Tsundere Travels

“Can we get out of here? This place gives me the creeps.”

“You got it. Careful, I’m closing the door.”

Rob swung the back door down, and it latched solidly with a muffled thunk. Limestone then watched him walk down the left side of the carriage. Rob opened a door on that side, then sat down in front of a round wheel. Afterwards, he spoke to Limestone without turning around.

“This is going to be a bit noisy, but we should still be able to talk.”

Rob reached over to something on the front panel, and did something with it. Limestone nearly jumped out of the carriage when she heard a loud ROAR! The mare ducked down behind the rear seat, convinced that a monster had appeared and wanted to eat her. While the rock farmer huddled in fear, she felt the carriage start to move backwards. It turned to the right, then stopped and began moving forward. After some seconds had passed, Limestone felt the carriage turn right. Its front dipped down slightly, then it stopped. As she hadn’t yet been eaten by the growling monster, Limestone decided to poke her head above the back seat. Out the front, the mare could see other carriages zipping back and forth at some ridiculous speed. Rob was looking left for some reason. But after a few moments, the carriage lurched forward and turned to the right. Limestone wasn’t prepared for the sudden movement and was thrown painfully into the back door.

Once Limestone had regained her balance, she poked her muzzle over the back of the seat again. To her surprise, she saw that they were moving really fast down the road; faster than she had ever seen a carriage move without crashing. But the carriage wasn’t bouncing around like crazy, only little bumps now and then. And the wind wasn’t blasting her in the face, despite the high rate of speed. She wondered how much weird unicorn magic had been put on the carriage. The loud roar had quieted down to a growl, which calmed the mare’s nerves enough to let her think. She suddenly realized that the noise was coming from the carriage itself, instead of a hidden monster. The sound was still unnerving, it made her feel like she was surrounded by wild animals. But she figured she could get used to it.

“You okay back there?”

“Uh, yeah. Just peachy.”

Limestone was definitely not peachy. But despite how freaky the carriage was, she refused to show any fear. After all, everypony knew that crazy magical carriages could sense fear.

“So, we have a bit of a drive ahead of us. You wanna talk to pass the time?”

“Sure, I guess. What about?”

“Well, why don’t I tell you how I know about you and your sisters?”

Limestone and Rob spent the twenty or so minute drive talking. By the time Rob stopped the carriage next to a house, the mare knew a lot of things about these My Little Pony stories. Most of them didn’t make any sense, like what a ‘cartoon’ was. But the conversation made her feel a little better about Rob, so she figured she would stick around for a while. Staying in a house was much better than sleeping in the wild, and Rob had promised to help her get home. The rock farmer had decided to accept his help, but wasn’t sure if she could really trust him.

Limestone was busy looking at the house outside when the roar of the carriage suddenly stopped. She turned in time to see Rob leave the carriage and close the door behind him with a slam. Rob walked around to the back of his SUV, then opened the back hatch to let Limestone out. As soon as the door was open, she deftly jumped down to the concrete driveway.

The man noticed Limestone’s slip lead sitting on the carpeted floor of his SUV, and reasoned that she had removed it sometime during the drive. He knew there was no need for the lead, so he left it where it was and closed the hatch. Next, Rob walked past Limestone and around the other side of the SUV, then stopped in front of a side door of the house. The man thought that calling the door a ‘side’ door was pretty strange. It might as well be called the ‘main’ door, as it was the door he and his family used more than any outside door. But it couldn’t be called the front door as it was on the side of the house. Rob shook his head to clear out his rambling thoughts, then used his key to unlock the screen door. Rob tried the inner door and found it unlocked, so he opened it and walked inside. Next, he turned to hold the screen door open for Limestone. The mare peered inside the house for a moment, then slowly walked inside. Rob then closed and locked both doors behind her.

