Google Docs Ver. (Recomended)
By: Pedro Oliva Rodrigues (aka RedBullet)
Chapter 1: A Mysterious Blue Stallion.
It was a beautiful spring day in Ponyville, or in Equestria as a whole as a matter of fact, the sky-clearing Pegasus must have been on the top of their game today. The birds were singing like in a coral, fillys were strolling around the massive open fields surrounding Ponyville and everything just seemed fine.
“Such a nice day, but I don’t have time to stick around”
Said a mysterious stallion, blue coat and black mane as he was walking down the main road to Ponyville.
“It’s been too long since I’ve been here...” He wondered to himself as he notice that the road to the town wasn’t paved before, but after all it’s been what, 15 years?
In fact he notice a lot of different things on his surroundings, as a filly he often passed through this road, it used to be deserted most of the time, now there is quite a few vehicles coming and going, particularly trucks.
But no time to wonder around, he was starting a new life in his former hometown, hoping to find new friends and new faces, and forget a sour past...
But that’s not important now; he was almost at the 105 Viewpoint! He remembered the place as a kid, at the 105km mark on the road there was a high ground were you could see the entire town, not to mention there was a restaurant that served one fine flower sandwich.
His anticipation was short lived though, as he got closer he noticed that the restaurant was abandoned, darn, he could use a snack about now. Oh well, at least there’s the view.
As he walked by the late restaurant, strange, he heard voices from within the building, he decided to investigate.
He looked through a smashed window and saw 2 ponies, a brown-ish earth one and an orange pegasus; they were wearing dark red hoods, chains and didn’t look friendly. He also notices the pegasus didn’t have his cutie mark, so he must be quite young.
“So bro’ where did ya get tha fancy watch?” The pegasus asked
“From some loser near Samoa Street. A playboy from Counterlot most likely, you had to see the look on his face when I ‘relived’ him of his stuff.” The earth pony replied.
Our protagonist knew they were trouble, and managed to get away from the building without them noticing him.
“I don’t believe it!” He whispered to himself. “Gangs in PONYVILLE? No way!” And Samoa Street, he remembered was about 2 blocks from his old house. Well, let’s just get to the view point.
He began climbing up the stairs to the observatory, constantly checking his back to see if the 2 other ponies weren’t following him.
When he got up to the top... “Wow” he uttered, for good reason.
The town was unrecognizable! No longer a peaceful community, but quite an urban center! Of course he wouldn’t call it a ‘big’ city, or even a medium one, but for a town that used to be so small, it was doing quite well. From there he could see the streets were mostly paved and there was a big main street cutting the city center.
Another thing that caught his attention was the factories he could see in the horizon, he inserted some change in a nearby telescope and took a look. He recognized several labels but one of them stood out.
“Hmm, Equestrian Imperial Armory? So that’s were our weapons comes from…”
Indeed, the E.I.A, for short, provided weapons for all the armed forces of the empire; it would be a big deal for any town to have such an important factory.
He was about to turn back and continue the travel when he heard a voice saying:
“Excuse me sir, but can a cracker spare some change?”
Uh-oh, he recognized the voice, it was one of the ponies from before, specifically the younger pegasus.
Our stallion turned to face him, he wasn’t worried about a little flying filly, he was more concerned about his earth friend, which was nowhere to be seen. Also the hoods and chains he was wearing are gone.
As he was grabbing some change from his wallet, he asked:
“You alone buddy? Where’s your family?”
“Please mister, my mom can’t pay the bills, dad ran away, anything can help” The filly replied.
He wasn’t sure he believed the pegasus history, the stuff he was wearing before seemed quite expensive, but then again they could have been stolen, who knows?
The filly thanked our stallion as he handed a hoof-full of change to him, then left in a hurry.
Our stallion waited a while then proceeded to walk down the stairs, often checking his surroundings afraid of been jumped by the other pony from before. Forturnaly he got back to the road no problems.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, guess that’s a good thing considering what just happened.
