“There…” I sighed, the last scroll being enveloped in a blue aura as it floated onto a pile of similarly rolled up scrolls. “That’s the last page of Raining Roses. Now…”
I walked up to the different piles of scrolls, some were stacked to the ceiling, others were close to the ground, some had scrolls that rolled off the top and had now rested near the bottom of the pile. Concentrating hard, I pointed my light-brown horn at the largest pile, and within a few seconds it was engulfed in an aura. In a few more seconds, the scrolls were conjoined into a thick, leather-bound book, dropping onto the floor with a loud thud.
Satisfied with the product, I did the same to the other piles. Most were turned into books of all sizes, although a few were just papers bound together by string—obviously meant to be play scripts. I set those aside for later—I would need to take them somewhere to be duplicated—and gathered the newly-created books and placed them in a pair of purple saddlebags with a feather plume clasp on it. I levitated the bags onto my side, and was immediately off-put with the weight.
“Augh! This is the last time I take so many commissions at once.”
With a bit of struggle, I trotted out of my shop and home, and onto the streets. The city I lived in now was small, quaint, and although I sometimes missed my big city life, I don’t think I could move away. As I walked my down the streets to the closest delivery, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It stuck out against the vibrant colors of the city.
A navy blue-furred pony with a blonde mane was just on the other side.
Momentarily distracted, I didn’t even notice I ran into somepony else.
“Oh! I’m sorry sir…” I mumbled, backing up slightly from the stallion I ran in to. He said nothing, but gave me a dirty look as he walked around me. How rude! Frowning, I turned my head again to see where the blonde pony went. She was walking away from where I was heading.
I glanced over my shoulder at my saddlebags. I should be delivering them and collecting my bits, yet the black pony…I decided to pursue the latter.
“Gear! Gear!” I called, galloping up behind her. She turned around, looking genuinely surprised. I gasped myself, had it not been for the coloring of her fur and her gear cutie mark, I wouldn’t have recognized my friend.
Starlight Gear. I remembered her having a much longer mane, done in a braid, her bangs sticking out in all directions, with a tail to match. But now it was cropped short, ending just on the top of her neck, though her tail stayed the same. She now sported a black shirt and a dark green jacket.
I noticed bandages on her fore hooves, and another gasp escaped my throat.
“Gear! What happened to your hooves!?” I took one gingerly between my hooves, bringing it close to my face for inspection. There showed no signs of multiple bandaging or of blood soaking onto them. Suddenly, it was out of my grasp.
“Plume?” She asked, her bright green eyes meeting my own. “Where have you been? You’ve been gone for weeks! Months, even!” She let out a cheerful laugh and patted me on the shoulder. “It’s great to see you again!”
“Yeah…” I gave a smile. Even after being shut in my bookstore working on the commissions, Gear was still the same. Even if she changed her taste in fashion. We could hang out, catch up, do all the things we used to do—
It was then that I heard a throat-clearing from somewhere near. I leaned over, to see the source: A changeling with a green mane done up in a pony tail. My eyes went wide, and I aimed my horn right at her. Even if I wasn’t trained in the fighting arts—I didn’t even know any defensive or offensive spells—I knew a few basic spells that every unicorn knew that could at least confuse a threat.
However, before I could cast it, Gear stepped in front of me.
“Whoa! Plume! Calm down!”
“How can I when there’s a changeling right behind you!? You know how dangerous they are! I have to—“
“Trust me! She’s no threat!”
Hesitantly, I raised my head and stared the changeling in the face. She didn’t look dangerous, more scared and confused than threatening. But that didn’t mean I let my guard down.
Gear spoke in a calm, slow manner, as if she was trying to calm down a screaming foal. “This is Taco. She’s my friend, and really harmless. She wouldn’t hurt anypony.”
The changeling—Taco—nodded in agreement, staying hidden behind Gear. Her mouth moved, but she spoke so low as to only Gear could hear her, and suddenly Gear’s eyes went wide.
