Ever since Tirek had come stomping into town, Thomas Baker had found himself in a less than stellar mood. It wasn’t like things were actually going bad, just that they weren’t going right. For instance, once Tirek had been defeated and locked back up, it had taken most of his suppliers two weeks to even return his telegrams. To a degree, that was understandable. Rumor was that in comparison to the damage Manehattan had suffered, Tirek had been tip-toeing through the tulips when he stomped through Oasis.
What it didn’t excuse, was the fact that he had been promised multiple times within two weeks that he would get some much needed supplies delivered, only to find they hadn’t been. There was a lot going on, sure. Everyone, or everypony, was busy with cleaning up the mess. If his suppliers had simply told him the truth, that it would take them time, he would totally understand and work around the delays. Hell, they could have been blunt and said “When we know, you’ll know.”
Thomas found himself marching back into town, pushing with him a wheelbarrow too small for his height, filled with tools and some of his limited hardware stock. He had thought the accidental shipment of roofing nails was a nuisance. Turns out, it’s pretty much the only hardware he’s got left, and he was thankful for the mix up.
His supplier had also forgotten to send somepony to retrieve the nails.
Entering the town proper, with his mind adrift Thomas didn’t notice the random pothole as his wheelbarrow’s single wheel went right into it, jostling his tools and equipment around and causing him to bend down further to compensate.
“Stupid short wheelbarrow.” Thomas scowled.
“Oh, good early afternoon Mister Baker!” Missus Billfold called from the combined post office and Mayor’s office building.
“Hello there Missus Billfold.” Thomas stopped, lowering the wheelbarrow and stretching his arms. “Is Swift in today? I have some telegrams I need wired out.”
“I’m afraid not, Dearie. He’s out on his rounds. You should catch him at your shop if you hurry though, he hasn’t been out long.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I’ll do just that.” Thomas took the wheelbarrow handles and began marching towards home.
Well, his home away from home as he liked to call it.
The other thing that had been souring his mood in the past few weeks had been the townsponies themselves. They all felt as though they owed him something. They would try to help him with his work, but the last time the sheriff helped him the entire building came tumbling down. There was a reason he was the carpenter, and why the mayor was currently held up in the back of the post office. He let his mind wander, keeping up a steady pace with the wheelbarrow, and noticing the ponies out and about.
For a Tuesday afternoon, the town was quite active. Sunny Side’s porch was flooded with ponies, talking and whispering to one another. A couple ponies stopped to stare at him, causing him to suspect the discussion was about, well, him. With a squeak from his wheelbarrow, the entire group of ponies stopped their banter and turned to him. Smiling, waving, not making direct eye contact. Thomas stopped, brow raised, as he swept his gaze through the onlookers.
On a normal day, Thomas would have questioned it. Ponies had used to gawk at him like that years ago, sure, but that was when he was still new in town. He shook his head, continuing on. Right now, he was tired, upset, and frustrated; the townsponies’ odd behaviour were the last thing on his mind.
He sighed. Another three hours wasted today. With any luck, he’d be able to salvage the rest of the day with a couple of his other projects in the shop. After speaking with Swift and getting a couple telegraphs out.
Finally, his shop came into view, the door was ajar and the open sign flipped.
I… don’t remember doing that…
He dropped the wheelbarrow, a tad forcibly, just outside the small porch, then began marching up the steps. A pony quickly dodged out of the doorway; Thomas swore he recognized Swift’s delivery cap on the pony’s head.
He was immediately greeted with over half a dozen ponies, mostly mares, frozen stiff and gawking at him. Honestly? He didn’t much care at the moment. He was exhausted from his three hours of walking for nothing. His eyes lit up, spotting the Sheriff and the Mayor.
“Morning Sheriff, Mayor," Thomas said, then glanced at the mare in front of the group, “Ladies.” He turned back to the mayor. “Mayor, have you seen Swift yet?”
The mayor was visibly shaking, but pointed to the right of Thomas. Thomas looked, seeing the mailpony standing stiff, his hat crooked on his head.
