MLP Gen 5 has just made an interesting turn. The Mane 5 has now met Opaline and Misty joined forces with them. However, it hasn't yet been revealed how earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns separated in the first place or why Twilight Sparkle created the crystals that hold all the magic in Equestria long ago. Well, prepare to find out! (Not in this chapter of course, but later on)

I do not own My Little Pony: Make Your Mark series or its characters.

Also, I've left an important message at the end of this chapter. It's vital that you read it!

Sunny gazed out from the window of her brighthouse. Sunrise always brought her a sense of hope, even during the darkest times. It gave her the confidence that she so desperately needed today.

Just a few weeks ago, Sparky had been dragon-napped by the evil alicorn known as Opaline and her friend Misty was revealed to have been working for her. It still shocked her and her friends that a pony they'd all thought was their friend was actually deceiving them this whole time. But luckily, Misty surprised them all again by choosing to defy Opaline and rescue them. And by doing so, she finally got her cutie mark. Now, their friend was as determined as the rest of them to figure out how to defeat Opaline and stop her from stealing magic from Equestria.

Today, her, Izzy, Zipp, Pipp, Hitch, and Misty were all going to meet at the upper level of the brighthouse to strategize a plan to defeat Opaline. Once Misty arrived at the brighthouse early that morning, they went up and sat by the crystals.

It was Zipp who spoke up first. "Here's what we know about Opaline" their highly skilled detective announced. "She's an alicorn, a fire alicorn to be exact. From the message of Twilight Sparkle, we also know that she's been around since Twilight's time, possibly even before then."

"Oh, oh!" Izzy was eager to make her point. "She also wants to rule all of Equestria and become the most powerful pony of all time."

Hitch cradled Sparky. "And she gets her powers from stealing the magic from poor little Sparky here."

Even Pipp had something to add. "We also know that she has a poor taste in style. I mean, blue ankle braces with those hooves of hers. Totally not a match!"

As useless as that detail was, Sunny still gave her an A for effort. She turned to Misty, "what can you tell us about her?" If anypony knew their greatest enemy's weakness, it was the pony who lived with her since she was a filly.

"Well, besides the fact that she's obsessed with having control over all Equestria's magic, Opaline did tell me that she grew up in a place called Skyros. She was also teased by two other alicorns who had sun and moon powers."

That caught Sunny's attention. "Did you say sun and moon powers?"

"I think that's what she said."

Sunny was already on it. Checking all of the notes her dad had on Equestria's history, she searched for a particular book that contained of not one, but two alicorns. The ones who might be the same alicorns Misty was referring to. Thankfully, she managed to find it under a large stack of notes. It was a dusty book that's cover was of two alicorns. One was white, whose hair was of different bright colors. The other was darker with bluish hair. Their cutie marks were of the sun and moon. They had to be the same ponies Opaline told Misty about.

She showed the book to her friends. "If those alicorns were the keepers of the sun and moon, then Opaline must have meant these two. From the book The Tale of the Two Sisters."

"The two alicorn sisters?" Zipp questioned. "I remember them." She took out the book Alicorns of the Ancient World that she got from the Secret Section of the Zephyr Heights' Palace Library Archives. After flipping through some of the pages, she found the section about the two alicorn sisters and read it out loud. "When Equestria was first established, two unicorn sisters stepped up to help create harmony through all three pony kinds. They were the guardians of the sun and moon, who worked together to control night and day. After both accepted their responsibilities to keep Equestria and its citizens safe, they were granted the blessing by all three pony kinds and became alicorns. Together, they became the two rulers of Equestria as the princess of the sun and the princess of the moon." She frowned when she reread the section. "But it doesn't say that they were from this Skyros place."

Sunny reviewed the map her dad had of Equestria during ancient times. "And Skyros isn't mentioned at all during ancient times."

This was odd. Why would Opaline say that she knew the two alicorn sisters and that she was from Skyros when both details didn't add up? The sun and moon sisters hadn't become alicorns till they were teenagers. And nothing said that they were from Skyros. In fact, there was nothing about this Skyros place, if it even existed.

"Could Opaline be lying about it?" Sunny questioned out loud.

