We finished eating and left the store within just a few minutes of entering. I suppose we really were ravenous. I bounced on the spot for a second or two after we left, high on pure happiness.
"Awh, bless! You're freaking adorable, I swear to Luna." Circuit Boost said, smiling at me. Unlike most ponies, when he smiled at me, I could tell that it was genuine. When other ponies smiled at me, it was either pitiful or fearful. Sometimes, it was an odd mixture of both. Only my parents and my aunts smiled at me with genuine affection. But Circuit... When he smiled at me, not only did I see the true happiness and affection behind it, I felt it, too.
"I notice you said Luna, not Celestia..." I said, smiling.
"Oh, yeah. You noticed that, huh?" He grinned at me. "Well, I know that they're your family, and I don't wish to be rude to Princess Celestia, but... I like Princess Luna better." He admitted, blushing a little.
"Hey, you wanna know something?" I replied. "So do I." I giggled nervously, but my nerves quickly went away when Circuit gave me a small, gentle nudge.
We walked around town for a while. I noticed a lot of interesting-looking stores and ponies on the streets. Every now and then, Circuit would stop and have a short conversation with some passersby. He was quite the popular, sociable pony. I could never attempt that back home in Ponyville. I'd tried once in the past, and it had ended rather horrifically. I shuddered at the memory. Chaos magic wreaked havoc on the town that day, and it was a nightmare. Worst thing about it was, I wasn't the one who flipped out and set Ponyville on fire. It was my father who did it.
I'd just tried to make some friends, but everypony just ran away. Some screamed. Others shouted some really hurtful, nasty things. I was feeling pretty bad and I had started to cry, so I decided to go home. Little did I know that my father had been watching from the sky, and he had seen everything. And he was not happy in the slightest. He was absolutely furious and would not listen to reason.
"Daddy... What are you doing..?" I asked hesitantly, as he descended from the clouds. He began to terrorise Ponyville; ripping the houses apart and setting other buildings on fire. He made some ponies float around uncontrollably, making them visibly nauseous.
"Daddy, please! Listen to me!" I shouted up at him. "Please stop this! Stop this, so we can just go home!"
"No, Velvet!" My father boomed, causing the ground beneath my hooves to shake violently. "They have shunned and hurt you! They must be punished!" I begged and pleaded, but he would not listen. So I just went home by myself.
When he realised that I was leaving, daddy dearest stopped taking his rage out on the poor, frightened ponies. Sure, they may have been somewhat harsh and nasty, but I couldn't really blame them. Although it wasn't my fault where I came from, I could completely understand them being afraid of something or someone that they did not understand. Well, they didn't understand me yet, at least. I was hoping that one day, maybe when I had learned to fully understand myself, the others would understand and accept me, too. Maybe someday... Someone might even come to love me.
I was so buried in my memories that I almost bumped right into Circuit. He'd stopped in front of me suddenly and gone very, very quiet.
"Hey..." I whispered, walking around to stand next to him again. "Whatever is the matter..?"
"Stay behind me." He said in a hushed, deadly serious tone. "I think..." He whirled around to look behind me, staring at the ponies walking by. A few gave us some odd looks, but I didn't care. I knew that Circuit had his reasons. "I think we're being followed. I just have this feeling. Don't you?" He looked at me with concern. I nodded. The furs on my body were standing on end. I'd been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere.
After two minutes of nothing but low growling sounds originating from Circuit, I nudged him. "I think we're okay now..." He flicked his ears back and forth a bit, standing up straight again. "Look," I said softly. "Everyone else has gone back to normal... I think the threat has passed." I nuzzled his cheek, making him flush a rather flattering shade of red. "Come on, weren't we going somewhere~?" I asked in a much cheerier tune, walking a forward a little and brushing his face ever-so-lightly with the tip of my tail. With that, he was instantly back at my side, blushing even deeper than before. "Hey, handsome. Ya got a little somethin' on your face there...~" I said, winking.
"Wh-!" He stammered for a moment, before regaining his composure. "Grr...~ I was just taken by surprise, that's all..." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Heheh..."
"Awh, if you say so...~" I said softly and calmly. Just as he looked like he was calming down a little, I kissed his cheek, making the red hue return to his face. "Guess you weren't expecting that, either~?"
One of his back legs twitched, and his left eye followed suit. "L-let's go home..." He swallowed hard and took another moment to steady himself before speaking again. "It's not far. C'mon, then." And with that, he took the lead again.