Chapter Two: A Day In The Life
Chapter Two: A Day In The Life
Yesterday…
Most ponies would be able to tell you that the weather team in Ponyville is top notch: cloudless days means not a speck in the sky, the wind speed is always kept in check, and when it rains, it certainly pours. Summer weather schedules typically revolve around mild days, beginning with a not-too-chilly morning which leads into a delightful warm noontime and ending with the soft, cool air of night.
The disclaimer for “not-too-chilly” mornings, however, is that one usually is prepared for them. Typical fashion of this is generally that one is in bed during the cooler portions of early day.
Reason did not possess the foresight for this weather pattern, especially since nopony in their right mind would sleep outdoors in Manehatten. Even the ponies that did not have anywhere else to stay for the night managed to seek refuge in an abandoned factory or hospital; the unpredictable downpours coupled with the temperature rising and falling like a two year old playing with a thermostat meant that nopony was safe when the Manehatten weather team was on duty. If he hadn’t spent all night gazing at the stars and thinking about the wonders Ponyville might have in store, he might have thought back to some of his more unpleasant weather episodes and at the very least would have brought a blanket with him.
With a shiver and a sneeze, Reason awoke to his second day in Ponyville. And as he would later write to his dear sister, “it all went downhill from there”.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a quick bath to warm himself (as well as remove any unsightly roof grime), Reason set off from his apartment. Yesterday’s big mission was to find a place to stay while he was in Ponyville; today, Reason was bound and determined to find a job.
To Reason, a job was a temporary, ethereal thing. He had never been able to stick with a single one, unlike his sister. In spite of his good intentions, Reason would receive the short stick: it was always “we just don’t need anymore ponypower at this time; we’ll have to let you go” or “you’re doing a great job, but there’s a pony better suited for your position.” Reason considered himself a realist, so to him special talents seemed to equate marketable job skill, and cutie marks were the billboards for enterprising ponies to gawk at while on the prowl for their next big hit.
Then there was Rhyme: her views on Cutie Marks and special talents always bordered on the romantic, which Reason found infuriating. She was an accomplished artist of the written verse, and had successful hobbies both in singing as well as painting. Rhyme believed that a pony could accomplish anything, and was not bound to their special talent if they choose not to be.
‘That’s why she’s so good at writing, but still works at that ridiculous bakery,’ Reason thought bitterly. ‘Anypony with HALF Rhyme’s talent could be famous, and at the very LEAST moderately wealthy!’
Before he could reprimand himself for thinking ill of his sister, however, some idle words from the café across from his apartment caught his ear:
“The Summer Sun Celebration… Ooh! I can’t wait!”
“What do you think Rose has planned for the floral arrangements? She has SUCH an eye for color!”
“Hey Junebug, have you been having issues with your mail lately? I think some of mine got mixed-in with yours.”
“Where did you get your mane done? It looks fantastic!”
“I’m telling you Bon Bon, I think I bought the wrong mattress. You got yours at Davenport’s, right? My back is all kinds of messed up…”
“Did you hear? Fancypants is recently single and looking for love! He’s so dreamy!”
‘Gossip again?’ Reason thought, ‘Don’t these ponies ever want to just sit and eat breakfast in peace? Maybe this is like a morning ritual of theirs, or it’s possible that--’
“Did you see that Blackberry Jam girl here yesterday?”
Reason stopped in his tracks. Two mares had inadvertently captured his undivided attention.
“You mean did I see her totally choke in a most EMBARASSING way? Yeah, I caught the show.”
Eavesdropping is a very poor use of one’s time. In fact, it is particularly ignoble for one to hone in on privately discussed matters regardless of the amount of time one possesses: whether one plans to go job hunting, to peddle their wares in the market, or simply clean up a misplaced saddlebag, there can very seldom be good cause behind invading another’s confidential business.
“Ugh, that girl is SO stupid.”
Slander is not very pretty either.
Reason took a seat in the table adjacent to the seated mares. He ordered a glass of water to appear inconspicuous, then continued to listen:
“Well, ‘stupid’ might be a tad harsh. She seems nice to me,” replied the blue mare with an hourglass cutie mark.
“Oh puh-leeze! That girl is, like, the top of the heap when it comes to stupid!” remarked a cyan earth pony. Her cutie mark was what appeared to be a pink palm tree, which somehow managed to compliment her bizarre 80’s-wear ensemble. “I mean, how dense IS she? That stallion CLEARLY wasn’t interested in her!”
