"Fucking Celestia! It is hot." Solar Beam said aloud, getting back to his work. The sun had just reached the pinnacle of its arch. Lucky enough for him, it could not get any hotter than this. He understood the Summer Sun Celebration was an important festival and that most ponies would get the day off, but couldn't the pegasuses at least throw some clouds out? Or at the very least over his house.
Unlike everypony else, writers like him don't get days off. They can't afford it. Work had to be done, and he had to get working. There was no enjoying the celebrations and no parties with his friends, like he had any here to begin with.
Solar had just moved to Canterlot a few weeks back. There were more publishers here, and it would be easier to get his work noticed here. Honestly, moving to Manehatten might have been better for his health. He didn't know much about the big cities, but they had to be cooler than here.
He turned his attention from the heat and back to his parchment. It was still blank. It had been blank for days now. Well, a new blank sheet always replaced some failed project. This would be his 34th attempt at a story. No doubt, it would be his 34th failed attempt.
Solar pushed himself away from his desk. “I need to go for a walk.” He grunted, grabbing a few bits from the drawer to his right. That used to help him get ideas, seeing all the characters of the city. While he was at it, might as well buy an iced coffee. Hopefully the coffee shop would be open today.
His hooves felt heavy as he pushed to the door. He had been sitting in that damned chair all day, throwing papers across the room. His body was slow and unresponsive now because of it. Solar didn't know how long it been exactly, but he really needed to leave the house. He pushed the door open, shielding his eyes from the suns rays.
“Yep, still to bright for me.” He muttered, still annoyed at the weather's current state. Solar took a few more steps, letting his eyes adjust to the new level of brightness. That was before he got blind sided by another pony.
Both ponies tumbled a few feet before realizing what happened. “What the fuck is your deal!?” The other pony yelled. Solar was still a little blind, and his face was firmly pressed against the ground after the fall, but he could tell it was a girl from her voice. “Fucking dumb ass walking into the road like that, don't you know that I am in a fucking hurry?”
Solar painfully pushed himself upright and got a look at the girl. She was a pegasus that had a light red coat with a orange mane and tail. On her backside, was a sun for a cutie mark. How appropriate. He thought to himself. Something to match her fiery personality. “Look, I am sorry. But shouldn't you really be looking where your going?”
“Fuck you, prick.” The mysterious girl jumped to her feet and sprinted off down the road. “Hope you get AIDs and die!” Her voice trailed off as she vanished around the corner.
“What a cheerful pony.” He commented, letting the sarcasm infect every word. Sadly, this is a back street, which meant that she no doubt lived around these parts. The very idea just filled him with 'joy'. He shrugged off the event. He only scuffed his coat a bit. And judging from her reactions, she was fine as well. He started down the street, following her hoofsteps. The coffee shop was right next to the Festival of the Sun, which is where she was probably going after all.
It was only a few minutes away. He could actually hear all the merry making from where he was. Each step grew the scene for him. Soon , the streets started becoming more and more colorful with streamers and balloons. Carts lined the road, selling this and that. Each little knick knack on display held its only little personal charm.
Even his coffee shop was decorated. The windows had giant suns painted on them with a cartoonish Celestia beckoning him in to get an iced coffee special. Solar was not amused with the advertisement, but he was happy to see that he would only be paying half of the normal price. Only a few minutes later, he was finished with his coffee and walking out of the store.
He felt a little better, but he still had not got any new ideas for a story. Looking around at the square, maybe he should hang about. He needed a little time off after all, like everypony else. Was it the smart thing to do, no, but maybe it would help. Obviously he was getting nowhere sitting in his dark room.
“Hey...” A voice came from behind him. It shocked him, but he quickly composed himself, turning to the source. Another pegasus, this one blue with a white mane, a snowflake on her behind. I really need to stop looking at mare's butts right when I see them. Somepony is going to start thinking I am strange. “Yes, can I help you?”
“You left your cup on the table.” She stated stoically, staring through him.
Solar looked at the girl as a few moments passed. “Don't they... umm... have ponies to take care of that?”
“Yes. I did not know if you knew or not.” Her expression stayed the same, as did her personality. It was hard telling if she was putting on an act, concerned about the staff cleaning up after him, or if she was wanting the cup.
“Well, it is gone now. I guess everything is fine now?”
“Everything was already fine. Happy Summer Solstice.” She stated bluntly, removing herself from the conversation.
What the hell is with her? Solar could only think that the holiday brought out the most interesting parts of ponies. Whatever, it may be, Solar decided he had enough. Maybe he would just right a short story about some bitch making an emotionless robot or something like that. See how that works with the publishers. Probably not well, nothing about it makes sense.
The booths and carts still had ponies crowded around them. This day was far from over for any pony, perfect for Solar to do a little more pony watching as he headed home.
He did take his trek home at a slower pace. Something about this atmosphere seemed nice. It got his mind off the heat, and he felt more relaxed. His mind started calming, sifting through the noise and colors. He noticed a father and daughter. The father was trying to win a prize from a cart, being cheered by his child. He knew the game was rigged, but she was having fun and that is all that mattered to him.
Solar saw a young colt. He had two sticks of cotton candy in his mouth and he was looking across the square at a filly. Solar could tell from his stance and the way his knees were shaking, threatening to buckle under him, that he was going to try and give the girl one of the cotton candies. Maybe he knew her, maybe he didn't. Solar thought it would make a better story if they had never met.
