Stone Heart comes to Ponyville
Inspired by the music of Mikael Wiehe and Timbuktu.
Edited by v-dub
Stone Heart stepped off the train at Ponyville station, and look around with a sneer. Quaint little place he thought. Ponyville was supposed to be one of the friendliest places in all of Equestria. He hated it already.
Stone Heart himself looked quite sophisticated in his natural grey coat, and silver mane. He was getting on in years but was still regarded as looking rather dashing. On his flank he spotted a stone heart cutie mark for his tough negotiation skills. The only color on him was his stunningly blue eyes. He also wore his custom-made suit that matched his eye color perfectly.
Being born and raised in Manehattan, the best place for business in all of Equestria, and probably the world, he had developed quite a tough, go-it-alone attitude. As always, business was what had brought him to Ponyville, as anywhere else. There were only two things that interested him in life, money and more money.
He had heard rumors that this place was ripe with opportunity, if one had the heart to take it. There were three independent businesses he was interested in this day. One was a bakery named Sugar Cube Corner. The second, which was the one that actually brought him here, was named the Carousel Boutique. The third but least likely to bear fruit, no pun intended, was Sweet Apple Acres.
The trouble there was that he had it on good authority that the Apples were good business folk. Apparently they could smell a lie or a setup from a mile away. Therefore he probably wouldn't be able to get a good enough deal to warrant his interest.
But what he'd heard about the owner of the Carousel Boutique made him really excited. If she was half as generous as they say, he'll have her working more or less for free, while he would sell the merchandise at a premium price in Manehattan. Pleased with today's schedule Stone Heart set out for his first stop, Sugar Cube Corner.
****
Stone Heart stepped into the bakery. The front of the store was completely empty. It was a much smaller establishment than he thought it would be. Well if they have decent goods, I could probably sell them as rare and limited delicacies. Often prices will go up on a product simply because it exists only in low volumes, Stone Heart thought.
He walked over to the counter, and hit the small bell on top of it. Immediately he was tapped on the shoulder. He yelped and spun around, his front hooves clutched across his chest. Behind him stood a pink mare with a huge grin on her face. He stared at her with big eyes. Where in Tartarus did she come from, he thought.
“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie. I've never seen you before. And if I've never seen you before that means you're new here. Because I know every pony, and I mean every pony in Ponyville. And if you're new then you haven't met anyone yet. And if you haven't met anyone then you must not have any friends. And if you don't have any friends that must mean that you're lonely… Ooooh that makes me so sad… Oh! Oh! That means we need a WELCOME PARTY! Isn't that exciting? Are you excited? Because I'm excited! I have never been so excited! Well except for the time when I saw Twilight walk into town and I went huhhhhhhhh! But I mean really who could top that?” the pink mare said while bouncing around him. She came to a stop in front of him, and once again had a huge grin on her face.
Stone Heart just stared at the pink horror in disbelief. How could she say all that on just one breath of air? That's just impossible… he thought as he stared at her.
He was saved by a calm voice from behind him.
“Pinkie… We've talked about this. You can’t throw a party for everypony that comes into the bakery. Now why don't you help our customers while I check on the muffins. Derpy will probably be here any minute now.”
Stone Heart turned around and saw an orange stallion with an apron, a red and white bow tie around his neck, and a flat red and white hat on his head. Said head was sticking out through a couple of swing doors in the back of the bakery.
“Sorry sir, she's just being Pinkie Pie,” the stallion said as if that explained everything, and pulled himself back through the swing door.
“Okie dokie lokie,” answered the pink mare happily and bounced around him to stand behind the counter.
They were not joking when they said this probably was the friendliest place in all of Equestria, thought Stone Heart, and smiled thinking he'd found a weakness to exploit.
All I'll have to do now is criticize their work a bit after having a taste, point out some faults in their service, which would not be that hard. Then all I have to do is tell them how lucky they were that I could help them with said problems. And finally I negotiate a good price for the shipments of their goods to Manehattan, which will be like taking candy from a baby. I almost feel sorry for them, Stone Heart thought as he struck a very confident posture.
Then the pink mare gave a little shudder. And after that she started looking at him disappointedly.
“You're about to be a mean old meanie pants aren’t you?” she said with her hair falling flat and her eyes boring into him.
Stone Heart was once again staring at the mare now with his mouth hanging open. How in the buck could she know that? he thought dumbfoundedly.
“That's why you don't have any friends you know. You should really stop doing that or you'll be alone FOREVER!” the pink mare exclaimed.
Now Stone Heart was angry.
“What could you possibly know about me? I don't need any friends. Friends just drag you down, keep bugging you to do stuff for them. And in the end all they want is money,” he said and slammed his hoof onto the counter.
The pink mare just looked at him in confusion.