“Really? I don’t know about tha--“
“Trust me: Not. Interested. You should have heard what she was saying, too! I mean, I wasn’t there for the beginning of it, but I heard from Surf that she was being all flaunty and obnoxious! SO disgusting!”
“I don’t remember--“
“And then when I caught the end of it, OH MY GOSH. SO embarrassing! He was all ‘look, I’m just really not that into you’ and she was all like, ‘oh, but we should totally go out’! Can you HAVE any less shame?”
“Did Blackberry really say that?”
“Like, totally!”
“Huh… I guess I must have missed it…“
Reason was ready to depart. While the words being exchanged certainly weren’t true, they also were not hurting anypony. What Reason couldn’t figure out was how B.B. managed to stand that café food twice in one day! He was certainly glad that she was interested seeing somepony though. The fact that she may soon have a coltfriend made him happy for his new acquaintance. ‘And hey,’ Reason thought, ‘maybe I could meet this guy; Rhyme will flip when she hears I made not just one, but two frie--’
“How could you possibly doubt me? I mean, come on, Blackberry Jam is SUCH a tramp.”
Reason darted to his hooves, the action drawing the attention of not only the two mares discussing his friend, but several tables around him.
With anger in his eyes and a tremble in his voice, Reason shouted at the cyan mare, “Now that is just uncalled for! How would you like it if somepony called YOU a tramp?!”
All eyes were on him.
Including those of a concealed berry salesmare.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blackberry Jam had gotten a late start. She had spent the better part of last night regaling her sisters with the story of how she had met the “nicest, handsomest stallion ever,” and had not managed to get to sleep until roughly three in the morning.
Each morning, Blackberry Jam typically stepped off the beaten path to the marketplace to say hello to her friend Sugarsnap, but today she was barreling at top-speed smack through the middle of Ponyville’s main street. After all, the stall positions in the market are first-come, first-serve; if she didn’t hurry, she would end up having to settle for a spot behind another stall.
A ruckus from her favorite café brought Blackberry Jam to an utter standstill. A small crowd was beginning to gather, and at the center stood Reason, who was glaring down at two seated café patrons. And he did NOT look happy.
Very carefully, Blackberry Jam snuck behind the corner of the yellow house beside the restaurant, and listened.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sugarsnap was in utter disarray. Thanks to a ludicrously late finish with this year’s Winter Wrap-Up, Ponyville’s pea production positively went to pot. To make matters worse, an infestation of caterpillars had been spotted on its way to Ponyville, and the first troops of what promised to be a large brigade of them had made their presence known. Ousting the little fellows could take close to year’s time, so Sugarsnap tried desperately to salvage the remainder of her crop.
It was a losing battle.
Today was of PARTICULAR rottenness, though. Her best friend, Blackberry Jam, had a habit of waking Sugarsnap up whenever she accidentally slept in, but B.B. had not stopped by today. To any other pony, such a break in routine would cause annoyance and nothing more.
But Sugarsnap had a deep, dark secret: she had never “accidentally” slept-in in her entire life.
The lettuce-green earth pony sighed. How she loved to wake up to the smiling face of Blackberry Jam! There lay true beauty: her soft, wheat-colored mane, her beautiful sapphire eyes, her laugh like the voice of a thousand songbirds… If only she knew!
With another sigh, Sugarsnap trotted briskly toward the market. It was not often that she managed to snag a stall right next to B.B.’s, but if her friend was running as late as SHE was…
“How would you like it if somepony called YOU a tramp?!”
‘Harsh words’, Sugarsnap thought to herself absentmindedly, ‘but that’s what that café is known for: gossipy ponies, broken hearts, harsh words, and Blackberry J--‘
Her train of thought derailed. Across the street was the object of Sugarsnap’s affection, watching with clear interest at the scene taking place at that telltale café.
With lightning speed, Sugarsnap dove into the bushes. Her focus was not on the pony in the center of the rabble, but the pony secretly watching that center-stage pony. And it was absolutely crystal clear to Sugarsnap that B.B. was paying special attention to him, not just because of the rabble gathering at his outburst.
‘I don’t know why she’s hiding’, Sugarsnap thought in a huff, ‘but if that grey pony is causing her trouble, I will END him! B.B. is MINE!’
