A very waterlogged Amethyst Star pulled herself out of the river. Rolling onto her back and lying in the mud of the riverbank she spat up a little spout of water and stared at the blue sky with a frown on her face. She wouldn’t have minded being put through the wringer if it was tied to doing something a bit more adventurous instead of what just happened to her. And as much as she wanted to lie to herself about “holding her ground” against a pony attacking her, the circumstances of how she ended up in the river were too much for even her very self-deceptive mind to ignore.
“I need a break again...” Amethyst Star grumbled and sat up. The mud and water were both dripping off of her but she couldn’t care less at this point. “I haven’t done anything really adventure-like since meeting Daring Do but the world apparently wants to keep getting in my way. After all that walking over the mountain I should be ready for the next adventure but now I just want to rest.”
Amethyst Star sighed as she got up, twisting the water out of her tail. “Whatever. There was supposed to be a town down here or something, right?”
Not letting her annoyance or frustration get her down completely, Amethyst Star started walking away from the river and across the grassy plains she now found herself on. The ground squished beneath her hooves but it wasn’t near as bad as traveling through a swamp or marsh. Thankfully she knew the river flowed west so she could still tell where she was going. A small forest further downstream was her current short term goal.
The weather was still good too and the sun wasn’t blocked out by any clouds, the muddy and wet pony found herself naturally getting dried off the further she walked. Her one piece of fortune this whole trip so far was that the weather had been on her side. The sun’s warm rays felt really good right now, it was just the kind of boost Amethyst Star needed to help get her out of her foul mood. The quaint little forest was another boost when she got to it. It was just like what you would find around Ponyville… besides the Everfree Forest.
Chirping birds and colorful trees were a pleasant reprieve from how the day had started and Amethyst Star had a smile on her face as she wandered among the trees. A pair of bluebirds flew together over in the low sky, a group of butterflies floated about in the air right around her head, and a skittish squirrel ran from tree to tree, looking for nuts. A blackberry bush she came across also made for a tasty snack.
“Mmm,” Amethyst Star licked her lips after enjoying the sweet treat. “There were farms too in this valley right? Or farmlands. Wonder if they’ve got any other good fruit around here.”
Putting aside that thought for a moment longer, Amethyst Star rubbed her stomach and kept on walking through the forest. As idyllic as it was she wanted to find a town or something soon so she could rest up and then get started on the next leg of her journey and hopefully her next adventure. And first one that would have a completely positive conclusion.
Well it seemed like her luck had changed the moment she pulled herself out of that river because it wasn’t too long until she exited the forest and came across a brand new town. A rather bustling one at that. It was cut clean in half by the river with a number of bridges spanning across it and streets absolutely crowded with buildings that all bled into one another. Compared to Ponyville or most small towns where every house and place of business was a separate building, this place had a much more clustered and claustrophobic look to it. As she entered the town and walked down the first street she saw a large red brick building sharing a wall with a much smaller wooden building, which on the other side shared a wall with a taller wooden building, and so on and so forth.
“I heard buildings in Manehatten were built a little like this,” Amethyst Star scratched her head as she walked on.
Side-streets often intersected the larger main ones that the building fronts were located on, creating blocks and allowing access to other streets since there weren’t any alleyways to go between buildings with. There were a lot of ponies going up and down each street and before long Amethyst Star found herself caught in the pace of the crowd, wandering from place to place while gawking around at everything like a true tourist. She hadn’t yet seen a place to stay or eat at and was keeping her eyes peeled for one even as she was carried along by the wave of ponies she was walking with.
Getting tired of being jostled around and at the mercy of the swaying crowd, Amethyst Star decided to try and fight her way free. She squeezed and nudged her way through the throng of ponies until she popped out onto the cement sidewalk that lined the streets, gasping for air. Shaking her head and standing up tall to see where she was she noticed she was at the corner of one of the big city blocks.
Amethyst Star frowned. “There are way more ponies here than I thought there would be and this whole place is nothing but a bunch of squares over and over, I need directions.”
That’s when a familiar smell hit her nose. Amethyst Star perked up and took a few deep whiffs of the air. Coffee. Turning around and looking past the busy sidewalk, Amethyst Star realized that the corner of this block was taken up by a large coffee shop. Of course now she had to fight through another line of ponies moving on the sidewalk to get in there. Steeling herself, she dove right in, not bothering to excuse her behavior in the slightest as she reached for her goal of the coffee shop.
