A Night at the Bar (Onto the Pony Planet)
A Night at the Bar
Onto the Pony Planet: Side Stories
Admiral Biscuit
This chapter takes place between chapters 6 & 7, on the evening of Dale and Kate’s first full day in Equestria
The east side of Ponyville is the old part of town. Here one would find buildings that date nearly back to the founding of Ponyville. The eldest of these buildings is a sturdy stone structure, with two half-timber additions flanking it.
The worn sign above the door shows a fat pony rearing on its hind legs. It was painted once, although only the eldest remember that. In those days, it’s said, paint didn’t last as long—yet, if one looks closely, traces are still there, in the spots which are shielded from the weather.
But a building’s worth is not determined by the paint on its sign. Shortly after the Apple family accepted the first land grant in what was to become Ponyville, old mare Butterbeer sent her youngest foal off on into the wilderness with a wagonful of ale, bits, and a freshly inked deed. In no time at all, an inn was raised for all the ponies who would soon be arriving in town.
The inn had become the focal point of town, the anchor to which all important business was tied. Contracts and marriage proposals had crossed over the heavy tables, and gossip flowed as freely as the ale.
In short, Barlimare Butterbeer, the third generation of proprietrix, had every reason to feel proud. She opened her doors every night at the same time, and regular as clockwork, the patrons started streaming in. First came the laborers, fresh from the fields; next came merchants, stopping by to trade gossip as soon as they had closed their shops. Eventually, the common room was filled, and her servers were running their hooves off, waiting tables as fast as they could.
As if the usual business wasn’t brisk enough, a group of Royal Guards had marched in, commandeering four of her tables. She had waited on them personally; years of experience had taught her that wherever the Guards went, trouble followed. It wasn’t their fault—but she still knew better than to take her eyes off them for too long.
“Hey, Barli! Can I get a pint of Warlander?”
She nodded, and slid a clean mug under the tap. “What’ve you been up to, ‘Shine?”
“Ah, nothing much.” Shoeshine hooked the mug off the counter. “Fixed a set of shoes for a Canterlot unicorn.” She leaned over the counter and looked around to make sure she wasn’t overheard, before lowering her voice. “I heard that Fancy Pants is in town, and that’s why everypony’s in a tizzy.”
“They wouldn’t have called out the Royal Guard and the auxiliary guard for him,” Barlimare whispered back. “Last night the tavern was half-empty.”
“It’s got something to do with the reservoir.” Both mares turned. Thunderlane had his hooves on the counter and a smug look on his face. “Rainbow told us two days ago that we weren’t supposed to move any clouds over there, gave me and the girls the day off. And that’s the second time in a week.”
“But you went there anyway, just to see what was going on, right?” Shoeshine leaned close.
“Not a chance.” Thunderlane looked around the tavern and nodded at a hoof-wave from Flitter. “Hey, I had a whole day off. With pay. Think I was gonna spend it trying to sneak around?”
“Yes!” both mares said simultaneously.
Thunderlane rolled his eyes. “Why don’tcha ask Sunny Rays? I heard she got pulled off weather duty to patrol with the Guard.”
“Really?” Barlimare handed Thunderlane a pitcher of Brabant.
“As Celestia’s my witness, I swear it’s true.” He grabbed the bail in his teeth and launched himself from the bar in a short flight to his table.
“No flying in the tavern!” Barlimare shouted after him.
“I’ll go look for Sunny,” Shoeshine offered. “See what she has to say.”
“Not gonna say nothing with them in the tavern, I bet.”
Shoeshine looked over at the Guards. Watching them was like watching a funeral. The hubbub of the tavern just washed right over them. Each one of them had a nearly identical plate of casserole in front of his muzzle, and each had a half-empty glass of beer. She suddenly had the terrible vision of them all eating at the exact same pace, and wondered if the level of all their mugs was as equal as it looked from the bar. Tearing her eyes away, she decided she didn’t want to know.
“They came in last night, too,” Barli muttered. “Probably the same bunch, but who knows?” Shoeshine nodded and pushed off from the bar. With a practiced ease, she navigated the bar over to a corner table, bunching up against a group of her friends.
