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Leaving Home...


ShadowMage

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A crisp morning breeze swept over the green, rolling hills leading to Solstice Heights. Gearly stood upon the cobblestone road leading him the city, pausing to reflect on his situation. The young stallion inhaled slowly, bringing the cool air into his lungs before he slumped forward in a heavy sigh, dwelling upon the long road ahead and, more distressing, leaving his family behind. Waking from his somber reverie, he quickly shook his head, throwing his mane into a jumbled mess atop his head. He pressed forward, instead focusing upon the new opportunities which awaited him in the far-off land of Stalliongrad.

Many minutes later, Gearly trotted through the streets of the only vaguely familiar city, searching for the shops which sold the supplies he'd need for the coming journey. His mind drifted to the small pouch, laden with coins earned through various odd-jobs over the previous months; he was unsure if it would be enough to finance his trip, but he was certain it would at least provide a decent start. Gearly paused, glancing about an open marketplace, trying to recall anything useful he'd need for his upcoming trip. The stallion looked about, looking for anypony wandering the city's streets to ask directions.

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This morning began the same as the past several had for Arnica. She had taken up temporary lodging down in Solstice Heights about four days ago while she looked for somewhere to set up her practice. Having only the medical supplies and a few bits in her white saddlebags, she hadn't had much luck in finding a place to set up, and she still wasn't sure about accepting a tip she had gotten about somepony who might be looking for a partner. Instead, she set out from her room after eating a a meager breakfast of daisies and began her hunt once again for any kind of cheap plot of land or building she could set up an office inside of.

As she stepped out into the marketplace; however, Arnica spotted something, or to be precise, somepony, unusual. While ordinarily nopony was out this early in the morning down here, something she had to yet to get accustomed to after living in the busy city that was Canterlot, this particular morning there was a grey coated stallion in the open market. His cutie mark, a pair of gears, stood out on his flanks almost as much as his brown mane and tail. She thought he looked familiar, but couldn't quite place where she might have seen such a pony before. As he swiveled his head about, Arnica couldn't help but feel that he might be lost, and decided to procrastinate on her own mission for the day in an attempt to help him. Walking toward the stallion, she hailed him from across the market, calling "Hey there! You look like you're lost, is there anything I could help you with?"

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Gearly, his mind lost in a thick cloud of thought and a fair bit more than a little nervous, nearly collapsed and cried out in surprise and alarm at the sudden shout from across the marketplace; his hindquarters dipped dangerously as his back legs buckled and quivered, having suddenly lost most of their strength. Regaining his focus as quickly as he could, the young stallion forced his legs into functioning order before he turned his head to look at the pony addressing him. His momentarily too-wide eyes looked to the white mare and he visibly relaxed, a heavy sigh releasing from his form as he responded, still fairly shaken, "Y-you..sn-nuck up on-n me, m-miss." After replacing the sigh moments ago with a full gulp of fresh, crisp air, Gearly cantered towards the "stealthy" mare, cobbling a sentence together slowly in his head.

"I...was looking for...well...many things... information, supplies, possibly transportation, maybe even some odd jobs I could do before I-.." He paused in the market, half-way to the pony with who he was conversing. Lifting his left hoof from the cobblestone pavement, his head dipped down, looking to it as he appeared to count off the list of all perceived needs, real or imagined, which he thought may be relevant in the coming weeks. Gearly's voice trailed off as he talked before he blinked once, bringing his mind back into sharper focus. "T-Terribly sorry; I have a tendency to ramble... " A light chuckled escaped the pony as he stood mid-market, almost as if the lack of words was simply a pause he was planning to break any moment.

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Just my luck, Arnica thought to herself as she watched the eccentric earth pony stammered out his response, I frighten the first pony I meet in the morning. She decided not to worry too much about it for now, feeling that she had legitimately startled him and that he would calm down with some conversation. So, she responded with "Well, what kind of information? Transportation to where? And, most importantly, what kind of supplies?" She glanced back at the saddlebags she was carrying, already feeling the weight of her possessions causing her meager bodily strength to slowly ebb away. "I have some medical supplies on me that I might be convinced to part with, but that's about it, unfortunately." She set the bags down on the ground as she was talking, and opened up each flap for the stallion to see inside.

