she mused.

“Okay, so maybe Galaxy did loan me his a short while back, -mentioning he preferred Blood Moon for straight close quarters combat anyways- as a little gift for me to practice my swordsmanship with.”

“Well, no offense to your fiance… But I’m going to be blunt with you, you suck,” Daring commented as she -with a well-placed sword swing- knocked the Dino Saber from Sunburst’s grasp.

“Oh yeah, rub salt in that wound a little harder,” Sunburst murmured. “But honestly, you’re right, I do suck. Bit embarrassing really…”

Nearby, out of sight and serving as a silent cheerleader for her black ranger, was Princess Shayla. Her mind flashed back to over a year before, when the Ranger team was just newly gathered in the months before it had gained the final member of the squadron.

“So, you sure these are the exact ponies we’re going to have to rely on to defend the Earth?” Zen-Aku asked, in his usual gruff tone as he observed the original four team members socialize and talk with each other. Mostly, their tones were of disbelief or in Lightning Dust’s case excitement when she found out her adoptive sister was a Ranger as well. “Might I stress, ponies, who committed mass genocide on an entire race. And we’re supposed to be defending them why? Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I say we just sit back and let the Orgs have them…” he muttered quietly to himself.

Shayla glared at him, and the Duke Org actually flinched at the ferocity of her glare.

“We cannot blame an entire race for the actions of one madmare,” she reminded him. “If I did that and followed your line of thoughts when humankind was… around, I probably wouldn’t have chosen the first team of Rangers just because of extremists like Adolf Hitler and the like.”

“A point well made,” Zen-Aku admitted. “But still, hardly the team I would have picked. Take Lightning Dust for instance. She’s a prime example of what I’m talking about. Far too ego-centered, and far too hot-tempered. She’s rash, and impetuous. One foolish charge into battle could get her very easily killed. And then there’s Sunburst… Mild-mannered to a fault, and really doesn’t know the first thing about combat beyond what he’s read in books. Being bookish is all well and good, but it doesn’t translate to field combative abilities.”

“And that’s what they’re all here for, to learn and grow from each other,” Shayla told him. “They may not be the most qualified rangers… Yet, but…”

“They’re the best we got…” Zen-Aku muttered until Shayla shushed him.

“Need I remind you, that the original team was hardly qualified when they started out as well? I don’t think any Ranger team is ready to fight the forces of evil when they first get chosen.” she reminded him and Zen-Aku finally relented and let out a sigh.

“Fine… But we still need a fifth Ranger to take up the reigns of the Orange Kitsune powers,” he reminded her.

“And he, or she, will choose to reveal themselves when the time is right. For now, we have four other Rangers to train, and worry about.”

“No, what’s embarrassing is the fact that you’ve hardly told anyone outside this team about your fiance!” Daring commented as she helped Sunburst up off the grass. “By Somnambula’s wings! It’s… It’s like you don’t want anyone to know you’re eventually going to be married to the Captain of the Night Guard!”

Sunburst’s silence said it all.

“You… You don’t, do you?” Daring asked, a bit more softly. “Is it because he’s a possible psychopath? Or is it just because your fiancee is a stallion, instead of a mare?”

“I… I have my reasons.” Sunburst stuttered out. “I’d just like to keep silent on my fiance for the time being.”

“Can’t keep quiet on him being a dude forever, you know,” Daring advised. “Ponies talk. Eventually, it’ll make it to one of your parents, or some other family member you may have that you’re engaged to someone, and next thing you know they’ll be on your doorstep…”

“I… I suppose you’re right, I have to tell somebody in my family soon, but… but then that would mean telling them about all my other secrets. I mean, I haven’t spoken to any of my family members aside from my sister in years!”

“Pretty sure you can skip the part about you being a Power Ranger.” Daring deadpanned.

“No… No, it’s not that. That, I can easily avoid talking about. It’s… It’s the other things in my life. You have to understand, Ms. Do, Yearling, or whatever your last name is, that my parents were so proud of me when I got accepted into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. But to come back and tell them I barely passed and just teach science to high-schoolers…?” Sunburst trailed off. “Can you imagine their reaction?”