“Hey, ‘Shine, ‘sup?” Cherry Berry gave her a quick hug before sliding against Golden Harvest.
“What do you know about the reservoir?” If she couldn’t get an answer from a pegasus, she’d ask the next best thing.
“Off limits.” Cherry took a drink. “Too bad. Last two days were perfect for ballooning. Not a cloud in the sky. They were all piled up along the edge of the Everfree. There were a coupla Wonderbolts up there, did you know?”
“Really?” She sighed. “How come nopony knows nothing about the Guard?”
“Never mind that. Did you hear Lyra got some kind of ambassadorship?” Golden Harvest leaned over the table. “It’s true! I heard it from Apple Honey! I had to get new hame strings for my plow harness, and when I was there she told me that Fancy Pants had just told her. She was gonna go ask Lyra for an interview tomorrow.”
“Ambassadorship? In’t that some kind of boat? What’s she need a boat for?”
“You’re so dumb, Millie. An ambassador is somepony who is a representative to a foreign country.” Cherry bopped her with a hoof. “As you’d have known if you paid attention in school.” She looked back at Golden Harvest with interest. “How come Lyra, though? She isn’t noble, not really, and they usually get nobles for that kind of stuff.”
“I don’t know. I think it’s got something to do with that project she was working on with Twilight.”
At the mention of the librarian’s name, every mare at the table leaned forward. For better or worse, Twilight had rapidly become a legend in Ponyville, and her exploits were always worthy of gossip. Rumor had it that she would soon be the new mayor—why else would Celestia have sent her to Ponyville?
“Go on,” Shoeshine prompted. “What new project?”
“Bon Bon didn’t say.” Golden paused for a drink, a signal that she knew more than she was telling. She drank very slowly, set the mug down and wiped her mouth before speaking again. “Here’s what I know—Bon Bon told me all about it yesterday in the market.
“Right before Winter Wrap-Up, Lyra got called back to Canterlot for some kind of . . . thing. She didn’t know what, but Twilight went, too. Remember, Mayor Mare was furious?”
Everypony nodded. They’d run a day late clearing winter.
“She’d told Bon Bon that she was just gonna be gone a couple of days, but then she didn’t come back. Neither her or Twilight. After a week, Lyra finally sent a telegram—but she didn’t return until last week, I think it was.
“So, she told Bon Bon that something was gonna happen out at the reservoir. And that’s when the guards all showed up. Lyra told Bons that there was gonna be a signal if something went wrong, an’ last night, there was.”
All the mares looked around the tavern. Everything seemed normal. No parasprites, no dragons, not even a zebra to be seen.
“So?” Millie finally got the courage to speak. “Nothin’ happened last night.”
“Didn’t it?” Golden Harvest leaned over the table. “Something went wrong up at the reservoir, and now they’ve gone and made Lyra an ambassador. You don’t think that’s connected?”
“I’m sure it is,” Cherry said in a patronizing tone. “Somehow.”
“How come she’s been up at the hospital past two days, then?” Golden Harvest glared at Cherry. “Huh? Tell me that.”
“Maybe she’s having a foal,” Millie offered. “Maybe she went to Canterlot when her belly got big, ‘cause she dint want anypony to know.”
“Somepony would’ve smelled it,” Cherry muttered. “And why would she want to hide it?” She looked around the tavern before continuing. “Isn’t like when Berry Punch got knocked up.”
“As if that was a secret. Cormano might as well have put up a sign right in the square, as much bragging as he did.”
“What happened to him, anyway?”
“I think he moved to Dodge Junction.”
“Girls!” Golden banged her hoof down on the table. “Who cares about Cormano?” She leaned closer to the table. “I know why she’s been at the hospital.”
“Ooh.”
“Bon Bon went over there this morning, before she went to market. She got word from Pinkie that Lyra had been admitted to the hospital. So she went over there this morning. And Lyra was in one of the hospital rooms, ‘cause the nurse said that she’d lost almost all of her magic when a spell went wrong. But that’s not all.” Golden Harvest looked over at the Guard’s table and raised her eyebrows. Everypony leaned in closer. “She wasn’t alone!
