The sun was hovering just above the horizon by the time the Friendship Express rolled into Ponyville Station, coming to a controlled stop perfectly aligned with the platform. The coach doors were opened soon after, allowing the passengers to spill out with the guard keeping things orderly so no one was hurt.
Mavis followed behind Twilight and Applejack as they exited the coach and led her to a spot near the ticket booth. The platform quickly filled with the chatter of passengers meeting friends and family. Porters pushed trolleys filled with heavy luggage to and fro, bobbing between crowds of ponies and politely asking them to move aside when necessary.
“Hoowee, big crowd today, huh?” Applejack said once they’d escaped the chaos.
“It sure is,” Twilight agreed. “Not sure why.”
Mavis only barely heard them as she was busy taking in the new sights around her. Beyond the station was a dirt road leading into a village— Ponyville, they called it. The buildings were nothing like in Canterlot— small and, if Mavis remembered her driver correctly, ‘quaint’ was the word to use, as opposed to the towering, rich architecture of Canterlot. Most of the houses here had thatched roofs and wooden framework, with colours limited to yellows and browns. There were no visible roads between houses, just endless grass. Off in the distance, she could see buildings with similar architecture to Canterlot and a broader range of colours, which confused her.
“Somethin’ catch your eye, Mavis?”
She turned to face Applejack and Twilight. “I’ve never had any interest in buildings other than my shed before. I’ve always paid more attention to my work than the world around me.”
“So you’ll be learning a lot about not just our culture, but that of bio-organic organisms as a whole!” Twilight said, a sparkle of glee in her eyes. “Well, I’m sure by the end of your stay you’ll come to love Ponyville like it was a second home.”
Mavis frowned. “Am I going to have to memorize the layout of the town?”
“We’ll be giving you a tour, don’t you worry none, Sugarcube,” Applejack reassured her. “Why don’t we get that outta the way right now; we can make Sugarcube Corner our last stop while we’re at it!”
Applejack flashed a wink to Twilight which the alicorn returned. Mavis didn’t miss the subtle action. A small, yet dreadful feeling settled in her stomach. Usually when an engine or person did that it meant they knew something was going to happen which would make her look foolish. But before she could say anything, Twilight and Applejack started off into town, prompting her to quickly follow behind.
Their tour of Ponyville started near the edge of town before gradually moving inward towards the center where the ‘Town Hall’ was located, according to them. The first stop was the Ponyville schoolhouse which was currently deserted as school hours were over; it was the first time she’d ever seen a playground, so she had a hard time imagining little colts and fillies or even human children playing on it. A little later they showed her Quills & Sofas, which literally sold nothing but those two things, something that Twilight and Applejack thought was odd but Mavis didn’t understand why it would be. One of the last stops before reaching Sugarcube Corner was a dirt path leading away from Ponyville toward a dark forest. According to them, their friend Fluttershy liked to keep to herself away from ponies aside from their circle of friends. Mavis thought that sounded sad.
Most of the time, however, Mavis wasn’t paying attention to the landmarks they were pointing out; she found herself more interested in the ponies they passed. They were all doing things she’d sometimes seen humans doing back on Sodor: fixing their homes, shopping, chatting on walks— things she’d never thought twice about before. She’d only ever viewed people as either passengers or workmen, completely ignorant to the lives they lived away from the rails. The engines of Sodor only knew life on the rails, but now she was going to live the life of one of Sodor’s citizens herself for the next week. All she and her friends wanted was to be useful, but she wondered if ponies and humans were just the same, or if they wanted something more. She supposed she’d find out in time.
The sun had long since set by the time the three of them reached Sugarcube Corner, which was by far the queerest-looking building in the entire town; Mavis didn’t even know how best to describe it. It was a strange combination of pink and brown and white, with a strange, dome-like structure atop and three pointy things sitting atop that. Guided by streetlight, they made their way to the front door. It was dark past the swinging doors inside, too dark to see anything. Even the town was clear of ponies by this time, making everything eerily silent.
“So, what do you think of Ponyville?” Twilight asked, turning around to face Mavis.