When he finally got to the town proper he started making a list in his head of what he needed to do; Go to the bank, find a place to live, get a job, you know, the basics.
“But first I need something to eat, all that walking and potential mugging got me hungry!” He said to himself.
As he was wondering around main street, he noticed all the stores and buildings that weren’t there before. Sure there were some familiar houses, not to mention the city hall, but most of the structures were relatively new and there was a lot of construction work going on.
He was so distracted by the changes to the town that he forgot to look for a place to eat; he walked straight past several restaurants without noticing.
But eventually he remembered what he was doing, he was going to turn around and check the restaurants he missed when he saw a very odd building, bright pink with a sign saying: ‘Pinkie’s Snack/Clubhouse, the best parties and sandwiches of Ponnyville’
“Well, this out a be great” He said with sarcasm.
He walked in and was very surprised to see the place was quite packed, not full but doing better than he expected. He thought the building alone would scare off anyone besides kinder garden mares. But the place wasn’t for kids; most of the ponies present were adults, from both genders.
He sat at the bar table, quickly been attended by the bar keep, a long hair gray unicorn.
“Sup buddy, what’ll it be?”
“Stalliongrad black beer, pure”
As the unicorn was pouring his beer he couldn’t help but notice the luggage that his client was caring.
“Say, you new in town?”
“You could say that…”
“What’s your name?”
The stallion found it odd the barkeep was asking his name, on the first time dinking there no less.
“Why do you ask? Do you have to be a member to get drink over here?”
“Members DO get a discount, among other vantages, but not really.”
“Sorry if I sound rude, but I’m not used to barkeeps, well ya know…”
“Getting to know you so fast, yea it’s a bad habit of mine, especially with your kind…”
“My kind?” The stallion asked confused.
“Yea, look, I can see by the luggage you’re carrying that you came here to stay, and you probably wondering where to get started.”
“So?” the stallion asked intrigued.
“Can’t you see? Helping new comers is kind of my on-official hobby, there has been quite a lot of your kind coming through here lately”
“Really? Well no offence but I thought…”
Before he could finish talking he has interrupted by a high-pitched, sugar-high female voice.
“That my place sucked?” Said a pink pony emerging from the kitchen.
“Oh, err, you’re the owner?” The stallion asked embraced.
“Thaaaaaat’s right, tee-hee, I’m Pinkie Pie and this is our barkeep Maxmine.”
“Weeeell, no, hehe…eerrr, I was just not expecting it to be for…” Interrupted again.
“Your age group? Nah, everyone thinks that at first. But hey what’s your name?”
“Yea” The unicorn replied. “I can’t help you if I don’t even know your name”
Well, so much for staying anonymous…
“Name’s Victor, nice to meet you.”
The 2 others replied “Nice to meet you too”
The 3 ponies started talking, basic stuff; Where you from, what you doing here, etc. Victor explained that he used to be from this town and that after quitting the equestrian army, he was…
“TWITCHY, TWITCH!!!!!” Said Pinky Pie
“What’s wrong Pinkie?” Victor asked surprised.
“O-oh sometimes I have these twitches, they can predict a lot of stuff, like if a flower vase is about to fall on your head!”
“Trust me, It’s serious, I’ve seen it a ton of times before” Said Max.
“Ooooook, what does this one means then?” Victor asked.
“Let’s see… Twitchy back and rear left hoof… Hmmm, oh yea It means someone isn’t telling the whole tr…”
Pinky didn’t complete her sentence, and the look on her face suggested that she was going to say something very unpleasant.
Victor asked: “Not telling what?”
“Oh, errrr, nothing, heh, errr false alarm you see, hehehe…” Pinkie said with a forced smile. “Sooooo, heh, lemme tell you a story.”
“Ugh, not this history AGAIN!” Said Max taking a big sip from his beer.
“Silly, don’t you see Victor is new here?”
“Yea but do you have to tell that story to EVERY NEW HAYING pony that shows up here?” Said Max with clear signals of irritation.
