An unexpected visit

Since the hospital was near the town square it's the first place they take you to. It looks like the tallest building in Ponyville is in the centre of the town square, so you guess that that is the town hall. You still feel awkward as every single pony stops in their tracks to look at you, but you try not to pay them any attention.

When you reach the building, which is about the size of a three storey house, you wonder how they managed to build something like this. It seems that this is the biggest building in the village, but it still seems small, thinking about skyscrapers and such. Nevertheless, just like all doors here, this one was just a little to small for you to walk through without arching you back a little.

The inside of this place, however, was huge. It looked much bigger on the inside than it did on the outside, but luckily there weren't too many ponies hangin' around here.

"Nopony comes here too often." Twilight explains as if she were giving a real tour to a tourist, which she was doing in a sense. "This place is mostly used to receive complaints, or if there's a disaster happening."

You look around the circular room and see that what looks like another floor from the outside, is just a small balcony from the inside. You can see the roof all the way from where you're standing. There's a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling and it looks really expensive. Crystals, which refract the light to create rainbows on every surface, seem to be endless. So many crystals must be worth a fortune.

"That chandelier you're looking at, it was designed by our very own Rarity." Twilight said proudly, while putting Rarity in the spotlight.

"Oh, yes, well. It wasn't that big of a deal really." Rarity says awkwardly while you stare at her in amazement, yet again bedazzled by her gorgeous mane. You see a little blush appear on her face. 'Did her fur just change colour?' You feel that you should stop paying attention to these kind of things. There are too many weird things happening here, you just can't stop to think about every single little thing.

You pull your eyes off of her again to look back at the chandelier.

"Where did you get all those crystals?" you ask.

"They were supplied by the mayor, they all come from the mines underneath Canterlot." Rarity didn't seem to understand what kind of value this thing had.

"What's Canterlot?" you wonder, but you guess it's just another village.

"Canterlot is Equestria's capital city. It's the most magnificent place to be with a marvellous castle which is built into the side of the tallest mountain in Equestria." Twilight stated. "It's also where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna live, and where I used to live, before I came here, to Ponyville."

Okay, so Canterlot is not a village. It's where the royalty lives. Not wanting to feel even more stupid you decide not to ask who these princesses are, although you would like to know eventually.

After standing in the town hall for ten minutes Twilight decides that it's a good time to move on to the next location. You step through the little doors leading out of the town hall and you get directed to your left. You walk for several minutes and pass quite a few houses, which you expect are homes, until you reach a small dirt road leading to a small shack in the distance. Behind the shack you see a dark, dense forest. It makes you feel intimidated. You even think you see eyes lurking at you from the dark bushes at the edge of the forest.

As you get closer to the shack you notice that it is actually much larger than a regular shack. And it even sort of resembles a tree. The roof is covered in leaves and moss. There are bird houses all over the building and in the trees around the not-so-average shack.

"This is Fluttershy's home." Twilight says, as she nudges you forward.

"Oh, yes, would you like to come inside?" You hear the yellow pony say as she approaches the door to open it.

"This's where we initially brought ya to getcha treated. See, Fluttershy's th' best veterinarian in all o' Equestria n' 'cause we didn't know what ya were, we jus' brought ya right 'ere." It was the pony with the apples on her butt who was speaking, with her overly Texan accent.

"I would love to see your home." you say sincerely.

As you walk in, you see a lovely home. There is a small stove to your right and all around are small stairs and pathways, of which you didn't know why they were there. A red carpet with a flower print is lying over the wooden floor. There is an archway to your left which leads into another room.

"So, uhm, this is the living room." Fluttershy says with her adorably tiny voice.

You're led through the archway into the other room. There's a wooden table placed against the back wall under a window. Looking through the window you can see a path leading from Fluttershy's home out into the dark forest.

You notice that instead of chairs, there are pillows laying on the floor. Seems logical. It would be weird to see a pony sitting upright on a chair. There is a couch, however, placed against the right wall. You can't really imagine how that would work for ponies, but you figure that they can manage, somehow.

