All Stories Must Begin Somewhere
You let out a relieved sigh as you set down the heavy box. You definitely don’t remember having this much junk. You’re going to have to do something about it once you get settled in. But for now, you just want to get it all in so you can sit down and relax. Actually, scratch that, you're taking a break now. Its been a few hours and you are getting kind of tired. No need to overexert yourself and risk possible injury (HA). Who are you kidding? You’re just downright lazy. You take a seat right then and there against the big box.
The room itself is getting pretty full of boxes. It’s not that big though, so that's not saying too much. The front door is right across from you, still ajar. Another door leading to the rest of your house lies to your right. A small kitchen is on your left. It contains a refrigerator, a stove, and a sink. Other than that the house is pretty plain. You cannot help but notice a stain in the corner of the room. It was most likely left by the pet of a previous owner. Ugh...
You just sit there on the floor for a good fifteen minutes, literally doing nothing. You sneeze once, but that’s it. You really would expect something interesting to happen in fifteen whole minutes, but no. It is just a normal amount of time spent sitting on your rump next to a bunch of boxes. Resting is never meant to be extremely exciting but come on! You should at least doodle on a piece of paper or something. Oh well. You should really be getting back to work soon anyway.
“There are still so many boxes out there, I really should be getting back to work...” You say to yourself quietly.
You get up and wipe a bit of dust off of yourself. You then head out the door and over to the cart that holds the rest of your possessions. There is still a pretty substantial amount of stuff on it. One or two pieces of furniture even threaten to fall off. The only real reason you want the finish today is that it’s not actually your cart. You had to rent one from somepony in town because the one you own is really old and beat up. They charge by the day and you're not made out of money...
An hour or two later and you lift the last box off of the cart. Crossing the threshold you set the box to the side and collapse in a heap on the floor. You are completely exhausted! The only reason you can even see yourself getting up in the near future is because you want to get that cart back to its owner before the sun goes down.
After a few minutes of panting, you manage to get up and head through the door to the rest of your house. It leads to a pretty short hallway with a few doors leading to various rooms. The one that lies on the left leads to your bedroom. The two on the right lead to the bathroom and guest bedroom. There is a rug along the ground, but that is the extent of the decorations. You have yet to hang any pictures and things like that. You walk a little ways and enter the bathroom.
Its a small bathroom, just a sink, shower, and toilet. You walk over to said shower and turn on the water. You let the water run for a bit so it can warm up before you get in. Once in, you let the warm water wash over you and relax your tired muscles. It feels absolutely amazing. You sigh and just enjoy the sensation for a while.
Heading out of the bathroom, you enter the living room and look around. Boxes everywhere...not the prettiest sight to see. Oh well, you shrug it off and walk out the front door.. You strap yourself into the now empty cart and start to head in the direction of Ponyville. It is about 3 o'clock in the afternoon so you figure that you have plenty of time to get this to its rightful owner.
The road leading into town is none too special. It’s got a few trees, some flowers, a bush or two, but other than that it’s pretty plain. The only reason you even chose to live way out here is because you don't like all the hustle and bustle of big cities like Manehattan or Fillydelphia. It’s much more peaceful in little ol’ Ponyville. The ponies themselves are nicer as well. That’s not saying that ponies in bigger cities are mean, It’s just that everypony here knows each other better. It’s kind of like a little niche of ponies who are all friends and can get along well. Who are you kidding? That’s exactly what it is.
You start to see the first signs of houses in the distance. They are modest looking and do not boast much. As you pass a few they slowly start to become thicker and thicker until you are completely into the town. No ponies seem to be out however. Though you did not expect to see to many, you feel slightly uneasy being the only one in the street. It is the middle of the day, most ponies are probably as work or just inside. At least that is what you tell yourself. As you turn the next corner, however, your worry is settled as you see a few ponies walking to various places up ahead. It was silly for you to even consider that anything was wrong in the first place. This may be Ponyville, but weird things don’t happen all the time...