"Wouldn't surprise me" Pipp answered.

But Misty was shocked. "Opaline lied to me? But why?"

"Probably to make you believe that she was right to be ruler of Equestria and control all magic" Zipp pointed out. "Still, it does say something about her." They all gave her confused glances. She continued, "Opaline may have lied about her past. But that doesn't mean that she lied about her feelings. Maybe she did know the alicorn sisters, but was jealous of their magic. It also tells us that her main ability is fire power. Somehow, fire is important to her. And we need to figure out how to extinguish it." They all nodded.

That's when Izzy came up with something. "What if…? What if Opaline is like the two alicorn sisters?"

They all gave her shocked stares. "What do you mean?" Hitch asked.

"I mean, as great as the two alicorn sisters were, not everything about them is very sweet." She clenched her hooves worriedly. "When I was a young filly, my mom used to tell me this spooky story about how one of the princesses turned evil after becoming jealous of her sisters. What if, Opaline is like her? A once kind alicorn who suddenly turned evil after some sort of twisted spell casted over her?

They were all stunned. None of them had thought of that. But if Opaline truly was just an alicorn who was once kind, maybe there was a spell that could help restore her back to the kind-hearted pony she once was. Hope once again filled Sunny. Till Misty broke the silence.

"I don't know, you guys" the unicorn spoke up. "I know Opaline. Even if she was jealous of the alicorn sisters, all she ever talks about is gaining more power. I'm not sure if a lust for power is enough to make an alicorn that is supposed to be worthy of being such into a cold-hearted figure like her."

As much as Sunny had hoped that Izzy was onto something, Misty made sense. If Opaline had once been a pony who had been granted to be an alicorn who would make Equestria a better place, she wouldn't have been so obsessed for power like she was.

"But if Opaline was never blessed to be an alicorn like the two sister were" Hitch questioned. "Then how did she get her powers?"

"I think I know" Misty said as she revealed two pieces of paper from her hair. "I took these pages from the book Zipp has about alicorns. I thought it would help me understand Opaline better. But I think you all should have a look at them."

Zipp took the pages and skimmed through them. As she read them out loud, her eyes widen in fear. "Ponies who were worthy of having all three pony kinds' magic were blessed to be alicorns. With their abilities, they were set to better Equestria and protect its citizens. In some cases, however, ponies were able to achieve alicorn powers from absorbing the magic of other sources. One young pegasus was said to have become an alicorn after gaining a large quantity of magic from a powerful relic."

Izzy put her hoof under her chin, thinking deeply. "So, if a filly was able to become an alicorn from an old object… Then anypony can!" Not exactly the point they were making, but it was true.

"Or" Hitch questioned. "Does it mean that Opaline became an alicorn not from the blessing of all three pony kinds, but from obtaining powerful magic from another source?"

Hitch was right. What if Opaline became an alicorn from gaining a large amount of magic from another source? That explains why she wanted Sparky's magic. Because it's the only way for her to gain magic.

Zipp shook. "So far, none of this tells us what Opaline's weakness is. Besides, her large ego."

They all sadden. Well, this was disappointing. All of their theories and facts were good. But not good enough. All of this overwhelmed Sunny. Opaline was bent on stealing all of the magic in Equestria and ruling over everypony. All three pony kinds had just come together once again. They couldn't allow somepony to take that all away.

That's when Izzy stood up proudly. "Don't worry, with all of us working together, we'll figure out how to stop Opaline."

"She's right" Pipp added. "The answers are here somewhere. We just need to keep looking."

Misty nodded. "But no matter what, I will be there for you the entire way. You are all my friends, the only ones I've ever had anyway."

Izzy walked up to her. "And we'll be there for you too. Cause, you're basically our sixth member."

"Izzy's right" Zipp added. "With you by our side, we'll stop Opaline's plan, whatever that is."

"Yeah!" Pipp shouted. "That so called fire alicorn doesn't stand a chance against all of us!"

Hitch cradled Sparky. "With all of us working together, I know that Sparky will be safe."

Sunny smiled. "We'll each do our part, hoof to heart."

