White as Sugar, Bright as Day

Sylvia Lining. Today, for the first time, she was wandering around in Ponyville as Sylvia Lining instead of her disguised persona, 'Mirage'. She and her agent were sent here to have her suited for her scheduled debut in Trottingham. It took exactly 6 hours, 35 minutes, and 5 seconds for the white mare's agent to finally choose a dress. The upcoming model had been counting impatiently, dying to finally get out of the dull dressing room she was forced to stay in through those aggravating 6 hours.

As a reward for her patience, Sylvia was allowed to wander Ponyville for a few hours. It took a while to shake off some of the paparazzi that found out she was there, but the white mare was able to finally trot around town in peace. She stopped in front of the most peculiar establishment she'd ever laid her eyes on.

"Sugarcube Corner?" She stared at the sign, then turned her attention back at the building. It looked so... sugary. A mouthwatering scent of pastries and candy wafted from inside the brightly colored doors. Her stomach rumbled, making it clear how she'd been dying for something sweet to eat. As well-cooked and tasty as Canterlot Hors d'oeuvres were, they never could compete with delicious, simple pastries and sweets served in normal towns and cities.

With an anxious sweet tooth, the model trotted into the bakery. Her agent was going to have her flank for daring to enter a non-High class establishment for food, but Sylvia didn't care anymore. All she wanted was to grab something that wasn't coated with fancy-pancy sauce from some fancy-pancy company and eat like any normal pony. With her bits in her saddlebag (Which was designed by some random company that wanted to advertise), she prayed to Faust almighty that she wouldn't be bombarded by paparazzi while she was there. The last thing she needed was a bunch of tabloids talking about her gaining weight. She was only here for a snack, for Celestia's sake!

Calla Lily pulled open the door to the all-too-familiar bakery to buy a sweet for her super-special-some pony, Sunbeam. She saw a tall white mare sit down in a corner, and she skirted shyly around her before approaching the counter.
"One of your fantabulous rainbow cupcakes, please," she asked the attending baker, a fushia pony with a cotton-candy mane.
"Right away!" squealed the earth pony, scurrying back to search the refrigerator.
"Here you go, Calla!" she said, setting a brown paper bag down in front of the tall blue unicorn.
Slightly surprised that the pony knew her name, Calla smiled and thanked her.
"That's for Sunbeam, isn't it?" the earth pony asked, jumping up and down.
"Yeah," said Calla, shocked. "How did you know?"
"Aw, Sunbeam drops by all the time to taste-test them! They're my secret recipe," the pony whispered. "Oki-doki-loki! That'll be three bits."
Calla levitated a book she was studying, reading it while she dug through her newest self-made saddle-bag, a gold-embroidered thing that clung tightly to her thin form. Finding the bits, she placed them in the counter, still reading the book.
"Pleasure meeting you," she said from behind the pages.
"No probs! Tell Sunbeam Pinkie sends all her sugar!" squealed the pony. She startled Calla, who dropped the book on the bits. One fell off the counter, rolling over to where the other pony was sitting...

Sylvia watched as another mare walked into the bakery. The white mare had taken a seat, deciding to wait and watch. She didn't exactly know how to order in such a place, and in fear of offending the pink pony at the counter, decided to wait and observe how other ponies ordered. The blue mare dropped a few bits, one of them rolling towards the model.

Sylvia sat, watching as the bit rolled and stop by her hoof. She stared at it for a while, before getting off her seat and picking it up. She trotted over to the blue mare, holding the single bit out with her hoof.

"I believe this is yours." She smiled, being as polite as possible. This blue mare seemed studious, possibly a formal one. Sylvia had met quite a few serious ponies in the past due to her career and life in Canterlot, and one thing she learned from socializing with them was that she was to treat them like golden pedestals, model or not.

Calla blushed in embarrassment as the white earth pony picked up her bit and gracefully walked over.
"Thank you," said Calla, levitating the bit back onto the counter. The pink mare--or Pinkie, as she had heard--took the bits and waved wildly at Calla.
The blue pony was a little surprised. Other than Iris, Hydra, and Sunbeam, her best friends and her stallion-mate, nopony had ever made an attempt to do something for her.
"I'm so sorry about that," said Calla, turning to the other mare as she put the cupcake in her saddlebag. She thought for a moment, scrutinizing the pony who was starting to get uncomfortable.
"I've never seen you in here," noted the blue unicorn, putting her book away with green magic. "I come to Sugarcube Corner almost every day, and I would have seen you here."
The white mare was giving her a strange look, and Calla felt embarrassed again, shying away.
"Well, I'll, urm, leave you to your..." Calla, looked back at the mare's table, seeing nothing there. No crumbs, no wrappers, nothing to suggest the pony had eaten while she was here.
"How can you not be eating anything?" asked Calla, giving the mare a kind look.

"I'm so sorry about that."

Sylvia smiled. "Oh, it's quite alright. Besides, helping out ponies is always a great feeling, is it not?"

