A silence spread over the garden, almost tangible in its completeness.. It was as if nature itself A gasp escaped Twilight’s mouth, her hooves flying to cover it. “Stuck?” she whispered.

“Yep,” Jordan said, a thin smile spreading across his lips. “All because of Andy’s need to have a breakthrough in science instantly.”

“I get it!” Andy grumbled.

“Is there any chance we could teleport you back?” Celestia asked, concerned.

“Can you teleport about six hundred fifty seven light years?” Jordan asked. “I mean, you might be able to move the sun…”

“How far is a light year?” Celestia asked.

“How far light travels in a year,” Jordan explained. “A little less than six trillion miles.”

“Oh wow,” Celestia said, blinking. “I can’t do that.”

“Light doesn’t travel instantly?” Twilight asked, conjuring a notebook and quill.

Andy let out a whine and sunk to the ground. “What the…” she whimpered. “That shouldn’t be possible. Law of conservation of mass…”

“No, light doesn’t travel instantly,” Jordan said. “In fact, on Earth, it takes about eight minutes for sunlight to reach our planet.”

“That isn’t true!” Twilight said. “Celestia doesn't move the sun eight minutes before sunset!”

“That’s correct,” Celestia said.

Jordan opened his mouth to correct her before freezing. He held up the glowing bag of light Celestia gave him and looks at it. “You know what?” he asked, shaking the bag. “I’m just not gonna question it. We’re obviously not in reality anymore.”

“So I am high?” Andy asked hopefully.

“The camera doesn’t lie,” Jordan said.

“Dang it,” Andy muttered. She stood up. “So… hello, Princess Celestia. I’m Andy.” She shakily extends a hand.

Celestia smiles and shakes it. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “I’m sorry I don’t know how to solve your predicament.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Whether that will be how to get home or how magic fits in with physics has yet to be debated,” Jordan muttered.

“Well I’m sorry!” Andy snapped back.

“That doesn’t change shit,” Jordan muttered, turning away from her.

Silence claimed the garden once more. Twilight cocked her head to the side in confusion. “What just happened?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Jordan replied. “At least, nothing you need to worry about.”

“Jordan, are you okay?” Andy asked.

“No,” Jordan muttered. He falls silent once again.

Celestia coughs. “Perhaps we should get you settled in the castle,” she said, smiling thinly.

“That would be nice,” Andy said, trying to change the subject.

“They’re staying in the castle?” Twilight asked.

“Where else would they go?” Celestia answered. “And besides,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper, “We don’t know if these creatures are dangerous. It’s best to keep them where we can keep an eye on them.”

“Ah,” responded Twilight. “Are you sure we can trust them? I’ve only met Jordan once!”

“No,” Celestia responded. “I’m not. But we can’t just lock them up, can we?” Turning away from Twilight, she strode back over to Andy. “I wish I could say this under better circumstances, but welcome to Equestria,” she said.

“I do too, Princess,” Andy agreed. “You said something about staying in the castle?”

“I did,” Celestia confirmed.

“As in, that castle?” Jordan asked skeptically, pointing towards the gleaming white structure.

“The very same,” Celestia affirmed.

“Why? It’s not like we’re royalty,” Andy asked curiously.

“Actually, you kind of are,” Celestia corrected. “You’re the first of your species to ever set hoof in Equestria. You’re basically foreign dignitaries to us.”

“Well grand,” Jordan muttered. “Responsibilities.”

Andy looked over at him, frowning. What’s up with him? She thought

“And it’ll offer you protection,” Twilight said.

“From what?” Jordan asked.

“Ponies,” Celestia answered. “Ponies don’t react well to new creatures sometimes.”

“That’s true,” Twilight said. “Once, in Ponyville, there was a zebra who lived nearby in the forest. Everyone feared her, despite the fact she was just like us.”

Jordan snorted, laughing. “That’s a parallel I can’t ignore,” he said, giggling. “I guess racism is rampant everywhere.”

“Grand,” Andy muttered, looking at her dark skin.

