Sunny Days

The sunlight persisted to shine through the curtains of Four Leaf Clover’s once dark bedroom. He opened his eyes slowly and looked to his curtains. They had been closed the night before, but were pulled open now. Leaf pulled the covers over his head and groaned. Getting up now would mean going out of the house later, which was something the green haired, eighteen year old did not want to do. Especially if it meant making…friends. It’s not that he didn’t want them; he just hated the idea of going out almost every single day. He liked to keep to himself and stay home all day playing Halo and Call of Duty and watching late night TV shows. The cycle he lived was rarely different: wake up, eat “breakfast”, sit on the couch and play video games for about 8 hours, go back up to his room and watch TV until he fell asleep. Except for the odd jobs he does working around town whether it be walking dogs or mowing lawns he would rarely ever break the regular course of his day. But today, he had to break his daily routine  on account of his younger sister, Emerald, constantly nagging at him to go outside and get some air. “Go out and get a tan or something,” she would whine.

Leaf wondered where his sister went each and every day; the lake? Maybe. To help the little girls that made her the leader of their group, the Cutie Mark Crusaders? Most likely. She had stumbled upon them one day as she was walking home from the store. They bumped into her on the street and caused her to drop her groceries on the ground. That was before she had her mark. They gladly welcomed her into their club with open arms to repay her. As soon as she got her cutie mark, three small emeralds on her left shoulder, she was instantly made their go to person for ideas on what they could do to get  their marks. Leaf had to have them over at least once a week to have a Cutie Mark Crusaders slumber party, something that was surely going to be the death of the 18 year old seeing as he liked his peace and quiet.

Leaf sat up and scratched the back of his neck, as he wondered what the hell he was supposed to do all day outside the house. Throwing the blankets off of him, he rose to his feet and walked into the clean and tidy bathroom. The mirror was able to open, a medicine cabinet inside. There was only one thing inside the cabinet and it was something only Leaf could get to. That is until the Crusaders “accidentally” found it. He opened one mirror door and just looked at the shelved wall on the inside or a moment. Pressing his palm to the wall, a small panel of wood popped from its place and went inside the wall. He grabbed the slab and placed it on the counter next to the sink. Reaching his hand inside, only about wrist deep, Leaf pulled out a worn wooden box with a flip open lid. He opened it slowly and saw the small rubber banded stack of ones, and fives along with a few coins.

As he sifted through the money, he noticed with a jolt of annoyance that he was now missing three ten dollar bills from the stack. Leaf growled angrily as he threw on some pants and a grey t-shirt. He shoved his money inside his pocket along with the coins. With a grumble he walked down the stairs and saw his sister making him a proper breakfast. He sat at the table and slouched in it, “Did you take some of my money?”

Emerald turned to him with a spatula in hand. “How much you missing?”

He rose an eyebrow at her. “Like 30 bucks…”

“Ya I took it.” She turned back to the stove and placed a slice of cheese on the uncooked eggs in the pan and flipped one half closed, forming a perfect omelet, “I needed it.”

“What for? You have your own money.” Leaf crossed his arms in front of him and sank even further into the chair. Emerald lifted an omelet off the pan and set it on a plate along with a few strips of bacon and brought it to the table, setting it down in front of Leaf.

“It was for the girls.” She sat down in front of him and linked her fingers together. She rested her elbows on the table and put her chin on the back of her hands, “They needed a little contribution from each member to help pay for a broken roof at the clubhouse.”

“And you couldn’t use your own money for that?” Leaf chewed on a piece of bacon angrily.

She giggled. “I already put the rest of the money I had towards the payment. I only had ten dollars after the Summer Sun Celebration. I blew it all on snacks and food for me and the girls and you.” She glared at him. “And besides, the only reason I took the money instead of just telling the girls I couldn’t contribute was because of how much money I spent on food for you when you could have bought some with YOUR own money.”

“Touché…” Leaf mumbled as he picked up another piece of bacon.

She looked at him and scrunched her nose at the sight of his shirt. “That shirt is filthy, Leaf. It’s got stains all over it.” She got up from the table and disappeared into the door to the right of the kitchen stove. She came back moments later with a black t-shirt, fresh out of the drier and threw it at him. “Change into that one.” Leaf sighed, stood from his chair and peeled off the grey t-shirt. Emerald shrieked.

“What’s your problem?” he said indignantly.

Emerald threw a pillow at him from the couch. “Don’t change right in front of me you weirdo!” The pillow hit him in the chest and fell to the floor.

Leaf picked it up and tossed it back on the couch, “You’re my sister. You’ve seen me shirtless a bunch of times before. And you could be a little more mature about it. You are 16 years old after all…” He started to turn the shirt right side out.

Emerald stared at his shoulder where his cutie mark was stamped, three four leaf clovers. “I’ve been meaning to ask, would you want to tell your cutie mark story to the girls tonight? They need some inspiration.”

Leaf scratched his cheek, thinking a moment. “After I get home from my glorious day out,” he said with sarcasm, “then I’ll want to relax and not really do anything. Maybe some other time?”

Emerald scowled. “Fine, mister lazy pants.” She pointed her finger to the door. “Now if you don’t start heading for that door, I’m going to start pushing you.”