Suddenly, all six of their cutie marks lit up. Each one using their energy to power the crystals. That was when an image appeared of a purple alicorn with streaks of pink in her mane and a star-like cutie mark.

Zipp stared in awe at the sight of this holograph. "It's another message from Twilight Sparkle." Without a second thought, she took out her phone and started recording.

"If you're seeing this, then magic is now more powerful than it has ever been" the holograph of Twilight spoke. "And earth pony magic has been activated for the first time in the history of Equestria. Magic is alive, always changing, growing stronger. There are evil forces out there who would want to exploit it. Once, a pony tried to steal all magic in Equestria for herself. And almost succeeded. I did all that I could to protect all pony kinds and the Allies of Equestria From the pony who now calls herself Opaline By summoning all of my magical strength to achieve placing the magic into the crystals and theinvisibubble that I created to keep Equestria and its citizens hidden from Opaline. But the spell is broken. You are exposed to the world once again. You must watch out for Opaline, and keep her from stealing the magic from the other magical creatures, Before she discovers where they all are. If Opaline collects the magic from all ten magical creature kinds, I fear that she will be unstoppable. You will need the alliances of the other magical creatures who were once the Allies of Equestria. You will all need to stand together against Opaline. Trust in yourselves and each other. And remember that I am with you. Always." And then, the message disappeared. They were all left stunned.

"What just happened?" Misty asked. "Was that… Twilight Sparkle?"

"It's the same holograph we saw before!" Zipp announced. "Only there was a lot more of it than last time." She quickly wrote down her thoughts on note pad. "Invisibubble? Ten magical creatures? Allies of Equestria? Oh, what does that all mean?"

"Invisibubble?" Sunny questioned. "Misty, didn't the story you told us about the Guardians of Harmony mention a bubble hiding Equestria?"

Misty nodded. "Yeah. That's what Opaline told me. That Twilight Sparkle had created an enchanted invisibubble around Equestria to keep her stolen magic hidden from Opaline."

"So, the part about the invisibubble is true in that story" Pipp pointed out.

"But based on this message" Zipp added. "Twilight did it to protect Equestria from Opaline. And when magic returned…"

"The invisibubble dissolved" Hitch finished her thoughts. "That's why Opaline has waited till now to try to take the magic again."

But Zipp seemed doubtful. "Still doesn't explain how the crystals were separated."

"Or how Opaline can be defeated" Misty spoke sadly.

While her friends spoke out their thoughts, Sunny kept hers to herself. Unlike them, she wasn't thinking about how they can defeat Opaline. She was wondering about the story she told Misty about the Guardians of Harmony. They now know that the part about the invisibubble is true. So then, how much of that story is true? How much of the story she heard as a foal is true? That the reason why ponies separated moons ago was because an earth pony got hurt by a unicorn? What if, just as the tale Opaline told, there was more to it than that? Could finding the answers to Opaline also reveal the answers to the question she'd been asking herself her entire life?

"Sunny, didn't your dad mentioned in his research that Equestria was once allies with other magical creatures?" Hitch asked.

Shaking herself back to reality, Sunny nodded. "Yeah, he said that during Twilight Sparkle's ruling, Equestria was allied with a variety of different creatures. I think he said griffons, yaks, changelings, dragons and hippogriffs were friends to Equestria."

Zipp quickly wrote that information down on her notepad. "Hey, that's five different creatures. And dragons were one of those allies. Could they be who Twilight was talking about when she spoke about the Allies of Equestria?"

Izzy looked concern. "And if Opaline tried to steal Sparky's magic, will she try to steal the magic from those other creatures too?"

"So, all of those dragons, griffons, and others are in danger" Hitch announced. "We need to warn them."

Zipp raised her hooves. "Whoe there, sheriff. We don't even know where any of those creatures are. Sparky's the first dragon to have been seen in hundreds of moons. Who knows where all the other dragons are?"

They all dropped their heads in disappointment. Just when it seemed that they were on the right track, they were stuck again. What's more, other magical creatures could be in danger by the same pony who threaten them. But with nowhere to know where to look, they were unable to warn any of those creatures in time.

