Miles made his way along the path he remembered as leading back into town and towards Twilight's castle. His mind went back to the tea party and its unsavoury conclusion. He would get back into Fluttershy's good books later; she seemed like the easily forgiving type.

As he made his way into the town square, the cobblestone paths almost seemed to shine in the sunlight as ponies ventured to and fro across his vision, presumably running errands as they lived out their daily routines. Various stalls bustled with life and conversation as ponies interacted with everyone as though they were lifelong friends.

The entire situation felt somewhat familiar to Miles, yet uncanny in that the creatures in front of him were unlike anything else he had experienced in his life. The bizarre nature of the environment was beginning to sink in once Miles was allowed to soak it in without personal company.

On the other side of the square sat the bakery he remembered Twilight referring to as 'Sugarcube Corner'. Twilight had promised him a supporting income, but he was determined to begin earning his own way towards his ultimate goal, lest he feel bittersweet in its conclusion. And so, without delay, Miles made for Sugarcube Corner, as it was the nearest landmark that he could draw reference to.

As he made his way across the square, ponies appeared to dodge and weave out of his path as though he were parting the red sea. Noticeably, Twilight seemed to be correct in that Equestria was mostly inhabited by females. From what she told him, the ratio is supposedly three to one in favour of mares, and a quick head count seemed to support that hypothesis - there must have been a lot of lonely mares in this world.

The males seemed only marginally larger than the females, with a slightly different body shape. They still held very similar anthropomorphic qualities and an uncomfortably large amount of human character in their faces. Miles could not help but feel this was uncanny.

They were supposedly 'ponies', and yet their similarities to any ponies he had ever known started and stopped with their quadrupedal nature and general body shape. They were supposedly prey animals, and yet their eyes faced forward...

He saw some ponies standing and even moving around on two legs here and there in order to perform certain activities or for the purpose of emoting, and due to their stout body shape, they were not much taller on two legs than four - another far cry from any equines he had ever seen. Miles still found this entire scenario unbelievable, and yet here he was seeing it all with his very own eyes.

This world was so full of colour and vibrancy. The way the light danced and the ambience bubbled held such a stark contrast to the muted world he was used to that he almost felt his head throb. Should Twilight's claim that he had been brought here through dimensions be true, then he had great reason to be excited at his prospects in the long run. He almost looked forward to seeing his recent chum Jarvis again.

As he continued to walk, the expressions on ponies' faces varied, with many seeming terrified much like before, while others were seemingly intrigued, confused or even disgusted by his presence. Their faces were so exaggeratedly expressive that Miles saw nothing but an all you can eat buffet. It would take an extremely skilled pony to hide any of their emotion from him.

Many of the ponies began whispering to each other, and Miles could only glean snippets of what they were saying. They appeared to be talking about him, as their eyes kept pointing in his direction as they spoke, often in an almost cartoonish manner. A small group of three pegasus mares nearby began giggling to each other in a small huddle with their hooves to their mouths in a futile attempt to stifle their chatter.

In the brief moment they were not watching him, Miles walked over to the group. The rest of the square gasped and retreated behind the various stalls, yet did not flee. The mares continued to laugh and chatter as he eventually reached them and caught the tail-end of their conversation.

"... exotic..." one of the mares purred. She was an earth pony with a blazing red coat. She had a long, deep blue mane with white highlights. Her face had been dolled up with makeup to perfection, perhaps rivalling even that of the small white pony he had met earlier. Strangely, a pony in makeup did not feel particularly odd to him when considering how human-like these creatures were.

"But he might be dangerous... D-Did you see his sharp teeth? What if he eats ponies...?" the smallest mare said, sounding and looking somewhat like Fluttershy in terms of mannerisms. She was a unicorn whose mane was a dull purple of middling length, and her coat was a silky smooth chocolate brown with faun highlights running up her legs, almost looking like long socks. Her baby blue eyes squinted with visible anxiety.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind if he ate m-" the red mare began, yet swiftly bit her tongue as the final mare tapped her on the withers and pointed behind her with a shaky hoof. This final mare was a pegasus with an amber coat that glistened slightly with the residues of sweat in the sweltering heat. Her short, pink mane quivered as she pointed.

