Cows, sheep and donkeys, oh my
The large town of Moscow sat between rolling hills and perched next to a lovely flowing river. Perched on its shore stood a two-story four mill, a couple of mules walking up to it as the sun rose to start the day. The warm rays of sunshine reflected off the numerous red and white barn-themed buildings that dotted the town. On one of the larger estates stood a sizable three-story manor. Finely carved pillars of oak and a marble fountain along the front drive made it clear that the creatures that lived here had significant wealth. The cows that lived there were one of the richest in the town.
Sitting In the main dining hall sat two cows, a sheep and a donkey. All dressed in fancy attire showing off their status to any who would see them. Matilda, the mistress of the manor, was the first to speak as she idly stirred her tea. “Mmmm, I must say, have you seen the headline of today’s newspaper this morning?”
The sheep took a bite of her muffin and nodded. “Oh yes, the ponies have their magic back.”
The donkey scuffed as he rolled his eyes. “So what? We never needed it.” The fact that when Equestria started to break down and magic vanished had left the hooved citizens who didn’t rely on magic to defend for themselves. Over the years, it had all added up to this great town.
The other cow mooed. “Oh, but can you imagine when they figure out how to control the weather again, even better weather for the crops? Plus, I heard the amazing stories about how earth ponies used to have some amazing strength.”
Matilda nodded as well. “Oh yes, quite the comeback it’s gonna be. I read such interesting tales about old Equestria.”
The sheep bleated as she took a look at the newspaper. “Will it affect our profits,” she asked.
Matilda shook her head. “Oh, I wouldn’t imagine it will,” she stated matter-factly. It was hard to imagine that in the olden days before the fall, many cows and sheep had been content to simply live near farmers and let them do most of the work. All while exploiting the relatively free living quarters. When distrust amongst ponies broke out, it led to the slow collapse of government regulations about the pricing of milk and wool. This, of course, had left the perfect opportunity for the cows and sheep to form unions. Thus allowing free reign over how much they could charge the ponies for their precious milk or soft wool for their clothing. It was true that ponies had many luxury items they could sell in exchange. Matilda saw no reason to expect their high position at the bargaining table to change. Ponies always need milk and cheese and other products.
Just as she was about to read more of the article, she heard someone clearing their throat from the doorway. Glancing up, she saw her diamond dog butler patiently awaiting a response. “Yes, Rover?”
“Mistress Matilda, your guest has arrived,” Rover replied, adjusting his black jacket. The Diamond Dogs had turned out to be a valuable asset, a few packs able to be civilized enough to do Jewelry work. While many were content to dig up gems and mine like their ancestors, plenty more were willing to be educated. It turned out that the diamond dog's natural infatuation with gemstones had led to them being good jewellers. The smarter ones were trained to be guards, their dog nature making the job easy.
“Oh, excellent, let them in,” Matilda replied, smiling.
The butler exited the room before a large bull and zebra entered. The bull tripped his bowler hat before hanging it on the coat rack. “Good Morning, Matilda.”
Matilda smiled, sliding the paper across the table. “Nice to see you again too, Bullevard. Have you seen the news?”
Taking a seat, Bullevard took the paper, skimming over the front headlines and the picture of the Rainbow effect streaking across the sky. “I was curious about what that was.”
The zebra mare adjusted her jewelry, peering at the photos as well. “Pony magic is restored? Maybe they’ll now interact more.”
Matilda sipped from her tea before nodding. “Oooh, I hope so, Brew. Nothing quite as amazing as seeing what potions can do.”
Brew smiled, proud of her ancient craft passed down through the years. “This is true. Nothing quite like a zebra brew.” Even long ago, potions weren’t super common. But the tradition lived on throughout the ages. Her ancestor is said to have lived in the Everfree Forest at one point in the past. Her talent was unmatched, and it showed in her work.
Bullevard nodded, taking a sip of his drink. “Indeed, your brews are almost better than modern medicine. It’s nice the ponies are coming back together. I’ve heard such interesting old tales about Equestria.”
