Rob's New Beginnings

Chapter 1

A loud hiss could be heard as the 7:50 A.M. train pulled into the station. Ponies on-board began to gather their things, ready to end their trips of varying lengths, and step into the town of Ponyville. An earth pony of average size, amber yellow coat and red-brown mane and an slightly-forked tail, with a pair of gears - interlocked, and one larger than the other -  resting on his flank, stepped off the train and onto the station, his maroon eyes taking a glance around, taking in the new and unfamiliar town, and the bright, warm day.

Slowly, almost timidly, he walked down the station steps and onto the gravel paths that ran through the town. After standing around for a couple minutes and gathering his thoughts, he stepped to the side - so as not to obstruct other ponies trying to get off the station and into the town - and pulled out a brand-new journal. The cover read:

The Journal

Of Rob

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Keep Out!

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This Journal Purchased on the 13th of September

He took a few minutes to record his first entry: riding the train into town, details included. Rob took one last look around, and spoke to himself.

“So, this is Ponyville. Much different from the cold dampness of Stalliongrad.”

After another minute of standing, mulling his thoughts, he began to trot off, much more confident than before. "Time to find a good sized tree. And perhaps some lumber,” he again spoke to himself.

‘A good 6 days spent on the train, and I think they were a tad slow, too,’ he thought, letting his body loosen as he started to explore the town. All he knew was he wanted to be as far from the seaside city as possible, and the train brought him here - it didn't seem to him that there was any place more remote from Stalliongrad than Ponyville.

'This is a new town, a new area, pretty much a new life! So why not act like a tourist and sight-see? I just might find what I need!' he thought. The whole time, however, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that ponies were watching him… ‘Stop that!’ he thought. ‘You’re just being paranoid! Heck, the time spent in Stalliongrad made you jumpy.’

Minutes later, his eyes glanced over a very peculiar-looking building indeed - too short to actually see the structure well, but still it caught his attention. Backtracking a few steps to see the structure better, the first thing he thought to himself was: ‘candy!

'That whole building looks like it is made out of candy and baked goods!’ After what seemed like several minutes of staring at this oddity, the sound of stifled coughing. Spinning around, he found himself nearly nose-to-nose with a white unicorn - three diamonds on her flank, and purple and poised mane.

“Darling, you must be new in town, or else you wouldn't be staring. Well, I suppose you still might stare, but by then you would be used to it.” She spoke with an air of decadence.

“That’s Sugarcube Corner, home of the local bakery and bakers!” This new information stunned Rob quite a bit. The mare giggled at his confusion, and commented, “why don’t you stop in there for a treat?” before trotting off, still giggling to herself.

After a minute or so, Rob shook himself out of his trance, and, remembering what the unicorn just said, made a mental note to visit the bakery sometime. Looking around to make sure nopony was staring at him - and relieved to find nopony was, in fact, not - he proceeded to see more of the town.

After walking around for a while, he somehow got lost, because he had passed Sugarcube Corner at least four times now! Confirming his direction, and making sure it was a different one, he moved on. Eventually, he saw a rather large tree in the distance.

Enticed by its abnormal size, he moved towards it. As he got closer, he was surprised to see… windows? And bookshelves? His confusion cleared when he read the sign sitting off to the side, depicting an open book.

‘How clever! It’s a library!’ he mused. Seeing the door standing open, he assumed it was open, and tried to enter. All of a sudden, there were feathers and wings in his face!

“Gah!” he shouted, and, without realizing what it was, turned and fled. Only when he stopped panicking did he realize that his assailant was just an owl, and that he more than likely made a fool of himself. ‘Luckily, no one saw that.’

Walking back towards the center of town, he passed a baby dragon, covered in purple and green scales. Trying to give him a courteous nod, as if to say “hello” as he passed, Rob moved on to find someplace to have lunch.

Meanwhile, Spike looked after the passing colt, and wondered, ‘Is he alright? And did he just twitch?’

Journal open to record his events thus far, Rob sat at a table with a daffodil sandwich in front of him. As he glanced around, taking in the activity of commerce that arose due to lunch break, he spotted a trio of young fillies - a unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony - carrying what appeared to be a length of heavy fabric.

Before he could ponder what it was for, he heard a familiar voice shout, “Return that fabric at once! I need it to complete an order!!” and a second later, the white unicorn from earlier ran past, appearing distraught and more than upset. ‘Nnnnot sure what just happened, but alright.’ Rob put away the journal into his saddlebag, ready to continue his search.

After a few more hours of wandering the town, taking in what there was to see and looking for a suitable tree for his needs, he finally found one. The tree stood several heads above him - farther than he could reach with his forehooves stretched to the skies - with a sturdy trunk and full-looking branches.