With a final grunt of exertion she freed herself and stumbled right into the glass door of the shop, groaning and rubbing her face as she opened it up and stepped inside. It was decidedly more modern looking than any eatery you would find in Ponyville, definitely giving off the Manehattan vibe like the rest of the city. To her disappointment there was a huge line at the counter that she had no desire to stand in so instead Amethyst Star sat down at the nearest open table. The table was small and only her one chair, which wobbled, was placed around it so she knew no one else would be sitting down with her.
For a moment Amethyst Star just pony watched, looking out the windows at the ones walking around and checking out the ones in the coffee shop all eating or drinking or chatting with each other. She noticed that unlike Ponyville most of the ponies here were wearing clothes. Sharp hats and suits were the most common thing she saw on stallions while the mares seemed especially fond of fitted cloche hats and thin, robe-like dresses that went all the way down to their hooves. It wasn’t a style she was familiar with, although her exposure to fashion was very limited even with Equestria’s burgeoning fashion entrepreneur living in the same town as her.
Amethyst Star propped an elbow up on the table and rested her chin on her hoof, watching a happy couple at the table next to her. The two were playfully conversing and sharing from a steaming cup of coffee that smelled very good, in their own little bubble. The enamored mare and stallion talked and flirted through half-lidded eyes while the not remotely jealous at all Amethyst Star eavesdropped.
Deciding she had seen enough, Amethyst Star interrupted the two lovebirds. “Excuse me.”
The stallion and mare jolted like they hadn’t even noticed another pony sat down next to them in the first place. And perhaps they hadn’t.
“Yes?” The mare turned her head to Amethyst Star and asked.
“Sorry for bothering you-” even though she wasn’t. “But I’m from out of town and just got here. Do you know where there’s a place I can stay?”
“Oh, well if you take the nearest bridge here over the river to the other side of the city you really can’t miss the hotel. It’s the tallest building on that side, just keep heading towards it and you’ll get there eventually.” the mare shrugged and went back to talking with her sweetheart.
Not the most detailed of directions and Amethyst Star was a little annoyed at how the two immediately went back to talking, ignoring her in case she had any more questions. She had heard that city-dwellers in Equestria could be kind of snooty and self-centered and she wasn’t surprised to see that it was the same or even worse outside of Equestria.
But she just had to live with that. Amethyst Star wished she had the patience to get a cup of coffee but she’d probably just have to find somewhere else or come back tomorrow. The unicorn had what she mostly needed for now and so she up and left the busy coffee shop, going back out to the streets but this time in the direction of the river. She wasn’t sure which street had a bridge at the end connecting it to the other side of the river but she’d at least be able to see by checking downstream when she got there.
Well as it turned out, Amethyst Star never even got that far.
Her fighting through the crowds on her way to the river had been going well and she was sure she wouldn’t have much of a problem getting to that hotel. But her plans changed when something happened to catch her eye. At the corner of the next city block she reached there was a large billboard placed at the corner instead of anything like a coffee shop. And what was written on this billboard proved to be something that piqued her curiosity.
“A test?”
Department of Education
First Annual Standardized Test
Please come to the Learning Annex (Hall B) if you are interested in participating in our study. We would like as many ponies as possible for the best and most accurate results. This test aims to see at what level the population is at in the ares of reading, writing, and arithmetic. All are welcome! Results will be used to determine how well learned the average pony is and what areas need improving on in our education system. Thank you for your care and participation!
Testing will commence on Wednesday and Thursday.
Department of Education Head- Master Baobab
Below that was written a set of directions from the billboard to the Learning Annex. It even had a map, which was what Amethyst Star really needed if she intended to go there.
“Is it even Wednesday or Thursday?” Amethyst Star scratched her head, she hadn’t been keeping track of the days since she left Ponyville. “Well I’m not doing anything else right now so going there can’t hurt. And if it is the right day then I’ll join in too! It’s definitely not an adventure but it’s still something different and part of this journey is about me doing any kind of thing that’s different.” Amethyst Star nodded to herself. “Alright, let’s check it out!”
Forgoing the walk to the hotel in place of heading to the Learning Annex to see if she could participate in this test, Amethyst Star smirked with confidence. She knew she was a pretty smart mare and could handle any “test” thrown her way. She graduated after all, didn’t she? And furthermore, this was the kind of thing Twilight Sparkle would absolutely jump at and ace no problem. Well Amethyst Star was about to prove that she could do the exact same thing.