Dead on the inside

No longer in a slow walking motion, but rather trotting, the ponies led the man - dressed up as a cowboy - through the streets of Ponyville, straight to Sweet Apple Acres. All of the barricades were now gone from the homes of the ponies in town, but wide eyes still followed the man and six ponies during their entire journey through the town.

The ponies over at Sweet Apple Acres had only heard so much as a few words from Applejack, saying that she was going with Twilight to welcome some fancy guest into Equestria. Naturally, they expected the guest to be nothing more than a common pony. An alicorn or a griffon at the very best. At any rate, nothing like the tall, serape-wearing creature with a black hat covering its face. The way the metal gadgets on its feet clang against the earth with a metallic sound on every step, that alone was enough to make one get a bad feeling in their gut.

Applejack ran ahead to get to her family before the others. A last second warning is better than no warning. Big Mac, Granny Smith and little Applebloom had already gathered outside and were gazing at the approaching creature in awe. The oldest one told the youngest one to run inside. "That won’t be necessary, Granny Smith.” Applejack arrived right in time to convince the old granny to let Applebloom stay and meet the extraordinary guest. "We’ve got nothing to fear from this one,” she added once she had come close enough to not need to yell to be heard.

Applejack stood between her family and her friends, but as she heard their footsteps, right behind her, she stepped out of the way to stand in one line with her family, right next to her younger sister. "Apples, I would like you to meet Inhio.” Applejack raised her hoof in the air, pointing at the creature that slowly walked right up to them.

"Howdy!” the man said in a friendly tone and tilted the front of his hat. His face could be seen for a short moment, but his eyes still remained behind a black glass. No one else spoke. Applejack’s relatives stared at Inhio with an expression no less surprised than when they first got him in their sights.

"Inhio’s from another universe, see, that’s why y’all have probably never seen anything like him before. Dun worry, he doesn’t bite.” The apple family still didn’t look too convinced. There was no response from either party, it felt like Inhio was in a one-against-three staring contest. Inhio didn’t mind at all, he thought he should give their brains the time to process this "Well, go on...say something!” Applejack whispered to her family with the corner of her lips, as if unaware that Inhio could hear every word no worse than they did.

"Howdy, mister!” a loud and clearly friendly greet was finally heard from the youngest and most excited of the three. She jumped in the air, eager to make a new friend. Right after her, a "Eeehowdy!” followed from her older brother, as well as a "How do you do?” from the elderly pony.

"Just fine, thank you very much! And how are you, if I might ask?” Inhio replied right away, to keep the awkward silence astray.

"Just fine, thank you very much!” the young filly replied to the man with his own words, still jumping in one spot from excitement.

The other two replied after her as well. They replied at the same time. "Eeyup!” and "Just fine, yes, thank you for asking.” Were the two phrases that crossed one another, but both still remained audible. For the next ten seconds, the only thing still breaking the silence was the sound of the young one happily jumping. Applejack realized that this conversation isn’t going anywhere, so she decided to act.

"Alright, everyone! Apple family meeting time!” Applejack shouted out and backed away from Inhio a bit. Her family followed her right away. The four ponies formed a circle and whispered quietly enough for no one else to hear, but Inhio still knew what they were talking about, all too well, and so did the other five ponies. "Alright, Apples, listen up!” Applejack addressed her family members in a firm but quiet tone. "Sorry, but there’s no time to explain. All I can say is that this is bigger than you might think, and we gotta do all we can to keep that man entertained!”

"Man? Is that what he’s called?” asked the curious, little filly.

"Human, to be exact, but man is acceptable...it’s sorta like a short term for it, I guess,” Applejack clarified with a sense of uncertainty in her own voice. "Anywho...” She continued to keep the others from growing suspicious. "As I already said, we gotta do all we can to make him enjoy this visit! If we don’t, then not just us, but all of Equestria might suffer for it!” After such a brief, lackluster explanation that slightly resembled a strict order, one can’t help but grow curious.

"Gosh, he sure sounds like one important po...umm...man!”

"Eeyup!” Big Mac agreed with Applebloom.

"Too important, if you ask me,” Granny Smith added with a tone that spoke of little faith in Applejack’s words. "Who or what in the hay is he, exactly?” The three apples turned towards Applejack as if demanding an explanation.

"Like I already said, I don’t have time to explain!” Applejack’s relatives didn’t look like they were about to settle with an answer like that. "I’m sorry, but we’re just low on time and it’s a very long story, but I promise, I’ll explain every little detail once this whole thing is done!”

"Come on, Applejack! We ain’t got all day!” Applejack’s temporary answer - as well as a shout from her friend, Rainbow Dash - was enough to convince her family to go along with the plan. The impatient yelling from Rainbow Dash came at the nick of time, and served like a witness to Applejack’s statement of them being low on time, but they still expected Applejack to stay true to her word and give a full explanation afterwards, and of course, the element of honesty had no intention of breaking that promise. Just a few short moments after Rainbow’s shout, the Apple family were already walking back towards the group with confident smiles on their faces.

