Author's Note

This chapter, like the third portion of the last chapter, is three days after the very first two episodes of MLP FiM. The second portion is just after the episode "Suited for Success." If you couldn't tell by now, chapters in the story will be before, during, or after episodes of the main series.

A New beginning

Chapter 2: A New Beginning.

The Carrier pulled into the town of Ponyville, and a few ponies came forward to see who it was. One of them, a lavender unicorn, was confused as to who the newcomer would be. Seconds later, the door opened, and Copper came out of the carrier. He looked at the Lavender mare and smiled. "Hello, there," he said.

"Hello," the mare replied. "Welcome to Ponyville, mister. I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?"

"I'm Copper Strikes," he greeted as they shook hooves. "I need a bit of help, right now. Not only do I need help carrying my bags to a house, I need to find one. I have enough bits to buy one with some left over."

"If you want, you can stay in my house," Twilight offered, gesturing to the Ponyville Library. "Well, it's technically a house, but it's also a library where ponies can buy books."

Copper shook his head. "No thanks. But I can visit your house/library sometime. Also, I don't know if my stuff can fit in your house anyways." He pointed to the five large packages that need to be carried.

"Oh," she said, looking at them. She shrugged afterwards. "Well, I'm more than happy to help out with your finding a home. I heard there was a house that's near a place called Sugarcube Corner that's open. I think you can find that place to be your new home."

"Thank you very much," he said before looking around. He spotted a carriage that looked sturdy enough to hold three of the five packages, and he trotted over to meet the pony who had it. "Hello, ma'am. I'd like to borrow your carriage for a tiny bit, because I've just moved here and I'm looking to find a house."

"That's okay, dear," the mare said, whose mane was rose-colored and had a cutie mark of a rose. "I was just finished with bringing some roses to my house. You can use it, but I would like five bits in return."

"Sure thing," he said, taking out five bits from one of his saddlebags and hoofing them over to her. Then the two guided the carriage back to the packages and Twilight before the mare trotted back to her house.

"That was nice of her," Twilight said. "Be sure to give her carriage back, because she does need it."

"I will, Twilight," he said with kindness. Then, the two picked up three of the heaviest packages one by one and placed them on the carriage before Twilight used her magic to pick up the last two. After that, the two made their way to the specified house.

There was a mare outside the house who looked over to the two, and had a smile on her as she said, "Welcome to Ponyville, mister, if I assume correctly and you just moved here."

"Indeed I did," he replied. "I'm looking to buy a house, and from what Twilight has told me, this house was available."

"Yes it is," the mare said. "Sadly, it's not in the best shape, but with some remodeling, the value will go back up."

"I don't mind," Copper stated. "I'm not going to ask for much out of a house, so long as it has the basic things to live and sleep in."

"How many bits do you have?" she asked.

He blinked, then he fumbled in his saddlebags for the total amount. "Over 900, miss,"

"Perfect," she said. "The value is about 800, so if..." she stopped as she saw him hoof over the 800 bits immediately after she said it. "...okay, then. Did you want a tour of the house?"

"No thanks," he said while shaking his head. "I think I can find my way around."

"Well, thank you regardless, my dear." She took the 800 bits and put them in her saddlebags. "The house is all yours now." She trotted to the sign on the edge of the front yard and put up the "Sold" sign over it, but not before giving Copper the key to the house

After that, Copper and Twilight went inside of his new home after unlocking it. Looking around, they could see that the mare was right about the house not being in the best shape, as far as this room is concerned. The walls looked a little yellow now, the nearest couch had some issues with it, and the fireplace looked like it hadn't been cleaned for a few weeks. "Hmm," Twilight pondered. "Is this okay to you, Copper?"

"It's fine," he replied. "Like I said, I'm not asking for much. I think it looks fine right now, but it won't hurt for some remodeling. Let's check out the rest of the house."

They placed the packages inside of the living room one at a time before moving deeper in the house. The kitchen, where they first took a look, was surprisingly crystal clean for the new pony. It seemed most of the renovations were more recent, because there was a new counter top, a new sink, and a more updated refrigerator. The cabinets looked a bit outdated, but that didn't concern Copper at the moment. Moving on, they went to a room which looked like a guest room to both. Seeing that nothing needed to be said, they moved on. They checked the bath area and another guest room, and besides some small comments, nothing much was said about how it looked.

Then they headed upstairs, where they went to the master bedroom. The bedroom itself was cleaned out of any pictures, decorations, and the like, but it would look absolutely beautiful. "I think it's safe to say I got my bits worth," Copper said to Twilight. "Thanks for helping me out, Twilight. I really appreciate it."

"You're very welcome," was Twilight's response. "I hope to see you again sometime, unless you want me to help you with getting your things out of the boxes."

"That would be much appreciated," he said, and then the two went back down to get out the accessories and other things to decorate his new home.

Weeks later, Copper had settled into his new home, and was ready to take on whatever was thrown at him. What he didn't expect to be thrown at him, like at all, was a letter and a ticket to a VERY special event in his mail. The letter in question, as soon as he opened it, read, "Greetings, citizen of Ponyville. As ruler of Equestria, I have given you the chance to join us for a very special, once a year event, named the Grand Galloping Gala. I hope to see you in this event, and that you are lucky enough to participate in the event next year! Your Princess, Celestia."

Copper was wide-eyed, yet he looked extremely happy. He was shocked that he was able to participate in this event, let alone the princess personally inviting him. He could not for the life of him think about what he did that caught the Princess' attention, plus he doubted that the Princess even knew about him. He shook his head with a smile, though. He's getting to participate in the event, and he was more than happy for it.

