Grey Mane

Where am I supposed to get something to eat?

Grey Mane walked through Ponyville with his saddlebags still strapped to his back. He looked around every corner for the food stands he had seen earlier, that the yellow mare he had seen was heading to. He had decided to try one of those apples he had heard about, which had come from Sweet Apple Acres. They were his aunt and uncle’s favorite kind, so he had been eagerly waiting to try one.

But he hasn’t had any luck so far. He didn’t remember where it was from his house. But since he had only been searching for not even ten minutes, he had to keep looking. Meanwhile, he tried to keep clear of any other ponies walking the streets. Once in a while, he checked to make sure no one could see his flank. But then again, they just might find the oversized saddlebags as weird. But that was not his biggest concern.

After about a few more minutes of walking, he finally found where the food stands were. But there was one problem, the same problem he had to face every time he had to go and buy food.

There was a large crowd of ponies.

Grey Mane groaned quietly in frustration at the sight. Would there ever be a place with fewer ponies than this? He has been shopping many times, but the answer always proved to be “no”. But he will have to get used to it.

He walked towards the stands, trying to avoid bumping into anypony. He looked at all the stands for something that he would like to try that wouldn’t cost too much. He saw stands for many different kinds of food. Fruits, vegetables, bread, and even more sugary stuff like cakes and candy. But then he looked farther ahead to see the sign he was looking for, the one that read “Sweet Apple Acres”.

He could already taste them. However, he never had them before, so he didn’t really know what they tasted like. He walked towards the stand, and froze for a split second as he realized who was selling the apples. It was the same orange pony with blond hair from that farm he had seen earlier. Had he walked past Sweet Apple Acres on his way here? Was there a sign that he had missed? If there was, he probably wasn’t paying attention. He continued to make his way to the stand, staring at the ground.

“Well, howdy there,” an enthusiastic voice said as he approached. He jumped a bit when she spoke. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to startle ya there. Would ya like some of our delicious apples?”

Grey Mane looked at the apples. He did indeed, but he was still nervous about answering. He shifted his eyes to the ground and nodded. “Mm-hm.”

The orange pony didn’t really hear his quiet voice, but the nod was a good enough answer. Before, she even asked how many he wanted, she asked, “Are ya new here in Ponyville? Ya plannin’ to live here?”

Grey Mane looked up at her. She smiled as she studied him curiously with her green eyes. He felt a little uncomfortable, dropping his eyes to the dirt again. He nodded.

“Well, then, I surely hope you’ll enjoy your stay. We got some of the nicest ponies in Equestria residin’ in this here town. You’ll love it. And also, in my family, anypony new here, whether they are residents or tourists, deserve free apples from us... but only for the first day, of course.” She was about to take some apples before stopping herself. “Would ya like that?” Grey Mane looked at her. “Five apples for free?”

Grey Mane nodded. “Sure,” he said quietly, but loud enough for her to hear him. She went around the stand and put five apples into one of his saddlebags.

“There ya go, partner, the best apples in Ponyville.” She stepped back and smiled, even though Grey Mane couldn’t see it, because he was afraid to look, though he couldn’t help but give a few quick glances. The orange pony chuckled as she placed her hoof on her face. “Oh, I just downright forgot my manners. My name is Applejack. What’s yours?”

Grey Mane kept his gaze on the ground, staying silent for a moment. He wasn’t sure if he should say it. He opened his mouth a couple times, but nothing came out. Finally, he was able to let his voice out, as well as words. “Grey Mane.”

“Well, it was very nice to meet ya, Grey Mane. And y’know, you don’t have to be so nervous. I won’t bite ya.” She stepped closer, causing the grey pony to move farther away from her. Applejack froze when he did that. He looked at the ground, regretting his move.

“Um, thanks, but I should go now,” he said quietly. That was the first actual sentence he managed to say to her. Then he turned and left. Applejack watched him as he left, afraid that she just scared him off.

