With everything settling down, Twilight and the others went back to the farmhouse leaving only Gale and Applejack, who had elected to stay behind and keep him company as he began disassembling his car.
“Thanks Applejack,” Gale started, moving to go pick up the wrench he’d thrown. “Letting me keep my car in here means a lot to me. And, I’m sorry about that outburst it’s just that . . . ugh, there are some things I don’t want to talk about.” he continued, moving to take off the rear wheels. “And it seems that that’s all anyone is interested in asking about me.” He added under his breath.
“It’s alright sugarcube, I can tell that was gettin’ to ya.” she said. Moving to watch as he worked on loosening the lug nuts on the left rear wheel. Applejack sat down next to Gale as he continued to work on loosening the lug nuts, which were made harder to removed from the force of his crash-landing. “So, uh, can I ask ya a question?”
“That depends on what it’s about.” Gale calmly replied, keeping in mind that she didn’t seem like the type to push a question if he said no.
“Why did you call this thing a ‘she’ earlier? I mean, I figure it means something to you that’s why I did but, why?” She asked, looking at him in sincere confusion.
Gale shifted to look at her before replying. “Well, the phrase ‘this is my car, there are many like it but this one is mine’ comes to mind. Basically, every car either develops or already has some little things about it that are different from even another car of the same make, model, and year.” Standing back up, he moved to the trunk of the car. “Because of that, the longer you own a car the more you notice its particular quirks. It sort of develops a personality, in a sense.”
Applejack got up and followed him before saying. “I’m not sure I follow ya here, you’re saying that these ‘cars’ have a mind of their own?” Even as she said it, she took a small step away from the car.
“No, that’s not what I meant.” Gale replied with a smile, chuckling before continuing. “I’m not saying the car actually has a mind of its own, but rather that it has developed a few traits that, when you add them all together, can lend to the idea of it having a personality. For example,” He paused, walking to the radio antennae. “This car’s radio pretty much refuses to pick up any radio station ending in a 7. Everything else is fine, just not 7.”
Applejack had to pause for a second to wrap her head around what he was saying before she said. “I’m still not sure I get this. So, you gave the car a name because there are things about it that aren’t there on other cars?”
“That’s the basic idea of it, yeah. Because the car’s little flaws or quirks make it unique, some owners will give their car a name they see fitting. Have you ever heard the phrase ‘Well, you look like a’ in reference to a pony’s name?”
“Yeah, I think I’ve heard that before.”
“Well, when I was putting this car together the first time, I noticed that the original owner had the license plate made as a way to remember his mother. A woman named Charlene. After I got her running and driving, the name just sorta made sense. She kinda seems like a Charlene.”
“Hmm, that’s still a little weird to me, but if it’s whatcha do then that’s that.”
The two lapsed into silence as Gale opened the trunk once more and removed the carpeting to reveal that a metal box had been underneath it up against the inside wall. “I knew putting this in would come in handy one day . . . just never figured it’d be like this.” At Applejack’s questioning expression he said. “It’s a tool kit specific to this car. I compiled one with the help of one of my friends and our boss, his dad.”
“Ah, so you got everythin’’ you’re gonna need to fix ‘her’,” she was still unsure how to address the car. “In that box then?” she asked, nodding to the box in question.
“Pretty much everything except the parts themselves. Thankfully it seems like there’s enough here to reverse engineer the rest of it all.” pulling the box out of the trunk with a grunt, he set it down and looked around for a second. “Say, is there anything I can get under the axle to hold it up once I get the wheels off? I knida should have done that before taking the lug nuts off the one wheel.” he admitted sheepishly.
Applejack thought about it for a second before telling him she’d be back after a few minutes.
I’ll be surprised if she actually comes back . . . I probably scared the shit out of her earlier. Hell, I scared myself with that . . . was it the three days without- his thoughts were interrupted when Applejack came back in, pulling a small wagon with several fairly sized logs in it.
