Chapter 3: Securing a Flow of Income

The sun began to rise in Ponyville as its warm early morning rays of light began to blanket across the small town. The residents, young and old, began to rise from their slumber to get ready for today either at school, work, or any other activities they had planned. Of course, two new residents of Ponyville are going to have quite a productive day.

Inside the famous Sugarcube Corner bakery, we find RonI laying in bed and wide awake, having woken up a few minutes ago, reflecting on everything that has happened in the past twenty-four hours. From getting sucked into a random ass portal to interacting with some of the residents of this world both positive and negatives it was honestly alright. The only downside was he probably won’t be able to make peace with Applejack and Rainbow Dash any time soon due to their view on males but one step at a time.

“A new day in a world not my own,” RonI sighs as he sits up causing the blanket to fall on his lap showing he tank top covered torso and his hair to shift down and cover his eyes. His goggles and his jacket were hanging from one of the bedposts and his boots next to the bed. He didn't have any sleepwear due to always being on the go so he just went to bed as is. “Let’s hope today will be much better than yesterday.”

“With our luck, it’ll vary,” Motomeru spoke up from her propped up place against the nightstand.

“Morning partner, rest well?” RonI asked as he got out of bed and stretched.

“More or less,” She said, making a so-so motion with her cloth. “How about you?”

“Pretty good, we’ve been roughing in the woods for the past couple weeks prior to coming here so the bed was definitely a godsend,” He smiled as he put his boots on.

“So the plan for today is the same as yesterday I take it?” Motomeru asked while floating in the air as RonI finished tying his boots.

“Yeah, after breakfast we go and have a quick talk with the Mayor of this town and then have that little meeting with Twilight and her friends,” RonI confirms while putting on his jacket and then his goggles which lift his hair out of his eyes.

“It’s going to be a pain in the ass if the blue cunt and redneck bimbo start anything,” The sword drawled before she placed herself on her handler’s back.

“Hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” RonI mutters before he hears a knock at his door. “Who is it?”

“It's Pinkie, breakfast is ready!” The party mare chirped on the other side, “Miss Cake made blueberry pancakes!”

“I’ll be down in a moment!” RonI shouts back as the mare responds with an “Okie Dokie Lokie!” and the human can hear her bounce her way down the hall. “I swear that mare is this world's version of Deadpool.”

“Well she certainly isn't boring that's for sure,” Motomeru mused.

“True,” RonI chuckled before leaving his room and heading downstairs into the dining room.

Once they got there, the duo was greeted to the comical sight of Pinkie wolfing down her breakfast while her landlord/boss scolded her like a mother as she set down more food. Chiffon Swirl is a middle-aged earth pony mare that stood 5ft 11in with light blue fur, pink mane and tail styled like frosting and matching eyes. She wore a yellow dress that stopped below her knees under a white apron with frills on the shoulders that hugged both her pleasantly plump figure and double H-cup bust, black slip-on shoes, and a pair of pale pink pearl earrings. She also liked to go by Cupcake or Miss Cake whichever you prefer.

“Pinkie! I’ve told you to chew before you swallow,” Chiffon stated in a firm motherly tone before she notices RonI’s arrival and gives a smile. “Good morning RonI, did you sleep okay?”

“Like a log on a rock,” RonI smiled back taking a seat at the table. “Thanks again for letting me stay over for the night Miss Cake, I do apologize for the suddenness for the request last night but we really didn’t have another option besides roughing up in the woods again.”

“Which we’re used to already so it wouldn’t have been so bad if you refused,” Motomeru piped up.

“No need to apologize you two. I don’t mind you staying over,” Chiffon giggled before placing down a plate stack high with blueberry pancakes complete with syrup and whip cream in front of RonI. “It's very nice to have somepony else here other than just me and Pinkie, despite having her here the place still feels a little empty.”

“Well, I’m glad me and Moto could make this place feel livelier.” RonI chuckled before digging into his meal.

“While we appreciate your hospitality, Miss Cake,” Motomeru says respectfully. “Once we start gaining income we’ll be sure to pay you back for what you’re doing for us.”