Grey Mane started whispering to himself, quietly enough so that he was the only one who could hear. “Ugh, stupid! What the hay was that? I am so tired of this. I hate the way I am. Why am I so...” He then lets out a sigh and continues yelling at himself in his head until somepony else crashes into him.

He is now lying on the ground with a bit of pain in his front leg, and some of the apples fall out of his bag. He groans in frustration as he looks over at the blue Pegasus next to him. He stands up and starts to pick the apples back up.

“Heh, um, sorry about that,” she said.

Grey Mane looks quickly at the pony. She had a blue coat and a rainbow colored mane, and her eyes looked like... magenta, maybe? It didn’t matter. He just wanted to get away from her. The Pegasus rolled back onto her hooves.

“Are you okay?” After Grey Mane put the last apple into his bag, he just looked at the ground, the anger not leaving his expression. He nodded and turned away and headed down the road with a slight limp in his walk. His leg wasn’t badly damage, but there was pain in his muscle with each step. He was certain there would be a bruise.

The rainbow-maned pony appeared in front of him in a flash, causing Grey Mane to jump back, startled. “Hold on there. So you’re just gonna walk away, just like that? Got nothing to say?” Grey Mane began to back away in fear of the possibilities of what she was going to say. Though her eyebrows were lowered, he couldn't tell if she was angry or not. He felt hated, whether anypony showed it or not. “You’re new here, right?” He nodded, staring at the ground. He was beginning to feel like a bully target... again.

She just stared at him, studying him. She took note of his fear. Her expression softened a bit as he started to remind her of one of her friends. He seemed lonely and friendless. So she might as well try to give him one friend. “So, what’s your name?”

Grey Mane remained silent and looked at the ground. He tried to say something, but he was still intimidated by her. The mare assumed he had some kind of anxiety. He was clearly not a social pony. She decided to start off with a conversation. “I’m Rainbow Dash, the best flier in all of Equestria. You may have heard of me, perhaps?”

Grey Mane looked up to see a look of pride on her face. He smiled lightly at her bragging, shaking his head as an answer.

Despite his silent answer, she continued to talk, hoping to warm him up to her. “I am going to join the Wonderbolts. I had gotten into the academy a few months ago. It’s a lot of hard work, yes, but it is so worth it. My first few days there, didn’t work out that great. They just had to land me with a partner who doesn’t even care about the safety of other ponies. You know what she did? She made a completely reckless move that almost killed my friends.”

Grey Mane looked up at her, surprised that even a Wonderbolt wannabe would do anything to jeopardize the lives of others. Wonderbolts trained to do the exact opposite. They were not just a bunch of performers and professional flyers; they also doubled as a sort of rescue team. Being a Wonderbolt meant also being an expert in first aid. Such a terrible and careless pony does not deserve to even step foot on the academy grounds.

“At least we managed to save them. But what’s even worse, when I confronted her after that event, she just brushed the subject off like it was nothing! Like, she clearly didn’t care one bit. I mean, my friends mean everything to me, y’know?” Grey Mane just stared at her, confused, still not fully understanding why this mare was even talking to him, especially about her experiences at the academy. But at least she wasn’t being mean. Maybe she is trying to be friendly?

There was a short silence as the anger from Rainbow’s face faded. Grey Mane seemed less scared of her now. She smiled as she leaned a little bit closer to Grey Mane, though he did back away slightly. “Did you know that I am the only Pegasus who can do the Sonic Rainboom?”

Grey Mane shot his head up, surprised at what she said. A Sonic Rainboom?! You’ve gotta be kidding me! No one can do that! The only one who has been able to do it is the pony who discovered it in the first place. How can she do it?! Rainbow was amused by the shock on his face, and she chuckled lightly.

“Yeah, that’s how I got this.” She turned to reveal her cutie mark. It was a cloud with a lightning bolt of the primary colors, red, blue, and yellow. Grey Mane’s shocked expression turned into a small frown, and his eyes aimed back at the ground. He didn’t want to bother seeing something he was never going to have.

The blue mare noticed this, though she couldn’t really guess what the problem was. So she decided to change the subject. “Um, so... uh, what is your name?”

