Bush Beat’s Journey

“Okay, see this apple?” Brightside asked, as he placed the apple onto a chair. He looked at Bush Beat, who nodded. “I need you to focus your magic on it as if you were going to levitate it. I’ll cast a spell on it for obtaining some measurements.” Bush Beat nodded again, unsure what would await him. He just hoped it wouldn’t be anything too rough.

The night’s sleep had been refreshing despite the nightmare. Brightside obviously did have a good night’s rest as well, judging from the invigorating enthusiasm in him. His dedication to the sciencey stuff felt admirable.

“What is this machine, anyway?” Bush Beat inquired, looking at the mysterious device sitting on the desk. Brightside had just pushed some button, causing it to begin emitting a steady hum.

“This? This is a computer. It’s quite a remarkable device...the humans invented it some 50 years ago,” Brightside explained. “Compared to this, Equestria is really far behind in terms of technology.”

Bush Beat looked unsatisfied and continued his questions. “Well, what do you use it for?”

“Right now, I’m planning to use it to record the measurements I just took and do some calculations,” Brightside explained. “This might take a moment since I haven't done any of this in a long time.”

“You mean you haven’t used the com... the machine in a long time?”

Brightside laughed. “Oh, no, I use the computer every day! What I meant was that I haven’t done any measurements or calculations relating to unicorn magic in a while. After all, I did spend the last few years trying to avoid it so that the humans wouldn’t find out about me. Still, I’ve got all my earlier research right here on this thing.”

Ping! The sound coming from the kitchen area was sharp and punctuated. The sudden unfamiliar noise definitely startled Bush Beat, but Brightside’s reaction was clearly one of delight. “Dinner’s ready!”

“Now, focus again. ... Yes, like that. Okay, now coagulate the spiral metric around the apple.”

“Co... what?” exclaimed Bush Beat, trying not to interrupt the spell.

Brightside giggled. “Sorry. I was talking too technical again, wasn’t I?”

Bush Beat’s horn stopped glowing abruptly as he gave Brightside a miffed look. The aura surrounding the apple disappeared, as it fell back onto its seat.

Exhausted by nearly a full day of magic training and experimentation, the two ponies sat on the balcony outside Brightside’s apartment.

“I never thought I’d be doing magic research ever again,” Brightside thought aloud while staring into the darkened, cloudy sky. “In fact, I never even thought I’d see another pony again.” Both of them raised a mug to their mouths and took a sip of tea.

Bush Beat had no idea how to respond to that. If it hadn’t been for Brightside, he might well have been at the mercy of some unscrupulous humans right now... then again, everything he knew about humans came solely from Brightside.

A cool breeze whistled through their coats.

“Seven hours?” Bush Beat blurted out. “In here?”

“I’m sorry we couldn’t get you back to Equestria in just two days,” Brightside, now back in the shape of Albert Sollers, said half seriously and half sarcastically. “But it’s Monday now and I have to go to work. And you have to stay in here. Make sure no-one can see you.” He shoved his arm into the sleeve of a jacket.

“Can’t you just transform me into a human as well?” Bush Beat asked, giving the taller man a quizzical look.

“I already told you. It took me almost a year to perfect that spell for myself. It’s complex. I can only safely use it on myself.” He noticed the look of disappointment Bush Beat was giving him, though it had a tinge of disbelief mixed in. “Of course I could work on that transformation spell instead, but that would take time and detract from our progress in finding a way back to Equestria. Is that what you want?”

Bush Beat lowered his head and quietly shook it.

Albert tried to sound reassuring. “I know being alone for this long can be boring, but like I said, you can read any of the books on my shelf, and there are plenty of apples in the kitchen in case you get hungry.”

After Albert left the apartment, Bush Beat stood motionless for a good minute staring at the recently locked door.

The hours passed by slowly with Bush Beat all alone in the unremarkable apartment. He had been alone before, but right now he wished for the companionship of some other soul more than ever. Reflecting upon the series of events stranding him in this foreign world, one part of his mind reminded himself about the trial never being his fault, while another part couldn’t help but impose the feeling that he still deserved his fate somehow.

Perhaps Brightside’s suggestion of reading one of his books was worth considering to distract himself from these thoughts. He focused his magic on a book that had the most enticing-looking design on its spine, and pulled it off the shelf.

“I’m home!” Albert exclaimed as he walked into the apartment, closing the door behind himself. Bush Beat looked up from his book and got a glimpse of what lay beyond that imposing door. There was nothing but a grey, nondescript staircase. If this entire world was just as dull, Bush Beat figured he probably wasn’t missing much. And yet, he couldn’t help but wonder what else one might find beyond that staircase.

“How was your day?” Bush Beat inquired with a polite smile.

