Sunny Smile climbed into her bed, giving her wings a little flutter to give herself a boost. She scooted her tiny body under the quilted covers, letting the warm blanket sap away the numbness in her freezing limbs. Her innards were warm already, having been just filled with cabbage soup, so it didn’t take long for her entire body to immediately warm up. Sunny loved that about winter; it getting cold just so she could experience the comfort of being warmed up.
A large growling noise echoed in Sunny’s room. Sunny looked towards her stomach, and released a teary-eyed sigh. The little filly rolled over in bed and stared at her hole-filled wall. It disappointed her each day that she would have to go to bed every night with a non-full feeling in her tummy. She was a growing child; she needed food. But there was never enough at dinnertime for seconds. Sunny wished she had something, just something else to eat…
A revelation dawned on Sunny’s face. She ripped the covers off her body, and dove for her saddlebag in the corner of the room. She undid the buckle on the pouch and tore through her saddlebag, pulling out all of her books and papers and tossing them to the side. Sunny gasped as she finally found what she was searching for.
Afraid of damaging it in any way, Sunny grabbed the orange lollipop. Cradling it like a baby bird, she trotted over to her bed and placed it on her pillow.
She climbed back up onto her bed and just sat there, staring at the candy not two hooves away from her. She only permitted herself to look at it, relishing the moment. Slowly, she picked the lollipop up and unwrapped the plastic coating, trying her best not to damage the candy in any way possible. Sunny discarded the clear wrapper to her side and beheld her treat.
To normal, privileged children, this was a plain lollipop, nothing special. Sunny had other ideas. This small token of appreciation from her teacher was a GODSEND. Sunny brought the sweet closer to her face. Her bright, curious eyes took in every single detail of the sweet. It was a translucent orange hue and the stick was long and white plastic. The candy itself was shaped round and flat, almost like a bit. Same size too. She wondered how the thing was made and what made it look the way it did.
She brought the sucker up to her nose and gave a big whiff. Heaven. The sweetest smell of orange filled her nostrils and made her spine tingle. A waterfall flowed from her mouth, desperate to experience this wondrous combination of sucrose and corn syrup. She had no idea what those were, but didn’t care. All she longed to do was to just force the lollipop past her lips and overload the senses of her taste buds, to have the chance to taste something that she never had the chance to. Should she chomp the lollipop clean off and chew it until nothing remained? Should she just shove it into her mouth and slowly chip away at it with her tongue? The possibilities were endless!
No… she would not waste this treasure. After all, when was the next time she would get another chance to get another one? As much as she wished to act like other children with their candy, greedily chomping down on their enormous candy bars, she couldn’t. She had to savor every last bit of it. Exercising amazing self-control for a filly, Sunny brought the sweet to her mouth and stopped. She stuck her tongue out and poked the lollipop with the tip of it.
Sunny’s eyes rolled up into the back of her head, letting the sweet citrusy flavor spread out across her tongue. Her mouth was crying out in ecstasy! The elevating bliss she felt was incomparable! Her body began to shake, every pleasure sensor in her brain firing off in random directions. She leaned back against her pillow, a large smile spreading across her face. The taste was everything she dreamed, and much more welcome a flavor than the horrible gag-inducing cabbage soup she ate each day.
The last remnants of the flavor disappeared down her throat. Still light-headed from the euphoric sensation, Sunny wobbled to and fro as she sat back up. She picked up her lollipop and brought it in front of her face again. Without willing it to, her mouth opened and her tongue stretched out towards the sweet, longing for that heavenly sensation again. Sunny closed her eyes and fought back against her own subconscious. By sheer force of will, she pulled the lollipop away from her mouth and dropped her hoof to her side.
What Sunny had was enough for one day. She took the wrapper and rewrapped it around the concentrated happiness on a stick, preserving it in all its orangey and sugary goodness. She then walked over to her shelf and pulled out a small wooden box, colorfully decorated with crayon scribbles of rainbows and sunshine. With a deep breath, she placed the lollipop in the box and put it back on the shelf. Tomorrow she would do the exact same thing; just let herself have a lick. If this candy was anything like the chocolate bar she got once a year for her birthday, she would be tasting this candy for at least the next four months. The thought of tasting the sucker every day for the next six or seven months filled her with excitement and hope.
The sound of scraping metal reached Sunny’s ears. Sunny shimmied herself back under the covers, wearing a grin of anticipation. Pinkie Pie appeared around the corner, dragging her leg across the floor. She gave her body a few good jerks before she was able to get herself beside her daughter.
“Alright, Sunny!” Pinkie sang, placing both hooves on the bed. “What do you want to hear tonight? I have a story about how about the small earth pony who learned magic to topple an evil principal? Or a diamond dog that outsmarted mean farmer ponies? OOH! OOH! I can tell you a story about a pony who traveled the world in a giant peach!”
Smile folded her legs and looked off into the corner. Which story would she like to hear next? The peach one sounded enticing, but she was still hungry and didn’t feel like getting tantalized. The earth pony learning magic seemed interesting, but given that she had nice teachers who gave her lollipops, it wouldn’t be in good taste to hear that one yet. The diamond dog one just sounded boring.
Sunny’s gaze drifted towards one of the numerous holes in her wall. There was one hole she asked her parents to never board up: the one with a great view. It allowed her to see directly down Mane Street and be able to see the city in its best light. Another thing Sunny loved about winter was the snowfall. To her, snowfall made everything more beautiful.
Most of the city was on a large hill, with the buildings getting larger as they got towards the top. And directly on the top of the hill, towering over every building next to it, was the Chocolate Factory. With the lights adorning the edges of the streets and the way the main road led straight up to the huge gates of the chocolate factory, it almost resembled a royal palace. Sunny had never seen a royal palace, but if her mother’s stories were anything to go by, then as far she knew the factory might as well be one.
Sunny’s eyes brightened. She knew exactly which story she wanted to hear.
“Mama… Can you tell me about Candy Mane?”