Snow gave Narrow a questioning look as she walked up to his bar, floating a few White Hopes out to her side, "You really gotta loosen up a bit, you've done this the past several times I've stopped by. And no, this isnt a collection of your rent! I'm actually here to drop off some White Hopes for you to use, and also letting you know that no rent will be collected this month, and...You know what? Mark Co's been doing well enough, make that no rent for the next three months!" Snow said brightly to the hiding pony before putting the White Hopes on his counter, "My treat!" she added happily before trotting out of the bar and moved on to that one Eluuna's bakery.
Still feeling peckish after her cherrychanga, Nightshade decided to visit Ponyville's other bakery and see what they had had to offer. Though she had never been inside, she had heard good things about it, and it's owner, a Pegasus called Eluuna. As she entered the bakery, she nearly ran into a Unicorn whom she instantly recognized as Snow Mark, a rather well known and successful businessmare. She nodded politely. "Good afternoon, Miss Mark."
"Well, I-I don't see any harm in going and t-t-trying to meet someone and take th-the day off..." Narrow mumbled, walking out of his bar, locking it behind him. "Hmm... A lot of people are around M-Miss Eluuna's bakery, maybe I should go see what's u-up..." he trotted over and walked in, not sure what to do.
Snow nodded to Nightshade, unsure of who exactly she was talking to (she didnt really remember too many ponies, only faces, too many ponies she's had to meet), "Hello there!" she replied happily to her, "How are you this fine day?" Snow asked
As soon as Saul finished to order, he heard something familiar. Mark. Here? ''A-actually, nevermind. I'll be right back.'' no time to psychologically fight another pony. He turned around, and saw Snow. Well, not totally; he saw the daughter of one of his clients, and the one thing he didn't know if he wanted to avoid. Something from his past. He slowly trotted to her, noticing she was talking to another pony. He went behind her, and slightly waved to get her attention, but not to disturb her conversation. He pointed a table, and went to it. 'If she ever says my name here, my reputation might be broken. There's a slight chance that she'd know about why i moved out from Canterlot. If she ever mentions it...'
Nightshade smiled back at Snow. "Quite well, and you?" She had not expected the pony that owned half of Ponyville to be friendly. In her own experience, most businessponies were downright hostile.
"I'm quite fine, thank you!" Snow said to Nightshade, noting the small hit of surprise in her demeanor, "I had decided to take the week off from running Mark Co, first time since I took over eight years ago I believe..." She muttered, tapping her chin thoughtful before popping back into a happy, friendly look, "Anyways! I have decided I would let all my rentees know that I won't be charging them rent for the next three months, and half price for next year!" She said, feeling ever more generous, "And also giving all my restaurant owners enough White Hope to last them about a month!" And as she was talking, she noticed a pony waving at her, though she didn't get to see the face well enough to make it out
"W-Wait... We're getting next years rent h-half off?!" NarrowLeaf said, overhearing the conversation. "S-So sorry for butting in, th-though, Miss Mark, and Miss...?"
Nightshade glanced over at NarrowLeaf. "Nightshade. And don't worry, you weren't butting in. It was lovely to meet you, Miss Mark, but I fear that I must excuse myself. I have a class starting soon, and I find myself in a bit of a hurry." She excused herself and approached the counter. Snow Mark had not been anything like what she had expected. Waiving rent, while quite generous, was not exactly a sound business strategy. Either Snow was an extraordinarily kind-hearted Unicorn, or Mark Co. was doing even better than she had read in the paper. Whatever the case, Snow Mark had certainly proven to be an interesting pony.
Snow smiled at the two, and nodded to Night, "It was nice talking to you! And you too, Narrow, but I have somepony to talk to." Snow said before walking towards Saul, slowly recognizing him as she approached him, and she lowly growled at him, "What are you doing here?! I left Canterlot all that time ago to escape what happened! Why must you bring that back to me, just as I'm started to get over it!"
Eluuna blinked as ponies abruptly moved around. "Oh.. OK." she said, confusedly, as she took some flavoring and mixed it in with some flour.
Narrowleaf backed away to the counter and sighed. "S-So many ponies... I'm way out of m-my comfort zone..." he murmured to nobody. "...Way, way, way, way, way out of m-my comfort zone..."
Saul smiled. ''Miss Mark, when will you learn? I'm too much of a pin in the flank to leave your sight. Though, i didn't know you came in Ponyville when you left. Please, sit down. We have a little something... Private, to talk about.'' Saul cracked his neck in anticipation. He'll have to choose his words; he mustn't reveal his reasons if she doesn't know yet. And he must explain why he left if she didn't know, and will never lie to one of his ''friends''. 'What if she can read my mind?' Saul frowned mentally at the thought. 'Hey, where does this thought come from? I didn't know i would have the guts to answer myself. And why have thought about that? She can't read minds.'
Snow tilted her head at Saul, giving him a questioning look, resisting the urge to activate her essence reading spell, but she simply shook her head, "Meet me at the park in a bit, tallest hill, there we can talk." She said simply, before turning and looking at the other white mare in the room, Eluuna Silverwing, and walked towards her, "Ah! Miss Eluuna! Good to meet you! How are you today?"
Narrowleaf turned to Eluuna. "Y-Yeah..! I'm fine! A-Okay!" he lied, talking quickly. "I'm a w-w-wee bit out of my c-comfort zone, but I'm alive. I k-kinda figured this w-w-was a popular spot... A lot of p-ponies..."
Saul shook his head, after Snow's departure. ''Logic? I don't know such thing.'', he whispered. He stood up, and headed for the park. No time for croissants, he'll come back later. He exited the shop, and turned towards the parc. It wasn't hard to find, with the number of times he lost himself. He didn't know how many times he passed through it, thinking it'd be a shortcut. And he was always wrong. 'the hill, the hill... Why? Why talking about it, on a hill, where pegasi could stalk us by the clouds? It's darn right insane! I should've been the one proposing this meetup place!' He went on the hill, and sat opposingly to the sun. He took a file from his bag, with his hooves. Repositionning his hat to cast a shadow over the file, he opened it. It was an identification dossier about a certain pegasus, his new boss. On the next page, another identification paper; himself. He read it again, focusing on the ''recent memories'' part. 'Subject moved out from Canterlot, reasons unsure. I think he decided to leave when he realized that his noble position wasn't official anymore, his contract with Celestia broken. Informations on the broken contract are still missing; my hypothesis is that Celestia fired him, since sir William wasn't sane anymore. The incident-' He stopped reading. He could feel the wind passing through his hat, his mane, whistling through the holes of his horn. A tear formed in his eye, but he contained him. If anyone knew about the incident that happened three years ago, in Celestia's laboratories, or knew who was her psychologist (himself), than he'll be feared. Treated as a monster, like everyone did in Canterlot. ''Miss Mark, i hope you don't know about this.'', he whispered.
Eluuna looked from one place from another, and her gaze hardened. "Oh.. Hello Ms. Mark." she said, evenly. "Here, have a drink." she said to Narrowleaf, filling up a mug with cold water.
"Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th...Thanks..." Narrowleaf said, taking the mug and slamming it down. "I...I'm NarrowLeaf..." he said, after several moments of silence. "Y-You?"
Nightshade silently grabbed a loaf of bread, dropped her bits on the counter, and walked out. Her next class was starting in thirty minutes, and it would look bad if the instructor was late. As she walked back to her dojo, she found herself wondering if she had made the right choice in moving to Ponyville. Her father had offered her an officer's commission in the Night Guards, a job that certainly would have been exciting. It had been difficult to make him understand that she wanted to make her own way in the world.