"And, uhm, this is the dining room." again with that soft voice, you really have to strain your ears to hear what she's saying.

To your left you see two doors, of which you expect on to lead to Fluttershy's bedroom. Of the other door you're not to sure.

You noticed from the outside that there was a second floor, so you expect the door to lead to a staircase.

You don't need to wait long to find out as Fluttershy starts to walk toward that door. You follow her through it and indeed find yourself in a little hallway with a staircase going up. But there's another door at the opposite wall in the hallway and Fluttershy's walking, or trotting, towards it.

She goes into the next room, which seems oddly familiar. You instantly remember that this is where you had your 'first encounter' with the ponies. The bed, which you were put in, is sitting against the far wall and there is a little desk to the right side. You notice that there are some wooden scraps on the desk, accompanied by some broken glass. The memory smashes you in the face, mentally.

"I'm so sorry." You say apologetically to Fluttershy. "I was just so freaked out, I-I didn't know what to do."

You then see the picture, now without frame, laying next to the broken pieces of wood and glass. It's a picture of the six ponies, which were now all standing pretty close to you. It's a pretty nice picture.

"Oh, it's okay, it's not like you did it on purpose." She replies with a voice you'd expect from a mother, who's just punished her child. Problem is that you did do it on purpose, even if it was to try and wake yourself up.

Still feeling guilty, you get led back to the dining room.

"Would, you like something to drink?" Fluttershy asks. "I haven't got much. I hope you don't mind." Her voice started getting smaller again.

"No, thank you. I'm good." you say, hopefully not insulting your host.

After about a minute you start to notice Pinky again, which you have so desperately tried to ignore al this time. She's just randomly bouncing around the house. One moment she's in the dining room, the next she's standing in the living room, and a second later she's outside, waving at you through the window.

"Can we go now, I'm starting to get bored." You hear from above you. It's the blue pegagus, Rainbow Dash the boaster, if you remember correctly.

"Wanna continue the tour?" Twilight asks you.

You don't know how much there's left to see and you haven't got a clue on how much time is left, so you decide that you want to continue the tour.

"Sure, what's next?" You ask her.

"We can either go visit Carousel Boutique, Rarity's place, or we can go and try to get a glimpse of Dash's home, Cloudsdale." She's giving you the choice.

You don't feel like going somewhere where you might see something, but you want to be able to see it for sure. And you don't mind to see what Rarity's home looks like, although you don't think you'll be paying much attention to that, seeing how distracting her mane is.

'I would like to see Carousel Boutique, you don't mind do you?' You ask Rarity, while your stare is being caught again by her mane.

'Of course I wouldn't mind. On the opposite, I would be delighted to show you around my boutique, and home.' Boutique? Oh yea, she makes clothes, you remember.

You walk back along the dirt road, which led to Fluttershy's place, and try to make a map in your head. You don't know how long you'll be stuck here, so you better make yourself at home.

It seems that Fluttershy still has to take care of a few things at her home, so she won't run along with the rest of the tour. It's not like you really noticed her that much in the first place.

After you've walked for a few minutes and passed some of the houses, you take a sudden turn to your right. This is a different road, probably behind the row of houses which make up the town square, and has a slight curve to the left. The road is pretty wide, you expect that you could probably fit two cars side by side, and still have space to open the doors fully.

All the houses look pretty much the same, all very colourful and happy, except one. This one really stands out, it looks like a small castle in comparison to the other houses. The decorations on the outside show that this is definitely a clothing shop, and in this case, definitely Rarity's boutique.

The first thing you notice about the place is that the door is a little bigger than any you've seen so far in Ponyville. It's probably even big enough for you to walk through normally, standing straight up and not having to bend over to refrain from hitting your head.

You walk along the small path leading up to the shop's front door, which is framed nicely by a well kept front garden. As you reach the door you wait patiently for Rarity, and when she arrives you feel like you should be a gentleman towards her. Why? You haven't got a clue.

'Ladies first.' You say while making an overly exaggerated bow. You feel really stupid for doing so, but you try to hide your shame by ripping your stare from the enticing deep purple mane and looking at the ground.