“Oh, good, you’re here. Mail?” Thomas stuck his hand out.
“Oh, uh, y-yes, of course Tom. Here ya go.” The pegasus drew several letters out of his bag with his teeth, gently setting them into the palm of Thomas’ hand.
Why are they so jumpy? “Thanks.” Thomas walked towards the stove, tossing the mail onto the table and grabbing a mug hanging on the wall. He poured himself some coffee. “Also, got a couple telegrams I need you to send out for me.”
“S-sure th-thing, Tom.” The pegasus brought out a notepad and pencil, readying himself to write. Thomas noted that Swift kept looking at the assorted mares, but he shook his head and decided that it was their business. Why they were in his store, he didn’t know, but he might as well be courteous.
“Mayor, Sheriff, want some coffee?” Thomas asked, glancing over his shoulder. Both ponies shook their heads. Thomas shrugged, “How about you ladies?”
In unison, all five-no, six mares, one was hiding behind the orange one, shook their heads.
“Suit yourselves.” He took a seat, sipping at the dark liquid. “Oh, that hit the spot.” He reared the chair back, throwing his feet onto the table edge balancing on two legs. “Okay, first telegram is to Match’s Gas and Oil, Manehattan eight double zero one.”
“Match, need kerosene soon. Stop. Have bits for previous delivery and next. Stop. Also need one kerosene lantern for Farmer Jack, paid in advance. Stop. Reply if unable to deliver by this Friday. Stop. T. Baker. Stop.”
“That all?” Swift asked.
“For that one, yeah.” He took another sip. “Next telegram is to Shanty Shack’s Building Supplies, Manehattan seven one seven seven.”
“Um, excuse me…”
Thomas looked to the mare who spoke, her clean cut and dark purple mane bounced as she took a step forward.
“I’ll be with you in a moment, ma’am.” He turned back to Swift. “Shanty, still no lumber or roof shingles. Stop. You have until this Friday to have my goods delivered or I will march over there and shove my size twelve boot up your tail hole. Stop.”
“Is… that it?” Swift asked.
“Oh, right, sign it T. Baker… Stop.” He took another sip of coffee. “Alright, that’s it. Thanks Swift.”
Swift Delivery looked between the mares and Thomas. He stood rooted to the spot.
“Swift, is there something you need?” Thomas asked.
“N-no, it’s just that, well… I can’t leave,” Swift whispered.
“What? Why?” Thomas noticed him glancing between the mares and himself. He grinned. “Swift, they’re pretty things, but waaaaaaay out of your league.”
Swift sputtered, trying and failing to make words. “Th-that’s not it!” his face became red with crimson, “It’s because apparently I’m under arrest.”
Thomas nearly spat out his coffee, coughing as he leveled his chair back on all four legs. “Arrested? What, you going through ponies mail again?”
“What? No! That was just the one time!”
“Sheriff, why are you arresting Swift?” Thomas’s brow rose, remembering the sheriff’s appearance. “And why are you wearing one of my shirts?”
“Well, as it so turns out, I’m not the one arresting. In fact, all three of us are under arrest.”
Thomas blinked. “Uh, Sheriff, there isn’t anyone with that sort of power to arrest all three of you.”
“Well, Princess Twilight says otherwise.” Sheriff nudged his head towards the purple mare.
“Her?” Thomas looked at Twilight. “On what authority?”
Twilight was caught off guard. “On the authority that I’m a Princess!”
Thomas blinked, staring at her. Within moments he began giggling, and full out laughing as he sat back down into his chair. All the ponies in the room gave him confused looks.
“Woo wee, that’s a good one Sheriff. For a moment there you had me going.”
“Wait, what?” Both Twilight and the sheriff echoed in unison.
“You know, I was having quite the crappy day today, but this has brightened up my spirits. Thanks for the laugh you guys.” Thomas took another drink of his coffee, fully relaxed in his chair.
“Thomas, I’m afraid to spoil your mood, but she is a princess,” the Mayor spoke up.
