A/N: Hi everyone! For those of you who are still into My Little Pony or my Fanfiction, here's the next chapter of mine! I hope you guys like it! ^0^
The shadows of dusk began to fall once again as the stallion lay on the soft patch of grass looking up at the sky. Just as he had done for the last two days, he had stayed there all day, doing nothing but looking at the sky overhead, watching and counting the hours and minutes until the sun would disappear before the distant mountains. The night before, he had stayed up nearly all night watching the stars and feeling the soft gentle night breeze, taking comfort in everything. The nights here were absolutely lovely, as they always were. It had been such a very, very long time ago since he had seen such pure beauty. Of course he felt compelled to watch and take in every second of it. There was no time for sleeping. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt his stomach make a very loud noise. There may not be time to sleep but there was time to eat if so need be, and now was that time.
He thought back to last night when he had a delicious meal prepared for him by a very pleasant and welcoming pair of ponies The name...it was...Sugar Cube Corner…, he recalled. There food was quite good. He had always intended to make another visit there He thought for a moment. The store where he would have found his needed supplies from was closed once he had finished his meal so he may have to go there as well. But did he have the time to do both? His habit of waiting until dark to run any errand did not seem to be of much help to him here He could not help but notice that almost every store closed when it got dark. His current situation and his own feelings begged the question. How much did he need the supplies. He knew he was not in any immediate danger but...it was just that he was so antsy. The stallion quietly chanted to himself, listing things that he needed. Rope, a canteen, a thicker cloak, possibly a tent. He looked worriedly at the sky. If he left now, he would be able to get his supplies and eat, maybe even get other food that he would be able to take with him when he decided to continue his journey.
The stallion felt a sudden breeze brush past him, pushing his cloak off his head. He quickly pulled it back over his head. He DEFINITELY needed to get another cloak, one that would not fall off. He was starting to lose his nerve, having reservations about going at this time of day. Nonetheless, he stood on his feet and walked to the edge of the mountain. Using his keen, hawk like vision, from where he was he could see that there were many lights on in the village. There was still a bit of day left after all. He sighed, feeling that he didn't really having any other choice. It was a bit cooler than the day before. Perhaps it would not be conspicuous that he was wearing a cloak. This would have to be the last time he went into this town, He took in a deep breath and spread his large wings, and was off.
Just as he had done before, the stallion landed on the nearest bush within walking distance of the town and continued to walk towards the lively place. As he walked through the streets, he could not help but once again feel in awe of everything he saw before him. It was as full of life as the last time he saw it. The streets seemed to be more crowded than last time and this made him a bit nervous but he swallowed his worries and pressed on. Walk thirty paces east and then 57 paces north…., he recalled to himself, chanting more. He was able to recall every direction the mare had told him before and remembered every single building he passed and that served him well. Like last time as well, he was careful to avoid any contact with any pony, which proved to be more difficult than last time. He nearly bumped into another stallion along way. He simply bowed his head politely and continued on.
In another moment he was in front of the same food shop he had eaten at last night. The sweet smell of lovely treats and other delicious food wafted into his nostrils, causing his stomach to growl again. He suppressed his hunger momentarily and turned his head across the street to another small store, which must have been the one the mare was speaking of. Though his hunger was telling him to stay, he made his feet cross the street to the other store. He must really been hungry because he did not even hesitate to walk into the shop. In a second he was inside, his eyes searching for the locations of the supplies. He walked further inside and scanned the shelves with his eyes and located the items he needed and others as well. He walked to the counter and placed everything and quickly looked for the owner or someone else to ask for help. A few moments later, a young colt was in front of him, hesitantly. Just like the last pony he had encountered, the colt looked up at him with his mouth nearly hanging open. The stallion internally blushed, and unconsciously pulled his cloak further over his head.
"W-will this be all?", the colt asked, still staring at him wide eyed.
He merely nodded in response.
The colt carefully looked through the items he had selected, calculating the price for everything. Not that it mattered anyway.
"Ok for these things the total will be about-", the colt started but was cut off when the stallion merely placed a hoof ful of gold coins on the counter. The colt's eyes widened in surprise, looking like he was about to say something but the stallion had already placed his purchase in his satchel bag.
"U-um, you know that's way too much. Let me-", the colt started.
"It's alright", the stallion said quickly and walked out the store.
In a few quick strides he was now standing in front of the same shop he had eaten at the night before. His stomach growled in remembrance. With barely any hesitation he pushed the door to the shop open in one single push. As soon as he walked through the door, he was greeted by the gleeful eyes of the same mere that he had first met the night before She smiled happily at him and them quickly made her way over.
"Welcome back!", she said merely
She let out a light giggle.
"Couldn't stay away, huh?", she asked jokingly.
The stallion couldn't help but let a light smile spread across his face, even though the mere in front of him was unable to see it.
"No….I guess not", he said, still smiling.
"Well, come on then! I'll lead you to a table of course!", she said and then instinctively led the way.
He was happy to see that they had ended up at the same secluded spot as before.
As they walked, they passed the colt that had introduced himself as Carrot Top. The stallion nodded politely in his direction.
"Good to see you again!", Carrot Top said.
Once he was seated the mere looked at him in anticipation, a pad in hoof, ready to jot down whatever it was he wanted to eat.
The stallion rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. He was a bit out of touch when it came to giving orders. Cupcake took notice of this and immediately stuffed the pad back into her apron pocket.
"Don't worry about it, hun! I'll see what's good and bring it right out!", she said.
