A New Adventure Every Day

Amira had decided to go simple today. No ribbons, not tassels, no silk. She was still wearing her ornaments, though; she wanted to keep some of her individuality. With a little bag of the currency here, called bits, she set off down the Main Street.

The stares were still bothering her. She was a delegate; did she not deserve some respect? Yes, Amina looked a little different than the ponies of Equestria, but still. And yes, her heavy accent bothered some ponies, with her rolling r's and long vowels, but that didn't make her a bad pony. Or a terrorist.

She was becoming more and more doubtful of Princess Amira's decision to send Amina to Equestria as a delegate, to take care of political matters with the Equestrian Princesses and to better know the ponies who lived in the newly allied Equestria. Amin wasn't sure the previous delegates had been exposed to the true nature of ponies here, especially in high-society Canterlot, as they had brought glowing reviews from their travels of the friendliness and generosity of Equestrians.

Amina held her head high. She was part of the royal court of Saddle Arabia, and she was a guest of the royal princesses. She was not here to be made fun of or shunned, and she certainly was not going to spend her year in Equestria fighting snooty ponies.

Jim walked down canterlot Main Street, cursing to himself. He hated this place- all the snooty ponies, all staring at him. oh, what a frightfully delinquent ruffian! . Snobs. He couldn't even have a proper conversation with them- he'd tried to talk to a rather lovely mare in a shop, and she completely snubbed him! He wasn't big headed or anything but these stuck up horses seemed to think they were above him. Lets see how much of a commoner he is when they're pleading for him to fix a broken hoof or something.

As he walked, he decided to take a break. He felt out of place here, and started to notice none of these toffs were actually using the benches. Seriously? And they say the class system is gone. This place might as well be a museum. He at least had what he came for- a few herbs and medicines necessary to his work.
The train didn't leave for another hour, so Jim had time to kill. He sat on a bench under a tree and pulled out a book and started reading " An Overview Of Medical Discoveries Over The Last Century". Jim was nothing but passionate for his line of work.

Amina was trying desperately to hide from all those disapproving eyes. Just earlier today, a rude noble had asked her if she was a performer, because "You really need to work on your costume, darling. It's quite hideous. What are you doing here, anyways?"

Ponies were so rude here.

She saw one pony who seemed out of place. He was reading a rather thick book about medicinal discoveries on one of the benches. There was one who might not mind her differences.

Amina trotted over and sat next to the pony.

"Hello," she said. "Sorry-" she internally winced at her rolling r's- "to bozzer-" Argh, was she not trying to avoid these th words? Replacing them with z's were the only way to say them- "you."

Overall, not her best attempt at conversation. It would be helpful to meet a pony, like the guard who had saved her from getting arrested over a knife someone had thrown at her, who could speak Pony Arabic.

Jim looked at the rather out of place pony who had clearly been struggling to speak the local language, and picked out her accent. He knew the basics of her language, since he had gone travelling across the world while studying. He therefore had picked up a sizeable chunk of pony arabic. He smiled; finally somepony who felt like an outsider.
"No, it's ok. You aren't bothering me. My names Jim; what's yours?" He said in her language.
He took a quick bite out of a daisy sandwich.
"Want to chat a bit? I hate most of this lot, but you seem nice."

Brawny was taking a bit of a stroll through the city of Canterlot. It was a nice looking place, but some, or most, of the ponies were real jerks. In fact, they were so mean they wouldn't even give them a couple bits for playing his guitar. After leaving a cafe, guitar on his back and only 10 bits, he noticed two ponies. One he was familiar with, and another who he had never seen the likes of. He knows most ponies don't like to be stared at, so he tried to not give so much attention. But, she did seem interesting. To get her attention without being so awkward about it, he sat next to them and starting strumming his guitar, playing slow, soft tunes for once rather than blazing fast metal riffs

Amina's eyes widened. Well, what did you know. A pony who spoke Arabic.

"My name is Amina," she said in Arabic. "I'm the delegate from Saddle Arabia. I'd love to talk to you. These ponies are so mean sometimes."

Another pony with a strange wooden instrument sat on her other side. He was strumming softly on the strings, making a beautiful sound.

"What is that?" she asked, then blushed. He wouldn't understand what she said. She tried again.

"Parrdon, sirr, but what is zat wonderful music?"

Jim looked curiously at the the pony who had just sat next to them. He was very green; mane and fur. His mane was longer than most stallions, but Jim couldn't really talk, considering he did his hair like vinyl scratch after being struck by lightning.
"Hey pal, you're really good at that. I think I've seen you around ponyville...... Brawny right? Do you know 'sunshine days'? Epic song."