Leaf hung his head low, turned on the heel of his foot, and walked to the door. He pulled on some black and white worn out converse and opened the door. Shutting it behind him, he looked up at the sky with his hand over his face, palm up, to block the sun from his eyes.  He saw many winged girls and boys flying through the sky, probably finishing up their job clearing the sky. He sighed and looked around at the scenery outside of his lightly painted house. What the hell am I supposed to do all day? He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets and jingled the coins around. Guess I could look around a bit. With a toss of his hair, he started down the street to see if anyone had a map. Even though he’d lived here all his life, he had no idea where anything was. He spent most of his time inside, so he never had “time” to learn the town.

Most of the people that roamed the streets were girls chatting about their hair, or girls taking baskets of flowers to and from their gardens into their shops. Deciding to shy away from flowers, Leaf made his way down the street and stopped in front of a tall building that looked as if it were made entirely out of desserts; at the base of the building grew pink flowers along each side of the pink steps with what seemed to be gingerbread railings. It had pink shingles with white snowflake shapes stamped to them and crisscrossed paned windows. Two long, thick poles that were painted to look like candy canes held up a gingerbread awning with an entire gingerbread roof attached to it. To top the whole thing off was two cupcakes stacked one on top of the other; the bottom had four windows going around the side if it, and the top one had three candles that seemed to be lit. Leaf’s eye twitched a bit at the sight of the fairytale looking building. He approached the building intently. Next to the door, was a hanging sign with a single cupcake on it. He stopped in front of the door and his fingers just brushed the door knob, hesitated before turning the knob and pulling it open.

Leaf closed the door behind him with the sound of a bell overhead. To his left was an archway stamped with colorful pictures on a pink background held up with long pillars of decoratively carved wood with candy cane designs running down the length of them. In front of each pole stood a table, one that had fruits and veggies lying on blue platters, the other with cupcakes, also on blue platters. A long counter was set beyond the archway, and underneath sat many assortments of cupcakes, cakes, muffins, donuts, and cookies behind sliding glass, locked with a key. To his right was a tall vase with candy canes popping out of it. In front of him was another similar counter, pastries and baked goods underneath behind sliding glass and locked with a key.  Behind that was a staircase, which he assumed leaded up to an upper living area.  On top of the counter sat a bell. Leaf hesitated for a moment and then rang it. A pair of double doors to his left swung open and revealed an odd looking girl. She had curly pink hair atop her head and light blue eyes. She was wearing a pink tank top that showed her belly button a bit. Her bottoms consisted of pink shorts, and pink and white stockings reaching up to just under the shorts. Leaf could see the three party balloons that adorned her right shoulder as she bent over the counter to shake his hand and spoke very quickly in a high pitched voice, “Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?” She shook his hand vigorously.

After a moment she stopped and Leaf regained himself. “Leaf…”

Pinkie Pie tilted her head a bit. “Is that your full name?” She poked her cheek, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she did.

“No it’s not my full name. Four Leaf Clover.” He looked at her fitting the pieces together. She must live here. This place is perfect for her. Leaf put his hand on his forehead. “That was quite a handshake…”

“I know right! Mrs. Cake says I give the best handshakes in the whole wide world! She says I have a firm grip.” Pinkie put her hands on the counter, snapping back to reality. “Now what can I get for you,” she poked his nose, “Mister? Got a sweet tooth today?”

Leaf rubbed that the back of his neck slightly. “Sort of, I’m kind of sightseeing a bit today.”

Pinkie Pie gasped in excitement. “Are you from Canterlot?!” she asked with a squee.

“Uh…no, I live here.”

“Huh, that’s strange. I’ve never seen you at Sugar Cube Corner before.” She tilted her head slightly.

Sugar Cube Corner. What a perfect name for this place. The building looked like it was made entirely out of candy and treats, he thought to himself. “I don’t get out much.” He examined the pastries with awe. The cupcakes and cakes were perfectly iced and decorated with “Happy Birthday’s” and “Happy Graduation’s.” The donuts looked tantalizing, some spread perfectly with chocolate frosting and others glazed to glossiness. All, except one row, were covered in multicolored sprinkles, “Did YOU make all of these?” Leaf asked, gazing at her.

Pinkie giggled. “Not ALL of them. I have help in the kitchen.” She tilted her head, gesturing to the two double doors she came out of. “Come on. I’ll show ya.” Her voice was less high pitched with excitement, but still spoke more quickly than seemed usual. Behind the doors was a light blue painted kitchen. Pinkie Pie bounced over to the stainless steel sink. “This is where the cooks of Sugar Cube Corner bake all the tasty treats for the shop.” Pinkie smiled proudly. “I live here.”

“It’s nice.” Leaf looked around the room at the drawers that he assumed held cooking supplies. Above the oven was a pink shelf with hooks pans.

Pinkie waved her hand a bit. “Pfft, I know that.” She grabbed Leaf’s arm. “Well, let’s get you your treats. I have to go to a friend's house soon.” She dragged him back into the main room. When she released his arm, he went back in front of the counter and crouched down to examine the delicacies. There was one baked treat that looked especially appealing to him: a chocolate cupcake with what looked like cream cheese frosting and red sprinkles. In the center of the frosting was a sun smiling up at him. “This one looks tasty.”

Pinkie punched in some keys on the cash register and numbers appeared on a small black rectangular screen behind the register, facing him. The total read 3.00$. Leaf pulled out three ones and handed them to Pinkie, who hummed as she placed them neatly into the small drawer that popped out. She fastened them with a clip and closed the register. “Now, I must be on my way. Don’t want to disappoint my friend by being late.” She ran to the front door, grabbing a pink backpack with her cutie mark stamped to the flap that held it closed. She flung one strap over her shoulder and smiled at Leaf. “See ya around!” She giggled and walked out of the shop.