Thomas lowered his coffee mug, glaring at the purple unicorn. “Isn’t she a bit short for a, what’re they called, Pegacorn?”
“Hey! I resent that!” Twilight stomped a hoof, “and it’s Alicorn!” she finished, flaring her… wings…
Horn and wings… oh-
“Crap,” Thomas said, setting down his coffee mug with a loud clunk. “I thought you said you guys were gonna get rid of her?”
“Well, as it so happened, we were in the process of that before you came barging in!” the Mayor said.
“Actually, we were in the middle of being arrested by a Princess of Equestria.” Swift added.
“Not helping Swift!”
“Okay, hold up.” One of the mares stepped into the fray, her vibrant rainbow mane brushing into her face. “I’m lost here, what exactly is going on?”
Twilight spoke up. “I think that the Mayor, Sheriff, and mail pony—”
“Hey, I had nothing to do with this!”
“—were trying to trick us into leaving before we discovered what Mister Baker really is… whatever he is,” Twilight said, still staring at Thomas.
“Ugh, I do not want to have that discussion again…” Thomas groaned, feigning boredom. He began sifting through his mail.
“You see, Princess Twilight, we weren’t exactly sure how you’d take Thomas’s appearance, so we wanted you to believe he was a pony,” the mayor said.
“And what would lead you to believe that someone’s species would determine how I perceive them?” Twilight asked.
“W-well, I-I’m not exactly sure…” the mayor sputtered.
“Well just look at him, Princess! He’s a six foot tall hairless ape!” the Sheriff called out, pointing an accusing hoof at Thomas.
“Hey, I resent that!” Thomas said, “I’m not balding yet!” He ran his fingers through his hair. You know, just to be sure. Not because somepony said so.
The Sheriff continued. “We honestly had no clue how you’d react to Tom, so we tried to bend the truth a little.”
“A little? You tried impersonating him!” the, for a lack of better term, cowpony pointed at Thomas. “I mean, how do you even do that? Just like ya said, look at ‘im.”
“Applejack’s right, dear,” the white mare spoke up. “I knew right away that shirt of yours wasn’t for a pony, although you do pull off that blue quite well. Goes good with your coat.”
“I’m honestly just relieved you haven’t tried to capture him, or bash him over the head with a club to study on him,” Swift said.
Everypony—and an unimpressed human—all stared at the mail pony.
“Swift, stop putting ideas in their heads and go deliver the damn mail already,” Thomas said, “and send my telegrams.”
“But, the princess, and the arresting, and the—”
“She can’t arrest you, Swift.” Thomas opened one of the envelopes.
“And how do you know that, Mister whatever-you-are?” The rainbow pegasus flew up to Thomas’s face, their noses touching.
“Because, Miss Technicolor, I know for a fact that royalty can only order an investigation, they can’t act directly without confirming the evidence,” Thomas said, pushing back against her and rubbing his nose irritably. “Also, please no flying in my store, you’re going to make a mess of my paperwork.”
“The name’s Rainbow Dash,” she said, striking a quick pose mid-air, then landing back onto the wood floor, “ and that’s the biggest load of—”
“Actually…” Twilight began, scuffing a hoof, her cheeks red with embarrassment, “he’s kinda right.”
“You mean all that fancy talkin’ you did—” Applejack began.
“Was just a ruse, yes,” Twilight lowered her head. “Luna’s been showing me some of her tricks for how she gets her work done,” Twilight then looked back to Thomas. “Which makes me wonder, how did you even know that?”
Thomas lowered the letter he was reading. “Hmm? Oh, I didn’t,” he returned his attention to the letter. “Oh hey Sheriff, Gilded said to say hello and that he’s doing fine.”
“Oh good, glad the Crystal Empire hasn’t worn him dead yet,” the sheriff commented.
Twilight’s left eye twitched. “You… were LYING?”
“Technically,” Thomas folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope. “I was bluffing.”
