Unease In Ponyville

Flitter Gray had just set up his stand in the square. Several ponies had already taken a look and bought a few of his herbs and ingredients.
The Day was beautiful, not a single cloud in the sky. Rainbow dash really had outdone herself today. Sun rained down on the square keeping everypony nice and warm and the occasional breeze was always welcome.

"Take care now, ya hear?" said Flitter Gray to the young fillies who had just bought some sugar canes from him.

Looking around him, Flitter Gray sighed in contentment. Everypony was smiling and enjoying themselves. Some where playing, others were tending to their crops or flowers. A few ponies were singing drunkenly inside the tavern, adding a rather funny accent to the entire day. Every thing seemed in place.

WHAM!
Something or somepony had just slammed into his cart.

"What in the tarnashin do you think you're doin?!" Bellowed Flitter Gray.

He was embarrassed to see that it was nothing more than a large log and not a pony that had hit his cart.
What was a big'ol dead log doin, rollin into town?

Steel has heard of the new herb stand in town square.His mom heard too.She made him go and get some ginger.He got his little saddle bag,some bits and he went out of the door.

Steel happily jumped to the stand.He saw a tall pegasus behind the counter.Steel was afraid of tall ponies for some reason.His dad is tall too,but Steel wasn't afraid of him.

"Umm...Hello."Steel said worried."I was wondering if you had some ginger."

He then noticed the log that was lying on the ground.

"What's this log?"Steel asked curiously,but a bit more confident.He began staring at the log,forgetting about his fear of tall ponies.

"Beats the hay outta me." said Flitter Gray.
He pushed it lightly with his hoof and rolled it over. There was a hollowed out bit that seemed to go deeper into the log. Flitter Gray had gotten his hooves stuck in things like this before and had no intention of doing so again.
"The derned thing just came rollin into town and ran into my stand here. Looks like there might be someit inside, but I can't be too sure."
He set his ear to the log and tapped it a few times with his hoof. Yep. Definitely hollow.

"The derned thing just came rollin into town and ran into my stand here."
Steel thought over that.Something came into his mind.

Maybe this is the log my friends used for log rolling yesterday.Nah.Probably not."

"Excuse me.You said this log rolled INTO town,right?Maybe it came from somewhere IN town?"asked Steel.

Now that the whole lack of a lunch problem was well taken care of, Teacup was now on a mission to find a place to live. Leaving her brother with the caravan to his own devices, she was now free to explore the town square! Find the right place was essential, especially if she had plans to start her own business. The caravan held more of their “business plans” than actual belongings, but that was the point of having a good starting point.

Rounding a corner, she came across two ponies staring at what appeared to be a dead log of some kind. But it wasn’t the thing they were paying attention to that really caught her eye for very long. It was the fact that the cart the blond Pegasus was selling goods at happened to have a variety of herbs and other ingredients. Her keen eyes noticed the quality of the products and she quickly zeroed in to take a better gander at everything, “This will be most satisfactory indeed! It’s great to know that I will already have a supplier in town for a lot of the local stuff.”

Teacup eyed some of the ginger, noting that she had recently run out after she brewed up a tonic to help her with a stomachache earlier that week. It was then that she turned her attention back to the two ponies and blinked inquisitively while tilting her head slightly to the side, “Might I ask why you are so thoroughly engaged with a piece of dead wood?” Her small framed glasses shifted a little down her nose as she looked at them both curiously.

Flitter Gray looked at the Pony then back at the log.
"This derned thing slammed into my cart. I think there might be something inside of it but I don't know. I can't fit my hoof in the thing." said Flitter Gray as he attempted and failed to force his hoof into the opening.

Taking a closer look, the log was really old, but somehow still sturdy. It was also very smooth, as if it had been sanded. Flitter Gray ran his hoof over it slowly.
"This is really strange. I don't even know where it came from. I didn't see or hear it rollin down the street." he mutter, mostly to himself.

"I think that log is my friends' property.I think they used it for log rolling yesterday."said Steel.
"My name's Steel Stallion by the way.Nice to meet you."he said.

Clearly the pony had lost a few marbles, as he was too interested in the log to really pay much attention to the fact that there was a potential customer standing right in front of him. The log did look smooth and shiny, but Teacup was hardly interested in a ‘ninja log’ of any kind. A slight look of annoyance crossed her face as she continued to watch the blond pony fuss with the bizarre thing.

