A pair of deep blue eyes peered out through glass, the ghostly reflection of the yellow-coated mare they belonged to washed over the landscape as it slowly shifted by, far in the distance. She leaned back after a while and smiled in content. She took a moment to straighten her bright orange mane, then sifted though her bag until she found something to read, eventually settling on a newspaper from that morning. However, she never managed to read more than a few lines of text before her eyes drifted out the window again, her thoughts following suit.
It had been a long ride since that morning, but she didn't mind at all. After all, she’d saved her bits and planned this vacation to Neighagra Falls for quite some time. All day she couldn't stop thinking about what to do first. It wasn't every day she'd get to go to one of the most majestic places in all of Equestria.
She giggled to herself in excitement, realizing she was being a little silly. The first thing she'd have to do was check into her hotel. From there she could figure out everything else.
“What do you mean my reservation was set for next month!?” the mare shouted in a mix of outrage and panic.
“I’m sorry miss…” the hotel clerk double-checked the name on his list, “Sunny Delight. But that’s what my schedule says, and I’m afraid we don’t have any more rooms available either; this is a popular time to visit the Falls after all.”
Sunny put a hoof to her head and went over her options, only to come up with nothing. How could this have happened? After all her planning, and everything she’d looked forward to doing… months of saving her bits ruined by one little mix-up of dates! Even worse, it was already getting dark out, and the train station wouldn't be open until morning.
How was she going to get home? Where was she going to stay? If she was lucky there'd be another hotel somewhere in the city with a room available; she didn't even want to think about having to sleep somewhere on the street or in a dirty alleyway. But with every passing realization her hope started to dim.
She felt herself start to sweat and tried to get her breathing under control. "No... no no. Celestia curse my stupidity."
“I wish there was something I could do?” the receptionist colt offered weakly.
Sunny realized she was making a scene, and thanked Celestia there wasn't anypony else around to see it this time.
“No… no it’s alright. I’ll just have to come back some other time.” she said, having trouble hiding the defeat in her voice. “Do you know when the next train to Ponyville leaves? Maybe if I'm lucky I can get home before the station closes.”
“H-hey, hold on a moment.” a stallion hesitantly spoke up from somewhere out her line of sight. “Sorry, I couldn’t help overhearing and I thought- well y-you see…” he stuttered out, trying to find the right words. “My friends couldn’t make it. So… I was wondering since I’ve got two extra beds in my room, maybe…”
Sunny Delight stared at the Pegasus before her. She had to admit, he was quite pleasant to look at; his dark blue coat contrasted nicely with his neatly combed, sky blue mane, and it drew the eye to his face. Yet despite his looks, he acted and spoke so nervously. It was a little surprising to her.
Then Sunny realized she was staring, and considered herself lucky that he didn't notice. He just kept trying to talk, stuttering out the words and making gestures with his wings and hooves to get his point across.
“I mean, y-you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I was just, y’know… offering.” He said and averted his eyes downward, flicking back up to her every second or so.
“Y-yes!” Sunny jumped at his offer before he changed his mind. “Yes of course! Thank you. You’re a life saver Mister…” she extended a hoof to him.
“H-Hail Slick.” He answered and shook it gently, “My name’s Hail Slick. And you’re Sunny Delight, right?”
Sunny nodded. “You can call me Sunny D though, all my friends do.”
“Sunny D.” he repeated the name with a small smile, “Well my room is on the third floor, and I’ve got a spare key here. Y-you want to go there now, or..?”
Sunny gave him a smile. “Lead the way.”
The hallways were a bit narrow, so Sunny walked behind Hail, giving them both room for their suitcases to be pulled behind them. They didn’t say much along the way, probably because neither was sure what say. ‘How’s the weather?’ would probably just make things even more awkward.
“Well, here we are!” Hail announced as he unlocked their room and led the way inside.
The room was gorgeous! The entryway had tile floors, and led into a sitting area complete with a big velvet couch and two matching armchairs. Flowering potted plants decorated the corners and windowsills, and the balcony gave a spectacular view of the small city beyond it. Outside they could see the building lights dotting the inky blackness, mirroring the starlit sky above.
Off to the sides were the bedrooms, where Hail was already busy unpacking his suitcase atop one of the mattresses. From how the material sagged underneath the weight of the suitcase, the beds were obviously very squishy.
Sunny was able to confirm this firsthoof when she flopped onto one of the adjacent beds and found herself nearly swallowed by it.
