Claudia had rented a few coaches for them to get to Ponyville, Lulu, Maria, and Tulip were so happy how the coaches looked like something out of a fairytale and pretty. The others were just surprised by the effort made by Claudia just to bring them to Ponyville.
McMirth in the end did follow along after a lot of persuasion at the breakfast table, Claudia almost had a big argument because of McMirth stubbornness. He took a ride with Terry, Herman, and Georgia while Kammy rode with the kids. Claudia sits with the teens, she then pops out of the coach's window to tell the gallopers they are all ready to go.
Along the way, Claudia told the teens about where they are going and where they will be dropping off.
"Ponyville is just like any normal small suburbs we got, but most ponies live here for its environment. Unlike Canterlot, the town is more country living,"
"You could just say it's a middle-class town," Niki responded, looking out the window. They just passed through a bridge next to a waterfall.
"Oh, you're right. Well anyway, when I said I will help you charging your phones I will fulfill that promise, though after a lot of thinking I should just bring you to the pony that helped me solve my charging problem,"
They soon arrive at Ponyville, they can see a lot of different kinds of ponies around more than in Canterlot plus the vibrant decorations presented on sight. Not long after, Claudia was greeted by the Mayor of Ponyville, Mayor Mare.
She was expecting Claudia with the humans as well and just introduced herself to them, not much of a speaker for now because she is getting old and sooner her position as Mayor will change once she steps down to pass to the next generation. She talks about hoping the humans would stay a night in town for the festival.
"Ah, that's why Zeroth invited us," Jenny sang, she looked up to read the letters on the banners,"Festival of Moonlight?"
"It's still new, a celebration dedicated to the previous ruler of Equestria Princess Luna. It's just a midnight party," Mayor Mare giggled.
A loud groan can be heard at the back row and McMirth was disappointed and hoping to not even think of joining the party.
Mayor Mare smiled, not pursuing any longer, and just offers a complimentary stay at the nearby motel for them if they need to retire. Claudia also began to ask the mayor to help find someone to take her place for the town tour,
"I can call Pinkie Pie if you want. You know she is always happy to help, also the fact that she did decorate this as fast as she can. She is just excited to know that the humans are coming by, I'm sure she'll be pleased to help," Mayor Mare suggested.
"I guess she can if she didn't have anything else. I have to bring these teens to some mechanical…stuff," she smiles.
"Of course, I'll go and ask Pinkie Pie then. It's a pleasure meeting you all and I hope you are comfortable in our vibrant town," Mayor Mare said with a big smile on her face before leaving.
Claudia turned to everyone else, started to show around since they stopped by near the Mayor's office and the Townhall, she told them what's inside the town hall and most of Claudia's old stuff when she made up her mind on staying.
"Why do you even need an archive?" Herman glared at Claudia as she turned to look at him.
"Well to...uhh… just to forget things from my past," Claudia stuttered.
"Wouldn't it be better if you just burn all of them than just let it stay all dusty in a drawer?" Jenny taunted, glares emotionless at Claudia.
Ignoring Jenny's retort, she continues the tour by listing down a few best places to dine in, hangouts and just have fun. She then brings them to a building that looks like a cupcake that just exploded on the building. She pointed out that this is the best cake store in Ponyville and Canterlot, the Sugarcube Corner is run by Mr. and Mrs. Cake but also taken care of by their children and Pinkie Pie.
As they were talking, a little pink mane and yellow-coated foal ran out of the store after calling out Claudia's name. Claudia turns and begins hugging the foal that greeted her. There was a tiny bit of smoke coming from the foal, it was just flour covering the little foal's coat.
"Lil' Cheese, we just said don't run while you are still sticky from that flour and sugar," a light yellow female unicorn, covered in bits of flour as well chimed from behind the store's door.
"Hi, Pumpkin Cake!" Claudia greeted, asked the foal named Lil' Cheese go back inside, "Busy today?"
"Ah yes, we are. But with Lil Cheese around everything is fun," she just noticed the humans behind Claudia and gasped, calling out someone from the inside, "Pound Cake! They're here!"
A brown-haired Pony and looking similar to Pumpkin Cake pops his head out and gasps as well.
"If I hear another pony or creature gasped seeing us, you owe me a diamond," whispered Hugh to Marco.
"You're on,"
"Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich are still preparing for the festival," Pound cake said as he came down from the stairs.
