Making her way down the stairs, Twilight could hear faint jazz music playing. Bobbing her head to the rythm she walked into the restaurant.
Immediately feeling nostalgic, she thought she'd walked into Donut Joe's. Besides the small stage in the corner, the restaurant was identical to the donut bar in Canterlot. Thinking about all the times she’d treated Spike to his favorite hot chocolate and sprinkle donut slowly turned her smile to a depressed frown. She plodded over to one the open seats at the counter as a bespectacled pigeon looked up from polishing coffee mugs.
“May I help you miss?” the pigeon asked, snapping Twilight out of her depressing thoughts.
"Oh, yes! I’d like to see your menu”, she said taking a seat at the bar as he pulled out a card and placed it in front of her. “Kind of a small selection here”, she said reading it over.
"Most of our patrons usually stop by for a cup of coffee instead of a full meal. Speaking of which, you seem rather new to town." he said in passing while turning to some shelves behind the bar. Sitting on them were hundreds of opened packages, each labeled with a different coffee name.
“I arrived just before the festival”, she answered with a sigh.
"Sounds like someone could use a cup of joe”, he said as his wing stopped over the only closed package.
“Why not... what's a Mean Greens?", she asked as the pigeon opened the package and carefully measured out some of the contents.
Popping the beans in the coffee machine's grinder, he turned to the anthro pony with a smiling beak. "It's a little vegetarian creation of mine. After roasting some eggplant, zucchini and bell peppers in the oven, I cut them into slices and place them on two pieces of whole wheat bread. I then smother the veggies in pesto sauce and grill it in a panini press.” a small chuckle escaped his beak before continuing, “I decided on the name because the vegetables kept getting burnt when I was trying out the recipe and I even tripped over a fallen eggplant at one point.”
Twilight’s frown slowly turned to a smile as she imagined the incident and the delicious sounding sandwich. “Well that sounds perfect, I think I’ll have one of the Mean Greens then.”
“Right away Twilight”, he said as he turned on the panini grill and pulled a prepped sandwich from under the counter.
Just looking at the large vegetarian sandwich, Twilight felt her mouth water in anticipation as he put it on the grill. Breathing in the smell of fresh coffee and grilled vegetables, she wiped some drool from her mouth as she finally noticed the pigeon knew her name.
“I don’t believe we met before...how do you know I’m Twilight?”, she asked with raised eyebrows. She wondered for a minute if Jack had broken his own rules before the pigeon gave a chuckle.
“Ever since the festival all the gossip in town has been about the bet Jack and Seth made over a purple pony. Being the only restaurant in Smashville, I hear quite a bit of the local gossip.” he explained while flipping the grilled sandwich onto a plate and placing it before her.
Quickly picking up one half of the sandwich she could feel her stomach rumble in anticipation. She took a large bite of the sandwich as the pigeon slide a steaming cup of coffee next to her plate.
“Mmm...” she hummed contentedly as she savored the delicious sandwich. I’ll need to take a copy of this recipe, she thought before swallowing.“This sandwich is so good mister...”, she commented while reaching for the coffee .
“Names Brewster, miss Twilight” he answered with a small smile.
Giving a smile in response, Twilight put down the sandwich as she reached for her hot beverage. She nearly knocked the scalding liquid all over the bartender as a high pitched voice surprised her with a greeting.
“Hiiiiiii!” The voice came from a blue cat leaning on the chair next to her. “Nice you meet you, I’m Rosie!” she said in an excited voice while grabbing Twilight’s hand and shaking it vigorously in greetings it deliberately “You must be the new girl everyone has been talking about!”
Visibly shaken and having her personal space invaded made Twilight grin awkwardly as she tried to act polite. “Why yes I am. My name is Twiliiiiiiiiight!” Twilight managed to say as Rosie pulled on her off the bar stool.
