Ponies of Fayra — Legend of Harmony

Flare smirked as she zoomed past River, reaching the park bench that was serving as their finish line. Spinning around, she came to a stop and waited for River to catch up.

“I don’t know how you take corners like you do, but it’s amazing!”

“Years of practice,” and cheating by being—way lighter, Flare thought to herself.

“It’s nice to have a pony my own age to skate with. Or, for that matter, another pony to skate with, at all. I just can’t bring myself to skate with kids. It makes me feel super self-conscious. Adults might mistake me for a kid often, but kids? Not so much. They can tell I’m just an old guy instantly. But I’m sure you know what I mean.”

“Yep,” Flare said, despite not really being able to relate. Sure, earth ponies treated her like she was a young filly, but back home she was a well-respected adult that no pony would ever mistake for a child.

“Getting close to dark. You want to grab a pizza at the arcade?” River blushed while smiling awkwardly as he tapped his skates together. “U-unless that’s too kidsy for you. To be honest, I don’t really do—a lot of adult things…” River laughed awkwardly.

“Pizza sounds amazing! It’s my favorite food back home. It’ll be fun to see what earth— the city version is like.”

River smiled brightly as she clapped her skates together in excitement. “Follow me. We can talk toppings on our way.”

Flare skated alongside River as they discussed toppings, most of which she hadn’t heard of before. But River had gotten so used to brushing off Flare’s ignorance as just being a byproduct of her isolated country life that Flare had started to feel as though she could admit to not knowing anything, and River would be happy to help her understand it. In the few short hours Flare had spent with River, she had learned a ton about the city, her mobile, and even “city pony” customs, as River liked to put it for her.

As the pair neared a downhill slope, Flare stared out at the city in awe as her eyes worked across the colorful lights of the cityscape before going out to the ocean to admire the last remnants of color in the sky.

“I know, right? I love this view. I come here pretty much every day after work. Of course, it helps that I live at the bottom of the hill.” River laughed. “The big blue building, to be precise.”

“Wow, that’s a—big house.”

River chuckled. “I don’t live in—the whole thing, silly. I rent a rather small, single-room apartment there. Size doesn’t matter to me, though. What mattes is that it’s a place—I pay for—on my own.”

“You pay for your house?”

“Yep. One-hundred percent on my own. It’s not much now, but one of these days I’ll be able to afford a nicer place. I don’t plan on working at a tea shop forever. One of these days I’m going to make a breakthrough in my true passion and make a living as an artist.”

Flare felt so utterly confused by River’s response that she found herself unable to even pick a question to ask.

“You look—super confused all of a sudden. I mean, I know I don’t really look like an artistic pony, but it’s not—that shocking, is it?”

“I guess I’m most confused by why you’re not already doing what you’re passionate about?”

“You say that like it’s nothing to be an artist. The market is—so saturated that it’s almost impossible to find a niche, and the skill level requirements ares intense, to say the least. As is, I’m lucky if I make twenty-five a month doing commissions. But I know if I stick to it and keep trying, I’ll find my niche, get my skills up, and eventually find my breakthrough… and you don’t look any less confused now…”

“Back where I’m from, if a pony wants to be an artist, they just be an artist… I’m sorry, but I’m just not getting it.”

“Huh—I’ve been pretty good at figuring out what you don’t get thus far, but this one seems odd… What do ‘artists’ do back where you’re from?”

“Paint stuff like surfboards, buildings, or make sculptures or other installation pieces… do I need to keep going?”

“No, I think I get it. Everypony where you’re from are physical artists. Which, in hindsight, I should have guessed. Speaking of guessing, I bet there’s not much competition where you’re from either? Which would probably make it—a whole lot easier for them. Though surfboards are a strange one… I thought all ponies of the salt lived pretty far inland.”

“Ponies of the salt?”

“Isn’t that what you are? I guess you never said you were, but I just kind of assumed it after we talked for a bit. Since the whole idea of the ponies of the salt is to live more traditional lives without modern technology. Which seems to be you to a T. I mean, you didn’t even know what your mobile number was used for until I explained it to you.”

Flare laughed awkwardly.

“Not that I’m judging. I’ve had a blast hanging out with you today. Though I’ll be honest, I always thought ponies of the salt—or maybe you like to be called something else? were more urban myth than reality.”

“I never considered my home very ‘traditional’ before, but compared to here, it certainly feels like it. Though, if you don’t mind, maybe just stick to country pony? Being called ‘a pony of the salt’ doesn’t feel right.”

“Got it. As for explaining my situation better… I’m a digital artist. Like the artwork on your mobile. I’ve never had enough money to do physical art. Also, not really too interested in it either. No undo, you know? Or, well, you probably don’t know.” River laughed awkwardly. “How about after we’re done, you come home with me, and I’ll just show you?”

“Okay.”

“Perfect. Now, I believe we have a pizza to get to.”

