Chapter 1: Always in Your Dreams. Sincerely, Your Friends
Author's Note
Hello there, to everycreature reading!
This story is a sequel to "Your Friends From Across Time", a story that is still being written. I am hoping that despite being a sequel, this story can stand on its own without having to rely too much on its predecessor. But if you feel the need to read the prequel in order to get a better understanding of the characters, please feel free to do so.
The chapters in this story will be longer than in "Your Friends From Across Time" --- usually between 10k to 20k words.
Just a note for those who have not read "Your Friends From Across Time": due to the debate around Li'l Cheese's gender, I decided to just make them genderfluid. So throughout the story, Li'l Cheese will be referred to as either he, she, or they, depending on what mood they're in during that day.
In addition, [Y/N] means "Your Name" --- that is the name of your pony OC. Your OC can have any coat and cutiemark, and be of any gender, but in this story they are an earth pony.
Also, don't be afraid to show or describe your pony OC's in the comments, even if they aren't earth ponies!
Chapter 1: Always in Your Dreams. Sincerely, Your Friends
With one hoof holding the large metallic bowl, you used the whisk in your other hoof to further combine the mixture of flour, baking soda, and salt. You went at a good pace with the instrument, making sure that you would not accidentally spill out any of the bowl's contents on the kitchen counter like you did nearly an hour ago, as evident by the white powder stain on your green apron.
While whisking the dry mixture, you turned your eyes over to the active electric stand mixer on the counter. The flat beater of the small machine was spinning within the blue bowl below, which held a smooth mixture of brown sugar and butter. The rich creamy smell of that concoction appealed more to your nose than the combination of moistureless elements before you. Still, you attended to the bowl for a bit longer until you felt that the contents were mixed well enough.
Putting the bowl and whisk to the side, you inched your way to the mixer and looked inside the bowl below the machine. The mixture inside was a nice grainy blend of golden brown, which was just what you needed for the recipe. Turning off the mixer with a press of a button, the whirling of the flat beater came to a halt, and you swung up the head of the device so that you could pull the bowl out from underneath.
"You know another thing that I'm excited about school starting again?" Li'l Cheese asked you from her stool.
You turned to the left to smile down at the yellow foal with her puffy pink mane. The filly herself was looking down at the twelve cupcakes within the muffin tin before her --- carefully putting on the right amount of chocolate frosting on top of the treats through the usage of a pastry bag. Like you, she herself wore a green apron covered in stains.
Seeing Li'l Cheese work on her task reminded you that you still had your own responsibilities to tend to. You looked before you on the counter at a clear plastic bowl of three peeled and overripen bananas with a metal fork inside, an opened carton of eggs, and a whisk stained with a yellow substance on a folded towel. You brought the bowl of bananas closer to you and began to mash the fruits with the fork, forming a nice yellow paste.
"What would that be?" you asked.
"The Applewood Derby! I know it's supposed to be happening in spring, but I already got an idea of what my cart is going to be like."
You chuckled. "Really? What kind of design do you have planned?"
"I'm thinking about making a gingerbread cart. You know --- for Sugarcube Corner! It'll have giant cookies and donuts for wheels, but the rest of is going to be made of gingerbread and covered in frosting and gumdrops!"
Amused, you tilted your head at the filly. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, if the race is in spring, won't your go-kart get all sticky and cracked up in the heat? And I'm pretty sure somecreature might try to take a bite out of it when you're not watching."
"Don't worry. I'll be working on it in the garage out back for months before the race even starts, so no one's gonna try and take a nibble out of it until maybe after the race."
You let go of the fork and placed the bowl of mashed bananas down on the counter. You reached over for two eggs in the carton when the same number of them were encased in a blue sparkling light. Immediately afterward, the two eggs floated out of the carton and over the counter. Eventually, they made their way to the other counter in front of you, where Pumpkin and Pinkie Pie were working on their own assignments. Like you and Li'l Cheese, they both had aprons on.
Levitating the eggs over a large metal bowl, Pumpkin cracked both of them against the rim and emptied the yokes with the rest of the contents. The unicorn then floated the broken shells over to a trash can to the side before grabbing a wooden spoon with her magic and turning it inside the bowl.
"I don't know if Ms. Toola Roola is gonna let you do that, Cheezie," the yellow unicorn said without turning to face the filly behind her. "It's called the Applewood Derby because you have to use a piece of applewood from Sweet Apple Acres to make your cart. She won't let you make an actual gingerbread cart."
You heard Li'l Cheese suck her teeth in while you grabbed the two eggs and cracked them over the banana bowl. "Well, that's a bummer. And here I was just hoping that I would spend some time with Mom and Dad making an edible ride."
Pinkie Pie, who was placing small pastry strips on top of a blueberry pie, giggled.
"Don't worry, sweetie," the pink earth pony mare reassured. "We can still make a gingerbread-theme go-kart. I'm pretty sure the wood will be brown enough to make the cart look like it's made of the real stuff."
"Sure. That might work. Can I still add frosting and gumdrops?"
"Of course, sweetie. Anything you need!"
After removing the fork and putting it on the towel, you lifted the clear bowl holding the banana-egg mixture above the blue bowl with the sugar-butter mixture. Tilting the former bowl on its side, you spilled the contents into the latter bowl. Placing the clear, empty bowl down, you placed the other bowl back on top of the stand of the mixer --- swinging the head back down. Upon pressing the ON button, the flat beater whirled around in the bowl with the newly-formed wet mixture.
Just got to wait a minute to add this to the dry mixture. Then I can do the last loaf.
"Sorry about taking your eggs, guys," Pumpkin said aloud. "I didn't mean to be a thief. I'm just so worked up about these doughnuts. And then there's the brownies I need to do after breakfast."
"It's okay, Pump," Li'l Cheese said. "We're all kind of in a hurry before breakfast."
"Yeah, Pumpkin, it's fine," you said. "Besides, I only need two more eggs for the last loaf, so you didn't take that much from us."
"Oh, that's good to know," Pumpkin replied.
After several more seconds had passed, you pressed the OFF button on the stand mixer and swung up the apparatus that held the flat beater. Crouching down underneath the counter, you retrieved a nine-by-five-inch metal loaf pan from the bottom shelf with your forehooves. You brought the pan up on top of the counter, its interior glistening due to the light amount of oil you rubbed on earlier this morning.
You took hold of the metal bowl holding the dry mixture and tilted it over the loaf pan, gently guiding the white powdery substance inside. Once that bowl was empty, you placed it to the side and grabbed the blue bowl that the wet mixture belonged to --- performing the same process of emptying most of the contents. Putting aside the mostly barren bowl, you took a wooden spoon caked with a yellowish-brown substance from on top of the folded towel and swirled it within the loaf pan.
"Mom?" Li'l Cheese said. "Do you know if there's even going to be enough wood from Sweet Apple Acres for the derby? You know --- after the attack?"
By now, the pink earth pony was filling another foil pie pan with pastry crust.
"I don't know, sweetie. [Y/N], I think you're still working there from time to time. Do you know if AJ is going to donate wood to anycreature anytime soon --- if she hasn't already?"
Putting the spoon back on the towel, you grabbed a side of the loaf pan with your teeth and placed it on the trolley behind you and Li'l Cheese, where there were already three other pans with the same yellowish-brown goop inside.
"I think I heard Ms. Applejack say that she would be donating most of the burnt-up trees to anycreature who needs the ash for compost or fertilizer," you said. "Aside from bucking, I just haul off what's left of the trees in the south and west orchards. I'm not really involved with any big decision-making conversations, so I don't know if they have any healthy trees to spare."
"You're still clearing off dead trees?" Pumpkin asked. "It's been months since the battle."
"We're almost done with that, but we still need to plant seeds for the new trees."
"The Arces is quite big, Pump," Pinkie added in. "Especially with the land the Apples got from Grand Pear's will. It makes sense why the farm will take a bit longer to recover than the rest of Ponyville."
You were now ready to make the last loaf for this morning. As needlessly repetitive as it was, you felt another impulse to look over at the opened cookbook on the counter to ensure that you were getting the recipe right. You stared down at the page for making banana bread, and were not surprised at how the right amount of ingredients did not change since you last visited the book:
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter
2 large eggs
3 overriped bananas
You grabbed the glass measuring cup, its interior stained with clinging grains of brown sugar, and turned around to walked to the left side of the U-shaped counter attached to the kitchen's back wall. Below the left side of the counter were a few clear storage bin containers with wheels holding various substances, but your attention was focused on the one labed "BROWN SUGAR". You rolled said bin out of its hiding spot and removed the lid with your mouth, placing it on the counter's surface.
