Merlina's Curse

by Quae_116

Meet Sunshine

Chapter 1- Sunshine

8 years later.....

It was a lovely day in Canterlot. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and all the summer flowers were in bloom. Sunshine loved days like these. Sometimes on these days she would go to the library and find a book she particularly enjoyed. Then she would find a peaceful place to read. In fact, that's what she was doing that afternoon.

She now sat on a bench near a small fountain. The bench was located in the palace gardens, which she had access to as an outstanding student at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Her tummy grumbled and it startled a few birds. They had been sleeping after Sunshine had sung one of her lullabies to them.

Sunshine’s magic came from music. When she sang it created a mood in ponies. Depending on her mood and the song she could create some very powerful emotions. At one point when she was very young it got out of control. She sang a very upbeat and hyper tune. This combination woke up several foals in her dorm at the orphanage to bounce off the walls. One of the adults working there went insane and developed a fear of foals. He was released from his work that night. It got so bad that Inferno, the King of of Trottsylvania was called to come deal with the matter. Sunshine was going to be sent to a camp for troubled foals when she was saved by a gift from above.

Princess Celestia had heard about the great distress an out of control unicorns magic had caused. She knew that Sunshine had talent. She invited Sunshine to come study at her school for unicorns. She took the white filly under her wing and gave her a home inside the palace. Sunshine was forever thankful to the princess.

Now that she had comforted the birds with another melody, she tucked the book she was reading into her saddlebag. It was right beside her cutie mark: A black tear drop shape with a white dot inside. She didn’t know where it came from but she knew what it was now. When Celestia saved her from the orphanage she recognized it as a part of a Yin and Yang symbol. She said that it was very special, because Yin and Yang stands for harmony.

Everypony in Equestria knew the importance of harmony. It was said that when the evil draconequus, Discord took over that harmony was unbalanced. Then 6 brave ponies from Ponyville wielded the elements of harmony and saved Equestria.

Sunshine and the princess hadn’t discovered the secret behind her cutie mark yet. Sunshine was always positive though, and she knew that someday she would find out who she was and where she came from.

Focusing back on her stomache, Sunshine headed towards the nearest door into the castle. She slipped inside and headed down towards the kitchen. When she entered the room all sorts of loud sounds filled her ears and an array of delightful aromas filled her nostrils. She began to hum and the atmosphere of the kitchen became even more pleasant. It was just an old folk song and a few of the ponies cooking began to sing the words to the tune:

Down by the shore of the river

A pony sat with a bow and a quiver

And he saw a ? fly on by

And he shot the ? with a sigh

When he came back home with ? three

His mother’s eyes did fill with glee

She said to him “Now find a wife

And we’ll all be set for life”

Oh ho, how its nice to be

A pony that is living free

No wife, no job to tie me down

Nothin there to make me frown

Oh ho, how it's nice to be

A freed pony just like me

When the song ended everypony began to clap. Sunshine hadn’t realized it but she had just been dancing with a handsome stallion. She recognized him as Blaze. He was a fire dancer. When he danced it was like he, too was casting a spell. Sunshine almost never missed a show. Watching him perform all those daring tricks was amazing. He would jump through fiery hoops, eat blazing torches, and create fireworks. He was so great at what he did that he had even performed for Princess Celestia. He had been fire dancing forever. It was incredible how he managed his tricks without a horn.

Blaze wasn’t a unicorn. He had no magic. He wasn’t a pegasus either. He couldn’t fly. He did come from a long line of unicorns. His grandma, His uncle, Larry, and him were the only earth ponies in the family for 8 generations. His background with magic had brought him to Canterlot where his sister was currently studying at Celestia’s school, too. His background didn’t matter to Sunshine, though, because he was still pretty hot. Sunshine blushed as she realized she was staring.

“Oh! Hi!” She quickly said as the ponies returned to their cooking.

“Hey. I heard music coming from here as I was passing by. I was pretty sure you were stirring something up.” Blaze’s eyes sparkled almost as though flames danced inside.

“I wasn’t stirring up trouble. I was having fun,” she protested.

“Sure. Hey I’m going to go to the library. Want to join me?” Sunshine couldn’t say no to Blaze. He was the hottest stallion in all of Canterlot, if not all of Equestria. But, still, she was really hungry.

“Yeah, of course. Do you mind if I catch up to you? All this singing is making me hungry.” She gave him a quick smile and he returned the gesture. His eyes were full of understanding.

“How bout we go eat somewhere else? My treat. Not that the cooking here is bad. I just thought it might be nice for you to get out of here for a little while.” He shot and apologetic glance at the head chef and the chef nodded in understanding.

“Sure, if you don’t mind. What about the library?” She didn’t want him to go out of his way to take her to lunch.

“The library can wait. Besides, I’d rather be with you.”