Most children did not like hospitals. Twist and Henry were no exception. But they were there on Bon Bon's insistence as she apparently needed some personal things checked out with a gynecologist before chaperoning them about town. Because there was no way Bon Bon was about to let her daughter drag the poor colt about town while he could barely walk. After he figured that out, she would let him be fair game. Plus, it would just be unwise to not be around to help him get over the culture shock he was bound to experience.
Twist hadn't needed much convincing. She clung to Henry as though he were her lost puppy.
Henry, however, was quite afraid of what he might find outside the door. Twist had more or less strapped him to her back and plodded alongside her mother. To save him embarrassment, Bon Bon had unstrapped him and set him upon her own back, which was quickly followed by Twist jumping up beside him.
"Tho I can make thure he won't fall off," she explained matter-of-factly.
The hospital visit was relatively short, and when the left Bon Bon had a certain skip in her step. Which promptly stopped when both foals fell off her back.
One apology later, she set her sights upon the marketplace.
"Now, I do know that colt's hate shopping," the kind mare began as she passed the stalls, "but, please, bare with me for at least an hour or two."
He just sighed. Which earned him a sympathetic pat on the head.
"Tell you what. If you behave yourself, I'll get you a special treat from Sugarcube Corner. Would you like that?"
"Y-yes, please?"
She giggled. "No need to sound so nervous. We really need to help you build some confidence."
"What's Sugarcube Corner?" Henry whispered to Twist. "Treat" was really all he understood from Bon Bon promise, but he didn't want to sound ignorant around her.
"Only the betht bakery in Ponyville," Twist said with a gleeful clap of her hooves. "You'll love it."
"Only if I behave," he reminded her.
She blew a raspberry and rolled her eyes. "Thhe'll take uth there, either way."
The first stop of the day was a stall named "Human Necessities". It was run by a middle aged man who sat on a lawnchair with a laidback expression on his face, which was mostly covered by a baseball cap. It was also given a noticeable birth by all the other stalls.
"Morning, Gene," Bon Bon chimed happily.
The man lifted the bill of his cap and smiled at her. "Well, if it isn't the lovely Bon Bon. How are you?"
"I am well, which you won't be if Noteworthy ever heard you say that," she replied with a modest blush. "How's the baby?"
"Loud."
"That means he's strong," the mare chuckled. She indicated Twist with a nod of her head. "That's why we were so worried about Twister in her earlier years. She was so quiet and needed constant surveillance."
Twist blushed a bit. "Moooooomm."
The adults both chuckled at her childish embarrassment.
"Well, I would love to stay and chat more, but, I promised a certain colt, this one to be precise," Bon Bon indicated Henry with a nod of her head, "that we wouldn't be long in the market. He's Equestria's latest human amalgamation, and the real reason I'm here."
"So, you need meat, do you," the man asked with a broad smile. "Well, I've had bit of luck. The hunting's been bad lately for some reason, as I'm sure you've heard, but some of the local farmers have donated a bit of their livestock."
"Hmm," Bon Bon thought, tapping her chin. "That'll work I suppose. So long as we're not cooking somepony's prized pet or anything."
"Why do you have think like that?" Gene sighed as he reached under the counter.
"Because it's so much fun to tease you humans, that's why," she snarked good-naturedly. "Show me the goods, Gene."
Full of determination, but with a slight hint of distaste, the mare looked over the labeled paper packages the man had produced from a small freezer. "Hmm. Humans love chicken right? They seem to compare a lot of tastes to it. How about it, Henry?"
"It's fine," he said half-heartedly.
"You don't like chicken?" the mare asked, concerned.
"It's fine," he repeated, looking down.
She sighed wearily. "Don't play this game with me, young colt. If you don't like something, just tell me. I am trying to be a good hostess."
"Fine," Henry groaned before launching into a brief narrative. "Chicken is bland, tasteless, dry, gets stuck between my teeth, and is completely overrated. Not to mention that it's all my mom ever makes for dinner. Then she wonders why there are so many leftovers, which will almost never get eaten. And if I dare complain she just calls me an ungrateful child. I don't want to be ungrateful. But, I... I hate chicken. Okay? Please don't get it."
Bon Bon stared at his pleading face and blinked a couple times before nodding slowly. "Okay. No chicken, then."