With your occupied hoof, you plunged the measuring cup halfway inside the bin and brought it up to your face. Examining it, you saw that the sugar reached up to the three-fourths line. You smiled, content that you had gotten the measurement right without needing to empty out any excess sugar or add more in this time.
After placing the lid back, you retreated to your spot on the work counter and dumped the brown sugar into the blue bowl. Next, you dealt with the butter. Luckily for you, you had it memorized in your head that half a cup of butter was simply a single stick. Once again, you departed from your station to head to the refrigerator to the right side of the U-counter. You swung opened the door with your hoof and looked inside the appliance while cool air blew against your fur.
On the top shelf, you found a stick of butter amongst its identical companions and took hold of it before closing the door gently. Right next to the refrigerator on the counter was a small white microwave, which you opened to find a small ceramic bowl stained inside with butter residue. You placed the stick within the bowl, closed the microwave door, and pressed on the numbered buttons for a total time of thirty seconds.
As the bowl spun with the turntable, you stared at your reflection against the microwave window, its image aided by the light from inside the appliance. As usual, you were staring at what you would always see ever since you first laid your eyes on a mirror. Your coat, your mane, and your eyes were the same as they had always been since you were born.
No.
There was technically one lie you could not stop repeating to yourself even when you knew the truth.
Your eye --- your left one --- was grey and milky white, devoid of any warm colors. And the fur around that eye was faint, indicating where there was damage. Though your left vision was still accessible, there was always that dark spot to the side that made things difficult to spot sometimes.
Instinctively, you brought a hoof up to the bottom eyelid and caressed the spot. It had been months since you received your injury, and yet the scorching blast of vicious magic against your face was something that never left your mind every time you looked at yourself in the mirror.
You thought by now that you would get used to seeing yourself so... blemished. So marred. And yet you always expected to see a perfect version of a young earth pony whenever your reflection came into view. Yet, maybe it'll just take some time for things to change.
"[Y/N]? Are you okay, honey?"
You heard Pinkie's voice off to the side and turned to face her. The pink mare, with her lively, poofy mane filled with sprinkles and lolipops, bestowed you with a concerning frown.
"You've been staring at the microwave for a good minute. Is there something wrong with it?"
You returned your sight at the microwave, taken aback by how the turntable had stopped its movement. You had not even heard the appliance produce the alarm that pronounced that it was done with its function.
"Oh..." you said, turning back to the pink mare. "Sorry, Mrs. Pinkie. I didn't mean to make you worry. I was just making sure that the butter melted all the way."
And just with that little fib, the older mare quickly donned a relieved smile. "Well, you could always just microwave it again if you feel you need to. Staring doesn't really make it melt, you know."
You mustered a grin right back. "Sure thing. I guess I'm still a tiny bit tired, is all."
"Well, you can always get a cup of joe during breakfast."
"Yeah. I definitely need to remember that."
Remembering that time was still dwindling, you opened the microwave and retrieved the small bowl with a single forehoof. Closing the microwave door, you retreated back to your work counter and drained the small bowl of its golden liquid into the much larger blue bowl containing the brown sugar. You placed the smaller bowl on the bottom shelf, knowing that you would not need to use it anymore today, and then you finally placed the blue bowl on the stand of the mixer, swung the head forward, and pressed on the ON button.
Grabbing the measuring cup, you walked over to the sink behind you, ready to use both the dish detergent and sanitizer dispensers attached to the wall. Though there was only one loaf pan left to fill, you still needed to get the job done soon.
You pushed the trolley over to the oven on the left side of the kitchen --- close to the entrance door. Looking up at the digital clock above the cooking device on the wall, you saw the time to be 9:03 am. This was good news to you, as it meant that the banana bread loaves already inside the oven were basically done after you had put them there nearly an hour ago.
Grabbing and placing the mittens from on top of the oven onto your hooves, you opened the dual doors and were greeted upon by the sweet, royal smell of your labors as a baker's apprentice. You did not even try to hide your prideful, exuberant smile as the scent of sugary bananas filled the immediate air around you. One by one, you grabbed each of the five loaf pans from inside and placed them on top of the trolley beside the unfinished pans.
You then took hold of the five remaining unfinished pans in patient succession and placed each inside the oven. Closing the dual doors, you took off the mittens and placed them back on their original spot, before taking hold of the trolley from the opposite end and pushing it back to your personal work counter. By now, Pinkie, Li' Cheese, and Pumpkin had left the main kitchen to help the others in the secondary one prepare breakfast, leaving you alone to finish up your own task.
You placed the trolley behind the counter and looked down at the loaves of bread, glistening with a beautiful brown shine all while wispy steam rosed into the air from the slight cracks above. As narcissistic as it may have sounded if you spoke it out loud to another creature, it was as if you were staring at a masterpiece similar to the Moneigh Lisa painted centuries ago. You knew that it was silly, but you could not help but be pleased that something you had made ended up becoming so beautiful in your eyes.
It was hard to remember whether or not you picked up baking as a hobby before moving to Ponyville, but ever since working at Sugarcube Corner you have been amazed at what types of products you were capable of putting out after enough time and effort.
But content as you would have been to stare at your work of art for much longer, the unease of an empty stomach reminded you of how you needed to charge up before your next assignment. It would definitely be hard to complete a collection of pastries without any biological fuel supplied by a nice meal.
You made your way around the two work counters of the kitchen and reached the front door. Taking off your apron, you hung the apparel on the hook of a wall-mounted clothes rack, placing it amongst similar aprons. The sounds of laughter and conversation could be heard through the aluminum layer of the traffic door, and though those voices were muffled, you could not help but smile at them.
Knowing that your task was done, you flipped down the light switch attached to the wall, concealing the entire room in shadows. You then walked over to the door and pushed against it, allowing for just enough space for you to leave the kitchen and enter the dining area of the bakery. The entire first floor of Sugarcube Corner seemed to resemble the inside of a gingerbread house to you, especially with the brown designs present and the columns that resembled candy canes.
In front of you were the numerous round tables of the dining area, each with six chairs, but you made your way between most of them to reach a particular pair. Seated at one table near the front door of the bakery were Pumpkin, Pinkie, Li'l Cheese, and Cheese Sandwich, a lanky earth pony stallion with an orange coat, a greying curly brown mane, and a yellow short-sleeved shirt. Before the four ponies were their own napkins, cups, utensils, and plates or bowls of food, along with what looked like to be a bottle of hot sauce, a maple syrup bottle, a ketchup bottle. two vials of salt and pepper, and a clear container of perhaps sugar.
Further from the front door and behind the first table was a second one, where at its center it held two platters of pancakes --- one with blue spots and one with black spots --- a large bowl of scrambled eggs with flecks of green and red, a platter of hay bacon, a large bowl of various small fruit, a large bowl of hashbrowns, a few pastries on a plate, and three juice pitchers.
Standing at the second table were three other ponies. One was a cream-colored pegasus stallion with a large, slick brown mane, another was a lanky yellow earth pony stallion with glasses and a short orange mane, and the last one was a plump light blue earth pony mare with a pink mane that reminded you of the swirl of an ice cream cone. The last two ponies you spotted were a bit elderly in age, as shown through their greying manes.
"Now, sweetie, are you sure you didn't use too many blueberries for these pancakes?" the light blue mare asked towards the cream-colored pegasus. She, the pegasus, and the yellow stallion were all collecting food from the platters and bowls on the table with the large spoons placed nearby.
"I have the same concern, Pound," the yellow stallion added. "Some of these pancakes seem to be soaking blue."
"Don't worry, Mom, Dad," the pegasus declared as he dumped a spoon of strawberries, kiwis, and banana slices on his plate. "I know better than to waste too much of something. I'm pretty sure it's okay."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to take your word on it," the light blue mare said. "Even if you did use a lot, at least the berries were from the house and not from here. Best not to cause a shortage."
The pegasus sighed out of annoyance before walking over to the other table. "Sure, Mom."
Grabbing a spoon with his forehoof, the yellow stallion dipped the utensils in the bowl of scrambled eggs and scooped out a hearty portion for himself before dumping it on his plate. Just before he was about to head over to the other table, his green eyes caught sight of you. With genuine glee, he grinned at you with a wave of his free hoof.
"Good morning, youngin'," he greeted.
Feeling the need to exchange the favor, you returned a smile back to him and the light blue mare as you reached the food table.
"Good morning, Mr. Cake. Good morning, Mrs. Cake. I hope you're all doing well."
Mrs. Cake herself beamed right at you with the aura of a pleasant grandmother.
"Well, thank you so much for saying that, dearie," she stated warmly. "I heard you stayed the night here to help with an order."
You nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I was just jumping back and forth between two orders of wedding cakes."
"That was very nice of you. I hope you slept well."
