The light of today's sun shone on your face, slowly prying your eyelids open. When your sight came fully to you, you saw that you were situated within the living room of a house, though not the same one as in Posey's residence. You yourself laid on a rather comfortable couch while underneath a blanket.
With the side of your head resting on a pillow, you looked around the living room for a little bit, before finally resigning to the disappointment that you were afraid of. No matter how long you waited, this reality that you hoped was an illusion was what you feared it to be --- reality. You did not wake up to find yourself in your bedroom at the dorms, ready to start off the day with breakfast and then classes.
This was where you were. And if that was the case, that meant that everything from yesterday was true. The attack on the festival. The monster that nearly ended your life. The meeting with the sheriff and his friends.
Well, I guess I'm not really going anywhere for a while.
As you slowly raised yourself off the couch cushions, your ears picked up on a strange noise that came from behind you. You pushed the blanket off of you and planted your hooves on the floor. Turning past the couch, you reach an opening in the wall that connected the living room into the kitchen, and as you went through the opening, the strange noise translated itself into humming.
It was when you reached the inside of the kitchen that you discovered what --- or rather who --- the source was. Standing over a stove was a purple unicorn mare with a chef's hat on. The unicorn was singing to herself, unaware that you were in the room with her. Around her in purple glows were two spatulas, one blue and the other red, and upon the stove were two skillets that steamed with heat.
Not knowing what to do, you stood still near the opening as Izzy continued to sing --- with her humming transforming into a lyrical performance.
"Breakfast! Breakfast! I am making breakfast! This breakfast is gonna be so good --- ooo! --- you just won't believe it! Breakfast! Breakfast! When you..."
"Good morning, everypony!"
You turned around abruptly to see Sunny enter the kitchen. The earth pony mare bestowed upon you and Izzy this morning a smile that a kindergarten teacher would greet her foals with at the start of class.
Izzy paused her singing to face her friend. "Morning, Sunny!"
In turn, you saw it as only appropriate to give a similar, though more restrained, comment.
"Good morning."
Sunny beamed at you. "How did you sleep, [Y/N]? I hope that the couch was comfortable enough for you."
"Oh, it was. I slept really fine, actually."
"Well, that's great to hear! I was worried for a moment that you wouldn't be able to go to sleep." The orange mare walked past you and approached the stove. Standing next to Izzy, she took a nice sniff of the contents cooking on the skillets. "Pancakes and hash browns? I'm sure that's gonna taste really good!"
"Aww. Thanks, Sunny!" Izzy replied receptively. "I added some blueberries and almonds into the mix. The last time it was my turn for breakfast, I felt like the bananas and cinnamon pancakes I made weren't that great."
Sunny became worried. "Almonds?" She turned back to you. "You're not allergic to nuts, are you?"
You shook your head. "No."
Relief came over her face. "Okay. Well, thanks for telling me. I left some stuff in the bathroom for you to clean up with. You should probably go do that, since it'll be a while before breakfast is ready."
You looked over at Izzy, and saw that the unicorn was pouring pancake batter onto one of the skillets.
"Yeah. I'll go ahead and do that."
"Do you remember where the bathroom is?"
You nodded, having a good memory of where it was from the night before. Sunny seemed content with your answer.
"Alright then. We'll see you soon," she said.
You turned around to leave the kitchen, moving right past the couch and for a door on the left side of the living room. Twisting the knob with your hoof, you entered a small bathroom, the kind that a creature would encounter in a hotel. It had a sink and toilet but lacked a bathtub or shower section. On the sink were a toothbrush and toothpaste in a cup, a small bottle of facial cleanser, a washcloth, a small towel, and a bottle of soap. A rack with two more towels was mounted next to the sink.
You went over to the sink and grabbed the toothpaste with one hoof while undoing the cap with your teeth. Once that was done, you squeezed the toothpaste directly on the toothbrush until a pea-sized amount of paste came on the brush. After turning on the faucet and holding the toothbrush underneath the cold water, you turned the faucet back off and begun to work on your teeth.