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A trio of pegasi in the skies above Reason’s apartment was shipping cumulus clouds in from Cloudsdale. The delivery team from the weather factory had left enough clouds in Ponyville’s possession for the next week’s weather, and this particular crew was in charge of cloud distribution as well as counting cloud stock.
One pegasus was gawking at the scene taking place below. Another barked at him to pay attention. Soon, all three started watching the scene, causing a surplus of corralled cumulus clouds to go spilling every which-way in the skies over Ponyville.
‘Oh well,’ the burly pegasus in-charge thought to himself ‘Nopony will notice a few extra clouds. Somepony else will take care of them by tomorrow.’
And with that, the weather team took an early lunch in order to watch the show below them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later, Reason would write to Rhyme stating that the crowd was not actually THAT large, and in fact only consisted of perhaps a dozen café-goers, employees, and an onlooker from the street or two. At the time, though, Reason was absolutely positive that the whole of Ponyville was staring at him, breathing down his neck, and silently judging him.
The crowd was holding its breath. Reason was holding his, and locked eyes with the cyan earth pony. Everypony was waiting for some kind of change in the atmosphere, whether it be a retort, a slap to the face, or somepony coming in to diffuse the volatile nature of the situation. As it stood, it was a moment locked in time, in which adrenaline was at an all-time high and the energy of everypony present was practically visible sparking through the air.
Slowly, the pony brandishing a pink palm tree cutie mark spoke. “And, like, who exactly are you? What are you, like, honing in on everypony’s private conversations? Get a life, reject!”
There was no more to say. In only a brief matter of seconds, the crowd’s energy shifted.
Suddenly, there was only one single, collective thought they all possessed. It was a parade of emotions being led by the banner of disappointment:
‘Nothing to see here.’
Reason broke his gaze, beginning to gather up his things silently. But the cyan pony just could not leave well enough alone.
“What are you, like, crushing on Blackberry Jam or something? That doesn’t make her NOT a tramp, guy. That just makes her a tramp, and you a loser!”
The blue mare seated next to her shifted uncomfortably. “That’s not very nice, Turf… Besides, isn’t this the stallion that…”
“Oh puh-LEEZE!”, the mare named Turf snorted, “You don’t have to be nice to dorks. This is just proof that what I was telling you is true: she’s totally going after every stallion in town.”
“Um, I don’t think so… I think he’s the only one she was--“
“And as for you”, she glared back at Reason, “You are in SO much trouble. Being rude is, like, excusable, but you totally called me out in front of everypony. My coltfriend is going to kick your flank.”
“Turf! Come on, quit it!” the blue mare begged.
Reason did not hear the rest. He barreled off down Ponyville’s main road, not looking back. Many saw him flee the scene at the café…
…but only Blackberry Jam managed to notice the tears falling from his eyes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A flurry of emotions bombarded Blackberry Jam. She was energized by the scene that had just unfolded. She was absolutely furious with Turf. She was downtrodden by her newly tarnished reputation. And of course, B.B. felt horrible for Reason.
‘The embarrassment of all of those eyes on him... Oh, poor Reason!’ she thought, holding back a tear or two of her own.
There was, however, one emotion buried beneath the others that shined like a beacon, and sang with the voice of angels in a hush just below the cacophony of the rest.
Triumph.
As she watched Reason gallop away, these feelings started to rise to the surface of her mind and engulfed all others. ‘He... defended me... Reason defended my reputation!’ she thought to herself, a grin slowly forming on her face. ‘It’s almost like... we’re already dating!’
Without a moment to lose, Blackberry Jam called after the grey stallion, “Hey Reason! Wait up!”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It took Sugarsnap a moment to fully piece together what had just occurred. Turf had inadvertently incurred the ire of not one, not two, but three ponies all at the same time. More importantly than that was the fact that B.B. appeared to be noticing the colt at the receiving end of that embarrassing verbal beat down.
A silent fury boiled inside Sugarsnap. ‘How dare that gossipy witch call Blackberry a tramp?! B.B. has never even dated anypony! Turf can just go--’
Just then, B.B. took off after the strange grey colt with his weird leaf cutie mark.
‘HIM.’
