A Funny Little Thing Called Loveby EggtaroChaptersWhat is Love?Baby Don't Hurt MeDon't Hurt MeWhat is Love?What is love, exactly? We all have asked ourselves this question at some point in our lifetime, haven't we? Now, now, don't be shy to admit it, for there is nothing to be ashamed of in the first place. The question is a common one. It isn't rare, nor is it a stupid one. Us humans have this insatiable thirst for knowledge --- and fully understanding human emotions is one of them. So, do not be agitated if someone were to ask you the question. Just tell them how you feel, what you think, what you believe. For there is yet to be any real answer for the question, if there is any at all. Each and everyone of you have (or will) experienced love in your own way --- no two humans will go through the same experience as you did. If it did? Life will be just plain boring. You won't find an answer to the question by reading this story, however. So, please, do not get your hopes up. What you will find from this story, however, is how one dude discovers, experiences, and accepts love into his life. No, it isn't the love you'd have for your family, nor is it the love you'd have for your friends. Nay, the love that our hero will experience and feel is the love one gets when one falls in love with a girl --- how falling in love teaches love to the once loveless hero. A lesson about love. Did that make any sense to you? No? That's love for you, pal. So, where does our story begins? * * * * * * It has been over a month since the incident at the Battle of the Bands, where The Dazzlings were defeated by the hands, and voices (and musical instruments) of The Rainbooms. Peace has once again returned to Canterlot High --- a much deserved one at that, seeing how much the students have been through already. The atmosphere at school was cheery and tranquil. It almost felt like nothing else could go wrong. It seems that the peace and quiet the students of Canterlot High so desperately wanted, was finally at hand. The Wonder Colts would finally be able to spend the rest of their days in Canterlot High normally. But, like in life, nothing last forever. At least, not for Sunset Shimmer's case. Our story starts on a fine Tuesday morning. The Sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing merrily. Even the air smelled sweet and refreshing. Sunset Shimmer loved days like this one, for it makes her happy. She enjoys having the sun's rays dancing gently over her skin and clothes; the warm touch fills her body with energy and strength. It also helps put a smile on her face. So, there she was, walking down the pathway, headed for school. Due to her apartment being so far away, Sunset has to wake up rather early each and every morning, just so that she could have enough time to walk to school. Although the journey is quite far and rather tiring, she never really minded having to walk to school everyday. In fact, she likes it. Her friends don't find it as enjoyable as she does though, despite not being the ones actually doing it. The rest of the Rainbooms had tried, many times, to get her to stay with one of them. Not only will this help Sunset get to school faster, but it will also make meeting up with her friends much more easier, since the rest of the band lives quite closely to each other (except for Applejack and Sunset Shimmer, of course). But, despite all the pleas and begging from her friends, Sunset Shimmer will always shake her head in disagreement. She didn't want to be a bother to her best friends; they have done so much for her already --- she didn't want them to think of her as a burden. Just by being able to spend time with them at school is good enough for her. Besides, Sunset's apartment isn't all that bad of a place to stay in --- if you could ignore the spiders, termites, rats, flies, cockroaches, homeless people, spider-webs, rat feces, human feces --- you get the idea. But once you get used to it and act completely oblivious to the whole thing, the apartment can be rather heavenly. Sunset gave her forehead a smack with her hand. Who's she trying to fool, right? Of course she hated the place; the condition of the apartment is so bad even the Devil himself will avoid it. Her apartment just isn't suitable for a person like her. But, the rent was dirt cheap, and she couldn't afford to be choosy at the time. Sunset let out a heavy sigh and walked more slowly than before; beautiful mornings like this usually put her mood in high spirits, but just the thought of her going back to her apartment later once school was over is enough to make her feel all bummed out. She really needed a new place to stay; after living in that filthy apartment of hers for more than a year, she figured it was high time she got outta there. The sooner she moved out of the place, the better. Sunset finds it lucky that none of her friends knew where she lived; Rarity will surely be the first to lose her poop if she ever saw the condition of her apartment; Pinkie Pie would probably find some way to get the whole apartment covered in cake frosting and confetti (which would make things a million times worse); Applejack might drag her out of the apartment and insists that Sunset stayed with the Apple family instead; Rainbow Dash will most probably find the management and give them a piece of her mind; and Fluttershy will be too horrified to even enter the apartment. Sunset giggled to herself. Yup, she was positive that's how her friends will react if they ever knew about her predicament. She could always count on her friends if she ever needed help. Her best friends, mind you. She is indeed lucky to have such good friends with her. The bond they share between them is a strong one, one that will not be broken easily, and that bond meant everything to Sunset. But this was something she wanted to handle by herself, without the help or support of her friends. She didn't want them to worry, anyway. They could help with the moving once she found a new place, though. The only problem is where and how she was going to find a place to stay. Her current home is the only apartment that was near to her school, not to mention the cheapest, though not entirely satisfactory. Other apartments are just way too far, and insanely expensive for a high schooler. She also needed a place which was close to her part-time job. Fortunately, her current work pays rather well, and that would mean she'll be able to afford a much better place to live in. Much better than her current one, at least. Sunset scratched her head. There are still so many things to think about, and it is driving Sunset crazy. Finding a new place to stay at this time of the year is going to be tough, perhaps even impossible. Will she even be able to find a new place to stay? Will there even be any new places for her to stay? She sighed, staring blankly in front of her. Canterlot High was already in view, several students can be seen loitering around the school grounds, no doubt waiting for their friends to arrive before heading into the school building together. A few of her classmates waved at Sunset when they spotted her, who smiled and waved back. Sunset stared at the clear skies above her, quietly trying to clear her thoughts. There was no need for her to get so worked up right now, right? True, there are a million different things that needed her attention, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't deal with them one-at-a-time; she'll take it slow, and easy --- she'll do all of these things at her own pace. A small smile formed across her lips. Yeah, she could do this. Life will always have its fair share of ups and downs, but as long as she stays focused and prepared, she'll definitely be able to deal with her problems without any trouble. Besides, if need be, her friends will be there to help he--- SMACK! "Ow!" * * * * * * It was a fine Tuesday morning, the Sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing merrily, even the air smelled sweet and refreshing. A lot of people will definitely enjoy days such as this one. It was one of those days where you'll wake up and feel as if nothing could go wrong, and that everything will go according to plan. Yes, it was indeed a fine, fine day. "Urgh..." Not for our hero, Salami B., though. He hated days like this: the blistering heat, the annoying birds --- everything about this very morning pisses him off. Salami frowned as he cursed silently at the sun rising above his already sweaty head. He shot a murderous glance at the birds chirping on top of a tree branch nearby; if only he had some pebbles with him --- he'll show those pesky birds what he thinks about their singing. All our hero wanted was another ten minutes of beauty sleep. But did his landlady gave him that luxury? Of course not! Instead of leaving Salami alone in his room, his landlady --- a sweet, but sometimes cranky old lady of fifty-five years of age --- suddenly burst into his room without even pausing to consider knocking on his bedroom door, greeting him loudly. "Wake up, Salami!" the landlady had shouted, pulling Salami's blankets away, "You shouldn't be sleeping on such a beautiful morning such as today!" she gave his shoulders a little shake. "Breakfast is on the table, dearie." and just like that, she disappeared from his room. Salami had barely opened his eyes when his landlady returned, with a huge stack of pink papers in both her hands. "School doesn't start for another hour, Dora." Salami muttered, stifling a yawn. "Just give me ten more minutes..." he closed his eyes and nudged his head deeper into his soft, red pillow. "No, you don't, young man!" Dora grabbed Salami by the shoulder and shook him. "You can't possibly believe that I've forgotten all about your promise now, did you?" "What are you talki---" but before Salami could finish his sentence, Dora pulled him up into a sitting position, and shoved the heavy stack of pink papers into his face. "You promised me that you'd help me ask around your school to see if there was anyone interested in finding a place to stay, Salami." said Dora, both her hands on either side of her hips, shaking her head at the sight of our still, sleepy hero. "And I expect you to keep your word!" A heavy sigh escaped Salami's lips, the memory of the incident ten minutes ago still playing clearly in his brain. He still doesn't get it why he should leave the house so early when Canterlot High was only like a few minutes walk down the road. Shaking his head, he took out a piece of the pink papers from his bag and gave it a quick read: ROOM FOR RENT That was it. The entire piece of paper