“Also it’s non-negotiable so don’t even think about trying to convince me otherwise, I’ve already made up my mind,” RonI speaks up after swallowing his food. “However if you would like me to help you out around the bakery, as long as it's manual labor, I wouldn’t mind helping you out.”

“Very well dearie,” Chiffon complied as the trio enjoyed their breakfast in silence.

After they had their fill, RonI offered to do the dishes while the two mares got ready to open the store which they appreciated greatly but still helped him put them in the sink. With Motomeru’s help, the chore took about ten minutes to complete. The duo then goes up to the front where the dining area for the bakery is to see Chiffon wiping down the counter while Pinkie did the same to the tables and chairs, humming a tune as she did so.

“The dishes are all done Miss Cake,” RonI informed the baker.

“Thank you, dear, I appreciate you doing it,” The mature mare thanks. “Can you please flip the sign from CLOSED to OPEN and unlock the door? We’re ready to open now.”

“Of course,” RonI nods before walking around the counter to do just that.

After he does so, however, a familiar purple unicorn bursts inside and topples into RonI, sending them both to the floor with yells and yelps of shock.

“Ugh,” Twilight and RonI both groan.

“Are you two okay?” Pinkie asked as she and Chiffon rushed up to her to check on them.

“I’m fine, what did I run into though?” Twilight asks.

“My partner who you’re currently suffocating with your purple melons,” Motomeru snickers.

Twilight looks down and sees that she landed on top of RonI with her chest directly in his face making her give a Fluttershy-like “Eep!” before quickly standing up to reveal a red-faced RonI.

‘What is this a freaking anime?’ The human thinks as he sits up while Twilight fires off a thousand apologies a second. “Twilight it’s ok I’m fine, trust me when I say I’ve been knocked to the ground by things that are a lot worse.”

“I didn’t see you near the door,” She said with a blush.

“I don’t see how anyone can miss him with all this hair despite his small size,” Motomeru comments while patting RonI’s hair with a cloth hand.

“You would think some would,” The human mutters as he gets to his feet and dusts himself.

“Sweet Celestia Twilight, I told you to slow down!” A voice panted out at the door.

RonI and Motomeru looked at the door and to their surprise, it wasn’t another pony but some sort of female anthro lizard. She had pale purple scales, a faint lime green underbelly that started from her bottom jaw down to her tail tip which ended in a spade, she had light green spines on her head that formed a mohawk that went to one side and smaller spines running down the back of her tail, fin-like ears that are a lighter shade than her spines and matching eyes with oval pupils. Her attire is a black and white hoodie sweater, blue jean booty shorts, black thigh-high stockings, and white high-top sneakers with dark purple stripes on the sides. She had a pear-shaped figure with an E-cup bust, large rear and she stood at 4ft 10in tall, three inches taller than RonI.

“You know I can’t run as fast as you remember?” The lizard girl huffed at Twilight.

“Sorry Barb, I just wanted to catch RonI before he left for the day,” Twilight apologized.

“Well here I am, what do you need?” RonI asked.

“Also who’s the lizard chick?” Motomeru bluntly asked, pointing to the second shortest one in the room.

Her answer was a green fireball rocketing towards her but it was quickly caught by RonI who then quickly clapped his hands together dispelling it.

“I am not a lizard! I...AM...A...DRAGONESS!” Barb roared in anger, smoke streaming out of the sides of her mouth.

“Whoa whoa, easy! She didn’t mean to insult you, right Moto?” RonI blurted looking at his partner.

“Yeesh take a chill pill will you!” Motomeru exclaimed.

“Barbra please calm down, she didn’t know,” Twilight said calmly. “Sorry about her, she is sensitive about being called a lizard.”

“No kidding,” RonI mutters before looking at Barb. “Listen, don't mind Moto she tends to shoot her mouth off without thinking.”

“Oi!” the sword yelled at the jab which RonI ignored.

“Let's start over,” RonI said before holding out his hand. “My name is RonI.”

The dragoness took a deep breath before taking his hand. “Barbra but you can call me Barb.”

“I hope we get along Barb,” RonI smiled as they shook hands. Once they parted he turned to Twilight. “What do you need to tell me Twilight?”