As you guided the toothbrush throughout all the right places amongst your dentures, your mind wandered over to your memory concerning the previous night.
Before going to bed, you were reminded by Sunny and Izzy that they would help you search for Discord once their other friends, two sisters named Zipp and Pipp, returned from their hometown --- since it was one of them who received the message about the draconequus' possible whereabouts.
Your thoughts about the Lord of Chaos stalled your rigorous brushing. With it having been centuries since the Equestria that you knew and grew up in had fallen apart, your pondered on the possibility that Discord might not even remember you. During your short semester at the school, you only really interacted with the spirit a hoofful of times at the animal sanctuary while with numerous classmates. And as far as you remember, you never even spoke a single word to him, while other students were likely to have conversed with him at times.
With enough minutes having passed by, you spit out the toothpaste foam into the sink, take the cup, turn on the faucet to put some water inside, and then take a quick swig of water to clean the inside of your mouth. Spitting into the sink once more, you grab and cleanser and begin to work on your face.
You wetted your face and then pressed down on the pump to let the solution out on your hoof. You rubbed both hooves together and pressed the minty foam against your cheeks before spreading it throughout the rest of your face. Just like before, a new thought entered your brain as you minded your hygiene. And like before, it was about Discord.
Was it even possible for Discord to bring you back to the past? Even before you came to Ponyville, you remember the foalhood stories of the many mischievous feats of the Lord of Chaos before he went good, so you were aware of his immense powers that could alter the very fabric of reality.
However, reality was one field, while time was another. You have never heard of the spirit being able to travel back in time in order to change things. If he was able to do so, then he probably would have done so in an attempt to beat the Old Princesses and the Elements a long time ago. And with how he was reformed, he probably would have done gone back in time to prevent Equestria from even falling apart.
And if he could not bring you back home, then how exactly would you get back to where you belong?
You shook your head, accidentally getting a few specks of foam on the mirror and sink. Delving into that subject was not going to help you in any way at the moment. You knew that you were only get yourself worked up, and that was not something you needed. For now, you just had to hold on to the hope that Discord, if you and the others could find him, will be able to aid you. As of now, you just needed to relax and hope that Sunny and her friends will work things out.
Wetting the washcloth, you rubbed and patted off the foam from your face, before putting the cloth underneath the running faucet and wringing out the residue. You then used the towel to dry off your face and finally used it to wipe away any remaining water and facial wash foam from the sink and mirror. Having no use for either object, you placed both the towel and washcloth on the closed toilet seat. You figured that Sunny and Izzy would not mind, as you did not know where else to put them.
You finally left the bathroom after what you guessed must have been around five minutes inside. You went back to the kitchen and saw that the table was finally set up. In the center was a bowl of hash browns, a ketchup bottle, a bottle of syrup, a pitcher of juice, and two platters --- both with what you guessed held less than a dozen pancakes. On one side of the table were a plate, a fork, a knife, a glass cup, and a napkin, with two similar sets on the other side being used by two mares.
"Hi, again!" Sunny said to you cheerfully as you approached the other side of the table.
"Hello... again," was all that you could think of before taking your seat. Being at the table, you could clearly see the texture of the food that was provided for you. The hash browns were crispy and golden to the point where there was a shine to them, and the pancakes themselves were as fluffy as fine cooking would allow them to be. The previous day was eventful enough for you to be less concerned about eating, but now you could nearly feel your stomach rumble and a small fountain sprout from the corner of your mouth.
"I hope you enjoy it all!" Izzy proclaimed to you. "When it's my turn, I always make sure to make breakfast with lots of TLC. I even gave an extra squeeze for each orange I used!"
"Um... Thanks..., Izzy. I really appreciate you doing all of this for me."
Izzy grinned back at you. "Aw, thanks! Don't be afraid to take as much as you need! But leave some for the rest of us!"
"I... definitely will."
You picked up a blue spatula that you just noticed on the table near the platters and used it to lift off four pancakes from their stack. Placing the pancakes on your plate, you grabbed both a fork and knife to cut out four wedges to insert in your mouth. Immediately, a heavenly, buttery feeling overwhelmed your taste buds, with a side tangy blueberry and nutty almonds. The sensation was enough to widen your eyes --- which was an event that did not go unnoticed at the table.