"Oh I know, I was just stopping by giving a tour to these people," Claudia gestured at the humans and back to Pound cake and Pumpkin Cake.
They both nod and wish Claudia good luck with the festival still getting ready with many ponies and other creatures doing their part in decorating the area. It would be hectic to walk past many ponies around. Claudia assured that she can handle it for a while, hoping to meet Pinkie Pie soon.
They all left the Sugarcube with little complimentary cupcakes for the children and others. They all still couldn't believe how the food tasted so good in this world and almost as good as a human makes it, they continued walking until they saw a bright pink pony with Mayor Mare from afar waving her hooves and hooting for Claudia.
"Oh gosh, they are here!" The pink mare quickens her pace and jumps on Claudia.
They both fell on the ground, the mare just held Claudia's shoulders with her hooves and didn't stop talking rapidly about how she was super excited to meet the humans and she also prepared a party for welcoming the humans but everything was changed when she almost forgot about the festival. Claudia permits herself to get up first before anything when the pink mare apologizes and picks Claudia up,
"Pinkie Pie, meet the humans," She breathes before pointing to the nearest person she can point to and introduces Kammy, McMirth, till she reaches Tulip, "She's the youngest one in the group too, she might be the same age as Lil' Cheese?"
"Nice to meet all of you!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed before suddenly taking out a cannon and pulling the string and confetti popped out of it, "I can't wait to show all you around!"
She then proceeds to go to Mc Mirth as she sees how grumpy he looks and says he reminds her of Crankydoodle.
"Who's Crankydoodle?" Mcmirth asked, and looked at the pink mare as she hugged him, "He's a donkey, and he would make a great friend with him! Being cranky is his thing,"
McMirth can be seen twitching and he tries to hide his angry face, Claudia interrupts Pinkie from getting overly excited, she asks Pinkie's help to help give the other some tour of the town while she brings the teenagers back to her house in Sweet Apple Acres.
"Just for a few hours? I mean the humans can freely do their thing here if you have done giving them a tour," she said.
Pinkie, being an active and hyper mare, saluted Claudia before asking her if there's a meeting point once everything was over,
"Just ask them to meet at the Townsquare first before onto the next plan,"
As Pinkie got the right instruction, she left with the humans to continue their grand tour of the town. Claudia turns to the teenagers to follow her to a farm full of apples and the smell of cider whiff in the air.
On special occasions, the Apple Family will be making their special apple cider and they will also open a small booth for other ponies to get their first batch. Applejack is in the booth with Sugar Belle, Claudia greets them first as they busy pass ciders to the next paying customers; Applejack acknowledges Claudia and the teens behind her before greeting her.
"You're back, Claudia,"
"Yeah, just doing some human tour and I promised these teens something back at the house,"
"I heard, Pinkie Pie can't stop asking about you guys. Big Mac and I have also helped to pluck the corns in your farm and put all of them at the barn, you can pick them up whenever," she said, begin to yell at the customer in front of her who keeps staring at the Teens.
Claudia thanked Applejack for the help, she picked up a few cups of ciders for herself and the teens, she paid Applejack for the drinks while ushering the teens into a pathway next to where the Sweet Apple Acres sign is.
"I honestly never tasted cider before," Hugh muttered as he looked into the cups, "It's delicious!"
"Yeah, it tastes really good," Niki agreed, taking a full gulp of the drink.
"The Apple family's specialty, they always controlled the quality for generations," Claudia explained, "You should see how they worked and also how the apples grow here someday!"
They passed through a row of Apple trees, Claudia told the teenagers about how her first job here was picking apples and how it was a very stressful job for a human-like her. They almost reached the end of the forest of apples, there's a cottage at the end of the forest line and a gate separate the farm and the yard.
Claudia opens the gate and leads them to the front of her door, she opens the door and invites them in.
"Welcome to my house! Make yourself at home while I grab my many phone chargers upstairs," she closes the door behind her after the teens are inside.
Jenny and Niki look around while the boys just find a sofa and sit down, the inside of the cottage is like something a grandma would be staying at, doilies on the coffee table, a fireplace in the living room, flowers, and succulents are surrounding the entire house. There were a bunch of pictures hanging on the walls, there were pictures of Claudia in the human world, traveling to some countries, and lastly, a picture of when she was younger probably around their ages with her parents.
