Quiet Contemplation
by Arcelia
The early morning air was cool, smothered with a thick layer of fog that hung over the quiet Manehatten street. As the mare made her morning commute to the forgotten cafe on a busy street corner, freshly fallen snow lined the city streets and frost gleamed on the windows. A cold, blustering wind sent an icy shiver down her spine as she tried to wrap the woollen scarf more tightly around herself as sprinted across the street.
At long last she had arrived at her destination, slumped in between a newspaper stand and a green grocer was Chester’s Diner, a retro themed cafe that was slowly going out of business. Despite its quaint interior and dull colour scheme, it made the finest hot beverages in town and was always rather peaceful and quiet; making it a good place to relax and unwind before work.
The wooden floorboards creaked loudly beneath Rarity’s hooves as she entered the cafe, the same black and white photographs hung on the walls as the pinstriped wallpaper was noticeably starting to decay. Yet despite all its flaws, the place had a charmingly rustic feel to it of which she could not ignore. Out of all the coffee shops and cafes in Manehatten there was none more under appreciated than this one.
Relieved to be out of the cold, she removed her scarf and wandered over to the counter where a light coated stallion was waiting. “Why, good morning Miss Rarity. What a pleasant surprise it is to see you here again today! I honestly thought you weren't coming back after all this snow we've had.’ the stallion said as he wiped down the wooden bench top.
“Well, I couldn’t possibly turn down the best cup of coffee this city has to offer, especially since its brewed by none other than you, Chester.”
“Aw, shucks, Rarity you didn’t have to go that far. But I certainly do enjoy having your company, it does get awfully lonely here with the slow business we’ve been having lately. Now what I can I get for you this morning?” the stallion asked.
“I’ll have your finest pot of tea please, be sure to make it rather hot this time, its quite a walk from here to my boutique.” the mare replied, settling into one of the booths that lined the left-hand side of the cafe.
“Sure thing Rarity, I’ll be out in a jiffy!” Chester exclaimed before disappearing into the kitchen.
Finally having a moment alone, Rarity silently stared out of the large rectangular window that was situated beside the booth. The Manehatten street was still, almost like something out of a beautiful painting as snow began to slowly fall onto the slippery, frozen street.
If only more of her mornings could be like this, as peaceful and tranquil as this moment. But, it was unfortunate that she simply didn’t have the time in her busy schedule to come to Chester’s diner as often as she would like to. For what used to be a morning ritual was slowly becoming a weekly visit.
Ever since she had expanded her fashion line to the big city, there was some part of her that missed the simpleness and laid-back lifestyle of the country town she had grown up in. Out here, everypony was constantly in a rush to get from one place to another and so it surprised her that there was a place where she could take a moment to stop and enjoy the simpler things in life.
Chester’s diner had become a sort of sanctuary where she could feel as though she was home again, but then again; home truly was where the heart is. If only she could visit Ponyville more often, but her way overbooked date-book simply wouldst allow it.
“Ahem!”
Rarity turned to the direction of the voice, only to be faced with the kind smile of Chester who stood there, holding a circular tray adorned with a piping pot of tea.
“Your tea, Miss Rarity?”
“Oh. Yes, of course! I completely forgot about it. Thank you, Chester.”
“You’re most welcome.’ he replied placing the pot of tea on the table before walking away.
Rarity began to pour herself some tea and the stallion quickly turned back over to her table. “Oh, I should probably mention that there’s a um....a stallion staring at you from outside the window.”
“Whatever are you talking about Chester? There’s no stallion staring at me oh-” Rarity’s eyes fell on the dark coated earth pony who was standing outside her window, his big, round eyes stared back.
She turned away from the window quickly, her cheeks smitten with crimson. “Chester darling could you-’ she called out, only to find that the barista had already left.
Rarity glanced out the window once more, but the stallion was gone. Confused, she silently returned to her tea unsure of how to react to what had just happened. Could it be that she had a secret admirer? She brushed off the thought, there was no way that anypony could possibly have feelings for her. Besides, she was far too busy to get involved with anypony right now.
A bell chimed lightly as a pony entered the diner, ‘probably just another pony asking for directions,’ Rarity thought to herself as she poured herself another cup of tea. A moment later, the same stallion who had been staring at her only a moment ago was now standing at her table.
“Can I help you?” she asked, taking a sip of tea.
The stallion opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but stopped, suddenly unable to speak. “Um, do you mind if I sit down?” he asked.
‘Hmm...I don’t know...although, he is handsome.’
“Not at all, please, do have a seat.” she politely replied, still confused as to what was going on.
Up close the stallion was rather rugged looking, yet still quite handsome. His dark blue mane complimented his lighter coat, he seemed like the sort of pony would worked in a shafty, underground club somewhere in the outskirts of the city. His ivory eyes were filled with mystery, but at the same time had a certain softer kindness to them.
The stallion hesitated for a moment before he finally began to speak. “I live just across the street and each morning I see you come in and sit in this exact booth. You were always lost in thought, and I guess today I finally built up the courage to talk to you.’ he explained, extending out a hoof across the table. ‘The name’s Noteworthy by the way.”
“Rarity.” she replied, shaking the pony’s hoof.
“Oh, I already know all about you. You’re that up and coming fashion designer from Ponyville am I correct?” he asked, grinning widely.
“Yes, that is most certainly correct. But, how did you know?” Rarity asked, slightly suspicious as to the stallion’s true intentions.
“Well, I play the cello for a quartet group and if I remember correctly you designed our matching vests that we wore for our performance at the Manehatten Symphonic Orchestral Theatre if I’m not mistaken?”
“Oh of course! How could I have possibly forgotten? Your group is truly spectacular, in fact it reminds me faintly of a quartet that I was a member of back in Ponyville. Of course, everypony was rather disappointed to see me go, after all I was one of the founding members of our little group.’ she said pausing to take a sip of tea. ‘But this city was just calling out to me I suppose.”
“Isn’t it funny how sometimes you just know something was meant to be?” Noteworthy asked, staring into her eyes.
The mare let out a light giggle. “Yes, I doubt that our paths crossing like this is a mere coincidence. However, I do believe that some things are just meant to happen regardless if we want them to.”
His eyes were like the sun had been melted down into a tiny ball and now shone outward through the eyes of an innocent child, there was something truly remarkable about the way they stared into her and how the longer he held them there, the more she wanted them to stay.
As the pair sat in Chester’s diner, the sleepy Manehattan street woke up and started the new day. That fateful morning in Manehatten was the beginning of what would be an incredible tale of love. One that all began with a quiet moment of contemplation.
The End
Author's Note
Thanks for reading. I know there's no central conflict or major story arc, but this was intended just as a short fluff piece that had been sitting in my Google drive for quite sometime and I thought I might as well post it. Since it doesn't really go anywhere of have much of an engaging story I'm wasn't sure if people were going to be dissapointed by it. I mean I would understand if you are, but I would like to inform you that this was just meant to be a little taste of atmosphere and nothing more.
I hope you enjoyed it. 
