Everfree Village

On the opposite end of town, Fluttershy had come into town to buy Angel some fresh arugula leaves since he didn't like them after they started to wilt, but she'd overheard somepony mention a new creature had arrived in Ponyville and snuck closer to listen in. When she heard it was friendly she got excited, and when she heard it was recovering in the clinic, she immediately set off to buy it a little present to make it feel better. She had no idea what kind of creature it would be, but everypony loved cupcakes, right?

With the confectionery basket balanced between her wings, she stepped up to the receptionist at the clinic.

"Hello! Yes, I'm here to meet the new creature everypony is--"

The receptionist rolled her eyes and called to a nearby nurse, "Another one for the human!"

"Oh, um, thank you!" The pegasus turned to follow the other pony to a door in the back of the building, thanked the nurse as well, then slowly opened the door, making sure to wear her brightest smile.

She had come just after Rarity dropped off some new clothes for Rohan. He may have been confined to the room, but he was well enough to stand up and try on what she had given him. He had managed to get the boxers and jeans on, but Fluttershy happened to be walking in as he was putting on the shirt. Since he was faced away, he didn’t notice her immediately. She would see his rippling muscles as he raised the white T-shirt over his head to slip it on. It hugged his body to the point that it hid none of his physique.

“Holy-!”

He jumped when he noticed the mare standing in the doorway. Typically the nurse would announce herself, but this time the nurse had just left since it was only Fluttershy.

Fluttershy startled slightly when he shouted, but she recovered quickly and smiled up at the creature. He wasn't like anything she'd ever seen before, except maybe a bit like a minotaur.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. I, um... I thought you would see the door opening."

She lifted the basket with one wing and slowly held it out to him, careful not to make any sudden movements and keeping her voice calm and soothing.

"I heard you got hurt and I just wanted to bring you a little get-well-soon present. My name is Fluttershy, what's yours?"

She had already learned several things about him just from examining his build and the way he carried himself, thanks to her familiarity with animals.

Carefully taking the basket, he set it aside on the nightstand.

“I am Rohan. Truthfully I am already feeling well though. Thank you for the gift nonetheless.”

He gave a short bow, though he was still much taller and the gesture may have lost some meaning as a result.

Fluttershy was more surprised by his formality than anything else and returned the bow with a little curtsy of her forelegs, bowing her head demurely. When she finished she stepped a little closer, even though it meant craning her neck a bit - she wanted him to be comfortable around her.

"Oh yes, you're looking very well, but sometimes things can suddenly go wrong again with no warning and it's nice to be sure. I'm sure you'll be free to visit Ponyville soon!"

She was reasonably confident she had his measure now and slowly spread her wings, floating up to hover just below eye level.

"Would you like to try a cupcake with me? I wasn't sure what you would like so I tried to find something I know everypony loves, and Pinkie really is quite good at cupcakes, but I haven't tasted these ones yet."

He studied her for a long moment. She had softer features than some of the others he had seen, a kind smile, and she was very soft-spoken. There were only a handful of reasons one might be like that, though he didn’t want to assume anything about her.

“I suppose I could, I haven’t eaten very much yet today.”

Pulling one out of the basket, he found it was different than what he had smelled. He figured it would be a pastry like he was used to, but the frosting gave him pause. After smelling it more closely, he realized it was some sort of sweet topping and took a small bite of it.

“Mmmph, this is even sweeter than honey bread. It’s quite nice, thank you.”

She fetched one for herself and ate a delicate nibble at the same time he tried his, then beamed at him.

"You're very welcome! I'm glad they're as good as always. I'm always tempted to try them first, just in case, but then anypony would see there's a cupcake missing and that might make somepony feel bad."

She took another small bite and slowly settled onto the bed beside him at a respectful distance, judging his reaction.

"...If you don't mind my asking, what should I call your people? I know almost all the critters living in this part of Equestria, even most of those in the Everfree Forest, but I've never seen anything like you before."

“Humans. I take it that one of my guesses was right and you are a caretaker of sorts.”

It made sense to him that a soft, quiet mare would take care of animals.