only had three huge words printed on it at the very top, each of it coloured a deep red. Salami smacked his forehead; Dora was never really good at advertising; many of the important and required information weren't on it: the owner's contact number, the house address, the room's price, just to name a few, for example. None of those were printed on it. Just three words. That's it. Don't get him wrong, now. Salami loves the sweet old lady, but sometimes Dora can be a little...silly; but since he's already been living with her for more than a month, he can honestly say he'd seen quite a few things that made him have great concern for his landlady. Salami sighed, returning the paper back into his bag. No doubt he'd need to help redo the entire advert for the spare rooms in the house; and he'll make sure that it will be done properly this time. Wait. Salami stared down at his dark-blue shoulder bag, an ominous feeling already spreading across his entire body. He gulped and pulled out the rest of the pink papers. One glance was enough to make his eyes grow wide in horror and send cold shivers down his spine. Every piece of paper that Dora had printed out were exactly the same as the first one. Three red words. Nothing else. God help our hero. For he's going to need it when he returns home. Salami continued flipping through the stack. He knew that it was pointless, but he just wanted to make sure of it. He was so into flipping through every piece, that he didn't noticed the girl in front of hi--- SMACK! "Ow!" The papers in Salami's hands flew into the air, and he found himself tripping over something (someone?). Luckily, he managed to regain his balance before anything worse could happen: falling face-first to the ground, for example. The girl he bumped into wasn't as lucky as him, though. "Urgh..." Salami heard the girl groaned from behind him. Turning around, Salami found the other victim of the crash with her butt on the ground, with his stack of pointless adverts spread all around her. "Crap." muttered our hero, before quickly heading over to aid the poor damsel. "Are you alright?" he asked, offering a helping hand to the girl. There was something familiar about the girl: from the black leather jacket, to the light-blue dress she was wearing, even her fiery-coloured hair was familiar. Salami was almost sure he'd seen her somewhere before. But, then again, he might be mistaken; he'd just only transferred to Canterlot High a month ago, two-days after moving-in to stay with Dora. "Y-yeah..." the girl said, placing her hand on top of his. "I'm just a littl---" the girl paused mid-sentence as she looked up at our hero. "Salami?" she asked, blinking at him. "Y-yes, that is me." Salami said, pulling her up on to her feet, desperately trying to remember who she was. "I-I'm so sorry for crashing into you..." he quickly dug deeper into his memories, searching for any information that might help him identify the girl standing in front of him. "Er..." It didn't work. He was completely lost. "You don't remember me?" she asked, dusting herself off with her hands, giving him a glance. Salami scratched the back of his head. "Sorry...I'm still not familiar with faces around here." he said, avoiding her eyes. The situation was starting to get a little awkward. There he was, standing with a girl whom he can barely recognize. Salami quickly squatted down, and proceeded to pick up Dora's 'hard-work' from the ground. The girl squatted down beside him, picking up the useless pieces of paper as well. "It's me, Sunset Shimmer?" she said. "The person who showed you around Canterlot High when you first arrived here?" Sunset Shimmer. The name didn't ring any bells in our hero's head, but --- thinking about it now --- he does remember his first day at Canterlot High, where he was given the grand tour by none other than the very same girl beside him. Salami smacked his forehead, causing several pieces of pink paper in his hand to fall off, startling Sunset Shimmer. "A-are you okay?" Sunset asked. "S-sorry." Salami replied, rubbing his forehead. "I just feel bad for not recognizing you." Sunset giggled, picking up the fallen pieces that Salami had dropped. "Oh, that's okay. Everyone have trouble remembering people all the..." her voice suddenly trailed off as she stared at the papers in her hand. "...time." her eyes widened, and her mouth trembled a little. Salami stared at Sunset, confused by the sudden pause. "Sunset?" A smile spread across Sunset lips like butter on bread. She stood up so fast that her knees smacked Salami on the nose. But she wasn't paying attention to any of that; something else had caught her eye. Something huge and red; the answer she's been looking for; the needle in the haystack; the cherry on top of a sundae; the buffalo in th--- "S-sunset?" Salami asked, rubbing his reddened nose, standing up. Sunset turned to look at Salami, her smile now a big grin. She pointed at the three words on the paper she was holding and asked him: "When can I move in?" Author's Note Wanted to write something new, so I decided to write on something based off on my own experience with love. I wouldn't say this is based off a true story, but I do want to be able to convey what it feels like to be in love with someone; the emotions and thoughts that goes through your mind and soul whenever you are with the person; to show how I felt when I went through the stages of love, how my own mind ticks when being surrounded with these feelings. Anyway, to those who follow my other stories, I'm truly sorry for not updating them as frequent as I did way back in the past. But I will try my best to bring you new chapters for those stories from time to time. Just don't be too hopeful. To everyone else, I hope you had enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think, or please, share your own views and thoughts about love (don't be shy now, ya hear?). Thanks again for taking the time to read this story, and stay tuned for more chapters! Baby Don't Hurt MeWhen we last left our hero, Salami B had accidentally crashed into a young girl that went by the name of Sunset Shimmer, the very first student he met on his first day at Canterlot High, where Sunset had then showed him around the school, pointing out where what was where, and which ones were the more important ones to remember. But, due to our hero's somewhat poor memory, he somehow managed to forget the young student's name and facial features after only about a week or so studying at Canterlot High. So, it wasn't a total surprise when Salami had a hard time remembering who she was when they bumped into each other on their way to school that fateful Tuesday morning. But, thanks to that crash, our hero's fate in this story will soon change. It was because of that crash, that our hero will soon find his life slowly being sewn together with Sunset Shimmer's. It was because of that crash, that our hero will soon be involved in something he once never thought would happen. It was because of that crash, Salami will soon begin to understand the meaning of love. Love, the greatest emotion of all. Besides fear, of course. Wasn't there a saying by the great H.P. Lovecraft? “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of th--- "Dora? I'm home!" Salami said as he opened the front door, stepping aside to let Sunset enter before him. Sunset gave him a quick nod of thanks before stepping in, removing her boots as she does so; Salami had told Sunset just moments ago that Dora has a strict rule of no one being allowed to wear any form of footwear in the house; Dora believed that going barefoot is the best way to connect with your home. "Connect with your home?" Sunset had asked, an eyebrow raised, during their walk back to Salami's house; they had agreed to meet up after school so that Sunset could get a look at the rooms that were up for rent. Salami nodded. "She said that it helps the house read our feelings and emotions, and to also suck out any negativity that we have bottled up inside us." He gave Sunset a shrug when he saw her reaction. "Dora can be a bit weird sometimes, but she's really nice." he assured her. "R-right." Sunset said, staring at the ground, searching her next words. "She sounds...er...wonderful?" "That's one way of putting it." Salami chuckled. "Quite lightly, though." "Is she family?" Sunset asked, looking at Salami. "A close family friend." Salami corrected. "My Mom and Dad and Dora were childhood friends way back when they were younger. Spent almost most of their time together. But, just a year after my parents got married, they moved out of Canterlot City --- due to work." Salami scratched his chin. "That was like... a long time ago." "So you aren't from around here?" Sunset asked. "Never really came here before --- until last month." Salami said, smiling sheepishly. "Anyway, even after leaving Canterlot, my parents did paid Dora the occasional visit whenever they get the chance, of course. But, as the years went by our family began to grow, and so did the gap between them and Dora --- what with my parents being so busy with family life, work, and all that." Salami looked up at the sky. "But they do care for her deeply." Sunset nodded her head. "I see. But surely Dora has family of her own? What about her own children?" "I'm not sure." Salami said, shrugging his shoulders. "My parents never really spoke much about Dora's family to me. The only thing they did made clear to me was that to always listen to what Dora has to say, and to also take good care of her for as long as I'm here." "So the reason you moving here at this time of the year is because..." Salami nodded. "I don't really know why, but my parents want me to keep Dora company, and to make sure that she's doing alright in my parents's stead." he said. "At least, 'till I graduate, I think." he scratched his chin. "Which will probably be around---" "I'm in the kitchen, dearie!" came the reply. The sound of something softly sizzling away can be heard coming from the kitchen. "I hope you're hungry, 'cause I'm making us some nice pancakes!" "Pancakes?" Salami asked as he closed the front door, kicking off his white sneakers. "It's almost four-thirty in the afternoon! Shouldn't we be preparing dinner?" Salami rolled his eyes at Sunset, who chuckled. "And isn't this a weird time to be having pancakes?" "Nonsense, child. Pancakes are meant to be had at any time of the day, everyday." Dora replied. "Now come in here and help me this instant. Or are you going to let a poor old woman do all the work?" "Yes ma'am." Salami sighed. "She's a huge fan of pancakes." Salami said