“Come on, Come sit with us! The girls and I were just about to talk about you and wouldn't’ you know it, you waltzed right into the place!” Rosie said excitedly as she sat the shaken Twilight down on an empty chair. Rosie then grabbed Twilight her coffee and sandwich, after grinning innocently at Brewster, before taking her seat. “So these are my gal-pals Carmen, Peanut and Chevre!” she exclaimed while each of the three girls gave a quick greeting as their names were called
“Hello”,the brown rabbit said with a wave, “I like your bow!”
“Hiya”, the pink squirrel chimed, “welcome to Smashville!”
“Hey there”, the white goat said while tapping her fingers together nervously, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Twilight scratched the back of her head as she looked around the table. She gave her own nervous chuckle as she tried to make sense of how she got roped into this meeting. “I-I'm flattered... It's nice to meet you all to.” she said with a sheepish grin as the group of friends giggled in unison.
“So Twilight, tell us how you like Smashville so far?” Peanut asked while forking a piece of cake into her mouth.
“Well... so far I find it very different from where I’m from.” Twilight said, keeping in mind Jack’s first rule of not drawing unwanted attention. “I really enjoyed the chestnut festival though”
“Yeah! I saw you there while Jack and Seth were duking it out at the target game!” Rosie said, sitting on the edge of her seat. “I can’t get how awesome that was out of my head!”
“And I can't get their dreamy looks out of ‘my’ head”, Chevre said while holding her reddening cheeks. The others giggled while Twilight sipped some coffee from her mug.
“Uh-huh... Seth is so handsome with his dark fur and cool personality” Peanut said resting her head in her hands with a sigh.
“Seth is mostly mysterious and has some good looks, but Jack is handsome and always wants to help others”, Carmen added to the agreeing nods of the other three gossipers.
As their discussion went on Twilight kept to herself as she lost herself in the warm comfort of the coffee and company. I could get use to this, she thought to herself before noticing the four had gone silent. “Hmm?”, Twilight murmured as she noticed the inquisitive looks directed her way.
“Soooo Twilight”, Rosie said leaning closer to Twilight. “How did it feel to be fought over by two of Smashville’s most desirable bachelors?” she asked, giggling slightly as Twilight almost choked on her drink in a comical fashion.
“Uhh....”, Twilight said while wiping the coffee off her face.
The question had completely ruined her train of thought as she quickly tried to think up an answer. She was glad when the sound of strummed guitar drew their eyes off her as she blushed. Atop the small stage, a bipedal white dog began to play his guitar and make noises in a jazzy melody.
“Who is that?” Twilight whispered to Rosie, hoping the group had missed her blush.
“ You've never heard of K.K. Slider?” Rosie whispered back with slight surprise. “He’s, like, one of the most handsome musicians out there” she sighed blissfully as she watched the performance.
Glad to lose the attention with her face beet red, Twilight quickly finished her meal as the other four listened to the song intently. Finishing the musical number, K.K. Slider gave a humble bow as the four fans clapped enthusiastically.
“Thank you so much ladies...”, K.K. said with a surprisingly smooth voice, “...of course that was just a warm up before I start taking requests. Does anyone have a song in mind?”
“Unfortunately I won't be able to hear another.” she said to the unhappy 'awws' of her four new friends while pulling out her list. “I still have some errands to run” she said, carrying the dirty plates over to Brewster.
“Oh come one Twilight! You should at least give a request before you leave!” Rosie whined with a pout as she rocked back and forth in the seat.
“Yeah, you should know at least one of his songs”, Carmen said.
The rooms atmosphere changed slightly as Twilight felt everyone's eyes on her. “Ummm....How about...”, Twilight’s mind scrambled for a song name. “K.K. song?”, she whispered, cringing slightly from the thought up song title. Her slight cower turned to surprise when K.K. rubbed his chin with an intrigued look..
“Interesting... not a lot of people ask for that one.” he remarked while adjusting his guitar strings.
“Well... you can see I'm unique.” Twilight said feeling the atmosphere return to normal. “Thanks for the delicious meal Brewster”, she said while fishing the pouch of bells from her pocket. Starting to count out the coins the pigeon stopped her by placing a wing on her hand.
“It's on the house miss, consider it my welcome to you.” Brewster said with a smile as the pony smiled in return before heading to the stairs.