Spitting out the wagon handle, she turned to him. “I hope these’ll work, pardner. It’s all I could find right now.”
After she brought in the logs, Gale asked if Applejack thought she could at the very least get under the axle and force it up enough for him to wedge a log under. She took a minute to decide, and another two to get herself into position underneath the car, but the both worked together and balanced the rear axle on two foot wide logs that were just tall enough to keep the wheels off the ground.
With that done Gale took the rear wheel he’d already unbolted off the car and set it to the side, opting to take a closer look at the brakes before inspecting the tire.”By the way,” He started as he moved to the other side. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
“Why’s that pardner?”
“You literally just lifted over 3,000 pounds of steel with your legs.” He exclaimed, voice tinged with a small amount of fear.
“Aw, that wasn’t too hard.” she said, tipping her hat to help hide her blush.
“That makes it worse . . . “ What the hell, man? She could drop-kick me into the next county . . . wait, . . . does this place even have counties?
The next half an hour went by in near silence as Gale began to disassemble the rear facia, noting that both tail lights seemed to be intact. “Well, that’s all I think I’m gonna do for now. The rest of it’s gonna have to wait a few until I can get my hands on something like an air impact or a blowtorch,” or both “because while I was the one to put this together, the car’s been parked mostly outside for the past year or two and everything’s already started rusting. Damn road salt.”
Since there was little left that Gale felt like working on, he and Applejack went back to the house, where the others had already set up dinner.
“So, what’s the story with the stetson, anyways?” He asked as they reached the porch.
“Oh, this ol’ thing?” she replied, taking her hat off for a moment. “I got on as a gift a while back, and I like it enough to keep it.”
“Ah, I see.” He said, reaching for the doorknob. Opening the door, he took a step back and motioned for her to enter. “After you. It is your house after all.”
Taking his cue, she made her way inside. You know, I jus’ don’t get this pon- er . . . what did Twilight say he was again? Walking down the hall, she wondered. One minute he’s nice, then he freaks out about something, and now he acts like he’s done something terrible. She wondered as they both entered the main room. I jus’ don’t get it . . .
As the pair made their way into the living room, the rest of the ponies were in the middle of a conversation, so they stopped at the doorway.
“So, I heard the weather team’s looking to hire another pony?” Twilight asked, looking to Rainbow Dash. “Is that true?”
“Well, the bosses are telling me I should look into replacing Thunderlane if he’s not doing better in the next two weeks. I haven’t had the heart to tell him, and I think I’d rather cover for him than let him go.”
Wow. That’s a side of Dash I thought I’d never see. Twilight wondered before saying. “Well, are there any candidates if they force your hoof on this?”
“Hmm? Oh, none so far. I should probably start looking.” she admitted with a laugh, rubbing the back of her neck and looking around. “Any suggestions?”
All the ponies in the room burst into laughter at their friend’s expense.
Gale noted that, as the ponies’ laughter died down, the youngest of the group was looking at him. The others followed her gaze and greeted their friends. Not wanting him to feel left out, Applebloom asked.
“So, uh, Mr. Gale, what would you normally do in your spare time?” as she said it, she looked to her siblings for approval.
“Hmm? Well, I haven’t really had any ‘spare time’ for awhile now.” Pausing to take a drink he scratched his neck and went on. “I mostly bounced between the two jobs I held and taking care of my house for my mother.”
“Well that’s really nice, but there's gotta be somethin’ else.”
“Well, I would take time to practice playing a guitar on the weekends.” he said, thinking back to the tail end of high school. ”I even had a friend wanting me to a band with her at one point,” After a brief pause, he added. “But I declined for personal reasons.” Reasons I am not bringing up here.
