Small Blind
The thinly sliced clouds split apart to allow more radiant rays of sunshine to bear down on the green grass, thankfully allowing the sun to beam down on the necks of every near-frozen pony in the area. The air was stagnant and cold. Leaves covered the ground of path towards the town of Ponyville. Fall season.
Gravel and hard cold dirt crunched under hooves, the rock brittle cackled under the hooves of an grayish-blue earth pony carrying a large saddlebag on him. The earth pony's mane was unruly, curly burnt umber locks that stopped just above neck—the front of his mane stopped just above his eyebrows.
Over his body was an olive drab jacket, it his issued uniform jacket. A patch on the right side of his chest was the Celestial Flag, the left side was just his name. On his left sleeve was a design, a single gold bar. The jacket was lightweight and waterproof, however it was thick and and It didn't do much for the hot temperatures he endured before The Treaty was signed, but it was good for keeping his warmth in.
Ingenuity brought to you by The Royal Marines
The smell of apple trees permeated through the air, the earth pony kept his steady trot through what seemed like a town square. City Hall gleamed over the earth pony like God overshadowing the deceased fates; into passages of heaven or the tickets to hell.
The whole town either ignored him, or saw his jacket and instantly glared daggers at him. At least they kept their smart-mouth remarks to themselves unlike some unfortunates in Birmingmare.
Knights, or 'soldiers', weren't very popular back in Birmingmare, no reason to assume things would be different here either. Wearing this jacket was just asking for trouble, especially in today's views, but the earth pony had no other means of clothing besides the jacket.
The earth pony wasn't concerned, for now, he has bigger herbs to dry. He flipped up the collar on his jacket to help shield the cold out of his neck and continued walking down the town, ignoring all of the hostile glances that came his way.
His stomach rumbled slightly, and apples were starting to smell better and better with each step he walked down the road.
A building caught the hungry eye of the earth pony, it was shaped as various of sweets. Almost like a gingerbread house with frosting acting as adhesion. The unfamiliar scent of sugar, spices, and bread engulfed the earth pony. A bakery.
Reaching into his right pocket, he pulled out his bag. He untied the string and opened the bag, he proceeded to count the amount of bits he had.
He had twelve bits. Enough for at least a loaf of sour dough or maybe something that was at least different from rye. He tied the bag closed before it could spill out of his bag. Perhaps it would be beneficial to look for a bank next, to withdraw the payments he received during his time in service so he can have a little more spending money.
As he came closer, there was a sign that read: Sugar Cube Corner. A nice name for a bakery, perhaps it's a place where ponies can hangout as well?
The door chimes jangled as he opened the door, chatter of school fillies and catty gossip of a booth of mares filled his ears like water. The earth pony did not feel comfortable at all with this amount of ponies at one time.
A couple of steps inside, the closing of the door behind him, and a small quiet cough from the earth pony almost entirely caused the communications to halt. The earth pony took his attention away from the unforgivable amount of staring to stroll to the counter, whomsoever in charge here isn't at the register.
Instead of chatty talking, there was incoherent whispering among the customers—even the fillies and colts piped down and spoke in a hushed tone.
“...but my goodness, look at his hooves, so dirty... his mane...”
“shh...”
“...ah can't see his cutie mark from here...”
Do they not know that it's rude to talk about someone behind their back—or to talk about someone while that person is listening? As if the uncomfortable feeling was hit by a tank, it flatten and broadly covered the entirety of his body.
His hooves aren't dirty and there's nothing wrong with his mane!
Well, maybe a mane cut will do him some good and his hooves have been in better shape before.
Taking his attention away from the judgmental gazes and hushed whispers, Rows of delicate treats lay on display in front of the earth pony, his seemingly glued shut mouth started the waterworks. A cake, a baker's dozen of cupcakes, fritters, muffins, doughnuts, and countless more sugary delights were more than enough to feed the needy. The prices for each of them were actually affordable, ranging around six to ten bits.
There was another row of bread, all of different kinds. Even the dreaded rye. They were all in an affordable price range, a generous range.
The earth pony rang the bell that sat next to the pink register, a deep magenta heart was painted in the center. Two designs of 'S' shapes shouldered both left and right of the heart, it also circled the base of the register. The earth pony had no clue what those designs were called. In little to no time at all, there was an answer from the back, a squeaky and joyful voice.
“One moment!” The earth pony waited patiently, looking up and around the building.