"Well, we're no closer to figuring out how to stop Opaline" Pipp spoke.

"And she could be plotting to steal the magic from the once Allies of Equestria as we speak" Hitch added.

All of this frustrated Sunny. "If only we knew where to look for them. Too bad no pony who was around during Twilight's time is still around today. At least, anypony who isn't Opaline."

Misty suddenly lifted her head with a hopeful look. "I think I know some creature who might be able to help us." She showed them an old, thick book with a golden unicorn on the cover. "I've had this book all my life, even before Opaline found me. I'm not sure where I got it, but it's all I have of the life I once had. Most of the pages are too degraded to understand." She skipped to a section that was better looking than the rest. "But the one part that's in the best shape is something you all should know about."

Zipp took hold of the book and read it out loud. "During the time of Princess Twilight Sparkle, there were many creatures who she encountered that did horrible deeds that which some ponies believed were unforgivable. However, many of those creatures took all by surprise by changing from bad to good after being offered another chance by Twilight. None of those creatures had been given more chances than a draconequus known as Discord, the Lord of Chaos.

"Once a mischievous trouble-making foe, Discord caused disharmony and misery to earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns alike. Then, after learning about the power of friendship from Twilight and her closest allies, he changed his ways. Later becoming a true friend to all, especially to a kind-hearted pegasus named Fluttershy."

Unfortunately, the rest of the passage was too damaged to read. Still, Zipp got what she needed. "So, this Discord guy was an allie to Twilight."

"But, how does this help us?" Hitch asked.

Misty smiled. "Don't you see, Discord was a draconequus. Those are beings with large amounts of powerful magic that match even alicorns. Meaning, that they're able to live for thousands of moons. So…"

Zipp was quick to realize the point. "So, Discord could still be out there. He might know where the other magical creatures are."

Sunny smiled brightly. "That's great! With his help, we'll rally the Allies of Equestria. With all of our magic combined, we can stop Opaline!"

"Just one small problem" Hitch spoke up. "Does anypony know where this Discord guy is? I mean, he hasn't been seen in hundreds of moons either."

"Yeah, because Equestria had been hidden from the rest of the world by the invisabubble" Zipp spoke as she studied both books at the same time. "With magic as strong as his, he had to hide somewhere Opaline wouldn't reach him. Where his magic would be protected. Somewhere like…" She reviewed each possible site from the old map of Equestria and Beyond. Her theory was that he had to be far beyond Equestra, but somewhere he had known well enough to hide from Opaline. After thinking over it, one answer came to mind. "Chaosville!" She pointed her hoof on the small part at the bottom right of the map.

"Chaosville?" all of her friends questioned.

"It makes perfect sense. Discord was the Lord of Chaos, so obviously, he would go to a place named after it. Plus, it's so far from Equestria that Opaline wouldn't dare to look there."

Sunny took a look at the small island Zipp pointed out on the map. It was farther than any of them had ever gone to. No pony had ever been outside of Equestria in moons, ever since the three pony kinds separated. How much had changed since then? Would the other creatures beyond Equestria be welcoming to the six pony friends? Or will they be hostile?

Hitch shared her doubts. "I don't know, guys. No pony has been outside of Equestria in moons. Since the whole invisibubble thing preventing anypony from coming in or out."

"Yeah" Izzy added. "And if Equestria had drastically changed since then, how much has the world beyond?"

"They're right, sis" Pipp spoke. "We're not even sure whether Chaosville is still Chaosville. For all we know, it sunked into the ocean or got its name changed."

"Not to mention, Discord may not know where the Allies of Equestria are" Hitch pointed out. "And if he did, how will we know that those once allies of ours are still our allies?"

Each of her friends made a valid point. So much of Equestria had changed in the last moons since Twilight's time. How much of the world beyond had changed? Was she really willing to risk hers and her friends' safety based on just a theory? Perhaps it would be better for all of them if they just tried to come up with a way of stopping Opaline without taking any unnecessary risks.

Then again, what about all of those magical creatures Twilight had mentioned? What if Opaline found them? They would all be in danger. If Opaline tried to steal all the magic from those creatures and she did nothing to stop her, she would never forgive herself.