“Well, I was wondering if you would allow Barb to come with you to be your tour guide around town?” She asked. “You see me and the girls still have work to do today, except Rainbow Dash, so we might have to push it back to a little after lunch.”

“I understand it's still morning and you girls are bound to be busy,” RonI replied. “We don’t mind at all.

“Definitely better than us wandering around and getting jumped by more mares who want to get into my partner’s pants,” Motomeru commented.

“Please don’t remind me of that,” RonI groans, a slight blush forming on his face.

“Awww I wanted to show RonI around!” Pinkie pouted.

“Maybe next time Pinkie, but for now you and I have work to do,” Chiffon giggled at the pink mare’s complaint.

“Don’t worry Pinkie we’ll meet up again at the library,” RonI assured her.

“Okay!” She smiled before going back to cleaning tables.

“That mare’s mood changes on a dime,” Motomeru commented.

"Yeah but it makes her unique from most people we've met," RonI replies with a shrug before then looking at Barb. "So Barb how would you like to do this little tour?"

“Let's walk around a bit,” Barb suggested. “I’ll point out things so you know what's what and where everything is.”

“Alrighty then, lead the way,” RonI says as he follows the dragoness out before turning back.”I’ll see you, girls, after lunch at the library.”

“Have a good day,” Motomeru waved back lazily as they exited the store.

“Such an interesting pair,” Chiffon mused after they left.

“They are,” Twilight giggled before gaining a curious look. “RonI is so much different then stallions it makes me wonder about what his world is like.”

“Ooh! ooh! I know!” Pinkie chirped excitedly, catching their attention. “Maybe in his world, males and females are equals and RonI is a super cool warrior, one of the best in his generation and Moto has a seriously bad case of amnesia!”

“How do you know?” Twilight asked with a raised brow.

“Just a hunch.” The party mare said with a smile before skipping off to the kitchen. Twilight and Chiffon looked at each other then they shrugged.

It was just Pinkie being Pinkie.

It has been about three hours since leaving Sugar Cube Corner and RonI can safely say that he and Motomeru both know the entire layout of Ponyville thanks to Barb’s guidance. They otherworldly duo have managed to learn the locations of some important landmarks such as the Schoolhouse and one of the teachers who offered to give him any lessons about the Equestria if he asked, the Spa run by a pair of earth pony mare twins who while flirty respected him as a person, and the Town Hall run by a mature mare who was kind enough to point them in the direction Ponyville’s newly built guild house. When asked why it was newly built the Mayor embarrassedly admitted that two members were having a heavy disagreement of some kind and got into a massive brawl that dragged other members into it which wrecked the entire place.

Currently, the trio was walking through the Market en route to the guild per the Mayor’s directions, due to the brawl the guild had to move to a more empty part of Ponyville as residents complained about all the noise the guild was making as well as the property damage the members cause when they get out of hand. Along the way, RonI asked Barb a bit more about Equestria in general which the young Dragoness was more than happy to tell.

“So wait, you're telling me that the population here is 96% female and 4% are males?” RonI gapped in shock while Barb nodded.

“Shit, I knew the gender ratio would be bad, but to that degree is insane,” Motomeru added.

“Well it's mostly here in Equestria, other nations are not as bad but still have a slightly higher female percentage,” Barb explained. “Back in the old days, the gender ratio used to be relatively normal 50/50 but over time the birth rate for females was increasing while male births were falling, till it got to this point. No one noticed it at first since the changes were only very minor, but it suddenly dropped at an alarming rate.”

“Is that why a majority of mares are looking at me like I'm a piece of meat?” RonI asked with a sour look, gesturing to the mares that were giving him lustful looks.

“Sadly yeah,” Barb sighs with a nod. “Males, especially stallions, are very precious and single mares will do their best to snag any single male they can get so they can get straight to breeding them in hopes of getting pregnant with a colt. Unfortunately, the chances of getting one are very low and even with the assistant of magic or potions it always results in the foal becoming a filly for some reason.”

“That’s bizarre as all hell,” RonI mutters with his eyes narrowed in thought. ‘You thinking what I’m thinking, Motomeru?’

