A day in the Market(Open)

[Derpy Hooves]

Springtime was in bloom, which meant that so too, was the local market. The latest spring flowers in bloom were on full display in several stalls, along with plenty of other fresh grown produce from the area. Most of the market stalls were peaceful, with only a few shopping ponies trotting about. Of course, nothing brought looks of concern to the faces of the shopkeepers as a local accidental terror fluttered to the ground with uncharacteristic grace.

Ponyville's own mailpony folded up her wings, quite proud of herself. Derpy Hooves intended to make this her final stop of the day, making sure to deliver her letters to the market ponies last so that she would have her bags empty to do some shopping of her own! But to the shopkeeps, she was no ordinary customer. She was the biggest disaster of a clutz the town had ever known, and she didn't even seem to realize it.

She simply smiled and gave a few friendly greetings as she trotted over to her first stop. "Hiya Roseluck! Your roses smell great today." Roseluck simply replied with a nervously forced, yet polite smile. Derpy happily sniffed the flowers and looked them over... or at least, seemed to with her eyes, which strangely seemed to swap places between blinks. But then, she seemed to remember something. "Oh yeah! You have a letter!" the postpegasus dug through her bag, pulled out an envelope, and handed it to Roseluck. "Oh... um... thank you Derpy." She said with a more sincere smile.

She looked like she was about to accept the fact that Derpy was being much more careful and actually somewhat graceful today... that is, until she accidentally backed up into a unicorn levitating a box full of cabbages. The box dropped, shattering and rolling the cabbages in every direction.

"MY CABBAGES!" He cried out, running around and quickly collecting them. "Sorry..." Derpy apologized, already too late to offer any help. She slowly turned back to Roseluck, who looked just as nervous as when Derpy had first trotted over. "So... how much for a dozen, Roseluck?"

[Jasper]

Jasper was patiently hauling a heavy cart containing what looked to be different kinds of rocks, trying to keep it moving. There were three extremely large rectangular blocks of solid white marble that was slowing him down, and if he came to a stop, he would have to really throw his weight into the traces to get it started.

Normally, he would not have brought marble back from his new mine. It was not a gemstone or an ore, he couldn't use it in his work. However, his horn had told him that this deposit was particularly fine and particularly large. He guessed he could sell it to some pony as raw material for marble flooring, or something else. Anyway, it would have been a shame to break it up or waste it, even if it was taking up almost the entire wagon, so that the only gems he had been able to uncover that day were only semi-precious... Agates and Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise and his own namesake, Jasper. But then again, every mine began that way. It would take a while to start hitting 'the good stuff'.

Naturally, Jasper was not very pleased to have to brake sharply, particularly for cabbages, which were not his favorite vegetable anyway. He frowned at the unicorn who was scurrying around trying to pick them up frantically and yelling. "For Celestia's sake!" he exclaimed, using his magic to help pick up cabbages and stack them neatly in another empty crate. "They came out of the ground to begin with, a little dirt isn't going to spoil them. Don't make such a fuss." This probably would have been felt as rude- if he hadn't said it cheerfully ...and helped to pick them up.

With a sigh, Jasper threw his weight into the harness and ever-so-slowly, the cart began to move again. But he had hardly just begun when he had to stop again, this time for a pegasus standing at a flower stall.

"So... how much for a dozen, Roseluck?" This pony was just asking a rather terrified looking salespony. Jasper could not quite see the reason for such unease on the face of the stall owner, but then, he was new. This might be somepony of importance, though she didn't look very imposing to him. With that thought and a kind smile, he interrupted the conversation.

"Would you allow me to buy those for you?" he asked

[Derpy Hooves]

Derpy had just started fishing through her bags for the money to pay Roseluck... when she heard somepony else's voice. She lifted her head, looking around, and finding the source of the voice. "Oh, hi there!" she greeted cheerily. She seemed to contemplate the offer for a moment with a blink, during which her eyes switched positions again.

"Sure, that's very nice of you!" She replied cheerfully. "Are knew in town? I thought I knew just about everypony in ponyville." One of the perks of delivering mail personally to everypony in town. She decided to introduce herself with a dutiful salute, her hoof making a comical 'bonk' sound against her head, but she either didn't notice or mind it. "I'm Derpy Hooves, friendly neighborhood postpony at your service!" She smiled cheerfully as Roseluck handed her the roses. "Thanks Roseluck!"