The side door led into the home’s small combination kitchen and laundry room. Just to Rob’s left was a washer and dryer, both painted an off-white, with a small table set between the two machines. On the far wall were several pastel blue cabinets and drawers for food storage. To the right of these was an opening in the wall that led to the living room. The vinyl floor covering had a yellowish floral pattern, and it gave way to a light tan carpet in the living room. A wooden dining table and chairs could be seen in the living room. The front door was between the dining table and the kitchen. Immediately right of the door was a large white refrigerator, and on the right wall was a sink, stove, a counter and more blue cabinets. A woman was facing the stove, tending to a large pot with steam billowing up from it. The room was filled with the scent of cooking pasta, bubbling tomato sauce and garlic.

“Hey honey, I’m home.”

“I know, I saw you drive up. What did your brother want?”

“For once, he had something important to show me. I’ve brought home a guest, let me introduce you.”

Rob’s wife turned away from the stove to politely greet her husband’s guest. But as soon as she saw Limestone, she recoiled slightly in shock.

“Oh my goodness!”

“This is Limestone Pie. Limestone, meet my wife Dora.”

“Hey.”

“She talked!”

“Yes Dora, she did. She’s a pony that lives on a rock farm, just like the ones on the My Little Pony show. I don’t know how she got here, but she’s real enough.”

“Oh...wait. Your sister is Pinkie Pie?”

“That’s right.”

“Oh goodness, this will take some getting used to. You see, the ponies here are just animals. They don’t talk.”

“Yeah, I figured that out.”

Limestone sniffed at the air, the smell of the food on the stove was making her mouth water.

“What’s cooking?”

“Spaghetti with meatballs, with garlic bread and green beans on the side.”

“Sounds great, I’m starving.”

“You’re just in time then. Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes.”

“Thanks, Dora. Let me introduce Limestone to the girls.”

Rob turned to the living room and shouted to his children.

“Girls! Daddy has someone he wants you to meet!”

From the other room, Limestone could hear two young voices yell ‘Daddy!’ Hooves stomped across the floor as the owners of those voices ran to the kitchen. Two young monkeys rounded the corner into the kitchen, and came to a complete stop once they saw Limestone. The smaller one was wearing a off-white flowery dress with pink flowers, and the other was wearing a blue shirt and brown pants. While Limestone couldn’t tell exactly how old they were, they seemed mighty young. Suddenly, the girls screeched in happiness as only young children can do.

“You got us a pony, Daddy!”

Both girls ran up to Limestone and fiercely hugged her. Their parents made cute noises at the adorable sight, but Limestone was far from happy.

“Hey! Leggo of me!”

The two girls immediately pulled back, their faces covered in shock and surprise. The taller one turned to her father and spoke.

“You got us a talking pony. Daddy?”

“Not exactly, she’s not a toy to play with. She’s our guest, so be nice to her. Limestone, these are my daughters. The one in the dress is Nancy, she’s four years old. The taller one is Ruth, and she’s six. Girls, this is Limestone Pie. She’s from Equestria, and she’s gotten lost.”

Both girls lit up in glee, and spoke up in unison.

“She’s a My Little Pony! Oh, thank you Daddy!”

“Remember girls, she may be a pony but she’s a person too. Be nice to her.”

“Okay, Daddy!”

“Alright Limestone, go off and play with the girls. Dinner will be ready soon.”

Limestone slowly turned her head to face Rob. Her muzzle was flat and expressionless, yet her eyes burned with anger.

“I hate you. I hate you so much.”

The mare turned and trotted off into the living room without another word.

Dinner was served. The family and Limestone were sitting at the dining table in the living room. The table looked to be made of a darkly-stained wood, with matching chairs and light brown cushions on the chairs. The table was filled with steaming food, most of it in pots sitting on pot holders. Each person at the table had an empty plate in front of them, along with silverware and a tall glass of milk. Rob and Dora sat across from each other, while Nancy sat next to her mother and Ruth was next to her father. Limestone was on the far end of the table next to the young girls. And the mare looked very, very unhappy. Her mane was filled with plastic barrettes and beaded hair ties, with strands of hair sticking out all over.

Rob turned to his daughter and spoke.

“Ruth, pass me Limestone’s plate please.

