//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The New Face // Story: For the Future // by celticwolf72 //------------------------------// Normally Coaldust awoke before the ringing of the town bell, and that had held true during his move from Lodestrike to Ponyville. The day after his arrival, on the other hand, he was woken up by something bumping into his shoulder. A young, male, voice half-shouted in irritation, “Twilight! Why did you leave this pile near the fireplace?” The angry tirade shut off as Coaldust lifted his head to turn and look at the voice. Near his left shoulder stood a smallish purple and green dragon, a rather young one at that. “Pardon the ‘pile’. Ms. Sparkle had me sleep here last night. Am I in your way?” Spike stumbled backwards, and turned his head towards the stairs without removing his eyes from the strange stallion. “Um, Twilight? Twilight?!” From the top of the stairs a tired voice called back. “What is it Spike? If someone needs a book, just get it for them, okay?” “Twilight, there’s a strange pony down here. Said something about sleeping here last night?” Spike continued to back slowly towards the stairs as he spoke, keeping himself between the stairs and Coaldust. After a brief pause, Twilight herself came down. “Relax, Spike. I’d like you to meet Coaldust. He just moved to town, arrived last night as a matter of fact. I couldn’t just kick him back out into that storm.” Turning to the stallion, she smiled and gestured to the dragon with her hoof. “Coaldust, meet Spike. He’s my assistant, the one I mentioned last night.” Coaldust blinked, having expected a pony to be the mare’s assistant. “Well, ain’t that just a surprise? Well, nice to meet you Spike. I hear you’re the one who keeps this place in order?” “That he does. Oh, Spike? Could you please get me the land book for Ponyville before you start breakfast? I need to look up Coaldust’s claim so we can get him situated today.” She then turned back to the stallion, “I hope you’ll stay for breakfast. AJ would give me a thump in the flank if I let you go without feeding you something before we head out.” “AJ? Oh, right… your friend Applejack. Yeah, that sounds like the Apples. Can’t say I’ve ever gotten away from their homestead without thinking I ate way too much.” Standing up, Coaldust balanced on three legs as he stretched and worked the kinks out of protesting muscles. That finished, he turned and picked up a book with his mouth before moving to return it to the shelf where he got it from. Puzzled, Twilight turned her head to read the spine as he walked by. “Immortalis. Isn’t that the Princess’… I mean, Princess Celestia’s book on philosophy?” Setting the book on the shelf, Coaldust turned to face her. “Yup. I find her writing style a bit easier to read than some of the other philosopher’s in the past.” “You read philosophy?” If Twilight’s jaw were any longer, he swore it would have bounced off of the floor. Spike, returning with the requested book just snickered as he walked by. “Something wrong with a dumb miner readin’ him some philosophy?” “Yeah, Twilight,” Spike grinned as he crossed again to start breakfast. “I know very few ponies have checked out books, but you’re acting like you’re the only smart pony here.” Twilight shook her mane, then looked properly ashamed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made an assumption. I guess I thought that someone who worked physically for a living wouldn’t want to read something that….” “Advanced?” asked Coaldust softly. Seeing a blush starting to form on the lavender pony’s cheek, he relented. “No real mystery to it, honestly. Had to do something while I healed up.” “Speaking of healing up,” came Spike’s voice from by the stove. “What’s up with the freaky leg?” “Spike!” Chuckling, the stallion shook his head at Twilight. “Don’t worry, common question. Ask Twilight about it, Spike. She already knows… just wait until she gets back, okay?” “Yeah, yeah. Hey, how do you like your daffodils?” # # # After gorging on a great breakfast, Twilight and Coaldust stepped out into the open space before the Library. The air still smelled of the rainstorm from the night before, but the sun was bright and there were only a few clouds in the sky. Twilight closed her eyes and leaned into a sunbeam that struck the porch just as the came out. “Ahh. Right on time. Rainbow’s always good about that, even if she is lazy the rest of the time.” Coaldust looked around, then back at Twilight. “What rainbow? Can’t see one anywhere.” The unicorn giggled and looked sideways at the much larger pony. “Not that kind of rainbow. My friend, Rainbow Dash, is one of the weather ponies here in town.” “Ah, I see. Sorry for the confusion then, just makes me look a bit dumber than I already am.” Walking towards his cart with him, Twilight’s voice took on a sharper tone. “No pony who can read Immortalis is dumb, Coaldust.” Watching the stallion head to the cart then get into harness, Twilight blinked. