Tea & Crumpets

by iluvponies35

Tea & Crumpets

Splendid. Marvelous. Amazing. Spiffing.

These we're all words that could perfectly describe the day the ponies of Buckingham were having. For the past few days it had been raining, and thundering hard, so today was an extra-special treat for many who we're cooped up inside their small cobblestone houses. But for Nettle Tea it was extra-special.

Nettle Tea was a gray-maned, chocolatey-brown unicorn, with a cutie mark of a tea kettle, and nettles. And on this fine Thursday he was going to get his most prized possession back: his ornate-gold watch.

A day before the thunderstorms swept into Buckingham, Nettle had dropped off his best watch at the local clocksmith. But due to the sudden rain and lightning it made it too dangerous for Nettle to make the six-block run to the clock store to retrieve his watch. But since today the sky was clear he could not only retrieve his watch, but do a little grocery shopping as well. He had been out of tea for two days, and it was giving him jitters.

Currently Nettle was at the marketplace; it was like a beehive of activity. Ponies dodged every which way, going from vendor to vendor to finish their shopping. Normally the marketplace was busy, but since the thunderstorm had drained food supplies, lots of ponies we're restocking. For some reason it reminded him of Buckingham Castle.

Buckingham Castle was a very old, and very large castle on the banks of a large ocean, about twenty-five miles from Baltimare. Nettle had once been their whilst touring the northern-most part of Buckingham. It was a very beautiful sight. The outsides of the building had been made from sandy-gray bricks. Two large banners we're draped along many sides of the castle, carrying the symbol of Buckingham. The inside of the building was just as amazing.

Most of the walls were made of the same sandy-gray bricks that decorated the outside, save for the dining room which was made of polished oak wood. Lots of the walls we're decorated with tapestries, and paintings, statues also lined the hallways. There we're also plenty of ornate chandeliers, and rugs we're draped over the stairs. It was a castle fit for a queen.

Nettle was suddenly snapped out of his daydream by a call from nearby.

"Oi Nettle! Can you spare a moment of your time?"

Nettle smiled. Only one pony had that voice, and that was Buttered Biscuit, one of Nettles closest friends since they we're just little foals. Nettle put his shopping list away, and trotted over to the yellow pegasus.

"Fancy seeing you here Buttered," said Nettle. "What do you need?"

"Well you see the weather's been keeping me inside for awhile, so I haven't been able to deliver me bills to the post office," explained Buttered. "If I'm not at the post office before the mailpony leaves at noon, then I'm getting evicted."

"That's terrible! But...Why can't you do it yourself?" asked Nettle.

"Erm...Well...Its complicated..." said Buttered looking from side to side as if he was being followed.

"..."

"Anyway I need you to deliver these 'ere bills to the post office before noon." said Buttered as he grabbed a small stack of letters out of his saddlebag, and handed them to Nettle who reluctantly took them. And with that Buttered took off

Nettle sighed. Now he had one more thing to worry about. If he wasn't fast he'd be late for for lunch. Before heading towards the grocery store he looked over at the clock and noticed it was ten thirty-five. Maybe he could still pull this off.

~*~*~

"What do you mean this is going to cost me?"

"I'm sorry sir, but if you are dropping off letters for a friend, you need to pay five bits to compensate for the fact your friend cannot deliver the letters himself."

"B-but that makes no sense!"

"It doesn't make sense to me either sir, but that's what I'm supposed to do."

"Bah, fine. Here." grunted Nettle digging into his saddlebags and producing five bits on the counter.

"Oh there's no reason to be like that sir," said the obviously too happy clerk. "Just look outside! Its a beautiful day!"

"I'm quite aware." said Nettle staring at the pony behind the counter, before starting towards the door.

"Well, have a nice day!" said the clerk as Nettle walked over to the door.

"You too." replied Nettle as he walked out the door into the streets.

What luck. Nettle had managed to go shopping, and deliver the letters to the post office, all in under one hour. He would have plenty of time to retrieve his watch, and head home for 'tea time' as it was called by some.

The streets of Buckingham we're almost as busy as the marketplace. Hundreds if not thousands of ponies lined the sides of the cobblestone street. Every pony was dressed a different way. There were ponies with top hats, ponies with monocles, ponies smoking pipes, rich ponies, poor ponies, ponies wearing checkered berets, ponies in the street, ponies on the sidewalk, ponies sitting on benches, ponies reading the newspaper. Some put it as 'organized chaos'.