“I suppose it’s probably a good thing that I met you then. Our village has a few animals that we try our best to take care of, but it’s still quite difficult. Maybe you could give me some tips to take home.”

"Oh! You have some creatures of your own?"

She sat up, spreading her wings partially in her excitement and one brushed Rohan's arm, making her blush and pull the wing back timidly.

"S-Sorry... they have a mind of their own sometimes. But oh, I was just so excited! Can you describe them for me, please? If they're new creatures like you I would just love to meet them, but even if not, I've never heard of any creature trying to tame and domesticate wild critters except for ponies."

She stopped suddenly and looked at him pensively.

"...I think maybe I was wrong to think you were a new critter I should befriend and take care of. You're polite, intelligent, well spoken, kind... why, you're more like a pony than some civilized creatures I've met!"

“Thank you, I’ve found ponies to be nothing if not hospitable thus far. Now, let’s see... we have the wolves I found as pups within the forest. Their mother had been killed by a serpent. We have some boars, great big ones at that. And lastly we have something like a chicken with lizard-like features that can turn others to stone with a gaze.”

The last one seemed to shock and scare Fluttershy. She knew well what kind of harm a cockatrice could bring, as did the man. Though her expression had caused him to chuckle a little.

“Worry not, we have found an herbal mix hat cures “petrification,” as our priest calls it. They are still hard to deal with, but we have no hens for eggs.”

Fluttershy still seemed a little shaken and almost seemed to shrink into herself.

"That's good... I had such a scare not long ago when three fillies I was taking care of managed to sneak out at night and were being chased by one of those cockatrices on the edge of the forest."

She shivered and wrapped her wings around her torso.

"I managed to get the thing under control in time, but it was so close... the fillies and I were almost turned to stone."

“It’s not a pleasant process, I know. That’s why I’d rather be rid of them and have proper hens, but we take what we can get. Much like everything else in the village...”

Shaking his head, he pushed away those thoughts and focused back on the animals in his care.

“There are two wolves in my care currently. Skoll and Hati, named after a couple of wolves from our smith’s homeland. They can be quite the handful and don’t allow many people near them. In fact, the only seem to respond positively to me. Some others they tolerate and the rest are not allowed anywhere near.”

The pegasus brightened immediately, ears perking excitedly.

"Well that's perfectly normal for wolves. They're pack animals you see, so their instincts tell them to latch onto the alpha wolf and follow that wolf's lead in all things, but most of that is directed by body language. Skoll and Hati obviously consider you the alpha, but since you're not a wolf they can't make manes or tails of your body language, so they can't tell who you want to be friends! Here, stand up and face me."

The bemused human did as she said, a little surprised at the sudden torrent of information. Fluttershy eyed him critically, then directed him to make several small changes in the way he held himself, the way he looked at her, and most importantly, where he directed his eyes. She made it clear his eyes were very important.

"Yes, there you go. Just like that. See how you're sort of smaller and acting a little meek, almost like you're intimidated by me, but being careful not to do that fearful thing with your eyes that I was talking about? You approach any creature looking like this and little Skolly and Hatty will be best friends in no time!"

“That would be very helpful, I need them to be able to work with others.”

His demeanor shifted and he deflated as he sat back down. With a sigh, he rubbed his face.

“Because they don’t trust others, nobody can take them on hunts but me. Wish I didn’t even have to do that, but it’s hunt or starve...”

Rohan stared down at his hands in quiet contemplation. He cursed that fate, having to kill so many animals in order to feed the village. It was never like that before, only in the forest where it felt like nature was out to get them at every turn.

"Oh... I see. You raised them to help you hunt. Yes, of course..."

She had quickly realized that Rohan was accustomed to fighting from his upper body muscles and the scars she had seen as he donned his shirt, and later she had noticed his sharp canines when he smiled, so she knew he must be at least omnivorous like Harry the Bear. If he had casually stated 'it's hunt or starve' she might have distrusted it, but the weary lines across his face made it clear he hated killing to survive.