“Well then, since it seems everything’s alright and Tom is in no immediate danger of becoming a zoo exhibit, I say we leave these young mares to their business with old Tom, eh Mayor?” the Sheriff said, pushing the frazzled pony out the door.
“Well– that is– I don’t think– I mean– we should—”
“Bye Mayor, Sheriff. Nice seein’ y’all this morning.” Thomas waved as the two ponies exited, Swift already gone having probably slipped out once the attention was off of him.
With a nod of his sheriff hat (wait, when did he-?) the two ponies bowed towards Twilight and exited the entry way, leaving Thomas alone with these six mares. Or, as his memory recalled from the letter, Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony or some mumbo jumbo like that. Just what the hell are the Elements of Harmony?
One of the mares coughed, grabbing Thomas’s attention back to the group. All of them were shuffling around, not directly staring at him, while they examined his wares on the shelves or found a very interesting spot on the floor to look at and study. He continued sifting through his mail, every so often a mare would cough. He’d look up, only to find them biting their lips, unsure what to say.
“So, Mister Baker.” The more elegant mare of the group stepped up, the rest of her friends all letting out a collective sigh.
Thomas sighed too, “Just Thomas, Miss?”
“Just Rarity, darling. Tell me, how much are these shower rings?”
And then at once they all let out a collective groan.
“Seriously Rares, the first question to ask that thing is about shower curtain rings?” Rainbow protested.
“What? I’m trying to break the ice, as it ‘twere.”
“Rainbow Dash! That was rude! He is not a thing, he’s a… um…” Scaredy-pony sunk behind Applejack, avoiding Thomas’s glare.
“Yes, let's start there!” Twilight clopped a hoof on the floor. “What are you?”
“Yeah! What are you, huh huh huh?” A hypered-up pink pony sprang from under Thomas’ table. “Are you a monkey?” She appeared over his left shoulder.
“No.” Thomas groaned.
“A raccoon?”
“No.”
“A narwhal?”
“How did you even come up with that one?”
“Hey, you can’t leave anything out when solving a mystery.” She blew into her bubble pipe.
Thomas threw the rest of the mail back onto the table, giving up the idea of getting through it today.
“It’s just that, no offense, we’ve never seen anything like you before. Ever,” Twilight said. “I do take my research seriously, and I do not recall anything of your form in any of my books.”
“Yeah, and she’s got a lot of books,” Rainbow added, then lowered her ears and whispered, “well, had.”
Thomas sighed, stood, marched over to the counter, and from one of the many racks drew out a large stack of papers, slapping the bound sheets onto the countertop.
“Every question you got for me is in there.” He tapped his finger on the stack.
“What is it?” Twilight levitated the book towards her.
Rarity leaned over Twilight’s shoulder. “Thomas Baker: The Most Interesting Man in the Universe?”
“Sounds like something Rainbow Dash would write,” Applejack teased, gaining a raspberry from Dash.
“I don’t understand, did you write this?”
“Kinda,” Thomas said, walking over to his board. “I got sick of ponies, and gryphons, and whatever else that walked into town asking me the same questions over and over and over again. So Bob and me wrote that.”
“Who’s Bob?” Pinkie asked, but her question went unanswered.
Twilight raised a brow, opening to the first page. “Chapter One: I am a human.” Twilight looked back to Thomas, “What’s a human?”
Thomas rolled his index finger in a circle. Getting the hint Twilight turned the page. “Chapter Two: What is a Human you may ask?”
“Every question you’ll have for me is in that. I have better things to be doing than answering a bunch of dumb questions that have no absolute factor on what’s going on here. So, if you’d all excuse me, I have some work I need to do.” Thomas walked through the Employees Only door.
“Hey, wait a minute buster!” Dash darted for the door, only for it to open and Thomas’ head to stick out.
“Can’t you read? Employees only. You’re not an employee.”
“But we’re not done with you yet! We got some serious questions about—”
“Yeah, yeah, about the saving the town thing, or whatever other wild stories the townsponies told you about me. Look, read that, get the dumb questions answered, then when you’re ready we’ll talk about why these ponies are good-hearted but don’t know when to keep their mouths shut. So until then, toodles.” He slammed the door closed again.
