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#Post#: 2747--------------------------------------------------
Not My Kind Of Thing
By: Shadowed Mesa Date: May 21, 2014, 1:14 am
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A thin shaft of sunlight streamed through the inn's window,
piercing through the crack between the curtains and illuminating
the room in a muted, golden glow. The small room was in
disarray, the blankets in a tangled heap on the bed, and various
small possessions strewn across the floor. Several large shards
of glass also littered the wooden floor, a mostly empty mirror
frame on the wall giving some indication where the glass had
been roughly bucked from.
The mound of blankets on the bed suddenly twitched, then shifted
as Mesa sleepily poked her head out. Yawning so hard that her
ears went flat against her head, she slowly pulled herself to
her hooves, shaking the blankets off her and surveying the room.
She winced slightly as she caught sight of the broken glass.
"I'm going to have to pay for that, aren't I?" she mumbled to
the empty room. She really shouldn't have let her anger get the
best of her the previous night, but the pegasus had to admit
that she felt a lot better after her emotional purge. She yawned
once more, then set about straightening the messy room.
Returning all her things to her saddlebags and gingerly sweeping
up the glass with the tips of her wings, Mesa glanced over to
see an empty white box on the nightstand, and smiled slightly.
It had taken a few minutes of the desk mare pounding on Mesa's
door before she answered it, but she was touched that Foxtrot
had even remembered her fondness for cherry scones, even more so
that he had thought to get them for her. She tossed the empty
box and glass shards into the trash bin, then strapped on her
weapons belt and trotted over to the window. She screwed her
eyes shut against the sun the blinded her the second she opened
the curtains, then blinked slowly to get to used it to it as she
slid open the window and stuck her head out. It was certainly a
beautiful day. Mesa glanced at the clear sky, then back at her
wings. A quick flight would do me good, she decided, climbing
neatly through the window and taking off into the blue expanse.
As she flew straight upward, she very nearly plowed into a white
pegasus mare who was towing a large banner. Both mares swerved
just in time to avoid a collision, Mesa instead flying straight
into the banner. "Oof! Sorry about that!" she called out,
backing up to free herself, then flying over to the mare. "I
didn't see you!" The mare, who was holding one hoof to her heart
and hyperventilating, quickly waved away Mesa's apology. "No
problem. You just startled me." Mesa nodded, then looked back
curiously at the banner. Large letters announced some sort of
tournament taking place in Canterlot. The other pegasus,
noticing Mesa's curiosity, grinned. "Hey, do you want a flyer
for it? Or ten?" She motioned to her bulging saddlebags. "I've
been toting these around all day and they're not getting any
lighter." Mesa started to shake her head. "Thanks, but-" She was
cut off as the white mare shoved several flyers into her hooves.
"It's going to be great. Like, seriously. I'm not just saying
that because I'm being paid to advertise this thing." She
blinked at Mesa, then looked chagrined. "Well, maybe a little."
Mesa sighed, glancing over one of the flyers reluctantly.
"Thanks, but watching a combat tournament isn't my sort of
thing." The white pegasus looked over her for a minute, then
shrugged. "What about competing then?" Mesa just snorted with
amusement. "Definitely not." The banner pony looked surprised at
Mesa's reaction, her eyes flicking over the guide's knife and
crossbow. "Why not?" she asked curiously. Mesa sighed, noticing
the mare's glance. How did I get into this conversation? "I
don't really like big cities. Or crowds," she mumbled. "It's
been something I've been trying to overcome, bit by bit..." She
trailed off, and tried to give the flyers back to the white
mare. Her efforts were promptly ignored as the other pegasus
just nodded thoughtfully, then sagely said, "Well, you know what
they say. The only way to learn how to fly is to be flung off a
cliff. Maybe going would help you realize that cities and crowds
aren't so bad. It's worth a try, isn't it?" She glanced down at
the small watch on her foreleg, then did a double take. "Ah,
horseapples. I've gotta finish my circuit by 10. Anyway, spread
the word, tell your friends, and all that." Without even a
pause, the pegasus shot off, leaving Mesa still holding the
flyers.
Mesa just stared after the pony, then shook her head. "I'm
pretty sure that's the worst flight advice ever," she muttered.
She looked down at the flyer again. "Though she has a point."
Morning flight forgotten, Mesa slowly descended back to outside
her window, staring at the advertisement contemplatively the
whole time. She was silent for several minutes, mind racing. She
suddenly turned and climbed back through the window, her
expression resolute. Packing in record time, Mesa checked out,
making sure to include enough extra bits to pay for the mirror,
and galloped towards the train station.
[center]* * * * *[/center]
Mesa arrived a few minutes later, and she quickly darted over
the ticket office. "When is the next train to Canterlot?" She
asked quickly, breathing hard. "One's leaving in just a couple
minutes, miss," the stallion reported, and Mesa grinned at her
stroke of luck. "One ticket then, please." She paid and then
trotted quickly to the train, not wanting to give herself enough
time to chicken out, before she skidded to a stop a few feet
from the train. She had the unnerving feeling she was forgetting
something.
Dang it all... Foxtrot. I never got to thank Foxtrot. She pulled
a flyer from her bags and studied it, biting her lip. She didn't
have time to go look for him. She sighed, putting the flyer away
again. I'll come back after, and I'll thank him then, she
decided. I need to do this! She was sure she wouldn't win, heck,
she didn't know if she'd even make it through the first round,
but Mesa had challenged herself to do something she would
normally never do. And she wasn't going to back down from that
challenge. Not letting herself hesitate, Mesa spared Ponyville
one last glance, then boarded the train.
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