Fluttershy thought what she might do in such a world. What if she mysteriously found herself in a world with no grass to graze on and no land to farm? Could she kill to keep from starving? She didn't think she could, but then, she wasn't starving now... Even worse, what if it was a whole GROUP of ponies and they all turned to her to use her knowledge of animals to keep them all from dying? She couldn't let all her friends die, too, she'd HAVE to kill!

So distressing was the thought, and the human looked so weary and tired that Fluttershy felt her eyes begin to brim over. Before she knew what she was doing she had wrapped the human's shoulders in a cocoon of wings and hooves, trying to hold back the tears as she nuzzled the old, sad human, murmuring nonsense apologies for what he had had to do to save his people.

He didn’t fight the embrace, not with his thoughts where they were. It had been so long since he and his mind were able to live in relative peace. It was different back then. Back then all he had to do was protect.

Raising a hand, he pat her shoulder and sighed deeply. He was going to do what he always did: pick himself up and keep going. At least now his people had something to hope for and work towards.

“Thank you, Fluttershy. With any luck, we will eventually return to a life where we can live off our crops. Where we don’t have to worry about the monsters outside our walls or a lack of food.”

Fluttershy sniffled and relaxed a little but she stayed close and kept a wing draped over his shoulders because he still looked like he needed it.

"Don't you worry Rohan, I just know Twilight will figure out a way to help you. Oh, she's so smart, really... If anypony could help you live in safety, it's her."

She laid her head on his shoulder and tucked her muzzle up against his neck. She knew how nice it felt because Rainbow Dash did just the same for her whenever she was feeling truly horrible - and when nopony else was around to see, of course.

"And I'll do my part, too, helping you with your animals as much as I can. We'll all help you, Rohan, me and my friends..."

The touch felt comforting to him, if for no other reason than she had a warm, fluffy body. Tentatively, he brought his hand up to scratch behind her ear the way that he did with his two pups, though he stopped quickly.

“Sorry, it reminded me of what Hati does and I always scratch him behind the ear for it,” he explained hastily.

Now that he was thinking of it, he had a female that was all over him in an attempt to comfort him. While he wanted to tell himself that ponies were different than people, cultural upbringing was not easy to toss aside. Had he been seen like this with a woman, anyone would have guessed he was betrothed to her. As a result, he started to blush deeply.

She felt it was time to let him go almost before he shifted in her hooves. She knew from experience the rush of cold air after a downy wing hug could be very unpleasant so she released him slowly, then quickly realized she had somehow embarrassed him and got flustered and froze in place. She couldn't decide whether to let him go to avoid making it worse or hug him again to apologize properly!

Finally she snapped her wings shut and let out a nervous, "Eep! Sorry!"

“N-no, it’s not your fault, it’s entirely my own.” With her no longer clinging to him, Rohan was able to calm the storm of thoughts swirling in his head. It didn’t completely finish his blush, but it allowed him the ability to think clearly. “Am I right in assuming ponies are a bit more... physically affectionate?”

"Um, well... I don't really know. I know as much about your culture as you do about mine," she made a tiny gesture to the room with one hoof, "...probably less, actually."

Her mane had fallen across her face and she smiled abashedly through it, her ears splayed apologetically.

"Don't you humans hug and comfort each other when you see somepony needs it?"

“W-well, that’s actually reserved for family and married couples. Humans, ah... typically do this...”

He places a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder and simply sat there. It was supposed to tell the other person that one might be there to help them, should they need it. Unfortunately, to a culture that nuzzles, hugs, and has a multitude of ways to show simple affection through touch, Rohan’s display was close to nothing.

“I didn’t mind your hug, mind you, I had realized that it may mean different things and then I started to think about what other people would think and-“

It had been years since he found himself flustered enough to ramble. Nobody seemed to get the better of him in that way, yet this kind pony brought him there in an instant. Finally, he simply shut up and muttered an apology for rambling.