This wasn’t about to be an easy challenge for the Apple family, since they’re not exactly what you’d call amusing. They welcomed all guests with open hooves, they’re hospitality knew no bounds, but none of them ever really had to keep someone entertained. Nevertheless, they weren’t about to give up without a fight. "Right this way, Sir,” Applejack called Inhio over and began the tour right away.

Applejack and Big Mac decided to kickstart the show by doing what they do best – applebucking. Inhio gladly watched them work their way through the orchard. Applejack’s friends were already used to the way she bucks the apple trees, but for someone new to Equestria, it was no surprise that the sight was rather amusing, especially for someone who’s used to picking apples, one by one, and having considerable difficulties reaching the apples at the very top, and having to resort to either beating them down with a stick or climbing the tree to get them down. Inhio could only wish that he could do it the way these ponies did it... A single kick, and every single apple fell down, right into the already prepared baskets. Quite miraculous, really.

Applebloom called her friends - Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle over to try amuse Inhio. Despite the fact that it was more like the other way around for the fillies, it was still a happy sight seeing the tiny, cheerful ponies jumping around and laughing, and trying out all sorts of little tricks just for Inhio’s amusement. Inhio even applauded a few times, and the fillies proudly bowed, afterwards checking their flanks for a cutie mark, which - unsurprisingly - wasn't there.

Unfortunately, that was about as far as the fun part of the trip went...It was now Granny Smith’s turn.

It’s only natural for an old timer to not be the best source of entertainment. She herself only saw this as a good opportunity to show off some albums and tell a few stories. Luckily for her, Inhio proved to be quite the patient listener. If Inhio was back on his own world, then he would surely consider these stories to be well-sounding lies, but in this happy universe of candy and rainbows, that was still full of secrets for him, he just plain didn’t know what to think. Although Inhio seemed rather interested in the stories, it was more than obvious that they weren’t about to make him smile, so the Apples moved on to their final, almost desperate move. One that they could all be a part of.

Inhio got seated down at a lone table, and before long, the table got pilled up with all sorts of delicious-looking treats that all had the same core ingredient – apples. The table looked about the same as it did on the day they welcomed Twilight Sparkle to Ponyville. Applejack was hoping that the only thing keeping Inhio from smiling was an empty stomach.

"Feel free to try anything that looks good to you! There’s plenty more where that came from!” Applejack persuaded Inhio. She stepped back, and all of them eagerly waited for Inhio to dig in. Inhio did love apples, no doubt about it, but for some reason he hesitated to try anything. He stared at all the various goodies on the table until the moment he noticed a basket full of fresh apples standing next to the table.

"Thank you,” the man replied as he grabbed one of the apples from the basket and took a bite from it. He didn’t seem to have any intention of taking anything from the table. He just reclined in the chair and kept on eating the apple with a satisfied expression. He noticed that the family didn’t seem too happy, and he had a good hunch about the reason. "Please don’t take this too hard, I don’t mean to offend your cooking in any way. It’s just that there’s nothing I love more than a fresh apple, straight from a tree.” Inhio took another bite before continuing. The ponies still seemed a bit down, but not as much as before.

"I still remember how I used to climb every apple tree I could find, when I was still little. I would always eat them all up on the spot. Never took a single one back home to be baked into apple pie.” Inhio said one more sentence before taking the final bite out of the apple, one that left the Apple family smiling, even though they knew they had used every weapon at their disposal and still failed to make the man smile. "I sure do love apples.”

Inhio got up from the table and thanked the family for their time and their hospitality. He also apologized for the way he didn't try out a single one of the goods they baked for him. Applejack’s part in this ordeal was done and it was time for another to take her place, so Inhio began to walk back towards the other five ponies that had been only watching them without interrupting, up until now. Applejack hurried to follow Inhio after promising her family to return soon and tell them the full story. She thought it would be best to keep them in the dark, for now. They only knew that they had to keep Inhio entertained, not make him smile, and as far as they were concerned, they did their job, better than duly. It wouldn’t feel right to just tell them that they hadn’t really accomplished their intended goal.

The six ponies and the man were right back at the familiar situation from which they started. "Right, so who’s next?” Inhio asked since not one of the ponies ever actually explained the order to him.

"That would be me.” Rainbow Dash stepped forward. Inhio didn’t even need to look to already know who it was. He had heard that voice more than any other today, even though her time to really talk had only just arrived.

"Ah, I was wondering when I’d get the chance to see you in action!” Inhio seemed more intrigued by this pony than the other five. He was still curious about what exactly does her cutie mark symbolize. "So where do we begin?” Inhio asked, ready to run through the streets of the town, once again.

Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof on the ground. Her expression was overflowing with confidence as she got into position for takeoff. "Right here!”