The carriage made its slow, steady ascent up the mountains of Canterlot. Every so often it would jostle under the earth pony's hold and the occupants inside would feel an unnerving bump. Three unicorns sat inside with bored expressions written across their faces. It had been a long ride from Fillydelphia and they would have liked nothing more than for it to be over sooner rather than later. Their arrival at the foothills of the mountains had prompted a bit of momentary celebration, but that had ceased quickly as they remembered that they still had a fair way to go from here.
The youngest of the three looked back and forth at the two older ponies. They were his parents and the owners of one of Equestria's most well-known publishing agencies. Because of this, their family had always received invitations to the Grand Galloping Gala. This, though, would be his first year in attendance since having come of age in the month previous. No more staying behind with the servants and his kid sister, Birch flower, ever again. He would not only get to attend the Gala, but also the meeting that Princess Celestia had with his father and mother every year around this time. Celestia was one of the most well-read ponies in all of Equestria, and one of the perks as his father would have put it was that she was entitled to each year's titles before anypony else, and as the owners of such a company he got to give the list to her personally. She would review it and then she would make orders for the ones that caught her fancy. She had a similar deal with a few other publishing agencies whose C.E.O's would also be meeting with her around this time.
The books she liked would find their way into her official book club and those would magically jump in popularity. Not only pumping more money into their family's business but giving the author extra recognition. Which only got their business more bits in the long run, as ponies would see businesses like this as the best way of having their books make the Celestial book club. Not that books from businesses with this deal were the only ones, but one couldn't help but note that they tended to do better than others in that regard.
Depending on how busy the princess was, it might take up to a week in Canterlot for the meeting to actually happen though. But they were pleased as ever for the chance. This year his parents had started showing him the ropes that strung their business so high up in Equestrian society, and just like his grandfather had done for his father, it was time to introduce the next heir to the princess and solidify business for the next generation.
He was a stately looking unicorn stallion with an off white coat and a black and grey mane that often reminded him of ink and charcoal. His cutie mark was the same as it always was, a stone book with green and purple sparks coming out of the cover.
He had thought it charming that it fit so well with his current life.
But enough of that for now.
Poking his head out of the window, he squinted up the cliffside, trying to judge how much farther it might be to the top. Deciding it wasn't worth the trouble he changed the direction of his gaze to the two earth ponies pulling the carriage. He could see just enough of one to make out the wheel cutie mark that adorned his flank. He felt sorry for them. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to pull a carriage all the way up a mountain when there was a perfectly good train that could have been taken instead.
His mother had once again tried talking his father into that again this year. But he wouldn't hear anything of it again. To him taking the carriage was a way for him to show his status or whatever. It seemed to him that his parents got a little crazier each time he came back.
He felt a hoof prod his back and the familiar voice of his mother called out. "Stop sticking your head out of the window and sit back down before you fall, Inkblot, dear." Her voice was soft but firm as she made the command.
He did as he was told and she gave him a little smile before the two of them went back to their silence. It was several minutes before he let his mind wander again, back to the day before they'd left. He let a smile curve his lips as he remembered the way Birch Flower had whined when she learned that he wouldn't be there for the upcoming weeks. She was a young filly, not even old enough to have her cutie mark yet with a grey and black speckled coat. She had startling blue eyes that reminded him of the ocean. Her charcoal coloured mane was streaked with pure white. The colour palette would have looked boring on anypony else but paired with her hyper personality, it may as well have been of rainbow of hues.
~*~
"B-but why? Why do you get to go when I have to stay here? It's gonna be so boring." He ruffled her mane with his hoof. "You'll be able to go with us one of these days."
"But when is that gonna be?!" She puffed out her cheeks.
"When you've grown up."
"But that could take years!" She cried.
Ink Blot burst out laughing when he heard that. He tried to stop as hard as he could as to preserve some of his sister's dignity. But the more you try to hold the laughter in, the more it seems to want to come out and pretty soon Birch flower had pounced upon him, play fighting for her honour. It wasn't long that she was laughing too.