The interior of the building was just as sickly sweet as the outside, a palette of pink and pastel color among images of gingerbread men, wrapped candies, a candy cane, and a doughnut on a deep pink arch over his head. Swirls of candy red and creamy white act as support beams, the wood colored in a way that reminds the earth pony of chocolate cake with the 'S' design decorations acting as yellow frosting.
Apples and carrots rest on a bluish green stacked on what the earth pony guessed where plates with an elevated bottom poles. They stacked three times, bundles of carrots on top and the middle with rows of crisp apples—crispy red, tangy yellow, and sourly delicious green. These are resting on the edge of a wooden table, the wood color reminds the earth pony of caramel, with a pasty yellow cloth. Another images of candies rest at the individual folds of the fabric: candy canes, gingerbread men, wrapped candies, lollipops, and cupcakes.
Jars of sweets sat on the counters and the shelf behind the counter. They were unlabeled, so some guessing work was the name of the game. A couple of glossy, warm colored, and spherical candies in a jar might be jaw breakers although they could be spice-bubble gum. The earth pony heard of these new flavors of gum, they were invented at least a year ago—civilians enjoyed the mouth kickers that was spicy gum whilst all the earth pony had in his rations that resembled gum was just flaky rubber rectangles that tasted like erasers on a pencil.
Looking in another jar, one that was labeled. It read 'Try me! (just one please!!! I also contain nuts!)'. The contents inside were all bite sized, individually wrapped bars that smelled of rich dark chocolate, he took one with his hoof and unwrapped it. It was smooth, yet bumpy. The earth pony popped the bar into his mouth and instantly concluded these were by far the best thing he had in a long time. An explosion of chocolate goodness mixed with the crunch of peanuts, and probably walnuts, embraced his tongue in an euphoric bliss. The chocolate melted in his mouth.
The chocolate he had in his rations were milk chocolate, and probably the best thing in tins that the bloody marines gave him. They were, however, really bland and lacked the same immediate flavor these do. The ration chocolate were designed to last, yet, they melt seconds after being taken out of those damned tins.
He rolled the aluminum wrapper into a minuscule ball of rubbish. He looked around for a garbage bin and found none, he simply pocket the trash. He wasn't going to litter, not here at least with the amount of people giving him flak for just being here in their presence. The earth pony had no idea why so many ponies were so angry at him for doing his job, besides, he had no choice in the matter.
Besides, he fought for these ponies. He bled, sweat, and cried in the name of these ponies—both in Birmingmare and here. The earth pony had it easy compared to the rest of his friends who have also served in the war, at least he'd like to think so. Maybe he should write some letters to Marble Brush, she was the medic in his platoon—she was always so bubbly and cheery, even against disaster.
The earth pony blinked, the memories kept flooding back to him. Good and bad memories, it was something he hid from the psychiatrist during his reevaluation courses.
Finally, there was a short and round blue mare in front of the register. The mare wasn't fat, she had a rounder shape than the earth pony himself. She was covered in flour and sugar, dough still covers her hooves. She wore an apron, that was plastered with frosting. Speaking of frosting, her mane appears like reddish-pink frosting on a cup cake. Her iris glowed a motherly affectation, it was a gradient variant of her mane color—reddish-pink fading into a lighter tone. Her earrings resembled gumballs. Her cutie mark was three cupcakes.
“Hello, dearie,” The mare flashed him a smile, she was probably one of the few who offered him a smile since his return to Equestria. She didn't seem to mind his jacket; in fact, the earth pony swore the second her eyes caught the Celestial Coat-of-Arms or the gold bar on his sleeve, it widen her smile. “I don't believe I've seen you before, are you perhaps what the others call 'a drifter'?”
Drifter?! The nerve!
“You know, one of those soldier-colts who just wander Equestria? I couldn't help but notice your jacket, Lieutenant!” The mare furthered her question before shaking her head. The earth pony just wanted lunch. “Oh, I've been so rude. My name is Mrs. Cupcake. Was there something I can help you with, sir?”
“...” before the earth pony could reply, a tall and lanky stallion was at the counter already. The stallion was a light orange color, he had a scraggly short carrot-colored mane and tail. Freckles on his snout were also orange, his eyes were as green as sour hard candies. The stallion, as the earth pony guessed was married to Mrs. Cake and thus makes him Mr. Cake, wore a cap that was reddish-orange and a bow tie to match the color scheme. He had a apron tied on as well. His cutie mark was three slices of carrot cake.