In the bags, there were two identical first aid kits, all fully stocked and ready to use. She wasn't going to part with those very easily, at least not until she managed to find a place to set up her practice and had the steady income to replace them. She also had her pair of dissection kits stored within, those particular tools reflecting back the rays of the rising sun. Sitting around these kits were an assortment of bandages, water bottles, and pill bottles; a small examination torch; a flashlight; and her small collection of elastic stress balls. Littered around the bottom of one of the bags were the paltry remains of all the money she had brought down from Canterlot, perhaps enough for her to keep up her search for another two days, and a folded bit of paper. "If you see anything here you might need, I'll give you a reasonable price."

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  • 2 weeks later...

The ears of the steel grey pony twitched at the questions uttered from the other's lips. His mind, lost in other thoughts, did not register with questions immediately. As Arinca opened her pack, a glint metal cause Gearly's eye, sending his eyes widening and his heart soaring as he leaned closer to get a better look. "Could it be I've found someone carrying tools?!" his mind excitedly asked. His excitement rapidly faded and his form slumped slightly as his eyes focused on the scalpels and other medical goods.

He ceased leaning forward as his mind finally registered the questions which had been asked of him several moments ago. He began speaking slowly, unsure of where to start with his nearly endless list of questions and problems. "Oh...uh... I'm looking to travel to Stalliongrad... per-...haps you've heard of it? I am...going to study machines there, hopefully I'll be learn enou-"

His head shook once, sending his short mane into a flurry and bringing his mind back on track before he began to ramble off. "I... I need food, tools to create and tinker with such as screwdrivers and mallets, possibly traveling companions, and transportation, should I be able to afford it, would be wonderful.." He listed the items slowly, trying to recall everything he would need for the trip. He tapped his left hoof upon the cobblestone, frowning slightly as he had a nagging feeling he was forgetting something in his list.

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Arnica smiled at the enthusiasm in the stallion's voice, feeling that she might be getting a sale, bad as it would be for when she was finally able to set up her practice. He seemed to change his mind; however, when he noticed that her tools were for medical use and not for tinkering with mechanical devices. She had never understood why mechanical devices were used in the place of unicorns, but that was probably because she was a unicorn. He began to list the things he was looking for, which would have been more helpful before she had started going through her supplies.

"I'm not sure where you might find any tools of that sort, I'm not too familiar with these parts myself, and there's just no need for them in Canterlot. I do have a mallet," she pulled the mallet out of her saddlebags to show it to him, "but it's meant for testing reflexes, so I'm not sure how well it would suit your needs. As for traveling companions," Arnica continued, while lifting her saddlebags from the ground and closing their flaps, preparing to be off on her hunt again soon. "I can't go with you myself, since I have yet to find a job in these parts, but a friend of mine from Canterlot would likely be more than happy to accompany you. Her name is Stormsong, and she runs the restaurant LaFleur Canterlot in one of the lower levels."

She thought back to her childhood friend, whom she had barely seen ever since the two of them had left school. Even though she ran her family's restaurant, that was only a necessary and temporary distraction from her great talent for music. Not that running the restaurant had stopped her from traveling to her heart's content; the work wasn't nearly as demanding as that of a doctor.

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The form of the stallion nearly collapsed when he heard the words "no need for them." His hopes had been set upon finding the tools of his trade there, as he didn't expect to find them in such a village as the one he was currently conversing in.

His voice cracked in a mild panic, his voice giving an odd, almost country inflection to his words as his wide eyes focused on the white pony before him. "Wh-wha..? "N-No need?"... I...I suppose not, but...there might be somepony...surely somepony who would have... somethin'...I mean, Canterlot's a big place, with a lot'a ponies... And a lot'a ponies have a lot'a different hobbies... At least one must have a shop that sells the stuff I need..."

Gearly rambled on, more attempting to convince himself that his journey to Canterlot would not be a hopeless endeavor. His front hooves fidgeted nervously, lightly stamping the small stones in the road as he shifted back and forth nervously.

His head suddenly snapped up sending his short mane flailing about, his eyes bright and wide with the spark of an idea. "Stormsong! Y-yes! She would know, wouldn't she! I mean, she lives in Canterlot; she'd have to know somepony!" He gave a small leap of joy in excitement as he formulated a simple plan, almost tripping as he came back down. "Wait... y-you know Stormsong? Y...you're not from our class, are you?"

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While she was speaking, Arnica got the distinct impression that the grey stallion before her wasn't paying her a bit of attention, now that he knew she didn't have anything he would want. He kept rambling on about finding tools, even though she had already established that he would have a tough time finding any around here and even changed the topic. However, at the mention of Stormsong's name, she noticed him snap back to attention; it seemed to her like he knew the blue unicorn she had mentioned.

