He walked inside the apartment building to find the lobby was almost empty. Chairs and couches were scattered around the left side of the room, with a table residing in the center. to the right was a muted TV, playing the news for anypony who would be waiting. He walked across the room, his hoofsteps muffled by the comfortable red-yellow carpet beneath them. He approached the desk to find a mare sitting there, quite bored with the lack of anypony around.
"Hi. I asked for a room here over the phone a couple days ago?"
"Yes... Aero, was it?" Her voice carried as much boredom as her posture.
"Yes, but I go by Azure."
"Okay, well, here's your room key. Go right, fifth door on your left."
"Thank you. Have a nice day."
"You too."
He ventured down the hallway, checking out the numbers on each door. Strange enough, each door had a name written on it, and the profession of the current resident. There was a few weather ponies down the hall, and there was one that was left a line of question marks.
I wonder what his profession might be. Nopony just puts a line of question marks for nothing. What's that name there – He walked over to the plate next to the door – Doctor Whooves? That name sounds strange. I'm guessing he doesn't like to say.
He arrived at his door, 109. There was a plaque with his name on it, and underneath it where the profession was, his said, "Undiscovered." He put the key in the lock and heard a solid click. He pulled down the handle and pushed on the door to open up into his room. The same carpet was in the room, but with a different pattern of navy blue. It wasn't large, just a living room, a kitchen, and a bedroom with bathroom, big enough for two ponies to live together. He set his saddlebags down on the table in the living room, and sat down on the couch, relaxing in the comfort that was now his place. His stomach grumbled, reminding him what he was going to do. He went through his saddlebags, putting unneeded materials on the table to put away later. He put his bags back on, relishing the lightened load, then exited his room to hunt out lunch, remembering to take his key with him.
Now, what did Pinkie say? Something about going to Sugarcube Corner? I guess a baked treat could be good to settle me for a while, and then I can get directions on any good cafes nearby.
He walked down the hallway the way he came, passing by the names he'd seen before. He once again stared at the door of Dr. Whooves, still curious about the line of question marks compared to his own "Undiscovered" tag. There had to be some significance.
Pinkie exhaled deeply as she sat in one of the many chairs. She'd been working nonstop for almost an hour, baking goods as fast as she could. Now that the rush of ponies was gone, she could relax. Suddenly, the door opened up with its chime, revealing Azure coming in. She quickly got up on her hooves and went to greet him at the door.
"Hey there! I thought you'd swing by soon enough!"
"Hey, Pinkie. Just looking for somewhere to eat lunch. Do you know of any good cafes around here?"
"Oh, there's not any super close by. Most of them don't have great choices either."
"That's not what I wanted to hear. In that case, do you know of any good places to get some lunch?"
"Sure! Right here! I'll just get out the bread and make you a sandwich. Would you like anything to drink?"
"Just some water. I don't need anything spectacular."
"That's fine. I'll be right back!"
She led him to one of the many tables, urging him to sit down while she got the sandwich ready. She got out two plates and collected all of the ingredients necessary for the sandwiches. She came out, remembering to be hospitable to all customers.
"I forgot to ask, did you want any sauces on your sandwich?"
"Oh, just some ketchup please."
"Okie-Dokie-Lokie!" She went back to the kitchen, into the fridge. She normally didn't butt into the matters of the customers, but this one was more than a bit strange, so she couldn't help but wonder.
Why would anyone order ketchup on a daisy sandwich? Daisies don't taste really good with tomatoes. Maybe it's just his thing.
She finished both sandwiches and brought them out to the table where he sat. He was reading through his papers, perhaps about where things were around his apartment.
"Here you go! And one for me, too!"
He put his papers back in his bags and accepted the sandwich. "Thanks. Haven't you eaten already?"
She sat down across from him. "No. During the rush, there isn't time to eat. I'm just making batter and baking all the treats too fast to stop and eat anything. We're known as the best bakery in town for a reason!"
As he started eating his sandwich, she quickly remembered what she was going to ask. "Say, I've never seen anyone have ketchup on a daisy sandwich. Is that something that ponies in Cloudsdale do often?"
He stopped in-between bites to respond. "No, just my family that I know of. We just find the flavors come together well, similar to how a salad works."
"Oh. I never thought of it like that. Maybe I'll try it sometime."
"It's definitely worth a try. It is a good taste."
"Oh! I almost forgot! I noticed that you don't have a cutie mark. Is there a reason for that?"
He paused for a minute. His expression changed from interest to one of defense. He pondered on this for a bit, then answered. "I don't have one because I haven't figured out what I'm good at yet. I'm just waiting for inspiration to come in."
"I've had my cutie mark for a while. I bet you can't guess what it's supposed to be!"
"It's that you like throwing parties." His plain expression spoke bluntly.
"Well, it's no fun if you get it on the first try. But you didn't! You only got the obvious half. The other half is that I want to spread happiness and joy wherever I go!"
"That seems to be fairly obvious as well. But cutie marks aren't supposed to be complicated, so I'm not surprised."
They continued eating as the sound of ponies running around upstairs was heard. A few crashes happened as well, and they looked up towards each loud noise.
"What's even going on up there? I keep hearing loud crashes."
"It's the Cakes taking care of their baby twins. They were born only a couple years ago, and they still get into lots of trouble. I watch them whenever the rush isn't terrible so that the Cakes can keep working on what they do best."
"So what type of ponies are they all?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Cake are both earth ponies, and the twins are a unicorn and a pegasus."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"They have relatives that are a unicorn and a pegasus. It just got passed down."
"Well alright then."
They finished their sandwiches, and they both got up.
"So, where are you thinking of going after this?"
"Well, I was just gonna head back to my apartment."
"Hey, how about I show you around town? I know a lot of great places that I could take you to, and we've still got a while before the sun sets."
"I guess that would be okay."
They approached the door, and set out into the day.