Nothing's More Important

Justin returned his gaze to Alice. "I'm not 'a' 'her' little pony. That doesn't make sense. If I was anyone's pony, I'd be yours." He picked up the vial he set on the table. "Do you know what she's talking about?"

Alice looked just as confused. “No, I think it's some kind of human thing. I don't spend that much time around them, even Amy."

Justin softly tapped the ground with a tail slap. "You should, she seems nice. Not as pretty as you are, of course, but nice." A little flattery from the stallion came with a warm smile.

Alice smiled back, stroking his mane again. Flattery was never amiss with her. "She is a good friend, and I don’t regret bringing her past the veil. The one who was with you... he seemed nice, too. But he needed to go back to his family."

Justin didn't understand that entirely, but nodded despite it. "I hope he made it alright… You scared me too you know!" He leaned into the petting even as he vented. "I thought you were going to eat me up and… Well, I'm glad it worked out this way instead."

“I’m sorry I scared you,” she said, kissing his nose. “But you belong behind the veil, like me. Hidden from humans. Most of them anyways. I won’t let them hurt you… I won’t let anyone hurt you.” She gave him a fierce hug, and held it until she heard Amelia’s footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Okay, okay. Here we go…” Amelia said as she took a rectangular grey device and attached it by a few wires to a big black rectangle on the wall. With a bit of that peculiar human magic that is technology, she made a field of icons appear on both, then soon replaced them with a splash screen declaring “My Little Pony” and “Friendship is Magic”. “Are you ready to have your mind blown?” she asked the pony on her couch.

Perking up and leaning in, he tried to get a better look at that odd device, even if it meant leaving that wonderful hug from his recently-acquired mate. "I doubt it could do anything that… impressive?" Even if he wasn't sure what it was. "Please, show me." He leaned back towards Alice and whispered, "I trust you."

“Scooch,” Amelia said as she approached the couch, even as the theme song began to play. She gently pushed Justin’s rump aside, pushing him more toward Alice as she took a seat beside him, leaving the stallion between the two females. “I figured I’d make it simple and start from the beginning,” she said cryptically enough, as the pilot episode began, with the unicorn Twilight Sparkle excitedly trying to convince Princess Celestia of the impending threat of Nightmare Moon.

“It’s… a cartoon,” Alice said eventually, underwhelmed, and not really making the connection.

It was more than that for Justin, who leaned in and peered at the curiously simplified versions of his people, but they were ponies he knew from tale and hearsay. "Is that Princess Sparkle? And Celestia?" He suddenly looked away. "I feel like I'm spying on them. They're obviously having a private conversation. Oh sweet Celestia, can she hear me?"

“No, they can’t hear you. This is a… uh. Recording. Or more like a play, I guess? I have no idea how accurate it is,” Amelia said. “It’s way before Twilight was a Princess, though. I could skip to the episode where she becomes a Princess if you like? This one was about Nightmare Moon making the night last forever, until the Element bearers were able to stop her, and restore her to being Princess Luna again.”

Alice looked confused about that whole thing, like it was all going over her head. “Is any of that making sense to you, Justin?”

Justin reached for the thing, gently running a hoof over the screen to confirm he couldn't touch the ponies displayed on it with the greatest of care. "It's amazing… That looks like them, mostly. They're a little… It's like someone saw them in a dream and drew them down, rather than an actual photograph, but I can recognize them both easily. They're both still resplendent in their own way."

“That sounds about right… maybe even close to what really happened?” Amelia mused. “You know more about this kind of stuff than I do, Alice, what do you think?”

“I don’t know anything about cartoons!” Alice objected. “Oh! Umm… Justin, do you still have that little pony totem from the ghost? You should show her. Maybe she’ll recognize it.”

Justin turned on himself and buried his snout into a pouch to pull out the little pony doll he had been given and set it carefully on the table. "Here. A ghost gave it to me. Poor girl…"

“Applejack,” Amelia recognized instantly, reaching for the doll. After a quick perusal, she noted the name scratched into it, easily visible with the ash still embedded in the indention. “‘Isabelle’? Oh! I remember her… Isabelle Martin, from the house up the road. She’s? Oh... “ she handed the doll back, looking sad and tearing up a bit.

Alice nodded. “She must have been caught in the fires. She should have been evacuated, like everyone else. I wonder why she didn’t make it out.”

Justin's attention turned to the sad female more than the mystery of the girl, and he put a hoof gently on her. "I'm so very sorry. She was… she was happy to see me, and she was satisfied when she went. I know it's not the same, but you should know that at least."

Amelia held that hoof as she sniffled gently for a few minutes, before looked up into his big round eyes. “Thanks Justin. You’re such a sweetheart. Alice is lucky to have you. I didn't know her that well, it's just sad that she passed so young."

Alice placed a hand on Amelia's other shoulder. “You’re a sweetheart too, Amy."

Justin gently nudged the little toy. "Was this important to her? I feel very honored to be trusted with it. What should I do with it, besides take care of it?"

“I think it’s still linked to her,” Alice said. “I’m trying to remember how it works. If you have a ghost’s totem, you can call them to you. Otherwise, they usually don’t show themselves too often. They just kind of… watch.” Alice blushed a little, considering the implications.

Justin's cheek flushed, showing red through the fur, or did the fur actually turn red? "Oh… my. I didn't know that. I hope…" He quieted himself with a soft cough. "Wherever she is, she's clearly loved, and I'll take care of it." He reached for the pony and nuzzled it before moving to put it away.