“There was a creature there! It looked kind of like a minotaur, but it didn’t have any horns or fur. It was all wrapped up in a bedsheet, an’ just staring out the window. Lyra said it was a Dale, but Bon Bon said she’s never smelled anything like it before. And then—well, Lyra missed lunch, even though she said she was going to eat at the market, and there was a bunch of fancy ponies from the University in town. One of them even asked Dinky for directions to the hospital, right in front of her booth!”
“Where did the Dale come from?” Shoeshine rolled her mug around on the table with her hoof.
“It musta climbed out of the reservoir,” Golden replied. “Where else could it have come from?”
“I could follow them an’ see where they go,” Millie offered, pointing to the now-departing Guards.
Cherry bopped her with a hoof. “Don’t even try. You’re as subtle as a mule at a cute-ceañera.”
• • •
“The Prancing Pony?” Ivory Star looked at the building in disgust. “You think we should eat at a common tavern?”
“Well, why not? When in Prance, do as the Prench do,” Lecol stuck her muzzle up in the air.
Perry looked around nervously. “Anypony could be in there.”
“That’s the idea, sport.” Lecol draped her hoof on his withers. “Mingle with the common ponies.”
“I don’t like mingling,” he hissed.
“How would you know? You haven’t left your office in years.” Ivory glared at him. “Not even for what’s-her-name’s surprise retirement party.”
“Inkwell? I knew she was going to keep her job.”
“Would you all QUIT! All I want is to eat a nice dinner. I don’t even care where. We could go back to the hospital, even. If it’s like Canterlot General, they’ll have four colors of mush.” Bright Star massaged her throbbing head. Not for the first time, she deeply desired a career change to something more relaxing, like mountain climbing or skydiving.
“We could have eaten at that cafe we passed in town,” Ivory muttered. “It looked nice.”
Lecol shook her head. “It was too open for poor Perry, wasn’t it?” She lowered her voice, imitating his whiny voice. ‘Anypony could come by and see us!’ Don’t you worry your pointy head, we’ll get a booth and let you sit on the very inside. Or maybe you could crouch under the table, if that would make you more comfortable.”
“Let’s just get this over with.” He pushed the door open and scanned the room. His scrutiny failed to reveal the hindquarters of Sparkler, and he walked right into her.
“Hey, Pokey, watch where you’re going.” Sparkler glared at him, before realizing her mistake. “Oh, sorry, thought you were somepony else.”
“My fault,” he growled, turning his attention back to the crowded common room. Unaware of her wide-eyed stare, he shouldered his way through the room, finally settling on a corner booth. He scooched against the wall, and slumped down in his seat.
Ivory bumped into the backside of her taller Prench companion. “Hey, watch it!”
“They’ve got musicians!” Lecol pointed a hoof across the room. “There’s a hurdy-gurdy and a fiddle . . . oh, I hope they play something traditional. I haven’t heard anypony play the hurdy-gurdy since I was a filly in Brittaneigh!”
Ivory muttered something under her breath, and started to climb into the booth, before Perry stopped her. “Lecol, can you sit here? You’re . . . bigger than Ivory or Bright Star.”
“You sure know how to flatter a mare,” she groused. “How on earth you ever managed to win over a lover to jilt I don’t know.”
“Where’s the waiter?” Ivory looked around hopefully. “We’re here, might as well eat.”
“You’ll be lucky to hear anything over this din,” Bright Star muttered.
Lecol frowned. “The ponies aren’t all that loud.”
“I wasn’t talking about those other ponies.” She waved a hoof at Ivory and Perry, who were glaring at each other over a vase of flowers, the single menu held in two telekinetic glows.
“Hey!” A voice boomed through the babble of the crowd. “No flying!”
“Ok, I won’t!”
Perry dropped his head against the table. “That was Featherbrain, wasn’t it?”
A light green muzzle poked above the back of the booth. “Hey, fancy running into you here, huh? What were the odds of that?”
Bright Star glared at her. “Where have you been all day?”