“Well, that was rude.” Rarity said.
Then the door opened again. “Oh, Rarity—”
“Yes?” Rarity asked.
“Those curtain rings are two for a bit, or if you buy ten it’s only four bits. There’s an honor system on the counter if you make up your mind,” Thomas said, then closed the door for good.
“Oh, thank… you?” Rarity stared at the closed door. “Well, maybe not as rude as some, but still a tad.”
“So now what, Twi’?” Applejack asked.
“I guess now we read this,” Twilight waved the massive tome in the air, “then come back later.”
“Ug, we’re gonna be reading that thing for days!” Dash groaned.
“Well, I can just read it while you girls take some time off. Princess Celestia said for us to try and relax a bit while we’re here. She was worried we’ve become overworked,” Twilight looked at a small pamphlet on a rack, something about what sinks are the best choice.
“Now now, you can’t be doin’ all the work. I got an idea,” Applejack started, then glanced behind her.
Quickly, the door closed an inch.
Applejack grinned. “I’ll discuss it with ya’ll back in our room.”
“Alright, sounds like a plan then.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Ug, I’m huuuuuungry. Can we go now?” The bouncy pony said.
“Yes, Pinkie, let’s go. Sunny Side did say something about getting back before food got cold.” Twilight said, leading her entourage out of Thomas’s shop.
As the last mare walked through the doorway, Thomas crept out of from behind the door, giving a heavy sigh as he leaned on the frame.
“This is gonna be one of those weeks… I can tell.”
----------
Twilight and the rest of her friends walked through the town street. As they passed by each building, ponies would stop and bow, nod their heads, tip their hats, most of them even adding a ‘hello’ or ‘good afternoon’.
“These ponies all seem real nice,” Fluttershy said from the middle of the group.
“They sure do seem pretty easy goin’, if Sunny Side was anything to go by,” Applejack said.
“Yeah, or liars like the Mayor and Sheriff,” Rainbow Dash said.
“You have ta admit, Dash, they had a pretty fair reason for what they did. They just didn’t execute it quite so well,” Applejack said.
“They still could have just told us the truth. I mean, it’s not like Mister Baker is some sort of monster or anything. He’s just a completely foreign species that we’ve never seen or heard of before,” Twilight flipped the page of the book Thomas has given her.
“So, Applejack,” Rarity started, getting her friends attention, “what exactly is this plan of yours? I assume it’s something that Mister Baker would not like?”
“You guessed right there, Rares. How I see it, we give Twi’ some time to read that there brick of a book while the rest of us spend some time with ‘Old Tom’.”
Rainbow wheeled around. “Oh, I get it! Like a roundabout interrogation!”
“Oh oh! I’m good at those!” Pinkie continued, jumping along.
“All we gotta do is just tag along with him, two at a time so we don’t overwhelm him or nothin’. Last thing we wanna do is make him think we’re pokin’ him for info. We wanna seem like we’re just interested in what he does, talk with him some.”
Twilight stopped, looking away from the book. “I have to say Applejack, that’s a pretty clever plan.”
Applejack looked to the now barren porch of Sunny Side’s Inn. “Well, Sunny said it herself, the feller likes to keep to himself. So maybe if a couple of us tag along with him for a bit, maybe he’ll open up to us once he gets to know us.”
“Well, enough of the planning for now, I’m hungry!” Rainbow sniffed the air. “And man does that smell good!”
“I want some yummy in my tummy!” Pinkie said, bouncing up the porch.
“We should eat, then get our rooms situated. I suspect we will be sharing a couple rooms.” Rarity was next up the porch.
“I’m down for that. You and me, AJ?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew up onto the porch ahead of Rarity.
Applejack was close behind. “Sounds a’right to me, Dash.”
The four mares walked inside, talking with each other while the remaining two stayed outside. Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice Twilight idly staring back towards what she presumed was Mister Baker’s shop.