“Well those ponies definitely don't sound like friends. But not every pony you met could be that bad. Wasn't there any pony who just want to hang out with you?” she asked, looking sad.
The image of a grey mare flashed before Stone Heart´s eyes, and a small ache in his chest begged for his attention. He steeled himself, and pushed the feelings down deeper. There was no room in his life for feelings like that.
Besides she’s probably long gone by now, he thought and felt that pain in his chest again. Damn it, don't think about that. There is business to be done. He snorted and once again looked up at the mare.
“If you are done insulting me, I'd like to try a cupcake please, and a cup of coffee,” Stone Heart said pointing to chocolate cupcake with an orange criss-cross pattern on it.
“Good choice! I take great pride in my cupcakes. They even have special ingredients in them,” the pink mare told him. The way her hair laid flat, and how her eyes looked coldly at him actually made his spine shiver, despite his experiences in Manehattan. Then her mane poofed up, and she smiled happily again.
“Today´s special ingredient is honey,” she proclaimed happily. “And don't worry. No one stays in Ponyville for long without realizing just who they want to be with,” Pinkie said and gave Stone Heart his cupcake and coffee. He snorted and took his purchase over to a table to eat in peace.
As he sat there eating his cupcake and drinking his coffee, Stone Heart´s mind started to wander. Although it easily dismissed most of his old “friends”, there was one pony he kept coming back to. He had always enjoyed her company. She was intelligent, beautiful and… No, he couldn't think like this. What he needed now was a good deal. He would go to the Carousel Boutique now and come back here when that pink nightmare was gone. He left two bits on the table and walked towards the door. As he walked through it he smacked face first into someone going the other way. They both fell back a step. When he saw who he had bumped into through his blurry eyes his heart skipped a beat. It was her. The grey Pegasus he'd been thinking about while he had his coffee. As his eyes focused again his heart slow down, and he felt somewhat disappointed. Her criss-cross eyes met his. Well one did anyway.
“Ohhhhh... I'm so sorry I didn't see you there.” Derpy said timidly.
At first Stone Heart just looked at her in open confusion. His heart once again made a lurch in his chest. Their similarities were striking, if it wasn't for the eyes and her cutie Mark. Then he steeled himself cursed his heart for being so weak, and sneered at her.
“Obviously you did not,” he scoffed and pushed past the grey Pegasus. As he stopped at the end of the stairs his mind was once again thinking of her. Damn it… I will not allow my heart to override my head. That's just not good for business. So what if I- He couldn't finish his thought. He had just frozen where he was. Then he heard crying. And it was getting louder. He was just about to see what was going on when he was struck square in the side. Both he and his assailant went tumbling to the ground. Before he could even gather himself again he heard a broken voice stutter out an apology.
“I'm… I'm so sorry. I have to go. Sorry.”
Then all he saw was a white, pink and purple streak run away leaving him on the ground. Now he was furious. Did that little filly have any idea how expensive his suit was? He rose to shout after her. But it got caught in his throat because of what he saw.
What he saw was Sweetie Belle running down the street. And she was running as fast as she possibly could. She was running towards Fluttershy´s cottage, and she would never have stopped if she could’ve.
For wrapped in her magic was a bird that was dying, and the bird was as black as the night. It was for this little bird that Sweetie Belle was crying. It was for this little life she felt fright. The bird was barely breathing, and Stone Heart could see it did not have much time left at all.
But Sweetie Belle would not accept it because she knew it was true, what her sister once said… “If there is life then it's never too late.”
Now Stone Heart was standing there shaking, and when Sweetie Belle disappeared out of sight, he started crying out in sorrow and fear. The ponies around him looked at him worriedly now. They all thought his reaction was weird. Not one of them understood what he'd seen in that filly, for it was his own soul he'd seen run on by.
His heart was that bird that was dying and his soul was the filly that ran to try and find somepony who'd help it, to try and find that one pony who cared.
His heart skipped a beat at a memory of love, and then he sank down and started to cry. Stone Heart looked up at the heavens with sorrowful eyes, and swore by the goddess herself, that he would no longer waste anymore time.
He would once again find that grey mare named Chisel, for whom his heart had once pounded and soared for. She was the only one in the world he now knew, who would shed a single tear if his lonely life was to end.
So Stone Heart walked back to the station, and bought the first ticket back home. He would try to mend what he'd broken. He would try and right all the wrongs. It didn't matter if he'd succeed or not, for nothing would stop him from trying.
And when his train pulled out from Ponyville station that evening, he looked out the window and sighed. Down in the village he could see three happy filly’s playing, and couldn't help but to smile. For amongst the fillies, a black bird was singing. It was singing happier than it had ever before because of the joy you feel while you're living. And now he could feel it one more.