"Wow, you think Claudia bought all these or made them by herself?" Niki said as she strolls around the living area looking at the succulents.
"I bet you she would buy them, she doesn't look like the kind to make them," Jenny replied, standing next to a sewing machine and picked up an unfinished skirt, "Pretty sure she would just give up and do something else," she snorted.
Marco gets up and turns to the window and sees a field of corn outside.
"I bet you she's more of a farmer because look at the corns,"
The others look out the window and see the corn, they all agree that the corn looks so green and some can see a patch of golden yellow peeking out of its green sleeves.
Soon they heard the sound of footsteps running down the stairs, Claudia came down with large doohickeys like something out of a science fiction movie and a socket attached at the end of that machine.
"What the hell is that?" Hugh spouted.
"Well, I could say this is a battery, an engine if it's sound better," Claudia croaked, putting the thing down on the coffee table, "All I can say I met a science pony to build me a contraption that can produce a portable electricity,"
Jenny leans down, looking at the contraption closely, "And… this stuff works?" she raised an eyebrow at Claudia.
"Yes, and it's fast charging too, so do you guys bring your chargers?"
Jenny gets hers out from her backpack and passes her phone to Claudia, she begins to attach the charger head to the socket of the machine, and she pushes a single switch on the machine. The machine starts to whirr, Jenny and her friends all slowly back away just for safety measure.
Claudia assures them the sound is normal and soon, Jenny's cellphone begins to turn on its own and everyone gasps. The phone charged as fast as Claudia said, she quickly removes the phone from the machine and passes it to Jenny who is still stunned. She checks her phone and instantly tries to press some apps and checks for battery life. Then Niki, Hugh, and Marco passed their phones to Claudia.
Jenny turned on her music and inhaled happily to be able to listen to her music again, she sat down on the couch, thanking Claudia for it. Claudia only smiled and continued helping the other teens with their phones.
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In the middle of town, Pinkie Pie is showing off the many wonderful things Ponyville has, but also keeps introducing them to Gummy, her pet alligator and Gummy is 10 feet tall for an alligator.
"I am so wanting to get out of here, she's not stopped talking," McMirth whispered to Kammy.
"Be patient Mirth, she means well. She's just super excited, also she did promise us a good time,"
Pinkie Pie continues by introducing to some of the residences of Ponyville and showing them the boutiques and such there. When they reached the Salon and spa, she declared them as the end of the tour.
"Oh thank goodness," McMirth said in relief.
"I would love some massage," Kammy moaned, cracking her back.
"I can introduce you to the best masseuse in EQUESTRIA!" She called out a very muscled-up horse in the spa uniforms and he suddenly went back inside, and some people caught a glimpse of his red face.
Pinkie pie nervously laughs, excuses herself into the salon to drag the big guy out. For a horse full of muscles, he is easily nervous about meeting new people, Pinkie explains.
"Bulk Biceps is the best in massages," Pinkie continues, "Come on, Bulk. Say hi to the humans!"
Bulk gives them a wave and then leans over to Pinkie Pie as she whispers to him, he nodded and opened the door wide for the other humans to get inside.
"Who's coming?" Pinkie shouted happily.
"What about the children?" Terry asked, looking at the kids who've been spreading out and about looking at the decorations and other ponies and foals playing.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of them!" Pinkie volunteered, "Hey, Kids! Wanna helped me finish decorating for the Festival?" She hopped to the kids and the other kids replied with a big 'YES'
"I won't be joining any activities, I rather go to sleep in the motel," McMirth said.
Kammy stopped Mirth from walking away, inviting him to at least try to get warm steam stuff in the spa but Mirth completely out of it. Kammy just sighed and smiled, hoping Mirth would change his mind soon. Kammy, Georgia, Terry, and Herman with the rest of the humans joined inside the spa. Emma and Ilya actually want to follow Pinkie and the kids helping around.
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McMirth did find his way to the motel that Pinkie showed for their stay while in Ponyville, he checked in and saw an old stallion at the counter greet him and instantly passed the key to him. He looks around before going to the stairs that the pony had shown him.
The motel is tall enough for him to walk, the doors just the exact height as him. He finds his room and gets inside, the room is quite spacious, it has one window view of the site of a pond at the back of the motel but also he can see a stage was being made from there. He grumbles and shuts the window before sitting on the bed.
