Chapters Canterlot University was a rather large school. Sunny Days had figured that out just recently when she got lost in the halls. Though, she wasn’t very good with directions anyway. But, you wouldn’t know that. Sunny Days was a pink pegasus originally born in the well known country town of Ponyville. She had moved to Canterlot with her brother once she got old enough for the University. Her brother had enrolled in the University as well to ‘keep track of her’, but she knew better. You see, everypony got a 30% off if they had family there. Yeah.
“No good, rotten, brother…” She mumbled, kicking a rock. The unicorn beside her scoffed.
“Hey! What did I do?” Star Tail never looked like he belonged in the family; their mother being pale lavender and their father being tan, the bluish green stallion always looked out of place in family photos.
“Everything.” Sunny replied with a smirk. Star rolled his eyes.
“Ha, ha. Very funny. You’re not gonna be that bubbly when you find out who your roommate is!” A frightened look washed over her face.
“No! You didn’t!” She defended, pushing him. He laughed.
“Of course not! I wouldn’t be able to stand you.” He teased, levitating a piece of paper out of his saddlebag. “Let’s see…” His eyes scanned the paper for their names and he smiled mischievously. “Oh look, lucky you. You have a stallion for a roommate.” He said, showing her the list. Sunny frowned.
“Whatever.” He chuckled and continued scanning the list. “Who’s your roommate?” Star Tail groaned.
“A mare.” He stuffed the list into his saddlebag and turned back to his sister. “Want to switch?” Sunny gave him a flat look.
“We can’t switch roommates, remember?” Star looked away nonchalantly.
“Right.”
///
“Alright ponies, that’s all you need to know for today! Make sure to stop by your rooms before heading to your first class.” The headmaster stepped back into his office, his black tail disappearing behind the door. Sunny looked up and realized that the lecture was over. She blushed slightly and stuffed her sketch-book back into her bag. She quickly flew to her dorm, nearly slamming the door behind her.
“Ah!” She looked up to see a tan stallion next to the beds. He looked up with slight fear before smiling at his guest. “H-hi.”
“Are you my roomie?” Sunny asked, not even bothering to say hi back. The unicorn shrugged.
“I guess.” He turned around and continued unpacking. Sunny caught a glimpse of a note-book and smiled thoughtlessly.
“Is that a sketch-book?” Her roommate turned around with the item in his hooves. He looked down and smiled in embarrassment.
“Uh, yeah. It’s a past time.” Sunny smiled.
“Cool.” She glided over to her new friend, and sat next to him. “Do you mind if I help you unpack?” The colt stared at the ground.
“Um, I guess. I mean, no.” Sunny smiled and pulled out a trophy.
“Cool, what’d you get this for?” The stallion grabbed it from her as soon as she spoke.
“Th-that’s special! I got it for a contest.” He said, showing her his cutie mark of an eight ball. “I'm really good at pool.”
“Wow, my special talent is drawing.” She said, showing the ink set on her flank. “I’m also good at writing, but not as good as drawing.” She set her eyes to the floor. “Sorry, I’m babbling.”
“It’s fine.” Her roomie said, setting his trophy on the nightstand.
“Say, what’s your name?”
“Thallen.”
///
Sunny nibbled on her hayburger mindlessly. She felt somepony sit next to her and looked up to see Star Tail.
“How’s it shaking, bacon?” Sunny frowned.
“I’m not a doggie treat.” She looked down at her sandwich and continued eating.
“So…where’s your roommate?” Sunny looked up and smiled. Star followed her gaze behind him, and saw a tan unicorn with a black mane. “Hi.”
“What’s up? Are you Star Tail? Sunny’s told me all about you.” Star Tail rolled his eyes, knowing that ‘told’ didn’t mean ‘told good things’. Sunny giggled.
“Yes, I am Star Tail. You can call me Star.” He said, holding a hoof to his chest. Thallen smiled.
“Awesome nickname. My name is Thallen.”
“Nice…” Star replied. Sunny reached over to grab his shoulder but missed, and hit the table.