“Oh! Well, first I went to the hospital. I got pictures of the creatures; I shot a whole bunch of rolls of film. Then I went and got them developed. While I was waiting for that to be done, I went with a pegasus I met at the hospital called Fluttershy and talked to her about the animals in the Everfree. She was waiting for her animals to find her some carrion and grubs, ‘cause that’s what the creatures eat, she said. Then I got my pictures back and I was at the hotel looking at them, when I remembered I hadn’t eaten all day. So I asked the nice pony at the desk where to go for food, and here I am. Simple.”
“You were supposed to be at the hospital with us.”
“Oh, I know. But I thought I could go early. And then . . . Ikindofgotkickedout, and I had to wait for my pictures to be developed; you know that takes time. Hours. Pictures are very important—”
“Did you say you got kicked out?” Perry grinned. “Why, I can’t imagine how that could have happened.”
“Whatever.” She waved a hoof at him. “I talked Twilight Sparkle into letting me back. Eventually.” Featherbrain lifted a half-eaten plate of eggplant parmesan over the divider. “Does anypony want to finish this? I’d hate to have it go to waste.”
A low drone began from across the tavern. Featherbrain dropped her plate in surprise, while Lecol clapped her hooves together. A moment later, a fiddle joined in, and then a blue stallion began singing in a rich baritone.
Here’s a health to Celestia and a lasting peace.
To faction an end, to wealth increase—
“What will you have, miss?” The waitress—a heavyset tan earth pony—looked at Lecol with a bored expression.
“Whatever she’s having,” Lecol said, pointing to the dean.
—for there’s no drinking after death.
“She ordered a plate of fish,” Perry muttered.
“Whatever, it’s fine. Let me listen to the music.”
“I did not!” the dean hissed. “That’s disgusting!”
Featherbrain climbed halfway over the divider, her wings flapping eagerly. “Oh—I heard from one of the nurses that they ate fish for breakfast!”
“Who?” Bright Star cocked her head back so she could see the pegasus. “The nurses?”
She shook her head. “The creatures. There’s a dock in town where anypony can fish, I found out.”
Ivory turned to look at her. “Lots of animals eat fish. What’s so special about that?”
“‘Cause there’s a lake where they just let anypony catch them. You can’t eat the fish in the ponds in Canterlot.”
“Who’d want to get their hooves all wet trying to catch one, anyways? If I wanted a fish, I’d just go to a Neighponese restaurant and buy one, ready to eat.” Ivory scowled at the pegasus. “Why don’t you join us? It’s kind of weird having you hang over the edge like that.”
She turned an ear in annoyance at a loud hoofstomps behind her. “Lecol, can’t you curb your enthusiasm for a little bit?”
“You’re no fun.” Lecol stuck her tongue out at Ivory. “Maybe I’ll invite the hurdy-gurdy stallion back to the hotel after he’s done playing for a private session.”
“You’d better not! We’re sharing a room, remember? And aren’t you supposed to be at the hospital early tomorrow morning, to help Dr. Stable and Dr. Goodall?”
“Well, yes, but—”
Ivory stuck a hoof in Lecol’s muzzle. “Do NOT give me some homespun wisdom about how bedding a stallion will help you focus in the morning. I don’t want to hear it.”
“Really? It does?” Featherbrain leaned further over the seatback, nearly falling on Ivory’s lap.
Perry sighed. “On a different subject, where’s Apple Polish? I haven’t seen her since we left the train.”
“Helping at the mayor’s,” Bright Star told him. “She’s got some experience with the laws that go with opening an embassy—at least enough to give Mayor Mare and William Wright a head start. She wouldn’t have been much help at the hospital, anyway. Apparently, Twilight thought to take Dale to the kitchen and identify what he could eat.”
• • •
“Where the hay’s Hazel?” Rivet waved his hoof over a giant platter of baked potatoes. “I can’t start eating this without her. She bought half of it.”
“Probably got stuck in her suit again,” Ambrosia muttered. “I’ll go find her.”
“Don’t bother.” Rough Tumble sat down next to Ambrosia, picked up a potato, and deftly slit it open. “She’s gonna be late, if she gets here at all. Slipped unloading Night Soil’s wagon—after she took her helmet off.”