"I can see you really like them," Izzy stated with a smug grin.
Biting your lip in embarrassment, you could only really nod in response.
"Well, don't forget the hash browns. My friends always tell me how well I do them."
Taking her advice, you look over at the bowl of hash browns and spot another spatula, this one red. You use it once to collect a nice chunk of the food and place it on your plate. Having been accustomed to having hash browns with ketchup for as long as you can remember, you took the red bottle nearby and squirted the condiment on the shredded potato pieces.
Taking a chunk out of the hash browns with your fork and consuming it whole, you were left once again surprised at how good it all tasted. The thin potato strips had a perfect texture of oil, salt, and pepper to them that was just right, and you tried as best as you could to keep the taste within your mouth, before realizing that you still had more on your plate to finish.
The minutes passed on with you going back and forth between eating your pancakes and hash browns, and it was not long before you took the pitcher of orange juice and poured some into your own glass. Aside from the refreshing taste, the juice was also useful in washing down any remaining foodstuff down your throat, especially as you whished it around your mouth.
It was not until halfway through completing your meal that you realized just how much you needed to eat something after the events of yesterday. It was not only the taste that drove you to eat but also a bit of hunger that you only just noticed. The fact that you could even eat anything at all made you appreciate how Sunny and Izzy took you in and decided to help get you back home, especially when others would assume that you could have taken advantage of their hospitality and become a thief before sneaking away.
The only thing that you could really find awkward was that you spent the night in a house with two older mares, even if they slept upstairs from you.
"I know I usually say this when it's your turn, but you really made a good breakfast, Izzy!" Sunny said to her friend. "The pancakes are really soft and fluffy, but not in a fragile way. And I have to say that the hash browns are definitely the best part of this morning! They're just so crispy and buttery!"
"Aww. Thanks, Sun," the unicorn replied out of gratefulness. "I made sure to put an extra bit of love in my cooking today. Especially with our guest here."
As you continued eating, your mind pondered on Sunny's comments. There was a lot of optimism and cheerfulness in such a compliment over something that was not a huge feat to accomplish. Such random positivity reminded you of a certain poofy-maned mare and her energetic child. Though you were receptive to her hospitality, you hoped that Sunny was not like those two ponies.
The next few minutes afterward were spent in silence, with neither pony at the table saying a word. As you were almost done with your plate, you contemplated on what you would do next after breakfast, since you were not interested in second helpings.
You remember somecreature telling you after you left Posey's home that they would help you look for Discord once their other two friends returned home from a trip, but you did not know how long that would be. If it was going to be a long wait, you did not know if you could handle staying at the Brighthouse for so many days. You never really had the patience for staying couped up indoors for so long.
"Um..., [Y/N]?"
Hearing Sunny's voice, you lifted your head up from your plate and swallowed the remaining bits of food left in your mouth.
"Yes?" you said.
The orange mare's eyes shifted a bit, avoiding your gaze for a brief moment. There was definitely some uncertainty in her demeanor, but that did not stop her from speaking.
"What exactly do you think about Sheriff Hitch?"
You had to force your mouth from dropping down. The question was definitely unexpected, yet you already had an answer ready for her.
"I... won't lie. I was a bit... intimidated by him at first. But after a while, I kind of realized that he was probably just doing his job."
Sunny nodded, seeming pleased. "That's good to know. Hitch isn't really scary, he just takes his responsibilities very seriously. We all know the truth now, but we had to take into account the possibility you might have been lying."
"I understand."
The mare grinned. "Anyway, I know you said you slept well, but do you feel any different from last night when we were at Posey's?"
You pondered on her question for a while. "So far, I'm doing okay. I'm definitely better now than how I was after that monster attacked me."
Sunny nodded again. "Okay. That's good." A few more seconds of silence passed by before she spoke up again. "Is it okay if I... ask you a few questions?"