“Limestone, how much spaghetti do you want?”

“Pile it high, I’m starving.”

“Got it. How many meatballs?”

“Meatballs or wheatballs?”

“Meatballs. With meat. Not your thing?”

“Nope.”

“Okay then, more for me. How much sauce?”

“Drown it.”

“Garlic bread?”

“Yes.”

“Green beans?”

“A little.”

“Okay Ruth, use two hands and be careful.”

Ruth set down a large heaping plate of spaghetti and marinara sauce in front of Limestone. Two pieces of garlic bread sat on the edge of the plate, along with a small pile of cut green beans. The smell of the garlic bread and the pasta made the mare’s mouth water. Her stomach loudly growled, and she was unable to contain herself any longer. So the mare shoved her muzzle in the pile of pasta and began to noisily eat.

Limestone had only gotten a couple of mouthfuls in before the sound of girlish giggles assaulted her ears. She looked up to see what was going on.

“What?”

Nancy pointed at Limestone’s muzzle. “You’re so messy!”

Limestone looked down at her muzzle, which was covered in marinara sauce. The giggles from the girls got louder as Limestone’s eyes crossed for a moment.

“Messy eater! Messy eater!”

“Now, girls. That’s not very nice.” Dora continued to admonish her daughters. “She is our guest, so don’t make fun of her.”

“But Mommy,” Ruth asked her mother, “you tell us to use our forks to eat our food. Why doesn’t she have to?”

“Because she doesn’t have hands, Ruth dear. How is she supposed to hold on to a fork?”

“Oh. But the ponies on the TV can hold onto things with their hooves!”

“True, but that is a cartoon and this is real. She may not be able to use her hooves that way. Now let it drop, and finish your food.”

Limestone had returned to eating her meal, but was still listening to the conversation. She decided not to tell them that she was perfectly capable of holding a fork in her hooves, and had this been a meal with her family she would definitely be using a fork. But she was too hungry to bother with a fork that night.

The room was filled with the sounds of eating, and the young voices of the girls excitedly telling their parents about their day at school. Limestone cleaned her plate (quite literally, she had licked the plate clean) and managed to lick most of the sauce off of her muzzle as well. A napkin had taken care of the rest. While Rob and Dora cleaned the table of dirty dishes, Limestone leaned back in her chair and rubbed her full belly. So much better than rubbery carrots!

Rob and Dora returned to the table with steaming cups of coffee in their hands. Once he had sat down, Rob addressed his daughters.

“Alright girls, what do you want to do now?”

“STORY TIME! STORY TIME!”

“Okay, settle down. What kind of story do you want to hear?”

Ruth pointed to Limestone. “I want a story from her!”

“Ruth, it’s not polite to point.”

“Sorry, Mommy.”

Nancy turned to Limestone. “Can you tell us a story, pwetty pwease?”

Limestone sputtered. “B-but, I don’t know any stories!”

Both girls chimed in. “PLEEEEEEASE!”

“No! My mom was the storyteller of our family, not me!”

“Awwww! That’s not fair!”

Rob interjected before his children threw a temper tantrum. “It doesn’t have to be a fancy story, Limestone. Maybe you can just tell us about life on the rock farm.”

The mare never liked being the center of attention, and thus was feeling very put upon by the family. And she was still really sore at the children for messing with her mane, as well as Rob for making her play with his children. So, she refused to be their entertainment for the evening.

“What’s to tell? We farm rocks.”

“Why farm rocks? They’re nothing special here.”

“That’s just what we do, ROB. Rock farmers farm rocks.”

“Any special kind of rocks?”

“Nope. All kinds of rocks.”

Nancy whined out her frustrations. “Daaaady, this story is booooring!”

Rob wondered why Limestone was so unwilling to talk about her life. She talked just fine in the SUV earlier. But he had two children to entertain, so he changed the subject.

“Alright girls. Maybe we can show Limestone a My Little Pony episode to jog her memory. What episode do you want to watch?

Nancy and Ruth looked at each other, then shouted in unison.

