A New Customer [Private]

[Verdant]

Verdant Forest let out a sigh as he flipped the sign in the window of the animal salon where he worked to "CLOSED". It had been a long and stressful day - they had recently started offering "reptile spa days" after complaints from ponies who wanted to get something special for their scaly friends, and so far it had been absolute chaos. Today, an iguana had managed to slip through the bars of his cage during a puppy's grooming and every customer involved had freaked out, leaving Verdant to try to calm four ponies, a puppy, and an iguana, who really had just wanted to go for a nice post-meal jaunt.

 

As he swept the floor slowly, gathering up all fur and feathers strewn everywhere, he idly wondered what to do tonight. Verdant needed something exciting, something to break the monotony of the past few days. He flipped through his usual options - takeout - did that two days ago, play with his parakeets - did that yesterday, clean his room - did that every day out of sheer boredom. No, he needed something new. Were there any places in town he hadn't been? He'd been to all the shops, all the food places, all the bars...suddenly, a chord struck in his mind. What about that place down at the end of...whatitsname Road? The one run by...Berry Punch? He had only seen the pony from afar, but it was one of the few places in town he hadn't been yet. Maybe it was worth a try?

 

Done sweeping, he fed all of the kenneled animals and gathered his stuff. After locking the door behind him, he trotted down the lane toward's Berry Punch's shop. It was just beginning to become evening, but the other ponies on the street still nodded and smiled at each other. As he approached the drink shop, Verdant slowed to a walk and looked up at the sign. It looked promising, and maybe he could find another pony to have a nice chat with. He summoned up all his courage, and opened the door.

[Blueblood]

There was a mild amount of noise coming from inside, mainly the chatter of all the "regulars" of this little bar parlor.  They were mostly talking with each other as Verdant entered, leaving the proprietress free to wave hello and greet him personally.  "Well hey there stranger!"  A burgundy-colored mare called out in a friendly tone, waving him towards an open seat near the bar.  "Sweet to see a new face even after all this time.  Welcome to Berry's Punch Parlor for Parched Ponies!"  She giggled at her own alliteration, clearly feeling buoyant tonight.  "Why don't you sit down, sugar, tell me your name, drink of choice, and life story?"

 

A few of the 'regulars' paused in their conversations to turn and look at the stallion.  Not unfriendly, just interested to see how he'd react to what was likely the same ritual they'd all gone through when they first came to this little watering hole.  

[Verdant]

Verdant swallowed nervously at the sudden attention from the other ponies. No one looked hostile or anything, he just wasn't used to so much scrutiny from strangers. He edged his way to the chair the purple-ish mare had indicated and cleared his throat. "Ah, nice to meet you. I'm Verdant Forest...I've seen you around a little, but we've never talked." He flapped his wings a little and said thoughtfully, "My drink of choice, uh, just a root beer for now, if you have it? And my life story, not much there. Born and raised here in Ponyville - I work at the little animal salon down a couple blocks - Torrent's Animal Boarding and Salon? I live a couple more blocks away from that with my parakeets - lovely little guys, really smart! I've recently been teaching them how to fly loops on command and let me tell you, those-" Verdant stops mid-sentence and shakes his head in embarrassment, clearing his throat. Talking about animals always draws him out from his anxiety, but sometimes he forgets not everyone wants to hear an hour of information about the care and training of them. "Anyway," he continues, "that's about it - how about you?" Do other ponies ask the bartenders about themselves? Verdant questions briefly, then shrugs it off. Oh well. Maybe even if it's not standard, she'll be happy to have the opportunity.

[Blueblood]

"Well, nice to meet you at last!"  Berry replied brightly, turning around briefly to fetch a bottle of the sweet sasparilla-flavored soda.  "Not much for the harder stuff, at least at this time of night, eh?"  Pouring it into the glass with dextrous skill that a fellow earth pony could appreciate, she slid the mug over to him.  "And you the pet salon?  Bet you see a lot of Fluttershy then."  The resident animal lover was a well-known fixture of the town, though a glance would show she wasn't a regular here.

 

She gave a little laugh at hearing his question about her, but didn't show offense.  "What, little old me?  Well, funny you should ask, I'm actually a Canterlot transplant, believe it or not."  She'd hardly blame him if not; she had much more the air of country hospitality than Canterlot airs.  "I moved down here because it was a better place to raise a filly after having Ruby.  More friendly and supporting neighbors, you know?"

[Verdant]

Verdant smiled at the other pony's casual ease, some of the tension sliding off of his shoulders. Berry Punch was very good at her job, it seemed. He sipped his root beer casually - it was the first drink that had come to his mind for some reason, but the sweetness was definitely something he needed after a long day. He turned his thoughts to her questions. "Yeah, we do see Fluttershy quite a bit! Usually she comes in just to lend a hoof, but sometimes she's got a rabbit that fell into a mud puddle and needs a bath, or a dog with tangled fur, something like that." He laughs at a memory. "She's always got a soft spot for the strangest animals, too - I remember once she brought in a baby bear that needed looking after - every other animal and most of the ponies went absolutely wild."

 

"Definitely get what you mean about the friendliness here - I've always wanted to travel outside Ponyville, but I've always been a little worried about the reception. But I can attest it is a nice place to raise a foal! What's Canterlot like? Is it like the stories, or completely different?" His eyes sparkle as he leans forward, eager to hear about places he had only dreamt of visiting.

