I take a bite out of my hayburger and moan in delight. I have no idea how something like this can taste so good, but dear goodness gravy, these ponies know how to make something simple as hay taste so darn good. I begin to chew my bite and look to my companion, who is sitting at the other end of the table.
Sunny takes a bite out of her meal, a hayburger with a side of horseshoe-shaped union rings and smiles in pure delight. She is no doubt enjoying the deliciousness of her meal as much as I am.
The place we decided to stop at and get a bite to eat is at this restaurant called the Hay Burger. The restaurant is a large rectangular shaped building with possibly fake hay as a roof with a sign depicting a picture of a burger and a cup on the top. Inside, there are round wooden tables with the seats themselves looking like miniature barrels. The atmosphere that the place is giving off is one that tells you that this place has been around for a very long time, but not to the point where many ponies can call it extraordinarily old.
I swallow my bite, and Sunny does the same thing. I carefully levitate my hayburger back on the plate and rub my stomach with my left hoof and smile. Sunny repeats what I did.
“These are delicious,” I say. Sunny nods her head in agreement.
“No doubt about it,” she says as she levitates her beverage to her mouth. “It’s very nice to try different foods from different towns and cities. Always eating the same fancy food from the same place gets old and dull.”
“I bet,” I agree as Sunny takes a sip of her drink. “It’s also nice to get something in my stomach. I hadn’t eaten anything all day yesterday.”
Sunny chokes on her soda, partially spitting it out. The droplets hit the center of the table, just a few inches away from my stuff. Sunny barely gets it together, but with enough force, she manages to gulp down what was left in her mouth. She looks me in the eyes with a shocked expression plastered on her face.
“You’re kidding, right?” she asks. I shake my head and that only makes the surprise on her face grow. “How can you last a full day without eating one meal?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I guess that it might have something to do with the events that transpired.”
“What happened?” she asks curiously.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I say, the smile leaving my face. “It’s very personal.”
She nods her head to say that she understands. I cross my forelegs together and rest them on the table, leaning a little bit.
“So, Sunny,” I begin to say, “can you tell me a little bit about yourself?”
I’m not asking this just out of curiosity. I’m asking this because something is telling me that if I want any chance on becoming friends with Sunny, then the best thing to do is to try on getting to know her better. That way, I can feel comfortable on telling her about myself and try not to make it all sound crazy I tell her a bit about myself.
She smiles, her face beaming brightly. She seems thrilled that somepony is interested to know her life story.
“Since you seem interested, I will gladly do so,” Sunny says. She looks me in the eyes. “I was born and raised in the city of Canterlot. My father was a successful business pony, owning several other businesses all throughout the city.”
“Hold up, Canterlot is a city?” I ask, surprised by this little bit of information.
Sunny gives me a confused expression.
“Yes, it is,” she replies. “Is it not obvious?”
“Not really,” I answer. “It looks a little small to be a city. I mean, yeah it’s huge, but not big enough to be considered ‘city huge’.”
Sunny raises her right eye, giving me a suspicious look.
“Have you seen Canterlot?” she asks suspiciously. “Better question, have you ever been to Canterlot?
“Yes, I have,” I say, nodding my head.
“When?” she asks.
“2 days ago,” I reply. “I stayed at the castle for a short while before I moved here to Ponyville with Twilight. So far, living here in Ponyville has proven to be bit of an adventure.”
She continues to give me that suspicious look.
“I have amnesia,” I tell her. “While I do remember a few things, I really don’t remember anything else. I am still recovering from it.”
Sunny stares at me for a bit before nodding her head, the suspicious look leaving her face. She seems satisfied with my answer, though something tells me that something is up. For one, why would Sunny act suspicious like that? And two, the way she asked me when I’ve seen or been to Canterlot makes it look like she is prying me for something important, though what will be a mystery to me.
I push my feelings aside and decide to focus on what we were talking about earlier before Sunny asked me if I’ve seen or been to Canterlot.
“So, Sunny, you were saying about your father?” I press softly. The smile reappears on her face.
“Anyway, my father was one of the wealthiest ponies in Canterlot, second only to the Princesses of Equestria,” Sunny resumes. “With all the businesses he owned, the amount of money he earned was ridiculous. Despite that, never once in his life did he allow greed to consume him. There were times where he would give some of his money to charity, as well as making donations to many of the hospitals in Equestria.
