Starting Up

Stares. All around me as I exited that train, all focussed on me, the freak, the human. It wouldn’t have been that bad if when I say all around me, I mean everyone on the street was staring right at me, from the tiny little foals to the very large and scary looking adults, and now the train has started to spill its guts, with even more damnable ponies crowding the platform, all watching, all staring. In this moment, I see the true struggle before me, not just settling into a new world, but also letting the new world get settled to me. Let them know that they have nothing to fear. I mean, just because in my world they’re were skittish prey animals, maybe here they don’t have a fear of predators?

The silence was finally broken by the sound of the trains whistle, followed by the heavy sounds of the train leaving the station. Taking advantage of this, I began to slowly walk through the crowd, making sure to move slowly and smoothly so as not to spook them. I hope that I will never experience something so creepy and awkward as having to move through a crowd of staring ponies that only reach my waist ever again. Since the crowd was quite large, I also took the time to appreciate my surroundings, from the looks of it this town had a rustic charm to it with tudor like houses, white walls with wood beams and thatched roofs. All nearly identical except for some bizarre, structural quirks.

I finally reach the end, the crowd now thinning and I can hear the return of activity behind me, I just hope that I won’t experience the same reaction when I get deeper into town. I continued walking for a while, appreciating the clean air for the first time, there was never air like this when I was on earth and I was able to notice it in Canterlot due to the fact that I was in slight shock of the fact that I had come to another world. I continued on like this, ignoring the stares from any stranger who passed, when I realised that I had no idea where I was going. All I had to go on was the fact that my guide was in the local library, she was expecting me and the colour of her coat.

Stopping for a while, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that the only way to find this mystical library was to ask one of the locals. To this design, I was about to find a pony nearby, when one of them approached me. A pink pony with a chaotic, untamed pink mane who had balloons as her cutie mark. I’ll have to check the gender ratios later, I seem to be coming into contact with an abnormal amount of mares. This pink pony approached me, I was about to ask her which way to the library when she released a flurry of words out of her mouth hole and sped off, leaving me completely confused and slightly offended.

After that strange encounter, I manage to talk to one of the passing ponies, ask the question and get directions. Now, I set off again, in the right direction and the rustic charm of the town was apparent to me, with all the buildings built with the same aesthetic it made for a unified and quite lovely image. I passed by the Town Hall and as mentioned by the Clockmaker the clock was stopped, after that I passed two buildings which made me instantly hate, however owned them. As i just mentioned all the other buildings had a unified design, these two however were dastardly creations breaking the pattern and offending the sense of sight. The first one was some bizarre structure made of gingerbread and other such sweets, and the purpose of which i can only presume to be some kind of bakery, it was bad but it might be forgiven.

No, it was the second house which made me completely hate the owner so thoroughly that the first time i see them I shall punch them in the face. It was some gaudy creation with lots of embellishments and unnecessary pomp, scarring the image of the village as a quiet rustic and laid back town, this monstrosity belonged in canterlot where it would hurt no-one. Seething, I noticed that noble from earlier entering the door. I know who owns that house, I know who has such a large ego that they would dare put that piece of shit in this village. Rarity, we will not be friends.

Getting over myself, I continued on strolling towards where I think the library is. For once I was glad, this village seems very nice, despite two exceptions the decor is lovely, the atmosphere is calm and the locals seem friendly enough once I let them get used to me. Already my mind was buzzing with story ideas, some cliche and others not so much. The village romance, the hidden underworld, the Elements of Harmony. I have so much writing to do, and once I’ve written a few books, I might even be able to get one published, although it all depends on what kind of books they already have. I have the advantage of whole other cultures, a whole other world from which to draw from, I could write about the world war, paris, the british empire. History is my playground and I can bring humanity to a whole other world!

But I won’t be able to do anything until i find that damned library, it should just be around that corner…

That corner as it turned out, leads to a large circle with a giant tree in the middle. That in itself is no object of wonder, except maybe for the size of the tree. No the thing that struck me speechless is that his giant tree is inhabited, not by bugs and birds but by the ponies. From what I can see the entire tree has been hollowed out with several points turned to windows or doors. There was even a balcony! Taking deep breaths, I walked over to this tree, more specifically a sign hanging off the tree. “Golden-Oaks Library”. Shaking my head, I turn to the door and knock.