//------------------------------//
// The Pink One and the Rainbow 
// Story: Mister Jones 
// by Patient X 
//------------------------------//

	After sprinting through the protest turned melee, the three find themselves within what would be considered the center of town. A large, carousel-like building juts from the middle of a dirt round-a-bout, adorned with flags bearing the sigil of a golden Earth Pony. The buildings around the dirt circle are caked with signs, advertising shops, products, and various services; the doors remain ajar, with customers and employees within gazing on at the human with wonder and caution. 
"...and here's the Town Hall." Twilight points her hoof at the enormous municipal government building before the three.
This tour has been going on for about ten or so minutes, and already RC shows a bleak expression of extreme boredom, while Stan feigns interest, however being on the same boat as the royal guard. 
"Lemme guess, town hall stuff happens in there?" Stan asks, receiving a snort from RC.
"Yep." Twilight says simply, expertly playing into Stan's joke. 
Stan thinks hopelessly for a couple seconds on how to give him levity from the tour, not that he didn't find it interesting, it's just that something else has been eating away at him.
"I don't wanna sound rude, but could I to meet some of your friends? Applejack said that all of y'all have some kind of special magical bond, or whatever." Stan pulls out of his ass. He knows damn well who her friends are and what bond they have.
"Sure! I wasn't aware that AJ told you that." Twilight smiles, beckoning the two beings to follow her.
A tight, dusty road packed with linen and wooden stalls stands near-empty, as the surrounding buildings spout countless eyes of curiosity from a rainbow of equine faces. Several smaller ponies, probably foals, stand in an alley to the left of the group, idly chattering. They spy Stan, who smiles and waves, and drop their mouths, standing bug-eyed in front of the alien; Stan then continues to follow Twilight and RC.


***************


"Here's our first stop." Twilight discloses to the group as they near a new building. 
It is cream-colored building with a chocolatey roof, held together by what looks like frosting, but is probably just mortar. The door stands ajar, exhaling smells of baked goods, icing, sugar, and all other manners of food.
"Is this a bakery? Seems a bit bubbly to be someone's home." RC asks, looking inquisitively at Twilight. 
"My friend lives in the apartment above the store." Twilight explains.
The three walk cautiously inside, not wanting to draw any more attention to themselves as not to alert the furious brawl still audible from the library. 
Inside, an array of counters, ovens, display cases litter the walls and floor. The near overwhelming flavor of cakes and icing fill Stan's lungs via his nose. Still as bubbly and inviting as it was on the outside, the shop area was also populated by two other ponies, one a light blue and another a yellow. The two ponies gasp in surprise as the group of three enter the door. Stan could smell the sugary, homey mixture of baking brownies as his attention was directed towards the two workers as the gasp was heard.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. We're just showing our new friend around town." Twilight greets the two ponies before her as they eye me up.
"Well...hello, Twilight. Who's, uh, who's your friend here?" Mrs. Cake, asked as she took her eyes off of me and switched her gaze over to Twilight.
"I'm Stan. I'm an alien." Stan speaks up.
"I can tell..." The yellow stallion, Mr. Cake spoke softly, then was nudged gently by his wife. He shook his head and gave a genuine smile. "Well, Stan, we've plenty of things here to buy, so just take a look around and see what you want." 
"Thank you, but we're actually here to see Pinkie." Twilight cut the human off before he could respond. 
"Oh, well we're not stopping you. Go on right ahead. She and Rainbow Dash are letting their pets have a playdate." Mrs. Cake smiles, then returns back to work whisking some brownie batter whilst keeping an eye on the alien.


***************


The climb up to Pinkie Pie's room wasn't too long. Twilight slowly pushed the door open with a hoof and invited Stan and the quiet RC inside. Pink walls surrounded the three as two ponies stood in the center, watching a small toothless alligator stand atop a slowly moving turtle. 
One of the ponies, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail turned and sharply gasped.
"Ohmygod, what is that thing??" She sputtered in surprise as she quickly took flight and hovered around Stan, eyeing him up. "And why does it look like a monkey? Twilight, did one of your spells go wrong and mess up a monkey?" 
"No, Rainbow. He's an alien--" The lavender alicorn was cut off as Stan was tackled to the ground by a sudden pink blur.
"Ohmygoshit'sanalien!!" Stan found a pink mare with a bubbly mane and tail atop him, pinning his shoulders to the ground as she shook her tail in excitement. "I'vebeenwaitingsolongtomeetoneofyouohmygosh--" 
Stanley quickly cut off the pink pony by placing both of his hands over her mouth. Despite this, she still continued to talk at lightning speed, even completely muffled by the human's hands. 
A few seconds go by and Stan releases his hands, only to find that the pink horse was still talking. He quickly pushed his hands back over her lips as she obliviously continued.
"She's, uh...friendly?" The camouflaged human said as he shimmied his way from under Pinkie's hooves. 
"Stan, I'd like you to meet Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie." Twilight said proudly as she magically levitated Pinkie a few feet away, allowing the alien to stand back up.
"Wow! I thought I'd never get to meet a real life alien!" She excitedly spoke, hopping around on all fours in a circle around Stan.
"So...you're from another planet, eh?" Rainbow Dash asked, at poking his gear with a hoof. "Then what's the guard for? Aren't you supposed to have a laser blaster or somethin'?" 
"I'm just here for science." The Pennsylvanian simply put, shrugging and letting Dash poke at him. 
"Which is why I'm here, to make sure nobody hurts him." RC finally spoke up, shifting his armor slightly upwards. 
"Jesus, you know how to speak? Haven't heard you in an hour." Stan joked. 
"I know, right? It's like I turn invisible." RC grunted with a laugh. "What the hell is a Jesus anyway..." He almost silently added.
"Ooh! What planet are you from? Do you have a spaceship? Do you have a laser gun? Is that your skin, or just some clothes?" Pinkie rattled off in quick succession. 
"God Dam--uh, gosh darnit. Do I have to redpill everyone on humans again?" Stan turns to Twilight with a feigned look of exasperation. 
"Maybe later." She suggests, nodding to Rainbow and Pinkie. 
"Aww, but I've never met a real life alien before! Can we come with??" Pinkie pleads in an overly-dramatic manner, getting down on her knees and holding her front hooves together. Rainbow Dash snickers at this while Twilight rolls her eyes. 
"I can't say no to those eyes." Stan says to Twilight as Pinkie's eyes well up puppy dog style with crocodile tears. 
"Why not?" Twilight shrugs and smiles.
Pinkie cheers and hops around in excitement. "Ohmygoshthis'llbesofun!!"
"You wanna tag along, too?" Stan asks Rainbow Dash, who nods. "Beats  doing nothing, I suppose. I'm in." 
Stan turns to Twilight. "Who're we meeting next?" 
"Rarity and then Fluttershy." She explains. "Wait, who's gonna watch Gummy and Tank?" 
"Oh, don't worry. They play nice by themselves." Pinkie chirps. 
Everyone shifts their attention to the turtle gently resting on his back whilst the alligator stands next to him, slowly blinking one eye at a time. 
"Well, I guess we're off then." RC breathes, heading back downstairs as the group follows him.