to Sunset. "Luckily she doesn't make them by the dozen, or I'll be one really round guy." "Does she make them everyday?" Sunset asked, following Salami as he led her into the living room. "God, no." Salami said quickly. "I don't think I can stand eating pancakes everyday." he motioned at a light-brown coloured, leather single-couch. "Why don't you have a seat? I'll be back in a moment with Dora." Sunset sat down on the squishy couch as Salami disappeared into the kitchen. The living room she was in, though small, was very clean and tidy; there was another couch almost identical to the one Sunset was sitting on just right beside her, except it was meant for two people; an old small television set can be found resting quietly on top of an equally aged wooden table; a tall wooden bookshelf stood rigidly just next to the stairway that led to the upper floor --- possibly and hopefully to her soon-to-be new room. Her soon-to-be new room. Sunset couldn't help but smile to herself. Soon, she shall be free from that apartment of hers: Free from the never-ending invasion of pests. Free from the unbearably horrifying living conditions. Free from that homeless guy who'd always stopped Sunset in her tracks to ask for spare change (which she gave, most of the time, out of kindness). Yes. Sunset Shimmer will soon be free. Free from it all, at last. The mere thought of it filled her with excitement. She broke into a grin. And with that sudden excitement rushing and gushing into her veins and brain, the young girl quickly stood up from her creaking leather seat, and paced around the room, wanting to calm herself down before anyone sees her --- it would be quite unladylike, as Rarity would've put it. And Sunset wanted to make a good first impression. The pancakes does smell heavenly, though. And Sunset's stomach couldn't help but agree more. One whiff was more than enough to start the growling. * * * * * * "There you are, Salami." Dora gave Salami a wrinkly smile as he stepped inside the kitchen. "I'm almost done with the pancakes, dearie." she pointed at a pink dinner plate that already has a few pancakes resting comfortably on top of each other. "Could you get those to the dining room?" Salami stared at the small stack of pancakes. "You do realize that dinner time is approaching soon, right?" he let out a sigh as he picked up the plate. "I've only been here a month, and already I feel like I've eaten ten years worth of pancakes." "Don't be silly. There is no such thing as having too much pancakes." Dora said, turning around. "Pancakes are one of the best things to have ever been invented in this world." she pointed the spatula in her hand at Salami, as if challenging him to counter her statement. "Don't forget the syrup on your way out." she added with a smile, focusing her attention back on her cooking. Salami shook his head in silence. Dora's obsession with pancakes can already be considered creepy on so many levels. Yet out hero does not dare to wound the old frail lady's heart. It wouldn't be right. It would be rude. If Dora loves to make pancakes then, by Jove, our hero should just shut up and support her on that! It's what a man woul---no--- should do, no? "Oh, by the way---" Salami stopped in his tracks, turning around. "---we have a guest waiting outside in the living room." "A guest?" "Yeah. She's here to check out the rooms." Salami said, picking up the bottle of maple syrup from the countertop. "Speaking of rooms, there was something really odd with the pape---" But before our slow hero could finish his sentence, Dora swooshed pass him like a tornado on drugs, nearly bumping into him and the pancakes. "D-Dora?" * * * * * * The sudden appearance of Dora was sudden. Before Sunset could even blink, she found herself suddenly caught in a tender, but extremely tight embrace --- strength that was surprisingly surprising, coming from an old woman such as Dora. "Welcome!" Dora said, tightening her already tight hug on Sunset. "Welcome to our home, dearie!" "Erm...h-hi?" Sunset said, wondering to herself whether or not she should hug the old woman back. "T-Thanks?" she said, gently patting Dora on the back. Dora released Sunset from her grip, a wide smile spread across Dora's face. "So, when is the wedding?" she asked. That question, obviously, caught Sunset by surprise. Sunset blinked, staring at Dora, who was still smiling like a kid with an endless supply of candy. "W-What?" "The wedding, dearie! The wedding!" Dora said, grabbing Sunset's shoulders and giving her a shake. "You're Salami's fiancée are you not?" Sunset blinked once more. Then, it hit her. "Wha-What-Whaaaat!?" What was this old lady talking about? What was this talk about weddings and fiancées? All Sunset wanted to do today, was to have a look at the rooms available in this house. Not talk about marriage! She needs help! She needs to be saved! Where is that boy, Salami B, when you need him? But wait! Sunset paused, holding back her voice with hesitation. What if this was all but a plot? A sick wicked plot of sorts? A concoction so evil, so brilliantly evil, that only a certain someone could think of? Was she tricked by our hero, perhaps? Is our hero not the average boy Sunset thought him to be, but instead is a villainous villain in villainy disguise? Was this all but a--- Sunset shook her head. She really needs to stop reading those detective crime novels --- she's already starting to doubt and deduce everything around her. Books are interesting, books are fun, but books can also mess up your mind, sometimes. "I-I think you're m-mistaken, m-ma'am" Sunset said, trying to maintain a calm composure. "I'm only here to look at the rooms." Dora laughed. "But of course you are!" Dora stood up, beckoning to Sunset to do the same. "Salami's room is a bit small, mind you. You'll definitely need a bigger room if the two of you are going to start living together." "N-no! That's not what I meant!" Sunset cried, standing up. "I'm just here to rent a room from you!" "There's no need to be shy, dearie." Dora said. "Why, you're practically already part of the family now!" Dora let out a laugh. "Ohhh, I can't wait to share the news with Pepper and Chorizo." "B-But I'm not marr---" "I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad won't be as giddy as you are, Dora" Salami said, appearing from the kitchen with two plates full of pancakes in both his hands. "You forgot to turn off the heat, and there was still plenty of batter left, you know." he added, giving Dora an unamused look. "But, Salami." Dora said, looking at Salami. "You didn't tell me you were bringing a girl back!" Dora smiled at Sunset. "And such a cute one, too." she added. "I did." Salami replied, setting the plates down on the dining table. "But, as a potential resident, not as my fiancée." Salami sighed. "Would you please stop messing with Sunset Shimmer? You're freaking her out." * * * * * * "...and that's how I found out about your place, Miss Explo---" "Please, Sunset. Just call me Dora. There's no need to be so formal." "O-okay. D-Dora." Sunset said, smiling softly. "Erm...anyway, that's why I'm here today --- I wish to have a look at the rooms you currently have available for renting." "I don't see why that is a problem, dearie." Dora pushed the plate of pancakes towards Sunset's direction. "But, let's leave that discussion for later. For now, eat!" "O-Oh! That's very kind of you, D-Dora." Sunset shifted in her seat. "But, I-I think I have quite enough pancakes for one day." "Nonsense! You only had a few! I'm sure you can eat some more, right?" "B-but---" "You gave her six pancakes, Dora." Salami said, cutting his piece of pancake into squares. "Six. That's plenty already." "Hmph! I suppose you're suggesting we throw the rest of these out then?" Dora asked, raising an eyebrow. "No. Just leave those pancakes to me, okay?" "Why? Are you going to eat all of them?" Dora pressed. "What? No! That's a lot of pancakes, you know." Salami said, his eyes widening. "But, rest assured that these pancakes are going to rest in someone's stomach, not the trash, so don't worry about it." Dora nodded. "Good. We must never waste food." she turned her attention back on Sunset. "Isn't he a nice young man?" she whispered, but not quietly enough. "He always helps me with the house's chores, and he knows how to cook pancakes." Salami rolled his eyes. Sunset nodded, giggling. "It's certainly nice to have someone who is both helpful and responsible." "Has he asked you out yet?" "No, he ha---w-what?" Sunset stared at Dora. "What are you talking about?" "He likes you, can't you tell, dearie?" It took nearly two seconds for Sunset to understand that Dora was being serious. She quickly glanced at Salami, who was still eating his pancakes, acting as if nothing was wrong. Salami looked up, sensing a pair of eyeballs staring at him, and their eyes met for a second, and then two...three...four...five seconds more. Our hero stared at Sunset Shimmer, an eyebrow raised, a piece of pancake halfway down his throat. Why was he being looked at? Was it his hair? He swallowed the rest of his pancake down. "What?" he asked Sunset. "Is something wrong?" "D-Dora said that y-you like me." Dora nodded her head, smiling at the both of them. "I-Is it true?" Salami stared at Dora, then to Sunset. He let out a sigh, scratching the back of his head. "No." came the reply from Salami. The answer was short, emotionless, expressionless, and cold. "I do not like you one bit." Author's Note Finally, I'm done with this chapter. Been very hard to find time to write anything these days. What with Metal Gear, MadMax occupying my already, scarce free time. I'm also currently looking for work. Which I did, but I'm now just waiting for my contract to be set up. Anyway, I hope you folks had enjoyed this chapter. More coming up soon! (I hope ) Don't Hurt MeOr so he thought he did. Nay, our hero did not really speak out those insensitive and harsh words. For if he really did dish out such a tactless response many bones of his would be devastatingly crushed and grind to dust by dear old Dora; he was not sure why she would do so to him --- considering that they have a rather good relationship --- but there was a feeling in his gut that made sure he did not try to find out. Yea, instead our hero held his tongue rather than opting to reply to the question. For an answer was something he still had not prepared --- well, at least not one that was already considered carefully with consideration and feelings in regard. But Salami still needed to give out an answer; the two ladies of dissimilar ages were both waiting for a