Battle stepped out from Rarity's boutique and stretched his arms out, yawning. Though he was wide awake, he had still been asleep not twenty minutes beforehand. Rubbing a few grains of sleep from his eyes, Battle reasoned a cup of hot coffee might be in order. Stretching his arms above hi head once again, he began to wander Ponyville, fishing into his pockets for the small pouch of bits that Mayor Mare had given him. It seemed a bit of a waste to spend them on something like a cup of coffee from a cafe but right now he thought he may as well get the lay of the land as it were.
There was a small voice that spoke from somewhere in the back of his head that he still had the library to look after and that it would be opening, according to the hours Princess Twilight had set out, in less than ten minutes. He immediately quashed these notions. He wouldn't stray too far from where he knew the library was. And even if he got a little lost, it wouldn't be difficult to find the oak tree standing damn near the centre of Ponyville. Plus, given the fact his only visitors yesterday had been Rainbow Dash and Applejack, he felt secure in the knowledge that there wouldn't be much traffic. Maybe later on in the day perhaps but he was sure he'd be back within the hour.
Safe in this knowledge, Battle strode off to explore Ponyville a little more.
He knew where the town hall was of course. If he remembered correctly he had passed a rather curious building on the way from said town hall. Sure enough, there it was, standing in its own little corner of Ponyville. A little cottage that seems to be made from gingerbread and sugary goods. Battle's nose curled a little at the sight. His sweet tooth was rather particular about what sort of sugars he ingested. Most pastries and sweets tended to disagree with his dietary habits anyway.
In fact Battle very nearly passes the shop before he spotted a little chalkboard sign standing out in front. A sign advertising a variety of caffeine laced beverages at half price until noon. Although a little skeptical, Battle shrugged, deciding if he was going to spend some bits, it might as well be as few as possible before payday. He stepped to the door and pushed gently, yielding the tinkering of a bell from above.
The bell has just finished its tiny chime and Battle has only just stepped through the doors, when something fast and blindingly pink shot straight for him.
"Hi!"
Battle stumbled backwards ad fell down the steps onto the ground as the pink mare practically shoved her mane into his muzzle. He quickly dropped the spell he had been prepared to cast out of reflex, and looked up at the one who had so surprised him. She was chuckling giddily at him.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Are you knew here? Oh my gosh you must be super-duper new here, because I know everyone in Ponyville and I#m friends with absolutely everypony! Oh! I just had the bestest idea ever! You wanna be friends?!"
It took Battle a few seconds to realize the strange mare was talking to him. It took him a few more to realize she was asking him a question. He blinked, shook his head and steadily got to his feet.
"I believe I understood half of that," he said slowly, "Enough to know you're name at least. How about we start again?"
"Okay!" she beamed. Battle found her over-friendliness rather unnerving but stuck out his hand instead of saying anything.
"I'm Battle Ready, pleasure to meet you Pinkie."
She took one look at the proffered hand, shrugged and leapt at Battle, wrapping both arms around him in a bone-cracking hug. Battle wheezed out what he thought may perhaps be his final breath before the mare put him down again and smiled. As she did so, he took time to look at her in detail. She was pink obviously, with a frizzly curly mane and tail and big baby blue eyes. surprisingly her yellow and blue shirt didn't clash with her fur and neither did the blue skirt, or the pink and white striped socks that came nearly up to her knee. Battle became confused at that point as he realised she wasn't wearing any shoes. Her muzzle wrinkled up for a moment before she issued a cute sneeze. A streamer popped from her ear. Battle blinked and his eyes followed the impossible party accessory to the ground. Battle then realised Pinkie was talking again.
"Sorry, what?" he said, shaking his head.
"I said welcome to Sugar Cube Corner silly!" she chuckled. "Maybe we should get you inside so you can order something?"
"Yeah," Battle agreed, following her into the shop proper. It seemed to be some kind of cafe/sweet-shop hybrid. The room he stepped into was large and spacious with a counter near the back. The counter had a glass front displaying a multitude of cakes. Behind the counter was a series of shelves that displayed sugary goods in glass jars of varying sizes. The rest of the room had a series of tables with chairs cluttered around them. They didn't seem to seat any specific average per table, rather the chairs just seemed to be there.