Mavis shrugged. “It’s adequate.”
Applejack quirked an eyebrow. “That all ya can say?”
“It’s what my driver calls things that he says function properly,” Mavis explained. She frowned, looking up at Sugarcube Corner. “This place looks strange compared to all the other houses.”
“Maybe, but hooves down it serves the best pastries in all of Equestria,” Twilight said with a smile.
“Pastries?”
“You’ll see soon enough, Sugarcube,” Applejack said. She climbed the building’s front steps and opened the door. “How about right now? Go on ahead in.”
Mavis didn’t like the cheeky grin Applejack gave her. She instinctively backed away, fear shooting through her. She then felt Twilight wrap a wing around her and she turned to face the alicorn princess.
“Trust us, please,” she soothed. “We made a promise that nothing bad would happen to you, and we intend to honour that promise.” She paused for a moment. “We’d get in serious trouble if we broke it.”
That made perfect sense. The Fat Controller spoke harshly to engines that acted out of turn, but Mavis remembered her driver once saying he’d heard stories of Sir Topham Hatt being cross even to workmen that gave his railway a bad reputation. If Twilight and Applejack let something bad happen to her, the Fat Controller would definitely do the same thing to them. Realizing this, Mavis felt more confident.
“Okay,” she said.
Twilight unwrapped her wing as Mavis stepped forward, climbing the front steps and pushing open the swinging doors. She took one step inside. Nothing happened. She took another few steps, jumping when a snicker sounded in the darkness.
‘Who’s there?” she asked.
No one replied.
Mavis crept slowly forward. The tingling was back in her stomach and even worse than before.
Suddenly, the lights came on and—
“SURPRISE!”
Several dozen ponies popped into sight, throwing their legs up and shouting all at once. Mavis cried and stumbled backward, falling on her rump. The beating in her chest from before returned in full force and she felt a ringing in her ears. Something popped and blasted a shower of colourful little pieces of paper into the air which fell on Mavis, tickling her muzzle and making her sneeze.
“Ha! Sorry if we gave you a fright there, Mavis,” Applejack’s voice came from behind her.
Mavis brushed off the pieces of paper before turning around to see Applejack offering her hoof. She accepted it to hoist herself back up before turning back to the scene before her. The ponies were all wearing strange pointed hats and some had odd contraptions in their mouths. Colourful streamers decorated the walls and a large banner was stretched across that read ‘Welcome to Ponyville from Another World’. A table sat at the far end of the room which contained a variety of foodstuffs. One of the ponies blew into one of the odd contraptions and a loud, unpleasant noise filled the air, making Mavis fold her ears back out of reflex.
“What is all of this?” she asked to no one in particular.
One of the ponies in the crowd — a pink one with an even pinker mane and tail and big, blue eyes — hopped out of the crowd and got right in Mavis’ face, much to her distaste.
“Hiya, I’m Pinkie Pie!” she cried mere inches from Mavis’ face. “I organized this ‘Welcome to Ponyville from Another World’ party. It’s the fourth ‘Welcome to Ponyville from Another World’ party I’ve ever put together and I hope you like so so so so much. I was thinking about making another banner because I think it’s weird that ‘Another World’ shouldn’t be capitalized but I only have so much canvas in my Party Cave so I couldn’t make another one. So what’s your name? My name’s Pinkie Pie– oh wait I already told you that, didn’t I? So what’s your na—”
Pinkie was cut off by a blue hoof covering her mouth and pulling her back, much to Mavis’ relief. Her saviour was a blue pegasus with a rainbow-coloured mane and tail and magenta eyes.
“Remember what we told you about personal space, Pinks?” she said.
Pinkie nodded, mumbling something behind the hoof still covering her mouth. “‘Respect it’, you guys said,” she said once she was free to speak.
“Exactly.” The blue pegasus hovered in place above them all. She must’ve noticed Mavis was staring at her as she said, “Something wrong?”
“N-no,” Mavis said shakily. “I’m sorry. I haven’t seen one of you winged ponies fly yet.”