“He was a very busy stallion, always away from home for days and even weeks at an end when he went out on business trips. When he did come home, he had always found the time to spend time with me and my little sister. No matter how late in the night it was when he returned home, he always found time to spend time with his daughters.
“My mother, on the other hoof, was a stay-at-home mom. She took care of me and my little sister while our father was away. She was very strict, always wanting us to follow the rules and teaching me on how to be independent. Not only strict, but she was also very fierce. My mother had a temper, one that made even the bravest of stallions cower in fear. Whenever she became angry or when it came to protecting me and my little sister, that mare would turn into the perfect definition of a ‘mama bear’.
“As for my little sister, she inherited mother’s fierce attitude, as well as her temper. She was very independent, even at a young age. She absolutely hated having others tell her what to do and would never back down from like anything, even a fight. She was so determined that not even our mother could get her to back down on multiple occasions. Her stubbornness got her into trouble from time-to-time.
“However, it was also because of this stubbornness that allowed my little sister to grow up independent. Even at a young age, she would always insist on learning things by herself, refusing help from my mother since she wanted to show how much of a ‘big girl’ she was.” Sunny said that as to way to mimic a child. “Over the years, she grew up to be very fierce, just like my mother, and had an attitude. Despite that, she was an amazing sister to have and I’m glad to have grown up with a sister like her.”
“Sounds like you had a good family,” I comment. The smile on her face grows a little more.
“I couldn’t ask for a better family,” said Sunny. The smile on her face turned slightly into a frown. “Especially my little sister who I miss very dearly.”
I frown as well. The way she said that was full of remorse and grief. What had happened to her sister? Did they lose touch? Did they get into a fight that might’ve put a wedge in their relationship? Did their relationship get down to where they are unable to reconcile? So many questions, and yet zero answers.
‘Well, I’m not going to get any answers if I don’t ask,’ I think to myself. I take a deep breath and look Sunny in the eyes.
“Sunny, did something happen between you and your sister?” I ask her in a soft tone. She stares at me for a moment before she takes a deep breath.
“You see, while me and my sister did get along just fine, there were indeed moments where we would fight and argue since we had different viewpoints on certain things,” Sunny begins to explain to me. “My sister is one that many would call ‘attractive’. She had many stallions and mares compare her body to a goddess.
“Of course, she didn’t like the attention at first. She thought it was very creepy and weird having all those ponies eyeing her down like that. She once said that it made her feel like prey, something that she didn’t like at the time. As time went on, some of them got very bold and unfortunately, got a little bit touchy. She didn’t like that and some of those poor ponies ended up losing a few teeth.
“However, as she got older, her attitude towards that behavior started to change. She began to like the attention she was receiving, even had some of stallions and mares confess that they had crushes on her. That boosted her ego and she became the most popular mare in school. If she didn’t get what she wanted, she would use her beauty against other ponies and it worked all the time.
“Of course, I didn’t like what she was doing and how she was using all that popularity to her advantage. One day, I confronted her about it and she did not like it. She accused me of being jealous of her for how she was receiving all the attention and how I didn’t. We got into a heated fight and we said a few things to each other weren’t very pleasant. The fight ended when I stormed out of her room, boiling with anger that I never felt before. That was only the beginning.”
She looks at me to see if I am paying attention. I nod my head to show that I am paying attention to everything she is saying. She doesn’t smile, only frowns. I can tell that this is bothering her and I feel the sudden need to tell her that she doesn’t have to tell me the rest. I don’t want her to feel more upset than she clearly already is.
She resumes her story before a single word can come out of my mouth.
“When we entered high school, I noticed something different about my sister. It wasn’t anything major, but for some reason, it caught my eye. She started talking with mares, sometimes getting flirty with them. At first, I didn’t think of it. She did that on many occasions during middle school. However, as time went on, this began to change and so did the signs.
“She started hitting on other mares at our school, flirting and winking at them, even checking them out on many occasions. During lunch, she would sit a little bit too close to the more cute and attractive mares and have her legs spread out more than they should be. Whenever a stallion went to give her attention, she would simply ignore them, only keeping her attention to other mares.