The next few hours went by with the group discussing anything and everything. Applejack filled them in on how the harvest season had gone and what to expect for the next year while Rainbow Dash added that the weather bosses were considering a program to help farmers stabilize their weather patterns. Twilight made a mention of how farming and weather work have become more entwined in recent years, and that it’s lead to an increase in harvest size. Soon, the clock struck seven and the group dispersed. Rainbow left for her cloud home while Twilight and Gale went back to the library.
When they arrived, Gale went up to his current room and picked up one of the few books he hadn’t really read back home: George Orwell’s 1984. Coming back down stairs, he sat down against the window to read for awhile before going to bed for the night. Big Brother is watching you . . .
The next morning, Gale awoke early and decided to take a shower before heading into town. Taking a shower was an adventure in an of itself as he remembered that the showers here were much smaller than those back home. Oh yeah . . . that . . . After he had worked out how to, and properly took, a shower Gale went back into his room to get dressed.
He grabbed yet another pair of jeans but paused when selecting a Tee-shirt. Hmm, no one here knows who any of these bands are . . . I could get away with getting an interview with one on. Nice. He thought, grabbing one of his favorite shirts, one that bore the cover image from Pantera’s ‘Cowboys From Hell.’ album.
With that done, he quickly made some toast for breakfast before making his way into town. Armed with the knowledge that he was legally a citizen of the nation, Gale decided that he should get a job to repay Twilight, or help buy replacement parts for his car. That thought actually brought a smile to his face as he recalled thinking the same thing at the start of his sophomore year of high school.
Gale first went to the hardware store, thinking it would be the most logical choice for someone with hands. Unfortunately it seemed that, although there was a help wanted sign in the window, the owner wasn’t really interested in giving Gale an application. Hmm, whatever. He thought, walking back outside and strolling down the street to the sofa and quill shop. Ought to have better luck here . . . To Gale’s surprise, the owner was actually willing to give him an interview. One of the shop’s previous employees had just been sent off to guard training so they were short hooved, the owner had told him. Unfortunately, Gale didn’t quite have the stamina to constantly move couches around all day, but the owner said he’d consider him if they ever needed a managerial standpoint.
Considering the place I’ve worked at before don’t actually exist here . . . I think he was just humoring me. He tried a few other places with similar results before finding himself looking at a ‘Help Wanted’ sign posted outside a coffee shop on the corner of Main and Saddle street. ‘Mocha’s Lattes’ With a single look inside, Gale could tell that the owners knew what they were doing, if the number of ponies sitting around was anything to go by. Either it’s a Starbucks, or an actually good coffee shop . . . might as well find out.
Gale opened the door and made his way inside, ignoring the occasional stares that some ponies would throw his way. Gonna have to get used to that. Walking up to the counter, Gale politely waited until the current customer was done with their purchase. He didn’t have to wait too long as the stallion in front of him was a rather impatient one. Harping the barista for being too slow. Wow, some things never change I suppose.
One the stallion had left, Gale approached the counter cleared his throat to get the mare behind the counter’s attention. “Hello, is there any chance I can speak with a manager?” He said, nodding towards the door. ”I noticed the sign out front and would like to apply.”
To her credit, the barista didn’t flinch when he asked this, she merely look at him and said. “I think Mrs. Mocha’s in the back, hang on.” Before springing to a door at the back of the sitting area. Her reaction had actually caught Gale off guard. Huh, I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that.
The barista, whom Gale would later come to know as Hazelnut, returned with another pony in tow. Gale assumed this must be Mrs. Mocha. If the not coffee bean mark on her flank than the fact that her coat and mane were two shades of brown gave it away.
Just like the mare before her, Mocha trotted right up to Gale, seemingly unphased. “So, you’re that new stallion everypony's been talking about, huh? It’s nice to meet you.” she said, balancing on her back legs to shake his hand.
Not a stallion. “Well, I wouldn’t technically be called a stallion, but I’d wager you’re right on the rest.” he replied, shaking her hoof and giving a genuine smile.
“It seems I was, yes. I’m, sorry about that.” she said, letting him go and moving behind the counter. “Anyways, Hazel says you were here about the job listing?”
