“Are you sure that this is about where you want your house?”

Chuck nodded, gesturing to the mostly open space. He had found a spot that wasn’t too far from the town hall, but also close enough to the various stores and other houses that he could easily stop by places to pick things up or chat with the ponies without going too far out of his way.

“Hmm...there seems to be plenty of space to build a house here. We’ll need to move a few trees, but that shouldn’t be much of a problem.” The real-estate agent nodded. “Alright! This shouldn’t take long at all. It should be done by tomorrow morning.”

Chuck breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead. He was afraid the process would have taken much longer, but apparently the inhabitants of this town were rather skilled in speedy construction.

“Now, of course you must have other things to worry about, so don’t worry about the bill for now. Stop by my place some other time, and we’ll talk about it.” The agent turned around. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Iron Will has to get to work!”

With that, the giant minotaur walked off, leaving Chuck by himself in his reserved space.

“Did you get your home situation sorted out, Mayor Chuck?” Lyra asked as the human came back to the town hall. He nodded, and she smiled in relief. “Oh, good. Mr. Iron Will can be a little...intimidating. I think it comes from his old job as a motivational speaker...”

Realizing she was starting to get off topic, the unicorn cleared her throat and tried to refocus. “So, um...your house should be done by tomorrow, though I’m not sure about where you can stay for tonight...”

Chuck shrugged. He wasn’t sure either, but he didn’t want to worry about it just yet. It was still early in the day. Worst case scenario, he could see about borrowing money for a hotel room.

“Hopefully that’s something you can figure out. But please let me know if you need help, okay?” She smiled. “There’s just one last thing you need to fill out for the registration...when’s your birthday?”

Chuck reached for the quill and paper, which Lyra levitated over to him. Using the writing implement, he wrote “March 21” on the designated line before passing the quill and paper back to his secretary.

“Alright then...that wraps up just about everything!” she happily proclaimed. “All of us are looking forward to the changes that you’ll make to our town, Mayor Chuck.”

The new mayor just nodded, deciding to go along with it. He still wasn’t sure why he was the mayor all of a sudden, but things were going smoothly as they were, so he decided to just roll with it.

“You can go ahead and relax for the rest of the day,” Lyra told him. “I’m just going to finish up some other work here. Why don’t you go explore a bit? Maybe introduce yourself to some of the other ponies around town?”

Chuck smiled, nodding again. He waved goodbye and was just walking out the door when he nearly bumped into a gray pegasus mare with blonde hair.

“Oh! Sorry, sir!” she apologized, quickly stepping to the side to let him pass. Her eyes, which seemed to stare in completely different directions, both briefly settled on him and she gasped. “Are you the new mayor?”

Chuck nodded, and the pegasus smiled before holding out her hoof. “Nice to meet you! My name’s Ditzy Doo, but a lot of ponies call me Derpy. I’m the mailmare in Ponyville.” The human grasped her hoof and shook it, smiling warmly. “Oh! I think I have a letter for you, too...”

Ditzy reached into her mail-saddlebags and took out a white envelope, which Chuck took from her. “I better get back to work now. See you later, Mayor!” With that, the mailmare walked into the town hall, likely to speak with Lyra. Chuck began to walk down the street while opening and reading his newly obtained letter.

Dear Chuck,

Congrats on your newfound mayorhood! To be honest, I was supposed to become the mayor, but one thing led to another...and now it’s all up to you! I’m rooting for you!

- Keep it a secret!

Chuck raised an eyebrow before putting the letter away in his pocket. He wasn’t sure what to think, and soon decided to just not think about it at all.

“Welcome to Quills & Sofas, may I be of...” the pony said as he turned around, only to trail off. “Oh! Mayor Chuck! I...I didn’t expect you to drop by here so soon!” He smiled. “My name is Davenport. Welcome to my little shop! Is there anything I can help you with?”

Chuck smiled back and looked around the store, seeming a little confused. “Ah, you’re probably wondering about the name...I used to only sell quills and sofas, but apparently ponies don’t like a store that only sells two things. So I’ve been trying to increase my stock lately.” He gestured to the varied, if few, items he had on display. “I hope everything is to your liking, Mayor.”

“I want to sell,” Chuck said.

“Sell? Certainly! What is it you wanted to sell?”

The mayor reached into his pockets and pulled out a few baskets of apples. He had come across a large field of apple trees during his walk around town, and decided it was as good a place as any to start earning some money. He shook the fruit off the trees, filled his pockets, and asked for directions from a few ponies to wherever he could sell them.

Davenport looked over the baskets, silently wondering how the human had been able to carry them all. “Hmm...for all that, I can give you a hundred and thirty bits. Is that alright?”

Chuck nodded, and they made the exchange. Davenport put the apples to the side, planning to take care of them later. The human, meanwhile, looked around the store for a little while. Using his newly acquired currency, he purchased a shovel and a fishing rod, both of which he stashed away in his seemingly endless pockets.

“Thank you! Come again!” Davenport called as Chuck left the store. Once he was gone, the pony turned to the apples. “Now, where to put these...where did he even get so many apples from?”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at the strangely bare trees in her fields. “Who in the hay swiped mah apples?!”