“That was when I started to pay more attention to my sister since the signs were becoming more clear. I didn’t want to come to the conclusion that she was becoming romantically interested in mares, but the signs were obviously clear. I guess I just never saw my sister as the type to be interested with mares. For the past 4 months, I kept a close eye on my sister, waiting and hoping that my suspicions weren’t true.
“One day after school, I was walking out of the school when I caught sight of my sister chatting with a mare I knew and one that I have seen her talking to countless times for the last 4 months, a Unicorn mare named Dawn Dusk. She was the smartest mare in school and almost as popular as my sister. She had light yellow fur, a beautifully curly light brown mane and tail, and she had the most beautiful set of blue eyes that would make any mare jealous. I was even a bit jealous myself.
“I became curious as to what they were doing, so I decided to eavesdrop on their little conversation. I will never forget how it went out.
“‘Has anypony ever tell you how beautiful you look?’ my sister asked in a very seductive voice. Dawn’s face went beet red.
“‘W-well, I have, but not from another mare,’ she stammered, looking very embarrassed.
“‘How would you feel if you had another mare express interest in you?’ she asked in that same seductive tone. ‘And what if that pony was me?’
“My sister was well-known for teasing other mares by asking those questions. Normally, they would shrug it off and tell her that they’re not interested. When there were mares who were into other mares, they would tell her that they already have a marefriend. Of course that never stopped my sister from doing what she does.
Dawn looked my sister in the eyes and I watched as her eyes began to water and a smile form on her face.
“‘I was hoping you would ask that,’ she replied, her smile growing a little. ‘I’ve been interested in you for a long time and I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to ask you if you would like to be my marefriend.’
“That part surprised me, and it still does to this day. I never thought in a millions years that Dawn Dusk, one of the most popular mares at school be interested in mares, let alone my sister. I don’t think she was expecting that either because I saw her face turn into one of shock.
“‘Really?’ she asked in a shocked tone.
“‘Yeah,’ Dawn said. ‘You have no idea…’
“Then, she did something that surprised both of us. She walked over to my sister and full-on kissed her on the lips. That was it for me. I didn’t want to watch the outcome so I snuck off and made the journey by myself.
“Even though I never saw the outcome, it was pretty clear what happened. Dawn and my sister began a relationship, and oh Celestia how much attention that got them. Of course, a lot of the stallions at the school were crushed and unhappy with the news. A few mares were jealous of them, mainly jealous at Dawn getting a shot with my sister.
“For the next three years, their love for each other grew stronger and they became inseparable. Dawn Dusk would come over every day and spend the night at the house, regardless if it was a school day or not. My sister and Dawn would spend their time in her bedroom, only coming down when it was time to eat. To be honest, it was painful to watch.”
I stare at Sunny with concentrated eyes. The story she is telling me is so crazy that it’s hard to believe. At the same time, I can’t help but feel a bit relieved. Relieved because the fact of her sister being in a relationship with a mare means that I can do the same thing with Twilight, if she feels the same way for me.
I look her in the eyes.
“Sunny, you don’t have to tell me the rest,” I say softly. “I can tell that it’s upsetting you and I won’t force you to do something that you don’t feel comfortable with telling me.”
Sunny smiles very weakly, probably touched.
“You have no idea how much your thoughtfulness means to me, Selina,” Sunny replies in a soft tone before a big frown spreads across her face. “However, I feel like I should tell you what happened to my sister.”
“Sunny-”
“No, you asked about what happened between me and my sister and I will tell you that,” Sunny says sternly, cutting me off.
“Which I don’t want to know about right now,” I reply back sternly. “I can see that it’s upsetting you and you have said enough. I don’t want to look back at this moment and remember that our first interaction with each other is bringing back bad memories. I may have done that in a sense, but I rather know about it later than now.”
Sunny glares at me for a moment before she relaxes her posture. Only did she do that did I relax myself.
“You’re right,” she says in a low tone. “I wanted to give you a little bit of backstory so you can understand better.”
“Which is appreciated,” I say. “Giving some backstory is a good way to put the events together and understand why things happened the way they did. It wouldn’t make sense without one, but that’s besides the point. The point is that I rather you tell me at a different time than right now.”
She smiles slightly.
“I understand,” Sunny says before proceeding to take a big bite out of her hayburger. I proceed to do the same.
As I eat, I feel a strong wave of guilt flow throughout my entire body. I think asking Sunny about what happened between her and her sister was a very bad idea. I obviously brought back some bad memories and to be honest, I’m very glad I stopped her before she could finish her story.