“Hearthbusters! Hearthbusters!”

Rob chucked to himself. The girls never remembered the episode’s name right.

“I think you mean Hearthbreakers. Right?”

His two daughters nodded frantically.

“Excellent choice. Do you remember which DVD the episode is on?”

Nancy looked puzzled, while Ruth excitedly raised her hand.

“I do, Daddy! It’s on the Holiday Hearts DVD!”

“Alright then, go get it and set everything up. We’ll start the episode when everyone is ready. Nancy, please help her.”

Both girls bolted from their chairs and ran over to the bookshelves on the other side of the living room. Rob then turned his attention to Limestone.

“You looked puzzled.”

“Yeah, what the heck is a deeveedee?”

“It stands for ‘digital video disc’. The world here has a way of taking thousands of pictures in a row, then replaying them so fast it looks like it’s one picture that moves. They were originally called ‘moving pictures’, and the name was later shortened to ‘movie’. A DVD is a special way of storing movies so you can look at them over and over.”

“That makes no sense.”

Rob shrugged. “You don’t have to understand how it works, just that it does. See that black rectangle over there, by the couch?”

Limestone turned her head over her right shoulder, and saw the large black rectangle. It stood upon a narrow wooden table against the wall, with a small table in front of it and a dark blue couch behind the tables. While she watched, Nancy picked up a small black box off of the middle table and pointed it at the black rectangle. The rectangle immediately lit up with bright lights, to Limestone’s amazement.

“Uh, yeah?”

“That’s where we’re watching the movie. Why don’t you sit down on the couch with the girls? Dora and I will sit on chairs for now.”

“Uh, okay.”

Limestone climbed down off of her chair and walked over to the couch. A quick hop got her on the couch, then she turned around and sat down on the middle cushion. When she looked up, she realized that the black rectangle (now bright with a strange picture on it), was directly in front of her. While she watched, the picture changed to a red picture with an official-looking emblem of some sort; then it faded away. In its place, several glowing crystals rotated and moved around the screen. A bright white glow took over the picture, and the crystals suddenly formed what looked like two words on the screen. But Limestone couldn’t make out what they said before they disappeared.

The rock farmer was floored. Rob had said the picture would move, but she hadn’t believed him. Who would? A moving picture was just fantasy! But that fantasy was right there, in front of her own two eyes. All she could do was watch and see what happened next.

The screen suddenly went black. Another moving picture slid downwards, and showed a grassy field with fireworks going off. The view began to move forward, and Limestone noticed what looked like bald monkeys standing in the field. Suddenly, a big firework went off which revealed a word that Limestone also had trouble reading. If the mare was amazed before, the realism of the fireworks stunned her. It felt so real! She could even FEEL the explosions in her chest, as well as hear them! And feeling them was the best part!

The picture faded into a white one that had two ponies wearing scarves on it. The one with the white fur and purple mane kinda looked familiar, but she wasn’t sure from where. A song began to play, one which both Nancy and Ruth sang along with.

“My Little Pony...My Little Pony…”

Glowing boxes moved around the screen for a short bit, then stopped. Rob then spoke up behind her.

“Okay Limestone, we’re ready. What we’re going to watch is a 20 minute movie that tells the story of when the Apple Family came to your rock farm to celebrate Hearth’s Warming.”

Limestone spun around and stared at Rob, who was sitting on a chair behind the couch. Shock and a little fear showed all over the mare’s muzzle.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!”

“Like I told you in the car ride home, we have stories about things that have happened in Equestria. Your sister Pinkie, along with her 5 friends, are the main characters. But you and your family are part of the stories, too.

“Now, let’s go ahead and watch the movie. After it’s done, you can tell us what really happened and what didn’t. Okay?”

Limestone found herself speechless, and had to settle for a slow nod. She woodenly turned around and slumped back into the couch. While she watched, the picture first faded to black then opened onto a snowy scene in the clouds. The picture moved downwards to reveal a town covered in snow, with a castle in the background. The scene faded into a room, where Princess Twilight Sparkle and a small dragon were decorating the room for Hearth’s Warming Eve. Soot fell from the unlit fireplace in the background, and a pony popped out to say, “Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve!”