You lifted your head from your plate again, ready to ask Sunny what she meant by questions. But once you saw her pull out a notebook and pencil from her satchel on the floor, it was easy to guess what those questions would be about. Given her conduct the previous day, you should have known that eventually that the mare would want to know more about a pony from the past, but you were at least glad that she did not pounce on you with questions at the start of this morning.
"You see," Sunny said, "I tried to ask you a few questions back at Posey's place, but Hitch wanted us to focus on your situation. And when we got back here, I figured that you were tired so I didn't want to bother you. But now that you're rested and almost done with your food, I was thinking that now is the best time to ask most of these questions I have."
You swallowed down another bite of pancakes. "So, this is like an interview you have planned?" you asked.
"Yes. Other than Discord, you're the only pony from Old Equestria that I've ever met. The last meeting I had with Discord didn't really give me an opportunity to ask him that much, so I figured I got another chance with you. If you don't mind."
You thought the matter over in your head. You remember how amused and talkative Sunny was when she first learned that you were from the past. Though her excitement might have seemed innocent to her, you were a bit overwhelmed by her interests. But you remembered that there probably was not much to do after breakfast, so you figured that it would not hurt to answer a few of her questions. For all you know, you might understand some things about the future, too.
"I... guess we can talk. But---"
She was quick to cut you off.
"Okay! Wonderful! So..." She flipped through pages until she came halfway through her book. Though the pencil now occupying her mouth, Sunny was able to speak coherently to you. "Question number one: what were the Guardians of Harmony like during your time? That includes Discord, too."
You did not want to leave too many questions unanswered, so you thought as hard as you could about the individuals she was refering to. Given that you had only been in Ponyville for a few months, you did not have that much time to truly understand anyone she wanted to know about.
"The Elements? Well... like I said before I'm not really familiar with Princess Twilight, Rarity, or Rainbow Dash. As far as I was concerned they were always too busy to stay in Ponyville. But I know somewhat about the others, including Discord."
"Ooh! Can you start with Discord, first?" Izzy asked. "That guy's been a real enigma!"
"Okay, sure. Discord wasn't a teacher, but I did see him whenever my kindness class went over to the animal sanctuary to see Ms. Fluttershy. He was... chill, I guess, and had an odd sense of humor about him."
Sunny wrote down a few quick lines. "What kind of humor?"
"Well, he would always use his magic to transform into something or just morph a part of his body. I remember one time we visited the sanctuary that he changed into a bamboo tree because the sanctuary didn't have one. Ms. Fluttershy was showing us the kind of trees that herbivores consume. It was a bit jarring to see pandas and monkeys taking bites off of him, but he didn't mind, and some of the others found it funny."
"But did you ever encounter him outside of school? What were his other personality traits?"
"I didn't really see him that much outside of the sanctuary. I heard he had a good relationship with Big Macintosh --- Ms. Applejack's brother --- and that he would visit the apple orchards to see him. I also heard that he could be a bit of a prankster at times, messing with creatures. I do know that he was very sweet on Ms. Fluttershy. You could see that the two of them really cared about each other --- with all the compliments they made."
Sunny seemed a bit let down. "But that's it?"
You nodded. "Speaking of Ms. Fluttershy, I have to say that she was a very patient and understanding pony. A lot of creatures who visited the sanctuary did not have any previous experience with animals, so whenever anycreature freaked out about something going wrong, she would be there to keep them calm and collected. She never really raised her voice or got irritated by any of the students having trouble."
"Have you ever spoken to Fluttershy? Like directly, I mean?"
"Only in brief conversations. Like if I needed a question answered."
"Okay, then. Well, what about the other Guardians that you got to meet?"
It was quite easy to imagine the next creature that you thought Sunny would not mind talking about.
"I guess we can talk about Ms. Applejack. If you're okay with it."
The mare nodded once more, never losing the spark of interest in her eyes. "Of course!"
"She was still a big farmer by the time I got to Ponyville. I saw her plenty of times because my honesty class would have lessons about hard work at Sweet Apple Acres."
"What kind of hard work?"