They played together like this for some time until they both fell on the floor together trying to catch their breath. He really did love his sister and he would do anything for her, even if the risk was appearing foalish in front of other ponies. It was an older brother's job to make sure his little sister was happy and he would do just that.
But Birch Flower was quick to return to the subject at hoof. "You will tell me all about it when you get back, right? Right?" She asked jumping back up to her hooves.
Inkblot thought about it for a moment before cracking his sister a smile. "Do I have any choice?" And then grabbing his sister up in his forehooves and messing up her mane again.
She broke free from his embrace attempting to fix her hair before she responded. "Nope! I don't think you do, big brother," and with that, she blew the biggest raspberry she could and ran off to her room calling back for him to wait where he was.
In a moment she had returned with several pieces of parchment. It was a letter and some foalish looking drawings of what appeared to be castles and little ponies standing out in front. "I was going to ask Mummy and Daddy to, but if-" She faltered for a moment before going on, "I thought that you might... give these to the Princess?"
A shadow crossed his face. It wasn't a secret that Birch Flower had ambitions of attending Celestia's school for gifted unicorns and this was no doubt about that. Taking the parchment up in his magic he started to read what she had written for Celestia, but she snatched it out of his aura before he could. "Iiiiinky! That's for the Princess!" She cried out in tone loud enough that her Nanny, Cherry Smiles, popped her head through the door to see what was going on. When she was gone Inkblot returned his gaze back onto the young filly.
"What's so important that you gotta keep it a secret?" He raised an eyebrow and pointed a hoof at the letter. "I don't think you're going to be able to just talk your way into a school like that." Birch Flower blushed at the accusation.
"That's... Not what this letter is about. I just wanted to write to her is all, and what wrong with that? just because you don't like Celestia doesn't mean-" Inkblot cut her off, placing his hoof over her mouth. "I don't dislike Celestia." He said, feeling bad about lying to her as soon as the words had passed his lips. "I just don't think it makes sense for... Well. I just don't think any place should have a permanent ruler, ponies tend to get stuck in their ways and if she's anything like some of the old ponies that Mom and Dad are friends with, it might mean... I mean not even the Zebra have this kind..." He couldn't make himself finish. He knew very well that this wasn't the reason he didn't like the Princess.
"Well?" Birch Flower prompted. He shook his head trying to clear up his thoughts and turned to face her, he had been under the impression that she wanted him to finish that line of reasoning, but she merely held out the parchment again.
"Could you still take these to her?"
He smiled at her because there had never been a question of him doing what she requested.
"Fine, but don't get your hopes up."
She jumped up and down, squealing with delight before rolling up the parchment and giving them over to him. "And don't"
"Yeah, yeah, no peeking." He gave his sister a wry smile before floating the parchment out of her grip.
"You promise?"
"Yeah, I promise."
~*~
Back in the carriage, Inkblot had that same shadow crossing over his face as his thoughts turned to the princess herself. It was all her fault, she and that sister of her's had doomed him to the same thing over and over. He wasn't just an ordinary unicorn, he... Well, he didn't really know what he was back before that stone book with the spiked cover had come into his life.
It had been so many years since that life that he often had trouble remembering it at all. He had been greatly feared at the time for being a monster that captured ponies, taking them into the forest where they would never be heard from again. With the power of the book, he had easily been able to take over the minds of those foolish to approach his home and add them to his workforce. He was having them build a large temple to honour the magical prowess he had managed to obtain. The book itself would constantly whisper into his ear, things he should have if he ever wanted to be the king he desired to be.
The first things had been obedience from his subjects. He could certainly have used the book to create his own temple, it would be exactly what he wanted. All he would have to do is dream up the design and it would be. But that would have been nothing more than a delusional fool with a nice house. By forcing other ponies to build it, he was proving his power to not only himself but the book too. The book was pleased with him for that one, and it filled him with pride to hear it's praise.
One day he had awoken to a sky made of checkers, it had been so odd that at first, he had blamed the forest for it. Natural magics like the weather had always been an unstable factor in this place and he always found himself needing to capture more and more pegasus to keep his home bright and cheery.