There were also carriages pulled by muscle-ponies, carrying either passengers or cargo. As Nettle started heading to the clock store, a cart full of vegetables passed him.

Despite their hardly being legroom on mane street, there was a bouquet of smells, and sounds. Nettle could smell a ton of cheeses from a nearby cheese shop. Roses blew their perfume at ponies passing by a flower shop. And of course the sound of carriage wheels, and chattering ponies added atmosphere to the area.

Ah, here we are. Thought Nettle as his hooves stopped him in front of the clock store. The sign was interestingly placed on the front of the door saying in large letters:

Ben's Clock Shop

We buy, sell, and repair.

Mon-Fri: 7:00 AM-8:00 PM

Sat-Sun: 1:00 PM-8:30 PM

The bell above the door jingled happily as Nettle Tea entered the store. Almost immediately he was greeted with the chiming of hundreds of clocks. Lining the walls and shelves was the biggest collection of clocks anypony had ever laid eyes on; there were grandfather clocks, wall clocks, cuckoo clocks, alarm clocks, small clocks, big clocks. Everywhere was clocks. As he trotted up to the counter Nettle found it ironic that he could see a circle wall clock hanging in the back room. After waiting a few seconds with no reply, he gently rang the bell and immediately a gray pony looked around the corner from the back room.

The owner of the shop - who was obviously named Ben - was a old dark gray-maned, gray earth pony with a - you guessed it - grey beard. Besides his mane and coat color he always wore his red checkered beret, with white lines in between the red squares. Amongst other things he wore a thing set of reading glasses and commonly smoked a pipe.

"'Ello there Nettle," said Ben in his old gruff voice. "I presume your here to pick up your watch?"

"Indeed," replied Nettle. "Oh and my grandfather clock mysteriously stopped working. Can you stop by on Saturday and check it out?"

"Sure I can," said Ben. "Now...For your watch."

Nettle calmly sat and watched as Ben walked into the back room. Moments later Ben came back holding a very delicate and ornate gold watch. He set it down on the counter, and began explaining what he had fixed.

"Other then the fact that it had broken a gear, I also gave it a fresh coat of gold paint and repaired a chip in the back."

"Okay. How much will this cost me?" asked Nettle.

"Usually it'd be twenty bits, but because your my best customer I'm lowering it to seventeen." said the old gray pony, smiling.

Nettle fumbled whilst digging in his saddlebags, and ended up accidentally dropping a few bits. He picked them back up and grinned sheepishly while setting them on the counter. Ben took the bits, and Nettle grabbed his watch. He put his watch back on as he trotted over to the door. The bells jingled again on the way out.

~*~*~

Nettle was in no hurry to get back home, and decided to make a few unscheduled stops along the way. Nettle had been born, and raised in Buckingham, but the intricate architectural designs never ceased to amaze him.

It seemed coincidental that the clock struck noon as Nettle opened the door to his house. Nettle was no rich pony, but his house was bigger then seventy-five percent of all other houses in Buckingham. In fact he even decided to hire a butler. Butlers we're usually rare amongst the middle and low-class, but it was not impossible to see one serving the common pony.

After hanging up his top hat, Nettle went straight for the dining room where a large banquet awaited him. The most notable part of the dining room was that the walls we're made of pine tree wood, which provided not only a decorative look, but a nice piney smell. On one side of the room was a large window. There was a large potted plant in the corner near the window, and his recently-broken grandfather clock in the other. But what really interested Nettle was the food on the table.

Even just one pony in a house always ate a large breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And Nettle's lunch was nothing short; there we're peeled oranges, a tossed salad, daisy sandwich's, dandelions, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, a bowl of apples, mashed potatoes with gravy, and in the center: A roast pig with an apple in its mouth.

Ponies were usually vegetarians, but the ponies of Buckingham we're the first - and only - ponies to start eating meat, after a freak accident happened when a farmer accidentally dropped a lit torch next to his pig barn. The smell had attracted ponies far and wide, and soon half the population of Buckingham was eating pork. Of course Buckingham's pig population drastically dropped after this event, but eventually a solution was found in which ponies could enjoy a whole roast pig, whilst their was still enough pigs to cook.

But for Nettle the only food he was interested in was on a silver platter in front of his chair: A good old fashioned plate of tea and crumpets.

