Removed as many spaces to cut it to three posts...This is when they met.

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> Roasting Hops tightened the table saddle's girth
> a platter of drinks, balanced across the saddle's beams.
> "Watch your step out there, Hops" came her boss' words.
> Hops had been distracted all day; stumbling into customers.
> spilling precious drops of their drink.
> She just nodded, then waded back into the thick press of equines.

> It wasn't just equines tonight.
> a mated couple, griffons, came in with a kirin.
> A sort of dragon/lion/unicorn cloven hooved thing.
> Their magic was not compatible with pony magics.

> But their coin was. "Hey welcome to the Salted Cider have a seat I'll be right back"
> She'd take their order after the platter was empty again.
> Every drink put down shifted the platter's weight.
> it wanted to fall off; Roasting Hops had to keep shifting the platter on the saddle.

> "Order up." Hops went to swap empty platter for full.
> The boss wanted gossip. "Tell me, girl, this concoction ordered by a griffon?"
> She looked at the cloudy mess. "Kirin."
> Her boss laughed at that. "Does she speak Pony, then?"
> Roasting shook her head, no. "Not so's I can tell. Griffin pair traveling with him have to repeat everything."
> Hops left her boss' chin scratching before she could ask Hops to introduce her.

> The letter's words still clouded her mind.
> In her despair, Roasting Hops almost ran over the new customer.
> It seemed to be a pair of filthy denim pants.

"Excuse me."
> The voice came from three quarters of the way to the ceiling.
> Deeper, more rumbling than even a stallion's voice.
> Hops looked up.
> Normal mane, though she wasn't sure whether to call it dingy red or bright brown.
> No hair coat. Bared arms showed a snake coiling up and down the insides of both.
> Is this where they kept their cutie mark, then?
> The thing's flanks were completely covered by pants, so Hops assumed it was so.
> "You're a human." Her neck hurt looking that high.

> A broad smile revealed teeth of myriad shapes as it spoke again.
"No, no. I'm just walking bipedally today. See how it works out."
> The human spreads his hooves in a shrug.
> Cloven? No. Roasting had never even seen a drawing, let alone a live one.
> They must not walk on those skinny forehooves, much.
     
[next post]
     
> Be me. Anonymous. Or just Anon.
> It's not what you're called. Not really.
> If your mom knew you were here … she'd have probably written a letter.
> You hope that's why you haven't seen her since you were four.
> If your dad knew you'd left, you'd know for sure you had no home to go back to.
> Instead of guessing it was like that.
> If your sifu knew you'd left…
> The other students would be tasked with giving you a snake-style beat down
> it would be painted (in your blood), framed, and mounted in the dojo.

> Hopefully what you'd heard was right.
> Pony lands didn't have a "minimum drinking age"
> This bar was crowded. Was it their Friday?
> The serving girl, an earth pony, nearly bowls you over.
> She'd clearly never seen a human.
> To be fair, until three weeks ago you'd never met a pony.

> Order a beer and some food.
> Tell the server you can't digest hay.
"But I can eat some of your food."
> Point to the kirin.
"I've eaten with one of those things, and everything on the table was okay"
> Serving girl squints at the trio of non-ponies, and shouts up to you.
> "I can get you the seafood plate. Are you paying in Pony bits, or Human gold?"

> You'd stolen seven gems when you left Humanity.
> Three from your sifu, but those were probably stolen already.
> One from Johnny, because no one had ever stood up to him before.
> And three from the traveling merchant, because he charged you 100g for a ratty bedroll.
"Human gold."
> You still had enough for a couple days in this pioneer town.