“Don’t mind him, he’s probably just trying to hit on you.” She said, looking up at the unicorn. He raised an eyebrow. “My brother’s gay.”
“Bi!”
“Whatever.” She said, waving a hoof.
“Cool! I’ve never met a gay dude before!” He said, reaching out his hoof to shake Star’s.
“I’m not surprised, considering how understanding this population is.” Star Tail said with a scowl.
“I know, right?” Sunny frowned, having been left out of the conversation.
///
Silence. Not a single peep came out of room 401. Sheer awkwardness. That is, until Sunny yawned.
“Youwannadosomething?” Thallen blurted out. He covered his mouth with a blush on his muzzle. He didn’t want to make the situation even more awkward. Sunny frowned.
“Why? To make up for ditching me yesterday?” She turned over in her bed with a huff. “Not cool, dude.” Thallen studied his hooves before looking up at Sunny.
“I just thought that maybe you would want to hit a club or something.” Sunny’s eyes popped open. She sat up and looked at him.
“With you?” He scratched his head nervously.
“Yeah…” There was once again silence in the small dorm as the two ponies thought of what to say next. “Just forget it, okay? What classes are you taking?” Sunny looked up slightly impressed that her roommate could jump topics so easily. “I’m taking drawing, geometry, and history.” He said with a small smile.
“Man, I wish I could take music. I love listening to music and singing, but I’m a terrible singer,” she shook her head and smiled. “But I’m taking drawing, biology, and psychology.” She frowned. “My brother talked me into it. He’s also taking it.” Thallen grinned.
“Great! We can see each other in drawing!” Sunny scooted back against the wall next to her bed.
“Yeah, that would be kind of nice.”
“Alright! We’d better get some sleep, it’s a long day tomorrow.” He said, turning off the light with his magic. “Night.” Sunny was already snuggled up in her blanket.
“Good night.”
Sunny silently cheered as her class came to a stop. The professor waved the students off as she dug into her desk drawers. Sunny happily floated out into the halls and headed for campus. A ringing came from her saddlebag, causing her to pause in her little celebration. She pulled out her phone and continued to fly down the hall as she held it in her hooves.
Dear Sunny, was hoping we could hang out on campus or whatever after classes. If u don't want to that's fine. Thallen
She groaned in annoyance. He had interrupted her mental party! She rolled her eyes and replied. She stuffed the device back into her saddlebag before crashing into what felt like a fleshy brick wall. She weakly lifted her head off of the floor and opened her eyes to see what she had bumped into. What she saw surprised her.
A stallion. A cute stallion. He sat up with a groan, rubbing his head with a pale yellow hoof. When he opened his eyes he smiled in slight embarrasment.
"Sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going." His electric blue mane hung over his eyes and made nice contrast with the horn poking out. His magenta eyes began to show confusion. "Um, hello?" Sunny face-hoofed.
"Right. Sorry, I was distracted." He grew concerned and grabbed some of his mane.
"Is it my mane? I always thought it looked a little too bright. You know, maybe I should get it dyed. I know this one mare who-"
"Your mane is fine." Sunny giggled. He smiled and lowered his hooves back to the floor.
"Heh, thanks." He rubbed his neck nervously before getting up. "I gotta go, but I'll see you around. By the way, what's your name?"
"Sunny Days." She answered. He gave her a bold smile.
"It was nice bumping into you, Sunny Days! I'm Spark Plug, but all of my friends call me Sparky. Anyway, see you around!" He turned to leave and waved goodbye. Sunny watched him leave until he turned a corner before smiling. He seemed nice.
///
"Sunny! You made it!" Thallen waved over the pink pegasus with a grin. "I was worried you were trying to ditch me!" Sunny giggled.
"If only it was that easy!" She joked. Thallen laughed before waving over a bulky grey stallion with a reddish brown mane.
"Sunny, this is my brother Ring Toss. He got us into this party." The stallion happily shook Sunny's hoof.