You walk down a few more streets and find yourself in the main market place of Ponyville. There is a large amount of ponies here all buying things and chatting with friends. There are many stalls selling various foods and things of that nature. You haven’t eaten yet today, it may be in your best interest to grab a bite on your way home. But right now you need to focus on getting this big cart through the crowd. Without much thought prior, you just start walking. Most ponies just step out of your way without much of a second thought, but a few give you dirty looks or mutter something under their breath. It is kind of rude for you to go straight through the busy market... You could just find another route... You could do these things... but you won’t. You’re in a hurry and dammit you’re going to get there as fast as possible.
This is why you don’t like big crowds, they are always such a pain. But after a bit of pushing, you get through the over-crowded marketplace. You look up to the street sign and read “Haymaker Avenue”. The cart rental place should be just a few streets over from here. You turn right and head down the street at a steady pace. By your guess it has only been about half an hour since you left your house. It really is a good thing you left so early because this cart is starting to feel really heavy and you don't think you could have done it if you had lied down and gotten lazy. You would have just put it off for tomorrow.
As you pass a few more streets and take a left, the store finally comes into view. It is a little place, easily missable if you are not being observant. Its walls are all an old wood covered with faded, white paint. Its two front windows looks recently cleaned and give a view of the inside of the shop. It has a sign above the door reading “Wise Winston's Cart Rentals”. Overall it is a nice place and gives an aged feeling to the area. And that is meant in a good way of course.
You unhitch yourself from the cart and leave it in front of the shop. You then head through the front door and head straight to the counter. There you are greeted by the smiling face of Wise Winston himself. He is a white unicorn with a yellow-grey mane and tail. His cutie mark is that of a simple wagon wheel. Though he has a few wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, he doesn't look to be any older than the age of 50. He is one of the kindest, most pleasant to be around ponies you have met in Ponyville. You return his smile with one of your own.
“Why hello there, welcome to “Wise Winston's Cart Rentals””says Winston with a pleasant tone. “How can I help you on this fine day?”
“I’d like to return a cart I rented a few days ago” you reply, setting the reins on the counter.
“Ah, I see. Well bring her around back and I’ll take her off your hooves.” He says.
He then proceeds to walk out from behind the counter and exit through a door on the right. You guess that it must lead outside. You go back out the front door and walk over to the cart. You push it over to where you think leads to the back and set it next too a few other carts of similar size. You look up to see Winston inspecting the side of it. He walks around it a few times and even looks at the underside. After a few minutes, he get up and nods at you.
“Everything seems to be in good condition. Glad to see you didn't break anything” He says to you. You weren't too worried, you made sure to be careful while using it. “Now if you will just follow me, we can get the billing all situated.”
You follow him back through the door he exited from earlier and walk to the front of the counter. He pulls out a notepad and pencil and begins writing numbers on it. It’s a good thing you brought plenty of bits with you. You hope that the total is not too expensive.
“Alright, you had the cart for four days and there was no damage done to it.” He says while still looking at the notepad. He writes a few more numbers on it. “ Your total come out to be 157 bits.” He says with a smile.
Yea, that's about what you expected. You take the money out of your bag and hand it over too him. While he is putting it in a safe under the counter he strikes up a bit of conversation.
“So, did you get everything you needed to get done done?” He asks while still under the counter.
“Yes I did actually. The cart was pretty big so it did not take too many trips.” You reply back to him.
“Oh really?” He says, returning from under the counter and looking at you. “ If it didn't take that many trips, then why did you have it for four whole days?”
You put your hoof on the back of your head and give him a sheepish grin.
“Well, you see, just because it didn't take that many trips doesn't mean it didn't take me awhile to unload each one. I had to do it all myself and it can be a lot of work getting it all done in a timely fashion...” You say, trying to cover up your blatant laziness.
He smiles knowingly and says “Yes, I understand completely. Next time maybe consider enlisting the help of a few friends. It really does make the work a lot easier.”
You just nod and turn around to leave. But before you get out the door Wise Winston calls out to you.
“Be sure to use my carts again if you even need any moving done! You can get a discount for being a return customer!”
You just chuckle and wave your hoof goodbye. You walk out of the store and start heading down the street. You’re glad to have gotten that done and over with. Now to focus on the next task at hand. You need to get something to eat, like right now. You make your way back to the crowded marketplace.
