//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Ponyville's new neighbour // by Tecuro //------------------------------// As Twilight approached the stallion she could smell that there was probably more than mud in his coat, but she ploughed on regardless, with a smile on her face. “Hello there!” she called out to him. “Oh, hey!” he replied with a thick foreign accent, that Twilight could have sworn she heard before but couldn’t place “I didn’t think anypony else would be awake at this time.” “Well it’s pretty busy around here so we tend to have earlier starts than most other places,” Twilight said, pretending to forget her schedule was clear today. “I’m not surprised, in a small community like this I’ll bet everypony has to pull their weight!” he said with a short laugh. Twilight would not have said she lived in a small community, but then thought he must have come from a big city. “Where did you come from?” she asked politely. “Well I was born in Trottingham…” “Of course!” Twilight shouted to herself, as she was finally able to place his accent, and realised how much he sounded like the colt Pipsqueak, albeit with a touch more grace. Noticing the look on the stranger’s face she collected herself, “Ahem, sorry.” He gave Twilight a quizzical look but quickly brushed it off “Anyway, I was born in Trottingham but I’ve travelled all over Equestria for years. I came here from Appleoosa.” “Oh really? Did you happen to meet somepony named Braeburn while you were there?” Twilight inquired, recalling her visit to the quaint, rustic town. Suddenly the stallion’s face lit up, as though he had just worked out a particularly nasty maths problem he had been working on for weeks. “You’re Twilight Sparkle?” he asked, though it sounded more like a statement. “Yes… how did you know that?” she replied, hesitantly, thinking that this could end up being one of ‘those days’. “I did meet Braeburn, as a matter of fact, and we quickly struck up a friendship so he told me about Applejack, yourself and all your friends, including Pinkie Pie here,” he gestured towards Pinkie, whom throughout the whole conversation had been staring at the stallion intensively, obviously still trying to discover he’s hobbies (but this time through telepathy), “And he suggested I make Ponyville my next stop, and seeing as I wound up lost in the Everfree forest-” “You were lost in the Everfree forest!?!” Pinkie yelped, finally breaking from her study. “For a couple of days, yeah,” he replied, in far too much of a cavalier fashion for Twilight’s liking. “How did you get there?” Pinkie pressed. “It’s a long story, involving a disgruntled Manticore, a herd of Buffalo and an above-average sized explosion,” the stallion answered, with a tone of pride, but when he saw the look on Twilight and Pinkie’s face he quickly added, “I didn’t have anything to do with the explosion!” Twilight thought it best to leave that story alone for now and prompted the stallion to continue, “So you were lost in the Everfree forest...” “Yeah, and Braeburn said that Ponyville was near the forest so it was just a simple matter of going in the right direction.” “How did you manage that?” asked Twilight, trying to decide if she was impressed at this stallion’s bravery or appalled at his ignorance. “Trial and error,” he replied, matter-of-factly, and then sheepishly added, “mostly error”. “So you were able to get through the whole forest without being attacked or eaten or anything!?!” Pinkie asked who was standing so close to the pony in a mix of awe and concern she had to plug her nose. “Well as you can see I wasn’t eaten, though I did bump into more unsavoury creatures once or twice, but I can take care of myself. Plus I meet a really nice and friendly zebra-.” “-Zecora,” Both Twilight and Pinkie finished his sentence. “The very same. Anyway she was able to give me directions out of the forest and into Ponyville, and that brings us to now.” “Then what happened?” Pinkie asked her eyes wide in anticipation. “I… um… I don’t know” The stranger replied, looking supremely confused, fortunately Twilight stepped in. “So what do you plan on doing here?” Twilight asked him, and snapped his attention away from the pink pony sitting patiently by his hooves, waiting for him to continue his story. “I don’t make plans. I travel to new places, stay there for a few weeks or months; helping the community, making new friends and then head of somewhere else.” “That must be exhausting,” Twilight said, thinking that she could never live like that. “To some ponies, I suppose, but I can’t imagine life any other way,” The stallion answered, “plus I bet I get a lot more birthday presents than you do, what with gifts being sent to me from all over Equestria!” He added with a large grin. “Well then, allow me to be the first to welcome you to Ponyville…” Twilight trailed of when she realised that she didn’t know the stallion’s name, but he finished her sentence for her. “…Steed,” He said, offering a hoof to Twilight, but before she could take it a blood-curdling scream pierced the air. Looking around Twilight, Pinkie and a very confused and terrified Steed all saw Rarity with a look of horror on her face, as if she had just seen somepony brutally murdered, looking directly at Steed; obviously enough time had passed for the rest of Ponyville to wake up. “What did I do?” Steed asked, but before anypony could answer Rarity had pounced on him and cradled him in her forelegs as if he were mortally wounded. “What on Equestria happened to you!?!” she asked rhetorically, in her classic over-the-top tone of voice. “Nothing, I’m fine-” Steed began, looking worried, but Rarity cut him off. “How in Celestia’s name could such a travesty even happen?!?” She wailed, placing a hoof to her forehead. Steed looked very hurt at this remark, Twilight, however, had already realised that she was referring to his appearance and thought it best to explain. “She means the mud in your coat,” she thought it best to leave it at ‘mud’. “Oh this?” Steed replied, his offended expression lightening “This is nothing, one time I-” Steed once again was interrupted, this time by Rarity placing a hoof to his mouth. “Don’t speak you poor thing! We need to get you help right away!” and without another word Rarity took off, full gallop, with a very confused looking Steed levitated ahead of her. “We should probably go and see if we can sort this out,” Twilight said to Pinkie. “Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie replied with a care-free grin on her face.