Sunset Shimmer sighed. This was the fifth time in ten minutes that she had heard the hoofsteps behind her suddenly stop, and that she had to turn around to find the two FBI agents staring at something with the biggest, goofiest smiles on their faces and the most annoying laughter coming out of them she had ever heard.
“For the love of… Are you two children or something?”
“We can’t help it,” Shining said. “This world… everything in it is so beautiful.”
“Maybe in comparison to your world,” Sunset said. “Though I wouldn’t let your guard down if I were you. Celestia does her best to make her country look nice, but it holds dark secrets under the surface.”
“Hello little guy,” Cadance said to an approaching bunny rabbit, apparently ignoring Sunset Shimmer’s words. “Oh, I wish I had a carrot for you, but we didn’t bring any provisions.”
“Which is more reason to pick up the pace,” Sunset said as she approached the two. She stopped as she heard her stomach growling and her face turned red. “Great, now I’m feeling hungry. I hope that town’s nearby. Why didn’t we bring any provisions, anyway?”
“It wasn’t really necessary,” Shining said. “Sombra was never particularly skilled at hand-to-hand combat. Logically, being a pony should make him even easier to bring in. His only real advantage is that he got a two-day head start because the portal needed to… charge, or something.”
“But he also has that experimental weapon, right?” Sunset asked.
“According to our boss, it’s easily evaded,” Cadance said. “It takes time to charge the shot, and with your magic capability and knowledge of Equestria terrain, we figured it wouldn’t take long at all to locate and subdue the target.”
“What do you know about my magic?”
“Only what we’ve seen in your diary,” Shining said. Sunset shot the stallion a glare that sent a chill down his spine. “W-We only read through it once! The first week you were in our world, we searched your room to get a better idea of who exactly you were and read your diary then.”
“How dare you?! If it wasn’t for the fact that your boss is offering to pardon my crimes, you would both be a pile of ash right now!” Sunset Shimmer felt her stomach rumbling once more and turned around with a huff. “Let’s just get to that town already! My magic is weaker when I’m hungry…”
“How are we going to get any food?” Shining asked. “We don’t have any money.”
“I stole a crown from a Princess,” Sunset said. “I’m sure I can grab a few bits from some passerbys.”
“I don’t exactly approve of pickpocketing,” Shining told her.
“Would you rather we let the target escape because we’re too weak to fight him?” Sunset asked, receiving silence as her response. “That’s what I thought.”
“Well, I guess Equestria’s not really in our jurisdiction anyway,” Cadance said. “And I have to admit I could really go for fries right about now…”
With a sigh, Shining Armor reluctantly agreed and followed after the two. “Fine, but just this once! I guess the ends justify the means, and Sombra needs to be taken down…”
“I see some weather ponies up ahead,” Sunset Shimmer said. “And some tall buildings! That’s Manehatten alright!”
“What’s a ‘weather pony’?” Cadance asked. “Are they… moving the clouds?”
“That’s right. Weather moves on its own where you’re from,” Sunset muttered, confusing the two behind her even more. “Basically, they’re in charge of making the weather around these parts.”
“‘Making the weather’?” Shining asked.
“In Equestria, the flora and fauna are incapable of tending to themselves save for us ponies, and the weather cannot move on its own. Essentially, everything in the land is controlled by us.”
“Oh come on, that’s ridiculous,” Shining said with a chuckle. “So what, if you don’t move the clouds into position yourselves then there’s no rain?”
“Precisely,” Sunset confirmed. “The only place known to ponykind that this doesn’t happen, is the Everfree Forest. There, the plants and animals survive on their own, and the weather moves of its own accord.” Sunset Shimmer smiled, remembering a time when she was a filly that such stories used to frighten her so much. ‘To think I would later grow up in a world where such things are the norm.’
“I can see the city,” Cadance said as she narrowed her eyes, focussing on the city of Manehatten in the distance. “Wow, it’s big. Sombra could hide in there for days.”
“Which is perfect,” Shining said. “In a place that big, he could spend a while hiding out there. There’s a very real chance he’s still in there.”
“First thing’s first,” Sunset reminded the two agents. “Let’s gather up a few bits and find somewhere where we can eat.”
Shining Armor and Cadance both nodded, and the three continued on their way towards the huge metropolis before them.
“Thank you ma’am, have a nice day,” the cashier at MareDonald’s said as her customer left with her food. “Can I take your order ma’am?” she asked as Sunset Shimmer approached the counter.
“I’ll have a daisy and daffodil sandwich,” she said as she levitated some bits onto the counter. “What about you two?” she asked Shining Armor and Cadance.
“I’ll just have a hamburger,” Shining said. “No ketchup.”
“Hamburger?” the mare at the counter asked. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we sell that here.”
“Ponies, Shining,” Cadance whispered to him. “No meat, remember?”
“Oh. Dang it, guess I’m eating healthy today.” Shining looked over the menu, his eyebrows creased as he tried to comprehend what each of the individual meals were.
“He meant a hayburger,” Sunset said to the mare at the counter.
“I’ll just have a salad,” Cadance said, sure that that would be something ponies would have. As luck would have it, she was right.
The mare took the bits for their meals and after two minutes of waiting, their food was ready. “Thank you ma’am, have a nice day,” the mare said as the three moved over towards a window seat to enjoy their meals.
“So,” Shining said as he opened his own bag up and took out the burger from inside, “This ‘hayburger’, I assume it contains…”
“Hay, correct,” Sunset said as she took a sip of her juice. “Don’t worry. Biologically speaking, you should be able to eat it just fine.”
“But what about taste?” Shining asked. “I got pushed into some hay as a kid and let me tell you, it did not taste good.”
“Well, as a human, I found the scent of meat to be quite attractive, and the flavour to be quite good,” Sunset said as she pulled her sandwich out of her paper bag. “This is just a theory, but perhaps your taste buds changed along with your body.”
“Why don’t you give it a try?” Cadance suggested as she fumbled with the plastic fork she had been given. “While I try to figure out how in the world you pick things up with these hooves.”
Shining Armor stared at the burger balanced on top of his hoof, cringing at the thought of actually eating hay. His rumbling stomach compelled him to give it a try, though, and he slowly took a small bite out of his food.
“Well?” Sunset asked before taking a bite out of her own sandwich. ‘Oh my goodness have I missed this taste.’
“It’s…” Shining swallowed and his eyes widened as he stared at his burger. “It’s good.” He took another, bigger bite and chewed it much more quickly that time. “Man, this is great!”
“Glad to hear it,” Cadance said as she sandwiched her fork between both of her hooves. “I’m having a little trouble myself. Sunset, a little help please?”
“Practice makes perfect,” Sunset said. “I have to conserve my energy for our encounter with-”
“Sombra!” Cadance shouted as she dropped her fork, pointing a hoof past Shining Armor’s head. Shining turned around and saw a grey-coated, black-maned Unicorn stallion pass by them outside. “That’s Sombra, isn’t it?”
“It certainly looks like him,” Shining said as he cautiously watched the pony passing by the store. “But we can’t be sure just yet. Let’s follow him and see where he goes.”
“I’m not done eating yet,” Sunset told him.
“Then you’ll just have to bring our meals along with us,” Shining said as he put his half-eaten burger back into his bag. Cadance put her salad away and the two rose out of their seats, giving Sunset Shimmer expectant looks.
With a sigh, Sunset put hr sandwich back into her paper bag and used her magic to carry the three bags behind her as she followed the two agents out of the store.