Though when the checkered sky had continued for several days, he began to grow annoyed. The voice of the book chided him for remaining annoyed for so long when he could use magic to make whatever sky he wanted. Suddenly clouds of lovely shimmering gold and silver filled his mind. These were so much better than what nature and pegasi had to offer. It wasn't more than a second until he had focused on the sky, transforming the checked pattern into a swirling patch of blue, wisps of cotton clouds shimming like glitter floating across its surface. He stood there for a long moment to appreciate his own handiwork, the voice of the book pouring compliment after compliment into his mind. But suddenly to his horror, the clouds had started to shift back to the form they had been in moments ago. He screamed loudly focusing his magic on the sky again.
The sky hadn't been the only oddity that had come to his attention. A few days later a heard of strange-looking animals had run straight through the village, and then the day after that the checkered clouds had sprung a leak and it had snowed popped corn. He cursed and glared at the sky.
He raged more and more every day and often times that rage would be vented out onto the poor slave ponies. The book cautioned him, it would not do well to kill his entire workforce when there was so much left to be done and so much work to do in the meantime.
And then finally, all at once it had stopped. The clouds had gone back to their normal look, the animals and weather returned to the state that they had always been there in the forest. It was almost like nothing had ever happened in the first place. The book had made short work of convincing him that it had been his magical efforts that had saved the day.
~*~
It hadn't taken long for him to realize what had happened. The Elements of Harmony hadn't killed him, instead of forced him to be born as a new pony, this body was that of an Earth pony and his new family ran a small Apple farm near the village of Trottingham. They called him Crackersnack.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to form words. If that wasn't enough, something as simple as forming complete thoughts was difficult for him now. The body he now inhabited wasn't mature enough, the brain not fully developed enough for the actions he wanted to take. And it was many months before he could even utter a proper word let alone a sentence. He learned the hard way that it was not enough to know words and what they meant to be able to talk, his vocal cords would need to be strong enough to actually say them first.
Once he could do that, he told them straight away that he wasn't who they thought he was. But they didn't believe him. At first, they simply thought he was playing a game of make-believe and would play along, the baby talk sounding like bitter sarcasm to his ears. Soon he didn't bother with it anymore and reserved himself to run away the moment he was strong enough to do so.
That day came when he got his cutie mark, the stone book that had been lost to him that nightmarish day had appeared on his flank. The grey of the stone book looking like a mocking stain on his then green coat. His Earth pony parents had been baffled as to why and how he could have gotten such a mark. His mother at the time had even commented that it seemed more like a cutie mark a unicorn should have, not an earth pony. His father had been quick to offer a possible explanation, maybe the stone book represented knowledge of the earth and the sparks were the magic of nature? His theory had started a chain reaction, everypony present had started offering up their own explanations to what it could mean, like some sort of game of guess the cutie mark, and it had pissed him off to no end. He hated them. He never wanted to see them again and he ran, knocking into two of his siblings as he did.
He spent the night in the forest hiding under a bush and wishing not for the first time that the Princesses had just finished him off whilst they had the chance. He cried himself to sleep, no longer worried about acting the age he looked.
In the morning he was awoken by his mother. Her mane stuck up in odd angles and there were bags under her eyes, it looked like she might have been crying. Though there was no trace of wetness on her face now.
He didn't argue, he was tired and sore from sleeping on the ground. He wondered if she would be mad at him if she would yell at him for making her so worried. But all she did was pick him up onto her back and start trotting back home towards the farm where she put him into bed.
It was in that moment, as the mare carried him, that he almost did feel like she was his mother and that he might not hate her. He banished those thoughts immediately, but the feeling had remained like a sticky residue.
He kept to himself for the next couple weeks and nopony brought up his cutie mark again after that. But as it often does, life went on. He and his sibling still had their chores and their school work to do, and though he had often done anything to get out of those things before. He now found them to be a much-needed distraction from his internal frustration at having feelings for that mare. He wanted nothing more than to shout at her, to tell her exactly why she wasn't his mother and that she meant nothing to him. But the thought that she might by chance believe him now and send him away sent an icy shard fear down his stomach.
