Catching Sunshine

Wake up. Fly downstairs. Get bowl. Add lettuce. Add carrots. Get cup. Pour milk. Eat breakfast. Fly to bathroom. Brush teeth. Floss. Use toilet. Take shower. Dry myself. Hang up towel. Comb mane. Style mane. Look in mirror. Restyle mane. Look in mirror. Continue to look in mirror. Fly downstairs. Check time. Two minutes. Sit on couch. Check time. One minute. Fly to bedroom. Make bed. Fly downstairs. Check time. Three minutes late. Open front door. Fly outside. Close front door. Fly to work.

I get to Ponyville and I can see a line of pegasi in the sky. I can hear Rainbow Dash giving her morning speech. “I don’t have to remind any of you how important today is. Normally we don’t need all the pegasi to help, but today we have create a storm that covers all of Ponyville and some of the surrounding areas. The storm is supposed to last 24 hours, so make sure you’re here early tomorrow.” I line up at the end. Rainbow Dash looks at me. “I’m glad you decided to show up.” Her voice is cracking more than usual. She’s stressed.

I apologize for being late. She continues, “I’ll be done with my section super quick, so if you need any help don’t be afraid to come get me. Now, you all know your assigned sections, so let’s go!”

I asked to be assigned to one of the sections above the Library. From the Library, I can see most of Ponyville. From the Library, I can see Sunshine: the most beautiful pegasus in Equestria. Or, at least, I think her name is Sunshine. I’ve never actually talked to her.

I look over by Sugar Cube Corner. She’s not there. I slowly start to turn my head left, surveilling the area for Sunshine. She isn’t by the school. She isn’t by Sweet Apple Acres. She isn’t by Town Square. She isn’t by Carousel Boutique. And she isn’t by the Everfree Forest because, of course, Rainbow Dash has that section. That’s all of Ponyville. I know someone was assigned to go to Cloudsdale. Maybe she went to Cloudsdale.

Then, I feel a gust of wind hit my back. My hair stands on end. I turn around to see Sunshine. She has the other section above the Library.

My heart drops. My ears quickly fold behind my head and I can barely think. She has the other section above the Library. I start to feel hot. I can feel my sweat begin to dampen my coat. She has the other section above the Library.

I fight my instincts to look at her. To look at her beautiful coat. Her beautiful eyes. Her beautiful. . .

I look.

Blue hair. She has blue hair today. Yesterday she had green hair and the day before that it was pink. Everyday she comes to work with a different color mane and today it’s blue. I like it.

I decide that I’m going to talk to her. All I have to do is ask her her name. Just “What’s your name?” Or “Hey, I’m Cloud I don’t think we’ve met.” Or “I see we both ended up above the Library, what are the odds of that?” Or “See those clouds over there? Those are cumulus clouds. They’re super pretty but they’re not really great for storms.”

Or I could say nothing.

I could always accidentally bump into her. Sometimes you get so focused on moving clouds you forget yourself. It wouldn’t be hard to do. I would just need to be in the right place at the wrong time.

I’m not going to do that either.

Maybe I can pretend to crash. I’m not that great of a flier. I could fall and hit the ground just hard enough that I might be seriously injured. Sunshine would swoop down, very concerned. I’d have to pretend to be hurt, maybe keep my eyes closed. I’d lie there, on my back, just waiting for Sunshine to rush down and rescue me. I’d just lie there and wait. Waiting to hear Sunshine’s delightful voice. I’d fall down and wait on the ground, just to hear Sunshine say. . .

“Are you okay?”

You know how some ponies will say they were so scared that their heart jumped out of their chest? They have no idea.

I spin around to see Rainbow Dash staring at me. I can’t tell if she unhappy or just confused. She looks up. I look up. There are no clouds in my section. Everypony is almost done and there are no clouds in my section.

Just in case I was confused, Rainbow Dash reminds me, “Everypony is almost done and there aren’t any clouds in your section.”

I tell her I know. She doesn’t even bother asking me for an explanation. She just whistles and shouts, “Anypony who’s still here and done with their section, come help Cloud!”

I watch as about twenty pegasi fly towards me. I watch as they all grab clouds, putting them in my section. And I watch as they finish and all fly away. Including Sunshine. I fly to the hospital.

By the time I get to the hospital it’s raining pretty hard. I enter the building and the nurse behind the counter greets me. I smile. I walk past the counter towards the rooms.

“Uhm sir?” The nurse behind the counter is trying to get my attention. “Sir you have to check in.”

I stop. I can see one of the veteran nurses in the corner of my eye. She’s shaking her head, trying to get the attention of the more vocal nurse behind the counter.

“Uhm, nevermind.” The nurse behind the counter looks down at her papers. Then she looks up at me. “Just notify me when you leave.”

I want to laugh. I want to tell the nurse behind the counter that I come here everyday. I want to tell her that she’ll get to know me soon enough. I want to look at her and just smile letting her know everything’s okay. But I don’t do any of that. I just walk to room 1.

Room 1. Not room 3. Not room 8. Not even room 526. Room 1. Nothing’s ever 1. When you get a hotel room, you never get assigned to room 1. When you enter a contest, you’re never contestant 1. When you get randomly assigned to a group in school, you’re never group 1. But here I am, at room 1.

I go over to the bed and there’s my sister. Dead. Being kept alive by magic and machines. I look at her face. She looks so peaceful. I look at the scar on her cheek. I start to cry.

I leave room 1. I walk back towards the entrance of the hospital. I walk past the front counter.

“Sir!”

I turn and face the nurse behind the counter.

“You’re coming from room 1, right?” The nurse pauses as if waiting for an answer. I don’t say anything. She continues, “Her parents called. They said they’d be coming by tomorrow.”

I tell her thanks. I look out the front door. It’s storming really hard. I leave the hospital. I fly home.

I have a cloud house. I built it myself. It’s located right outside of Ponyville. It’s two stories and it has two doors and five windows. The staircase was the hardest part to build. I wasn’t going to build a staircase but someone reminded me that unicorns have this spell that lets non-pegasi walk on clouds. So if I ever had company I would need a staircase. I’ve never had company.

I arrive home. I open the front door. Why. I fly down to the ground. I stare at my mailbox. Why? I open my mailbox, grab the letter inside, and rip it up. Why are my parents visiting?

I fly up to my house, walk inside, and close the front door.

I walk into my library. I have so many books I haven’t read: Clouds, Alchemy, and You; Clouds and Weather Patterns; The Glory of Clouds; The Complete Encyclopedia: Cloud Edition; The Meaning of Clouds; Cloudy Fortune Telling; Mr. Cloud. That last one probably isn’t about clouds.

I pick a book at random. I immediately put it back on the shelf. I can’t believe my parents are coming to Ponyville tomorrow.

I check the time. Twelve hours until work tomorrow.

I walk upstairs. Twelve hours, then work, then parents. I lie in my bed. Work, then parents. I can hear the rain outside. It’s coming down really hard.