"Well, yes, I was in Stormsong's class," Arnica explained, glad that she hadn't been talking to the air this entire time. "Like I said, she owns a restaurant up in Canterlot; I could take you up there if you want to see her." She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to spend her precious job hunting time escorting somepony up to the very city she was trying to get away from. If it would help him get on his way to Stalliongrad though, she just couldn't turn down the opportunity to help a pony in need; she had three more days after this one that she could hunt for a job. With that settled in her mind, she added, "If you were in Storm's class too... but I just can't remember... what was your name again?"

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Gearly blinked once, lost for just a moment upon the fact that names had not been exchanged. During the brief pause after the unicorn's question, his brain filed away the other information she had said.

"Gearly. I-I'm Gearly. The pony who...started schooling just a tad bit late..." He answered the question fairly simply as his mind drifted back in time to the school in Canterlot that he left what seemed to be so long ago. His eyes widened as his mind returned to the present, realizing he'd forgotten his manners and held out his right leg awkwardly in an offer to shake hooves. "Wh-..And, who m-..And may I ask your name, miss?"

His mind had failed him in quickly coming up with a question asking the other pony's name that he felt wasn't condescending; the resulting nervous stammering, he felt, surely made him look like a fool before this stranger, or potentially forgotten acquaintance. The stallion smiled nervously, clearly uneasy with the situation at hoof.

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Arnica didn't recognize his name immediately when the stallion told her, and she was about to say so until he continued on with a further explanation of who he was. She remembered, vaguely, an older pony joining her class in Canterlot, having come up from Solstice Heights just to go to school. He had been quite the oddity, which she thought was also true of the stallion standing before her now. She couldn't even recall a time when she had spoken with him before; the only information standing out about his childhood being that their seemingly mutual friend, Stormsong, claimed to have helped him after he ended up in a tree the day he earned his cutie mark. Stormsong wasn't the kind of pony that would tell a lie easily; however, nopony else had been around to see it, so Arnica took the story with a grain of salt.

Pushing the mental image of the stallion standing before her being stuck in a tree from her mind, she replied to him, "My name's Arnica. I remember you from class now, though I can't recall ever becoming acquainted with you; a mistake I'm pleased to have had the chance to correct today." She glanced up at the form of Canterlot, sitting on the side of the mountain above them, a sight that had been quite perplexing to her ever since her arrival in Solstice Heights. She wanted to know how something so heavy, an entire city, could be suspended on a mountain like that without succumbing to gravity. She supposed there must be some magic at work, likely at the hooves of the princesses that made their home upabove, that held the city up. Bringing her gaze back down, she asked "Shall we be on our way to Canterlot, then, or was there something else you needed to do in Solstice Heights first?"

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"A pleasure to meet your acquaintance Miss Arnica." He replied simply, lowering the hoof that had been offered in greeting awkwardly. A Arnica glanced away, Gearly tried to follow her gaze, unable to find the object she was looking toward before her question came forth.

"O-Oh... You needn't accompany me to Canterlot, Arnica. I'm certain I'll be quite alright, and I should be able to find Stormsong on my own. Besides, I wouldn't want to weigh you down with my concerns; you sure have things you need to attend to. Though I must thank you graciously for your wonderful offer, I must decline." The stallion stood there, smiling politely, unsure what more to say, slightly taken aback by the other pony's offer to escort him to Canterlot.

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Arnica sighed when Gearly refused her offer to guide him through Canterlot, partly in frustration and partly in relief. On one hoof, it would be great if she managed to find a place to set up her doctor's office down here; the sooner, the better, in fact. On the other hoof, navigating Canterlot could get difficult, even for ponies who had been born and raised there, especially trying to navigate some of the less tourist-friendly districts, like the one Stormsong lived in.

"Have you... been to Canterlot, aside from coming and going to school?" Arnica asked him, unsure of what his history with the capital city was. "Stormsong doesn't live in one of the districts that are friendly to visitors; if you don't know exactly where you're going, you can end up horribly lost. I just wouldn't be able to continue my day in good conscience if I let somepony who didn't know their way wander around Canterlot, looking for a restaurant they may never find."

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  • 2 weeks later...

Gearly stammered nervously, clearly having not thought of such a problem. He shifted back and forth nervously upon his front hooves, fidgeting as he looked about, seemingly lost and trying to gain his bearings in the small town. His voice came soft and weak, almost sounding scared as he focused once more upon the pony before him, trembling slightly as timid question escaped his lips. "I...Is it really...th-that big?"