Years passed and he had become the son his parents had always wanted him to be. Though not nearly the loving son they had hoped for, he had proved himself to be a hard worker with a sharp mind. The good grades and the work he had done to keep himself from thinking too much had ended up giving him praise that he got good at ignoring with time. Though it didn't keep that warming feeling from rising in his chest when it was from the mare he called mother. He didn't remember enough of his old life to know what his last mother had been like, but when he let himself think about it. He liked to imagine she was like this one.
One day she called him into the kitchen and sat him down at the table, he wanted to complain that he would be busy in the orchards all day and hadn't the time right now but she didn't seem to care.
"You've been workin' yourself awful hard recently." She frowned thoughtfully as she looked at him. "Now Ah need you to tell me if there's anythin' wrong."
He was surprised. Thinking back about the last couple of weeks, he didn't seem to recall doing anything out of the ordinary. She touched his face with her hoof and moved it up to make him look her in the eyes. " Darlin', Ah can't help ya if y'all don't tell me."
Pushing away her hoof he looked back down at the floor. "There's nothing wrong, to begin with, Ah don't see why you're so worried." He had developed a bit of an accent since being born here.
"Runnin' Wind sure seems to think there's somethin' wrong."
"Runnin' Wind don't know horse apples."
The old mare closed her eyes for a moment, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Runnin' Wind is your teacher, Crackersnack, and a mighty fine one at that! Now Ah don't wanna hear you talkin' that way about him just cause he's worried about ya."
He felt his face go warm. Why would that old cloud faced stallion do this to him? Not only was he butting into his business now, but mother was mad at him on top of it. If he hadn't been so annoyed at the intrusion, he might have scolded himself for caring what she thought.
She pushed his face back up to look her into her eye again and he stared back for a long moment. She had an apple red coat with a strawberry blonde mane that she kept in check with a hair tie. It was done up in a poofy style that was common among some country pony mares. But his eyes were drawn to the same place they always were, to his mother's blue eyes. They had always made him feel like he was staring into the ocean.
"Is it really true that you don' have a single friend in that there school?"
It was true. Had she really been blind enough to not know that he didn't bother with that sort of thing? The other fillies and colts at the little one-room schoolhouse down in the village were just what they were, he had been an adult before coming to this life and had thought himself much better than them. Why should he lower himself down any further then he had to? He had often thought when the other children attempted to include him in their games. To their credit though, they hadn't tried for very long and soon he had been left to his own devices. That was the way he liked it.
"Eeyup, it's true. But Ah don' see what the big deal is."
She was quick to reply, "No work today, your brothers and sisters can handle it."
For an instant panic crossed his stubborn features. Did that mean she was sending him away? Did she hate him now? All in the span of a few seconds he had imagined a situation where his mother had come to the realization that she didn't want a son that nopony liked and would trim him from the family like the dying branch of an apple tree. That strange were her words.
She read his panic quickly and patted the side of his face comfortingly, "Now listen here, you're not in trouble."
He shook himself out of her grasp and gave her a fierce stare. "Then why can't Ah go do mah chores like normal? Is havin' friends really that important to y'all?"
"Yes, Crackersnack, I reckon they are that important." And then in a softer tone, she went on. "Are you really okay with not havin' anypony aside from us carin' about ya? All this time I thought 'Surely that colt's got some friends he's been hidin' from us,' but Ah was a fool. You been pushin' good ponies away..." A shadow crossed over her face and for a moment the ocean of her eyes looked they had been swept up in a storm of powerful waves. "And Ah'm not always gonna be around to look after ya, Ah need to know that when the time comes that there's gonna be somepony else who... Who cares about ya. Don't ya understand? Ponies weren't meant to live alone, y'all need somepony."
He was taken aback. She had hurt over him since she'd heard about all of this. It felt like his stomach had dropped and he was feeling very small right now under the eyes of his mother. Finally, when he was able to speak again, he asked. "So.. What does this have to do with mah chores..?"