“Anyway,” Celestia said, steering the conversation away from the uncomfortable topic, “Perhaps we should get you settled in the castle.”

“Yeah,” Twilight quickly agreed.

“Okay,” Andy said. “Thank you for letting us stay there.”

“Princess,” Jordan said, worry in his voice, “I assume there are castle staff in there?” he asked, pointing at the gleaming castle.

“Yes,” Celestia said, “Why do you ask?”

“Are they going to react badly to our presence?” he asked.

Celestia shook her head. “No, they shouldn’t,” she answered. “I’ll speak to them at the earliest convenience I can.” It was something she hadn’t thought about. The castle staff had never had to deal with something like this before. Then again, we are breaking new ground, she thought. “Yes, it’ll be fine. Shall I show you to around?”

“You may, Princess,” Andy said, standing and grabbing her bags. Jordan did as well, the two of them reaching Celestia’s height. Celestia started to walk through the garden, back to the castle.

Jordan followed, a neutral expression on his face. As he walked, he looked behind him. I’m sorry we crushed that hedge. This really is a beautiful garden, he thought, looking around at the bright, blooming buds bursting along the bushes. Birdsong floated through the plants, lending a comfortable melody to their walk. Closing his eyes, Jordan allowed himself to relax, a soft smile spreading across his face. This is amazing.

And then a strand of Celestia’s errantly waving mane brushed his face. Jordan sighed and opened his eyes, brushing the strands away. But it’s not right. No matter how beautiful it was, it wasn’t Earth. He was stuck, in a land with unfamiliar creatures, customs, and he was alone with Andy. This isn’t my home, he thought, a faint growl rising in his voice as thoughts of his home rushed uncalled for into his mind, along with a wave of sadness that brought tears to his eyes.

They continued to walk for some time, taking turns here and there. With each passing second, Jordan’s anger and sorrow grew. Each step of his fell heavier and heavier until the grass trembled when he walked by, both from the sheer force and the fear of being crushed. The two ponies noticed, but refrained from remarking on it, for fear of having him snap at them. Andy wasn’t so tactful. “Jordan?” She asked. “Are you okay?”

Jordan turned to face her, and the sorrow was replaced with cold anger. It was her fault he was stuck here. She had jumped the gun, done the teleport without a technician, and in doing so, had stranded them on this planet, far away from home, from anything he knew. “What do you think?” he whispered, his voice laced with anger.

“Jordan…” Andy said, stepping towards him. “Can you talk to me about what’s got you so mad?”

“See previous answer.”

“Jordan, it’s nice here, the ponies are sweet, what’s so bad about this?” Andy asked.

“I don’t know about you, Andy,” he hissed, “but we’re stuck, and I have things on Earth that I care about,” he said, his voice rising in volume, causing Andy to step back from him. Jordan allowed a twisted smile to cross his face. “I don’t know if you’re dating or if you’re a little single pringle, but I have a wife. A kid. Friends. All of which I may never see again because I’m stuck here, all because of that damn stunt you pulled. So you tell me what’s wrong here, Andy.”

“Oh,” she said softly, looking down and stepping away from him.

Never… he thought vindictively. He turned to the castle. And now I’ll be stuck in a castle. A gaudy prison. A wry smile crossed his face. There’s no way the staff will react well to this. Celestia can talk and be optimistic, but some peop- ponies don’t want to hear the truth. And besides… he thought, his hand drifting to one of the outside pockets on his bags, it never hurts to have additional protection.

~~~~~

All in all, the tour went well. Jordan and Andy had been shown around the castle and met a few of the staff, and were given maps of the servant’s passageways in case they needed to hide. Jordan was feeling a bit better as he walked to his room. Sadly, he didn’t notice the wide-eyed maid standing in the hallway, staring at him with her mouth hanging open and ears pressed against her head in fear.

Author's Note

Dun dun dun!

Again, I would like to apologize for this EXTREMELY late update. Real life happened, and it sucked. I'll try not to let this happen again. Just know I'm not dead.

Anyway, what's going to happen to them now? And can anyone figure out what I'm doing with the chapter titles?