//------------------------------// // Ch. 10 - Visitors // Story: A New Home // by Shads //------------------------------// The housewarming party an unexpected, but not unpleasant surprise. Blue and his crew decided to throw a small celebration party as part of a job well done and welcoming Mane to his new home. There had been familiar faces -- Cherry (obviously), the Mayor and his family, and Muffin -- but also some less-familiar ones as well. They were mostly ponies that Mane had seen once or twice at the shop but didn't really knows the names of. He'd spent most of the party mingling with them to try and get to know them better, seeing as he was now a permanent resident. The mare he was talking to now was called Jonagold. She was apparently part of a large family of apple farmers that was spread throughout Equestria and spanned many, many generations. "So where do you do your farming? I didn't notice any farms around here." Mane asked her. She laughed. "Oh no no, I'm not a farmer like most of the others in my family." She nudged her head towards her back while turning slightly, showing off her abacus cutie mark. "My talent's in mathematics. I was the one responsible for looking after our farm's fees, expenses, sales, and pretty much anything else involving money." "Oh, so what do you do now?" "Well I'm an accountant, mostly for the merchants. I also do some work for my family..." He politely listened to Jonagold as she talked about her job and what it entailed. While there were some thing he didn't entirely understand, he wanted to stay respectful and let her finish instead of interrupting to ask questions. At some point in their conversation, he spied a pony in his peripherals. This wasn't entirely odd, especially seeing as they were at a party with other ponies, but this one seemed... peculiar. Mane didn't seem to recognize the pony, but they still seemed familiar. Maybe he'd seen them around town, or maybe somewhere else when he was taking a different form. It bothered him. He was so distracted that he didn't realize that he had practically been tuning out Jonagold. "It can get pretty difficult sometimes, y'know. Sometimes they'll end up with missing funds and I'll have to look over everything again to find out that they forgot some payment or bill. Honestly, I don't know how ponies can be so forgetful over something that important." Mane nodded before speaking up. "That definitely sounds like a lot of work. I don't know if I could handle something like that." He peeked over to the pony -- now noticing that it was a unicorn-- and saw that they were still sitting there, though they were giving him an odd look. "If you'll excuse me, I believe that somepony needs to speak to me. It was a pleasure speaking to you, Miss Jonagold." She gave a small blush. "I suppose I did most of the talking, but thank you for listening. I hope I'll see you around some other time." She gave a small nod before walking off somewhere else. Mane and the mystery pony had a silent stare-off before he decided to approach them. He noticed that they had a silver coat and mane, along with a cutie mark of that had a duo of masks, one smiling and one frowning. He'd recognized those as symbols for drama and theatre. "Hello, I'm Whitemane." He greeted the mystery pony. "And who might you be?" They gave a quick look around before turning back to Mane. "I am Center Stage, but you may be more familiar with AD-D8-E6." He noticed that Mane's eyes grew wider at that. "Do you have someplace more private where we can talk?" "Y-yes, of course," Mane stuttered. "My bedroom should be soundproofed. No one will disturb or hear us in there." "Good. Take us there." Center replied. The two made their way to Mane's house, though at a slow pace. He could barely hide how nervous he was or what Center's presence here meant. Don't tell me we're being hunted. Luckily, he was able to distract himself from such thoughts by way of a blue stallion relaxing near his front door. "Hey, Blue. Nice party, huh?" "Seems like it." Blue took a look at the new pony that was standing by Mane. "And who are you? I can't say I've ever seen you around before." "My name is Center Stage," he responded, "and no, I'm not from around here. I'm an old... friend of Whitemane's. I recently found out he moved here, so I wanted to catch up with him in private." Blue took a long look at Center, not quite believing what he heard. His eyes showed his distrust for the newcomer. He stared back at Blue in a challenging way. Mane watched nervously, deciding to interrupt them before anything got out of hoof. "It's alright, Blue. We'll just be inside talking about some things." Blue was still hesitant, but he trusted that Mane knew what he was doing. With his shoulders slacking, he finally backed off. Mane gave a small smile at his friend. "I don't want anypony barging in on us. If you need something, just knock." Blue gave him a quizzical looking before slowly nodding. "I'll make sure no one disturbs you two." "Thanks. We shouldn't be long." Mane opened his front door, allowing Center to enter before following in after him. The inside of the building was split into 3 rooms that were all sparsely decorated. The entrance, which hung off towards the right half of the building, lead straight into the living room which currently had a solitary couch and a table. To the left of it, nearly one-third of the living space was given to a combined kitchen and dining room. The kitchen was separated from the living room by a counter and the floors had transitioned from carpet to tile. The last room, Mane's bedroom, was tucked away in the back-right corner with a small hallway separating it from the adjacent dining room. "It's very... spartan." Center remarked. "Thanks. I tried to keep things simple." He moved towards the back of the home before opening his bedroom door. "In here." The two ponies entered the bedroom housing a single bed against the wall opposite the door and a closet on the inner wall. Center closed the door before flaring his horn for a moment. "I've applied basic soundproofing to ensure we're not overheard. Now," his eyes flickered blue, "I'd like to ask you some questions about Chrysalis and the rest of Hive Green."