At least one pony was courteous enough to introduce himself. Lifting her hoof to adjust her glasses, Teacup turned her attention to the young colt with the brown coat and smiled, “Pleasure to meet you, m’dear. My name is Teacup. I’m a bit new to Ponyville. Passed through it several times when I was a young filly, but my memory lacks all the details about this place. I’m looking to procure a home with my older brother and then, hopefully, a business shortly after.”

Teacup then gave a curt glance over to the log-stricken pony, her tone went a touch sarcastic, “I happened to pass by and notice that there was an herb supplier in town and was hoping to discuss a business proposition, but it appears I’ll have to come back another time for that.”

Like a light-switch, Teacup’s persona was able to change back and forth based on who she was addressing. When looking back over to Steel Stallion, she gave him a warm smile and asked, “Tell me, Steel Stallion. Do you think you could point me in the right direction to the mayor’s office? I figure they of all ponies might be able to aid me in my quest for a new home.”

"Mayor's office is just over there." said Flitter Gray, pointing at a large building very close by. "I hear that the best houses are round here, near the center of town, but I never really did a lot of investigatin when I bought my house. Just ask the mayor about it and she'll likely get a pony to help you look around."

Turning his attention to Steel Stallion, Flitter Gray smiled tenderly at the younger pony. "Ifin this really is your friend's property, I'll gladly make arrangements to get it back to em."

As Flitter Gray turned back to the other pony, something seemed to click in his head. "Wait.....You say sumit about a business proposition?"
Flitter Gray had never really done any thing besides sell his goods. He didn't know much about business with other ponies in the same field as he.
'This aught to be interestin.' he thought.

"Ifin this really is your friend's property, I'll gladly make arrangements to get it back to em."
"I think I can do that,but thanks for the offer.You could come with me later if you would like."said Steel with a smile.

Turning back to the lady's comment:
“Pleasure to meet you, m’dear. My name is Teacup."
"Nice to meet you too madam Teacup."said Steel with a bigger smile.
“Tell me, Steel Stallion. Do you think you could point me in the right direction to the mayor’s office?"
"As the mister said,the mayor's office is that way."replied Steel.He pointed at the mayor's office which could be seen very close.

"Aww shucks."said Steel while blushing."It was nothing madam."

Steel now began to think very deeply.He was buried in thoughts and he didn't react to anything.He looked a bit strange.A hoof on his head,while looking off strangely.He kept thinking that he was forgetting something.
"Oh right!Um excuse me mister,do you have any ginger?"Steel said in a somewhat rushed,but a little scared voice.

Flitter Gray smiled at both ponies.
To Silver he said " I sure do." and pulled out a large ginger root. "It'll be 3 bits, and I can even cut it up for ya."
While Silver began to get the bits out, Flitter Gray began multitasking, addressing Teacup and cutting at the same time.
"I rather like the idea. You can never have too many shops here, and a Teashop is somethin several ponies have been cravin for. I could easily take some of the load off your brothers shoulders, and if need be, I can teach him some of the best places to get your specific herbs. Any other herbs I could easily provide for ya as a business partner."
Cutter smiled at Teacup and then at silver as he but the unchopped and the chopped ginger into two separate bags and handed to the young Pony.
"Yall come back now, ya hear?" he said to Silver.

"Bye mister!Bye madam Teacup!"shouted Steel while leaving town square.

Flitter Gray smiled. She seemed a proper lady and very respectable. He felt some thing, though he couldn't place the feeling.
"My name is Flitter Gray, ma'am. This is usually were I set up my stand. The buildin behind me is actually my home. All the produce I keep for drying is in my shed, around the back. I've always had a hankerin to to it into an actual business but I'd have to get the mayor's permission an all. Ifin you need me and my stand isn't out I'll be in my house. If my 'Be back in a jiffy' sign is out front, that just means I'm out hunting herbs." Flitter Gray said, still smiling.

Flitter Gray smiled and waved after her.
"Pleasure to meet you too!" he called to her.
Teacup had been very straight forward and curt about the situation, but also pleasant at the same time. He hadn't ever really met a true business person before and this looked to be his first time. He liked the idea of actually having something to do to help a specific someones and that made him happy. He would help Teacup and her brother.

He turned back to his stall and saw the log sitting there still. It intrigued him. Why had it come randomly down the road and slammed into his cart? Why would any foal polish a log so thoroughly?
He tried to look inside again and definitely saw something glint on the inside. Was it just a toy one of the foals had left in the log? He had no idea and that bothered him. He shrugged anyway. There wasn't anything he could do about it. He pushed the log off to the side of his cart and straightened everything on it out.
Back to business.