Context

Day 62

Verde trotted into the circular boutique where she usually sold her art to see if anything sold. The arranged deal was that she would leave her art with Radiant Pastal, the art dealer, who tried her best to sell the arts and crafts the other artisans in Trottington off, and she would keep a portion of the profits. Due to how small the town was, she regularly had to travel to other towns and cities with a sample book of the paintings and sculptures in order to make ends meet.

Due to this, humans to her were no different from ponies, in that they were potential customers. The recent trend among human clients was to bring a piece of the natural artwork of the ponies back home as a centerpiece, to either show how refined their tastes were or to simply keep up with the current trend. Verde did not mind this one bit, she felt her art was for everyone to enjoy. That and humans paid very generously when they did buy an art piece.
The boutique had changed since she last came here, there were all new pictures from local artists and it seemed the exterior had a new paint job: green like seaweed, with a deep ocean blue roof. Inside however, was the mess it usually was. Golden frames embroidered some of what Radiant was expecting to be her highest priced pieces of art. Others of lesser quality got dark or light wood borders. The walls were as vanilla as ice cream and the lighting was at different luminosities in each room, hoping to pair the perfecting lighting to the perfect picture.

Radiance was one of those rare ponies that wore clothes every day. Today she chose a strange blue layering, with the innermost layer being blue as the sky, with each successive layer adding a darker and darker blue, reaching deep ocean blue at the top. Her own nearly white, blond mane was cut short, and her coat, as vanilla as the walls, and had not one hint of fluff or ruffling.

“Good Morning Radiance!” Verde greeted her friend.

“Ah, good morning, checking up to see if you made a sale?” Radiance asked, she was taking photographs of the art that had recently come in in order to update her sales book.

“Yep! I was in town to get some groceries, and felt like checking up on you.” Verde spoke with a wide smile. Jason had mostly recovered from his injury and she just finished her month’s heat. Jason was even healthy enough to assist on the last day, though he had to stop part way through one session because his breathing could not keep up.

“I am sorry Verde, but you need to get me some new paintings, other than the few that never sale, and let me tell you, they will probably never sell, you need to bring me something new, something exciting!” Radiance huffed. Radiance did care for all her clients, but the newer the painting, the more she tries to push it.

“You know the paintings from over a year ago? I should start charging you storage space.” Pastel spoke when a flash from the camera went off. Part of the problem with being a local art dealer is that a few artist with good work ethics can fill up her store in a matter of months. Verde knew that she recently switched to a new paradigm that the more of a artists paintings that left the store at faster speeds, the more room she would provide since she was fairly confident that the art would not be under her care for long. Verde’s work did make sales, just not as much as she liked.

“Thats a shame.” Verde sighed. She really hoped that she would have made a sale. She hadn’t been able to paint since Jason got sick, and she wanted to start pulling her weight at the house, so far, he had paid for everything.

Radiance wrote down some notes in her notebook when her ears suddenly swiveled towards Verde, picking up her head and looking directly at her.

“Wait Verde? Oh I’m so sorry, busy this morning.” Radiance sputtered. Dropping her quill, Radiance walked over to Verde and poked her in the chest.

“Where have you been!?” Radiance demanded, looking slightly agitated.

“W..what do you mean?” Verde responded, she was concerned that something had happened or she had inadvertently angered Radiance.

“You disappear for a month and don’t expect me to ask around? What happened? Fiery Spirit told me she kicked you out of that herd you were supposed to join!” Radiance elastically exposited.
Verde suddenly saw the problem. Verde had practically dropped off the face of Equestria, only coming into town once before now. Her time with Jason had consumed most of her life, to the point that she only came into town once before and that was to get painting supplies and meet with her friend. A friend she NEVER met for dinner, Verde suddenly thought, gasping out loud. She remembered that she asked a friend to have dinner at a restaurant during the night she bit Jason’s hand and literally slept in. I need to go talk to Tan right after this, maybe I’ll need to take her out to lunch, Verde continued.

“So, what happened to you?” asked Radiance, her head tilted, making her white hair flop over to the side.

