A Day on the Town
Chapter 10
The next morning was a bit of a lazy one. They had all woken well after sunrise, even Applejack who was starting to feel more like herself, though she was still a little… anxious. They were simply enjoying a light breakfast and watching cartoons. Thanks to Twilight’s healing magic, which was nowhere near as good as Cadence’s but still pretty effective, Rick was feeling much more limber and able to move without pain again. Today would probably be a good day for the small town from the first morning. He hoped it would go better than the yesterday in the park. Maybe they would be more impressed with the huge aquarium or all the great candy shops. He was at least certain Rarity would love the mirror maze and Twilight would enjoy the museum of oddities that you can choose to believe, or not.
Rick had just about had his fill of cartoons anyway, so they might as well head out. He looked back to the television and aimed the remote at it.
“Once upon a time, in the magical land of *click*.” The sudden cutting out of the TV got the attention of the girls.
“Alright my lovely ladies, what say we go enjoy the day?”
A chorus of agreements later and they all loaded into the truck.
*****
“So, you’re saying this whole building is an aquarium?” Fluttershy asked as she looked up at the monstrous structure.
“That’s right. There are a bunch of smaller tanks and one huge one that, last time I was here contained large sharks, huge fish and even a sea turtle,” Rick answered as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“But, ain’t it dangerous to be around all them sharks?” AJ asked while the others shared looks of concern.
“Oh, nothing to worry about there. We’ll be separated from the critters by some very thick glass. Everything will be fine.” A thought occurred, “that reminds me. The flash on your cameras, don’t use them.”
“Why’s that, Dear?”
Rick turned to Rarity, “because if you do, all you’ll get in the picture is the flash. It would be like if you tried to take a picture of the sun.” They accepted this with little thought that this might be an exaggeration or not true.
The next couple hours were long ones. At least, they would have been if everyone wasn’t having so much fun. Fluttershy had to be practically pried away from each tank with force, and they hadn’t even get to the big one yet.
When they reached the educational section, Rick didn’t know what to expect. The displays that showed all the harm being done by humans made Fluttershy furious. The cut-away shark with garbage in its belly, the videos of oil spills and the climate change sections nearly made them all hate humans outright. Luckily, they were able to overlook these and appreciate the hands-on exhibits that taught about tides and the moon’s effect on them. Twilight found the weather display especially informative and made sure to take lots of photos for further study. Besides, Rainbow Dash would find it fascinating. Rick wasn’t so sure about that last bit.
After that, it was on to the main attraction, the big tank. The tank was definitely a sight to see. Poor Fluttershy nearly bashed her face on the deceptively close glass several times. Luckily, Rick had been able to protect her with his magic. It would be hard to find fault with her doing so, the creatures were fantastic and, in some cases, otherworldly. A slow moving sidewalk allowed visitors to enjoy the tank fully without the distraction of walking. They were even thoughtful enough to allow a space for someone to step back off the moving sidewalk onto a more stable one, allowing a person to stay in one place without causing issues for anyone else.
Inside the tank, nurse sharks swam beside other standards, i.e. grouper and triggerfish. There was even a couple saw nose sharks and a loggerhead turtle. All of them swam freely around fake coral and a small sunken ship complete with treasure chests. All of this left the girls with wide eyes and dropped jaws. Rick felt a little guilty about all the fresh finger prints left on the glass.
The rest of the aquarium was still very entertaining. They were just in time for the feeding in the sting ray tank. The scuba diver held their attention for a while. They got overly excited, like a child would, when the diver returned their wave. Though, that was nothing when compared to the hands-on tank where one could feed the sharks and rays inside. Especially when they met the mermaid, an employee in a costume obviously, but where’s the fun in bursting their bubble. Of course, the flurry of giggles at the penguin exhibit shouldn’t be downplayed either.
They had seen everything the aquarium had to offer, so it was time to go. They made sure to stop in the gift shop. There, they purchased a picture covered in seashells and the picture of them taken at the entrance. They actually purchased several copies and frames as souvenirs.