“That was nice, maybe making new friends here isn't so bad.” Twilight said to herself before she heard a bizarre melody coming from downstairs. “Hm... strange...” she shrugged it off before heading to the main lobby.
“Alright, only a few more names! Next stop, town hall”, Twilight exclaimed while standing before the large building that was Smashville town hall.
A small jingle went off as she opened the door, quickly getting the attention of a white pelican in a purple dress. “Oh, hello there miss”, the pelican said as she leaned over the receptionist desk. “Pelly at your service, what can I do for you today?”
Twilight walked up to the counter, “Nice to meet you Pelly. I’m just here to meet the mayor, seeing how I’m new in town.”
“Mayor Tortimer should be available right now, allow me to get him for you.” Pelly said with a smile as she stood up and cracked open the doors behind her. After a muffled conversation, Pelly walked back to Twilight with a smile. “The mayor said he's been expecting you, right this way”, Pelly said as she opened the counter for Twilight.
Twilight nodded as she pushed open one of the double doors and walked into the mayor's office. Behind a large oak desk, an old turtle sat in the large seat with his fingers over a cane. Watching her walk in and take a seat on one of the open chairs, he slowly got off his own.
“So... you're the new girl everyone has been talking about”, Tortimer said as he hobbled towards her.
“I suppose...”, Twilight answered as she noticed the old tortoise's piercing stare.
“Hmmm.... allow me to ask you a question.” Tortimer said as he seemed to appraise her worth. “Who of your family do you share the most respect for? Your parents or your grandparents?” Tortimer asked.
“..Hmm..” Twilight rubbed her chin while contemplating different answers. “I believe that anyone older than oneself have much to teach and deserve respect”, she finally answered.
Tortimer chuckled while placing both hands on his walking cane. “Good answer!”, he said as a warm smile graced his aged face. “Welcome to Smashville young lady.”
“Um..thank you mister mayor?”,Twilight said with a sigh of relief. Apparently she'd passed some sort of test and that made her feel pretty proud of herself.
“Please, call me Tortimer”, he said while leaning on his desk. “I’m guessing you know Jack since you participated in the chestnut festival's target game.”
“Oh yes, he decided to take me in when I was having some trouble getting home.” Twilight answered while looking out the window.
“Yes, I’ve heard...”, Tortimer responded while twirling with his white beard. “...And you're grateful for the help?”
Twilight smiled sheepishly before answering his question. “To some extent seeing how he so willingly made me into a gambling prize... not that I don't appreciate everything else he's done”, she said.
Tortimer smiled again as he slowly nodded his head. “That's something you should keep in mind. Being helpful always yields to greater things in the long run.” he said tapping his cane on the floor.
“Thank you for your wisdom Mayor Tortimer.” Twilight said while getting to her feet. “It was nice meeting you, but I really must be off. I have something to take care of now that I've met everyone.”
“Hmmm...is Jack giving you the Nook treatment?”, he asked with a small chuckle
“That's what everyone seems to be calling it ” she answered with a sigh before her eyes shot open. “I almost forgot, I have to meet Octavian!" Jumping out of her seat, she gave a quick bow before running to the door. "Sorry for leaving so rudely but I still have some chores to complete Mayor Tortimer, see you around!” she said before the door closed and the sounds of her running departure could be heard.
Still leaning on his desk, Tortimer twirled his beard thoughtfully. Getting to his feet with a grunt of effort, the old tortoise slowly plodded over to his office doors and opened them with a push. “Pelly, begin sorting out her paperwork, I believe Twilight will make a fine villager in the community.”
His pelican secretary gave a double take as she looked between the departing figure and her boss. “So she left her information with you?” Pelly said, giving Tortimer a confused look.
“Just call it a hunch so please have the paperwork prepared." he answered with a wink before re entering his office. Behind him, Pelly sighed before grabbing out the required forms.
Twilight slowed down as she reached Octavian's house, she stopped to catch her breath.