“That so, huh?” the pegasus replied. She hovered down and stuck out a hoof. “Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria. Nice to meet you.”
Mavis accepted the hoofshake. “Mavis.”
“Why, that’s a lovely name, Darling.”
A white unicorn and a yellow pegasus emerged from the crowd, coming towards them. The white pony’s purple mane was curled up in a manner which Mavis thought looked unnatural, while the yellow one had half of her face hidden behind her own pink one.
“I am Rarity,” the white unicorn introduced herself as, then gestured to the yellow pegasus, “and this is Fluttershy. Say hi, Darling, please.”
Fluttershy didn’t say ‘hi’, squeaking like a cornered mouse instead.
“Why is she hiding behind her mane like that?” Mavis asked. “It seems undignified.”
Fluttershy peeked an eye out from behind her mane. “Um… I’m sorry,” she said so softly Mavis could barely hear her.
“She had a bad experience with the last person that came through the Window and is a little hesitant to meet any more after it,” Twilight explained. She met Fluttershy’s gaze. “It’s okay, Fluttershy; Mavis is a good person.”
“Yeah, an’ ‘sides,” Applejack spoke up, “she’ll be staying at Sweet Apple Acres for most of her stay, so don’t you worry about anythin’ going wrong ‘til then.”
“O-okay,” Fluttershy said, the corners of her muzzle lifting slightly.
“That’s enough chit-chat!” Pinkie cried before jumping into the air. “Let’s party!”
The crowd cheered for a moment before they all dispersed. They all chatted, ate food off the table, and a few even started doing odd activities that must’ve been fun games, judging by their smiles and laughter. Mavis spent the next few minutes just watching, fascinated by the scene before her. This was an aspect of people’s lives unlike her and her friends’ own. Sometimes when she managed to gather with the other engines they’d talk about their accomplishments or things they found funny or silly, but this was something even bigger. She had a hard time fully comprehending it.
She was brought back to reality by a hoof clamping onto her withers. She looked to see Applejack flashing her a smile. “‘Bout time you joined your own party, don’t you think?”
“Sure, I guess,” Mavis replied, feeling a little hesitant.
“Let’s go play a game of ‘Pin the tail on the pony’. A Pinkie Party ain’t complete unless its guest of honour plays at least one round, at least according to her.”
She led Mavis to a far wall of the room where a couple of ponies were standing and watching as a third pony with a band covering his eyes walked toward a section of the wall with a picture of a crudely drawn pony without a tail stuck to it, holding a piece of colourful cloth attached to a pin in their mouth. Once he reached the wall he gently stuck the pin into the picture, landing it right on the picture pony’s forehead. The audience laughed merrily as he removed his band, laughing himself at the result.
“Think you can do it, Mavis?” Applejack asked as the next pony stepped up to try.
“What’s the purpose of this?” Mavis asked.
“Having fun, silly!” Pinkie’s voice came suddenly, causing Mavis to jump and the strange beating in her chest to come back.
Mavis steadied her breathing as the second pony stepped away from the wall and the third pony stepped up to take their turn. Mavis felt the beating in her chest relax and she turned to face Pinkie with an irritated frown.
“I doubt I’ll be able to find fun in something as strange as this.”
“What do you normally do for fun?” Pinkie asked.
“Teasing Toby about how much of a fusspot he is.”
Pinkie looked taken aback. “That sounds mean to whoever that is.”
“Well, he is a fusspot; you’d believe me if you ever met him.”
The last pony finished their turn at the game before wandering off to go join the rest of the festivities. Applejack walked over, pulled the pin out of the wall with her teeth, grabbed the band, and returned to Mavis.
“Well, you won’t know if you like it until you try,” she said. “At least try it once, gal.”
“Yeah, Mavis!” Pinkie cried, this time making Mavis fold her ears back. “Show us what you’ve got!”
Mavis was feeling very silly as she took the pin in her mouth while Applejack worked to wrap the band, or ‘blindfold’ as it was called, around her head. She could get it over with quickly, at the very least.
“And now for the dizzy spin!” Pinkie shouted.
“Wait, wha—?”