“I… I see,” Daring admitted, feeling rather sorry for the older unicorn. “You just don’t want to shatter the little mental image they have of you as some sort of possible super-unicorn like the Lady Mistmane, don’t you?”

Again, Sunburst’s silence said it all for Daring.

“Can’t keep this a secret forever, you know that right?” she asked, and Sunburst looked at her.

“So… So what am I supposed to do? Just go up to my parents and say, hey, sorry I didn’t turn out to be what you expected and I haven’t said a word to you in years, but here I am!” He snapped before turning away from Daring and teleporting off the Animarium in a pillar of black light.

“...What, what did I say?” she asked herself, and Shayla laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Nothing that I think Sunburst didn’t need to hear at some point. But for now, it’s probably best you back off for the time being, and let him figure things out for himself really…”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right…” Daring admitted.

Canterlot:

Sunburst found himself teleporting down to the late midday streets of Canterlot. The sun was at its peak, and burning brightly. He thanked the stars and moon it would be going down soon enough, by its own will. No, not Celestia’s will, its own. Sunburst wasn’t stupid, he knew there was no magic in the world ever devised to raise the sun or moon or control the tides or whatever. Fact of the matter was, the sun had been around longer than Celestia herself had been, and as far as he knew there was no mystical force that controlled it before she came along. Just more of Solar Flare’s ego and propaganda towards the populace.

“Makes one wonder how the populace at large would react if Celestia or Luna ever decided to let slip that little secret…” Sunburst had to ponder to himself. He wasn’t a pony to guess what other ponies would do. He worked with science in studying the natural planet and how it worked, not Sociology and Anthropology. They were entirely different matters to him, a whole other world really. “Hmph, if I wanted answers to that question, suppose I could ask that pony who works in that Natural History Museum. Well known Anthropologist, she is.”

Sunburst’s ears perked up at the sounds of a great commotion and explosions. On instinct, he reached for his Growl Phone in his pocket as he rounded a corner, but immediately relaxed as soon as he saw the source of the noise. In front of him was a makeshift stage, all seemingly deployed from inside a wagon. He smiled wistfully as he saw the carriage, he knew exactly who it belonged to.

Finding a seat amongst the quickly gathering crowd, he awaited what was to come. He wasn’t to be disappointed.

“Ladies and Gentleponies, would you put your hands together for the greeeeeaattt and poweeeerrrrful Trixie!” a mare’s voice announced, and with several loud raucous cheers and a whole other bunch of pomp and circumstance, a mare walked out on stage. Azure blue in coat color, with a cornflower blue mane, she winked at the crowd as she strutted onto stage with more than a bit of flourish of her star-spangled cape.

Quite a few wolf whistles came from the crowd, and even as Trixie ate them up as he knew she always did, Sunburst groaned to himself. He was trying very hard not to think about Trixie’s… attire to be putting it politely, that emphasized her body, and showed off quite a bit of leg, a good amount of her bust and all of her arms. More of a swimsuit than regular clothing, if he had to make a comparison.

“She always loved attention drawn to herself, didn’t she?” Sunburst mused with a small chuckle as Trixie created manifestations of sparrows from inside her hat and let them fly out into the audience. Some lucky members had them land in their outstretched hands, where the sparrows quickly turned into roses. And it wasn’t always stallions who found themselves with a rose. “Well, least my little sis is doing good for herself, eh?”

Yes, you read that right dear reader. Sunburst, calm introvert who works as a science teacher by day, has the Great and Powerful Trixie, flashy stage magician and possible narcissist as a little sister.

“Now, now, don’t get yourselves all worked up for moi, eh?” Trixie teased as she tapped a box with a small little wand. “Didn’t travel all this way to entertain you by myself! No, this time Trixie has a stage assistant!”

She then leaned down to the box and said “You can come out now, if you want. Now now, no need to be shy!”