His hind legs trembled before he relieved them, sitting upon his haunches suddenly with a light thud as his read form impacted the ground. A light huff escaping his form as he quietly stared at the ground, weighing the options in his mind, arguing and debating with himself. He couldn't take valuable time of the kind mare before him, even if she was openly offering it. He well knew that he hadn't much experience of the grand city of Canterlot, though; he'd surely get lost in the winding streets. The tinges of fear and panic started to creep in, brought forth by the doubtless reason behind Arnica's words.

His eyes suddenly widened as his rear legs swiftly pushed him back into a standing position, a wide grin quickly coming to his features as he almost shouted his brilliant idea. "A map! Y-you... could draw a map for me, couldn't you? It wouldn't take but a moment, and... " *He paused, collecting his thoughts, letting his brain catch up to his often too-fast mouth. "It would probably be more than enough for me to find Stormsong. And any other information I could ask about town. I know I'd be able to find her restaurant if I had a map!" He turned to Arnica, a triumphant beaming expression upon his countenance, as though this was the solution to all his problems.

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Once again, the urge to plant a hoof directly into her own face was almost too overwhelming, evne for Arnica's professionally trained self control. It wasn't very often that she had to deal with anypony this stubborn, and even less often that they were stubborn over something so inconsequential as being guided into the capital of Equestria. The only thing that made sense to her was that he was deliberately trying to be rid of her, for one reason or another. She hadn't noticed anything she said offend him, but it seemed he would prefer to not be in her company any longer than necessary, and she wasn't going to argue any more.

"There wouldn't be much point in me drawing the map, we could be there before I got the drawing finished." Arnica replied, still pondering over why this stallion appeared not to like her. "If I had a map of Canterlot - a detailed map, mind you - I could mark the restaurant on it for you. I'm, uh... not too familiar with these parts, so I wouldn't know where to get a map around here. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

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  • 2 weeks later...

Gearly lifted his right hoof from the ground, bringing it his chin to rub at it thoughtfully. Deep in thought, he narrated a brief synopsis of his thoughts for the pony before him. "You're clearly quite busy... I don't think you're making a house call with all that...equipment..." With his right hoof, gave a vague waving motion to the side-bags that Arnica had opened much earlier in the conversation before Gearly replace the hoof back upon the ground. "...And it wouldn't be right for me to pull you away from what ever you're doing..."

His shoulders rolled once in a heavy, discontent sigh as looked around the still early morning, empty streets. His ears flopped back against his head, the left one laying at an odd angle due to the damage sustained many years prior. "Although... There is nopony else out and about... And if it's as...foolish as you say to try to find Stormsong's restaurant..." He closed his eyes tightly, shifting his weight from side to side upon his front hooves, lightly stamping at the gravel beneath his form in mild frustration. "I can hardly refuse such a kinda and...apparently important offer..."

His form slumped forward slightly with the exasperation of the situtation; slowly he took in a deep breath and stood back up to his full height, shaking his head to clear his mind. "A comprimise then? I shall help you with whatever you're doing... and then after, I'll....let you.... We can go to Canterlot... But if we find a store with a map, I'll purchase that and you can indicate where to go to find Stormsong... Deal?" The grey stallion moved his right hoof forward in an awkward gesture, indicating a hoof-shake, a verbal agreement. It was the final idea he had, and he hoped it would work out; he didn't want to take any more time from kindly pony before him, but if she'd let Gearly help with her business, he could repay her and not feel so bad about taking up her time. And who knew, maybe Celestia would begin smiling upon him and he would be able to find a quality map of Canterlot.

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Arnica was mentally preparing a list of settlements to go through looking for a place to work today when Gearly spoke up, sounding as though he was finally caving in and accepting her offer. Or, not quite accepting her offer, but he seemed to be warming up to the idea of having her company through Canterlot, which was a good enough start for her. Now she just had to convince this stubborn pony that he didn't have to help her, or maybe even that he couldn't help her. "I'm not all that busy, to be honest, I'm just kind of... unemployed and mostly homeless at the moment. I have more than enough bits with me that I can afford to take a day off from job hunting to help out a pony in need."

She considered his offer for help once again, and decided that it couldn't hurt to see if he knew anything that might help her find a good place to set up practice. "If you want to help me, I just need information that might make finding a job easier; any buildings that are for rent or sale, or anypony in the area with a medical practice who could be looking for a colleague." She then held out her hoof and took his, sealing their agreement with a cheerful "Deal!" before picking up her saddlebags and heading off up the road, toward Canterlot.

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