Intelligence Witholding

I have a feeling that living with Twilight is going to be a lot harder than it sounds. It's not that she talks too much, as the rest of her friends warned me, or that she didn't do much socializing, just spending time with her books. Neither of these things nor any of the other numerous warnings I had received bothered me.It was the pure emotional overload! ERROR-)!#

(Sorry again, still working on that block!)

Spike was helpful though. Meeting him was quite the occasion! Me and Twilight walked in, her carrying her luggage and me carrying the few possessions I owned in my saddlebags. The scene before us was quite amusing. There in the center of the room, seemingly being absorbed by the MASSIVE plush armchair, sat Spike in the strangest of attire: An old looking red and black robe much too long for him, a matching fez whose bobble hung directly between his wide-set eyes, and a bubble pipe which he was enthusiastically blowing on. He was reading the newspaper. With a light cough from Twilight, he looked up and turned the reddest of hues! He continued this mightily humorous scene by trying to cover his odd wardrobe with the newspaper! I simply couldn't contain myself and fell over from the laughing fit I had!

After a slightly more formal introduction, I learned of Spike's special ability to instantly send and receive scrolls by burning them. I found it most interesting, but filed the thought away for a more appropriate time. I have digressed terribly! Back to the subject at hoof. Twilight experienced so many emotional shifts during the day, that I couldn't tell what her natural emotional state was even if I tried!

I have managed to procure a plot of land and some builders trusted by Twilight to construct my soon-to-be permanent dwelling. It feels odd to say that after spending so much time not having a home. It will be paid for out of my ENORMOUS savings account. The thing is practically bottomless! You'd be surprised how well some ponies will pay for my... services.

But until they finish my house, Twilight has generously offered to keep me sheltered. "Besides there are 3 things that still need to happen. One, you need the official Ponyville tour! Two is a surprise, but you'll find out soon enough. Three, I STILL need to find something you aren't knowledgeable about! So let's get on with number one!"

I had actually never really seen the town or it's inhabitants, I had spent almost all of my time here (Not that it was very long, mind you) reading books and conversing with Twilight. I was rather looking forward to it. "We're going to take a roundabout path, so we'll end up back here! The first stop is right on the edge of town, so let's get going!" She seemed very cheerful, but I could taste a bit of dread underneath her happy shell.

"Here we are, Fluttershy's cottage! She's also the local vet." In my opinion, it didn't really look like a cottage. For me, 'cave' described it better. A nice-looking cave though! I hadn't even known there was a house there until we were at least 20 meters from it. And all the creatures! There were more species there than I could care to name! We walked up to the door. When Twilight knocked, although once again I think a more accurate description would be 'touched', we heard a muffled "Eeeep!" come from inside.

When she opened the door, she looked like she was expecting a mass murderer. "Oh, it's just you Twilight! How can I help?" "Well," she replied, " I'm giving our friend here 'The Grand Tour' and thought I'd show him your house. He certainly seems interested in the fauna." That last statement made me realize I was staring and snapped me back to reality. "Well if he's interested I could show him around, you know, if that's okay with you, I mean..."

What followed was as colourful an experience as you can get, quite literally! There were so many fine beasts and outrageous flora that when we left, all my mind could think about was colour! And all the kindness I tasted there! Simply lovely!

The next stop, as I was told by a very peppy Twilight was Applejack's farm, also near the edge of Ponyville territory. "She was the orange mare with the Stetson, right? Three apples for her cutie mark, green eyes, freckles..."

"Woah there mister!" interrupted Twilight. "Looks like somepony's paying real close attention..." "No, I...." It dawned on me what she was getting at. "NO, it is not like that at all! I just happen to have a fine sense for detail." She replied a tad on the snarky side, "Oh yeah? Then why don't you tell me about Rainbow Dash, who we'll also probably find there?" "Alright then, challenge accepted. Pegasus. Rainbow mane and tail: red,orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Cyan fur, magenta eyes. Cutie mark is a white cloud with a red-yellow-blue lightning bolt. Likes speed and winning above most else."

Twilight looked dumbfounded. "Wow..."

We reached Sweet Apple Acres and found Applejack and Rainbow Dash bucking some apple trees. "Well howdy there Twilight! Fancy you popping by!"

"I'm just giving my new friend the tour."

"Well while y'all are at it, care to give me an' Rainbow 'ere a hand? Sure would go faster with you two helping out!"

"Come on Twilight, the exercise could do us both some good!" I said, immediately going to the nearest tree and bucking it. Applejack looked surprised. "Now how'd ya do that?"

"Do what?" I asked, a little confused.

"How'd you get all them apples off in one kick? Took me two solid years of practice to get that right!"

"Oh! Well being a traveler comes with it's dangers, so I've attended many schools and mastered a few forms of self-defense. All I did was apply it to the tree."

"Well, I bet can still out-buck you with all your fancy-shmancy schoolin'!"

"As if!" cried Rainbow, who had been uncharacteristically quiet. "I could out-buck both of you!"

"Well then," I replied, "it's a race!"

We exhausted ourselves bucking the trees, and all the while Applejack and Rainbow Dash had told me about themselves. I could feel the sparks between them, although I wasn't about to blurt it out to the world. ERROR-)!# When we finally finished it was as Twilight had predicted: A tie. "Well, you're just lucky I'd already been bucking for most of the morning, or you'd have been toast!" Rainbow yelled as she flew away. "She jus' can't live without 'er pride." a chuckling Applejack confided.

"So are you ready for the next stop?" asked Twilight. "Definitely!" I replied.

So on we went to the next place of interest: The Carousal Boutique. Owned and managed by Rarity, prodigy clothes designer. The moment we walked in we were whisked away to modelling pedestals by a white blur.

"Oh, we simply must get you something my friends!" The 2 hours that followed were terrifying, She put me into so many articles of clothing I couldn't feel my legs! When I was finally let go I left with several more items in my wardrobe.

"Do come back dears!" was the last she said as we left.

"Onto the last location, which is Sugarcube Corner! Come on, we haven't got much time!" It was only just past 3 o' clock, but the excitement I tasted coming off her told me that this was probably the 'surprise' mentioned earlier.

The building we approached looked to be made of confectionery treats! We entered and found it to be completely dark.

.....

"SURPRISE!"

So many things knocked me off my hooves at that moment. The sheer volume of the wall of sound that assaulted me and my poor ears, the actual intended shock of the situation, Pinkie Pie appearing in and taking up my field of vision from the top down, and some other things I simply cannot recall.

And stretched across the room was a huge banner that read:

......