proper answer from him: one was giving him a funny grin with her eyebrows rapidly going up and down, like a kid bouncing in a bouncy castle under the influence of copious amount of sugar. The other was nervously shifting around in her seat, staring a hole into the pancakes on her plate. Her knuckles a ghastly white from gripping to tightly on her silverware. Doubtless, the young lass was waiting for his answer. Was she desperate or eager to know? Salami could not tell --- he does not have the skills necessary for such a feat, unfortunately. Salami glared over at Dora; his landlady was acting a little too peculiar for his own liking. Her relentless teasing on Sunset was getting out of hand. Salami was pretty much used to Dora's antics, however, that naive statement does not apply to everyone else. Especially poor Sunset. The girl was only here to do a room viewing, nothing more. He felt a rising sensation of guilt in his belly; he felt bad for his fellow peer. But sympathising will not move the current situation forward. Salami needs to swiftly think up a good, acceptable answer. An answer that --- hopefully --- will be enough to satisfy the questioning looks on their faces. The atmosphere in the dining room was already feeling awkward. If Salami were to waste even more time to think of an answer...well, it would be best for all if he didn't. "Is not nice to keep a young girl waiting, Salami." Dora was the first to break the silence, disrupting Salami's concentration. "I'm sure she's very eager to hear your answer." Sunset brought her head up so fast Salami was almost sure she snapped her neck in two. Her face was ablaze with crimson, and her temperature rose to a million degrees Fahrenheit. "N-N-N-No!" she stammered as she lifted her hands up in front of her face, frantically shaking them. "I-I-I-I'm not e-e-e-eagerly waiting for anything!" Salami had to quickly cover his mouth with his hand to stop himself from guffawing --- he found Sunset's panicking to be a little too adorable for him. And hilarious. Dora openly chuckled at her reaction. "Oh, don't go denying the truth now, dearie." she said, giving her a sly smile. "I can see it from your body language; you do want to know, do you not?" "B-B-Body language?" Sunset gave herself a quick once-over as if she had spotted a horrible stain on her dress. "W-What body language?" "It's clear as day, my dear." Dora said, glancing over at Salami. "It is pretty obvious, wouldn't you say so, Salami?" Salami leaned forward towards Dora, signalling her with his finger to come closer. "I say you should stop whatever it is you are doing, Dora." he whispered when she was close enough to hear. His eyes shot over to Sunset --- who was still engrossed with finding the source of her body language --- and steered them back on to Dora. "You do remember that she's here to do a room viewing, right?" Dora brushed away his sentence with a wave of her hand. "Oh, come now, Salami." she said. "I'm just having a little fun. Besides ---" a knowing smile crept its way on to her wrinkled lips. " --- you seemed rather happy when you saw her panicking." she raised her eyebrows at him, as if asking him: Well, were you? "No I wasn't." he said quickly, feeling a little surprised to hear how fast the answer came out from his mouth. He shook the feeling away. He wanted to regain control over their whispered exchange. "Not when it might scare away revenue." "Revenue? Since when did you become so business-minded?" Dora stared at him with narrowed eyes. "And do mind what you are saying; she is a person, not a revenue." her stare pierced all the way to his heart, warning him that she does not approve of such language. It made Salami quickly regret his atrocious words. Salami apologized. "I know, Dora. I didn't mean it like that, all right?" he gave Sunset another quick glimpse; she seemed to be calming down a little --- if the definition for 'calming down' meant staring intensely at pancakes then sure. "Just...just stop with the teasing, please?" he hinted at Sunset with a jerk of his head. "She's really freaking out over there." Dora turned her head to look at Sunset and considered him for a moment. Finally, a defeated sigh left her. "Fine, fine." she shrugged, reeling herself back to her seat after leaning over. "I'll stop teasing the poor dearie." Salami silently thank the gods, blessing them with a thousand praises for helping him put some sense in dear old Dora. He saw Dora getting up from her chair, an empty plate in her hand. He watched as she placed a gentle hand on to Sunset shoulder, who jumped at the sudden contact, letting out a startled gasp. Dora gave Sunset a kind smile as she looked up at the old woman. "I'm just messing with you, dearie." she told Sunset, her smile never leaving her face. "Please forgive an old lady such as myself." Her kind smile turned into a sad one in a blink. "It can get really lonely sometimes and...and I always wanted to talk with other fine people such as yourself." Salami let out a soft groan and rolled his eyes. He was pretty, no, damn sure Dora didn't really mean what she's saying; he can tell when Dora's being serious and when she's not. Most of the time goes to the latter, like the one unfolding in front of him, unfortunately enough. "One day, when you are as old as me, you'll understand why I'm doing this. And when you do, I hope that you'll pass that knowledge on to the next youngsters you meet." Sunset's eyes glistened with moisture at Dora's words, an understanding was forming between the two of them, one that they both can understand and empathise with each other: regardless of time and place, knowledge is, and always will be, invaluable. So, without a doubt, it is our responsibility to teach it to others, so that they too, will pass it on to future generations. At least, that was what Sunset believed it to be. She did not realize then that Dora was actually saying it so she wouldn't appear as the villain in her eyes. Sunset would not know until much, much later that Dora, despite her age and appearance, can actually be extremely cunning. Terrifyingly cunning. Salami felt like throwing up at Dora's clichéd words. No doubt her golden days of exploring had imbued her with the many skills needed to master the art of deception, evasion and trickery. He shook his head slowly; the tales his parents had told him about a young Dora when he was a little preschooler was no exaggeration. "I---" Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly shush down by Dora, who placed a finger gently on to her lips. "Ah, ah, say nothing, dearie."she told Sunset, picking up her unfinished plate of pancakes. "You still have a room to view, don't you?" Dora turned to face Salami, and gave him a wink. "I'm sure Salami is more than ready to show you." * * * * * * "I'm really sorry about what happened back over there." Salami said, as he and Sunset made their way up the stairs. Dora had shooed them both out the dining room, mumbling about something that had to do with cleaning. Seeing that there was no reason to stall the purpose of Sunset's visit any longer than necessary, they both agreed that it was high time they got this over with. Not for the sake of time, but for the sake of getting rid of the building awkwardness between the two of them. "She's...an interesting person." Sunset replied, looking slightly above her, where Salami was standing. "I mean, I know that I should have expected something erm...out of the ordinary, especially after what you told me. But I wasn't expecting her to ask...to ask..." her voice slowly trailed away. She suddenly remembered why there was a delicate bubble of awkward awkwardness hovering above them. Threatening to burst at any moment. "Sunset?" Salami turned back to look at her, a look of concern painted all over his face. The question! She tried her best to stop her face from burning up again. How does one stop themselves from blushing anyway? Maybe there is a spell for that, one that she most certainly won't be able to find here. Equestria might have one, but she's not there right now. Which was making things several times much worse for her. Calm down, Sunny! She told herself, wishing that it was possible. Dora was just messing with you! Was she really though? Of...Of course she was. She said so herself! Are you sure about that? Y-Yes! ... N-No! I mean...I...I don't know! Sunset wanted to scream. Why was this bothering her? Dora was just teasing with her, nothing more. There was no hidden meaning behind it, none at all! It would be a waste of her energy if she were to brood to deeply into this, especially this one; she barely knows Salami, other than that one time she showed him around the school about a month ago and that he might be her new room-mate, but still! That alone should not justify the feeling she was feeling! It made no sense! It wasn't logical! It... It wasn't... "Sunset?" She heard Salami calling out to her. He was just there, standing directly in front of her. Yet his voice sounded so far, far away. Way beyond her reach. She shook her head, letting her long, vivid crimson-coloured hair flip about around her. Yes...there's no need to feel so flustered. She silently told herself. I...I'm just over-thinking this. She know she was, of course. Just like many other things in her life, she's always taking things a little too seriously when compared to her friends. Often times she would mistook what one thing meant when in fact it meant something else entirely. Maybe now is one of those times... she reasoned, feeling a tiny bit better --- not a lot, but just enough to hang on. Yeah... she gave Salami a quick smile, indicating to him that she was doing just fine. Yeah! "Are you okay, Sunset?" Salami asked her, taking a step down on the staircase. "You kinda zoned out for a moment there." his eyes narrowed a little as he looked at her; still making up his mind on whether or not to believe her statement. "Is something bothering you?" he queried further. "Was it because of what Dora said?" Sunset's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Dora's name, but she stood her ground and nodded her head. "It's nothing." she replied. "Just...over-thinking things." As usual. she added with a sigh. Sunset gave him a reassuring smile, for the look on his face showed her that he still had doubt inside his head. "Don't worry about it." she said, stepping up the stairs, making her way past Salami. "Shall we continue?" she asked, trying her best to act and think as if she wasn't bothered by anything else. Then why do I want to know his answer? But she was. Author's Note I must go! Seriously, I have no idea on what I should put here.