"I did --- somewhat. I have a very comfortable sleeping bag, but I'm not used to working here in the mornings."
"Well, having to wake up early in the day to start stuff is one of the challenges of being a full-time baker," said Mr. Cake. "Especially when you have a long list of orders of finish. Though me and Cup loved managing the Corner, I'm grateful that retirement allowed us to be a bit more flexible with our sleep schedule."
You chuckled. "Luckily, things are okay with me for now that I can still work here part-time. Unless I have to start paying rent at the school soon."
As the Cake spouses went to the other table with their plates, you looked over at the spread of food before you. A rich yet nauseating feeling overcame you as the various smells of the breakfast cuisine entered your nostrils, nearly making your head dizzy.
"It's... quite a lot," you declared out loud.
"Yeah, it's definitely a handful," you heard Pumpkin say. "Since we open at noon on Sundays, Mom and Dad take that opportunity to help make a huge breakfast. We usually end up with enough leftovers to last half the week."
Lifting your head up from the food, you saw that Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake, and Pound were on the right side of the table from your viewpoint, while Li'l Cheese, Pinkie, and Cheese were on the left side. Pumpkin herself sat on the northernmost chair, while the southernmost chair was left unoccupied. In front of the vacant spot of the table was a small bowl on top of a plate, a napkin with a knife, spoon, and fork on the left, and to the right was a clear glass cup.
"I'm gonna guess that spot is for me," you said to nocreature in particular.
"Sure thing, bud!" Cheese exclaimed happily. "I hope you're not too much of a picky eater! Since this is your first breakfast here, I highly suggest you try the eggs I made. I always put a bit of feta, spinach, and tomatoes in them!"
You found yourself to be a helpless victim to a chuckle that escaped from your throat.
"I guess I'll go ahead and get myself a helping, then."
You went over to the occupied table and took hold of the plate with the bowl still on top. Going over to the food table, you placed the plate down and looked at the collection of food before you. It did not take long for you to realize that your breakfast this morning would consist of two chocolate pancakes, some scrambled eggs, three strips of hay bacon, some hashbrowns, a single pastry, and a glass of orange juice.
Placing the bowl next to the plate, you grabbed the large spoon in the egg bowl and dumped a good-sized helping into your own bowl. As you went to fill your plate with the rest of the food you had selected, you heard a conversation transpire behind you.
"I still can't believe that Bronze Feather fumbled the win for Canterlot," you heard Pound say in a miffed tone. "They were down just 33 to 35 with Manehattan. If he just did his part right for three more tries, the team could have won."
"Bronze's been a bit of a poor defense ever since he sprained his wing," Mr. Cake said. "I think he's a good player overall, but he should have waited a few more weeks before getting back into buckball."
"I don't know if I can agree with that, Dad," Pound said. "I feel like Bronze's always been a bit lacking as a pegasus player. I wouldn't say that he the worst Canterlot player like Dust Devil, but I definitely put him in second place. Honestly, I'm surprised they're both still on the team."
Pumpkin interjected. "I'm pretty sure you're just upset because you lost money to Pipsqueak and Button when Manehatten won."
"No. I mean --- I am peeved about losing those bits, but I've been a huge supporter of the Canterlot Knights since I was colt. You should know this by the posters I had in our room. You know --- the one we shared before we moved out."
With your plate completed, you took it in one forehoof and the bowl in the other and walked back over to your seat on your hindlegs. Placing them down on the table, you then grabbed the empty glass cup and went back to the food table to pour yourself some orange juice from the pitcher.
"Well, hopefully you've learned now that it's better not to gamble at all," Mrs. Cake lectured. "I know you work full-time here now, but a baker's salary usually doesn't allow for such frivolous spending. Sadly, I think I know where you got the practice from."
Putting the pitcher down, you returned with your cup in hoof to your spot at the other table. Upon placing the cup on the surface, you pulled out your chair and sat on it, before scooting yourself in closer to the table. If you were being honest with yourself, you felt a bit cramped at a table meant to hold six creatures instead of eight, with Li'l Cheese close to your left and Pound nearly touching your right foreleg.
But you figured that you could manage with the limited space. And in a way, as you began your breakfast with a spoon of eggs, you did not mind the closeness.
"Now, honey," Mr. Cake said, "there's nothing wrong with taking a bit of a risk as long as you can recover from the possible loss."
"How many bits did you lose, Uncle Carrot?" Li'l Cheese asked with genuine curiosity.
Starting off with a nervous lip-bite, Mr. Cake took his time in answering the filly's question --- especially as his wife delivered a suspecting glare.
"Well... Not that much. Just around.... 900 bits."
"Carrot?!?" Mrs. Cake erupted. "900 bits?!? That's nearly a thousand! What were you thinking spending that much of our retirement money?!?"
"Geez, Dad," Pound said. "I only lost 300 bits. I love the Knights, but I like keeping most of my money, too."
Mrs. Cake continued on with her dismayed comments. "Why you would waste that many bits on betting?!? Unless you're done with retirement and doing some work on the side, I don't really appreciate you using our money like that!"
"I'm sorry, Cup, but it was the Super Buckbowl! And it was my first time being at one in the Manehattan Stadium. I'm just lucky that Thunderlane and Rumble were willing to give me and Pound their two extra tickets, otherwise I would have lost more money just trying to get there."
Seeing that her husband had little remorse for taking such a gamble, all Mrs. Cake could do was sigh in defeat, before turning over to Pinkie.
"As much as I'm proud of you for being a buckball pro, I still have to blame you for making Carrot get into the sport. Ever since it became popular, he's been to every game that he can go to --- especially at the Friendship School. And if that's not enough, he always turns on the radio whenever the major leagues are playing."
Sensing no actual hostility from the older mare, Pinkie laughed. "Sorry about that. Though I'm not into the game like I used to be, I can get how others can find it to be a good rush. I still remember being a gym teacher for a few semesters at the school, and all the students loved buckball the most."
"Buckball's alright," Li'l Cheese commented. "But I'm more of a soccer pony. I like to keep kicking the ball if you know what I mean."
"You know," Pound said to Mr. Cake, "even if the Knights didn't win, it was still nice to see Manehatten for a bit with you and the other guys. I'm just surprised that some parts of the city were still being rebuilt after all these months."
Mr. Cake nodded. "There's only so much unicorn magic can do by itself. Not to mention that the construction crews need to get their paychecks, too. But it was nice visiting the big city with you. At least we got to tour the Crystaller Building and the Rockefoaler Center during our stay."
Swallowing, you paused your consumption of pancakes.
"Did you two also see the Mare Statue?" you asked the Cake father and son.
"We tried to go to the island, but it's still under repairs," answered Pound. "You've been to Manehattan before?"
"Yeah... Don't you remember? I went there during the Third Collapse. I kind of had to to... you know... protect Equestria."
"Oh! That's right. My bad, dude. I'm guessing you stopped by the statue, though?"
"It's actually where the center of the collapse was. It wasn't exactly a pretty sight, though, and I was too busy dodging dangers to try and admire anything in the city."
"Well, I guess you can always come with me and the family the next time we visit, [Y/N]," Cheese told you cheerfully. "As a former Manehattenite, I can show you all the best parts of the city. Once all the damages are repaired, of course."
You grinned. "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Cheese."
As you went to have some more hashbrowns, you instinctively lifted your forehoof over your yawning mouth.
"Are you sure that sleeping bag was enough for you?" you heard Pinkie ask with genuine concern. "I know we told you how grateful we were for you staying here overnight to help with the orders, but you didn't have to do that if you didn't want to."
With little delay, you quickly gave the pink mare a reassuring smile. "No, Mrs. Pinkie, it's alright. I wanted to stay here. All the other workers were busy with their own plans last night, but I didn't have much to do at home anyway. So I figured: 'Hey. Let's see if I can earn a few extra bits'."
"Yes, but you could have at least gone home to get a few more hours of sleep once you woke up. You didn't have to help with the morning preparations."
"But they wouldn't be here to enjoy this awesome breakfast if you sent them home too early," Li'l Cheese pointed out.
"She does have a point, honeybun," Cheese said to his wife. "We all love spending time with [Y/N], even now. And they're old enough to know what they want to do with their time."
"I know," Pinkie admitted. "I'm just trying to let you know that you don't have to do more than what you signed up for as a part-timer. But, once again, we do appreciate you sacrificing your time, and I promise you'll get what's owed to you."
"I was just joking about the 'extra bits' part," you explained. "It's just I appreciate you giving me a chance to work here, and I wanted to show it."
A mix of joy and pride radiated across Pinkie's beaming face. "Aw. Well, still, you went above and beyond what was expected of you, so you have to be compensated for it."
