//------------------------------// // Introductions to Ponyville // Story: Walk // by Cheshire //------------------------------// Once Zecroa had put me on the right path, it didn’t take long at all for the small township that we had discussed to be seen and heard in the distance. When I first got a good glimpse, I couldn’t help but stare in awe. Ponyville was nothing like anything I’d ever seen before. Ponies of all kinds bustling jovially about the small town in the distance like it was a busy city. But all the sights and sounds could wait as for now I had only one goal. To find my friend. --- It had been about three days since I’d ran away from Silver Linings in tears. Three days waiting for her to catch up. For us to apologise to each other and continue our journey like always. But this time was different. Silver didn’t catch up. I never heard her familiar hoofsteps. In all honesty, it hadn’t taken me very long to reach the town of Ponyville after our spat. I barely even remembered reaching the outskirts of town, my eyes still wet with tears and my heart filled with worry for my friend. By the time I realised where I was, the town’s farm-heavy outskirts had sped by and I found myself wiping away my tears as I took stock of my surroundings. The first thing I noticed was the buildings or rather, how out of place they looked, considering that every town we’d been to so far had already started taking on a Canterlot or Manehattan styled approach of tall buildings and apartments. Everything in Ponyville looked like something out of a Three-Tribes era reconstruction. Thatched roofing, timber frames and pane windows. It was amazing to me that a place as well known as Ponyville looked like this. It wasn’t long before I noticed the ponies around me. Their stares were offputting enough, and I’m sure my ragged appearance didn’t help any. Covered in small sores, dirt and a filthy travelling robe, my cherry-red mane sticking out like a wild, untamed creature. But it wasn’t their stares that really had me worried. It was the fact that the ones who did notice me were slowly backing away. As I realised this, I heard a light squeaking behind me. Turning around, I saw what I could only describe as a contraption seemingly comprised of an oven and a series of small tubes turned upwards. Hauling it was a bright, bubblegum-pink mare with a wickedly large grin on her face. I was terrified, to say the least. It was at this point that the tubes on the contraption made their use apparent, firing off confetti with loud cannon blasts, terror shooting through me as I made a mad dash for the nearest visible cover, a small arched bridge over a burbling creek. Shaking, I cowered under the stone arch, ears flat and eyes screwed shut. “Wowie! Never had anyone react like that before,” Said a voice above me. “maybe I used too much powder?” I opened up my eyes to find a pink mass mere centimeters from my muzzle. Safe to say I didn’t react well. My hoof shot out as I let out a short shriek, connecting with the pink mare’s chest with an audible thump. She recoiled in shock and pain, squeaking as she splashed into the creek beneath the bridge. Frantic, I pulled her out immediately, apologising profusely. “I’m so sorry, y-you just surprised me is all!” “Ouchie… You’ve got a good arm.” she replied, rubbing the hoof-shaped bruise on her chest, before springing back to an upright position and shaking off the water like a dog, her mane poofing up every which way. “A-again, I’m really sorry about that,” I managed to stutter out, this pink pony scaring me more and more as time went on. “but I really need to find my friend.” This apparently took the mare by surprise who suddenly dragged me out from under the bridge, exclaiming incoherently about local taverns, inns and bakeries, dragging me by my forehoof through the town. --- As I neared the edge of Ponyville, twilight quickly approaching, the path around me became more well used and less surrounded by malicious-looking trees. I was deep in thoughts about the town of Ponyville when small squeak off to my left caught my attention. Turning towards the noise, I spotted a flash of pink ducking into the nearby bush, a small basket covered with a red and white checkered flannel blanket sitting by the shrubbery in question. Pink? I thought, cautiously moving over to it. “Hey there,” I cooed. “don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.” As I spoke, the source of the pink flash made herself apparent, a small, butter-yellow pegasus. With a small, almost indiscernible exclamation of fright, the pegasus bolted, spreading her wings and fleeing in the direction of the town. Completely at a loss for words, I just stood there, the thought not occurring to me to call out after her. After a few moments of trying to gather myself, I grasped the pegasus’ basket in my magic and made my way after her, continuing down path towards the town of Ponyville.