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I forgot to ask last night if you had your belongings. Gosh, I hope they’re not ruined.” “Nah, they’re fine Twilight. Got a couple layers of oilcloth over them, so there shouldn’t be any water damage.” With practiced motions, and one good shake to settle everything in place, he got himself hitched up and grinned at her. “Well, lead on Ms. Sparkle.” Twilight rolled her eyes, grinned, then started leading towards the other side of town. She was surprised at how strong the pony was, even with the one bad leg. The cart was heavy, she was sure of that… at least as heavy as one of Big Mac’s carts when he was hauling a harvest into town. The mining pony was pulling his cart with ease. “So, what can you tell me about my claim?” Startled from her reverie, Twilight shook her head to organize her thoughts. “Well, it’s just inside the Everfree forest. It should still be safe, if a bit untamed. If I read the book right, there’s an open meadow that adjoins the ridge where the coal should be. It’s big enough for you to build a house as well as start your mine. We’ll need to get a road run to your mine so you can transport your coal though.” “Sounds good. Any neighbors nearby?” “No, most of the ponies live here in town. The only one near you would be….” The sudden thought striking Twilight caused her to stop suddenly, which in turn almost made Coaldust run over her. Spinning in place, Twilight turned huge eyes on Coaldust. “Oh my, we may have a small problem. You’ll be living near Fluttershy, another friend of mine. She takes care of all sorts of animals at her place, and she wouldn’t care for the extra noise the mine would cause.” Coaldust considered the situation for a moment, “Actually, it may not be that much of a problem, Twilight. Once I got a good ten feet into the hillside, the noise will be practically non-existent unless she’s in a straight line from the opening. Now, if it were my whole family bucking a seam in there, all bets would be off.” “Oh, well in that case, maybe we could get her to come to Ponyville until you got in that deep.” Twilight nodded and started walking again. “At least we have a possible solu….” “Oh wow! I’ve never seen you before! And you’re walking with Twilight, double wow!” Coaldust found himself stopping quickly as he looked into the bright blue eyes of a bright pink, fuzzy, ball of energy. “If I’ve never seen you before, that means you’re new here. GASP! And that means you need a party!” The larger pony backed up slightly at the pure nuclear energy that the pink pony radiated. “But wait, you’re walking with Twilight and I’ve never seen you before…. That must mean you’re her secret coltfriend! Oooooooh!” “Eh-heh. Um, Pinkie Pie, he’s not my coltfriend. He just moved here and….” “Well, if he’s not your coltfriend, can I have him? Huh? CanIcanIcanIhuhhuhhuhhuhhuh?” Coaldust looked in panic to the blushing lavender unicorn. Twilight in turn sighed and used a hoof to hold Pinkie Pie down. “Pinkie, he’s his own pony. I can’t just give him to ponies. I’d like you to meet Coaldust. Coaldust, this is our resident party mare, Pinkie Pie.” “Good to meet you, Ms. Pie. I’m afraid I ain’t looking for some mare right now, but that might could change in the future.” Pinkie Pie giggled and bounced around the other two ponies. “Aww, that’s all right though. You do like parties though, right?” Nodding, he tried to track the bouncing pink pony. “Sure do.” “Good! Then I’ll give you a Welcome-to-Ponyville-but-not-looking-for-a-mare party! We’ll have balloons, streamers, games, music, dancing… wait, you probably don’t dance. That’s okay, everyone else can dance and you can enjoy the music. Byeeee!” On that high note, Pinkie dashed off in a pink blur. Twilight tugged her displaced mane into some semblance of order, then grinned wanly at Coaldust. “Sorry, she’s a bit enthusiastic.” “Just like the ocean is damp, right?” Coaldust let a little bit of sarcasm leak into his voice. “Okay, so I might have understated just a little bit.” Twilight made a ‘come on’ gesture with her head and started walking towards the edge of town again. “She’s harmless, crazy, but harmless.” “If you say so, Twilight.” Fortunately, there weren’t any other encounters as they headed to Coaldust’s claim. Upon reaching the site, the mining pony took his time to look around. “Looks about like you described it. Doesn’t look like we’ll have to move your friend either.” “Oh, why do you say that?” Twilight stepped up and looked around herself. Coaldust pointed with his hoof towards a cave. “The seam’s in there. Pretty big one too, if I’m any judge. It’s about fifteen feet back, so I shouldn’t disturb any pony. The most noise will be while I’m having my house built.” “That’s good. We’ve got some unicorn and pegasus carpenters in town. They should be able to get your house built quickly and quietly. I think I’ll ask Fluttershy which team she uses when she has work done on her home. So, before I head back, do you need anything else?” “Nope. Thanks for bringing me here, Twilight. I’ll just set up my tent and get started on the base work. Should I come into town tomorrow to finish registering?” Twilight watched while Coaldust removed his harness and started unpacking some of his belongings. “That sounds good. I’ll even buy you some lunch… wait, buying lunch would be a bad idea. Pinkie Pie will probably grab you for the party, and if you don’t eat the snacks she gets pouty. Trust me, a pouty Pinkie is *not* a good thing to see.” Coaldust chuckled and nodded to his new friend. “All right then. Have a safe trip back, and see you tomorrow.” “You too Coaldust.”