“Oh nothing, I found a new home just outside of town an-” Verde tried to speak, but Radiance’s voice jumped over hers.

“Did you find a new herd? You look like you did, you look so refreshed!” Radiance spoke with an elastic smile. I look refreshed?, Verde asked herself. Maybe Jason had a positive effect on her, he had interacted so much with him, even before the illness.

“Well? Is he handsome?” Radiance begged Verde.

“Oh, he is quite uh, handsome, in his own way.” Verde answered, looking to the side. She honestly did not know if Jason was handsome or not, she enjoyed being around him, but that face of his was so strange.

“Oh, I see... any other mares with you two?” Radiance continued to ask.

“No, I’m the only o-” Verde again, was interrupted by the prominent white haired mare.

“You mean you’re lead mare? At such a young age? Oh my, and he has yet to get another filly into the herd, he must like you!” Radiance exclaimed, hugging Verde.

“Yeah...he must...” Verde trailed off. Her mate only recently understood the importance of the lead mare role and had been relinquishing aspects of his life that he would take care of by himself. He even let her decide what they cooked together. That was the one activity they always did now that he could walk around, they cooked together. She got used to the odor of meat and he started eating more vegetables. She even got him to eat a apple flower yesterday, only for him to gag on it.

Radiance, staring at Verde, trotted away for a moment into her back room. Verde wondered where she went. Staring outside the showroom window, she saw the pony sized buildings and the carts selling their goods. Everything was alive and bustling. Sitting on her flank, Verde realized that there were no humans. An entire population living right next door to the town and they felt so alienated that they did not even come to town. Sighing out loud, she asked herself, Maybe going to Earth with Jason is a good idea, I mean, he doesn't feel welcome at all here. What really surprised the mare was that there were a lot of good ponies here. She never felt disliked or alienated in the town.

Trotting back in, Radiance held a bitbag that rattled as she presented it to Verde. Dropping it on the floor, she could finally speak.

“Hey, I know you just joined a herd and it must be difficult with a new place, so I’m going to buy that picture of the porcelain white cat sitting on a roof from you.” smiled Radiance. Verde was shocked, that picture had been here the longest and no one touched it. Even the humans, who she was told were fascinated by cat pictures, didn’t buy it.

“Radiance, I couldn’t...” Verde said, her lip twitching in a swath of joy and the feeling of being cared for.

“Oh Verde, you’re so young, you might be late getting a herd, but getting lead mare on your second try, after that fiasco with Firey’s herd? I want you to be successful. Promise me, when your stallion comes to town, that you will bring him by, who knows, I might want to see if he has any potential.” Radiance giggled, winking at Verde.

Verde bowed her head and moved to give Radiance a hug. Say what you want about Radiance, but she cared for those who trusted her with their work. Realizing that she might be out a artist if she chose to go to earth, Verde suddenly had a question.

“Hey, there is talk between my stallion and I that we might leave Trottington to um... Fillydelphia, and I wanted to know that if I could ship you my paintings, if we could still conduct business?” Verde asked, she could not stand the thought of not doing business with her friend.

“But of course, if you could just send me a photo of it, I’ll write you back if I will take it off your hooves, but leaving so soon? You just got a herd!” Radiance both asked and lightly roared.

“He is having trouble staying here, says that um...the weather here bothers him...” Verde gulped out.

“Oh, I see. Thats too bad, our Pegasi Weather team won the Most Harmonious Weather Award three years in a row last week.” Radiance replied.

“Yeah well, he just doesn't fit in well with harmony too well.” Verde chucked out, realizing she had lied so much in this conversation already. She would be more forthcoming with the fact that Jason was a human if not for the police ponie a few days ago scaring her.

“Well, take your bits and go get some food, and don’t forget to bring him on by when you can.” Radiance smiled, turning around and going back to work.

“Will do!” Verde announced, picking up the bits and putting it in her saddle bag.

Leaving the store, she needed to go talk to Tanned Scribbler, the friend she forgot to go out to dinner with. Thankfully, her herd lived together on top of a bakery the lead mare ran. Tan was in charge of the book keeping and inventory, while the lead mare and stallion baked various goods. It was a bit of a walk from here, but she felt that she needed to take care of this today, and now that she had the extra bits, buying lunch for the both of them would be no problem.