"Ah'm sendin' ya to live with my sister in the village. She said she'd be more than happy to have your help runnin' that fruit stand of hers." Crackersnack's eyes widened like saucers when she said this. She really was planning to send him away. She went on though, yet again seeing the panic on his face and trying to calm him again. "Now listen here, this here arrangement ain't gonna last forever, you can come back, as soon as you've made some friends. The way Ah see it, runnin' a fruit stand should be the perfect way to get you out there socialisin' with everpony."
He couldn't speak, and he knew he couldn't say no without disappointing her. She smiled as he forced himself to nod.
"You'll see, when all this is over you're gonna thank me."
"Ah... Ah guess Ah'll go up to mah room an' pack then." She nodded at this and pulled him close, wrapping him in a hug before he could protest. "Ah love ya, son, Ah know you'll make me proud of ya."
" Ah lov- love ya too.."
She pulled away and beamed at him. It had just slipped out there. Before she could say anything else he bounded out of the kitchen and up to his room.
~*~
Crackersnack had been to Trottingham before, it was the town where he and his sibling attended class at the small one-room schoolhouse. Though had never had the chance to go there very often during the summer aside from the festivals his family took part in every year, selling apples. Every year it seemed that his brothers would help out at the stand just long enough for the events to start before running off, oftentimes dragging him along with them.
It was safe to say he knew his way around fairly well, it wasn't a very large village, though from the outside it gave the air of something far grander than it really was. The ponies of the town had built a large stone wall many years ago to help keep out predators from the surrounding forest. And to those, there had been added guard towers when bandits had become a problem.
But that was many years in the past, ever since the celestial sisters had taken up leadership in Equestria, things had become much more peaceful and with time, they had needed them less and less. Now, many of them had been converted into homes or places of business. It was in one such guard tower that his Aunt had made her home. Her name was Orchard Hope. She was a tan-coloured mare with a reddish-pink coloured mane. Her cutie mark was what looked to be a bit, but instead of the plain surface that bits normally had, this one had an apple inscribed upon it.
It had confused him when he first saw it, after all, he knew that his aunt ran a lowly fruit stand and while bits were becoming more and more common in recent years. Small things like food were still exchanged with the bartering system. More often than not, the only things where bits were exchanged for were large scale business transactions and the buying of physical property, like land and farming equipment. He had only seen real bits a few times in his life, one of them had been when their push plough had broken, and his father had taken him with him down into the village to see the blacksmith and buy a new one.
His mother and Orchard Hope sat across from him in the living room as they chatted, drinking tea from small tin cups that had been in the tower when Orchard had bought the place a few months back. The move into the larger house was still a hot topic between the two mares, it being what they were talking about now.
"I simply must have the rest of your family over some time, Tree Shine, darling." Cooed Orchard as she took a sip from her cup. His mother nodded her head. "Maybe this Hearth warming if we aren't having any of Wheel Turner's family over."
His father had come here from another town some several years back, and though his family didn't often make the trip down here, when they did it tended to fill their home to capacity.
Whilst they talked, Crackersnack took the time to look around the room from where he was seated. The place certainly had the look of a guard tower, being perfectly round with small windows that didn't let in very much light. Though the light that came from a small hearth fire at the other side of the room was more than enough to cast a warm, cheery glow upon the room. There were two sofa's sat in front of a small coffee table at the foot of a stone staircase that leads up to what he guessed was the living quarters the guard ponies had used when they'd worked here.
"One of the biggest perks to living in one of these old guards towers so far," his aunt gushed happily, "Has got to be the view. I mean nopony else in the whole of Trottingham can say they got a view Rosewood forest right there from their bed." Though there was, of course, Trottingham castle, and the few other ponies who had taken up house in ex guard towers, mentioning them now would have spoiled the effect she was going for.
Tree Shine chuckled, "Well Ah should say not, it's kinda hard or most ponies in town to get one when y'all got a wall built up around ya. O' course we don' have that problem over at Apple valley."
Orchard nodded deeply, "So you can see why this place was such a steal. I mean there must have been a dozen or so ponies trying to get the place." Tree Shine raised an eyebrow at this. "How'd ya get it so easily then?"