“Wait! That’s Pinkie!”

Rob paused the movie, then answered.

“Yep, that’s her. How does she look?”

“Wow, yeah. She looks like someone made a really good drawing of her, but it’s really her! And it sounds just like her!”

“Yup. How about Princess Twilight and Spike?”

“Spike?”

“The dragon.”

“Oh. Never met him before, but that looks just like the Princess.”

Rob didn’t answer, but simply unpaused the movie. Limestone didn’t interrupt again until Pinkie and the Apples arrived at the rock farm, and the cartoon Limestone appeared.

“Wait! Stop!”

Rob paused the movie, and chuckled.

“Yes, Limestone?”

“That’s...me! How did I get in there?!”

“We don’t know, Limestone. Until I saw you, I thought these were just made-up stories and pictures someone drew. So your guess is as good as mine.”

Rob unpaused the movie. This time, Limestone was quiet until the credits began to roll.

“Is..is that it?”

“Yes, that’s the whole movie. So, tell us - was it real? Did things happen that way?”

Limestone turned first to her left, and saw Nancy looking at her eagerly. She slowly turned to her right, and saw a similar expression on Ruth. The mare sighed, and took a moment to answer.

“All of it. Well, all the parts I was there for. But it’s exactly as I remember it.”

Both girls cheered, and suddenly pounced Limestone in a crushing hug. They pulled back, and Ruth spoke up.

“And you’re just like the show, Limestone! All grumpy and mean but nice too!”

“Grumpy? I’m not grumpy! You take that back!”

Laughter lit up around the room, while Limestone began to seethe. This time, Dora chimed in.

“Please forgive her Limestone, she meant no harm. Now girls, it’s time to get ready for bed.”

Nancy and Ruth whined loudly.

“But we want to watch another episode with Limestone!”

“Now, now. You know the rules. One episode before bed on a school night. And Limestone will be staying with us for a while, so you’ll be able to spend more time with her tomorrow. Go brush your teeth.”

The children chimed up in unison.

“Okay, Mommy!”

Ruth and Nancy got up off the couch and ran into a hallway to the left of the TV. A light suddenly clicked on, and the sound of running water was heard. When giggles came from the hallway, Dora sighed aloud and stood up from her chair.

“I’d better check up on them and make sure they didn’t start another water fight.”

She casually walked into the hallway and disappeared from view. Rob then got up from his chair, but instead of following his wife he walked around the couch and sat down next to Limestone. The mare looked shell-shocked, with a blank look draped over her muzzle.

“You okay?”

“I guess. I’m not sure what to do.”

“What do you mean?”

Limestone waved a hoof at the TV.

“That. The movie we just saw. How did they make it without us knowing? Are they watching us right now?”

“Uh, I hope not. It’d be really weird to find myself in a My Little Pony movie or fanfiction.”

“What’s fanfiction?”

“Uh, stories about Equestria that aren’t made into movies. Just stories to read.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. But about that movie. I don’t know how it happened. Like I said, I thought these were neat stories until I met you. Now, I don’t know what to believe.”

“Are there more stories about me?”

“A few. You first appear as a foal when Pinkie tells the story about how she got her cutie mark. Then there’s this episode. Hmm...I think you appear in a few other movies but none as long as this one. Maud appears a lot more often since she moved to Ponyville. A lot of the movies happen there.”

“Oh. And her new coltfriend?”

“Mudbriar?”

“Yup. Answers that question.”

“He first appeared when Maud met him and Pinkie got jealous. Then she went back to the rock farm for a while.”

“I remember that.”

“The girls will probably want you to watch those episodes with them, so you can tell them if it’s real or not.”

“Yeah, about that. You know I’m not a foal, right? I’m nineteen, and I’m not good with foals.”

“I know you’re not a foal, Limestone.