The blue sky was dotted with wispy clouds as she started staring up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the weather pegasi as she walked to the bakery. Nothing. Must have already done the weather positioning for the day. Her dad had been on the weather team, but was relieved of duty when he got into a spat with the team lead over the planning of the weather for the next few months. That was three years ago...

Arriving at the bakery, the deep red door was deep inside the front wall of the complex. The roof, green like conifers at winter, lay atop of foundation of peeling, nasally yellow. The windows were clean, except for the upstairs ones.

Opening the bakery door, she already saw Tan’s Herd’s lead mare, Vibrant Crimson at the register, having just finished selling a bunch of cupcakes to a pale blue unicorn whose name she did not know. As the unicorn turned around, Vibrant saw Verde.

“Where in Cerberus's three heads have you been? Tan was worried about you since the night you stood her up! Now it’s been nothing but ‘what happened to Verde’ this and ‘why won't Verde at least write’ that? You had her worried!” Vibrant grunted at Verde. Vibrant was actually a good lead mare compared to others, she looked out for the good of everyone in the herd and was level headed. She was a rare pony in that her mane and tail were of different colors, a deep red tail, contrasting against a pale green mane. Her own coat did not help this thrashing of colors, being the child of some light tan color and a deep orange.

“I’m so sorry Crim, I had a bit of a crisis and then another crisis, I wanted to apologize to Tan if she has a moment.” Verde implored to Vibrant. The red coated mare lifted her eye at Verde, only for Verde to assume a more submissive stance.

“TAN! You’re good for nothing friend is here!” Vibrant shouted, turning away from the registrar as she walked into the back kitchen. Verde could already hear the patter of hooves rushing down the stairs of the house.

Tan had not changed from when Verde last remembered seeing her, a short, copper mane complemented her tan coat. Verde also noticed that Tan was a bit taller, thought this could just be because of posture.

“VERDE! THERE YOU ARE!” shouted the light brown mare. Jumping over the counter, she embraced Verde, still with quill in her mouth. Verde must have caught her while she was working.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? I WAITED ALL NIGHT!” Tan exclaimed, looking sullen. Tan was Verde’s friend from foalhood and had gotten her cutie mark much earlier, a quill in an ink bottle, very early compared to all their peers.

“Well, if you have the time, I can tell you over lunch, my treat.” smiled Verde, she really wanted to make amends for what she put her friend though.

“Sure sure! Let me go finish a order for more flour and we can head out!” Tan excitedly huffed out, already moving her way back up the stairs. It did not take long for her to finish, because as Verde took a seat in the waiting area, Tan was already back down.

“So where to?” Tan asked.

“I was thinking The Bread Basket, if thats okay.” Verde responded.

“But isn't that a bit expensive?” Tan inquired, moving for the door.

“I just got some bits, so I can cover it.” smiled Verde, opening the door for Tan.

Walking at a slow pace, the two started to catch up.

“Where were you? I was so worried... you were going to tell me what happend with you and Ruffie’s herd.” Tan inquired, nudging Verde in a reassuring manner.

“Oh, I found a new herd, Ruffie’s Lead Mare gave me the boot and this ugh, stallion took me in.” Verde spoke, stumbling for a second before she remembered that she needed to refer to Jason as a fellow pony for now.

“So you found another herd? Who’s the led mare, can I meet the stallion? Is h-” This time it was Verde who interrupted someone else, cutting off Tan.

“Actually I’m Lead” Verde spoke with a tone of pride.

“You are? Oh, any other mares?” Tan asked.

“No, just him and me.” Verde smiled to Tan.

“Thats no fair, you have him all to yourself!” Tan joked, but Verde could sense a kernel of jealousy.

“Well, he certainly is unusual...” Verde trailed off

“What is it? Is he a misborn?” Tan bluntly asked. While Verde wondered if humans even had a concept of misborn, she shook her head no.

“Well, what is he?” Tan inquired. They just arrived at the restaurant and entered the front door.