Smugly, Pumpkin leaned forward in her seat as if to whisper something to you. "And it's the law that we pay you for how many hours you work. So we'd be in a lot of trouble if we didn't."
You chuckled. "I definitely understand."
"So, you think you'll come next Sunday for breakfast?" Mrs. Cake asked you.
Though not dismissive of her question, you shrugged. "I'm still not much of a morning pony. But..." You smiled warmly as you stared at a strip of hay bacon. "It's nice being here right now. So maybe."
With your home still going through reconstruction after the First Collapse, and with the damage in Ponyville being minimal in comparison, you made the latter town your current residence. Luckily, as a student of the School of Friendship before the so-called "war", Headmare Starlight Glimmer was generous enough to give you the privilege of staying at the school dorms free of charge --- even though the fall and spring semesters were suspended.
But even with no rent added to your stay, you were still in need of money. Though the headmare suggested giving you a weekly allowance from her own account, you felt it was best to work for your own bits. It took some time, as many of Ponyville's businesses were not exactly active after the attack five months ago, but you were able to get part-time employment as a laborer at Sweet Apple Acres --- working there Tuesday through Thursday.
For the most part, you cleared the dead trees in the south and west orchards that were burnt during the attack, but when needed, Applejack assigned you to bucking duty in the untouched orchards alongside the farmhands, some of whom were Apple Family members. Though the labor could get a bit exhausting at times, the pay was definitely worth the effort you put in.
Content as a farmhand, you did not see any need to find another job at first, but once you heard that the Pies and Cakes were searching for another part-time worker at Sugarcube Corner, you figured after some thought that you could sacrifice your weekends to help out. Even Luster and Gallop, whom you spent time with when not working or in solitude, appreciated your efforts to be of aid to other creatures.
You started working at Sugarcube Corner only a month ago, and yet you have already improved a lot in your baking skills since arriving. Besides the basic safety and cleanliness procedures, you acquired a bountiful knowledge of the ins and outs of creating confectionary crafts such as cakes, pies, pastries, donuts, and muffins, as well as the properties of different types of flours and sugars.
Luckily for you, unlike the contestants of cooking radio shows like Tartarus' Kitchen, you had very understanding teachers who guided you through your mistakes and struggles. Pinkie, Cheese, Li'l Cheese, Pound, Pumpkin, and a few of the other part-time workers were all able to keep you on the tip of your hooves without making you feel like an utter failure for when you did not get things right.
With it being a truth you could not deny, your appreciation of the hospitality shown to you here, even now, made it a guarantee that you made the right choice of working at this lovely bakery. Though you relished the hard toil of being a farmhand, you were often by yourself in the orchards, even if the others were a quick trot away. Here, though, you cherished the closeness of your coworkers and the teamwork that closeness made mandatory.
Given what happened five months ago, you were grateful for that type of comfort.
"At least with Ponyville all fixed up, the town should be getting some enthusiastic tourists by the start of summer," Mr. Cake said. "Aside from the castle and the Friendship School like every other year, folks will be stopping by to see the new war memorial. Along with the hotels here, I know that Sugarcube Corner could use the money from visitors."
"We already have plans set for the summer," Cheese said. "Especially with the Festival of the Two Sisters coming up. It's mainly a few cupcakes and angel cakes with sun and moon designs."
Pinkie spoke up. "Speaking of summer plans... Carrot. Cup. Are you two going anywhere this year?"
"Carrot and I might take a nice trip to Horsolulu or Mareami before the season is over with," answered Mrs. Cake. "But honestly, with all the ruckus that the kingdom's been through, I'm in no hurry to leave home anytime soon."
"I wouldn't mind a trip to Horsolulu," Pound said. "Maybe I could come with you guys."
"Pound," Pumpkin interjected. "You know that Mom and Dad like to take their trips alone during their anniversary. They don't need you or I hanging around them."
Annoyed, Pound snorted. "It's not like I'm going to be with them if they go out for a romantic dinner, sis. I'm going to be doing my own thing if I come with them. I might just see if I could find some nice hula-skirt girls to chat up with."
"If you couldn't get past one date with Coral Currents, I don't know how you're going to deal with any type of fancy mare that comes your way."
Several chuckles sounded off at the table, including from the twins' parents. The only ones to not find any amusement in Pumpkin's comment were you, an innocent Li'l Cheese, and a miffed Pound who failed to summon a stiff lip. In your case, you had no knowledge about this date, other than the fact that Coral was Sandbar's younger sister.
"Yeah, guys, that's really great," Pound said with sarcasm. "Keep bringing up that memory."
"Sorry, Pound," Cheese apologized with a smile. "It's just that I still remember how much of an impression you tried to make that day."
"It was definitely something," added a satisfied Pumpkin.
"Don't worry, son. We all know you'll find your own love soon," Mr. Cake assured. "We don't mean anything by it. It's just good nostalgia, is all."
Likely eager to move on from the embarrassment, Pound derailed the conversation.
"Well, still, I know for certain that this summer is going to be a blast. There are still places out there being rebuilt, but I can't wait to spread my wings during my off days."
"You're still going to be volunteering for camp this summer, right, Pound?" asked Li'l Cheese.
"Of course, buddy. I'll be around, just not every day while camp is going on."
"I hope you don't expect us to handle all those energetic kids without you," Pumpkin asserted. "It's not called Party Camp for no reason."
"Like I said --- I'll be there when I can. But I still have a life to live."
"I'll be there, too, Pumpkin," you said to the yellow unicorn. "So you won't have a shortage of creatures to help out."
"You?" Pumpkin asked in surprise. "You're coming to camp, too?"
"Yep!" Pinkie answered for you. "I told them about the summer camps happening at the Friendship School around a week ago, and out of all the camps, they want to be a part of the party one!"
Pumpkin continued talking to you. "But you're already working two jobs. Are you sure you have enough time to volunteer too? It's not a good idea to burn yourself out."
You smiled. "I appreciate the concern, but I'll be okay. Really. I might be working at camp for at least a month or so since I still have plans with Luster, Gallop, and the others. And I'll be around for only three hours for each day I'm there, which gives me plenty of free time in between."
Pumpkin's worries seemed to lessen through her face. "Well, if you really know yourself best then I guess I can't say otherwise."
"It's okay. I know you're only looking out for me. But in all honesty, I want to volunteer. Given what happened last year, there are a lot of kids out there that need a good summer break. And I want to make sure that I can help with that."
"Do you know what you're going to be doing at Party Camp?"
A confused frown came over your face. "I... actually haven't thought about it." You looked over at Pinkie. "Mrs. Pinkie, you told me that Party Camp was about party-planning and baking, right?"
The pink earth pony gave you a gleeful nod. "Party-planning, baking, candy-making, arts and crafts meant for parties, comedy routines, joke lessons, prank wars, dance and music lessons. Basically all the lessons needed for a kid to be the best party thrower ever!"
"Oh, well, that all sounds interesting. But would you mind if I just helped with baking lessons? I'd like to do candy, too, but I haven't gotten that far yet while here."
"Sure, sweetie. You can help with baking. And don't worry about your candy lessons. We'll get right on it soon."
"You might want to come to the camp meeting at the school, though, sport," Cheese told you. "Me, Pinkie, and the other camp directors will be discussing how the budget is going to work with Headmare Glimmer. Hopefully the budget will be the same as last year, but given how shaken up things have been, there might be a few programs cut out of the camps."
"Can we at least keep the prank classes, Dad?" Li'l Cheese asked with genuine concern. "I really want to help teach that one. I even got a few pages filled in my book."
Cheese gave a reassuring grin. "Like I said, Cheezie, anything could happen. But I'll be sure to a put a good word in with the headmare about your ideas."
You smiled down at the now worry-free filly before returning your gaze to her father. "Do you know what day this meeting is?"
"It's supposed to be on Thursday after seven PM in the school conference room."
"Well, that's good. I was worried that it was the same day as my trip to the breezie sanctuary."
"That's your trip with Fluttershy, right?" Pinkie asked.
"It is. We'll be heading to Hope Hollow on Friday, and we should be back on Tuesday."
"I think I heard about that sanctuary," Pound said. "It's not exactly finished yet, is it?"
You shook your head. "No, not yet. The townsfolk are just clearing up space for the sanctuary. By the time we get there, we'll be helping with the construction of the homes."
"I remember when the breezies came by through Ponyville many moons ago," said Mrs. Cake. "A few of them got left behind here during their trip home due to a stray leaf disturbing their breeze. Luckily, that group made it back home in time, but I still don't know why some of them want to move to Equestria. Wouldn't they be safer at home?"