Sugarsnap swiftly joined the pursuit.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reason wanted more than anything to really give Turf a piece of his mind. Unfortunately, he had a prior engagement with an earth pony couple that owned a sweets shop called Sugarcube Corner. While his sister Rhyme had had the courtesy to write ahead to the Cakes inquiring about potential job openings, she had neglected to mention to Reason that she had done so until her previous letter. He had only found out this morning that he needed to be at their establishment at noon.
Reason slowed his pace as he approached the gingerbread building. Some dust had gotten into his eyes, causing them to water uncontrollably.
‘Boy, I hope these two don’t think I’m sick or something. The last thing I need is to lose a job to imaginary allergies’ Reason thought to himself.
Unfortunately, the Cakes were not in at the moment. A note had been posted on the door:
Gone to Canterlot for baking supplies. Back in two days.
Signed,
Mr. and Mrs. Cake
Reason was disappointed. ‘They must have forgotten about my interview. Oh well, I’ll try some other venues. Maybe there is a bulletin board somewhere with job postings.’
In a cloud of dust, Blackberry Jam suddenly appeared beside the grey colt and very nearly knocked him flat on his flank.
“Watch where you’re... Oh, hey B.B. What’s up?”
The sandy-hued earth pony managed to catch her breath just enough to reply before lapsing back into wheezes and gasps for air. “Saw... Turf yelling at... café... wanted to see if you... were... alright...”
Reason kept distractedly glancing between the Cakes’ closed sign, as well as a peculiar green pony at the brink of his vision headed at an alarming speed in their direction. “Hmm? Yeah, no, I’m okay. Missed a job opportunity, but I think there might be some kind of community bulletin board or something around h-”
In a split second, Blackberry Jam appeared instantaneously revitalized. “Oh, totally! There’s one at the mayor’s office, and there’s usually some fliers hanging up in the market! You can come with me, if you want. I still have to set up for today, even though today’s pretty much half over already.”
“That sounds great, actually. But I do have two questions, Miss Jam.”
Blackberry Jam batted her eyelashes. “Please, call me Blackberry, or B.B. I mean, since we’re such good friends.”
“Alright. B.B., Turf was saying some pretty nasty things. There is one thing that I managed to pick up on, though.”
“Yesssss?” Blackberry said. Her mind was racing. ‘This is it! Everything is happening quicker than I’d ever dreamed! It’s like a fairy tale!’ she thought, trying not to squeal aloud.
“Blackberry... is there somepony that you’re interested in? Are you seeing somepony right now?”
“Why, you could say that, yes.”
“Alright, that brings me to my next question. Blackberry Jam...”
Now B.B.’s mind was absolutely on fire. ‘Oh my gosh! Wow! He’s going to ask me out, we’re going to go on a date, and it’s going to be absolutely perfect! Reason is such a gentlecolt!’
“Yes, Reason?”
She looked deep into his emerald gaze. He stared dreamily out at the horizon, then looked into her own aqua-colored eyes. Blackberry thought she might faint.
“Blackberry Jam... why does that green mare keep glaring at me?”
“Of course I w- Hwa?! Uh, I mean...”
A quick glance behind her revealed Sugarsnap, whose demeanor shifted on a dime from absolute stone-cold loathing to perky and enthusiastic.
“Oh! This is my best friend, Sugarsnap! She’s here because... um... because...” Blackberry looked puzzled. “Wait, why are you here? Why aren’t you at the market?”
Sugarsnap wore a comical look of incredulousness. “Why, B.B.! When you didn’t stop by this morning, I got worried that something had happened to you, darling.” With an equally overblown look of surprise, Sugarsnap then offered a hoof in a Reason’s direction. “But enough about that. Who’s your friend? I’ve never seen him in Ponyville before.”
Before he could introduce himself, B.B. cut him off. “This is Reason! We only just met yesterday, but we’re already really good friends! He’s taking to Ponyville really well!”
Reason interjected, “I just moved here from Manehatten, but I’m not really a resident of Ponyville. I hope to be one day, once I can afford to move my little sister here.”
“Well, any friend of B.B.’s is a friend of mine”, said Sugarsnap, sweetly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The three earth ponies parted ways. Reason spent the rest of the day looking for job openings, but Sundays in Ponyville were not exactly the day to do so.
That night, Reason recounted the day’s events in a letter to Rhyme:
My Dear Sister,
Today was pretty awful. I woke up late, and with the makings of a cold, no less. Everything went downhill from there.