What is Love?What is love, exactly? We all have asked ourselves this question at some point in our lifetime, haven't we? Now, now, don't be shy to admit it, for there is nothing to be ashamed of in the first place. The question is a common one. It isn't rare, nor is it a stupid one. Us humans have this insatiable thirst for knowledge --- and fully understanding human emotions is one of them. So, do not be agitated if someone were to ask you the question. Just tell them how you feel, what you think, what you believe. For there is yet to be any real answer for the question, if there is any at all. Each and everyone of you have (or will) experienced love in your own way --- no two humans will go through the same experience as you did. If it did? Life will be just plain boring. You won't find an answer to the question by reading this story, however. So, please, do not get your hopes up. What you will find from this story, however, is how one dude discovers, experiences, and accepts love into his life. No, it isn't the love you'd have for your family, nor is it the love you'd have for your friends. Nay, the love that our hero will experience and feel is the love one gets when one falls in love with a girl --- how falling in love teaches love to the once loveless hero. A lesson about love. Did that make any sense to you? No? That's love for you, pal. So, where does our story begins? * * * * * * It has been over a month since the incident at the Battle of the Bands, where The Dazzlings were defeated by the hands, and voices (and musical instruments) of The Rainbooms. Peace has once again returned to Canterlot High --- a much deserved one at that, seeing how much the students have been through already. The atmosphere at school was cheery and tranquil. It almost felt like nothing else could go wrong. It seems that the peace and quiet the students of Canterlot High so desperately wanted, was finally at hand. The Wonder Colts would finally be able to spend the rest of their days in Canterlot High normally. But, like in life, nothing last forever. At least, not for Sunset Shimmer's case. Our story starts on a fine Tuesday morning. The Sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing merrily. Even the air smelled sweet and refreshing. Sunset Shimmer loved days like this one, for it makes her happy. She enjoys having the sun's rays dancing gently over her skin and clothes; the warm touch fills her body with energy and strength. It also helps put a smile on her face. So, there she was, walking down the pathway, headed for school. Due to her apartment being so far away, Sunset has to wake up rather early each and every morning, just so that she could have enough time to walk to school. Although the journey is quite far and rather tiring, she never really minded having to walk to school everyday. In fact, she likes it. Her friends don't find it as enjoyable as she does though, despite not being the ones actually doing it. The rest of the Rainbooms had tried, many times, to get her to stay with one of them. Not only will this help Sunset get to school faster, but it will also make meeting up with her friends much more easier, since the rest of the band lives quite closely to each other (except for Applejack and Sunset Shimmer, of course). But, despite all the pleas and begging from her friends, Sunset Shimmer will always shake her head in disagreement. She didn't want to be a bother to her best friends; they have done so much for her already --- she didn't want them to think of her as a burden. Just by being able to spend time with them at school is good enough for her. Besides, Sunset's apartment isn't all that bad of a place to stay in --- if you could ignore the spiders, termites, rats, flies, cockroaches, homeless people, spider-webs, rat feces, human feces --- you get the idea. But once you get used to it and act completely oblivious to the whole thing, the apartment can be rather heavenly. Sunset gave her forehead a smack with her hand. Who's she trying to fool, right? Of course she hated the place; the condition of the apartment is so bad even the Devil himself will avoid it. Her apartment just isn't suitable for a person like her. But, the rent was dirt cheap, and she couldn't afford to be choosy at the time. Sunset let out a heavy sigh and walked more slowly than before; beautiful mornings like this usually put her mood in high spirits, but just the thought of her going back to her apartment later once school was over is enough to make her feel all bummed out. She really needed a new place to stay; after living in that filthy apartment of hers for more than a year, she figured it was high time she got outta there. The sooner she moved out of the place, the better. Sunset finds it lucky that none of her friends knew where she lived; Rarity will surely be the first to lose her poop if she ever saw the condition of her apartment; Pinkie Pie would probably find some way to get the whole apartment covered in cake frosting and confetti (which would make things a million times worse); Applejack might drag her out of the apartment and insists that Sunset stayed with the Apple family instead; Rainbow Dash will most probably find the management and give them a piece of her mind; and Fluttershy will be too horrified to even enter the apartment. Sunset giggled to herself. Yup, she was positive that's how her friends will react if they ever knew about her predicament. She could always count on her friends if she ever needed help. Her best friends, mind you. She is indeed lucky to have such good friends with her. The bond they share between them is a strong one, one that will not be broken easily, and that bond meant everything to Sunset. But this was something she wanted to handle by herself, without the help or support of her friends. She didn't want them to worry, anyway. They could help with the moving once she found a new place, though. The only problem is where and how she was going to find a place to stay. Her current home is the only apartment that was near to her school, not to mention the cheapest, though not entirely satisfactory. Other apartments are just way too far, and insanely expensive for a high schooler. She also needed a place which was close to her part-time job. Fortunately, her current work pays rather well, and that would mean she'll be able to afford a much better place to live in. Much better than her current one, at least. Sunset scratched her head. There are still so many things to think about, and it is driving Sunset crazy. Finding a new place to stay at this time of the year is going to be tough, perhaps even impossible. Will she even be able to find a new place to stay? Will there even be any new places for her to stay? She sighed, staring blankly in front of her. Canterlot High was already in view, several students can be seen loitering around the school grounds, no doubt waiting for their friends to arrive before heading into the school building together. A few of her classmates waved at Sunset when they spotted her, who smiled and waved back. Sunset stared at the clear skies above her, quietly trying to clear her thoughts. There was no need for her to get so worked up right now, right? True, there are a million different things that needed her attention, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't deal with them one-at-a-time; she'll take it slow, and easy --- she'll do all of these things at her own pace. A small smile formed across her lips. Yeah, she could do this. Life will always have its fair share of ups and downs, but as long as she stays focused and prepared, she'll definitely be able to deal with her problems without any trouble. Besides, if need be, her friends will be there to help he--- SMACK! "Ow!" * * * * * * It was a fine Tuesday morning, the Sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing merrily, even the air smelled sweet and refreshing. A lot of people will definitely enjoy days such as this one. It was one of those days where you'll wake up and feel as if nothing could go wrong, and that everything will go according to plan. Yes, it was indeed a fine, fine day. "Urgh..." Not for our hero, Salami B., though. He hated days like this: the blistering heat, the annoying birds --- everything about this very morning pisses him off. Salami frowned as he cursed silently at the sun rising above his already sweaty head. He shot a murderous glance at the birds chirping on top of a tree branch nearby; if only he had some pebbles with him --- he'll show those pesky birds what he thinks about their singing. All our hero wanted was another ten minutes of beauty sleep. But did his landlady gave him that luxury? Of course not! Instead of leaving Salami alone in his room, his landlady --- a sweet, but sometimes cranky old lady of fifty-five years of age --- suddenly burst into his room without even pausing to consider knocking on his bedroom door, greeting him loudly. "Wake up, Salami!" the landlady had shouted, pulling Salami's blankets away, "You shouldn't be sleeping on such a beautiful morning such as today!" she gave his shoulders a little shake. "Breakfast is on the table, dearie." and just like that, she disappeared from his room. Salami had barely opened his eyes when his landlady returned, with a huge stack of pink papers in both her hands. "School doesn't start for another hour, Dora." Salami muttered, stifling a yawn. "Just give me ten more minutes..." he closed his eyes and nudged his head deeper into his soft, red pillow. "No, you don't, young man!" Dora grabbed Salami by the shoulder and shook him. "You can't possibly believe that I've forgotten all about your promise now, did you?" "What are you talki---" but before Salami could finish his sentence, Dora pulled him up into a sitting position, and shoved the heavy stack of pink papers into his face. "You promised me that you'd help me ask around your school to see if there was anyone interested in finding a place to stay, Salami." said Dora, both her hands on either side of her hips, shaking her head at the sight of our still, sleepy hero. "And I expect you to keep your word!" A heavy sigh escaped Salami's lips, the memory of the incident ten minutes ago still playing clearly in his brain. He still doesn't get it why he should leave the house so early when Canterlot High was only like a few minutes walk down the road. Shaking his head, he took out a piece of the pink papers from his bag and gave it a quick read: ROOM FOR RENT That was it. The entire piece of paper only had three huge words printed on it at