"There aren't that many breezies moving to the sanctuary," you answered. "Just around five hundred or so. I'm guessing they just want to explore beyond their own lands. And as for safety, the town's Rainbow Generator is going to project a magical aura strong enough to shield the sanctuary from weather mishaps."
"So is this going to be an experiment to see if breezies can live in other places in Equestria?" Mr. Cake asked.
"I guess you can say that, but I haven't heard about any other places making sanctuaries."
"Oh, Pumpkin!" Mrs. Cake said out loud suddenly. "I almost forgot to ask, but have you thought yet about entering in the singing contest for the Festival of the Two Sisters?"
"Mom, we've been over this before," declared the yellow unicorn. "I'm already working on a painting for the festival."
"Yeah, and I've seen your rough sketches," Pound butted in. "I don't know if you're even gonna make it to third place."
Mrs. Cake shot a scolding glance at her son. "Pound Cake. We don't talk about each other like that. We're family."
"But you guys just made fun of me a minute ago."
The older mare's scowl faded when she looked back at her daughter. "I wouldn't exactly say what Pound just said, but I just think you're missing out by focusing on art too much. I just know that everycreature would love hearing your beautiful voice, dearie."
"What exactly have you been painting, Pumpkin?" Pinkie asked.
"Like Pound said, I've just done a few sketches so far. I'm still trying to decide between a portrait of Celestia and Luna reuniting, a half-moon/half-sun painting, or a scene depicting you and your friends' journey into the Everfree to find the Elements and stop Nightmare Moon."
Pinkie frowned. "You might want to exclude the last idea, sweetie. The whole reason for the Festival now is to celebrate the return of Princess Luna, not to remember what she was before her return. It's your choice, though."
"Geez. I didn't think about it like that. I guess I should just stick to the other two concepts."
"Why don't you want to sing, Pump?" Li'l Cheese asked.
Flustered, Pumpkin used her magic to poke at her remaining food with her fork. "It's just... I want to create something that's going to make a lasting impression. I don't know if I'll keep the painting in my room when the festival is over, but at least with it being made creatures can remember how talented I was." She sighed. "If I just sing, then I imagine most creatures wouldn't really remember how my voice sounded as time moved on."
"Don't say that! That's not true!" the yellow filly refuted. "I'm certain you have a singing voice that creatures wouldn't forget!"
Mr. Cake nodded. "Cheezie's right, honey. I've heard you sing plenty of times at home. Whether it be doing homework or the dishes, you always have such a gentle grace with the words that come out of your mouth."
Pumpkin groaned, trying her best to shrink within her chair --- a sight that made you frown.
"That's normally when I'm by myself --- or at least when I think I'm alone. I can't imagine going up to a bunch of creatures on stage and singing before them. I'll probably die of stage fright or something. Not to mention they might laugh at me if they think my vocals are a joke."
Without even looking to see if anyone else at the table was ready to say anything else, you spoke up.
"Well, I don't know about that, Pumpkin. I've only been working here for a month, but I think you have a lovely voice from what I can tell."
The yellow unicorn brought her head up and looked at you with sincere curiosity.
"You really mean that?"
Without hesitation, you nodded.
"Of course. I mean --- it's mostly just humming and murmuring whenever you're baking or doing prep, which is still nice to hear. But when I can make out the words, they always seem angelic or peaceful. They're like something a mother would sing to her foals for bed --- if you know what I mean. Anycreature would be crazy not to fall in love with that."
Your comments may have been a bit cheesy or clumsy --- you could not lie. But you figured that some attempt at making your friend feel better was more noble than letting her wallow in self-pity. You figured that she would soon understand what you were doing and would appreciate your compliments. But something weird happened instead.
As the seconds passed on, Pumpkin kept her pristine blue eyes on you with a frozen face while her mouth was slightly opened. An awkward silence overcame the table as everyone else looked back and forth between each other --- half in confusion and half in uncertainty.
The thought of your attempt to butter Pumpkin up having backfired began to pester your mind like a hive of bees. But before your imagination could get the better of you, you spotted something peculiar about the mare once more. Each of her yellow cheeks began to flush bright red, all while her gaping lips started to move somewhat to form a few stuttering whispers. Eventually, the words came out clearly.
"O-Oh. Well... I-I-I really appreciate th-that. T-Thank you, [Y/N]."
Minus the blushing, you also had a frozen, stunned expression as you stared at the mare before you. You were very confused about what had just transpired and had no plan for how to proceed further. Unlike you and Pumpkin, though, everycreature else at the table began to beam and grin warmly at the bungling affair.
"Awww!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I think I hear wedding bells!"
Pound snickered, unable to help himself. "Come on, you two. It's way too early for all this lovey-dovey stuff."
The comments from both Pinkie and her brother made Pumpkin's face even more bright red than it started off as. Embarrassed, the yellow unicorn grabbed a hold of the back of her long orange mane and pressed it up against her snout --- her eyes shut tight.
"I'm so sorry," her muffled voice said through her hair. "I don't know why that happened."
"It's okay," you replied, knowing the apology was meant for you.
"It's not that you did anything wrong. It's just that---"
"No. Really. It's fine, Pump."
A chuckle came from Cheese. "Alright, everyone. I think that's enough teasing that the both of them can handle for today. But, in all seriousness, you do get to choose what you want to do for the festival, Pumpkin."
Mrs. Cake nodded. "Of course. I'm not trying to be pushy. It's just I don't want you to miss out on a good opportunity. But nocreature can make you sing if you don't want to."
Lowering her hooves, Pumpkin allowed for her mane to fall down. The redness from her cheeks began to fade away bit by bit.
"Thanks, Uncle Cheese," the unicorn said. Though she failed to summon a smile, you could still hear the gratefulness in her voice before she returned to eating.
"But while speaking about singing," continued Cheese, "we could use a little bit of music here at the Corner. It won't be every day, but I'm thinking that maybe on Fridays or Saturdays we could hire some bands to play something lively for the crowd. I still got some friends from my traveling days that could come by from time to time."
Pinkie smiled in agreement. "That's something we can definitely brainstorm on later, honey. But I don't think we have to look too far. We already got some local talent like DJ Pon-3 and Octavia."
"I don't know if classical music is something someone wants to hear at a bakery," Pound chimed in. "And personally I think we're doing okay with customers so far, especially on Fridays and the weekend."
"Pound's right," commented Mr. Cake. "Even before we retired, business had been booming after Princess Twilight got the throne. With Ponyville quadrupling over twenty years with more ponies and other creatures moving in, lots of patrons have been bringing in plenty of bits. In fact, we even had to close down for a bit just to expand the building."
"Sugarcube Corner was smaller than this?" you asked, looking around at the ceiling.
"It sure was. Though we didn't exactly close down, per se. It was more like we did outdoor events and catering until the renovations were done with. It was a bit difficult, but definitely worth the bits spent in the end."
"Carrot and I greatly appreciated the revenue coming in with all the newcomers," Mrs. Cake mentioned. "But I have to admit that we had a few bad apples to deal with, too. A lot of the new arrivals were really impatient --- and some were just downright rude because of how slow or disatisfying they thought our service was."
"We've always had a few prickly customers, Cup," Pinkie said. "But I don't think it's ever been that bad here."
The blue earth pony huffed. "That's probably because they wouldn't want to upset an Equestrian hero, but they couldn't care less for ordinary bakers like me and Carrot. Why, I remember one unruly stallion that came to me one day to complain about the quality of the carrot cupcakes he ordered. He went on and on about how he came all the from Baltimare because he heard of how good Sugarcube Corner was, and yet he swore that those cupcakes would serve a better use as fertilizer. I mean, the nerve of some creatures!"
Pound scowled as if the stallion was in this very same room right now. "Yeah. I remember that guy. I almost wanted to jump across that counter when he said that."
The mother of the irate pegasus patted her son on the shoulder. "Well, I appreciated your concern for me back then, but I'm glad you didn't do that. We don't need to act badly just because someone acts badly themselves."
"Maybe it's just me," said Cheese, "but the most negative feedback I've ever gotten was when a colt at his birthday party said that the brownies served were a bit too soft. So I have to agree with Pinkie here, and not just because she's my wife."
"Well, I'm pretty sure that colt acted a bit better than many of the customers I had to deal with for nearly a decade," Mr. Cake stated. "Maybe things have gotten better here since we left, but I remember when a lot of new customers were nearly impossible to please. Now, I don't mean to stereotype, but I swear many of them came from cities all over Equestria where that type of short-tempered behavior was rewarded. It would have been nice if they understood how small towns where everyone knew each other worked out."
