Ponies of Fayra — Legend of Harmony

As the credits began rolling, Flare looked over to River as he pulled his mobile away from its docking station on the back of the empty train seat in front of them.

“Do other worlds really exist like that?” asked Flare.

“Maybe? But probably not. It would be cool, but honestly, it seems more like pure fiction. Since you’re asking, I assume it’s now one-hundred percent safe to say you’re not a crossworld pony.”

“Sadly, no, but it would be fun if I were.”

“Not far from Apple Valley now. You getting excited?”

“Kind of nervous, actually.”

“Understandable. It’s the biggest city in Equitoria. It makes Emerald City look like a small town. The center of it all. Unless you’re a unicorn, I suppose.”

“I don’t know anything about unicorns.”

“They’re an odd topic. Honestly, I’m not really sure what’s real versus fiction when it comes to them. One actually stopped by the tea shop a couple of years ago. Said he was on a sojourn to find true meaning in life. He wasn’t exactly your poster unicorn by any means, calm, courteous, and insightful. A far cry from the crude, rude, primeval ponies you usually see them portrayed as. Unless it’s a horror movie, then they’re always creepy magic monsters. I’ve only seen two movies where they were good ponies, and both were underrated indie flicks, which you wouldn’t know about. The movie you just watched was produced by a big studio. They had a huge budget, and that’s why it looked so realistic. Whereas indies are small studios, or even sometimes just single ponies making films or shorts on their own.”

“City ponies sure have a lot of complicated things. But they are impressive things.”

“That we do. Sometimes too much so. I do sometimes wonder what life would be like in a simpler time, but then I realize that would mean losing almost everything I enjoy. Life without computers, mobiles, or video games is hard to imagine. Though maybe if you told me more about it?” River asked with a sly smile.

“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“How about just telling me what your normal day is like?”

“Usually, I’m up early getting breakfast made and lunch prepped. After that, I have some time to socialize before making lunch. Once lunch is taken care of, I go out and do any running around, then come back and eat leftovers for dinner or eat dinner at somepony else’s place. I don’t usually do community dinners. The cooking guild recommends a maximum of two community services a day, four days a week, which I mostly adhere to. Though I tend to make breakfast every morning unless I’m away from the pizzeria. Like now.”

“Is anyone running it while you’re gone?”

“No… I kind of left without a lot of notice. So I’m sure I’m going to get scolded by the other cooking guild members when I get back.”

“I’m guessing the ‘cooking guild’ is some kind of local government agency that oversees restaurants?”

“Not really, but kind of? It’s best described as a community effort to coordinate things, exchange tips, and help each other out when needed. Also, a way to take centralized feedback and better support the community. Food is an important aspect of life. Everypony needs to eat, after all.”

“I think I get it… So, what do you do when you socialize?”

“Depends on who I’m socializing with. If it’s just me and Cozy, we tend to play games, talk, work on weird cooking projects together, or play around outside. She’s the only one who skates with me. If it’s Zeph, then I help her with whatever case or mystery she’s working on. If it’s Zain, we tend to just talk about whatever he’s reviewing. If it’s Clover, we mostly just talk about guild stuff. She’s not part of the cooking guild; she’s part of the farmers’ guild, but the two guilds do so much together that it feels like we’re in the same guild. If it’s a group thing, then we’re usually hanging out at the beach, working on a project, fixing something, or otherwise just messing around having fun.”

“So you’d say you enjoy your life?”

Flare nodded enthusiastically for a moment before stopping and half-frowning. “It does get a little lonely sometimes, though… Everypony can be busy, and I don’t know… I just don’t really like being alone for long. And for some reason, being around ponies besides my best friends just doesn’t count. Like, I can spend the whole day wandering around town talking to ponies, come home, and it’s just me alone, and it’s just… really lonely some nights.”

“Boyfriend doesn’t stay over much?”

Flare blushed as she rubbed her hooves together. “I-I’ve never had a boyfriend, actually. Not for a lack of trying, mind you. I just can’t get Zain to notice me as more than a friend…”

“Ah—classic best friend crush trope. In the movies, the best way to handle that is just being blunt and upfront.”

“I thought I was… but it turns out I wasn’t, and now he thinks I’m dating his sister…”

“Are you?”

“No! Me and Zeph are practically sisters. I can’t think of her that way. Sure, I can’t imagine my life without her—that’s why I’m out here—but as a romantic partner? She’s good-looking, but not my type, and I already see her as much as I can. Even if we were together, I wouldn’t see her any more than I already do. I want a pony to share the little moments in life with, not just the big ones. Zeph could never be that. Actually, that’s unfair, since it’s not just her, it’s me too. Zeph needs a pony who wants to do what she does. That way she has a pony to share the little moments with too. I love going on adventures with her, but not all the time. The only rest that crazy pony knows is exhaustion.”

“What exactly does she do?”

“She’s a detective, but really that’s just what she sells her societal contribution as. If I were going to give her a title, I’d call her an adventure-obsessed mystery hunter.”

“So what’s she up to while you’re out exploring? I’m guessing she was the friend who was going to be coming along with you?”

“Oh—uhm, not exactly… I had a new friend who was going to be coming out here with me. Zeph is, uhm, busy with a lost pet at the moment.” Flare smiled awkwardly.

“She trying to find Argon and get the reward? At this point, anypony who finds that bunny is set for life.”

Flare stared blankly at River for several moments, unsure what to say.

“With all the silence, I’m starting to think my joke might have landed on the truth? Which you did say you were ‘out here because of her,’ and you did seem pretty interested in Argon this morning… and had been looking into him from the sounds of it, but you didn’t really know anything about Starshine, so probably not, actually.”

Flare bit her lip nervously as she realized she’d said way too much while she had been talking. For whatever reason, she felt comfortable around River. Even now, staring into his calm, waiting eyes somehow relaxed her. She wanted to tell him everything; she wanted to have somepony to talk to, to guide her, and River felt like the perfect pony, but that’s all it was—a feeling. Her mind screamed at her to find a way to keep the truth hidden, to keep herself hidden, to find a way out of the conversational hole she had dug for herself.

Flare sighed in relief as an announcement echoed through the train to begin preparing for departure.

Arriving at the Apple Valley train station, Flare followed closely behind River as he navigated the bustling building of towering ponies. As Flare dodged and squeezed, she was thankful she had River with her. It was all she could do to follow him. She felt as though if she stopped to catch her bearings, she’d be trampled or squished in the chaos.

Once the pair emerged from the building, Flare breathed a sigh of relief. The air was still leaden with scents of metal, smoke, and stone, but at least she was free of the suffocatingly dense perfumes and body odor of the train station.