Orchard pressed a hoof to her chest. "Getting this place was anything but easy, Darling." And then raising her hoof to her brow she exclaimed, "But a mare has her ways I suppose. With a bit of flare and smart business know-how, you can do just about any-"
"Ya flirted your way in then?" Said Tree Shine, cutting her sister off.
"No Ah didn't!" Cried Orchard at the accusation. Though she kept her accent carefully hidden most of the time, she had a habit of slipping back into it from time to time. She blushed slightly. "Well, maybe a little bit."
Tree Shine snickered, covering her mouth with a hoof, Orchard rolled her eyes and turned her attention over to Crackersnack. "So, what do you think of the place?"
Crackersnacks snapped his head around to look to his aunt. He had still been looking around the room, only half paying attention to what they'd been talking about. Tree Shine laughed more audibly now, "My lil' Crackersnack's always been a stallion of little words, just like his Pa." Orchard nodded.
"Though it doesn't seem like the word 'little' fits him much these days, you know."
"Yeah, Ah guess. But he'll always be mah little colt, now won't ya, Darlin'?" Crackersnack said nothing but blushed and averted his gaze.
Clearing her throat, Orchard asked her question again. "So, what do you think of the place, Darling. You haven't said so much as a word since you got here."
"It's pretty nice Ah guess."
"Why thank you, dear. It's nice to know you like the place since you'll be seeing a lot of it over the next couple of months before school starts back up again. How many years do you have left by the way?"
Crackersnack thought for a moment, "Uh, two years." Orchard nodded and sipped her tea. "And what after that? Any plans for college, or do you plan on... working the farm like your older brothers?" She said that last part almost like it tasted bad. Tree Shine rolled her eyes but didn't comment.
He hadn't really thought about it. "Ah don't really know, Ah guess..." He trailed off. There had been a time back when he first got to this life, where he would have already been planning to run off somewhere. But that hardly crossed his mind now, there was no place for him to go, no family from his old life to track down, no drawn-out revenge plan for the princesses. He was merely surviving with his current situation. As he would have described it. He got up in the morning, did what was expected of him, and then went to bed. Thought in recent years hardly ever trailed beyond the day ahead.
"Well from what my sister told me about your grades... I would have assumed you had some goal. But not to worry, dear, you've plenty of time before you have to think about that sort of thing." She leaned over the coffee table and was about to pour some more tea into his cup, but seeing that it was still full, she filled her own and Treeshine's instead.
"Eeyup, there ain't no problem in that. Ya got all the time ya need." Treeshine added.
After that the conversation had turned to more mundane topics until from somewhere upstairs the sound of chimes had floated down to where they were sitting, three chimes for three o'clock. "Is it really that time late in the day already? Ah need to be gettin' home."
Orchard patted her sister's hoof, "Isn't it always the way, Darling? We simply must do this again soon though.
"We certainly do, Sis."
Orchard and Crackersnack followed her to the door and they said their goodbyes. Wrapping her son in one more hug. she spoke softly into his ear. "Now just cause I got you down here livin' with your aunt, don't mean you can't come home and visit whenever ya want, alright?"
He nodded to his mother and pulled away, then just like that she was gone. Both of them had remained at the door though until Tree Shine had disappeared around the corner and then Orchard had gone back into the tower and left him at the open door. He wanted to chase after his mother, tell her that he changed his mind. That she was wrong about friends and that he would be fine without them, but he couldn't stand the thought of the face she would make. So he reserved himself to needing time away from her anyway, and at length, he followed his aunt back into the tower.
~*~
He spent the better part of the afternoon getting shown the rest of the tower, as it had turned out, he had been wrong about the floor just above the living room. What he had assumed would be living quarters had turned out to be a floor completely dedicated to storage, there were three or four chest scattered around the room, and a bookshelf pressed into the tower's curving wall, and then another staircase leading up.
"Now the room you'll be staying in is on the next floor."
