Applejack was standing at her stall, dutifully attending to her role as a sales pony for the afternoon with her little sister in tow. It was not the role that suited her the best, for sure. But still, one that she was required to play in order to be able to fulfill other, more important roles in her livelihood. It was a warm, pleasant enough afternoon, getting close to the evening as a matter of fact. It would not be much longer until she could make her way back home and be done with this ill-fitted role and resume her much preferred occupation of working with the land and tending her homestead.
Sadly for her, it seemed as if the end of her day would be the most...exciting portion. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Ponies started to close up shop left and right, a frightened look on their faces. Applejack looked to and fro, attempting to discern the cause as she prepared to follow suit.
Her little sister seemed just as confused as she was, gently prodding her side with a hoof to get her attention while giving her a wide-eyed, unsure look. “Applejack, what’s goin’ on? Why is everypony closin’ up?” she asked as she looked around somewhat anxiously.
Applejack continued to look around, slowly backing closer to the cart she was minding, now mostly empty of apples at this time of the day. “I ain’t rightly sure, Applebloom. But maybe we should see about goin’ home soon…” She said as her ears flattened against her head, one hoof raised to her chest as she finally saw it, though a bit too late.
A bipedal creature. A rather large one at that, towering over an average pony by a considerable margin, was approaching from the direction of the Whitetail Woods. It was Dapperly dressed and mostly hairless, save for the top of its head, sporting a set of spectacles, a pipe seemed to hang from the corner of its mouth, billowing a soft, constant trail of smoke as it held the implement in a gloved paw.
And who’s stall would he be coming towards but her own! Seriously, with everyone else closed down, who else would he be approaching? Applebloom squeaked softly and gave the large biped an unsure look, more confused than scared as Applejack stood between her and the large creature. “Can I -ahem-...can I help you there, partner?”
The creature smiled wide down at her, and she could not help but take notice of a set of pronounced canines gracing his mouth as he began to speak in a posh accent. It sort of reminded her of rarity, to be frank. “Ah yes, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jasper, Jasper Mountebank.” He said, taking off one of his gloves, and extending his paw to her. He had no claws, but rather blunt nails more like a monkey. Was he some sort of shaven ape? Or maybe a naturally hairless sort of one?
In any case, strange monkey-thing or not, Applejack was never one to refuse a hoof shake, and took his paw, shaking it heartily, a surprised look coming across his face as the firmness and intensity of her response. “Well, I suppose it is good enough meetin’ ya, Jasper. The name’s Applejack. This here’s my lil’ sister, Applebloom.” She said as she gestured down at the younger filly after releasing his paw.
The strange creature rubbed his paw for a moment with a small wince before placing his glove back on, smiling at the two of them kindly again, giving a small bow of greeting to the young filly. “A pleasure meeting you both. As to what you can do for me. I am erm...new to town, and in a bit of a pickle! I’ve been trying to find somewhere to bed for the evening, but so far it seems all of my attempts have had me shooting into the brown and, to be frank, I’m quite poked up about it.” he says, rubbing at the back of his neck, seeming a bit abashed. "My stature and queer appearance seem to have turned most of the townsfolk into meaters, but you seem a bricky enough gal to stick around for a chat, so I was hoping you might point a gent in the right direction."
She tilted her head slightly as she tried to process what he said, a dial tone almost audible as she puzzled over it for a moment “Well, if you are lookin’ for a place to stay, Ponyville ain’t got an inn or nothin like that as far as I know. Your best bet would be to take the train up to Canterlot yonder.” she said as she gestured with a hoof towards a much larger town in the distance, hanging off of the side of a rather large mountain.
The creature’s eye twitched “Canter….lot. Hm, I will just pay that no mind for now.” he said somewhat cryptically as he gave her a nod “Thank you for your assistance, Miss Applejack. Now, would I be able to purchase a few of your apples here? I am typically more an Essex Pippin man myself, but those seem delightfully well-tended.” he said kindly enough as he looked over the remains of her stock.
She gave him an odd look and finally shrugged, offering a polite smile “Sure nuff, Partner! That’ll be a bit for five.”
“Hm….” he gave a slightly furrow-browed expression as he sought to dig through his pocket for a small clasp mouthed satchel, popping it open and pulling out four small, strange-looking silver coins of varying designs. “I think there may be a currency disparity, will a shilling and sixpence suffice for a dozen?
The creature as far as she was able to tell (which was quite far) seemed to be giving her a fair enough offer with his strange silver currency, so she decided it would not hurt too terribly much. He seemed a bit down on his luck, and if nothing else, perhaps he would return with actual bits at some point.
