As Sunset walked into the town that reminded her of her childhood, she began to wonder what she should start exploring. Despite spending most of her time in Equestria at Canterlot, she at the very least remembered she used to live here in Ponyville at some point. It was only after Celestia had chosen Sunset as her pupil, that she moved to Canterlot, constantly learning new forms of magic, and even becoming curious of magic she was not ready to learn yet. Of course, this one mistake in her past was what caused her to end up in the life she currently had.
"When I was just a filly, I definitely remember the days where I'd show off my magic to impress my other classmates." Sunset said as she walked around town. "But since I remember for sure living here before moving to Canterlot, that must mean... my dad's house is around here somewhere?"
Unfortunately, it had been so long since Sunset had lived in Ponyville, to where it was practically impossible to remember where she had previously lived. Even if she did, this hadn't taken into account the possibilities of the house being torn down, or her dad moving away sometime after she went off to become Celestia's pupil. Even when she was a gifted unicorn student at the time, she wasn't particularly close to her family, so she knew for certain the idea of them writing to her was out of the question. At least, if they did, Sunset likely never bothered even reading the mail they sent when she was at Canterlot. This was a huge setback that had her lose vital information on where her father lived. Now she had to pay the price for never being close with her family earlier on in life.
"I shouldn't lose hope yet." Sunset said, trying to stay positive. "I should still have records at the school of magic, and even if my dad did move away from his previous address, I would at least know his name. I just know it isn't Solstice, unless it's actually his birth name, and I knew him under another identity?"
Sunset shook her head at all this confusion she was bringing upon herself. She decided she shouldn't be assuming all these things when she has next to no clue about her parents' names, let alone their whereabouts.
"Focus, girl." Sunset said to herself. "You're mostly here to get used to Equestria for a little while by exploring. There isn't too much time to do an investigation like this, and I highly doubt anyone around here knows my parents. In fact..."
Sunset looked around Ponyville, and mostly saw a good number of ponies she did not recognize at all. They didn't even seem familiar as any human counterparts she knew back in the other world. That is until, she recognized a purple maned gray pony who wore a navy blue frock, just like the sister of Pinkie.
"I still can't believe she's related to Pinkie Pie..." Sunset said to herself, jokingly repeating what she once told Princess Twilight when they were coming up with plans to defeat the Dazzlings. Sunset then approached Maud from behind, before tapping her on the back to get her attention.
"Hi, Maud-" Sunset said, before quickly stopping herself. She knew that this wasn't the Maud she knew in the other world, and likewise, this Maud would have no idea who she was either. Sunset rephrased her greeting in a matter of seconds to make it seem more fitting as a formal introduction, as if they had never met each other. "I mean, you're Maud Pie, right?"
Maud simply blinked before staying silent for a few moments, somewhat confused at how a pony she had never seen before already knew her name. "Yes I am. I take it you're friends with my sister, Pinkie?"
Sunset spoke up before shaking Maud's hoof. "If you mean the Pinkie who's always optimistic and loves to throw parties, yeah. She's a good friend of mine." Sunset knew she said this as if she was talking about the human Pinkie, not the pony version that this Maud knew.
"Cool." Maud said with her usual monotone voice. "I'm just waiting for my delivery of flowers. I ordered them for Pinkie for another surprise party she's throwing, but they haven't arrived for a while. Luckily, I have Boulder here to keep me company." Maud explained, before looking back at the inanimate pet rock in her hoof.
"That's nice, Maud." Sunset said with joy, seeing how much Maud cared about her sister. It certainly felt like the same degree of love between the two sisters she had seen in the human world. "I'm mostly here to explore Ponyville for a little while before heading off to Princess Twilight's coronation. You are going there soon too, right?"
"Yes. These flowers are meant for Pinkie at the coronation, actually." Maud clarified. "I got asked by some anonymous friend of Pinkie who ordered these pink roses for her. I'm just doing them the favor of picking them up. I don't know who exactly this friend is, but they did hint that they really clicked well with Pinkie."
Sunset began to have an idea on who it might be. After all, she literally just saw Pinkie last night with a new friend whom she really liked hanging with, even possibly as a romantic partner. She had a hunch the one who ordered the flowers was the pony Cheese Sandwich, but didn't know for certain. On the subject of flowers, Sunset felt like maybe entering the flower shop to get an idea on how different plants were in this world compared to the human world. At the very least, she was aware that Poison Joke existed, a type of blue flower that creates ridicule inducing effects on those who touched it.
"That's nice for Pinkie, I can tell she has a lot of good friends here." Sunset said to Maud. "But anyways, since I'm here to explore the town for a little bit, I guess I can check out the flower shop. Haven't really seen many plants that specifically grow here in Ponyville. How long have you been waiting here for your flowers, by the way?"
"About an hour, why?" Maud asked. "I was just told by Pinkie's friend to come to this location at this time today." Maud said, as she held the note Pinkie's anonymous friend supposedly wrote to her.
Sunset began to feel skeptical over this. Was Maud being pranked, or was the flower shop itself going through a misunderstanding with orders? "I'll check the shop out for you, Maud. If I can find the flowers you were expecting, I can bring them out for you if needed. Sound good?"
"Sure." Maud said in her usual tone, before looking back at her pet rock.
With this in mind, Sunset entered the shop, which had quite a collection of flowers, even a number of variants she had never seen before. She remembered that Maud was looking for pink roses, so she looked around the shop for them, but had no luck in locating any. Nopony else appeared to be in the shop either, including the shop owner, which likely explained why Maud was just waiting around for somepony to deliver her flowers. However, Sunset eventually heard the voice of the owner, as she had just walked back behind the counter. She swiftly turned around, and her eyes widened in surprise. It was a pony she was indeed familiar with as well, and she looked as fresh as a Daisy.