Chapter 7: "Cupcakes"
"So that's the plan?" asked Mike. "One hell of a plan, seeing as though it involves 'magic'."
"You know, sir, unicorns have been practicing magic for centuries." said Twilight.
"What a great way to waste several centuries."
"Mike," said Mitch, "how do you think we got here?"
"I hit my head, like you said. How should I know?"
"We went through a portal when flying over Detroit."
"Well, that's believable."
"As believable as talking Pegasi, unicorns and ponies with cutie marks?" asked Twilight.
"You have officially made me believe in magic." Mike replied. "So, when do we go?"
"As soon as you recover." Mitch explained.
"Why not go right now if my injury will just disappear?"
"No one recovering leaves the hospital, unless there's an extreme emergency." a nurse in the other side of the room said.
"How long will that be?" asked Mike.
"Four days for you." the nurse said.
"Four days. Then we go back." Mitch said.
"Alright, enjoy your recovery, uh, Mike." Twilight said, turning to leave with Mitch.
"I'm sure it'll be oh so enjoyable." Mike said sarcastically.
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Mitch walked through the Everfree forest, admiring the fine scenery. The land of Equestria really was pretty. There was a beautiful view of the mountains behind the trees in the Everfree Forest. They were tinted the perfect shade of blue from water vapor, thanks to the weather team. He took a bite from the hunk of cheddar cheese he took for his walk, when a familiar Pegasus swooped down in front of him.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash. What's up?"
"Not much. Say, what do you think of the tinted mountains? Got the water vapor thickness just right, didn't I?"
"Oh, that was you? You did a great job. They look really good." Mitch said, admiring the mountains as the water vapor began to turn into clouds.
"Urgh! I hate it when they do that! It ruins the scenery."
"It's a force of nature, you can't control it."
"That's where you're wrong. The Pegasi control weather, but only authorized ones can make natural stuff not happen over the Everfree. I can cause stuff like water vapor no problem. But if I make a big rainstorm I can get in trou-"
"Whoa, Rainbow, you're confusing me. Slow down. Oh wait, I get it." Mitch laughed. "So you can cause stuff like water vapor, but you can't make it rain?"
"Any Pegasus can make rain clouds, but making a big rainstorm over anywhere is strictly prohibited. Pegasi get in trouble for that."
"What about farmland? Don't they need water from rain clouds?"
"Oh, if the weather team in Canterlot tell us Pegasi in Ponyville we need a heavy downpour, we make a heavy downpour. If they say we need a foggy day, we make a foggy day. We obey authorities, but it's boring that way."
"I know how you feel. Hey, uh, why are your wings open?"
"My wings? What? Oh! Uh, that's what Pegasi do when they're just about to take flight." Dash said, taking into the air.
"Well then why does Fluttershy do it in her cottage sometimes, even though she's not about to fly?" Mitch asked suspiciously.
"It's a long story," Rainbow said, getting nervous.
"I have plenty of time,"
"Oh! I just remembered I gotta be at Sugar Cube Corner!"
"Where's that?"
"Just to the right of the West entrance to town, the entrance closest to Fluttershy's!" Dash sped off fast. Mitch shrugged and took another bite of his cheese.
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10 minutes later, Sugar Cube Corner
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This is Sugar Cube Corner? Mitch though, looking up at the giant ginger bread house in front of him. Well, wouldn't doubt that... He walked into the shop and saw Rainbow Dash and a pink pony talking to each other.
"...I'll be here this afternoon," he heard Dash say.
"Hey Dash," Rainbow Dash turned around, and her wings opened almost instantly after seeing him.
"Dash, you're doing that again." Dash jumped and beated her wings, hovering in the middle of the room. Mitch rolled his eyes, then locked them on the pink pony. Dash looked at her, then back.
"That's Pinkie Pie," she explained to Mitch.
"Uh-huh, a pony named Pinkie Pie working at a bakery. And who's this?" He gestured to the stallion behind the counter.
"I'm Mr. Cake," the stallion explained.
"Shoulda known," he laughed to himself, and then looked into his eyes. "you have a wife and two kids."
"How did you know?" asked Mr. Cake.
"I dunno, I just know specific things about, uh, other humans, by looking into their eyes." Mitch answered.
"One of your kids is a Pegasus, the other is a unicorn."
"Wow, you're good," complemented Dash.
"Oh! Do me, do me!" said Pinkie Pie.
"You're a cannibalistic murderer,"
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"That was weird, you saying Pinkie is a cannibalistic murderer." Rainbow Dash said, hovering next to Mitch as he walked through the forest to Fluttershy's house, holding a box of cupcakes.
"Well, I usually read people's eyes, and now I'm doing it on ponies. Different species, different results. I could be wrong."
"True, but you knew Mr. Cake really well."
"Well, maybe my eye reading made a mistake. Anyway, what were you talking to Pinkie Pie about?"
"I went over there because Pinkie said she had fun stuff for us to do, but she said I'd have to wait until this afternoon."
"You know what else is weird? I also read in Mr. Cake's eyes he and his wife are heading to a park to entertain their children this afternoon."
"Wow, you're really good. I wonder why she wants us to be alone at Sugar Cube Corner though?"
"Beats me," they came into a clearing in the woods, with Fluttershy's cottage in the distance.
"I gotta go, Mitch," Rainbow Dash said, "I wanna practice tricks over Ponyville."
"Do what you gotta do." He told her, walking over the bridge to Fluttershy's cottage. Rainbow Dash flew off back towards Ponyville at an amazing speed. Mitch opened the door and set the box of cupcakes he had on the coffee table.
"Hi, Fluttershy. Want a cupcake?" Mitch said as he opened the box, revealing a dozen delicious looking cupcakes.
"Oh, yes please. Where did you get them?" Fluttershy asked, trotting into the room.
"Sugar Cube Corner. Here's the bits you gave me earlier."
"But, weren't you going to spend them?"
"Yeah, but it turns out a pony named Pinkie Pie baked me a dozen cupcakes as a welcome present, or something. She says she put in her "special ingredient", do you have any idea what it is?"
"No, but she tells everypony that asks that they'll find out one day."
"Huh, touched in the head, is she?"
"Yes, a little," explains why I thought she's a cannibalistic murderer. Mitch thought. doesn't mean she is. The sun was setting outside the cottage. Mitch lit a couple candles, and read a book while eating a few cupcakes. When he took a bite out of a cupcake, he made a funny face at the weird tasting cupcake. Sugary, definitively, a little bit of iron, no, alot of iron, and other things he couldn't decipher. Why does it taste, he thought, and took another moment to recognize the taste. Like blood?