Rivet winced. “Spa?”
“Ha!’ Rough Tumble started filling his potato with sour cream. “You think Lotus or Aloe’s gonna let her in? Hosepipe.”
“You having any potato with your sour cream?” Ambrosia hoofed him in the shoulder.
“You’re not my mom.” He stuffed the whole potato in his mouth and began loudly chewing.
“Allie, Silver.” Ambrosia stood and hugged the two unicorns. “Where have you two been?”
“I had to stop by the hardware store and order some pipe,” Silver Spanner muttered, depositing a tray of drinks on the table. “And I ran into Allie there, so I waited for her.”
“Had to order some more chisels. For fine work.”
“You’re doing the busts and reliefs, aren’t you?” Allie nodded.
“I still don’t get why we got pulled offa that house we were building on Stirrup Street for this. Last week, the mayor was saying she’d pull our permits if we didn’t finish by the Summer Sun Celebration and today it’s ‘drop everything and remodel.’” Rivet grabbed one of the drinks.
“Twilight said so, that’s why. Got a letter from Princess Celestia. I saw it!” Allie’s eyes sparkled.
“How did you get to see it?” Rough Tumble set the potato he was garnishing back down on the table. “Did Mayor Mare show it to you?”
Allie shook her head and blushed a little. “Ran into Spike. Literally. Knocked the poor little guy over. He had a basketful of scrolls, and they went everywhere. He said Twilight was running him all over town delivering scrolls, and that he had a message from the Princess for the Mayor.”
“So you didn’t see it, then,” Rough Tumble commented.
“Have you ever known the little guy to lie?”
“Well, I heard the building’s going to be a new embassy. Goldengrape said he overheard them talking about it when he was at the town hall.” Silver swiped a potato before Rough Tumble could grab it. “Said the Crown bought the title in the morning. Explains why they want me to put plumbing in.”
“Embassy for what?” Rivet grabbed at a potato before they were all gone. “And who the hay would want an embassy in Ponyville?”
Ambrosia smacked her hoof down on the table, sloshing ale all over the serving tray. “For the creatures in the hospital! Of course!”
“What?”
“Those weird monkey-things! I saw one of them; I even bumped hooves with him. He helped me patch the wall.” She looked at Rough Tumble. “I told you all about him.”
“Ah . . . I kind of wasn’t paying attention.” He flattened his ears. “I thought you was talking about something you read. It sounded like something from a Power Ponies comic.”
Ambrosia shook her head. “I really saw him! I did. Sweetheart had me come over to fix a wall. She said that they’d had a patient who’d thrown a . . . what are those beepy things called?”
“Short-range Thaumic Field Analyzer?” Silver said.
“Yeah, one of those. Threw it at a wall. Threw everything in her room, the nurse said. Busted up her table, and had to be put down by Lyra. I thought maybe Screwy had had another relapse . . . but Sweetheart said she was fine, said it was some kind of weird creature Lyra had been investigating. Royal Guard was all over the place last night, galloping through town with wagons and stuff, you remember.
“Well, right as I was about to start, this ape wearing a bedsheet comes out of the room. He goes over in front of my toolbox, and I thought he was going to steal it. I didn’t know what to do.”
“I’d have galloped off as fast as I could,” Allie admitted.
“I wanted to, but I didn’t want him to take my stuff. So I just kind of stood there, you know, waiting to see what he’d do. Ready to bolt. But he crouched down and just waited.
“I kinda took a second look at him, and he wasn’t so scary after all. He held out a talon, or paw, or whatever it is that apes have, and just kind of stayed there. I got a good smell of him—it was unforgettable. Kind of musky, with a subtle bit of forest and rain. And a hint of cow. Strong odor of salve—and his head was all bandaged up.
“He didn’t seem to be doing anything too aggressive, so I bumped hooves with him, and then—well, you’ll never guess what he did. He helped me fix the wall! He was kind of clumsy; you’d think with paws like his he’d be pretty good at cleaning lath and stuff, but he wasn’t that great. He did an okay job, though.”
Rivet sighed. “So what’s all that got to do with the embassy?”