“Uhmmm...sure, big fella…” she said as she took his currency and placed it in a small container attached to her cart., handing him off the apples in a small sack “Now er...I don’t mean tah be too rude but…”
“I know, I know…” he said looking around with a small sigh “It seems the likes of myself are not too terribly welcome in these parts. I shall tend to my business and be on my way shortly enough.” he looked around, slightly annoyed now. “Do the ponyfolk treat every stranger that rolls into town this way, or am I just particularly hard on the eyes?” he asked half-jokingly as he crossed his arms.
Applejack gave a small, uncomfortable laugh as she kicked at the dirt, looking away from him “hehe, yeah, this ain’t the first time we’ve had a problem with outsiders like this. Sorry fella…” she said, sounding slightly ashamed. “Look, just try to stay out of trouble, would ya? You seem alright for one of those uh, hoity-toity types, no offense.”
His face scrunched slightly for a moment and he gave a small sniff “None taken, I suppose. Good day, ma’am.” he said as he pushed up his glasses with a digit and walked away. As he got further from the little array of shops and caravans, the ponies came back out slowly, seeming quite relieved that he had taken his leave.
……………..
Jasper gave a small sigh as he made his way down the road, running a hand through his hair in a somewhat exasperated fashion. As he walked down the streets, mothers hid their children, ran into their houses. Men, or rather...stallions gave him unpleasant or downright hostile looks.
He was quite displeased with it to say the very least. He was a refined and well-mannered gentleman of good and honest repute! To be treated as some sort of vagrant simply because he was different than those around him was appalling!
Was this what it was like to be Irish? He gave a small shudder at the mere thought of such an awful thing. Goodness, imagine being Irish, he simply could not relate.
In any case, it really was starting to get a bit late, he needed to find somewhere to stay until the morni-
“Excuse me, you are a Human, right?”
From nowhere he heard a hesitant, excited voice chime out for his attention. He looked about until he felt a hoof gently poke him in his thigh and looked down to see a rather happy looking cyan pony with a light blue and white mane and tail. She had a mark of a harp of some sort on her flank as well. The last one had a mark of apples and she sold apples. Perhaps this one was some sort of musician?
In any case, it was about time someone in this town was kind enough to give him the time of day without prodding from his purse. He smiled at her and nodded “Why Indeed I am, the name is jasper. Jasper Mountebank.” he said as he looked her up and down.
She beamed up at him and extended a hoof in earnest greeting “Lyra Heartstrings, at your service, Mister Mountebank. I could not help but notice that you are having some….trouble here in town…” She said as she looked over to the menagerie of ponies all watching from the perceived safety of their homes. She turns back towards him, beaming at him brightly. “If you would like, I would be more than happy to allow you to stay in my home for the evening as my guest! “
“Really now…?” he said, raising an eyebrow slowly. The mare certainly seemed….quite eager to be of assistance. Almost a bit too eager in his opinion. But beggars cannot be choosers after all! He clears his throat softly and gives a small nod. “Miss Heartstrings, that is a very generous offer. I am not sure about staying the entire evening, but I would certainly be happy to join you for dinner and go from there if that suits your fancy.”
It does indeed seem to suit her quite well. The little pony jumps into the air slightly and wiggles her little flanks excitedly “Oh, this is so great! Oh wait until I show you to Bon Bon, she’s going to feel so dumb when I rub it in her cute bucking face That I met a real human!” She reared up on two legs and took a countenance resembling a chicken, forelegs bent inwards and elbows flapping as she said in a mocking tone, slightly bent over. “ ‘ThAt AnThRoPoLoGy DeGrEe WoN’t FeEd OuR fUtUrE cHiLdReN’, hah!” She said, finishing with a small snort as she happily started to trot towards what he assumed was her home. “Anyway, are you coming, Mister?”
He was seriously starting to rethink all of the choices he had made in the last several minutes. It seemed he might be getting caught up in the affairs of a quarreling couple of fillies. But A warm meal was a warm meal, and he had already accepted her hospitality, a thinly veiled excuse to lord his existence over her roomates head or not. He shrugged softly and started to follow her, notably concerned in his expression. “I supposed I am, lead the way, ma’am.
“Oh, good!” she said, turning back around and resuming prancing her way forward now humming some little tune or another.
Jasper straightened his cravat nervously as they walked down the street, now with a considerable number more of those unpleasant stares coming his way, as if taking the company of this pony, in particular, had worsened his situation somehow.
Ah, well, too late to worry about that sort of thing now. All that was left to do was bear the consequences of his choices and hope for the best. And of course, to prepare for the worst....