“Fine, you go clear the dishes in the kitchen then, hihi” Said Pinky with a ‘like a boss’ attitude.
Max complied: “Yes boss.” Who proceeded to go do his duty, you could hear him whispering some curses to himself.
Pinkie then told Victor the whole story, it was quite long, in fact TOO long, to put it short she basically said that after working for years in the Mr. and Ms. Cake candy shop she got enough money to buy this club. By the time she finished her history Victor was really feeling Max’s pain.
Pinkie finished up by saying:”And that’s how Celestia was born…”
“Ok that’s quite facina… wait what?”
“Yup, that’s the truth, no bias no nothing”
“ooooooook, heh I’m sure it is, so I kinda have to get g…”
As he looked at his watch, he couldn’t believe it! 7:30pm! He passed the entire afternoon talking in the bar!
“Ah crap” Said Victor with a worried look in his face.
“Wait!” Said Pinkie. “At least tell me where you’re staying”
“That’s the problem, I was supposed to go to the bank to make a withdraw so I could buy an apartment, but the bank probably already closed and I have no were to stay!”
“Well have no fear; Pinkamea Deana Pie is here, teehee. I have a spare room near the dance floor upstairs in case I pass out from too much partying, never had to use it though hihi” She said with a smile on her face.
“That’s very nice of you Pinkie, but we just met, I don’t think I can…”
“I WON’T take no for an awnsor, c’mon get your stuff and follow me!”
Well problem solved I guess. Pinkie Pie showed the room, It had a bed, a small fridge, a small bathroom and a microwave oven. Its not much, but it will do it for the night.
“Thanks Pinkie, you’re real pal”
“No problemo… Say do you have a job? In Ponyville I mean”
“I applied to the Ponyville police department, they say I’m in reserve and I can be called at anytime.”
“Oh, never mind then.” Said Pinkie turning around and leaving.
“No wait! Please do tell what you were going to offer”
“Well It’s nothing much, my friend Applejack wants someone to help at her farm and she’s willing to pay… But you already…”
“Actually, I could use some work to keep me occupied, I’m that kind of pony that has to do something useful or else boredom drives me insane”
Pinkie planted her hoof on Victor’s shoulder. “I know how that feels, that’s why I party every night! Hihi”
“Yea… I’m sure, so tell her I’m up for the job kay?”
“Okey-Dokey-Lokey! Well, make yourself comfortable; I have to go tend to the clients.”
Victor waved his hoof. “Kay see you tomorrow” And then proceeded to go to bed early, because tomorrow was gonna be a long day.
End of chaper 1
Google Docs ver.
Chapter 2: New friends and challenges
Victor woke up early that morning, a bad habit from the army days I guess. He was going to the exit when Maxmine walked in.
“Good morning Victor, I thought you would like some breakfast so I brought some things from the grocery store.”
“Oh thanks bud, care to join me?”
“Sure, let me just get a table”
So they talked for a while, Victor keeping track of time this time around. Max told him that he used to be just like him, a new comer to the town and he felt like a complete stranger until he met Applejack and…
“Wait, Applejack?” Victor asked.
“Yup, she’s a real sweetie; she introduced me to her friends, including Pinkie who got me this job! Apparently the former barkeep had an attitude problem.”
Max continued: “You’ll probably get to know the rest of the group soon enough, there’s Pinkie, Applejack and 4 more.”
“Well, I know friends are something that you can never be short off.” Victor said. “Well gotta get going… see you later.”
Max weaved his hoofs as Victor walked out the door; it was time to get started in this city.
As he walked through the streets he started planning his day, the banks only opened at 10:00am so he still had some time to kill before he could buy his apartment, he might as well check that Applejack job offer, after all some extra cash never killed anyone. Plus he was curious to meet the group that Max was talking about.
He was about to ask a nearby pony for directions when… *THUMP* somepony bumped into him, a beautiful white unicorn with purple hair.
“Oh goodness, I’m SO sorry…” The unicorn said.