“Yes ma’am.” he nodded.
“Not to be rude, but, do you know how to serve coffee?” she asked.
“I held the same job for about two years back when I was in school.” he replied.
“Hmm, can I,-” she started before the realization hit her. “Well,” she started again, this time chuckling. “I was about to ask for references, but something tells me that would get me nowhere.”
“I’m afraid so, ma’am.” he laughed.
“Hmm, if you can have a seat over there,” she said motioning to a spot in the corner. “I’d like to talk with you more once I’ve gotten this taken care of.” As she said it, Gale took notice of just how many ponies had wandered into the shop. With a nod, Gale walked over to the table and sat down to wait.
It as another half an hour before Mocha could make time to finish their conversation. “I’m ever so sorry about that,” she started, moving to sit across from Gale at his table by the window. “As you can probably tell, we’re a little short hooved at the moment.”
“Yeah, I can see that. Still, it seemed like you had a handle on everything.”
“Well, yes, I’ve been doing this long enough to keep up reasonably, but since we’re a server down poor Hazel has been getting overworked.” As she said this, Mocha cast a glance back at the other pony.
“To her credit,” Gale began. “She does a good job of putting up with some of these people.” Taking a quick glance around the room he quietly continued. “I mean seriously, the way some ponies were acting earlier I almost thought I was in Chicago again . . . “
“I’m sorry, where?”
“Oh right, a city back home. Nothing but a bunch of assholes livin’ there,” Gale covered his mouth for a second before adding. “Pardon my French.” Should probably start watching what I say if I want to work anywhere . . .
Mrs. Mocha spent the next half-hour giving Gale a pseudo interview at their table. Their chat would have taken longer, but a number of questions that she wanted to ask were not entirely applicable given Gale’s situation. Once the quasi-interview was done, she told Gale he should come back in a few days, so she could have some time to talk it over with her husband.
Having managed tom and completed, an interview, Gale decided to call it a day. Shortly after he left, he made his way back through town and back to the library, but he only made it halfway before running into Pinkie Pie.
Oh great, here we go again . . . he thought to himself as the mare in question jumped up to him.
“Hiya, Gale, how’s it gon’?” she asked as she bounced to a stop in front of him.
“Well, it could be better,” he began, intending to quickly end this conversation before remembering that, at least he wasn’t in a hospital bed. “but I suppose it could be a lot worse . . . “ once he’d said that, he motioned for her to follow him as he went back to the library. I have a feeling she’d follow me anyways, might as well get it over with. “So, what does a pink mare get up to in a town like this?” he asked, a bit of his natural sarcasm returning.
“Well I haven't had much free time lately because we’ve had a bunch of orders come through the bakery. Oh, yeah, I work at Sugarcube Corner, the bakery in town, oh, and I also live there.”
Jesus, this one’s a fast talker. Gale thought as he tried to keep up with her words. In doing so, he failed to realize that she’d rerouted him towards the bakery.
“That’s fascinating, really, but why exactly are you leading me there?” he asked, stopping and interrupting her as he noticed what she had done.
“Well, I was gonna bake you something, since you seemed a bit down and nopony deserves to feel down about anything.”
Ignoring the fact that I’m still not, and never will, be a pony . . . “That’s great and all, but I don’t have any way to pay for it.
“Oh don’t worry about it! Think of it as a gift, . . . and maybe a bit of an apology.” she added the last part rather softly, almost not wanting it to be heard.
Okay, from what I’ve been told of her, this seems rather off . . . “Well if you really want me to, I guess I can.” Might as well play along . . . I’ve got nothing better to do.
With that settled, Pinkie Pie lead onwards and they made their way to Sugarcube Corner. “Have a seat here, and I’ll go see what I can find.” she said as they walked in.With Gale having nodded in agreement and having sat down at the counter, she went into the back to look for something to make. After a moment of consideration, she decided she knew what would work the best to raise his spirits. Pumpkin bread should do the trick, after all, can anypony really say no to pumpkin anything?