She heard an amused chuckle come from Hail, the first thing that out of him that didn’t seem like it was going to fall apart out of nervousness. Sunny hoped to see more of this side of him while they were here, the part that wasn’t a bundle of nerves.
“The beds here are really great. My friend Glimmer Sheen always insists on paying for top quality rooms whenever we go anywhere.” Hail told her, only for a sad look to cross his face a second later. “It’s really too bad they couldn’t come this time, we were supposed to get together like we do every year, but… I guess family and work just get in the way sometimes.”
“Hey, it’s alright.” Sunny said, walking over and putting a hoof on his shoulder. “You’ll have a great time, and then you can tell them all about it! Maybe get them some souvenirs so they don't feel left out.”
Hail gave her a weak smile and nodded. “I guess. I’m gonna try and get to sleep so I can get up early tomorrow.”
“Okay… goodnight.” Sunny said and climbed into her own bed, the comfy mattress nearly swallowing her alive again. She reached over and flicked the bedside lamp off, closing her eyes a moment later.
She was only starting to drift off to sleep when Hail whispered over to her. “Hey Sunny… do you like waffles?”
“I love waffles!” Sunny said as she gleefully shoved another bite of syrupy filled goodness into her mouth, getting more than a little whipped cream on her muzzle as she did. In all the commotion last night, she’d completely forgotten to eat anything, and was practically starving when she woke up.
It was fortunate that Hail Slick was familiar with the area, and had a whole mental book of his favorite places to eat. Speaking of whom…
Sunny took a moment to swallow before glancing up at the blue pegasus who was digging into his own plate of food with just as much fervor. It was only when he had to pause and wash it down with a glass of orange juice that he noticed her looking at him, and his cheeks immediately flushed a deep red.
“Ah, um… yeah. The waffles here are really good.” He said and tried to save face by delicately dabbing the corners of his mouth with a napkin.
Sunny couldn’t help but giggle a little. “So Hail, what sights were you planning on seeing today?”
Hail pulled out a small tourist map of the area, thankful for the distraction from his messy eating habits. He unfolded it on the table and pointed an index feather at a cluster of buildings near the city's shopping district.
“I was hoping to take a tour of the Technology Museum today; they’ve got a new exhibit on hydro-electricity. I thought it would be interesting to hear about the pros and cons of building water turbines at the Falls. Apparently there was some movement by a bunch of nature advocates a while back, who wanted the museum to take down the display. So I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.” Hail explained as best he could remember from reading a news article some months ago.
“What about the Falls themselves? Don’t you want to see those first?” Sunny asked just as Hail was taking another bite.
“Mmph…” Hail swallowed and answered, “When I’m with my friends, we tend to save to Falls for the last day so we can take a group photo. The first time we were here we made the mistake of going on the first day, and well… we kinda started on a high note and our trip got more and more boring while we tried to kill time. So we decided next time to save the best for last!” Hail Slick explained. “It became sort of a… tradition. Kinda.”
“Huh, that makes a lot of sense actually.” Sunny said and sipped her coffee.
“Well, ya know… if you want to go see them on your own I’m not stopping you.” Hail told her.
Sunny thought about it for a second, but then decided, “Nah. I think I’ll stick with you for a while, if you’re okay with that.”
Hail smiled. “I’d love it.”
Clouds rolled over the starlit sky. On the streets below, street lamps cast a soft orange light.
Sunny Delight found herself lost in thought as she idly picked at her half-finished plate of fancy pasta. The last several days passed faster than she realized. Time really did fly when you were having fun. Despite that slight hiccup near the beginning, her trip to Neighagra had been a wonderful experience, and she was sad that it was coming to a close.
Truly it was all thanks to Hail Slick that she’d had as good a time as she did, and not just because he let her share his room. That kind-hearted, fidgety pegasus took her to places she would have barely given a passing glance at if she were on her own.
In fact, she and Hail Slick had just gotten back from the ‘trip-closing climax’ by taking a photo of themselves next to the Falls. Hopefully she’d be the topic of a few stories Hail would be telling his friends when he got back, even if it was the one where they wandered off a hiking trail and spent half the day trying to get back before they were finally found by a passing ranger patrol. She doubted he'd let her forget that one if she tried.
Right now they decided to stop at one of their favorite restaurants for a quick dinner before the trains departed. She already had her suitcase sitting beside her, stretched much fuller than when she’d arrived due to how many souvenirs she’d bought.