The box then opened from all sides and revealed a Himalayan clouded leopard. Gasps echoed through the crowd.

“Been taking a bit of inspiration from a certain group of spandex-clad heroes as of late, and got inspired to have animal assistance!” Trixie announced as she lit up a flaming hoop and cracked a whip. On cue, the leopard jumped through it back and forth several times.

“Well…” Sunburst thought to himself in amusement. “Glad to know our efforts don’t go unappreciated, though I didn’t think this was quite what any of us had in mind when we tried to inspire the populace to respect our animal brethren really. I just hope she knows what she’s doing…”

Sunburst’s concerns weren’t unfounded of course, considering these cats could leap quite a good distance, and had enough claws and teeth that could easily rip you to bloody ribbons. But for the most part, Trixie seemed to have her “Assistant” well under control. Closest scare she (And Sunburst by extension, being family) got was when the leopard snarled and bared its fangs at her, but was quickly quelled by a look from Trixie that seemed all too familiar to Sunburst. He just didn’t know why that was, or where he’d seen it before.

Trixie eventually finished her stage show by once more reaching into her hat, and then as she pulled her hand out of it, she threw a glowing orb into the sky which erupted into showers of colorful fireworks consisting of blue, purple, red and white explosions.

Trixie smirked to herself as the crowd shouted for more of her tricks and her in general. “Rule number one of being a stage performer, always leave the audience wanting for more.” she thought to herself before addressing her fans.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is so very sorry for this, but she… Well, she feels she needs to grab a bite to eat. I do have a figure to worry about, none of you would want me worrying about things like that, would you?” she asked with a wink even as the audience groaned. “But not to worry, later this week Trixie will be putting on an even bigger show for you all! Tonight… Well, tonight was just only a small preview of Trixie’s around the world Equestrian Performance Extravaganza Spectacular!”

As a grumbling, but excited crowd dispersed, Trixie began to pack up her things. Well, she did before she caught Sunburst’s eye and her jaw dropped.

“...No way.” she whispered and Sunburst could only just give a little shy and rather nervous wave of his fingers.

Far away from Canterlot, or Sunburst, or Trixie or any other civilized being for that matter rested the place once known as Turtle Cove and the spot of reemergence for the Orgs first time around. Hardly surprising then, that a member of the old guard (Quite literally) had chosen this spot as a hideaway.

After all, Retinax reasoned, if the Princesses -Human and pony alike- had their all-seeing eyes trained on Equestria and not to the wildlands to the far west his machinations would go undetected.

Retinax was a shrewd form of Duke Org, yes. He also knew another Duke Org under his command was also the intelligent sort. Far too intelligent to not leave as a wild card in his deck. This Duke Org, of course, was Zen-Aku.

Retinax was both in fear and in awe of the Wolf of the Night’s abilities. After all, when you broke into one of the most highly secured vaults in Equestria just to retrieve one gem and left without a trace, you were a good asset to have. Trouble was, Zen-Aku had something Retinax didn’t. Morality.

Zen-Aku cared far too much for certain ponies he’d been protecting. A few choice words yes, they could sway him to Retinax’s side, but not completely. Zen-Aku had spent 3,000 years walking the path of redemption, and he wasn’t willing to let go quite so easily.

So, Retinax had thought ahead. A simple spell worked from the shadows by a few putrids while he talked his way into Zen-Aku’s head, and it made it all the more easier to have one very powerful warrior under his command. His only regret was that he couldn’t have gotten to Zen-Aku before he threw his animal crystals into the sea. Orgs (Powerful ones especially) were in such short supply, with most being rogues destroyed by the Rangers before Retinax could find them, or when they weren’t destroyed they fell under Thrax’s sway.

Retinax did have to wonder what was going through Thrax’s head at times. He rarely showed himself to combat the Rangers, when he could very easily wipe the floor with them and kill them all in a short battle. Thrax showed this capability when he fought them solo with their so-called “Animaria Guardian Megazord” and almost destroyed it… Or at least damaged it enough for Solar Flare to finish the job.