Flare followed River a short way to the right until they reached a long stone building with a sign that read “Hillside Plaza.”

Flare knew they were getting close to the pizzeria as the familiar smell of freshly baked crust, warm and yeasty with a hint of toasted nuts, filled the air. Upon arriving at the building, Flare was taken aback by River holding his mobile in front of a screen, then grabbing a box from a glass cabinet filled with red light before leading her over to a table.

Flare watched in bewilderment as River opened the box, revealing a pizza covered with all the toppings they had agreed on.

“I guess we picked something common?” asked Flare, assuming that their topping choices must have been so common that they didn’t even need to order.

“Not at all. This pizza is probably the strangest thing I’ve ever ordered.”

“I never saw you order it… Unless that’s what you did when you held up your mobile, but surely pizza can’t be made instantly?”

“Oh, no, sorry, totally forgot to explain that. I made the order on my mobile as soon as we were done deciding on toppings. I get pizza so often I can order anything on or off the menu in a few seconds flat. I probably eat—way too much pizza for dinner. Which is why I balance it out with salads at work for lunches.”

“I’m starting to wonder if there’s anything you can’t use mobiles for,” Flare said as she took a slice of pizza, then took a big bite, chewing slowly as she digested the flavor.

“You look a bit disappointed,” remarked River, with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“Not at all. It just tastes so different from anything I’ve made. Back home, I run a pizzeria. It’s certainly not bad, but very different.”

“You run a pizzeria!? As in, you own the whole thing?”

Flare nodded while she finished another bite of her pizza. “Yeah, it’s just me there. I’ve been running it for almost a decade now, actually.”

“D-Decade!?”

“Yeah, but, granted, it wasn’t a very big place at the start. When I first opened, it was just one small pizza oven and a table for four a couple friends and I built from driftwood to the side of a road.”

“How big is it now?”

“Fairly good-sized, especially for one pony to manage. Nice sized kitchen, oven big enough to keep up with demand, a dozen tables, overall a pretty respectable building. Oh, and lots of art. Though it’s all surfboards. I—love surfing, so, of course, I made friends with Luna, the local surfboard artist. Often, when boards get too old to be properly repaired, she restores their paint jobs and hangs them up around the pizzeria whenever she has extra time on her hooves.”

“That sounds—so cool! I’ve thought about learning to surf, but haven’t ever gone through with it.”

“It’s totally worth it. The feeling of freedom out on the ocean with the wind in your wings. It’s amazing.”

“Wings? Is that a metaphor for something?”

Flare nearly choked as she realized what she had said. “Uhm—oh, yes, sorry. I meant the sails on the boards. B-back home, we have special surfboards called ‘wing gliders’ because they make you feel like you have wings.” Flare laughed awkwardly, hoping her haphazard lie sounded plausible to River.

“Oh—I think I know what you’re talking about. I don’t see them very often, but I have seen ponies on what looks like a surfboard with a sail on it.”

Flare felt a great deal of relief as she took another big bite of her pizza, thankful River was so understanding.

“How long you going to be staying away from home?”

Flare chewed slowly as she tried to think of an answer. After quite some time, she finally swallowed. “To be honest, I don’t really have a set plan on returning home.”

“Interesting… You just planning to travel around until you’re satisfied, or maybe you’re looking to move away from home?”

“Just traveling around. I have no plans of moving away from my home.” Flare noticed River’s excitement dip.

“You do sound like you have life pretty well figured out back home.”

“Not really, but I have a lot of friends I couldn’t stay away from for long.”

“Would it be too inappropriate to ask why your friend couldn’t join you on your travels?”

“Yeah… It’s pretty personal. I’d rather not say.”

“Alright. I was just curious since it seems like you’re just out and about exploring, so it’s kind of surprising you couldn’t just wait for them. Is there some time-sensitive thing you want to do, like a festival somewhere?”

“Any chance we could just change the topic?”

“Of course. No worries, we all have things we don’t like talking about. For me, it’s my parents… It’s all weird trauma stuff that can be summed up as: I want to live my life my way, they want me to live my life their way. Long boring story short, I visit once a year and it’s always a disaster, and that’s about all I like saying about it.”

“That’s how my friend is, too. I visit my parents—all the time. But Zeph? Phsst, last time her mother came over to visit, she snuck out of her house and hid at my place for a week before she finally risked going back home.”

“I know how she feels. I once came home and saw my father waiting at my door. I turned around and slept at the tea shop for a couple of days. Thankfully, neither of my parents knows where I work. Anyway, we need a less heavy topic. You’re out exploring new things and having fun.” River gave Flare an excited smile. “I just realized something. You probably don’t know what video games are, do you?”

“I’ve seen them mentioned in the news a couple of times now. I think they might be a genre of book?”

River snickered for a moment before taking a deep breath. “That is both hilariously wrong, and kind of accurate at the same time.”