"Anytime, Derpy..." she said, with a look that made it clear she'd be happier once the pegasus moved on to the next stall... lest hers end up like that unicorn's cabbages.

[Jasper]

With his magic, Jasper fished out the right number of bits from a little side pocket on his saddlebags. So, not a pony of any particular importance. Not like a mayor, or some rich old poot, so why was the clerk so nervous? The grey pegasus mare, Derpy, seemed very cheerful and sweet, Jasper thought as he stacked some bits in front of Roseluck. In fact, Jasper rather thought he liked her. How he knew, without asking, the correct price of a dozen red roses...

...is none of our business.

"My pleasure," he assured Derpy with a smile. He noted her... unusual... eyes... but manners would not allow him to ask about it. It seemed the kind of thing a pony would be a bit sensitive about, anyway. "I'm Jasper Morgan, a jeweler, and at your service." He added. "I've set up shop and home in the old Clock-Maker's place. I think his name was... Tick-Tock? He must have been very much liked, the only customers I've had so far have been people bringing in their clocks for repairs. It's not my specialty, but I suppose I'll be getting very good at it, very fast." Jasper chuckled good-naturedly to himself.

It was good fortune, he thought, meeting the mailpony so soon. Now she would know where to find him when his mother sent a request for a new necklace to wear at some social gathering. Or when his silly older brother needed a loan. His family might not want to be seen with him, but they sure didn't mind making use of his talents when he was out of the way! ...Which actually, he thought, rather suited him too. "Is it difficult, remembering where everypony lives?" he asked, curiously.

[Derpy Hooves]

Derpy smiled and nodded, her mane bounced as cheerily as her demeanor. I remember Tick-Tock's shop! I'll know just where to go when I get a letter for you now! Unlike other postponies, I like to deliver whatever I can by hoof, instead of just dropping it off." She grinned, her eyes turning into inverted "U"s.

When she reopened her eyes, they were once again in different positions. "Remember where everypony lives? Oh it's not too hard, you'd be surprised how easy it is to find anypony from up in the air. It's like a big, living map!" She clopped her front hooves happily on the ground.

"Oh! You're a jeweler? That's cool! Nice to meet you Jasper!" As if to compliment her... off eyes. She does seem a bit scatterbrained, jumping from one thought to the next, but she certainly seems just as bright as any pony around. "If you ever want to send a letter, oh! or maybe a package with some of your jewels out of town, just find me!" Another topic change seemed to confirm this fact even more.

[Jasper]

Jasper tried to picture it, a living map, but the image wouldn't form in his mind. "A living map, huh? The closest thing I can imagine is a magic map. I buy the scrolls to make them in Canterlot sometimes, because in a mine, every tunnel starts to look the same." He glanced at Derpy's face and couldn't tell if she understood what he meant or not. He decided to explain a little better.

"A magic map, you see, not only shows the area drawn on it, but it shows a little dot of magical light on the spot where the map-holder is. A sort of a 'you are here' thing. So you know where you are, and can watch and see if you're going the right way." Jasper laughed.

"So when you say a living map, I think of something like that. Only, I guess it wouldn't really be like that, after all. The problem for you isn't finding your way out of a maze. It's remembering where everypony is, on it. I don't suppose anypony's house has their name written on the roof. You have to remember that by sight. That would be so hard for me" He admitted, smiling. Derpy seemed very sweet. He really didn't understand the uneasy looks of the shopkeepers around him.

[Derpy Hooves]

"Oooh, a magic map?" Derpy seemed delighted by the idea, trying to picture it in her head, with her tongue sticking out of her mouth slightly as she pondered. "That sounds really neat! Magic things are so cool like that!" she grinned.

"OH! Wait, did you say something about a mine?" She peered over at the cart, her eyes going wide a bit... though it's unclear whether she was staring at the slabs of marble, or the glittering gemstones... it looked like to could have been either... or both. "Wow! They're so pretty!" She trotted over to get a better look. Meanwhile, the shopkeepers began to shoot uneasy, even warning looks in Jasper's direction.