After that, they went to the mirror maze. Rick, Twilight, AJ and Fluttershy managed to reach the end of the maze fairly fast, with Twilight being the winner. Rick claimed that her superior, analytical mind gave her an unfair advantage. Rick had to go back in after thirty minutes to fetch Rarity. That many mirrors were as bad as any trap for her.
From there, it was a short stint in the indoor mall. Due to the economy, most of stores had been closed down. There were still a few staples that refused to die off. These included the dog lovers shop, the olde time photo place and the leather store. The last one might be a problem.
“What is that smell?” Rarity asked as she and the others sniffed at the air.
“Yeah, what is that?” Twilight sniffed, “it’s nice.”
“Mmm, yes, I agree,” Fluttershy added as she filled her lungs with the scent coming from the store in front of them.
Rick knew the smell, it was the leather shop. He had always liked that scent. At least he had before he became friends with a few cows. “It’s that store there, but believe me when I say you don’t want anything from there.”
“Ah don’t understand. Why don’t we want anythin’ frum there?” Applejack looked at the rows of hats and boots in the window. The other girls shared her confusion as they too looked at the store’s products.
Rick spread his arms and herded them away from the leather shop and out of the mall. “You’ll just have to trust me on this, girls.”
They left the mall and continued on their way along the main road. They marveled at the store filled with hand-blown glass sculptures, especially all the little horses, unicorns and pegasi. They held their hands over their ears as they passed the arcades. They also allowed themselves to be pushed past the town’s many fast food shops, wondering why they couldn’t stop in and partake of the food whose scent was ‘absolutely out of this world’.
They did stop in for a game of indoor mini-golf. The girls quite liked the game. Rarity enjoyed the details put into the scenery around the course. Fluttershy has always been a big fan of anything miniature. Twilight excelled at it, using her impressive math skills to put the rest of them to shame. Applejack, more than once, had to be told to hold back on her swing. Rick didn’t think they would be lucky enough to avoid hitting other patrons a third time, especially since the first two were so narrow.
Next was one of the other big attractions of the little mountain town, the museum of oddities from around the world. Rick knew that some of the artifacts would cause his ladies some distress, but he also knew they would be able to handle it. That is, so long as he was there to protect them.
“Are we going in there?” Twilight asked as she pointed at the museum across the street from them.
“Yeah, why? Do you not want to?” he replied with his arm around her shoulders.
“It jes looks… broken,” AJ explained.
She was right, the building did look broken. It had always looked broken, even the original that once stood here and had burned down, taking hundreds of irreplaceable relics with it. That was one of the neat things about it, it looked like it was only still standing because someone had wished hard enough.
“Don’t worry, my lovely ladies,” “wow, really, did I just say that?” “I promise, that building is safe, it’s only designed to look like it’s crumbling.”
“I suppose it has a… charm all its own,” Rarity admitted. “I say we see how it looks on the inside. The other girls nodded their agreements.
Before they stepped off the curb to cross the street, there was a distance thumping. The thumping that had just the day before disturbed their picnic. The thumping that now indicated the approach of Rick’s new arch nemesis. The little blue hatchback drove past without incident, save for Rick reiterating the fact that the driver was an asshole. He also made sure that anyone within a hundred yards would also be made aware of this fact.
“Ah really don’t like that asshole.”
Rick chuckled at AJ’s statement and hugged her tight, “That’s my girl.” After he released her, they searched for oncoming traffic, then crossed the street to the museum.
Just the items in the lobby had the girls completely captivated. They spent a good five minutes spinning the five ton sphere that floated on water. The robot made from junk metal that ate large ball bearings scared Fluttershy a little and fascinated Twilight. Rarity found it beautiful in its complete lack of uniformity. Applejack though it was a waste of perfectly good parts. The tire from an earth mover and an automaton that climbed a rope on its own were a little less impressive, but still pretty interesting.
