//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Ponyville: Free house! Woo! // Story: Alicorn Awakening: Lost and confused // by Akuma //------------------------------// Ponyville, a vibrant and colorful town nestled in the heart of Equestria, buzzes with activity and warmth. Its winding streets are lined with quaint houses and busy shops, each adorned with cheerful pastel hues and adorned with colorful decorations. In the town square, ponies of all shapes, sizes, and colors gather to socialize and celebrate the magic of friendship. The sound of laughter fills the air as residents go about their daily routines, exchanging smiles and starting up conversations. And amidst the bustles streets and colorful medieval buildings, the four siblings and the horse-turned-alicorn found themselves in the front of Mayor Mare's office, inside the building after they told someone they needed to ask the mayor a question of sorts. "I'll do the talking." She took a deep breath as she steeled herself for the conversation ahead, as much as they didn't want to interact with anyone, they were in desperate need of a place to call shelter, or else they might interfere with the mane six and spike to much. "We've been in the damn town for a whole hour.." Abbaddon grumbled, a glare on his face. Rowan knocked on the door, "Miss Mayor Mare? We– my siblings and friend have a question to ask you, we're new to Ponyville." She asked, a bit confused on how she should respond afterwards. She could hear some shuffling — papers perhaps? Or folders — before a muffled response of "Of course! Come in!" was heard. Rowan quietly pushed open the door to Mayor Mare's office, the bell above announcing their arrival with a soft chime. The mayor looked up from her paperwork with a warm smile. "Hello! Welcome to Ponyville, What brings you here this evening, dearies?" Rowan shifted her stance, her request on her mind. "Well, Mayor Mare, I wanted to inquire about any vacant houses in Ponyville. You see, my siblings and I need of a place to stay along with my friend." She moved her head to point behind her where her siblings and friend are. "Hi!" "Hello!" "Sup." Solarius was the only one that waved. Mayor Mare's expression perked up, understanding the request. "Of course! We do have a few vacant houses available, would you like a house that's large of sorts?" She asked, looking through a folder and flipping through some papers. Rowan nodded, "Yes, preferrably one that has large rooms too." "Hmm..." Mayor Mare hummed, before nodding. "Ah, yes, we do have a large vacant house at the outskirts of town, although the inside may need a bit of a fixing," Mayor Mare said, pointing to a location on a nearby map. "It's been empty for quite some time, but it should be suitable for your needs, all you need to do is sign this document first." She continued before showing a document along with an ink and quill. Rowan carefully read it, before realizing she needed her own signature and names of the ones who will live in it first. Rowan blinked, 'huh, free house, I guess?' Rowan nodded again, "Alright, the location is perfect." She stated, levitating the quill and dipping it in the ink. 'Hmm.. so the document needs the name of the pony who will own it of sorts..' She thought, glancing behind her, she made a hand sign— or something similar, all she did was move a hoof around in a specific pattern. Vel perked up after realizing what she was signing, he nodded his head. Rowan wrote her pony name, and signed her signature. "Finished." She stated, handing the document to Mayor Mare, who delightfully took it. "Wonderful! Please, allow me to show you the location of the house." She stated, smiling as she clapped her front hooves together, she walked towards the door, signaling the others to follow her. While they walked, they could see ponies laughing and having fun, up above in a cloud, a blue pegasus with rainbow mane was sleeping, while an orange earth pony mare with a cowboy hat was selling apples nearby. The earth pony looked at them, "Howdy!" She exclaimed, waving a hoof. Abbaddon nodded at her, "Howdy." He stated. Vel could see a few ponies looking at them, before half of those few whispered to other ponies and pointed at them. "We need to hurry, fast. Our appearance isn't exactly like a normal canterlot pony." He hissed at Rowan, who nodded. "Miss Mayor Mare? Is it alright if we hurry our tracks? We're a bit, erm, impatient sometimes when walking." Mayor Mare blinked at her question, before nodding, "Of course! We shall speed walk there instead." "Wow, it's..." Bellona started, looking at the building in awe. "Surprisingly bigger than we imagined." Abbaddon finished the sentence, looking at the front of the house, the building itself was similar to a certain fashionista's boutique, but it looked fancier, it was certainly large enough to house a dozen ponies, but they were only five. Why wouldn't anyone be in the house? It was literally bigger than every building in the town! And all they had to do was sign a document! It had three floors and a balcony! Rowan looked at the retreating earth pony who was going back to the Town Hall, she then looked at the door and opened it. And was immediately enveloped in dust. "WHAT THE FUCK—" "MY EYES, MY EYES! IT HAS DUST!" "It's in my fucking lungs—" most of them exclaimed in shock, while Solarius covered her nose with a hoof. "Maybe we should've brought masks," Vel violently coughed as the dust finally settled, he looked around the room before going inside. "I must say, it's very spacious, we can probably add a billiard, no