Amelia looked between the two of them, and then decided she didn’t want to think about whatever was making them both blush. So she coughed to change the subject. “So… did you two want to head into town in the next few days? I’ve got a lot of work to do trying to get my yard back in order, and I could certainly use help with that, but it’s going to be depressing hanging out out here all the time.”

Alice gave it some thought. “We’ve been working on how to disguise Justin so he doesn’t stand out, mostly just need to keep his cutie mark hidden. What do you think?”

Justin raised a hoof quickly. "I'm good with plants. I'd be delighted to help with your lawn. Alice's area was unharmed and I have a few potions that are good for just this sort of thing. I just need one sample of the plant you want to get growing all over."

Amelia thought about it a bit. “Do you like hay? I know there’s a fair number of horses in this region that are gonna have a bit of trouble getting feed in the next few months. If we could get some of that going, I can find buyers really easily, and you’re welcome to some, if you like? Regardless, I can pay you both for your help. I know Alice doesn’t usually have many expenses, but she has trouble getting people to pay her as well.”

“Do ponies use money?” Alice asked Justin, curiously. “I can take care of myself without it, except for the property taxes. But it’s nice to be able to buy human things sometimes.”

Justin swiveled an ear towards Alice before nodding at Amelia. "I can eat hay. Prepared properly, it's quite delicious, but I'm guessing you don't from the way you said that. I'll show you a hay burger, but I'm not the best at making them, um, we had money." He nuzzled into his pouch and pulled out a golden bit and set it down for inspection.

“Is that real gold?” Amelia asked him, eyeing the coin with a hint of greed, before shaking herself. “Do you have many of those? Gold is worth quite a lot right now, and you can probably sell them for more than you think.”

Justin tilted his head. "This is a bit. It's made of gold, yes. I only have a few." He dug out a pouch and it slipped to the table with a heavy jingle. There were about ten coins within as he quickly revealed.

Amelia thought about it a moment, and considered the look Alice was giving her. “You probably can’t get what they’re worth out in these parts. I’ll do a bit of research tomorrow. But I should be able to figure out someone you can sell them to, when you have a chance.” She was talking to Alice directly, choosing her words carefully. The werewolf nodded, apparently satisfied.

Justin smiled. "Please, get what you can with them. It's the least I can do for being so polite. I doubt I could walk into a store with these anyway, with ponies being so… rare." He tilted his head at Amelia. "I don't look that strange, do I?"

“Your cutie mark really stands out, though if we had to we could probably get people to believe it’s dyed on. That’s probably what people would guess anyways. Your eyes are kind of… really, really big. It’s cute! But anyone who’s been around horses much, let alone actual ponies, would certainly notice,” Amelia said. “You could probably still go around town with Alice like this and as long as you don’t talk, people wouldn’t be sure of anything enough to make trouble.”

Justin looked back to his flank, then shrugged. "Why not just cover it? If you have some pants for me to wear, Nopony would see the mark at all, problem solved."

Amelia giggled. “Pants on a pony would draw more looks than the cutie mark. Though a simple blanket would go unnoticed… especially if you don’t mind wearing a saddle. If you did that, of course, you might end up being asked to carry small children around for a bit.”

Justin looked baffled a bit. "I've given rides to foals before. It would be the same thing, right? I can do that. I never owned a saddle myself. I mean, only ponies that give rides often need one."

Amelia giggled quite emphatically at the thought of a pony riding another pony’s back. “I suppose that’s not that different from a ‘piggy-back ride’, but it still seems really silly to me,” she said in answer to Alice’s look.

“So… a blanket, and perhaps a saddle? His saddlebags are already well fitted to him. I… I’m not going to have him wear a bit, or anything like that. There’s no need, and it’d only be insulting,” Alice decided.

“Of course not,” Amelia agreed. “Besides everyone already thinks you’re weird about animals that way, no one will second guess it.”

Justin tilted his head. "I've seen some ponies wear those things. You're talking about the things that go in your mouth, right? They're very popular in Saddle Arabia."

“I doubt they’re actually used there. They’re to allow a rider to tell the, uh, pony which way to turn. A smart pony like you shouldn’t need one, though I suppose if you had a regular rider, you might still appreciate the easy means of communication,” Amelia said before shrugging. “Not that Alice would get you one.”

He blushed gently as he looked over Alice. "If she wanted a ride, I would gladly give one, but I think she's a bit too large, and I'm a bit too small to make that comfortable." He rose with a wagging tail. "But before we try that--" His speech was interrupted as the elements of harmony were suddenly brought into existence and used in the show and he stared at them all. "Amazing…"

The girls got quiet for a bit, as they got caught up watching the rest of the episode together.

"Why is she so small?" He pointed to the tiny Luna that Celestia hugged. "She's smaller than Celestia, sure, but still a giant among ponies."

“I guess they got some things wrong?" Amelia said with a shrug. “You said it yourself, it's like they had a dream about your world, and drew what they saw."

Justin nodded mutely, astounded by the world he found himself in. "I suppose. What would you like to do first? We can work on the lawn? You said you wanted to grow hay?"

“Yeah, you said you needed a sample... will some seeds do?" Amelia asked. “I think I have some in the shed."

He nodded quickly as he pulled a vial off his belt. "Meet me outside. I'll get things ready." He rushed for the door. Though he had to put the vial aside a moment, he otherwise had little trouble lipping open the knob with teeth and snout, then proceeding outside.