“I still wonder why his house looks like that...” she said as she saw something glint in the grass. Kneeling down to pick it up, she held the small metal object before her face. “Hmm... now what could this be?” she asked herself while running a finger over some small ridges protruding from its narrower end.
Feeling something cold and slimy touch her shoulder, her face blanched in fright. A slight, "eeep", escaped her lips as she was suddenly turned around by two slimy tentacles. Frozen stiff, with the metal object held in her hand, she stared into the face of a red octopus with puffy cheeks and a purple t-shirt bearing a big star in the center.
“My key!”, the octopus shouted excitedly as he easily pulled the metal object from Twilight's grip. “ I've been looking for this blasted thing all day! Thanks!”
“You're welcome? Ah!” she yelped as she was hugged tightly by the grateful octopus. “U-Um, are you Octavian by any chance?" she said with a forced smile. Feeling the cold slime against her furred skin made her feel squeamish. For once she was glad she wore the dress because only her exposed arms got coated with the slime.
“Why yes!”, Octavian said unwrapping his slimy tentacles off her before giving a cordial bow. “And you must be Twilight, it is a privilege to make your acquaintance!” he spoke in a polite tone.
“Y-You know my name?” Twilight stuttered for a moment, trying to casually scrape the slime from her arms.
“But of course! Everyone know’s who you are after yesterdays events.” Octavian said while looking at his key, “Rumors always spread fast here in Smashville”
“I see...”, Twilight said with a nervous smile.
“But enough about gossip because you milady are my hero today!” Octavian said, adding more slime to her hands as he shook them. “If there's anything you need don't hesitate to ask”, he said before walking toward the jar shaped house.
Seeing him turn away, Twilight looked at her slime covered hands with a mix of scientific curiosity and simple disgust. “Ewww..”, she quietly whined before bending down to wipe her hands on the grass. Cleaning her hands the best she could, she quickly got up and started walking towards the departing Smashvillian.
“Octavian, hold on!”, she said walking towards him, “there is something you could do for me."
Stopping to hear her request, Octavian smiled at her.
Meanwhile, Jack was walking down a dirt trail, his golden axe over one shoulder and a map in his other hand.
“The more I learn~ The more I see~ The less the world empassions meeeee~.”
he sung to himself, swaying his head as he walked. His voice seemed to resonate through the emptiness of the trees as he continued his song. “The hungry heart~ The road and I~ Have come to rest~ Do not apply~”
Jack quickly stopped his made up song as he reached a very large oak tree, its bark looked grey and dull. “Hmm...”, placing his hand on the tree, he gave a sigh as he looked up at the dead branches. “You lasted a lot longer than the others...”, the corners of his mouth trembled as he stood back from the tree and gripped his axe with both hands.
“But all you were doing was delaying the inevitable!” Jack said as a psychotic grin streaked across his face. “I’ll make sure you have a proper ending, just like all the others before you!” he shouted as he let loose with his axe.
As Jack hacked away at the tree, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.
“Jack. Hey Jack!”, Twilight called merrily as she wandered over with a cooler and red wagon. Her cheerful mood quickly turned to confusion as she saw the sadistic grin on Jack's face as he butchered the tree. “I'm done with my work...”, she said trying to get his attention.
Not hearing a response, she parked the wagon and cautiously walked forward. Getting a bit closer she called out again but Jack seemed lost in a trance as continued hack away at the tree trunk. Starting to get annoyed, Twilight finally stomped towards him and messed up his next chop by tugging on his arm.
“Huh? Hey! Let go of my arm, I’m working here!” Jack said with a scowl before brushing her off with more strength than he meant to.
“Omf!” she grunted as she fell on her back. Getting up to scold him, a crack made her freeze. Time seemed to slow as she turned her head to see the giant tree bearing down on her fragile form.
“AHHHH!!!!”, she screamed in fright. Covering her head with her arms, Twilight's life flashed behind her closed eyes.
A dull thud was heard before silence enveloped the world around her. She remained huddled on the ground for a few seconds before peeking out of one eye.
