Written By
xBUBBA1995x
Thadius0
Slowly trotting through the town of Ponyville, a new mare smiled as she weaved passed the ponies around her as if she knew exactly where she was going. Did it help that she had a map? Maybe, but it was easy to tell that she was a mare with a plan.
“Quills and Sofas?” She whispered to herself as she looked up to the store’s sign. “I’ve seen worse store names. At least this one is straightforward.”
As the sign said it was open, she trotted into the store. There was a ding from the bell above the door, and the mare was quickly approached by a tan stallion with green eyes. “Welcome to Quills and Sofas,” he started before reaching out a hoof to shake her’s. “I’m Davenport. Nice to meet you! Now, what can I help you with?”
“Ah, yes. I’m, well, here to buy both quills and sofas. To be exact, fifty quills and three sofas. The sofas all have to be the same though because, well, I’m going to use them for a matching reading area.” She answered.
“Oh, quite the bulk order you got there! You’re in luck, though, we just got fully stocked yesterday! Now, come with me so that I can show you our selection of couches!” He proclaimed before strolling his way through his story. “Any colors you have in mind, Ma’am?”
“A light brown,” She explained. “Something like your coat color, only brighter.”
“Oh, well that’s a common enough color. We got a few different sofas like that!” He proclaimed.
It didn’t take long after that for the stallion to show the mare around. His store was small, much smaller than the store she was opening, but luckily she was able to find a sofa that she liked. And after emptying her saddlebags of her bits, and filling them with quills, her order was done.
“Just one more thing, Ma’am,” Davenport started up. “Where do you want these sofas to be delivered? Oh, and I never got your name.”
“I wish for you to take them to the new store that will be opening down the road to Sugarcube Corner. Here I’ll write down the address for you-” Using one of the brand new quills that she just bought, she quickly scribbled down the address. “And as for my name, I’m Text Passages. Nice to meet you!”
“Well, Miss Passages it was a pleasure doing business with you,” He smiled, giving the mare a warming wave of goodbye as she left his store. Then glancing down at the note, the stallion began to read the note. “Compendium of Text bookstore with joint coffee shop...”
The spectacle walking through Ponyville market was...unusual. Normally if one wanted to see a stallion that was having trouble seeing straight or focusing, all they would have to do was wait until late at night and stake out the local tavern. Plenty of drunks stumbled home then.
Though, unlike those stallions, this one was slowly getting more together as time went on. Though he still seemed to drift off every now and then. He had a list he occasionally pulled out of his saddlebags to consult. By hoof, despite the horn on his head. And after consulting the list, he nodded a few times and went in search of a new thing to add to his cart.
The cart was the other weird thing about the stallion. He’d already put plenty of ingredients into the thing, more than a unicorn should be able to pull, even with the aid of wheels. Something seemed to be...well. This was Ponyville. Weird was the norm. Still, even for this place, he was weird.
“Excuse me?” a lilac pegasus asked, landing in front of the blue coated stallion and tilting her head at him curiously. “Are you...okay? You’re not drunk, are you?”
“Nah, nah,” the stallion replied, waving it off. “I just...I just used most of my magic before going out. Makes it hard to focus properly. Give it a moment for my body to adjust, I’ll be right as rain.”
“Okay, if you say so,” the pegasus said dubiously as she took up a position nearby, just in case. “I’m Flitter, by the way. Who’re you? I don’t think I’ve seen a pony like you before.”
“New in town,” the stallion explained. “Getting the things together for my shop. Gonna need a lot of baking things and cooking things…”
“Oh, are you opening a restaurant?” Flitter asked. “Ponyville could do with another one.”
“Somethin’ along those lines,” the stallion said, slurring the words slightly. “Gah...magic exhaustion sucks…”
“I’ll bet,” Flitter said with a wince. “I wouldn’t know myself.” She flapped her wings once to demonstrate as she kept trotting alongside the stallion. “So, what else do you need?”
“Lemme check the list,” the mystery stallion replied before drawing the thing out. “Um...butter, flour, baking soda, salt, yeast, chocolate...all that’s left are eggs, milk, and cream.”
“Oh, you can get those over there,” Flitter said, pointing out one particular stall with a wing. The stallion nodded in thanks as he trundled over, his new tag along in tow. He placed an order for an impressive amount of the ingredients, and Flitter had to admit, she was impressed with the fact that even though he was a unicorn, he was managing to carry all the things they’d heaved onto the cart.
“Thanks,” the unicorn said to her, bowing his head slightly. “Come by when we’re open. It’ll take me a bit to get ready, not everything is as simple as baking.”
With that, he was off, his mighty load still cutting an impressive swath through the marketplace. And Flitter had to admit, she was tempted to go, and not for everything that would be on the menu.
Biting her lower lip, Text lifted her hoof up and placed the final book for letter P down. Next was letter Q, but that wasn’t that difficult considering that there were only three books under Q. Quantum affairs, a book about a very intelligent mare who was named Quantum having an affair with her friend’s husband. Quit or don’t quit! There’s no Try! By Iron Will. Given his line of work, Text could tell that it was an inspirational book, writing to get ponies to buck up. Thus far it was his best seller. And lastly Quiver’s Inquiry. It was a dating novel. The less said about it the better.