Pound shook his head. "Nah, Dad. Customers are still a bit bad at times, even now. During the First Collapse, when all the refugees from Canterlot came here, there were these teenagers that came in here one day to have some snacks. One of them, I think his name was Olly or something, gave me lip because I told him that he couldn't immediately get some special taffy he paid for because it required at least two days of prep. When he called me a swindler, I told that jackass to go kick rocks. I mean, it's not my fault he didn't read the menu all the way through."
"Pound Cake!" Mrs. Cake shouted, loud enough to make the unprepared pegasus flinch. "There is a foal at this table, and I won't have you saying words like that! Period, mister!"
"Come on, Mom," complained Pound. "What I said wasn't that bad. A lot of worse things could have come from my mouth. I'm sure Cheezie doesn't mind."
"I don't care! We didn't raise you to swear like a sailor! You know better than that!"
Pumpkin, annoyed by the newborn conflict, sighed. "You know how Mom feels about strong language, Pound. It's been like that since foalhood."
"Yeah, but I'm not a colt anymore," Pound insisted. "I'm a stallion now. So I shouldn't get this much hassle for a little bit of cursing."
"Pound. It's one thing to talk like that when you're with your friends or me," Mr. Cake said calmly. "But that type of talk isn't necessary in every situation."
"It's not necessary at all!" Mrs. Cake argued to her husband. "I truly don't understand why you encourage him to act so macho at times. There's nothing manly about not having a broader vocabulary to rely on."
Pound crossed his forelegs. "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to call the kid a saint. I didn't even call him that word to his face, even though I wanted to. I was way more civil with him than I should have been, to be honest."
Cheese interjected himself into the conversation. "Still, Pound. Could you not say words like that during breakfast time here? Everything here should be family-friendly, you know?"
"Alright. I can do that."
Mrs. Cake snorted. "You better not be saying worse words around Li'l Cheese when you're working here."
"No, Mom. I'm not. Don't worry."
"How about we talk about something more positive?" declared Pinkie. "Cheezie? You mind telling us what you and Mackie have planned for this summer?"
The filly nearly leaped out of her seat. "Oh yeah! So, I talked with Mackie's mom and she said that we can borrow..."
The iron of red blood and the suffocation of raw smoke.
Those two unforgettable smells were the first senses that overcame your body --- violating your nostrils without even the courtesy of a warning.
That same river of blood dared to run down from the young scar of your left eye and pool within your mouth. forcing its metallic taste upon your tongue.
You brought a hoof up to your wound --- warm blood seeping deep into the fur of your coat like a sickly red wine spilled on the living room carpet.
You grit your teeth as you felt the gash pulsate rapidly to the tune of your heartbeat. Though the unbearable pain originated in your eye, you felt the effects cascade down the rest of your body, numbing your muscles and chilling your bones.
But even worse ghosts were set before you. A sight that made your wound's severity pale in comparison.
The dreaded deceased laid in front of you, cloaked in shadows, their eyes devoid of any light and the color drained from their very essence. Yet the pain and misery etched into the wrinkles of those five faces were evidence of an contradictory liveliness. One of the dead began to speak, much to your dismay.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Those longing, tearful words you heard once in life, yet countless times in your dreams and thoughts, still haunted you.
"I didn't mean it. Please. I was just stupid. I don't know why I did it."
The one corpse speaking before you had tears running from his dead eyes with as much ferocity as the red stream that ran down your cheek. You sought to comfort him and hearten his spirits. You wished to spring up from your hooves and run over to him to bring his body back to life no matter the sacrifice.
But instead, a magical grip kept you bound in within your own personal bubble, and your struggles against such restraints only elicted a cruel, low laugh from within the darkness.
"I never should have done it. I betrayed you all. I wish I could take it back."
Everything around you began to shake --- as if the foundations of the very earth were tearing themselves apart. Yet the laughter never ceased. In fact, its volume seemed to increase with the rumbling of the black environment.
"Please. I'm sorry. Don't leave me."
Without so much as a flinch, the tearful corpse let itself be consumed by a bright yellow flare, which you quickly and disturbingly realized to be a collection of flames. Soon, you were helplessly watching as the remainder of the dead bursted into flames themselves, all while their haunting expressions pierced through your fragile, glass soul.
Failing to pick up the broken pieces of your heart, you shut your good eye tightly, as you could not find the courage to look any longer at the grisly sight. Yet even with the ghosts no longer visible to you, your body still shook violently as the ominous entity roared and roared on with amusement.
"Poor little pony..."
"[Y/N]?"
A simple nudge on your left foreleg brought you back to reality.
The burning ghosts, the darkness, the rumbling, and the cruel laughter --- they all ceased to be.
The nightmare was over.
But though the dining space of Sugarcube Corner had returned to your vision, another issue now laid before you.
All of the ponies at the table bestowed you with unique frowns of concern and confusion, and it was only when moving your head around to examine all of the witnesses did you realize that you still had your hoof over your left eye. You lowered your foreleg but met some resistance due to Li'l Cheese's grip. Looking down at the filly, you saw a level of unease in her green eyes that made you feel like you were one to be weary of --- even though you knew that wasn't the case for her.
"[Y/N], are you okay?" LI'l Cheese asked, finally putting her hoof down.
You looked down at your hoof, expecting to see it defiled by your blood, but instead you were met with uncorrupted fur. You rotated your foreleg repeatedly to inspect the underside of your hoof, but no spilled trace of your life force could be found.
"[Y/N]," you heard Pumpkin say. "You've been staring at nothing for nearly a minute. Is everything alright?"
You brought your foreleg down again and raised your eyes to look at the unicorn. Through the sides of your vision, you saw that your other neighbors were still perplexed by what happened in the real world while you were lost in your maze of a head.
"I'm... I'm okay," you finally mustered out. "I just got a bit sleepy... is all."
It was a bad cover, and you knew it. Pumpkin definitely knew it by the way she tilted her head when you were done speaking.
And it was evident to a guilty Pound as well.
"Oh, man," the pegasus said with a soft solemn. "Olly was one of your friends... [Y/N], I'm so sorry."
"No. It's fine. I guess my sleeping bed wasn't that comfortable after all."
"It's just I can't believe I forgot who they---"
You cut him off.
"I'm just tired. That's it."
Pinkie stretched her foreleg in front of her daughter in order to touch your hoof with hers.
"[Y/N], please." she urged softly. "No one here holds what you went through against you."
You turned your head over to the pink mare, staring right into her blue eyes as she graced you with a sad yet understanding expression. With an odd sense of humor about you, you smiled at your mentor with appreciation for her effort and care. It was truly hard to believe that less than a year ago you wanted nothing to do with such an energetic pony and her family. And yet here you were being grateful for their presence in your life.
"Thank you, Mrs. Pinkie," you responded. "But really, I'm fine. I just dozed off."
The pink mare slowly drew her hoof back, but there was no reassurance in her worrying eyes from what you could tell. With haste, you picked up your fork and scavanged as much hashbrowns and eggs as possible for you to eat. You got a few forkfuls in for your mouth before you realized the cumbersome silence was still present in the room. Pausing your fast-paced meal, you looked up to see everycreature else with their still somber faces --- most of them looking at anything other than you.
"Come on guys," you chuckled. "We got a bit of a day ahead of us. It's not like we're kids staring at a plate of just vegeatables." You looked at your neighbor to the left. "No offense, Cheezie."
"It's no problem," the filly said to you with a smile.
But it was not her signature, genuine smile that you knew her for.
It was a smile that came reluctantly, and one that you could tell was built on a shaky foundation meant only to appeal to you.
WIth that knowledge available to you, your own false smile faltered, though you did your best to keep your mask on as you returned to eating.
"The last banana bread batch should be ready soon," you mentioned. "I better hurry up, you know?"
"[Y/N]'s right," said Cheese calmly. "There's still plenty of prep we need to do before opening. We better get going."
One by one, everyone else at the table began to attend to their food, though unlike before, the clattering of utensils against ceramic replaced the ambiance of lively conversation that once filled the room.
It was an ache that cracked at your heart like a chisel and a hammer, making you want to cry right then and now.
It was truly a tragedy that such a childlike and colorful place like this was now as dim and lifeless as the grey sky on a rainy day.
Mount Canterlot High School was one of the more well-known secondary schools within the capital of Equestria, despite its recent controversies. Its mascot was a noble and robust mountain goat sporting a royal white coat and aquamarine horns --- which were the colors associated with the school. When you first arrived at the school as a freshman, the principal made it clear that aquamarine was not the same as normal blue.
But that was nearly two years ago. Now, you spent your time at the school as a junior, eagerly waiting for the day when you could finally graduate from this place. Despite endless demands from your folks at home, your grades had remained average for the most part. You were not a poor student by any means, but your youthful attention could never be solely focused on academics, especially with the subjects of psychology, trigonometry, literature, and Pre-Classical history for this spring semester.