After several minutes, Pinkie returned with a plate full of dessert balanced on top of her head. “Here ya go,” she said, sliding the tray off of her head and onto the table. “I hope you like it.”
What are the odds? He though, curious as to the reason she’d decided to make pumpkin bread, which happened to be a favorite of his. “So, wait a minute,” he started, looking at the dish in front of him. “Why’d you make this anyways?” he asked, motioning to the plate full of pumpkin bread.
“I don’t know,” Pinkie said, leaning against the counter. “It seemed like a good idea. Why?”
Okay, what the hell? “Well, . . . pumpkin bread is actually one of my long time favorites.” he said before digging into the dessert and temporarily blocking out the world.
In his haste to eat, he failed to notice Pinkie’s sigh of relief. Phew, I knew he’d like it but it’s nice to hear it said.
Gale ate for about ten minutes before deciding it was time to leave. Gonna head back to the farm, I think I can get the fenders off while there’s still light out . . . I could always ask about a lantern though . . .
“Say, where’re ya goin’ now, Gale?” Pinkie asked as he made his way to the door.
“Probably back to the farm, I have some work I wanted to get done.” he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. So much more I wanted to get done.
“Well,” she began, glancing to the clock before she said. “Would you be willing to swing by a friend’s house with me real quick? I think she’d love to meet you.”
Does this woman-mare-whatever, not get the hint? “Hmm, that’s nice and all, but I doubt there’s anything I’d have to talk with them about.”
“Oh,” she began, defeat in her voice before she remembered something. “Well, I don’t know if this is anything, but she makes music for a living.”
Oh? Gale though, his interest piqued. “Does she now?” he began, thinking this was just a ploy to get him to come with her to who knows where. “What kind?”
“Well, mostly electronic, though I think she can play a few instruments. Say, don’t you play something?”
“I know how to play a guitar, I can kinda play a bass, and I can sort of play the drums, if that’s what you mean.”
“Yeah! I’m sure you two’d get along great.”
Okay, you had my curiosity, now you have my attention “Hmm, that sounds great except I can’t even properly play my guitar as of now . . . I don’t have an amp.”
“Oh, pshaw, I’m sure she could get something made for you if you asked nice enough.”
“Well, what I meant was that if whoever this mystery woman, whom you’ve yet to name,” he said, emphasising the last half of his statement. “is, they would probably want to hear some of the music I listen to, but I have no way to play any of it.”
“You don’t have any way of playing any? None recorded in some way?” Pinkie asked, seemingly trying to remind him of his phone.
“I do probably have an old mp3 player in with the rest of my stuff, but I’d have to dig for it.”
“Well, maybe do so tonight and come with me tomorrow? I just know you two would be great friends.”
And her motives come to light . . . “Hmm, ah hell, why not. I'm supposed to swing by the cafe on main street at some point tomorrow, but other than that I have nothing planned.” Well, nothing but fender removal . . . I suppose one day won’t kill me though.
“Sounds great! I’ll be here whenever you want to come by!” she said.
With that conversation done, he left for the library once more. Once he returned, he went into what had become his room and started rummaging around for his mp3 players. “I know I brought at least one of them, I kinda hope it’s the one with everything.” After about half an hour, he produced an older looking iPod and began searching through it. “Yep, this one’s got it all.” he proclaimed.
Now that he’d found it, Gale went back downstairs to eat a small dinner with Twilight and Spike before returning to his room and preparing for bed.
The next day, he got up and quickly found some clothes to throw on before downing two pills with a glass of water he’d procured the night before.
He hung around the library for a few hours before deciding that he might as well take Pinkie up on her offer. As he opened the door, he spotted Pinkie Pie trotting up to the library. Okay, that’s just weird. He thought to himself.
Pinkie quickly trotted over to him and said. “Hiya, Gale! You ready to go?”