‘That the Pony Race as a whole was possibly cursed?’ The sword asks.

‘Yeah, it’s the only thing that makes sense and Dad did say that such a thing was possible when he was lecturing me on the things I need to be careful of, curses being at the top of the list,’ RonI answers. ‘While there are many different kinds, even the simplest ones are difficult to master and take time to use efficiently.’

‘Yeah but this curse is very powerful as well as the person or persons that may have cast it,’ Motomeru grumbled. ‘Hell we don’t know when it was cast, they could be long dead for all we know or if it can even be broken.’

‘One thing at a time partner, one thing at a time,’ RonI thinks, before he noticed their guide come to a stop. “What’s up Barb?”

“I think we’re here,” The dragoness says, looking up making RonI and Motomeru look as well.

The building they were standing in front of appeared to be a three-story tavern mixed with both a medieval and modern look with a pair of tall double doors in the front. Hanging above the doors was a banner that said “Harmony for All Guild” with a symbol of a sun above a large crescent moon behind the words. The symbol kinda reminded the human of the Buddhist symbol for harmony but instead of it being just pitch black the sun was yellow and the moon dark purple.

“Huh seems quite welcoming,” Barb commented before they heard the sounds of crashing and shouting from inside.

“What the hell is that?” Motomeru asked.

“Let’s go find out,” RonI stated as he pushes open the door…

...only having to duck as a pony came flying over them screaming much to Barb’s shock as she also screamed while latching onto RonI’s back making Motomeru laugh at the Dragoness. The human ignores it and turns his attention back inside the Guild to see there was a full-blown brawl going on with members throwing punches, kicks, weapons, magic, and a number of things at each other. He saw the guild members weren’t just ponies like Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies, and similar creatures like Zebras and what looked to be Pegasi with bat wings. But there were also more Dragons like Barb, Gryphons, Minotaurs, Yaks, Dogs, Cats, even a few Deer with all of them being anthros.

“What in the actual hell is going on?” Barb gaped in confusion still latched onto RonI. “Why is everyone fighting?”

“Relax sweetheart, they’re just having a little fun,” Motomeru chuckled much to the Dragoness’s disbelief.

“You call this fun!?” Barb exclaimed.

“Take from someone with experience, no matter where you go all guilds will be rowdy in some way or form,” RonI says with a smile. “And personally, I love guilds like this as they are very fun.”

“Oh hell yeah I’m sure we can get along with these people no problem,” Motomeru eye smiled. “All we have to do now is find the Guild Master and see about joining up.”

“Um, where would they be?” Barb asked nervously.

“KNOCK IT OF YOU BUNCH OF BLOODY MORONS!” The sudden bellowing voice made everyone shut up and stop what they were doing while Barb just freaked out more while hiding behind RonI’s afro.

Everyone looked up to the second-floor balcony to see that the speaker was an elder looking pegasus stallion looking down at everyone with a glare of annoyance. The stallion stood at 5ft 2in in height with a forest green coat, steely gray eyes, and cloud white mane and tail in a messy style along with a long Goatee beard that reached his waist. His attire was a light green long-sleeve dress shirt under a gunmetal grey coat with the guild’s mark on the back in the same colors on the banner, desert brown combat pants tucked in a pair of matching combat boots and carried a cane with a tennis ball-sized white pearl on top. Despite him being old the stallion looked very fit for his age and held the aura of someone with great power.

“I know you punks are happy to actually go wild without worrying about any complaints of the townsfolk but that doesn’t mean you can wreak our brand new guild when we just got it!” The stallion shouted with high authority making every member shrink under his gaze before he sighs while rubbing the bridge of his muzzle. “I'm getting too old for this shit. Clean up this mess and go about your business but I swear to Faust if I find another hole that isn’t a mouse hole I’m gonna use your sorry asses to fix it, understand?”

“Yes, Guild Master!” The members saluted before they began cleaning up anything.

He then notices RonI and raises an eyebrow, not recognizing the creature at all but he notices the sword on his back. He smirked before hopping down from the balcony landing firmly on his feet. The elder headed towards the short teen, his cane clicking against the wooden floorboards as he walked up to him.