"Applebucking. Sorting out the good apples from the rotten ones. Making apple treats. Basically anything related to apples. But we also did a few other tasks like cleaning and farm work."
"What was Applejack like?"
"Ms. Applejack? Well, I guess she could be a bit strict, considering that a bunch of students were all over her farm occasionally. Mostly I remember her getting on some creatures for either bucking too hard or not hard enough, or if they had a hard time telling a good apple from a bad one. But she was never vulgar or insulting. She usually gave compliments to whoever she saw doing a good job."
"And her interactions with you?"
"We never really had any long conversations with each other. I remember her saying that I didn't have good form when I first tried applebucking, and then she said that I made an 'okay' apple pie the next time I visited the orchard."
"So you two got along?" Izzy asked.
"Like I said, Ms. Applejack was strict, but she could also be fair. I guess I can say that I got along with her, as long as I made sure not to do anything wrong or careless."
"And you only encountered her when you were at the orchard for schoolwork?" Sunny asked.
You nodded again. "Basically. I would see her at the Ponyville market at times, but I never felt the need to speak to her."
Sunny finished writing down a few more notes before speaking again. "Okay, then. All that's left is Pinkie Pie. What was she like?"
"Mrs. Pie? Well, she was... um...."
You thought very carefully about your next words. It was clearly evident that Sunny had an admiration for the Elements, so you wanted to make sure that anything you say would not appear to be tarnishing the names of those heroes. Even if it meant excluding how you really felt.
"She was very... energetic. I never met her through my classes, but the times I saw her in public showed me that she was very social and... cheerful. She really wanted to be everycreature's friend, if you what I mean."
"Okay. What did she do for a living when you came to Ponyville?" Sunny asked.
"She was still in charge of Sugarcube Corner --- a bakery in town. She ran it with her family and a few family friends."
"Did you ever go there?"
"Yeah. Occasionally. Lots of students went. It was a pretty popular place to hang out after school."
"And she treated you well?"
"You could... say that."
"Okay. Well, I'm glad you could tell me as much as you can about the Guardians that you knew about on a personal level. But I kept thinking about the others like Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Spike, and Princess Twilight. I know you said you never met them before, but if there's anything basic about them that you know, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me."
You nearly grinned when you realized how easy that task would be. "Okay, that's fine. I can tell you a bit about them. Rarity had her clothing stores to manage all over Equestria. Her chain of stores was called Carousel Boutique. She had her own house in Ponyville, but she also owned a few wealthier houses around the country for her business trips. Rainbow Dash was the captain of the Wonderbolts. Do you know who the Wonderbolts were?"
Sunny nodded. "Yep. A team of elite fliers. Most of them pegasi."
"Got it. Well, being the captain, she didn't really stay in Ponyville that often. And when she did visit, I wasn't around at the time to see her. Spike was the Princess' assistant, as well as a friendship ambassador for a few neighboring countries. Whenever he wasn't in Canterlot he would be on diplomatic business helping those outside of Equestria. And as for the Princess herself, I can't say much about her. I'm not a bigger follower of politics, but I guess she's doing a good job so far."
The orange mare could not stop herself from giggling. "Well, it makes sense that you wouldn't know that much about politics. You're still a teenager. But I also have to ask about some of the staff members of the school you went you. Mainly Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon."
"Sure, I can do that. Ms. Glimmer was the headmare of the school and Ms. Trixie was the head guidance counselor. I never really had to interact with them, but from what the other students and teachers said they both did an okay job. That's all I can really tell you."
Sunny scribbled out a few more sentences before putting the pencil down. "This is all really amazing, [Y/N]. I only knew a little bit about the Guardians from my dad's research, but it's nice to get a first-hoof account on what they were really like."
"I still don't know much about them," you admitted. "I'd only been at the school for a few months."
"True. But compared to other ponies --- besides Discord --- you're the only one in all of Equestria who understood what our national heroes were like. I only wish I could know what they were like. It'd be nice to talk with them, especially the Princess. But let's head on to question number two: what was it like to be a student at the School of Friendship?"