Brawny heard the mare. She had a strange accent. But he's heard stranger. He understood what she was saying just enough to respond. "Oh, this?" He pointed to his guitar. "It's nothing special. Just a guitar. Been playing it for years. You've got a real accent. Not from around here, huh?" He then payed his attention to Jim. "Hey Jim. Glad to see you remember me. I could give that a shot." He begins playing the song Jim requested. He didn't do those very often, but this is a moment that doesn't happen very often anyhow

"I am Amina, ze delegate frrom Saddle Arrabia," she said, to answer the green pony with the guitar. "Zat zing is wonderful."

Across the street, a pony was dancing to something, her face shining with glee. She made Amina want to dance, too, but that would not seem appropriate to these silly ponies, who couldn't even have any fun.

Amina pulled out ten bits and gave them to the green pony.

"Forr yourr happy music," she said.

Jim smiled. Everypony seemed to be getting along well, and the delegate was indeed very nice. Another reason he hated this lot- bunch of racists. He overheard one whinging about Jim's trottingham accent a couple of years ago, on another visit. He was pretty sure that pony had only got off the eating from a straw a month ago. He tried to redirect his thoughts- this was the serene, happy side of Jim keep violent Jim out of his thoughts- the guards still seemed to keep a good eye on Jim. He got back to his book and sandwich, when he noticed a pony dancing. Seemed a bit strange considering this was the middle of canterlot. He turned to Braeny and the Delegate.
"You ponies see that? Why d'you think she's dancing like that? She won the lottery or something?"

This was a good moment for Brawny. Everypony had a smile on their face. And he got paid. By a delegate from Saddle Arabia! "Thanks, ma'am. Name's Brawny Hooves." He had a big smile himself. "Never thought I'd get a tip from somepony that important." He then saw the pony dancing. His music didn't really attract that many ponies. Nor did it create a sensation like this. If only he had his electric guitar with him. Actually, that would have a high chance of backfire. These ponies didn't look the type for Heavy Metal. "Don't know why she's dancing, but it's gotta be because she's in a good mood."

Amina stretched and hopped off the bench.

"I must do some shobbing today, if you would like to come?" she asked. "I am a little scared of, urm..."

Amina racked her brain for the right word.

"interacting by myself, wiz zese rude ponies. Could you help?"

She shifted her saddlebag and winced when her clothes jingled. It felt wrong, doing so, as it was a sign of high rank back in Arabia, but here...

Jim smiled at her.
"Of course. There are a couple of things I need to pick up, and I'm sure brawny is here for some reason other than busking- he could have just stayed in ponyville for that." He said in saddle Arabic. He then repeated in equestrian to brawny.
Jim hopped off the bench, finished his sandwich and packed up his book. He smiled- he had just made some new friends. He wasn't celestia's student but that didn't mean it was any less important to Jim. He looked at the clock, and noticed he had 45 minutes until the train left.
"Sorry, I'm gonna have to be a bit quick- the train leaves in 45, so I'm afraid I can't stay long."
He felt sad at that- this mare was probably feeling rather elated that she had a couple of non-racist ponies to talk to, one of which spoke her language, and one of them had to leave.

Brawny stood up, as the Arabian mare did and said she needed to go shopping. "I go with you. Not like I got much else to do. And yeah, I know how rude these ponies can be. But I'm shocked they're rude to you. I mean, you're a delegate! But, ignorance knows no bounds, it seems." He then tried to drag away from the subject of racism. "So, what are you looking for anyways?" He then noticed that Jim had to leave soon. "Aww, then let's speed this up." He picked up his guitar and his bits, and started walking

Amina blushed.

"Well, a lot of zings," she said. "I need a lot of food, and I must buy somezing for Arabia's Prrincess to display in herr palace. Do you have any ideas?"

Jim was leaving soon. This would have to be fast.

"Let's see, I know there's a general store around here somewhere, as well as a shop that deals in stuff like dresses, cushions, that sort of thing. And, sorry if I have to leave but I have a paper due for my mentor tomorrow and I need a good chunk of time to finish it off. Oh, and I don't think I caught you name, miss Delgate?"

Jim was sorry he had to leave them- they were both being nice to him and it was clear the Delgate was having a hard time finding acceptance. Then he had an idea.

"I also have an idea. What if you keep in correspondence with us, miss Delegate? Here's my address. Just write if any of these idiots give you hassle- I'll back you up.

Brawny was taking a liking to this delegate. He thought all higher ups were jerks. Might be the foreigner factor that's making her so polite. But, Brawny doubts that. "I've been here before, but I didn't shop very much." He looked over at Jim. "Well, good luck buddy. Let's go see what's around." He began walking towards the shops, expecting the other two to follow

Amina followed Brawny, trusting that the stallion would help her. He seemed nice. Rare for Canterlot, but it was always pleasant to meet a nice pony.

"Have a good trip, Mr. Jim," she said, waving.