//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16: Rainbows and Butterflys 
// Story: Outside Reality 
// by The reluctant fan 
//------------------------------//

Twilight, Galen and Spike exited Rarity's boutique and continued onwards to their next destination.

"Okay, our next stop is Fluttershy's house. She's a caretaker for animals, in case you didn't know that already, so don't be surprised if you see lots of critters lingering around her place."

"I figured she'd have a job like that. Given how much Sam seemed to take to her, she must have a real thing for animals."

"Well, Fluttershy's special talent is caring for animals. Nopony understands them quite like she does. "

Spike spoke up from atop Twilight's back. "By that she means that Fluttershy can literally talk to animals. It's pretty cool!"

Galen gave the drake a flat look. "I'm just gonna pretend that makes any form of sense and move on. So, how far away is...OHJESUSCHRIST!"

Galen dived to the side just in time to avoid a prismatic blur from slamming into him. It shot past where he was standing a moment prior and careened into a brick wall, kicking up a bunch of dust. 

"What... the FUCK...was that?!"

The dust around the crash settled, revealing a disoriented Rainbow Dash. "Ugh, that did NOT go as planned. Oh, my head..."

Twilight gasped. "Rainbow Dash?! What are you doing? You almost crashed into Galen!"

"Screw that! You just ran headfirst into a wall at what looked like 200mph! How the hell are you conscious, let alone alive?!"

Rainbow crossed her forehooves in offence. "Hey, I'm made of sturdier stuff than that! I'm totally fine! Okay, maybe I'm a little dizzy, but apart from that I'm okay."

Twilight frowned. "Rainbow, that's not the point! You need to be more careful! Just how often do you crash into pedestrians?"

"Hey, I'm not that clumsy! I was out practicing my stunts, as usual, when I noticed you guys walking out of Rarity's. I was planning on flying just above you to get your attention, so I could show Galen just how awesome of a flyer I am! I guess I was aiming a little lower than I thought though."

Galen brushed himself off as well as he could, making sure to get all the dirt off of his new clothes. "Look, that's cool and all, but never do anything like that again, you almost gave me a damn heart attack! I don't know how durable this new body of mine is, but if I were still human, getting hit by pretty much anything going the speeds you were would have a pretty good shot at instantly killing me."

Rainbow's eyes widened a little. "Oh, uh, sorry. I didn't know that humans were so...fragile. I mean, you're a pony now, so you'd have been fine, but I get it. I'll be careful from now on."

Galen sighed. "Whatever. As long as it doesn't happen again, I'm willing to forget about it." At the very least, now I know this body is more durable than a human's. Quite a bit more if speeding into a brick wall didn't even leave her with a concussion. 

Rainbow lazily hovered over to the others. "So, what're you guys up to today? Giving Galen the grand tour of Ponyville?"

Twilight sighed, trying to get over her irritation. "Yes, we are. We were just heading towards Fluttershy's place before you showed up."

"Oh, cool! You mind if I tag along? It's been a while since I've swung by to see 'Shy at her place. The weather's already prepared for the next few days, so I don't got much else going on."

"As long as it's okay with Galen. This is his tour after all, and you did almost tackle him into a wall."

Galen shrugged. "I don't see a problem with it. so long as you don't try and off me again."

"Hey! I already apologized, didn't I? And besides, it was a complete accident!" 



"Wait, so your first interaction with her was being tackled into a mud puddle?"

Spike had mentioned how Twilight's first meeting with Rainbow had gone, much to Galen's amusement. 

Dash sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, and when I tried to clean her up, I just got her more wet. Then I tried to dry her off, but I just messed her mane up instead. Honestly, looking back, I probably made a pretty bad first impression, huh?" 

Twilight smiled. "Don't worry about it Dash. I've gotten to know you, and now I know you were just trying to be helpful, in your own over-the-top way."

As they continued onward, Galen thought of something. "By the way, you mentioned something earlier about having the weather 'prepared'. What does that mean exactly?"