The Bread Basket was a strange mix of high class eloquence and down to earth food. The entrance looked as elegant as all the photos of Canterlot’s castle that Verde saw in her youth, but with nicks and scratches where the flimsy paint job had already started to fall apart. The interior however, smelled of freshly cut flowers, its walls had a bold purple nuzzling black diamond shapes thought the place. The floor hay used for sitting was obviously freshly brought in today, and the decor had pictures of town events, most she did not recognize, like the opening of the local water mill.

“Lets get seated first, okay?” Verde asked, she wondered if she should tell Tan that she was herding with a human. She knew Tan wouldn't tell anyone, but did not know if she would approve.

After being seated, they both ordered the same thing, Day Lily on Rye.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone?” Verde whispered, gaining her wits.

“Oh no, you herded with a really old stallion didn't you...” Tan trailed off. Verde thought that was a logical jump for Tan, older stallions lost their libido and their herds tended to start getting thinner and thinner because of their inability to take care of several mares.

“Um..no you see he’s-” Verde tried to explain, only for Tan to cut her off this time.

“Oh no, he’s a griffion, Verde, you know that Griffons are rather bestial...” Tan sighed out in depression, as if Verde lost a game.

“Close, um he” Verde tried to speak.

“He is a diamond dog?” Tilted Tan’s head inquisitively with a look of disgust on her face.

“He’’s human” Verde spat out quietly.

“What!? A Human!?” Tan exclaimed, spitting her drink as if she was just about to gag on it..

“Not so loud Tan, comeon” Verde put her hooves on Tan’s shoulders.

“But why a human?? You know they desecrate everything that Celestia is, they even have leverage in our kingdom!” cried Tan.

“What are you talking about, desecrate?” Verde was legitimately curious.

“They have devices that can turn Celestia’s divine radiance into their dirty, forsaken ‘power’” Tan coughed out in disgust.

“And thats not the end of it, they can instantly talk to each other without mail or magic? They have books held prisoner in windows, and rumor has it that they built giant flying machines that killed the winged humans of their world!” Tan angrily scowled.

“Winged humans? Even our youngest foals know humans don’t have a winged population at all!” Verde cried,

“Are you sure? How do they control their weather huh?” Tan aggressively asked.

“The griffons have wings but can’t control the weather!” Verde rebutted.

“Well it doesn't matter, the only reason they are here is because they forced themselves here! We don’t need their dirty communication! We don’t need their ‘technology’! It’s just fake magic thats dirty and corrodes real magic!” Tan yelled, starting to get furious.

“And what’s worse, you’re herding with one! Do they even understand what it means to be in a herd? Does this human with even feel? I bet he is just fattening you up to eat you, or worse!” Tan zealously screamed.

“Tan, I don’t understand, what did the humans do?” Verde was genuinely concerned now, she had never seen Tan this upset at all.

“What did they do? I told you! Their very existence mocks all the hard work we put into our town! Did you not watch them build that compound!? They used their ‘machines’ to do almost all the work! Their disgusting hairless bodies are trying to seduce us and they got you!” Tan finished, looking intensely at Verde.

Verde could not believe that her oldest friend was so anti-human, she didn’t even move for a few seconds. Taking some bits from her saddlebag, she dropped more than enough to cover both their meals on the table and got up.

“Where are you going!?” Tan hissed, getting up as well.

“Back to my hairless disgusting stallion.” Verde said with a calm dispassion.

“No no no, we are getting you out of his home tonight, I’m sure you can stay with us, we’ll get the authorities to arrest him so th-” Tan spoke, trying to stop Verde, only for Verde to respond in anger.

“ARREST HIM FOR WHAT? GIVING ME A PLACE I CAN CALL HOME! Just, just leave me alone!” cried Verde, rushing out the door.

Ignoring the fact that she forgot the groceries, Verde ran at full speed to get home, only for her to stop to gasp for air just outside her home.

They hate humans.. they, they hate them, and oh Jason I’m so sorry, I’m so so sorry, Verde collapsed on the ground, overcome with the knowledge that he was right.