The stairs went up to a landing and a door this time, up ahead he could see that the stairs went up another level. "That's my room up there, dear. If you need anything feel free to trot on up and knock on the door. Though you might have to knock hard so I can hear you. The room takes up two floors on it's own. It was the bunkhouse back when this place was still a functioning guard tower." And then gushing a little bit she went on. "It's almost like having a second home, inside my home. Can you imagine?"
He shook his head. "No, not really."
"Well, uh, you should get some rest before dinner, we have a big day ahead of us in the morning out at the market. I want to get to showing you the trade as soon as possible." She pushed the door open with her hoof, "Now I'm sure you saw the little door downstairs? There are chamber pots there for you to use, and for when you need to wash. I've got a pitcher and bowl sat out on your dresser. Later this week I'll take you down to the bathhouse for some proper cleaning, but until then this should do quite nicely, I'm sure."
"Thank you."
"You're very welcome, Darling." She turned to leave to room. "Don't worry about helping with dinner tonight, I'll call down when it's done." The door closed with a soft click and he found himself standing alone again. Heaving a sigh, he cantered over to the bed and sat down his saddlebags. There were two medium-sized windows on this floor of the tower that had an impressive view of the village of Trottingham. He let him enjoy the novelty of the view just as his aunt had enjoyed her's. In the distance, he could the little school's bell tower rising up over the rooftops, and he wondered if he would really be allowed to come back home when school started if had hadn't made a friend by then. Or if that was just the arrangement that she had made with Orchard, an arrangement she felt she could add to if need be. He felt a tight knot form in his stomach as the thoughts crossed his mind. For a place he had hated so much in years previous, it was something he had grown accustomed to calling home, and that was the place he wanted to be right now. Even if Tree shine and the rest of the family would probably hate him just as much as he now wanted to hate them if they knew the truth. Not that there was any risk to that unless he decided to go spilling the beans.
He would most certainly be taken seriously at this age.
Laying down on the bed, he let his thoughts turn to Celestia. The old hag had built a castle where his old home had been. They called it the castle of the two sister's. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to go back to the forest for a visit. Now it was called the 'Everfree', it had probably been renamed to that to commemorate the freeing of his slave ponies.
Which if he was going to be honest with himself now. hadn't been the smartest move, though it had made so much more sense back when he had the book. A lot of things had made sense back then, now a lot of things didn't.
~*~
Crackersnack woke to an early breakfast the next morning, or at least that was how his aunt Orchard had referred to it. It just so happened to be four hours later than was the custom on the Apple Valley farm. He wondered how he could have slept so late.
After eating Orchard got dressed in a simple white dress and insisted that he wear a bolo tie that she retrieved from a chest upstairs. "Uh, why are we getting all fancied up to sell apples again?"
Orchard was still adjusting the tie around his neck as she answered. "Because, darling, we must maintain the proper image of professionalism. And not wearing anything is often seen as a bit too casual for work, unless of course, you work on a farm. Do you understand, dear?"
Crackersnack thought for a moment and shook his head.
"Well imagine if you went to a bank and the teller wasn't even wearing a collar, what would you say?"
"Ah'd say we were runnin' a fruit stand, not a bank."
Orchard looked a bit flustered at his response. "Well, in any case, you're wearing the bolo tie." Smiling softly as she stepped back she went on. "I'd say it looks rather nice on you too. That bolo tie belonged to pappy Appleseed you know."
Crackersnack looked down at it in surprise. He had heard of Appleseed on more than one occasion. He had been after all the stallion who had first bought and founded the farmland his family was now living on.
The weather had been lovely that morning, the temperature not too hot and not too cold. It was a comfortable neutral feeling with just the barest hint of coolness in the air that felt wonderful as they made their way to the stand. Pastel colours ponies were trotting about everywhere, heading to the places they need to go. To his wandering eye, he noted with a slight note a dissatisfaction, that he and his aunt seemed to be the only earth ponies openly sporting any sort of garment that day aside from the odd straw hat here or there.
The village of Trottinghams population was mostly made up of Unicorns and Earth ponies, and the few pegasi that come to live here, those had only done so for work. Most of them would end up leaving again within a year of being here. Though there were special cases as wing injuries were quite common in those days with the medical magic available at the time, and since it was normal for the pegasus to live in the clouds away from most ponies, it was a common story that somepony hadn't gotten to a healer in time to fix a more serious problem, or that inadequate treatment had lead to a long term disability.