"Well, I'm Ponyville's weather captian! It's my job to make sure that the weather in the area stays on schedule. It's clear skies for the next three days, but it's scheduled to rain on Saturday. Me and my team have already taken care of all the stray clouds, and the rainclouds are stored for later."

"Wait, you can just straight up control the weather? That's incredibly convenient! Back home, weather just does what it wants, and it's up to us to plan around it."

Rainbow, Twilight and Spike looked at Galen with wide eyes. "Your weather is autonomous? That sounds a lot like the Everfree forest! If you can't control the weather, then how do farmers grow their crops effectively? How do you make sure you get enough sunlight? How would you ensure the seasons change on time?"

Galen raised a brow. "It seems like your society is heavily dependent on your weather control. We can't control the weather, but we can predict it pretty accurately with certain tools. We have people called meteorologists who use those tools to predict the weather, and then the weather is broadcast on the local news station so that everyone can know what to expect. Of course, few predictions are 100% accurate, and the further in advance you try to measure the weather, the less accurate results become, but it's usually a pretty reliable way to keep up."

Twilight's eyes lit up in excitement. "Wow! That's incredible! if we could figure out how to recreate those tools, we could be able to better counteract freak storms coming in from the Everfree! But that still doesn't account for how your seasons change."

Galen rolled his eyes. "I can show you a video on how the global climate functions next time you're over if you're interested. I only know so much off the top of my head."

Rainbow groaned. "Pass. Don't get me wrong, all that junk sounds interesting and all, but it probably has a bunch of math and science that'll bore me to death. I'll just have egghead over here give me the spark notes after she figures it out."

Spike snickered. "That's not a good idea Dash. Twilight doesn't do 'spark notes'. Hay, I don't even think she knows the definition of the word 'simplify'!"

Twilight snorted in annoyance. "Of course I do! Simplify: to make (something) simpler or easier to do or understand. Examples in sentences include..."

Rainbow's eyes widened in fear. "Okay, you're right Spike, definitely don't want to ask Twilight. I'll just ask Galen instead. Wait, Galen, you're not a nerd like Twilight, right?"

"Depends on your definition of 'nerd'. I don't think I'm nearly as interested in academics as she is, and I can definitely give you an easy explanation if that's what you're looking for."

Twilight puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. "There's nothing wrong about giving a thorough explanation on a topic! There's a lot of valuable information that a summary just can't cover!"

"Yeah, except that not everyone cares about the finer details. Most people, or ponies, might just want the basic information.  That's the whole point of a summary."

The group bantered and bickered for a little while longer, until Fluttershy's cottage finally came into view.

"Huh, she really does live on the outskirts of town, huh?"

"Yeah, Flutters has never been much of a social pony. She's been like that since we were both fillies. She's gotten better over the years, and she's comfortable enough around the ponies in Ponyville to come to Pinkie's parties and other big events, but she still prefers her alone time."

"Nothing wrong with that. I'm not exactly the most social person either. I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't been the one to start any of the conversations we've had. I'm fine being around others, but I still need privacy. That being said, I know this is probably obvious, but don't go sneaking around my house again like how you were when we first met."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Well, duh! The only reason we did it the first time was because we weren't sure if there was a monster living there or something!"

Galen chose not to think about what conclusions they would have drawn if he hadn't been transformed on arrival. instead, he watched as Twilight trotted up to the front door and knocked softly. A few moments later, the door cracked open, before opening fully a moment later.

"Oh, hello everypony. And Spike. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to exclude you. Perhaps I should start using more inclusive terms when you're around."

"It's fine Fluttershy, It's not a big deal."

"Oh, I apologize, I haven't invited you in yet, have I? I was just preparing some early afternoon tea. You're welcome to have some. Only if you'd like to, of course."

Fluttershy entered the kitchen for a moment before returning with a tray of teacups. She handed them out, before sitting down with the others. 

Galen gave his cup a look, before carefully picking it up. "I still don't understand how these hooves are dexterous enough to hold things like this."