Derpy looked over the gems with fascination for a moment, then turned to Jasper. "Wow, you found these all yourself? That's way cooler than just remembering where ponies live!" She complimented cheerfully

[Jasper]

On the face of it Jasper appeared all modesty "Oh, I don't know about that," he insisted, "It seems to me that anypony can dig a hole and stumble across something. The only thing that's hard is recognizing what it is you've dug up. I've cleaned those up a bit, as you can see, but when you first come across them, they look so much like ordinary rocks that it's easy to pass them up."

Inwardly, Jasper was glowing with pride. Though it wouldn't have been proper to gloat, he did think his special talent was a good one, and like most ponies, he loved appreciation for what he did so well. Even if my family is too snobby to recognize it he thought to himself.

Just then he became aware of the strange looks he was getting now. As glanced from left to right, he was greeted with odd expressions of warning, unease, and downright fear. What was wrong with these ponies? He turned in his harness to look back at Derpy, to see what she was making of this strange behavior.

[Derpy Hooves]

Derpy stared at the gems. Her eyes glittered as much as the gemstones in the cart. She seemed totally unaware of the strange looks all around. Her head bobbed in agreement. “Well, you sure do a good job. They’re so pretty!” she put her hooves up on the edge of the cart to get a better look inside. The seemingly harmless act brought creaks and groans to the cart’s axle until.... CRACK! SNAP! The weight of the marble slabs and gemstones were too much, and the cart gave way, sending one of it’s wheels rolling down the road!

“Oh no! Sorry! Sorry! I’ll get it!” Derpy leapt into the air, giving Jasper an apologetic look, then a dutiful salute before flying down the road after the runaway wheel. The market became a quiet buzz, as Derpy’s latest accident struck like the inevitable lightning in a storm. “We tried to tell you” “She’s a menace” “Oh, she means well” “Doesn’t change the damage she causes.” “I hear she’s the one who nearly destroyed town hall”...

The hum of gossip continued throughout the market in Derpy’s absence. It sure painted a picture of her, though the chaos of gossip may have distorted it quite a bit. If anything, it at least explained why everypony in town seemed so concerned about her being around.

[Jasper]

Jasper just stared, almost shell shocked. At first he didn't even head the whispers. How on earth could the axle just snap like that? There was no reason for it- Derpy was a pegasus pony, she couldn't be that heavy! shrugging out of the traces, he moved around the cart to look at the broken side. This was when he began to catch the snips what was being said. He snorted in annoyance. What rubbish!

Aha, Jasper thought as he inspected the broken axle. It's actually been cracked and breaking for some time now. It was just coincidence that it broke when she was leaning on it. he smiled to himself. The things ponies would dream up! Then he realized he really had nothing to smile about. He still had to get his cart repaired, his day's haul home- and he had a rather steep hill to climb on the way there. Actually... "It was lucky that it broke when it did," he mused, loud enough for the other ponies to hear. "If that axle had snapped when I was trying to pull it uphill- now that would have been a real disaster."

Looking about, Jasper noted an area relatively out of the way. With his magic and a great deal of concentration, he lifted the heavy marble blocks out of his cart, one by one, and set them down neatly there. The gemstones he could carry. He glanced back towards the way Derpy had flown off, hoping to see her coming back with the wheel by now!

[Derpy Hooves]

A few moments later, the grey pegasus was flying back with the wheel held tightly in all four of her hooves, still apologising. "Sorry, sorry, my bad!" She landed next to the broken axle, looking it over as if hoping to somehow reattach the wheel. Her tongue was out in ponderance, apparently taking her a few moments to realize that fixing the wheel wouldn't be useful if the axle was broken.

"Hhmmm..." She looked over to the magically floating slabs and genstones, putting a hoof to her chin in contemplation. "I guess you'll have to carry that stuff back." She announced the obvious, sounding like she just discovered something. Then an idea struck her "Oh! But I broke it, I can help!"

The postpony trotted over to the broken cart, starting to strap herself into place. "I can fly your cart back for you so it can get fixed!" The looks of concern all around turned to ones of silent terror. Derpy was getting better at pulling sky carts, but... well, when she did have accidents, lets just say that some ponies were still re-shingling from the last time. Nevertheless, Derpy was oblivious to their concerns, thinking that her apologies helped to make up for everything.

