One Tree in the Whitetail Woods

by Sketchbeam

Beginnings

The Whitetail Woods glistened under the rays of the flickering sun. As the clouds lazed in the sky, they caught the sunlight from above, which gave them a glowing outline as they passed over the leaves of the canopy. Droplets gently sprayed from those clouds, dampening a spot that was well-worn from travel. If an individual happened by however, they would not be able to see anything but the path that led to it.

Near the spot lay a green tree as common as the others in the woods, unremarkable in all aspects especially for its lone occupant sitting under it. He had short, black hair that reached down to the nape of his neck. Slender in build, his gangly arms reached out from under him to rest on his head for a few minutes before plopping down near his sides. Water dripped from the tree to rest on the man’s unworn features; he did not bother to wipe those droplets off. Despite being young, his black-brown eyes looked weary and unfocused, as they simply stared into the foliage. Since he carried no umbrella, his blue coat, cap, tie, shirt, and dress trousers were all slightly darker in color and uncomfortably damp. He paid the feeling no mind, except for the wetness in his black socks and shoes. His name tag read Alex Nguyen.

Eventually, he shifted his weight forward and stood up, with his waterproof bag at his side.

“Well, that is it then. Another day is done.”

Today it has been a month since I moved here.

“It does not mean anything.”

I know. But I was planning to change something about today.

“Yet no one has taken you up on the room you posted for rent two weeks ago. What makes you think today is different?”

I do not know why but this place has been much more open and friendly then I would have thought.

“True, but it seems these individuals in this community do not need housing.”

Come on now, do not be like this! The ad has been up in Ponyville for two weeks already. Someone will answer it.

“I suppose. But what happened in college could happen again. What then?”

Look, you may be downcast now, but the storm will blow over eventually. Even now, you can see the rays of sunlight blasting through the shadows of the clouds above. I bet that if you walk over to town hall right now someone will have at least answered your ad.

Putting his hands up in defense, Alex relented, “Alright. Alright. I’m going.”

Half an hour later, Alex stood in front the bulletin board of town hall to find his advertisement missing one slip of paper; he gaped at the missing slip as if the ground opened up to reveal a collection of gems before his feet. As he walked back home to read over the personal information the ad instructed potential tenants to leave on his door, Alex took in the sight of his residence.

It had one bathroom, one kitchen, and two rooms that were each so small that a regular-sized bed encompassed one-half of the room. The interior of the single-story house was in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint, in addition to a need for plaster; there were water-stained holes near the piping. The rooms were also sparsely populated with furniture, although that had more to do with the spartan taste of the lone inhabitant. On the outside of the house, the conditions were different. Chipped paint, cracked windows, and creaky door repulsed all those who would have entered the residence, if those individuals existed in the first place.

Alex lifted the notice pinned to his door and muttered to himself, “Let us see here … wow. My potential roommate wants to move in within the week if possible. That is unreal. I have not even met this individual yet. I wonder if he is strapped for bits or something …”

As he opened the door to sit down, he pondered about what to do. The potential for more bits was not a concern, but the readiness of his roommate to move in scared him. But as he reread the notice, the words ‘would like to meet you at the Golden Mondegreen to seal the deal today at 4:00pm’ appeared before him. Oh. That made more sense to him. Yet those words did not comfort him as he was struck by fear again.

He whispered to himself, “Okay, okay, it’s just a meeting. Nothing more. All I am doing is meeting someone new to try and make friends with. That was the whole point in doing this. It will just be like college … save one part I hope.”

As the clock ticked by, Alex realized he had about four hours until the meeting. “I guess I should put on a good show for any potential tenants then. I will make a stop to the hardware store.”

---

One mare was not entertaining the idea of having lunch, as twelve o’clock rang throughout Ponyville. She was instead too busy panicking to herself.

Oh, I hope my landlord is nice. But not too nice. I don’t need to be friends, I just need a place to live. So what matters is that I make a good first impression in our meeting. I mean I’ve met his neighbors already and they’ve told me he seems nice enough even though he just moved in a month ago.

She straightened up her suit as she gazed in the mirror. Blue eyes stared back. Her red mane was tied off in a bun behind her crest while her tail stuck out over her dark, blue skirt, unadorned. Forehooves pressed against the lapels of her dark blue business coat, moved over her small, golden pearl earrings, and her white dress blouse to smooth it against her beige coat. Her cutie mark was a wavy fern frond. Every lapel, every piece of jewelry, every article of clothing had to be in place and checked. Vibrant Flourish clutched a set a papers close to her suit. They were every official document she needed to sign the contract with her potential new landlord. In addition, she carried a small satchel of bits for the first down payment.

Alright. I’ve practiced my spiel of why I should be a tenant. I have everything I need to make this work. And then in a few years, everything will be complete. I just need to keep my head down until then. Until four o’clock.

She thought of the time when she lived in the Manehattan apartment complex a few months ago. She thought of all of the conversation that led to her expulsion.

“But I’ve been on time with my payments and everything! You’re kicking me out for no reason!”

As the landlord paced around her office, she harshly spat out, “Ms. Flourish … you have been on time. But you are being evicted for a different reason: breach of your contract. It specifically says that you …”

“Those claims are false! You’re giving me trumped up charges just so you can kick me out! Ever since you found out that I am a transmare, you have been treating me differently! Don’t you lie to me!”

“Ms. Flourish, I cannot believe you would stoop to such outrageous claims with which to back your desire to stay here. However, if you feel so strongly about this then you should seek out the courts to settle this because I will maintain my previous stance.”

A multitude of thoughts swam through Vibrant’s head. The main one was that if she fought this, she knew she could win. But she also knew that it would cost money. Money she needed for something else more important.

She grimaced and threw out the words, “Fine. If I stop … ‘wasting’ your time, will you give me back my deposit?”

“Of course. As I have said before, your breach of contract was caused by behavior, not due to property damage, so I do not think it would be right to withhold your deposit. Here.” A sizable amount of bits clinked together as the bag was set on the office desk.

Vibrant wore a puzzled look. “Wait. Really? You’re going to give me back my deposit? I thought that you’d make up some reason to …”

“I thought you would stop wasting my time. Take it and leave. You have until the end of the month to move out. By then another tenant will be ready to move in, one who should be able to respect the rules and norms this community of ours endorses.”

Vibrant shook those thoughts out of her mind, and then turned to the clock to see it was only 12:30. She sat at her reading table, pulling out a journal and a pencil and paused before writing to think. After I left my parents and Fillydelphia, I wanted to seek out new ponies and places. So what if I was a little naïve, one day it’ll be better. The only thing to do now is to move on.

Author's Note:

It's my first story. Criticize me. Please. I have no idea what I am doing.