Fluttershy sipped her tea a little, awkwardly glancing over at Galen. "S-so, how have you been enjoying Ponyville so far? I'm sorry for prying, I'm just curious."

Galen blew on his tea a little, not trusting it to be cool enough to drink just yet. "Just fine I suppose. It's definitely smaller than most other towns I've been to, but that's honestly nice. Everything is in walking distance, which I suppose would make sense, given that you ponies don't have cars."

Twilight's brow furrowed. 'Car'? is that the strange looking carriage that I saw in that dark room in his house? I'll have to ask Galen about it later. 

Fluttershy smiled softly. "Yes, it's quite nice, isn't it? It's why I like Ponyville. It's nice and quiet most of the time, and you can get around quite easily."

"Yeah, I guess that's an upside over where I live, or lived I suppose. There's nothing but houses for miles. If you wanted to go to a store, you'd either need a car or be willing to take hours out of your day just to get to a corner store."

"Oh, that's unfortunate. Well, I hope that you enjoy your time in Ponyville regardless. N-not that I'm saying your old town was worse or anything, I just-"

Galen let out a small laugh. "I get what you mean. I'll admit I do feel homesick, but honestly, who wouldn't in my position, y'know? At least I still got my house, I could've been dragged here without anything." Not that the house missing is a good thing for the rest of my family, but I think I can afford to think a little selfishly right now.

Galen held back a sigh. "The point is, I'm enjoying the tour of the town so far, and I'm sure it's a nice place to live. I just need to get used to the area to fully appreciate it."

Rainbow smirked. "Hey, I get it dude. I know I had a hard time figuring out what was where when I first moved here. And I had the advantage of an aerial view too. Heck, Twi and Spike haven't been here that long themselves, I'm sure they're still figuring things out themselves. Isn't that right Twilight?"

Everyone looked over to Twilight, who was staring wordlessly at her tea. "Hey, Equestria to Twilight! I asked ya a question, egghead!"

"Oh! Uh, sorry Rainbow, I was just thinking about something. What were you asking?"

"I was asking if you were still having trouble navigating Ponyville. You haven't been here very long, after all."

"Oh, I actually made sure to memorize the map of town the first week I was here! I didn't want to get lost, you know?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Wow, wait to be relatable."

Twilight chuckled awkwardly, her ears folding back a little. "Yeah... anyway, how has your day been, Fluttershy?"

"It's been nice. I made sure to tend to all of my animal friends as soon as I could, and I was just about to go and restock on groceries when you showed up. O-of course I'm happy you're here, and you're welcome to stay as long as you like! I still have a good portion of the day."

Twilight looked at the clock nearby and frowned. "Speaking of, I'm sorry Fluttershy, but we should get going if we want to see the entire town before it gets too late. There's still a lot for Galen to see, and only so much daylight."

Galen rolled his eyes. "There's really no need to rush Twilight. Even if I don't see everything today, I can always find my way around on my own. It's not like I'd get too lost. My house is kind of hard to miss."

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, it's quite alright. I'm sure you've got a very busy day ahead of you, and I don't want to keep you. Of course, if you want to stay, that's fine too."

Rainbow rolled her eyes and flew over to the door. "Just make up your dang minds already! There's some cool places I want to show Galen too, and this back and forth is getting boring!"

Galen got up with a huff. "I'm fine with moving on, just stop being so pushy. I don't like being rushed all that much."

Twilight looked down. "I'm sorry. I don't want to make your tour annoying, it's just hard for me to do much of anything without a schedule."

Galen sighed. "It's fine. I know that some people have different ways of doing things. I got OCD myself, just not nearly as bad. Thanks for inviting us in Fluttershy, sorry we didn't stay that long."

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, it's alright. You can stop by anytime. As long as you want to, of course."

"I'll be sure to come by when I have the time. We'll see you later then."

Twilight rounded up Spike, who was busy eating scones before leaving with the others. The more I dwell on it, the worse I feel about pulling Galen here. He's lucky that his house was brought with him. What would he have thought if he showed up here without anything? I need to get working on a way to get him back to his world as soon as possible.