"The school? Well, it was a bit unorthodox in comparison to other schools. There were a few general studies classes like math and history, but for the most part the school offered a hands-on or hooves-on experience for the students. Basically, your grades weren't just dependent on what you did with paper and pencil."
"What kind of hooves-on experience?" Sunny asked.
You bit your bottom lip. Even though you've been at the school for less than half a year, you barely had any recollection of the earlier assignments and tests you had. Whenever you had to do something at school, you would do it, and once the task was done you would instantly forget what you had done. You did not even want to come to the school in the first place, so you had no intention of making any meaningful memories. But luckily for you, you remembered some of the latest work you did.
"Well, for one example, before I came here I had just finished taking my midterm exam for my loyalty class. I had a partner with me and our task was to work together to retrieve a token from this group of grundles in the Whitetail Woods."
"What are grundles?" Izzy asked, with a hooffull of breakfast still in her mouth.
"They're this race of furry creatures that lived in the woods. Nothing dangerous happened, but the grundles put up a fight to stop us from getting the token. There were teachers and aides around to make sure things were restrained, but the experience was still a bit overwhelming --- having to fight with them, you know."
Sunny seemed a bit concerned. "Well, I hope things weren't always that hectic."
You shook your head. "Not really. My loyalty professor just thought that me and my classmates needed to know what it was like to have each other's back in a struggle --- or something like that. But for the most part, classes were really chilled. For my laughter class, our professor made us do comedy performances after school in Ponyville."
"Oh. What was the purpose of doing those performances?"
"It was the laughter class, so I guess it was to make other creatures happy."
"Okay. Well, what kind of jokes did you make?"
"I... honestly can't remember. The only one I vaguely remember had something to do with squirrels and mac n' cheese, and to be honest I had no idea what I was trying to do with that. But I got a C, so they couldn't have been that bad."
"I'm pretty sure there were a few people in the crowd that must have liked what you said."
"Really? Well, like I said I don't really remember that much about the performance."
"Okay, then. Well, next question: were there any non-pony students at the school? If so, what was it like being around some many different creatures?"
You scratched the back of your neck. "Sure. There were plenty of different species at the school. There were griffons, yaks, dragons, hippogriffs, changelings, kirins, diamond dogs, abyssinians, avians --- you name it. I'd already grown up in a multicultural town, so I was pretty much used to seeing creatures besides ponies around."
The orange mare's eyes shined a bit, and her smile grew. "Did you learn anything interesting about the other creatures' cultures? Whether it be at school or your home?"
You bit your lip again. "I don't know that much about any culture other than my own. I think that money and gold were still important to griffons, but some of the younger generations were trying to move away from that type of greed. I also believe that kirins valued honesty very much, and changelings held charity to a high regard. Sorry, but I'm not a cultural expert."
Sunny's cheerfulness did not disappear. "No, it's fine. Anything helps, no matter how small. I just have one final question for you: how peaceful was Equestria during your time, and was there any conflict between the three pony races arising at the time?"
"Well, I like I saw before, I'm not really a big follower of politics, so I don't exactly know if Equestria was in any trouble. But we didn't have any wars or famines or major disease outbreaks after I was born, so I guess that the country was at harmony, or something like that. The last major conflicts before I was born was the Legion of Doom causing chaos and the Knights of Harmony attacking Canterlot."
"But there was no conflict between the three races?"
You shook your head. "No. There wasn't any infighting amongst ponies. But there were cases of speciesism toward non-pony creatures in Equestria, especially where I was from. Not every pony approved of so many immigrants coming into the country --- definitely not the older generations. I remember hearing a lot of gripes about how Equestria had to belong to ponies only."
The details you mentioned seemed to bother Sunny. "That's a shame. I personally would love to share Equestrian culture with any creature that came here. As long as they were friendly. It's very sad that bigotry existed even during Equestria's golden age."
After saying that, Sunny brought her eyes back to her book. Keeping to herself for a short while, she muttered and flipped back and forth between different pages until she closed the book.
"Well, I got to say that that's all the questions I have for you right now," she said.