wait— a giant TV screen! And some video games!" Vel exclaimed, grinning as he explored the house excitedly. "I'll make a blueprint for you guys so we could know where to put stuff!" Abbaddon simply grumbled before pointing at an area, "Okay, the kitchen is obviously there because of the counters, along with the dining tables— why's it fuckin' dusty as hell here!?" He complained, waving a hoof around to swat away the dust near him. Rowan rolled her eyes before casting a specific spell, a bright pink flash covering everything before it settled. Abbaddon blinked, "...Oh, there's no dust anymore." He said, looking around as Rowan huffed. They could hear Vel on the upper floor, "It certainly needs some work done in here, guys!" His sentence was muffled by the walls as he went back down from some stairs. "Alright—" he produced a paper of sorts, which had the blueprint of the building. "So! I think I figured out the reason why no one bought this house (I have no idea why we got it for free) but one of its problems is that the bathrooms do not properly work, there are cracks in the walls, and there is a racoon in one of the rooms. Also I found some stuff we can sell to gain money from—" he levitated a dusty camera towards them before Bellona suddenly snatched it and used her game screen to renew the camera. As Vel kept talking, she glanced at her siblings, who nodded at her and pointed at the door. She looked at Solarius, "Hey, was there a building where we can sell this?" She asked, Solarius just rolled her eyes. There was a building that had a sign that said "Trade 'N' Tails", we can go there, she thought, signaling Bellona to follow her through the door. "Hey guys! Make sure to put my room near the stairs! We also need food, so I'll give Abbaddon the bits!" "Excuse me WHAT—" "Hey! Sol! Wait up!" Bellona yelled after Solarius, who was walking too fast. Since Solarius was the tallest and biggest one amongst the group, her walking was faster. 'Why is she even taller than EVERYONE anyway!? Is it because she was an actual horse?' She thought, pouting as she caught up with Solarius, walking right next to her — or trotting. Solarius chuckled when she saw Bellona pout, unfortunately, they had to walk fast, an extremely tall war horse isn't a good sight to see, especially with the scar she had at her chest and nose. She sighed, she was thankful that the streets of the town were bustling more than usual, probably because it dismissal time for the kids— children? Kids are technically goat babies or something. As they approached a quaint shop known for its collection of goods, Bellona's new wings fluttered with excitement, while Solarius remained silent. Pushing open the creaky door, they were greeted by the sight of various trinkets and more displayed on shelves. There was a blue blur that went by after it bought a book. "Wow.." Bellona gaped, her expression full of awe seeing the stuff on the shelves. Solarius glared at her, oh so you're amazed at this, but you don't appreciate my collection of weapons in my game space? She glanced to her left, seeing some old books. Ah, limited editions, who is this Star Swirl? His clothes look like a stereotypical wizard. Behind the counter stood a unicorn with a dusty brown coat and a perpetually bored expression, looking at the floor. This guy's probably the resident trader and seller of trinkets in Ponyville. Solarius thought, she glanced at a few shiny objects, before poking each of them lightly. A loud "ding!" was heard inside her mind and a blue system screen appeared infront of her everytime she did it, although it seems like she was the only one who could see it. The unicorn glanced upwards before staring back at the floor, he then did a double-take, realizing he had customers. "Ah! Welcome, welcome! I apologize for ignoring you both, I didn't expect anypony today since I have nothing new!" called out the owner, a nervous expression in his eyes. "My name is Barter Hoof, what can I do for you today?" Bellona flashed a mischievous grin and nudged Solarius forward. "We've got something old of sorts, we want to sell it for some bits. A real beauty." She exclaimed, earning a raised eyebrow from Solarius as she showed the camera. The unicorn's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the device Solarius held in her hoof. He took it in his magic, examining it from angles. "Goodness! How did you both find this? It's a relic from a bygone era, but remarkably well-preserved! It's possibly older than somepony I know.." He looked at the two mares, "How?" He asked, his jaw agape. 'Wait.. these two mares aren't normal, one is a– sweet Celestia, a thestral! In the day time too! Their skin is sensitive in the sun! And the other is... oh good gravy this one looks scary under the cloak—' his brain short-circuted after realizing two things. ... Oi. Solarius thumped the counter with her hoof, almost snarling after it had been a minute of him short-circuting his own brain. I know ya can't hear me, but the money? Hello asshole? Barter Hoof stuttered, walking away before grabbing a large pouch and thrusted it to Bellona's hoof. "Thank-you-for-going-to-Trade-'N'-Tails-nice-meeting-you-come-again!" He hastily responded to them before politely pushing them outside the door and shutting it. They blinked. "Uh.. at least we have money now? And judging by the weight of this pouch, it's a lot!" Bellona laughed, showing it to Solarius right at her face. The light-cream colored pony took the large pouch and opened it, counting the bits inside. She smirked. Looks like the camera was quite rare.