A Visitor From Beyond

"It's always nice to have a companion around when doing stuff like this," Ben said as his pickaxe struck the rock once again. "It gets lonely down in the dank, dark caves after a while."

"Well, it is nice to have some company." Rarity responded with a smirk. "Especially if they're the one doing the digging."

Ben looked over at Rarity with a look that said 'dafuq did you just say?' before shrugging it off and returning to swinging his pick as the rocks. After a while, he hit the gem deposit, and started to retrieve them. "Ooh, a Sapphire. How nice. And a Ruby, too. Not bad."

Soon after Ben loaded the latest gem haul into Rarity's saddlebag, her horn lit up again and she walked off in another direction, with Ben close behind. After a minute or two of walking, Rarity stopped and pointed at a rather shiny vein of rock. "Here. The gems are in here." She announced to Ben, who nodded and proceeded to dig.

"So, how did you acquire the ability to seek out gems with your horn? it's pretty impressive." Ben asked before slamming his pick into the vein at full speed.

"Well, you could call it an 'in-born ability' if you want. I discovered it when I was a filly."

"Sounds like you're quite the lucky, erm, mare, I guess." Ben then proceeded to pat Rarity on the head. She fixed her mane and motioned for him to continue digging.

After a while of mining this one spot, Ben found deposits of gold ore as well as something shiny nestled in the rock. he mined the gold away and collected the dust in a satchel he had at his side. After digging out the rock around the shiny gem, Ben discovered it was a diamond. In awe, he retrieved the shiny stone and examined it. "My, what a beautiful diamond." Rarity commented as she looked at the gem in Ben's hand.

"Flawless, too." He added. "This will make a fine piece of jewelry." Ben then nestled the diamond into Rarity's saddlebag and proceeded to continue digging, only to find there was nothing left.

"I think it's time we headed back, darling." Rarity said. "It's getting late. Besides, these gems are quite heavy."

Ben nodded in agreement and they set off for the boutique. The sun was almost entirely down when they got back. Rarity levitated a key from her satchel and opened the door, then flicked the light switch as they walked in. "Normally, I'd have any visitors and customers out by now, but you can stay if you'd like." Rarity told Ben as she laid her saddlebags against the wall. "Feel free to sleep on the couch."

"Thanks. Say, you wouldn't happen to have a forge I could use, would you? I'd like to use some of those gems to make jewelry."

"No, sorry." Rarity replied. "But I do recall Pinkie leaving an anvil somewhere around here. Something about anvil emergency. Hmm, where is it... ah, there it is." She proceeded to levitate the door to her storage room open. "It's right in there."

Ben hauled the anvil out of the storage room and then positioned it in one corner of the room. He took a few gems from Rarity's saddlebags and some silver from his own satchel and stepped back over to the anvil. He also took a hammer from the storage room before he went to work. The steady noise of pounding was heard throughout the building for quite some time. Rarity found this rather annoying as she retrieved some tea she had saved from a visit to Fluttershy from the fridge. Rarity then sat on the couch and took the occasional sip of tea as she watched Ben work. After an extended amount of time, Ben held his creation up for all to see, whereas 'all' was just Rarity. "Ooh, how lovely." Rarity commented while clapping.

"I think the Amethyst goes well with the silver in this amulet. Plus, it matches your coat & mane."

Rarity blushed slightly before raising an eyebrow as Ben offered her the amulet. "Here, take it." He said.

Rarity stared at it for a second before levitating it around her neck, blushing again. "Oh, why thank you Ben. it certainly does go with my coat & mane. How thoughtful of you."

"My pleasure. Well, I'm pretty tired. I think I'm gonna go to sleep." Ben said before yawning.

"Good idea. I think I'll head off to bed, too. Goodnight."

Rarity then trotted off up the stairs. Ben turned off the lights and laid down on the couch. As he drifted off to sleep, he was thinking about how wonderful this new place was. He was skeptical at first, but after meeting such fine pe- er, mares, He knew he wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Ben awoke to find the sun shining through the window, casting silhouettes on the floor. He then took a deep breath through his nose, only to discover the smell of breakfast in the other room. Following the scent, he soon found himself in the kitchen, where Rarity was sitting at the table, eating breakfast. "Oh, good morning, dear. Come sit down. I made you breakfast."

Ben nodded and proceeded to walk over to the table, sitting down and examining the plate before him. "I didn't know what you wanted, so I figured I'd make you some eggs with a side of toast. I hope that's alright." Rarity added.