After grabbing his saddlebags and placing the letter inside of it, he went out to talk to Twilight, who happened to be talking to a couple of her friends. He approached them and said, "Hello, Twilight!"

"Hi, Copper," Twilight responded happily. "You seemed to be in a very good mood today."

"Indeed I am, and this is why." He opened a saddlebag and showed off the Gala ticket.

"A ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala?" she said with a bright smile. "Congratulations!"

"How wonderful!" the white furred mare, named Rarity, exclaimed.

"That's awesome!" Rainbow Dash, the cyan furred rainbow maned Pegasus said.

"Thank you all," he said. "And for this special occasion, I'm going to need a vest."

"I shall help you, dear," Rarity offered. She then remembered the incident about the dress-making disaster that was four days ago and she gulped. "Um... what are you specifically looking for?"

"Not much," Copper replied simply. "Maybe a rose or something to make it more elegant, but really I just need something simple, and that's all."

The three mares were surprised at the the blue Earth Pony, especially Rarity. He was legitimately giving the fashionista a much easier job for her than what Twilight and her best friends had her do for them. "Oh," she said. "Are you sure you don't want something to make it look sparking?"

"Nope," he stated. "Just a rose will do."

"Well then," Rarity looked far more confident now. "I shall get to work for you, my dear. It should take me a half an hour at the least to make your vest. Please come with me so I can measure you properly... not like that, though." she added VERY quickly as soon as she realized what she said.

All that got was a raised eyebrow from Copper, but he shrugged, and then the two trotted together to the Carousel Boutique. He knew what she meant by it, but he refused to say anything about it.

At the Carousel Boutique, Rarity quickly went to work, measuring the blue Earth Pony from his waist and upper arm of his fore-hoof. After keeping track of the numbers, she started working on the vest, while Copper headed out to kill some time. As she worked, she noticed that, indeed, it was far easier and quicker to work on his vest than her best friends' dresses, and with good reason. She figured that Copper was following the philosophy of not asking for much, and that anything extra would just take more time. "It would have been nice for my friends to not ask for much, but I guess they didn't know," she said to herself in a calm demeanor.

Over a half an hour later, the work was finished, and Rarity called Copper to join her to see the vest. Twilight and Spike came with him to the boutique to see the vest for themselves. The end result of her work was a simple purple vest with a complimentary bowtie and a scarlet rose for added delight. "What do you think, dear?" Rarity asked him.

Copper took a few seconds to look over the vest. Afterwards, he turned to her with a big smile on his face. "I love it, Rarity!" he stated. "It's exactly what I wanted! And even your kitty thinks so too!" he added after looking at her cat, who was giving a lot of praising for the simplistic work.

She looked at her cat, then smiled brightly. "Thank you, dear. I'm so glad you like it.... Is there anything else I can add to it?" she added with a hint of a concerned voice.

Twilight wasn't very happy with how it turned out for Copper, so she said, "I think that it needs some sparkling..."

"It's fine, Rarity," Copper interrupted. "I'm not going to ask for any special needs for it. I'm good with how it's made."

Twilight blinked several times, then saw the cat nod at her, looking pretty mean. Rarity smiled again. "Well, then I am glad to be of service," she said, breathing a sigh of relief afterwards. "Really, I'm so glad you said that, because I seriously don't want to go through what happened a few days ago."

"You must have gotten pressured," he stated. "That's why I didn't ask for much. I'd take a simple vest over something that's far too fancy."

"Spike, take a note," Twilight said to her assistant, and he took out a scroll-type paper with a ink quill and began to write what Twilight wanted. "Dear Princess Celestia," she started. "Today, I have learned that some ponies like more simplistic vests and dresses other than more complicated ones. The more simple it is, the easier it is for somepony to work on, and the less pressure being put on the worker. A pony named Copper Strikes has done this for my friend Rarity, and I assume he can't wait to show it off in the Grand Galloping Gala, as he is invited because of you. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

After finishing, Spike rolled up the paper and breathed green fire on it to send to the Princess. Copper was utterly confused. "I had no idea you're Princess Celestia's student," he stated.

"I'll tell you the story later," Twilight replied. Just then, Spike burped, and out came a similar paper to what he wrote on. "A letter from the Princess," Twilight stated.

Spike opened the letter and read its' contents. "My faithful student Twilight," he started. "I don't know why you didn't learn that lesson earlier, but also, I'm content with even the most simple vests and dresses. Taking a shot in the dark, I assume you and your friends pressured Rarity into making complicated dresses, which isn't good for her. I do hope to see your new friend, Copper Strikes, in the Gala, though."

he rolled up the paper after reading it while Copper blinked. "Huh, so not only are you Princess Celestia's student, but you both send letters to each other. Wild guess here, you're her adopted daughter," he added with a laugh.

This made Twilight, Rarity and Spike laugh with him. "No, silly. I'm not her daughter. But she does treat me like one, though. Really, I've been sent here to Ponyville to learn about friendship and to give those lessons to her."

"That's nice," he replied. "I'm sure you'll have lots of lessons in the future. But for now, I'll take my vest home." he added to Rarity.

She nodded and took the vest off of the mannequin she used the vest for, folded it very neatly before putting it in a basket, and hoofed it to Copper. How much do I owe you?" he asked her.

"For you, I'll do twenty bits," she replied. He nodded and gave her the twenty bits. "Thank you, dear."

"You're very welcome," he said before taking the basket. He waved good-bye for now to the three, to which they waved back, and departed the Boutique and to his house.