The red mare whipped around to be met with Miles leaning over her and the rest of the group, now down on one knee to bring him much closer to their level. Miles merely waited in silence for a few moments with a polite smile, waiting for one of them to attempt to speak.

The moment the red mare opened her mouth, Miles began speaking. "Good afternoon, ladies. Apologies in advance for the specific question, but I'm in a bit of a hurry: you wouldn't happen to know if there's a board around here offering odd-jobs from commissioning customers or anything like that, would you?" The mares' eyes widened as he spoke. The red mare wiped her lip with a hoof.

"... U-Uh-" the red mare stuttered, but was cut off as Miles clasped a hand over her snout - a snout so short it could easily pass for a nose. The shy, brown mare frowned.

"Feel free to think for a few moments before you reply," said Miles. "Take your time. Say, while you think that over, may I inquire as to what you three were giggling about as I came over? I must admit that I hate to miss out on a good joke!"

The amber mare spoke up. "O-Oh, nothing... We were just talking about... Our trip to the day spa! Yep!"

"Oh, I see... 'Exotic' session, was it?" grumbled Miles.

"Y-Yeah, you could say that..."

"Well, I didn't say that, Miss... Your friend here did!" Miles laughed as he roughly released the red mare's mouth. She remained frozen, her friends looking at her in suspense. Judging from their expressions, Miles would say these were very close friends indeed, considering they appeared as though they were expecting her reaction.

The red mare eventually took her hoof and pushed the locks of her mane back over her neck. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, feeling grateful for her crimson coat in that moment. The amber pegasus merely rolled her eyes and looked away.

Miles couldn't help but feel frustrated. Had he truly lost his touch, or were these ponies simply spoiled by peaceful circumstance?

"Well, I don't know about any boards per se," the red pony said, "but I can think of a couple things you could do for me if you're looking to make a few bits..." As the mare winked at him and giggled, Miles immediately felt himself losing his temper.

He stared intently at the floor for a few moments.

"Well, I'll keep you in mind, Miss. However, I'm afraid I must spend my time finding a stable source of clientele." Miles rose back to his full height. The mares looked up at him, with the red mare seeming somewhat disappointed and downtrodden. With a strained smile, he gave them a brief wave as he made his way over to Sugarcube Corner once more.

Once Miles was out of earshot, the girls began chattering in a hushed whisper once again as the rest of the ponies in the square began to peek out from their hiding places and visually check on the three mares before resuming their activities. The amber mare chided, "Well, looks like there'll be no hot monkey dick for you, you dumb sl- oof-"

"Are you sure you wanna finish that sentence, Nougat?!" the red mare hissed with a snarl after shoving her friend.

"-Can you two stop fighting, please?" The brown mare finally spoke once again, yet this time her gentle voice could have flash-frozen a lake. Her two friends were brought to attention immediately. Her posture became more rigid and her eyes seemed to shine with determination. "It seems our new monkey friend has some... Reservations... The papers said he was unwillingly pulled from another dimension, so he's likely just scared at the moment." She looked over at the red pony. "But, I'm sure we can get you what you want, Match..." She stepped away from her friends, who continued to discreetly bicker behind her as they slapped at each others' hooves when they thought she wasn't looking.

She whipped around and caught them in the act. "Girls! Stop this. Now." She walked off to the side of the square and out of the way of passing ponies, with the other two naturally following her lead.

"S-Sorry, Muddy..." The red mare lowered her head.

Muddy sighed and walked back up to Match, bringing her into an embrace. "Is this something you want?" Muddy asked. Match nodded. "I don't quite know what you see in that creature, but I will get you what you want. I always have, haven't I?" Match nodded into her embrace, breathing a sigh of comfort as she began to nuzzle into the crook of Muddy's neck. Considering that Muddy was somewhat smaller than the other two mares, Match had to lean down to do this.