Still, the most precious things she’d take away from her vacation would no doubt be the memories. Especially those of Hail Slick.
“Um… S-sunny?” Hail spoke up rather suddenly. “I… I need to ask you something.”
Sunny perked her head up, giving him her full attention. He’d been acting strangely when they were at the Falls. He’d had trouble breathing, but dismissed it when she brought it up. She’d caught him staring at her on multiple occasions only to dart his gaze away the second she looked back, and she wondered if she had something on her face or caught in her teeth.
“I… I just wanted to know…” Hail began, stuttering as he always did when talking with her. “Uh… can you pass the salt?! Y-yeah… the salt, that’s... what I meant to ask for.” he trailed off.
Sunny looked at him oddly, but gave him the little glass shaker anyway.
The rest of the meal passed in silence, with Hail and Sunny resuming their usual game of ‘Don’t look. Look, then look away.’
“Well, thank you for everything Hail Slick.” Sunny said to the blue pegasus as they got out of the restaurant. “This really has been a wonderful time, and it’s all thanks to you.”
“It was nothing.” the stallion blushed, “So where are you going to go now?” he ventured to ask.
“Oh, back to Ponyville. You’ve probably never heard of it; small town and all.” Sunny said, the realization that she’d soon be returning to the grind of her everyday life dawning on her.
“W-well, have a safe trip!” Hail said with a cheery and awkward smile, his wings stiff at his sides.
“Yeah… I will.” Sunny said and turned to go.
Still, as she plodded slowly along down the street, Sunny felt as though something was wrong. Unfulfilled; that was the word. She felt as though there was something she hadn’t done in Neighagra, but she’d gone to nearly every museum in town with Hail, dined at all the popular restaurants with Hail, taken a picture near the falls with Hail. What could she have been forgetting-?
“Sunny wait!” Hail called from behind her, and she turned to find the stallion mere inches away from her face with a determined look in his eyes.
Hail knew this was his last chance. The words had been in his mind for days now, and he’d rehearsed them silently in the mirror every morning, waiting for today. But when they’d gotten to the falls… the setting sun reflected off her coat so stunningly, and the water rushing behind her created a scene of pure bliss... he’d lost his nerve and the words stayed caught in his throat.
He’d hoped to save his fumble by asking her over dinner, but once again, he found himself unable to get the words out. He couldn’t let this last chance slip him by, he wouldn’t. It was now or never.
“Sunny D, I got you something.” Hail said and extended a hoof. In it was a small keychain charm in the shape of a teddy bear, with a big red heart covering its belly.
“A-and look,” he continued as she took it. He pulled out a necklace of tiny metal beads, on it were several other small charms; a tiny picture of an elderly couple, a miniature metal tea pot, a polished bead of tree sap, a baby tooth, and finally… a bear just like the one he was giving her. “I’ve got a matching one. This charm necklace has something to signify each of the ponies in my life that are important to me. Now you’re one of them.”
Sunny was about to thank him, and tell him how touched she was, but he paused her just before she could.
“Sunny Delight. I’ve had the most wonderful time here with you. And I really don’t want to say goodbye and know that I might not ever see you again.” Hail told her. His stutter was surprisingly absent, as he was allowing himself to speak from the heart, clear and true. “Will you let me be yours? Your coltfriend, your special somepony, or whatever you want to call it? Anything, as long as this won’t be the last time I get to see you. I don’t know if I could- Mmph!”
Hail felt himself blush hotter than he ever had before as Sunny pressed her lips firmly against his. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of warmth radiating from those two soft pads. The moment seemed both an instant, and a perfect eternity until she pulled away, smiling that beautiful smile to him.
“S-so does that mean yes?”
Sunny just giggled and gave him another quick peck. “Drop by Ponyville sometime. Find Sugarcube Corner and talk to the mare named Pinkie Pie. She’s a friend of mine, and something tells me she’ll want to welcome you to town personally. It’s just kind of her thing.”
“O-okay. And Sunny D? Thank you.” Hail said, sharing one last hug with his new marefriend before she had to catch her train.
On the other hoof, his train wouldn’t leave until the next morning, and he still had to pack up his belongings. With a smile on his face and a song in his heart, he skipped back to the hotel room, unaware of what awaited him.
Sunny Delight sat on the train car home, sinking into the seat much as she had when she’d arrived. However, rather than drifting out the window at the quickly darkening skies, her eyes rested on the adorable little charm Hail Slick had given to her.
She couldn’t wait to see him again.