Right now, though, you did not need to worry about classes. It was lunchtime at the cafeteria, which was adorned with walls, banners, tables, and seats of white and aquamarine. It was a spacious enough place, able to hold about two hundred or so students and staff members at a time, with a glass wall on one side that allowed for access to the school courtyard.
Amongst the nearly two hundred patrons of the cafeteria at a single circular table were you and your five friends.
There was the newest member of friend group, Turquoise Sunrise, who came to the school as a junior. He was a light blue hippogriff with an orange mane and tail who had a love for theater-acting and writing. He originally tried to be a part of the "cool kids' club" at the start of the year, but left once he realized how bad they were to you and your other friends.
Valor was a short and chubby yellow unicorn colt with a sleek black mane. As his cutiemark --- an opened comic book ---suggested, he was a nerdy savant that knew everything about comic books, board games, and fantasy stories. Unlike his name, though, the colt had a very timid personality.
Circuit was a lanky unicorn colt with an orange coat and a lime-green and light-orange mane. His cutiemark was that of a computer monitor --- revealing his talent for understanding technology. He could be a bit of a --- failed --- jokester at times, and would always try to woo fillies at school at time, even though those attempts also went poorly for the most part.
The pink earth pony filly, Maple Bug, had braces, circular glasses, and a curly brown mane with a ladybug pin. Her cutiemark was a pink and yellow moth that matched her love for bugs, an interest that made her unpopular with other fillies in elementary school. Aside from wanting to be an entomologist after graduation, she also had a side hobby of gardening and reading.
And then there was your oldest friend, Olympus --- also known as Olly. He was a light-blue pegasus colt with a long creamy-yellow mane that covered half of his face. His cutiemark was of a cloud colosseum underneath a rainbow arch. He was what some would call an "over-achiever", being able to succeed in a multitude of activities such as math, science, archery, engineering, flying, and so on. It was because of that fact that Olly was seen by you and the others as the de facto leader of the group.
There were of course other classmates and students in the school that you knew a bit and got a long with, but these five right here were close enough to your heart for you to know for certain that they were your friends. Olly you have known since pre-school. You met Maple and Valor in elementary school. And Circuit has been in the friend group since middle school.
Even Turquoise, who you've known for less than a year, has become someone you have appreciated and trusted ever since he stood his ground against those bullies for your sake.
You had been through many highs together with this gang that reassured you of your bond, and you always came through the lows of your life together without ever doubting that you guys were meant to be. But for now, all you were doing were having lunch, enjoying this meager break until it was time to return to classes.
"I still can't believe Mr. Meadow Light gave me a D for my essay," said a miffed Circuit.
Maple took a break from drinking her milk box to address her friend. "Well, he is a philosophy teacher, not a technology one. You should have stuck to something more philosophical instead."
The lanky unicorn raised his forehooves up in frustration. "But that's the thing: I did. An overreliance of robots in the future could lead to the doom of all organic life centuries from now. The philosophy of it is that we can't use technology to solve all of our problems. Some things should remain conservative."
Olly chuckled. "But the thing is that robots don't really exist yet, so it's not like we're already using them."
"But we will eventually. I just know it."
"And I agree, but we're in the present right now. I can't really blame the guy for seeing things for how they are now. Not everyone is tech-savvy like you and me."
Valor, who was reading a comic book while eating, finally lifted his head up to look at Circuit. "So, you're thinking of a killer-robot takeover like in Beware of the Destructoids?"
"Something like that," Circuit answered. "Maybe not to the point of robots trying to exterminate us, but we could be slaves for them instead."
"What kind of things would robots need from living beings that they can't do themselves?" asked a confused Turquoise. "I mean, if robots are superior to us in every way, they should be fine on their own."
"That is a good point," interjected Maple. "Robots can fix themselves if they break down. Living beings have a hard time making it through with a broken bone, with or without magic."
"What I know for certain is that if the robot apocalypse does go down," you said jokingly, "we'll have to watch each others' backs."
Circuit looked at his hippogriff friend. "Well... I guess I didn't think about that when writing my essay. I included the part about robots massacring us and all that, too, but I guess enslavement is unlikely. Still think I should have at least gotten a C or B-."
Turquoise smiled. "You shouldn't be so fretful about things that are so far off in the future." He cleared his throat. "Like Marquess Sea Sky said to his dear father Duke Thunderheart: 'Father, we must not be fearful of events that have not yet transpired. And we especially should not pay mind to the unlikely. For if we stay within the fog of our minds, we will never be able to see the beautiful sun that is the hope of our future. So long as our spirits smile, we may not fear the dark.'"
With his performance finished, Maple enthusiastically clapped her forehooves together, while you and the others at the table stared blankly at the proud hippogriff.
"I see you've been practicing for the Age of Maretonia," the pink earth pony said.
Turquoise puffed up his chest. "You know it. Mrs. Lovesong thought I'd do good as the marquess, even though I was hoping on being the courageous General Red Streak. But I can't be picky, you know. I'll take what I can get. Sea Sky does seem like a
rather optimistic individual."
"Well, I'm glad you're getting the recognition you want in drama class," you said. "You can count on us being there in the audience when the play starts."
"I don't know if you can speak for all of us, [Y/N]," Circuit spoke out. "I really like you, Turquoise. You know --- you're my friend and all that. But I'm not one for sitting through theatrics."
Maple gave the orange colt a disappointed scowl. "CIrc, the least you could do for your best friend is spend nearly two hours of your day watching him give a great performance."
Valor let out a nervous chuckle. "To be honest, Mape. I'll be busy on that date, too. So you can't just be angry at Circ."
Olly sent an unimpressed gaze towards Valor. "Let me guess --- you'll be going on a comic book binge on Friday? Don't you do that like every Friday after school?"
"Yes. But... you know... Issue 64 of The Amazing Magicians comes out on Thursday. Mom and Dad won't let me read comics for more than an hour on a school day after I failed that Economics final last semester. I'm really stoked to see what happened after Comet Wisp went into the Enchanted Mirrorworld."
"I don't mind if some of you guys miss the school play," Turquoise assured. "I'm hoping that you all can at least make it to the Canterlot Community Theater on the 13th for Seven Nights in Trottingham."
"Oh Celestia! I love that play!" Maple squealed, frantically waving her forehooves. "It's the best romance/adventure/drama/comedy ever conceived of! Who are you playing?"
"I'm the baker Chef Butterworth. It's a minor role --- I know --- since I'm not really a big star like all the others, but the theater owners loved my performance on The First Gala last semester, so I couldn't just throw away an opportunity like this! I'm just glad my parents let me participate."
"You said it's on the 13th?" CIrcuit asked. "That's during spring break, right? I should have time to stop by the theater. I'm not doing much during the break besides hanging around the city, especially the airfields."
"My schedule's a bit busy on break, too," mentioned Maple. "I'll be helping clear out buildings on the southwest side of the city of termites. I'm just lucky that I got the opportunity to study how termites in buildings operate differently from termites in the woods." The pink filly turned to her hippogriff friend. "But I definitely have enough time to see you in two awesome plays."
"My break is going to be boring," you said. "I don't think my folks and I are going anywhere outside Canterlot, so I'll just be relaxing at home. I need it after this trig test."
"Did you bomb it?" Circuit asked.
"No. At least I hope not. I haven't gotten my grades back yet. I won't until later this week. I'm already doing bad at trig, the last thing I need this break is to be studying when I should be at peace."
Olly nudged your side with a grin. "Well, if it's a study session you need, I'm more than willing to help out. My parents will be out of town, so we'll have the whole house to ourselves."
"You're not going with them?" Valor asked.
The blue colt frowned. "No... It's for the best. I got into it with them over some dumb stuff... Stuff that shouldn't even matter to them." The pegasus sighed. "You know how they are. They want more than what I can give them."
Silence fell over the table. You all knew how difficult Olly's parents could be to him. For the few times you went over to his house, you could see why the colt disliked being around such indifferent and aggressive ponies. Their very nature was the reason why you did not mind when he escaped over to your house from time to time, as the two of you were close neighbors.
It was mostly uncomfortable whenever Olly brought up problems occurring at home. He himself knew that news like that were downers to any good time he had with you and the others, but sometimes he would just have to vent without even thinking about it. Despite his maturity, he could be the literal definition of teenage angst --- as often admitted by himself.
The awkwardness was broken by Valor.
"I'm not really doing this much either this break --- other than the usual. But it would be nice to have no trouble for a week or so."
Maple raised an eyebrow. "What kind of trouble?"
"Bolt and Volt."