Nougat stepped forward, seeming somewhat reluctant to speak. An understanding and affectionate look from Muddy was all it took to coerce her into speaking her mind. "Y-You know, if Match wants help... I wouldn't mind, uh... Helping out... N-Not that I want to or anything!" She looked off to the side indignantly as she breathed through her nose.

Muddy broke her embrace with Match and trotted up to Nougat, bringing her face around with a hoof and gently forcing her to look into her eyes. Nougat felt her nerves unwind as Muddy's loving gaze melted away her concerns.

Nougat huffed and puffed up her cheeks with a blush, causing Muddy to laugh to herself. Once Muddy stepped away and seated herself on a patch of grass nearby, Nougat's facade seemed to break down a little as her excitement took over and she jumped over to Match. Match now jumped into her hold and they bounced around together, giggling like school fillies as they chatted away.

"I wanna know where he came from!" shouted Nougat.

"We never even got his name..." whispered Match.

Muddy watched them both with adoration as they continued to natter about the alien creature. She looked off towards Sugarcube Corner, wherein their new monkey friend now lay, running various scenarios through her mind.

She was broken from her thoughts as Match sauntered over to her. "So, you girls actually wanna take a trip to the spa today? I need some way to unwind after our run-in with that hunk," Match purred once again with a brief, distant look in her eyes. She caught herself and cleared her throat before continuing. "M-My treat!" She looked down at her pristine hooves in slight concern. "I do need a hooficure, now that I think about it..."

Nougat trotted over and grabbed Match's head, teasingly ruffling up her immaculately-styled mane, much to the mare's horror. "Bah! You and your petty makeups; you should try going eu naturale once in a while," said Nougat. She released Match's head and lifted her chin with a sarcastic flutter of the eyelashes.

"My mane! My beautiful mane!" cried Match. Nougat merely laughed and nudged her playfully on the shoulder.

Muddy stood to her hooves as her posture shrunk down once more and her shy demeanour returned. "W-Well, I think a trip to the spa sounds very relaxing... Let's go!"

After a few moments of fiddling with her mane to bring it back in order, Match celebrated. "Yes!" She then took off at a run towards the spa.

"Guh! Fine..." Nougat followed after her at a more reserved pace.

"W-Wait up! My legs aren't as long as yours..." Muddy scrambled to follow them both as the sun slowly began to lower in the bright blue sky.

Miles stepped through the entrance of Sugarcube Corner, having to lower his head to fit through the door, as usual. Once he raised his head once more, he heard the gentle jingle of the bell attached above the door. Much to his irritation, the entire establishment went silent upon his arrival; various ponies halted with their mouths open and food left just inches away from their gaping maws.

A short, seemingly overweight mare behind the counter gasped and trotted away into the kitchen, returning with the pony he was reluctantly pleased to see. Pinkie gasped when she saw him and floated in the air for a few seconds. "Miles! Hi! Watcha doin' here today?" The rest of the establishment seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and return to their activities upon Pinkie's words, causing Miles to raise an eyebrow. Pinkie launched herself at Miles from across the room and attached herself to the front of his clothes as she pressed her short muzzle against his nose.

Miles reached around behind her neck and grabbed her by the scruff. Her legs went limp like a puppy and her eyes seemed slightly confused as he placed her back down on all fours.

"Pink pony. Do you mind if we have a chat somewhere more private?" Miles casually dusted off his shirt as he spoke, glancing around the store with frustration.

"Sure! Follow me!" Pinkie began bouncing across the store and behind the counter, passing the plump mare. the latter pony appeared somewhat distressed.

"Pinkie, are you sure you want to-" The mare was cut off as Miles walked past her, causing her to jump backwards and look up at him fearfully. Miles ignored her as he followed Pinkie deeper into the back of the store.