Fluttershy looked down at his hand on her shoulder and her ears began to droop at the thought of a whole species that never touched more than this... but then she looked up into his eyes and felt an odd sort of connection she'd never experienced before. It was as if some inner piece of her private self was being drawn out along his arm and into the open, only instead of feeling exposed, his gaze only instilled in her a deep sense of calm and safety. She blushed and slowly lifted a hoof to her shoulder, laying it over his hand.

She held his gaze like that until he broke it, looking away and mumbling something about rambling, and she couldn't help but utter a small gasp at the sudden loss. She looked away then, too, the pink around her muzzle spreading all the way to her ears.

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from her, though a grin spread across his face. Soon he was laughing to himself and it was a good couple of minutes before he calmed himself.

The mare had been so flustered by that strange sensation that she couldn't help but giggle helplessly with him and the tension between them shattered. When their fit of laughter finally subsided, Fluttershy was surprised by how close she was to Rohan.

“I apologize, I found it amusing that I accidentally dragged you into my silly thoughts about cultural taboos. That was probably not a good topic for our first meeting, no?”

His smile stayed, which seemed to make her smile too. As he sat there, he looked up at the door and an idea hatched in his head.

“Fluttershy, you are well known in this town for taking care of all manner of creatures. Do you think it possible to get the healers to release me into your care?”

She smiled shyly and nodded to him. "I could probably convince them, but I should warn you..." Her tone seemed to shift subtly, somehow gaining a sense of authority without getting any louder or harsher. Rohan was reminded of an elder he knew as a child who never rose his voice above a low murmur, yet would instantly have the undivided attention of an entire room the moment he spoke.

"If you become my patient I will be taking this seriously. You will most likely fully recover with no issues, but if anything does go wrong, I expect you to do as I say immediately and without argument, even if you don't understand why. Is that understood?"

“Understood, I will do as you say, when you say it.”

It was lucky for him that Barbara wasn’t there, otherwise she would have a few teasing words for the man. He stared into Fluttershy’s eyes, ensuring that he was not lying and that he fully understood the consequences. Like the elder, her authority wasn’t just some idle threat. No, he could feel that she would be fully capable of ensuring the promise was met.

It seemed as if her very presence in the room relaxed, though Rohan hadn't initially noticed anything change except her voice.

"Wonderful! Just wait here, I'll be right back."

She trotted casually down the hall and spoke with one of the nurses, who fetched Rohan's doctor. He immediately recognized Fluttershy and was happy to release Rohan into her care, as monitoring patients simply for protocol's sake when everypony knew well enough he was fine simply wasted their time and their rooms. He quickly showed her Rohan's charts and formalized the patient exchange.

Fluttershy returned to his room and tucked his papers into the side of the basket she'd brought earlier.

"All done! Now as your doctor, I'll stay with you and actively monitor you out in the town, so don't leave my side for more than a moment until at least moonrise. Additionally no strenous activities for one full day and take special care that you stay well hydrated for at least three days."

She hovered up beside him and gently laid a hoof on his shoulder, as he had done earlier.

"Aside from those three rules, we're free to do whatever you want."

He smiled at her touch, and the laughter from before threatened to come back again. It wasn’t something that was even particularly funny, yet it still made him grin like an idiot.

“Of course, though I know close to nothing of the place you call home. With that being the case, I’ll gladly follow your lead, Doctor.”

She mirrored his big, dorky grin and turned away before she broke down giggling again, dropped to her hooves again and slowly leading them out of the clinic. She wasn't quite sure what they would do together, but from the way Rohan stared in wonder at something as simple as a lamp post, it didn't seem like they'd be bored anytime soon.

Lodestone sighed, struggling not to lose his temper with a bucking Princess of all ponies.

"Yes, Twilight, I promise I really can carry that much weight, just like the last five times you asked me that."

He decided to change tactics, thinking perhaps she would respond better to an appeal to logic.

"Surely you must have heard of skycranes? I work on mineral digs and routinely carry an entire pallet of solid stone for nearly an hour straight. I'm not trying to brag or anything, I just don't want to waste any more time with you not believing me. I mean, just look at my barrel!"

He stretched his wing up and forward, making his abnormally dense flight muscles ripple and bulge against his skin.