Those two names brought out a wide range of negative emotions right out of you, from chilling fear to boiling anger. Bolt had been a prickly nuisance to you and your friends since middle school, and he only got worse with lackeys like Volt flocking to his side once high school started. Despite having all the fame and attention of a successful student, it was never enough to satisfy whatever void was left in his life.
"What the hell did they do now?" exclaimed Olly, enough to startle you and Turquoise.
Out of the six of you, Olly had the most beef with Bolt, as both cared about outdoing each other in classes and extracurricular activities. There were times when the two pegasi would get into it with one another, at most times verbally, though physical blows have happened. While Bolt was an over-achiever for the sake of lording it over others, Olly only competed with his rival for the satisfaction of putting him in his place whenever possible.
"They..." began a shameful Valor, "...started launching spitwads at me during music class. I know it was them, because they always give me smiles when I turn around to see where I got hit from."
"And nocreature told them to stop that BS?" asked Circuit.
"I guess my classmates didn't want to be targets, too."
"Did you at least tell your teacher?" Turquoise asked.
"I did, and he said that he would talk with them about it tomorrow."
Unable to contain his frustration, Olly closed his eyes tightly and growled.
"One: you need to step it up in the confidence department, Valor. If someone's throwing crap at you and you know who they are, you can't just stand there and take it. You gotta make them regret it, because we all know this isn't the first time they've done this. Two: never depend on anyone else to do what needs to be done to make your life better. We're all almost adults and we can't be babied anymore by useless teachers."
"If by 'make them regret it' you mean to be violent, then I can't do that," declined Valor. "I'd be no better than them. Violence is a failure of communication, you know? I have to at least try something more diplomatic."
Steam nearly came out of the pegasus' nostrils and ears.
"So that's it? You're just gonna take it like some good little dog down on the ground? You know they're gonna keep taking from you if you let them. Don't you have any self-respect at all?"
Circuit leaned over the table to scowl at Olly. "Hey, man. You're going too far."
"Olly, please," Maple said, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "Just calm down. Don't be angry at him like that."
With heavy breaths, Olly looked over at Valor. The yellow colt kept his sad eyes away from the rest of his friends and on the comic he was reading, though you doubted he was paying close attention to the panels. The anger on Olly's face melted away, replaced with realization and remorse, and soon his heaving chest came to a halt.
"Geez, man... I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to..."
Valor refused to lift up his head. "No. It's fine. You're right. I've always been the easier target out of everycreature else. I'm too passive to really do anything active, but I always think that good communication is enough."
"No. Valor. Damn it... Don't say that. You're a good pony --- too good for anyone in this world. You got the patience of a saint, man. I'm sorry about what I said. I'm just still sore about other stuff, and what you said about those two just brought those emotions back."
It was your turn to speak up for your nerdy friend.
"Don't worry about Bolt. I'll find a way to get him to stop, one way or another."
"I don't believe you, [Y/N]," Valor replied.
You frowned. "What do you mean?"
Circuit snorted, unimpressed. "I think you know exactly what he means. We're talking about the parade stunt."
"We haven't forgotten about that, [Y/N]," Maple reminded sadly.
You squirmed in your seat, shame beginning to overtake you as the memory forced its way out of your head.
"Come on, guys," you pleaded. "That was all an accident. I didn't mean to---"
"An accident doesn't involve lying to your friends about something that could get them in trouble," scolded Olly.
"We're all still paying for it," argued Circuit. "It's probably the reason why no one did stood up for Valor."
"You're our friend, and you lied to us," said Maple.
"And now everycreature hates us," declared Valor.
"And you're no better, Turquoise," Olly snapped. "Knowing how you helped mess everything up."
With little resistance, the hippogriff brought his head down with a shadow over his gloom face. "I know. I don't deserve any of you."
Panic and desperation drowned your brain, and you quickly brought your hooves up in defense.
"Now hold on now. I shouldn't have said that it was an accident. I made a bad choice, and I take full responsibility. But Turquoise and I didn't mean to cause anything bad to happen. We just wanted to impress everyone."
"But no one's impressed," Circuit said.
"You made the whole school a laughing stock," said Maple.
"A lot of us aren't even gonna make it into the colleges we want to go to," Olly said.
"I wonder if you even care about us," despaired Valor. "Are you sure you just didn't want to be popular yourself."
Olly resumed speaking. "Maybe you got tired of us holding you back."
You began to feel breathless.
"Wait! Wait! Hold on! I thought we were past this! We're friends again! We're friends again! Remember? After everything we've been through, we can't break apart!"
"But we're dead, [Y/N]," Olly said with distaste. "And it's your fault."
Maple cried, tears running down her face.
"We can't make new memories if we're corpses!" she sobbed.
"That's the price of being friends with you," Circuit commented, crossing his forelegs. "Danger and bad decisions follow you, and we pay the price. We would have been better off staying at that refugee camp."
"But we didn't," added Valor. "We went with you on your journey, and now we can't go anywhere at all."
"We're stuck in your head," said Olly. "Forcing you to remember what you did."
"And you know you deserve it," a solemn Turquoise announced. "Just like I deserved what I got."
At this point, your breathing had become more robust and fast-paced, as if you had just gone through an involuntary marathon. You shut your eyes tightly and brought your hooves up to your ears, blocking out as much of the outside world as you could.
"NO! THAT'S NOT TRUE!" you roared with a diminished spirit. "THAT'S NOT TRUE!"
"But it is true, my young friend."
The new voice behind you chilled you to the bone. You knew exactly who it belonged to, yet you could not believe that he was truly here. But when you turned around in your chair, you were forced to admit to the reality of your situation when you saw the familiar monster.
Standing behind you was a middle-aged unicorn stallion, perhaps in his late fifties or early sixties. He had a golden coat, ocean-cold blue eyes, and a long mane as white as winter snow. He looked down at you with the sickest of calm smiles, as if he was a boogeyman from a kid's picture story.
It was enough to make your heart stop mid-beat.
Without hesitation, you turned to your friends who had lambasted you.
"GUYS! RUN! NOW!"
But to your sorrow, they did not heed your warning. Instead, they remained in their seats, looking down at the table with sorrowful faces and dead eyes, as if there were more urgent things on their mind than escaping from the threat before them. Distressing of all was the obliviousness of everycreature else in the cafeteria, going about their businesses and conversations when there was a dangerous pony in the school.
Tears begun to run down your face.
"Guys... Please."
A unique, familiar sound made you turn around in your chair once more. The unicorn stallon's horn was ignited by a dark red aura that contrasted against his blue eyes, yet seemed to compliment his smile in further expressing his bloodlust. It was not like a normal unicorn's magical glow. This one crackled violently with electricity, all while spewing out tiny black bubbles.
"We all pay for our sins..."
After his taunting remark, the stallion reared up on his hindlegs, and you knew what would quickly transpire. Yet the intensity of his magic was enough to keep you frozen in place. Or perhaps it was the need to stay by your loved ones.
Either way, what happened next was not pleasant.
Once the stallion landed on his forehooves, a powerful red and black blast of magic jetted from his horn and slammed into your body like a bullet. The moment it touched you, you could feel every cell in your body disintegrate into nothingness. And yet, your destroyed nerves were still active enough for you to shriek in pain and despair as you faded away from this life.
Your hopes. Your dreams. Your memories. Your Interests. Your very essence.
All were reduced to ashes of nothingness.
Just like your friends.
Bolting up straight on your bed, you screamed --- just like you had in your dreams.
Frantically with panicked eyes, you looked around your environment, expecting to find yourself back in the cafeteria of your old school. Instead, you discovered yourself within the boundaries of your own bedroom, a space that normally gave you a sense of comfort and protection. But on this night, you felt none of those positive warmths throughout your body, even with the moonlight from the window illuminating everything in a blue hue.
You brought in and took out as much air as you could, hoping that it would steady your heartbeat. Cold sweat seeped out of your skin, dampening the fur of your coat, all while your eyes kept scanning the room to see if anything was out of place. When no anomalies could be found, you felt your chest begin to stop heaving.
But another problem showed up.
It started with a pant, then two, then three, then several of them in quick succession. You tried to stop it as much as you could, but your willpower was depleted after experiencing your phantom death. Like a broken dam, you could not hold it anymore.
You bursted.
Droplets of water escaped from the side of your eyes as you began to sob. Your wailing was like that of an injured animal, lost and alone in a dangerous forest with no help. You covered your mouth to muffled out the pathetic sound, yet it still reverberated throughout the room.
You crumbled on your side and brought the covers closer to your body, but were unsure of whether or not you wanted to return to the land of dreams, where you could find even worse nightmares. It had happened to you before, but had recently stopped. You thought it was good news. That those terrors had come to an end. What a fool you were.
You were still in a nightmare.