'Oh well thank you kind sir.' Rarity says in all formality, also making a little bow before opening the door with her magic.

You're surprised at her reaction. You expected her to just look strangely at you. You did hear some laughing though, from somewhere above you. It was the blue pegasus with the rainbow coloured mane, Rainbow Dash. You haven't really figured out what the deal is with her though. You just think that it has something to do with being a pegasus.

Up until now all pegasi you've seen, which is only two, are very weird.

As you walk through the door which is, like you expected, tall enough for you to walk through when standing straight, you first enter a little hallway.

'Please clean you hooves before you enter.' Rarity says to you and your company. 'I wouldn't want my workshop to get dirty, now would I.'

You don't mind to clean your feet, when you come to a sudden realisation. You're not wearing shoes, but you're wearing your morning slippers, and have been wearing them all the time. You now feel very aware of what you look like and you feel like a beggar. You're wearing your oldest pyjamas, which is very worn out, and your wearing slippers which you've had for at least six years.

After you've cleaned your feet on the mat you decide that it doesn't really matter any more what you look like, since you've been walking around like this all day. You go through a little archway leading out of the hallway and straight into a little lobby.

Everywhere you look is some kind of cloth or string. It looks even worse than your own bedroom, which you hadn't cleaned for a week. There's a sort of blueprint laying in front of a sort of mannequin, a pony style mannequin that is.

'Don't mind the mess.' Rarity says a little nervously. 'I just forgot I was working on this little project for one of my most trusted clients.'

'Please, try not to touch anything.' She added sincerely. 'Otherwise I won't be able to find anything.'

You wonder how she's able to find anything at all in this big mess, but your brain remembers a very nice word for this, 'Organised Chaos'. You guess that this is the best example you'll ever have of that.

'Soooo...' Twilight said, probably not knowing exactly what we were still doing here, it being such a mess and all. 'Shall we move on.'

You barely here her, you're too distracted by Rarity. In a way she's your complete opposite, but in another she's exactly the same. You try to think of something else to get your attention off of her, and it works, for about a tenth of a second.

'I think Rarity needs her space, so she can continue with her 'little' project.' Twilight seemed to notice Rarity getting a little awkward with you staring at her all the time.

Against your will you go outside, but you guess that it's for the best. It seemed she still had to do a lot of work, which meant that, sadly, she won't be joining your not-so-little-any-more tour any more. Although you've only visited three places, you feel like you've already spent half the day doing that.

'Next up is Sugar Cube Corner. That's where Pinkie works and spends most of her time. It's practically her second home. And it's also, conveniently, on the way to Sweet Apple Acres.' Twilight seems really proud of herself at making this tour.

After walking past only seven houses you smell something so sweet it almost hurts your nose. As you continue walking the smell only gets stronger. You understand why it's called Sugar Cube now. It's as if the air is turned into sugar.

When you reach the source of the smell you feel like you could drop at any moment. You cover your nose with you sleeve, which doesn't help much.

'Can we skip this one, please.' You ask, while breathing heavily.

Haven't ponies got a sense of smell, you wonder. How can they stand this. Suddenly it seems like it's very quiet, something is missing. You look behind you and are shocked to see that the pink coloured pony is looking at you with big eyes, tears welling up.

Oh dear, now you've done it. You don't want the pony to start crying, but you know that if you were to enter the store with all that sweetness, you'd definitely pass out.

'It's okay pinkie.' The orange apple pony, Applejack said. 'Remember the first time I got here? When I entered the store for the first time I passed out, remember? I couldn't handle the strong scent. I guess that that is exactly what's happening to this human right now. He just has to get used to it a little. We can always come back later, 'kay?'

This really seemed to cheer Pinkie up again, and before you realised she was bouncing again. After you that smell you're not surprised she can keep bouncing around all day. She's just high on sugar, and that combined with, probably, an energy disorder, you can understand. But that doesn't mean that you don't think it's annoying to have a pink pony bouncing up and down in the corner of your eyes all day long.