“The start of a new age, I hope,” Matilda hopefully said as she took another sip of her tea and peered out the window at her lush yard.
As the sun continued its journey across the sky, A trio of ponies strolled up the path towards the town. Sunny Starscout’s mane flutters in the breeze, gazing in awe at the large community before her. “Wow,” she said, watching one donkey delivering mail.
“How’d you not know this place was here, Sunny? Everypony knows where milk comes from,” Izzy chimed, skipping alongside her friend.
“Well, my dad never mentioned it, and well, I didn’t think about it,” Sunny replied, blushing.
Zipp tilted her head, hovering over the other two as she peered around. “Yeah, I even knew where we got our milk hand cheese.”
Sunny snorted, stomping a hoof. “Well, if all these other creatures got along, why did it take so long for ponies to? I feel cheated,” she groaned.
Her two friends stared at one another, mouths opening and closing for a few seconds as they tried to come up with a response but came up empty. Izzy eventually spoke up as she lit her horn for emphasis. “Hey, at least you brought back magic while doing it.”
Sunny gestured to the group of creatures heading about their day. “But they didn’t need magic to be friends. What’s our excuse?”
Izzy tapped her chin before adjusting her fluffy blue hair. “Well…let’s stop moping and get some really good cheese!” She chimed trotting ahead.
Rolling her eyes, Sunny followed after her friend. “Fine, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this eventually.”
And there, there are the Cows.
Author's Note
Man, took a bit of filler to reach 1K XD
The hustle and bustle of an awaking town slowly grew as Sunny looked left to right, seeing the various stalls and stores along the main street. The mixture of creatures other than ponies was still much to take in. Even with all the stories her father had told her, it didn’t compare to seeing it face to face. Even as creatures waved good morning, she felt a bit conflicted, not towards the town, but at what her own kind had done in the past. Letting it slide momentarily, she followed Izzy toward one of the jewelry stands.
As she got closer, Sunny’s eyes peered up at the finely groomed brown diamond dog with his black jacket helping to outline his muscles. Being the first time she’d seen one up close, the dog's smile reassured her as he spoke. “Good Morning, miss. Care for a nice bobble?”
Sunny looked at the display taping her chin before looking at Izzy. “What do you think, Izzy? Earrings, maybe?” She picked up one of the red gems encircled by some golden metal, holding it to her ear as she looked in the small mirror.
Izzy examined the colour and nodded. “Oooh, good pick. These dogs always have the best gems.”
“Oh, it’s just natural,” the diamond dog said with a proud smile. “Been tradition for generations to gem hunt.”
Sunny placed a few bits on the counter. “So your pack never had any problem with other creatures like ponies?” She asked those nagging questions edging her on.
The shopkeep idly fiddles with his watch. “Oh, we’ve all had our differences, but we always managed to make things right. Although, ponies do tend to have trust issues. An old tale tells of a white unicorn whose whining drove the pack into submission. It’s a wise tale about not getting on the ponies bad side.”
Izzy pouted. “We don’t whine that much. Most were just blah,” she said, circling her hoof. “Although It’s a lot better now, way more smiling than before.”
The diamond dog cleared his throat. “Err, right. Ironic that ponies taught friendship yet broke apart. Ponies are like sheep. They follow other ponies in panic.” He rubbed his neck, looking towards the sheep in the next stall selling its sweaters. “Uh, no offence?”
The sheep huffed in reply, rolling her eyes. “Taken!”
Sunny frowned as she thought it over. She couldn’t deny the dog’s comment considering what Sprout had done when she was on her quest. Why couldn’t the three tribes see reason all those years while the other creatures never seem to go as far as to have a civil war with each other? “Well…um, why didn’t the other Equestrians help us?”
The stall dog simply shrugged as Zipp came over with a newspaper “Hey, don’t sweat it. You’ll figure it out,” she said, holding up the paper to show the front cover with Sunny and her ethereal wings.”You made the news too. You look good.”