“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy whispered.
Twilight blinked, shaking her head and looking at her friend, “Yes, Fluttershy?”
“I was just wondering, are you, um, okay?”
“Oh yeah, sure.” Twilight looked back down the street again.
“Are you sure? You’ve been glancing back at Mister— I mean, Thomas’s shop since we left.”
Twilight sighed, sitting down and laying the book beside her. “This just doesn’t make any sense, Fluttershy. A completely new species, intelligent and capable of communication and apparent literacy, if this book is anything to go by, and he’s been here for Celestia knows how long. Nopony ever stopping to question it or bring it to attention. What if he was dangerous? What if he did something bad before coming here? What if—”
Fluttershy rested a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Twilight, I think that if there was any problems, these ponies would have done what they thought was right. And who knows, maybe they did. If he did do anything before, he’s apparently been accepted by these ponies because of what he has done for the good, not the bad. So before you go worrying about that stuff, I think we just need to get to know him more, like with Applejack’s plan.”
Twilight smiled. “Thank you, Fluttershy. That’s what I needed to hear.” She stood up. “If Thomas has been here for a number of years as previous stated, and the ponies aren’t running away in fear of him, then we shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
Fluttershy smiled, nodding in agreement.
“Well, I think we should go join the others now. I’m sure they’re sick of waiting for us.” Twilight grabbed the book and began up the steps with Fluttershy close behind.
The two mares walked through the open doorway and were immediately greeted by several sensations at once smacking their faces. While the main dining room of Sunny Sides was barren except for three stallions playing poker in a corner and Twilight’s friends in the middle giggling to themselves, she noticed on the bar the earlier mentioned only radio in town playing some sort of country song, something that was easy to spot Applejack tapping her hooves to match the beat.
The next thing to greet her was the smells. While the poker playing ponies’ cigars were a turn off, and by Equestrian law illegal, the food aromas coming from the kitchen behind the bar were enough to keep a pony from turning around and leaving right away.
“Twilight! Fluttershy, come over here, quick!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, waving her hoof.
Twilight and Fluttershy each took a seat with their friends, all of whom wearing big grins.
“What’s the matter?” Twilight asked, curious.
“Oh, you are not gonna believe this, Twi,” Applejack snickered, then, “Oh waitress, ma’am, we need two more glasses of water if ya could!”
“And another Sarsaparilla please!” Pinkie added with a belch.
There was a groan from the other side of the room. “Coming right up,” she said, reluctantly.
Twilight’s ears perked up. “I recognize that voice…” Twilight began, but didn’t have to wait long.
A light blue mare with a blue and silver mane walked up to the table. Trixie Lulamoon wore a smile as forced as the frills on her apron. As her eyes met Twilight, her smile died and morphed into a scowl as she trudged over while levitating with her a serving tray with two glasses of water and a bottle of sarsaparilla. She placed them down with a clink that was somewhere between painfully polite and exasperated.
Twilight continued to gawk at Trixie, who returned the stare with an unimpressed look of her own.
“You can laugh, you know. Your friends didn’t waste any time to,” Trixie glanced morosely at a snickering Rainbow Dash.
Twilight blinked. “What? Why would I laugh? I’m more shocked you’re even here.”
“Well, a traveling performer has to have a few back ups, doesn’t she? After that whole Alicorn Amulet debacle, Trixie headed West. Trixie frequents this town as a rest stop, plus she’s still waiting on her wagon to be finished by that bonehead of a carpenter.”
“You mean Thomas?” Fluttershy asked.
“The big tall dummy on two legs? Yeah, him,” Trixie said.
“What’s your gripe with him?” Twilight asked.
“Trixie’s gripe is that he still hasn’t given Trixie her carriage! He expects Trixie to pay him now. How can Trixie pay him when she needs it to make the money to pay him? So now, Trixie’s stuck here, working for Miss Sunshine and her mute husband, making half what she would if she were out there performing!” Trixie said, adjusting her apron. “So, enough of the chit chat, Trixie’s already a half hour over her shift time, so what do you all want to eat?”
