//------------------------------// // Tell Your Tale: Sunny-Day Dinners // Story: The Second Dream // by totallynotabrony //------------------------------// If the news sensation sweeping the nation that I’d inadvertently created with ligma was bad, getting the opportunity to ligma balls the whole country on live TV was nothing short of spectacular. My face was everywhere now, even on paper media.  They all seemed to be using the same photo, of me grinning like a lunatic in front of the microphone, every tooth on full display. I mean, it was almost entirely negative coverage turning me into a pariah for doing it, but my follower count increased, so… I couldn’t wait to see what kind of hamfisted attempt Pipp was going to try to top that. At least my job as marshal seemed to be insulated from the fallout of the ligma incident.  I still wasn’t sure how I was managing to keep my new career separate from my celebrity life.  Maybe because I was a largely digital-based personality, nobody would have recognized me IRL.  I was still not exactly sure what I was famous for. One person that did clearly know both sides of me, though, I saw every day.  Hitch’s attitude had noticeably changed when I returned from the TV studio.  However, he only acknowledged it with an exasperated, “I can’t believe you did that.” “Well…”  I maybe saw an opportunity here and quickly improvised.  “Not to say I was playing 4D chess or anything, but what if I told you I set all that up as a precursor to making you an offer?” “An offer?” “To ligma balls.  Um, I mean, your - look, sorry, this didn’t come out right, let me start over, okay?” “What are you talking about?” I had to pause to get my thoughts in order because I’d gone into this without a plan.  “We already spend so much time together.  We’re even sleeping in the same bed.  I was asking if you wanted to take this relationship to the next level.” He stared at me.  “You mean…physical intimacy?” I nodded. “Sentra, you set up a practical joke on the whole nation disguised as a public health crisis and now you tell me it was because you wanted…s-sex?” I was mildly surprised he was even able to say the word.  Good for you, Hitch.  Well, since we’d breached that barrier, I went on.  “Look, it was all a big joke that got way out of hand, and I'm sorry for that, but I actually will put your genitals in my mouth if you want.” “Not with those teeth.” “...point,” I conceded. Hitch sighed.  “Sentra, look, it’s not just about that.  Frankly, you scare the haystacks out of me, and it’s not just because of how you look.  When I‘m with you, I don’t feel in charge, which is unusual for me, and that makes me uncomfortable.  Maybe that’s a character flaw on my part, but as open-book as you’ve been I guess I owe you the same.  You can sometimes be so…masculine, I guess, that I’m not sure if there’s room enough for me.” “If you think I act too much like a guy, you can just say ‘no homo,’” I offered.  “Or just ‘no.’  I literally ended up sharing a bed with you because you didn’t say I couldn’t.” Maybe that was a little too open, but it was the truth. “I’m going to have to think about it,” Hitch said. I had nothing else to do but give him time.  Well, it was something. Hitch departed to patrol the town.  I stayed at my desk and put my hooves up. My phone dinged.  It was a message from Sunny to our group chat.  Hey ponies! I know everypony’s got a lot going on, but we can’t forget to make time for each other.  Who’s up for a hike to Prancing Point?  Don’t forget! A hike, excellent.  I started to get ready. That afternoon, I was waiting at the edge of the forest wearing a backpack.  I limbered up, prancing in place for a moment.  A yomp, a ruck march, I couldn’t wait! Aside from being an edgelord, this was my jam. Sunny arrived, greeting me.  She checked her phone. Then, half an hour passed. “So are we getting started?” I asked.  “I mean, I totally understand hurry-up-and-wait, especially when it comes to this kind of thing.” “Ugh, they forgot,” Sunny grumbled. “Forgot what?” Izzy asked, trotting up just then with a wagon full of rocks.  She gasped. “Oh!  Yes, totally!  The thing!  Nothing slips out of this brain.” She laughed awkwardly, but Sunny and I both gave it to her. “Okay, let’s go,” I said.  “Sunny, have you been here before?” “To Prancing Point?  No, it’s the first time,” she allowed. We headed down the trail. I had begun to wonder why it was called Prancing Point if it was nothing but woods. That was only reinforced when we came to a broken direction sign on the trail.  Izzy spun it like a roulette.  It landed on taking the righthand path.  Nobody seemed to mind, except to be mildly surprised. Okay, we were already taking the path less traveled, so to speak.  But I was always down for an adventure hike. I tried not to get too far ahead.  I suppose it didn’t matter because I couldn’t follow someone who didn’t know where they were going.  Also, I really needed to build up my cardio.  This body felt like it got winded pretty easily, but that was why I did things like this, to build up again. In lagging behind, Sunny and Izzy seemed to be getting more and more concerned. “Did you hear that?” Izzy said in a loud whisper.  “Something is out there.  I can smell it.” I had no idea if she was speaking rhetorically or not. “It’s just your imagination,” Sunny began, though not sounding convinced. “There’s nothing out there-” There was a thump in the trees.  Clearly something was out there. “Come on, let’s go…um…” Sunny began. “You’re lost, aren’t you?” I said. “Sentra, now is not the time!” “Does your phone not have GPS?” I said.  I was suddenly unsure.  It didn’t make sense that ponies had advanced microelectronics but not satellite navigation.  But there were a lot of things about this world that didn’t make sense. Sunny and Izzy looked like they were about to rush off in all directions, and before they got really lost, I had to step in.  “Okay, look, I actually do know where we are.  I mean, I don’t know where, I don’t have a map, but I know how to get back to where we started, okay?  We didn’t take that many detours, so it should be pretty simple to find our way back.” I wasn’t sure if it was my confidence that swayed them, but they did look marginally less likely to start running down the first available path. Anyway, I led them back out of the woods.  Almost like I’d done this before.  Have I mentioned I love rucking? “Wow, Sentra, how do you know so much about navigating land?” Sunny asked. I was just about to tell her exactly how when we heard distant screams. “That sounds like Hitch,” I observed, suddenly alert. “And Pipp and Zipp,” Sunny added.   I sighed and we headed back in.  A few minutes later, we came upon the three of them in a clearing.  they hadn’t noticed us yet and seemed to be lost. “Hitch, I’m telling you, this is the fastest way home!” Zipp was arguing. “Agree to disagree,” Hitch replied. Pipp was uninvolved in the conversation, and taking selfies.  Still, she seemed nervous.  “It’s kinda spooky out here, right?” Her camera fell on my face, framed in leaves as I peeped into the clearing, and she let out a scream. Fortunately, everyone else was happy to see us.  The three of them joined the three of us. “It’s getting late and we would have thought you’d be back ages ago,” Zipp said. “We were back,” I replied.  “Then we came looking for you.”  I tossed my head back uptrail.  “Come on, let’s go.” And I found my way back out of the forest for a second time. “Wow, you really know your way around,” said Hitch.  “Did you grow up around here?” he joked. I debated telling him that I was trying my hardest to impress him with sheer competence.  No, sometimes the less said the better. When he wasn’t looking, though, I slapped myself for having the thought.  Yeah, right.