Sunlight.
That was the first thing he saw as he stepped out of the forest. He squinted as the harsh light touched his hazel eyes, realizing he’d need to get used to this after having spent four weeks in near-total darkness.
Looking over himself, the pegasus stallion noticed the bruises and dirt marks that he hadn’t been able to see without the sunlight. Sighing, he realized he’d probably need a shower...or two…
His royal blue coat now looked like he was born with brown markings, and to say he was beaten black and blue would be accurate even if his hide was an entirely different colour. His yellow mane and tail were even messier than normal, which was definitely saying something. Only the orange set of headphones he wore around his neck had made it through unscathed, and that was only because he had gotten a protective spell cast on them. The story behind that was long, and he’d rather not reflect on it until he had gotten a place to lie down.
Which, for the moment, was his mission.
He had a fair amount of bits, but they were only to keep him fed until he got a job. He couldn’t afford to waste them on a hotel room. The owner of the house he was taking the guest room in was away until the next day, since they were expecting him to arrive a week later. He would have, too, if he had taken the train. But one thing led to another, and not only could he no longer afford a train ticket, but he couldn’t afford to stay in Fillydelphia any longer.
So he walked...right through the Everfree Forest.
He himself had no idea how he survived.
He shook his head, tired of getting distracted. With a sigh, he figured he might as well look around town a bit. He’d likely have to sleep outside, which he was used to, but had been hoping to avoid. Instead, he’d be sleeping under a tree one last time.
His stomach growled, and he took that as his cue to get some food. The town he was heading towards - Ponyville, he remembered it being called - was a short walk away, so as he trotted along the dirt path, he took the time to take out his pouch of bits and count out how much he was willing to spend.
He was so focused on this, he didn’t notice when the dirt path became a bridge over a lake, and almost walked right into the water. Fortunately, he realized this just before he puts his hoof down, and wobbled for a moment before stepping right back onto land and regaining his balance.
“Careful there, pardner!”
The pegasus looked up as he heard the voice. It belonged to an orange earth pony; a mare, judging by her appearance. She had a long blonde mane and tail, both of which were tied back, and a cowboy hat on her head. She smirked at him playfully as she walked, having obviously seen his near-misstep.
“Y’all okay?” she asked as she got closer, a country accent now evident in her voice.
The pegasus nodded and offered a sheepish smile. “Y-Yeah, I’m fi-ine...” He grimaced as his voice cracked, having gone unused for the better part of a month. He coughed a bit.
The orange mare frowned, stopping in her tracks. “Uh...ya sure yer okay there?”
Coughing again, the stallion finally answered. “Yeah...yeah. Just...tired, a bit.” He mentally cringed at his poorly-formed sentence.
The earth pony didn’t seem to notice, as she was busy looking him over. Her eyes widened when she saw the dirt and marks on him. “What in the hay have ya been doin’?”
“I...well...” He tried to figure out a way to explain it without worrying her. “I...had a long walk?”
She narrowed her eyes a bit, obviously able to tell something was up. “Ah don’t think a long walk would hurt ya that much, sugarcube.”
He looked away. “I...just...I gotta go!” He bolted off in the direction of the town, ignoring the confused mare’s calls.
BOOM
The pegasus jumped as he heard the thunder, nearly falling out of his chair. The other ponies around also jumped a bit, causing him to breathe a small sigh of relief that he wasn’t the only one startled.
After the awkward encounter with the orange mare just outside Ponyville, the stallion had wandered through town until he came across what resembled a giant candy house. After he went inside, he discovered that it was actually the local bakery, Sugarcube Corner. He more or less silently purchased a few donuts, which he was now eating slowly to try and pass the time.
Seconds after the boom of the thunder, the rain began. The windows were covered in dripping water almost instantly, the sunlight became filtered through dark storm clouds, and all ponies currently outdoors rushed to find shelter.
He sighed. This was going to make sleeping outdoors a lot more uncomfortable.
Once he finished with his donuts, he got up and left without a word besides a quick thanks to the yellow stallion behind the counter. He ignored the rain as best as he could, but the feeling of the cold wet substance pelting against his body wasn’t that easy to get distracted from.
He shivered a bit. Despite living in the Everfree Forest for almost a whole month, he and the cold still never really got along. And he couldn’t exactly build a fire to keep warm without it going out instantly.
Eventually, he decided against trying to sleep outside like this. Even though he wanted to save his bits for food, he’d rather not get pneumonia from sleeping in a soggy bush. As the sun started to make its way across the sky to end the day, he began to search for a hotel.
Drenched and freezing, the stallion finally found a hotel near the south end of the town. The ponies in the lobby barely gave a second glance at his appearance; they were all well aware of the storm going on outside.
First day in town and I’m already wet...not a good omen. The pegasus sighed at this thought and, after letting himself drip dry for a moment, trotted up to the receptionist’s desk.
“Hello there, how can I help you?” the mare behind the desk asked, clearly bored. She was a light pink unicorn, with a darker pink mane and tail with a bright red stripe through both. Her cutie mark was a magenta envelope. Her eyes, being blue, seemed to be the only thing about her that wasn’t some shade of pink or red.
“Um...I’d like a room for the night?” the pegasus replied, sounding more like he was asking rather than stating.
The mare nodded and levitated out some papers and a quill, already scribbling away. “Just for tonight?”
“Yeah,” the stallion said. “That’s all I can really afford...plus, I’ll be moving in with somepony tomorrow after they-”
“Look buddy, I never said I cared about you or your story,” the mare cut him off with a harsh tone in her voice. She turned the papers to face him. “Just sign your name, pay your bits, and go to room 214 so I can finish up here.”