“We are all set, dear. Just Twilight and Fluttershy need to go through the menu,” Rarity levitated menus to the two.
Twilight took her menu, opening it up. It was broken into three categories, which caused Twilight to make a double take.
Herbivore.
Omnivore.
Carnivore.
Twilight just stared at the menu for several moments, thoughts bouncing around in her head like an out of control pinball.
“Trixie doesn’t have all night, you know,” Trixie said, one of her forehooves tapping on the floor.
“Uh, actually, I’m not that hungry right now. Just a small order of hay fries is fine.” Twilight levitated her menu to Trixie.
“Very well.” She took the menus, then began marching back towards the bar. “Bob! Order up!” she shouted, slapping the ticket onto a small window sill behind the bar.
“You saw it too, didn’t you?” Fluttershy asked.
“What?” Twilight asked.
“The menu.”
“Oh, yeah, it just caught me off guard.”
Rainbow put down her hayburger. “Eh, relax egg-head. I was around Gilda enough back in the day to know not everyone can just eat hay and grass.”
“That’s true. Mister Baker did say something about other species frequenting this town, so it’s not all that shocking really,” Rarity said, taking a sip of her water.
“It wasn’t just that, but there was a section for carnivores. Strictly meat eaters. What if that’s for Tom?” Twilight asked.
Rarity wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Well, I’ll be sure to ask him when Fluttershy and I go visit tomorrow.”
“Wait, what?” Fluttershy squeaked.
“Yeah, I’m with Fluttershy, what?” Rainbow Dash eyed Rarity dangerously.
“Well, it’s very simple, darling. Out of our group of merry mares, Fluttershy and I are the most qualified to handle this.”
Everypony blinked, just gawking at Rarity.
“You just want those shower curtain rings, don’t you?” Applejack asked.
Rarity coughed.
“But, um, why me?” Fluttershy asked.
“Why, to answer Twilights question of course! You’re the animal expert, you can probably decipher his eating habits by just talking to him. Not only that, if he is a meat eater, you can relate with him and get him talking. Harry frequents meat, does he not?”
“Well, I guess that’s true.” Fluttershy rubbed her hoof on the table top.
“Dang nab it!”
All six mares turned towards the poker playing ponies.
“Full house again! You’re cheatin’, I know it,” a black earth pony said, throwing his cards hard onto the table.
“You’ve been sayin’ that for twenty years, and you’ve yet to prove that.” A brown unicorn, the apparent winner, began raking in his winnings.
“Eeyup,” a grey pegasus said, taking a puff from his cigar.
There was then a bell ring, and within moments Trixie served the mares their orders.
“Anything else? Or can Trixie finally take this stupid apron off?”
Pinkie waggled her empty Sarsaparilla bottle.
“We’re out.”
“Awww…”
“I think we’re set Trixie, thank you,” Twilight said.
“Hm, right, well… you're welcome, Trixie guesses,” Trixie walked away. “Bob, Trixie is out! If they need anything, it’s on you.”
The bell rang.
“What is it now?”
The bell rang again, and a black hoof held up a dirty plate from the serving window.
“Seriously?! Dishes? Trixie hates this job.”
As Trixie marched into the kitchen, Sunny Side appeared from the top of the upstairs balcony.
“Well, howdy there dearies! I see you’re just in time for the last grub call before we close the kitchen down for the night. How’s the food?”
“Oh, it’s just wonderful, thank you Sunny,” Fluttershy said.
“Yeah, I hafta admit, ya came darn close to my Granny Smith’s pot pie recipe here.”
“Well, we try our darndest. Now, I’ve just finished setting up your rooms. You’ll be having to share two for the time being, if that’s alright.”
“Oh, that’s fine. Are you that busy?”
Sunny turned to Twilight. “No, how I wish that were the case. It’s just that we’ve been having issues with the plumbing, and Old Tom ain’t had the chance to get it fixed yet. Poor guy has been buried in work for the last few weeks now.” Sunny sighed.
