//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: No alicorns allowed 
// Story: Diary of a Store Clerk 
// by GnollReader 
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I'm not sure how to describe the situation I found myself in on that day... strange would certainly seem simple enough, but there was a whole lot more to it.

The fact alone that there was another human standing in my shop was already shocking, that she was traveling with the mane six concerning... but the way she kept staring at me was just weird. I couldn't even begin to comprehend why of all places they had come to Shoretrot.

Thankfully, the silent staring came to an end as the first customer of the day arrived; old granny Twobuck. Lovely old mare, she was... always came once a week to get supplies and do some idle chat. She plays cards with her friends every Tuesday... and she's as blind as a bat.

"Good morning, Woodchuck." She greeted me as she entered my store.

"Good morning, Mrs. Twobuck," I replied from behind my counter, for the moment trying to ignore the girl standing in my shop. "How's your hip today?"

"A bit creaky, but fine nonetheless..." she chuckled before nearly bumping into Silver Blossom. "Oh, almost didn't see you there..." She squinted her eyes and looked up at her. "Woodchuck, dear. Have you been eating well? I think you've gotten smaller."

Silver Blossom blushed and quickly stammered. "I'm Silver Blossom..."

The old mare raised an eyebrow and quickly reached into her bags to pull out a set of glasses. "Oh, my word..." she gasped as she observed Silver Blossom's face. "Another bearotaur? Such a young and pretty one too!" She turned to me with a small smile. "I didn't know you had a daughter."

I couldn't help but let out a sigh as Silver Blossom's eyes became big. "She's not my daughter..."

"She's not?" granny Twobuck frowned. "Isn't she a bit young for you? Or are female bearotaurs smaller by nature?"

A groan escaped me. "It's nothing like that, I assure you. She's from out-of-town and merely traveling through."

"Oh?" she let out a disappointed sigh, "such a shame. You could use some company, you know." She turned to Silver Blossom. "I always say to the girls; Such a charming fellow, that Woodchuk. But the poor thing has nopony to keep him company or help him in the store."

"He's all alone?" Silver Blossom carefully asked while I was only moments away from beating my head onto the counter to escape this hell.

"Always working, never mingling with anypony." Granny Twobuck shook her head. "But it's nice to see that there are more of his kind... Are you going to stay here for long?"

"I'm not sure..." Silver Blossom replied.

"Well, if you do I am sure that Woodchuck will be more than glad to show you around," she chuckled before giving me a look. "He could probably use some help in the store too..."

"I manage fine, thank you very much," I replied with a sour voice. "What can I do for you today, Mrs. Twobuck?"

"Oh, yes... yes. Look at me idling the time away." She returned her attention to the shelves behind me. "I need letter paper... do you have ink as well?"

"I do," I replied, already gathering her things. "Anything else?"

"Some Berryleaf tea..." She rubbed her chin in thought. "And some melon drops. My grandson is coming for a visit tomorrow and he simply loves them."

"Flyfeather?" I asked as I took out a paper bag. "How is he doing?"

"He's such a sweet little colt... always writes me letters and sends me drawings."

"Good to hear," I replied and started to place her sales inside the bag... only to notice that Silver Blossom was staring at my moving hands. I briefly wondered if she had never seen anyone else with hands before. 

"Did you hear that there was a commotion in the police station earlier?" granny Twobuck's question interrupted my thoughts.

"There was?" I replied with unease as I closed the bag and went to the register.

"I only heard from my neighbor..." her voice became conspiring. "But apparently, Copper Cobbler arrested three mares!"

"Oh, dear," I grimaced slightly. "What did they do?"

"I heard that they were arrested for assaulting police officers. Can you imagine?"

"Simply unimaginable." I tried to act calm and concentrated on working the register. "That will be eleven bits, please."

"Are they going to be in trouble?" Silver Blossom asked with obvious concern in her voice.

"There's no reason to be scared, dear. I'm sure Copper Cobbler is treating them fair. There you go." She handed me the bits. "Though I can hardly imagine he'll simply let them go if they really assaulted an officer." I handed her the bag. "Now you be nice to Silver Blossom, you hear me? Maybe you can convince her to stay a bit longer." My face sagged at the thought. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Silver Blossom. I'll leave you two to one another now, I'm sure that you two have a lot to talk about."

The smirk she was wearing on her face as she left my store... what kind of person did she take me for? I leaned heavily onto the counter. "Great. Now the whole town will know within a couple of hours."

"Am I a bearotaur?"

I picked my head up again and stared at Silver Blossom with disbelief. "What?!"

She averted my eyes and looked at the floor instead as she continued to mumble. "Am I... am I a bearotaur? I mean... if you're a bearotaur then..."

"I am not a bearotaur," I interrupted her with a groan, "and neither are you."

She raised her gaze and gave me a wondering look. "Then what am I?"

I rubbed my temples with a sigh, "Can I ask you something else first?" She gave a careful nod. "What were you two doing behind my store?"

"I don't like it when the ponies stare at me..." she mumbled and started to play with the edge of her coat. "Twilight always says not to mind them, but I..." she started to trail off.

"You don't like it when they stare," I finished and she gave a short nod. "Do they stare a lot?" Again, Silver Blossom only nodded. "So you take the backstreets... How long have you been here?"

"We arrived with the train this morning."

"No. I mean how long have you been here in Equestria?"

Silver Blossom seemed unsure of my question, "For over ten years... I think. I was still too small when I first came here so I don't remember that well..."

"God almighty... you must have been barely a few years old." Landing here had already been a shock to me... but to a little child? I couldn't even begin to imagine.

"How long have you been here?" She gave me a curious look.

"Only for about three years." I replied with a sigh.

She looked down at her open hands. "Three years..." she whispered before looking up at me again. "Ever since I can remember... I mean, I always... I..." Her brow furrowed a little as she struggled to find words and for a moment she looked unsure of herself. "What am I?"

"You're a human."

"Human?" She mouthed the word carefully. "And you're a human too?"

I gave a short and tired nod, "I am."

She looked back at her hands. "I'm a human..." it was nothing more than a whisper and when she looked up again, there was a tear in one of her eyes. "I'm a human!" Her sudden outburst made me raise an eyebrow as she gave me a big smile and happily bounced up and down. "Aunt Celestia will be so happy when she hears I'm not the only one!"

That name alone was enough to make me stagger. "Aunt Celestia? As in, Princess Celestia?"

Silver Blossom gave a happy nod and wiped the tear away. "She wanted to meet us here later. I'm sure she'll want to meet you too. We have so many questions and..." She saw my terrified expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Princess Celestia is coming here..." I slowly repeated to myself and felt the blood drain from my face.

Silver Blossom tilted her head in confusion. "Is that bad? You don't have to be scared of her, she's really nice and... what are you doing?"

Without even realizing it, I had gotten out from behind my counter and walked over to the door. Princess Celestia was coming here... I reached down and picked up the sign I usually wrote my specials on, using one of my arms to wipe it clean before taking a piece of chalk to it.

Princess Celestia was coming here... the words continued to repeat themselves inside my head.

So lost in my writing was I, that I didn't even notice Silver Blossom carefully walk up behind me... nor did I see her surprised face when she saw what I had written onto the sign.

The chalk left the board and I looked over my work. It wasn't much of a countermeasure, but it gave me enough comfort to keep me from screaming. I placed the sign back in its original position, the board now reading 'No alicorns allowed' in bold letters.

I got up again and went back behind the counter, humming my little tune as I once again settled into the safety of my refuge. 

At the front door, Silver Blossom was still eying the sign with a completely dumbfounded expression.