And then there were the Orgs, it was like he just let them be destroyed and not cared one jot about them. Granted, he thought of them all as simple pawns not worth his time so that may have accounted for some of it, but the rest…?

Retinax had to wonder if Thrax was just grasping at straws and he wasn’t really interested in dealing with Orgs and just wanted them out of the way, or he had something far more sinister in mind. After all, even he knew there were some rituals that required spirits. Thrax’s revival of Goldar showed that.

Retinax also knew he could get the answers straight from a very reliable source. He chuckled, Doomwing could pay dividends after all despite being a rat who would likely jump ship if he wanted to.

Rubbing his hands gleefully, Retinax smirked. “Maybe bringing Doomwing onboard isn’t such a bad idea after all...”

From the shadows, Zen-Aku frowned as he leaned up against a cave wall. Something was wrong, and he knew it. He couldn’t quite place his fingers on what it was exactly, but a part of him seemed all too happy to bend to Retinax’s will. It went against his every instinct, he didn’t like to be controlled or follow orders from anybody.

Walking through the cave’s corridors, the sound of water dripping somewhere behind him, he walked into the room that held the little prize he’d acquired in the Crystal Empire. Just looking at the little white gem, it seemed to faintly whisper in his head. Little niggles, telling him to just pick it up and use its power for himself.

The whispers grew louder, and Zen-Aku clutched his head in pain and howled as he fell to the floor, his weapons clattering as they hit the stone.

“Get… Get out of my head!” Zen-Aku snarled as he clenched his fists and forced the presence out.

Zen-Aku found himself running from the room, quite afraid of that tiny piece of stone. He wouldn’t admit it, but yes, he was afraid of it. What it could do, and what might happen if anyone were ever to accept it’s powers…

“Alright, so what the Hell are you doing here?” Trixie snarled. “Got some nerve showing up out of the blue like this really.”

Sunburst flinched at her stinging remark, he supposed he deserved that really. After all, considering he hadn’t kept in touch with any of his family members aside from her in fifteen years, and even then he barely spoke with her at all as he was far too afraid of certain things making it back to her.

“Okay… Okay,” Sunburst stammered out. “Suppose you got every right to be angry with me, considering how little we speak in person.”

“Angry, yes, I admit I’m more than a little ticked off with you,” Trixie sighed, rubbing her temples as she loaded her clouded leopard back into his cage. “But I’m mostly disappointed than anything else. Seriously, you were around almost constantly when I was a little filly and then you just up and vanished as soon as you decided to take your studies seriously. Soon as you decided to go back to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns to try and earn yourself a degree! I mean, wasn’t one ten year stretch at that school enough for you!?!” she hissed out, shoving him up against a brick wall.

“Listen, I can explain everything really. ...Well, I’ll try the best I can anyways…” Sunburst stammered out. “I… I, well okay that ten year stretch at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, the second one… Bit of a lie really. Hell, I wasn’t even in Canterlot for those ten years.”

Trixie’s jaw dropped.

“...Actually, I sorta fled to the Crystal Empire for some of those ten years, soon as it reemerged Just wanted to get as far away from the rest of civilization as possible. ...I… I was ashamed of myself really. You know how mom and dad were always fawning over me when I passed with flying colors first time around, and how they always said I would be a grand mage in Celestia’s court soon as they saw my Cutie Mark?” Sunburst asked nervously, and rolled up his sleeve to show his own. Compared to Trixie’s wand cutie mark, his own was an orange sun bursting with rays and stars. Hardly surprising, he thought, that his parents thought he’d make it and be one of Celestia’s top students with a mark like that.

“Yes…” Trixie trailed off, loosening her grip on his suit.

“This… This is something I’m sorta embarrassed to talk about really. Least without my fiance present.”

Trixie’s eyes nearly bugged out of their skull about then. It would have been comical if not for the seriousness of the situation.

“F-Fiance?” Trixie stammered out, feeling a little weak in the knees. She stumbled forwards a bit, and Sunburst caught her.