"Really?" Izzy asked, tilting her head. "I thought you would have more to ask them."
"I know. I thought I would, too, but maybe that'll change later on." Without warning, she hugged the book close to her chest and bubbled out a few squeals. "OH! I just can't wait to ask you more questions for this book I'm planning! I don't know if I'll be able to find a publisher, especially since it might be a small book, but I still need everypony in Equestria to know what our heroes and the old days were like!"
Like Izzy, you were also surprised that Sunny did not pile you on with more questions about what Equestria was like during your time, though that fact did not leave you disappointed. You were glad that Sunny was satisfied at the moment, as it was a fear of yours that she would begin to ask some questions that might have been invasive to you.
But you had to admit hearing Sunny rely on your narrative of what Equestria was like made you feel old.
Hearing the sound of a clink, you turned toward Izzy and saw her empty cup and her plate vacant of everything except utensils, a puddle of syrup, and a few crumbs of hash browns.
"Boy, am I full," Izzy announced, rubbing her stomach with content. "Do you guys want anymore food?"
Sunny shook her head. "No thanks, Izzy. I'm good, too. What about you, [Y/N]?"
You looked down at your plate and was surprised to see that like Izzy you had finished your breakfast, aside from the cup of orange juice you still needed to drink. You also took a peak at the platters, but despite how appealing the food was, the sight did not induce within you any feelings of hunger.
"I'm good," you said before addressing Izzy. "Thank you for the breakfast."
"Yeah, Izzy. Thanks again for cooking," Sunny said.
Izzy got out of her chair. "Thanks, guys! I'll just take care of the dishes and food lickety-split!"
Your vision was suddenly overwhelmed by a flash of purple light. Once you unshielded your eyes, you saw that the plates, platers, and other items on the table --- excluding your own cup --- were encased in a purple aura. Everything surrounded by the aura was then lifted into the air and floated over to Izzy, whose horn was glowing a similar color.
"Don't worry. I'm not gonna get your cup."
Surrounded by a ring of stuff, Izzy walked over to the kitchen but was stopped when Sunny called out to her.
"You don't have to wash the dishes or wrap up the platters," the earth pony said with a smile. "It's only fair I do them since you did breakfast."
Izzy did not seem to mind that proposal. "Sure, Sunny! Let me just put them on the counter!"
Sunny got up from her seat and headed to the kitchen. After a minute, Izzy returned to the table, seating herself at her original spot. Without turning around, you heard the running water of the faucet turn on, indicating that Sunny was beginning her cleaning.
"So, you're really from the past?" Izzy asked you.
You nodded. "Yep."
"So Equestria really used to be this big huge place full of all sorts of creatures?"
"It was. Like I told Sunny, ponies weren't the only residents when I was born. Also, Equestria wasn't just limited to three towns."
Your last sentences worried you. You pondered on what exactly could have happened to your home to cause places like Manehatten and Las Pegasus to be depopulated, as well as cause the non-pony races to disappear. The fact that nocreature here could tell you what caused Equestria to fall apart scared you as to how far into the future you were sent.
"Well, Maretime Bay isn't that big of a place," Izzy continued, "but the town still has some sights and stuff that you might enjoy. Now that I'm thinking about it, how do you feel about going on a tour?"
"A tour?"
"Yeah. It'll be a while before Zipp and Pipp get back, so while we're waiting we could go around and show you what this place has to offer. So, how does that sound to you?"
You brought your attention to the living room. Besides the couch you slept on, a few chairs, and a weird, black rectangle that was pressed up against the wall, you could not really find anything in the house that you wanted to occupy yourself with. And given that the mares' rooms were all that were upstairs, you felt yourself confined to the main floor.
"I guess we could do something like that," you said. "It's definitely better than staying in the house all day."
"I hope you guys don't mind if I overheard you all," Sunny said, returning to the table. "I was just gonna ask if you wanted to watch TV with while we wait for Zipp and Pipp to come back, but going around Maretime Bay is a much better idea."
You tilted your head. "What's a TV?"