It was a bright, sunny day in Ponyville. Ponies went about their days, happily talking, buying, and generally enjoying the cool winter air air.
On the very outskirts of town, you sit on a small hill, watching the ponies from a distance, wondering whether or not this would be a good place to settle down.
With a sigh, you stand up, glad of your patchy, hastily put together jacket to keep you warm; It was made of patches of denim, leather, cotton, all kinds of materials. Yes, you could have easily bought a warm, comfy jacket from a boutique, or a clothes shop, but you refused to spend such a ludicrous amount of bits on bits of fabric. Yes, the jacket looked horrible, especially when you combined it with the bright yellow gumboots that donned your hooves at all times, or your tattered, broad brimmed hat that almost never left your head, but it was all functional. Plus, you could never give up your jacket.
Not to say you didn’t care about looks; Any self respecting stallion kept himself looking good. Your mane was always nice and clean, your coat kept nice and soft. But fashion never appealed to you. Why wear such pretty clothes when they were just going to end up in the wardrobe, gathering dust?
Knowing that you may as well get things moving, you shake yourself, and begin walking, grabbing the small brown sack used to carry your things, heading towards the happy, colourful town. You had just enough bits with you to buy room and board from a hotel, an inn, or, if worse came to worse, to buy a spare room from one of the residents of the town, until you had enough cash to buy a proper home.
You instantly knew you were being watched as you walked through the small crowd of Ponyville, as per usual. Your jacket always got you strange looks, laughs, or, when you’d gone to Canterlot a few months back, outright insulted.
However, you were used to it, so you happily walked along, looking around for a hotel or an inn. You saw a few couples as you walked, making sure to take note of the mares in particular, so you knew who not to try and come onto.
Having had a few partners in the past, you had experienced one or two unfortunate situations where the mare you were with had failed to mention that they already had a partner.
Blue earth mare, red mane... She looks a bit old, anyway... Yellow pegasus, pink mane... Looks a bit quiet for me. You start humming a quiet, familiar tune, stopping and looking around, a small frown on your face. There was a familiar grumbling in your stomach, reminding you that it had been a day or two since you had a proper meal; You almost never packed enough supplies for travel between the capitals of Equestria.
With a small grumble, you make your way to a simple cafe nearby, and sit down, with a small, tired sigh. You open your mouth to order, but are interrupted when you hear a horrified scream behind you. With a loud yell, you jump over the table, and peek over, seeing a white unicorn rushing over to you, her eyes wide with horror. Frowning, you quickly back away as her horn glows, and you’re lifted into the air. Flailing wildly, you try to yell at the mare when you feel her tugging at your jacket with her magic.
Realising what she’s trying to do, you toss your sack of stuff at the mare, causing her to jump back, cringing as you drop to the ground. Standing up, you open your mouth to speak to her when the unicorn rushes forward, trying to grab the jacket.
“Hey, buck off!” You yell, pushing the mare away. The unicorn stumbles, but soon recovers.
“Dear, that jacket is one of the worst fashion crimes I have ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes on! Please, I can give you something much better, dear!” She says, trying again to get your jacket away. Flailing weakly, you shove her back again, hearing a loud rip. Your eyes widening, you look at one of the sleeves on your jacket, seeing a large tear.
You feel a small burning in your gut, worse than hunger as you shove her to the ground, grabbing your bag, and running like hell. The scene had caused a bit of a crowd to form, and you didn’t want to stay any longer than you had to. Only after shoving the mare did you realise how bad the scene looked.
Eventually collapsing on the edge of town, you catch your breath for a few minutes, listening closely to the area around you to make sure you weren’t followed. You stumbled to your hooves, realising you had collapsed close to a simple, cheap inn. Sighing happily, you managed to force yourself upstairs, and walk inside, tiredly hiring a room for a week, glad of the low price. Barely hearing the old grey mare behind the counter telling you about breakfast, you took the key she gave you, and found your room, collapsing on the bed.
Well... New town... Probably just made an enemy... Looked like a brute and a prick in front of a large crowd... And I’m still starving... You let out a loud groan, and close your eyes, trying to sleep, and failing miserably. You had been so exhausted only a few seconds ago, now you were wide awake.
Every. Damn. Time. You think, sitting up and punching your pillow a few times, before sliding off the bed. Thinking that you should probably get undressed, you pull off your boots, and hat, before carefully sliding your jacket off, making sure not to widen the rip.
I’ll get that fixed tomorrow some time. You think, looking out the window, seeing a blue pegasus mare, with a rainbow mane, flying with a stallion. They both fly behind a cloud before you get a good look at them.
With a sigh, you turn back to the bed, and collapse, chewing your pillow for a few minutes out of hunger, before you finally, gratefully slip into the warm embrace of sleep.
You wake with a start the next morning, not realising you’d been dreaming. Before you could reflect on it, however, your stomach rumbled loudly, a small spike of pain in your gut.
Ahg, dammit... You look up, at the clock on the wall, and let out a groan as you see it’s almost midday.