“Okay, I know of a place where we, as in me, my fiance and you, can talk things out. And catch dinner in the process. That sound good to you?” he asked softly.

“...Well, Trixie does admit she is feeling a little hungry…”

Later that evening, after a quick change of clothing (Trixie out of her stage attire, and Sunburst out of his rather sweat-soaked suit) the two met up at a favorite dining spot of Sunburst’s. Namely, the restaurant “Charbroiled”, the one he and two of his comrades along with the stallion known as Hellfire had given the Charcoal Grill Org courage to start up.

Trixie smiled a bit as she saw Sunburst walking into the restaurant wearing tan slacks, and a dark blue star-spangled jacket. She herself was wearing a simple red dress.

“So, where’s your fiance?” Trixie asked.

“He’ll… He’ll be showing up in a bit. H-Had a few last minute things to take care of.” He stammered out, really nervous about both having the first real conversation with his sister in years, and her meeting Galaxy to boot.

“Thank the Mystic Mother you showed up when you did, Trixie was really about tired of having just a crow in a waiter’s uniform just to talk to,” Trixie said in annoyance, gesturing to a certain reformed tenga in a nice tuxedo holding a platter with a selection of various wines and the menu. “You’re paying for all this, by the way.”

“Eh, least I deserve after not speaking to you for this long…” Sunburst admitted with a sheepish smile.

“Oh no, this is on the house like every meal with you Sunburst!” the tenga refuted. “Without you, might never have changed my ways and probably ended up getting slaughtered by the Power Rangers like the rest of my flock!”

“Okay, what’s that about?” Trixie had to ask as the Tenga walked off to tend to another table.

“It’s… It’s a long and very weird story…” Sunburst admitted. “I’ll tell you about it some other time.”

“Yeah, and about all those other times I helped stop the seeming apocalypse from happening on an almost weekly basis…” Sunburst thought to himself.

“Long and weird stories... You seem to have a lot of them,” Trixie sighed in exasperation. “Which one shall we tackle first? The ten-year gap? Your engagement? Or... wait, did you say he earlier? Trixie has a lot of questions, and you better answer them.” she demanded and Sunburst sighed. He knew he had a lot of things to answer for, and had run away from answering them for far too long. Bout time he stopped then.

Sunburst looked scarlet, as he tapped his fingers on the table nervously. “Yes, I did say he. As in a guy, a dude," the orange toned stallion replied. “Part of the reason I never even mentioned him before now, I... I was just afraid you'd judge.”

“Trixie? Judge? Really, you've been away from me for too long.” Trixie huffed.”Really! When has Trixie ever…”

Sunburst looked a bit embarrassed upon accusing Trixie of such a thing. He was being stupid, she was still the same pony he knew over a decade ago. “Well, to be fair, ...LGBT couples or whatever they're called get a lot of flack. So you can't blame me for being paranoid,” he replied. “Especially when you learn exactly who I'm engaged to…” he added mentally.

“Well, now that has been established, getting engaged? When, where, how?” Trixie inquired. Well, more like interrogated, as a curious sister would after not seeing their brother all this time, with a hint of disappointment and anger thrown into the mix. “Trixie must know.”

“Okay, okay!” Sunburst said, holding up his hands defensively. “Bout a year or so ago, in the Canterlot Gardens late one night. You know the type, where the moon and stars just twinkle down and the rays of the moon just shine through the trees? Early fall, right before all these Orgs showed up and started making life in Equestria more... chaotic than it usually is, for lack of a better term. Music was just right. Old jazz song playing in the background, some pony with a sax trying to earn a few bits. As you do, you know.” Sunburst continued, remembering every detail exactly as it was, his voice filled with nothing but love and wistfulness. During all of this, Trixie was nodding slowly. Sunburst could just see the “And?” coming. “And... As I know you're about to ask that question. Looked at him in the moonlight, those black wings of his shining and glinting off the moonlight and I asked him to marry me right then and there.” he explained, and then here came a laugh.

“Hah! He's not telling you everything, just the parts that don't make him look like a total goof.”