Mavis was cut off as two hooves grabbed her withers and spun her entire body around on the tip of her hoof. She wailed in alarm as her body spun faster than she ever had on a turntable before. It wasn’t long before she toppled over, her head feeling too dizzy for her to think clearly. She landed hard on her barrel, momentarily stunned. She shakily planted her hooves on the ground and hoisted herself up, but wobbled as her head still hadn’t settled down.
“Hurry, Mavis!” Pinkie said. “Pin the tail on the pony!”
Mavis couldn’t find the strength to growl in response. She walked forward, doing her best not to topple over again. She reached the wall and quickly stuck in the pin, not caring where it landed.
“Not too bad, Mavis!”
Mavis removed the blindfold from her eyes and looked at the picture— the tail had hit just below the rear hooves.
“So, did you have fun, Mavis?” Applejack asked.
Mavis turned to look back at them and shook her head.
“What!?” Pinkie’s eyes went wide with shock. “Really!?”
Mavis narrowed her eyes at her. “Why did you spin me like that?” she said darkly. “None of the other ponies did that before taking their turn.”
“Well— I mean— you know—” Pinkie paused for a moment, her cheeks going red. She laughed nervously. “Well, those other ponies were cheating.”
“At least you tried it, even if you didn’t like it,” Applejack said. She gestured toward the crowds of ponies. “Let’s go join up with our friends.”
The three of them made their way into the crowd, Mavis following close behind Applejack to avoid losing her in the crowded room. The noisy chatter filling the air was getting annoying by now. Every now and then a pony would bump against Mavis and wouldn’t even apologize. Mavis had a cross look on her face by the time they’d arrived at a long table against one wall where Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle were sitting along with a small, strange-looking purple creature that Mavis couldn’t identify. Sitting on the table was a plate full of colourful foodstuffs. The three of them took empty seats, all while Mavis eyed the strange purple creature curiously.
It must have noticed her staring because it said, “You’ve never seen a dragon before, have you?”, raising his voice to be heard over all the talking behind them.
Mavis quirked an eyebrow. “Dragon?”
“If I have my facts right, aren’t dragons a part of your world’s mythology?” Twilight asked her.
Mavis stared blankly. “What?”
“Never mind,” Twilight said. “Basically, Spike’s my number one assistant and a friend to all of us. You can trust him as much as us.”
“Yeah, you bet you can!” Spike said proudly.
“Okay then,” Mavis replied simply.
“Anyway, I think it’s important we make sure we’re all on the same page in regards to Mavis,” Twilight said. “Specifically, about her origin.” She motioned everyone to lean forward, which they did. “Remember how we told you all that our visitor would be transformed by my spell?” She spoke softly enough not to be overheard by anyone behind them, but loud enough so her friends could hear her.
“Indeed, Darling,” Rarity said. “And I must say, you did a magnificent job as usual.”
“Yeperooni!” Pinkie cheered.
“What we didn’t tell you is exactly what she used to be.” Twilight’s expression turned serious. “Ponies might come up to Mavis asking questions, and we all need to be able to help her deflect them so she isn’t overwhelmed.”
“You can count on us for that!” Rainbow said.
Everyone nodded their agreeance.
“Okay then, here’s the truth…”
Twilight and Applejack spent the next several minutes explaining everything to their friends: Mavis’ origin, the reason why she got turned into a pony, and even a detailed description of her original form to explain why her new body looked the way it did. Everyone actually looked surprised to learn that Mavis was originally a diesel engine, with Pinkie making a couple of ‘jokes’ comparing her to the Friendship Express that Mavis found more silly than funny. Rainbow asked what it felt like to be an engine and be driven by a human, which Mavis could only reply by saying ‘it feels natural’, to Rainbow’s slight disappointment.
“So she’s never had a cupcake before?” Pinkie said, looking almost sad.
“I don’t know what that is, so no,” Mavis replied, only to gape when Pinkie stretched, seemingly impossibly, across the table and grabbed the plate of food in her hooves, bringing it over to Mavis and setting it back down.
“You’ve just gotta try one!” Pinkie cheered.