"I hope we get back to our place soon," he picks something out of his new pants and held out a small picture, "I missed you,"
He looked at a picture of him and a woman, his wife, smiling at each other. McMirth put the picture back in his pocket, lay down on the soft bed, and closed his eyes instantly.
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Claudia and the teens all on their way back to the town, she watches as they take selfies and pictures as they walk. They all wished they could show this to their other friends back home,
"Well you can once Starswirl and Twilight opens back a portal back to Earth,"
For a moment, Jenny and the others went a bit silent, hesitated to reply.
"Oh, right. We are going home," Jenny said in a tone as if she's uncertain about the answer.
They are near the town's street, and Jenny begins to run and waving her hand at two creatures in punk clothing. Claudia blinks, just watched as the teens left her all alone and went on with their new friends.
She slowly walks on, rubbing her arms looking down, she asks herself, 'Feels different now, doesn’t it? They all will go home soon… I’m glad I made them feel comfortable in this land,' She lifted her head again to look around staring at the open road to the town, ‘But why do I feel sad? I know I’m doing the right thing to do by sending them home...Do I want them to go?’ Then she saw Pinkie with Emma, Ilya, and the kids decorating around the town's building with other ponies. She walks up to them and greets them,
"Hey Pinkie, where are the other humans?"
"Oh! That one lady, Kammy? She and the others are at the spa, except-" she hummed and turns her head to Claudia, "- That grumpy guy, he went to the motel,"
"Of course. Anyway, all you guys have fun decorating I go and check up on the others as well, I'll be back,"
She walks straight to the spa and gets inside, seeing half of the humans were having a relaxing time in the spa, some in the hot tub while getting a manicure and then there's Kammy and Terry getting face therapy with cucumbers on their eyes.
“Claudia!” Kammy exclaimed, removing her cucumber eye patch and stretching her body, “This spa is amazing, I never felt so relaxed ever since we stayed at the castle.”
“I agree to that,” Terry agrees, while still lying down on the spa chair.
“Glad you enjoyed yourself,” Claudia chuckled and sat down on one of the chairs, “You do look relaced, so is everyone here that joins you guys,”
She looked around at the rest of the humans getting a massage from the rest of the masseuse, she turned to Kammy.
“So what’s next on your plan after a spa day?”
“Maybe I could just find some nice ice cream,” Kammy giggled, “That Pinkie Pie really showed us so many nice places to explore. She’s a sweetheart,”
“She makes me feel like I want to live here,” Terry said..
Claudia tilts her head to Terry, he removed a cucumber from his eyes and raised an eyebrow, “What?”
“Do you… want to stay here forever Terry?”
Terry’s eyes widened and shifted a bit, the other humans who heard their conversations also just shifted their eyes to each other. Kammy begins to voice out about if they stayed here forever, how these ponies will be able to accommodate them, there’s no way they would let them build a community of humans around.
“Are you kidding? Equestria is a home for ALL creatures, of course, dragons have their own kingdom as well, but we can too.” Claudia motions her arms and bobs her head and continues, “We can figure out a way to have a temporary stay,” she then shakes her head, gets up, “Wait, I have a question.” she looks around at the humans, all the masseuse also stopped what they are doing,
“Are you… guys actually have thought of just living here? Not even thinking about going home?”
Everybody in the room shuts their lips, looking down, some grumbles and some hummed a little sigh. Claudia turns to Kammy, her expression changes quite a lot.
“We… aren’t sure, but it’s something, this place already feels like home. The ponies, creatures here, like you said before, Claudia. No different than us in our world,” Kammy told Claudia, she turns to Terry then to the other humans who agree with her.
Claudia almost shed a tear hearing it and just unsure if whatever she’s feeling is joy or bad due to how she felt like she was forcing all these humans to stay instead of letting them go back to the human world. But after listening to what Kammy said and the others’, she sure it’s the right feeling. Though now she only thinks about the teens, kids, and also McMirth. He seemed to be the only person that wanted to leave the place more. Before Claudia could open her mouth, Pinkie pie stormed into the salon and ran towards Claudia.
“Claudia!” she screamed, “She’s missing!”
“What? Who’s missing?” Claudia retorts.
“That blonde cute girl, what was her name, Tulip!”
Kammy and Claudia both shouted back and instantly got up and left the spa, instructing the other to just stay calm while they handled it.