Catching Sunshine

Wake up. Something’s wrong. Fly downstairs. Get bowl. Something’s definitely wrong. Add lettuce. Add carrots. What’s wrong? Get cup. Pour milk. Is the house on fire? Eat breakfast. No. Fly to bathroom. Is some monster attacking Ponyville? Brush teeth. No. Floss. Did Celestia forget to raise the sun? Use toilet. No. Take shower. Is it raining? Dry myself. No. Hang up towel. Is it supposed to be raining? Yes. Fly Downstairs. Check time. Three hours and forty-two minutes late. Fly out window. Fly to work.

I get to Ponyville. I haven’t seen a single cloud. I’m not sure if I should just head home or actually try to find Rainbow Dash. I opt for the latter.

I head to Sugar Cube Corner. I enter the shop. Uncanny. Rainbow Dash is here talking to Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie looks up. “Hey! Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner. You must be exhausted from clearing all those mean, old clouds this morning. I’ll get you a cupcake.” Pinkie Pie smiles and dashes into the kitchen. “On the house!”

Rainbow Dash starts to turn around. Slowly. So slowly. So slowly that I could’ve completed a number of unmentionable acts right here in Sugar Cube Corner and she wouldn’t have noticed.

Her eyes see mine. Her smile quickly vanishes. She stares at me. I stare back. I smile. I’m not sure if she’s trying to intimidate me, scare me, or win a staring contest. Or all three.

Pinkie Pie comes back from the kitchen. Rainbow Dash doesn’t take her eyes off me. She says to Pinkie Pie, “Don’t give this guy a cupcake. He decided not to show up for work today.”

My smile quickly vanishes.

Pinkie Pie gives Rainbow Dash a confusing look. “Why would I give it to him?”

I win the staring contest.

“Because you just said you’d give him a cupcake.” Rainbow Dash is looking at Pinkie Pie, bewildered. Rainbow Dash is unaware of the inevitable joke.

“No silly. I said I’d get him one.” Pinkie Pie’s face really starts to light up. She knows the punch line is coming.

I know Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie have been friends for a long time. How Rainbow Dash still doesn’t get it, is mind-boggling. “Well then, where is it?”

Pinkie Pie can barely contain herself. “It’s.” She looks around as if Rainbow Dash and I aren’t the only ponies in here. “It’s on the house!” Pinkie Pie breaks down into hysterical laughter. I wonder how long she can hold her breath.

“Ha! Good one Pinkie Pie!” If I didn’t know any better I’d probably assume Rainbow Dash was faking her amusement.

Rainbow Dash calms down and refocuses her attention on me. “You’ve been consistently showing up to work late. Just a minute or two. Everyday. And today, you don’t even bother showing up at all.”

I actually just showed up four hours late. I don’t correct her.

Rainbow Dash continues, “And the thing is. You know the most about clouds. More than anypony I’ve ever met. And you rarely ever make a mistake.” I’m not sure if she’s still talking to me or just thinking out loud.

She looks down at the floor. I do the same. She kicks an imaginary soccer ball with her hoof. I don’t. Then she looks up at me. She looks at me with a face I’ve seldom seen before. A face I didn’t know Rainbow Dash was capable of making.

“What’s wrong?”

This strikes a nerve. I want to cry. I want to break down crying and tell her about my sister. And about my parents coming to town. And about Sunshine. But I don’t. I can’t. I can’t burden Rainbow Dash with my problems. So I tell her that I don’t know.

“You don’t know what’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash gives me an elongated look. I can’t tell if she knows I’m lying. “Or you don’t want to tell me?”

I tell her I mean the first.

She seems to accept this answer. Compassionate Rainbow Dash disappears. Now she’s back to tough-girl Rainbow Dash. I prefer tough-girl Rainbow Dash. “Look, I was going to invite a bunch of the pegasi for drinks. Why don’t you come?”

I tell her I don’t drink.

She responds, “Ah, you can still have a good time.”

I tell her I won’t.

“Suite yourself. But know that you’re invited.”

I tell her thanks.

I throw some bits on the counter. I leave before Pinkie Pie can try to give them back.

I fly up to the roof to retrieve the cupcake ‘on the house.’ Vanilla. My favorite.

I fly back down to the ground. There’s a filly. There’s a filly right in front of me. I almost hit her. She’s crying.

I tell her I can’t talk. I tell her I’ve got boring adult stuff. I hand her the cupcake. I tell her I hope her day gets better. I fly to the hospital.

I get to the hospital. I don’t want to go in. My parents are in there. In room 1. I just stand there hoping some magical force will prevent me from entering. I step towards the entrance. Nothing.

I take another step towards the entrance. Still nothing.

I sigh. Why can’t some unspeakable evil attack Ponyville? That would be a great excuse to not enter the hospital. Preferably something flying. Something that would take all the pegasi to deafeat. I wouldn’t have a choice. I would have to go help defeat the flying monster. Maybe I would accidently bump into Sunshine while fighting the monster. Maybe we would deliver the finishing blow together. We would be honored with medals and during my speech I would tell her I love her and give her a kiss and she would say that she loves me too and kiss me back and. . .

I enter the hospital.

I look towards the counter. The same nurse from yesterday is there. She looks up and smiles at me. I smile back. Then I put my head down and walk to room 1.

As I approach the room, I can here my parents arguing. I enter the room. They don’t notice me. I sit down. I wonder how long it will take for them to notice me.

My father points his hoof at me, but just continues to yell at my mother. So they did notice me.

Then I see my parents’ expressions change. It’s a subtle change. It’s this ‘we can’t argue forever, eventually we’re going to have to eat’ change. Silence.

I tell them I’m glad to see them and I thank them for visiting. They turn to me and smile. They’re not mad at me, they’re just mad at each other.

Then the questions: “How’s work?” “Meet any cute mares?” “Read anything interesting, lately?” They ask me the same questions every time they see me. It’s like they have a list.

Then they look at their daughter. My mother cries. My father doesn’t.

Then they tell me that it was nice visiting me and leave.

Three hours have passed since I entered the hospital. It never feels that long. But our visits always last that long. Three hours.

I walk over to my sister. I look at her. I can’t help but cry. One of these days my parents’ arguing is going to kill her.

I leave the hospital and fly home. I don’t have work tomorrow so I can spend the whole night reading. I walk into my library. I grab Mr. Cloud. I might as well find out what this book is actually about.