"Well, yeah,... obviously," Twilight said, but it sounded like she wasn't quite sure. "But that's still a lot! Isn't that a lot?" She examined her calculations of weight and then looked at the pile of stuff again. "I think that's a lot..."

Granite, who had been watching their exchange at first with a somewhat awed, reverential expression and then with more and more amusement, giggled quietly. "No, Princess. Lodestone really can carry all that. I've seen him fly. He's amazing..." That last part was a bit quieter while the mare was making starry-eyes at the pegasus.

"Are you sure?" Twilight said, still a bit disbelieving, "It wouldn't be a problem to ask a few more pegasi for help." She sighed and apparently gave up. "I mean, if you're sure..." Her eyes wandered over the pile again. "That still seems like a lot for one pony."

"Alright, here, maybe this will help." He pointed to where she had calculated the total shipment weight, then grabbed her a fresh sheet of parchment. "Remember that weight. Now I don't know any exact numbers, but I can give you some rough estimates to calculate from... Hold out your hoof please. Now this weight that I'm pressing into your hoof is approximately the weight of a cube of marble as wide as my hoof. A pallet of marble is a square about as wide as from here... to here, and about half as tall. I'm crap at math, but I'm sure you can do some back of the envelope calculations to get a rough idea of what that pallet weighs. Compare the weight you get to the weight of the shipment, then remember I said I routinely carry a pallet like that for nearly an hour." He sat back and waited, hoping to the twin sisters she'd believe him this time.

Twilight stared, wide-eyed, at her hoof, even after Lodestone had let it go. "That's... wow. I don't know if I've ever seen a pony who could fly with all that!" She brightened up immediately. "You have to come to my castle and let me run some experiments!" It looked as if her weight problem simply vanished with that, now that the alicorn had a new project and research to pursue.

He stared at the still-blank parchment for a moment and seemed like he would say something, then shrugged to himself. "It's not that special... I'm not much stronger than your average skycrane."

Her abrupt change of tone made Granite laugh again. "Yeah, sure! Tea with the Princess! We'll be there, won't we, Lodestone?" The young earth pony just had to make a half-step so she could nudge the stallion's rump with her own.

His wings shuffled awkwardly and he flicked Granite lightly with his tail.

Mayor Mare, who had been wishing she had some popcorn, stepped up to Granite and reached toward Twilight for the shipment checklist, which immediately floated into her hoof.

"Now then, this is your area of expertise, little mare. We know the weight limits of the shipment now, we just need you to look over the list so far and make sure it's a good selection."

She gave the mare a friendly nuzzle as she was obviously nervous about the attention suddenly focused on her.

"I'm sure you know better than I do, but I imagine you don't want any seeds that are planted in Spring since we just entered Summer, and you want the right tools for the crops they have now and will plant next, not tools that they won't use until Autumn. Can you do that for me, Ms. Granite?"

"Oh... o-okay," Granite mumbled, suddenly the center of attention and not liking all that much. She blushed a bit, but hurriedly grabbed the paper and started reading it with fierce concentration.

Twilight watched for a moment, with a slight grin of approval - anypony who used lists was a good pony in her book. "Okay," the Princess went on to explain, "that means we only need to rent one carriage, rather than two-"

Her quill floated up to make an adjustment on her own to-do list. "Actually, scratch that- we can use the other one to transport the humans."

The alicorn looked around vaguely, thinking. "Maybe Rainbow Dash will want to pull that one with maybe another pegasus. We'll have to see - or we can hire somepony. Aaand-"

She scanned the paper, then smiled. "I guess that's everything. Mrs. Mayor - can you arrange for the carriage while I find Rainbow Dash and ask her?"

"Well of course! I'll have everything prepared and ready at noon by the southern road."

She sat beside Granite and gave her another nuzzle, just in case. She didn't want to be some intimidating authority figure behind a tall desk, she wanted to be a pony you could trust and be honest with if you had a problem with the town.