His teacher Running Wind was one such pegasus. He had told the class his story on the first day, explaining that when he had been a young colt. It had been common practice in Cloudsdale to take from the example of bird and teach their foals to fly by nudging them off the edge of a cloud. He had been one of the unlucky few whose wings had been late to develop the kind of strength required to lift oneself from the ground, and his mother's paranoia had, of course, led his survival. If she had chosen a cloud any higher in the sky, he might not have survived the fall.
Though apparently, his father had thought differently on the subject, to his mind it had been her fault for choosing such a low cloud. If she had gone higher their son might have had more time to catch the wind in his wings and this difference in opinion had led to their separation and what would be a bitter custody battle. Most fathers might have given up on a foal that would never fly, but he had been close with both of his parents growing up. And his father who hadn't felt willing to do that had used his line of thought to convince the court that his mother was unfit to care for a foal.
Though he had only learned the part about his parents through his own parents around the Apple family dinner table. Even though pegasus like him were common enough, his openly planning to live in town and work as the school teacher had still been the subject of many ponies unbridled gossip that he had later managed to quash by simply telling them as much of the story as he was willing to muster.
The market place was filled with colourful stone sheds with large rectangular windows that had doors which could be opened to create a front counter. The two of them approached a smaller one towards the centre of the square, both of them toting large crates filled with fresh produce. Celery, carrots, herbs, and of course some apples from the farm.
In less than a few moments, Orchard had the shed unlocked and herself sitting behind the counter where she proceeded to set out her wares. "Now pay close attention, Crackersanck. It's very important for you to allow shoppers to browse items. Because believe it or not, most ponies aren't quite sure what they would like to buy when they come to market, and the ponies who do know what they want would rather be able to see what you've got then have to trot up to each stall and ask. Much faster that way. Understand?"
It made sense to him, so he nodded.
It was still fairly early in the morning when they opened up shop, but before long other shops were opening their doors too and a few ponies began wandering the stalls. He had to admit, his aunt was a natural at this. The way she handled the customers made him feel like most of them trotted away with more than they had intended to get. As with the way of the bartering system, they had accumulated a small mound of jars, rolls of cloth and other tradable goods. One mare had bought four heads of lettuce and some apples with two jars of strawberry jam. Orchard sat one aside to go with their lunch later in the day.
Some of the less valuable items would go back onto the shelf to be bartered away to other ponies. The more valuable items were stashed in a box to be taken home at the end of the day.
He didn't do much talking or much of anything really. Today he was to observe and listen to Orchard explain the trade. When somepony came up to barter with them, she would introduce him and go into detail explaining why the trade was a good one, and why certain items were more valuable than others.
"It's all about the work put into the products, Crackersnack. The more work involved in the manufacture, the more the item will be able to get you."
Orchard was certainly business smart. His mother often spoke about how headstrong and cunning her sister had been when the two had been fillies, about how she had always seemed to be able to get out of trouble. He had no problem believing that his aunt could get just about anything she wanted with her attitude and words alone. Though after a while he began to notice a change in Orchard whenever a customer happened to be a unicorn. She would never explain the trade to him in these cases, and the faked accent she used so often somehow sounds less genuine. Like she was trying too hard all of a sudden.
He couldn't help thinking then that she wasn't the confident mare she seemed at first glance. There were a few stray cracks in the mask she relied on so heavily, and he was starting to see them.
Later that evening they closed the shop and went to the local inn for a hot meal and a drink of cider. He considered asking her about what he'd noticed during the day but he thought better of it at the last moment and went back to his oats.
~*~
Weeks passed and in that time had managed quite well in learning the ins and outs of running a stand. He'd had a bit of trouble making trades at first, but he had managed to get the hang of it enough that Orchard now trusted him alone at the stand for small periods of time. It really wasn't so hard now that he was getting used to it.
He gulped as he realised he would have to focus on the friend-making part before much longer.