I’m... still alive? she thought as he slowly turned her head. Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw Jack holding the entire tree up on his back. Still in shock, she remained on the ground in a daze. She finally noticed Jack was talking to her as his loud voice finally got past her initial shock.
“Hello? Earth to Twilight”, he yelled as a vein popped out of his forehead, "move!"
Scrambling on her hands and knees, she managed to pull herself out from under the leaning tree. Behind her there was a crash as Jack let the tree roll off his back to the other side. Twilight looked over at her rescuer as he stood there breathing heavily from the experience.
"Jack...you saved me", she whispered before he trudged over to her and roughly grabbed her shoulders.
"What the fudge was that!", he yelled at her. "Why would you do such a dangerous thing ya’ block head! You could've died back there, then what!?"
Letting go of the her, he retrieved his axe. "What would've happened if I wasn't able to stop it, Eh!"
Turning, while resting the axe on his shoulder, he quickly understood he'd been a little harsh. Before him stood Twilight, looking at him with a blank expression as tears streamed down her face.
"Twilight?", he said quietly before she bolted with a trail of teardrops in her wake. Aw crud,"Twilight!"
Pocketing the axe, he dashed into the wood where she had vanished. Running through the brush, he called Twilight's name without getting a response.
Fudge... where did she go?... he thought after about thirty minutes had past. ...So much running around was his next thought, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Noticing a rather comfy tree nook, he let himself drop to the ground for a break. She probably just ran ho... he started to think before hearing a quiet sniffle from behind the tree. He sat against the tree for a few second, slowly face-palming, before quietly getting to his feet.
Slowly leaning around the tree he noticed Twilight rocking against the tree as she sobbed quietly.
Watching her in that state brought guilt filled memories to mind as he saw how scared she seemed.
"Uhh...Twilight?", he said awkwardly as she jolted like she'd been hit.
Slowly she turned her head to look at him with puffy red eyes. "What do you want? Did you come to yell at me again." she accused as her lips continued to tremble.
"No!...I mean, no.", Jack quickly corrected himself. “I couldn't just stand around while you were in the woods all by yourself...”
Scratching his head, he gave a sheepish smile as Twilight continued to stare. After minute of silence he scowled while crossing his arms and huffing in surrender.
"D’oh! Fine! I'm sorry I yelled at you." he grumbled while turning his face to the side.
It was bad enough that he felt guilty but it felt like a defeat apologizing to her. Noticing her mood lighten slightly, he was surprised when she punched his leg.
"That's for not evaluating my work", she grumbled in reply.
Heh. She punches weaker than Alfonso, he thought. Hoping to make her feel better, and lose the guilty feelings, he hopped on one leg pretending to be hurt.
“Ow! Was that really necessary?” he said before accidentally tripping over a tree root, "Gah!" he yelped before he fell face first into the dirt.
Grabbing his sore head, he heard Twilight stifle a giggle at his misfortune. Lifting his head from the ground, Jack noticed Twilight seemed much happier than a couple of minutes ago.
"Sorry! I didn't mean...", she paused as a few more muted laughs escaped her lips. "...Are you alright Jack?”
Jack nodded as he got up. “Meh. I've had worse falls”, he said dusting himself off.
Offering Twilight a helping hand, he pulled her up to her feet. Standing up, she seemed to remember something as her face lit up.
"Jack... I forgot the fish back at..." Twilight murmured while twiddling her thumbs nervously.
Staring at her he slowly shook his head with a chuckle.
“Is that so?”, he finally answered with a smirk before leading the way.
While heading back to the cooler, the two remained relatively silent before Twilight started to ask questions.
"So why were you chopping a tree down in the middle of the woods?".
Caught off guard Jack tried to think of an answer. Giving it some thought, he finally settled on the explanation he'd been given by Blathers.
“The metabolism of all plants are quick and need constant care or they’ll end up dying out in a matter of days, and what happens to a dead tree if it's left out for too long?” Jack asked looking at Twilight. “Well?”
Twilight's nose scrunched for a moment as she visualized the various books she'd red.. “They start to rot?”, she finally guessed.