Mavis examined the ‘cupcakes’ on the plate. They were an assortment of colours with paper-wrapped bottoms and little colourful things littering the top. She brought the plate closer and sniffed one of the cupcakes. It had a certain scent to it completely unfamiliar to Mavis but was pleasant all the same. She opened her mouth and bit off a small chunk.
The instant she began chewing she paused, a broad smile breaking out on her face. Relief and pleasure filled her like a fresh batch of oil. The sensations going off in her brain were indescribable. What was clear was that this cupcake was amazing to eat. She bit off an even bigger chunk of the cupcake and began chewing with fervour, ignoring the mess she was making of her face and humming with delight. She swallowed and took another bite. Over and over she whittled down the cupcake, ignorant of everything happening around her. By the time she’d finished it off her face was smeared with colourful pasty stuff and crumbs littered the table in front of her.
Mavis let out a contented sigh. “That was amazing,” she said. Then she noticed everyone was looking at her funny. “What?”
Rainbow Dash sniggered. Rarity’s eye twitched. Fluttershy looked to be on the verge of giggles. Spike was clearly holding back bowls of laughter. Pinkie was about the only one that looked somewhat normal, though, her smile somehow seemed to stretch beyond the edges of her face, to Mavis’ slight horror.
Twilight levitated a square piece of paper from another nearby table and passed it to Mavis, who just looked at it curiously. “Use the napkin to wipe your face,” she instructed.
Mavis did as told, holding the ‘napkin’ in her hoof and doing her best to wipe her face clean, giving it back when she was done.
Applejack laughed heartily as Twilight dropped the napkin into a nearby trash can. “Glad to see you took to eatin’ so easily, ‘cause you’ll be doin’ a lot of it.”
“I will?” Mavis said.
“Food acts the same as coal and oil do for engines,” Twilight explained. “It gives you the strength needed to work and play. Unlike oil, however, you need a variety of different foods to stay healthy, as well as plenty of water and other liquids.”
Mavis nodded her understanding. It was an easy enough concept to grasp, needing more than just one kind of fuel in order to function.
“We’ll go over all of that in the morning,” Applejack said. “Right now, we’re here to enjoy the party!”
“Yeah!” Pinkie cheered.
Mavis couldn’t bring herself to be excited, not having found the party to be especially thrilling so far. While the group of friends spread out to enjoy the various party games and socialize, Mavis busied herself with trying a little bit of every item of food and drink that was being offered. None of them offered her the same amazing satisfaction as the cupcake, but they were all tasty enough that she freely stuffed herself full without bothering to talk with anyone. Any attempts to socialize would’ve probably resulted in her making a fool of herself, anyway.
The party was winding down by the time Mavis couldn’t bring herself to take another bite of food. Any attempt to lift her leg towards the last few foodstuffs on the plates was met with cries of protest from her brain. That and her stomach was aching badly, which was probably a person’s signal to stop eating. She slumped in her chair, closing her eyes for some much-needed rest.
“Full stomach, huh?”
Mavis opened her eyes. A pang of annoyance shot through her at having her sleep interrupted. She turned around and flashed an annoyed glare at Applejack. “I was just about to sleep,” she said darkly.
Applejack laughed. “Yeah, I’m plum tuckered out as well. How about we head on to the farm and get ya settled in?”
“I can sleep there?”
Applejack nodded. “Yep. In a bed, mind you, not a shed. Hope you’ll get accustomed to that quickly.”
“As long as I get to sleep, I won’t mind,” Mavis replied as her eyelids threatened to droop.
The two of them waved goodbye to the remaining partygoers and made their way outside. The night air was chilly, sending a tingle down Mavis’ spine. The streetlights illuminated the entire town around them, showing it to be completely deserted. Although, the lights were on in many of the houses, indicating the ponies hadn’t gone to sleep yet. The sounds of nighttime critters like crickets, frogs, and a single distant owl filled the otherwise silent air.