Her mind made up, she announced "we have to try. If not for Equestria, for all of those magical creatures. We can't let Opaline steal their magic the same way she tried to steal Sparky's." Hitch cuddled Sparky. "We'll try to find Discord in Chaosville. If he's not there, then we'll search every single corner of the world finding other magical creatures and warning them about Opaline." She stood tall. "We may not know how to stop Opaline. But we can prevent her from becoming more powerful."

All of her friends stared at her in awe for awhile. But then, Izzy smiled. "I'm with you, Sunny!"

"So am I!" Zipp yelled.

"Me too" Pipp added.

"If it means saving innocent creatures, I'm in" Hitch said as Sparky giggled in his arms.

Misty also stepped forward. "Anything to help you stop Opaline."

"Then, lets head for the Marestream!" Pipp shouted.

As her friends rushed outside, Sunny held back. For there was something else bothering her other than Opaline. Izzy, noticing walked back to her and tried to assure her. "Horseshoe for your thoughts?"

Sunny sigh. "If what Zipp and Misty are saying is true, that Discord could still be around, then that means he knows."

"Yeah, he'll know about Opaline. That's why we're going to find him."

"What I mean is that he may also know how this all happened."

Izzy gave her a confused look. "I'm not following."

"Think about it. If Twilight Sparkle was around when unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies were friends and Discord was around the same time she'd been, then he would know why all three pony kinds separated all those moons ago."

Now her friend was getting it. "Oh, I get it! That's great, right? You've been wondering how all pony kinds suddenly distrusted each other a long time ago your whole life. Now, you can finally get your answer."

That didn't cheer up Sunny. "That's just it. Ever since I've found out that all ponies were once friends, I've been desperate to figure out how could it have gone so wrong. Now that I know that the answers are within my grasp, I should feel excited. But I'm not. I'm terrified."

"Why should you be terrified about finding the answer to your biggest question?"

"Because, what if the answers are more than what I'd bargained for? What if knowing the cause for all ponies' separation causes more harm than good? What if the answers are better left unsolved?"

Izzy gave her a friendly shove. "Come on! There's no way that knowing the truth could hurt anypony. If anything, knowing what went wrong in the past may help us prevent the same mistake from happening again. I mean, think about it. If the story of the Guardians of Harmony is true, that it all started when an earth pony got hurt by a unicorn, maybe knowing what went wrong with that unicorn's spell can prevent it from occurring again." She put a hoof over her friend's shoulder. "And no matter what we discover, it won't change anything. Whatever caused all ponies to separate all those moons ago is in the past. Moving forward to the now, we're all friends and our lives couldn't be any better."

Sunny couldn't help but smile. Izzy was right. No matter what they discover on this journey, they'll always be friends. And nothing would ever change that.

She hugged her friend. "Thanks, Izzy. I really needed that."

Izzy blushed. "Awe, anytime!"

As the two ponies galloped to catch-up with the rest of their friends, Sunny was filled with a new sense of hope. They were going to find Discord and the Allies of Equestria. They were going to save those magical creatures from having their magic stolen. And they were going to stop Opaline from full-filling her dark desire of ruling all of Equestria. Yet, something still nagged her. Something that told her that the answers she was looking for wouldn't be what any of them expected.

And so, the journey of discovery begins!

That one backstory Opaline showed with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna really confused me when I first saw it. However, I have a hunch that Opaline might be fibbing about her past. But what do you think?

P.S. Have you ever heard of the needless act of shark culling in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia as well as KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Réunion, France? It's when the government orders deliberate slaughter of sharks by the use of large nets and aquatic traps called drum lines. Not only is this cruel/ senseless doing harming sharks. Thousands of other marine life (dolphins, whales, sea turtles, stingrays, etc.) are killed by shark nets and drum lines every year. In addition, the bycatch caught in those shark culling devices attract large predatory sharks to those areas, putting beach goers at an even greater risk of a shark attack. Please, if you are from any of these areas, refuse to go to beaches that have shark nets or drum lines and petition your government to put an end to the murder of these magnificent creatures. Without sharks, all other living creatures on our planet will suffer, including us.