Author's Note
The story takes place after My Little Pony: A New Generation.
Sunny's house is presumed to have been fixed after the event of the movie.
It's no big deal.
It started with something simple; the smallest of things.
Sunny had met up with her childhood friend, Hitch Trailblazer, and her newfound unicorn friend, Izzy Moonbow. The three of them were sitting on a bench in Maretime Bay after Sunny had brought each of them a fresh mango smoothie from the dessert cart she worked for.
After a brief minute of chatting, Sunny took a sip of her smoothie, only to grimace as a tart, unexpected flavor embraced her tongue. "Geez, the mangoes must've been sour or something. This doesn't taste right at all."
Having already drank a little bit of his smoothie, Hitch looked over at Sunny with just a tepid level of curiosity. "Really? It tastes fine to me."
Izzy, who was seated between the two of them, took a lengthy slurp of her smoothie before finishing with a sharp exhale of satisfaction. "Yup, it's delicious!"
Sunny tilted her head. "Really? I guess it's just me then." She hesitantly wrapped her lips around the straw and drew more of the drink into her mouth. It wasn't bad, per se. The only problem was that the citrusy tang was so far off from the sweet, mellow flavor she had come to expect from mangoes. She smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth a few times, and her eyes widened as recognition hit her at last.
"I've got it! This tastes like pineapple, not mango!" Thinking that there had been a mix-up, Sunny glanced into her cup, but no--the thick liquid inside was the perfect shade of orange, not the pale yellow hue of pineapple. She turned to Izzy. "Can I try yours?"
"Sure--" The word hadn't even finished leaving Izzy's muzzle before Sunny suddenly swiped the cup out of her hooves. Taking a tentative sip, the magenta-maned pony frowned deeply upon realizing that Izzy's smoothie tasted exactly the same as hers.
Sunny's shoulders heaved with a defeated sigh, and shame burned in her cheeks as she handed Izzy's cup back to her. "Sorry, guys... It must be my taste buds. Maybe I'm catching a cold or something."
While Izzy discreetly shifted a couple of inches away from Sunny, Hitch said, "Hey, it's no big deal! I hope you'll be all right, though."
Sunny smiled gratefully at him and the day continued as normal. Yet she couldn't forget the peculiar incident for even a moment. How could something so trivial make her feel so very, very wrong?
A few days later, the pegasus twins Pipp Petals and Zipp Storm were stopping by Maretime Bay for a visit, and Sunny couldn't be more excited. The friends had all arranged to watch a film at the theater together. It was one Sunny had already watched alone last weekend, but she loved it so much, she didn't mind seeing it again... Especially with company.
Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy waited by the movie theater under an evening sky, the latter barely able to keep still as she continually bounced on her hooves and wagged her flowing blue tail. Soon, two pegasus silhouettes could be seen soaring through the indigo sky.
Izzy lifted her hoof, pointing upwards and waving it with vigor. "Oh, look look look! There they are, there they are!"
The pegasus sisters swooped down and landed in front of their friends before folding up their wings. "Hi guys!" Pipp panted, somewhat exhausted from their flight.
Sunny was about to respond, but then she met Pipp's gaze and cold dread grabbed at her heart. She froze, mouth ajar. Something was different about the small pegasus, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on it. Pipp's brow furrowed as she caught Sunny looking at her oddly.
Zipp cleared her throat. "So... should we go in?"
Hitch glanced at Sunny before replying. "Yup, the movie's not gonna wait for us!" He attempted to put on a lighthearted tone, but it was laced with concern for his friend.
The five of them trotted into the theater and stood at the back of the queue for the ticket booth. Sunny stared at the floor. She was almost too terrified to look at Pipp again, but she knew she had to. The light was better inside the building, so maybe Pipp had just looked strange in the darkness.
Sunny squeezed her eyes shut and drew in a lengthy breath, before slowly lifting her head and opening her eyes once more. Then, she turned to face Pipp.
