1. The Gift Horse
Culinary Arts was apparently not what the mother wanted to hear when she asked what Minn Tea planned to do for a living. Of course not! How on earth would the offspring of Whinne Right, world renowned lawyer and Braxton Trots, Cheif of Police for Hooflyn Police department want to pursue something as useless, and disgraceful as cooking? Needless to say she was promptly dumped onto the streets of Hooflyn without so much as a suitcase and a dollar for a phone call.
And this is where our story begins, a young mare wandering to a phone booth at 1:45 a.m looking for a home, somewhere to start new, but how can you start new with nothing to start with. The filly opened a red telephone booth, and pulled her pastel blue suitcase into the tiny space. Money was the issue at the moment, now where had she put that coin purse? It was a lovely gift, one that was hoof-made and personally brought to her by her cousin Bonnibel Mead. That was who she intended to call. Surely she would understand her predicament, she just had too!
Feeding the coins into the slot, she gently began to press numbers onto the number pad with her hoof, already dirtied from her trot down the unkempt alleyway to get to said phone booth. As the phone began to ring, she quietly hoped to herself that Bonnibel had kept the same number she had before she moved to Hoof City. Her heart began to pound, what if she hadn't? She couldn't just show up unannounced and say, 'Hey, remember me? I'm your cousin and I need a place to stay!'. As the ringing stopped and Minn was met with a dead silence, she was ready to hang up but, the dread in her stomach yelled for her to speak.
"Hello?" A strong voice echoed through the phone and her heart fell, a frown claiming her face as she realized that it wasn't Bonnibel. Oh well, she could at least ask right?
"Hello. This is Minn Tea, is there a Miss Bonnibel Mead there?"
"Who's asking?" The voice demanded, there sounded like a small scuffle in the background, a bickering as the phone was handed over to someone else. Minn couldn't help but crack a smile at the sweet country voice that greeted her in her time of need. Though laced with sleep, it was as kind and delightful as it had always been.
"Well if it isn't Minn Tea Fresh! How are you doing champ? What are you doing calling me this early in the morning?" She said at a dizzying pace, a worried tone in her voice. She must have been a psychic if she could tell something was awry with Minn, she sounded fine. Or perhaps it was the fact she was calling at such an early hour..
"Well, Ma and Pa kicked me out."
"Why is that?"
"They didn't approve of my career choice."
"Say no more sweetie, Me and Clyde will be right there to get you. Where are you at?" She asked in that motherly voice she had missed so much. A wide smile grew on her face recited the street name and the number from the nearest house. It wasn't just the fact she had a kind voice but also the fact that her grammar was terrible. After a few more moments of conversing she politely hung up. Walking outside of the small box, the young mare looked around for a moment, wondering who Clyde was and if that was who answered the phone.
He curiosity was short lived seeing as the night was incredibly groggy and dark, the lamp at the corner provided little to no light. So the dark street provided fuel for her my fear. Instead of thinking about what was in the dark, she focused on her parents and how unfair it was that they hadn't guessed it sooner. She was the first to obtain her cutie mark which was a small teacup made of china, filled with tea and a small cookie next to it. How could that be shaped to be something other than cooking? That was how she got it for Pete's sake! Her solid white mane had become matted down in the light rain that started, the blank look on her face became a small glower. Her bright yellow eyes held anger that couldn't be voiced, glinting as she looked at the clock on the corner which read 2:50.
Another hour crept by and the rain still continued, beating down on her like a drum, a beat without a melody. She was growing tired as well, her eyes drooping from the exhaustion of being awake all night. She was almost dozing off, until a cart went by and splashed her in the face with water. Needless to say she was infuriated by the action, even if on accident. She shot up and looked around, only seeing the outline of said cart. Using her magic to grab the bag, she shouted loudly, coaxing the stallion that pulled the sturdy wooden carriage to whip around and stare back at her with cold blue eyes.
"Yeah! You! What's the big idea? Running around and splashing me in the face?! You've got some... Nerve-" She started as trotted up to him, only to have the stallion grow in size. He was huge, nearly triple the size of Minn. Rather intimidated, she swallowed only to find a hoof on her shoulder.
"There you are Minn, I thought you up and left." The same kind voice exclaimed, pulling the young mare in for a suffocating hug. After a moment of remembering, she found herself hugging, the mare back tightly, wrapping her up in her arms.
"I see you've met my husband, isn't he cute? Anyways, instead of going home, we gotta make a stop in Ponyville for some food and yeast and then we'll be on our way." She exclaimed quietly, her eyes locked on the pony next to her as she hopped up into the cart, pulling said pony behind her. After a while, the scenery changed from urban to rural and Minn let out a breath.
"Thank you both.. You are very kind, I couldn't have done this without you." She admitted pulling a smile from both of the ponies with her. She didn't get it, but they seemed relieved to have another face in the house.
"Don't mention it, I'm Clyde Wieser the way." The stallion responded coolly, his eyes trained to the road ahead as he marched along, the sun warming up their fur. Clyde was a tall stallion, bulky too, with an eggshell white coloring to him, aside from his mane and feet which were blonde in color. His hooves were sleek and tan, all covered in golden shoes that both Clyde and Bonnibel wore.
Bonnie was quite the looker, her fur was brown with white spots along her face, large blotches that made her look a bit off colored but nonetheless lovely. Her eyes were hidden by her hair, which was split along her widows peak, both flouncy pieces of hair draping over her orbs. She was also very tall, and bulky. In that sense she was more so than her husband, she was once a body builder and with the way she looked, Bonnie had the build to show it. She sported an ashen mane, that was rather curly and on her flank was a mug, frothy and cold.
Minn stole a glance at Clyde's flank while Bonnie was fishing out her guitar, how she played was a mystery but, damn she played good so not many focused on her hooves. Back to the flank, there were two cigars in an ash tray and a bottle of beer. Both brewed the beverage and she assumed that was how they met.
'How sweet.' She thought quietly as they carried on through the country, the soft strumming of a guitar drifting out into the wide, wide world. This would be fine.. She was sure of it. After all, what harm could one filly do oher own?