“Not too exciting,” Albert responded, “but how about you? Did you find something to pass the time?”

“I did,” Bush Beat responded, widening his smile. “I started reading this story and I do like it so far!” He chuckled. “Although I wonder whether it would be better with ponies instead of bodies.”

“Bodies?” Albert tilted his head.

“Er...” Bush Beat corrected himself. “Humans?”

Albert looked curious. “Why would you call them ‘bodies’?”

Bush Beat hesitated. “I... I just thought... it’s just, they keep saying ‘everybody’ and ‘nobody’ instead of ‘everypony’ and ‘nopony’.”

Bush Beat was straining himself with his teeth clenched. A bright ray was emanating from his horn shooting at a plant that was growing from a flower pot perched on the same chair that had previously propped up the apple.

“Keep going,” Albert encouraged him. He had a glow around the now visible horn on his forehead, himself. “Give it all you got!”

“I’m trying!” Bush Beat complained through his teeth. “I’m trying!”

Suddenly, the upper half of the plant began to glow. Just a few seconds later, the glow showed a swirling motion surrounding the plant. As Bush Beat gradually exhausted the last ounce of his magic, the glow dissipated again and both ponies stared at the plant. The stem had become twisted and the plant more erect.

Albert giggled and started scribbling notes on his notepad. After glancing over his numbers, he proclaimed, “This is looking promising!”

“... eveeeeeeeerrrrrrr!... Ta-dum, ba-dum, ba-dam-dum, tum, tum — at the gala!”

The hours of solitude seemed to stretch out longer with each passing one of them. Bush Beat finished reading the fiction books on Brightside’s shelf, though few they were. The rest were non-fiction books about human technology, which he didn’t understand the first thing about. Plus, the two had already watched all 26 episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic using the machine on the desk. There was nothing left to do in this small apartment.

When Albert finally entered through the door, Bush Beat was lying on the ground staring at nowhere in particular. “Hi,” he said vacantly.

Albert’s face changed into an expression of concern. “What’s up?” he asked.

“I’m bored, what’s it look like?” Bush Beat stated, not moving his head or his gaze.

Albert kneeled down to look at the frowning pony. “I’m sorry. I’m sure anypony would be. But I’m here now. We can do some more magic training if you like?” He tried to smile, but it only came out half right.

Bush Beat wondered if his ‘trainer’ realized that the ‘trainee’ really wasn’t enjoying the training as much as Brightside seemed to. It felt like work to him and he was eager to forget all about it once he’d be back in Equestria. But when would that be? He’d only been here for a week, it felt utterly boring and unbearable, and it was only going to get worse.

“How close are we to getting back to Equestria?” he asked the human next to him with a sigh in his voice.

“Pretty close,” Albert said with some enthusiasm. “I just need a few more measurements to...”

Bush Beat interrupted him. “Measurements. You always do those measurements. How do I know we’re making any real progress?”

Albert was slightly taken aback. “We are making progress,” he reassured the unicorn. “If you want, I can explain the measurements and the calculations to you, but...”

Bush Beat swiftly got on his hooves and faced Albert. “Explain the measurements! Ha-ha! Like that would explain anything to me!”

Albert hesitated. “What do you want me to do, then?”

“I want you to let me out of here!” the stallion exclaimed, frustrated. “You’re practically imprisoning me in this place!”

Albert raised his hands in a gesture to calm Bush Beat. “I already explained that... this world is dangerous for your kind. You could be...”

“Imprisoned?” Bush Beat interrupted, his voice growing angry.

Albert took a breath. “Imprisoned with no opportunity to explore ways of getting back! I think you should be glad that I brought you here instead of—”

“Brought me here?!” Bush Beat suddenly exploded. “You brought me to this world? To keep me locked up and run your stupid experiments on me?!” His face had turned irate.

“N-no, I mean... I didn’t...” Albert stammered. “Let me explain!”

Bush Beat’s horn started to glow. “I’m getting out of here,” he said with a determined voice. “You can lock the door, but you can’t stop me from teleporting away!”

“B-but you can’t teleport!” Albert interjected with worry. “Stop! Don’t try to teleport when you’re angry!”

But Bush Beat appeared undeterred. His horn’s glow widened and started to envelop the rest of his body. Albert had only a fraction of a second to consider his options. He quickly decided that there was only one thing he could do to prevent Bush Beat from harming himself. He had to make his first attempt of putting together the spell that would send him back to Equestria. Thus, with no time to think, he activated his own magic and cast a spell that would combine with Bush Beat’s. A ray emanated from the horn on Albert’s forehead, struck the pony beside him, and a second later the pony disappeared in a poof.

Albert blinked with bewilderment, as his horn shut down and disappeared.