A Deer in Ponyville

Albert gazes carefully at the town on the other side of the river.
He is sure he can make out a few shapes walking around, (his vision isn't the best at his age), but isn't sure what they are. Albert walks adjacent to the wide river, still keeping his eyes locked on the unfamiliar town. Eventually, he approaches a bridge. Albert was now quite far from his home, he felt the need to eat lunch already. But, perhaps, this town had food? I may as well give it a shot, the deer thought.

He pranced lightly up to and across the bridge, still eyes locked on the town across it. Upon arriving, he now gets a better view of the inhabitants of the town, and is beyond shocked,

"A town full of... ponies???" Albert thought out loud. Without realizing it, he had already collected a few gazes from bystander ponies, all staring at him like he had five heads. Albert felt his cheeks get flush and he slowly inched more into the town. The ponies still staring him down. Are they ever gonna stop staring, he thought. Albert got a wonderful perspective of the new town before him. The spralling cottages, the wide streets, the venders on the streets, the lack of infinite forest he was used to. It was quite a new site to behold for our deer protagonist.

A pink colored pony with a puffy and bouncy mane trots gayly down his path, and is on the verge of bumping into him,

"Excuse me, coming through," he said in a polite tone, the pony opened her eyes, only to see the unfamiliar visitor before her.

Suddenly, the pink pony leaped in the air and gasped louder than any gasp Albert has ever heard in his life. Well, to be fair, he's only ever heard two other gasps in his life. His own on upon the realization that he forgot to clean the outhouse, and the other one being of his mother's when he told her that "no, turtles don't grow from trees..."

The pink pony zipped away instantly, Albert was beyond baffled by this strange interaction, but, nevertheless, carried on.

He, like usual, collected the constant and rude stares of bystander ponies and just tried to the best of his ability to ignore their ogling and gazing.

Then, he arrived at a flower stand. He was quite hungry for some daisies right about now. He approached calmly with a smile and greeted the mare at the stand, the mare said nothing,

"Greetings. I would like..." Albert narrowed his eyes and browsed the ever-so various variety of flora displayed on the stand,
"That one." Albert pointed his dainty cloven hoof at a bouquet of fresh daisies and daylily. The mare stared extensively at the deer before her, unsure how to react. She simply wore an awkward forced smile in the direction of the deer and grabbed the large bouquet with her front hooves, plopping them down on the table,

"That'll be five bits," she said.
Albert flicked an ear,

"Excuse me... what-"

"Five bits," the mare reiterated, beckoning her hoof. Albert simply stared lamely at the hoof, then at the ground in dumbfoundment,

"I'm... sorry, dear. But, I'm afraid I don't have any of those so-called 'bits' you're asking for..." Albert made air quotes with his front hooves, now plopping down on his haunches. the mare nodded patiently,

"I assume you're new here, so..." The mare gently pushed the bouquet closer to Albert, "take it."

"Oh- I'm sorry, but if you want me to partake in fair business then-"

"It's on me. It's been a pleasure." The mare turned her head over her shoulder, as if looking for something behind her. Albert nodded slowly,

"Thank you dearly," he said before picking up the bouquet with his dainty muzzle. He trotted away with a giddy expression on his face. The mare, without him knowing, gently placed a small, "closed" sign on the table, and wandered off.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Albert found a lone bench next to a small bar. He munched calmly on the daisies, enjoying their flowery scent and taste. He took a bite out of the day lilies to add to his palette. A young filly walking with her stallion father stopped in her tracks and gaped at the deer. The stallion quickly nudged the filly to keep walking with him, now also planting his gaze on the deer. Albert rolled his eyes and continued munching, undisturbed.

All of a sudden, a purple unicorn trotted down the street, gazing at all of the store names, and unintentionally catching the deer in her vision. She halted in her tracks and simply stared. Typical, Albert thought.

But then, the purple unicorn slowly inched closer and closer. By now, Albert was getting slightly nervous. Although he seemed to have interacted well with the flower vender, he was on the verge of a panic attack the whole time. Same here. The purple unicorn only got closer, and with each hoofstep closer, Albert's heart fluttered stronger. The unicorn finally stopped, only a few hoofsteps away from the deer, and wore a warm smile,

"Hello, there." The unicorn waved at Albert, tilting her head slightly. Albert awkwardly waved back. The purple mare slowly inched closer,

"My name's Twilight Sparkle. You can just call me Twilight. The name 'Twi' is only preserved for best friends, though. But, perhaps if we get to know each other a bit more, we can become friends too," The mare beamed. Albert grinned awkwardly,

"C-Cool," he nodded,

"My name's Albert."

"well, nice to meet you, Albert!" Twilight held out a hoof, Albert simply stared at it,

"Oh- I'm trying to give you a hoof shake. I-It's a pony thing."

Albert nodded and planted his cloven hoof on Twilight's noticing her purple hoof was a lot thicker than his own. They both somehow achieved the most awkward hoofshake known to Equestria. Twilight nodded with a grin,

"So, a deer huh? Very fascinating..." Twilight scanned Albert's body extensively, observing his slightly shorter stature and lean build.

"Yep." Albert nodded awkwardly. Twilight met eyes with the deer,

"Don't take that the wrong way or anything! It's just that, well, you know, I'm used to ponies." Twilight wore a goofy grin,

"But, pony or not, I'm sure you'll enjoy your time in this wonderful establishment. The wonderful town of Ponyville..." Twilight sighed dreamily,

"Now then, I think it would be appropriate for me to show you around, huh?" Twilight smiled.

"Oh yes. I would... love that," Albert smiled back.

"Wonderful! Follow me, Albert!" the deer trotted close behind.

"That over there is the flower vender. Way over there is the Carousel Boutique..." Twilight rambled on and on about each store and home, and even about the history of each store. Albert said nothing and simply nodded his head continuously like a bobble-head.

"Hey! You know what would be great? If I introduce you to my friends! I'm sure they'd love to hang out with you. But first, tell me a little about yourself," Twilight said, facing Albert now.

"Oh! A-about me? Uh..." Albert thought extensively. Twilight sat down patiently.

"I... uh... live in a cottage in the Everfree Forest," he said.

"Ooh! Nice!" Twilight smiled. Albert nodded,

"I, uh... eat plants... a lot of plants........" Albert said, trailing off.

"Oh... cool." Twilight wore an awkward grin,

"What's your favorite?"

"Uh... good question...." Albert thought again, remaining silent for several minutes.

"Well, I tend to favor Loopy vine, and Poison Joke..."

"Oh? Really?" Twilight leaned in,

"Poison Joke?"

"Yeah. Well, us deer have a very strong stomach. Also, it tastes pretty good too. It has a flavor between a blueberry and a leaf..." Albert said. Twilight nodded,

"That's very captivating, Albert. I- I'm just amazed. You're the first deer i've ever seen roam this way. In fact..." Twilight thought deeply,

"You might be the first deer to visit Ponyville in over a century."

"Really?" Albert raised an eyebrow, "huh."

"I'm serious. It- this is really cool..." Twilight spoke breathily with great enthusiasm. Albert nodded flatly.

"Well then, how about I introduce you to my friends? I'm sure they'd find you... err... interesting..." Twilight said.

Albert nodded,

"Okay."