“Well, what do we have here? Two new youngins hoping to join my guild full of misfits?” The old stallion asks.

“O-Oh! Um, I’m not sir but he is?” Barb speaks up while pointing at RonI.

“Yo,” The Afrotagonist flashes a peace sign in greeting. “My name is RonI, I’m currently new to Ponyville and Equestria in general and I need income.”

“Well then my boy, I would like to welcome you to the Harmony For All Guild,” The elder stated with a smile while spreading his arms out to gesture to the whole building. “My name is Jade Cloud, but you all can call me Master JC if you wish. Tell me, have you ever had any experience working in a guild before?”

“Before being dumped here I was actually an Adventurer back home so I already have experience with Quests and bounties for criminals as well,” RonI explains making the Guild Master gain a look in interest.

"I see...well since you aren’t a complete greenhorn I won’t have to put you through the trial run by doing low-rank Quests for a month,” Jade said, making the teen sigh in relief. “However, this means we can skip straight to assessing your PR by having a friendly spare with one of my senior members. I would have you duke it out with one, in particular, right now if you’re up to it, unfortunately, they’re currently busy with a mission and won’t be back by late tonight so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon.”

“That’s fine, we have a prior engagement we need to get to right now,” Barb speaks up while looking at her watch. “We better get going RonI, Twilight has a peeve about being on time and we need to get going now to make it back to Golden Oak’s before she has one of her panic episodes.”

“Everyone has their flaws it would seem,” RonI chuckled before turning back to Jade. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at...wait what time should I be here exactly?”

“How about around threeish?” Jade asked. “That way you are wide awake and at the top of your game.”

“Sound good to me, once again thank you, Guild Master JC and I’ll see you tomorrow,” RonI says respectfully before following Barb out of the guild.

Jade Cloud stroked his beard while humming with thought. “Hmmm, interesting boy he is and that sword was definitely far from ordinary.”

As he said this, the pearl on his cane briefly glowed a neon green color before stopping.

Back at Golden Oaks Library, we find Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 are waiting patiently for RonI and Barb to arrive….well most are. Applejack didn’t see why she has to be a part of this after he and his stupid sword was being rude right to her face. Rainbow Dash who had bandages wrapped on her injuries was getting bored and wanted to at least do some running to not be bored since she can’t fly for the next few days.

“Ugh, when is that little varmint gonna get here?” The farmer grouched. “I’d rather be doing more chores than be here.”

“Oh do be patient darling,” Rarity spoke while taking a sip of her tea. “Barbra will be here with RonI soon enough.”

“Yeah! Plus come on Jackie, you gotta admit you’re curious to learn more about him and the world he comes from,” Pinkie chirped happily munching a cookie.

“I am curious to learn what kinds of animals he has in his world as well,” Fluttershy softly spoke up, holding a white bunny in her arms.

“I still say he’s unnatural,” Dash spoke up with an arm hanging from the back of the couch while tapping her foot. “But...maybe it’ll make more sense when he explains things.”

“Glad to see you had time to open your mind Rainbow,” Twilight smiled at her cyan friend while straightening some blank papers.

“Yeah well, he did save my sorry flank,” The speedster admitted begrudgingly. “And maybe I was being unfair after that but I still want to know how he did what he did.”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile warmly that her words got through to tomboyish mare but before she could say anything their chat was interrupted by a knock at the front door.

“How could that be?” Twilight muttered before walking towards the door and opening it...only to gasp loudly at the two figures on the other side.

“Hello, my faithful student,” The first one spoke motherly.

“Would you allow us to step inside?” The second one added regally.

This meeting was about to get a lot more interesting.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Note

A simple filler chapter of RonI interacting with Chiffon Swirl and meeting the Harmony for All Guild Master Jade Cloud or Master JC for short. The next chapter will be RonI finally telling the girls about his world and vice versa while also meeting two certain ponies we all know and love.

Anywho, comment your thoughts down below, and if you guys have any ideas for what kinds of questions the girls should as RonI and he should ask them please let me know and I'll do my best to put them in.

See you next chapter, peace!