This time, the grey stallion felt comfortable enough to say his name, even though his voice remained quiet. “Grey Mane.”

“Grey Mane, huh? Are you a tourist here, or are you going to be living here?”

“Um, living here,” Grey Mane said quietly.

“Cool. I’m sure you will enjoy it here.” She gave him a different kind of smile. It seemed... welcoming, something Grey Mane rarely ever saw. “You want me to show you around?”

Grey Mane prevented himself from smiling back as he shook his head. The mare hovered in the air. “No? Suit yourself. You seem like a pretty cool guy. We should totally meet up again sometime. See ya.” Then she took off towards the clouds.

Rainbow Dash felt proud of herself. She didn’t exactly gain a real friendship with him, but it was just a matter of time now. She just wanted to get him warmed up to her. That was how she had approached her old friend from flight camp for the first time.

In all honesty, she really was looking forward to seeing Grey Mane again soon. She actually did like him. Well, not like like, but she felt that they would become good friends. She was confident in becoming friends with him, no matter how long it takes.

Grey Mane just stood where he was, rather confused. Why would she want to meet with him again? He could barely even talk. But she was actually very nice, or maybe she was only trying to make him feel better. The last thing he expected was for somepony to actually want to meet him again. But the real shocker was that it was a MARE!

Then his mind stuck to the fact that a mare said she wanted to meet him again. A mare actually thought he was cool! She gave him a smile before she left, a smile that actually meant something. It wasn’t the self-satisfied kind of smile that he used to see. It was a genuine smile of kindness. Did she... want to be his friend?

No. It was too good to be true.

Grey Mane frowned sadly and walked away, not exactly caring what direction he was going. He had just moved here. Nopony would want to be friends with him just like that. How could she think he was cool? He can’t even talk to her, and when he can, it’s always quiet. Did she know how he felt? Did she notice the fear that constantly clung to him, making him so distant from everypony else? What if she thought of him as a giant wimp because of it?

As his mind continued to drain all the hope he had, he nearly walked into the wall of a building. It was bigger than most of the other houses and it had a sign hanging above the door that said, “Hay Bale’s”. Hay Bale’s was always Grey Mane’s favorite restaurant. He looked through the front window. It didn’t look too busy; there were several empty tables inside.

He walked inside and stood behind the few ponies lined up in front of the register. He already knew what he wanted. He waited in line for the ponies in front to get their orders before he walked up to the counter.

“Hello, sir,” the cashier said with a smile on her face. “It’s always nice to see a new face around here. What would you like?”

“Um, I’d like just a regular hay sandwich with a bit of lettuce and that special cheese stuff.” Grey Mane waited for the cashier to write the order.

“Would you like a drink with that?”

“No thanks. I would like to take it with me, too, so...” He pointed his head towards the door.

“Okay. That will be four bits.” Grey Mane took four bits out of his bag and set them on the counter. The cashier put them inside the register before heading into the kitchen. After a couple of minutes, she came back out with a bag containing his lunch.

He grabbed his lunch as the door opened and a pink pony bounced inside, looking at the cashier. “Hi, Cherry Rose. I was just—” Then she stopped talking and stood still, letting out a loud gasp as she looked at Grey Mane. He looked behind him, thinking she was looking at something else. Not seeing anything, he turned his head back forward to find the pony gone.

“Hi, there.”

Grey Mane jumped in surprise and gave a high-pitched yelp at the voice somehow behind him. The bag with his food fell out of his teeth, and he turned around to find the pink pony standing on the opposite side of him from where she just was. “Are you new here?” she asked, wearing a freakishly large smile on her face.

Grey Mane, still shocked from what she had done, manages to answer once his mouth is able to move. “Um... yes.”

The pink pony bounced in the air and let out a short and happy squeal, and burst out the door so fast you would never have even seen her. Grey Mane just stared at the door, confused about the weird behavior of that super hyper mare. He decided to put it out of his mind. He picked up his lunch and left the restaurant.

Today is gonna be a weird day.