Lodestone politely caught Twilight's attention as she turned away. "Um, I don't think you're going to want to disturb Rainbow Dash until the morning." He tapped his hooves together awkwardly. "I think she and Barbara have a... a thing now, and last I saw they were headed to your castle for a bath and presumably, uh... 'sleep'."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, even before engaging her brain. A moment later realization dawned and she turned slightly more pink around the muzzle. "Oh! OH!" She giggled nervously and faced away, as if inspecting the horizon. "Yes, I understand. Okay, so we'll ask Rainbow Dash later, but I think it's a safe bet she'll want to come. That only leaves another pegasus." The alicorn was all thoughtful again, now that she had a problem to solve. "I wonder whom we could ask?"

Meanwhile Granite has finished her list and cleared her throat nervously. "Um," the mare said, managing a voice very much like Fluttershy's. She coughed and spoke up with her normal voice once more: "I think this is all okay, except maybe we should take another couple of trowels and maybe some more wheat. Another pack of carrots wouldn't go amiss, too, even if it's getting a bit late for them. The way stuff grows in their village looks almost... magical."

"No need for all the 'maybe's, you're more knowledgeable than anypony else here. Even if you're not certain, it's better than our blind guesses!"

The Mayor gave her a reassuring smile, then marked down the changes she had suggested, adjusting the ratios of a couple other things to fit within Lodestone's allotted weight.

"And that's it, we're all settled. Just need Barbara to pay for it tomorrow before they leave and they're good to go."

Lodestone bowed his head politely, though he knew neither of them required such formality, and set a wing around Granite's withers.

"Alright, we'll see you then. If you need us, I have a room at the Golden Pony paid for by my bosses."

"Oh," Twilight said, but then appeared thoughtful. "What was your employment, Lodestone? I don't think you'll be able to keep doing it, especially if you will be helping these humans. Maybe I can write to Princess Celestia and get you on the Castle payroll for the duration of this... hmm, 'project'."

She was about to walk off, then thought of another thing. "Maybe I should also write a letter to your - bosses, was it - and explain things, so they don't worry. Is it a joint company or something?"

Granite quickly grew disinterested by this business talk, so she amused herself by nuzzling the pegasus and occasionally licking him on withers and muzzle.

"Just tell me the name of the company and I'll explain everything, so you don't have to bother. I know how tricky bosses can be!" Twilight said, even though she didn't, not really. Her only 'boss' had been Celestia and that was a different dynamic.

Lodestone waved a hoof dismissively.

"Oh, I'm not worried about staying with this company; they're total scumbags. They wanted me to come and scout out the forest as a potential dig site but there's no way in tartarus I'm letting them find out about the humans' crystal cave, they'd exploit the hay out of it... might even leave the humans to die."

He trailed off thoughtfully and hadn't seemed to notice how intensely Twilight and the Mayor had focused on him. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at Granite.

"Second we stepped hoof in that cave, I knew I was done at that company. First chance I got once we returned here, I prepared a report that meticulously describes exactly how little solid stonework the forest contains. Oughta keep those stormclouds at bay for a long while."

The Mayor couldn't wait any longer and barked out, "Their names Lodestone. What are their names!?"

He looked sharply at her, confused by her sudden shift in tone. "Uh... Flim and Flam, why?"

"Fl..." Twilight shook her head and tried again: "Flim and Flam?! Those two good-for-nothing confidence-tricksters?!" She looked like she was about to explode in range and it made Granite moo in alarm and try to hide behind Lodestone.

The alicorn spent several long seconds just trying to breathe deeply. "Flim and Flam have been a... problem for Ponyville on numerous occasions, Lodestone. Do not have any more dealings with them. In fact-" The Princess pointed a trembling hoof at the stallion, "I insist you move to the castle right now! You won't get further indebted to- to those two, understand?!" Twilight rubbed her muzzle with her hoof and let out a sigh. "Stay away from them. That's the best advice anypony can give you about Flim and Flam!"

It was painfully obvious that there was some bad history between the unicorn duo and the Princess of Friendship.