Sunburst groaned as his fiance walked in, covered from head to hoof in dark blue armor. He facepalmed, couldn't he have at least bothered to try and dress like he wasn't constantly on-duty?

Trixie turns to look at the new arrival. As she saw who it is, the color drained from her face. Her eyes widened and she let out a small squeak. She knew who that was. She'd heard of him before. There were many stories about what he’d done, about who he was, and how simply dangerous he was. She knew her brother would never put her in danger, but she still couldn't help but to feel nervous at his appearance. She turns back to her brother, the fear clear on her face. With her eyes, she indicated this new person in a “Him?! You're engaged to him?!” way. Again, it was almost comical in a way, from an outsider’s perspective. She wasn't trying to be offensive, but her personal safety was still important.

Galaxy noted the look on Trixie's face and smirked a little. “Ah, so she has heard of my reputation... Word of advice, don't believe everything you read eh? Not a Count Vlad Tepes rip-off. But seriously... Sunny?” he commented in a teasing, but affectionate tone ruffling his fiance’s mane. “He didn't up and ask me to marry him outright. Didn't have the nerve. Just came out as a little squeaking stutter, could barely get the words out. I still accepted mind you, and not just because it was so cute of him. Like I said, total doof.”

Sunburst balked when he saw Galaxy’s eyes roaming down his backside. “Nice ass as well. Just sayin’.”

Galaxy soon found himself smacked around the back of his helmet. “Really, have a show of class, man…”

Trixie couldn't help but giggle a little at this interaction. “I can imagine it. That totally sounds like him,” She coughs and looks away. “Trixie is sorry. Rumours spread quickly, and when you hear something enough times from enough ponies…”

“Yes, yes... I know. I've heard rumors about you as well. Namely the little Alicorn Amulet incident, but that was brainwashing, along with a bit of stupidity, pure and simple.” Galaxy remarked as he took off his helmet. Trixie had the decency to look ashamed at that.

Eventually, the food did arrive in the midst of all this.

“Okay, I admit I’m more than a little shocked that Sunburst would choose you of all ponies to shack up with. I mean, the infamous Reaper of Canterlot?” Trixie asked, taking a bite of her steak.

“What can I say, we both had a hard life, so we really… clicked. But let me tell you this, his job as a high school science teacher? Probably the wrong career path.” Galaxy laughed a little, and Trixie looked intrigued.

“How so?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Seriously, Sunburst’s flat in Ponyville?” Galaxy snorted, possibly having a little too much to drink. “Wall to wall antiquities. I bet you money he could tell you the name, age, and history of every piece in his entire living room alone!”

Sunburst laughed nervously and shrank down further into his chair.

“W-Well, what can say? It’s a passion…” he laughed nervously.

“Aww, am I embarrassing you?” Galaxy cooed and Trixie howled in amusement at Sunburst’s crimson red blush. “Trust me, it could be oh so much worse. I could tell her about the things we’ve done together. You know, as a couple.”

He leaned over to Trixie and whispered: “Trust me, he may be a bit of a stick in the mud right now, but in the bedroom… (Here, he licked his lips) Really loosens up. You know what they say about the quiet ones…”

Sunburst let out a small meep and Trixie shook her head.

“Okay, I think that’s enough. As much as I love seeing my older brother thoroughly embarrassed to Tartarus and back, let’s let the poor stallion be okay?” she asked, finally letting her brother stop being the butt of jokes. Besides, she really didn’t want to hear what her brother got up to in the bedroom. Actually, she didn’t even want to think about what he got up to.

Galaxy huffed and crossed his arms. A possible muttering: “Funkiller… That’s always the best part!” was heard as well, though Trixie really wasn’t sure on that last bit. She could have imagined it. Hell, she was hoping she was imagining it. Despite all the embarrassment on his part, Sunburst had to smile. His little sister and his fiance were getting along, and he was patching things up with her. All was well. Of course, fate had other plans as always.