"It's nice to meet you, Sunny Days. Thallen's been telling me all about you since he first met you!" Sunny vibrated as he shook her hoof violently.
"Uh...it's a...pleasure...Mr. Toss!" When he finally let go of her hoof Sunny could've sworn she saw stars. Ring Toss left with a hearty laugh. Sunny shook her head to regain her senses before smiling innocently at Thallen. He laughed.
"If you think his hoof-shakes are bad, you should experience one of his noogies!" Sunny gasped and covered her head with her wings to protect her mane. Thallen laughed again before levitating a cup of punch over. "If you'll excuse me, I have some punch and snacks to devour." Sunny giggled and nodded, folding her wings back at her side.
About an hour later Sunny Days was already sitting on the sidelines in boredom. She sighed, regretting not bringing her saddlebag and phone. She began to watch the crowd of ponies out of pure boredom. She straightened in attention when she saw a familiar mane color. She smiled when the unicorn stepped into plain view. It was Sparky. She quickly trotted towards the snack table where he was heading.
"Hey mister." She said once she reached him. He turned in confusion, but smiled when he saw her.
"Hey! I told you I'd see you around!" He said with a grin. Sunny giggled. "Say...aren't you supposed to be partying instead of talking to me?" He asked with a raised brow. Sunny groaned.
"Ugh! This party is too boring! I was just over there wishing I had my phone so I could call my brother to come pick me up." She said, pointing back to the line of chairs. Sparky chuckled.
"Yeah, this party is kind of a downer. I'm pretty much just here for the food." He joked. Sunny laughed before spreading her wings in excitement.
"Hey, how about we blow this joint?" Sparky nodded enthusiastically.
"That sounds awesome!"
///
The two ponies calmly walked down the busy streets of night-life Canterlot. They stopped in front of a small building with large glass windows. Sparky read the neon sign above the door and smiled.
"Doughnut Joe's. I heard this place is great." He said turning to Sunny. She looked down at her hooves in embarrasment.
"I...don't really like doughnuts." She said quietly. Sparky waved a hoof in dismissal.
"He has other stuff, doughnuts and coffee is just his main thing." Sunny smiled.
"Do they have hot cocoa?" Sparky nodded with a smirk.
///
Sunny groaned as she walked beside Sparky. "I ate too many muffins." Sparky chuckled.
"Yeah, I know how that feels." They stopped at the edge of a street where a wagon rolled by.
They were within seeing distance of the campus when Sparky stepped closer to Sunny. She stopped when he did so, considering he was so close she could feel his every move from her wing. He turned to her with a worried look.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry if that bothered you, I just thought..." Sunny shook herself, sending several strands of hair out of place. She smoothed them out before continuing her way towards campus.
"It's okay, I'm just not used to that." Sparky nodded in understanding.
"Right, I'm still sorry though." He said once he caught up to her. Sunny smiled.
"Really, it's okay. I'm just...not going to get into that for a while." Sparky stared at the ground with a sigh.
"I understand."
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Chapter 3: A midnight visit and a cuddly surprise
On the far right bed a pink pegasus snored loudly, horse noises coming out whenever she breathed out. Her mane was a tangled mess and she was sprawled out across the sheets, wings and legs tangled in a web of blankets and a stuffed monkey. In short, she was a mess. The room was disturbingly silent, save for snores here and there. As if it was TRYING to wake her up, the charging cellphone rang loudly. Sunny groaned and rolled over as if that was going to make it stop. When it kept ringing she shot up and rubbed her eyes. She picked it up with surprising ease and checked the time. 11:59. She rolled her eyes and held it to ear.
"What?"
"Geez, what's with the tone little missy?" Sunny's face lit up.
"Daddy?" She smiled happily. She hadn't seen or talked to her father since Christmas, him being a soldier and all.
"Of course, who else would be calling you at midnight?" Sunny frowned at the suspicious tone in his face. She heard a groan come from across the room and Thallen sat up rubbing his eyes.
"Who is that?" Sunny could almost hear her father's jaw drop.
"Who is that? I thought you were going to have a female roommate!" Sunny gasped.