Sunny clipped the earrings on, adjusting them before peering at the photo, a smile returning. “Yeah, guess I do look pretty nice.” Her eyes traced the headline of, Pony Magic Restored.
“Almost looking as good as a princess,” Zipp teased, wiggling her eyebrows.
For a moment, Sunny’s thoughts derailed as she sputtered. “W-what? Well, I’m no Twilight or anything.” She replied, idly flicking at her mane.
Zipp rolled her eyes while nudging Sunny’s side. “Pfft, come on Sunny, you’re friends with two princesses now. It’s not that big of a deal.”
A faint blush came to Sunny’s cheeks before she shook her head. “Right, anyway, we should keep looking around for answers. There are so many things I can find out here.”
Peering at one the nearby chalkboard sign Zipp pointed a wing and replied. “Well there is a library, Should be all sorts of books there.”
“Oh! That's a great idea, Zipp. Let’s get going! Ohh, now I wish I had brought my father’s journal. I’m sure there are all kinds of things I could have cross-referenced. ” Sunny said as she started heading down the street with renewed determination.
As Zipp started to follow, Izzy glanced over with a wave. “I’ll catch up later. I got more craft supplies to collect.”
“Yeah, catch you later, Izzy,” Sunny called back as they resumed the trek along the street following the signs. The curious earth pony took her time to glance at the other races as they passed by and took in just how harmonious it all seemed. Many of them even waved back as the trek continued. It wasn’t long before they reached the marble steps of the grand-looking library. On one side of the wooden double doors was a griffin statue, while on the opposite end was a dragon posing on its hind legs. She paused by the entrance to take in the chisel work of the finely made figures before pushing the doors open. Upon entering, her nose picked up the faint familiar smell of books that reminded her of her father’s many journals and texts that he had stored. Perhaps he even came to this same library back in the day. Her eyes widened in glee. Skipping joyfully on the spot, she pointed and looked back at Zipp. “Look, Zipp, all the knowledge I need. Unfiltered by bias.” Her little joyful squees caused a nearby diamond dog to cover its ears until she was stopped by the librarian at the main counter.
The grey dragoness put a claw to her lips. “Shhh, this is a library,” she scolded as she adjusted her red tie. “Nice to see a pony again, though.”
Sunny rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, “Oh, uh hehe, sorry.” She moved up the desk and glanced at the dragoness with interest, given the only other dragon she’d seen was Sparky. Upon seeing Sunny’s odd looks, the dragoness posed teasingly, distracting Sunny for a moment. “You’re different,” she muttered.
“Hmm, you say that to all new creatures you meet?” The dragoness remarked as she sat back on her chair, peering at the computer screen.
“No, it’s just that my friend Hitch watches over a baby dragon,” Sunny said as she fished out a small photo from her satchel holding it out to show. “And we didn’t have another reference on how dragons look.”
The dragoness blinked and chuckled at the site of Sparky wiggling her claws a little. “You sure that’s a dragon? Doesn’t look like one I’ve ever seen.” She reached over with her claw pointing at the eyes specifically.
Sunny flipped the photo around to look at it again. “Well, now that I look, he does seem different. My father made me a dragon plush once. His name was Spike.”
“Spike, you say? Hmm, that baby might be a Wyvern, perhaps?” the dragoness said with a shrug. “So, need any help finding something?”
Sunny rubbed her chin as she tried to decide what to go for first, turning to watch as Zipp idly tapped her hoof on a touchscreen card catalogue kiosk. “History mostly. I just have so many questions I need to solve.” Moving over to Zipp, she kept watching for a moment before she spoke. “So, have you been here before, Zipp?”
“Nope, first time,” Zipp started as she pressed another button. “Always had guards or mom trying to keep an eye on me, so I never could slip away too far from home for too long. Well, other than that old blimp dock I showed you.”