She breathed out again with relief.
"Pipp, I knew there was something different about you! I didn't know you wore contacts."
The pink pegasus pulled a bemused expression, and Sunny felt her skin prickle as the other three ponies stared at her too. "What do you mean? I don't."
A lump seemed to swell in Sunny's throat, and she swallowed as the feeling of dread crept up on her again. "Oh, it's just... Your eyes. They look kind of brown."
Perplexed silence followed.
Pipp's expression swapped from confusion to irritation. "Of course. They're always brown. Don't tell me you haven't paid attention to my eye color in nearly a month of us knowing each other?"
Sunny felt her knees begin to shake. "B-but they were green! I remember it clearly. I remember thinking how well they matched the emerald in your crown. I remem--"
She paused when she felt a gentle hoof on her shoulder. "Sunny, are you feeling all right?" Hitch's voice was brimming with worry.
She looked to each of her friends. Although his eyes reflected soft concern, her ears drooped when she spotted Izzy and Zipp looking utterly baffled. And Pipp looked downright offended. Sunny pinned her ears back.
"Just forget it... I must have been mistaken. Sorry, Pipp." She focused on the carpeted floor again.
Pipp's displeasure melted away. "Apology accepted! Besides, it's no big deal."
No big deal. There was that phrase again. Of course mangoes unexpectedly tasting like pineapples--and Pipp's irises suddenly changing from green to maroon--weren't big deals. Then why did she feel as if the whole world was about to fall apart?
Things only got worse during the film.
She kept noticing subtle differences from last time she had watched the movie, and she had no idea whether it was some bizarre edited version of the film or if she was just remembering things incorrectly. Didn't the main character own a pet goldfish? The table was empty where the tank used to be. And hadn't the neighbor been a mare, not a stallion? Every miniscule detail put her on edge. Some lines were enunciated differently, some actors had slightly different face expressions in certain scenes, and she could swear that the background music was marginally lower pitched than last time. She felt her skin growing clammy under her fur as she told herself, again and again, that it was all just her imagination.
Hitch picked up on her quickened breathing. "Are you sure you're all right today?"
She licked her dry lips. "I... Yeah, I think I just need a little break."
She slipped out of the chair and quietly weaved her way through the rows of seats, careful not to disturb anypony else in the audience. She left the theater room and made her way to the bathrooms, where she turned on a sink and splashed some cool water onto her face with her hooves. She took deep, steady breaths and peered at herself in the mirror.
"Get ahold of yourself, Sunny. Nothing's wrong, you're just having some memory issues," she whispered.
She continued to stare at her reflection; for a little too long, perhaps. She found herself unable to break her own gaze.
She saw her reflection blink.
She was petrified with fear for a moment, and she scrambled backwards after her brain finally processed what she had just seen. A scream erupted from her mouth and she clumsily galloped out of the bathroom, everything a blur as she didn't stop running or wailing until she was at her friends' side again, her muscles driven purely by terror. After nearly tripping a few times, she stood at the edge of their row of seats, head low as she took gasping breaths. Her heart ached as it pounded furiously within her chest.
"Sunny! What's wrong?" Zipp asked. All the ponies were tense, their fight-or-flight instincts preparing to kick in upon seeing another pony so frightened.
Sunny panted a few more times, sweat dripping down her fur as she waited for her nerves to calm down enough for her to reply. "I d-don't know... I thought I saw my reflection blink." Tears welled up in her eyes and she collapsed to her haunches. "Everything's been so strange lately. I was the only pony to taste a difference in the mango smoothies we've always had, I thought Pipp had green eyes, everything in the movie seems off, and I just don't know what's wrong with me!"
She sniffled and broke into a bout of sobs. She heard the ponies let out soft sighs of relief as they realized they weren't in imminent danger. Izzy got out of her seat and walked over to pat Sunny's back.
"Hey, it's OK. You're probably tired or stressed. Have you been getting enough sleep?"