You let Twilight continue the tour, and she leads you along the road, to the opposite side of the village. As you walk away from Sugar Cube Corner you feel that you're able to breath again, after almost being suffocated. After a few minutes of walking you notice that the village is pretty big, you could almost call it a little town.

When you finally reach the edge of the village you see a really big orchard stretch out before you. It's huge. as far as the eye can see there are trees, apple trees. It's pretty obvious to you that this is Applejack's place. Somewhere in the distance, between the apple trees, you see a pink house, although it looks a lot larger than a regular home.

You walk along the dirt road lead to the house, and as you get closer you see that it's not a house, but a barn, a rather large barn. You wonder how they'd be able to build this, since Applejack didn't have a horn nor did she have a set of wings. They must be more advanced then you initially thought.

When you finally reach the barn you start to feel hungry. You guess that it's already late in the afternoon, and you haven't had any lunch.

'Come on in y'all.' Applejack says as she turns the doorknob and opens the door, with her hoof. You don't even mind asking how, everything here is weird.

'Granny Smith's just dun with makin' her delicious apple pie. I dunno 'bout you guys, but I'm starvin'.' It seems that Applejack just read your mind. And you wouldn't mind having fresh apple pie as lunch. After being fed through tubes for a week, in the hospital, you'd like to eat something solid again.

The house-side of the barn is lovely from the inside. A large living room with four sofas placed against the walls. a small table in the centre of the room, decorated with flowers from the fields. A big fireplace, which is probably used in the winter to heat the whole barn, was the finishing touch to the picture. The whole place made sense, in this world where nothing makes sense.

After a minute or two Applejack, who'd left to get the pie, came back with five monkey dishes on her back. She picked them up with her one of her hooves, again you don't know how, and placed them on the little table. Then she went to get the pie. When she returned it surprised you that the pie was already cut neatly into eight pieces.

She'd brought a cake knife with her to server the pie with. She didn't use her hooves but her mouth to hold the knife, and she managed to neatly put one piece on each of the little plates.

You feel so hungry you're only barely able to wait for the others to start eating their share of pie, but when you start you aren't prepared for what you're about to taste. The pie seems to melt on your tongue while the stuffing seems to explode in your mouth.

It feels like small electric bolts zap the inside of your mouth, but they don't hurt. You feel absolute euphoria, and that combined with the fact that you're so hungry makes it even a bigger enjoyment. When you finish your first bite you notice that the stuffing isn't your regular brown-yellowy colour, but that it's like a rainbow. It just looks extremely trippy, you think it's just you, but it seems like the colours are actually moving as you move.

When you take your focus off of your pie you realise that every pony in the room, four of them, are staring at you with a smile on their face.

'Enjoyed that, did ya?' Applejack said with a voice that could only be described as someone making fun of you.

'This apple pie's made with our famous Zap-apples. They're the most special kind o' apples which only grow once a year, and have to be eaten within three days of harvest, or they'll go bad.'

You feel very lucky to be able to taste this magnificence and you take another bite. After finishing your pie, which was accompanied by loud sighing and sounds that belong in the bedroom, you feel exhausted. You notice that the sky is also beginning to darken. It must have been later that you thought when you reached the barn.

'I'm pretty tired.' You say. 'Can we continue the tour tomorrow?' You ask Twilight with your eyelids halfway down.

'I think it has indeed been quite a long day, maybe we should rest.' She answers.

'Do we have to go back to the hospital?' You don't want to but you don't have anywhere else to stay.

'Or ya could stay here. We got enough room for the whole village practically, so I think you should also be able to stay.' Applejack offers.

'I'd love to stay here.' You say, you don't want to stay one more night in that hospital bed which felt like concrete after four days.

And so you are able to stay at Applejack's for the night. You wonder what Twilight has planned for you for tomorrow, but now you're just going to sleep on one of the sofas, which feel like a cloud to you, so soft. Applejack gave you a blanket to stay warm but it's summer and it's warm enough that you don't need the blanket.

You close your eyes and drift into the magic world of dreams.

This is when you really get surprised.