I awoke. Celestia must have been giggling as she saw me in the bed of my roommate. I had no hangover, oddly enough. Though that drink we had was some of the strongest stuff I've ever tasted. Lyra still had her hoof around me.
She woke up and nuzzled me before realizing just what was going on. "Oh! Glass!" She shot up out of her bed so fast that one might mistake her for Rainbow Dash. "W-what happened last night?" She said nervously. I simply rolled out of bed and told the truth. "You invited me to sleep in your bed last night. Nothing happened." I said, tiredly.
She blushed and sighed. "Alright. Thank's for giving it to me straight, Glass. Do you have anything you need to do today? Because I'll be getting groceries all day. I won't be back until at least five tonight." she said. I was relieved to hear that I'd have a day to go about the town. "I can just go explore the town today. I don't want to spend all day inside alone. If I did I wouldn't have moved here in the first place." I said, with a bit of humor, but mostly sincerity in my voice. She giggled and nodded. She left with no more than a "See ya later."
I took a quick shower and left the house with high hopes for today. I had just realized that I met 3 of the 6 elements of harmony. There were 3 more to meet before I'd have made friends with all of them. But that wasn't really a goal. just a realization. I felt that if I made friends with all of them, some kind of "harmony" would rub off on me. As nice as this town was, trouble seemed to follow me wherever I went. 'First Bon-bon broke my heart, then I broke Lyra's, and now I'm just confused.' I had no clue what to do next. I decided to just go see if I would find something nice to wear. After all, nopony suspects sadness from a stallion in a suit.
I walked towards a tomato vendor who seemed to have a really high price for tomatoes. I asked where I could get a nice suit. and she suggested the Carousel Boutique and pointed towards the business area (If one could call it that) of Ponyville. I smiled and went on my way in that direction.
I quickly arrived at an amazing boutique with no lack of fanciful decor. I can't describe it and do it justice. I was just blown away by how beautiful the building was. I walked over, slightly intimidated. I knocked on the door and waited as I heard a very high-class sounding pony say "Be right there, darling." I could tell that the pony who owned this was Rarity. The element of... Generosity? I didn't quite see it at the time. She seemed to have a lot for herself, from the looks of things.
The white unicorn, Rarity opened the door and smiled. "Is there anything you need sir?" she said nicely. I was starting to see the generosity, but I still wasn't sure how generous she was.
"I need a new suit. One that makes me seem a bit happier. Can you help?" I asked. Rarity stroked her purple mane. "I'm helping another customer right now. But come on in and I'll get you fitted in a second. You can watch me work if you like." She smiled and walked inside, I followed her in and I was immediately noticed by a young filly on the way in. "Hey, I know you!" Said a familiar voice.
A small, white unicorn with that purple and pink striped mane ran up to me and smiled. "You're Glass right?" She jumped up and down as she spoke. "Yes, and your name was Sweetie, right?" I smiled down at the adorable little mare. She nodded and smiled as Rarity, whose accent didn't match her sister's non-existent one in any way shape or form, started talking from across the room. "Sweetie, stop bothering the customer." To which Sweetie replied "His name is Glass." as she did this odd sliding thing with her hind hooves to get back to what she was doing.
I walked into the room where Rarity was back to working.
... Unfortunately, there was somepony else who recognized me in that room.... Standing there, modeling herself with a new dress, was a mare I knew all too well. "Glass, Glass Pane? Is that you? You asshole! I haven't seen you in ages!" Spoke a voice that I could only describe as disturbingly gruff for a mare's voice. Not like Rainbow dash's more like the sound of a jacket zipper if zippers could talk.
Standing there, was a brown, white-haired pegasus mare with a broken heart cutie mark. She was taller than most mares without being princess-sized. She was... "Oh, you know Harriet York?" Said Rarity. "Also, Miss York, watch your language, my sister is just outside the room, you know.
Before I could reply, Harriet started talking. " Glass and I used to go out in highschool. He broke up with me for some reason during junior year." The truth of the matter was that she cheated on me with two mares, four stallions and a griffin. I didn't want to talk about it anymore. I just stayed silent for the rest of her visit. I couldn't help but feel like she was in Ponyville for reasons not quite as innocent as mine. That dress was added to a list of mental notes. 'Why is she here, and why does she need to be dressed up? This reeks of one of her schemes.' She was a sneaky weasel of a mare.