"I don't know..." Sunny sniffled, her tears falling to the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the movie for everyone..."
"Hey, it's no big deal. We just want you to be happy," said Pipp in a surprisingly tender tone.
"Thanks, but what about everypony else who's watching...?" She couldn't bare to look up, knowing that the other ponies in the audience must be glaring at her for being such a nuisance.
"Haven't you noticed? We're the only ones here," Zipp pointed out.
Sunny's head shot up and she looked around.
"But... but... there were other ponies here! I saw them! I even walked past a few! Did they all leave?"
Her friends exchanged looks. Hitch shrugged. "I don't recall seeing anypony at all when we entered the theater. But maybe we weren't paying attention, so don't--"
More tears gushed freely from Sunny's eyes. "No, no, no, no! Weird things keep happening! I can't take it anymore!"
She whipped around, took off, and did not stop for even a heartbeat until she reached home. She dove under her bedcovers and huddled there, weeping and shaking. All she could do was wait for tomorrow to come. Then everything would be normal again.
Sunny awoke when warm sunlight filtered through her curtains, accompanied by the mouth-watering scent of pancakes tickling her nostrils. She slowly opened her eyes and stretched, feeling content and well rested. Where was that delicious smell coming from? Curiosity drove her to sleepily trudge over to the little wooden elevator that led to the first floor of her house.
The wooden platform brought her down before coming to a halt, and what she saw made her mind twist, turn, and flip about like a leaf in the wind.
"There you are, Sunny. Are you ready for breakfast?"
That powder blue coat and cobalt mane... That deep, comforting voice she remembered from her fillyhood.
"D-d-dad?"
Her throat felt hollow, her voice scarcely more than a whisper. How was it possible?
Argyle, who was stirring and tossing pancakes in a pan, proceeded to turn to his daughter. "Is something the matter, Sunny Bunny?"
"I... You... I thought you were dead!" she blurted out.
Argyle frowned as he stared at her. "Oh sweetie, you must have had a bad dream. It's no big deal."
Sunny wanted to burst into tears and run to him, but her hooves felt glued to the spot. Had everything just been one massive nightmare? It felt as if her father had been gone for ages. But if it truly was just a dream, did that mean Izzy and Pipp and Zipp didn't really exist?
"Why don't you have some pancakes?" Argyle prompted warmly.
Sunny managed to regain control of the muscles in her legs again. "I... need to check something first." She dashed out the door, her heart and hooves racing, before skidding to a halt just a few moments later. Hitch, Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp were standing in a row at the end of the path, staring at her with wide, friendly smiles.
"Guys! You're all really here..." She panted to catch her breath. Her friends neither moved nor said a word, and then Sunny was distracted by the sight of a rotary telephone sitting on the ground by Pipp's hooves.
Sunny stared at it. "What's that?"
Pipp glanced down at the old-fashioned piece of technology while her companions seemed to remain frozen in place. "That's my phone, of course."
"What about your mobile phone? And that can't work. It needs to be plugged in..."
Sunny was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing extraordinarily loud. She flinched and flattened her ears, the noise bordering on deafening. Pipp casually picked up the receiver with a hoof.
"Hello?"
A pause.
"Oh yes, that's right! ...Huh? No way!"
As Pipp continued the conversation with whomever was on the phone, Sunny felt the familiar sensation of dread prick at her chest, as if a thousand tiny spiders were scuttering all over her heart. "Can someone PLEASE tell me what's going on? My dad's back and he hasn't aged a day!" She began to pace back and forth, noting that her friends' pupils followed her while their heads remained facing straight ahead. "This... This is unicorn magic, isn't it!?"
Sunny strode up to Izzy and tapped her horn with a hoof.
It fell clean off, landing on the ground at Izzy's hooves.
Sunny scrambled a few steps back. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I didn't--"
Izzy was not reacting. Sunny glanced at the ground and saw not a unicorn horn, but a simple cone made out of cardboard. It had been a real horn a moment ago, hadn't it? She was sure of it.