Inside, they saw the chunk of the Berlin Wall. Rick explained the difference between a dragon and a dinosaur when they came to the tyrannosaurus rex skull. It was interesting for him to explain a chastity belt and why it needed spikes. They even laughed at the funny tombstone captions. Of course, Rick thought it would be best to simply cover their eyes at the collection of cannibal artifacts, some parts of human history weren’t the best things for newcomers to learn so early on. He did have to help them back to their feet more than once when they passed through the rolling tunnel, a tube that appeared to be made of rock that one would traverse via walkway while it rolled around the victim, completely messing up their equilibrium.
In all, it was unanimously agreed that the museum was a great way to spend a few hours. They even had to switch out the memory cards on their cameras, the museum and the aquarium saw to it that they filled up the four gigabytes on each of them.
After they left the museum, they stopped for lunch. Rick was just glad there was a vegetarian restaurant in town. From there, they went into a rock shop. That’s right, a store that specialized in rocks. Of course, crystals are rocks, meteorites are rocks, and even marble is a rock, so there was no shortage of beautiful and interesting specimens to be seen.
“These stones are amazing,” Twilight said as she held up a cut geode.
“Oh, I agree. These are all fantastic,” Rarity added while holding a lamp made from a hollowed up quartz crystal. “I’d imagine little Spike would just love to have some of these.”
“Yes, but he would probably just eat them,” Fluttershy pointed out as she and the rest chuckled. Rick saw Twilight leafing through an astronomy book with a confused look.
“What’s wrong, Tina?” there weren’t any people near, but better safe than sorry.
“Huh? Oh, nothing, just a little confused as to why a geology store would have astronomy books and telescopes. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Tina, you have a preferred customer discount at a store called ‘Quills and Sofas’,” she couldn’t help but giggle. “There is a reason though. Earth wasn’t formed by magic. It took billions of years for dust in space to collect, condense and cool to from it, so in a very real way, astronomy and geology are linked.” Twilight considered this. She then picked up a few books and laid a hand on a telescope, she then looked up at Rick with pleading eyes, as if he would have said no anyway. “I take it you want them,” she nodded, he leaned in and kissed her forehead, “you can have anything you want.” Her smile alone made him want to buy out the stock to make sure it stayed there longer.
They all left the rock store and decided they had had enough shopping for today. Twilight had not only her books and telescope, but she had also bought a couple globes, both Earth and moon, as souvenirs and gifts. Rarity had purchased a box of ‘Break your own Geodes’ for Spike, Rick couldn’t help but be reminded of a box of chocolates. Fluttershy got an actual box of chocolates to go along with her many stuffed animals from the aquarium. Applejack had purchased a hand-blown, glass apple and a few caramel apples. Rick, on the other hand, purchased several jars of flavored moonshine, which had recently been legalized in Tennessee under certain conditions. He had turned to alcohol to ease the pain of his loss, a few years ago, but these were simply for enjoyment in a world that didn’t know alcohol. Magic was used very discretely to carry the plentiful and heavy bags back to the truck.
*****
The porch at the cabin had become the happening place. They all sat out there just enjoying each other’s company. Twilight was trying out her new telescope and seeming quite pleased with it. Rick was on the swing, beer in hand, with Fluttershy curled against him on one side and rarity leaning against the other. Applejack was looking intently at the picture from the aquarium inside its shell coated frame. She smiled at it, full of satisfaction.
“What are you so giddy about?” Rick asked her with a smile spreading across his own lips.
“Hmm? Oh, jest thinkin’ ‘bout us. All uh us Ah mean.” She looked back down at the picture of them, “Ah’m jest so… happy. We all started as strangers, then we were friends, then we became the Elements of Harmony.” She looked lovingly at her husband who matched her gaze along with the other three women, “then you came along. You made us uh family.”
“That’s a good thing… right?” Rick smirked a little.
“It’s jest about the best thing.” She set the photo down and walked over to him. She leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips, “the best thing.”
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Polygamy and wish-fufillment HiE?
WHY AM I CURSED WITH ONLY BEING ABLE TO GIVE ONE DOWNVOTE?
