A Coincidence Near Manehatten (Keyframe, Keystone)

[Keyframe]

Time had passed in such a manner that he could scarcely remember what it was like to be surrounded by nature. As Keyframe set foot just beyond the city walls of Manehatten, he breathed a breath of relief. It was as if a great weight was lifted from his shoulders. After all, the hustle and the bustle of the city could become overwhelming for a pegasus of such humbe beginnings as himself. It was a pleasent change of scenery to get away. Even if it was just to the most minor of outskirt, where the land felt ever so slightly more wild.

Keyframe stretched out his wings. The blue feathertips quivered at the faintest touch of the cool evening breeze. He straightened his hooves, extended his neck, and inhaled deeply once more. He needed to savor this moment. It was the moment of a new, grand adventure! Not even the weight of his hefty saddlebag could weigh him down. He was leaving, again, if only for a little while. Though he knew he would miss the sparse, familiar nature of his flat in Manehatten, he knew there were greater opportunities to explore for the moment. It never hurt to travel, and his show had been terribly underperforming. A short trip to the smaller areas of the Strand would be a welcome change. With a wayward glance behind him, towards the city, he smiled, and proceeded to trot away from civilization. Though he wasn't going far, it felt like a long goodbye to the city.

The fields of grass greeted him with the same warm welcome they always had. It wasn't long before he was comfortable once again. Keyframe's spirit was lifted. His pace quickened along the designated path that was the road. Unfortunately, this strea of high-spirits was to be short lived. From the edge of his saddlebag, a piece of paper dangled, teetering in the wind. As Keyframe's trot quickened, the paper became more, and more, restless. Finally, it broke free from its constraints, and flittered off into the wind. The sound was jarring. At once, the icy blue pegasi whipped his head around. He noticed the paper drifting away, pushing off into one direction, and then another, in the breeze.

"Oh no! No, no, no, no. I need that! I need that!"

Keyframe's eyes grew wide with fright. He attempted to fly after the paper, but his saddlebags were much too heavy or him to support in the air. He wobbled in the air for a moment before finally crashing into the ground. His muzzle scraped along the dirt, burying it underneathe it. Keyframe spat out a bit of grass, then looked up. The paper was gone, and oh, was that not good.

It was his performance contract for the venue he'd been travelling to. Without it, the deal was null and void. Keyframe's face twisted into a distraught form. His wings sank, and with a huff he plopped onto the ground.

[ClockworkSeagull]

Keystone trotted down the road leaving Manehatten with a rather content look. It was always nice to visit the city. Not much had canged since his last visit, though, and despite it all he remembered why he went traveling in the first place: to see new sights. Not that he didn't enjoy Manehatten, though, the grandeur of the city never ceased to amaze the velvet coloured unicorn. Indeed, there seemed to be a building for every colour of the rainbow, and every hue in between. Why, he even remembered where his favorite hat shop was! Every proper aspiring gentle-stallion should have a decent hat worth his salt, Keystone always said! Well, maybe less 'always said' and more 'just thought about it'. The important thing was he had bought a hat, and that was alright.

As the road carried on, the height of the the buildings gradually declined and became increasingly sparser in terms of space taken. A shame that such a city couldn't stretch out forever, with such amazing buildings, but there were pros to the countryside. For example, there was already noticeably less hustle and bustle as he went a long. Other ponies are nice, but crowds can get overstimulating rather quickly. Especially when you want to stop in the middle of a busy sidewalk to look at a particularly well-done layout of a building. Other ponies tend to get cross at that. But, it probably was better to think less about the city and more about the road ahe-

*thwack*

Keystone stopped, both in means of motion and thought, as a piece of paper hit him square in the face. Keystone paused for a good second as the paper hung there, almost denying the rather considerable breeze altogether just to hang on his face for comedic purposes. It didn't last though, and a moment later it slid off. Turning around, Keystone raised an eyebrow at the paper currently lazily drifting down the road. Eventually, a slight chuckle broke free from the stallion, and a gray nimbus of light surrounded both the paper and his horn (he had already removed his hat and was currently holding it in a raised hoof).