"Y-Yeah, of course, yes ma'am," Lodestone stammered. He knew better than to argue a direct order from a princess, no matter how well he knew the company. "So... you mean to tell me Flim and Flam have already pulled their shit here?" The looks on their faces was answer enough and he continued, his expression confused, almost disbelieving, "...and they managed to avoid any serious consequences after pissing off a bucking Alicorn Princess!?"

The Mayor scowled and practicaly spat the words at Lodestone, "They're rotten through, but they know their stuff. They were very careful to never technically break any laws."

"Believe me!" Twilight said in an exasperated voice, "If I could find anything... One single thing, I would have them in front of Princess Celestia before you could say 'foul play'! There's nothing, even with how they acted..." The alicorn really seemed distressed. "I mean- I know they're bad, but I can't throw them in jail without proof. That's just tyranny."

She forcibly relaxed and even managed a small smile. "Just stay away from them and - you were right - never tell them about the humans and their village. Who knows what those two might get it into their heads to do!"

Twilight still looked a little upset, judging by the way her wings rustled every now and then and her tail swished. "I'll- I'll go check on your human friend in the hospital," she finally proclaimed and walked off. It seemed that was it for the day - like Twilight had said, everything should be prepared for tomorrow's flight back.

"O-Okay... I'm sorry, Princess!" He called out after her then turned apologetically to the Mayor, but she cut him off with a wave of her hoof and gave him a tight smile.

"You've nothing to apologize for, it's just... bad memories, is all. Your heart's in the right place and you've already done exactly what I'd have wanted with that false report of yours." She sighed and slumped to her haunches. "And don't worry, Twilight feels the same. In fact, she'll actually think even more highly of you after the way you've handled them... but she'll need some time with her books to calm down. Feel free to move into the castle, I'm sure Spike or Starlight will be happy to show you around."

"Castle?!" Granite gasped suddenly, as if she hadn't understood the invitation until now. "You mean- we move out of the hotel and into a friggin' castle?!" The mare hugged Lodestone in a grip like vice and peppered his muzzle with small kisses. "That's so cool! Guys at home will never believe I stayed in a castle! With an Alicorn Princess!" She even did a little prancing jig. "This is so amazing!!"

They couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm and Lodestone was glad Mayor Mare looked more relaxed after a bit of a giggle. He waved farewell and let Granite pull him excitedly outside, then chuckled as a thought occured to him.

"You know... you and I are basically ambassadors to the human species now, and they think we're practically holy beings. We probably should be in the castle, not some dingy hotel."

He adopted a casually snooty manner and looked down his muzzle at Granite, speaking with an over-exaggerated posh accent and barely holding back his laughter.

"For that matter, perhaps tomorrow we should have a discussion with the Chief and have our sleeping quarters moved somewhere a little more befitting our status, yes?"

The cowpoke laughed at the impression and the face Lodestone was making until her eyes watered. "Quit it!" she managed to gasp out between breaths, "Too... funny."

She even had to lean against the stallion to stay upright, snorting as the giggles subsided.

Since Granite was already holding the stallion, it was a simple matter to steal a kiss. "I don't think I'm good at aristocracy. I don't know how to speak, or how to act. If you put me in front of a salad with more than one fork, I wouldn't know what to do and probably starve to death."

This time the mare giggled at her own joke, before shaking her head. "Nah, I'm just a cowpoke from the rump-end of nowhere. I don't think fancy life is for me. I'd get bored."

He had broken down laughing as well and responded to her kiss with a quick nibble of her ear.

"Well, maybe you wouldn't like all the snooty dress parties and such, but we'll see what you think of the fancy life after spending a night in the Castle of Friendship."

They meandered through the town in the general direction of the castle, stopping occasionally to window shop or grab a small snack that caught their fancy, but mostly just idly enjoying each others' company. Lodestone told all his stories from being the night security at Flim and Flam co - which was a total of two stories - and Granite managed to dredge up some stories from her home town that actually sounded kind of nice. Lodestone was a little worried about eventually bringing her back to visit, but at least she was doing something important now and wouldn't need to stay.

At the rate they were going they probably wouldn't even get to the castle until almost night time.