"No way," Pinkie Pie screamed, slamming her fists on the table. "You can read minds? Like a psychic? Part of my birth family was a line of psychics! I’m pretty sure I have some in me myself. Wait, no, they were fortune tellers." Sunset rested her face in her hands as she listened to the girl scream, and there was a moment of silence.
"Daddy," she shouted to the man behind the counter. The skinny, red-headed man stood up and continued to wipe a milkshake glass.
"Yes, sweetums?"
"Can we have another milkshake, pretty please?"
It wasn’t but a few minutes of silent waiting before the man came back, placing four milkshakes on the table. Sunset’s was vanilla, Pinkie’s was strawberry, Rarity’s was chocolate, and Fluttershy’s wasn’t even a milkshake, but rather a vegetable smoothie.
"Haven’t you had enough sugar today, gummy bear?"
"No, she argued as he brought them another round of milkshakes. He tickled the girl and she giggled, snorting as he kissed her curly head of hair.
"Are you okay, Sunset Shimmer?”
”Huh?" She sat her head up and looked at the freckled man, who gave her a smile. "Oh, uh, yes sir, Mr. Cake."
"Don’t worry, I get it," he mumbled, slipping her an ibuprofen before he walked back to his counter. She took the pill and groaned, squeezing her eyes shut.
"So, how mad are the others?"
"Dashie won’t talk about what happened," Fluttershy sighed, stirring up her smoothie before taking a tiny sip, "but we’re going on a date tonight—"
"Oh, do tell," Rarity inquired with a sly smile. She leaned over to get the gossip from Fluttershy, who awkwardly gave a forced grin and looked to the wall and back.
"Uh, we’re going to a restaurant, Rarity, it’s no big deal."
"Of course it’s a big deal! What are you wearing? Do let me fix your hair and makeup, darling, I never get to primp for a date anymore after Applejack got her new truck. All we do is go around and around in the dirty old mud, and—"
"We’re here for Sunset, Rarity," Pinkie Pie explained. For once, the girl was right. "Tell me about your speakie-weakie thingy!"
"I don’t know, I can just tell what you’re thinking when I touch you."
"Really? Oh, oh! Me first!"
"Wait, no," Sunset tried to protest, but it was too late. Pinkie Pie scooped up her hands and Sunset’s head began to spin with the girl’s even faster thoughts. Can she really tell what I’m thinking? This is so exciting—I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited in my life—except for that time that I threw that party—oh, or that time that—no, maybe—I don’t know, I just can’t tell!
Sunset drew her hands away and grabbed her temples, trying to recover from the girl’s fast pace. "Me next," Rarity butted in, and Sunset’s eyes rolled as Rarity grabbed her hands. Applejack looked so good at the farm today. She was bending over trying to grab some wood, and she kept begging me for help. And, oh, how I wanted to help—
"Oh, God, ew," Sunset screamed, taking her hands back.
"Can you do me," Fluttershy asked gently, slowly taking Sunset’s hands. I’m probably being a bother. Oh, either way, this is exciting! Sunset looks so... So... Drained.
Fluttershy let go and Sunset looked even more white than ever. Her skin was the color of a piece of paper. She shivered and groaned, slowly taking a sip of her milkshake to regain her self-awareness.
"So, What was I thinking about," Pinkie asked happily, and she shook her head.
"It went by so fast," she mumbled sickly, "you were talking about a party or something. Like, the most exciting point in your life. Rarity you were thinking about Applejack and her ‘equipment’ at the farm, and Fluttershy, you were thinking about being a bother to me and thinking about how I looked drained. Do I look drained?"
"Yeah," Rarity sighed, and Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
"Well," Sunset sighed, "it can’t be worse than the horseflies."
"About the what?"
"That’s what Artemis said they were," Sunset sighed, "there were these little creepy bugs that were making me sick."
"Remember when she would nearly faint at their doorstep," Rarity asked. "She saw what he called a horsefly."
"Thank you for repeating exactly what I just said," Sunset muttered, and Rarity began to braid Fluttershy’s over abundance of light pink hair.
"You’re welcome," She cheerfully replied, and Sunset looked through the window.
"It’s stronger for Twilight, though," she explained. "I don’t know why."
"Well, is there anything else that might be connected?" Sunset hesitantly took off her fingerless leather gloves and showed the three her new sunshine marks on either palm. Rarity had seen it once before, so she wasn’t too shocked, but Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were amazed.
"That’s so cool that you got a tattoo," Pinkie screamed. "And you never even told us!"
"They aren’t tattoos," Sunset tried to explain.
"They look like tattoos to me!"
"They aren’t," Sunset groaned, letting Fluttershy take her hand.
This is the tree of the Daydream, Fluttershy thought, and Sunset heard it in her head. Should I tell her or not? It may be good, but it may be bad—
"I can hear you."
"Oh no," Fluttershy started, dropping her hand.
"What’s the tree of the Daydream?" The other three looked to Fluttershy, who bit her lip and squeaked as all attention was turned to her.
"Well, um, it might be better to show you."
"Okay, where is it?"
"In Everfree."