the very top, each of it coloured a deep red. Salami smacked his forehead; Dora was never really good at advertising; many of the important and required information weren't on it: the owner's contact number, the house address, the room's price, just to name a few, for example. None of those were printed on it. Just three words. That's it. Don't get him wrong, now. Salami loves the sweet old lady, but sometimes Dora can be a little...silly; but since he's already been living with her for more than a month, he can honestly say he'd seen quite a few things that made him have great concern for his landlady. Salami sighed, returning the paper back into his bag. No doubt he'd need to help redo the entire advert for the spare rooms in the house; and he'll make sure that it will be done properly this time. Wait. Salami stared down at his dark-blue shoulder bag, an ominous feeling already spreading across his entire body. He gulped and pulled out the rest of the pink papers. One glance was enough to make his eyes grow wide in horror and send cold shivers down his spine. Every piece of paper that Dora had printed out were exactly the same as the first one. Three red words. Nothing else. God help our hero. For he's going to need it when he returns home. Salami continued flipping through the stack. He knew that it was pointless, but he just wanted to make sure of it. He was so into flipping through every piece, that he didn't noticed the girl in front of hi--- SMACK! "Ow!" The papers in Salami's hands flew into the air, and he found himself tripping over something (someone?). Luckily, he managed to regain his balance before anything worse could happen: falling face-first to the ground, for example. The girl he bumped into wasn't as lucky as him, though. "Urgh..." Salami heard the girl groaned from behind him. Turning around, Salami found the other victim of the crash with her butt on the ground, with his stack of pointless adverts spread all around her. "Crap." muttered our hero, before quickly heading over to aid the poor damsel. "Are you alright?" he asked, offering a helping hand to the girl. There was something familiar about the girl: from the black leather jacket, to the light-blue dress she was wearing, even her fiery-coloured hair was familiar. Salami was almost sure he'd seen her somewhere before. But, then again, he might be mistaken; he'd just only transferred to Canterlot High a month ago, two-days after moving-in to stay with Dora. "Y-yeah..." the girl said, placing her hand on top of his. "I'm just a littl---" the girl paused mid-sentence as she looked up at our hero. "Salami?" she asked, blinking at him. "Y-yes, that is me." Salami said, pulling her up on to her feet, desperately trying to remember who she was. "I-I'm so sorry for crashing into you..." he quickly dug deeper into his memories, searching for any information that might help him identify the girl standing in front of him. "Er..." It didn't work. He was completely lost. "You don't remember me?" she asked, dusting herself off with her hands, giving him a glance. Salami scratched the back of his head. "Sorry...I'm still not familiar with faces around here." he said, avoiding her eyes. The situation was starting to get a little awkward. There he was, standing with a girl whom he can barely recognize. Salami quickly squatted down, and proceeded to pick up Dora's 'hard-work' from the ground. The girl squatted down beside him, picking up the useless pieces of paper as well. "It's me, Sunset Shimmer?" she said. "The person who showed you around Canterlot High when you first arrived here?" Sunset Shimmer. The name didn't ring any bells in our hero's head, but --- thinking about it now --- he does remember his first day at Canterlot High, where he was given the grand tour by none other than the very same girl beside him. Salami smacked his forehead, causing several pieces of pink paper in his hand to fall off, startling Sunset Shimmer. "A-are you okay?" Sunset asked. "S-sorry." Salami replied, rubbing his forehead. "I just feel bad for not recognizing you." Sunset giggled, picking up the fallen pieces that Salami had dropped. "Oh, that's okay. Everyone have trouble remembering people all the..." her voice suddenly trailed off as she stared at the papers in her hand. "...time." her eyes widened, and her mouth trembled a little. Salami stared at Sunset, confused by the sudden pause. "Sunset?" A smile spread across Sunset lips like butter on bread. She stood up so fast that her knees smacked Salami on the nose. But she wasn't paying attention to any of that; something else had caught her eye. Something huge and red; the answer she's been looking for; the needle in the haystack; the cherry on top of a sundae; the buffalo in th--- "S-sunset?" Salami asked, rubbing his reddened nose, standing up. Sunset turned to look at Salami, her smile now a big grin. She pointed at the three words on the paper she was holding and asked him: "When can I move in?" Author's Note Wanted to write something new, so I decided to write on something based off on my own experience with love. I wouldn't say this is based off a true story, but I do want to be able to convey what it feels like to be in love with someone; the emotions and thoughts that goes through your mind and soul whenever you are with the person; to show how I felt when I went through the stages of love, how my own mind ticks when being surrounded with these feelings. Anyway, to those who follow my other stories, I'm truly sorry for not updating them as frequent as I did way back in the past. But I will try my best to bring you new chapters for those stories from time to time. Just don't be too hopeful. To everyone else, I hope you had enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think, or please, share your own views and thoughts about love (don't be shy now, ya hear?). Thanks again for taking the time to read this story, and stay tuned for more chapters!
Baby Don't Hurt MeWhen we last left our hero, Salami B had accidentally crashed into a young girl that went by the name of Sunset Shimmer, the very first student he met on his first day at Canterlot High, where Sunset had then showed him around the school, pointing out where what was where, and which ones were the more important ones to remember. But, due to our hero's somewhat poor memory, he somehow managed to forget the young student's name and facial features after only about a week or so studying at Canterlot High. So, it wasn't a total surprise when Salami had a hard time remembering who she was when they bumped into each other on their way to school that fateful Tuesday morning. But, thanks to that crash, our hero's fate in this story will soon change. It was because of that crash, that our hero will soon find his life slowly being sewn together with Sunset Shimmer's. It was because of that crash, that our hero will soon be involved in something he once never thought would happen. It was because of that crash, Salami will soon begin to understand the meaning of love. Love, the greatest emotion of all. Besides fear, of course. Wasn't there a saying by the great H.P. Lovecraft? “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of th--- "Dora? I'm home!" Salami said as he opened the front door, stepping aside to let Sunset enter before him. Sunset gave him a quick nod of thanks before stepping in, removing her boots as she does so; Salami had told Sunset just moments ago that Dora has a strict rule of no one being allowed to wear any form of footwear in the house; Dora believed that going barefoot is the best way to connect with your home. "Connect with your home?" Sunset had asked, an eyebrow raised, during their walk back to Salami's house; they had agreed to meet up after school so that Sunset could get a look at the rooms that were up for rent. Salami nodded. "She said that it helps the house read our feelings and emotions, and to also suck out any negativity that we have bottled up inside us." He gave Sunset a shrug when he saw her reaction. "Dora can be a bit weird sometimes, but she's really nice." he assured her. "R-right." Sunset said, staring at the ground, searching her next words. "She sounds...er...wonderful?" "That's one way of putting it." Salami chuckled. "Quite lightly, though." "Is she family?" Sunset asked, looking at Salami. "A close family friend." Salami corrected. "My Mom and Dad and Dora were childhood friends way back when they were younger. Spent almost most of their time together. But, just a year after my parents got married, they moved out of Canterlot City --- due to work." Salami scratched his chin. "That was like... a long time ago." "So you aren't from around here?" Sunset asked. "Never really came here before --- until last month." Salami said, smiling sheepishly. "Anyway, even after leaving Canterlot, my parents did paid Dora the occasional visit whenever they get the chance, of course. But, as the years went by our family began to grow, and so did the gap between them and Dora --- what with my parents being so busy with family life, work, and all that." Salami looked up at the sky. "But they do care for her deeply." Sunset nodded her head. "I see. But surely Dora has family of her own? What about her own children?" "I'm not sure." Salami said, shrugging his shoulders. "My parents never really spoke much about Dora's family to me. The only thing they did made clear to me was that to always listen to what Dora has to say, and to also take good care of her for as long as I'm here." "So the reason you moving here at this time of the year is because..." Salami nodded. "I don't really know why, but my parents want me to keep Dora company, and to make sure that she's doing alright in my parents's stead." he said. "At least, 'till I graduate, I think." he scratched his chin. "Which will probably be around---" "I'm in the kitchen, dearie!" came the reply. The sound of something softly sizzling away can be heard coming from the kitchen. "I hope you're hungry, 'cause I'm making us some nice pancakes!" "Pancakes?" Salami asked as he closed the front door, kicking off his white sneakers. "It's almost four-thirty in the afternoon! Shouldn't we be preparing dinner?" Salami rolled his eyes at Sunset, who chuckled. "And isn't this a weird time to be having pancakes?" "Nonsense, child. Pancakes are meant to be had at any time of the day, everyday." Dora replied. "Now come in here and help me this instant. Or are you going to let a poor old woman do all the work?" "Yes ma'am." Salami sighed. "She's a huge fan of pancakes." Salami said to Sunset. "Luckily she doesn't make them by the