“No, no, it’s alright, I wasn’t looking…”
“Ugh I was so distracted now my fabrics are all over the ground! Of all the things that could happen this is THE WORST POSSIBLE THING!” She then proceeded to collapse on a nearby bench.
Kinda melodramatic… As Victor was helping the unicorn gather her stuff he decided to ask her for directions.
“Say, I’m new in town, can you give me some directions?”
“Well after this inconvenience that’s the least I can do, ask away.”
“I need to find the Sweet Apple Acres farm.”
“Oh it’s easy, just follow Main Street until you get to Auckland road, and then go straight till you get there, you can’t miss it.”
“Thanks, I’ll be on my way then, c’ya.”
As Victor walked to the farm he couldn’t take that beautiful mare out of his mind, damn, he should have asked her name, why didn’t he tried to make some conversation?
He thought: “I can hit a target with a rifle at 200 meters and survive in the Everfree forest, but mares, I’m just totally lost about then.”
It’s not like he never had girlfriends before, but he was never the pony to make the first move
Well no time to lament about that, Sweet Apple Acres is just ahead.
As Victor got to the massive apple farm he could see somepony bucking the apples, must be Applejack, he approached and introduced himself.
“Hi, I’m Victor, Pinkie Pie told me about a job available here?”
“Hey there partner, I’m Applejack, Pinkie Pie told me about you…”
“Yea, she’s quite a figure huh?”
“Eeyup, but she’s a real pal, she told me she offered her party room for you to stay, she normally doesn’t do that…”
“Well anyway, what’s the job?” Victor was anxious to get started.
“It’s simple, just kick the trees and buck the apples.”
“Sounds simple enough…”
“Wha, y’all think it’s easy eh townpony? Very well, lemme see how you buck then apples.”
AJ then lead Victor trough the apple field, apple trees as far as he could see, and they kept walking until they reached a particularly strong looking tree.
“Well lemme se wha’cha can do, give it ya best shot!”
Victor, with his rear hooves, slammed the tree as hard as he could, it had little effect as only 2 or 5 of the 15 or so apples fell…
“Hold on, I can do this…”
But really, he couldn’t, he did several attempts to buck the godforsaken apples to no effect. In frustration he punched the tree, and then an apple fell right on his head.
“Hehehe” Applejack laughed. “Nice try…”
“It sucked huh?”
“Yes but I don’t blame ya, the only pony I know that can buck that tree is mah bro Big Macintosh and he’s twice your size”
“Well, why did you ask me to buck this tree then?”
“Well seeing ‘em try never gets old hehehe”
After that Victor tried bucking some other trees, fairing much better this time around.
“I’ve seen enough.” Saied Applejack.
“So?” Victor was curios
“The job is yours, be here tomorrow at 7am”
“Yes ma’am, you won’t be disappointed”
“I know I won’t” AJ smiled.
As AJ showed Victor to the exit, he noticed two ponies waiting by the front gate, one of them was familiar…
“Rarity, Derpy! How are yall doing?”
“Well Applejack Derpy here asked me to walk her here because as you know she ALLWAYS gets lost on the way here for SOME reas…”
Rarity didn’t complete the sentence as she recognized Victor, the pony she bumped a few hours ago.
“You?” They both said at the same time.
“Yall know each other?” AJ asked.
“Yes, well no, well I mean…” Rarity replied, or tried at least.
“We weren’t formally introduced before” Victor completed her sentence for her. “Well I’m Victor, nice to meet you”.
“I’m Rarity.” They shacked hooves.
Before they could start a conversation, they were interrupted by Derpy.
“Excuse me, but I have a letter for you Victor!”
The letter was from the Ponyville PD, it apologized for the delay in reply and that the force would be happy to accept someone with his experience.
Victor was filled with joy, being a cop was an old childhood dream before he took interest in the military.
As he was sharing his excitement with the others, no one noticed that, from a distance, a lone pony was watching him…
“You will pay what you own, you just wait…”