Pipp was still chatting and laughing into the phone. "Oh my gosh, that's a great idea, Sunny!"
Sunny's heart dropped when she heard her name. She snatched the phone from Pipp and held it to her ear.
"Yeah, I can't wait to see you again!"
It was her own voice. Sunny's whole world came to a halt as her heart sunk lower and lower.
"...Hello? Are you still there?" The voice was far too crisp, far too clear as it emitted from the speaker.
Sunny tossed the phone back at Pipp, unintentionally smacking her in the face with it before it dropped to the ground. Pipp slowly picked it up and continued talking as if nothing had ever happened. Unfathomable fear, confusion, and rage bubbled up inside Sunny.
"You all need to stop SCREWING WITH ME!" She stamped a hoof on the ground and cantered back to the safety of home. At least her dad would be there to comfort her.
But as she stepped inside the house, she found that all the walls and floors were pure white, and not a single piece of furniture was to be found. In fact, the only object inside the house was a cardboard box sitting in the center, with a pair of her father's glasses resting on top.
"Dad...?" Sunny called out, her voice quivering. He was gone. She thought about approaching the box, but inexplicable, primal fear kept her away. The depths of her mind told her that whatever was inside the box was so wrong, so beyond her understanding, that opening it would be the end of the world.
In a daze, she darted out the door and back to her friends, four of which were standing in a still and silent row just like before. Izzy's horn was gone, as was the cardboard cone on the ground. Pipp was still on the phone. Sunny needed to call for help... Somepony else would know how to fix things.
"You know, that reminds me of this one time--"
Pipp's sentence abruptly cut off as Sunny swiped the phone out of her hoof once again. She held it up to her face, legs trembling, but instead of hearing her own voice, this time there was only a deep, constant buzzing sound that seemed to worm its way into her skull.
Sunny dropped the phone and scampered into town. She needed help from somepony--anypony who was just as aware of this scrambled world as she was.
She slowed as she passed through the streets. There was nopony around. In their places were pony mannequins; filling the shops, cluttering the streets, cold and lifeless and not budging from their spots. There was not a single sign of life anywhere.
The world was utterly silent save for her breaths coming out in short, harsh gasps. She looked back over her shoulder towards home. In the distance she could see that Pipp, Zipp, Izzy, and Hitch were gone. Instead, four white mannequins were arranged where her friends once stood.
Sunny turned her head, focusing in front of her again.
The buildings had changed. They were now large cardboard boxes with the shop names crudely scribbled on.
She blinked.
The sky became pure white.
She blinked again.
The number of mannequins doubled.
Another blink.
The giant cardboard boxes were gone, and the whole world was white. There was a single scrap of paper at her hooves. 'It's no big deal', it read in scribbled writing.
Sunny couldn't take it another moment longer. She collapsed to the ground and buried her face in her hooves, squinting her eyes shut as hot tears spilled from them. She didn't want to look; she didn't want to open her eyes ever again. She was painfully alone, trapped in a crumbling reality.
But even with her vision blocked off, her senses couldn't get a chance to rest.
Her nose twitched as she detected the smell of mint. It only grew stronger and stronger, burning her nostrils until she wanted to gag. She refused to open her eyes.
Then came the sound. A low humming sound that gradually became louder, enveloping her, as if the noise was approaching her from all sides. The noise was so deep and eventually became so loud, she swore she felt every bone in her body vibrating while her heart shook inside her chest. Still, she refused to open her eyes.
Then she felt a presence; something alive, standing just in front of her. She didn't know how, but she knew it was there. It was staring at her, just inches away from her head. The dizzying mint smell was on the verge of making her sick. The deep droning sound was rattling her whole body and making her ear drums ache until she could barely hear her own thoughts. The mysterious presence slowly inched closer, and she felt every strand of fur along her back stand on end.
Sunny looked.