Wow, I slept for a while... Lunch won’t be being served yet, and it’s too late for breakfast... May as well go and get my jacket fixed... With a sigh, and a another painful grumble, you slide out of bed, carefully sliding your jacket on, along with your boots, and hat.
You quickly find the old grey mare who you guess owns the inn.
“Excuse me ma’am, do you know if there’s a clothes store, or boutique in town? I need to get my jacket fixed.” You ask her, hating the fact that you have to go to one of those horribly expensive stores. But hey, you don’t know how to sew. You didn’t make the jacket, after all.
“Oh, you’ll want Carousel Boutique, dear.” The mare says, with a smile.
“Don’t worry, Rarity’s nice. She’ll be sure to fix you up.” She says.
“Alright, ma’am, thank you.” You say, putting two bits on the counter as thanks for her help -Since the inn was so cheap, you had a few to spare-, and leaving the inn.
Walking out into the cool, fresh air of Ponyville, you turn, and make your way into town, asking ponies for directions to Rarity’s Carousel Boutique, all the while making sure to avoid that insane white unicorn. The entire time, various ponies look at you with disdain, obviously remembering the trouble you’d had with the unicorn the day earlier.
You could have sworn you heard a small snicker from the mare who pointed you to Rarity’s boutique.
Deciding not to think about it, you finally reach the garishly decorated boutique, about to head in when you see the white unicorn, talking to a mare inside!
Cursing your luck, you duck below a window, and peek inside. The other mare was a light orange, with a blonde mane, and a stetson. Heck, she looked more like a farm pony than a fashion designer. But that didn’t matter; As long as she could fix your jacket, she could look like something out of a bad horror movie for all you care.
After the two talked for a frustrating few minutes, the orange earth mare made her way out, opening the door and walking out, to your confusion. She looked back.
“Big Mac an’ Ah will be sure ta help ya, Rares.” The mare said, with a smile.
“Thank you, darling!” The other mare called, going into the back room. Before you could stand up, the earth mare turned, and collided with you, letting out a small grunt.
“What in th’...” She looked at you, and narrowed her eyes.
“Why are ya spyin’ on Rarity, stranger?” She asked, in her thick southern accent. Jumping up, you stutter nervously.
“Er I um... Er...” You frown, and stop yourself, taking a few moments to speak.
Before you can manage it, however, the mare raises her eyebrows.
“Hang on a mo’, yer that pony that hurt Rarity yesterday!” She says, narrowing her eyes.
“H-hey!” You protest.
“She attacked me!” You cry.
“And she tore my jacket!” You show the mare the ragtag bits of fabric.
The earth mare stares at you for a little longer than what could be considered comfortable before looking away.
“Humph, fine, Ah believe ya. But because of yer little spat with Rares yesterday, she can’t lift anythin’ heavy. She hurt her back, stranger. Lucky for you, it wasn’t anythin’ serious.” She said, glaring at you.
“Er... I guess that was why you and that... Er... Big Mac guy are helping her with something?” You ask, now feeling less angry, more gulty. You hated hurting ponies, even if they did damage something so important to you.
“Big Mac is mah brother. He’s about a foot talller’n me, and one o’ the tallest ponies in Ponyville.” The mare said, in an offhandedly threatening way.
You go slightly pale, and look inside, then at the mare, who was just a bit taller than you.
“Er... Don’t worry about calling him, I-I can help her... Maybe make up for hurting her...” You say, shuffling your hooves awkwardly, feeling both guilty and frustrated at the same time.
The mare smiles, and nods.
“Make sure ya do, stranger.” She says, turning and trotting away.
You kick the ground in frustration, getting your hooves covered in dirt. With a small groan, you look around, hating to get your coat dirty. You turn, and trot around the boutique, eventually finding a small water tap next to the back door. After fiddling for a moment, you turn it on, and stick your hooves under it, cleaning them off.
You hear the door open, and before you can turn the tap off, the white unicorn, Rarity, pokes her head around the door, her eyes widening as she sees you. You quickly step back, knocking the tap a few times to turn it off. You grab your jacket, which had been tossed onto your back, holding it in front of you as a sort of shield.
“Er, I...” You mumble.
“I-I’m sorry about yesterday.” You manage, ignoring the slightly repulsed look she gives your jacket, then the vaguely worried look she gives you.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, the mare nods.
“I accept your apology.” She says, stepping back inside and closing the door before you can respond.
You stand there, holding your jacket, blinking in slight shock a you hear the door lock. Realising now might not be the best time to try and get inside, you put your jacket on your back, and turn, walking away.
Alright, still not lunch time... Ugh... I’ll just put my jacket back at the inn, then... Well, I guess I’ll explore this town... You think. Glad to have a plan, you set your course for the inn, feeling a pang of hunger as you walk inside, nodding hello to the mare behind the counter, and walking up the inn’s stairwell, walking to your room and putting your jacket on the bed, flattening it out carefully.
With a small sigh, you put a hoof on the jacket, remembering the pony who gave it to you. Before you can dwell on your memories, however, you decide you should probably go and get to know the town. So, with one last glance at your jacket, you turn, and leave your room.