"Thank you", the stallion said, relieved
In a second, Cupcake hurried to the back and into the kitchen. He sighed, feeling more relaxed.
In the kitchen, Cupcake hurriedly pulled a wheeled cart from by the counter and then rolled it to where many of their freshly made pastries were. She pulled only the best for the stallion that was waiting. One of everything made fresh would do the trick. Cupcake could not deny that fact that he was a bit...mysterious and even maybe a little suspicious, even more so since he seemed very determined to not let anyone see his face. Despite this she had the strong feeling that the hooded cloak he wore hid a kind face.
She wheeled the cart to the cooler and took two pitchers full of ice and poured apply juice and their newest icy fruit drink and then placed both of those in the cart as well. She scanned the shelves with her eyes to make sure that she had gotten everything she needed. As she was about to make her way back outside, she nearly ran into Carrot Cake, who just barely missed dropping a pile a dishes.
"Oh sorry, sweetie!", she said, helping him put the dishes away.
"No worries", he said, sweetly, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
He looked at the cart piled with food and rose an eyebrow.
"Is all that food for the guy from last night?", he asked shocked.
Cupcakes's eyes widened. She took an even closer look at the items she had so carefully picked out for the customer.
"You think it's too much?", she asked.
Carrot Cake smiled nervously, not wanting to hurt his wife's feelings.
"Maybe a bit?", he said.
"But he's so hungry!", his wife said.
"He said that?". Carrot Cake, asked, suddenly feeling guilty.
"Well...,no. But I can tell by just looking!", she said eagerly.
"You can't even see his face!", Carrot Cake blurted out.
He quickly put a hoof over his mouth when he saw the way his wife was glaring at him.
"Well, isn't it our motto that no customer shall leave hungry, dear?", she asked
"Yeah, we want them to leave full, not burst!", he said.
Cupcake gave him a look and he sighed.
"Well, do you need help wheeling that out? Looks heavy.", he said,
"No, no, no!" she tsked.
"There are other customers to be attended to!", she said.
"I'll bring this out and then be back here in a jiff to help out with the orders!", she said and left, pushing the cart in front of her.
The stallion patiently waited for the mere to return, looking around in curiosity and taking in every smell that wafted his way. His stomach growled again. It was then that he saw the light blue mere wheeling a cart towards him full of delicious looking food. From where he was, he could see that all eyes were on the cart, most likely wondering what pony could be physically capable of consuming all of that meal in one single night.
"Here you go!", she said, happily as she reached the table.
"I picked out some of the newest items so you can try them. Maybe even next time you'll be able to order for yourself." she said jokingly.
"Maybe", the stallion replied lightly. He then suddenly felt a bit sad. This may be the last time that he was here.
"You alright?", the mere asked him.
The stallion looked up, realizing that she may have been saying something for the last few minutes.
"I'm fine", he said. He looked down and saw that she had already placed the food on the table in front of him
"Call in you need anything!", she said and hurried to another table to take an order.
The stallion took the first bite of one of the dishes and his mouth melted while at the same time his taste buds and stomach thanked him. Before he knew it he had finished the dish and then moved onto the next and then the next one. In a short time, he had eaten all the food and then worked on the drinks. When he was done, he leaned back into the seat and let out a satisfied sigh. When had he come to love food so much? It must have been because he had not eaten in such a long time. He was definitely becoming a glutton.
"Done already?", Carrot cake asked, standing in front of him, clearly looking astonished that he was able to eat all of the food.
"Yes", the stallion said.
"Well, then I hoped you enjoyed it", the colt said.
The stallion nodded.
"Ah...your payment", the stallion said reaching into his saddle bag.
As he did so, Carrot Cake put a hoof up, signaling him to stop.
"Oh, no you don't! I saw what you used to pay with last night. We can't possibly take anything more. What you gave us yesterday was more than we would make in a hundred years!", he said eagerly.
"That's right!", Cupcake chimed in, coming next to her husband.
"There is no need for you to pay anything today", she said.
"But..I ate your food.", the stallion said, feeling as though he were taking advantage of their kindness.
"You can't think our food is that good", Carrot Cake said, laughing.
"I do think so", the stallion said.
Cupcake and Carrot Cake looked at each other and smiled.
"We're happy you think that but it's not necessary", Carrot Cake said.
"If you want to repay us, then just be sure to come back soon", Cupcake said, smiling.
The stallion wanted to say something else but instead lowered his head and smiled.
"Alright", he said, looking at them.
They waved at him, smiling as he walked out the door.
Once he was outside, he opened the door slightly and peered inside. When he spotted Carrot Cake from the distance he reached into his bag and then pulled out a square shaped piece of blue diamond. Tanzanite. A jewel he had not made in a long time. He held it in front of him for a moment and then closed his eyes slightly concentrating on Carrot Cake's movements and energy. Behind his closed eyes he could see that Carrot Cake busily moving around and happily talking to the remaining customers. The stallion focused his inner vision even further until Carrot Cake was the only one in his sight. He mouthed a silent words to the air and felt the familiar feeling of his hoof tingling with warmth. He breathed out and opened his eyes, satisfied to see that the jewel he had been holding was no longer there Instead, he knew it had been carefully transported into Carrot Cake's right apron pocket. The couple had told told him that the only payment he needed to give for his meal was to come back soon, which is why he felt the need to give them the Tanzanite. He knew that this would be last time he was in Ponyville and that he would not be back.
A/N: Ok I know I said I was going to introduce the stallion to the main characters in the last chapter. But next chapter I will! Seriously! Please rate and comment! ^0^