"I've never seen you in here, I come to Sugarcube Corner almost every day, and I would have seen you here."

The white mare seemed a bit surprised. "Um, well, uh, I'm new in town. Just dropping by to sample some of the confectioneries." She was relieved to know that the blue mare didn't recognize her. That's one worry down.

"Well, I'll, urm, leave you to your...How can you not be eating anything?"

"D-duh-uh..." Sylvia blushed in embarrassment. Admitting that she didn't know how to order in a normal eatery was definitely not appropriate. She'd look like a half-brained fool. "Well, I was actually waiting for somepony. But after a while, I guess he isn't coming." She lied, making up a quick excuse.

"Oh!" exclaimed Calla. "That's just too bad. I actually came in to buy a cupcake for my stallion-mate. I have some time before he comes back from Canterlot. I'm Calla Lily, by the way. You can call me Calla. Would you like to have a cupcake with me? I think the pink pony, Pinkie, makes them, and they're absolutely to die for!"
Calla smiled warmly at the white mare.

Sunny bounced towards Sugarcube Corner wearing an even bigger smile then usual (and that’s saying something!) "I’ll just stop for a snack or two before I keep looking!" She had been spending the day showing a picture to everypony she saw and asking if they had seen this stallion, the picture was of a silver earth pony with a jet black mane wearing a hardhat and a silly grin this stallion was her Daddy, She had been asking a couple of fillies when her tummy started to growl and decided she couldn’t find her daddy on an empty tummy. Walking inside the bakery she walked up to the counter and ordered in a very loud voice "One Death By Chocolate Cupcake pretty please!!" As she waited she looked around at the ponies sitting at the tables.

"That's just too bad. I actually came in to buy a cupcake for my stallion-mate. I have some time before he comes back from Canterlot. I'm Calla Lily, by the way. You can call me Calla. Would you like to have a cupcake with me? I think the pink pony, Pinkie, makes them, and they're absolutely to die for!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Calla. I am Sylvia Lining, but you can call me Vivi, or whatever nickname you wish, I don't really mind." The white mare gave a little bow, a common yet not-so-practiced way of greeting. "That's wonderful that you have a coltfriend, I'm sure he's a lucky fellow. Oh, and having a cupcake sounds wonderful. I haven't actually tried them in a while." Sylvia said, trotting over to the counter where a bubbly pink mare sat on duty, catering to an even bubblier little filly. How adorable.

The pink mare took mere seconds before reappearing, holding out a delicious chocolate cupcake to the filly. With a bubbly voice, she spoke of how lucky the filly was to get the last chocolate cupcake then told the small amount of bits the cupcake was priced.

"Oh, I'll take care of that." Sylvia interrupted, reaching into her branded saddlebag and taking out a number of bits and handing it over to the pink mare, who accepted it with a jolly 'Thank you!'. The tall, white mare looked down at the filly.

"I do hope you don't mind. After all, a filly as adorable as you deserves such reward, right?" She said, before turning to the bubbly employee again. "Oh, and I'd also like to acquire a cupcake of my own. Maybe a Dove Bliss with caramel swiss and a Summer Sun styled Red Velvet and-" The mare stopped, seeing that the pink pony didn't seem to have any of them available.

Sylvia gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh, I'll just have a vanilla cupcake." She said, to which the pink pony gave. The white mare handed the bits over, taking the cupcake. She'd never felt so giddy to try a plain vanilla cupcake. The urge to chomp down on the pastry right then and there was suppressed, knowing that it was rude to eat so savagely. Especially in front of a new friend.

Calla watched the mare and filly with amusement. Now that she had heard Sylvia speak, she knew that the pony was either a newcomer, or she was a visiting pony. Only Canterlot ponies spoke with such a high air of importance. And she remembered eating Dove Blisses in Canterlot, when she had attended Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Mmm, Dove Blisses...
Calla remembered Sunbeam, and she envisioned the tall pony eating his heart's content at the various bakeries in Canterlot, and she missed her unicorn.
"Hey there, silly filly," said Calla, beckoning to the orange pony. "Wanna come eat with us?"
The filly looked very excited for something, almost dropping her cupcake.

Sunny Smiled up at the the very pretty pony who had just paied for her cupcake "Thank you Miss Pretty Pony!" She looked over at another pony who had spoke from a table "oh i would love to other Miss Pretty Pony!" She balenced the mouth watering cupcake on her nose as she made her way towards the table somehow avoiding from bumping into anypony on the way towards it. Sitting down she smiled at the two nice Pretty Ponies and grinned wide "HI! My name is Bright Sides! But everypony calls me Sunny do you wanna be my friends?" She looked at the two with adorable hope filled eyes.