3810563 Not very nice of you.
All fanfictions are a form of wish fullfillment and ponies, like horses, are herding animals. If you don't like it, don't read it. There's no need to hate.
Love and tolerance.
3810563 Because it is the only way to regulate the a**holes who think that their opinion is law.
Keep going friend, I'm enjoying this sequel.
3811170 You'd be the only one, besides that of a few 40 that obviously have no standards.
3810909 >Love and tolerance
Do you even Internet?
3811954 No, I just happen to have differing opinions and standards than others.
If 'standards' as you call them, limit yourself to liking only a few specific types of stories, and in such few a number, then I'll take mine, and the other 38 (at the time) standards any day.
Also, welcome to the internet, where I, and everyone else, are allowed to be different from you. Course, your front page does indicate that you don't like different...
3812202 You being "different" by liking what obviously does not deserve the term "writing" does not give you some sort of moral high ground or justification for your idiocy.
3812681 Considering the 'standards' that you're vaunting had nothing to do with his writing caliber, but everything to do with the content of the story, this completely negates your legitimacy in calling my liking this story "idiocy".
If you do have something to say about the writing, not the content, please comment, because I will admit, the writing itself is mediocre, but readable. There are indeed mistakes throughout each chapter, and I am sure the author is well aware of them by now.
If you have nothing constructive/critical to say about his writing style, which is the ONLY standard one should lay judgement upon, then please GTFO.
3813640 I have already laid down the main problem: HiE Wish-fulfillment. I will stay however long I please.
3813930 Again, ALL fanfics are wish fulfillment. Nearly anything fiction is in one form or another. But, if I can piss off a Nazi, then I consider it a good day.
I quit you as a reader. 
3815316 If you honestly think that I'm a Nazi, I seriously know that you're an idiot. And no, I am not pissed off; I am bemused.
And no, not all fanfics are wish fufillment. Only the bad ones.
3815325 For someone who is not a Nazi, you sure like pretending to be one.
Your avatar is a Nazi, clearly, and your page is filled with a Nazi flag. If you wish to simply show German pride, then why not a German flag or a Maltese cross?
Do as you wish, Troll.
I no longer care, nor have I ever, what you think of my work or myself. I wish you luck in the future.
3815374 Do you not see the parody in my pic? No, seriously. Take a close look. It's a fucking Nazi with a Mexican mustache eating a fucking taco. Hence: AWKWARD TACO.
If I was a troll, would I really still be here with popular stories and more followers than you will ever hope to conjure up?
I mean really. Do you just not pick up on these obvious social cues? Are you really that dense?
If the answer to those questions is yes, it only cements my position.
3815401 Nope.
I just see someone giving me a hard time and covering their own page with Nazi symbols (I know the swastika was originally a Buddhist symbol, but that is clearly a Nazi flag). I don't care if you have more followers than me, congratulations on that by the way, I write my stories because I enjoy it. Not for any other reason.
I harbor no hate towards you and I want you to succeed.
3815517
You and two thousand other shit authors that frequent this site. That is no justification for this idiocy.
3815533 How much justification does one need?
3815581 Enough to justify a cliche-ridden mess to a mass audience. This is where originality comes into play, but you get the idea.
3815600 Yep.
3815635 Alright. Have I at least gotten my point across? Or are you just not going to listen to me? My quarrel is with the story itself, not you in particular.
3815646 I understand, you made it obvious when you wished you could hate it more. That is why I'm not mad at you, everyone is entitled to their own opinion just like I don't have to agree with it. I like my stories and that's what's important.
Again, good luck to you, sir.
3815663 At least try to heed what I said and make it better. God forbid you make me happy.
3815668 True, this story is not living up to my expectations, but I do have some plans that will hopefully improve it. 'Til then, good luck, and good night.
er, well its a good thing he turned it off than....
3815894 [deep booming voice] FORESHADOWING!! [/deep booming voice]
10# aww
3815894 Did you hear that? It sounded like a bullet zipping past Rick's ear...