[Blueblood]

Berry Punch chuckled at Verdant's tale of the baby bear.  "What more impressive is how she managed to get the mama bear to trust her with the cub.  But that's a special talent for you.  She couldn't do as much with fruit as I can, after all!"  Her buoyant mood and smile seemed to dim, a little bit, when he asked about Canterlot, though.  "Hum... depends on what you mean by the stories, I suppose.  Most stories you hear are about the upper class and nobility, but that's only part of the city.  Can't expect the duke to sweep the streets and be shop clerks, after all.  My family were grocers, not grandees."  The look on her face suggested these were not pleasant memories, but she still smiled a little; whatever pain there was there had at least healed by now.  

[Verdant]

Verdant swallowed awkwardly and took another drink of his root beer. "Oh, yeah. I get that - something you never really think about when you hear the stories." There you go, putting your hoof straight into your mouth again. Please don't let me embarrass myself so badly I can never come back here. He hadn't really thought about the question before he asked it, and now he was regretting it. He searched for a new topic to change the mood and hoped instead talking about her filly would bring her spirits up. "So, you said you had a foal - how is she doing? Good in school and everything? Old enough to get her cutiemark, or still finding out what suits her?"

[Blueblood]

Any potential embarrassment was quickly papered over by engaging in the subject of little Ruby Pinch, the absolute cutest and best filly (according to her mother) in the world!  "Oh, she's doing great!  She gets along so well with all the other foals in her class, she's just a joy to be around.  She hasn't found her special talent yet, but I'll be so proud of her no matter what it is!"  Berry was gushing, to say the least, but it was clear this little filly was the most important thing to her in the world.

[Verdant]

Verdant smiled at the mare's enthusiasm. He wasn't one much for foals himself - surprisingly, his soft spot was only really for animals - but he could definitely appreciate the pride parents had in their foals. "Now, if you had to guess, any ideas about what her cutie mark is going to be? I know some ponies are totally surprised, but, I mean, I was almost completely sure mine was going to have something to do with animals and I was right!" He smiles at the memory of everypony around him getting their cutie marks.

[Blueblood]

Berry stopped to think, seriously considering the question, though she had to break off to give some of her regular customers their refills.  "I'm not sure... she's a little unicorn, and doesn't seem to have inherited my green hoof.  She helps out a little in the vineyard out back, but I don't think that's where her talent is.  She's pretty good at magic, but I'm not a real judge of how much better she is than other colts and fillies her age.  She gets on with folks pretty darn well... maybe she might become a diplomat.  I've been thinking about whether to apply her for Twilight's School of Friendship; that would be the best possible preparation for that kind of life.  She'd meet so many folks from so many places; and if she can get on with them at school, she can get on with them in life, you know?"

[Verdant]

"Wow, that sounds incredible! From what I'm hearing, the School of Friendship sounds ideal. I had a classmate who went there, and when we met up for a reunion, it sounded like it had been one of the best experiences of his life, so I'd definitely recommend it. I think he's doing pretty well for himself too, and his parents are of course proud. Always good to have a foal who plays nice with the others, too. Could use more of those in the world." Verdant Forest took another long swig of his root beer.

[Blueblood]

"For sure, for sure."  Berry nodded, smiling.  "The world's become such a... well, interesting place.  So many new enemies popping up, but new friends as well.  Rulers we'd known for centuries retiring... it's a time of change.  You don't want to be left behind by it, and you definitely don't want to let your foals fall behind, either."  Verdant looked to be pretty near to finishing that root beer, now that she took a look at it.  "Y'all be wanting a refill?  Or you wanna branch out with something new?"  She giggled at her own affectation.  "Heeehee, my father would be surprised to hear me say y'all as if I really was a country mare!  Guess I've finally settled in."

[Verdant]

Verdant grinned at Berry Punch's contagious enthusiasm. "Yeah, I think 'y'all' is the final nail in the coffin when it comes to Ponyville citizenship. I definitely say it more than I think... and a lot of things are changing around here, but Ponyville always seems to remain largely the same, at least to me. Maybe I'm just so used to the slow changes, now that I think about it."  He nudges at his glass with a hoof thoughtfully. "And yeah, guess I could go for something a little stronger. Make me your favorite drink, I'm curious. Since I'm already trying new things today, why not this?"

[Blueblood]

"Sure thing, hon!"  Berry Punch brightened up at the request, her every attitude and accent that of a friendly country bartender or waitress.  She wasn't just a citizen at this point, she was practically a local institution!  "And don't worry too much, it ain't that much stronger."  She gave Verdant a reassuring wink as she pulled up a bottle of red wine from South of the Equestrian border.  Popping the cork with her teeth, she poured it into a large piece of stemware, but only about a third of the way.  The rest was filled with an eye-pleasing arrangement of fruit, juices, and ice, and placed in front of him with a "Ta-da!  My famous Sangria!  It's berry good, in fact, you might say it's grape!"  She gave a little giggle that one does at a joke one has told many times, and yet hasn't grown old to them.

[Verdant]

Verdant raised his eyebrows at the impressive presentation of the drink. "I'm sure it will be quite vine...hmm...no, that one falls a little flat, but you get the gist." He took a careful sip and blinked in pleasure...there was a perfect blend between the wine itself and the other juices and things in the drink - it was heavenly. "Wow!" he said immediately, "that's incredible! Definitely your best drink, I'd come back for this if I wasn't already going to for the pleasing conversation." He smiled and took another drink. And to think he had had some trepidation about coming here!

[Blueblood]

"Well I'm pleased as punch to hear you say that hon!"  Berry Punch grinned and giggled as she shot a final pun across the bow.  Not that, in the words of the more infamous of the town's magical mares, there was ever any doubt.  She was proud of her creation, rightly so she'd say.  "Both the praise for the drink and your returning custom.  I'd return the favor, but little Pinchy hasn't decided what sort of pet she'd like to have yet.  I'll probably go around to Fluttershy for it once she does, its good for a little foal to have something to care for, you know?"