“I reckon so. We saw the board in his shop,” Applejack said.
“Eeyup. He finds a lot of ways to keep himself busy,” Sunny said. “Hopefully once Tom gets a couple of his tasks caught up, he’ll be working on the plumbing next.”
“I’m surprised he’s not doing it now. Isn’t this affecting your business?” Twilight asked.
“Well, truth is deary, we don’t get much business with the hotel side of things. Most of these ponies in town have shacks somewhere around town. I went ahead and told Tom to get his more important jobs caught up first, then he could come over and work.”
“What does he have that’s so urgent?” Applejack asked.
Sunny shook her head slowly. “He’s been working on Golden Amethyst’s house with most of his spare time.”
“Is her home the one that was destroyed by Tirek?” Rarity asked.
“Yes, it was. Even before then, it couldn’t really be called a home. I used the term shack literally, deary.”
“Why are they living in such poor conditions?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, see the thing is, a lot of these ponies didn’t have much of anything. They literally wandered into town with empty saddlebags and rusted horseshoes. This town has been their last chance to start anew and fix themselves. They build their shacks out of whatever materials they can come across or barely afford.”
“That’s terrible,” Twilight said.
“Tom has been trying his hardest to help them out. He’s been going around on his free time to help strengthen walls, fix leaky roofs, even give them a solid floor versus just the dirt.”
“What makes Golden Amethyst’s situation more dire to get an entire new house then?” Rarity asked.
“Well, her husband recently got accepted into the Royal Guard and is currently in the Crystal Empire helpin’ with whatever’s goin’ on there. Tom told him he’d make sure to look after her, especially after she had their first foal about eight months ago. She’s such a pretty little angel.”
“My word, no wonder it’s taken such priority,” Rarity said.
“Once he got it livable, they moved in, and Tom’s been working on the cosmetics as he gets supplies replenished.”
“Wow, he seems to be doing a lot for this town,” Fluttershy said.
“Heh, yeah, he thinks he owes us somethin’.”
“Why do you say that?” Twilight asked.
“Well, if it wasn’t for the Fixits he’d be an outcast. They opened up their home to him, and with Mister Fixit being the town’s carpenter at the time, it was a perfect fit. Tom worked for Mister Fixit in his shop and around town. But it’s mostly because–”
“Duster… yer cheatin’.”
Twilight and her friends turned around to the three poker playing ponies, while Sunny Side just sighed.
“There’s only fifty one cards in this deck,” the black earth pony said, holding the deck in a hoof.
“Now how in Tartarus do you know that?” the brown unicorn shot back.
“Because the deck’s lighter,” the earth pony said, lifting his hoof up and down with the deck still perfectly balanced.
“There is no way you can tell that just by holdin’ it in yer hoof.”
The earth pony slammed the deck onto the table in front of the pegasus. “Count ‘em.”
“Ugh, here we go again; excuse me dearies,” Sunny Side trotted over. “Alright boys, that’s enough for the night.”
“But Sunny–”
“Eenope! I don’t wanna hear none of it. It’s bad enough I’ve been dealin’ with yer arguin’ for the last twenty years, but to do it in front of a princess and her friends!”
“Wait, we still have a princess?” the pegasus asked, looking over to Twilight’s table. “I don’t remember Celestia being purple,” he put on a pair of glasses, “or so short.”
Twilight slammed her head on the table, along with letting out a frustrated groan. Trixie chose this particular time to step out of the kitchen, her face speckled with dirt.
“Trix, darlin’, one last favor. Could you show the princess ‘nd her friends to their rooms while I take care of these three louts?”
“Louts? We ain’t no louts, we’re payin’ customers!”
“Havin’ a fifty bit bar tab ain’t a payin’ customer!” Sunny argued. “Out!”
Trixie looked to Twilight and her friends, all with varying expressions. Oddly enough, Trixie shared Twilight’s as she too let out a groan of frustration; the radio sharing her sentiments.
“Trixie hates this town…”