Ponywatching

by ThunderTempest

Prompt #548-New In Town

Flawless Emerald, or Emerald, as she was known to her friends, sighed as she crested the hill with her cart, and saw the tall spire of Ponyville’s Town hall, and passed the carved ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ sign. Emerald was a jeweller by both trade, and her cutie mark of a single cut emerald on her grey coat. She had been working out in Manehatten, but had decided, almost on a whim, to move out to the sleepy town of Ponyville after meeting a designer during Fashion Week who had enthused about the apparent presence of a rich gem field just outside the town. The cart she was pulling contained various tools of her trade, and a few sacks of bits to rent out a house or room somewhere in town while she searched for both a stable job in the town, and a house of her own.

As she pulled her cart down the hill towards the town centre, she took in a deep breath, allowing the rich scent of turned earth, and the faint scent of apples and sugar to invade her nostrils. Ponyville was definitely what she had needed, decided Emerald. For a long time, she had simply been caught up in the bustle of Manehatten, where there was always one more client, one more gem that wasn’t quite cut right. Hopefully, out here in Ponyville, she could relax and work at her own pace, and maybe just rediscover why she had fallen in love with the profession in the first place.

“Hi!” the cry startled Emerald from her introspection, and she looked up to see a bright pink pony with an impossibly curly mane and tail standing in front of her, a wide smile spread across her face.

“Um...Hi?” replied Emerald, her voice wavering as the pink pony’s smile got wider and wider as Emerald watched her eyes flick from Emerald to her cart and back to Emerald.

The next thing that Emerald knew, she was wrapped up in something that smelt like burnt sugar, baked pastry and gunpowder, and could only see pink. It seemed that the pink pony had decided to hug her. Just as quickly, the pink pony let go, and backed off.

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! And I’ve never seen you around here before, and that must mean you’re new, and you really looked like you needed a hug, so I gave you a hug, and now I’ve gotta go and get your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ Party ready! Bye!” Emerald could only blink as the pink pony was suddenly receding down the street faster than anything that she had ever seen before. Glancing around the street, Emerald eventually spotted a small hotel, and pulled her cart over to it.

Leaving it outside, she went in and booked a room for the next few nights. After taking a few of the more valuable things in her cart upstairs, and resolving to look for a job the next day, Emerald was almost about to climb into the bed and sleep when there was a knock at the door. The minute that Emerald opened it, though, she was once more assaulted by a blur of pink and the smell of burnt sugar that was Pinkie Pie. Before Emerald could even comprehend what was happening, she was out of the hotel, and being pulled down the street, and then she was deposited inside what looked like the local library, and a cup of punch was pressed into her hoof.

“Hey, everypony! This is...” Pinkie Pie paused, realising that she’d never even asked Emerald her name, and turned to face the grey unicorn.

“What’s your name?” hissed Pinkie in a completely obvious stage whisper.

“Flawless Emerald,” sighed Emerald, taking a sip of her punch. To her surprise, it was actually really good punch, and she took another mouthful.

“...This is Flawless Emerald! Everypony make her welcome!” there were a few cheers and some stomping of hooves, and Emerald managed to slip away from the hyperactive pink pony.

[Time]

“Flawless Emerald, right?” came a voice, and Emerald turned around. Throughout the entire party, everypony she had met had been friendly, respectful of her privacy if she said that she didn’t want to talk about something, and more than one had already offered to help her find a job or a house, which Emerald found curious in complete strangers.

However, her next aquaintace, she recognised instantly. After all, Emerald had been in Canterlot when Twilight Sparkle had been coronated, and she immediately started to drop down into a bow. Twilight rolled her eyes, and motioned for Emerald to get up.

“So, I see you experienced Pinkie Pie. Please, don’t use Pinkie as the standard for Ponyville,” said Twilight, a smile spreading across her face, “Most of us are friendly, but Pinkie is a bit...overenthusiastic about it. She means well, though.”
Emerald let out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t even known that she’d been holding, glad that not everypony in this town would be like that.

“But anyway, welcome to Ponyville, Flawless Emerald. I’m sure you’ll have a great time here.”

Author's Note:

Written for Prompt #548: “Welcome to Ponyville”
The Prompt: A friendly little community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Ponyville.
OR
The prompt: and now, the weather.

Comments

[Themaskedferret]

Interesting....sort of feel like you missed the prompt a bit but still cute.

[shutaro]

So you never heard of "Welcome to Nightvale"?

[ThunderTempest]

3791824 Nope, I haven't heard of this 'Welcome to Nightvale' thing