It wasn’t always this way. She used to enjoy being outside; she used to leave her room more often. But things had changed recently. Now lying on the bed she had in a dark corner of her room, Daisy sighed and willed herself to get up. Today was a new day, and she had to show her face sometime. A sunbeam sparkled through the new curtains as Daisy stretched her wings and got ready to venture out into town. Sunbeam. That was the rest of her name, but Daisy didn’t want that tainting her reputation anymore. From now on she would just be Daisy. As she closed the door behind her, she tried to remember how to get to the general store she had passed when she moved in two days ago. She didn’t have much food left, and it would be good to get out and look for a job anyways. It wasn’t like anyone knew who she was.
Walking down the path to town, Daisy thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Then again, there were a lot of strange things in this forest. But this looked more like a hut, like someone else lived on the outskirts of town where she had banished herself to. In her temporary distracted state of mind, she didn’t notice the pony walking straight into her path.
*Oof *
The two ponies crashed into each other, rolling off the path into a thicket of bushes. By the time they had gotten to their feet, Daisy had a chance to look over this other pony that had interrupted her solitude. He was gray as a stormy sky, with choppy indigo hair outlining his face. Daisy caught herself blushing as he gained his composure.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was just walking and, um, I didn’t see you, and – “
Daisy laughed a bit. “It’s alright, nopony’s hurt.”
“I’m Ashen Eclipse.”
“I’m Daisy Sun- Just Daisy.”
“Well, um, most ponies call me Ash. I was just headed to Sugarcube Corner...”
Daisy breathed a sigh of relief. “I could not for the life of me remember what it was called. I’m headed there too.”
Ash gave a small frown. “You know what, I have to, uh, go home now. See ya.”
And like that he was gone. Daisy shook her head in wonder. Ponies sure were different here than back where she came from. But now was not the time to think of that. Daisy continued on the path in search of the store the mysterious colt had mentioned.
The sweet smell of baking came wafting through the air as Daisy approached the store she had come to understand to be Sugarcube Corner. After taking a deep breath, she opened the door and took in the scene in front of her. All around were delicious looking baked goods: fresh loaves of bread, elaborately decorated cupcakes, all shapes of cookies. The sight made Daisy’s stomach grumble, making her wish she had more bits left as she approached the counter. A bright pink face popped up from out of nowhere and squeeled at the sight of a new face
“HI THERE MY NAME’S PINKIE WHAT’S YOURS!”
“Pinkie dear, let the poor mare get her bearings.” A second pony, a pastel blue mare with kind eyes, approached Daisy and held out a loaf of bread.
“You must be new around here. Take this as a welcome of sorts to Ponyville.”
Daisy turned a deep shade of red, but accepted the gift. “Thank you. I’m Daisy.”
The pink mare behind the counter lit up at the sound of a name. “Daisy? That’s such a pretty name! Pretty names are so much fun! New ponies are so much fun! Oh my goodness so much fun in one day!” She then proceeded to bounce around the shop exclaiming how much fun she was having.
Daisy giggled, and the blue mare shared a knowing smile with her.
“I’m Mrs. Cake, and that’s Pinkie Pie. She can get a little overexcited at times, but she’s a real sweetheart. In any case, you’re welcome here anytime, so don’t be a stranger.”
Stranger. That word had a different meaning to Daisy, but she didn’t let it show in her expression.
“Thank you so much. This is definitely more than I had hoped to buy.” Daisy smiled as she glanced down at her pitiful sack of bits.
Mrs. Cake caught the look in Daisy’s eyes and offered a warm smile.
“Like I said dear, don’t be afraid to stop in whenever you need to. Moving can be rough on a young pony like yourself.”
After expressing her thanks one more time and promising a certain bouncing blob of pink that she would return soon, Daisy made her way back down the path towards her new home. Tomorrow she would look for a job; today she was just happy to have a loaf of bread to eat. As she walked, her mind wandered back to the mysterious character she had met on the road to Sugarcube Corner. He had disappeared as quickly as he had arrived, only allowing his name to slip into the brief conversation. Ashen. Such a curious name for a curious stallion, especially with his sudden change in direction. Daisy shook her head. She knew nothing about him; he probably just remembered something important he had to do at home and hurried off. Putting him out of her mind, Daisy opened the door to her cottage and settled down for an evening of loneliness and bread. She reminded herself that this was the price she had to pay. A new start meant she would be alone, more alone than she had ever felt in her short eighteen years. Besides, she had plenty to turn over in her mind. Between meeting Pinkie Pie, the kindness of Mrs. Cake, and the accidental meeting with Ashen Eclipse, Daisy was exhausted. Tomorrow she had to find a job, maybe writing like she used to. But tonight, she would picture all the new ponies she had met and wish she could unravel the new mysteries she had discovered.