“This is just about perfect!” he surmised to himself. Taking a good look around, making sure sure he wasn’t on any pony's private property, he decided to make his home here. “Good! Now I only need tools and lumber to get started.”

Taking another glance, he noticed two things: one, that he was near a path that led into a nearby forest… a rather large one, seemingly surrounded by, and certainly filled with, imperceptible darkness; and two, that he could see chimney smoke over a small group of hills. ‘Must be somepony’s home over there,’ he noted in his head.

Rob then walked over to the tree, attempting to take a peek inside the foliage by climbing the trunk.

“Looks perfect in here too! There are a good amount of branches, and it’s practically a hollow ball of green leaves and branches!” he exclaimed. “Now… about getting down…”

After three botched attempts to climb down, he finally gave up... and promptly fell. With a loud -thud!- he hit the ground below, dazed and dizzy.

“…never do that again,” he mumbled. More than eager to get started, he stood up - and wobbled about while his head cleared - and turned towards the town to a place to obtain some sturdy lumber.

He finally stopped, exhausted from three hours of searching. Not having found lumber, he reminisced on his so-called “easy life” back in Stalliongrad. ‘Bah, don’t think of that now,’ he chided himself. ‘Remember, what they wanted of you was definitely not what you wanted, Rob.

'You had clearly expressed your interest of machinery, and they scolded you for it - ever in control of your life, even in your adulthood -  saying you were to become a bloody sea merchant! And that’s why you’re here now: to make your own life as you see fit. Get back to looking, Rob. Night approaches.’

As sunset approached, turning the horizon into a magnificent blend of pastels, Rob was tired and weary - no luck in finding the lumber he needed. “Where is there a sawmill when you need one?” he asked himself.

‘Well, I suppose the town wouldn’t have such a thing, seeing as how it is not a major city.’ Giving up for now, he went off to eat dinner.

He jingled the remaining bits he had, hoping that the measly amount would last him. ‘I should have tried to save more… I know I needed just enough for the train ticket, but I didn’t really think past that. I especially didn't plan for meals...’

Walking towards the outskirts, he once again passed Sugarcube Corner… except this time, he could feel a pair of eyes watching him.

‘Okay, that’s normal... if a little bit creepy... am I really the only pony out here?’ Indeed he was: the street was empty, save for him. Reminding himself to try to not make these walks common, he moved on.

Eventually, he stumbled upon what looked like a ranch. Looking it over, he saw a medium-sized barn, a small home, and a large field… he wasn’t sure. It was hard to make out such things in the dark.

Trying to make out any more details, his eyes settled on a pile of objects which he eventually recognized as planks of wood. He finally found some lumber!

‘But, I can’t just take it… that’s thievery,’ he instantly thought. As he was turning away, the door to the barn opened, and light spilled out. A shrunken form walked over to the gate to see who this random colt was.

When the pony was close enough, Rob spoke out.

“Hello. This is a rather nice ranch you have here.” The stooped-over figure continued to approach, and Rob saw the pony before him - an older pony, that much was sure... but the dark wouldn't give out any more details.

The elder pony stopped and said, “Why hello there. I don’t get many visitors, especially at this time of night. What brings you by?”

“I was hoping you would be willing to part with even a portion of that lumber sitting over there,” Rob replied in kind. The elder stood there, giving Rob a look-over.

“50 bits,” he said  after a couple minutes of silence. Rob was taken aback.

“I don’t… have that money,“ he said, defeated.

Rob nearly turned around to head back to his would-be home, when the elder spoke out suddenly. “Unless you would like a job? I could use another helping hoof around here.”

The words shocked Rob; he thought, ‘he’ll actually give it to me?’ Almost instantly, he exclaimed, “I-I’d be glad to! I could use some bits, and the lumber is mighty important to me!”

Humored by his attitude, the elder chuckled and proceeded to say, “Very well then. You may have most of the lumber - I still need some for repairs around here. I’ll expect you here tomorrow to learn what it is you’ll be doing around here; for now, you can take the lumber you need, along with this sack to get it to wherever you are going.”

Rob thanked the elder colt many times, loading up the sack with some of the piled lumber. The two then parted ways, Rob heading to his home - which now seemed all the more possible thanks to the elderly pony - and the elder going to go relax in his home before he fell asleep.

As Rob was dragging the lumber along, he realized all of a sudden that he never asked to borrow some tools. “Oh bother.” He was more than halfway back to the tree, so he told himself to put it off until tomorrow.

Finally back at the tree - the lumber sitting at the base - he rested on a limb with journal in lap, Rob began to record his third entry: of what he’d done, what he’d seen, and who he had met. All of a sudden, a loud clatter could be heard, and the quill and ink well fell from the branches… Rob went out like a light, completely wasted from his long day.

End of Chapter 1