“Oh!” She turned to me, smiling apologetically. “I hate to do this, but Taco and I actually have a lunch date with Sonata.”
I felt like I had been hit in the stomach. Gear had plans. We wouldn’t get to hang out on her day off. I chuckled silently under my breath. Of course she had plans! It’s not like I sent her a letter asking if we could get together. Or tried to drop by her house when I took a small break from writing. Of course she had plans.
“Oh…that’s alright. I actually—” I chuckled again, playing off my true feelings “—I actually have to go deliver some orders. You know. Collect my bits, pay the rent, all that good stuff…”I trailed off with a smile.
“That’s good. I’ll see you around, Plume!” With that, Gear and Taco trotted off, talking happily about whatever they were talking about before, as if I wasn’t just talking to them.
I watched them leave; feeling slightly down that she couldn’t talk to my friend a little longer. With a heavy sigh, I walked down the street, going between house to house, and dropping off books at each one.
~^~^~^~
One all the books were dropped off, and my saddlebags were now filled with a bag of bits, I decided that I could use some of the money for a small bite to eat. The closest restaurant was a cute little outdoor café, very popular with the fillies and couples. They also had delicious sandwiches there, yet I was in the mood for a veggie salad. I trotted over to an empty table and sat, waiting for a waiter to come and take my order.
There were a few people at the café, the lunch rush, simply chatting amongst themselves as they ate. It was then that I noticed a group of three ponies. Two of them I recognized right off the bat: Starlight Gear and the changeling, who’s name was some sort of food that I couldn’t remember at that moment. The third pony, a teal unicorn with a two-toned blue and green mane, I assumed was the pony the two absolutely had to rush to meet. I stared at them, jealousy starting to make a pit in my stomach.
I was too far away to hear, to listen in on their conversation. To say hello. But there were a few tables between us, one of them vacant. What was stopping me from getting up and moving a little closer? Just a little closer…
A light pink pony stepped in view between me and my target, wearing a cute little waitress uniform. I cursed and sighed mentally, sitting straight.
“What can I get for you, miss?” She asked, her voice matching her outwardly-bubbly personality.
I managed a smile. “A veggie salad and a cup of Jasmine tea, please.”
The pink waitress unicorn levitated a pad in front of her face and wrote the order down. “Coming right up!” She smiled to me and walked over to another table, who received the same bubbly treatment as I did.
I went back to watching the table on the far side of the café. They were laughing. Gear was smiling. She wrapped an arm around the unicorn and gestured to the changeling, tapping her horn and making exaggerated faces. Were they talking about me? My heart sank. I had a feeling they were.
As I watched my friend socialize, lost in thought, my meal was brought out and set down on the table. The thing was, I didn’t feel like eating anymore. How long had I really been gone? A few months. How much had changed in that time span? A lot.
I felt so…isolated. Gear was really my only friend since I moved. And now she had other friends of her own—friends she’d rather hang out with. It suddenly occurred to me that, even though I didn’t keep in contact with her, she didn’t even try keep up with me. How could I? I was so busy the whole time; I barely walked outside because I needed to work in a timely fashion! There was no way I could. But Gear…She didn’t even try. She could have stopped by the bookstore to talk.
My feelings of jealousy turned into anger. I closed my eyes to try and calm myself, I even moved my meal and my seating position to the other side of the table so I wouldn’t have to watch them. I levitated the tea and gently blew on it before slowly taking a sip. I immediately spat it out and stuck out my tongue in disgust.
It tasted bitter. I frowned. It shouldn’t have, Jasmine was my favorite. I shook my head and set the tea cup back on the saucer, pushing myself up to stand. Taking out a couple of bits, I sat them down on the table and proceeded to walk away. I didn’t even take a bite out of my salad. My feelings would prevent me from enjoying it.
I took one last look at the table. They laughed loudly, causing other heads to turn their way. My feelings once again changed, from anger to sadness. Turning away once again, I walked back towards my bookstore, my eyes to the ground, the sound of the laughing mares fading into the background.
