the strand [Lore] Hoofington

[Bellosh]

Hoofington - A Seaside Refuge

 

At the far eastern end of the Seasaddle Bay, the town of Hoofington stands out for avoiding the hustle and bustle of its larger companion cities, Manehattan and Baltimare. Instead, Hoofington prides itself as a seaside sanctuary away from rush hour crowds and tourist throngs. Nearly everypony who lives in Hoofington does so mostly because they have an especially intimate collection with the sea.

 

Hoofington was founded nearly two centuries ago due to the presence of a massive kelp forest just off-shore. Ponies would boat out into the bay, dive down and harvest the massive seaweed without causing needless disruption to the environment, and return back to port. In time, these diver ponies became more famous for the valuable oyster pearls they’d occasionally collect; natural pearls are the hardest to find of all, and not surprisingly, the most beautiful and lustrous. Even if kelp and oyster farms are the norm in modern times, the divers of Hoofington can rightfully claim their all-natural seaweed and pearls to be of the finest quality in all of Equestria’s waters.

 

The residents of Hoofington consciously limit expansion of their town, desiring to keep the surrounding land and sea as an ecological preserve for everypony to enjoy. Since the locals take enormous lengths to care for the surrounding ecosystem, the beaches to the west and the Barrelfloat estuary to the east are prime nesting grounds for an amazing amount of birds and marine wildlife. Whale-watching enterprises also use Hoofington as a convenient port, since whales, dolphins, and the like prefer the docile waters of the area to the ship-infested waters to the west.

 

Hoofington itself is a quiet place, not counting the constant gull calls and breaking waves of course. Most of the town’s seaweed restaurants and pearl jewelers set up shop along the same picturesque pier that kelp divers and whale watchers embark from, while the iconic red-and-white Hoofington Lighthouse on top of the wave-chiseled cliffs at far south end of town has been the subject of many a painting. Not much else of note lies in Hoofington, but then again, that’s part of the reason why the occasional Manehattanite vows to settle there upon retirement.....

~Hitchhiker's Guide to Equestria