"Daddy! You've been intruding again, haven't you?" Thallen's face grew confused, frightened, and surprised at the same time.
"DADDY!?" Sunny could already tell where this was going. She instinctively pulled the phone away from her ear before her father could speak again.
"That's right, mister! So don't even THINK about touching my daughter!" He screamed through the phone. This has happened too many times.
"Dad! I can make my own choices! I'm in college for Luna's sake!"
"But pumpkin-"
"And he's my roommate! Whatever you said about my roommate being a mare was obviously redecided!" Thallen raised a hoof.
"Um, that might actually be my fault." Sunny's ears perked up in attention. "You see, I was assigned to a different dorm this year. I stayed in this room last year and I wanted to be familiar with how my mornings would go. So, I kind of got involved with the placement procedures." Sunny's father growled through the phone.
"I worked hard to make sure my daughter got a female roommate! So you either have to leave, or change rooms!" Sunny frowned.
"Daddy! He's already unpacked and-"
"No, he's right. I should change rooms." Thallen smiled. "I'll be gone tomorrow, Mr. Days."
"...It's Smooth Beats."
///
Sunny groaned as several beams of sunlight hit her eyelids. She rolled over to face away from the window, only to have strong hooves wake her up. She jolted upright.
"Wha-huh?" She turned to the criminal who dared to wake her before she was ready and- "SPARKY!?"
"Surprise!" He stood in front of several ponies, including her brother. "Congrats on getting that brown rat out of your room!" He dropped a bag of cherries onto her lap with a grin. "Heard you liked cherries."
"He said she liked CHERRY! As in Cherry Pick! As in ME!" An orange pegasus gave her a small peck to her forehead.
"Jip?" He nodded and turned to Star Tail.
"Hey Star, show her what I picked out!" Star Tail grumbled something about it being his idea before dropping a small doll on her lap. It was a pegasus shaped awfully like...
"Jip? Is this a you doll?" He waved a hoof in dismissal.
"Pfft, yeah! So you can cuddle me wherever you are!" He rubbed his neck with a small chuckle. "I, uh...kind of skipped classes so I could visit." Sunny gave him a grateful hug and kissed his cheek.
"That's so nice!" She paused and turned to Sparky. "Brown rat?" He quickly looked away with a faint blush.
"Uh, yeah...I was talking about Thallen." Sunny frowned.
"Thallen's not a rat!" Sparky rolled his eyes.
"Okay, whatever you say." His eyes shifted back and forth nervously. "I mean, because you're right! I mean, you're smart! I mean..." The ponies around the room all laughed.
"Ugh...uh, excuse me! I kind of need to get through!" Sunny looked up when a light blue hoof poked through the crowd of ponies. It grabbed desperately for something, but only reached air. It then found the floor and a mare slowly squeezed her way in. "Oh, wow! You sure do have a lot of friends, huh?" Sunny giggled.
"Well, I'm pretty sure they're my brothers! Or my friend's friends!" She gave Sparky a hard glare. He took the hint and signaled for everyone to hit the road.
"Heh, well, I sure hope they don't come back." The mare sat on Thallen's bed with a relieved sigh. "Hi, I'm Sirena. You must be my new roommate!" Sunny looked at her curiously. She didn't seem...right.
"I...guess. Were you originally assigned to this room?" Sirena nodded.
"yeah, but I owed Thallen a favor so..." Her eyes quickly shifted to the floor. "He...kind of...saved my life." She blushed and looked away with a smile.
"Wow, he always looked like such a weakling." Sunny shrugged and set her hooves to the floor.
"Not when it comes to his tongue!" Sirena quickly shoved a hoof into her muzzle. "I mean...he has a silver tongue! He helped me solve a...family issue." She stretched her wings awkwardly as if they were brand new. "He's a real friend."
"That's great, I guess. I'm gonna take a shower, so..." Sunny quickly trotted into the bathroom and left Sirena on her bed.
"Yeah, a family issue that nearly started a war." She said to herself.
///