"Tea, tea, why did I forget to pack tea?..." Quills said to himself as he trudged rather than trotted to Mayor Mare's Town Hall. The late morning sun always drove spikes of sunshine into Quills's eyes whenever he didn't drink his tea, especially when he had his glasses on. And the last few days of camping on the way to Ponyville has been utter Tartarus, since he forgot to pack tea in moving all his immediate belongings.

He arrived shortly afterwards to a light grey mare with a flashy green and yellow dyed striped mane. Quills didn't doubt this was probably some teenage niece or daughter of the Mayor's that was forced to do this job. He also reminded himself to not say anything about how horrible the colors looked on her.

Don't say anything, don't say anything about her mane...

Quills trotted up to the mare and saw that she was reading a magazine, one that he knew was followed in hot demand by the "cool" teenagers, according to his neighbor back in Manehatten, who also had a daughter that was the kind of foal he made sure to warn Ritz about.

Please, oh please, don't have an indifferent voice...

"Hello?" Quills tilted his head in the mare's direction. Said mare gave him a tentative glance before resuming her magazine. "I was supposed to meet Mayor Mare at noon today, which is only ten minutes away?"

"Like, I dunno. Just wait until she calls you up or something," the mare replied.

Excellent. She is one of those teens. Why can I never meet a smart one from a top-tier high school or at least a good one from college?...

"Mr. Escrito Pluma? You may come into my office now." A loud intercom was heard in the room.

"Escri...wait! You're Quills!?" the mare suddenly exclaimed.

"Yes, that’s my name. Is there a problem?" Quills started trotting over to the main door to the office, looking back at the mare with a deadpan look.

"Um, uh, no, there isn't! I was just surprised. We read 'To Love a Shadow' in English class a while ago as part of our modern literature unit, and for once, I thought english class was fun!" the mare practically jumped at her desk.

"Huh. ‘I made English class fun’. That has to be one of the weirdest compliments I've heard," Quills remarked loudly, before stepping inside the mayor's office, closing the door with a loud thud.

Inside, he could see more of the room than last night, since before he could see what little he could by some candlelight. Now though, with the sun shining through the large multi-panel windows (and right at his eyes again), he could see clearly everything there was about the office. The flooring was more deep blue than he had seen last night, and a large insignia showing what looked to be a town seal was stitched into the plush carpet design. At the far end of the room sat Mayor Mare, sipping from a cardboard cup bearing the insignia of some coffee shop that Quills remembered passing.

“Would you like some coffee, Quills?” Mayor Mare asked.

“No thanks. I don’t really like coffee all that much…”

Immediately, the aforementioned drink was spit onto his face, courtesy of one Mayor Mare.

“You don’t like coffee?! Are you even pony?! What kind of pony, especially in your line of work, doesn’t like coffee?!” Mayor Mare exclaimed. As a fellow pony of political prowess, she had learned to love the drink as if it were her husband. A husband that never cheated on her, never drank away from her, never used up her money...

“I’m a pony that somehow doesn’t scream when burning coffee is spit onto his face, mayor...” Mayor Mare shifted her glasses to look at Quills again, and gasped. She pulled out a drawer from her desk to grab a couple tissues that were there in cases of her allergies acting up. She padded them on the stallion’s face, trying to wipe off the coffee. She winced whenever she saw a spot that was scalded onto Quills’s face. Quills was busy trying to wipe out the coffee stains on his glasses.

“I’m so sorry Mr. Quills! I was just...surprised that...well you must understand I…” The stallion put a hoof up to the mayor’s mouth, silencing her.

“It’s fine, Mayor, don’t worry,” Quills replied with a grin and a chuckle. “Believe me, I’ve had worse stuff sprayed all over my face.”

Awkward silence followed, with the mayor blinking at Quills raising a hoof to the back of his head, a small blush on his grinning cheeks.

“Right. Phrasing. Anyways…” Quills put his hoof down. “Did you get the deed?”

Mayor Mare shook her head a bit to retain her composure. “oh yes, right...Yes I do.” She slid her hoof into another drawer and pulled out a couple of papers. She handed Quills a quill and some ink, and using his mouth he signed what he needed to complete on the deed.

With one final slash confirming his signature, the paper suddenly glowed with a golden aura and floated in the air. As Quills stood back, the paper rose up and in a flash, disappeared.

“Unicorn Papyrus. Magically enhanced paper that we use to sign big checks and household deeds. It’s quite expensive to have, you know,” Mayor Mare commented.

“I know it is. I use a special kind that I write my final drafts and send to the publishers in Baltimare.”

"Ah yes, you are that famous comedy writer from that reader's digest series, right?”

"The One and Only!" Quills stood up proud on his hooves, posing in a regal form. The pose didn't last long however, as he slowly tipped over and lost his balance, landing with his muzzle on the floor and his rump in the air, his glasses falling onto the floor in front of him. "Ahck! Well, you get the point..."

