//------------------------------// // Arrival // Story: Life In Ponyville: Arrival // by TheWriter7 //------------------------------// One, Two, Three; Three hours I've been stuck on this train, and it's still going. With being restrained on one seat, not being able to move; and the same sight of trees passing by was surely going to drive me mad. I already finished reading my book I brought with me, half way through the ride. So entertainment is now completely abundant, and it's really aggravating with having nothing to do. Though at least the book brought some entertainment to my ride. It discussed the values of knowledge, and how without it our minds wouldn't truly be free. Giving very diverse examples of other pony's perspectives on life, and OH MY CELESTIA, HOW LONG WILL THIS RIDE LAST!? Luckily, after giving that thought, the train made it's final stop. The doors flung open, I put on a long brown, hooded cloak, and put my book in my saddlebag. As soon as I stepped out, I was greeted with a refreshing, old country smell, that reinvigorated myself. "I like this place already." I thought to myself. Walking down the old, country road, I was immediately greeted with a flash of pink. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed. "Are you new!?" "Why, yes I am actually, you see I just moved from Manehatten, and..." Before I could finish my statement, she quickly interrupted me, this time even louder. "WOW!" She exclaimed once more. "I knew you weren't from here, I know everpony here in Ponyville!" "Oh! You have a cloak on, and it has a hood on it too!" "Are you a mysterious pony, or... " She then gasped. "The pony of shadows!?" Before I could interject, she kept rambling on to the point where I couldn't keep up anymore. The only thing I could remember from the conservation was her saying something about throwing me a welcoming party, and then running off. This town was definitely different from Manehatten, not just the citizens, but the architecture as well. It was practically night and day, with this town it looks completely primitive, comparing it to Manehatten. I was at this point, immensely intrigued by this, and I wanted to read more about this. "There's got to be a library somewhere around here." Only one way to find out, and that's to explore. I began growing impatient more, and more trying to find the library of this town, to the point where I had to ask for directions. That's where I came across a cyan Pegasus, with a rainbow colored mane, resting on a cloud. I yelled up to her, "Hey! Can you help me find a library?" She seemed annoyed by my question, obviously being disturbed with her nap, made her seem little bit grumpy. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." She said "Give me a second." She then lazily flew down from the cloud, and met me at ground level. "So, what do you want again? Still in an annoyed tone. "So...Uh, right. Do you have any idea where the library is?" I asked, in a nervous tone, since she giving a sort of death stare, or something. She then sighed, "Yeah, you see that tree house over there? That's it." I felt incredibly stupid for being oblivious to something that obvious. Though, I thanked her, and continued onward. "But, I got to warn you, the librarian's a complete egghead." She said flying back up to her cloud. I stopped, and thought to myself "An egghead eh? Well that might actually help." I once again began to trot over to the overgrown library. I knocked on the hallow, wooden door expecting another pony to open it. Yet, instead was a small purple, and green dragon on the other side. He looked up at me, and greeted me. "Hey there, my name's Spike." I was completely thrown off by the fact that he welcomed me so warmly. "Oh, uh hey Spike, I'm Ryder. Is this the library?" I asked, still a little bit stunned. He then nodded, "Yep, come on in." He gestured me to come inside the library, and I was more than happy to follow. Inside the tree, I found a lavender colored unicorn re-shelving different books, but quickly turning around to see who was visiting her library. She walked over and greeted me "Oh, hello there. My name is Twilight Sparkle," "Is there anything I can help you with?" I quickly responded "Hello Twilight, I'm Ryder, and to answer your question, yes there is." Not wanting to beat around the bush, I quickly asked her "Do you have any books on Ponyville's architecture?" Her smile, then drooped down for a moment, but not for too long. "Oh, of course. Spike, can you find me The History of Ponyville's Architecture? He gave her a quick salute, and ran off into the next room over. As the moments went by, I noticed she was giving me a look of confusion. "What? Never seen a pony interested in architecture before?" I said jokingly. She must have gotten the joke, since she responded with gentle laugh. She then followed it up with an explanation, "No, is just that I have rarely seen any pony interested in Ponyville's architecture, since most of them.consider it too primitive." "Well, I guess I'm the only one." I said jokingly, which Twilight once again responded with another gentle, little laugh. Immediately after, Spike came back into the room, with decently sized book in his claws. "Here you go." He said, raising the book up to her. Which she then grabbed the book with a aura of magic. She then thanked the dragon for his efforts, and then she handed the book over to me. I also thanked her, and placed the book in my saddlebag. "So, you just moved here?" She asked with morbid curiosity. "Yep, literally just got off the train. Moved here from Manehatten." I responded. "Wow!" She exclaimed in amazement. "What was it like living up there?" "Mostly crowded, extremely noisy, and just flat out not comfortable for me." "I came down here, to get some peace, and just felt like a nice place to live in." "Well if you want to, I can give you a tour of the town sometime this week, since you seem really interested in this place." I was caught off by this request, due to the fact that she was so willing to offer. Yet, some sight seeing would be nice. "Sure, I can do that, thanks." I responded. "Well I better get on going, it was nice meet you two." "It was a pleasure meeting you to Ryder, hope you have enjoy the book." As I left the library, I couldn't seem to get this feeling of joy to leave. I mean, the town is peaceful, the ponies are respectful, and overall this place just had a warm glow all around it. I really believe living here, was one of the best decisions I have ever made.