Applejack led Mavis all the way through town, across bridges, before they reached a dirt trail leading away from town. The light of the moon and stars shone brightly away from the streetlights in town, allowing the two to traverse the trail safely without a headlamp. They didn’t talk at all the entire way. Mavis busied herself observing her surroundings, taking in the sights she could see under the moonlight. Everything was very remote and open, unlike Ffarquhar Quarry which was enclosed and industrious. It was an interesting change of scenery if nothing else, one that Mavis could get used to.
They reached the farmhouse after about a half hour of walking. The lights were on inside and a silhouette could be seen walking around inside. A vast orchard sat to the right of the farmhouse, stretching into the distance. Applejack opened the front gate for Mavis and the two made their way across the lawn and up to the front door. Applejack opened the door and stuck her head inside.
“We’re home, y’all!” she called.
“Applejack, ‘bout time ya came home!” an old feminine voice said from inside. “Ya missed supper, too!”
“I told ya, Granny, I was gonna be away to get our guest,” Applejack replied. “She’s here with me right now.”
“I wanna meet her!” a much younger voice piped up from inside.
“We’re comin’ on in!” Applejack said before turning to Mavis, holding the door open for her. “Guests first.”
Mavis stepped over the threshold into the house, looking around. The inside of this house was far more spacious and decorated than her shed. On her right was a room with chairs and a single table, structures built into the wall that Mavis couldn’t comprehend, while a colourful, oddly-patterned thing lay on the floor in the center of the left room in addition to a couple similar pieces of furniture as the right room. Directly in front of her was a staircase leading up to the second story.
“So you’re the new pony, huh?”
Mavis turned to see a small, yellow earth pony filly with a bow in her mane emerge from the left room.
“Apple Bloom, remember what we said about bein’ polite to guests?” Applejack admonished sternly.
The filly, ‘Apple Bloom’, sighed. “Yeah yeah, I’m sorry Miss,” she said to Mavis. “So you’re gonna be workin’ with us on the farm for the next week?”
“So it seems,” Mavis replied, suddenly feeling uneasy. She’d never interacted with children too much as an engine so she wasn’t sure in what ways she might mess up this encounter.
Another pony stepped out behind her: a lime green, wrinkly-faced earth pony mare with a gray mane. She hobbled over to Mavis and began inspecting her from top to bottom. Mavis wondered if there was something wrong with her body; she didn’t feel sick or broken.
“Not sure what I was expectin’,” she said after a few moments. “But she looks right young and strong, at least, 'specially in the hind legs. Perfect for apple buckin’.”
A third pony rounded the corner: a big, red stallion with an orange mane. The instant his eyes fell on Mavis he froze stiff like a board. His eyes widened and his mouth opened a little. His cheeks even turned a very slight shade of pink. Mavis raised an eyebrow at his strange reaction to seeing her. He didn’t look happy or sad or cross to be seeing her, just… amazed. It couldn’t be her lack of a cutie mark that grabbed his attention if Twilight was being truthful about telling everyone that detail in advance. Was there something else really special about her appearance? If so, why hadn’t any other pony had a similar reaction upon seeing her?
“Mavis, I’d like ya to meet my family,” Applejack said, grabbing her attention. She pointed to Apple Bloom. “This here’s Apple Bloom, as I said—” then to the older mare, “—Granny Smith—” and finally, the red stallion who was still looking at Mavis funny, “—and Big Macintosh, or Big Mac for short.”
“Howdy, Mavis!” Apple Bloom said cheerily.
“Glad to have ya a part o’ the Apple family for the next week, young’un,” Granny Smith said.
Big Mac finally broke his weird expression and smiled at Mavis. “Eeyup.”
“Hello everyone,” Mavis said hesitantly, still weirded out by Big Mac’s odd reaction to her. “I hope I can be very useful while I’m here.”
“I hope so too, young’un!” Granny Smith said. “We’re gonna be the ones feeding you, so you’d better put out a good performance!”
Mavis felt emboldened by her words.
“Where are ya from, Mavis?” Apple Bloom asked suddenly.
Mavis opened her mouth to respond but Applejack spoke up first. “We’ll get to all that in the morning. Right now, I gotta give Mavis a tour o’ the house.”