“And done with Q!” she smiled before looking over her work. “Let’s see… By the end of the day, I should be done setting up the nonfiction sections of the store… After that, I just have the children’s section and I’m-”
A loud ding from the front door cut Text off, and when she looked over she saw Weaver slowly pulling his cart in. Then promptly falling over onto his side and letting out an exhausted sigh of relief.
“Done...with the shopping,” he panted. “Now all I need...is for the beans to grow. Glad...I got them started...before I did this.”
Trotting over, Text reached over and unstrapped the cart from Weaver. “You know, I could've have gone with you?” She asked as she effortlessly pulled the cart past him and into the coffee shop section of the store.
“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t get such a nice view to enjoy,” Weaver called from the floor as he watched her walk away, only for his view to be obstructed by the cart. “Aaahhh…”
Shaking her head, Text unstrapped herself from the cart. “I’ll leave this here for you, and, well, you might want to move from the doorway. The three sofas I bought should be here soon, and well, they’ll kind of step on you getting in. Afterward, you can sleep on them if you’d like.”
“Fine, I can tell when I’m not wanted,” the stallion intoned dramatically as he dragged himself up and walked slowly over to where the cart was. “I’ll just be in here, putting things away while you conduct business.”
“Thank you, Weaver. Oh, and I got the signs for your store finished. Not the menu, but the ones that let ponies know not to bring things from the coffee shop into the bookstore,” Text explained as she made her way back over to the nonfiction section. “They’re behind the counter.”
“I’ll get them set up after I’m done putting all this away,” Weaver promised as he started pulling things off the cart by hoof, still not trusting his magic just yet.
“They should be here any-” With another ding from the door, Text was yet again cut off. “-ah, well, hello Davenport.”
“Good afternoon, Miss Text! Got to say, your new shop is looking wonderful, but it’ll look better once we get these three sofas in place! Mind if I hold the door open?” He asked with a smile.
“Go ahead, and I’ll show you where to carry them,” Text answered before looking behind Davenport to see three large and strong looking stallions. Each carrying a matching couch on their back.
It didn’t take long after that for the three stallions to enter the shop and get the sofas in place. And Weaver could not help but watch as Text eyed the strong stallions as they went to work, but as soon as they came, they had left. All but Davenport.
“Quick question before I go,” He started. “How long do you think till you open?”
“A few days for the bookstore… Hey Weaver, how long until your coffee bean plants grow?”
“Should only be a week,” the stallion replied, shaking himself out of his slight daze by focusing on the question. “I may not be an earth pony, but I know a few simple charms to help plant growth. Then we’ll have plenty of coffee for everypony.”
“Excellent! I’ll have to drop by around then!” Davenport smiled. “Oh, and before I go, I have a question!” Turning to Text, he held a hoof up to his chin in thought. “You would not happen to have a book called Riverway Twins? Would you? You know, about the two mare sisters that fight off pirates that attack their town?”
“Well, no, but I will. Riverway Twins was it? I’ll put an order in for you. It should be here by the time we open!” Text answered.
“I am sorry about the wait,” Weaver explained sheepishly. “It took me a little while to get my affairs in order and get the beans for the garden. But I came as soon as I could.”
“No worry Sir,” Davenport stated. “I’ll leave you all to it!” And with that, he made his leave. Leaving Weaver and Text to get back to work.
“Well, let’s get back to it then… Oh, other than the beans, how did things go for everything else?” Text asked as she started back to her work. This time pulling out the books for the letter R.
“Found everything on my list,” Weaver explained. “Learned that I shouldn’t cast my weight-reduction charm and go out to shop at the same time, because ponies think I’m drunk. Met a pegasus mare by the name of Flitter. Nice sort. Gave me directions.”
“That’s good, and next time I’m going with you. Seriously, you become a wet noodle that can talk when you cast that spell…” Text shook her head but smiled. “How are you supposed to impress mares like that? All limp and flopping over?”
“If I knew more refined runes, it wouldn’t drain me to cast that spell every time,” Weaver grumbled as he kept putting ingredients away.
“I’ll see if I can get a few more books from Celestia’s collage. They do cost a bit, but even they don’t really sell too often…” Text offered.
“That’s fine,” Weaver waved off. “It’s not like they’re even all that common anyways.”
“Oh before I forget, I have a question for you Weaver. What do you think would work better for our slogan… Books and coffee, relax and rewind or Coffee and Books, Knowledge and energy?” Text called out as she made her way down to the next aisle to get the books that start with X. It didn’t take long as there was only one book…
“Let’s mix the two,” Weaver answered. “Books and coffee, Knowledge and energy. I like that one a lot more.” Weaver answered.
“That’s not really mixing the two, you’re just switching the… You know what, nevermind. I got the answer I needed. Thanks, Weaver.” Text chuckled.
The two dropped into silence as they went to work. Then, roughly ten minutes later, the bell on the front door rang again. “Did I forget to lock the door or something?” Text angrily muttered to herself.
As she rounded the corner, she found a lovely lavender alicorn smiling at her. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and I’m here to welcome you to Ponyville!”