In the morning, Daisy awoke to the sound of knocking at her door. Startled by the unfamiliar noise, she jumped and fell on the floor in a heap of blankets.
“Who is it?” She called out.
No response. Realizing that the pony could not hear her, Daisy untangled herself from the mess of blankets and opened the door.
“Can I help you?”
“Hi, are you Daisy?” A purple mare stood outside the door holding a covered basket.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“I’m Twilight, Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie told me there was a new pony in town and I wanted to come by and introduce myself. Oh, and I brought you some cookies. I read that when ponies move into the neighborhood you’re supposed to bring them something to show that they’re welcome.”
“Um…thanks,” Daisy said as she took the basket. The two stood awkwardly in the doorway for a few moments until Twilight broke the silence.
“Well, I can see that you’re busy.” Daisy knew she wasn’t really in the middle of anything, but she didn’t question what Twilight said. “I’ll just be going now. It was nice meeting you.
“Yeah…nice meeting you too,” said a half-awake Daisy. Shutting the door, she placed the cookies on a table, shuffled over to her bed and plopped down for a few more minutes of shuteye.
Outside, Twilight was trying to calm a particularly bouncy pony.
“See, see, I told you so, that’s totally her!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
“I’m still not sure Pinkie. Anyways, if it is her, there’s obviously a reason for her being quiet. I don’t think we should pry.”
“Aww, but Twilight, what if –“
“ – No, Pinkie.” Twilight was losing her patience. “Promise me you won’t bother her too much.”
Pinkie Pie looked severely disappointed, but obliged. “Pinkie promise.”
“Good.” The two began walking back towards Sugarcube Corner, where Mr. Cake was expecting Pinkie to babysit the twins so he and Mrs. Cake could go out for supplies. Twilight herself had errands to run, but of a different variety – she had some research to do.
A gentle breeze blew through the window in Daisy’s cottage, blowing her mane in front of her face as she tried to type a résumé of sorts. Somehow she couldn’t think of anything she had accomplished that wouldn’t give away her identity. In the end she wrote that she had experience with caring for younger children and that she was willing to do manual labor. She sighed as she typed the last words, contemplating how her life had ended up like this. Oh well; she had to get a job somehow. Taking the piece of paper and snagging a cookie, she put on her saddlebags and headed out the door. Maybe if she put up her advertisement in the middle of town somewhere, somepony would see and offer her a job. After all, everyone she had met so far had been so incredibly kind to her, someone was bound to help a pony out. Well, except for the mystery pony. She tried to recall his name as she approached a few shops clustered in what she took to be a busy street. Ponies were coming in and out of the shops with their purchases, laughing and talking to each other. It was obvious that everypony knew one another as old friends waved to each other from across the way. Daisy went up to a message board in the middle of a patch of grass and tacked up her ad. Suddenly a stronger gust of wind swept across the board, tearing her sign away through the crisp autumn air. She quickly chased after it, only to realize that somepony had already caught it and was holding it out to her. Mystery pony was standing in front of her with an amused look spread across his face.
“I think you dropped this,” he said and handed the paper back to Daisy.
“Thanks…the wind is pretty strong today,” she remarked as another gust whizzed past.
“You’re looking for work?” Daisy was frantically trying to remember the stallion’s name and took a second to process his question.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I suppose…yeah, I need a job.”
“I know that Applejack needs some help picking apples down at Sweet Apple Acres; maybe you should ask her.”
Daisy couldn’t help but smile at the real prospect of a job. “Oh my goodness, thank you so much. That would be so awesome! Could you tell me where it is, then I could introduce myself to Applejack and then I can have a job and pay my bills and -“
Daisy caught the pony staring at her with a strange look on his face.
“Oh, sorry, I just got carried away.”
“It’s fine.” The stallion chuckled a little. “Sweet Apple Acres is down that path. You can’t miss it. I would walk you, but I’m kind of busy right now –“
“Oh no, that’s fine, I’m sure I’ll find it. Thank you so much!” And with that Daisy promptly turned away from the pony – Ash, that was his name! Why hadn’t she remembered before? - and headed down the path he had pointed out to her. Ash shook his head in wonder and went off on his way.