dozen, or I'll be one really round guy." "Does she make them everyday?" Sunset asked, following Salami as he led her into the living room. "God, no." Salami said quickly. "I don't think I can stand eating pancakes everyday." he motioned at a light-brown coloured, leather single-couch. "Why don't you have a seat? I'll be back in a moment with Dora." Sunset sat down on the squishy couch as Salami disappeared into the kitchen. The living room she was in, though small, was very clean and tidy; there was another couch almost identical to the one Sunset was sitting on just right beside her, except it was meant for two people; an old small television set can be found resting quietly on top of an equally aged wooden table; a tall wooden bookshelf stood rigidly just next to the stairway that led to the upper floor --- possibly and hopefully to her soon-to-be new room. Her soon-to-be new room. Sunset couldn't help but smile to herself. Soon, she shall be free from that apartment of hers: Free from the never-ending invasion of pests. Free from the unbearably horrifying living conditions. Free from that homeless guy who'd always stopped Sunset in her tracks to ask for spare change (which she gave, most of the time, out of kindness). Yes. Sunset Shimmer will soon be free. Free from it all, at last. The mere thought of it filled her with excitement. She broke into a grin. And with that sudden excitement rushing and gushing into her veins and brain, the young girl quickly stood up from her creaking leather seat, and paced around the room, wanting to calm herself down before anyone sees her --- it would be quite unladylike, as Rarity would've put it. And Sunset wanted to make a good first impression. The pancakes does smell heavenly, though. And Sunset's stomach couldn't help but agree more. One whiff was more than enough to start the growling. * * * * * * "There you are, Salami." Dora gave Salami a wrinkly smile as he stepped inside the kitchen. "I'm almost done with the pancakes, dearie." she pointed at a pink dinner plate that already has a few pancakes resting comfortably on top of each other. "Could you get those to the dining room?" Salami stared at the small stack of pancakes. "You do realize that dinner time is approaching soon, right?" he let out a sigh as he picked up the plate. "I've only been here a month, and already I feel like I've eaten ten years worth of pancakes." "Don't be silly. There is no such thing as having too much pancakes." Dora said, turning around. "Pancakes are one of the best things to have ever been invented in this world." she pointed the spatula in her hand at Salami, as if challenging him to counter her statement. "Don't forget the syrup on your way out." she added with a smile, focusing her attention back on her cooking. Salami shook his head in silence. Dora's obsession with pancakes can already be considered creepy on so many levels. Yet out hero does not dare to wound the old frail lady's heart. It wouldn't be right. It would be rude. If Dora loves to make pancakes then, by Jove, our hero should just shut up and support her on that! It's what a man woul---no--- should do, no? "Oh, by the way---" Salami stopped in his tracks, turning around. "---we have a guest waiting outside in the living room." "A guest?" "Yeah. She's here to check out the rooms." Salami said, picking up the bottle of maple syrup from the countertop. "Speaking of rooms, there was something really odd with the pape---" But before our slow hero could finish his sentence, Dora swooshed pass him like a tornado on drugs, nearly bumping into him and the pancakes. "D-Dora?" * * * * * * The sudden appearance of Dora was sudden. Before Sunset could even blink, she found herself suddenly caught in a tender, but extremely tight embrace --- strength that was surprisingly surprising, coming from an old woman such as Dora. "Welcome!" Dora said, tightening her already tight hug on Sunset. "Welcome to our home, dearie!" "Erm...h-hi?" Sunset said, wondering to herself whether or not she should hug the old woman back. "T-Thanks?" she said, gently patting Dora on the back. Dora released Sunset from her grip, a wide smile spread across Dora's face. "So, when is the wedding?" she asked. That question, obviously, caught Sunset by surprise. Sunset blinked, staring at Dora, who was still smiling like a kid with an endless supply of candy. "W-What?" "The wedding, dearie! The wedding!" Dora said, grabbing Sunset's shoulders and giving her a shake. "You're Salami's fiancée are you not?" Sunset blinked once more. Then, it hit her. "Wha-What-Whaaaat!?" What was this old lady talking about? What was this talk about weddings and fiancées? All Sunset wanted to do today, was to have a look at the rooms available in this house. Not talk about marriage! She needs help! She needs to be saved! Where is that boy, Salami B, when you need him? But wait! Sunset paused, holding back her voice with hesitation. What if this was all but a plot? A sick wicked plot of sorts? A concoction so evil, so brilliantly evil, that only a certain someone could think of? Was she tricked by our hero, perhaps? Is our hero not the average boy Sunset thought him to be, but instead is a villainous villain in villainy disguise? Was this all but a--- Sunset shook her head. She really needs to stop reading those detective crime novels --- she's already starting to doubt and deduce everything around her. Books are interesting, books are fun, but books can also mess up your mind, sometimes. "I-I think you're m-mistaken, m-ma'am" Sunset said, trying to maintain a calm composure. "I'm only here to look at the rooms." Dora laughed. "But of course you are!" Dora stood up, beckoning to Sunset to do the same. "Salami's room is a bit small, mind you. You'll definitely need a bigger room if the two of you are going to start living together." "N-no! That's not what I meant!" Sunset cried, standing up. "I'm just here to rent a room from you!" "There's no need to be shy, dearie." Dora said. "Why, you're practically already part of the family now!" Dora let out a laugh. "Ohhh, I can't wait to share the news with Pepper and Chorizo." "B-But I'm not marr---" "I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad won't be as giddy as you are, Dora" Salami said, appearing from the kitchen with two plates full of pancakes in both his hands. "You forgot to turn off the heat, and there was still plenty of batter left, you know." he added, giving Dora an unamused look. "But, Salami." Dora said, looking at Salami. "You didn't tell me you were bringing a girl back!" Dora smiled at Sunset. "And such a cute one, too." she added. "I did." Salami replied, setting the plates down on the dining table. "But, as a potential resident, not as my fiancée." Salami sighed. "Would you please stop messing with Sunset Shimmer? You're freaking her out." * * * * * * "...and that's how I found out about your place, Miss Explo---" "Please, Sunset. Just call me Dora. There's no need to be so formal." "O-okay. D-Dora." Sunset said, smiling softly. "Erm...anyway, that's why I'm here today --- I wish to have a look at the rooms you currently have available for renting." "I don't see why that is a problem, dearie." Dora pushed the plate of pancakes towards Sunset's direction. "But, let's leave that discussion for later. For now, eat!" "O-Oh! That's very kind of you, D-Dora." Sunset shifted in her seat. "But, I-I think I have quite enough pancakes for one day." "Nonsense! You only had a few! I'm sure you can eat some more, right?" "B-but---" "You gave her six pancakes, Dora." Salami said, cutting his piece of pancake into squares. "Six. That's plenty already." "Hmph! I suppose you're suggesting we throw the rest of these out then?" Dora asked, raising an eyebrow. "No. Just leave those pancakes to me, okay?" "Why? Are you going to eat all of them?" Dora pressed. "What? No! That's a lot of pancakes, you know." Salami said, his eyes widening. "But, rest assured that these pancakes are going to rest in someone's stomach, not the trash, so don't worry about it." Dora nodded. "Good. We must never waste food." she turned her attention back on Sunset. "Isn't he a nice young man?" she whispered, but not quietly enough. "He always helps me with the house's chores, and he knows how to cook pancakes." Salami rolled his eyes. Sunset nodded, giggling. "It's certainly nice to have someone who is both helpful and responsible." "Has he asked you out yet?" "No, he ha---w-what?" Sunset stared at Dora. "What are you talking about?" "He likes you, can't you tell, dearie?" It took nearly two seconds for Sunset to understand that Dora was being serious. She quickly glanced at Salami, who was still eating his pancakes, acting as if nothing was wrong. Salami looked up, sensing a pair of eyeballs staring at him, and their eyes met for a second, and then two...three...four...five seconds more. Our hero stared at Sunset Shimmer, an eyebrow raised, a piece of pancake halfway down his throat. Why was he being looked at? Was it his hair? He swallowed the rest of his pancake down. "What?" he asked Sunset. "Is something wrong?" "D-Dora said that y-you like me." Dora nodded her head, smiling at the both of them. "I-Is it true?" Salami stared at Dora, then to Sunset. He let out a sigh, scratching the back of his head. "No." came the reply from Salami. The answer was short, emotionless, expressionless, and cold. "I do not like you one bit." Author's Note Finally, I'm done with this chapter. Been very hard to find time to write anything these days. What with Metal Gear, MadMax occupying my already, scarce free time. I'm also currently looking for work. Which I did, but I'm now just waiting for my contract to be set up. Anyway, I hope you folks had enjoyed this chapter. More coming up soon! (I hope )