“Okay,” Apple Bloom said. “Good to have you with us, Mavis!”
The three of them turned back into the room they came from, Big Mac’s gaze lingering on Mavis for a second longer before disappearing from sight. Apparently, Applejack hadn’t noticed as she immediately began giving Mavis a rundown of the house. The room her family walked into was the ‘kitchen’, where meals were prepared and served and eaten. The opposite room was a general ‘living room’ meant for unwinding after a long, hard day of work.
They went up the stairs next. The first door down the hall was the ‘guest bedroom’ where Mavis would be staying. She wasn’t sure what to make of the ‘bed’, but Applejack insisted she would enjoy it. They passed by the next few rooms which Applejack explained were for herself and the rest of her family, and that Mavis should come to her if something happened in the middle of the night that she required help with.
The last stop on the tour was the ‘bathroom’, which was undoubtedly the strangest one. At first, it went well, with Applejack showing her the shower which was meant to wash mud and gunk off one’s body. Staying clean was a concept Mavis understood already, as did every engine, though, it took her a few tries to understand how to turn the nozzle to get the water flowing in the ‘shower’. The same held true for the ‘sink’. The ‘toothbrush’, ‘toothpaste’ and ‘towels’ took the most time and effort to understand and properly make use of. It was when Applejack showed her the ‘toilet’ that things got awkward. Applejack fidgeted, seemingly struggling how best to properly explain how it worked to her. Eventually, she simply instructed Mavis to sit on it whenever her stomach started aching when she hadn’t eaten anything. Mavis chose not to prod for further details, putting her full trust in Applejack.
They returned to the guest bedroom once Applejack declared the tour was over. Again, she gave a rundown on what everything in the room was used for: the desk was used in case she ever needed a hard surface to write something on; the nightstand more or less was simply to hold up the candle level with her in case she wanted to read something, and the closet was used for clothes in case she was going to attend a ‘hoity-toity social function or somesuch nonsense that Rarity gets kicks out of’, but there weren’t any plans for that in the upcoming week, so she wouldn’t need to worry about using it.
“That’s about it, then,” Applejack said. “Make sure you blow out the candle before you fall asleep. Also, settle under the bed covers to keep warm.”
“I’ll remember that,” Mavis said.
“Then I’ll leave you to yourself.” Applejack started for the door. “Get a good night’s rest, ya hear?”
Mavis nodded. “I will.”
Applejack left, closing the door behind her, leaving Mavis alone. She inspected the room again, the dim candlelight aided by the moonlight streaming through the window next to the bed letting her see everything. Looking outside showed a large section of the orchard sitting next to a vast stretch of empty plains leading to the horizon. That orchard was where she’d be working. Mavis smiled, happy that she would be getting her chance to prove to the Fat Controller how responsible, reliable, and really useful she truly was soon enough. None of the things she was expected to do sounded very hard either, which was good.
A yawn forced its way out of Mavis’ mouth, signaling to her the need for sleep. She walked over to the bed and pulled up the covers, settling under them. She lay her head on the pillow and just stared blankly up at the ceiling. So this was how people slept? It didn’t seem too different from sleeping in a shed, only that she had the ability to turn around, which didn’t seem very useful. But she was warm, so the bed was doing its job fine.
She lay there for some time, lost aimlessly in her thoughts. The day’s events began replaying themselves. That morning she was locked up in her shed, worried she’d be turned to scrap. She’d been brought halfway across the Island of Sodor to Tidmouth Shed only to have her beautiful frame taken away and replaced with a strange pony body. All of what happened through the Window was a blur, but waking up in a castle in another world was, surprisingly, fairly normal compared to being a passenger!
The stories she’d have to tell the other engines would make them jealous for sure. She could already imagine the look on Toby’s face when she told him everything she’d done. Never again would he call her silly; he would see just how important she truly was.
Eventually, her eyelids started drooping, so she lifted her head to blow out the candle on the nightstand before settling back onto the pillow. She fantasized about Toby’s shocked reactions to her stories up until her eyes closed and sleep overtook her.