After my trance-like-state in the museum had abated, it was time to regain the streets and search for...well, I honestly hadn’t thought that far ahead. In fact, I had been rather careless in my entire enterprise so far, finding that I was in the big city with nowhere to go and only seventeen bits left to survive on. Mulling this over in my mind, I started to trot the Manehattan streets and continued to ponder my situation for the better part of the afternoon. I stopped at one point for some lunch at a low-key restaurant, parting with another bit, and then I made my way into the inner part of the city, including the buzzing fashion district. There were models, designers, photographers, and all sorts of glamorous and busy ponies prancing around trying to get seemingly everywhere at once. It was chaos, but a kind of stimulating, invigorating chaos.
I decided to take in the sights here, which admittedly were gorgeous – I mean, let’s face it, it was the fashion district. I even caught glimpses of famous ponies I recognized, like Photo Finish being carried by her assistants from one giant building into another, as well as Hoity Toity talking to another fashion pony I did not recognize in the outdoor section of a fancy bistro.
As many ponies before me and many since have likely done in the thrall of the excitement and verve of the fashion district of a city like Manehattan, I so badly neglected my own sense of position and direction that in an instant I found myself on my backside on the ground, much the same as the pony with whom I made blunt contact the instant prior. I was quick to apologize for my clumsiness, and she did the same, even more so, in fact.
She was a smartly dressed mare, not surprising given where she was, but she immediately seemed different in some way to me than the other fashion ponies darting around in every direction around us. She wasn’t quick to speak and didn’t do so very loudly when she did. She was of a demure, even shy nature. Her coat was an off-white, her mane was short, of a two-tone blue color, and she wore a white-striped lavender collar with a scarlet tie, and a flower hair clip. Her cutie mark was a lavender floppy hat with a red feather. Her soft, gentle eyes matched her mane. She seemed from her look alone like one of the nicest ponies one could hope to run into.
“Oh, I’m so sorry for running into you like that.” I said.
“Oh, no, don’t worry about it. I don’t think I was watching where I was going very well.”
“I guess I was just so taken in by all the craziness here that I didn’t notice you coming. Are you part of all this fashion business?”
“Oh, well, sort of...I’m an assistant to a designer who works around here. Her name is Suri Polomare. I was actually on my way to meet her over there.” She motioned with her hoof to indicate the same bistro where I had seen Hoity Toity earlier, though now he was gone. “Are you involved in fashion too, or are you just passing through?”
“Uh, yeah, I’m just passing through. Actually, I’m moving here from, uh...Winneapolis. I’ve always dreamed of living in the city, and I knew Manehattan was the place to go, so I kind of hightailed it here pretty fast...so fast, in fact, that I kind of don’t have anywhere to stay. I’m sort of trying to figure that out right now as a matter of fact.”
“Oh, that’s too bad, I wish I could help in some way.....well hey, my apartment has some room, and I’m just one little pony after all, so you could sleep on my couch with no trouble. I know this must sound odd coming from a stranger, but I would hate to think of you out in the streets in Manehattan at night with no place to stay...”
“Oh, my! That’s awfully kind of you, really. I mean...I suppose that would be...well, that would be fantastic, honestly. You really wouldn’t mind at all?”
“Oh, no, like I said, I have plenty of room, it will be perfectly fine. Here’s my address. Just buzz for me and I’ll let you in. Oh, wait! I just realized, I didn’t get your name.”
I had a slight panic. I hadn’t come up with anything yet. I needed to spit something out fast to not look suspicious. “Pi...Mina. My name is Mina...Mina P...Pearl!”
“Um, okay. Uh, are you alright there?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry, just a little confused and flustered. I lived in a small town in Winneapolis, so I’m just not used to this atmosphere here in the city. It’s such a faster pace than I’m used to.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet. Say, that’s funny, you don’t have any hint of that Winneapolis accent.”
“Oh yeah, well, my family was kinda weird that way. I guess we were a little, um, secluded, so we didn’t get the accent or something. I always wondered about that myself.”
She let out a modest little giggle and said, “Well, it was lovely meeting you Mina Pearl. I’d better get going to Suri. She hates when I’m even a minute late, and I’m already pushing it. I’ll see you later at my place. Come to that address any time after 7:00, okay.”
“Okay. Oh wait, I just realized I didn’t get your name. Wow, we both kinda flubbed the whole greeting thing, huh?”
“Haha, yeah, I guess so, sorry. My name is Coco Pommel.”
“Oh, what a pretty name. Well, I’ll see you later, sometime after 7:00 Coco.”
“Yep, see you then. Bye.”
She smiled and pranced away to the bistro. I couldn’t believe my luck. What were the chances of running into somepony so generous? It’s times like those where one must count one’s lucky stars, as it were. I explored a little more while I still had time. I stopped and spent another bit on some dinner, and then I saw a street performer pony who was juggling bowling pins and riding a unicycle, all while singing the alphabet backwards to the tune of ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’! I couldn’t help but throw a bit into his hat. That left me with fourteen. I knew I would have to be more careful with my spending from then on, or else I would probably be broke in a few days. What I really needed was a job...
After I had explored and taken in my new surroundings for about another hour, I noticed on a big clock on one of the tall buildings that it was about 6:30. I looked for about ten minutes and finally found a place that sold some maps of the city. I bought one for another bit and found where her address was on it. I determined it was far enough away from where I currently was that I should probably start moving. On hoof, I would probably reach it in 45 minutes or so. So, I headed for Coco’s place, starting to feel pretty tired. So much had already happened in a single day, and I definitely needed some rest, whether on a couch, a bench, or, knowing me, even a rock. Tomorrow, I would start looking for a job.