Comments

[The Blessed One]

I liked it... It was nice to read something so simple, it was very relaxing.

I am proud to give this story its first Like.

[TheQuietMan]

We're is a contraction of we are... you mean were which is the plural past-tense of is.

Also, apostrophes and commas - and the correct usage of both - are important.

[Lady Lorelei]

~ Slowly narrows eyes whilst smoking a small pipe in silence, gently blowing out a few bubbles into the air above.~

I was almost not sold on this idea at first, then you had ponies eating pigs.

And well then just say- Color me intrigued.

The new Paradox of Apex Predator Delights aside.

Let me give this well A Review.

That or I can simply say how much I enjoyed Clerks.

That in turn would also say how I felt about this fic.

Well to start this fic is quite Refreshing to say the least it is told in such a indifferent way I couldn't help but picture this whole fic taking place in good ole monochromatic settings.

Is that bad?

I'd say no- the Pacing is done really well unlike most fics which strive to move from point A to B in as little time possible you let the reader drift from Point to point, as if being carried on a calming lake raft.

The delivery of scenes were done, really well too each scene set up with care and detail others might have simply phoned in, but no you paint such a vivid picture of this place I felt as if the city were coming to life before my eyes.

The Character Development- Well not ground breaking or too insightful, gives the reader just enough to enjoy seeing things through this calm if a bit ansy Main Character.

His set of mind is done with such a calmness and good will, I thought back to Dante from Clerks- if this character is ever reused once more I'd say pairing him up with a slightly more mellow pony would truly bring out this characters persona to great heights.

Hay! Buttered could do this part maybe- if we really found out anything about him- he seems a bit more on edge and or perhaps mellow to our main character so a bigger story might have them give eachother great chemistry.

Forget Clerks think Be Kind Rewind.

Plot was overall average with a pony having to do something only to be sidetracked, what more can I say.

Story on the other hand was done with a refreshing indifference I found charming in more then one scene, the dry delivery of the dialogue at the post office, indeed kep't me on the edge of my seat.

Overall this story is calming and almost soothing to the reader, as if taking a stroll down a lively yet interesting block from the past.

Those who enjoy a nice Dry and slice of life story, will adore this fic for what it is.

Last Characters I have to say The main Character started off a bit uneasy but quickly and swiftly cleared up to showcase a interesting and dry persona, Like dante this character is surrounded by in a way chaos he being the only one, really certain that he is a sane pony within a mad world.

The Scenes with him are swift and charming- I couldn't go a few moments without just thinking if I'd seen this pony on the streets I'd like him- I just got that feeling from him is all.

Are the characters groundbreaking?- No they are interesting enough for this one shot though if ever used on anything bigger flushing out these characters could be a treat not only for the writer but the readers as well.

In all Characters are done with care and that is just rare to see.

Now My Rating here we go!!

Characters- 4 out of 5

Plot- 3 out of 5

Story- 5 out of 5

Detail- 5 out of 5

Pacing- 4.5 out of 5

Overall Rating- Rare Raritys out of 10

Judgement- A Pig Banquet Thrown by Ponies!!

- Mmmmm this tender white food is great!!

- Omigosh That's not white food it's meat!!!

- What!!?-Meat...but...but.... ~Whimpers.~

- ~Starts Eating the rest of the pig off Fluttershys Plate.~ .....Om Nom I know shocking right?....Nom-Nom.

[Ardent Wing]

I Certainly agree with Blessed One, it is very nice to read such a relaxing and simple piece. The best part being that it never tried to be anything more than simple, which is, a nice change of pace for me. I guess that mostly comes from trying to write long winded pieces, full of complications and sub-plot.

I will say that there are a few grammar errors, words not being used correctly and such, but otherwise this is actually quite a charming story.

Good job! Keep Writing!

[iluvponies35]

Whoah, I definitely did not expect to get this much reaction to my first story on this site. Thanks for the tips tho. I'll keep them in mind if I ever defeat procrastination and get around to doing some more stories.

[Matthew_Golezerg]

British, British, British, British, British, British, British, Yorkshire Pudding, British, British, British, British, British LOL. I've only been to great Britain once and stayed there only a year. But this got me going. BTW, I haven't finished reading but the first impression was really good and the city name very appropriate. I would've called the country Unified Queensland but that's just really cheesy.