“Yeah, I am.” he said, wondering how and why she’d decided to come to the library. “I thought I was gonna go meet you, though?” He stood still wondering just how much of a coincidence it was that she’d happened to be on her way to the library as he decided to leave for the day.
“Oh, well, I just need to ask Twilight a question, oh, and she wanted to know if you could bring your guitar. She told me she wanted to know what it sounded like up close.”
I was seriously expecting her to say ‘in person’ . . . wow. “My guitar? I mean, I’m decent with it, yeah, but nowhere near as good as you’re probably thinking I am.”
“Well, why not bring it so you can play like you did for Rainbow Dash? I'm sure she’d love to hear it anyway.”
“Hmm? Nah, an electric guitar doesn’t sound too great without an amp. Hell, I’m not sure I’ll ever . . . wait, you said this friend of yours is into electronic music?”
“Yeperooni.” she cheerfully replied.
Ignore it, Gale . . . “What do you think the odds are that she could help me get something rigged up for it?”
”I’d bet she could.”
“Might as well then,” he said, turning to walk back into the library and retrieve the instrument. “I’ll be back in a minute.” he added, before going inside and heading upstairs.
Once in his room, Gale grabbed his guitar case and quickly checked to make sure he still had a pick in it. Figures he thought when he saw that there wasn’t one. Okay, where did I put that thing? Another few minutes of searching later and Gale found it, lying at the bottom of a duffel bag, next to his phone. That figures. Walking to the door, he paused before going back to the bag and grabbing the phone. As much as I hate to admit it, this thing’s got all the music I like on it . . . might as well keep it on me for now.
Pinkie only had to wait about ten minutes before Gale walked back out, and they both headed off to visit her, as of yet unnamed, friend. Once the pair arrived, Pinkie went ahead and knocked on the door of a, rather unassuming, two story home.
“So, Vinyl, huh?” Gale asked as he walked into her living room. “Like a record?” Gale added, as he took a seat on a couch in the aforementioned mare’s living room.
“Yeah.” she answered, levitating a pitcher of lemonade out of her fridge. “Mom was a big time orchestra fan so we had a bunch records laying around the house.” Setting the pitcher down, she walked into the living room and floated over a glass of lemonade.
Why do I suddenly want to listen to Dead or Alive? “I’m starting to think names here just end up being prophetic. Oh, and thanks for the drink”
“No problem.” she replied, sitting on a sofa to his left. “You’re not the first to say that either, but most ponies just ignore it.”
How convenient. “Not surprised by that at all.” he pause to take a sip before continuing. “So, you’re a recording artist then?. What genre?”
“Genre? Well, I could really record just about anything but I mainly stick to electronics ‘wub step’ it’s been called.”
Not even ‘music’ genres are safe . . . “Yeah, I’m not a big fan of dubstep personally, I much prefer music that actually has to be played live, rather than with the push of a button.” he said flatly, before remembering who he was talking to. “Not that it doesn’t take effort to make electronic music,” he hastily added. “I just prefer the music I do since it’s something I could write with no technical background.”
“Nice save,” She said, levitating her glass off the table and taking a drink. “But yeah, I get where you’re coming from. It’s not as difficult for me as playing a cello or anything, but it’s not as simple as some ponies think it is.”
“Again, I wouldn’t know.” he began, leaning forward. “I do know, however, that it’s not as easy to play a guitar as some people seem to think it is.” he finished, gesturing to the case next to him.
“Say, what kind of music would you listen to anyways? I can’t imagine it's something the average pony would know of.”
“Oh, uh, I generally listened to old rock songs, though some modern rock groups are good”
“Rock?”
“Well, ‘Rock N Roll’ as it’s usually referred. Basically, very in your face at times and to some, rather abrasive.”
“Well, now I have to hear this. You have anything in mind?”