Somepony at a local café called the only friend I’ve made here a tramp, so I really let her have it. Now, there wasn’t a huge crowd present, in retrospect. Still, it felt like all of Ponyville was watching the two of us. I’d hate to give the town the wrong impression! I just got here! That mare was nasty, and said such awful things about Blackberry Jam... I had to do something!
As if that wasn’t bad enough, I missed my job interview. Well, technically the Cakes just weren’t home, but even so. I will have a job by tomorrow, I guarantee it. Even if it’s just me cleaning gutters or something.
The fun just kept coming, though. Remember that mare that called out Blackberry? Well, she had made a threat about her coltfriend coming to kick my flank. I had thought it was just an idle threat, but on the way home today, I sort of ran into the gentlecolt. It wasn’t some big ruckus or anything; he just blindsided out of a back alley, suckerkicked me in the face, and says “Nopony calls MY girl a tramp!”. Then the fellow ran off before I could get a good look at him.
For the record, I never called her a tramp. My exact words were, “How would you like it if somepony called YOU a tramp?”. Long story short, I am now the proud owner of a black eye.
My second day in Ponyville was pretty darn rotten, I have to say...
Reason rubbed his bruised cheek with a hoof. The day had gone pretty poorly indeed... except...
As he was lying on the street after being jumped, Sugarsnap and Blackberry just happened to be on their way back from selling their wares for the day. They had gotten him an ice pack and an eye patch. Heck, ponies they passed by were even impressed with Reason; apparently not everypony would go hoof-to-hoof with Turf in a shouting match. Kind words and affirming winks followed the trio, and Reason was in such high spirits that he invited his new friends to his rooftop to watch the stars.
They had only left about an hour ago; Reason wanted to finish the letter to his sister before he too turned in for the night.
My second day in Ponyville was pretty darn rotten, I have to say.
Thankfully, I already have such great friends to make even the worst days that much brighter. I can’t wait for you to meet them!
With Love,
Reason
Chapter Two: END
Special thanks goes out to UnparalleledGenius and Leah Thompson for making Letters From Ponyville shiny and readable.
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Great stuff!
Just saw this on EqD, great job so far! If this is the most updated version of the story, you should see if they'll add a link here instead of just the google docs.
It's on my to-do list. I used Google docs in order to make everything all shiny and coherent, but was uploading on this site, first (updates were less shiny, but posted quicker). I'm going to request a link to FIMFiction when I send in Chapter Two.
Also: thank you all for reading, as well as the really supportive comments! I appreciate it!
Not bad, and looking forward to more.
986450
I suppose if "Club Can't Handle Me" by Flo Rida was popular in Ponyville, I would have put that song in instead. Alas, Equestria was not blessed with Mr. Rida's music at the time in question.
I love how delightfully dense Reason is. Turn out I already favorited the story(or I would do it again), so keep up the good work I guess. Looking forward to the rest.
Poor B.B she is setting herself up for disappointment because this aint no fairytale.
991385
Of course this ain't no fairy tale. But you COULD say it's.....
.........a pony tale.
(YYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!)
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I quite like this story! I generally stick to canon characters, but this is changing my mind
991967
I like that you like this story!
Enjoying this very much! I'm glad you ended it on a good note. For a bit, I thought this was going to be one of those fics that made Ponyville look like a pretty hostile place. The little details here and there, like the part about the weather team, really paint Ponyville in a positive, happy light, and I appreciate that. My one negative critique is that the scene outside Sugercube Corner ended rather abruptly. Other than that, I can't wait for more. :D
998457
I'm glad you like it!
I tried to keep Ponyville relate-able, while still keeping more or less in conjunction with the show. Some little details are more prescient than others (hopefully without being so small as to go unnoticed).
More is on its way!
Soon.
I eagerly await more!
And of course, Reason is oblivious of the one thing that could really make Ponyville stand out for him.
1002196
This comment made my day. Which is awesome. That makes you awesome. Please, have a Scootaloo.
I hope it brightens your day as you have brightened mine!
Well ponyfeathers. I was liking reading this on Google Docs, it gave me a sense of nostalgia from when all the fanfiction went to Google Docs. And now I noticed this one, where all the other stories I'm tracking are saved.
I cant decide which one to follow along with
A proper romantic comedy on fimfiction? What kind of sorcery is this?
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