Don't Hurt MeOr so he thought he did. Nay, our hero did not really speak out those insensitive and harsh words. For if he really did dish out such a tactless response many bones of his would be devastatingly crushed and grind to dust by dear old Dora; he was not sure why she would do so to him --- considering that they have a rather good relationship --- but there was a feeling in his gut that made sure he did not try to find out. Yea, instead our hero held his tongue rather than opting to reply to the question. For an answer was something he still had not prepared --- well, at least not one that was already considered carefully with consideration and feelings in regard. But Salami still needed to give out an answer; the two ladies of dissimilar ages were both waiting for a proper answer from him: one was giving him a funny grin with her eyebrows rapidly going up and down, like a kid bouncing in a bouncy castle under the influence of copious amount of sugar. The other was nervously shifting around in her seat, staring a hole into the pancakes on her plate. Her knuckles a ghastly white from gripping to tightly on her silverware. Doubtless, the young lass was waiting for his answer. Was she desperate or eager to know? Salami could not tell --- he does not have the skills necessary for such a feat, unfortunately. Salami glared over at Dora; his landlady was acting a little too peculiar for his own liking. Her relentless teasing on Sunset was getting out of hand. Salami was pretty much used to Dora's antics, however, that naive statement does not apply to everyone else. Especially poor Sunset. The girl was only here to do a room viewing, nothing more. He felt a rising sensation of guilt in his belly; he felt bad for his fellow peer. But sympathising will not move the current situation forward. Salami needs to swiftly think up a good, acceptable answer. An answer that --- hopefully --- will be enough to satisfy the questioning looks on their faces. The atmosphere in the dining room was already feeling awkward. If Salami were to waste even more time to think of an answer...well, it would be best for all if he didn't. "Is not nice to keep a young girl waiting, Salami." Dora was the first to break the silence, disrupting Salami's concentration. "I'm sure she's very eager to hear your answer." Sunset brought her head up so fast Salami was almost sure she snapped her neck in two. Her face was ablaze with crimson, and her temperature rose to a million degrees Fahrenheit. "N-N-N-No!" she stammered as she lifted her hands up in front of her face, frantically shaking them. "I-I-I-I'm not e-e-e-eagerly waiting for anything!" Salami had to quickly cover his mouth with his hand to stop himself from guffawing --- he found Sunset's panicking to be a little too adorable for him. And hilarious. Dora openly chuckled at her reaction. "Oh, don't go denying the truth now, dearie." she said, giving her a sly smile. "I can see it from your body language; you do want to know, do you not?" "B-B-Body language?" Sunset gave herself a quick once-over as if she had spotted a horrible stain on her dress. "W-What body language?" "It's clear as day, my dear." Dora said, glancing over at Salami. "It is pretty obvious, wouldn't you say so, Salami?" Salami leaned forward towards Dora, signalling her with his finger to come closer. "I say you should stop whatever it is you are doing, Dora." he whispered when she was close enough to hear. His eyes shot over to Sunset --- who was still engrossed with finding the source of her body language --- and steered them back on to Dora. "You do remember that she's here to do a room viewing, right?" Dora brushed away his sentence with a wave of her hand. "Oh, come now, Salami." she said. "I'm just having a little fun. Besides ---" a knowing smile crept its way on to her wrinkled lips. " --- you seemed rather happy when you saw her panicking." she raised her eyebrows at him, as if asking him: Well, were you? "No I wasn't." he said quickly, feeling a little surprised to hear how fast the answer came out from his mouth. He shook the feeling away. He wanted to regain control over their whispered exchange. "Not when it might scare away revenue." "Revenue? Since when did you become so business-minded?" Dora stared at him with narrowed eyes. "And do mind what you are saying; she is a person, not a revenue." her stare pierced all the way to his heart, warning him that she does not approve of such language. It made Salami quickly regret his atrocious words. Salami apologized. "I know, Dora. I didn't mean it like that, all right?" he gave Sunset another quick glimpse; she seemed to be calming down a little --- if the definition for 'calming down' meant staring intensely at pancakes then sure. "Just...just stop with the teasing, please?" he hinted at Sunset with a jerk of his head. "She's really freaking out over there." Dora turned her head to look at Sunset and considered him for a moment. Finally, a defeated sigh left her. "Fine, fine." she shrugged, reeling herself back to her seat after leaning over. "I'll stop teasing the poor dearie." Salami silently thank the gods, blessing them with a thousand praises for helping him put some sense in dear old Dora. He saw Dora getting up from her chair, an empty plate in her hand. He watched as she placed a gentle hand on to Sunset shoulder, who jumped at the sudden contact, letting out a startled gasp. Dora gave Sunset a kind smile as she looked up at the old woman. "I'm just messing with you, dearie." she told Sunset, her smile never leaving her face. "Please forgive an old lady such as myself." Her kind smile turned into a sad one in a blink. "It can get really lonely sometimes and...and I always wanted to talk with other fine people such as yourself." Salami let out a soft groan and rolled his eyes. He was pretty, no, damn sure Dora didn't really mean what she's saying; he can tell when Dora's being serious and when she's not. Most of the time goes to the latter, like the one unfolding in front of him, unfortunately enough. "One day, when you are as old as me, you'll understand why I'm doing this. And when you do, I hope that you'll pass that knowledge on to the next youngsters you meet." Sunset's eyes glistened with moisture at Dora's words, an understanding was forming between the two of them, one that they both can understand and empathise with each other: regardless of time and place, knowledge is, and always will be, invaluable. So, without a doubt, it is our responsibility to teach it to others, so that they too, will pass it on to future generations. At least, that was what Sunset believed it to be. She did not realize then that Dora was actually saying it so she wouldn't appear as the villain in her eyes. Sunset would not know until much, much later that Dora, despite her age and appearance, can actually be extremely cunning. Terrifyingly cunning. Salami felt like throwing up at Dora's clichéd words. No doubt her golden days of exploring had imbued her with the many skills needed to master the art of deception, evasion and trickery. He shook his head slowly; the tales his parents had told him about a young Dora when he was a little preschooler was no exaggeration. "I---" Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly shush down by Dora, who placed a finger gently on to her lips. "Ah, ah, say nothing, dearie."she told Sunset, picking up her unfinished plate of pancakes. "You still have a room to view, don't you?" Dora turned to face Salami, and gave him a wink. "I'm sure Salami is more than ready to show you." * * * * * * "I'm really sorry about what happened back over there." Salami said, as he and Sunset made their way up the stairs. Dora had shooed them both out the dining room, mumbling about something that had to do with cleaning. Seeing that there was no reason to stall the purpose of Sunset's visit any longer than necessary, they both agreed that it was high time they got this over with. Not for the sake of time, but for the sake of getting rid of the building awkwardness between the two of them. "She's...an interesting person." Sunset replied, looking slightly above her, where Salami was standing. "I mean, I know that I should have expected something erm...out of the ordinary, especially after what you told me. But I wasn't expecting her to ask...to ask..." her voice slowly trailed away. She suddenly remembered why there was a delicate bubble of awkward awkwardness hovering above them. Threatening to burst at any moment. "Sunset?" Salami turned back to look at her, a look of concern painted all over his face. The question! She tried her best to stop her face from burning up again. How does one stop themselves from blushing anyway? Maybe there is a spell for that, one that she most certainly won't be able to find here. Equestria might have one, but she's not there right now. Which was making things several times much worse for her. Calm down, Sunny! She told herself, wishing that it was possible. Dora was just messing with you! Was she really though? Of...Of course she was. She said so herself! Are you sure about that? Y-Yes! ... N-No! I mean...I...I don't know! Sunset wanted to scream. Why was this bothering her? Dora was just teasing with her, nothing more. There was no hidden meaning behind it, none at all! It would be a waste of her energy if she were to brood to deeply into this, especially this one; she barely knows Salami, other than that one time she showed him around the school about a month ago and that he might be her new room-mate, but still! That alone should not justify the feeling she was feeling! It made no sense! It wasn't logical! It... It wasn't... "Sunset?" She heard Salami calling out to her. He was just there, standing directly in front of her. Yet his voice sounded so far, far away. Way beyond her reach. She shook her head, letting her long, vivid crimson-coloured hair flip about around her. Yes...there's no need to feel so flustered. She silently told herself. I...I'm just over-thinking this. She know she was, of course. Just like many other things in her life, she's always taking things a little too seriously when compared to her friends. Often times she would mistook what one thing meant when in fact it meant something else entirely. Maybe now is one of those times... she reasoned, feeling a tiny bit better --- not a lot, but just enough to hang on. Yeah... she gave Salami a quick smile, indicating to him that she was doing just fine. Yeah! "Are you okay, Sunset?" Salami asked her, taking a step down on the staircase. "You kinda zoned out for a moment there." his eyes narrowed a little as he looked at her; still making up his mind on whether or not to believe her statement. "Is something bothering you?" he queried further. "Was it because of what Dora said?" Sunset's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Dora's name, but she stood her ground and nodded her head. "It's nothing." she replied. "Just...over-thinking things." As usual. she added with a sigh. Sunset gave him a reassuring smile, for the look on his face showed her that he still had doubt inside his head. "Don't worry about it." she said, stepping up the stairs, making her way past Salami. "Shall we continue?" she asked, trying her best to act and think as if she wasn't bothered by anything else. Then why do I want to know his answer? But she was. Author's Note I must go! Seriously, I have no idea on what I should put here.
