//------------------------------// // A Crash Course In Friendship // Story: Tales of a Tinker Pony // by Tinkerton //------------------------------// It was the beginning of the market season and the town’s center became transformed. Market stalls went up, visitors from the nearby towns came to sell their wares, and even a few of the city folk from nearby Fillydelphia came to sell odds and ends in our town. Hillsdale had always been big during market season, mainly because it was the closest town to Fillydelphia that had a large enough area to hold all these stalls, that and Mayor Polly Tichian always welcomed the outside sellers to town because it helped to drive more business and keep the townsfolk happy. One of the largest stalls the past few years has belonged to the Lilystalks. It was their asparagus that helped to put Hillsdale on the map bringing ponies from all over to taste not only the fresh asparagus, but the unique foods that Fern Lilystalk was prized for creating with it. There were even a few Pegasus from Cloudsdale that visited every market who loved Fern’s cooking so much they made sure that the weather would be perfect for the entire time. Town square was only a short walk from my home and it was always a big event for my family. While we never had our own stall there, our shop was close enough that my father was usually able to attract some new customers, while my mother set up a small stand outside our home and sold her mushroom foods to any passerby’s trying to free themselves from the crowd. That morning my mother had told me that she placed an order for some asparagus for that morning, knowing that the Lilystalks would have their best for sale during market. She had asked if I would go there and pick it up for her since she had to tend her stand. I grabbed my saddlebags and headed out to the center of town. The crowd seemed bigger than normal, with many unfamiliar faces. It made me slightly nervous. I had never been a very social pony, mainly keeping to my work or helping with the shop. While I was pushing my way through the crowd I heard something flapping above me. Looking up I could see a jade colored Pegasus flying through the air dragging a banner behind her that read: ‘Visit the Lilystalk Stall for An Amazing Assortment of Asparagus and Assorted Asparagus Morsels!’ She had been flying pretty low, not low enough to hit anypony, but low enough so that the entirety of the banner was readable. I turned my attention away from the sky and back towards my destination, the Lilystalk stall. Like always it was packed so there would be a large line. I wanted to get there quick enough so that I was not wasting my whole day in line. As I neared closer to the stall I heard a small scream. I looked up I saw that same jade Pegasus with the banner behind her, but instead of flying through the air, she was hurdling down into the crowd, more specifically towards me. I didn’t know what to do or where to go and before I could collect a coherent thought I felt the weight of another pony knocking me off my hooves. When I came too, the first thing that I saw was a crowd of ponies surrounding me and the jade Pegasus hovering over me babbling sorry over and over. When she saw me start to move she stopped saying sorry, gasped, and then went to hug me. I didn’t know what to think about, my spinning head, my sore flank, or this pony hugging me. “I’m so, so, so, so sorry!” the Pegasus said to me, in a very apologetic tone. I started to get up, wincing at a small pain in one of my front legs. “It’s ok. I’m fine, a little sore, but I’m fine, although I am not sure why you decided to use me as a landing strip.” “I didn’t mean it, I swear. I was flying overhead, pulling my banner, when a gust of wind caught the banner and caused me to lose control. I tried to avoid the crowd, but that did not work out.” “I noticed, but are you ok?” “Oh I’m fine, I have never been the most agile of fliers, but I still enjoy it. My names Avis by the way, Avis Featherfall-Lilystalk.” I knew who she was, that jade coat was hard to miss. And I also knew about how a Pegasus came to call a family of Earth ponies her own. The whole town did actually, but no pony ever mentioned it, not knowing how she takes being an orphan. I introduced myself and told her that I was on my way to pick up an order for my mom at her parent’s stall. “Oh! I can help you with that. I might even be able to let you skip the line. I’m sure my parents wouldn’t mind, seeing how kind of crashed into you. You wait her, I’ll be right back.” “Well I don’t mind waiting in line” I said to her as she started off in the direction of her parents stall. Avis turned her head back to me and shouted back to me that it was fine and to just wait where I was. My flank was so sore that I didn’t object a second time. Sitting was feeling pretty good compared to trying to stand. Things were happening so quick that my head was still trying to process everything. A simple errand turned out to be one of the biggest events in my life, although I did not know it at the time. A few minutes later Avis came back. She had a small bag in her mouth, but it didn’t look like my mother’s order. I had a feeling that I was still going to have to stand in line. That didn’t bother me much, I never felt special enough to be able to skip ahead of anything. Avis put down the bag she was carrying and turned to me, “Well my mother is too busy at the moment, but my brother Blanc will be taking over for her in a few hours, so I decided to grab my lunch and come and see if you wanted to wait? Oh and don’t worry, I grabbed a little extra for you, I’m sure you’re hungry and it is the least I can do.” “Oh you didn’t have too. And really, I don’t mind waiting.” I said, not letting her know that I was actually starving. I had forgot to grab anything to eat before heading out to town square. I had a little extra bits and planned to buy something at the food stalls. “Oh I insist. But not here, too crowded. Let’s go over to the pond, I always enjoy eating next to the water, it’s very calming, and I think calming is what we both need right now” she said as she headed over to the pond, looking back to make sure that I was following. The pond sat on the outskirts of town, only a ten minute trot from town square. Despite being a Pegasus, Avis walked the entire time. I wondered if she felt bad for the accident, or if she simply wanted to make sure we were next to each other the entire walk. I have never talked to many other ponies, usually the ones I do talk to were for business and I kept that short and simple too. Avis on the other hoof seemed to be delighted to have someone to talk to. She was talking fast and about anything she could think about. She talked of her family and the farm, of how she spent all her free time practicing aerobatics, even about her love of traveling, or at least how much she would love it if she ever had the opportunity. We soon arrived at the pond and set up a small picnic on the shore. We sat there for a few hours it seemed just talking. The food she brought was wonderful. Fresh asparagus from her family’s farm, apples and apple cider from Ponyville, even delicious cupcakes from a bakery in nearby Fillydelphia. I had actually started to warm up to her. We went from her carrying all the conversation to us talking evenly. The day had turned out to be much more exciting than I thought a simple trip to the Market would be. “Oh! I think we should head back to my farm, my mother should be done by now. Let’s go Tinkerton follow me” she said jumping up and doing a quick clean up while talking and then we both headed out to her parents farm, continuing the talking along the way.