I wonder if she realizes how bad of an idea asking me that was . . . he thought, reaching into a pocket to get his phone. “Well, I have a bunch of music stored on this little guy. I’ll see what I can find.” After some searching, he found the song he’d been looking for. “Here we go.” he said with a grin before playing Metallica’s ’Welcome Home.’
As the song began, Vinyl soon found herself sitting slack-jawed in awe. Okay, how the hay does somepony do that? She briefly wondered before she even heard the lyrics. As she listened more to the lyrics, she started shivering.
Vinyl sat in silence for nearly 30 seconds after the song ended before finally muttering “What . . . the . . . buck?”
“Not what you were expecting?” he asked with a grin.
“No not at all.” Vinyl shook her head. That, that was dark . . “
Figures that’s what she’d-
“Got anything else?”
What?
“Well, yeah, but I thought you said it was too dark?”
“Nah, I said it’s dark, not ‘too dark’.”
Good to know that, just like back home, there are people fine with dark lyrics. “Okay then. Well, there’s a bunch more on here but a good number of them are better live, even if it’s just the guitar.” He turned to open the case next to him and added. “Plus, I saw you lookin’ at this thing. I get it.” Opening the case, Gale took his guitar out and turned back to her. “Whatcha think?”
Vinyl gave the instrument a quick once-over before whistling. “Wow, so you can play that song on this?”
“Part of it, anyways.” he said, patting the old instrument.
“Yeah, I payed about $75 for this ol’ bastard.” he said, picking up the instrument and strumming a quick tune. After a few seconds, he noted “It’d be a lot better if I had an amp, but,” he sighed “I neglected to pack mine when I left . . . “ At her confused look, he continued “It’s a long story, and I’d rather not talk about it right now.”
Vinyl conceded and the pair spent the next half an hour discussing music genres, lyrics, and most anything related to music in general. Gale, in particular, made sure to make a mention of some of the more famous groups he’d listened to back on Earth.
With only three hours of sunlight left, Gale left Vinyl’s house and headed into town. Hope she isn’t mad about me showing up this ate in the day, though she did just say ‘tomorrow’ . . . he thought, making his way down main street to the cafe he’d visited the day prior.
As he walked up to the building he took note of the scene inside. Though he couldn’t hear, he did his best to discern what was going on.
Inside the cafe, a very distressed Mocha was arguing with another pony. What they were arguing over, Gale couldn’t have told you, but it clearly couldn’t have been good if she was getting as distressed as she was. Hmm, why does that pony look familiar? It took him a few seconds to think about it, but he realized that he’d met this mystery pony before. They had claimed to be a nurse when he first woke up in the hospital.
“Look, all I’m saying is that you need to heavily consider the type of pony you employ. This is a lovely cafe, and it’d be a shame if something were to happen to it.” the unnamed pony said, making no attempts to hide the implications of his statement.
Seemingly very shaken, yet still quite angry, Mocha fired back “Fine. I suppose I should start watching who I serve too, this place is a bit too nice for some ponies.”
“As long as we’re in agreement.” the unnamed stallion coldly replied, before turning around and walking out.
Gale watched him leave from a distance, having stepped back when he saw their argument winding down. The hell is that guy? He wondered as he walked inside. The sound of the door bringing, a still angry, Mocha back to the front area. “What else do you-,” she started, before seeing that it wasn’t the pony from earlier but rather Gale.
“I’m sorry Gale, I know I told you to come by today, but I think it’d be best if we hold off on hiring you for now. I have a few . . . issues . . . I need to work out with my husband first.” she said, knowing he’d seen the confrontation earlier, she hoped he’d get the message.
“I understand. I’m in no rush at this point.” he said. Leaning over the counter he added “Look, I don’t know who that was, nor what they said, but if you need help with anything let me know. I can tell you’re not happy with whatever it was he came here for.” Not even giving her time to reply, Gale got up from the counter and walked out. He then proceeded back to the library as darkness fell on another day.