“Alright, look. It would really help me out if you could help entertain the kids. I’m doing you a favor by feeding you and helping you find a way home. Can you help me out?”

Limestone growled under her breath. She could look for Ember on her own, but the food was good and this would be a warm place to sleep.

“Fine.”

“The help would be appreciated, especially when our girls get home from school. As you’ve seen, they can be quite the handful. Or hooffull, in your case.”

Right then, Dora walked back into the living room from the hallway and declared that the girls were finally in bed. She made her way to the one empty spot on the couch on the other side of Limestone, then sat down.

“Those hair ties look uncomfortable. I’m surprised you haven’t taken them out already.”

“I tried, but they won’t come out!”

Limestone tried to grab a barrette between her hooves, but she couldn’t open it and she couldn’t pull it free.

“Argh!”

“Here, let us help.”

In short order, Rob and Dora had unclasped all of the barrettes and untwisted the hair ties from Limestone’s mane. The mare then ruffled up her mane and got it looking decent within a few shakes.

“Oh hey hun, I agreed to help Limestone here find her way home.”

“That’s nice of you Rob, but how are you going to do that? Equestria isn’t on this planet, and we have no magic to search for it.”

“Someone will come to rescue her eventually. I figured I’d keep an eye out for her rescuers and lead them here.”

“Makes sense. Where will you start looking?”

“I’m not sure. If they get caught and sent to the pound, my brother will tell me. Maybe I can look around the place where Limestone first entered this world.

“Where was that, Limestone?”

The rock farmer was still distrustful of these bald monkeys, so she wanted to keep Ember a secret. And telling them about the fight with the carts and the donut shop would lead them to Ember, so she decided to lie. It never occurred to the mare that lying would make it harder for her to get home.

“Oh, uh...I was hit by a spell and when I woke up, I was in a forest. I ran around for a while until I got captured and put in that prison you found me in.”

“Strange. My brother said you were captured at a gas station, trying to steal some food. And there was some woman in a blue costume with you. Then he said something about the blue woman having a flamethrower. That sounds like a dragon to me, so I’m guessing Dragon Lord Ember came here with you?”

Rob looked down at Limestone, in that way parents look at their children when they have been caught in a lie. The mare couldn’t stop herself from blushing, she knew she had been busted.

Rob paused for several seconds to let the rebuke settle in.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll still help you, of course. When you decide to help me help you, let me know. In the meantime, you can stay with us as long as you need to.”

Limestone squirmed under the two human’s pointed stares. So she did the only thing she could think of: she faked a huge yawn.

“Oh, I’m soooo tired. Got a bed I can sleep in?”

Rob looked at Dora and rolled his eyes, and Dora hid a laugh behind her hand.

“Alright sweetie. We have a spare bedroom for guests that you can sleep in. Follow me.”

Dora stood up and walked back into the hallway, followed closely by Limestone. But when Limestone entered the hallway, she stopped and turned to look at Rob. He returned her look with a smile, and wished her goodnight. The mare paused a moment longer, then turned to follow Dora who was waiting just past the open bathroom door. Dora led her to a small room that was not much bigger than the twin-sized bed that sat inside. The bed was covered in a soft-looking teal comforter with a single teal pillow. The carpet was still the same light tan as the living room and the hallway. There was a small nightstand next to the bed, which held a small lamp. The walls held a couple of small paintings, but the rest of the room was bare.

“Here you go. Just let us know if you need anything.”

“Thanks.”

Limestone trotted to the side of the bed, then hopped on to it. She wriggled under the covers, then looked over at Dora. The woman smiled, then flicked the light switch and plunged the room into darkness. She then turned and walked away down the hallway. If Limestone cared enough to guess, she would guess that the woman was going back to the room with the couch and the magic black movie box.

Despite what she had said earlier, Limestone wasn’t actually tired. She just wanted to get away from that awkward conversation. She lay there in bed for a long time, her thoughts going back to all the craziness that happened since she arrived in this strange land. And wondered whether she would ever get back home again. Eventually, sleep claimed her.