"So what'll it be?"
Battle blinked, realizing he was at the counter and Pinkie Pie was behind it.
"You work here?" Battle asked.
"Yesseri!" she cried. "So what can I get you? Some candy canes maybe? No too bright. You look more like a liquorice kind o' pony. But then no pony really likes liquorice do they? How about chocolate? Everypony likes chocolate? Did you want a muffin? I'll bet you wanted a cookie right?"
As Pinkie stated each of the these items she staked them on the counter before Battle, with the exception of the jar of liquorice which she promptly put at the back of the shelf farthest away from the counter. Battle was baffled by the speed at which Pinkie moved. Baffled and a little jealous. Pinkie was still talking.
"How about some banoffee pie? It's the best way to start the day. Speaking of starting the day, did you know our coffee is half-price up until noon?"
"Yeah I saw outside," Battle said, trying to get his point across before Pinkie started talking again. "Actually that's sort of what I was after."
"Oh why didn't you say so silly?" Pinkie laughed. Battle hoped she hadn't seen his right hand curl into a fist.
"Well what sort of coffee do you want? Oh I know! How about a mochachino?"
"I'm sorry what?" Battle exclaimed, positive the strange mare was making words up now.
"A mochachino!" she repeated giddily. "It's like coffee and hot chocolate mixed together!"
"I'll just have a coffee," Battle said.
"You sure you don't want some chocolate in there?" Pinkie whispered conspiratorially.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Battle affirmed.
"Okie-dokie. How do you take it? I take mine with lot's and lot's of sugar!"
No kidding?
"I prefer mine just as is. No milk or sugar," Battle told her. Pinkie narrowed her eyes slightly at that and walked backwards towards the coffee machine. Battle began to feel nervous. The over-friendliness had been ever so slightly unsettling. But when she operated the coffee machine without even looking at it, staring all the while at him... it was damn right creepy.
She walked back over, a cup of back coffee in her hand and placed delicately on the counter. As soon as she let it go, her face broke out into another wide smile, her eyes closed in sheer happiness. Battle was now thoroughly weirded out. Pinkie's constant mood and behaviourally swings confused the hell out of him.
"So... how much do I owe you?" Battle asked.
"Two bits fourteen parts," Pinkie chirped off. Battle quickly scooped out the necessary funds, wondering why a coffee cost something as specific as four and twenty-eight. Still he didn't dwell on it, hading Pinkie the money as she returned with change.
"Thanks for coming! she smiled. "Hope you come by soon!"
"I'll try," he said smiling as politely as he could manage. He had just about made it to the door when Pinkie stopped him by calling out.
"Oh hey I just remembered!"
"Yeah?" Battle asked, turning to face her. She smiled.
"You answered me before. Are you new in Ponyville. I think I would of remembered meeting you before."
"Arrived just yesterday," Battle explained. Pinkie's eyes widened in delight.
"Ohmygoshthisistottallythemostawesomenewsiveeverheard!" she squealed in a garbled mess of discourse. "I'm definitely going to have to tell everypony about this!"
With that she leapt over the counter and whizzed away, kicking up dust in her wake. Battle stood open mouthed, before lifting his coffee to his lips and taking a sip.
I looked like a tree, yet appeared to made of some kind of crystal or gemstone. It appeared naturally occurring as well it seemed. Like it had simply sprouted out of the ground. Either way, Battle was intrigued by Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle. Why she still needed the Golden Oaks Library was beyond him. Perhaps she was looking after it until a new full-time replacement arrived.
He gave a general shrug as he began walking again, taking in some of the sights of Ponyville. He figured he would have at least another ten minutes or so before he desperately had to be back at the library. Still, standing in the shadow of the castle did stir something in him. He wasn't entirely sure what it was but he could hazard a guess. Standing under Twilight Sparkles castle, he could definitely say he almost felt at peace.
Almost.