"Oh, it's quite alright." Ben replied with a smile. "I'm rather fond of eggs."

As the two were eating, Rarity decided to have some small talk. "Thanks again for the amulet. It looks rather dashing."

"My pleasure." Ben responded. "Besides, I have all the jewelry I'll ever need. I would just sell anything else I made. Speaking of which, that gives me an idea. Can I have the amulet back?"

"But, why? You gave it to me just yesterday."

"I'm not taking it permanently." Ben said as he bit into a slice of toast. "I just want to enchant it."

"Enchant it?" Rarity asked, confused. "Why on earth would you want to enchant it? It's fine as it is."

"Well, if I enchant it, the amulet can give you an additional benefit, and the possibilities are endless."

"Endless, you say?" Rarity asked as she rubbed her chin with her hoof. "Well, I suppose it's worth a shot. Here."

Rarity proceeded to levitate the amulet off her neck and into Ben's satchel pocket. The two finished up their breakfast and, after Ben volunteered to clean up, walked outside to get some fresh air. As they looked around, Rarity noticed Twilight approaching. But something was... different. As the lavender mare drew closer, Rarity could see what was off quite clearly. "T...Twilight? You have... wings? How on earth did you get those?" Rarity asked with a look of confusion and surprise.

"Well, our friend Ben here gave them to me, and they're just great. Flying is so much fun, I can't begin to describe it."

Rarity then turned around to find Ben smirking with his hands in his pockets. "You can do that?" Rarity asked, only this time her expression went from surprise to envy.

"Yep." Ben answered, feeling quite good about himself. "Well, I think I'll be heading off to meet another one of your friends."

As Ben strolled off, feeling all too good about himself, he could hear Rarity cooing over Twilight's new wings, and thought to himself, It won't be long before Rarity asks for wings, too. Contemplating who to visit next, Ben thought of what the remaining 3 ponies he didn't meet yet would be doing at this time of day. "Well, judging by all the apple trees I saw off in the distance, I can assume Applejack is busy doing stuff over there. That pink building that looks a lot like a bakery is probably what Pinkie Pie's doing. Hmm, well, I do like sweets. Screw it. Pinkie Pie, here I come!"

Looking up at the sun, Ben deducted it was about noon. Boy, did he sleep in. No matter, he thought, as he strolled onwards to the bakery. As he drew closer, he could smell the telltale smell of delicious sweets. Pushing the door open, Ben was greeted by a variety of delectables stocking the shelves. "Oh, you must be Ben." Mrs. Cake said from the front desk. "Pinkie was talking about you. If you're looking for her, she's in the back."

Ben nodded and headed into the back room, which turned out to be the kitchen. Pinkie looked up from the cupcakes she was making and gave Ben an instinctive smile. "Oh hey! I'm glad you came! So nice to see you! Hold on, I got you something."

Pinkie then proceeded to take a mysterious item out from under the table. Said mysterious item was covered in a sheet. When the pink mare removed the sheet, the item turned out to be a gloriously crafted chocolate cake. "Do you like it? It's my signature 'Death by Chocolate' cake that I make for everyone I meet. Well, do you like it? Do ya? Do ya?" Pinkie asked while jumping in place.

"It sure does look tasty. I suppose we should have some." Ben replied.

Pinkie cheered before proceeding to hop over to another table in the corner of the room and reveal 2 sets of silverware. Ben took the cake from the table and brought it over to the over table where Pinkie Pie was waiting with a grin as wide as you'll ever see. After cutting himself a piece, Ben grabbed a gilded silver fork and jabbed it into the cake, bringing a piece into his mouth. His expression changed as he chewed to a rather surprised look. "Wow, this cake is pretty good." Ben exclaimed before taking a second bite.

"Thanks. When your job description is making delicious goodies, you tend to get a lot of practice. Besides, I always put a lot of effort into my Death by Chocolate cakes"

Pinkie then slammed her face into her slice, sending bits of cake everywhere. Ben couldn't resist to laugh as bits of chocolate landed on him. "Oh, Pinkie Pie. You are so random."

Pinkie couldn't respond because she still had her face in her now ruined cake slice.

After a few more slices of cake, and a rather interesting conversation involving the history of her 'Death by Chocolate' cake, Ben looked out the window to find that the sun was rather low in the sky. Had it been that long? Gee, Ben thought. Pinkie Pie sure is the talkative type. Ben got up from his seat and headed for the door. "Leaving so soon?" Pinkie asked with a rather glum face compared to her normally eccentric nature.