Not far from him were two girls, looking around, lost in the confusion. He had been living in these parts long enough that he knew his way around. Solar was starting to think that these strange occurrences were some form of karma, and he needed to tilt the balance again. Maybe helping these girls might change the cosmic scales into his favor.
“Excuse me, are you looking for something?” Solar said warmly approaching the two. They took no notice of him. They were looking the other way, and no doubt his voice was drowned out by the noise. He got closer to the two. The one closest to him had a purple coat and a blue mane, while the one in front of her had an orange coat and black mane. He reached his hoof out and tapped the purple mares shoulder. “Excuse me, miss.”
The mare jumped slightly and looked at him. She slowly slid behind the other one. The orange one turned around to see the fuss, smiling warmly. “Don't worry about her. Hey, you wouldn't know where the castle is, would you?” She chuckled softly into her hoof and lifted her head again. “You see, my siblings and I just moved here this morning and we are still getting used to where everything is.”
Solar gave a grin back to the girl. This was a nice change in pace for him. “Yes. If you just head down this road, you will see a coffee house.” He started, pointing behind him. “Just follow that street until you see a huge library, then you should be able to find your way from there.”
“Thank you so much. My name is Yonder, and this is my sister Daunting, though she is far from it. We usually just call her Dawn for short.” She patted Daunting on the head and smiled. “How long have you been here?”
“Only a few weeks, but I been taking a lot of walks. My name is Solar Beam, by the way. It is nice to meet you. What are you doing at the castle, if you don't mind me asking?”
“Oh, just new home things. Registering and sight seeing. The Office of Residents is actually closed today. I just wanted to know where it was.” Dawn kept quiet, looking awkwardly around the square. She kept close to Yonder, never leaving her side. “We live down on Elm Street. Do you know where that is?”
“Yeah, I live on Willow. It crosses Elm. I am sure we actually live pretty close to each other.” This turned out pretty well. He had not met any new ponies since coming here, so getting a friend might not be that bad. She was not bad looking either. Maybe there could be a spark later. “I was heading home anyways. If you were done here, maybe we could head down together.”
“Of course!”She beamed. “I did not think I would be meeting handsome ponies like yourself so quickly after all.” She joked, winking at him. “Come on Dawn, let's get home and grab a bite to eat. Sound good?” The only response was a quiet 'mhm'. “Sounds like a plan. Let's get going.”
The three of them started down the street. Yonder walked between the two. Solar thought this was for Dawn's benefit, being so shy and all. She still has not uttered a single word the entire time. They talked about what they were doing there. Yonder told Solar that they moved here because they all found jobs here. There were four of them. She never went into much detail besides the fact the two oldest where twins and Dawn was the youngest. Dawn tended to flowers, Yonder found a job as a match maker, and both of the twins found jobs as weather ponies.
It was not long before they dound themselves on Elm Street, they had to walk along it to get to Willow street after all. “Well, here we are.” Yonder said proudly, approaching the house. She tried to push the door open, but it would not budge. “Oh, one of the them must have locked it.” Solar could only imagine that she was talking about the twins. He watched as Yonder knocked loudly. “Cinder! Colder! One of you home?”
There was rummaging heard from inside. “Fuck, can you hold on for one damn second.”
“Oh no...” Solar recognized that voice.
“It's okay, she is harmless.” Yonder assured him.
“Don't tell me, she is a red pegasus with an orange mane? And her twin is blue with a white mane?” Solar had a hunch. It only made sense, they were twins after all. Normally twins are the same, but it would not be abnormal to think they are polar opposites as well.
“Well, yeah. How did you know that?” Yonder asked, confused on the spot on accuracy.
“I have met them.”
“Oh no...” Yonder repeated, knowing that her sister is a little brash. “Don't think ill of her, please.”
The door swung open violently, showing Cinder. “There, the door is open. Hap-...” She looked at Solar. “What the fuck is that asshole doing here?”
“Cinder, this is Solar Beam. Solar, Cinder Ray.”
“Yondy... The fuck is the asshole doing here?”
“I am right here.” Solar interjected. He was already done with Cinder's attitude already, and it had only been a few seconds.
“She is pretending you don't exist.” The calm voice emerged from around the door as Colder appeared. “I am Colder Ray. They call me Coo. That is Cinder Ray. We call her Cindy.”
“Fucking call me that and I will stab you.”
“Alright everyone, calm down.” Yonder pushed herself into the house. “Solar was nice enough to show me where the castle was and to walk Dawn and I home safely. Be nice to him.” She took a deep breath and glared at Cinder. “That means you too, Cindy.”
Cinder scowled at her younger sister and stomped from the room, into the hall, and out of sight. After a loud slamming door, Yonder turned back to Solar and smiled. “She gets better, I promise. Anyways, I am about to start cooking, you want to stick around?”
Solar shook his head. He had enough weird for one day. “I think I am fine. I best be off, I need to try and start another story tonight.” He gave a small bow at the remaining three. “I am sure I see you four around.”
“We live here.” Colder stated. “Unless you never leave your house, you will see us.”
“Exactly!” Yonder beamed. “Don't be a stranger. Little Dawn really needs to make friends after all.”
Seeing that there was no response from the youngest, Solar just grinned and nodded. “Sure, maybe dinner tomorrow then.” They said their goodbyes and Solar made his way home. The sun was finally starting to leave, and the heat was just subsiding. He got back into his yard, through the door, and plopped onto his chair at his desk.
The room never changed. The light from the window threw itself onto the ground, just a little further away now. The paper was still blank, even though he knew exactly what he wanted to do now. But there was still one thing on his mind.
“The fuck just happened to me?”