“Rain, Rivet. Use that noggin of yours for thinking. Did it rain in Ponyville yesterday or the day before? No. Not a drop for the last week. So he musta come from somewhere else. Somewhere with a forest and cows.”
“Maybe he’s a minotaur,” Silver Spanner offered. “Remember Iron Will?”
“Too skinny, too short a muzzle, and no horns.”
“Did he look like this?” Allie pulled a sketch out of her bag.
Ambrosia eyed it critically. “Well . . . vaguely. Smaller eyes, a pointier nose—more of a beak, really. Mouth looked smaller, too. And he didn’t have any hair except on his legs, which was kind of weird. What is that thing?”
“I dunno. I got a letter from Twilight asking me to carve a relief of it as soon as possible. That’s what I needed the chisels for—it’s got shaggy fur, see?”
“Weren’t gonna tell me, were you?”
Allie raised an eyebrow. “I was too! I just hadn’t yet.”
• • •
“It’s nicer tonight than it was last night,” Daisy said. “We should’ve waited for the Guard to leave last night, before we came over.”
Roseluck swallowed a mouthful of clover. “Well, who knew they would be here?”
“I saw a couple of ponies running through town carrying a wagon,” Lily offered. “They were heading towards the hospital, they were.”
Junebug frowned. “Last night? Didn’t I hear that Lyra got hurt somehow? In a training exercise or something? Oh, who was it that told me?”
“I heard that, too.” Rose frowned. “Word was all over the market today. Nopony knew how, but that a big spell went wrong.”
“Hmf.” Lily dropped a tong-full of salad into her bowl. “Unicorns are always messing stuff up with their spells. Sometimes I think we’d be better off without them.”
“Half the stuff in your greenhouse is unicorn-made,” Junebug reminded her.
Lily rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
“Is she okay?” Rose asked.
“I don’t know. I thought maybe I’d stop by the hospital and ask, but there were Guards there and I thought maybe there was a quarantine or something, so maybe it was better that I didn’t go.” Junebug pawed at the table uncertainly. “It’s not like we’re close friends or anything.”
“There’s Bon Bon.” Rose pointed across the room. “She’ll know. Let’s ask her.”
Daisy frowned. “What if it’s bad? She might be mad if we ask.”
Rose pushed away from the table. “I’ll go over and see what’s going on. She’s with Apple Honey, and I’ve got some trellises on order, so I’ll just kind of make that my excuse.”
The three mares watched as she weaved through the crowd and over to the table where Bon Bon was talking while Apple Honey took notes. Lily bit her lip—the only reason she could think of for Apple Honey to be writing something down was if she had to write an obituary . . . but that couldn’t be, could it? Maybe Bon Bon just wanted to advertise some new candy or something like that.
Rose stood a small distance away from the pair, her ears focused on their conversation. As soon as it was obvious she’d been noticed, she moved forward and talked to Apple Honey for a few minutes, before giving Bon Bon a polite hug.
Once she’d returned to the table, the other mares bombarded her with questions. Rose held up a hoof for silence.
“I heard part of the conversation,” Rose began. “Bon Bon said Lyra’s moving to another house!”
Her companions stared at her in stunned silence. Finally, Daisy spoke. “No way.”
“Yeah. That one near Pearly’s old place, you know, that they’re fixing up.”
“Bon Bon said that?”
“Kinda. Not in so many words, but it was what she meant. I overheard that Lyra was okay—at least, it sounded like that, from what she was saying.” Rose ate a zinnea out of her salad. “Here’s what I think. She spends a month, near enough, up in Canterlot. Comes back, then she’s off to the reservoir with half the Royal Guard. Something happens, and she’s in the hospital, there’s Royal Guard at the entrance, and she’s okay but she’s not leaving. Isn’t it obvious?”
Daisy frowned. “No.”
Junebug shook her head, and Lily shrugged.
Rose sighed. “She found a stallion! She must have gone to Canterlot to train with the Guard, and when she was there, she met a handsome stallion. That’s why she didn’t come back, ‘cause she was madly in love with him. Then he came here to do that thing out at the reservoir, and he got hurt—maybe real bad, so he can’t be in the Guard any more. So all his buddies chipped in and got him a house in Ponyville, so he can recover with Lyra at his side.”