“Though there is still one question you have yet to answer,” Trixie declared. “Ten years. Ten. That you said was at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and then revealed that you had lied all this time to Trixie. You lied to my face. To mom and dad's faces. Trixie demands an explanation!”

“Ah... Yes, that.” Sunburst said. “W-Well, technically I never lied to mom and dad's faces... Just yours.” he stuttered out, trying to use a deflection tactic. Even so, he could still feel Galaxy's eyes boring into the back of his skull.

“As if that makes it better?!” Trixie snaps back.

By now, all eyes were upon them, not helping Sunburst in the slightest. Eventually, his nerves got to him, and... “I'm not an important wizard! I'm not even a wizard at all! Reading about magic is one thing, but you don't know what it was like at magic school! To know so much and not be able to do any of it!” Sunburst blurted out and then let out a sniffle as he dabbed at his eyes with a napkin. “I'm... I'm sorry, I'm just so pathetic…”

Trixie was taken back by his reaction. She blinked a couple of times, and then gets very concerned about her brother. She looked away, then back at him. “Y-You're... You're not? But... Your mark... It…” She stammered out, barely able to believe what she was hearing. This… this revelation changed everything. “That... How?...” she sputtered out.

“Oh sure, I can do magic, but it's only the simplest of spells!” Sunburst snapped bitterly. “I'm more of an expert at explaining things to ponies, how spells work. Magical theory and all of that crap. Hardly befitting the expectations mom and dad laid out for me as some sort of grand wizard…” he said, using air quotes when he said 'Grand Wizard'.

“Hey, don't snap at me!” Trixie mumbled, more than a little hurt. “How was I supposed to know?”

She sat back in her chair, arms crossed, and looked away. She sighed and closes her eyes “So you ran for 10 years... Without a word to me, or mom or dad. Leaving us with a lie.”

She looks at her brother, holding back tears. “You left me, worrying about whether you were ok. I didn't hear from you for ten years. Ten! That's a long time to disappear on me. I thought something had happened to you. Especially with everything going on recently. And not once. Not once did you check in and tell me you were ok. What changed from when we were young? We used to be so close…”

Sunburst could do nothing but look disgusted with himself and he just got up out of his chair and pulled his younger sister into a hug. “I... I don't know.”

His voice was full of shame.

Trixie didn't say anything. She just accepted the hug, and her willpower to hold back the tears finally broke. They streamed down her face and onto Sunburst. She closed her eyes, and let out all her sadness. All that worry. All those years apart. She let go of her anger towards him. All that was important right now was that he was here and alive.

“Shh, shh… “ her brother said in a soothing tone of voice as he rubbed her back. “It’s alright, I’m here now…”

“Just promise you’ll keep in better touch from now on?” Trixie whispered.

“I Pinkie Promise, and that’s something I can never break…” Sunburst replied, and kissed his little sister on the forehead making her giggle.

“I’ll be holding you to that, okay?” Trixie asked and Sunburst smiled.

“Yeah, I know.”

So, later that week, Sunburst, taking a very deep breath stood in front of his parent’s household. His mane had been done to look less scruffy, by his brother in all but blood (At least in Sunburst’s mind) Zephyr Breeze. He’d said: “Your mane, something else. Not sure if it’s a good something or a bad something, but trust me on this… Little conditioner and we can make it work!”

Mustering up all of his courage, he rang the doorbell...

Author's Notes:

Okay, first off, a huge thanks to Legolassy123 for helping me with this chapter. Seriously, without her, this chapter would have been dead in the water. Helped me write out Trixie and Sunburst's conversation at Charbroiled, with just a simple little roleplay.

Also, doing what TV Tropes calls an Author's Saving Throw with Zen-Aku here. Made it so he was put under a small spell when Retinax got to him, so not all of his actions since he switched sides have been done willingly. Might be a bit of a cop-out, I know, but... Only thing I could think of that would make his side change (And yet him still showing plenty of reluctance with his actions) more believable.

Next time: Daring tangles with an old foe in the sands of Egypt, while Retinax brings the newest soldier in his army to life. The White Dino Ranger.