A somewhat tall, thin stallion was holding some paperwork in his hoof. He looked down at it and made his way past Pinkie towards the overweight mare. He said, "Honey, do you think we can handle all these- Woah!" The stallion scrambled to press himself against the wall as Miles walked past him, dropping all his papers in the process.

Miles stopped and looked down at the stallion, who was now frozen in terror and glancing nervously back towards Pinkie. The stallion then looked over at the overweight mare, who Miles assumed was his wife. He spoke in an extremely hushed voice, as though Miles would tear him in half if he made too much noise or moved too many muscles on his face. "H-Honey... The kids..." The stallion signalled to his wife with his eyes.

The overweight mare shrugged in frustration and seemed torn over what to do. "I-I don't..."

Miles leaned down and gathered up the stallion's papers, neatly stacking them into a pile and handing them to him. "Good afternoon, sir," he said before looking over at the mare and nodding in acknowledgement. "Miss."

The two remained perplexed, yet visibly relaxed as Miles followed where he'd last seen Pinkie Pie hop off to.

Pinkie slammed open the door to her room and began bouncing on her bed wordlessly. Miles followed her inside and gently closed the door. Pinkie stared at him as she bounced with a large grin on her face. It seemed she was waiting for him to speak. "So, Pinkie Pie..." The name slithered off his tongue like toxic waste. "You seem like the outgoing type. I figured that you might know a fair bit about this town, considering you work here - is that correct?"

"Yepperoo!" Pinkie replied.

"So, would you happen to know if there is anywhere around town I can go to look into finding people with D.I.Y needs that they would like addressed?" Miles began pacing around the side of the room at a snail's pace, observing the various party assets and bright coloured streamers cascading around Pinkie's room. He pulled the part of the quill he had taken from the castle from his pocket and began fiddling around with it, making sure Pinkie could see him do so.

Pinkie immediately seemed distracted from his question. "Ooooh! Whatcha' got there?" Pinkie bounced onto the floor and ran up to Miles, jumping up at him to look closer at the quill.

"Oh, I found a quill in my room last night and it unfortunately broke. I like to keep something to write with on my person at all times, and this was easy enough to fit into my pocket," he lied, his eyes becoming hazy as his distaste for this hyperactive pink pony spiked. "Would you like to take a closer look?"

As Miles reached down for her hoof, Pinkie blew a raspberry and pulled away from his grasp, actually seeming somewhat bored by this point. "Oh, pfft, it's just a silly quill? I've seen sooo many of those before!"

Miles silently snarled as his temper neared its limit. He replaced the quill into his pocket. Pinkie had made her way back over to her bed and was bouncing once again, giggling at Miles's display of anger. "Oh, you! You should find something better to carry around with you, like a party cannon!" Pinkie bounced onto the floor once more, and pulled a miniature cannon seemingly from nowhere and aimed it at Miles.

His eyes widened and his instincts kicked in. Before he could react, Pinkie let the cannon rip, and it showered him in an explosion of confetti. Miles merely stood there in confusion for a moment, before he turned his back on her and began picking the pieces of confetti from his person and dropping them to the floor. He held his fingers to his brow. Coming to this pony of all ponies had been a mistake. "Surprise!" Pinkie had appeared on top of his head, and was now leaning over his face upside-down.

Miles thudded backwards with a grunt and reached up to his head, trying to pry the pink pony from his cranium; however, once he reached for her, she was already gone, rolling around on the floor behind him with snorting laughter.

Miles turned, and Pinkie continued to giggle despite the light scowl on Miles's face. "Woooah! You're huge, so you must be strong, right? You're like a living fairground ride! Oooh, spin me round in the air! Pleasepleasepleaseplease!"

Miles picked Pinkie up by her scruff once again and held her out in front of him. He remained completely still and glared at the wall. Pinkie reached into the air and was still begging him to spin her around, but her voice had become distant white noise to him by this point. He placed his free hand into his pocket, running a finger along the tip of the quill once again as he teetered on the crux of his current ultimatum.

After a few moments, he made his move.

Author's Note

06/10/2024 - Touched up with some changes/additions.