Mayor Mare gave a light chuckle before saying, "well you do seem to know how to make ponies laugh. On to our next order of business." The mayor shifted in her seat while Quills sat down comfortably again, adjusting his glasses. "I assume you need to have your son enrolled into our local elementary school here?"

"You only have one school?" Quills asked. He at least expected two schools for this small town.

"Yes, one public schoolhouse at least. I know it's not much to the city schools your son went to, but I assure you the teachers are the most qualified than any others that applied for the positions."

"I'm not complaining, Mayor, I'm just surprised. What about high schools?"

"Oh, we usually send the few teenagers that live here to Canterlot High, on the morning train."

Quills put a hoof to his muzzle in deep thinking. After a minute, he replied, "I guess it saves me the hassle of choosing schools. What do I have to sign?"

"Just sign basic information about your son here."

The mayor pulled out another paper from her desk (I swear, how does she manage to have everything organized in a desk like that!) and laid it out in front of Quills. Using the same quill from before, he wrote everything the paper asked for, and completed it with his signature. He gave it back to the mayor, who scanned it for a minute, before widening her eyes.

"Oh dear. Your son is mute?" Mayor Mare asked.

Quills gave out a tentative sigh and slumped. "Yes, he is. It's a bit of a complicated story that I wish to not talk about right now."

"It's not the story I'm worried about, Mr. Pluma. I'm worried of how he is going to fit in with his classmates. You realise that we have no special needs or aids in our school system, you see."

Quills gave a light chuckle. "Do not worry, mayor. Back in his old school, he was stubborn enough about being in regular classes that they allowed him, even if I tried to convince him otherwise. He didn't have as much a problem back then, I'm sure he won't have any problem now," Quills replied.

"Regardless, do you understand the risk that he may struggle with his schoolwork?"

"Yes, I do mayor, and I assure you it won't be a major problem."

"Well, then I suppose that's all for now. Thank you for coming here to Ponyville, Mr. Pluma. Now if you excuse me, I have to work on some papers sent by Princess Sparkle."

Quills quickly stood up and started to trot out when he stopped. "Wait a second, you haven't told me what that pink monstrosity you were talking about last night was!"

"Oh dear, I haven't. Well, I'm sorry but these papers take top priority, maybe next time?" Mayor Mare asked.

"Fine. It sounded so interesting though..." Quills sighed as he left the door out of the office.

"Mr. Pluma?" Quills heard his name called, and turned to see that same assistant mare from before.

"Yes?" he replied.

"I just want to say sorry for, uh, acting like that from before..."

"Think nothing of it. I haven't had my tea yet, we're all a bit irritable once in a while," Quills patted her on the head.

"Yeah....hey! Since you're new around here, why don't I give you a tour of the town? I know a few good places where you can get your, uh, tea, I guess."

"Ah, that would be wonderful. What about your job though?"

"The afternoon assistant is already here, I'm already clocked out, and ready to go when you are."

"Phrasing."

"Phrase..." the mare widened her eyes. "Act two of To Love a Shadow? You know, for a thirty something like yourself, you have a dirtier mind then some of the boys at my school," she deadpanned.

"I'm twenty nine, and I prefer the term, 'sexy imagination', if you will."

The mare widened her eyes again. She coughed to herself before speaking in a richer-than-thou voice, "Well I would say that's subjective, my dear Blaze. To what do you think would be the most attractive aspect of any mare?"

Quills coughed to himself before speaking in the hooflyn accent he acquired in Manehatten, "Do you want the right answer, or the true one?"

"The right answer, for your sake."

"You, of course!"

"And what of the true one?"

"Mare, have you even seen the models these days!?" Both ponies started laughing loudly, reenacting a scene from the story the mare had mentioned. They heard an "ahem" from a white pegasus mare with a blonde mane.

"Oh, uh, sorry ma'am. We'll, uh, be on our way then."

With a couple trots, the duo quickly exited the building, blushing with embarrassment. Looking around, Quills could see that the town was lively in the middle of the day. An orange earth pony was pulling a cart full of apples while talking to a cyan blue Pegasus flying above her, while a unicorn was talking to a grey Pegasus mare with blue saddlebags on her flanks. All around him, he can see ponies of various colors and even races talking, playing, working, and above all just enjoying the company with each other. In the back of his mind, he noted that this was paradise compared to what happened back in Manehatten.

"That offer is still up, if you want to go," he heard the mare next to him say.

"I would be delighted to accept it. Let's come back to my house first so I can pick up my son. I'm sure he would also want a tour." Both ponies started walking down the road, Quills still marveling by how bustling the small town of Ponyville could be.

Author's Note

Please tell me if Quills character is consistent or not. I have a feeling that he is but I don't immediately see anywhere where I could improve him.

Once again, Comment and rate! And Favorite too, if you would be so kind! A bit of a hassle to get this one out, but then again, a good portion of the writers on the site like me are going to start focusing on school soon.

Ugh. Now I have to meet people again.

Up next, our mute Ritz is going to meet his new friends, whether he wants to or not!

TTFN