“Oh! That makes sense. Well, let’s find some history,” Sunny chimed as the two scanned through a few lists before coming across what they wanted. Upon heading up some stairs to the second floor, the two entered an open area with small round tables and chairs taking up the space with rows of shelves lining the edges. A few creatures were there as well, reading to themselves. As the two moved to one of the shelves, a grey griffin at one of the tables glanced up from his book watching with curiosity. It wasn’t long until the pair returned from the isle, moving to a table with a few books and a thick history tome.
Zipp smiled as she opened one of her books. “History of the Wonderbolts? Hmm, sounds interesting.”
Sunny glanced over and smiled. “Oh yeah, I remember those posters we saw.” She said, sliding open the book about the Pillars of Equestria. There was also info on the Elements of Harmony. The content within would be of great interest for many reasons. Her mind was already cross-referencing her father’s stories.
“Yeah, it took me a bit to recall the name of the flying group. They got nice suits too. Been trying to find one that isn’t behind glass,” Zipp replied as the two read onward for some time, the room once more full of flipping pages.
After a while of silent observation, the griffin who had been watching them rose from his chair and moved over to their table. “Hey, you’re that hero pony, right? Magic back and all that?” He said, rolling his claw about as he spoke.
Zipp pat Sunny back with a wing as she smirked. “Yup, this here is Sunny. Brought us back together,” Zipp flattered.
Despite herself, Sunny blushed. “It was a team effort. Glad it all worked out. The new magic will take some time to get used to.”
“My grandpa told me about the pony’s old stories.” His face suddenly dropped as he continued. “How they taught the other nations friendship only to toss it all away.”
“H-hey, that’s not fair. I’m sure-“ Sunny’s voice rose only to be shushed by surrounding patrons. She twitched her hooves as she muttered. “Things are different this time.” The griffin’s words rattled in her mind as she eyed her book and the photos of old figureheads. It stood as a reminder of how the other nations had stuck together despite no magic. What did that say about ponies? Her worries lessened as Zipp put a wing on her shoulder as the griffin walked back to his table.
The afternoon sun cast long shadows on the duo as they exited the library, Sunny’s bags full of a few books to study. Sunny’s gaze idly watched a few more creatures wandering by as Zipp walked alongside. Zipp looked down the street as well as she spoke. “Hey, don't sweat it too much. Ponies took a tumble, but we got back up, eventually If I learned anything from my mom’s insistent nagging is that putting the world on your shoulder can be exhausting.”
“Yeah, I suppose you're right. I’ll figure all this out in time,” Sunny replied, catching sight of Izzy coming down the path with a guest in tow.
“Hey Sunny, guess who I ran into? The mayor! Isn’t that cool?” Izzy chimed, pointing to the green and yellow Kirin mare next to her.
“Name’s Charcoal. Nice to meet you, Sunny,” Charcoal greeted offering her hoof for a shake.
Sunny gladly shook back as she grinned. “Yeah, this town is amazing so far. Wish I’d known of it sooner.”
The mayor chuckled a bit. “Oh, sometimes a few ponies try to visit before, but the ways they’d try to avoid other tribes got rather amusing on occasion.” She briefly glanced at Zipp before she constituted. “With the tribes united again, trading will increase substantially for sure. It was always odd how the ponies never questioned where their milk and cheese came from.”
Sunny shuffled her hoof with a sheepish smile. “My dad never told me. So I guess I never asked either. Now I’m seeing so many of the other creatures old Equestria mentioned. A dream come true.”
“Well, how about I take you three to the local barista and have a toast to new beginnings?” Charcoal offered, putting her hoof down the street.
Izzy licked her lips. “Ohh, sounds good!” she chimed as Sunny and Zipp came alongside her as they moved along the street.
As the group made their way along passing by an advertisement for dairy products, Sunny smiled onwards glancing at the crowds around them with renewed confidence. “Yeah, things are going to work out. I can feel it.”
Author's Note
Yeah, I know ending a bit sudden but I kind of lost track of what exactly I had planned. Hope it works.