“That's right”, Jack said as he reached into his pocket. “The tree starts to rot. This lets maggots and other disease ridden pests plague the wood...” as he went on he pulled a shovel out of his pocket, the shovel head was made of solid gold while having a red handle. “...Is that how you would want a tree to go?” Jack said looking back at her.
“No...”, Twilight let out before looking back at him, “...I guess not.”
“Good.” Jack said as the red wagon and stump came into view.
Walking over to the partially finished job, he speared the shovel into the earth by the old tree stump. Giving a slight heave, the stump popped out of the ground like a bottle cap to the mare's speechless look.
“That's another thing, are all humans that strong?” she asked, looking at Jack and then at the dislodged stump.
“Not really, I’m just this strong because I do a lot of tree chopping. And I mean a lot!” Jack said flexing his arms, although they did not look as buff as they should. “Now check this out.” he said with a sly grin as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of cherries.
Twilight watched quizzically as he dropped them in the hole where the tree stump once was. Seeing him shovel dirt over them, she tilted her head as the confusion grew.
Patting the dirt a few times, he backed up as he started a countdown. “Three... Two... One!” he said before a small tree sapling sprouted out of the ground.
“Woah! That's amazing!” Twilight exclaimed at the sudden growth phenomenon she witnessed.
“See, fast growing trees...” Jack said as he looked at her “...When one life ends, another starts anew, no?” he said with a smirk.
“Umm...Jack?”, Twilight said behind him.
“Yes Twilight?” Jack replied while looking at the newborn sapling.
“Thanks...” Twilight said before giving a big smile “I brought some fish for you, although I have to be honest. I had Octavian help me with catching all these.”
“Oh really? That's actually kind of weird of him. The guy’s a total grouch.” Jack said as he looked into the cooler out of curiosity. “Ooh, salmon. My fave!” Jack held up the fish before it reared up and slapped him in the face with it's tail, “Ow! Why you little!”
Twilight quickly held her mouth trying in vain to hold in her giggles, Jack then glared at her with a funny look before she bursted out laughing.
“Come on Jack!” she said trying to catch her breath, “lets go home”
“Mmm... Sounds good to me!” Jack said stuffing the salmon back into the cooler and grabbing the wagon's handle. “Maybe you could try some sashimi when we get home. I’ll prepare it of course”
“Sashimi?” Twilight said as she walked next to Jack
“Its raw fish sliced into bite sized pieces. A true delicacy if you ask me.” Jack’s mouth seemed to drool at the thought of it.
“Jack? You know I’m a herbivore...” Twilight said weakly nudging Jack in the arm. “...And I wouldn't eat raw fish either” she finished with a chuckle.
“Oh come on Twilight! The best way to learn about other worlds culture, is through their food.” Jack said patting his stomach.
Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. “Okay Jack, if you say so.”
Jack smirked “Good, and maybe I’ll make some Onigiri while I’m at it.”
Later that day both Jack and Twilight were in the attic. Sitting in one of the chairs, Twilight went through all the gifts the townsfolk had given her. Holding up each gift, she told Jack the story behind each one and then talked about her day.
“So got a T-shirt from Alfonso. A free brunch from Brewster. Oh! I also go this leaf from Seth.” Twilight said as she held it up. “What do you think it could be?” Twilight asked as Jack crossed his arms
“I don't know..." Jack said as he picked up some of the salmon he'd filleted. "...Why don't you throw it down to find out?”
“Okay” she said with a voice filled with curiosity.
Tossing the leaf onto the floor it burst into smoke before revealing a telescope.
"Oh, my Celestia! A telescope!" Twilight exclaimed before giving it a hug.
Raising his eyebrow at the odd phrase, Jack crossed his arms. "Hmph... Probably used it for peeping." He blurted out with a with a snicker.
Pausing her fawning, she gave him a confused look. "Peeping? At what?"
His face immediately turned bright red as he picked up the plate of salmon. “Look to the stars for the answer!” he quickly replied as he stormed down the stairs, leaving her even more confused.
Pondering over his answer, Twilight forgot about the last gift still lying in her pocket.