"Sorry again, I didn't mean to break your cart... So is this going to the shop?" She asked, spreading her wings in preparation

[Jasper]

"Whoa there." Jasper said affectionately, as he turned back to Derpy after setting down the marble. "You can't fly that cart. It's not made for flying. It'd be too heavy and too hard to land. You might hurt yourself. And anyway, you didn't break the cart. That axle was in bad shape, it was bound to break pretty soon. It was just coincidence that it happened at that moment." Jasper settled the bags of gemstones on his back, then lifted the wheel into the cart.

"But... if you don't mind, I would like to ask your help. If... you're willing." Jasper looked a little embarrassed. "I can lift this side of the cart with magic- but I need to keep eye contact with it, or I'll drop it. Because of that, I can't pull it at the same time. It's empty now, and not too heavy, I don't think, so... do you think... uh... It's not too far or anything, do you think you could pull it while I carry?"

Jasper was a bit mortified at asking a mare to do the harder work while he seemingly strolled alongside, but if she would help, he could get it home even sooner than he anticipated.

[Derpy Hooves]

Derpy frowned at hearing the cart would just be dead weight strapped to her, (or as the rest of Ponyville might see it, a cart-shaped wrecking ball attached to a flying disaster waiting to happen). "Oh, I'm sorry then... Still, it's my fault that it broke at all... I wish I could make it up to you." She scuffed a hoof sadly. It wasn't often that she accepted the fact that she can be a real clutz and a screwup, but now was one of those moments, and she felt bad.

She was just about to try and quietly fly away, to avoid embarrassing herself any more... when Jasper offered her a chance at redemption. Before she could even formulate a verbal answer, she was already fumbling with the front of the cart, making sure it was secured to her. "Of course, I'd be happy to help in any way!" she rose up onto her rear hooves, held up by her wings gently flapping to give a full, dutiful salute. "You have my word as a postpony that your cart will make it back safely... well, no worse than it already is..."

She dropped back down to her hooves, looking around. She was so used to flying, that the streets confused her every now and then. She looked up at a street sign, each eye seemed to be looking at the name of a street going in different directions. "So... um... how do we get to Tick Tock's shop? It's... well, it's a few blocks down from... no, wait it's behind... hmm..." She held a hoof to her chin, tongue stuck out in a pondering look... her eyes seemed to almost be drifting ever-so-slowly further apart.

[Jasper]

Jasper was relieved she agreed so cheerfully. For him, who tried to be a gentlecolt whenever he could, it was bad enough to look like he was taking advantage of somepony. To have to explain- Oh, it didn't bear thinking about.

"Tick-Tock's shop is straight on up the hill, and then you take a right on Meadow lane." the red unicorn offered. Jas did wonder that she, who had said she was familiar with it, was uncertain how to get there, and he didn't really have a very good understanding of the problem, either. All maps are drawn with an overhead view, and any non-flying pony learned how to adjust for a ground-view without even thinking about it. But he would have never have called Derpy out on it, anyway.

Instead, he stepped to the side of the wagon and using his magic, carefully lifted and supported the side of the wagon, then picked up the axle. This required two separate telekinetic spells, one more complicated than the other, because in order not to lock up the wheel on the other side of the axle, the spell holding it had to allow it to turn as the wagon moved. That was why he needed to maintain eye contact with it.

"Alright, I'm ready if you are." Jasper called to the grey Pegasus. "Not too quickly, if you please."

[tuxedothunder]

Tux was surprised.He had heard that the grey, strange-eyed, mail pony was known for causing issues, but that was just surprising. He had seen the entire ordeal, from the cabbages to the broken axis on the cart. He had one thought in his mind: That red unicorn must be new. Tux suspected he was a miner, judging be the cart full of gems and a couple of big marble slabs. He wanted to tell him that it wasn't the safest to stay around Derpy for long, but then the cart broke. Tux thought that would have made the unicorn snap, but instead he was perfectly normal and calm. They picked themselves up and went off to wherever they were going with the cart, now broken. He was surprised that he knew the right spells to get the cart rolling again. He knew it would require a certain telekinetic to allow the wheel to- his train of thought was cut off by a new one. He wondered: should he tell that unicorn that Derpy is bad news, or let him discover Derpy's problems for himself. Tux decided he was going to follow that unicorn and Derpy, and if he cannot see the problems Derpy causes himself, he will tell him before anypony gets hurt.