“I apologize, sir, but we refuse to serve you,” Mr. Cake interjected, his tone absolute. “I hope you have a good day.”
“Carrot!” Mrs. Cake flared up, the earth pony guessed this was unusual behavior for Mr. Cake to express. The earth pony wasn't going to argue anyways, this wasn't the first time a business denied him service. “How dare you, there is no reason!”
“Cupcake,” Mr. Cake argued, “I'm sorry, but you saw all of the monstrosities these... these... foal-killers did!”
“He fought for this country, Carrot!” Mrs. Cake turned back to the earth pony, “I'm sorry for all of this.”
“Please leave this establishment!” Mr. Cake insisted, “Have a nice day.”
Well, this is new for the earth pony, he's never really seen a wife and husband be so passive aggressive in their argument—nor has he seen or heard such an instance where a wife and husband are in disagreement on whether or not to service a veteran. Although it was new for him, it was growing annoying at a rapid rate.
The earth pony had enough and turned around, he absconded from the building with his shoulders hunched and stomach still protesting against the idea of no nutrients. On his way out the door, Mrs. Cake's words rang after him. “Thank you for your service!”
The earth pony was uneasy with the fact that ponies even say that, his service was nothing to be thankful for, all he did was what he was told to do. All he has to show for his service was an empty stomach and dirty looks, Celestia bless.
After that failure of a venture, he continued down his trek. His stomach still empty and his spirits lowered significantly. The earth pony hadn't eaten anything in probably three days, being on the road since he was discharged and given a lift to Canterlot and expected to make his own means of transportation.
He's been traveling on his hooves instead of taking the train, with barely any bits to buy a decent meal—surviving off of nutrient 'weight loss' bars that probably will rot his teeth faster than dropping a single pound.
A light tap on his hind left hoof caused him to turn around to see a creamy light-light yellowed color filly with red hair tied in a pony tail with a large pink bow. Her cutie mark was a tricolor shield with a deep purple apple with a light purple heart centered inside of the apple. In her jaw was a bag.
The earth pony took the bag and reached inside to pull out a loaf of rye bread, there were already slices made in the bread—it stopped just above the bottom of the loaf, meant to pulling the bread into individual slices. Although it felt like a cruel joke, with it being rye bread of all things, he was really grateful for the consideration and generosity the filly had for a stranger she never even have met.
“Thanks fer yer service, mister.” The filly smiled and briskly trotted down back to her other two friends.
“........” The earth pony blinked after her, a little uneasy with the idea of getting free things or thanked just because of what his job was. It's better than having trash thrown at him, he guessed. The earth pony stuck the now worthless bag in his jacket again and stepped off the road and trotted towards a bench close by a tree. He pulled a slice of rye bread off of the loaf and his nose crinkled at the Caraway seeds aroma, but the earth pony couldn't help but allow his lips to be curled upwards and to allow his chest to warmly express his feelings of gratitude.
Even if what he was given was rye bread.
The earth pony took a bite of the bread and enjoyed the food the little filly paid for him. He's gonna find a way to repay that little rascal, being in debt to anyone—especially a little filly—made him feel guilty a little bit.
After his meal, the earth pony was back on the road. His mood brighten and his smile seemed like it would never fade from his lips. The earth pony took a path that led close to the outskirts of town, it was a dirt road without all of the gravel in town. There were the apple trees that he smelled, he was even closer to meeting App—
“Hey!” A boyishly girl voice rang out from the clouds, causing the earth pony to look upwards. There was a cyan pegasus with rainbow mane; she was a mare, the earth pony guessed from the eyelashes and the way her body was shaped. The mare's tail matched her mane, surprisingly, and her cutie mark was a cloud with rainbow lightning. “Where the hay do you think you're going? That's private property you're trespassing on!”
“Wait, really?” The earth pony dug into his left coat pocket and pulled out an opened envelope. He pulled out the letter that the apple farmer gave him. After skimming through it, he looked back up to the pegasus with his reply. “I was told the farm's name was 'Sweet Apple Acres' and the farmer in charge went by the name of 'Applejack'. If this isn't it, do you know where she is?”
In a blur, the pegasus was on the ground face to face with the earth pony. “You got a name, drifter?”
“Straight Flush,” He answered