Sylvia giggled at the filly's enthusiasm. Was she made out of pure adorable or the like? Or maybe it was just the fact for the past few months, all the fillies the white mare talked to were all spoiled, rotten, and only wanted to socialize because it would impress their equally snobby, heartless 'friends'. Canterlot was such a disappointment sometimes.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Sunny. I'm Sylvia Lining, but you can call me whatever nickname you wish." The tall mare trotted over to the table, taking a seat. She took a bite of the cupcake, careful not to drop any pieces to avoid making a mess. After she had finished the first bite, she proceeded to start a conversation. "So, how is life in Ponyville? Being new, I don't actually know what to expect, and learning about the town from a friend's eyes is always efficient."

Calla pondered that thought for a moment.
"Well," she started. "It's a melting pot. There are shy ponies, nice ponies, brash ponies, and mean ponies. Everything here is mixed up. I'm actually a Canterlot pony, I've only been here for a few months. Sunny, what do you think of Ponyville?"

Sunny took a bite of her cupcake getting the choclate icing all over her face. "Oh me and my Mama moved here last week its super fun Ponyville is full of lots of ponies to make new friends with and lots of places to go on adventures!" She grined a chocolaty smile up at her two new friends.

Sylvia's attention was caught when Calla said she came from Canterlot. "You're from Canterlot?" She giggled, "But you definitely don't act anything like those pompous foals. You're much too kind, Calla. Although, I guess there are a number of humble ponies that reign from such a haughty capital, albeit few. Although the reason may be obvious, would you mind elaborating why you moved here?"

The white mare looked at the adorable filly's chocolate-covered smile. "You're a very lucky filly to have such a nice, sunny life here. No wonder you're called 'Sunny'." The mare smiled, "Oh, do your parents know you're here?" If there was one thing Sylvia disliked, it was when young ponies wandered off without permission. She didn't blame them, but their parents. Who knows when they'll try to abuse such freedom- they might wander into danger!

Calla pondered what she would tell this white mare. She took a careful bite of her cupcake, not wanting to offend Sylvia with bad manners, and set it down on a plate.
"I was born in the mountains," she started, looking at both the filly and the mare. Enraptured, the filly watched her as she continued. "There's a small town called Buckingridge up there, and it snows for half the year."
Calla smiled as she remembered back to her years as a filly, frolicking in the snow with... with...
Biting back a sob, she composed herself.
"My parents were patrollers, making sure the land was safe for us to play and work. They both died in an avalanche, protecting the town from harm."
Calla paused to wipe away a stray tear.
"I was four. Still cutie mark-less, or, as you fillies-" she said, smiling at Sunny, "would call, a blank flank. All alone, I tried to keep up on life, but it was hard."
The blue unicorn seemed deflated. Her layered mane had dulled and flattened, the colors not seeming so bright.
There was silence. Calla sucked herself back up and kept going.
"I was then accepted into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I was absolutely ecstatic. Packing up what I had, I said goodbye to all those who had essentially been long-term foal-sitters for me and got on a train to Canterlot. I spent the best five years of my life in the Princess's care."
Calla took a sip out of a water glass that had been filled by the kind owner of the bakery beforehand.
"Here's where it gets interesting. I was reading, studying, and doing homework at the same time when I earned my cutie mark. The only problem... I didn't know what the hay it was!"
Calla turned sideways and showed her new acquaintances the strange black circle on her flank.
"It's a silver stinger-and-wingless manticore in a glossy black circle," she said. "I had no idea what it meant. I sought out special audience with Her Majesty, but I have never met her personally, then or now. When I graduated, I stayed in Canterlot for a few years, but what I really wanted were answers, and the fancy, and, no offense, Sylvia, stuck-up ponies of high-society Canterlot could not satisfy me. I went out into Equestria, exploring and visiting towns and cities all over, but only for a little while...
"Then Ponyville caught my eye. Here was the town where everyone lived. The great melting pot of Equestria. I met here two amazing ponies, and, of course, Sunbeam, and they cemented my decision to stay. I've been her for about a month, now, but so far, no answers..."
"Do you guys have any questions?"
She paused and listened for answers.
Calla took another bite of her cupcake. She turned to the filly and asked, "What about you, Sunny? Where are your parents?"

"Sylvia, what brings you here?"

Sunny was about to take a another bite of her cupcake when she heard Calla and Sylvia's questions, she first answered Miss Sylvisa question "Oh my mama knows im here well....in the marketplace atlest....My mama had to work today so i asked her to come here since there is more ponies it could help my search." She lookes over at Calla and answered her "Well my mama works at the weather factory shes been real busy with spring coming and all"

Calla glances at Sylvia's bag and stares. The stitch work, the fine fabric... Oh, how she would fight to feel such material between her hooves...

She turned to Sunny and smiled at the filly.

"What are you looking for, Sunny?" she asked kindly, fiddling with the straps on her saddlebag. She suddenly felt embarrassed. Her homemade saddlebag was hardly Canterlot material. She shoved it under the table and folded her hooves across her lap.

Sunny pulls out a picture was of a silver earth pony with a jet black mane wearing a hardhat and a silly grin "Im looking for him!" She looked between the two ponies. "Have you seen him?"