[colour=#ff0000]"No no no. No escape for you, after all the trouble you went through just to get my attention, Mr. Paper."[/colour] In a rather brief show of magical competence, the paper hesitated for less than a second against the breeze before retreating backwards as if it shifted gears to reverse. With a brief nod of concentration, the paper had politely tucked itself into the saddlebag currently draped over the stallion's back. He knew Manehatten already had a slight litter problem. Why contribute? He'd just hold on to the thing until he came across the proper waste reciprocal, or whatever ponies called it. The important thing was, he could move forward with a clean conscience.

He didn't get that far before he noticed a blue pegasus (at least, he thought he saw a glimpse of a feather under its bag) sitting off a distance from the road. Curious, he trotted towards the figure. Upon further inspection, Keystone decided he wasn't really sitting, but rather existing in a state of either moping, accepting defeat, or some combination of the two. Deciding to try and make sense of this, Keystone thought of a few things to say to make his presence known. He settled on the simplest one.

[colour=#ff0000]"Hello!"[/colour]

[Keyframe]

With a silent huff, Keyframe had resigned to the idea that his hopes were dashed. It was difficult to swallow the idea, but, as his father had always told him: there's no use crying over cactus prickles. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel weighed down by a heavy sense of discouragement. There had been so many set backs since he'd moved to the city. For a moment, it seemed as i that portion of his life was finally coming to a close.

The feathers of his wings stretched out from beneath his bag. Steeling his emotions, Keyframe began to stand up, the weight of his bags making the process more arduous than he'd remembered when he'd first begun his trip. It was at that moment the sudden sound of another pony's voice pierced the wallowing pity-party he'd begun. His ears perked up. His posture straightened, and his eyes came to a squint as he peered into the not so far distance.

"A unicorn?" He mumbed under his breath. With a sudden jolt, his eyes grew wider, and wider. "A unicorn!" There it was! The answer to his problem (maybe). Perhaps the other pony had seen his paper go by? Maybe it wasn't too late? It was as if a switch had been flicked within the pegasus' mind. A smile curled across his lips, though nervous and plagued with worry.

"H-h-howdy there, stranger!" Keyframe stammered. His legs bucked beneath him as the weight of his bags became too great. With a loud 'oof', he flopped onto the ground.

[RarityDash]

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[ClockworkSeagull]

Keystone suppressed a small chuckle as he grinned at the pegasus' reply. Apparently, he noted, the poor stallion startled rather easily. He continued watching as his new acquaintance promptly crumpled under the weight of his bags. Keystone even winced a little a that one, did not look fun. But, the matter at hand was more pressing. He gave the pegasus a brief look-over, deciding he still looked a little young. Probably from a farm, too, what with the 'howdy' and everything. Not wasting much time, he spoke up.

"I hate to presume, but you look like you could use a little help." Without waiting for an answer, his blinked a few times in concentration as again his horn illuminated. This time, the bag was enveloped in the gray aura, and was lifted up a little and over a little, until it came to a rest by the pegasus' feet. Keystone offered a friendly smile before continuing, "Annnd that should fix your gravity problem for now. Maybe you should pack a little lighter next time." He chuckled a little, despite his earlier attempt not too, before dawning on the realization that he had not introduced himself yet.

"Oh, forgive my manners. My name's Keystone. I don't mean to intrude, but the middle of a field is hardly a place to mope. I don't suppose you're alright, are you?" Inwardly, Keystone mused a few thoughts. He was being uncharacteristically talkative right now. Why, he even got a few sentences in a row! Not often that happened. He also might have made a decision to sit down, had he had any inclination to mess up his coat. He did not, so he remained standing. He had no need to look professional at the moment, but practice never hurts.