"Yep. I'm gonna go get to know someone else before nightfall. Probably Fluttershy."

"Ooh! Tell Fluttershy I said hi!"

"I'll be sure to." Ben said as he walked out the door.

As Ben walked through the streets of Ponyville on the way to Fluttershy's house, the location of which he got from Pinkie while she had her face in a slice of cake, one thing made Ben cringe as he walked. When Pinkie was talking about cupcakes, he had a rather disturbing visualization. Fore some odd reason he couldn't comprehend, he had visions of those cupcakes coming from... a rather disturbing location... almost as if somepony was killed in the making of those treats. For some even more odd reason, the first pony that came to mind was Rainbow Dash. Wow, that's pretty greusome Ben thought. What snapped him out of this weird thought was that fact that he was approaching Fluttershy's pad.

Right before he knocked, he decided to try the stealth approach once again. Ben looked around for a back exit but couldn't find one. He then tried the windows, and was glad to see one was unlocked. Oh, how fun sneaking up on ponies and poking them in the flank was. After hopping through the window, he quickly casted his invisibility spell, hoping Fluttershy didn't see him. Luckily for him, she was in another room. Ben decided to wait in the corner, and soon enough, Fluttershy comes in the room, looking at the window and wondering why it's open. "I didn't open the window..." Fluttershy said to herself before trotting over to close it.

Now was Ben's chance. He crept over behind the yellow pegasus and prepared his index finger, but as he got close, he noticed something different about her. Fluttershy's butt was larger than the others when viewed at the right angle for some reason. It could just be genetics, who knows. Maybe she's one of the attractive ones. For some absurd reason, the first word that came to mind was 'plot'. Snapping out of it, Ben proceeded to poke Fluttershy in the flank. "Eep!" Fluttershy gasped before turning to find Ben giggling. "Oh, umm... hello Ben. I assume you opened the window to get in?"

"Yep. I take pride in my breaking & entering... erm... I mean just entering skills." Ben said with a guilty smile.

"Well, umm... now that you're here, I suppose you can make yourself at home, if you want. I was just about to eat dinner. if you'd like to join me, that's ok, too."

"No thanks. Pinkie Pie treated be to some, uhh, 'Death by Chocolate' cake. Still don't have all the chocolate off of my clothes yet."

Fluttershy giggled, then walked into the kitchen. Ben followed close behind, then sat down at the table with the yellow pony. "So, what do you do around here?" Ben asked.

"I take care of all the creatures around here. It's a very enjoyable aspect of my life." Fluttershy responded with a smile. Ben could've swore he heard something. Perhaps a squee. Who knows.

"I've seen my fair share of critters roaming around Skyrim. So very majestic."

"Sounds lovely."

"it is... until a Spriggan possesses them and forces them to attack me, resulting in me having to fling a spear of ice into their skull, sending them flying off a mountain into a nearby river and over a waterfall down onto a bed of rocks."

By the time Ben finished describing the greusome scene, Fluttershy's smile had all but vanished, leaving a gaping jaw in its place. "That's... not something you hear everyday." she remarked in a rather low tone.

After Fluttershy finished her dinner and Ben finished describing his less than cheery experiences with bears, Ben noticed the sun had went down and it was now nighttime. "Oh, well, umm, I don't really have any place for you to sleep, but you can share my bed... if you want."

"Sounds great." Ben answered as he set off to change into his nightwear.

Emerging from the bathroom in a set of silk nightpants that would make Rarity squee in delight, Ben followed Fluttershy up to her bedroom. "This bed's pretty comfy." Ben commented as he climbed into Fluttershy's bed. "Well, this coming from a guy who's slept on a bed of hay in the middle of a dark, eerie cave."

Not long after Ben closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep, he was awoken by a sudden embrace of softness. He turned to find Fluttershy cuddling up to him. "Oh, you don't want me doing that? I'm sorry." Fluttershy said with a low tone. "It's just... your skin is rather smooth, and it feels like nothing I've ever felt before. But if you want your space, I understand."

"Oh, no, it's quite alright. Actually, I feel flattered that you think I'm... smooth..."

Fluttershy blushed. "Oh, okay then." She then snuggled up to Ben again, wrapping her forelegs around his body. Ben moved his left arm around Fluttershy's shoulders, and together they drifted off to sleep. Before Ben fell asleep, however, he looked up at the camera, smiled, and whispered: "You mad, Fluttershy fans?"