“I’m surprised that Bon Bon didn’t give him a good bucking—even if he is hurt. Poor girl.” Lily pushed her bowl away. “I wouldn’t let a stallion come between us, and if I see the stallion, I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind.”
“I’ll go talk to her at the market tomorrow,” Junebug offered. “Maybe invite her to join us here tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” Lily looked at her brightly. “That’s a good idea. I’ll water the flowers over at the hospital—hasn’t rained all week—and see if I can spot Lyra’s mystery stallion. I wonder if it’s somepony we know?”
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Yay for the continued adventures of wall repair pony!
And now I want to meet Lecul. She's a riot and 3/4 - would be fun to hang out with. Stupid professors have no idea what they're missing.
ah the joys of small towns. Gossip travels at the speed of light.
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Wow, so many ponies crammed into one chapter! You probably went through half the population of Ponyville! Well, that's what my view of Ponyville says, at least. I've always viewed it as more of a 'tourist attraction', with most of the buildings being extended-stay hotels, inns, or cottages, rather than a large town of permanent houses, mostly because a lot of the ponies we see there change regularly.
P.S. I just realized that the large building in the upper left of the courtyard in this picture has an opening... is it a garage? It has a driveway/path... hmm.
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Dale is gonna crack up when he sees the elmo carvings.
oh man.
...that's a lot of rumour...
3937351
It doesn’t, you’re just tricked by the perspective — the two buildings aren’t connected. What you’ve mistaken for a garage is actually an alley between the two houses. The brown “wall” is shadow; you can see a similar example not too far above it.
You are tremendous at writing dialog like this. This sort of small town gossip feels so natural in a place like Ponyville (or even Canterlot in academic circles, nice nod to the comics BTW)
So many refs, yet they didn't overpower the tale because the conversations were so natural. I cheer when these update.
lol The rumor trio strike again at the end there, eh? XD Wonder how it'll be at the point where one of them noticed Dale in the window.^_^
I love how you worked in Professor Inkwell. Nicely done.
Oh hey, the new chapter is not the last chapter...
I totally love the gossip ideas springing around!
Keep going! ;)
I agree with 3937735, you write some of the most natural dialogue I have ever seen. That being said, I found it very difficult to keep the various characters straight, but that might be because I have a bit of a habit of skipping character names.
Dale's encounter with the repair pony seems totally different now that we get her perspective.
I assume Brittaneigh is a reference to the Brittany region of France. I remember going there on vacation many years ago.
In my non- (or very mild-) Stallion Dearth Equestria, Berryshine's single parentage occurred because she became a hopeless drunk, following in the hoof-steps of her mother Strawberry, after the tragic events of Collateral Damage, and completely lost track of what she was doing with whom when she got sufficiently drunk. Her sister Cheerilee wound up the white sheep of that little family by instead getting a higher education and becoming a teacher; she winds up ultimately marrying Big Mac sometime around eight years after Luna's Return.
Incidentally, in my continuity, Cherry Berry is a cousin of Cheerilee and Berryshine; she's a link between the Cherrys (after whom Cheerliee (full name "Blackcherry Lee") is named) and the Berrys (the matrilneage from which Strawberry originated). My genealogies assume matrilineage as most common among the Earth Ponies, but because there's only a mild Stallion Dearth polygyny is uncommon but legal (it's called a "Morgan-Marriage.") Polyandry is almost unknown, though it would be legal if someponies wanted to make such a marriage. (The general rule in my Equestria is that the authorities will accept the legality of any marriage to which all the parties, being sane adults, are willing to agree -- and in most cases they'll marry minors, provided they're all over age-of-consent and there's the permission of their parents or other guardians).
Really liked this chapter. Not enough stories give you a sense of the town. They really feel like living breathing people here. I would love to see more like this where people talk about their expirences with the new beings or what they've heard ect.
Cormano?
i.imgur.com/GfJMjiO.jpg
Berry Punch, to start with.
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I don't know if that's true any more. She probably doesn't care about Cormano any more.