Wincing, the stallion took out his pouch of bits and paid the written amount. “S-Sorry...”
She rolled her eyes in response and went back to staring at the clock, obviously waiting for her shift to be over. As she did, the pegasus took the quill in his mouth.
Leaning down to examine the sheet, he found the spot where he had to sign his name, and quickly scribbled ‘Hovermic’.
As the sun began to slowly rise, a train pulled in to the Ponyville Station. Not many ponies were around, as it was very early in the morning and few ponies were willing to wake up this early for a train ride. Several ponies came off the train, however, one of them being a female purple unicorn with saddlebags full of books on her back. She had bags under her eyes, indicating that she hadn’t slept much at all on the ride home.
“Twilight! Welcome back!”
The unicorn perked up a bit at a voice familiar to her. Trotting up to her was the same orange earth pony who had run into Hovermic the previous day. Twilight smiled. “Hey, Applejack...you’re up early.”
“Ain’t much earlier than Ah’m used to,” the farmer replied. “The other girls are probably still asleep, though.”
Twilight nodded. “Doesn’t surprise me...I’d like to be asleep too.” She yawned. “Probably gonna take a nap as soon as I get home...”
Applejack chuckled. “Y’all go do that, then. Ah’ll let the others know yer back, and we’ll come by later.”
“Sounds good to me...” the unicorn said through another yawn. After a tired goodbye, she walked off, heading for the library that she called her home.
The sun was well up in the sky when Hovermic began to stir. Shifting under the blankets of the bed that had provided him such comfort for several hours, he forced himself up into a sitting position. He had taken a long shower the night before to try and clean himself up, but even now there were still streaks of dirt and grass stains on his body.
He headed right to the bathroom once again, taking a good twenty to thirty minutes to finish his business and try another shower. While he was still unable to get completely cleaned, at least it wasn’t completely obvious that he had taken a rather unpleasant stroll through Equestria’s most dangerous forest.
Collecting the few belongings he had and putting his headphones around his neck once more, Hovermic made his way out of the room and began heading down to the lobby. He silently prayed to whichever princess had more power that he wouldn’t have to deal with the same mare as the night before.
Thankfully, there was a completely different mare behind the desk. She was a very light gray pegasus, with a much skinnier build than the bulky mare from before. Her knee-length mane and tail were both a very bright light blue, and her hooves had burgundy markings at the bottom. On her front left hoof was a black watch, and she had what looked like some kind of an ice cream cone as her cutie mark.
As Hovermic walked up, the mare looked up at him with eyes the same colour as her mane. She smiled; not a fake smile like ponies in this job often put on, but a genuine smile. The stallion felt slightly calmer.
“Come to check out?” she asked. Hovermic nodded, and the mare retrieved a sheet and quill. “Just sign here, please. Do you have all your belongings?”
Hovermic took the quill and signed his name before speaking. “Y-Yeah, got everything.”
The mare glanced at the signature and blinked, then looked back up. “So you’re the one from last night, I take it? Postage Stamp wouldn’t stop talking about you.”
Somehow, Hovermic doubted that was meant in a good way. He just nodded.
“Don’t worry about it. She always complains about the last pony she has to help out, even when there’s nothing to complain about.” The mare’s smile dropped, and she tilted her head. “Are you okay?”
The stallion blinked. “Um...no? Yes. I mean, maybe?” He groaned. “Yes.”
“Doesn’t seem that way.” She shook her head. “Come on, what’s the matter?”
Hovermic sighed, using a hoof to rub his temple. This was a tic he had developed over a few years as something he did to look like he was getting annoyed, when really he was just trying to dodge a subject. Usually, it would cause whoever he was dealing with to drop the topic, either because they didn’t like his “attitude” or they sensed it was a sore subject.
This time, the trick failed. The mare stood and waited patiently, a calm smile on her face as she waited for an answer. A whole minute passed, and with the exception of glancing to the side whenever a pony entered or left the building, the mare never looked away from Hovermic.
Finally, the stallion relented. “I’m tired. I’m just...really tired.”
“Didn’t get enough sleep?” the mare asked, though she clearly knew that wasn’t what he meant.
“No...I just had a rough time getting here, and then I didn’t really get started off on the right hoof.” He left out the details. He didn’t want to get into the whole story of why he was wandering through the Everfree Fo-
“Is that why Postage said you looked like you came from the Everfree Forest?”
Hovermic groaned. “...yes.”
The mare’s eyes widened. “What in Celestia’s name were you doing in there?” Before he could answer, she held up a hoof. “On second thought, hold onto that explanation for a bit, okay? I’m about to finish my shift.”
Confused as to how that was relevant, Hovermic shut his mouth and waited. The mare sorted a few papers for a couple more minutes before a dark yellow stallion with a black mane and tail came out, heading behind the desk. The mare nodded to him and slipped out, walking over to Hovermic.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I’m Snow Cone.” She offered a hoof, which Hovermic tentatively shook. “You’re...Hovermic, right?”
The stallion nodded. “Y-Yeah.” He winced a bit at the redundancy of nodding and vocalizing in the affirmative.
Snow Cone, for her part, simply adopted that warm smile from before. “Well, let’s go for a walk. You can tell me your story over lunch.” She chuckled at his worried expression and nudged him gently. “Don’t worry, I’ll pay.”
She started heading off. Hovermic, after a moment, trotted after her. ...maybe this town’s not so bad after all.