‘I’ll ask her about it another time,’ I think to myself as I continue on chewing the food I have in my mouth.
I walk down the pathway leading to the Castle of Friendship, still absorbing all of the things that Sunny had told me about her sister. Though she didn’t tell me about what happened between her and her sister, I have the feeling that whatever it was that took place between them is something very, VERY bad. Although I am curious as to what happened between them, I didn’t want our first encounter to be something where bad memories resurfaced.
The Castle of Friendship appears before me and I semi-run to the structure. I stop by the large doors before pushing the left one open. I step inside and walk down the hallway. I plan to tell Twilight about my walk and meeting Sunny Days. Of course, I don’t plan on telling her about Sunny’s sister for obvious reasons, however I do plan on telling her that me and her went out to eat and got to know each other a little bit.
I walk past the doors that lead entry to the library when I pick up a faint sound. I stop in my tracks and turn my attention to the double doors. I step closer and press my left ear on the right door. Though muffled, I can hear the sound of voices coming from the other side of the door. I strain my ears so I can hear the voices better.
“Is that even possible?!” came the shocked voice who I recognize as Twilight Sparkle.
“It seems that way,” came the unmistakable voice of Princess Luna. I growl slightly.
‘What is Luna doing here?’ I think to myself with hostility. I push this aside and continue listening.
“But, how can you be sure that Selina is doing that on purpose?” Twilight asks once again in that same shocked tone. “She just learned how to levitate objects!! There is no way that she can do that!!”
What the heck is Twilight talking about? And what does this have to do with me? What is Princess Luna even accusing me of? I push these aside and resume on listening.
“Twilight, be at ease,” came the unmistakable voice of Princess Celestia. My eyes widen in shock. “We are not saying that Selina is up to no good.”
What is she doing here as well? Something serious must be going on here if they are here with the possible purpose of talking with Twilight; something that centers around me. But, what can it be? Whatever it is, it must be very big.
I continue to listen.
“Don’t be ridiculous, sister!!” Princess Luna scoffs harshly. “It’s clear that Selina knows what she is doing and she is preventing us from trying to enter her dreams and more importantly, her head!!” The way she said my name was full of venom. “No matter how hard I tried, nothing works!! I even had Discord try to help me get inside her head with no success!! It’s like everything we try didn’t work or had no effect on her!!”
Wait a minute… what did she just say? Did Luna just say that she tried to enter my head? But… why? Why would she try to do that? Is it because she is so dead set on trying to prove that I am faking everything so I can ‘escape’ justice, like she said on the night before I moved here to Ponyville?
The thought of having somepony like Princess Luna trying to invade my mind fills me with anger. How dare she try to invade my head and my privacy!! My head isn’t something that Luna can just enter and leave as she pleases!! It is my head and nopony has any right to invade it!!
I take a few deep breaths to calm my anger and continue to listen. There is a pause before it is broken.
“Luna, we can’t assume that Selina is doing this on purpose,” Celestia says in a calm voice.
“What is that supposed to mean?!” Luna shouts in a demanding tone. “I have tried EVERYTHING, sister and nothing works!! If Discord can’t even get into Selina’s head or even help me enter her dreams, how can you explain something of the like of that?!”
There is another pause. I have no idea what is going on in there. I think Celestia is probably trying to figure out how that can be the case. I still feel the anger of knowing the fact Luna tried to get into my head, including that of my dreams. Something deep down tells me that Princess Luna will stop at nothing until she gets inside my head and get what she wants.
Celestia breaks the silence.
“You’re right, something like this is hard to explain,” Celestia says. “But that doesn’t prove or mean that Selina is doing this on purpose.”
“How can you be so sure that this isn’t her doing?!” Luna shouts angrily. There is yet another pause.
“I have a theory,” Celestia simply says.
A theory? This instantly catches my attention and I strain to pay attention to what it can be.
“And what’s that?” Twilight asks curiously. There is another pause.
I patiently wait to hear Celestia’s response. Curiosity on what her theory can be fills my entire being. Does the Princess have a general idea on what might be going on with my head? Probably not, because she did say that it’s a theory so that means she could be wrong about this.
Celestia breaks the long silence. “It’s a hunch, but I believe Selina… is immune.”