Rarity spoke first. "Well, darling, your dress is finished. that'll be 20 bits." She smiled and held out her hoof. Harriet giggled "I'll have to send you a check." She said. Rarity was drawn aback slightly, but agreed. "Sure. I suppose." And Harriet left without another word.
From behind Rarity, I spoke. In a tone I hadn't used since the morning Lyra woke me up. "She... She isn't going to pay..." I said sorrowfully. Rarity turned to look at me. "I trust her, she seems nice." She said, looking concerned at me. "Now let's get you fitted." I stood up on the little stage thing, and she took my collar, and stomach measurements. And being in this line of work, she was very interested in listening to me talk about things. I stuck to things about the town and how amazed I was by how happy it is.
When she had taken all of the measurements she needed, she asked if I wanted any specific color. "No thank you. You're a designer, you choose." She told me it would be done in two days and it would be 10 bits for a suit of my size, I gave her 30 on the way out. She looked at me funny as I opened the door. "Why so much?" She asked. I said. "Because what I saw here today was a robbery. and that's the profit you lost." I left without another word, I decided that I should see if sweet apple acres sells hard cider.
Cider is good, but I just needed a drink really. So I walked towards sweet apple acres. 'Damn... Why the hell is Harriet here? She must have known I was here. Or maybe there's something I'm not getting. I came here to be happy, the only reason she goes anywhere to make ponies miserable. So if turns out not to be me, I need to save whoever she's got her sights on.' Somepony was going to be in trouble soon. I had to figure out if it was me, or somepony I knew. And I thought best when I had some alcohol in me.
It took me a few hours at my slow pace to get to the acres. But when I got there, I called out for Big Macintosh. But instead of the large, red stallion that I saw when I first came here, there was a small, familiar filly. With those large, amber eyes, she looked up at me. "Hello, Glass. How are ya?" Said the energetic Apple Bloom. I couldn't help bet chuckle slightly at the young filly who may damn well have been one of the five cutest things in town. Cuteness... That was rare where I came from. "I'm alright, Apple Bloom. and you?" The young filly jumped up and down. "I'm great! We got around ta trying ta make candy today... No cutie marks though..." She sighed, but quickly smiled. "what're ya doin at the acres?" She asked.
I sighed, I couldn't just tell some filly that I needed alcohol. "Is Big Macintosh here?" I asked. Apple Bloom shook her head. "Nope. But mah sister is! She got home from Manehattan last night!" She called out into the large area. "APPLE JACK!"
Not a few moments later, Apple Jack ran up to the gate. "What's up Apple Bloom?" She looked up at me and smiled. "Oh howdy there, partner. What can I do ya fer?" She asked me as Apple Bloom got distracted by a butterfly, whispering under her breath. "Cutie mark crusaders butterfly catchers."
I smiled at the cuteness Apple Bloom displayed, and look to AJ. "Do you sell hard cider here?" I asked. The orange mare nodded in reply and was in and out of the nearby barn with a six pack of hard cider. "That's 5 bits please." I gave her the money and she gave me the drinks. "Mah sister seems to know ya. I think it only fair that ah should too. I'm Apple Jack. What's yer name, sir?"
I smiled and held out my hoof. "Glass." She shook my hoof and smiled. "Good ta meetcha, Glass. Have a good day!" She said. I waved goodbye to Applejack and (The still distracted) Apple Bloom.
As I walked away, I thought to myself. 'I should find Lyra... With Harriet around here, I don't think we'll be safe outside of her house for a while. And I should warn miss Kyandi too.' I ran towards Bonbon's house, because it was closer. I ran as fast as I could to get there before something bad had any chance to happen. I arrived at the door of miss Kayndi's house. I knocked twice.
The door opened, but the pony standing there wasn't Bon-bon... Standing there... was Harriet York. She spoke. "Well hello there, Ass Pain." I look up to her face and grimace.
"What are you doing here, Harriet?" I asked, angrily. To this she giggled. "Bon-bon is my room-mate. And what are you doing here?"
'My goddess... This is Tricky...'